Thursday, October 3, 2024

31 Days of Toy Terror Takes the Universe: Leonardo as The Creature from the Black Lagoon from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Universal Monsters by NECA

 



   This year's theme, "31 Days of Terror Takes the Universe," is absolutely a tribute to the Universal Monsters and the classic Universal horror films of the early 20th century. Along with plenty of toys of the classic monsters you know and love you're also going to see quite a few of NECA's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Universal Monsters figures. These guys have been out for a few years now but somehow I slept on them. I'm sleeping no more, though, and since grabbing some of the newer figures I've managed to pick up the whole series. It's quite fortuitous that NECA has both the TMNT license and the Universe Monsters license and was able to make these happen, though they're not NECA's original idea or anything: Playmates Toys actually released TMNT and Universal Monsters crossover figures back in 1993 and 1994. I wasn't collecting the TMNT any more in 1993 (the only figure I had from that year was Walker, and who knows why?) but I do remember the weirder and weirder variations coming out. The Universal Monsters Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returned for a second series in 1994 and Leo as the Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of the releases. He was the second Leo released, too, as the first series had Leo as the Wolfman (NECA made Raphael the Wolfman, so my favorite turtle meets my favorite of the Universal Monsters). Ready to check out the terror of this swampy, slithery, drippin' dude? Then dive in and join me after the break...



The Facts:

Height: 6 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees w/ upper swivel, balljointed hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, double swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: 6 swappable hands, harpoon katana, harpoon katana with piranha, turtle companion, bone claw, fishing line, 4 hooks, and 2 bobbers.

Non-Scalper Price: $38 dollars








The Positives:


* I love how wonderfully bizarre Leonardo as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, more affectionally known as the Gill-man, looks. Interestingly, the Gill-man's look doesn't really need to be modified much to match up with a turtle; since they're already both reptiles, so we've got the Gill-man's style with more TMNT-like proportions. He's got a plastron on his chest, but it's more...reptilian than a normal turtle's? That doesn't make sense, though, because turtles are already reptiles. It's more... let's say monstrous. The paint work is incredible here and really accents the scaly skin well. 








* Here's a closer look at Leonardo's excellent paintwork. This guy is a really impressive looking figure with so many colors making up his skin.



* To help further give him a weird and wacky TMNT vibe, Creature Leo has part of a net around his body. It's ripped up a bit and covered with bobbers and hooks, so it definitely looks like something he swam through and that just got caught on him, though the shape of it looks a bit like a vest or something. It's made from a very soft plastic and if you really wanted to work at it and try to remove it ,you probably could. You might risk tearing it, though. 







* I love that all of the Universal Monsters turtles have shells (even ones like Wolfman Raph) and Gill-Man Leo's is incredible. Not only does it look ancient and rocky, like something you'd see on a prehistoric creature, but it also is covered with the fossils of prehistoric creatures. You know, fish and trilobites and stuff like that. This is such a fun detail and one you won't even know is there until you open the package and check out the figure.









* He might be wearing the movie styled knee and elbow pads, but Leonardo is far from your average move mutant. He is incredibly detailed with weird finds all down his legs. And his feet? Definitely not from this millennium. I love how this guy turned out. 











* Gill-Man Leo's hands are pretty gnarly, too. Check out the claws and suckers and funs and stuff. I'm not an ichthyologist or anything, so I don't know how accurate these are to a real lagoon monster, but they look pretty darn realistic to me. 







* This portrait is quite bizarre, but that's just because NECA did such a wonderful job of combining the characteristic of both Leo and the Creature. The general shape of the head? Leo. The lips? The Creature. The wide, bulgy eyes and the fins on the head? The Creature. A soggy blue bandanna? That's all Leo. It looks pretty impressive with some excellent paintwork. What a wonderfully weird figure!







* Creaturenardo the Gill-Turtle comes with six swappable hands. You've got a pair of grips for holding his accessories, a a pair of webbed hands somewhat open, and a pair of webbed hands all the way open for some swimming action!





* If you're familiar with the articulation on NECA's movie TMNT figures then you kind of know what to expect here. There's more articulation than you'd think, most of it hidden, and most anything that's restricted is restricted simply because of Leonardo's build. The turtles have some odd proportions. You can get some decent swimming poses, too, particularly if you find the right kind of flight stand t hold him up.





* GilLeo comes with some cool extras, the first being a little turtle companion that's hanging out with him in the Black Lagoon. This is a pretty neat little turtle minifigure. Check out the detail on his shell, especially with the wash to bring out those swirls. 










* There's some excellent detail on the plastron, too. This little guy is just too cute and makes a fun foil to the Gill-turtle's creepiness.










* Leonardo still comes with a pair of katanas, but no they're made from harpoons. Yes, harpoon katanas. They look really nasty and ought to be useful if he ever gets into battle with Dracula. Can a Dracula shredder be too far off? As is usual with NECA's accessories, the detail and paint are excellent. These look quite realistic rather than appearing to be plastic accessories. 







* The second harpoon is pretty similar to the first, though the cord wrapped around the handle is a bit loose and is dangling down. Yeah, that and the fact that there is an impaled piranha on the harpoon. That's a wild detail that feels like it would have been right at home on some accessory in the vintage TMNT toyline.










* Check out how cool this guy is! The sculpt and colors on this tropical fellow look just right as do those creepy, dead fish eyes and those nasty, sharp little teeth. 








* When Creature Leo needs to get up and close with any Food Clan divers he can pop out this crazy bone claw. It's not like Wolverine's claws where it's a part of him or anything; it's just an extra weapon he can wear over his wrist (I found it easiest to pop off his wrist and place it over his wrist before popping the wrist back on. It's pretty nifty; I'm guessing it's an homage to the fossilized Creature hand from Creature from the Black Lagoon.. 






* There's a little plastic bag in the package that comes with some extra accessories that weren't  mentioned in any of listings or press shots: Four hooks, 2 bobbers, and some weighted fishing line. It's an interesting little mix of bits and bobbers. 










* The little hooks on the fishhooks and bobbers can clip all over Leo's net and the weighted line can fit across his chest in different ways, allowing you to change up his look a bit more. 




   Want to know a fun fact about this year's 31 Days of Toy Terror? This is actually the first review I wrote and took pictures for, was back in early July. I've wanted to do a Universal Monsters themed 31 Days of Toy Terror for years and getting these guys and a few solid NECA releases late this past spring encouraged me to go for it. I absolutely love this figure. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Universal Monsters line is a very strong series from NECA and this guy might be one of my fishy favorites. He's an Epic toy for fans of the Creature, fans of Leonardo, or just fans of the utterly bizarre. 




Looking for more of the Creature from the Black Lagoon/ Gillman? I've reviewed plenty of other Gill-Man-like creatures including the Wavecrawler from Hasbro's Kre-O line, the Imaginext Gillman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon from Monster Force, the Gill-Man from the Big Bucket of Monsters, and the Swamp Creature from Lego Monster Fighters.
   
   I've reviewed a few Leonardo action figures on the site including the Eekeez Leonardo, the TMNT 2012 Playmates Battle Shell Leonardo, the Ninjas in Training Leonardo and Donatello, and Stealth Tech Leonardo, and the TMNT Classics Secret of the Ooze Leonardo.














2 comments:

  1. TMNT and classic monster movies is the crossover I didn't know I needed! Love it!

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    1. NECA has done a great job with this line. Nothing new has been announced since the black and white Universal Monsters turtles (2 in a pack exclusive to Walmart and 4 in a pack exclusive to Target), but I'm hopeful we'll get a few more. We need Shredder as Dracula, especially considering Splinter is Van Helsing in this line, along with another Donatello and another Mikey. The vintage line had the Metaluna mutant, which would be quite cool. Who else? Maybe Mikey as the Mutant and Donatello as Jekyll and Hyde?

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