When it comes to the vintage Playmates TMNT line, I pretty much thought I was done. Back when I started out, there was basically no accessible TMNT line worth collecting that had an in-depth character roster. How the tide has shifted. Now there's a dedicated line for basically every incarnation you can imagine by every company you can imagine. So, I had no need to continue. I have dedicated wide shelves for two different eras, a smaller Turtles Forever shelf, and a whole bunch of other miscellaneous variations. At this point, I've even considered selling off all my vintage Playmates Turtles stuff. But life does throw its curveballs.
I found this Toon Shredder at a collectibles shop with all of his pads, cape, and belt for a decent price. Paint in pretty good shape too. Add on my birthday month discount and, well, I had a hard time saying no on this one. I've always wanted to add this variant to my vintage TMNT roster. I have a soft spot for the original 88 Shredder and its utterly nonsensical colorscheme. Yes, I even like the mold. That pose pulled out of the original comics. So, I wanted it again in these cartoon inspired colors. Just always liked how it looked.
I maintain this is the best TMNT toyline Playmates ever produced and I didn't even grow up with it! I was a kid when the 2003 line was releasing. While I'm nostalgic for that line, its cartoon inspired sculpts were often stiff and nowhere near as detailed. When I got online access, I was lowkey jealous of all the cool toys TMNT fans before my time had. I wanted a giant Krang. I wanted a Technodrome. Even as an adult, these are just so much dang fun.
It's crazy that after all this time, Playmates is finally losing that license. Major end of an era. I might have celebrated this ten years ago, but now there's something kinda sad about it. Especially since it means everyone else that sublicensed through them is also losing the rights to make figures. I'm interested in Mattel's take, but I don't know if it'll be worth what we lost. I guess buying this figure is something of a full circle moment. A final farewell to Playmates. Or that's what my justification is as I kick myself for falling for what was an impulse purchase. I still like this, though. I have so many Shredders that even if I ever got rid of my other vintage Turtles stuff, I'd be able to justify keeping this guy around.
