TMNT Donatello Action Figure

In 2008, NECA presents the first series of all-new action figures based on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics published by Mirage Studios. Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the Turtles continue to be one of the most popular comic book franchises of all-time, spawning numerous spin-offs, film adaptations, and leaving an undeniable impression on pop culture over more than two decades.

Note: final product may differ from item shown.
Item Number: 54004
Item Number w/ Check Digit: 54004-6
UPC #: 6-34482-54004-6 (634482540046)
Release Date: 04/2008

Donnie’s the brains of the bunch, even the comic book version played this. Sure, the cartoon guy with the purple-mask could build intergalactic space-bridges out of old transistor radios, and even make fancy new vehicles out of scrap so Playmates could sell new toys to kids every 8 months. But no matter how you cut it, which version, Don was the brains of the outfit, and that was always cool to me.

FYI - this review will be covering the set of figures that come with the display bases and full extra accessories, vs the boxed set and the tubed figures (which don’t come with the bases, extra hands etc). Also, since all the figures are essentially the same other than head and accessories, the Leonardo review will be the most in-depth, with the rest just showing off the differences.

As with all the figures in the line, Donatello comes with a bunch of accessories. His staff, extra hands with climbing spikes, the base/sidewalk stand, a jar of the T.C.R.I. ooze which caused the turtles to mutate, and finally an un-mutated baby Donnie cute as can be. Fun times.

As with all the figures in the line, and since each turtle is essentially the same aside from head-sculpts, Donnie comes in at 5 and a half inches tall. Highly detailed and featuring 20+ points of articulation, posability is no issue here. With his signature bo staff, Donatello can take on any number of poses, holding the staff in both hands or one.

Thanks to all the articulation, plus the large feet on each of the boys, the turtles can hold tons of different poses without falling down. So while the sidewalk bases are nice, they aren’t even really needed. Of all the head-sculpts, Donnie’s is probably my favorite. The sculpt on Michelangelo while amazing and clearly a work of pure fun, Donatello’s is a work of much more subtlety. Donnie isn’t totally scowling, isn’t totally angry, and isn’t harboring some chip on his shoulder like Leonardo and Raphael do. A more serious, down to work look, which is pretty impressive to get that much emotion out of a 1 inch chunk of green and red plastic, yeah?

The work put into each of the sculpts here shows that NECA and the development team behind this line really thought this out, and wanted to nail not just the look of the early comics, but also the personality traits behind each character as well. I’ve read some negative reviews of other NECA figures in the past, most recently the Gears of War line and the lack of articulation there. The TMNT line though doesn’t seem to suffer from that at all, and offers a ton of articulation, tons of accessories, source material accuracy, and there was no loss in quality at all by achieving any of it. And unlike some other lines I could name (ahem, the strange hip joints on all the Marvel Legends stuff for example…), the turtles are great to look at in and out of package - together or alone.

TMNT here is serious contender for toys of the year. Mark my words.