Go get Krang. Every now and again there's a figure that just plain clicks in terms of features, and while the bulk of Turtles of Grayskull abandons action features in favor of the license crossover, articulation, and whimsy, Krang manages to deliver a lot of personality at a $5 upcharge. You get a 7 1/2-inch figure which I believe uses the Andre the Giant body we got a few years ago, but Megators it up.
If Mattel released just the giant ogre without the brain segment, this would be a pretty great semi-original character. While it lacks the build-a-figure of Target's exclusive program, you do get some fancier accessories with better-than-average materials. At $25 it didn't seem like a stretch to buy it at full price - unlike, say, Mossman at $40.
The main figure really revels in being a mash-up. Using an existing WWE body, the figure changes out the boots and decorates the hands as gloves. The head is a mix of Krang's android body - the visor and cybernetic cues - with the green skin and black hair of Megator, some new spikes on the side and a new red helmet, plus hints of armor to cover the nose from nowhere in particular. Odds are someone could have put this head out on an indie figure as an original character and nobody would clock it as a licensed character mash-up - it's non-specific enough to count as new. That's pretty exciting in a line that exists to remix old toys.
The boots and gloves are like Krang's android body in their bright red-ness, with a brain box of sorts added to house the Krang component - you can remove the aquarium if you like, leaving you a perfectly nice ogre stooge. The elongated Krang-ified torso is a little weird, but it's also the point of the toy. The bronze plastic has brick texturing and a little window where a rubbery pink brain can extend his arms - presumably, they're arms, and not something else - through the openings. There's also a hole on the bottom of the brain piece, so you can plop him on Megator's neck post like Krang took over Shredder's body in the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic books. Krang feels small relative to other toys, but as a brain that might need to fit inside a skull, he's probably the right size. It's also worth noting you can sandwich the brain box in between any other compatible Mattel Origins-style figures.
The body works really well for Krang, mostly because the original design for his android body was a lot like a Masters of the Universe figure. He's got suspenders that look sort of like armor, which this has with chains. There's a big belt buckle, which this also has. Megator Krang adds Megator actual's armor, albeit in a new color, complete with skull and loincloth. I have no idea if or when we'll get an actual giant version of the Megator character in Origins, but I find this wacky take on him to be a good substitute for now. The joints ratchet nicely, and everything seems sturdy and smooth. It's one of the better figures in the entire line to date, as everything just feels great. Nothing is trying to be too exceptional or over-the-top, it's a good figure executed competently. You're not going to buy it and be disappointed.
I'm less fond of the android-ness of the weaponry. The arms change out for Krang's body in the cartoon, so here you can remove the fists and swap in an axe or a flail. They're nicely made, but I'd prefer purely handheld accessories so nothing has to be stored in a box somewhere. Having said that, they're both good. The axe can be held in his fists if you prefer, and the flail is just nicely engineered. The rubbery spikes are made of a silver plastic that looks almost like real metal, the dark parts look really dark, and the light parts look really light, but it's all the same color. Finding good materials like this shows they're capable of doing some really wonderful things without paint still, and the plastic chain is actually a bunch of linked elements. It's mostly very good at being what it wants to be, although sometimes it's tricky getting the peg in the fist hole.
Like the other exclusives this time around, the figure has a really big mini-comic sized trading card. I'm not quite sure how best to store it, but hey, it's something. At least I don't have to clip and save it - it's made out of a sturdy cardboard.
If I didn't start collecting this line, I would probably say this is the figure that would get me to start. It's weird, it's new enough that it kind of stands alone, and the figure has plenty of options to it that allows you to change how you view it in your collection. I really like this guy more as a new character than as Krang, but you can do whatever you want with it. That's what makes toys great - maybe Skeletor needs a new stooge, and this guy fits the bill. If you got $25 to burn, go get it, and if you like it, see what else you can pick up on sale or on eBay.
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