Mattel Turtles of Grayskull Masters of the Universe x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael Action Figure Mattel, 2024
Day #2,800: December 26, 2024
Raphael Hard-Headed Sai Specialist!
Turtles of Grayskull Masters of the Universe x Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. HPR00 No. HTH12 Manufacturer:Mattel Includes:Helmet, big sai, sai gauntlet, removable armor, other axe, "Belly of the Beast (Man)" Mini-Comic Action Feature:No Retail:$19.99 Availability:January 2024 Other: Ram-Man Cosplayer
I shot Raphael in early 2024 and it took a while to get it written up - there's no good reason for it, other than I don't post 5 toys a week here anymore. Maybe if I took fewer pictures, I could - it's a good one! Also it seems demand was not met, so if you see this one, go ahead and buy it. It's neat - the Snake Men-themed one also looks cool, but I like this one a lot.
Raph follows the pattern of the other brothers in that they clearly raided the closets of Eternian heroes. In Raphael's case, he stole Ram-Man's gear while he was busy being a mutated ram man. With horns, and everything.
The same turtle body returns, complete with removable shell shield, with a new head, a new shade of green skin, and removable gear. The Ram-Man helmet is really a great way to change the character's personality, as I would not normally think of taking one of these guys and head-butting other figures. The shoulder armor and coloring also match Ram-Man (and Raphael) nicely, with an added sword that looks like a sai. And because always two there are, his other sai is embedded in a massive glove.
Articulation is the standard 5 1/2 - but really 6-inch - barbarian build, complete with pop-off arms and waist. You can mix and match parts with other figures if you like, but "match" is really the key word here - nobody else is a perfect match for Raphael, so you'll probably want to leave him as is. Compared to a lot of other figures in the line, there is much to enjoy with the green teens. The shell, the armor, the hats, the weaponry - most Origins-scaled figures have two, maybe three accessories. You won't be shorted here. The figure has no problems wearing hte glove or holding the other pieces, which makes sense since the entire line reuses a lot of the same hands over and over. The turtles have three-fingered hands, but everything still seems to work incredibly well.
The clothes make the man, but unlike Leo and Mikey there's no letter on his chest or belt. Since you recognize the red color and the sai accessories you know that it's Raphael, but that's what four decades of successful branding can get you.
The Turtles of Grayskull line seems to be a success with figures being mostly in demand, and as we end 2024 I'm kind of surprised to see Raphael going for a big mark-up. Unless Mattel has a stash of these to unload after the holidays, you best start chasing these down before they get too pricey - maybe a comic shop or grocery store near you ordered some and you can get him for SRP. I think this is a great figure for $20, but the secondary market prices creeping near $40 are a little harder to swallow. If nothing else, it shows the importance of toy companies reusing parts to keep down costs. 20 years ago we balked at $20 figures for collectors, and today it seems like an increasingly decent deal.
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