Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Turtle power is one of those amazing things, as this was pretty big when I was a kid and it comes back every few years. This line-up may be one of the stronger relaunches, with a wonderfully diverse line selling widely to kids which is, of course, the recipe for success - adult collectors are nice, but you want those millions of grade schoolers buying the turtle in the cheap magician outfit.
The basic action figure line for 2014 is a thing of beauty, and may actually be more impressive than offerings for nearly anything save for, possibly, Transformers. Again, kids are a big help here - but there are new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classic Collection figures based on the 1990 live-action film series. No sign of a Shredder, nor were Bebop and Rocksteady on display after being pulled back for Toys R Us exclusivity last year.
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Playmates wisely makes a play for younger kids with Half-Shell Heroes, fundamentally applying this brand to Imaginext or Jedi Force. There are vehicles and figures, plus a playset - meaning that the line for tiny tots' TMNT may be better than a heck of a lot of other, full-blown figure lines this year. It's a good time to be a kid.
The big vehicle in the display room was a retread of a classic. An inflatable Turtle Blimp made the rounds, which should mean that today's young (or slightly older) fathers will buy these for their kids, thus fulfilling their destinies of forcing the toys they wanted on their own children. Either way, it's a great batch of stuff and this line is fortunately popular enough to warrant a heck of a nice basic line as well as numerous other offerings for a large audience.
--Adam Pawlus
