TMNT Mega Bloks Mutation Lab Review
The TMNT Mega Bloks Mutation Lab playset is the first of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets by Mega Bloks to hit stores. Should you already be hoping Lego gets the license back or is this the new golden age for TMNT?
The Baxter Mutation Lab box is a tall rectangular box with all three of the included figures in a window portion on one edge of the box. I believe this is the same way they had the TMNT sets packaged the last time they had the license as well. The front of the box has artwork showing the toys in action including a small box up in the top corner showcasing Leo’s action feature (more on that in a minute)
The back of the box showcases some play features of the whole set and shows all the other TMNT Mega Bloks sets that will be released
Here is a better picture of the other sets from the back of the instruction booklet
The first figure out of the box is the Foot Soldier. He’s in the basic outfit from the cartoon minus some chest straps. Like most modern Mega Bloks figures he has a lot of articulation for a 2″ figure. All three of the figures have a Ball Joint Neck, Swivel/Hinge Shoulders, Rotating Wrist (or forearm in the case of the Foot Soldier and Baxter) Ball Joint Hips & Hinge Knees. Baxter and the Foot Soldier also have a swivel Waist, but Leo doesn’t due to his shell.
The Foot Soldier comes with a sword (exactly the same piece as the swords that come with Leo) The amount of articulation allows for nifty poses from such small figures.
The Leo figure nails down the cartoon aesthetic pretty well. His bandana and belt can both be removed which is a first for any toy depicting these new Ninja Turtles
The bandana adds a lot to Leo’s facial expression and I’m rather surprised that the eyes line up so well with the holes in the mask.
Leo’s belt can hold one of his swords on his back. The shell has a button that when pressed, causes Leo’s left arm to swing down. You can move the arm to four different positions so the slashing action feature doesn’t fully interfere with the poseability of the figure.
The instruction booklet shows there are at least three different action features incorporated into some of the figures. There’s a Slashing action which has one arm slash downwards, a Zipline action which appears to have a retractable string come out of a molded on backpack and a Double Slashing action where both arms slash downwards.
The last figure in the set is Baxter Stockman. He has a basic body with a nicely sculpted fly head and arms. The wings plug into a hole on his back. While the right hand is monstrously sculpted, the left hand still retains the basic Mega Blok figure hand grip so he can hold weapons and items in that hand.
As shown on the back of the box, this set also includes a spare head and arms so you can make a human Baxter Stockman too. I love the expression on Baxter’s face as it captures the character perfectly. Due to the interchangeability of the heads and arms, you can also make a mutating Baxter using fly arms and regular head
The basic figures are larger than Lego Minifigs and smaller than Minimates. If they had elbow articulation, they would probably surpass Minimates but as it is, they come in a very close second to them.
The mutated Baxter figure fits in pretty well with Minimate figures as the increased head size brings him to around the same height.
I’m very excited about the upcoming figures and deciding which sets I need to get to get all the figures I want. Thankfully the instruction booklet has a full page showing the upcoming figures and which sets they are in
The rest of the set creates a very basic “lab” in that you have a giant Ooze container, some crates and a laptop. The green pieces of the canister have a swirl effect to simulate a clear container full of Ooze.
The Laptop and Crates have some nice details sculpted in them. The Crates are soft rubber and they have a handle sculpted into one of the corners to allow figures to carry them.
Overall the set is nice, but the figures are the real reason to grab this set. The sculpts are very well done and pretty show accurate and the articulation adds a nice dynamic to the figures. I even like the action feature in Leo as it doesn’t hinder the articulation as these type of features used to do in the past.
Comparing the price points from Lego to Mega Bloks, it’s a little surprising to find out you pay more for Mega Bloks than you did for similar sized sets from Lego (about 5 cents more per piece) But given the added articulation of the figures and action features, I can see why there’s an increase in price.
