Playmates TMNT Stealth Tech Leonardo Review

A lot of the toy companies have been tightening their belts in the last year or so, cutting down on paint apps and articulation.  Playmates, which has been cranking out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures since 1988, has been impressing collectors with its latest line of Ninja Turtles toys based on the recent animated show.

Each of the original, "generic" Turtle figures had their own unique body design and an impressive number of joints.  Unfortunately, the supporting characters suffer more from less articulation and plainer  paint apps to make up for this, but it is nevertheless still quite a feat.

Now, there are two sub-lines of Turtles, basically Turtles with a gimmick. Ooze Launchers and Stealth Tech.  The Ooze Launchers is pretty obvious, and the Stealth Tech series features the Turtles in spy gear. Even in these lines, Playmates goes the extra mile in making sure each Turtle has their own unique outfit and gear.  That brings us, at long last, to our buddy, Leo.

Oh, you're finally going to talk about me, eh?

Leo, like each Turtle in the line, is dressed in black with a harness cast in his specific color, which is blue, of course.  He also has a specific visor which can come up.  The face is based on the animated look and might be the only thing recycled from the previous line.

Leo comes with a new pair of katanas, their sheath, a crossbow with projectile, and a zip-line. All of the accessories are new, and Playmates can afford it, because they cut costs by casting it all in black along with most of Leo's body. Less people are going to complain, because it works aesthetically.



I picked Leo, because he's always my favorite Turtle, and his spy design was the best.  My only complaint is that the sheath piece doesn't fit as tight in the back as I'd like, but it's adequate.

Basically, I like seeing Playmates using their brains to get around these hurdles instead of just dumping quality out the window.

Oh, and this is a really fun toy, too.

Sleath Tech Ninja? Isn't that redundant?