Playmates Toys TMNT Original Sketch Turtles (Black and White) vs NECA TMNT - The First Turtles (Black and White) Review and Images

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means: ToyFarce review!

This week, we're having a look at 2 different versions of the same thing: Playmates Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Original Sketch (Black and white version) and NECA's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The First Turtles (Black and white version)! I decided to group them instead of posting those over 2 different weeks, they were going to be compared anyway (and it helps reduce my backlog!). Now, who won? Spoiler: The fans!



I posted a review of the colored version of the Playmates Toys ones last year (which can be found here), so if you want to have a deeper dive into those, there are more infos in that full review. However, those black and white versions are WAY better than the colored ones. First of all, they are more accurate to the source (when the turtles all wore red bandanas, and the comic book was in black and white), plus the paint on them (panel lining or comic book lines) really makes them look great. They look like they popped right out of that printed drawing that came with them. It makes it a bit more obvious that they use the same body also, but that's not really an issue. For a fun, cheap set, it's awesome (well, not as cheap as the colored ones, those had a bit of a markup, since they were PX Exclusives).


Every box has a sleeve! Fancy!
































Comparison with the colored versions


The NECA versions represent a different set of drawings, the very first ones that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird did, to make each other laugh. I've always wanted to have one of those, but the statues that came out in the past tend to be on the more expensive side, so I was glad when NECA announced those. They look spot on, exactly like the drawings they're inspired from. Those black and white versions are also better than the colored ones, since the drawings were in black and white to begin with. The First Turtles both come with 2 heads, 2 pairs of hands, all 4 of the TMNT weapons (so you can switch which turtle it is, or just buy 4 sets to have one of each), as well as a tonfa and a nunchuck effect. Compared to the Playmates Toys ones, which are rather small and light, those are big and heavy! The Kevin Eastman one is a BRICK. The panel lining/comic book lines have more details on those ones too. They're definitely a higher quality, premium versions of them. (No comparison pictures with the colored versions because NECA has yet to send me the sets that I ordered on Day 1 in July last year. Sigh...)

























So who won? Us. The fans. We get amazing, accurate plastic representations of the drawings that started it all. We can get small versions with a nostalgic feel from Playmates Toys, or big higher end collectible versions from NECA. Or both! Those 3 drawings (Kevin's, Peter's and the 4 turtles) are iconic, and we can now have them on our shelves. What a time to be alive!



More news at 11:00... Cowabunga... in black and white!