NECA’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cartoon Wyrm figure is based on three seconds of a 1991 advertisement for the Wyrm toy. While Panda Khan never made it to the cartoon, Wyrm was animated for a few moments. The NECA interpretation is weird, wonderful, and fun.
Which came first, the animated Wyrm or the toy Wyrm? Neither! The process to create a character was that Mirage was send a reference sheet for new characters to Playmates for toys, Fred Wolf for the cartoon, and whatever artist was working on the Adventures comic book for Archie Comics. In 2009, Steve Lavigne and Ryan Brown posted an the original Wyrm style guide from Mirage to their blog.
Wrym was created by Ryan Brown, who also created Hothead, Scratch, Monty Moose, King Lionheart, Halfcourt, Scumbug, Leatherhead, Doctor El, Wingnut, Ray Fillet, Sandstorm, and Mondo Gecko. 1991’s lineup was the best for the TMNT Playmates toys by far and Wyrm was right there.
NECA’s done some imaginative stuff with its accessories for this round of figures. Similarly to Panda Khan’s swappable head, Wyrm comes with two sets of eyes and a tongue addition. As a result, you can give him the bugged out eye action that the original figure had. The original toy came with “worm accessories” to put in his mouth, but NECA’s version swaps that out for the snap on wormy tongue.
The trash compactor mallet is a near re-creation of David Arshawsky’s design, covered in worms. The NECA figure doesn’t include the Porcupounder in favor of a wrench, which fits in with Wyrm’s vibe. NECA hasn’t really produced the sidekicks to go with their figures that Playmates did or Super7 currently does. The wrench isn’t adorned in anything weird or different, it’s just a wrench. The figure includes the “worm belt” the original figure did and the cartoon does, but as far as I can tell, it’s not removable.
The sculpt is by Tony Cipriano, who’s sculpted a lot of the Turtles for NECA. Among his work is Cartoon Burne, Stump Wrestling Turtles, Cryin’ Hound, Mona Lisa, Vacation Bebop and Rocksteady, the Universal Monster Turtles, Cartoon Wingnut, and Screwloose, adventures Ray Fillet, Dreadmon, Jagwar, Cartoon Metalhead, and Ace Duck. The depth of his experience and body of work is impressive. Something that all of his TMNT sculpts have in common is how expressive they are.
In terms of articulation, Wyrm is sporting the new NECA hidden pin double jointed knee on one leg and a soft-plastic leg with wire armature on the other. Elbows are single jointed but the shoulders are unencumbered from the Full Townshend (trademark TooMuchNewToys). NECA follows the cardinal rule of action figures: A mouth should open and close whenever possible. It was the first of the TMNT toys that could open and close its mouth and it would have been a literal crime to not give Wyrm an articulated mouth.
This post ended up being a little difficult for me to write. Between the start and posting, David Arshawsky passed away. Thinking about Wyrm made me realize the outsized influence that David Arshawsky’s designs had on my imagination as a kid. Arshawsky’s drawings and designs were so different and made the TMNT toys different and attracted me to them. Recently I bought Joshua HFX’s Radical Mutant Meyham Turtles Issue 01 and absolutely loved it. His comic is full of visual references that rewards you the longer you look at it.
| Title | Credits |
| Director | Randy Falk Trevor Zammit |
| Sculpt & Fabrication | Tony Cipriano Kushawara Studios |
| Paint | Geoff Trapp Mike Puzzo |
| Prototypes | Roger Fernandez |
| Photography | Stephen Mazurek |
| Illustrations | Aaron Hazouri |
| Packaging | Travis Hastback |
Wyrm was sold as part of a two-pack with Tattoo and was made available online during NECA/Target’s Haulathon on April 25, 2025 (week three), alongside Mirage Old Man Raphael and the Cartoon Panda Khan (archived Haulathon page). People started finding the figure in stores in the weeks prior, but I hadn’t found it in any of the Target stores near my home. It was a friend that found the two pack in a store in Upstate New York and brought it back for me! I have the best friends.