All of my Last Ronin figures from NECA are still in their boxes. It’s not purposeful, but the first two I had were the Rogue Derelict and Black and White Last Ronin figures. They seemed like excellent “in box” candidates. That was followed by the Raphael First to Fall, which I had signed by Ben Bishop at Portsmouth Mini-Con in 2024, so that was staying in the box. I told myself I’d stop collecting there, but I picked up a Synja Patrol Bot after seeing a SultryBiscuit video about them and seeing them on discount at Walmart. I was done collecting the Last Ronin line from NECA.
Enter The Lost Years Nightwatcher Casey Jones.
Casey, April, and the rest of the three Nightwatcher turtles appear in one page of one comic. Has a cameo or short aside ever stopped an action figure from being made? Heck, Panda Khan has a great pair of action figures. Wyrm’s latest Cartoon series action figure is based on a commercial. Ace Duck was shown on a TV set inside the sewer lair for a brief moment and has one of the more memorable action figures in the Playmates line. One brief appearance in a comic interacting on a brilliant design? Let’s fuckin go!
The sheer number of TMNT action figures that have been released this year is staggering. Even solely the figures released during Haulathon would have been amazing, but the hits keep coming. There was a lot of excitement about the Nightwatcher figures from The Last Ronin’s The Lost Years comics, and for good reason. The Nightwatcher Casey Jones has an updated sculpt from The Last Ronin’s Casey Jones, mostly in the torso with an updated set of heads. I don’t have the Last Ronin Casey in hand, so it gets a little difficult for me based solely on photos and videos.
The Lost Year Casey Jones comes with two heads, masked and partially unmasked, four sets of hands, two bats, a sledgehammer, a cricket bat, a cape, and cowl. The details on the weapons are great and they feel real. My favorite accessory is the sledgehammer for the wash of paint on the grip tape and the worm look on the actual metal of the hammer. Between one hand, the holster and weapon holders on the cape, the figure can hold all the weapons he comes with. Unlike the Last Ronin Casey Jones, and almost all Casey Jones figures to date, there’s no golf bag to contain the weapons. One other surprising thing missing from the included arsenal is a hockey stick. I have a host of hockey sticks from other Casey Jones figures, so I wouldn’t say that I’m hurting for an additional weapon. The included cowl and cape are a nice touch, although getting them to sit comfortably on the figure is a little tricky. They’re both soft plastic, which I prefer to softgoods.
Because much of the arms and legs are similar, if not the same, sculpts as the other Casey in the line, NECA isn’t using the hidden peg trick with the double jointed elbows and knees. The figure has a barbell joint in the torso and the area between the belt and upper chest is hollow with a soft plastic, allowing for a good amount of ab movement. There’s no double barbell joint in the neck, which makes swapping heads easier. Figures like the Shredder as Dracula have a barbell that connects the neck to the head but a second that allows for some neck mobility, but that is usually at the cost of ease of popping the head into place.
The sculpt by May Thamtarana, specifically the armor and clothes, really stands out. May also sculpted The Last Ronin Casey Jones, Ultimate Footbot, Mirage Ultimate Foot Enforcer, and the upcoming 2012 Leo and Mikey, with contributions to the The Last Ronin Karai heads, the 1991 movie Keno and Tatsu bodies. May’s done some dynamite work for NECA, Mondo, Hasbro’s Marvel Legends, AEW by Jazwares, and Diamond Select Toys. This might be my favorite piece of work by May Thamtarana, but there’s a truly amazing looking Skeleton that May worked on for Mondo that I’d love to see in person.
This is likely the last sculpt change we’ll see for Casey Jones in The Last Ronin line of action figures from NECA. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a black and white variant of the non-Nightwatcher sculpt, but I’m not sure that we’ll otherwise find more figures coming. I can’t wait for this to not age well after San Diego Comic Con 2025.
Here’s something I haven’t praised before: the plastic packaging. NECA’s packaging usually features five to seven plastic ties holding the main action figure down and then the accessories, extra hands or heads, etc are held down in additional channels on either side of the figure. The side channels are usually held down by tape or more plastic ties but this figure’s side channels have no plastic ties and are locked into place solely with friction. That’s a huge win if you ask me!
I’d be remiss to not mention Ben Bishop‘s iconic box art for The Last Ronin series for NECA. It’s another banger and I’ll be happy to display it alongside the other pieces of his work. Will I hold it against him for not including the “101” at the top of the sledgehammer or teasing me with a hockey stick that isn’t in the box.
| Title | Credit |
| Director | Randy Falk Trevor Zammit |
| Sculpt & Fabrication | May Thamtarana |
| Paint | Geoff Trapp Mike Puzzo |
| Prototypes | Roger Fernandez |
| Photography | Stephen Mazurek |
| Illustrations | Ben Bishop Luis Antonio Delgado |
| Packaging | Travis Hastback |
2025 has been a wild year for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure releases. This Casey Jones is easily in my top five for the year from NECA. While I don’t think I’ll be picking up the Nightwatcher turtles, I’ll hold out for a full look at the Nightwatcher April. At the moment, NECA revealed a photo of a sculpt, but that’s it. Meanwhile, this figure might inspire me to break the Synja Patrol Bot out of the box and to pick up the Ultimate Foot Bot.
I picked up NECA’s TMNT The Last Ronin Nightwatcher Casey Jones in-person at Walmart, but it’s not an exclusive and is available at most retailers.