I picked up a pile of Super7 Ultimates from Facebook Marketplace and I don’t think that Super7’s Playmates-style Ultimates figures get nearly enough love. The conversation around these figures has been historically dominated by cost or more recently by the layoffs caused by unpredictable tariffs.
Super7 announced the Ultimates TMNT line in 2019, released wave one in 2020 and the Playmates-inspired designs lasted through eleven different waves through 2025. Coincidentally, this purchase was a bit of a history lesson through the figures that were included in the pickup. There are some duplicates in what I picked up, but overall I still got a great price for the lot and I’ll trade or sell off what I already have.
I’ve often said that if you had these toys as a kid and, as an adult, pictured what they looked like you would be picturing Super7’s figure. Every small detail of the sculpts, realized, portions of the sculpts left unpainted by Playmates to save cost, painted. With no real credits for the figure sculpts, it’s hard to know exactly when Four Horsemen Studios’ contributions to the line ceased, but I’ve read that Four Horsemen sculpted waves one through nine before Super7 took it in house.
They came “packaged” in dog poop bags, which was new for me. They were complete, with the exception of the weapon racks. Casey Jones came with his three hockey pucks, which are probably the easiest accessories to lose among anything, so I guess that can appreciate the attention to detail with the poop bags. Let’s rank them all for literally no good reason!
1: Slash
Slash was released as part of Wave 6 along with Ace Duck, Sewer Surfer Mike, Mouser, and Scratch. It was also the first Super7 figure that I picked up for my collection. I pre-ordered the figure in October of 2021 and didn’t receive it until October of 2022, a full year and a week after the pre-order. Far from my last purchase, but the only one I made from Super7 directly. You’ll have to argue with me for a long time that Slash isn’t the absolute best Super7 Ultimates from the TMNT line. While Slash’s design is still lost to time, they do a great job of scaling it up.
The Super7 figures I’ve purchased new haven’t really had the issue with loose legs, but I’ve encountered it with used figures. This Slash, while not completely loose legged, does have some issues standing upright. While I’ve got MPS Loose Joints Fix on my Amazon wishlist, I haven’t made the purchase yet to test it out. I kinda figured it was the same as throwing some superglue on the ball of a ball joint while it’s removed.
2. Bebop
Bebop was released in Wave 2 in 2021 along with Shredder, Leonardo, and Mutagen Man. He comes with the Playmates pink head and an alternate head that matches his body color. I prefer that head by a million percent. I don’t know why Playmates went with an overly pink face, but I’ve hated every pink-faced I’ve ever seen.
One of my favorite things about the modern lines of TMNT figures is the scale that’s available to use. Playmates, to this day, are still constrained by packaging and scale. The original toys were constrained by the plastic bubble on the packaging, which is also why Shredder was in such a weird pose. I will have to go back and listen to the full interview again, but I’m pretty sure that during the 2024 interview with Turtle Tracks, Pat Linden and Jeff Trojan discussed that the Technodrome re-release was scaled down in order to fit in the box better.
The JoyToy Bebop might be my favorite in my collection, but I’ll have to take a closer look at these two together. Super7 stays close to the original where JoyToy uses it as inspiration. Beyond that, Super7 fails the golden rule and the jaw is permanently shut and unarticulated. Points deducted.
3. Rocksteady
Rocksteady was released as part of Wave 3 in the summer of 2021 along with April O’Neil, Metalhead, and Michelangelo. While he has a pile of weapons and accessories, there’s no alternative head sculpt. The original Playmates Rocksteady was a bit more toonish than Bebop, and the so this one does a little bit more coloring outside the lines than his compatriot in Bebop.
As with Bebop, there’s no jaw articulation so we can’t see this dude with an open mouth. I actually can’t think of a Super7 figure that house that kind of articulation. It’s something that NECA does with all of their Bebop and Rocksteady figures and it’s something that JoyToy also did. In addition, there’s no bicep articulation, so the arms are only shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. It limits what the figure can do, but in a way it feel appropriate for this beefy beast.
4. Foot Soldier
The Foot Solder was released in the first wave of Super7’s Ultimates line of TMNT in the fall of 2020. Super7 would eventually released a Battle Damaged” version in their last 1987 wave of figures, but these came with no alternative heads. There were two different versions released of these figures, but I can’t find any references online to what’s different between them.
I was never an army builder, but have two of these guys is a lot of fun. It’s another case of closing your eyes and thinking about the original figures and this look basically nailed it completely. It’s a simple design, but in my hand it felt so right that it’s hard to imagine improvements.
5. Rat King
Rat King was released in late 2024 as part of the Super7 Ultimates TMNT wave eleven along with the Battle Damaged Foot Soldier, Ninja Nomad Leo, and Rapper Mike. He came with three heads, one close to the original Playmates figure, an open-mouthed version, and then the sexy head to match Rat King’s appearance in the video game Shredder’s Revenge. There were a series of changes that Super7 made to their figures around this time to detach them from the 1:1 Playmates designs. The original Rat King was all sexy heads and a design that was cleaner.
Rat King is a tall fellow, full of Super7 delightful detail and the accessories are weird and fantastic and holds true to the colors of the original. While I like the original heads, the bizarreness of the sexy head paired with the haggard body will dictate my Rat King is going to be Sexy Rat King while on display.
6. Shredder
Shredder was released as part of wave 2 along with Bebop, Leonardo, and Mutagen Man in late 2020. He comes with an alternate head that matches the weird Playmates mistake of printing his eyebrows on his helmet and can stand upright without any issues, unlike the original. Something else that I appreciate from Super7 with this figure is a softgoods and plastic cape. I’m not a fan of softgoods at all, so I immediately swapped out the softgoods cape for the plastic one.
I can’t tell why I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for the Shredder figure with its blue and purple color scheme, but it just doesn’t completely stick for me. I appreciate that he’s not, by default, in his weird crouched pose like the original toy.
7. Sewer Samurai Leonardo
Sewer Samurai Leonardo was released as part of wave six along with Ray Fillet, Krang, and Leatherhead in 2022. He comes with an alternative head that’s Hannya-inspired. It’s pretty much a 1:1 with the original Playmates toy, but there’s something lacking with the figure and I’m not sure what it is. The paint mostly matches the Playates paint job as it appeared in the original 1990 Toy Fair catalog, with some small exceptions. I’d have liked to see the armor fully painted, but that wasn’t the direction Super7 went in.
I have a gripe with Sewer Samurai Leonardo, and this figure doesn’t fix that gripe, so it remains on my shit list. There’s an existing Sewer Samurai Leonardo in the Action Figure Library, which I purchased from a mysterious man at ToyCon NJ 2024. The one I purchased had super wobbly legs an this one also has some wobbly legs, although not as bad. If not for this persistent issue, the alternative head sculpt would have pushed this figure higher on the list.
9. Casey Jones
Casey Jones was released as part of wave four of Super7 Ultimates TMNT at the end of 2021. alongside Donatello, Mondo Gecko, and Muckman & Joe Eyeball. He comes with a whole cadre of weapons and golf bag and no alternative heads. He’s got the classic paint job on his crop top, sweatpants, shoulder armor, and sneakers.
I hate the mask. I hate it to much. I actually have this figure in the action Figure Library already. I picked it up on discount from Big Bad Toy Store in late 2023 and had regrets. I think Super7 knew they messed this one up because when they released a Mirage color Casey Jones version, they changed the mask sculpt. Anyway, this one is headed for the trade and sell bin and it’s at the bottom of the list for that reason.
9. Snake Eyes
How did this guy sneak in here? the guy who sold it to me said he “tossed it in as a bonus.” I wasn’t allowed to have action figures who used guns as their main weapons, so GI Joe was never something I had or watched. This Snake Eyes has a super loose ad crunch. Immediately at the bottom of the list.
I am completely happy with this haul. I’ll look to trade off or sell Slash, Casey and Sewer Samurai Leonardo, but the rest of them are great additions. I’m pumped to add the Rocksteady and Bebop to the Action Figure Library.