Tag Archives: TMNT

Which one of you goes “Kowabunga”?

Ever struggled to remember which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was which? If so, Dan Ko has provided a handy guide in LEGO form, with some beautifully-made sculptures. I never was that into the show, so I always had a hard time remembering the names (although I do recognise this first one as Donatello). Normally I just wondered how they ended up settling on these particular adjectives for characters in a kids’ show…

“OK team, we need some new animal characters for a kids’ TV show. Any ideas?”

“Turtles! But on their own? A bit four-legged – let’s make them mutant turtles, so they can be humanoids. And let’s make them ninjas too. Ninjas are cool! Still not relatable enough though… How about we have them be teenagers? The Mutant Turtle Ninja Teenagers! And we can name them after Renaissance artists!”

“Uh… Sounds great. The name needs some work though…”

See the rest of the gang after the jump

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It is currently cowabunga hours

“The perimeter’s quiet.” “Yeah, a little TOO quiet.” It feels like we’ve all forgotten that there were actual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets some time ago. Unlike the lifespan of LEGO’s short-lived theme, LEGO fans will build Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo for generations to come. Alex Jones (Orion Pax), the builder of all things pop culture, recently designed some nifty large scale figures of the loveable pizza-consuming reptiles.

Not only is each Ninja Turtle recognisable by his coloured masks but also of their unique weapons. Alex also went out of his way to make each character a different shade of green. And it wouldn’t be possible without the Hulk arm pieces coming in those colours. I particularly like the use of minifig seats as the shells and minifig legs as the hands and feet.

Check out more builds by Alex here!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Mech!?

This LEGO model could either be a buildable figure of Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series or a mech version of the pizza-loving reptilian character. Either way this build by Cecilie Fritzvold seems like a fresh new take on character depictions from the franchise.

Cowabunga, let’s take a look at some interesting parts usage utilized in this build! Where Michelangelo’s six-packed underbelly would normally be, Fritzvold uses two trans-clear orange Nexo Knights parts to shape this area – a pentagonal tile and a windscreen. Minifigure legs are also incorporated in interesting ways here; two green pairs serve as Michelangelo’s hands while a disassembled orange pair is used in tandem with some slope parts to create a martial arts belt. It’s always nice to see unique parts such as the chain element be included in models – here, they serve as nunchuck chains. I like builds that blend interesting parts in popping colors together, and this model certainly does just that. If you’re interested in viewing more colorful LEGO TMNT mechs, Fritzvold created a few more pictured below.

Teenage Mutant Ninja BrickHeadz

Four years have passed since LEGO last produced sets based on the Ninja Turtles TV series. If BrickHeadz had existed back in 2014, we would have likely seen sets featuring blocky versions of the turtles. Fortunately, Charles P has filled the void with seven charming BrickHeadz versions of characters from the classic franchise. All four of the turtles are here, complete with their appropriate weapons. Raphael’s tilted eyes perfectly capture his “rude” attitude from the original TV show’s opening song. Master Splinter, Shredder and even Krang have also received the BrickHeadz treatment, and they look just as whimsical and fun. Speaking of fun, I think singing the show’s opening song is the best way to introduce Charles’ models.

“When the evil Shredder attacks, these turtle boys don’t cut him no slack.”

See more TMNT BrickHeadz after the jump

79104 Shellraiser Street Chase [Review]

I sat down with my boys a while back to build the new LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 79104 Shellraiser Street Chase set. When I first heard that LEGO was coming out with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets, to say that I was excited was an understatement. The Turtles were a favourite of mine when I was a kid, and actually it wasn’t until I heard of the LEGO sets that I knew there was a new cartoon on Nickelodeon.

I will start with my overall impressions, and then go into the finer points. The set has 620 pieces, retails for $59.99 USD ($74.99 CDN) and comes with a total of 5 minifigures. I would definitely recommend this set to any TMNT fan, and actually also for those looking for a parts pack…even with this being a licenced theme set the price point is very good for the amount of pieces you get. This is a very well-designed set in terms of playability and ruggedness. The finished product is a nicely sized Shellraiser with a fair amount of play features, and a small, but very cool bad-guy truck.

The Build

I will admit to using child labour for this part, as I pretty much let Tate build it for me. (Well honestly I don’t think he would have let me build it even if I wanted to). I did follow along with him the entire time, and apart from a few points where he had placed a few pieces incorrectly, he was able to build the entire set in about an hour and a half. He was able to follow the instructions very well, so clearly adult LEGO fans wouldn’t have any issues with them. The one thing that really stood out for me was the use of some nice building techniques. We aren’t talking blow your mind SNOT or anything, but there certainly were not any shortcuts taken. In particular with the bad-guy pizza delivery truck, as a secondary part of the set, I was actually surprised by how cool the little model ends up…it is exceedingly fun to zoom around!

The Parts

There was a total of 5 poly bags along with the sticker sheet, two tires and vehicle base. The minifigs were a highlight for both me and the boys. The turtles are so brilliantly designed, and I really love the fact that they used different shades of green for each of them. The baddies are also nothing to sneeze at, and are another example of ever-increasing quality of figure design and detail that LEGO has been churning out. The fact that Dog Pound has standard fig legs with the oversized torso works so perfectly, and does make me laugh a little bit too. Obviously the highlight of the bricks themselves are the new olive green ones. But there is a very nice selection of smaller pieces and commonly used parts that actually makes this set a pretty good choice for parting out. That being said, we have had the set for going on 2 months now and Tate still won’t let me strip it for pieces.

Final Thoughts

The set is an absolute hoot to play with. The Shellraiser has a tonne of neat play features: the roof is removable, there are flip-out computer panels and weapon racks, the rocket launcher on the roof, and the cherry on top is most definitely the adjustable wheels to allow it to roll on railroad (subway) track. After two months of being played with hard by my boys the set is still going strong, with only the red garbage can missing (Milo has a thing for garbage cans and won’t tell us where he put it). If you are a TMNT fan of any kind, you NEED to buy this set…and if you are just looking for parts, well, it is still a good choice.

It should also be noted the comic strip box art was done by TBB’s own Paul Lee.

Check out my full photoset for all the pictures.

And when you rush out to buy this, be sure to follow the links below and help out The Brothers Brick at the same time.

$59.99 from the LEGO Shop: 79104 The Shellraiser Street Chase
$54.86 from Amazon.com: 79104 The Shellraiser Street Chase

All Jan 2013 LEGO sets now available – Arkham, Chima, TMNT, Friends... [News]

Continuing our post-holiday LEGO news catchup, this is just a quick reminder that all the January 2013 LEGO sets are now available from the LEGO Shop online.

Highlights include the new LEGO Batman set 10937 Arkham Asylum Breakout.

The rest of the 2013 LEGO Super Heroes sets are also online now, including new Spider-Man and other Batman sets.

The new LEGO Train set 10233 Horizon Express is out.

The full range of LEGO Legends of Chima sets are also available, and you can get a free Ewar’s Acro-Fighter with any $75 purchase.

The complete list of Legends of Chima sets:

(For behind-the-scenes technical reasons, that list took me forever, so we’ll just give you banner links from here on out.)

The LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets were released a little early elsewhere, but they’re now on LEGO.com as well.

Finally (for today), LEGO Friends gets a complete refresh for 2013 with (count ’em) eleven new sets.

79103 Turtle Lair Attack [Review]

Here is a video review of 79103 Turtle Lair Attack. It was just made available from the Lego store and online. I enjoyed building this set and it has many colorful earth-toned bricks that may be useful. There are also several play features as I will show in the video. It’s a decent set and well rounded in all aspects.

2013 LEGO Star Wars & TMNT sets out now on Amazon.com + more deals [News]

Some of next year’s LEGO Star Wars sets are out a couple weeks early on Amazon.com. They’ve also discounted a bunch more LEGO sets.

First up, 75005 Rancor Pit comes with Luke, Rancor keeper, and Gamorrean guard minifigs, plus the monstrous Rancor. The set has 380 pieces and goes for $59.99.

Amazon had also briefly listed 9516 Jabba’s Palace for $99, so we hope some of you picked up this wonderfully complementary set to go with the Rancor pit. But the good news in Tatooine-themed LEGO Star Wars sets is that you can still pick up 9496 Desert Skiff for $5 off.

Three smaller 2013 LEGO Star Wars are also out now on Amazon.com:

Next, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set 79104 The Shellraiser Street Chase is also out on Amazon, with five minifigs and 620 pieces (including lots of olive green) at $59.99.

Several other TMNT sets are also available for order a little early:

Finally, the LEGO Lord of the Rings set 9472 Attack on Weathertop is nearly 30% off, down to $42.75

All via FBTB, who’re on a roll this week with the sales news!

TMNT: 79100 Kraang’s Lab Escape [Review]

I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets in my local toy store today, which is the first time I’d seen them in person. So, naturally, I picked one up.

I just nabbed the smallest one for now, because I must confess that I’ve never really watched TMNT.

So this review will be purely from the Lego point of view, as I can offer no helpful advice about how closely the sets adhere to the show (also, you should be able to tell that yourself from the official photos).

Kraang’s Escape Lab (79100) has 90 pieces and an MSRP of USD $12.99, which feels about right for a licensed set of this size, and there are no stickers in sight, which is terrific.

Kraang’s little legged vehicle is a pretty nice build, and feels very playable. The cockpit rotates independently of the legs, and it’s got one of those ubiquitous flick-fire missiles mounted on each side. I do wish canister bit underneath weren’t there, as it touches the ground, even though the legs are perfectly capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle. Inside the cockpit are two flat silver 1×1 round tiles with a marvelous simple dial printing.

Kraang himself is a pretty awesome little alien monster. I was surprised to discover that he’s actually a headpiece, and includes a solid dark pink head inside. He and the head-clinger from Alien Conquest can duel it out for control of your minifigs’ brains. The two minifigs are both good designs, and both include printed backs. The holding cell has a catapult function to break Michelangelo out, which works quite well for its simplicity. I’m excited about Michelangelo’s nun-chucks, because I can always use more short chains and brown tubing.

I really wish, though, that the handles were the Bar 3L piece (like a shorter light-sabre blade) instead of a 3-long piece of pneumatic tubing. A neat bonus though was that several of the pieces I found most useful were included as extras. All in all, it’s an average set–nothing here to get too excited about (unless you’re a huge fan of the license), but still competent for what it is.

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Tag Archives: TMNT

Which one of you goes “Kowabunga”?

It is currently cowabunga hours

Teenage Mutant Ninja Mech!?

Teenage Mutant Ninja BrickHeadz