Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder

Where would a TMNT reboot be without the Shredder? With a new figure line based on the upcoming Nickelodeon cartoon series, you gotta have the leader of the evil Foot Clan and arch nemesis of the turtles, but how well does ol’ tinhead translate into a toy?

Sculpt, Build and Deco
Shredder looks like he should, with a silver mask and helmet, as well as blades on his shoulders arms and boots. Like the turtles, he has a stylized design, with big blades and some really big feet. He’s dressed in brown, with silver armor on his chest and hips, a purple belt and purple trim on his boots. He doesn’t seem to be as detailed as the turtles, but he’s still covered in sculpted details like scales on his armor, straps holding the armor, and hinges on his helmet. There are some minor shortcomings: the articulation pins in his legs are the wrong color, and the armor straps on his chest are unpainted. Overall though, he’s pretty nice looking.

Scale
At around 5 1/2″ tall, Shredder is the tallest figure in this line, just barely topping the Kraang figure because of the blades on his helmet. He’s also a bit taller than 2002 Shredder.

Nick Shredder / 2002 Shredder

Articulation
Most of Shredder’s articulation is awkward. His legs can move forward and back as well as out to the sides, but the way it’s set up doesn’t work quite as well as the turtles or April. There’s also no more articulation in the rest of the legs, mostly notable is the lack of knee joints. That along with those giant feet, it’s like he’s lugging around bricks. His shoulders can rotate and bend out, but the range is limited and the shoulder blades get in the way. The elbows bend and rotate like the turtles, but the rotation is really tight while the bend is REALLY loose. Plus they don’t bend very far; actually going further the wrong way than the right way. The wrists and waist are perfectly normal rotation joints at least, and his head turns all the way around, but doesn’t go up and down at all. So, other than those loose elbows, at least he has better articulation than the 1987 or 2002 Shredders. It just feels like half of what he does have goes to waste.

It’s not hard to get him to stand since his range of useful leg poses is limited, and he has those big feet. The right foot isn’t quite flat though, in one of those dynamic poses, so it’s a bit harder than it should be. Like the turtles, he has the same foot holes as the Classic Collection turtles, and can use their stands.

Accessories
Shredder includes a sword and 2 shuriken. They’re nice to have, but he doesn’t hold any of them too well. The shuriken are a bit too big for his hands, and the sword is a bit too small. The sword also just looks too small for him. Why have this puny sword when he’s already covered in blades?

Wrap Up
Although I’m frustrated by how awkward his articulation is, Shredder looks pretty nice and is not bad for a toy aimed at kids and cheaper than a Star Wars figure. The turtles set a high standard this figure doesn’t meet, but it’s still a welcome addition. If you want one, these figures are in stores now and probably pretty easy to find.