CobraShadowJoes: Turdsday's Back, Back Again...Playmates 2015 SDCC Exclusive Edition

Turdsday was a regular installment we started a few months back. The idea was to come up with a new one every Thursday. We tried it out for a bit, and some people seemed to like it. With that said, we decided it wasn't really worth the time and effort. We decided to save it for special occasions for when a toy company really shits the bed. Well, today is that day!

Today's special TURD of the Day is the one and only Playmates Toys. I am one hugely disappointed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. Last night at midnight they finally announced what their SDCC exclusive item would be. They hyped it up for days and days and were planning to announce it on Sunday night at midnight. Product aside, that was a stupid PR move that made no sense. It only seemed to piss people off. Some genius at their corporate office was like "Hey guys! I have the greatest idea ever. Let's tease this shit for two weeks straight, make everyone wait, and then announce it on a SUNDAY night at MIDNIGHT when everyone is sleeping!" Yeah, awesome idea guys! You guys are so smart! Meanwhile, every other toy company in the world was pumping out press releasees left and right in regards to their exclusives.

At least, Playmates changed their minds and moved the reveal date from Sunday up to Wednesday (still at midnight), but only after many TMNT fans complained to them...and the fact that the item leaked online (or at least rumors) and everyone pretty much already knew what it was!

So on to the super disappointing Playmates SDCC exclusive. For a few days leading up to yesterday fans online were already speculating what the exclusive would be....a Metal Mutants Leonardo. I was NOT thrilled with that choice and was really hoping that the rumors were not true. I wasn't even a fan of the original, but if that is really what they chose then I figured it would be a retro homage similar to the figure below.

That crap is bad enough, but I could live with a retro homage of sorts. Well, last night comes and the big reveal happens (at midnight which again is stupid bad PR move). Sadly, the rumors were not false. We are getting a 11" Metal Mutants Leo...based off the NEW figures. Uhhhhh!!!! I am an enormously huge TMNT fan, but this looks like crap. To add insult, to injury word is they will be releasing a similar item to retail in the future. I have gotten the last three Playmates TMNT SDCC exclusives, but I am not wasting money on this one. It will be the first one I don't get, and frankly, Playmates doesn't deserve my money. They take a retro idea and then instead of doing a homage they ruin it with this...

Playmates has shown to us over and over again that they do not care about their fans or the collectors market in general. Fans of the original TMNT line have been getting the shaft from Playmates big time over the last year or so. When Playmates decided to come out with the retro and classic lines I know that many TMNT fans such as myself were very excited. Personally, I picked every single one of the original retro reissues. I also got all of the bigger, articulated classic line figures...all four cartoon Turtles, all four movie turtles, and Bebop and Rocksteady. Playmates was really on to something. They really got their fans excited when they announced that they would be coming out with a classic version of both Krang and Shredder!!! Talk about kick ass! However, right when they got us all hyped up about it they turned around and pulled the plug on the project. What the hell, right? Us retro fans get the shaft once again.

Playmates is only hurting themselves with these moves. Most of us have zero interest for their crappy, new figures with horrid paint apps. It's like they don't even care. It's like they just lazily slap together a piece of crap and rush it to the shelves. This is not acceptable.

Playmates, you ignore your hardcore adult collector fan base at your own peril. We will just go elsewhere to get the products that we want. A great example is the new third-party First Gokin NT-01 Cerebral figure. Yes, it's pricier, but it is exactly EVERYTHING we have always wanted in an Android Krang figure. If Playmates decided to stick to their plans and make a Krang I bet a good number of people would have bought their version because of the price difference. However, by scrapping Krang they forced their fans to go buy from another company.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise because the First Gokin figure is kick ass! I'll gladly stick with them...even with the hefty price tag.