Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-Machines Series Two and Three Review
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The T-Machines line didn't seem to explode in popularity following its introduction in 2015. But it seems to have down well enough that it is
continuing, or at least completing the full original line up with the three vehicles that were missing initially: Casey Jones in his Ice Machine,
Raph in Armored Truck and Donnie in Patrol Buggy. And then, just as I was finishing the review for them, three new T-Machines showed up in the
local stores including Rat King, Turflytle, and the much anticipated Donnie in the Speed Demon.
Packaging - 9/10The packaging for the T-Machines is a small card, similar in size to a Hot Wheels card. But the T-Machines each feature unique artwork of the toy on the card. The back has a quick explanation of the T-Machines toys and photos of all of the T-Machines released so far. It is a simple design but the artwork looks great and is really convenient when you are searching for a particular T-Machine on a crowded peg.
Sculpting - Donnie in Patrol Buggy 6/10, others 7/10Donnie in Patrol Buggy is not the same sculpt as Mikey in Patrol Buggy. But we have already seen the sculpt in the Midnight Mutant 4 Pack. It is nice to see the effort. But there is very little to it that really sets it apart from Mikey's version. All of the vehicles look great without being overly stylized. And any opportunity to reintroduce the Battle Shell from the 2003 series, which is the Armored Truck which Raph is driving, is a good thing in my opinion. I really like the way the Speed Demon vehicle turned out. But the possessed Donnie is one of the weakest sculpts of the six vehicles. The arms look too human and I think that the exaggerated grin curls up too far. But none of the vehicles look bad or boring.
Paint - Speed Demon Donnie 2/10, Casey Jones 3/10, Rat King 6/10, others 5/10For the most part, the paint work on the T-Machine vehicles is not too bad given how small the vehicles are. Most of the details are not painted. But the large parts are. And that is enough to make most of the vehicles look decent. Donnie in the Speed Demon is the worst in terms of the painting. The vehicle doesn't need a lot of paint. Though some detail work would always be nice. But it's Donnie himself that is the problem. His entire body is completely the wrong color. And even the head which is green, is the wrong shade of green. The lack of paint work on Casey Jones' outfit is a similar issue. He ended up being left as a grey blob. Turflytle could use more detail work as well. But he is passable as is. The best of the two series is Rat King, mostly because neither the herse nor the character need a lot of color. Rat King himself looks fine. But none of the rats on the roof or the windows and other details on the back are all unpainted.
Accessories - 0/10As with the other T-Machines, the figures are permanently attached to the vehicles and they have no other accessories.
Value - Donnie in Patrol Buggy 4/10, Rat King 7/10, Others 5/10The price for the T-Machines remains at $4 each. That is a bit pricey, especially when it isn't the first time you may be buying that vehicle as is the case with Donnie in the Patrol Buggy. Fortunately some stores have been dropping the price to $3 each which greatly improves their value.
Happy Hunting:The series two T-Machines have been shipping in the assortment along with the previously released ones for a few months. Thankfully, they seem be shipping with more than one of each in each case as they don't seem to be terribly difficult to find once the old stock sells through. I bought mine from Toys R Us. But I have seen them at Walmart and Target stores as well. The series three T-Machines just showed up in the last few days at Walmart here. They should start showing up more widely as time goes by though.
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