Recommended music: Krause – No Guts, No Glory (Seymour Bits Remix)
Moving on this #TurtleTuesday, we’re taking a quick look at the NECA Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutagen Man!
The design for this Mutagen Man figure is based on his brief appearance in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. Though the character debuted in the vintage Playmates TMNT toyline in 1990, he did not make an appearance in the cartoon until the fall of 1991 with the season five episode “Enter: Mutagen Man.” In the show, a wayward deliveryman (Seymour Gutz) falls into a vat of a random chemical, like so many Batman villains, and gets put right into service for Shredder.
The TMNT toy line featured many accessories and action figures that were designed to be gross-looking, including Mutagen Man. The original Mutagen Man toy had peeling skin. It revealed bones and fleshy muscle tissue. It also held a tank for a body with a scary brain head inside.
As this modern figure is based on the cartoon, he really comes off as much more of a cute aesthetic than a total gross-out. While the vintage Playmates figure could be opened so that ooze could be poured in, the cartoon and modern toys accomplish a cool look without the use of additional slime.
Mutagen Man arrived in a two-pack with Ace Duck and plenty of accessories. In addition to an interchangeable head that is accessed through the tank, he comes with seven hands to pick from, a canister of Bindex-3, which impacted his mutation on the show, and an additional weapon.
Even though I never had the vintage Playmates figure, I really enjoy this NECA version as the paint apps and design really fit in well with the other cartoon figures, while also including modern articulation and plenty of display options.
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Dale's Toys 