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It’s #TurtleTuesday, so let’s check out another NECA Toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splinter!
In the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, Master Splinter is the team’s emotional anchor, mentor, and adoptive father. Screenwriter David Wise is mainly responsible for changing Splinter’s backstory. When Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and Playmates wanted to turn Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s dark comic into a show for kids, they brought in Wise to create the pilot miniseries and lead the writing team.
Wise combined Hamato Yoshi and Splinter into one character for two main reasons. In the original Mirage comics, Splinter was a pet rat who learned ninjutsu by copying his owner from inside a cage. Wise thought this idea was too far-fetched for the show and believed it made more sense for a human ninja master to become a rat and teach his skills.
In the comic book, Oroku Saki (Shredder) kills Hamato Yoshi and his wife, leaving their pet rat alone in the sewers. But 1980s children’s TV rules would not allow a cartoon to focus on such a violent backstory. By making Splinter and Hamato Yoshi the same person, Wise kept the character alive, met TV standards, and made the rivalry between Splinter and Shredder central to the series.
Since Splinter is Hamato Yoshi, his fight with the Foot Clan is personal. He stands for the honor and humanity that Shredder took away, giving the story emotional depth. While the cartoon is full of wild sci-fi and the Turtles’ goofy behavior, Splinter is the moral center who keeps them focused. As this combined character, he turns the four pizza-loving turtles into a skilled ninja team ready to protect New York.
NECA released this 1987 cartoon version of Splinter in a 2020 two-pack with Baxter Stockman (in fly form). The figure looks like his classic animated style, with a hinged jaw, bendable tail, and a soft fabric robe. He comes with several accessories, including an ancient ninja scroll, his cane, a fabric meditation mat, extra hands for different poses, a katana with a flame effect, two martial arts books, and a medallion from a specific episode.
The figure may not have much articulation, but it is the best version of the 1987 cartoon Splinter available and a must-have for any 1987 cartoon display.
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