Toy Review: Playmates’ April O’Neil

Playmates April O’Neil

Want to see something stupid?

I just bought 10 of the same figure.

That’s right, 10 of the same toy.

Now before you go crying, “Hoarders must die!”, these were all clearance items that have been on sale for several days now. No one wanted them when they were on sale at SRP, no one wanted them when they went on sale at discount, no one wanted them when they went to clearance. No one except for me, that is.

The reason I want them is that I had hoped to build an army of Mousers for my NECA Turtles who are woefully without bad guys since NECA has left us hanging with wave 2. Let’s face it though, the NECA Mousers even at p700 a set (p1000 if you’re wanting the April and Mousers with articulated jaws pack) is just too ridiculously expensive. The sets I’m reviewing here only cost p100 at their current sale price at the Toy Town in Eastwood. I bought about half their stock on the shelf.

Apparently, the incarnation that this turtles line spawned from is one where April O’Neil is a computer genius and not a jet set reporter. At least that’s what I get from her bio in the back.

Sadly, the sale only included these figures, a few Splinters and a Flash Forward Dark Michaelangelo. I supposed I might have missed out on the other figures, but I doubt it. No Casey Jones or Shredders in this batch. Nor were there any turtles besides the aforementioned Dark Mike. It was a clearance sale and the stuff that finds it’s way to the bargain bin is generally stuff people don’t see as valuable enough to spend money on.

Which is why this figure in particular is included. The April figure is quite honestly the worst figure I currently own. She doesn’t look particularly good, with quite possibly the most plain outfit I’ve ever seen on an action figure. She’s not even posed in an appealing way. Basically she’s just standing there, limbs splayed out. You can’t even pose her to actually use the laptop. Playmates’ articulation made sure of that. She’s got a 5-point layout, all swivels. They’re not even very useful swivels (the ones on the hips are a V-cut that does nothing for nobody). She doesn’t even make up for this suck with accessories. She has a PIPE and a LAPTOP. She can hold the pipe and the laptop, but in nothing approaching a stance that comes close to being even construed as threatening.

Only two things save this from being a total loss.

One: She’s got the mother of all camel toes (granted this could be a figment of my warped imagination which has been corrupted by the best).

Two: She comes with two articulated Mousers.

That’s right. Two. Articulated. Mousers. 1/10 the price of the SDCC NECA April O’Neil, you get pretty much the same thing. They’re even close to the same scale, so they fit nicely with the NECA Turtles. They’re still designed in a cartoony way, but they’re a little less round and cutesy looking. Their also missing all those lovely comic book-y lines that NECA added in. And their Articulated Jaw is spring loaded, which means that it doesn’t stay open so you can’t photography tnem with mouths agape.

But hey, for the price of 1 NECA set, I’ve got an army of 20 Mousers ready to chomp some Turtle meat.

Not to mention the April O’Neil harem. Turtles need love too, you know.

I’ve also got 10 plastic laptops (about 1/18 scale) and 10 pipe pieces. I’ve got no idea what to do with these things, really. I’m not big on customizing (’cause I’m lazy as all get out), so I’m trying to think of something that isn’t too labor intensive. I could probably use them for Marvel Legends, but I have neither a Microchip toy, nor any of the Morlocks…

Oh well. I suppose they’ll all be dropped in my bits box. Or I’ll give the Aprils to some of my cousins and start them on the long hard road of hot girl statue collecting. Sure it’s not that hot… but that only means they’ve got room to imporve their collection.