TMNT Movie Big Foot Review

If you have seen the TMNT movie, you no doubt recognize the guy pictured above. If not, then get your butt to a video store. You won't be disappointed. For those that have seen the movie, you know that even if Big Foot didn't play a major role in the story, he is one of only two of the thirteen monsters to actually face off against any of the Turtles. That alone should be enough to warrant the character getting a spot in the toy line. And Playmates Toys promised us one as part of a two pack along with Splinter. Unfortunately support for the two packs of figures wasn't great and it appeared that the TMNT Big Foot figure was going to become an urban legend much like his real world counterpart. But Playmates knew fans wanted the figure even if retailers didn't. So taking a page from their Simpsons World of Springfield line, they turned the big guy into a mail in premium. So after some more waiting, three UPC's and a few dollars for shipping, my monster collection has grown by one.

Packaging - 2/10

This is a mail in premium so it should be no surprise that part of the packaging is a simple cardboard shipping box. Unfortunately it happens to be the only part of the packaging. Some of Playmates previous promotional figures like the Simpsons Stone Cutter figures were packaged in window boxes within the shipping box so that collectors could still display them MIB. I guess they felt there wasn't enough of a collectors market to be worth the extra effort in the TMNT line. (They were probably right.) They did at least include the character name, stock number and a UPC on the outside of the box. So if you are reading this years down the road, you'll have some idea that the MIB Big Foot you are buying is a Big Foot and not just a white box. It should also be noted that since the figure is mailed with no additional protection aside from the box, they tend to have at least some signs of wear from the shipping process. Though neither of the two I ordered suffered from any serious damage in shipping, just some creases and marks from rubbing against other boxes.

Sculpting - 3/10

There is one thing that just about everyone is going to notice as soon as they see this figure next to any of the other movie figures, it's too small. The Turtles should only come up to just under his jaw and instead they are actually a hair taller than Big Foot. I had hoped that he might fit better with the mini figures, but he's too tall for that too. So we are left with a Big Foot that is about two to two and a half inches too short. And I'm sorry, but if there is one thing you had better get right on a BIG Foot figure is to make him big. If you do want to show off your Big Foot figure, track down the movie figures from the first movie back in the Nineties. They're close to being the right size.

The scale problems are a major issue for the figure and may be more than enough to turn many people off. But if you get past the scale or lack thereof, it's not a bad looking figure. The figure matches the design from the movie well, though they do seem to have toned down the face sculpt a bit. The incisor teeth are not as pronounced and the ridges around the eyes are not as deep as they appeared in the movie. It leaves the figure without the angry, scowling look from the movie. His fur has a more matted look on the figure which should be no surprise. I didn't expect them to be able to pull off the extreme fuzziness of the movie, but a bit more depth to the fur would have been better. the area that I would most like to see changed are the hands. As it was in the movie, the figure has only four digits on each hand. But where Big Foot in the movie was able to use the top finger as both a finger or a crude opposable thumb, the figure doesn't reflect this flexibility. A slight tweak to the position of those two fingers would be nice.

Paint - 2/10

I'm not as big of a stickler about paint work as some action figure collectors are, but I do think that they should be able to get the basic color of the figure right. In the movie, Big Foot appears to be a fairly light blue color. (Think Mike from Monsters Inc.) But the figure is really dark in color and seems to have a slight tint of green. And while they did a nice job of adding paint to the hands and tops of the feet to dirty them up, the chest, face and horns on the back were left completely clean. If they corrected the fur color and paid as much attention to the face as the hands, this could be a pretty impressive and fierce looking figure. The half hearted effort that we actually got looks like it has been sanitized so as not to scare the kiddies.

Articulation - 2/10

Big Foot has eight points of articulation. Those eight joints, all of which are simple rotating cut joints, include ankles, shoulders, elbows and wrists. The ankle joints are all but worthless. They allow the feet to rotate around at the end of the legs, but only having them face forward makes sense or allows for enough support for the figure. The three joints on each arm give them a reasonable range of motion, but it certainly isn't impressive.

Accessories - 0/10

There are no accessories at all. But that isn't a big deal since there really isn't anything that the figure should have.

Value - 1/10 to 7/10

In theory, the Big Foot figure is available as a promotion and is only $5 which includes the shipping and handling. Given that that price is several dollars cheaper than even a basic carded figure, that is a good deal even if the figure itself is mediocre. The catch is that you have to buy three other movie figures within the promotional period (Sept 1 through Dec 31) If you are already buying other figures and plan to open them, no problem. But if you end up having to buy three figures you didn't want or need just to get Big Foot, you're looking at adding another $21 to the price or more. But if you really want to get Big Foot on the cheap, the best option would probably be to buy three of the individual carded movie mini figures if you can find them. That way Big Foot would only cost you about $9 when all was said and done. But I should point out that I don't know for sure that the mini figures qualify for the promotion, although there is nothing in the fine print that would exclude them.

Happy Hunting:

The Big Foot promotion is scheduled to run until December 31 of 2007. So you have until the end of the year to get your UPC's, fill out the order form and send your $5 to get Big Foot. Getting the form is easy as well. Many of the figures shipping now include a copy. (Watch for the Big Foot promo sticker on the packaging.) Or you can just print off a copy from Playmates' web site. (PDF form) And while you are at it, you can complete the survey on the back and let Playmates know what you think.

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