• Home
  • TV & Movies
    • Star Wars
    • Battlestar Galactica (1978)
    • Indiana Jones
    • Star Trek
    • Planet of the Apes
    • The Real Ghostbusters
    • The Six Million Dollar Man
    • Universal Monsters
    • Doctor Who
  • Comic Book Heroes
    • Kenner Super Powers
    • Mattel Secret Wars
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    • The Uncanny X-Men
    • Spider-Man
    • Batman
    • Superman
    • The Incredible Hulk
  • Mego
  • MOTU
  • G.I. Joe
  • Transformers
  • Wrestling

Vintage Action Figures

Reviews of collectible action figures inspired by comic books, TV shows and movies from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Mutatin’ Donatello

June 21, 2010

Mutatin' Donatello by Playmates

When the animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was relaunched in 2003 by Mirage Studios, the new cartoon kept more closely to the original Eastman and Laird comic books and whilst being kid friendly, had a decidedly darker edge. A new series, of course, in the new marketing-savvy millennium meant a bodacious number of action figures, with Playmates Toys, who had held the license since the first animated series and created the first waves of figures in the late 1980s, picking up where they had left off.

Mutatin' Donatello - Pet Turtle?!

Mutatin’ Donatello – Pet Turtle?!

This particular 5 inch figure of Mutatin’ Donatello was part of the most interactive and inventive of the 2003 figure sets, the Mutations line, which saw the TMNT action figures behave somewhat like transformers, changing from baby turtles into fully fledged ninjas by way of an ingenious mechanism. Simply open Donatello’s shell, fold his arms away, switch between the two heads – innocuous turtle or bandanna wearing dude – then pull his legs forward and lay him on his tummy. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s a little trickier in practice than it sounds and not something I’d do too often, but it was fun exploring the full potential of this figure.

The original Donatello action figure was packaged with something described as slimy ooze if kids really wanted to make the whole mutation thing extra gross. I’m more than happy to forego that part and reading reviews online have gathered that the stuff was a devil to remove from carpets! In fact, this figure does still bear slight traces of some sticky substance that seems to have set like concrete! The figure itself is a great likeness and each figure was accurately colour matched – Donatello here is a light, brownish green, whereas Raphael, for example, was a brighter green. As for other accessories, this action figure came with Donatello’s signature weapon the bo-staff, but that must have fallen down a sewer somewhere!

Mutatin’ TMNT 2003, 8, , “”

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tagged With: Playmates, TMNT

Action figure search

Recent Posts

  • Ghostbusters Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man …signed by Sigourney Weaver!
  • It’s Clobberin’ Time with The Thing by Mego!
  • Up, up and away! Comic version 12-inch Superman by Mego
  • Remembering Princess Leia Organa
  • Indiana Jones, the daring archaeologist and world adventurer of the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark!
  • Stunning C-3PO sixth scale figure by Sideshow Collectibles
  • It’s Alive! The Monster Frankenstein from Mego’s Mad Monster Series
  • Wonder Woman the Amazing Amazon – Kenner Super Powers
  • Grrr…it’s Grizzlor! The Hairy Henchman of the Evil Horde
  • Ming the Merciless – The evil emperor of Mongo by Mego

Archives

Copyright © 2009-2023 · VintageActionFigures.net · All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster and opinions expressed are those of the Poster and do not necessarily represent the views of VintageActionFigures.net · Please read our Privacy Policy, GDPR Compliance Statement, Affiliate Disclosure and Cookies Policy - We know...Zzzz!!