Crossover Miniatures TMNT Foot Clan Ninjas

When I first saw a sampling of these figures on Andy's blog da Gobbo's Grotto, see here  I praised them and Andy said, "the Foot Clan I thought would tickle your fancy and I knew you would want to be putting your wallet into service once more... :-)" He wasn't wrong! These 15 figures from the Crossover Miniatures Ninja range are just perfect stand ins for the Foot Clan ninjas, arch-enemies of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What makes them so good is that they all come with a choice of three heads - bug eyed masked heads, cowl masked heads and unmasked Asian heads. The bug eyed heads are ideal for the Foot Clan. The Foot Clan ninjas have a long history dating back centuries and originating from feudal Japan, although their backstory changes depending upon which version you believe - comics, film or TV. Nowadays they are primarily a terrorist organisation based in New York and led by Shredder. Also, most Foot Clan ninjas are now robots created by Shredder and his alien partner, Krang, but some are still human.

I have bought all of the 28mm scale Ninjas made by Crossover Miniatures and have divided them up into three groups of five. The first group comprises the swordsmen. All are armed with the ninjato, a slightly shorter and straighter version of the Japanese long sword known as the katana, which was the primary weapon of the samurai. At the far left is the group's leader who appears as Ninja Guard on the Crossover Miniatures webstore. He stands in a simple pose and is the least animated figure out of the group. He costs £3.25 and comes with a choice of heads and a separate ninjato in scabbard to glue to his back.

The remaining four figures come as a set and are posed ready for action. You must specify which head type you want including when you place your order. They all come with separate ninjato scabbards. This group of four costs £9.95.

My second group comprises the exotic weapons specialists. They are led by a Ninja Boss who is armed with a pair of ninjatos on his back and is posed dynamically pointing to a target. The figure comes supplied with all three head options and he costs £3.75.

Once again, the other figures can be purchased as a set of four and you must choose which head option you want for them. From left to right they are armed with a pair of kamas (a type of hand axe), a pair of sais (three-pronged daggers), a pair of tiger claws which fit to the back of the hands, and a short bow with a separate quiver of arrows. Price is £9.95 for all four.

The third group comes much more up to date and are armed with ninjatos and sub-machine guns. The leader is simply known as Ninja Boss with Gun on the Crossover Miniatures webstore. He comes with separate heads and a ninjato in its scabbard. He is in a similar dynamic pointing pose directing the action as the boss with the twin ninjatos shown above. He costs £3.75.

That just leaves the last four figures who must be bought as a group of four. They are also armed with sub-machine guns, ready to go all out. In addition to their separate heads, they also come with separate ninjatos in scabbards. This quartet also costs £9.95.
My plan to use these figures is to include them as part of Shredder's villainous gang in 7TV2e. There are stats for ninjas in 7TV2e, but I agree with Andy when he was creating stats for his TMNT figures that these should actually be classed as Minions. They are not that good in combat and tend to get mown down in vast numbers without doing much damage to the vastly superior Turtles.
Crossover Miniatures are sold by Minibits and here's a link to their webstore - http://www.minibits.net/Crossover-Miniatures-c25/Ninjas-sc89/
I have a lot of ninja figures in my collection, bought when I was playing FGU's version of Bushido. I also have a few Hand Clan ninjas from the Marvel Heroclix range. I could have used some of these older figures for my Foot Clan ninjas but these guys fit the bill far better. They look very similar to their comic book counterparts and because they're all made by the same company, they tie in well together.

Next time, yet more superhero goodness as I show the first of my entries for the Forgotten Heroes challenge. For more information see here - https://forgottenheroessite.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/forgotten-heroes-the-rules/