Friday 3 June 2016

Greebo Games TMNT Allies and Enemies 01

Earlier this year I renewed my interest in the superheroes series of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles thanks to an inspiring series of posts shown on my good friend Andy's blog, da Gobbo's Grotto Blog. I ended up buying most of the figures he had bought for this project with just a couple of exceptions, most notably, April O'Neil and Splinter. Today I'm going to review another ally of the Turtles and the first of their major opponents. All of these figures were made by Italian firm, Greebo Games. Delivery took a couple of weeks but they were a good company to deal with.
At the far left is a tiny figure called Mr. TM. I know hardly anything about him. I did not order him, but Greebo Games kindly sent him out as a thank you for my order. Hey, I'm not going to turn down a free figure and he seems to fit in with this selection of figures. I think the TM stands for Tournament Miniature as he is one of the Greebo Games Fantasy Football Tournament Miniatures special edition figures. But for me, he is Mister Tiny Mouse. I don't even know what species he is - he could be almost any furry animal. My thoughts are to use him as a kind of criminal overlord, not so much as a Mr. Big but more a Mr. Tiny, but still with the same kind of clout and influence. If he stays behind the scene out of sight whilst masterminding a crime-wave, the heroes will get quite a surprise when they finally reveal who is behind it all. "What! You're the mastermind?"
The next two characters are both from the TMNT series. In the centre is Casey Jones. A vigilante who wears a hockey mask to protect his identity, Casey has become one of the Turtles' closest allies, as well as a love interest to April O'Neil. Casey first encountered the Turtles after having a fight with Raphael. He fights crime with an assortment of sporting goods he carries in a golf bag, such as baseball bats, golf clubs, and hockey sticks. On the Greebo Games website he is known as Hoky Jo - Referee. He is a two piece casting with his left hand and hockey stick being a separate component. He is also very tall. He stands 35mm tall. This will put a lot of you off him but not me.
The main enemy of the Turtles is Shredder. He is a villainous ninjutsu master called Oroku Saki who is the leader of the Foot Clan group of ninja assassins. In every incarnation of the TMNT franchise, he has been the arch-enemy of Splinter and the Turtles. Shredder prefers to use his armour instead of weapons in some versions. This terrific figure is as tall as Casey and he is known as Shiju the Blade Master on the Greebo Games webstore. He is a one-piece casting and I think in his case, his oversized height works to his advantage.
These three villains are known from left to right as Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady. Krang is an alien from Dimension X and he uses the torso of a muscular robot as his cockpit to move around whilst on Earth. His personal goal is to rule all dimensions. Upon his arrival on Earth he soon allied himself with Shredder and the two have worked together ever since. The figure stands 40mm tall but because he is essentially a robot construct, I don't mind that he is clearly oversized. He comes in three parts with his arms being separate from the body and legs. Greebo Games list him as Mind Golem on their webstore.
Bebop and Rocksteady are a team who were originally humans in a New York street gang controlled by Shredder. When they lost a battle with the Turtles, Shredder offered to make them more powerful by transforming them into a mutated warthog and rhinoceros respectively with neither of them fully knowing the exact details of the transformation. The transformation worked, making them bigger, stronger and tougher but added nothing to their lowly intelligence. They are simple musclemen who come back time and time again to battle the Turtles and always without success. Again they are vastly oversized figures but that doesn't bother me simply because they are mutants. Bebop came in six parts, body, arms and legs, two hands, head and two tusks. He was not easy to put together. Those tusks caused me considerable grief! Rocksteady came in four parts - body and legs, head and two arms. I did a lot of drilling and pinning on these models to ensure a clean bond. You will find them on the Greebo Games webstore as Razorbog and Rynock respectively.
Mr. TM costs 4.99 Euros. Casey Jones, Bebop and Rocksteady cost 6.99 Euros each and Shredder and Krang cost 7.99 Euros each. You will find most of them as part of the Tartalar Fantasy Football team, where they can be purchased individually if you click on the Single Player tab of the Greebo Games webstore. Mr. TM can be found in the Tournament Miniatures section.
For more information on Casey and Shredder please check out Andy's blog here.
And for more information on Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady check out Andy's blog here.
He knows far more about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than I do. The main reason for doing this project was so I could use the figures in a game and the game I most want to use them in is 7TV2e. However, there are no official stats for any of the TMNT characters. Fortunately, my good friend Andy, came to the rescue and created stats for them all. You can see his 7TV2e stats for the Turtles and their allies here  and the stats for their enemies here.
Andy, I salute you!

32 comments:

  1. very nicely painted, excellent attention to detail. But you know what Bryan, I`m going to surprise you now :( and say you`ve shown excellent display of the brush DESPITE the miniatures themselves. These Greebo Games miniatures are leaving me cold and with absolutely no desire to own any for myself for our games group to play with. I just couldn't find a use for them, as the sculpts and poses themselves (to me) look rather - blaaagh! Sorry Bryan. As I say, terrific painting on them and all, but they just aren't coming alive for me.

    Hil

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    1. Hey, no problem, Hil. It's different strokes for different folks. I actually do like them. I wouldn't have bought them otherwise. I do agree they are not the best sculpts ever but they are good enough for me, even though some of them were a bitch to glue together.

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  2. Hmmm, I have to agree with Hil I`m afraid (and not just `cos she's the wife and will clobber me if I disagree lol), but because I look at the miniatures and the level of detail, the sculpts themselves, and especially the style and I am seeing Flying Frog type pieces (typical of Last night on Earth or A Touch of Evil) only not so nicely made.

    It can be levelled at Flying Frog that their pieces are barely average casts (although I like them and the simplicity... reminds me of the early Airfix figures I used to love: low on detail, high in nostalgia value), in this day and age of `normally` much higher detail this is somewhat noticeable. But drop that down any more notches, then you have a product that is a little... too basic; and I think you are looking at that here with the Greebo standard.

    The painting however Bryan is top notch and I`m really impressed by the level of complexity you've achieved. Top shelf just on skill to raise the bar as high as you`ve managed despite the handicap of the models being a bit naf themselves.

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    1. Again, no offence taken, Steve. They certainly are not to everyone's taste. The size alone will put a lot of people off them. They are closer to 35-40mm figures, which is very tall. My least favourite figure out of them is Casey. I'd happily replace him if I found a better version. But the others are perfectly acceptable to me. Crooked Dice Games have just released a not-Shredder who is a terrific sculpt. I'll probably end up getting him at some time and we can compare the two then.
      I did have fun painting them and whilst you might not like these I'm hoping you'll have a higher opinion of the Foot Clan ninjas I'll be reviewing next time.

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  3. Bryan, I'm happy to disagree with Stephen and Hil for a change, as I love these figs as you well know, yes they are a bitch to put together but I think they look amazing. The level of detail is not overwhelming and appropriate to the complexity of the character, so Shredder is dripping with detail but the two henchmen, simple souls that they are, Beebop and Rocksteady are fairly basic but still look great imho. But that's the beauty of our hobby isn't it, everyone can disagree and we still find something to highlight that we enjoy about either the mini or the game and in an amiable fashion :-)

    Nice one dude and thanks for the reference in your post, I hope folks get curious about the setting and ask me any questions that come to mind. 7TV2e is perfect for this genre having played a game and thoroughly enjoyed it!

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    1. Cheers, Andy. Really, if it hadn't been for your posts reviewing these figures I doubt if I'd ever have known about them much less bought them. I like the chunky feel of Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady and I think they're decent sculpts. Now I'm looking forward to using them in a game of 7TV2e... with your stats, of course!

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  4. Ya know, that's what I really like to see in blogs.... feels like mates sitting round an inglenook at a nice salubrious tavern, maybe sipping a pint of good beer, talking about things, discussing our opinions, disagreeing with one another AND agreeing with one another: and all done with a friendly smile and listening ear. Offense (taken or given) should never even be a consideration. Just buddies sharing a passion for the same subject..... love it.

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    1. Totally agree with that Stephen! It's why we go naturally for different factions for the same game, why some prefer being bad guys and some good...

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    2. Well said, Steve and Andy. This is the way it should be.

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  5. I don't know who he is, but I rather like the little mouse (or whatever it is!). Mind you, if he's a criminal mastermind then it brings a new irony to the term "Mr. Big".

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    1. I don't know who he is either, Hugh. As I said, he was a freebie, but I do like him. He looks so angry and I can just imagine him tearing a strip off some hapless lackey who has not done as he should have... probably because some interfering hero got in the way!

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  6. absolutely Andy. As for the figures... I LOVE the subject, I WANT to like them.... and I`m sure (like so many things) if I saw them face up I`d change my mind. The painting is superb, just the minis, they`re not grabbing me. But what you say about factions makes great sense, and yeah I can see that working.

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    1. I have often found that you can get whole new perspective on a figure when you see them in the flesh when compared to a photograph. And Andy's reasoning about us liking different factions for different reasons is spot on. It's what makes us all unique.

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  7. Oh dear... this blog is rapidly becoming like a certain Peter Benchley series of novels - Just when you think its safe to re-enter Vampifan's World Of The Undead, the rotter tempts you with even more goodies!! ;-)

    Having once again visited "Greebo Games" website (having previously been tempted by Andy), I see they've seemingly increased their catalogue to include Mousers as well as few other treats. As a result I've inadvertently ordered a couple of pieces - simply to see what all the fuss is about, I stress, and to see for myself just how nice these models are in the flesh. Afterall both Bryan and Andy's reputations as recommending rascals is at stake ;-)

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    1. Simon, I feel my reputation is very safe and you won't be sorry ;-)

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    2. Simon, it's true, you never know what you might find on my blog but in this case I lay the blame squarely on Andy's shoulders. He tempted (or was it lured?) me into buying these minis. It's all his fault! Vampifan desperately tries to pass the buck knowing full well how guilty he is!

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    3. also they will make great additions to your Turtles, which may I remind you we are yet to see....... ;-P

      Now Bryan has started posting his TMNT models and I'm sure one of his excellent batreps of a game involving them (hint, hint!) will follow on shortly (hint, hint :-) ) I can start to bug you Simon for your minis to appear on your excellent blog in some form or other.......bwahahaaahaaa!!

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    4. haha Bryan, nice try dude, you know you love these models and how guilty you are when you put out some of the cool minis like the 70's coppers and wrong'uns lol

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    5. You two impulse-buying imps are certainly to blame for the majority of my most recent buys. Whether they come from "Killer B", "Black Scorpion Miniatures", "GCT Studios" or "Greebo Games", I lay the blame entirely at your feet. Little wonder Andy remarks my output is presently high - it has to be to keep up with you guys and your constant counsel to buy more minis ;-)

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    6. Andy, having played my first game of 7TV2e. I can't wait to go again and use the Turtles and their enemies. Hopefully it will last more than one turn!

      As for suggesting I'm just as guilty as you are for tempting poor Simon into spending his hard earned cash, I can't really deny it, now can I?

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    7. Simon, just a suggestion, my friend, but you might just want to steer clear of my next post, coming on Monday. I suspect it will do more harm to your wallet! Don't say you haven't been warned!

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    8. He can talk with his lovely B7 minis, oh and his excellent Seeds of Doom, oh and his lush copplestone zeds etc etc

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    9. I don't think I'll be able to miss my twice-weekly World of the Undead updates Bryan, even if they do regularly cost me an arm and a leg. What else will I read with my cuppa ;-)

      And I hardly think the odd Crooked Dice/Copplestone mini compares with Andy's alarming assault upon the senses with "Bushido" terrain, tabletops, minis and AARs ;-)

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    10. Here's the really great thing that has somehow got overlooked. We all influence each other and are all guilty, if that's the right word, of causing the others to buy stuff that actually proves to be just what they wanted. This is what I love about our little community, this shared sense of belonging and comradeship.

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    11. Bryan, email me your address I have a "little" TMNT pressie for you. :-)

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  8. As I can take or leave TMNT, I have no strong feelings about these figures either way, but will compliment your painting.
    However, that tiny savage mole-thing is another matter - he's cool. I might Nedd one of those...

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    1. Need, obviously. Curse you, predictive text!

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    2. He is rather cool. I'm very much taken with him, Jez. Of course you need him. Perhaps TM stands for Tiny Mole. Who knows?

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  9. Very nice additions to the cast and crew.

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