Toy Review: Shredder Fits Right Into The ‘Turtles Of Grayskull’
by Tony Thornley
Continuing our look at the Masters of the Universe/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover toy line Turtles of Greyskull, we get our first of the line’s major villains, the Shredder!
For being the Turtles’ most famous and popular enemy, Shredder really hasn’t gotten very many great figures. The original figure based on the 1987 cartoon was weirdly sculpted and awkwardly articulated. Since that time, it just seems like Shredder has never really gotten a figure that’s been better than “fine.”
Well, I’m happy to report that the Turtles of Greyskull Shredder is, indeed, better than fine. He’s not great but we’ll get into why.
For the positives, Shredder translated so well into the He-Man design language. I don’t feel like Mattel’s MOTU team didn’t have to do much to make Shredder an Eternian villain. His armor is distinctly Shredder but also fits right into the design language of Skeletor and his evil warriors. In his head sculpt, making the gap in his mask black with red eyes, rather than a flesh tone makes him incredibly intimidating.
His trademark arm blades look pretty great. Though they’re a little on the small side, they make the figure instantly recognizable, and they’re intimidating on the figure. They do run into the same problem that the Turtles have had so far though- the armor is bulky and makes for awkward posing.
The accessories are otherwise a mixed bag. Shredder’s cape is fantastic, made of an extremely flexible vinyl that made for probably the best non-soft goods cape I’ve ran into since I’ve started collecting figures (spoiler- Skeletor has a similar cape). The crossbow fits surprisingly well on the figure, not requiring anything to make it fit right over his armor.
A crossbow and axe are frankly weird weapons to give Shredder though. I don’t believe I remember him ever using either for an extended period of time. I wonder if a spear, kama or katana would have been a better fit. Both weapons look cool, but neither really scream “Shredder!” to me.
Really though, Shredder is one of my favorites of the line so far. He’s a hell of a lot of fun, and really shows the strength of blending these two toy lines together.
