Donatello

Try to "science" your way out of this one, nerd! In the Raphael review, we told you how The Last Ronin was based on an idea Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had started working on in 1987, and that while the details had been changed, a lot of the main ideas were the same. For instance: in the original idea, after being attacked, Splinter informs the boys of his intent to return to Japan, recognizing that it's nearly his time to die and he wants to do it in his homeland; being a dutiful son, Donatello goes with him, and then the rest of the Turtles never hear from him again. In the story as it was eventually published, Splinter and Donatello again go to Japan together, and again are never heard from again. Though at least in this case we do find out what happened. (Nothing good.) There is a downside to making all these figures of what each Turtle was wearing when he died: Donnie wore a cooler costume in issue 3 before leaving New York for Japan - a trip which, despite being a genius robot, Fugitoid seemed to think would head over the Atlantic ocean instead of Canada? Come on, even if you're somehow unfamiliar with the idea that the shortest distance between two points on a globe is not the same as the shortest distance between two points on a map, you should at least know that the ocean is east of New York and Japan is west. The comic specifically points out that battery life on the machine they're flying to Japan is a concern; there's no way they'd take the long way around. Before leaving New York, Donatello was wearing a pretty cool tactical ninja suit, with a raised collar and purple pads to maintain his colorscheme. Once arriving in Japan, he switched to a more traditional look, because every ninja story has to have people dressing like it's hundreds of years ago. Imagine if every British spy story had Daniel Craig putting on a huge Victorian ruffle collar and pantaloons. Was it really important for this purported peace meeting that Donatello put on a one-sleeved tunic, a banded wrap around his chest, and baggy pants tucked into the wraps and crossed leather straps around his shins? He wears one piece of armor on his right shoulder, and a small sandogasa hat. Which makes him look like he's wearing a giant bottle cap. Donatello is another Last Ronin figure sculpted by Gurjeet Singh, and still doesn't reuse any pieces from any of the others. The skin is a nice dark green, really offsetting the pale whites and grays of his clothes. In addition to a purple mask, Donnie displays his traditional color in the form of a random sash that hangs from his left shoulder. Not a great design, but it's straight from the comic. As is the style of the line, the figure includes two heads: one with the mouth closed, one with the mouth open. Neither looks especially angry, it must be said: the normal one is best described as "disappointed," and the alternate could be a smile depending on the angle. The hat can fit on either head, though it does end up flexing down a little. The figure has all the articulation seen on the rest of the Turtles, but the design of the limbs and the thickness of his costume means his arms will always be hovering out to the sides like he's a pro body builder. We get a barbell head, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists (on all four pairs of hands: fists, gripping, open, and gripping), balljointed hips, swivels at the top and bottom of the thighs, double-hinged knees, and swivel/hinge ankles. Plus the ties on his mask(s) swivel around. Since the hat doesn't attach to the head in any way, just squeezing on via friction, it wants to slide out of place and fall off way too easily when you try to move the head. The loop his staff can store in also swivels around. We don't get many accessories here. You know, as long as you don't count all the alternate hands, the alternate head, and the hat. So bacially we don't get many weapons. There's his bo staff, which has a little red ribbon sculpted on one end for some reason, and a big Hamato Clan war flag. That's it. Either of them can be carried in the little loop on his back, though the wraps around the bo make it a tougher fit. Also, the Hamato symbol is three dots in a circle, which is the same thing as Usagi Yojimbo's; is that intentional, or a coincidence? Or a mistake? Because the Hamato Clan has a symbol, and it's not this. It's something that looks like a pizza, fittingly. So why did Last Ronin change it? Just like "First to Fall" Raphael, NECA could have made a "Blood in Snow" Donatello. With the same accessories, even! Because when Splinter and Donatello went to the peace summit, it (spoiler) turned out to be an ambush set up by Oroku Hiroto, aka "Shredder the Third," and despite putting up a good fight, both of them were buried in arrows. So spoiler #3, the Last Ronin is not Donatello. Or Splinter. Donnie is the least impressive Last Ronin Turtle so far. NECA did a good job making the toy, it's just a shame the comic made him change to this costume before the end. -- 01/23/25 Is the ninja suit from issue 3 really better than this? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.