Foot Soldier/Foot Tech

Ah, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Love them or hate them, you certainly can't deny that they've brought back the very thing missing in toys today - that's right, slime. Remember the good old days, as a kid, when you could slime all of your toys as some kind of twisted torture for your plastic friends? Who could possibly forget that awesome TMNT Flushomatic Toilet Trap, where you'd strap a Turtle into the sludgepit and then open the toilet above them to slime them with green diarrhea? Or the little overpriced containers of ooze containing a little glow-in-the-dark turtle? Hell, even the TMNT Sewer Lair had the opportunity to slime an opened sewer grating to give some unlucky toy a green shower. Today I'm looking at part of the slime revival, the new TMNT Mutations Foot Soldier. If you haven't seen them about, these are the pricier turtle figures that contain a 'mutating' two-in-one figure, alongside instructions and their very own canister of slime! Not since the nifty Spidey Classics Venom have I had such fun with a tub of ooze. The canister is being sold on its own for a totally ridiculous over-the-top price, but apparently it comes with a turtle inside or something, possibly similar to the original glow-in-the-dark ones; at least, I hope so. The Foot Soldier is inevitably similar to the normal Foot Soldier figure from the new TMNT line, standing about 4 1/2" tall with some slightly oversized body parts. To allow him to mutate into his alter-ego, the Foot Tech, his body is bigger than usual with largely oversized hands, a slightly smaller head, and bigger legs, amongst others. It doesn't look bad at all, just a little weird - he's like a bulked up Foot Soldier, which means he can lead your others in the war on the LotR Orcs for supremacy of the four-letter abbreviation. Articulated at the neck, shoulders, wrists/elbows and legs, he's less articulated than the norm but this is because of the mutation thing. Transforming the Foot Soldier into the Foot Tech is slightly complicated, but it's not going to earn any high Transformers Skill Rating. It basically involves flipping his head into his hollow body, twisting over the flimsy rubber torso piece and then turning various pieces of armor to reveal (unpainted) mechanical parts inside his body - the instructions explain it relatively well. I prefer him as a Foot Tech, despite the poor lack of detailing on his body; although he has loads of exposed wires and circuitry, he is mostly left undetailed with just the simple grey and black color scheme. Lame! Customizers will have fun touching him up, and it's not hard to make him look great. The Foot Solider/Tech also includes two over-sized samurai swords to go in his oversized hands. They look quite good and suit him in Foot Soldier form, though I feel two more detailed electronic swords (a la Metal Gear Solid) would suit him as a Foot Tech, but that's another job for customisers. And, of course, the excellent slime. Overall, the mutatin' Foot Solider is a cute gimmicky little pleasure that serves no real purpose aside from giving us a Foot Tech toy to lead the Foot Soldiers. I like him a lot, though - he seems like some kind of oversized cartoon samurai ninja thingy, fitting nicely into my collection somewhere. And the slime! THE SLIME!! The other figures in this line have their own interest; the Mutating Turtles are a throwback to the original series, which included some turtles who could also transform into oversized turtles, and are just as silly as the original. I ignored the Shredder figure, but I'm sure he's interesting too. Overall, recommended. Now, someone please write to Playmates and make them redo that Flushomatic toy again - that thing kicks ass. Ever try eating the slime? Discuss it over at The Loafing Lounge.

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