Miyamoto Usagi

Shouldn't we have reviewed this closer to Easter? It's rare for an intercompany comicbook crossover to really "count," when it comes to continuity. Like, Superman and Spider-Man can meet up as many times as they want, but at no point are you ever going to see those stories referenced anywhere else after. The only one that comes to mind as being "real" is WildCATS/Aliens, which set the stage for The Authority by killing off all the characters who weren't going to be moving into the new book. The TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo miniseries WhereWhen certainly puts its characters through some major changes, and none of them are undone by the end of it, so they may be for real... of course, the story is also set decades into the future from where the actual Usagi comics are right now, so only time will tell. (Also, for those keeping track at home, "WhereWhen" is the name of a character, a time-travlling robot. [sounds familiar --ed.] The name comes across much less silly when they all get to feudal Japan and he's translated as "Lord Dokoitsu.") NECA already released one Samurai Usagi, but none of those parts are reused here. While the last one was said to be "developed in collaboration with Sakai," that could have just meant "we sent this design we created to Stan for approval and he said yes." This one, meanwhile, depicts the armor Sakai actually draws, which is much more ornate and detailed. Of course, the previous one was also ostensibly based on the 1987 cartoon (despite never appearing there) while this one is explicitly based on the comics, so of course it would have more detail - a static image is free to be more complex than a moving one. That means lots of small, vertical bars making up the larger sections of his armor, instead of just big flat plates. All five TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo figures were sculpted by Tomasz Rozejowski - bunny and turtles alike. The budgeting for this line seems weird, though, because while the four Turtles (who can all share the same basic molds and therefore save money) each get two heads with different expressions, Usagi (who is a unique mold that does have a little bit of re-use potential, but it's unlikely we'll see it) somehow gets three. Right out of the box he has a stern look, but there's also one angrily showing his teeth, and one with a slight smirk. They all have lovely sculpts, and do an excellent job capturing Sakai's art style. And if that weren't enough variety for you, each of the head has the ears in a different style: calm head has them blowing to the side, smiling head has them sticking up, and angry head has them drooping down. But since they just plug into the head with a very large, perfectly round peg, you can trade them around (like Vincent Price's shirts or Prince Vultan's hair/helmet) to create many more looks, suiting however you want to see him. He does not, sadly, include a samurai helmet, but that's because he doesn't wear one in the book. The paint is great. Like all NECA's comicbook figures, Usagi gets thin black paint apps to suggest the inking of his books - not just the wrinkles on his cheeks or the scar over his left eye, but outlines around various parts like his sandals or the wrap that holds his ears up. The way the fingers are done is particularly nice, starting out very thick immediately beneath the armor on the back of his hands, but quickly tapering to nothing so they don't get sucked in to trying to outline each finger all the way around the hand. But what's really impressive is just how clean all the edges of his armor are, just big bright blocks of blue, red, and yellow, the most vibrant you've ever seen, with neither those nor the black outlines ever slopping onto each other in the slightest. Superb! Articulation is great, as well. He has swivel/hinge ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, and shoulders; balljointed hips, waist, and neck; a barbell head; and of course a swivel for the ears. The sandals he wears actually come up the back of his heels, so you can't point his feet too far down before that becomes a problem, but they do indeed move at least a little bit in that direction. His right knee was the stiffest hinge in the lot, and really took some force to get it moving. The armor's shoulder plates connect to the torso armor, rather than the arms, which may be accurate, but does limit just how far his arms will move - the "ties" are PVC, rather than ABS, so they're flexible, but I wouldn't want to push them too far too often. We don't get a lot of accessories, but what we do get matters. There's his sword, of course, and a small bag that is probably supposed to contain the hand of a kappa Usagi was sent to kill, though it's a bit small for that. He has alternate hands (holding, fists, open), and a tokage lizard. The only tokage we see in the story are wild - either hanging out in nature, or having been hunted for food by poor villagers - while this one is wearing tiny samurai armor! It may not be anything, but it's cute, and that counts for a bunch. Domo arigato, Mister Lizardo. Interestingly, an armored tokage does appear in Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #1, another book that takes place in the same possible future as WhereWhen (just a few years further ahead in the timeline). We see, with these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo figures, NECA making changes to their normal standards due to rising financial demands; not in the quality of the figure, but in the packaging: they're sold boxed, but it's just a regular window box instead of having that fifth-panel flap covering the front. That's not a major adjustment, but it is an adjustment nonetheless, one designed to cost less. We'd rather lose that flap of cardboard than any paint or articulation, no question. This figure would have been more exciting if I didn't already have the previous Samurai Usagi, but it's a cooler take on the idea, and is meant for a different branch of the collection - comic rather than cartoon. And let's be honest, the fact Target had a coupon available at the same time he dropped during the Spring 2026 Haulathon helped a lot, too. -- 04/16/26 Which Turtle should we get next? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.