NECA: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Tiger Claw

Year of the cat? Stray cat strut? Eye of the tiger (get it?)? Sure, all of those things and so much more. The new NECA Toys TMNT 2012 Tiger Claw is dead-eye feline making his NECA-debut in plastic, and he is a lot of fun.

When NECA announced they would be doing figures based on the 2012 incarnation of TMNT, I knew the supporting character cast was gonna be awesome. Right out of the gate they crushed it with the four Turtles and Shredder, but now we are moving into the next level of characters, and Tiger Claw is a great start. A mutant assassin serving Shredder, he is a master of all weapons. He is originally from Japan, but if you squint just a little, there is a classic cowboy form hiding in his design as well, making him one of best “new” TMNT characters from the show, IMO.

He collects the weapons of the fallen, and that, along with his overall strong design, makes for a fun and impressive figure. There are swappable portraits (one standard and one with his cool eyepatch), hands, a bevy of weapons, and even some blast effects for the blasters. If you like your tiger with futuristic side arms, or a sword, a metal fist, or even cybernetic claws, you can have it your way here, and there is even an alternate forearm to help.

The 2012 figures are some of the best articulated TMNT figures NECA has done, and that holds over to Tiger Claw as well. He doesn’t move quite as well as the Turtles due to his elongated design, but he is built for action and can achieve some nice action poses. He has cool look and confident demeanor, so I feel like he accomplishes what he needs to in (mostly) casual fashion, but he is ready to rumble with the Shell-Heads in an instant.

The 2012 TMNT line is off to a pretty incredible start, and there is a lot more already coming. We will be back soon with a look at the new Foot Bots (who are also a part of Haulathon), but Slash, Splinter, and more are on the way, so get ready for this collection to grow fast.