Next up, our Toy Fair coverage takes us to the land of Voltron and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Playmates.

NOTE: Playmates had four lines on display: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Voltron, Ben-10 and Mysticons. For purposes of this report, we will only be focusing on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Voltron. 

VOLTRON

     Following last year’s line based on the Voltron: Legendary Defender series that is currently airing on Netflix, Playmates continues their support of the series this year, adding in a line based on the original 1984 series as well. New this year is the “Hyper Phase” series, which will tie into the next series of the show.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

     This year, Nickelodeon is hitting the “reset button” on TMNT, with the launch of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a new animated series premiering in the Fall. This series is based reimagines the early days of the Turtles. It is a bit of a risk, as it features radical redesigns for the Turtles and Splinter, and will not immediately feature Shredder and the other traditional villains. Other changes include Raphael, not Leonardo, assuming the leadership role, and different weapon choices for Leonardo and Raphael. 

     Playmates is, as always, supporting the show with a robust toy line of figures in different sizes, with various features, several vehicles, role play items and a new sewer lair play set that is the largest play set Playmates has ever made. 

    The line is solidly sculpted and should do well at retail, provided that fans and viewers are able to accept all of the changes that have been made and the series is a success. As to why fans should not be worried, Playmates smartly had some of the creative team behind the new show to answer questions and assume fears. Here is a short video interview with them.

And, here’s our gallery of images from Playmates

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Special Thanks to Tori Schettino for her assistance