With the beginning of the new year in 2018 we are gearing up for a new line of TMNT figures along with its accompanying show. And since the new figures & show means we saw the end of the previous series and toyline, we thought it'd be a good time to look back at the Nick TMNT figures and post a bunch of our favorites that have been released over the past few years. 
The list is presented in no particular order, basically it's posted in the order in which we took the photos, which was actually the order in which the figures were laying on the counter next to the photobox. 
It's worth mentioning that our favorite characters from the first TMNT toy line didn't make the cut here in their updated incarnations which pained us terribly. But we just weren't too happy with Slash and Metalhead's updated designs. But that might just be because of how much we liked the originals. You seem to see a lot of that in pop culture as a whole. While those figures may be great in their own right, they don't make an appearance on our list. 
So scroll on and check out our weirdly color-balanced photos to see who did​ make the cut!

Starting things off with this great version of Futatoid. The Nick TMNT series contained two Fugatoid figures that shared the same mold. There was this one that was released as a normal carded figure and a chromed figure that was released as a Target exclusive in a box set with chromed versions of the Dimension X space suit Turtles. With this release that makes five (?) Fugatoid figures that have ever been released, starting with the original, one from the 2003 toy line, a special edition chromed version of that 2003 figure and the two that were released in the Nick TMNT series.
This Fugatoid hangs out displayed with our original Slash figures which is where he picked up some of those bad habits such as threatening people with a 'psycho sai'. 
The detail on this figure is great from the thin fingers, to the thick robot feet, to the seemingly constant-happy eyes. Love the pearl white on him too, all-in-all a really fun figure for play or display.

He's a SHARK, wearing SHARK ARMOR! Hard to leave Armaggon out of the "best of" list just for that alone. Look at those veins sticking out of his neck! He's got roid-rage and he's gonna take it out on the turtles. 
Armaggon has pretty good articulation for both coming out near the end of the line as well as being such a thick figure. I'd say the only thing going against him is how hard it is to remember the correct spelling of 'Armaggon'. 

Yellow space suit! This April is displayed at home with our set of Slimed Heroes Ghostbusters figures, as it fits in very nicely with their colorful jumpsuits. It's hard to not have a homerun with a figure that has a huge dome space helmet. She also comes with a laser gun that looks like a freakin camera! A nice little nod to her original cartoon design when paired with the yellow outfit.
It wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world to give her some more articulation, but after seeing all the figures in the line, she's far from lacking when it comes to movement. 

Often, Playmates will start a subgroup of the Turtles and end up not finishing it before giving all four of them the same treatment. Usually it's Leo that will get the release first, followed by Mikey and then finally Raph and Don rounding out the end. 
That's exactly what happened with the Shadow Ninja Color Change figures. The Shadow version is just a straight repaint of the original figures from the Nick TMNT line, so it seemed like a no-brainer that all four would see release, but apparently it wasn't in the cards for Raph and Don to become Shadow Ninjas like their brothers. 
These two are seriously some of our favorites to have out and just mess with while watching TV or looking at our phones while listening to TV. The gimmick is neat too, but we don't play in water too much while sitting on the couch, so the black shadows are always present. 
We should mention that Leo actually has TWO Shadow Ninja figures, the first was released as a SDCC exclusive that did not have color-change action or any articulation. Which is pretty annoying that a better version came out at mass-retail for less than $10 when some people probably paid quite a bit for a figure that became somewhat obsolete soon thereafter.

Between filming insurance commercials Mondo Gecko likes to tear it up at the local skate park. 
This update of Mondo looks like it could actually be a Gecko that Playmates packaged and hoped nobody would notice. 
The look of a skateboarder has changed since the last time Mondo Gecko had a skating figure (don't forget he had a hippie rock n roll look in the early 90s too) and this update to the character has followed suit. His board lacks any sort of branding or detail and reminds us of those Muppet Babies figures that were released by McDonald's in the 80s. Playmates probably didn't do this to cut corners, it was most likely to allow for fans to customize the board as they saw fit. 
This guy is really fun to pose and give him random accessories - right now he's displayed with the discman that came with the Austin Powers 2 Scott Evil figure, that paired with some nunchucks from Mikey. 

We don't *think* Donny is our favorite turtle, but his figures keep coming out on top when we're looking at subsets of the Nick TMNT figures. Such as Frankendon here, the other Mutants & Monsters Turtles figures were great - there's just something about this guy that puts him above (maybe the height due to the intense lifts on his boots?) the other brothers.
His electric prod/staff attaches to his back which is pretty neat so he can use his hands to lunge forward at folks that he's just trying to give a hug to.
That snake helmet isn't an actual accessory that he came with - just something we have around the house that looks cool on certain figures. We don't remember what it's from, but we know it's something stupid rare. You'd have to ask Steve what it is. That's what we did.

Grouping these guys into one post as they're hard to pick a favorite from and we don't want to post a bazillion times.
The detail on all the armor is super impressive and Usagi's ears pulled into a ponytail is such a nice touch. The turtles look like an elite guard with their masks on and we just noticed we didn't take any pictures of them with their masks off - but that's not a huge deal since we're assuming you guys all know what the turtles look like at this point.
So great how the individual Turtles weapons translate into these samurai versions along with their unique headdress symbols make these guys super fun to have displayed. This series was a highlight of the toy line. Very glad they were able to secure the Usagi character for release. There was also a more traditional Usagi released as well as a repainted version of this armor with a horse.
Stan Sakai was also able to work out a deal with Playmates to release a repaint of the normal Usagi on his own site which was also a nice surprise. I believe those have all sold out, but you may be able to find one on the secondary market.

We almost didn't have enough room in our photobox for these two. Also, we're kinda breaking the rule here by including two movie figures, but this is a stupid list on a random blog so no one cares.
These guys were the first purchases from the second movie line - though our dip into the movie figures only consisted of them, the regular 4" versions of them and the 4" Krang (who should have made it onto the list but honestly we forgot...). 
These two figures look almost identical to their 4" counterparts - which is surprising when you realize how much articulation they have. So much detail on these guys really makes for some great display pieces. 
Also worth noting Bebop's muffin top is the best thing we've ever seen sculpted onto an action figure.

Casey Jones is a staple to the TMNT line and this iteration of the character was a great one. We're glad they didn't release him without the hood and mask initially, though he later saw a release without the hood/mask paired with a vehicle. 
The fact that he has his face paint on under the hockey mask is amazing, even if he loses the mask during a fight, he's still able to hide his identity with his Misfits-looking face paint. 
The little piece on his back that holds his hockey stick and baseball bat likes to swivel quite a bit so it's a little frustrating when trying to pose him and they turn upside down because of the weight. 
​Still, he gets to be on the list because he's wearing what Sam would like to think he'd look cool in if going into a purge situation.