Playmates was the subject of arguably the biggest pre-Toy Fair announcement, which actually came in December. This is the last year that Playmates will be making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, ending a 40 year partnership with Viacom. So, it was not quite as jovial an atmosphere in the showroom this year, as they were constantly confirming what people already knew. But, Playmates was also out to prove that there was definitely life after TMNT, and that they planned to celebrate their 60th Anniversary by continuing to produce quality licensed toys. Here’s a look at what was shown.
POWER RANGERS
Our tour of Playmates starts with their latest offering in their Power Rangers re-release line. The newest series introduces the Ninja Ranger outfits and adds Lord Zedd to the rogues gallery. The Thunder Zords and the Thunder Megazord are also on the way. One last note from Playmates concerns the release of the Dragonzord. Playmates said that no retailer would take it as an exclusive last year, but they were still looking into trying to get it released. Here is our gallery from the showroom.
TMNT
Next up at Playmates is the last of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles product. First up is an announcement that the line brand name is being changed to World of TMNT. There will be several new series of figures, from all different eras and properties. Also shown were the stunning TMNT/ GI JOE Crossover sets, a pretty amazing collab betweeen Hasbro and Playmates. It will be sad to see this line go, but at least it is going out with a bang. Here is our TMNT gallery.
DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL
This one, I have to admit, was a bit of a surprise. Dungeon Crawler Carl is the first of series of books by Author Matt Dinniman. The story follows Carl, a former Coast Guard member and his cat Princess Donut, as they attempt to survive in a world where the Earth’s resources have been mined by an alien corporation, which is putting the survivor’s through a televised obstacle course based on different table-top and role playing games. Think The Running Man and SMASH TV, but weirder. Playmates’ line, due for release in the Summer, includes figures and statues in different scales of Carl, Princess Donut, his mentor Mordecai and other characters. Here is a gallery of this very cool and odd looking line.
MONSTERVERSE
Playmates’ popular line based on the shared Godzilla/King Kong Universe continues, with new product based on the second series of the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters show on Apple TV, with plans in place to support the Godzilla x Kong: Supernova film coming in 2027. This year’s assortment features new figures of all the major monsters in different scales. Here is a gallery of the Monsterverse line at Toy Fair.
That does it for our tour of Playmates. Though the loss of Ninja Turtles is sad, it is also clear that Playmates is positioning itself to move on while remaining a leading producer of high quality licensed toys. I have no doubt that they will succeed.
