Cowabunga, clixers! The fourth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set is upon us, and this one is dedicated to the old arcade game with 8-bit sculpts and… yet a ton more Turtles. But does this one live up to the hype of those passed?

A few years back when the Turtles were announced, people were going crazy. It was a property that many of us thought we would never see, and WizKids seemed to be done with the third party properties (read: non Marvel/DC). That first set was huge. People bought literally anything they could find, and Krang and the Chases quickly became Meta staples. The second set launched pretty quickly after and the hype train was still full-steam as we got a few characters missing from the first set like the lovable Bebop and Rocksteady.

By the time the third set had launched (in just over a year), the burnout was starting to set in, but we received the competitive juggernauts that are the Shredder Elite, and the Space Turtles were very good. Now we’re up to a fourth set, and it seems like the burnout is in full force.

I’m seeing a LOT of folks stating that they’re either cherry picking a few key pieces from the set or completely passing it by.

How could such a fantastic property die out so quickly? That’s actually a pretty easy question to answer with just a single word: repetition. Every Turtles set includes at least 2 full sets of the four brothers (usually 3, but Shredder’s Return broke this tradition), as well as a set of Fast Forces dials, at least 1 Shredder, Splinter, April, Casey Jones, Krang, Foot Soldiers (as in plural), and usually a few others. That means in a gravity feed set, well over half the figures are pieces we’ve gotten literally dozens of times in just 2 years.

Nonetheless, we still need to review the new set and determine what pieces are actually worthwhile. Amazingly, the Turtles sets do seem to get some pretty decent figures. Remember that these reviews are based on constructed play and on my opinion. These scores don’t reflect anyone else’s viewpoints on the figures, and just because I rate something poorly or highly doesn’t mean that’s how you should feel about the character.

COMMONS

001 Leonardo – This time around, the brothers get 6 clicks for 50 points, which is very good. The ability to toss enemies after hitting them and setting up plays is fantastic, but the lack of Charge up front keeps him from being a great piece. He’s very middle-of-the-road. Score: 3/5

002 Michelangelo – I’m really confused by this dial; the special movement seems good, but one Outwit completely cripples him whereas if he just had Charge and Flurry with an 11 attack, he would be in a much better place. Still, it’s a decent dial with options. I like Incap with Flurry. Score: 3/5

003 Raphael – There’s no reason to play this guy over Mikey for the same points. Precision Strike is nice, but Incap has more versatility in today’s setting. The back half of his dial is also worse than his brother. Score: 2/5

004 Donatello – It’s pretty unimaginative when the four brothers get two traits between them as it really kills their identity. Donatello is pretty much Leonardo with the same strengths and weaknesses, but you do get more swarm killing potential, and a nice Perplex on the back half. Score: 3/5

005 Shredder Illusion – I can’t complain about a 20 point piece with Charge, 10 attack and Blades, and Shape Change on defense. Coupled with any character named Shredder and you have a pretty damn good generic. Score: 5/5

006 Rock Soldier – Not a bad little tank for 35 points. His score would increase if he was 30 points instead. Bringing heavy objects is cool, but not for that price tag. Score: 3/5

007 Foot Soldier (Axe) – These guys have a neat trait that works well for swarms, and while they do only have a 9 attack, they’re pretty good for 15 points. You’ll probably need a high attack roll anyway, so the Axe seems decent. Score: 3/5

008 Foot Soldier (Boomerrang) – Even better than the last Foot, this version gets two chances to make his attack. Even if he has to be within 4 squares, there’s more of a chance he’ll actually put out some damage. Score: 4/5

009 Bebop – STOP on 50 points, especially with Toughness is very good. The -2 to attack when he hits someone is pretty brutal and while his opening attack value isn’t the greatest, he’s very push friendly to doll out some serious hurt the following turn. And at 50 points, it’s not a big deal if he’s knocked to STOP in a single round. Score: 5/5

010 Rocksteady – The same dial as Bebop, but you give a -1 with KNOCKBACK instead of -2. No reason to lose points for that. Score: 5/5

011 Stone Warrior – So you can pay 10 more points than the Rock Soldier to lose Super Strength, a bit more dial, and the same object effect? Why pay the extra 10 points? Either one is most likely going down in two hits. Score: 2/5

012 Foot Soldier (Hammer) – Quake isn’t as useful on these guys as the Blades from the Axe or the Boomerrang somewhat negating the 9 attack value. If you’re going to pass on one, make it this guy. Score: 2/5

UNCOMMONS

013 Foot Soldier (Dynamite) – If you can raise this guy’s attack value to a 10 to make it more likely to hit, he’s just fantastic. Even with the 9 attack, for 15 points this is worth it. Score: 5/5

014 Foot Elite (Axe) – Lots of mobility and damage potential on the Foot Elite. The Empower is a really nice addition and the 10 attack is a welcome sight, same with the defense power to actually have a chance at preventing a one-hit KO. There’s a lot of value here for 25 points. Score: 5/5

015 Foot Elite (Boomerrang) – Again, a very good dial, just like the Axe Elite. I’ll gladly pay 25 points for this piece, especially with that 3 damage and Enhancement. Score: 5/5

016 Sergeant Granitor – Mediocre stats and a small dial, even with the neat Level Boss trait makes this a completely passable piece. He gets a few points for tons of reducers and Leadership up front. Score: 2/5

017 Bebop – Ranged attacks that reposition characters? Seems VERY Good. I love that between the common and the uncommon, you get either Close Combat Expert or Ranged Combat Expert with Sidestep. These are surprisingly good Shifting Focus pieces. Score: 5/5

018 Rocksteady – Rocksteady keeps the pace with an amazing 3 target Energy Explosion. This guy is going to be fantastic against swarm teams and will be capable of putting out a huge chunk of damage. Score: 5/5

RARES

019 Foot Elite (Hammer) – I like that the rare elites get both the Sacrifice trait from the uncommon and the movement of the common, but with the 45 point cost, they’re starting to become just a bit too expensive for what you get, especially compared to the uncommons. Still decent though. Score: 4/5

020 Foot Elite (Dynamite) – Just like the Hammer, he’s just a little too expensive. Score: 4/5

021 General Traag – This is a very beefy dial for 95 points, and his Level Boss trait actually puts him in a really nice place if he goes down quickly meaning you can risk him a bit. The free attack with a potential 12 attack and 4 damage is fantastic, and when combined with his Charge, you have some serious damage output. Good keywords too. Score: 5/5

022 Bebop – Bebop has a really nice Incap here that dishes damage and makes targets unable to do much on their next turn. However, he has very poor attack values for 100 points, and while he does resurrect on Prob, he’s not in great shape. Close, but not close enough. Score: 2/5

023 Rocksteady – The two have been side-by-side so far in this set, but this Rocksteady falls short of the rare Bebop. His Pirate Sword isn’t nearly as good as the lockdown of Bebop’s whip. Score: 1/5

024 Shredder – It seems like Shredder is the character that gets ALL of the good dials in these sets. This is a powerhouse, and easily the best dial of the bunch. Huge values, Mastermind and Shape Change to keep him up, TWO resurrections that put him on Outwit that also give out Earthbound/Neutralized… this dial just keeps on giving. He will be a monstrous ID summoner since he’s so hard to deal with. Score: 5/5

025 Splinter – Master Splinter is a decent support piece for the Turtles while still providing some threat via Precision Strike and 11 attack for 60 points. 18 Defend is nice to see since a lot of the TMNT figures have Combat Reflexes. On the right team, he could be fantastic. Score: 3/5

026 Karai – Incredible mobility and the ability to convert a generic theme team into a named one is pretty awesome. Karai has some decent offense too, but she does lose some play on her mid-dial. On the right map, she’ll be a pain to face as she leaps to different hindering taking pot shots. Score: 4/5

027 Baxter Stockman – Usually TK is reserved for moving your own figures, but Baxter is quite adept at maneuvering opposing characters instead, and with Flight and Outwit, he has some great support aspects. He’s a tad expensive for what he does though. Score: 3/5

028 Ha’ntaan The Rat King – This guy is extremely slow to accomplish any goals of actually dealing damage. His Giant Rats are similarly slow, have sub-par values in all regards, and are very easy to take out. One could argue that a token producer has some use for things like Chase Moondragon to give free damage to, I would much rather play something that generates good pogs. Score: 1/5

SUPER RARES

029 Donatello – At 80 points, you get a fairly offensive Donny, and a wonderful Prob up front with some solid defense. At 60, you get… Outwit. His special attack power is ok and provides some nice utility. As for his ‘Tale’, it’s very situational, but can be good since it nukes Prob against him. Score: 3/5

030 Leonardo – We finally get a Super Leadership Leo that can pull tokens anywhere on the map for his brothers (or any other ‘friends’). He’s got quite a nasty dial too with Flurry and 11 attack with Blades. Unlike Donny, he’s actually quite useful at the 60 point line. His ‘Tale’ is a lot better than it seems, although you’ll have to collect all the Super Rares to make it really worthwhile. Score: 4/5

031 Raphael – Raph is usually the offensive beast of the four, but he probably has the tamest opening clicks. There’s a distinct lack of identity here compared to Leo and Donny. However, he does have the biggest damage potential on his later clicks. His ‘Tale’ isn’t very good as all the Super Rares have a 4 range and have no Sidestep or Running Shot, but the Empower on all dials is nice. Score: 3/5

032 Michelangelo – Good values, sturdy reducers, great movement, big damage with Empower, and a very nice special attack power once again makes Mikey the best of the bunch. Even better, his ‘Tale’ granting Stealth and improved movement for hindering and elevated gives himself and his brothers a ton of survivability. Score: 5/5

033 Alopex – This dude is amazing for solo targeting. He picks a character at the start of the game (i.e., their tentpole), and then makes their life miserable. Shape Change + Super Senses is incredibly annoying and the big Hypersonic Speed with the improved movement makes him quite strong. Even the end of his dial is fantastic with Charge, Flurry, Blades, and Prob. The only issue with Alopex is that he has sub-par attack values against anyone other than his primary target, but Perplex can fix that. Score: 5/5

034 Krang – Like the rare Shredder, Krang has the uncanny ability to resurrect twice in a game. Because he returns with Impervious, that makes him extremely hard to score points on. Further, Krang has an incredible dial with fantastic values and tons of damage potential. While his secondary trait isn’t the greatest, his special power that he has on his last two resurrection clicks (AND PULSE WAVE) makes him an absolute monster. Welcome back into the Meta, Krang. Score: 5/5

CHASES

035 Leonardo – TONS of mobility on this piece, which makes him a good ID summoner, but honestly that’s about it. You’re paying Chase money or Chase pull-ratios for a dial that’s honestly not much better than your typical rare. Aside from all the free movement (up to 6 squares free each turn), he’s a Charge/Blades piece for 100 points. Score: 2/5 (if this wasn’t a Chase, it would be higher)

036 Michelangelo – I like Mikey more than Leo because he actually provides a lot of solid damage with Flurry and a natural 3 on damage value, and he gives characters action tokens. He can either completely destroy a single character, or put some hurt on two. Perplex really helps at the 100 point line. Still though, same complaint. This isn’t a Chase dial. Score: 3/5 (if this wasn’t a Chase, it would be higher)

037 Raphael – Raph is almost exactly like Mikey in terms of what he puts out for damage, except that it’s penetrating instead of giving tokens. It’s a pick-your-poison scenario. The Battle Fury is nice up front though. At the end of the dial, I like Mikey a lot better, but the Super Senses on Raph gives him a little more survivability if you’re lucky. Score: 3/5 (if this wasn’t a Chase, it would be higher)

038 Donatello – Outwit adds a lot of value to this piece, and the Giant Reach with Knockback combined with all the free movement means that Donny is going to be a serious pain. He’s absolutely the most playable of the bunch and actually has some very good final clicks to make him a threat the whole game. Repositioning is his game and he does it well. The only bad portion of his dial is the 100 attack for 100 points. Score: 4/5 (if this was a Super Rare, it would be 5/5)

FAST FORCES / BYSTANDERS

001 Leonardo – Can I be done with these guys already? Jeez! Having said that, I love the Continue? Trait. If gives you so much more gas out of your characters for a small 25 point cost, and you get a ton of value back on this dial. Big attack values for 50 points with Blades, and if it’s a fresh attack with no tokens you get Exploit Weakness?! Leadership is a welcome addition and rounds an excellent kit. Score: 5/5

002 Michelangelo – Mikey is a bit more delicate, but a potential full dial of Flurry makes him a scary dial, especially when he can resurrect onto that 11 attack value. The Perplex on the last half of his dial with two 10 attacks is fantastic. Score: 4/5

003 Raphael – Once again, it seems Raph is the tamest of his brothers. Sure, he has three 11 attack values with Precision Strike, but nothing else really jives together. Without that Running Shot, he’s just a melee attacker that will actually have trouble since he’s most likely going to keep distance because of said Running Shot. However, it’s still a great dial that can resurrect, so points! Score: 3/5

004 Donatello – What’s better than a big taxi? How about giving them Outwit and a way back from KO when they’re always targeted first! While Donny is by far the slowest to deal damage of the four, his utility is phenomenal on a TMNT team. And how about that Invulnerability with Sidestep and Close Combat Expert on the end of his dial? I like it! Score: 5/5

005 Shredder – A decent dial for a big boy Shredder that we haven’t seen until now. I like the immunity to anything but close attacks just like Proteus, but unlike him Shredder doesn’t really pack all that much threat. Quake with 3 damage to multiple targets is cool, but he has to sacrifice his immunity to do so since most characters have Sidestep these days to get right next to him afterwards. The STOP clicks are a nice touch, but this Shredder is just too expensive. Score: 2/5

B001 Mouser – Good values, Sidestep, and Indom on a tiny character? Seems good. Score: 4/5

B002 Capture Bot – Nice lockdown for 10 points, but it’s going to take quite a while for it to get into position. If you have Flight or a bigger character, it’s pretty good. Score: 2/5

B003 Laser Drone – The 9 attack might throw you off, but you get Flight for early positioning, Indom for multiple attacks, and Tiny so anyone can carry it around and setup. Score: 4/5

B004 Boxing Bolt – On its own, it’ll probably go down before dealing any damage. However, if it gets to attack, it should pull its weight 100% of the time. Score: 3/5

B005 Spider Drone – If you like plunking for 1 damage, not a bad piece. But I’d much rather pay 5 more points for a Serpent Spider-Man Bystander. Score: 2/5

B006 Mud Man – Okay, this is leaps and bounds better than any of the other Bystanders. Sure, he’s 20 points, but you have to hit him 3 times to KO him, and hope he doesn’t roll Shape Change OR Super Senses every time! 10 attack with Quake and Sidestep is just fantastic. There’s so much value here for that 20 point cost. Score: 5/5

Ya know, I’m pleasantly surprised by the strength of this set. Most of what I was seeing in the early spoilers was really uninteresting and uninspiring, but there are some real gems here. The down side is picking which Turtles and company you get and which ones you get rid of. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of keeping 3+ versions of any character. Anyway, I digress, let’s see how the set breaks down in score:

Poor (score of 1): Only 2?!

Okay (score of 2): 9

Average (score of 3): 13

Good (score of 4): 9

Excellent (score of 5): 16

One of the reasons why I like doing these in-depth reviews so much is that I’m usually surprised by how well a set does. Over half the set is good or excellent, a big surprise based on the first dial reveals we had. However, after coming off of the fantastic Space Turtles, it’s not a very good showing for the brothers (especially with the Super Rares getting the same sculpts from TMNT1!). All that being said, the rare Shredder and Krang will absolutely carry this set.

I think a good play is to pick up the Fast Forces since you get a solid set of Turtles and some great Bystanders, and then cherry pick the figures you really want.

What are your thoughts on this fourth Turtles set? Are you locked and loaded with your quarters sitting on the cabinet, waiting for your play? Or are you completely burned out and giving this set a pass? Let us know in the comments section!

I hope you enjoyed this Gravity Feed set review and it helps to influence your decisions! There might be some blackout days in the coming weeks since I’ll be attending San Diego Comic-Con later this month, and my wife and I should be moving into our first Condo immediately afterwards! I’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop.

See you next week on Clix Fix and until then remember, the real fun begins when you’re Two Clicks From KO!