Toy Review: The Rat King / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Playmates)

I will have to admit that when this line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys started I got the four Turtles themselves, saw Casey Jones and thought he was interesting compared to his previous versions and even purchased Tiger Claw one of the first times I saw him because I liked him that much, but this figure of The Rat King was the first one from this line that I saw in stores and thought, "You know, I don't really collect Ninja Turtles per se, but this is a figure I'd like to own".

Once it was decided upon that I was going to be collecting all of the Ninja Turtles characters that I wanted to and not just the Turtles themselves The Rat King was high on my list to go back and find because no matter what series this is in it just looks cool.   As I understand it he controls the rats, a virtual pied piper, and the fact that he has some rats actually stuck to him just makes him that much cooler.

Sometimes in my eBay searches for older TMNT toys I come across what seems to be The Rat King from back when I was a kid and had most all of these toys.   So while it would appear as if a version of The Rat King was made originally (google search the images of it... it's not what you think) I never had it or remember it existing so for me this is somewhat of a new figure in that sense with a clean slate.

If you happen to be following along with my other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy reviews this is the third non-Turtle I'm writing about and it's funny because Tiger Claw lives above the surface I would assume as he is a bounty hunter and all that and Casey Jones does as well because he's human, but isn't it funny to think of The Rat King as being part of this set just because he can live in the sewers too?

I don't like rats.   I mean really don't like them.   Having a guy like this who can control them as his unholy army just makes me think of what a great villain he is, playing on peoples fears like that.    And even if you weren't afraid of rats just having them all over you might be a bit inconvenient.    Such a fitting character for such a fitting action figure.    All around awesomeness here.