Action Figure Review: Ooze Scoopin' Donnie from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Playmates

Remember back in my review of Ooze Tossin' Raph how I said that I didn't plan on picking up the rest of the Ooze Launching Turtles but made a special exception for Raphael since he's my favorite Turtle?  Yeah, that didn't pan out.  I ended up finding these guys on sale for a really good price and ended up buying the rest of them just the other day. I've now got a ton of Turtles figures still to review (Cockroach Terminator, Baxter Stockman, the rest of the Stealth Tech guys, and the Rat King) but today I'll be looking at Ooze Scoopin' Donnie. Actually, I'll be interviewing Donatello for this review. Yup! This is my first ever combination interview/ review. I hope it goes well!

Barbecue17:  Hi Donatello! Thanks for stopping by ThEpic Review today and giving us a few minutes of your time!  Start by telling us a little about yourself:

Donatello: Ok, dude! I'm Donatello and I'm the brains of the turtles.  I'm about 4 3/4 inches tall and hang out with the rest of my brothers and Master Splinter in the new TMNT line based on our Nickeloden animated series.  Oh, and I'm really good friends with April, FYI.  I'm the same height whether I'm in my usual gear or my Stealth Tech gear.

Barbecue17: Radical!  So bro, tell me about all that gear you've got on? Does it make it hard to move?

Donatello: Yeah, just a little bit.  Ooze is a great weapon to use against our enemies, but it requires special precautions.  I'm wearing some special protective gear, although it does severly limit my ability to move, y'know?  I mean, I can look all around and up and down ok, but other than moving my arms up and down and twisting to the side, I'm pretty restricted in what I can do. It's kind of a bummer, actually.

Barbecue17: I know. Usually you're moving around quite a bit. I guess you really have to stay standing in one position in order to effectively hit your targets with your ooze launcher, huh?

Donatello: Yeah, that's probably the reason my movement.  I can still eat pizza, though, so I'm not too concerned about it.

Barbecue17: I've actually got a pizza right here. Want a piece?

Donatello: Bossa Nova!! I sure do!  *Donatello scarfs down some pizza*

Barbecue17: Well Donnie, why don't you tell me a little bit more about your protective gear?

Donatello: OK, well it's just your standard operating gear for ooze based warfare.  The boots are really heavy duty to protect me from stepping in ooze and demutating my toes...

Barbecue17: Woah! Can that really happen?!

Donatello: I don't know, but I sure don't want to find out. Anyways, I've also got on this special yellow bodysuit, this cool black vest with a walkie talkie on it, and some big black shiney gloves to protect my hands.  Oh, and I upgraded my pads. They're more armored than my standard pads and all in purple, to better match my headband.

Barbecue17: Great man. I love the look of the black and purple, but don't you think the yellow is a little loud? It kind of reminds me of a bumblebee. I'm not sold on it.

Donatello: Really? I find it eclectic, but to each his own! Plus, April wears yellow and she always looks so nice in it...

Barbecue17: All right Donnie, let's get back on track.  What's the deal with your giant backpack?

Donatello: I'm glad you asked! I whipped these up in the lair a few months back.  You open the top of the lid and put ooze in the tank.  When you push down on the plunger on top of the pack, the ooze feeds through a spout that empties into the catapult arm.  When the arm is full, wiggle it a little and the ooze will separate allowing you to swing the arm and throw ooze at enemies. It works pretty well. While all of the main units are the same, I made a different scoop and weapons rack for me and each of my brothers. My weapons rack is designed to hold my bo staff.

Barbecue17: That's pretty slick. What's the pokey thing that's attached to the backpack?

Donatello: While it does kind of look like a weapon, that's actually a cleaning pick to clean out the spout on the backpack.  Of course, it certainly would do as a weapon in a pinch, wouldn't it?  I've also got three small chunks of ooze here that won't fit in the spout, but can be launched from the scoop by itself. It's not as messy as the typical ooze we use, though.

The bo staff is from the series 1 Donatello, not this figure.

Barbecue17: Is that backpack removable?

Donatello: Nope, it's just part of the outfit.  Once you attach it, it's really hard to get off and I wouldn't try or else you might break it.  Sorry, dude.

Barbecue17: That's OK.  Let me ask you something. What's with this whole "Donatello does machines" thing I've heard about?

Donatello: Next question.

Barbecue17: Umm, do you like being a turtle?

Donatello: I love being a turtle!!

Barbecue17: Gnarly!!

Donatello: Righteous!!

Barbecue17: Wicked!!

Donatello: Bannanarama!!

Barbecue17: ............

Donatello: Umm, anymore questions?

Barbecue17: No, I think we're all wrapped up here. Thanks so much! It was a pleasure having you here at ThEpic Review!

As Donatello left ThEpic Review's command center, I was struck by a few things. It's always a pleasure to sit with the Teenage Mutant Ninija Turtles. They know what fun is about and always are guests of the highest quality. I really like Donatello's gear and outfit, although I'm still not entirely sold on his yellow shorts.  I kind of wish he'd been a bit more articulate, too (see what I did there?) and perhaps had even brought a small sample of ooze with him.  Overall, he was a Good guest for this action figure review/interview.