KARAI
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MINIMATES
Not too long ago, I finally got around to getting the last main figure from the first series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates. I took my sweet time getting that set finished up. Not really sure why, but I just kept putting it off. What finally encouraged me to finish up the set was actually the fact that Series 2 had made its way to release. I haven’t taken the full plunge on the second set just yet, but I did manage to pick up one figure, Karai, daughter of the main baddie Shredder!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Karai was released blind-bagged, as part of the specialty assortment of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Minimates Series 2. I’m not 100% sure, but I think she might be one of the two figures in this series that is specialty-exclusive. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. She is, obviously, based on Karai’s design from the latest TMNT cartoon. I haven’t really kept up with the cartoon, so I’ve not actually seen any of this incarnation’s appearances, but she seems to have kept at least a few key elements from prior incarnations of the character. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for her hair, gauntlets, and belt/sheath. The gauntlets first saw use on Marvel Minimates Series 36’s Silver Centurion Iron Man, and they seem like a decent enough match for what she has on the show. They could 
maybe stand to be a little more elegant, but they work in a pinch. The hair and belt pieces both look to be new to the figure, and both seem like pretty good matches to the show’s design. The hair in particular is a pretty spot on translation of her ‘do from the show. Karai’s paintwork is decent enough, though, like most of the TMNT Minimates, she’s not perfect. The detail lines are nice and sharp, and actually on the plentiful side, which you don’t always see with animated characters. The armor on her upper arms and thighs in particular are quite nicely handled, and the thigh armor even wraps around the sides. I also love the fully detailed sash, which even features detailing on the clips keeping it in place. However, some of the base paintwork is a little on the sloppy side, most noticeably on the gauntlets and the back of the hair. Karai comes packed with a short sword, an alternate masked head, and a clear display stand.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
I got Karai as part of a large order from Luke’s Toy Store (the same one that got me my Aliens Minimates and my Age of Ultron singles). I actually wanted a Casey Jones, but Luke’s was out of those, so I ordered one Series 2 blind-bag at random. Big shocker: it ended up being Karai. Not quite what I wanted, but truth be told, I kind of wanted her too, so I wasn’t too bummed. Karai isn’t the most exciting Minimate ever, but she is a bit more exciting than April, and she certainly goes nicely with the other TMNT Minimates we’ve gotten so far.
The Figure In Question 