I like the 1993 Night Creeper mold. I think it's just a weird, fun look that translates well into a toy. They are great foils for Ninja Force Joes and remain one of my preferred enemies in photos of '90's Joes. The 1994 Shadow Ninja repaint is also a strong figure. Sadly, it is made of extremely brittle plastic and is nearly impossible to use without breaking the thumbs. In addition, the plastic discolors very easily and most of the loose figures you see have a yellow tinge to them that doesn't go away when you try to refresh the colors in ice water.
Because of this, it's tough to put together a nice army of the 1994 versions. They've also kind of disappeared as the ubiquitous lots of cheap Shadow Ninjas that used to sit unsold on Ebay for a couple of bucks per figure are long gone. The upside is that army building is somewhat passe, these days. But, that doesn't sate my desire to have a few more of these Shadow Ninja Night Creepers as an alternate look for the character.
I do wish we'd gotten at least one more repaint of this mold. The sculpt's proximity to the Flak Viper kind of makes me want one in 1992 Flak Viper colors. I think that would be fun. That will never happen. And, even the resurgence of Ninja Force as a marketing focus for Hasbro and Super7 is unlikely to result in a solidly repainted version of this figure in 3 3/4" form.
So, enjoy some of the content on this figure that you can find around the web. I found more on this guy than I have on more popular figures. But, I dug pretty deep to find everything I could about this guy. So, the results are more a function of effort than the figure's actual popularity.
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper Profile
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper Toys R Us Advertisement
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by thedustinmccoy
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by gen_liederkranz
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by nightforcetunnelrat
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper at Mike's Collection
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by thedustinmccoy
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by tiffstasfigas
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by gen_liederkranz
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by viper_space
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by toy_haven_aka_patch
1994 Shadow Ninja Night Creeper by Gen _Liederkranz
Loved the 1993 Ninja Creeper and Ninja Force as a whole was pretty cool but I never cared for the Shadow Ninjas. The mold is great though.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that, for collectors who want to check out the Shadow Ninjas out of curiosity, the Night Creeper is a fairly good choice (Storm Shadow's not a bad choice either...the primarily blue color scheme is kind of an interesting take). Unless you're a completest, though, there's no real reason to get all six Shadow Ninjas.
ReplyDeleteI think the Shadow Ninjas suffered from a few fatal flaws at the time:
1) I want to say they started out as being priced higher than average figures when they first hit retail (prior to their near-instant transfer to discount bins). Does that match other people's recollections?
2) I can't help but feel like the generic card art also hurt them. In my opinion, it kind of unconsciously sends the message that these are low-effort releases who aren't worthy of individualized card art. Plus, how hard would it have been? Just recolor the existing card art.
Fun fact: They actually did get released with individual recolored card art overseas (in Greece, I think). I've only ever seen Snake Eyes, Bushido, the Night Creeper, and Nunchuk (but I'm willing to bet that Slice and Storm Shadow were also released that way).
3) The color change feature worked, but definitely not as-advertised (instead of turning clear, I'd say they turn more of a milky white). Plus, the elbow and shoulder joints are just straight-up sculpted in regular white plastic (I guess because the color change plastic couldn't take the joint stress?). It really stands out and looks unattractive when the figures aren't in color change mode.
4) It's a group of six specialty figures who all have the exact same gimmick. Literally - once you've seen one, you've seen them all. And, like I said the gimmick isn't too impressive in the first place. This definitely influences my belief that a full set of Shadow Ninjas isn't really worth the trouble to track down (I got them all at deep discount back when they came out and they represent little more for me than just checking six figures off of a list).
A group like the first wave of Sonic Fighters were able to get away with having the same gimmick, because the figures tended to look pretty great. Not the case with the Shadow Ninjas, though
5) The color change feature and (resulting) sparse paint details means that most of the color on these guys comes from the color of plastic they're cast in. That wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the fact that the color change plastic necessitates that they have this dull, lifeless, almost waxy look to them. They've always looked like birthday candles to me :D
I know that seems like a lot of negativity (just kind of par for the course with these guys, I'm afraid). It's all just my personal take, obviously. On a positive note, the translucent weapons are kind a cool novelty (just be careful with them... they're stiffer and more brittle than other weapons of the era).
right on all counts. I pity the fool paying 50+ dollars for one of these. also, it's the same thing with sky patrol...one and done get skydive or something and call it a day. talk about diminishing returns.
DeleteI'll have a Rarities post on it next year. But, oddly, in Europe, they did get individual card artwork.
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