What is a Synja I hear you ask? Well, obviously, the name is a portmanteau of “Synthetic” & “Ninja” so these guys are cyborg troops of clan Hiroto from the Last Ronin comic series. Initially I picked up just one NECA Synja Bot figure but I soon ended up with a handful of them including one “Elite” version in white. The fact that I did that probably gives you an idea of how this review is going to go. But let’s go anyway.
From NECA:
From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series, The Last Ronin! In a future NYC far different than the one we know today, a lone surviving Turtle goes on a seemingly hopeless mission to obtain justice for his fallen family and friends. Build up your security forces to keep the streets safe with these Patrol Bot action figures, which are authentic to the comic book depiction and stand in 7-inch scale.
What’s In The box(es)?
There are two different boxes since we are looking at the Synja Patrol Bot (blue guy) single pack and the two pack which includes one of those plus an Elite Synja Patrol Bot (white guy).
The single Synja comes with 3 pairs of hands (open, fists, holding), 3 heads, sword, sheath, pistol and mouser.
Two of the heads are completely different, one has an all red visor while the second has more of a silver grill of a visor.
However, my favourite head is the 3rd one which is a battle damaged version of the grill head, revealing a human eye behind in a sort of reverse Terminator situation. That also comes with a battle damaged neck piece so you can display it as the remains of a fallen comrade.
You also get a simple mouser accessory, basically a ball shaped robot head.
In the two pack you get all the same stuff as the single pack but in white, and with red paint on the grill of the heads rather than silver.
For the blue ninja you still get the sword and sheath but you get a larger assault rifle instead of a pistol which means he also does not have a holster. The heads are also slightly different here. Only 2 for this guy, the same red visor head from the two pack and another that has the visor and the lower grill. You also get a bonus crawling Mouser with 6 legs and a folded up version of that too.
Side Note:
I saw another reviewer refer to the red grill parts on the mouths of some head sculpts as lips, and now I cant see anything else when I look at them
Ninja Moves
I found moving and manipulating the mechanical mutant murderers to be really fun, the articulation is really good compared to other NECA figures I’ve owned. There’s nothing new or special here, in fact, the arms are only single jointed but you can still get a good range of movement.
That’s in large part thanks to the slender body shape, double jointed legs, very poseable ankles and a neck and head that have a lot of give. My point is that despite some limitations I was able to quickly switch these guys into a load of appropriate poses.
It’s also worth noting that these robotic rogues are on the small side for NECA 1:12 scale figures but I think that works well for an army building trooper.
WARNING: I did break the arm on one of mine, this was my fault as I forced it when it did not bend easily instead of first applying some heat. I tried to make use of the broken arm in a few photos.
Painting Renaissance
After the decline of paint detail on Hasbro figures over the last few years I have realised how important to my overall enjoyment of a figure the paintwork is, even if its just a simple bit of shading so its not just the raw plastic colour.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve started to love Mythic Legions so much, I value that detail more than a little extra articulation. The Last Ronin NECA figures have a really cool aesthetic that sort of brings the gritty comic book look to life and these sSynja bots are no exception. It makes them different from anything else I have and it really makes them stand apart.
The figures also have some beautiful sculpted details too, notably on the neck joints, the one on the body and the battle damaged one. The sculpts are identical between blue and white, and have great consistency throughout. The white figure is really striking against the more functional blue, but both are strong, vibrant colours right off the comic page.
Select Your Synja
My favorite thing about these figures are the options between them all. 3 heads with the single pack including a fantastically rendered battle damaged one. The addition of a battle damaged neck joint means that whatever head you select for your figure, you can put one of the others to use on your display still is just really smart.
They also come with stickers to apply to signify rank but I didn’t use these. In most comic panels I cannot see those markings and I want to be able to pop and swap heads without having the wrong rank sticker.
Additionally across both sets you also get different version of mousers which add another option for photos which I really appreciate. The small ones have no stand which means that usually you have to just sit them on the floor which is a shame, and the 6 legged crawler does not have any articulation at all. Both have good paint apps though.
Final Thoughts
To put it simply, I really like these guys, a big part of that is their design from the comic but NECA have done an excellent job of recreating them in figure form. They have amazing sculpted and painted detail, are fun to pose despite having fairly standard articulation and are packed with accessories.
The sword sheath can be removed which adds to the customisability of this figure along with the heads which I find really useful for an army builder figure like this.Its worth noting that even the accessories are well done, the sword has a metallic paint finish on the blade and even the handle is two colours. The guns also have silver paint on top of a dark grey plastic, this makes a huge difference compared to the plain plastic weapons with some other lines.
Overall an impressive set of figures made better thanks to great paint application and through accuracy to the source material.
FREETHEFIGURES 
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