01ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The 1988 first-wave Leonardo is the Playmates figure, the one that built the empire. Sculpted by Steve Varner, painted in the cartoon-accurate palette that the 1987 series had only set three months earlier, packaged on the red-trapezoid blister card by John Strangis.
Soft-head variant means exactly that: the head and neck are cast in a softer vinyl, which gives the head limited side-to-side give. The hard-head variant (released six months later, 1988-Q4) is more common today because the soft-head heads tended to gradually compress at the neck. Many you’ll find on the secondary market have a slight head-list to the left. That asymmetry is the easiest tell for soft- vs hard-head, and it’s why prices diverge so sharply.
For collectors building the 1988 first wave: this is the figure to find loose-complete with all accessories first, then look for an MOC-mint upgrade. Loose-complete-with-bubble examples trade for 2.4x a loose-complete-no-bubble, MOC mint for 14x.
02WHAT'S IN THE BOX
03FULL SPECIFICATIONS
| NAME | Leonardo |
|---|---|
| VARIANT | Soft-Head, original 1988 release |
| MANUFACTURER | Playmates Toys |
| YEAR | 1988 |
| WAVE | First Wave, Heroes in a Half Shell |
| SCALE | 4.5" (approx. 1:18) |
| POINTS OF ARTICULATION | 5 (neck, shoulders, hips) |
| ASST. NO. | 5000 |
| ITEM NO. | 5001 |
| SCULPTOR | Steve Varner |
| CARD ART BY | John Strangis |
| 30-DAY AVG (LOOSE) | $62 USD · n=47 |
| 30-DAY AVG (MOC) | $420 USD · n=11 |
| POPULATION (CGC C9) | 23 graded examples worldwide |
04WHERE TO HUNT IT
Tracked retailers / aggregators. Prices are last-30-day averages.