About a week ago the first catalog image leaked out showing off a couple of the LEGO TMNT 2014 sets. I’ve been waiting patiently for better quality photos to turn up before discussing any of the sets, but my patience has worn thin and I’m ready to start talking up the 2014 LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets now! Let’s begin with the largest of the four TMNT animated sets for next year–the 2014 LEGO TMNT Turtle Sub Undersea Chase 79121!

There are seven Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles LEGO sets scheduled to be released over the course of 2014, with four of the sets being from the Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon and three of the sets based on the 2014 TMNT movie (by Michael Bay–ugh!). Of the four animated sets, the biggest and most interesting-looking of the four is easily the 79121 LEGO Turtle Sub Undersea Chase set. I’ve seen the price of $46.99 floating around for this set, but if I know LEGO, it’s more likely it will be $49.99 when it actually reaches stores.

The Turtle Sub (or “T-Sub”, as it’s sometimes affectionately called) is an actual vehicle from Season 1 of the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and not just something that LEGO made up. The vehicle actually looks really nice–quite a bit nicer than the 2013 LEGO TMNT sets, in fact! The Ninja Turtles Turtle Submarine looks like it’s going to be a really fun build and fairly authentic to its appearance in the show, which I’m grateful for. I’m definitely anticipating this release.

The high point of the set, however, is the minifigures! Along with two Kraangs, the set includes the first-ever LEGO Leatherhead minifigure (which is actually a LEGO Big Fig!). Playmates Toys made a disappointingly small and out-of-scale Leatherhead figure in their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line, so it’s great to see Leatherhead finally get his due in impressive LEGO Big Fig size!

The set also includes a brand-new LEGO Donatello minifigure, though apparently not the one pictured in the illustration in the catalog photo. In that image, Donatello is dressed up wearing some gear never-before-seen in the Nick TMNT cartoon series. I have a bunch most nerds like me thought the same thing when they saw this 2014 Donatello LEGO minifigure, so I’m just going to come right out and say it: Donatello has become a podracer! Just like the genius mechanic before him, Anakin Skywalker, LEGO TMNT Donatello is all dressed up and ready to race with his podracing goggles! (Or maybe not.)

The LEGO 79121 Turtle Sub Undersea Chase set is scheduled to be released in late winter/early spring 2014. It is not expected to be available with the January 2014 LEGO sets wave, so don’t be too disappointed when it’s not at your local stores in a week or two from now. I’ll post an update when LEGO reveals the specific release date and piece count for this set, and you can ‘Like’ Bricks and Bloks on Facebook to have more LEGO news, photos and reviews sent right to your Facebook Newsfeed!

Are you psyched for the LEGO 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtle Sub Undersea Chase set, LEGO fans? Or does it take more than a new LEGO Submarine and a Leatherhead Big Fig to get you excited?