Last Saturday for the fifth consecutive year in a row Steve and I made our annual voyage up to the Javits Center for New York Toy Fair. It is always a long day with lots of work, but we always find a way to keep it fun.
NECA has recently released all 4 1990 TMNT Movie turtles in 1/4 scale, and they look fantastic! A nice added addition to the four TMNT is the NECA Baby Turtles accessory pack they just recently released. The pack has all four Baby Turtles along with some other nice accessories for your 1/4 scale Turtles.
Recently NECA has been hinting and teasing us about a TMNT reveal as one of their SDCC exclusive items. Well, today Director of Product Development for NECA, Randy Falk, revealed them to the world in all of their glory.
We are starting a new feature here every Friday where we will share some of the most interesting topics and news of the week. Topics will run the gamut, and they will cover anything from toys, to movies and entertainment, or anything that tickles our nostalgia bone.
For the fourth year in a row we had the pleasure of touring the NECA Toys booth at NY Toy Fair. This year Summer Mullins, Public Relations and Marketing Director, was kind enough to take time out of her busy day to show us around and talk about their upcoming products with us.
Where do I even begin with these? Over and over Randy Falk and the crew over at NECA TOYS find ways to make the unthinkable happen. This year's SDCC exclusive sets are no exception. The Konami arcade styled TMNT and Foot four packs just miiiight be my favorite thing NECA has done to date. (With that said, I am certainly looking forward to the 1/4 scale movie Donatello hitting retail this fall).
Those that know me know that I am one of the biggest TMNT fans out there. When I think about my childhood and toys I think about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Over the last few years I've found some online buddies who share this passion with me such as The Sewer Den and Crooked Ninja (good guys...check 'em out).
What a freaking way to celebrate World Turtle Day! Randy Falk and NECA TOYS have outdone themselves once again! They have broken Twitter and the Internet with their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle news!
TMNT Teaser
As a hardcore TMNT fan I am ecstatic! Totally freaking excited! This has been many years in the making and Randy's patience and perseverance has finally paid off. A long time ago on one of our visits to the studio we spotted some Konami TMNT arcade game figures. Of course, we inquired and Randy coyly told us "maybe one day."
Last week we reported that there has been sightings of three new TMNT Classic Collection figures popping up on eBay and other places online. At that time, we had no news to report on these figures other than to let you know they've been spotted.
Well, we reached out to Playmates Toys to get clarification. They reached out to the marketing department for us and here is what Paula Billingsley (Consumer/Officer Services Manager at Playmates Toys) had to say:
"These are all TRU Exclusives. The first 3, Skateboardin' Michelangelo, Touchdown Tossin' Leonardo, and Delta Donatello are hitting TRU in 1-2 weeks."
They even gave us some insight into future waves of TMNT Classic Collections that they have planned:
"The others are TBD –Super Mikey -Super Don -Military Leo probably fall 9/1/2016."
Well, there you have it! The three Classic Collection TMNT figures that we spotted online are Toys R Us exclusive items and will be hitting shelves soon! Not only that, but another wave is also planned for the fall. You heard it here first!
Also, now that you know that these are coming to Toys R Us please be sure to NOT FEED THE SCALPERS online who are asking for exorbitant amounts of money for these figures!!!
While browsing eBay I came across a listing for three new Classic Collection TMNT figures. They are Skateboardin' Michelangelo, Touchdown Tossin' Leonardo, and Delta Donatello.
We have reached out to Playmates Toys for word on these new figures since Delta Don is not listed on their website, and I have not seen any news about these figures. So far we have been unable to get a response.
I hope these will find their way to TRU very soon and that we will continue to see more Classic Collection figures in the future. We will keep you posted if/when we hear back from Playmates.
Everyone who follows us knows that we each have very diverse toy collections. With the said, we each still have our all-time favorites. Steve's favorite always has been and will be the original G.I. JOE: ARAH line from Hasbro. My personal favorite is the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle line by Playmates.
As a kid I had so many of the figures and the playsets. I spent countless hours pretending to battle Shredder and the Foot Clan with my TMNT figures on the Technodrome and Sewer Lair. A few years back I was digging in the attic of my parents house and came across some of my original TMNT collection. Lots of it was missing and most weapons and accessories were long gone. Even then, finding those figures that I cherished as a kid was like finding gold. I scooped them up and displayed them in a room at my house. Around this time, my interest in collecting was already starting to grow due to Steve's toy collection. From this point on I decided that I wanted to complete my figures and rebuild the collection I had as a kid. Since then I have not only built it up to that point, but have surpassed what I had. A collector's job is never finished though.
I recently went on a little bit of a vintage TMNT splurge. First, Steve hooked me up with an excellent deal on some great pieces such as complete set of the Storage Shell Turtles, Toon Shredder, and many more! A big thanks to him as he has helped me tremendously with building my collection up!
In the past I have purchased a few much needed pieces for my collection from Tim at Half Shell Toys. Each time I have gone through him I have been extremely satisfied. This transaction was a few months in the making as both of us have been extremely busy with the daily grind of life! In the end, I bought three complete vehicles (Turtlecopter, Pogocopter, and Knucklehead) as well as fifteen complete figures from Tim.
The Loyal Subjects 8" Battle Damaged & Metallic Leo's
As many of you know, I am a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. This has always been my favorite toy line since childhood. A few years back I found a small chunk of my collection that I had as a kid at my parents house. From there, I got the itch to get all of the retro stuff I had as a kid and then some.
Turdsday was a regular installment we started a few months back. The idea was to come up with a new one every Thursday. We tried it out for a bit, and some people seemed to like it. With that said, we decided it wasn't really worth the time and effort. We decided to save it for special occasions for when a toy company really shits the bed. Well, today is that day!
Today's special TURD of the Day is the one and only Playmates Toys. I am one hugely disappointed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. Last night at midnight they finally announced what their SDCC exclusive item would be. They hyped it up for days and days and were planning to announce it on Sunday night at midnight. Product aside, that was a stupid PR move that made no sense. It only seemed to piss people off. Some genius at their corporate office was like "Hey guys! I have the greatest idea ever. Let's tease this shit for two weeks straight, make everyone wait, and then announce it on a SUNDAY night at MIDNIGHT when everyone is sleeping!" Yeah, awesome idea guys! You guys are so smart! Meanwhile, every other toy company in the world was pumping out press releasees left and right in regards to their exclusives.
At least, Playmates changed their minds and moved the reveal date from Sunday up to Wednesday (still at midnight), but only after many TMNT fans complained to them...and the fact that the item leaked online (or at least rumors) and everyone pretty much already knew what it was!
So on to the super disappointing Playmates SDCC exclusive. For a few days leading up to yesterday fans online were already speculating what the exclusive would be....a Metal Mutants Leonardo. I was NOT thrilled with that choice and was really hoping that the rumors were not true. I wasn't even a fan of the original, but if that is really what they chose then I figured it would be a retro homage similar to the figure below.
That crap is bad enough, but I could live with a retro homage of sorts. Well, last night comes and the big reveal happens (at midnight which again is stupid bad PR move). Sadly, the rumors were not false. We are getting a 11" Metal Mutants Leo...based off the NEW figures. Uhhhhh!!!! I am an enormously huge TMNT fan, but this looks like crap. To add insult, to injury word is they will be releasing a similar item to retail in the future. I have gotten the last three Playmates TMNT SDCC exclusives, but I am not wasting money on this one. It will be the first one I don't get, and frankly, Playmates doesn't deserve my money. They take a retro idea and then instead of doing a homage they ruin it with this...
Playmates has shown to us over and over again that they do not care about their fans or the collectors market in general. Fans of the original TMNT line have been getting the shaft from Playmates big time over the last year or so. When Playmates decided to come out with the retro and classic lines I know that many TMNT fans such as myself were very excited. Personally, I picked every single one of the original retro reissues. I also got all of the bigger, articulated classic line figures...all four cartoon Turtles, all four movie turtles, and Bebop and Rocksteady. Playmates was really on to something. They really got their fans excited when they announced that they would be coming out with a classic version of both Krang and Shredder!!! Talk about kick ass! However, right when they got us all hyped up about it they turned around and pulled the plug on the project. What the hell, right? Us retro fans get the shaft once again.
Playmates is only hurting themselves with these moves. Most of us have zero interest for their crappy, new figures with horrid paint apps. It's like they don't even care. It's like they just lazily slap together a piece of crap and rush it to the shelves. This is not acceptable.
Playmates, you ignore your hardcore adult collector fan base at your own peril. We will just go elsewhere to get the products that we want. A great example is the new third-party First Gokin NT-01 Cerebral figure. Yes, it's pricier, but it is exactly EVERYTHING we have always wanted in an Android Krang figure. If Playmates decided to stick to their plans and make a Krang I bet a good number of people would have bought their version because of the price difference. However, by scrapping Krang they forced their fans to go buy from another company.
It ended up being a blessing in disguise because the First Gokin figure is kick ass! I'll gladly stick with them...even with the hefty price tag.
Also, word is First Gokin will be releasing a Krang Walker version and a Shredder. You better believe that I will be getting them.
So bottom line: Playmates, step your game up because your shit's weak!
