Squishy Head vs. Hard Head Vintage Wave 1

[IMJ]

Hopefully someone can clarify this for me... Was the entire 1988 wave of the line released with soft, squishy heads? I know that at least 8 of the 10 initial figures were initially manufactured this way, but I have never seen a squishy head Foot Soldier or a squishy head April O'Neil.

Is it that I haven't come across those two, or are they hard-head only?

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but here goes:

Splinter, Foot Soldier, and April were never produced with "squishy" heads. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Rocksteady, Bebop, and Shredder were.

[indy1936]

Splinter was produced with squishy head as I have an original here.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

You have one loose? Can you take a pic of you squishing the head?

[nofuture4u]

Only april and foot soldier were hard head only. My loose splinter soft head is somewhat hardened from time and doesn't squish very much a "squish photo" wouldn't do it justice or I'd post it.

[Archon_Turtle]

You have one loose? Can you take a pic of you squishing the head?

You don't need to call his bluff. He is correct. There was a soft head splinter. Myteefine has one atm.

http://myteefinestuff.com/product_info.htm?cPath=21_22&products_id=7362&msize=1&csid=8a28a854fb5b1458812c431d42876134

[oldmanwinters]

I remember the first Michelangelo figure I got had a squishy head that eventually just popped off. I believe I returned it and got a hard head version.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

I'm thinking that there were actually three variants of each figure (other than the Foot Soldier and April). I have one Raph with a squishy head that is only slightly squishy, and one with a head that is REALLY squishy. Leads me to believe that they experimented with several types of plastic.

When I was younger I always thought it was just the turtles that could be had with squishy heads. I have a Rocksteady somewhere and a Shredder too. I'm pretty sure my MOC Bebop and Donatello both have hard heads though.

[IMJ]

You have one loose? Can you take a pic of you squishing the head?

I've got three squishy head Splinters and one hard head myself.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

I've got three squishy head Splinters and one hard head myself.

I've got so many of them myself that I may have the soft head version somewhere and not even know it.

[IMJ]

I'll try to illustrate this the best I can... it's defintely, beyond the shadow of a doubt a squishy head Splinter but it's hard to illustrate without really compressing the head.

I go into the TMNT Collection....
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/IMJ/VintageTMNTHousing.jpg

Drawer #1 which holds the '88 to '90 or so grouping...
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/IMJ/VintageTMNTDrawer1.jpg


Pull out one of the Squishy Head Splinters (1988). Note the roundness of the nose...
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/IMJ/SquishyHeadSplinterUnsquished.jpg

And give him a squish.....
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/IMJ/SquishyHeadSplinter.jpg

Here's a closeup of the easily compressed nose...
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/IMJ/SquishedHeadSplinterCloseup.jpg


Note that the hard head Splinter's head can not be compressed at all in the slightest.

[Ninjinister]

Hey you store yours in bins like I do now :) Good to see I'm not the only one.

[Joeybones]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/joeybones/SANY0011-4.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/joeybones/SANY0012-3.jpg

[Samhain]

Thats a neat way of keeping figures. Very organized, I like it.

[Powder]

Those soft heads are bugged out. I have a shredder one. DO NOT LIKE.

[Ninjinister]

Yeah, my only soft-heads I got in a lot, and they're in pretty terrible condition. I have no doubt that it's possible to keep them in good shape, but if they'd been previously played with in any way, shape, or form, they're probably crap by now.

Thank the gods they made the switch.

[Venom]

I found a squishy-head Raph in the dirt when I was a kid. I never liked his head much so I put him in the toy box and only used him as an evil clone every once in a while.

He still lurks there too, in my closet, lying in that chest. Waiting...:tcouch:

[IMJ]

Thats a neat way of keeping figures. Very organized, I like it.

Cool.. Thanks! Yeah, as an adult collector I try to keep things organized like this so as to leave the impression that this is a collection or hobby rather than a weirdo-hoard or something. :)

I'm primarily an Iron Man collector, and I keep all of that stuff organized and displayed in shelving units or glass cases. TMNT is more of a lingering childhood thing so I put the collection together and just sort of store it as it grows. When there's a related event or the market picks up I'll probably unload the doubles or third tier toys.

[nofuture4u]

I have one Raph with a squishy head that is only slightly squishy, and one with a head that is REALLY squishy. Leads me to believe that they experimented with several types of plastic.


I believe you're correct sir. I've bought and sold quite a few and I've even noticed that there is a small head big head variant with the soft heads and if you get a few softies together you'll notice that there are different shades of rubber. For example I have two soft raphs. One has a head that nearly matches the color of the body, but the other is way darker than the body. the darker one is also slightly smaller. I think one day many years down the line the minor variations will make a difference in price kind of like with the first twelve star wars figures.

[IMJ]

I believe you're correct sir. I've bought and sold quite a few and I've even noticed that there is a small head big head variant with the soft heads and if you get a few softies together you'll notice that there are different shades of rubber. For example I have two soft raphs. One has a head that nearly matches the color of the body, but the other is way darker than the body. the darker one is also slightly smaller. I think one day many years down the line the minor variations will make a difference in price kind of like with the first twelve star wars figures.

-eh-, I don't know... the IIRC the Star Wars variations are actual mold and sculpt variations on the heads. With TMNT we are talking years of production with slightly different dyes on the heads. I can't see collectors embracing that as a variant unless the TMNT market dried up so much that people were really digging for things to buy.

The squishy versus soft head thing is a true variation with a recorded difference in the production run, i.e., collectors know that squishy head Turtles were the initial releases and are therefore more sought after. It won't ever be like that with a quarter shade difference in the plastic color. At least, I've never seen a fan reaction to that in any other toy line ever in years of collecting.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

It's a more significant difference than you might think. I have one Raph whose head is MUCH darker than his hard-headed counterpart, and slightly squishy, but not REALLY squishy, like my other one, whose head can be completely flattened, a head that is a very bright soft green.

[koenne]

I'm gonna bid on a soft head lot with 4 turtles , i really hope i win !
Cowabunga !

[IMJ]

I'm gonna bid on a soft head lot with 4 turtles , i really hope i win !
Cowabunga !

LOL! Good luck, man.
Good convo here, but I suppose that it's easily aggreed upon that the definitive variants in Wave 1 are between having hard headed Turtles and a set of squishy headed turtles.

I'm down for having a set of each in my collection, but anything in between I'd let fall to the wayside.

[Leonardo87]

While I was going through my Turtle bin that has all my turtles, I found out I have a soft head Donatello. His belt and accessories are somewhere, but it's neat that I own one of the soft heads.

[Master Splinter]

Note that the hard head Splinter's head can not be compressed at all in the slightest.


hahaha, i enjoyed the narrative.

i have a couple squishy head turtles but they all look like crap. does anyone know why they switched to hard heads?

-ms

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

hahaha, i enjoyed the narrative.

i have a couple squishy head turtles but they all look like crap. does anyone know why they switched to hard heads?

-ms

I can't help but wonder why they had soft heads to begin with. Were they copying Mattel or something? Hard plastic bodies, soft rubbery heads?

[IMJ]

I could speculate that it had something to do with production costs... the plastic was cheaper to mold, or the paint they add was more easily applied. Who knows?

Maybe they were afraid that kids would chew on the heads and it was a safety feature at first.. lmao!

[billbot85]

i've always wondered which is worth more: the squishy head versions or the hard-head versions?

Even so, I didn't get my first set of turtles until 1989 or 1990 when they stayed as hard heads. So that's all i've ever known and preferred.

[Ninjinister]

I just realized that an MOC Leonardo I got for like $25 a while back is a squishy head. Score.

Funny thing is, there's a blue paint blotch on his face, away from his bandanna.

[IMJ]

Score.

LOL!!
Score fer sure, man! :)

[Mutated Turtle]

what are the squishy heads worth if they are loose?i got a lot on ebay and it had quite a few squishy heads.but yesterday the leg on my squishy head don fig broke off.and it had to be super glued,could it still be worth something?

[Samhain]

what are the squishy heads worth if they are loose?i got a lot on ebay and it had quite a few squishy heads.but yesterday the leg on my squishy head don fig broke off.and it had to be super glued,could it still be worth something?

Worth all depends on condition. Loose in very good condish with all the weapons I paid $12 each for all 4 Tmnt. So bing broken I cant imagine anyone buying it. Maybe for parts.

[Ninjinister]

The squishy versus soft head thing is a true variation with a recorded difference in the production run, i.e., collectors know that squishy head Turtles were the initial releases and are therefore more sought after.

Ha ha, not all ;) Some French shower on eBay claimed that the hard-heads were first made, and much rarer. He said that they changed them from hard to soft because kids were hurting each other by throwing the toys at each other or some garbage, so they were changed to soft-heads to make less of an impact. Guy argued with me when I tried to correct him and basically called me an idiot for challenging his "expertise".

Of course we all know the difference.

[Mutated Turtle]

was he even a tmnt fan?he would probably know that the soft heads were made first if he was a fan.hmmmm