01-07-2019, 02:15 AM | #81 |
Random Punk
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I had the Krang Andoid Body that came out in 1991, which is very valuable today if you get one in the original box. Cool concept, but he had very basic articulation, no wings. No accessories to speak of, really. He was about the height of may 3 action figures. Around 12 inches...
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01-07-2019, 02:26 AM | #82 | |
Random Punk
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I will say that toy collecting was a lot different for those people. They simply went to a department store and loaded up the card with figures and brought them home and put them in a box. Not like now where we have all the Comic Con exclusives, Neca, and overpriced $300 Hot Toys figures with a million points of articulation, expensive paint jobs, and interchangeable heads and hands.
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"You fight well, in the old style. But you've caused me enough trouble. Now you face...the Shredder." Last edited by colincollects85; 01-07-2019 at 02:35 AM. |
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01-07-2019, 08:29 AM | #83 | |
Foot Elite
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People in their 40s and 50s today may not admit it so easily, but they were watching the 1987 syndicated Fred Wolf cartoon in the very late ‘80s and early ‘90s while in junior high, high school, and college. Believe it or not, a small amount of them had their favorites from the toon or one of every figure from waves one to three and possibly a home video release of the syndicated Fred Wolf series. In most states, during those eras, young adults could not be vocal about watching cartoons made for children and toddlers in public, like they do today, out of fear of being embarrassed. It was difficult for people of all ages to ignore the Turtles from late ‘89 to the fall of 1993 or so. Loose action figures from the original 1988 Playmates line were found by many people on the ground in parks, small city streets, and forest areas from 1990 to sometime in the mid ‘90s. As you can imagine, senior citizens who thought the title and concept of the franchise was silly had to see the Turtles ad nauseam in the early to mid ‘90s (especially the early 90s). ‘70s and ‘80s action figure collectors generally do not like reminiscing about the early ‘90s. I think that is mostly in part to there being a lack of competition to the Turtles in the Bush ‘90s and all of the greats before the Turtles being gone or on their way out. In other words, the market was dry as bone in those years. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really were the only game in town in 1990, when you think about it. Don’t forget that magazines like Model & Toy Collector, Lee’s Action Figure News & Review, and Toy Values Monthly were at book stores, newsstands, and supermarkets in the early ‘90s as well. The 1988 soft heads, available in stores from mid ‘88 to mid 1990, were fetching up to twenty two dollars in early ‘91 on the black market, if I recall correctly. So, that was a hint to sellers who cared nothing about the Turtles that Playmates Toys was going places. I have another question for this forum. How would you look at the original Playmates toyline if the movie figures and child-centric variants were never made? Last edited by mikey0; 01-07-2019 at 10:27 AM. |
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01-07-2019, 12:49 PM | #84 | |
Stone Warrior
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However, can you name any toy line post-1984 that *is* in those "big leagues"? Because maybe the situation was more of a changing landscape for all toys and less of what you say it was. None of those franchises but Star Wars is still in those "big leagues" as far as I can tell, either, and Star Wars itself has lost steam as well. |
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01-07-2019, 01:32 PM | #85 | |
Random Punk
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01-07-2019, 05:00 PM | #86 |
Overlord
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I had a NES and an SNES and it didn't prevent me from buying action figures, watching cartoons and reading comics. The only thing that stopped me was feeling ashamed.
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01-07-2019, 06:14 PM | #87 | |
Random Punk
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I had a bunch of other cool toys like the Creepy Crawler oven, Nerf guns, Super Soakers, basically all the 90s crap that is worth a fortune now, but the Turtles were by far always number one in my book. Last edited by colincollects85; 01-07-2019 at 06:20 PM. |
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01-07-2019, 09:24 PM | #88 | |
Foot Elite
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I thought the card backs for the first wave Turtles figures and the promotional work for it were eye-catching, bold, and dramatic for a boys toyline. The original toyline was more effective as a toy set based off of the 1984 Mirage Comic book and 1987 Fred Wolf cartoon to me. After all, the high sales of the 1984 Mirage Comic book series in 1986 are what spawned the hit 1987 Fred Wolf cartoon in the first place, so it made sense for the poses, sculpts, and cardback artwork of the figures to resemble what was found on the pages in the comic book. When the dark nature of the comic book disappeared from the 1988 original Playmates toyline, the appeal was lost for me. The 1987 syndicated program became a top rated cartoon and the toyline that went with it changed radically [no pun intended] as a result. The pop-up displays are the greatest symbol of the first cartoon being the most watched animated television show of 1989. After the re-release of the wave one to three figures on the same cards had the yellow sticker on the bubble, the original Playmates toyline began sliding towards being a fun line for mainly children of the 1990s. That was not exactly the dividing point on the timeline of the 1988 toy line for everyone like the toy series turning into one gigantic spoof of all of the best-selling toy collectibles sold before it in the fall of 1991 though. I apologize if I offended anyone with my remarks about the original Playmates line as that was not my intention. I was just answering the question the OP asked from my perspective. |
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01-08-2019, 12:20 AM | #89 | |
Random Punk
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I agree that the 1988 and 1989 figures were the best, because of the awesome artwork on the packaging. The vehicles and play sets included. There was a turning point (maybe 1993) when the artwork on the packaging looked like it was done with the assistance of a computer program. The lines were softer, the colors were different. Just had a more gimmicky, airbrushed feel.
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01-08-2019, 12:20 PM | #90 | |
Foot Elite
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01-08-2019, 12:46 PM | #91 |
Weed Whacker
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I remember really wanting the Krang Android body but never getting it. A lesson early on, surely, that you don't get everything you want.
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01-08-2019, 02:09 PM | #92 | |
Foot Elite
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01-08-2019, 03:20 PM | #93 |
Overlord
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All members of the Mutanimals from the Archie comics should also have their own action figures, and their main antagonists.
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01-08-2019, 08:35 PM | #94 | |
Foot Elite
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The third quarter of 1993 would have been a perfect time for the other Mutanimals and their main antagonists. The Scratch wave did not move too well, though. Last edited by mikey0; 01-08-2019 at 08:48 PM. |
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01-09-2019, 05:45 AM | #95 |
Overlord
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Mutanimals
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01-09-2019, 05:55 AM | #96 |
Ninja Comedian
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I remember being an adult and still being able to find the original line well into the early 2000's. Christmas 2001 (Freshman year of college), I bought all four of the original turtles, Shredder, Bebop, and Punk Rock Don at a KB outlet.
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01-09-2019, 06:30 AM | #97 |
Overlord
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TMNT-nostalgia must have been cool back then. Everything TMNT-related had almost been cancelled by that time, but in December 2001 the Mirage comics returned:
https://www.miragelicensing.com/comi...e04/01/01.html Did that (thinking the TMNT would return) cause you to buy the figures? Last edited by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan; 03-25-2019 at 11:00 AM. |
01-09-2019, 07:15 AM | #98 | |
Jedi Master
Join Date: Dec 2011
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I remember the packaging change around Fall 1993. If there was a point of going downhill I thought the package change would be the marker. I hope we get a release date for The Toys That Made Is documentary episode soon.
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01-09-2019, 07:42 AM | #99 |
Overlord
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Location: Sweden
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The Swedish TMNT magazine (publishing Archie and Fleetway comics) used to have competitions where you answered some questions, sent letters and could win toys. I never won.
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01-09-2019, 12:03 PM | #100 |
Foot Soldier
Join Date: Jul 2014
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Oh man, it's tough to pinpoint exactly when I started to lose interest in the original line. I remember I was in the minority when it came to the look of the Movie Star turtles. I hates all those weird spots on them. However as an adult, I now have them all in my collection. Another thing that made me roll my eyes were the Turtle Trolls. I liked trolls and I loved my turtles, but the combo was soooo lame. However, I have a troll Leo and the Giant Troll Leo because I'm a sucker nowadays, haha.
I never had any interest in Scratch or Hotspot and I don't remember ever having seen those. I'm sure my hunt for figures had ended before then or the shelves could have been pretty bare already. |
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