1994 Farmer Donatello and his Modern Mutant Tractor

[Bill]

Hello Dear Dromers, back in 1994 and despite the thousands of lawsuits against Playmates after the release of 1993 Farmer Mike (lol) this “all new” Figure and Vehicle came out.











Like its predecessor, we don´t have a whole front toybox art, again Playmates show us an almost complete window toybox front with a couple of small drawings. Fortunately we still have drawings in all the rest of the toybox, and I would dare to say that there are even better than the ones used for 1993 Farmer Mike, love the Shredder cameo inside the barn, the sheep, the harvest, all looked great. By the way, could you imagine a Farmer Shredder? (No, that would be too much).

The vehicle itself was very good indeed, and the figure was also great, both were “all new” sculpt figure and vehicle (thanks Playmates for not doing a repaint job this time), full of details, love the pipe, the bird.

Again, we can say a lot of negative things about it: goofy, campy, a total lack of respect to the original turtles figures, the end of the toyline, franchise abuse, two years in a row lost forever or just an embarrasment to have or buy this. Like I said in 1993 Farmer Mike thread http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=42112, I think this figure and vehicle are also reat in style, colours, sculpt, concept, I cannot say anything against it. Ok, perhaps Playmates were pulling our legs with these variants but I have seen worst Batman The Animated Series variants, believe me.

Farmer Don and his modern Mutant Tractor did not appear in the original tv series but it perfectly could have been introduced in any episode where Donatello decided to just relax in a Farm
I still haven´t found a good review on youtube of Farmer Don and his modern Mutant Tractor

Here´s featured in the 1994 Playmates toy catalogs (Photos Courtesy of VaughnMichael)



Hope you liked and thanks for reading. What do you think about this vehicle? Nice variant or same ugly mistake? Do you got it? Or do you got both like me?

Any memories you wanna share from where you bought and saw it the very first time?
Thanks for reading and for all your comments and support.

[mikey0]

I love the illustration of the basic Shredder on the side. Toon Shredder was a better substitute for the time. '93 was the cut off for toy promotion, apparently. Farmer Don never appeared on bed sheets or in a book. The packaging is the best part of the deal for Farmer Don and his Modern Mutant Tractor. Other than that....meh. Why would Don wear those colors?

[jiggacrazy]

Originally Posted by mikey0

I love the illustration of the basic Shredder on the side. Toon Shredder was a better substitute for the time. '93 was the cut off for toy promotion, apparently. Farmer Don never appeared on bed sheets or in a book. The packaging is the best part of the deal for Farmer Don and his Modern Mutant Tractor. Other than that....meh. Why would Don wear those colors?

Why would Don wear those colors? Why the F%$& would a turtle be a dressed as a farmer?! That's probably the better question.

[Shreddhead]

Originally Posted by jiggacrazy

Why would Don wear those colors? Why the F%$& would a turtle be a dressed as a farmer?! That's probably the better question.

Ive gotta say ive wondered this since I was a kid. But I was thinking about this today and maybe theyre in exile/ hiding from the Foot at April's farm house, like in the mirage comics. I guess its not too far fetched to think that he threw on some old flannel and jeans while doing yard work incase any passers by got a glimpse. I'm sure thats what Playmates had in mind

[Redemption]

I just dont like these farmer toys. Nothing I would want in my collection. It does not fit into the TMNT world as far as I am concerned.

You can tell playmates was out of ideas.

[ToSte]

WTF is Shredder doing? Looks like he's trapped under a pile of hay and yelling for help, but alas, Donatello cannot hear his cries over the dull roar of his tractor.

[TurtleManiac]

Haha I actually still have this vehicle, I received it as a gift when I was a kid and still have it, I still have most of my old toys. I remember seeing it in the catalog and noticing a bunch of differences like the crow not being painted, the checkered shirt. The vehicle itself always reminded me of Baxter Stockman's Ultimate Rat-Catching Machine from Season 1 of the original toon. I took some photos of it to see the closeup of the figure. The pipe broke off from the teeth but it fits well in his hand. As you can see alot of paint details are left out of the actual product.


tractordon3 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon2 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon1 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon4 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

dontractor by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon8 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon7 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon6 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

tractordon9 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

His outfit always reminded me of Robbie Sinclair from Dinosaurs.

tractordon10 by TurtlesinTime, on Flickr

[mikey0]

They missed out by not giving Donny any flannel. Imagine how well Farmer Don in flannel would have sold in '94. 1994 was the year of My So Called Life by the way. Grunge fans might have bought plenty to customize.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

I always preferred Farmer Mike, myself. Still, Farmer Don was pretty cool, and as someone else noted, his tractor was superior to Mike's.

[Nameless]

TurtleManiac Those pics are Awesome, very funny.

As far as the item goes its really meh. If i find it for cheap awesome if not i'm not too concerned about it being in my collection.

[Mzx10484]

Useless thing to collect !

[ryukenden]

I don't think none of my friends would have been interested in the farm gimmick.

[TurtleManiac]

I can see why most people have no interest in the farmer vehicles, cause yea why would the TMNT be farming? But in any event, I think they're still good quality toys. They are all new sculpts for the figures and vehicles and even accessories. And back then anything with a TMNT logo on it would sell and make kids happy. I wonder if these farmer vehicles were inspired by the orignal TMNT movie when they stay at April's farm house.

[KG5000]

This joke may be rubbish, but I must say it:

"Old McDonatello had a farm..."

[DVD]

Hahaha!! I didn't see that coming, and nice to see a Scottish Dromer.

[CowabungaMikey]

I actually LOVE this set. It has actually nothing to do with the Turtles, tough it's a very cool piece. I would love to have this in my collection. Cowabunga!

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by TurtleManiac

I can see why most people have no interest in the farmer vehicles, cause yea why would the TMNT be farming? But in any event, I think they're still good quality toys. They are all new sculpts for the figures and vehicles and even accessories. And back then anything with a TMNT logo on it would sell and make kids happy. I wonder if these farmer vehicles were inspired by the orignal TMNT movie when they stay at April's farm house.

I would like to see the Turtle farmhouse in the 1987 show. We saw a rural town (High Falls) in "Unidentified Flying Leonardo" , but that was Upstate New York, the Turtle Farm is in Northampton, Massachusetts.

[Shogun26]

Originally Posted by KG5000

This joke may be rubbish, but I must say it:

"Old McDonatello had a farm..."

Great sense of humor my friend.

[raphfan84]

Wow! I am liking that actually, this is the first time I have ever seen this or even new it existed! Surprised I have not seen this on myteefinestuff.com Tom usually keeps pretty rare stuff but never seen this.

[SquareShield]

Do you think farmer Donny is loosely based off the original movie?