I was looking at filling a hole in my collection but the 4kids line confuses me.

[IRMacGuyver]

I just have a small collection of the first action figure of Donatello related to each new cartoon or movie. I never bought the Japanese, Next Mutation, or 4kids. I'm betting the japanese one is gonna be hard to find in America, Next Mutation is pretty easy, but 4kids seems to have some oddities.

I'm seeing 3 action figures on ebay that might be the first one for the show but I'm not sure which one is it. There are two in the box with different weapon arsenals and one that was out of the box but looked way more like the cartoon than the other two. The loose figure has already sold and I didn't think to save a picture cause I didn't think making an account here would take two weeks to get approved.

Is there a resource guide on the toy lines or does anyone know what I'm looking for and how to get it easily?

I'm also debating about getting the Flash Forward Donatello. Technically I don't think it was a new series but it might be worth having as an odd footnote. Same with the hoof vs toe TMNT figure.

[JonesyKitty]

Originally Posted by IRMacGuyver

I just have a small collection of the first action figure of Donatello related to each new cartoon or movie. I never bought the Japanese, Next Mutation, or 4kids. I'm betting the japanese one is gonna be hard to find in America, Next Mutation is pretty easy, but 4kids seems to have some oddities.

I'm seeing 3 action figures on ebay that might be the first one for the show but I'm not sure which one is it. There are two in the box with different weapon arsenals and one that was out of the box but looked way more like the cartoon than the other two. The loose figure has already sold and I didn't think to save a picture cause I didn't think making an account here would take two weeks to get approved.

Is there a resource guide on the toy lines or does anyone know what I'm looking for and how to get it easily?

I'm also debating about getting the Flash Forward Donatello. Technically I don't think it was a new series but it might be worth having as an odd footnote. Same with the hoof vs toe TMNT figure.

This page is for the original 2003 Donatello. It also shows the packaging differences, and variants

http://www.tmnttoys.com/03figures/series1/154022.htm

I apologize for the link not being clickable, my phone makes the posting feature extremely basic so it won't let me enter links properly.

[Leo656]

This inspired me to check eBay for fun.

Man, I had forgotten how much I love the packaging of the 2003 series. And a lot of good figures are still reasonably priced, even in the package. That's awesome.

[IRMacGuyver]

Originally Posted by JonesyKitty

This page is for the original 2003 Donatello. It also shows the packaging differences, and variants

http://www.tmnttoys.com/03figures/series1/154022.htm

I apologize for the link not being clickable, my phone makes the posting feature extremely basic so it won't let me enter links properly.

Okay that lists the variants but doesn't say which was truly the original

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by IRMacGuyver

Okay that lists the variants but doesn't say which was truly the original

They're all the same figure; the variations are only in the packaging. If you are planning to open it, it doesn't matter which one you get. If you are looking for one to keep in package, you will want the first one on that page.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by IRMacGuyver

Okay that lists the variants but doesn't say which was truly the original

The top one was the first release of that specific figure, or any Donatello of 2003's line.

[IndigoErth]

Just a thought, but does that line have a visible year stamped on the package or figure? That might give some kind of clue to a particular figure's release? (And maybe differentiate between the original release and a later re-release if there was one.) I've often seen eBay sellers include a year with figure listings.



edit: Well I guess it would help answer that if I think to check the one figure from the 2003 series I do own (a recent eBay purchase)...and see that this one does have 2004 on his foot.

[IRMacGuyver]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Just a thought, but does that line have a visible year stamped on the package or figure? That might give some kind of clue to a particular figure's release? (And maybe differentiate between the original release and a later re-release if there was one.) I've often seen eBay sellers include a year with figure listings.

Most of them all just include the start year of the show from my experience stalking ebay for the last three months. I've messaged a few and none of them even know there were different packages and weapons. They aren't collectors they're business people trying to turn over inventory they have no clue about. Either straight ebay sellers, pawn shops, storage locker buyers, or comic shops that bought collections and wound up with stuff they don't put out on shelves.