Still have your originals?

[Zachatello00]

I guess really this is a thread for anyone to answer regarding their turtles, but what I'm really interested in knowing is - how many of my fellow mid-late thirties, early forties turtles fans still have all/some/any of their ORIGINAL turtles figures from back in the day. And when I say "original" I mean, the ones you bought with your allowance, opened on your birthday, excitedly unwrapped at Christmas time, etc.

I mean, many of us (myself definitely included) have utilized eBay, the trading forums here, and other means to re-collect turtles we once had, or even score new ones we missed back in the day. But again, the question I'm curious about is, how many of us still have our originals from back in the day?

I myself only have one turtle left from my original collection. Most of mine were either worn out, lost, or garage saled away.

That turtle: Shell Slammin' Mike. He's in terrible condition from being played with all those years, and the spring loaded leg action no longer works. But! I do have all his original accessories. So I'm proud of that.

[mikey see]

I still have all of mine from childhood thankfully. I seem to have lost some accessories along the way but every figure I remember is still in the bin, along with a couple surprises that I don't remember ever getting (like black Super Shredder).

I've picked up some new figures off of ebay here and there as well to grab some characters I never found as a kid. At this point I pretty much have everything I want aside from maybe Scratch and the two Shogun mutants. Completing vintage lines has been a hobby of mine for years (GI Joe, Star Wars, Battle Beasts) but thankfully there are enough bad figures in this line that I've never felt the urge to get them all!

[Leo656]

How serendipitous; just the other day I was going through storage and I re-packed all my original series and 2003 TMNT figures. I keep each figure I don't have room to display wrapped in newsprint in storage totes; what I decided to do with all of my figures from every line I collect is mark their names on the paper they're wrapped in so even in the box I can tell what's what if I ever need anything in a hurry. Some people just pack them in Ziploc bags but I'm concerned that that's not enough cushioning; when I was in the moving business I learned a lot of packing/storing tricks, one of the main ones being "A thin wrapping cushion of newsprint protects damn near everything." If it works to protect glassware then it's good enough to protect plastic action figures.

Anyways, yeah, I still have just about all my stuff, give or take a few weapons I somehow lost. I KNOW that I had Fly Baxter but for some reason he's not turning up at the moment; I must have him packed in another box somewhere from one of the times I moved.

Off the top of my head, I still have:
- Bebop
- Donatello
- Leonardo
- Michelangelo
- Raphael
- Rocksteady
- Shredder
- Casey Jones
- General Traag
- Krang
- Leatherhead
- Metalhead
- Rat King
- Usagi Yojimbo
- Fugitoid
- Mondo Gecko
- Super-Shredder
- Chrome Dome
- Rahzar
- Tokka
- Krang in Android Body
- Movie Star Foot Soldier
- Movie Star Master Splinter
- Rock Star Leo (or whatever he was called)
- Samurai Leo

Out of all of those, MOST of those were from when I was a kid. Only about six of those were picked up second-hand at the flea market. I still have card backs for some of them. I used to get them at Kay-Bee for like 3 for $10.

I might have a couple more in another box somewhere but that's the bulk of it. I still have MOST of the weapons and accessories as well, including a few Weapons Racks that I never broke anything off of.

Upon seeing him again, I maintain that the original Shredder figure is the single worst officially licensed action figure ever made. What an ugly, misshapen piece of sh*t.

[Redrumh2o]

Mine had a stickiness / gooeyness to them so I had to toss them. Same with my Ghostbusters. It seemed like the plastic was breaking down. They were never exposed to much temperature change....in the 65-80ish range always. It hurt to toss them, but they were gross

[Zachatello00]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Upon seeing him again, I maintain that the original Shredder figure is the single worst officially licensed action figure ever made. What an ugly, misshapen piece of sh*t.

Can't help but agree, but at the same time, I really do love that figure. I remember when I first found one, I literally shook. I couldn't believe we had found one.

Not a figure, but this one is worth mentioning too. Kinda a funny story, really. My wife and I both had the Pizza Thrower as children. I lost the top half of mine, she lost the bottom half of hers, so now we have them combined and it's on display in my office, and is actually manned by Shell Slammin' Mike.

It was a match made in the sewer

[inaheap]

I'm lucky to still have a lot of the figures I had growing up. But my favorite is Raph. I think he is the first thing I bought with my allowance ever. He is the version who's belt refused to stay on. Most of his accessories save his sai are gone and one finger but too special to ever toss. My other special set is the Movie Star turtles. They got a lot of play growing up. I liked how easy it was to put weapons in their hands.

[Redrumh2o]

Mine had a stickiness / gooeyness to them so I had to toss them. Same with my Ghostbusters. It seemed like the plastic was breaking down. They were never exposed to much temperature change....in the 65-80ish range always. It hurt to toss them, but they were gross

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Redrumh2o

Mine had a stickiness / gooeyness to them so I had to toss them. Same with my Ghostbusters. It seemed like the plastic was breaking down. They were never exposed to much temperature change....in the 65-80ish range always. It hurt to toss them, but they were gross

Jesus, I wish you hadn't told me that.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you probably could have saved most if not all of them. Unfortunately it is a thing that happens with a lot of 1980s action figures but it by no means has to be "fatal". I encountered it with a few of my TMNT and Real Ghostbusters figures and quite a few of my vintage He-Man figures, as well.

There are many tricks people recommend to counter this problem, but I've had some good success with the following methods:

- First, soak the figure for an hour or so in hot, soapy water. Regular dish soap works fine.
- Scrub the affected filmy area with an old toothbrush.
- If the sticky/filmy residue persists, go over the affected area with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover.
- If the problem STILL persists, try going over the affected area with a light rubbing of Goof-Off or Goo-Gone. Don't go overboard with it, but given that it will remove even the deep-bonded glue that applies stickers to action figures and vehicles it should definitely remove any sticky residue from your figures themselves.
- Soak again with hot, soapy water.
- Repeat the process if necessary; some spots might take a couple tries to remove all the film.
- Wash the figure with clean warm water to get off any remaining sticky residue or soap film. Let air dry, and finally, wipe down the figure with a clean, dry, lint-free towel or rag.

This has worked very well for me, it just may take a few rounds to get it fully clean.. Hopefully it will help you going forward. I'm very sorry to hear that you scrapped your collection. But hopefully this will be of help to you and others going forward.

[Redrumh2o]

No worries...I'm over it lol
I purchased some very nice AFA graded original 4 figs a while ago so I am happy with those.

Thanks for the info...hope it helps someone!

[TheCanadiandrome]

i wish i could say i had alot left, but tbh, i did lose some figures (some of which ive since been able to re-aquire) during a move from our old house to the appartment my folks and I live at now, some 20 years ago. Don't have any clue where or how the hell i lost them, but yeah such as it is when you have to move in a hurry and it turns into a cluster F

[mikey0]

My cousin’s mother donated all of his TMNT figures in the mid 90s. Now, he goes on YouTube to watch the commercials from the 80s and 90s. He stopped collecting in 1991 after he was overwhelmed by seeing all of the new characters and turtle variants to collect at his Toys R Us.

[garsh]

Yep I still have all mine, and it's a pretty big collection, including many playsets and vehicles. Luckily Turts didn't come along until some time after my wicked stepmother disposed of ALL of my earlier 80s toys I had at my dad's house. I blame this event for making me an addict.

[Allsparrow]

Starting over. My Dad said he kept them, in a big box. Nope, he kept Legos, a few coloring books, and a Bogglin.

[ToSte]

When I was around 10yo I began the purge of childish ways. Luckily one of the few things I kept was my TMNT collection. About 100 figures and several vehicles, nothing big though except the blimp. The very last figure I bought then was Monty Moose and I remember wondering if they were even trying any more. Monty was the nail in the coffin for me, and thus somewhat special.

[IMJ]

I have 100% of all of my original TMNT stuff. It's just something I never got rid of, and when I've held sale events with vintage TMNT it's been with doubles or collection buys I've done over the years.

I'd say that in general I stayed in originally on everything through maybe '91 where I went from buying all of it down to one or two (like Tokka). Once each wave was replete with "baseball Turtles" and etc I pretty much bowed out. It felt like it became more about Teenage Turtles that it did Teenage Ninja Turtles.

So a few years for me and I've still got all of those originals. Of course, since then I've filled in a LOT of blanks, including the annoying Turtle variations.

[italianice388]

Originally Posted by Zachatello00

My wife and I both had the Pizza Thrower as children. I lost the top half of mine, she lost the bottom half of hers, so now we have them combined

i'm not even lying, that's a priceless story.

as for me, i'm a bit younger (early 30s) than many other first wave tmnt fans. i got into the series when i was really young, a few years after the peak turtlemania. as a result, my personal peak turtle time was right around when figures like sandstorm, half court, the winged warriors, warrior chromedome/metal head, etc, that many others missed out on were coming out. i was all over them! i still have almost all of mine to this day. they've been in storage for a while, but i'm hoping to get a bigger place soon to properly display them!

the only one i'm missing from childhood is warrior bebop. he was actually my favorite figure, and i honestly have no idea what happened to him. i'm really bummed out about it - and now prices for him have skyrocketed. i wish there was a way to get one for a more reasonable price!

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by italianice388

i'm not even lying, that's a priceless story.

as for me, i'm a bit younger (early 30s) than many other first wave tmnt fans. i got into the series when i was really young, a few years after the peak turtlemania. as a result, my personal peak turtle time was right around when figures like sandstorm, half court, the winged warriors, warrior chromedome/metal head, etc, that many others missed out on were coming out. i was all over them! i still have almost all of mine to this day. they've been in storage for a while, but i'm hoping to get a bigger place soon to properly display them!

the only one i'm missing from childhood is warrior bebop. he was actually my favorite figure, and i honestly have no idea what happened to him. i'm really bummed out about it - and now prices for him have skyrocketed. i wish there was a way to get one for a more reasonable price!

Warrior Bebop should be one of the fan vote figures for a MOTU Origins-type TMNT toyline. Playmates needs to get on the ball.

[italianice388]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Warrior Bebop should be one of the fan vote figures for a MOTU Origins-type TMNT toyline. Playmates needs to get on the ball.

i'd love that so much! if they just re-released the harder to find figures, that'd be amazing. i'd love to get accessories for some of the figures i have already, too.

[Shinigami]

Originally Posted by Zachatello00

I guess really this is a thread for anyone to answer regarding their turtles, but what I'm really interested in knowing is - how many of my fellow mid-late thirties, early forties turtles fans still have all/some/any of their ORIGINAL turtles figures from back in the day. And when I say "original" I mean, the ones you bought with your allowance, opened on your birthday, excitedly unwrapped at Christmas time, etc.

I mean, many of us (myself definitely included) have utilized eBay, the trading forums here, and other means to re-collect turtles we once had, or even score new ones we missed back in the day. But again, the question I'm curious about is, how many of us still have our originals from back in the day?

I myself only have one turtle left from my original collection. Most of mine were either worn out, lost, or garage saled away.

That turtle: Shell Slammin' Mike. He's in terrible condition from being played with all those years, and the spring loaded leg action no longer works. But! I do have all his original accessories. So I'm proud of that.

I have 98% of my stuff still. A whole huge tote full including the party wagon and technodrome playset.

[Galactus]

Thankfully I still have all TMNT action figures from when I was a kid. What I lack is the vehicles and playsets that my grandparents had unbeknownst to me thrown away. That includes the Party Wagon, the Turtle Blimp, the Sewer Playsets and the Technodrome.

I remember going apeshit when I saw they were gone and my grandad told me he'd given them to a charity shop ages ago (bare in mind I was in my late teens at this point). He said it's not like I actually played with them and all I - a near adult could say was to repeat "but their my toys".