Re release of rare characters

[ERICKANA666]

If the power that be, can check online the demand, how much they are sold, maybe it can help a nee release...

Its so ironic that the people who are in command, dont use message boards, or ebay, or talk eith the true fans to really know what can be a success. Just look other toy lines from star wars, transformers, motu, they found a way to release obscur characters or rare stuff. A good example is star wars yak face, it was so rare in the 80s, the demand was there, and know every 5 years we get a new fig of him. I unserstand that you cant create a collector line without the turtles or the main bad guys, but just trow a bone to the old fans.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ERICKANA666

If the power that be, can check online the demand, how much they are sold, maybe it can help a nee release...

Its so ironic that the people who are in command, dont use message boards, or ebay, or talk eith the true fans to really know what can be a success. Just look other toy lines from star wars, transformers, motu, they found a way to release obscur characters or rare stuff. A good example is star wars yak face, it was so rare in the 80s, the demand was there, and know every 5 years we get a new fig of him. I unserstand that you cant create a collector line without the turtles or the main bad guys, but just trow a bone to the old fans.

Unfortunately, a lot of times the team behind many of these toy companies like to test their own ideas instead of the common sense approach to doing things. I think it is safe to say that people in this world are on their own planet. It’s the consumers that usually remind these toy companies that we all live in the real world and not their simulation of a world.

TMNT was a successful property, whereas MOTU was not so much. BMX bikes and Cabbage Patch Kids were the best sellers of the holiday seasons in 1982 and 1983. Star Wars and Transformers appear to have a much larger volume of fans than TMNT. I don’t know if TMNT will ever reach the fandom level it had in 1990 again. Who knows what the competition between NECA, Playmates, and Super 7 will bring consumers from Playmates in the 2020s?

Hopefully, more TMNT fans will write or e-mail letters to Playmates about what they would like to see from the company in the future.

[MrPliggins]

They need to release figures that will sell. "True fans" are just a small portion of the demographic which consists of mostly children. Luckily we have gotten many figures geared towards us collectors in more recent times. Maybe a Scratch rerelease will eventually happen. Only time will tell.

The fact remains that, even in the '90s, Turtles variations are the hottest sellers in general (ironically, the variations are what made me lose interest and stop buying the original toy line in the first place.).

[mikey0]

TMNT was pretty much the only action figure line in stores for the first half of the early 90s. Millennials born in the late 80s and growing up in the early 90s were trying to tact on to the craze started by the generations before them in 1990. I believe the Millennials saw the original Playmates toy line differently from the generations before them. The older children, pre-teens, and some teenagers primarily wanted a set of the characters that appeared in the cartoon. Only the true fans tried to become completists in the early 90s. Millennials just wanted TMNT action figures (any TMNT action figure) in the early to mid 90s.

Many young collectors missed the humor behind the original 1988 toy line entirely in those days. Lots of the older young people who wound up with turtle variants either from the basic waves or sub-waves got them as birthday presents. Some Millennials in the early 90s had their parents buy them any Turtles figure because they liked the TMNT for a while until Barney and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers came along. The young adults before Millennials looked at the original TMNT toy line like G1 Transformers and Thundercats, whereas they needed one version of every character and that’s it. Most Millennials liked Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers in scales other than the 8 inch figures. The shift in the original toy line from being a boys toy line for children of the 80s to children of the 90s happened in 1991. 1993 was the year when TMNT started to become a dated boys toy line. Then, in 1995, the turtle variant sub-waves became the original toy line (basic waves were gone). In the earliest years of the late 90s, the turtle variant sub waves became over the top ridiculous that fans were the only ones picking them up. Then in 1998, the purple brick card re-releases were sold. To this day, many authors of TMNT price guides and archives are unsure if the 1998 to 1999 re-releases (that stayed in stores until sometime in 2001 or 2002) was the last part of the original toy line or a toy line of reissues on its own.

A new TMNT cartoon and movie based off the cartoon in the style of “Teen Titans GO!” and “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” with loads of references to the original toy line in each episode and the movie would help your case tremendously, OP. Scratch would have to be a reoccurring character in running gags from the first episode onward. The joke could be that Scratch is a hard to find mutant cat burglar with his pal, Jailbird, when a mutant cat burglar shouldn’t be that hard at all to find in NYC, Dimension X, or anywhere else and he scratches himself and others. Let’s hope the employees at Nickelodeon are on here listening to that.

Hot Spot and Half Court might be too stuck in the 90s to be in a modern cartoon or re-release toy line. Scratch is known as the rarest TMNT villain (Shogun Shoate has been ignored) in this century, so Scratch appearances in comic books, TV shows, and movies should be on the table.

Scratch re-release figures could be produced if the character gets even more recognition, but for now the main cartoon cast, the most liked basic wave characters, and a few turtles variants will continue to be in every TMNT reissue line. In the meantime, you will have to search for TMNT lots on eBay for any child of the 90s who own an incomplete and loose Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court or purchase resin copies of Scratch (with magnetic tail/no accessories) and Hot Spot (no accessories) for $100 to $180 dollars from the market sites listed on Instagram pages.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by MrPliggins

The fact remains that, even in the '90s, Turtles variations are the hottest sellers in general (ironically, the variations are what made me lose interest and stop buying the original toy line in the first place.).

The overexposure of the TMNT in the 1990 to 1991 TV season might have been to blame for that. The Coming Out of Their Shells tour promotion, CBS Saturday morning cartoon, the 1990 movie being on VHS, toys appearing on the news for Christmas segments, TV spots for SOTO, food tie-in promotions, and the Barbara Walters interview all funded the interest that people born late 80s would come to have for all things Turtles until 1993 or 1994. To this day, I’m fascinated by the Turtles blowing up in popularity in the spring to summer seasons of 1990 (Turtlemania days) and starting to fall a little in the fall of 1990. It was the early 90s, but all of that happened in one year alone.

I think ‘87 borns and some ‘88 borns are the most responsible for the success of the turtle variant sub-waves in 1991, 1992, and early 1993.

[DonnieLaForge]

It's not that hard to figure out why there were lots of turtle variants, and why they sold.

Playmates wants the 4 turtles on the shelf at any given time. How can you have a line named "teenage mutant ninja turtles" if a kid can't walk into the store and buy a teenage mutant ninja turtle? You can't. And you may disagree with them but on some level you know they are right about that.

So then what, do they just keep reissuing the same "perfect" turtle (by whose definition?) over and over again? They could, but instead they changed it up. That way kids could still always get a turtle, while collectors might get multiple of each turtle.

Yes, they got wacky. (Personally I love that...) You know what you have to at least give credit for? Most of the wacky turtle variants did what today is the unthinkable -- they didn't reuse any parts between the 4 turtles. So they were often truly all-new figures.

And you know it is true, right (RIGHT?) that kids don't care. I was a kid once, and I didn't. My Michelangelo was a wacky action one, my Donatello a storage shell, etc. I didn't have a full team of the original four turtle figures, it was a hodgepodge. And I still had a damn good time with my toys.

You could say it was the beginning of my collector mindset. I knew I could never have all of the TMNT line back then, but I did the best I could to at least have the Donatello variant from every new set of turtles. And I enjoyed that part of it too.

I think if you are finding yourself constantly annoyed over the fact that turtle variants were a necessary, accepted, and even endearing (to many) part of the original line, you should consider re-evaluating this attitude. Mikey0, you have a very unique idea of what you thought the line should have been, but that's not what happened, and here we are, most of us still fondly remembering the line anyway, even if it wasn't exactly what each of us imagined it should be. "Toy lines are what happen to you while you're busy making other plans."

[mikey0]

The original Playmates toy line were TV, movie, and comic book collectibles in the form of action figures that were mistaken for an action figure line by some of the children, pre-teens, and teens of the 1980s and very early 90s. Like just about every late 80s and early 90s toy lines, the most sought characters in the original Playmates line were the original four turtles. Playmates saw the intense demand for the four turtles after the craze in April of 1990, so turtle variants were designed for future release dates. The first ever turtles variants (disguised turtles) were a step down from the original four turtles, but Undercover Donatello was still needed by children of the 80s who wanted every character from the syndicated FW series. The very next turtles variants from the basic wave and sub-waves were a problem for children of the 80s because they expected the toy line to stay like it was in 1989.

Turtlemania of 1990 ruined everything for the children of the 80s who liked the toy line the way it was in 1989. The pop-up mutant displays and Giant Turtles [for late XYers] were okay by children of the 80s, but the 4th (Wingnut wave) and 5th (Slash wave) basic waves were when the 1988 toy line almost started to slip downhill. Fortunately, Fugitoid, Undercover Donatello, Triceraton, and Panda Khan were a part of the 5th wave, so the ‘88 TMNT line was saved from where it would be in the following year. When the ‘88 toy line officially took on a new form in 1991, most children of the 80s decided it was time to move on to Super Nintendo and music. The damage left from Turtlemania ‘90 was still there until 1994. Toy scalpers and comic book readers who thought Turtles action figures would be valuable in the future bought the figures that were in demand by the remaining children of the 80s that were completists. I believe that was the problem with the 10th wave (Scratch wave). The older toy hunters grabbed the best basic wave figures before any young people could find them. All of the scalping that took place in 1993 could not help the basic assortments though, because the original Playmates line became mass produced in late 1990.

With all of the children of the 90s mainly buying variants of the turtles, the other 10th basic wave characters that weren’t Scratch and Hot Spot were left on shelves for what felt like forever. There was an over saturation of TMNT action figures at stores everywhere. In ‘94 or ‘95, some retailers stopped ordering Turtles figures altogether.

Unfortunately, like the Beetlejuice, Real Ghostbusters, and toy lines like that, the original TMNT toy line became known for the first four turtles figures over time because those were the ones that a large majority of children wanted in the best year of the history of the toy line (1990). Shredder and Splinter were basically the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer of the original toy line. So, Playmates does not really know what side characters sell best because their profit came from the original four turtles being sold out everywhere in 1990. I’m afraid TMNT will go down in history as a 1987 Kenner The Real Ghostbusters and 1993 Bandai Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers type toy line and not a 1984 Hasbro G1 Transformers line (what the OP needs this Turtles line to be).

It’s not what the OP wants to hear, but it looks like he will have to throw down the asking price that some scalpers, fans, and casual toy buyers have listed on online auction sites like eBay for Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court.

For the OP to get Scratch from a Playmates re-release line, fans, and casual toy buyers would have to buy so many of the same version toys of the original turtles action figures that they already own. Then again, who knows what time holds for original TMNT toy line fans.

[Samurai]

Oh yeah, look how RARE Scratch is

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Oh yeah, look how RARE Scratch is

Rare really isn’t the right word to use for Scratch. Scratch and Hot Spot are sought after because some young adult collectors missed out on these the first time around. Some of the other young adult collectors in the 90s stopped caring about TMNT in 1993. Scratch seemed rare to other young adult collectors in 1993 because the teenagers, toy scalpers, and other adults beat them to it.

[mikey see]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Oh yeah, look how RARE Scratch is

Eh, I've got three copies of Little Samson for NES. That doesn't mean it's not a rare game.

But yeah, I don't think the figure is as rare as he's been made out to be. There's always at least one on ebay and if you're really patient and diligent you'll probably even spot one in a bulk lot from time to time. I do think he's got to be the rarest unique non-variant figure in the line though. I personally would love to have him because he's the only standard mutant figure I don't own. I'm guessing there are others in the same boat.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by mikey see

Eh, I've got three copies of Little Samson for NES. That doesn't mean it's not a rare game.

But yeah, I don't think the figure is as rare as he's been made out to be. There's always at least one on ebay and if you're really patient and diligent you'll probably even spot one in a bulk lot from time to time. I do think he's got to be the rarest unique non-variant figure in the line though. I personally would love to have him because he's the only standard mutant figure I don't own. I'm guessing there are others in the same boat.

Wasn’t Shogun Shoate the rarest unique non-variant figure in the whole original Playmates toy line? Shogun Shoate looks like a miniaturized 1996 Mattel Extreme Dinosaurs figure with the samurai parts from the early to mid 90s Turtles figures. Shogun Shoate is one of the most extreme looking Turtles figures in the history of the original TMNT toy line.

Scratch is the most expensive basic assortment action figure out of all of them released from 1988 to 1994. Scratch was really only the rarest 10th wave figure for TMNT toy collectors that got to the stores too late.

Hopefully, the Super 7 Ultimate toy line will reinvigorate the interest of the original TMNT toy line collectors so much that Playmates will try to compete with Super 7 with a new TMNT toy line similar to the Mattel MOTU Origins figures and re-release the original 1988 toy line figures to be sold alongside them at stores like Walmart. It would something like the 2014 original comic book figures (the NECA comic book figures were better) being sold next to the Classic Collection Krang and Foot Soldier re-releases at TRU. We might have to wait six years to see a “TMNT Origins”, but the OP will have a better chance of getting a 7 or 8 points of articulation Scratch and regular re-release Scratch.

There has to be appreciation for everything that makes up the original Playmates toy line from adult toy collectors first. Perhaps, it would work in the OP’s favor if an ‘88 to ‘93 TMNT toy collector was the creator and screenwriter of a new TMNT show in the fashion of Teen Titans GO and Thundercats ROAR. There needs to be some kind of ode to the original 1988 toy line that is simple for adults and children to remember like a song.

A Spongebob Squarepants type song for a TMNT toy line alphabet (like this one -https://www.pinterest.com/pin/62065301084883856/) could be used to get children that watch Nickelodeon to like the original Playmates toy line.

[MrPliggins]

As far as rare goes, I remember no stripe April being super rare at the time of release. The story was that little boys didn't care about "the girl figure" so they didn't make many. I still have yet to see an unpunched original release..for some reason they always have the hole punched. Once blue stripe April was released in '89, she was everywhere.
Also, the first Metalhead I ever got in the store was the "no burst" packaging version..but never saw it again. Pretty rare too.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by MrPliggins

As far as rare goes, I remember no stripe April being super rare at the time of release. The story was that little boys didn't care about "the girl figure" so they didn't make many. I still have yet to see an unpunched original release..for some reason they always have the hole punched. Once blue stripe April was released in '89, she was everywhere.
Also, the first Metalhead I ever got in the store was the "no burst" packaging version..but never saw it again. Pretty rare too.

So, an unpunched 1st April from 1988 and Metalhead card without “Special robotic feature…” on the front of the card are the rarest characters or MOC figures?

The OP was talking about the rarest characters that could be on card or loose. Variations of loose and complete Genghis Frog, Ace Duck, and Slash could be considered rare to collectors of original TMNT line. Overall, to the OP and some other members on here, Scratch was the rarest basic wave character with Hot Spot in second place. A new TMNT toy collector who buys all TMNT figures loose could ignore the 2nd to 5th wave error figures and accessories, but Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court are too expensive when sold complete and incomplete. It’s bad enough that loose and incomplete editions of the 8th (Anthrax wave) and 9th wave (Merdude wave) are fetching for double digit numbers on the secondary market, but the OP has no choice but to find Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court in a bulk lot sold by a casual consumer who does not know the value of those basic wave characters if he wants them for less.

The OP is arguing that Playmates not re-releasing those 10th wave characters for toy buyers who liked the original TMNT the first time around and younger people today who are discovering the original 1988 line is ridiculous. Unfortunately for the OP, there has not been one successful boys toy line that has had every character (including variants) re-released when toy lines with reissues were made to commemorate some stage of the property. The 2010 Hasbro Star Wars Mail-In Vintage Collection Rocket Firing Boba Fett (Kenner 1st Boba Fett reissue) is the greatest example of a toy company releasing a rare prototype painted in colors similar to the original Rocket Firing Boba Fett. Star Wars is the top selling boys toy line of all time. The Turtles are one spot under GI Joe (12 inch and ARAH) which is in second place.

Playmates could do a mail-away Scratch reissue, but their Classic Collection-like toy lines would have to go on past four waves. Playmates has never promoted a mail-away action figure with any of their re-release lines. For some reason, the mail-away 25th Anniversary Fugitoid was advertised online. The mail-away exclusive Big Foot Monster to the 2007 TMNT movie line was the only Playmates mail-away figure advertised on packaging. Unfortunately, the sales for the Big Foot Monster were so bad that many white boxes Big Foot Monsters wound up at Amazing Savings stores a few years later in the early 2010s.

Sadly, Playmates might not ever re-release the rarest characters (to some casual fans and casual toy collectors) from the original TMNT toy line. At the same time, you never know. I was real surprised to see Super Mikey and Super Don on pegs again in 2016 at TRU. Sure, I could see the Sewer Heroes turtles variants on Walmart pegs in 1995 and 1996, but in 2016?! It’s hard to tell what Playmates has in their bag for the future. Another toy line with reissues could have better side characters in it that helps loose casual completists and casual TMNT figures to get Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court through good sells. Playmates just needs to stop re-releasing the allies and villains that adult toy collectors own already or can obtain easily from eBay. In other words, some 8th wave (Anthrax wave), 9th wave (Merdude wave), and other 10th wave (Sandstorm wave) characters in the earliest waves of a retro figure toy line. The retro figure collections in this century always tie-in with an important event (Anniversary, successful new toy line, movie that is a box-office hit), so the OP will have to wait a while until the TMNT movie reboot is in theaters.

[mikey0]

I think the 10th wave (Scratch wave) suffered the most for the new usage of the generic cards and lack of advertising for them. The decision for CBS to put up a new version of the TMNT cartoon for their Action Zone block to compete with Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers on FOX ruined things further because the cartoon almost stopped being a 30 minute toy commercial. TMNT wasn’t quite done in the Tiger Electronics TalkBoy year (1993), but they were more on their way out than they were in even 1992. The turtle variant sub-waves were not enough to hold casual Millennial toy collectors and that is where Playmates went wrong. Casual Millennial toy collectors were getting older in the mid 90s and their choices were starting to change as each year went on until they permanently ditched TMNT for Beanie Babies and Toy Story collectibles . I was pointing out to I CRAVE PIZZA NO MORE (in a different thread just a while ago) that the most popular basic wave characters from the 1991 to 1993 were the 6th wave (Chromedome wave) figures.

Things changed further after Turtlemania 1990 in the fall of 1991. It was in the fall of 1991 that the early 90s, in hindsight, started to be even more like the mid 90s. The basic wave character commercials from late 1988 to mid 1991 or slightly afterward were wrapped up and commercials for the sub-waves that consisted almost entirely of turtles variants started to be shown like they would for the last time in 1997 (the late 90s—when it was completely random to see a TMNT toy commercial). As a result of this, some casual toy buyers, toy collectors, and scalpers were not aware of when a new basic wave was in stores and that prompted them to do a toy hunt whenever they could.

The wackiest characters like Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court were grabbed by mainly adult toy collectors and dealers because they were the eye catching basic wave characters of 1993 and it seemed like they would bring in the most profit a century later. The three characters the OP mentioned are collector’s items nowadays because their rarity to some casual consumers and TMNT fans in the mid 90s were very much a sign of the times.

Long story short, it was better to be an original TMNT toy collector before the 1990 film came to theaters. The transition from what the property was to children in the 80s to what it became for buyers of all ages in the mid 90s happened from April of 1990 to December of 1992. The Real Ghostbusters were out and the TMNT were in after that Jim Henson movie was in theaters.

[mikey see]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The wackiest characters like Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court were grabbed by mainly adult toy collectors and dealers because they were the eye catching basic wave characters of 1993 and it seemed like they would bring in the most profit a century later. The three characters the OP mentioned are collector’s items nowadays because their rarity to some casual consumers and TMNT fans in the mid 90s were very much a sign of the times.

You've made claims like this a number of times now. I was only around 10 at the time these figures came out so maybe I was just unaware of adult collectors, but was toy prospecting really a thing in the early 90s? I know a lot of people hoarded '95 POTF Star Wars figures when they started to come out but that's because Star Wars was an established "collectible" line. I didn't realize this way of thinking had spread to other lines as well, especially a kids line like TMNT.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by mikey see

You've made claims like this a number of times now. I was only around 10 at the time these figures came out so maybe I was just unaware of adult collectors, but was toy prospecting really a thing in the early 90s? I know a lot of people hoarded '95 POTF Star Wars figures when they started to come out but that's because Star Wars was an established "collectible" line. I didn't realize this way of thinking had spread to other lines as well, especially a kids line like TMNT.

Yes, toy prospecting for TMNT toys by some teens and adults began as early as April of 1990. Both regular release and pop-up mutant display figures (especially the turtles, Shredder, Leatherhead, and Metalhead) were hoarded by peddlers, whereas some teens bought and kept the entire first and second (Baxter wave) waves on card. It was taboo for pre-teens and teenagers to like toys of any kind in the late 80s and early 90s, so they were not as present (if at all present) during the afternoon, evening, and night hours as they were in the mornings with the toy scalpers. The first three basic wave figures (with the exception of the least liked cartoon and movie characters) were sold out from stores for weeks until some time in 1990 close to when the 4th wave (Wingnut wave) was out for the first time. The original four TMNT figures were sold out as soon as they reached stores from March or April of 1990 to the fall of 1991.
There was even more toy prospecting for the new basic waves from the original TMNT toy line in 1992 from young adults and adults because of the lack of advertising for them. The 90s from 1993 to 1997 were pretty much the same as 1992 to many toy scalpers. Mass production of figures of the original turtles and variants of the turtles hurt everything for this toy line. The 90s could be thought of as a continuation to the late 80s for some TMNT toy collectors because of the continuation of basic waves and turtle variant sub-waves, but other TMNT toy collectors might have realized how we were moving closer to a new time (early 2000s) with all of the re-releases of original TMNT figures in stores. The last time anyone ever saw original TMNT re-releases on the 1994 purple brick cards was in 1999 and those were in store until some point in 2001 or 2002.

[mikey see]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Yes, toy prospecting for TMNT toys by some teens and adults began as early as April of 1990. Both regular release and pop-up mutant display figures (especially the turtles, Shredder, Leatherhead, and Metalhead) were hoarded by peddlers, whereas some teens bought and kept the entire first and second (Baxter wave) waves on card. It was taboo for pre-teens and teenagers to like toys of any kind in the late 80s and early 90s, so they were not as present (if at all present) during the afternoon, evening, and night hours as they were in the mornings with the toy scalpers. The first three basic wave figures (with the exception of the least liked cartoon and movie characters) were sold out from stores for weeks until some time in 1990 close to when the 4th wave (Wingnut wave) was out for the first time. The original four TMNT figures were sold out as soon as they reached stores from March or April of 1990 to the fall of 1991.
There was even more toy prospecting for the new basic waves from the original TMNT toy line in 1992 from young adults and adults because of the lack of advertising for them. The 90s from 1993 to 1997 were pretty much the same as 1992 to many toy scalpers. Mass production of figures of the original turtles and variants of the turtles hurt everything for this toy line.

Ok, but who's to say the lack of inventory wasn't due to kids/parents buying all the toys? I don't remember ever seeing MOC TMNT at flea markets or toy shops in the 90s, only Star Wars and older. I'm sure there were some adult collectors that bought the figures, kept them on card, and stashed them in the closet, but I'm not convinced there was widespread flipping like you keep suggesting.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by mikey see

Ok, but who's to say the lack of inventory wasn't due to kids/parents buying all the toys? I don't remember ever seeing MOC TMNT at flea markets or toy shops in the 90s, only Star Wars and older. I'm sure there were some adult collectors that bought the figures, kept them on card, and stashed them in the closet, but I'm not convinced there was widespread flipping like you keep suggesting.

MOC TMNT figures would not be at flea markets, toy shops, and mostly online auction sites until the 2000s when the 90s were slightly dated. The 2000s could be thought of as a continuation to the late 90s to some TMNT toy collectors because the original TMNT toy line reissues were in toy stores at the beginning and end of the 2000s, but the bombardment of new 21st century TMNT toy lines based off of cartoons and a movie are what made the original late 80s and 90s Playmates toy line officially old from the late 2000s into the 2010s.

Loose and carded 1977 Kenner Star Wars figures and vehicles were at flea markets, thrift stores, and collectible toy shops from the late 80s into the 2000s. In fact, some children of the 80s, in the early 90s, bought carded and loose 1978 to 1983 or ‘84 Kenner Star Wars figures with their allowances from Salvation Army over the TMNT stuff that was in stores. 1982 Hasbro GI Joe and Mattel MOTU figures along with other early to late (non-TMNT) 80s toy lines were at those shops starting in the mid to late 90s. Finally, MOC TMNT figures joined them in the 2000s.

Next year the original Playmates toy line will be thought of as a successful vintage toy line by some news outlets, toy companies, and etc. as Turtlemania turns 30 years old. Super 7 seems to be arming up for this event by releasing Ultimate and ReAction figures of the original 1st and 2nd basic wave figures that are 30 years old.

[mikey0]

It might have been a little easier for casual TMNT toy collectors in the 90s and beyond if the 10th basic wave were divided into two waves. A mini basic wave that consists of four or five characters like the 2nd (Baxter wave), 4th (Wingnut wave) and 6th (Dirtbag wave) waves might have helped more TMNT toy collectors to get Scratch, Hot Spot, and Half Court if they were all in a wave like that with Mona Lisa or Sandstorm. Unfortunately, the last mini basic wave in 1992 was the 8th wave (King Lionheart wave) and it only consisted of two new characters. The early 90s were just about over in 1992. The change that occurred late in the early 90s wasn’t felt for some TMNT toy collectors until 1993 (first mid 90s year) when only the 10th wave was released. The 11th wave (Robotic Foot Soldier wave) could be thought of as a mini basic wave, but I don’t think Playmates planned it as such. The turtle variant sub-waves outsold the basic wave figures for the first time completely it seems in 1993, so that may have had something to do with Krang’s Android Body and Robotic Foot Soldier being in the last ever basic wave.

It didn’t help the cases of many TMNt toy collectors that Playmates started re-releasing characters from 1988 to 1992 on the same generic cards as the 10th basic wave figures in 1993 alongside the 10th basic wave characters in some places.

[mikey see]

Originally Posted by mikey0

It didn’t help the cases of many TMNt toy collectors that Playmates started re-releasing characters from 1988 to 1992 on the same generic cards as the 10th basic wave figures in 1993 alongside the 10th basic wave characters in some places.

I don't have the background info that you do but it seems like this probably played a huge role in a lot of people missing the Scratch wave. I definitely remember being very pleasantly surprised at finding a Splinter at some point in the 90s since I didn't have him. I soon realized, though, that that re-release came with a bunch of other old figures and before too long I wasn't really even looking at the pegs anymore because I associated that card art with old figures.

(I'm kinda guessing here, I don't exactly remember how I felt in ~'93)