Being a TMNT fan in 1998-2002.

[sdp]

I like the Fast Forward theme, and in some ways I prefer it over the main 2k3 theme.

But thinking back yeah being a fan in 98-2002 must've been tough, for me I just moved on to other franchises and just moved on from the turtles. I was also used to at the time that when things died they didn't come back, or at least I wasn't aware of it so it was sad but I had to move on and video games had all my attention.

Originally Posted by RaphaelinSTL

... I guess they lost the rights to this one above and by the time the series came to Netflix ... they replaced it with this hilarious stinker.

Saban sold its music library, we don't know the details of the sale but Power Rangers and other shows like VR Troopers kept their original music but TNM didn't.

So the Netflix and DVD releases have an entirely different soundtrack, I've yet to hear the soundtrack of the actual episodes so I don't know if it's better or worse, can't say the background music was something I remember much from TNM so I guess it should be fine though it still bothers me.

As far as the theme songs I like both the old and the new one that TNM got.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

And since then...I have no idea..

Yeah, it's kind of sad but after starting with the late 00's I just lost track of what is popular with kids.

I think it's a mix of me being older so I can't pay attention to those things and also that things are more segmented now, in the past we all watched Cartoon Network or Nick , etc. Now kids watch stuff online and on demand so it's not as easy, it's also not like I walk past the toy aisle too often.

I think popular shows that will be remembered fondly like our "rugrats" and shows like that will be Regular Show, Adventure time and all these shows I never got into, big fads like Pokemon just don't seem to exist anymore.

Biggest fad in recent years was the fidget spinners, remember when those were a thing? That lasted only like 3 months.

Even the toys of the year seem to have less impact than the ones in the 90s, I don't think people will remember hatchnimals and those finger monkeys the same way people remembered Furby's and Tamagotchi's.

It's also weird when I ask kids what they want for christmas and they say "itunes/google play gift cards".

[oldmanwinters]

I was watching a lot of old TMNT episodes on VHS during those years. Youtube wasn't yet around but I enjoyed looking at episode synopsis of ones I'd never seen via the old NinjaTurtles.com

[sdp]

Ah yes, remember the internet before youtube and before broadband was common?

You could barely find good articles about any obscure thing, let alone video, at most you could hope for was a bad screencap from the VHS.

In some ways it was cool since it made us feel like those things were much cooler than they were. The Red Sky season looked awesome based on the few screenshots and synposis I could find, same with other shows when they would have "oh they made a short lived sequel that tells the story of......." and my imagination filled the gaps of all the things that could've happened, once it was easy to get a hold of those we realized they weren't that good

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by sdp

Ah yes, remember the internet before youtube and before broadband was common?

You could barely find good articles about any obscure thing, let alone video, at most you could hope for was a bad screencap from the VHS.

In some ways it was cool since it made us feel like those things were much cooler than they were. The Red Sky season looked awesome based on the few screenshots and synposis I could find, same with other shows when they would have "oh they made a short lived sequel that tells the story of......." and my imagination filled the gaps of all the things that could've happened, once it was easy to get a hold of those we realized they weren't that good

I felt the same about shows I hadn’t seen in years and didn’t have easy access to at the time such as Sonic SatAM.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sdp

Yeah, it's kind of sad but after starting with the late 00's I just lost track of what is popular with kids.

I think it's a mix of me being older so I can't pay attention to those things and also that things are more segmented now, in the past we all watched Cartoon Network or Nick , etc. Now kids watch stuff online and on demand so it's not as easy, it's also not like I walk past the toy aisle too often.

I think popular shows that will be remembered fondly like our "rugrats" and shows like that will be Regular Show, Adventure time and all these shows I never got into, big fads like Pokemon just don't seem to exist anymore.

Biggest fad in recent years was the fidget spinners, remember when those were a thing? That lasted only like 3 months.

Even the toys of the year seem to have less impact than the ones in the 90s, I don't think people will remember hatchnimals and those finger monkeys the same way people remembered Furby's and Tamagotchi's.

It's also weird when I ask kids what they want for christmas and they say "itunes/google play gift cards".

Depends what you mean by "kids". Are you including people aged 15-17?

I was born in 1990. I watched the rise of Cartoon Network and the debuts of shows like Johnny Bravo, Dexter's lab, Ed Edd n Eddy, 2 Stupid Dogs, Cow & Chicken, 2k3 TMNT, Samurai Jack, etc. If you ask me what the cartoons of my generation are I'd say those. Plus also the bigger animes of the time such as Pokémon, DBZ, Yu-gi-oh, Beyblade, Cardcaptor Sakura, etc.... One Piece anime could technically qualify since it's been going since like 1999, but I had not heard of it until about 2006-2007 or so and had not watched it until this decade.

By the time 2006 or so rolled in, I wasn't really paying attention to kids cartoons anymore(except for 2k3 TMNT that is) and began watching more anime and even got into Family Guy for a while. And also tried some live action tv shows. Not that I've ever felt I was too old for Cartoon Network cartoons and such, but I just got into anime more and felt anime in general was more mature and more aimed at teens than American cartoons were.

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I was watching a lot of old TMNT episodes on VHS during those years. Youtube wasn't yet around but I enjoyed looking at episode synopsis of ones I'd never seen via the old NinjaTurtles.comNinjaTurtles.com

I have the entire FW series recorded in about 25 VHS tapes. Both my VCRs broke around 2009, so they're now useless. But if I feel like watching any FW episode I just hop on youtube. Seen each episode about 10-15 times already anyway

Yeah I also loved to read the synopsis of those episodes. I used ot browse the old Ninja Turtle website daily. I also remember fondly the daily comic strips, etc.

Originally Posted by sdp

Ah yes, remember the internet before youtube and before broadband was common?

You could barely find good articles about any obscure thing, let alone video, at most you could hope for was a bad screencap from the VHS.

In some ways it was cool since it made us feel like those things were much cooler than they were. The Red Sky season looked awesome based on the few screenshots and synposis I could find, same with other shows when they would have "oh they made a short lived sequel that tells the story of......." and my imagination filled the gaps of all the things that could've happened, once it was easy to get a hold of those we realized they weren't that good

Yeah, unless some dedicated fan made a geocities page about it or something, it was hard to find something related to more "obscure" cartoons and tv shows.

[CyberCubed]

It is kinda funny that nowadays you can literally watch any old TV show online...somewhere. It's like all those old obscure shows or cartoons you watched as a kid that you thought you would never be able to watch again...now you can. youtube is also a godsend for some of this stuff, otherwise you can find it on those obscure cartoon upload websites.

Kids these days, they have it easy. Why back in my day, if you didn't catch a show on TV or you missed it you were out of luck until reruns. And then after a show got canceled or the reruns stopped, there was no way to ever rewatch it again unless you were smart enough to record it off TV with VHS tapes.

Back then I would go years to decades without rewatching my favorite old shows because there was no way to rewatch it. Then DVDs came out and old stuff was released, then online streaming and youtube became a thing, and now it's easy to watch everything.

Oh these young kids of today, with their online streaming and their fancy gizmos and do-dads. They'll never know what it was like to grow up watching shows with the fear of never seeing it again, they don't know what "appointment television" means. What a time to be alive.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It is kinda funny that nowadays you can literally watch any old TV show online...somewhere. It's like all those old obscure shows or cartoons you watched as a kid that you thought you would never be able to watch again...now you can. youtube is also a godsend for some of this stuff, otherwise you can find it on those obscure cartoon upload websites.

Kids these days, they have it easy. Why back in my day, if you didn't catch a show on TV or you missed it you were out of luck until reruns. And then after a show got canceled or the reruns stopped, there was no way to ever rewatch it again unless you were smart enough to record it off TV with VHS tapes.

Back then I would go years to decades without rewatching my favorite old shows because there was no way to rewatch it. Then DVDs came out and old stuff was released, then online streaming and youtube became a thing, and now it's easy to watch everything.

Oh these young kids of today, with their online streaming and their fancy gizmos and do-dads. They'll never know what it was like to grow up watching shows with the fear of never seeing it again, they don't know what "appointment television" means. What a time to be alive.

Yeah. We have it easier nowadays in that respect. Although it felt more special to watch tv back then since you had to actually tape shows or turn on the TV at a certain time to watch it. Also, no one used the "binge-watching" term. Only way to do that was if you had recorded or owned most episodes on VHS. I do remember, however, a local tv channel once a year or so airing marathons of certain TV shows. I remember one day there being a 24 hour marathon of Alf and the next one there was a 24 hour marathon of Love Boat. I wonder how many people were able to sit through those entire marathons

Btw, the TMNT fad totally missed the Saturn/PS1/N64 generation plus the height of DBZ's, Yu-gi-oh's and Pokemon's popularity. And also during this time period American pro wrestling was at its most successful phase in history with WCW and WWF fighting head-to-head in the Monday Night Wars. In fact, the MNW started in mid 1996... by the time the FW series was ending. And they ended in early 2001. Then in 2002 WWF changes their name to WWE and the ratings start dropping as Austin and Rock leave and then the new 2k3 cartoon comes in around 2002-2003. Interesting...

[sdp]

Not true, I lived the TMNT fad and also the Pokemon fad as a kid, those of us born in the late 80s still got the TMNT fad and didn't become teenagers until the early 00's.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sdp

Not true, I lived the TMNT fad and also the Pokemon fad as a kid, those of us born in the late 80s still got the TMNT fad and didn't become teenagers until the early 00's.

Yeah that is true. Someone born in, let's say, 1985-1986 could perfectly well have still been young enough to get into the first pokémon generation and the whole pokémon fad itself back then.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It's kind of ironic the kid fads in the 80's/90/early 2000's when the same for a lot of people:

80's and early 90's = TMNT

Mostly late-1980's. When the decade was young, Hanna Barbera still dominated until around 1983–1984. Then we had Masters of the Universe, Transformers, GI Joe and some other action-cartoons.

[CyberCubed]

I was 13 by the time pokemon came out, which means even as an early teen I was already a bit old for the franchise even though I still got into it. Usually most of the original pokemon fans were becoming teens around the time Hoenn and Gen III came out.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I was 13 by the time pokemon came out, which means even as an early teen I was already a bit old for the franchise even though I still got into it. Usually most of the original pokemon fans were becoming teens around the time Hoenn and Gen III came out.

My brother bought Pokémon Red back in 1999 or so. He was about 16 years old at the time already. He bought it because Pokémon was this game that had been a HUGE hit in Japan and was being critically acclaimed worldwide as well, so he felt the need to try it. He never became a "pokémon fan", though. But he did like the game back then. He hasn't cared for Pokémon since then. And I doubt many 16-17 year olds in 1998-1999 were getting into Pokémon either, but who knows.

[CyberCubed]

Nowadays all the original pokemon fans are around our age, 25-30 year old adults. And now there's a whole new younger generation of fans who weren't even born when the series first started who get into it during any of the later generations.

As said TMNT and Pokemon were similar franchises where their first incarnations were so hugely popular due to the fad that it sort of dwarfs everything that comes after, even if the later stuff is good or even better than the originals. It's just that it was a huge childhood fad, and older fans grow up and leave the franchise because they get full-time jobs, etc...and younger kids don't get into it as much because there's no huge fad compelling them to stick with it.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Nowadays all the original pokemon fans are around our age, 25-30 year old adults. And now there's a whole new younger generation of fans who weren't even born when the series first started who get into it during any of the later generations.

As said TMNT and Pokemon were similar franchises where their first incarnations were so hugely popular due to the fad that it sort of dwarfs everything that comes after, even if the later stuff is good or even better than the originals. It's just that it was a huge childhood fad, and older fans grow up and leave the franchise because they get full-time jobs, etc...and younger kids don't get into it as much because there's no huge fad compelling them to stick with it.

People of my generation(around 1989-1992) usually only care for the first two pokémon generations. By the time the 3rd came out they had already outgrown pokémon for the most part. hat or they played RSE and didn't find it as good as the first two gens and spread the word "it's not that good this time".

Tbh I have only grown up with Pokémon Red. Didn't play Crystal and Yellow until 2012, Omega Ruby until 2016 and Silver until this year.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Gen 3 is the time when many old fans outgrew Pokemon, hence the term hoenn babies for those who started with Ruby/Sapphire and Emerald.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

Gen 3 is the time when many old fans outgrew Pokemon, hence the term hoenn babies for those who started with Ruby/Sapphire and Emerald.

More accurate to say most of those people were edgy teens at the time. Gen III came out in 2002, how old do you think most people were in 2002? I was already 16, but I know most fans were younger than me around 11-14 or so. A bunch of young teenagers didn't really "outgrow" the franchise, they just thought they couldn't like it anymore.

When you're in middle school or an edgy teen, you don't want to be known for liking "kids stuff" so they all thought they outgrew the series only to come back to it later on anyway once they got into High School or College.

Either way it didn't really matter, Ruby/Sapphire were among the highest selling GBA games either way. Millions of people never left the franchise back then either.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Yeah, gen 3 is the time when you were most likely gonna be made fun of in school for liking "something for babies", but it didn't stop Pokemon from being hugely popular.

I remember pretending to think that Pokemon was a kiddy thing which I didn't really like infront of my classmates but when I went home, I used to play my copy of Ruby all the time and watch the Advanced Generation series on tv religiously.

[CyberCubed]

It's kind of funny, nowadays you see fully grown adults 25-30 still saying they like Pokemon and nobody cares. It's like Pokemon has established itself as a permanent franchise similar to Star Wars, superheroes, Star Trek, etc...that it's just not viewed as a "kids thing" anymore.

It's weird how this happens. I remember Harry Potter went through a similar phase like this with their fans too.

[sdp]

The Pokemon fad died after Gen II came out, that's why almost no one saw the third pokemon movie. Even when Gen II started the fad had already seen the peak awhile go.

I had become a teenager when Gen II came out so I was at that stage when I was ashamed to like Pokemon but I still loved it but shortly after I grew out of it, I still liked it but I also started preferring other stuff like music. By the time Gen III came out I still picked it up but it wasn't until later a few months after the remakes of Gen I came out that I got back into Pokemon 100%, I was an older teenager and didn't care what people thought so I got back into Pokemon.

But yeah, lucky to have been able to live the TMNT fad, the Power Rangers fad, the Dragon Ball Z fad and Pokemon fad, all of those were huge fads, I'd also add Saint Seiya but that one wasn't didn't exist in the US, also I don't think the Dragon Ball Z fad was as big in the US as in other countries, I actually got to live the DBZ fad in two different countries since the US didn't have a DBZ fad until like 1999 when other places had already aired the entire series.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It's weird how this happens. I remember Harry Potter went through a similar phase like this with their fans too.

Damn, now that you mention Harry Potter, I remember just how painful it was not being a hardcore fan of it when i was in school lol.

Now I was very loosely fascinated by it, but Everyone in my school knew it inside out hardcore till the point where discussing Harry Potter with them left me nothing but confused. It was seen as the "cool" thing too, so not liking Harry Potter was not an option if you didn't wanna be made fun of.

Our class even once had an assignment where we talked about the Harry Potter movies in-depth. I definetly failed at that