Pop-up Mutant Displays...Pics??

[mikey0]

Did anybody hate the pop-up mutant display figures appearing in stores 2 years after the first wave and one year after the other two waves from 1989? The pop-up mutant display variants were a nice way of conjoining almost all of the waves from the 80s (sans April and maybe a few others) for new crowds that were just introduced to the Turtles after more entertainment news of the first movie surfaced.

Does anyone wish Playmates had thought of the pop-up mutant displays from jump start? Should the pop-up mutant displays to the original TMNT line have been like the mini comics to the 1982 Mattel MOTU toy line?

While it is true that the cartoon started catching on before the movie came out, these pop-up mutant displays would been neat with the actual first release basic assortment figures from the late 80s.

The pop-up mutant displays were a great indicator of where the franchise was in the first quarter of 1990, but I feel like not including them before that mark on the timeline was a missed opportunity. Before the pop-up mutant displays (that ironically enough came with Metalhead and Casey), you had to buy playsets if you wanted backdrops for action figures. Hasbro seems to have borrowed the pop-up mutant display idea for their Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones line, but it wasn’t as well thought out or put into action like the pop-up mutant display variant line was the original TMNT toy line.

Unfortunately, the pop-up mutant display variant line hit shortly before toy scalpers started to take notice of the original 1988 toy line. Nonetheless, one could argue that Playmates set the standard for some 90s and 2000s toy lines with the pop-up mutant display variant line and Giant Turtles figures. Bandai, Toy Biz, Kenner, and Hasbro all seemed to go to the original TMNT toy line for inspiration in the 1990s and 2000s, at least.

Would adding the pop-up mutant displays so early and having them become a part of the line have changed things drastically? Would children fear picking up a Movie Star Michelangelo if the pop-up display for it was in the alleyway with a stock image of Rahzar from the second movie as his cardboard opponent? What would be your opinion on pop-up mutant displays playing a more prominent role in the original Playmates toy line?

[oldmanwinters]

I can't remember the year I got my first TMNT figure (it was a basic Raphael, no pop-up that I can remember), but I don't think people should be mad they packed in extras for re-releases. Seems like shrewd business to me.

I seem to remember my first Michelangelo figure was a soft-head which came off easily, and I assumed it was defective. Might have even taken it back to the store to get a replacement figure.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I can't remember the year I got my first TMNT figure (it was a basic Raphael, no pop-up that I can remember), but I don't think people should be mad they packed in extras for re-releases. Seems like shrewd business to me.

I seem to remember my first Michelangelo figure was a soft-head which came off easily, and I assumed it was defective. Might have even taken it back to the store to get a replacement figure.

I’m sure loose original Playmates TMNT toy line completists have had a hard time getting all of the pop-up mutant displays with the character inserts from 1990 all the way up to today.

The original TMNT line is real dog (horrible) for MOC completists to collect already (), but the character inserts to the pop-up mutant displays online are not always mint, without wear of any type, and sold alongside the actual displays in lots. Sometimes sellers ask too much for the display by itself (without the character insert).

Not to mention, many toy dealers do not realize that the pop-up mutant display figures were sold first and only in 1990.

It’s much easier to forget that pop-up mutant display figures exist than it is to try and get them all. It was not a well thought out idea. Obviously, the pop-up mutant displays were made to commemorate the success of the FW cartoon in 1989 (after MWS received some awards for the show). Technically, anyway you look at it, the pop-up mutant displays were a part of the original Playmates toy line. The back of them gave buyers a hint of what was to come in the 4th and 5th basic assortments. The pop-ups are not a necessity for original TMNT toy line collectors, but it was a pretty cool follow-up to the late 80s stuff. When you think about it, the pop-up mutant display figures and first Giant Size Turtles were the last truly perfect gifts for the children of the 80s that loved everything TMNT related that was released by Playmates up until that point. Playmates never released any ‘out of the box’ items like soft head wave one figures, “Gags, Jokes, and Crazy Weapons”, “Giant Size Turtles”, and “pop-up mutant display” variant figures after 1990. The Sewer Sports Balls from 1991 were give or take items (not important to the overall original Playmates toy line like the ones I mentioned).

Basically, the original Playmates TMNT toy line was better in the 80s and the part of the very early 90s closest to the 80s. Don’t get me wrong, the late 1990 releases (up to Storage Shell Donatello) were great in a way, also, but those toys do not hold the same value as the ones from 1988 to early 1990. The 4th (Mondo Gecko, Wingnut, etc.) and 5th waves (Fugitoid, Panda Khan, etc.) were the start of the decline for some collectors and historians. The first ever figures (soft heads) were the most iconic out of all of them anyway.

[mikey0]

April should not have been pictured on the back of the cards for the pop-up mutant display figures and none of the human characters like Casey should have came with the pop-up mutant displays. Nonetheless, it’s not debatable that the pop-up mutant displays was the greatest ideas that Playmates Toys had in the last year of the 1980s for the 1990s. It would have been nice to see Playmates re-release some of the 4th (Scumbug wave) through 7th (Super Shredder wave) basic wave figures from 1990 and 1991 with pop-up mutant displays. The waves after the 7th wave could been pop-up mutant display releases as well.

The 1990 pop-up mutant display figures were a limited release, but one of the most interesting releases of 1990.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by mikey0

April should not have been pictured on the back of the cards for the pop-up mutant display figures and none of the human characters like Casey should have came with the pop-up mutant displays. Nonetheless, it’s not debatable that the pop-up mutant displays was the greatest ideas that Playmates Toys had in the last year of the 1980s for the 1990s.

Yeah, so far as I know, there wasn't any April O'Neil with Pop Up Display release, but why do you say that "none of the human characters" should have been included in the Pop up Display line? I'm a stickler for including iconic characters on displays even if they aren't considered "mutants." And in the case of Casey and April's pop-ups, the display character would have probably been one of the mutant or robotic villains.

Certainly wish Playmates Toys had done more of these or remembered them enough to include them with some of their modern re-releases.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Yeah, so far as I know, there wasn't any April O'Neil with Pop Up Display release, but why do you say that "none of the human characters" should have been included in the Pop up Display line? I'm a stickler for including iconic characters on displays even if they aren't considered "mutants." And in the case of Casey and April's pop-ups, the display character would have probably been one of the mutant or robotic villains.

Certainly wish Playmates Toys had done more of these or remembered them enough to include them with some of their modern re-releases.

Casey, Shredder, and the Rat King were all great iconic characters, but they do not count as mutants to be included in a mutant pop-up display set. Krang (space alien) was not included in the set, while Genghis Khan, Baxter Stockman, Ace Duck all were. General Traag (space alien) and Metalhead (robot) were all a part of the set, also, but not Krang and a Foot Soldier.

The 1990 pop-up mutant display set was an odd limited release set made to capitalize on the success of the 1988 FW cartoon series in the 1988 and 1989 TV season. I do not think modern re-releases can be released with pop-up mutant displays, but the DVDs of the 1987 mini-series episodes were the best inserts for early 2009.

[mikey0]

Am I the only one who can see Zak the Neutrino coming with a pop-up mutant display that had a General Traag standee? It is really too bad all of the hard heads did not come with a pop-up mutant display stand.