Childhood Preference: Turtle Variants vs. Original Mutants

[Leo656]

Eh, weird can mean "off-putting" to a degree but it doesn't automatically translate to "sh*tty".

*I* would say they were sh*tty but I wouldn't dance around it, I'd just come right out and say it because that's the special kinda guy I am.

[mikey0]

Weird as in odd. Children of the 1990s did not expect to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dressed like policemen, farmers, wrestlers, clowns, dwarfs, and etc..

[Leo656]

Nor should they have, those were awful ideas done for no reason other than the fact that kids would buy anything with the TMNT logo on it.

It's like ordering a pizza and the delivery guy shows up and slaps you with a frozen cod. "Hah! You never expected that, isn't that awesome?!" "No, why would I ever have expected something so ridiculous?"

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Weird as in odd. Children of the 1990s did not expect to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dressed like policemen, farmers, wrestlers, clowns, dwarfs, and etc..

But teenaged turtles, mutated by a secret ooze and trained to be ninjas by a giant rat, aren't weird?

Look, I loved the variants and still do. You don't have to--that's fine. But the article you linked was not disparaging those figures. All it pretty much said was that, if you were a kid at the time, either you or someone you knew had them.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by I Crave Pizza No More

But teenaged turtles, mutated by a secret ooze and trained to be ninjas by a giant rat, aren't weird?

Look, I loved the variants and still do. You don't have to--that's fine. But the article you linked was not disparaging those figures. All it pretty much said was that, if you were a kid at the time, either you or someone you knew had them.

Christopher Hudspeth could have called them costumed turtles. I see it as downgrading the turtle variants.

The disguised turtles and Undercover Turtles were the best themed turtles out of them all. From my POV, Playmates went overboard with the Sewer Sports All Stars, Rock N Rollin Turtles, Mutant Miltary Turtles, and etc. etc..

[Leo656]

The one and only variant I had was the Shogun Leo or whatever it was. And I didn't ask for it, I got it for Christmas. And at least it was thematically acceptable.

I mean I kinda get why some people get a kick out of that kinda thing, but to me, it was always like "Great, one less New Character they could've made." As a kid, I didn't fully understand why you HAD to put a new version of the Main Characters in a toy line out in every single wave, I didn't know or care about the business side of it. I was just like "Man, I'd love it if they made a ______ figure, but instead, there's this Turtle dressed up like a goalie and this other one dressed up like a vampire. I don't care about this."

I mean, I had several He-Man variants as a kid, but at least his variant figures were storyline-compatible, like new armor or something. I never had a problem with that kinda thing in any line. I generally never cared for "wacky" things. If they'd done more Turtles that actually made sense for their "universe", that would've been fine and I may have picked up a few.

The entire reason I quit collecting the original TMNT line, was that it got to a point where you'd go to Kaybee or Toys R Us and there'd be NO new characters, sometimes, just dozens of these "crazy" Turtle Trolls and whatever else. The last TMNT figure I bought off the rack from that line was the Super-Shredder, which was a revelation compared to everything else on the pegs at the time, but after that I was done, I didn't even pay attention anymore.

It was so blatantly a "Quick! More Product!" type of thing that even as a kid I felt offended by it, given how they clearly expected kids to ask for absolutely anything with the logo on it. Again, if people got off on that, that's fine, I just don't understand it. In ANY toy line, there's always characters who should be made, but never are, so I actually have a real resentment for variants as a personal rule. I would ALWAYS prefer more new characters. I know that they "have" to do variants in any line, but when they do I prefer they not go so far "off-script".

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by Leo656

In ANY toy line, there's always characters who should be made, but never are, so I actually have a real resentment for variants as a personal rule. I would ALWAYS prefer more new characters. I know that they "have" to do variants in any line, but when they do I prefer they not go so far "off-script".

In a way, I did view them as new characters. When my friends and I played with our turtles, we had massive wars with different bases and we definitely used multiple Leos or Mikes or whatever. We never really acted out the cartoon, so maybe that's why it didn't matter than several of the same turtle were fighting alongside one another.

[AquaParade]

Playing with figures was the best. Although for me and my friends or cousins, the best part was really the team draft and setting up of a base. From there, it usually went to crap, but that?s okay.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

Playing with figures was the best. Although for me and my friends or cousins, the best part was really the team draft and setting up of a base. From there, it usually went to crap, but that?s okay.

Who was your most-frequent #1 draft pick?

[Obbie]

the only variants that I had and were ever interested in were the Disguised Turtles, Storage Shell Donny, and the first 2 waves of Wacky Action.. I only had and played with the 1988-1990 toys.

[sdp]

Granted I was very young when the original toyline was out but while I loved original mutants I just had a ******** of turtle variants, especially of Raph. I don't even know why when I played I rarely used most of the variants and the ones that did get a lot of play they were "cousins" of the turtles who joined in to help.

It's the only toyline I did that for, I hated variants in pretty much every other toyline and hated that I couldn't find a decent Batman in original colors for the B:TAS toyline since I could only find variants in stores.

[mikey0]

Most people prefer the basic versions of the turtles to the variants.
Case in point: https://io9.gizmodo.com/21-ridiculou...tan-1844254103

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Most people prefer the basic versions of the turtles to the variants.
Case in point: https://io9.gizmodo.com/21-ridiculou...tan-1844254103

Because a snarky, clickbait article ridicules some of the variants? Look, I've said it before: you can like what you like, just as others can. This isn't some kind of contest. Maybe more people like chocolate ice cream than cotton candy--doesn't mean people are wrong for liking cotton candy. This is such a bizarre hill you're creating and protecting.

[Powder]

His fixation is not neurotypical, probably got some issues.

[Jester]

I thought there was a strict "Don't need 30x versions of the Turtles get a secondary character" rule as a kid, but my Mom claims that was never really a thing, and I did have some Turtle variants: Trolls, The Marble shooters, the Movie Stars, some odds and ends Raphs (like Toon Raph, but didn't he come with the Toon Cycle?, and Mutant Mech with Mini Raph) and I'm sure I had the Undercover Don they released with the cloth trenchcoat....but I didn't have some of the sillier variants, and never much cared for them. To each their own, though.

[Garfield]

As a kid My favorite figure was the 1988 Raph. and I had a special place for the originals, Maybe I thought more highly of the Moviestar turtles I can't remember the specifics. but I was never a snob against the variants. Those wacky variants are some of my most favorite things about TMNT. Looking back many of those variants make better toys than the original 1988 Turtles.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by I Crave Pizza No More

Who was your most-frequent #1 draft pick?

That's a fun question, thanks for asking.

I can't recall, which means it probably shifted by what my newest figure was. I imagine some variation of a ninja turtle most of the time.

[miru]

I was go for original characters, and very much not keen on variants, especially slightly oversized ones. Then again, not every character they added to the line was of sufficient quality, either.

[D Piddy 1982]

As a kid I always played with the original first wave of figures - standard Turtles as they "appeared" in the cartoon. Never used the variants in my gameplay.

However, as I was lucky enough to have the first wave by the time my first turtles christmas and birthday were out the way, I would always pick variants if I was allowed an action figure whilst out shopping with my parents.

My favourite variant wave was Shogan Leo, Surfer Mike, Space Cadet Raph and Trenchcoat Don. With Surfer Mike my favourite.

Also firm favourite other mutants were Mondo Gecko, Slash and Napoleon Bonafrog.

Didn't care for many future wave variants. Turtles or other mutants.

To this day still want Ray Fillet but still waiting for a good deal on eBay...

[Marm O. Set]

Originally Posted by funatic

...turtle variant figures... I found them so much less interesting than the original mutant figures...

Ditto. I avoided them at all cost. However, as an adult, I actually REALLY LIKE the oddball turtles. The 1992 Wacky Wild West and Bodacious Birthday lines are so crazy that they have become some of my favorites!

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Did ANYONE like the Turtle Variants as a kid?

In my experience, NO. Everyone hated them and only got them because they were "good enough" replacements for the original turtles that you could never find.

Originally Posted by mikey0

Some of the best turtle variants were the ones that resembled the original turtle figures like the Head Droppin Turtles and Wacky Action figures.

100% agreed. I couldn't find Leonardo forever and had acceptable alternatives mapped out in my head. Storage shell or Headdroppin' Leo were "good enough" if I was ever willing to give up the search for Leo. In the end, I convinced my friend to sell me his original Leo so crisis averted haha!

Originally Posted by mikey0

..I see it as downgrading the turtle variants...

In 1991 I would absolutely have agreed. I see things with different eyes as an adult.