Help with variants!!!

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

My apologies if this is posted in the incorrect section but I am currently writing a book about the entire vintage toy line and detailing as many of the variations that I know exist (and there are hundreds)! With that being said, does anyone have any photos of the light shell/dark shell wacky action variations? I keep reading that they exist but I cannot tell the difference to save my life. Also, after years of doing research and talking to collectors that were there when the phenomenon started back in the day, all have verified to me that movie star Leo was never released on the blue card second series. Can anyone argue that point with photographic evidence? Thank you in advance!

[IMJ]

Who is your publisher?

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by IMJ

Who is your publisher?

I currently do not have one. I’m writing the book 1st and once it’s done, I will shop around. I know there have been a few other people who have attempted this only to fail in their delivery.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

I currently do not have one. I’m writing the book 1st and once it’s done, I will shop around. I know there have been a few other people who have attempted this only to fail in their delivery.

Sounds like wisdom to me. Good luck with it, brother.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by IMJ

Sounds like wisdom to me. Good luck with it, brother.

Thank you. All encouragement is greatly appreciated.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

My apologies if this is posted in the incorrect section but I am currently writing a book about the entire vintage toy line and detailing as many of the variations that I know exist (and there are hundreds)! With that being said, does anyone have any photos of the light shell/dark shell wacky action variations? I keep reading that they exist but I cannot tell the difference to save my life. Also, after years of doing research and talking to collectors that were there when the phenomenon started back in the day, all have verified to me that movie star Leo was never released on the blue card second series. Can anyone argue that point with photographic evidence? Thank you in advance!

I don’t know if there are any large side by side comparison photos of the light shell/dark shell variations of the wave 1 Wacky Action TMNT figures online. You have to look real hard. There could possibly be some online TMNT action figure guides available online that could help with that information. In the meantime, you may be able to search for all of the 1989 Wacky Action TMNT variants online.

By the Movie Star Leo on blue card second series, do you mean a Movie Star Leo on the 1996 Ninja Power series?

I’m going to leave this free download link for the Collecting TMNT Figures 1988 - 1990 here: https://daddarulekonge.itch.io/colle...-1990?download

All of my information in the other thread on 1988 - 1991 card types looks to be correct, whereas some of the information in the guide above isn’t (namely the 1990 Pop-Up Mutant Display Figures). The author of Collecting TMNT Figures 1988 - 1990 went by copyright dates and not actual release dates like I did in the other thread on here by TMNTFan83. A purple brick carded Movie Star Leo re-release is in the guide above, also, along with the 1989 Wacky Action TMNT turtle shell variants.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

I don’t know if there are any large side by side comparison photos of the light shell/dark shell variations of the wave 1 Wacky Action TMNT figures online. You have to look real hard. There could possibly be some online TMNT action figure guides available online that could help with that information. In the meantime, you may be able to search for all of the 1989 Wacky Action TMNT variants online.

By the Movie Star Leo on blue card second series, do you mean a Movie Star Leo on the 1996 Ninja Power series?

I’m going to leave this free download link for the Collecting TMNT Figures 1988 - 1990 here: https://daddarulekonge.itch.io/colle...-1990?download

All of my information in the other thread on 1988 - 1991 card types looks to be correct, whereas some of the information in the guide above isn’t (namely the 1990 Pop-Up Mutant Display Figures). The author of Collecting TMNT Figures 1988 - 1990 went by copyright dates and not actual release dates like I did in the other thread on here by TMNTFan83. A purple brick carded Movie Star Leo re-release is in the guide above, also, along with the 1989 Wacky Action TMNT turtle shell variants.

Wow thank you! It’s great to find this kind of support!

The Movie Star Leo in question on Blue Card is referring to the cardbacks that Sandstorm, Hot Spot etc were released on.

Can you share a link with your release years? I had the Pop-Ups listed with 88-89 but I’m doing my book by year, so it would make sense to move them if I’m incorrect.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

Wow thank you! It’s great to find this kind of support!

The Movie Star Leo in question on Blue Card is referring to the cardbacks that Sandstorm, Hot Spot etc were released on.

Can you share a link with your release years? I had the Pop-Ups listed with 88-89 but I’m doing my book by year, so it would make sense to move them if I’m incorrect.

You’re very welcome!

Movie Star Leo was not re-released on a 1993 generic card because the 1992 first edition Movie Star Leo was still sold in some retailers. The 1994 or 1995 KB Toys re-release has purple bricks on the front of the card.

Unfortunately, there isn’t an online source for my information. I was looking at the commercial for the pop-up mutant display figures and the year 1990 was under the Playmates logo. The 3rd wave (Rat King) was advertised in the commercial as a recent release, so those figures definitely came out in early 1990 (first quarter). The pop-up mutant display figures were rarer in stores than the original release. The shelf date for the pop-up mutant display figures was much shorter than previous releases and releases after it. The card backers are the same as the 1988 and 1989 ones. I believe that is the slight problem here. It should have been advertised on the back of the cards that they are the pop-up display releases in some way or another.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

You’re very welcome!

Movie Star Leo was not re-released on a 1993 generic card because the 1992 first edition Movie Star Leo was still sold in some retailers. The 1994 or 1995 KB Toys re-release has purple bricks on the front of the card.

Unfortunately, there isn’t an online source for my information. I was looking at the commercial for the pop-up mutant display figures and the year 1990 was under the Playmates logo. The 3rd wave (Rat King) was advertised in the commercial as a recent release, so those figures definitely came out in early 1990 (first quarter). The pop-up mutant display figures were rarer in stores than the original release. The shelf date for the pop-up mutant display figures was much shorter than previous releases and releases after it. The card backers are the same as the 1988 and 1989 ones. I believe that is the slight problem here. It should have been advertised on the back of the cards that they are the pop-up display releases in some way or another.

Right on! So then if I do decide to just list the pop-up displays alongside the regular releases under the year of the regular releases, it really doesn’t make that huge of a difference then? It’s easier to keep track of them that way in my opinion.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

Right on! So then if I do decide to just list the pop-up displays alongside the regular releases under the year of the regular releases, it really doesn’t make that huge of a difference then? It’s easier to keep track of them that way in my opinion.

The pop-up mutant display MOC figures should be under the year 1990 if you are using pictures of the front of the MOC figures because pop-up mutant display figures were not around in 1988 or 1989. The back of the cards can be listed under the year of the regular release if your book is about back of the card types (i.e. - Type A, Type C, and Type E2) since Playmates Toys used the same card types as the originals for the pop-up mutant display figures. The pop-up mutant display figures were the first ever new 90s TMNT figures.

The pop-up mutant display figures, 4th wave (Scumbug, Muckman, Mondo Gecko, and Wingnut), and most of the 5th wave (Panda Khan wave) were all 1990 releases.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The pop-up mutant display MOC figures should be under the year 1990 if you are using pictures of the front of the MOC figures because pop-up mutant display figures were not around in 1988 or 1989. The back of the cards can be listed under the year of the regular release if your book is about back of the card types (i.e. - Type A, Type C, and Type E2) since Playmates Toys used the same card types as the originals for the pop-up mutant display figures. The pop-up mutant display figures were the first ever new 90s TMNT figures.

The pop-up mutant display figures, 4th wave (Scumbug, Muckman, Mondo Gecko, and Wingnut), and most of the 5th wave (Panda Khan wave) were all 1990 releases.

I’m actually listing both front and back of the packages.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The pop-up mutant display MOC figures should be under the year 1990 if you are using pictures of the front of the MOC figures because pop-up mutant display figures were not around in 1988 or 1989. The back of the cards can be listed under the year of the regular release if your book is about back of the card types (i.e. - Type A, Type C, and Type E2) since Playmates Toys used the same card types as the originals for the pop-up mutant display figures. The pop-up mutant display figures were the first ever new 90s TMNT figures.

The pop-up mutant display figures, 4th wave (Scumbug, Muckman, Mondo Gecko, and Wingnut), and most of the 5th wave (Panda Khan wave) were all 1990 releases.

Do you have any sources that list the pop-up displays as 1990 releases?

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

I’m actually listing both front and back of the packages.

Both should be filed under 1990 for accuracy purposes.

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

Do you have any sources that list the pop-up displays as 1990 releases?

Ignore the enormous mistake made by MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS.

At the 0:27 or 0:28 mark it clearly says Copyright 1990 Playmates Toys Inc. to the left of 1985 Mirage Studios.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6TMzK8sJdH0

Newspaper sources for this rare variation of the wave 1 to 3 toys do not exist.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Both should be filed under 1990 for accuracy purposes.




Ignore the enormous mistake made by MYSATURDAYM0RNINGS.

At the 0:27 or 0:28 mark it clearly says Copyright 1990 Playmates Toys Inc. to the left of 1985 Mirage Studios.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6TMzK8sJdH0

Newspaper sources for this rare variation of the wave 1 to 3 toys do not exist.

I knew that commercial existed but I didn’t remember which one it was! That definitely helps me decide where I’m placing those. I was watching another video and in it, the narrator said that about a year after the softhead figures were released that playmates decided to switch to the hardheaded figures. If that’s true Time wise, the hardheaded figures wouldn’t have shown up till 89, right?

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

I knew that commercial existed but I didn’t remember which one it was! That definitely helps me decide where I’m placing those. I was watching another video and in it, the narrator said that about a year after the softhead figures were released that playmates decided to switch to the hardheaded figures. If that’s true Time wise, the hardheaded figures wouldn’t have shown up till 89, right?

The hard-headed versions of the basic wave 1 turtles, Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, and Splinter were all released in the fall of 1989. That is correct. All of the releases are in my posts in the first page of the “ Vintage TMNT cardback number variations” thread.

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Sweet!!! Just finished updating/editing. Thank you.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

Sweet!!! Just finished updating/editing. Thank you.

You’re very welcome.

[mikey0]

The launch of the 1990 pop-up mutant display figures tied together that whole ‘88 to ‘89 period. The pop-up mutant display figures were the ultimate collectibles for children who loved the 1987 mini-series, 1988 toy line, and 1988 regular season episodes. The last hurrah for children of the 1980s, before children of the 1990s discovered TMNT. I believe the pop-up mutant display figures were released in either January or February of 1990 when the FW cartoon was still the only way that children, teens, and adults knew of the TMNT. People tend to forget how the syndicated TMNT series was the biggest cartoon around in the earliest seasons of 1990 (before the Jim Henson movie was released).

The early 1990 releases from before (pop-up mutant display figures) and slightly after (Giant Turtles) the movie were great for collectors of the 1988 and 1989 stuff. Once the fall of 1990 rolled around, the style of TMNT action figures started to change and sided more with how the original Playmates toy line would come to be in 1992 (too much detail, too many bright colors, and interesting character selections with the basic assortment figures).

The 1990 pop-up mutant displays were the best paper made inserts of the 1990s. The mini yellow fold-out catalogs with the 1992 to 1993 figures were a close second. In ‘88, the insert was the Turtle Force Fan Club form (with art from the Mirage Studios comic books). In early ‘90, the pop-up mutant displays (with art from the MWS cartoon). Lastly, in late ‘92, the insert was the fold-out catalog (with stock images of the TMNT figure prototypes). To this day, I’m surprised no kind of insert was packed with the 1991 to early 1992 figures that had stills from either one of the movies or both the movies on it. The pop-up mutant display inserts were the best out of the whole original Playmates toy line.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by ChicagoTMNTfan1

I’m actually listing both front and back of the packages.

I have some mild experience in this area of publishing and I can tell you that you will need to be prepared with your own images if you want to produce a guide of some kind.

Which means that you will have to acquire the collection on your own for the photography, or borrow a collection for credited photography for a publisher to accept it. Of course you don't need pictures and could produce some kind of checklist book, but quite frankly no one is going to publish that because it won't sell on any kind of scale (as opposed to a DK "Ultimate Guide").

Also, once you have an editor, he/she is going to tell you that you will need pictures representing whatever your wildest claims in the book are. For example you won't, ironically, need pictures of the most common toys, but you will need pictures if you are making claims of variants existing. Eventually an editor might let a few sentences without pictorial support slide, but you've said that you are writing your book up front before having a team, so you are going to run into walls when you have a team that would otherwise simply be tasks if those walls came up during the writing process rather than after.

So if you are serious about writing a book your best bet is to seek out and buy the actual variants or to track down a collector who will send them to you or invite you over for a museum tour and pictorial.

Again I have a small amount of experience in that arena so you'll probably want to keep that in mind if you are truly writing a real book as opposed to some kind of self-published...... endeavor......

[ChicagoTMNTfan1]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The launch of the 1990 pop-up mutant display figures tied together that whole ‘88 to ‘89 period. The pop-up mutant display figures were the ultimate collectibles for children who loved the 1987 mini-series, 1988 toy line, and 1988 regular season episodes. The last hurrah for children of the 1980s, before children of the 1990s discovered TMNT. I believe the pop-up mutant display figures were released in either January or February of 1990 when the FW cartoon was still the only way that children, teens, and adults knew of the TMNT. People tend to forget how the syndicated TMNT series was the biggest cartoon around in the earliest seasons of 1990 (before the Jim Henson movie was released).

The early 1990 releases from before (pop-up mutant display figures) and slightly after (Giant Turtles) the movie were great for collectors of the 1988 and 1989 stuff. Once the fall of 1990 rolled around, the style of TMNT action figures started to change and sided more with how the original Playmates toy line would come to be in 1992 (too much detail, too many bright colors, and interesting character selections with the basic assortment figures).

The 1990 pop-up mutant displays were the best paper made inserts of the 1990s. The mini yellow fold-out catalogs with the 1992 to 1993 figures were a close second. In ‘88, the insert was the Turtle Force Fan Club form (with art from the Mirage Studios comic books). In early ‘90, the pop-up mutant displays (with art from the MWS cartoon). Lastly, in late ‘92, the insert was the fold-out catalog (with stock images of the TMNT figure prototypes). To this day, I’m surprised no kind of insert was packed with the 1991 to early 1992 figures that had stills from either one of the movies or both the movies on it. The pop-up mutant display inserts were the best out of the whole original Playmates toy line.

Great stuff! I seriously appreciate it