Downfall of the original Playmates toy line (80s and 90s kids)

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by propguy

It all boils down to poor figure design and general fatigue. I'm 36, I remember being disappointed that all the newer figures didn't have that same odd/gross out personality of the earlier figures. The more they were cleanly sculpted and cute, the less tmnt they were. Also didn't need Apollo 11 turtles and such, they are cool figures, but not what a 10yr old is expecting to see when they look through the pegs at the store...

Exactly. The 1986 AmToys Madballs meets 1981 Mattel Masters of the Universe angle to the 1988 Playmates TMNT toy line was gone with each new passing turtle variant in stores. It got so bad that there were not any basic waves for the original 1988 Playmates line anymore at all. I’m sure the toy designers at Playmates Toys, along with the creators of the 1984 Mirage Comics comic book, would much rather forget about the years 1995 to 1997 than try to make a fast buck off of a Classic Collection Make My Day Leo reissue.

[propguy]

Yeah, the fact they kept reissuing the original line over and over says the first couple waves were more interesting. The crude/irreverent style of those figures were where the charm came from. It's almost a parody of action figures just as the comic was a parody of superhero comics. Napolean bonafrog? It's almost a joke in and of itself its an action figure and that's why we subconsciously love those figures

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by propguy

Napolean bonafrog?

He appeared in the original cartoon two years before the action figure came out, so he was not created directly for the action figure line.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by propguy

It all boils down to poor figure design and general fatigue. I'm 36, I remember being disappointed that all the newer figures didn't have that same odd/gross out personality of the earlier figures. The more they were cleanly sculpted and cute, the less tmnt they were. Also didn't need Apollo 11 turtles and such, they are cool figures, but not what a 10yr old is expecting to see when they look through the pegs at the store...

Maybe. But the 1994 Pizza Tossin' Turtles, which channel Rat Fink, are plenty gross but still pretty unimpressive figures. I'd take the Apollo 11 guys over them any day.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by propguy

Yeah, the fact they kept reissuing the original line over and over says the first couple waves were more interesting. The crude/irreverent style of those figures were where the charm came from. It's almost a parody of action figures just as the comic was a parody of superhero comics. Napolean bonafrog? It's almost a joke in and of itself its an action figure and that's why we subconsciously love those figures

That was the problem with the original Playmates line. These toys of cartoon characters that were spoofs of comic book characters of the early 80s became a parody of the successful action figure lines before it so much that casual toy buyers did not know what it was anymore!

I never liked the Turtle watch, peace sign necklace, and neon green top and pink surfer bottoms on the 1990 toy for Napoleon Bonafrog. The toy designers at Playmates Toys in the 80s and 90s got a little too excited over making this toy line “hip” to children of the late 80s and 90s. I think the original 1988 Playmates toy line is ‘very 90s’ to adult toy collectors. One of the most 90s toy lines to ever exist (with Micro Machines and Koosh Balls tied at a close second) actually! For that reason, many action figure collectors and sellers just can’t get behind it like they do for the 1977 Kenner Star Wars line, 1981 Mattel Masters of the Universe line, 1982 Hasbro G.I. Joe line, and 1984 Hasbro Generation 1 Transformer line. With that said, in all of its zaniness, the original Playmates toy line is one of a kind.

Children of the 90s do not think of the 1990 to 1997 toys as the greatest thing to happen in the 1990s. Adult collectors usually only purchase the 1988 and 1989 toys from the 1988 Playmates line. The question becomes, was the 1988 Playmates toy line an 80s toy line or a 90s toy line? The Turtles are ‘a 1990 phenomenon’ and most people are divided over the debate of whether the year 1990 was an 80s year or a 90s year. I’m real sorry to say it, but the original Playmates toy line was launched at the wrong time.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The question becomes, was the 1988 Playmates toy line an 80s toy line or a 90s toy line?

I see them as both. And in which way is 1990 a 1980's year?

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

And in which way is 1990 a 1980's year?

I ask the same question whenever I see pop culture fanatics of the 1980s try to claim 1990 as an 80s year. These lovers of all things 1980s usually go into discussion about how decades begin in the year that ends with one.

In the earliest months of the year 1990, everything introduced in the 1980s was at the forefront of American consciousness. Young metal fans wore Mötley Crüe Dr Feelgood tour concert shirts, the 1989 American film Born on the Fourth of July was still a box office hit, Nabisco Giggles sandwich cookies were on grocery store shelves, and the American sitcom ALF was on the air for the last time. Those things all scream “80s” to children of the 1980s. According to these same children of the 1980s, the 1990s did not begin until the American rock group Nirvana dethroned the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, on the Billboard 200 charts with the release of their sophomore album “Nevermind”. The generations after X have been easily influenced by these children of the 1980s to reach the same conclusion about the year 1990, despite many of them not being alive in that year.

I have never seen 1990 as the last year of the 1980s. The 1980s should be remembered for the Atari 2600, Star Wars sequels, The Love Boat, I’m With Stupid shirts, 50s nostalgia, breakdancing, and music from Hall and Oates. Unfortunately, children of the 1980s and 1990s see the aforementioned trends and pop culture as “70s holdovers”. Instead, these children of the 80s and 90s focus on every event that happened from the mid to late 80s into the early 90s when conversations about the 1980s come up. For that reason alone, many adult toy collectors refuse to see Turtlemania as a 90s craze.

Although, the original 1988 Playmates toy line is not a legendary action figure line to adult toy collectors who grew up with Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe A Real American Hero, and Generation 1 Transformers toys, the Turtles do tend to pop up from time to time when toys of the 80s are mentioned on online forums. Not the whole original Playmates line, though. A large number of 90s toy collectors tend to skim over the Turtles and constantly rant about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Street Sharks, and Mighty Max toys. So, I would say the Turtles were a very late 80s and Bush 41 90s (mainly the latter) sensation for the hybrids between the Xers and Millennials. Playmates Toys’ TMNT output for the years 1991 to 1997 is forgettable to both children of the 1980s, 1990s, and in the middle nonetheless.

The Turtlemania of 1990 was the drop that made the full glass of water overflow, so to say. The first live-action Turtles movie should have been in theaters in the spring, summer, or fall seasons of 1987 before the Fred Wolf Films cartoon mini-series debuted on TV.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The first live-action Turtles movie should have been in theaters in the spring, summer, or fall seasons of 1987 before the Fred Wolf Films cartoon mini-series debuted on TV.

The second would still have come out as the Fred Wolf series aired.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

The second would still have come out as the Fred Wolf series aired.

That much is true, but the creators of the 1984 Mirage Comics comic book would have still had time to film the second one before December 28 of 1987 to October 1st of 1988 when the true series premiere of the Fred Wolf show aired. It would be better that way; the original Playmates toy line would be reserved for young and old fans of the Fred Wolf cartoon and Archie Comics comic book. Readers of the 1984 Mirage Comics comic book and movie goers alike would see the 1987 Fred Wolf toon as another Rambo The Force of Freedom, Robocop and the Ultra Police, and Police Academy. Although this 1988 Playmates line would not become as popular as it actually was in 1990, adult collectors would have as much appreciation for the short alternate 1988 Turtles toy line as they do today for the 1989 Mattel Food Fighters line and 1991 Hasbro Bucky O’ Hare lines.

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe a toy line solely based off the 1987 Fred Wolf animated TV program and Archie Adventures Comics comic book could work. I imagine consumers would stop buying those toys after accumulating a complete set of the main characters. This alternate version of the 1988 Playmates toy line would be nothing like the 1984 Kenner Super Powers Collection line, but a step up above the norm like the late 1991 Playmates Darkwing Duck line.

The original 1988 Playmates TMNT line went on for too long. It was a product of the times. Most inventions of the late 80s had staying power in the 1990s when they should have stopped four to five years earlier than they did.

[MikeandRaph87]

I thought the line dropped in quality it was in 1993 when the packaging was redesigned. I never took a break from it like most did as I am among the youngest original cartoon fans. I also always saw the TMNT as a trend of the late 80s and early 90s not one decade or another.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I thought the line dropped in quality it was in 1993 when the packaging was redesigned. I never took a break from it like most did as I am among the youngest original cartoon fans. I also always saw the TMNT as a trend of the late 80s and early 90s not one decade or another.

The TMNT were a fad in the very late 80s (when the early 90s were just around the corner) and a craze in the first year of the early 1990s. The Turtles could be almost be thought of as an ‘89 into 1990 academic year trend, but the Turtlemania of 1990 began in April of 1990. The Turtles were everywhere in the early 1990s like ALF the alien life form was in the late 1980s. One way or another, you cannot talk about the early 1990s without bringing up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I thought the line dropped in quality it was in 1993 when the packaging was redesigned. I never took a break from it like most did as I am among the youngest original cartoon fans. I also always saw the TMNT as a trend of the late 80s and early 90s not one decade or another.

The package redesign was a milestone of sorts for me, too, but a lot of good figures still came out after that point. Shogun Shoatae and the Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer figures, for instance, are as all-time classics.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by I Crave Pizza No More

The package redesign was a milestone of sorts for me, too, but a lot of good figures still came out after that point. Shogun Shoatae and the Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer figures, for instance, are as all-time classics.

The 1988 to 1990 toys look out of date next the toys from Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer and Shogun Turtles sub-lines. Shogun Shoatae and the Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer toys are good for what they are (boy’s toys), but that’s it. At the time and shortly after, not many people thought of them as all-time classics in the original 1988 Playmates TMNT toy line.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by mikey0

At the time and shortly after, not many people thought of them as all-time classics in the original 1988 Playmates TMNT toy line.

Speaking for myself, they certainly are. But sure, they're not as iconic as the earlier stuff.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by I Crave Pizza No More

Speaking for myself, they certainly are. But sure, they're not as iconic as the earlier stuff.

Do you believe Playmates Toys should have made updated versions of the first basic wave turtles in the 90s or left the line as it was?

[Leo656]

Pupils, better head sculpts, and longer bandannas for the Core 4 would definitely have been welcome.

And a proper Shredder. That one should've been done right the first time.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Pupils, better head sculpts, and longer bandannas for the Core 4 would definitely have been welcome.

And a proper Shredder. That one should've been done right the first time.

Do you agree that Playmates Toys should have used the same arms, legs, and torso molds from the 1988 toys for the cartoon accurate turtles and Shredder toys?

I did not like the toys for Genghis Frog, Napoleon Bonafrog, Ray Filet, Wingnut, Ace Duck, Mutagen Man, Muckman, Baxter Stockman, or even Rat King because they were too cartoony looking and the torso molds for them were extremely odd for them to fit in with the first wave figures from 1988.

[Leo656]

Tough to say, I can't say I ever put a ton of thought into it.

I thought most of those other figures were fine, if a bit over-the-top. Maybe they didn't need the random Multiple Sclerosis posture or to have bugs crawling all over them or whatever, but it definitely made the figures stand out and those are the details most fans often cite as the most memorable. So toning things down too much may have hurt rather than helped.

I'm a pretty cheap date; if the figure stands up without help and has decent sculpting and at least minimal articulation, I'm more or less okay with it.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by mikey0

In the earliest months of the year 1990, everything introduced in the 1980s was at the forefront of American consciousness.

Of course. Most films, books, music and comics released during the first half of 1990 were produced during 1989.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by mikey0

Do you believe Playmates Toys should have made updated versions of the first basic wave turtles in the 90s or left the line as it was?

I think there were enough "basic" turtles that came out along the way: movie stars, toon TMNT and, to a lesser extent, storage shell figures.

I was always a bit frustrated that Shredder wasn't ever done right. The best looking version was Slice N Dice, but when playing as kids we used Super Shredder as the main bad guy. Splinter wasn't ever really done well either, and so we ended up using the fuzzy movie version more than anything.

The basic Bebop and Rocksteady held up well, and so I felt fine with how they were as figures. Same goes for the Foot Soldiers, though the mutating foot soldier figure was pretty good because it wasn't as bulky and goofy looking as the other mutating figures were.

The original April figure is pretty bad. The orange and yellow one released a little later was better, and then the yellow/purple one released in '93 was probably the best version we got.

Honestly, given how many figures came out, I think the overall quality was pretty good until Playmates started releasing mostly/only deluxe variations of the turtles, starting with Cyber Samurai and Metal Mutants, but really picking up steam with the Street Fighter rips offs, Pizza Tossin guys, Super Mutants, Savage Dragon, Coil Force, Mutant Force, etc. And I'm not knocking the Super Mutants or Savage Dragon figures as toys, but those felt really out of place and by then the line had basically died and we were only getting deluxe variants of turtles.