Age Survey for TMNT paper (please help)

[Zog the Equalizer]

Hello all,
I am writing my final paper for my English degree on age demographics and the TMNT. I am curious as to what age fans were attracted to the franchise at and this survey data would help me immensely. Everything will be kept completely anonymous, I just want a rough idea of what age group is attracted to the franchise.

[BubblyShell22]

I was definitely either five or six when I first got into TMNT by way of the Fred Wolf cartoon.

[RaphAndDonnie]

I'm 16 and got into the franchise when I was 14, so I've liked turtles for a whole two years. :lol: I was most interested in the Nick turtles and the OT as well.

[blindturtle02]

I was six for sure and got introduced to the TMNT via a Burger King FW VHS in Spring of 90. Some things, ya just don't forget.

[prophecy718]

I was 5 in 1989. (The original cartoon obviously)

[Mzx10484]

I must have been 7 years old (1991) when I saw the OT in German TV for the first time.

[Mayhem]

13+, but that's only cos I'm old :lol:

[Nameless]

i was young but not 100% sure on the exact age. know its was under 12 though :)

[Jester]

I distinctly being called out with 2 of my friends when I was in the 3rd grade as the go-to-guys if you had a question about the Ninja Turtles.

[CyberCubed]

I was probably around 3 or 4 years old when I watched the original cartoon for the first time.

[turtlefanforever]

What are you trying to show here? It all really depends when you were exposed to it. You can start liking it at any age really, but if you don't like it when you first see it you probably wont later on either. The majority of us were exposed to the FW turtles at a very young age and that's where it all began.

[Warhorse]

I was about 9. OT.

[Slap-Happy]

About 3. Got the 1990 movie music videos and April Foolish on VHS.

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

Was 7 years old. Watching the 80's cartoon on CBS as well as the first 1990 movie.

[Jester]

I'll be out in right field, way out where the dandelions grow ...
tOE-4C491Vo

[Walkabout]

7 years old (in 1989), saw the FW cartoon and hey presto.

[Raptor86]

I was probably around 3 or 4 years old when I watched the original cartoon for the first time.

Same here!

[Kanon]

1995 first turtles movie (5years old :)) and then The Next Mutation.
I don`t know how I could love this show so much.
I have wached the first episode last week again and was shocked how bad it was.

[Bry]

Oh man! I was... probably 4 or 5? I was born in late 1983 and first saw the show in '88, I think. And then I went fully down the rabbit hole with this comic right here in 1990 (http://miragelicensing.com/comics/archie/13/13.htm) and it pretty much consumed my childhood.

But I got permanently hooked on the TMNT when I was about 15, thanks to some curiosity, eBay, and these collections of the Mirage run (https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=481001). Discovering the Mirage comics is the reason I'm still hooked, for sure.

[Powder]

Supposedly my introduction was through being in my little baby pen or whatever & seeing my half brother walk by with the original Mikey toy. I flipped my wig until I was eventually allowed to see it & apparently I was immensely taken by it. According to my mom (and an old video-cassette that allegedly documents it), a few months later, I took my first steps so that I could approach the TV as the first film was being played on it. So I was hooked from the beginning. These events woulda been in 1991 as I was born late '90. :trazz:

[Slade]

My second birthday cake was Raphael.

[samxsteal]

I was born in 88, and i've been a fan since i was one(what my mom says) I dont remember my first year of life but i remember being fully in love with it since my second year and the rest of my life, i am now 25 years old turning 26

[Metalwolf]

Awe crap, I thought this was a survey on how old you are now, I clicked before reading. So please discount my answer in the '25 and over' category. :o


I became interested in the OT when it first came out, and I was 7 years old. :P

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

I was 5 when i was interested in the franchise. This was back when the 2003 series was on TV

[discordiatookie]

Oops, totally clicked my age bracket now (I'm 30), before I read it properly...
Sorry! You can mark me down as under 12 - I can barely remember life before TMNT! Or Hero Turtles as it were when I was growing up...

[BlueKatanas]

I was 3 or 4 when I really got into the OT. Had all the toys from the classic line. Then they all got sold at a garage sale. Now the rest of my life will be dedicated to buying them all again lol.

[The-Shredder]

I discovered TMNT under the age of 12. I put 18-24 because I thought the poll was asking for our current ages. Please disregard that vote.

[DevilSpooky]

Oh I really don't know, I'll be 31 this year and I love the turtles ever since I can remember, maybe around 5 or so? I just remember that I used to carry around this little turtle toys with me everwhere I went.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kSSpsJbbIEU/UbxD4_zwYiI/AAAAAAAAIAw/yLZGtNQ3X50/s1600/TMNT+Ninja+Turtles+Yolanda+Comansi+Plastic+Figures +1991+PVC+Spain+(2).jpg

[rickwj324]

I was born in 1970 and have been aware of TMNT since it first came out. Started collecting Mirage books (and later Archie books) in the mid to late 80's. Yeah....I'm old! :lol:

[trikuza]

I was like 3 and it was 1991, my older bro was into it too so I was rockin turtle gear pretty early

check out my "SEWER SOAKER"

[trikuza]

heres a better look at that thing!

[tmntmikey23]

I was like 3 and it was 1991, my older bro was into it too so I was rockin turtle gear pretty early

check out my "SEWER SOAKER"

for 1991 its pretty good you musta been rich jk

[tmntmikey23]

i was probably 4 or 5 when i started this and now i am older and watch everything from tmnt and collect them to

[tmntmikey23]

Oh I really don't know, I'll be 31 this year and I love the turtles ever since I can remember, maybe around 5 or so? I just remember that I used to carry around this little turtle toys with me everwhere I went.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kSSpsJbbIEU/UbxD4_zwYiI/AAAAAAAAIAw/yLZGtNQ3X50/s1600/TMNT+Ninja+Turtles+Yolanda+Comansi+Plastic+Figures +1991+PVC+Spain+(2).jpg

how funny is that leo has mikeys weapon and mikey has leo weapon sorry for triple post just thought of different ideas after posting one

[Jester]

sorry for triple post just thought of different ideas after posting one
Then edit them into one....

[trikuza]

for 1991 its pretty good you musta been rich jk

i took a loan from the bank to pay for my sewer soaker lol

[Redeemer]

Awe crap, I thought this was a survey on how old you are now, I clicked before reading. So please discount my answer in the '25 and over' category. :o


I became interested in the OT when it first came out, and I was 7 years old. :P

If he fails his paper, its your fault!!!! :lol:

[Zog the Equalizer]

Wow guys thanks for all the responses. This will really help with the focus of my paper. I probably would've focused more on the turtle phenomenon itself, but the focus of the class is perceptions of age, so I'm trying to focus on demographic. The survey results are showing about what I expected, but it will be really helpful to have something to cite!

[thebrownranger]

Supposedly my introduction was through being in my little baby pen or whatever & seeing my half brother walk by with the original Mikey toy. I flipped my wig until I was eventually allowed to see it & apparently I was immensely taken by it. According to my mom (and an old video-cassette that allegedly documents it), a few months later, I took my first steps so that I could approach the TV as the first film was being played on it. So I was hooked from the beginning. These events woulda been in 1991 as I was born late '90. :trazz:

Haha almost exactly like me and my bro except for the baby pen and Mikey toy.

[GodzFire]

Rather limited options. Should have split the first option into two.

[tmntmikey23]

i took a loan from the bank to pay for my sewer soaker lol

how you were maybe 10 ;)

[nintendo2600]

I"m 33, had the early comics and been watching since Fred Wolf cartoon episode #1. My son is a fan also and he is 11. He doesn't like the comics or the original series but loves the new nickelodeon show. We both love the live action movies.

[DevilSpooky]

how funny is that leo has mikeys weapon and mikey has leo weapon sorry for triple post just thought of different ideas after posting one

When i was little i always pretended that mike "borrow" leo's s word to slice his pizza :trazz:

[slingtheory]

I'm not sure when I was first introduced to them but from what I've heard I was into the turtles before I was even old enough to talk. I loved the ot had all the original action figures and the first movie was the first film I was taken to see at a theater at the age of 4

[BlueKatanas]

I think it's cool that so many of us started early and remained fans for so many years. I've been a turtle fan since the start of the fred wolf show and thats over two decades now. It's definitely a fandom that sticks with you :smile: And it's great to see each new incarnation of the show pick up new lifelong fans.

[BabyTurtles]

I was around 13-14 when I got into TMNT ^_^ 4kids was my first one!

[billbot85]

I was about 4 or 5 when I started getting into TMNT by watching the Fred Wolf cartoon and getting the toys. This was around 1989-1990 when Turtle Mania was at its peak, the turtles were EVERYWHERE. By the time I was 5, I had a lot of the toys, 2 episodes of the cartoon on VHS (they were part of a Burger King Kids Club promo), role play gear, and a few years down the road I got the first movie on VHS and Turtles In Time for the SNES. :tgrin:

Eventually, my love for the turtles calmed down and I started getting into Batman, MMPR and Lego's. I ended up giving away all of my TMNT and other action figures by the time I was in middle school, because I felt like I wasn't supposed to have toys like that anymore (although I held onto my Legos, haha). My love for TMNT basically just stayed with the live-action films for many years until 2009, when the 25th Anniversary came around and the '88 figures were re-released with the bonus DVD's. At that point, my deep and nostalgic love for the boys in green finally woke up inside me. Before I knew it, I bought all of the 25th Anniv. figures, bought all of the DVD's of the Fred Wolf cartoon, joined the forums here, and started building back my original toy collection through Ebay and other websites. Even though at first my nostalgia goggles were on a little too tight, I began reading the original comics, and started watching the 2012 Nick cartoon.

In summary, although I started getting into TMNT as a 5 year old kid, I started losing interest by the time I was about 9 or 10, and my total obsession for it didn't come back to me until I was 23.

[Vicky82]

I was about 8 years old (1990) maybe a bit younger, when I first started watching the original cartoon.

[ssjup81]

I was about 7 when I started watching via the OT series back in like '88.

[demonsweat]

I think it's cool that so many of us started early and remained fans for so many years. I've been a turtle fan since the start of the fred wolf show and thats over two decades now. It's definitely a fandom that sticks with you :smile: And it's great to see each new incarnation of the show pick up new lifelong fans.


36 here and a TMNT fan for life! I love seeing other old school fans still rocking the gear and stuff. I was at Coachella recently, wearing my tmnt cap and some dude walked up in an OT shirt and we started chatting about the new movie coming out and stuff. Nice guy. It's always fun to bs with other fans outside of the internet. :D

Looking forward to SDCC this year... last year I saw a lot of fans, this year I expect even more with the 30th anniversary.

[DonnyMac]

I was like 4 when I fell in love with TMNT, I'm 26 now, and still going strong

[FoxBoxKid]

I accidentally voted for my current age, so switch a vote from the teen category to the preteen category. I was 6 or 7 when I was introduced to TMNT through the 4Kids show.

[pannoni1]

To the OP, I have a few pointers than may help towards your paper. I suspect that if this poll was answered about six months from now with the influx of movie fans, the results may be different, and probably more accurate if asked in the wild. It's obvious the 12 or under would be the top choice with a few teenage fans from the comics, the original movies, and possibly 4kids. But I'm surprised at the 25+ fans that have arrived, perhaps due to rediscovering something that they missed out on when they were younger, much like how I didn't watch the first season of G1 Transformers in its entirety until I was 28, even if just casually. I started when I was 4 in preschool if you haven't seen my back posts.

[Longview01]

I was 7 back in 1988

I can remember it really well, my best friend at school was telling me about hero turtles and I went round his house after school and watched it.

Been a huge fan ever since

[MsMarvelDuckie]

It was in 1990, and I was in sixth grade, so- about 12-13, I think. In any case, it was in my teens. I was introduced through the first movie, which I thought sounded really cool and ended up dragging two of my friends along to see it on opening day with me. Neither of them ever got into it like I did, though, and they both thought I was a little weird and crazy for going so nuts over them. Ater high school, my love of them cooled a bit, but it was mostly due to RL getting in the way and not having time to watch the cartoon that came about in the 2000's. If I'd caught it all from the beginning, I'd have loved it just as much, but all I ever really saw was the first couple of episodes of FF, which sort of turned me off of that one.

What finally brought me back was a net-friend and fellow writer who convinced me to dust off my first (and only) attempt at a fan-fic "novel" from back in 1990 and finish it, and post it on a site we're both on. This was about a year and a half ago. Naturally, I had to refresh my memory of all things TMNT, so I went on a cartoon and movie-watching bender and was hooked all over again!

[Raph's Girl]

I was about 8 when I saw the pilot back in 1988. Hooked from day one.