Isnt it obvious?
 

ive noticed that in the ot show of tmnt, they drove a truck with a turtle shell and all that, but they didnt want to be seen or heard of by shredder. so why would they decorate it like that? i mean, if u dont want ur arch enemy to know where your at, why just put it out in the blue like "look im over here!"?

well, they weren't hiding from Shredder, they were hiidng form the rest of humanity. I guess they were just careful in driving back to the lair without being followed. Though most of the time, they were driving back after shredder had already been defeated and escaped for the day, so they didn't have to worry about being tailed.

In the old show the tmnt were more like heroes than actual ninjas. Driving around in the Turtle Van (or flying in the Turtle Blimp) was like Batman announcing himself whenever he drove around in the Batmobile.

Well... at the end of the day it's really all about selling toys isn't it? ;)

which episode is this:ohwell:? would appreciate screenshots:P

New York City
 

And who notices that in New York City?.

A rediculous car is a rediculous car... and NY isn't that different from any other major city.

funky vehicles can be passed off as promotional...notta big deal. we see red bull cars here all the time...saw a big rolling kitty car....the weinermobile many times...

but turtle truck? eh...just another promo

The Turtles were public knowledge in the old toon anyway. And Shredder wasn't scanning the streets for them 24/7, so I think they were safe to drive it around.

What's even more ridiculous is the Battle Shell in the new toon. The Turtles are trying to hide from both humanity and an army of vengeful Foot Ninjas. What better way to do that than with a gigantic green armored truck that the Foot knows they have?

You know what really gets me-- the damn helicopter. I can suspend my disbelief only so much, and I have a hard time accepting that Don actually managed to get that sucker, let alone fly that thing around inconspicuously. I mean, where the heck do they park that?

Helicopter
 

Helicopter, which episode? I can't recall the TMNT having any helicopter in the 1987 cartoon, only a blimp.

what are you talking about, the new show or the old toon?

I'm talking about the new toon. Specifically this season. It's shown up twice so far. OT had the blimp- and looking back, that made even less sense...

It made more sense in context, though. The Turtles were something like super-heroes in the old toon. They weren't hiding from anyone, so why not fly a blimp with their logo on it?

In the new toon, they're trying to avoid be detected by the outside world...by flying a neon green helicopter and shooting rockets?

yeah, but they only really fly it at night. i dont think ive ever seen them flying it in the day. even if, they pretty much need the helicopter when in battle. like hun, he always flys helicopters, so how would the turtles get him when he is in the helicopter?

Fair point.

yeah, thats true. everybody knew about them thanks to april and channel 6 news. :P

This is the best point made. The turtle-van was just a fun vehicle. It's not really any different than the Batmobile. It's all about style and image.

The turtle-van would have been pretty lame (appearance-wise) if it didn't look like a big metal turtle-thing.

true. but the turtle van really did look cool. i still like the new battle shell, but i think they should be more stealthy.

someone tell me where did Donnie learn to FLY a chopper? For what I understand, it's not an easy thing to do.

yea. theres people who study for years on how to fly a plane. donny learned like in what... 3 days? he got an iq of 637, but that doesnt mean anything. that still is complicated stuff.

The Big triology
 

The TMNT begin having to hide, bet later become heroes. Especially after the "Big" triology finishing season 3 (1989).

I always wondered why the turtles didn't use the that blue (or was it red) neutrino car that was left behind more often as their wheels when they where in cognito (civilian clothes) instead of that gaudy battle van. The neutrino car looked like a much less conspicuous verhicle that could actually blend in better than any other vehicle they had. And hey it could fly to.

Donny's massive IQ + video games = learn to fly a helo in 3 days. Makes sense to me. The only part about flying a helo in NYC that leaves me scratching my head is that airspace is sooo restricted, esp if this is supposed to be post-9/11 NY...how do they not get spotted? Unless it's a stealth chopper or they stay way below the radar...

I thought they *were* driving it, but they ran out of plutonium or something. Then didn't it get crunched in "Pizza by the Shred"?

No.. they never used it AT ALL, and then suddenly in 'Pizza by the Shred', like 2 seasons later... they suddenly had it and Don was repairing it as if they had it ALL THIS TIME. Personaly I think it came out in time for when they released the toy of the Starcruiser. After all, the same episode also had the Cheapskates, Footskis, Sewer Tubes the Retrocatapult, and the Double Barrelled Plunger Gun.