Fandom or Lifestyle?
 

This is an individual question, not necessarily wrong or right. I'm just wondering if, for you, your love for TMNT is simple fandom, or if it's actually manifested itself into a lifestyle.

For me, my love for the Turtles is a lifestyle. Not lifestyle in the sense that I'm eating pizza every day or anything like that; it's a lifestyle in the sense that I feel a real, lifestyle connection when I meet another Turtles fan. It's not like "Oh, you're a fan, too? That's cool" and them I'm on my way; when I meet a Turtles fan I want to talk with them about Turtles, life, and how possibly Turtles had an affect on life.

So which one is it for you?

(EDIT: I realized after typing and posting all this that the word shold have really been culture and not lifestyle, but it's close enough to what I meant to ask for government work.)

Just another one of my fandoms.

Fandom, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't want to talk about it with others. I am on a TMNT message board:P.

both
yep both
it is just one of my fandoms but it's also affected me in normal life in that i keep turtles

I'd say a mixture of both also, the turtles have become a big part of my life over the years, some aspects I wish they didn't but I can't take back the things I know or have seen.

For me its deffinately a lifestyle i went through alot of hard times as a kid/teenager and my admiration for the tmnt is what drove me to keep pushin.. times where i felt suicidal and so on turtles deffinately put a smile on my face or took my mind off things. that being said my life meshed with theirs, i eat pizza at LEAST every other day, the most commonly played songs on my ipod are the movie/video game soundtracks, 60 percent of my closet is tmnt shirts, color preference tends to be green (or blue being leo is my favorite) im a musician (perdominantly a rapper) and alot of my work samples songs from the franchise, referances characters or points in my life affected by them, i started a music side project completely based on the music style of the turtles in time video game, i have tons of sketchbooks filled with tmnt drawings, my room is painted green, love interests have to have at the least an appreciation for the tmnt if not a common love, i cry when i watch the first movie so on and so fourth. That was a hell of a run on sentance... i could go on to write a book but yeah. lifestyle.

I think I'll say both as well. It's a fandom that I enjoy among others, but if you look at my Youtube page, there's a lot of Turtle related stuff...

I'll admit that it might have been somewhat of a lifestyle for me when I was six, as that was around the time the Turtles were, like, EVERYWHERE!

Nowadays, I'd call it more of a fandom. Plus, I'm not quite as into the '87 toon (what got me into TMNT way back when) anymore, but I do enjoy the Mirage comics, the 2k3 toon (except for Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer), and the movies (except for the third one).

Ya, I don't really eat, sleep, and breathe the Turtles, but it is definitely a big fandom of mine. :)

Definitely lifestyle, one of the few things I've never let go of growing up.

I'd definitely say it's a lifestyle for me. I love meeting new fans of the Turtles, have quite a few DVDs of them, and even write fan fics for them. The Turtles have helped me through some tough times, and I'll never forget that.

I'd say fandom for me but has influenced my life quite a bit.

===HERO

Just a fan, I find it hard to justify calling it a lifestyle in my own personal case but that is not to say that others couldn't. Interesting thread by the way.

I never really thought of it in these terms...I'd say that it has affected the way that I see life and the world around me. It has helped shape my lifestyle, but I don't consider it a lifestyle on its own.

Fandom, but i do like meeting other tmnt fans.

Wicked fandom. A lot of my internet stuff is turtles related, except for my science and news junk. I've yet to meet up with other TMNT fans, though... real life keeps me busy enough.

its a healthy mix....:P

anyone ever heard of a show called "Fanatical"? it airs in Canda on Deja Vu and one episode featured two TMNT collectors and for them, it was more than fandom, it was a lifestyle. for me it's fandom, and kind of an obsession, cause i want to get every season on dvd and i want to hunt down alot of the toys i didn't get originally

On the list of things that have influenced my life, Turtles ranks fairly low.

I enjoy it to pieces, but I don't think I'd ever let any franchise/fiction affect my life choices or personality.

Yeah same goes for me. Although tmnt is really my only fandom so I'm still proud to be a fan!

Here is part 1 of 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xaxev...39E4D&index=14

Yes, we've all seen it. No, it's still not okay.

Well, if it works for her it's good.

I think it's a fandom for me. That said, it's a big one. I often spend a lot of Internet time related to it. But I don't live for the TMNT.

I feel I'm in the same boat as Rooish on this one. It is just a fandom to me, but it's a major one that's survived for nearly two decades now. Here's to another two! :)

eh, half and half. tmnt have dropped off of me over the last year now, but only because i started feeling like a geek and started getting picked on. now i realize it my life and what i like is what i like so now i got back into it. ive liked it since i was 4 so i have not lost it since, so when i turn about 18-20 it might be a lifestyle if i still like it, even though never taking over my life.

Every single interest I'm passionate about (comics, Superman, Batman, pro wrestling, TMNT) has had a major impact on my life and how I view the world, so I'd have to say they all lean closer to being part of my lifestyle. The best part is having a fiancee who is almost as passionate as I am about pretty much the same things. To this day we constantly quote and refer back to memorable TMNT moments, be it quotes or whatever, in our daily lives, so we're pretty deeply invested in it.

What about Masters of the universe? I can't believe you left that off the list. I'm disappointed.

Didn't have my Red Bull, sorry. I dunno how the hell I slipped like that. :o

This. (minimum 10 characters)

You're out of the family!

I'm a Turtle fan through and through. I'll remember them long after they are faded into obscurity.

Blah blah, 5th Turtle, blah blah, videogames.

You guys know me too well for me to explain my story for the millionth time. :P

No way! Impossible! I STILL have the POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!


.....Plus I sat through every episode of "New Adventures Of He-Man", that's gotta qualify me for some sorta medal... or sainthood!

Well, I think that show was at least a lot nicer than the VH1 one, which seemed like it was trying to mock people.

For me, it would definitely be categorized under "fandom". My enthusiasm for the turtles ties in with my overall fandom for superheroes, but it has not had much of an impact on my life.

Life...style?
Culture?

I wouldn't use either of these terms to describe involvement with any comics, let alone TMNT specifically. I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally self identify as a geek. Hell...I self identify as a geek like other people self identify as a sexual orientation or religion. But as a turtle geek? Not so much.

I love'em. Think the characters are great, even in the face of their flaws and the over all inconsistencies in the subject material. But to call that love a life style choice or a culture? Yeah...not for me.

Heh...I read fandom for the articles.