1988 Turtle Blimp
 

Hello Dear Dromers, again, thanks a lot for all your comments in my previous threads. It´s great that we can share memories of good ol´ Tmnt.

It was 1988, the beginning of an era, when this vehicle came out.

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...psac6a32cd.jpg

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...ps09bc1266.jpg

Turtle Blimp Blueprint (photo courtesy by MAXtDie)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...psb021c013.jpg


Turtle Blimp Jokebook #7 (photo courtesy by BigApple3AM)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/...ps10943591.jpg


Since Season 1 “Shredder is Splintered”) till almost the end it became the second (after the Turtle Party Wagon of course) most used vehicle for our beloved Turtles.

The toybox art was pretty good and I may add an extra point considering it was the toyline´s first year.

The turtle Blimp itself was great, although not 100 % Toon accurate but very close in terms of colours and size.

Speaking about size, I don´t know about you but I was shocked when I assembled it for the very first time, it was really huge and it could fit all four Turtles.

Maybe, old fashioned, a bit slow and with high chances of punctures (both in the Tv series and the toy itself).

This one (with the Turtle Party Wagon and the Sewer Playset) is a must have for all Tmnt collectors. But I warn you: take good care of him, avoid sharpening things, after all it´s a big balloon


Here´s a good review on youtube of the Turtle Blimp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elm1PNnjct0


Here is the Tv commercial for the Turtle Blimp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0QGsH00BIY


and finally here is featured in the 1988 (Photo Courtesy of Tubuloso), 1989 and 1990 playmates toy catalog (Photo Courtesy of VaughnMichael)

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2befb847.jpg



http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...ps33216cbb.jpg



http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...pse56c4ab7.png

Hope you liked and thanks for reading. What do you think about this vehicle? Do you got it? Any memories you wanna
share from where you bought and saw it the very first time?

Thanks for reading.

:lol: Why's Michelangelo taking Donatello's bo staff along when commiting suicide.

i'm on a mission to get one of these bad boys misb

Same here my friend, there fetching a hefty price too. I think though I will just bite the bullet and pick one up hopefully soon!

This was perhaps the most desired Turtle vehicle ever! I've wanted one so bad when I was a kid. They were either sold out or my dad couldn't afford one at that time. I'm thinking about hunting one down too.

I purchased my blimp for $25 just before Christmas to complete my 1988 set and I'm glad I did, presenting it to my newphew last Christmas. It's only missing one of the green wings and a small portion of the gun; otherwise it holds enough air for me to only refill monthly and it sits high above a bookcase in my bedroom. I enjoy the artowrk on the blimp that looks even better than the version used in the cartoon, though they are both good. The only thing is that its difficult to seat all four Turtles, though my favorite feature is the bomb trigger. It's the longest of all vehicles produced (even the Technodrome), so its a must have.

This is one of those pieces I have always wanted but never owned. I hope to one day though...

Fun story about the turtle blimp. When I was a kid my dad, brother, and I used to visit stores to see if we could get a good deal on all those after xmas mark downs. Anyway, we went to Shopko one year when I was around 6 or 7 and I saw the blimp on the clearance shelf for $25 and I was going berzerk (aka jumping up and down etc). Anyway so I get it off the shelf with my brothers help and go to my dad and ask in a normal voice, can I get this dad? Dad of course was like no. And then I was like PLEEEZE I'll pay you back. Dad's reply, Mimi go put it back. Me: NO! Dad: Go put it back or i'll leave you at the store. Me: Fine (my dad would really leave us in a store if we didn't comply...). Anyway. I told my mom when I got home, but of course by the time we went back to get it I couldn't find it, go figure.
Years later when I was in HS and started actually collecting I bought 2 MISB for around $45-$65 each. Then when I wanted to start graduate school I sold both of them for around $100 each. I never thought they'd really be hard or expensive to buy and also by that time I had acquired Blimp II MISB so I was like no biggie.
YEah WRONG. They are a pain in the tushy to find now for a decent price and in good condition. Thankfully I just found one a few months ago that was affordable to repurchase. So yeah, like the Channel 6 Newsvan I've had three. LOL
When I was a kid I did also see the commercials for the blimp on tv and that was one of the reasons I really wanted it so badly. At 6 I had no idea I'd be collecting as a hobby. Nor did I think 2-3 years ago that Turtlemania would return.

Unfortunately never owned this !! As far as I know there are varaints, US and European ... watch out !!

I had the blimp when I was a kid and it was the coolest toy I ever owned...always seemed to get punctures tho.

I used to hold it in a bucket of water to see where the puncture was then use a bicycle repair kit to sort it out.

Good times

Dang, it's so neat to see this again! This was one of the few TMNT related toys my brother had as a kid, and I always wanted to play with it. I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. Pretty sure our balloon didn't last very long, though, especially considering our idea of "playing with toys" usually meant crashing or throwing them.

I have no idea whatever happened to it. It probably got tossed along with the rest of his toys before I had the chance to grab it (managed to save one Turtle and two figures of Spider-Man).

I never had this vehicle as a kid despite wanting it big time.

Just got it though this last week off ebay. Well...actually it took two ebay purchases (one had a complete balloon and a busted up glider, and the other was for just the glider).

My big question is...

How do you get a figure to sit in the glider seat without falling off? I thought maybe they'd have something on the gun turret or at least a control within reach of the turtles to hold onto, but it seems not.

They later did a new variant (Turtle Blimp II I think).

yes, there was a blimp II

I think Bill will make a new thread for that one. :)

Right on, me to. Question will be from where though

i got one of these with a lot i purchased a few years back now. unfortunately it had a giant tear in along the seam and a few pin punctures everywhere on it. i have managed to fix the tear using a air mattress repair kit and putting the patch on the inside so its not as noticeable. it holds air now but leaks air slowly out of the pin holes. i was going to find a good clear sealer to fix them (stuff in the repair kit melted the graphics on the blimp) but never got around to it. this is a very cool piece though and probably one of the more iconic turtle toy vehicles.

I have a Turtle Blimp II that is complete, in really good shape, and sits on a bookshelf. It holds air, though always seems to deflate ever so slightly.

The original Turtle Blimp was the largest piece on the shelves until the Sewer Lair came out. After that, the Blimp was wedged in between the Lair and the Technodrome. This version of the Blimp was much easier to advertise in the Archie Comics and on clothing. The second one went more in hand with the OT. I like the colors of the first one from time to time. You can tell it definately went with the first wave figures. When you saw the first Blimp on paper, it looked more like the shadow of the OT Blimp. It either looked as if it was a shadow or it was stuck in an invisible smokescreen.

Any more difference than colours?

The second Blimp has a visible nose cone. The envelope to the first Blimp is shaped more like a football, after it is blown up.

Never heard of any such differences.

Just picked up one of these MISB off ebay. Was a bit steep for me in price but the condition of it is one of the best I have seen. No crusing, denting, or tears. Just super clean!

grats! nice score

Here is the blueprint:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8385/8...b7bace09_b.jpg

And here is BigApple3AM's jokebook:

Awesome piece! I remember in 3rd grade, my friends and I pretending the swings at recess were the Turtle Blimp. That went on for most of the school year. It was great. I miss those swings...

And you were the turtles, travelling over New York City? Tell me, what happened? Did you visit April and Irma at Channel 6, or what? :)

Well, there were only 3 of us in our little TMNT club. We would swing really high then spot The Foot and we'd jump out of the swings and run off charging the bad guys. Oddly enough, none of us ever wanted to be Raph (this was before the movie came out and I realized how awesome Raph was) because his weapons were so short. :tlol:

I've heard of such situations before. Probably inspired by the first NES game.

thats pretty sweet finding boxed stuff in good shape.

There are two versions of the turtle blimp box though, so you are half way there.

What are the versions of the first blimp.

There are two version of the tutle blimp box.

Version 1 - Shows a Cheapskate in between the knuclehead and the turtle trooper on the back of the box.

Version 2 - Shows a Party Wagon in between the knucklehead and turtle trooper on the back of the box.

Amazing. I didn´t know that. Thanks a lot for the info :).

Fun. I love sharing TMNT memories.

My favorite part about this toy was the fact that the Ninja Turtles - as ninja, operating in the shadows under cover of darkness - had their name, 20 feet long, emblazoned along the side of the blimp. That, to me, epitomizes the wackiness of the old cartoon.

But how about Battle Shell in the 2003 show..

i'm confused?

That photo is actually from December of '88.

This was a bittersweet toy for me.
I remember I was so excited to finally get this toy as a child except for one, small problem:
The blimp wouldn't hold air.
We would inflate it and without any real playtime, the blimp would be deflated, like a bad air mattress.

So my mom took the toy back to the store to trade it for another Blimp only to find that the store was sold out. So what did I get?
She got me one of the water vehicles. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a speedboat with a Turtle face on the hood and a blue ski that came out of the underside in the front.

That was the compromise and I wasn't a kid to whine and bitch if things didn't go my way. I was disappointed, but I had a new Turtle vehicle and that itself was hard to come by for me.

If I had the Turtle Blimp toy today, I would suspend it in my room from the ceiling. It's just a really cool and unique thing! I would just be paranoid of another deflating blimp.

Awsome post, I been after one of these in a complete box for a while, I've seen them fetch some crazy prices on eBay , but I'm not sure if they are so over priced just to wait. What's the average price for a complete in box blimp?