How long have you followed the TMNT franchise?
 

I became aware of TMNT's existence around the age of 3 (or at least that's what it seemed) and followed it till now so that's like 24 years.

How long have you followed it?

Since Christmas break 1987.

Bout April.:D

Not sure exactly.. It was probably 88 or 89 because I went to go see the first film in the theaters and I knew who they were before I went to go see it. I was really young so I don't know exactly when I first discovered them.

I have been a fan since I started watching the original cartoon at the tender age of two back in 1989 and never left fandom.

About 20 years now, starting with the OT

Since Turtles Forever. Yeah, I'm new.:tconfuse:

Bout 23 years

i feel so old...26 years

Since around 2004, I believe.

Took my first steps to approach the TV while the first film was playing. Been a fan since my eyes first met the turtles.

I was a nut for the OT when I was a little kid, but I have no idea of when I actually saw it. I was born in 1989 though, so more or less, we could just say my entire life (23 years thus far).

That said though, my fandom was kinda shakey for a good few years. I got back into it with the 2K3 series but I got to see so little of that, that I moved away from it again. Then the Imagi film brought me back in too, but that too left. Forever was the biggest jump back into it, but that too then faded. The Nick show finally drug me back in entirely though. I never really leave the fandom, my interest just comes and goes in bursts.

Since 1991.

Well my memory is fuzzy on this but I definitely started watching it very early when season 1 was still airing for the first time.

I can't remember if I saw the toys on shelves first or if I saw the show first, but both were around the same time. I know that I quickly became an addict to all things TMNT though. Comics, video games, the toon, toys and eventually the movies.

Wish I could be among those who watched the very first airing of the pilot, and while I may have been (I was very aware of all the cartoons airing and at what times, etc.), I just can't say for sure. I was young!

Since 1989, 24 years ago when I was 11 years old.

I saw the British Adaptation of the original cartoon in a feature length episode called 'How It All Began.' I wasn't too impressed at the time ...

However, that night I had a dream about hanging out with the turtles. Leo was helping me down from rooftops and I was in awe.

The next morning, I was well and truly hooked.

Now, 24 years later - I am amazed by the diversity in age ranges between fans. Its wonderful how someone can have been a fan for 20+ years, and then another can be a fan that only got into them a few months ago. I don't think many fandoms can claim that kind of versatility. Amazing stuff.

I've been writing fanfiction for TMNT since I was fifteen, and I am enthralled by the way my writing style has changed from then to now. I can really see the difference as I'm improving all the time.

Hannurdock

Ouch, gotta be 25 years! I was instantly swept into the craze and played TMNT (or rather TMHT ;) ) every break time at school for as long back as I can remember. I lived in a tmnt tshirt then and I still do now!

TMHT. Boy, those were the days! Mikey's nunchuks were erased by over-vigilant editing teams and the word ninja was considered a crime in a children's show.

The first time I laid my eyes on the Ninja Turtles? Man, that's a tough one. I guess when I was 3-4 years old and played the TMNT NES game? Or when I played with my older brother's huge Raphael plush toy? I remember watching seasons 1-3 reruns back in the mid-90s. As for becoming a fan, I've only truly become one in 2002-2003 when reruns of the FW series began airing again in my country.

So yeah, I've always liked the TMNT.

I was visiting a comic shop looking for Batman stuff and saw issue nine of the Mirage comic. I bought it and had to come back the following week for more! That was back in grade school. I can't remember exactly when as I type this, but I will be 38 this October. Then I started buying the archie comics, and I had to have the vhs tapes of the pilot eps. *smiles* Been a fan for a long, long time.

Since December of last year. I believe I bought my first Turtle (Raph) a week after being introduced to the Nick toon, followed by Mikey, Leo and Donnie. :)

My best guess is 1989 when I was 6 years old. Looking back at air dates, I'm pretty sure that's about the time I jumped in to the show, and we soon got some of the NES games too. Since then, I've always been into TMNT - even in that period of years between Next Mutation and the 2003 show I had Raphael drawings hanging in my locker - but I never really made an attempt to get into the fandom until the Nick show.

I've been a fan of TMNT since before I can remember.

I didn't start following the franchise until I was thirteen-ish and learned about the original comics. That's about when I started collecting Mirage Vol. 1 back issues and paying attention to news and information from dedicated resources.

So, either twenty-five years or twelve, depending on which part you'd consider a proper starting point.

I am so 1991[/Raph Wiggum]

CBBC was the place to be. Oh the glory days of HERO Turtles...:lol:

CBBC! Ha! In the broom cupboard no less. Lol.

First memory i have is buying Bebop and Rocksteady..had to be 1988 (i was 6 then )

since i was 5, when the 2003 series started

I only followed Ninja Turtles during the 1987 cartoon series and the height of the 3 live action films. I would say by '94/'95 I started falling out of it, because by then I was more into MMPR and legos.

Caught the turtle craze when I was 5-6 in 1987 lived in Boston at the time so the it was technically a local craze...stayed with it up until right before high school when I ditched turtles for girls. Kept an eye on the franchise taking my nephews to the tmnt movie then introducing the turtles to my 4yr old daughter

On and off since about 1993 (when I was a toddler).

When I say that, I mean there are some huge gaps. I fell out of the series completely around the time Next Mutation was about halfway through its run and didn't come back to the franchise until I really discovered the Mirage series with "City at War" in high school. And even then, I was sort of on-and-off with it.

I'm not sure I'll actively follow it forever, as a lot of the new material, although I acknowledge its successes, is still more or less riding on the good will I have for the Mirage series, along with my nostalgia for other versions. Not that either the Nicktoon or IDW comics are bad, and I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt, but one is very squarely aimed at kids and the other hasn't done anything yet to convince me I'd be following it if not for my feelings toward previous versions, which is kind of a problem.

The thing is unlike say Batman and Spider-Man, the TMNT franchise may not go on forever. When the original series ended we didn't even know we'd ever get a second TMNT cartoon for example. And had Nick not purchased the property then the franchise would have been dead since 2010.

After the Nick era ends they may just sit on the property instead of selling it to someone else. So the way I see it, the Nick cartoon and IDW run will probably last a good while but after that the franchise may go on hiatus for a good while.

I'd say its worth sticking around, the only major concern is the possible badness of the new movie. But 2 out of 3 reboots have been a hit so far.

I have been a fan since I first watched the show in 87/88...I was 5/6 at the time...so for about 25 years now.

Since I watched the cartoon episode "Splinter No More", on its first airing. 1988?

Back in glorious 2003. I knew about them two years prior, but 2003 really sparked my interest.

When I picked up my first Leonardo action figure back in 1987 and then the first episode(s) aired that Sunday afternoon. Two things from my childhood I've always kept close to my heart Ghostbusters(both movies and The Real series) and the Turtles. I even got my 7 year old nephew hooked into the turtles even before the 2k12 series launched.

1988, before the cartoon hit the UK, via the original b/w Mirage series. Sometimes classmates are useful, and lead you down a long path...

Had it switched over to the Andy Peters era by that point?

(curious fact: I share my birthday with him)

It was Andy Crane (remember him - blonde guy!), who introduced TMHT in the Broom Cupboard for its first run in 1990. Andi Peters took over from him. Edd the Duck annoyed both of 'em.

My very first episode was "Curse of the Evil Eye", as seen on CBBC in January 1990. The day after I went out and got #1 of TMHT Adventures.

I can't say I've followed the franchise to the extremes I suspect many of you have, but I've always kept tabs on what's going on with it. I'm more of a Transformers fan (sorry).

I love talking about the HERO Turtles (clue's in my user name), as I feel so nostalgic for that time and it's interesting to hear others' perspective on how Britain approached the Turtles. It was such a huge hit they were everywhere (as indeed they were around the world!).

Interesting fact - the BBC never showed season 1 of the Turtles; the first episode it broadcast was "Return of the Shredder". The initial run of episodes ended with "Sword from Nowhere" (yes, they removed the 'Ninja' from that episode too). The rest of season 3 was held back for another year.

Been a fan of the show for many years, around 22/23 years I've been a fan.

I've been following them since late 87/88. My very first exposure was seeing an ad on TV for the figures and then I bought issue 1 of the Archies series. Ever since then I've always loved the TMNT

since 88 when i was 4. i remember my mom picking me up from kindergarten and telling me she had 4 surprises for me. she told me the first letter of each surprise and i had to guess what they were. of course, the letters were l, d, r and m. this was after i'd become a huge fan of the show.