Lean, Mean, In-between?
 

Just a random thought, but how do you like your turtles? Just on a general design level, do you prefer them to be big & bulky, lean & fit, or somewhere in the middle? Don't sweat how it factors into their abilities, I'm just wondering what you prefer visually.

I prefer them slimmer and more agile.

Damn, you're quick. There's a poll there now, so do cast your vote! I've gone for Somewhere Between. I like a good balance of muscle & agility. I'm happy either way though, I'm not necessarily bothered by them being lanky or hulking, certain designs lend themselves better to those builds. I like how Dan Duncans turtles are slim, and I love how muscular Simon Bisley's are, too.

Everything in moderation....
Too big and they are musclebound hulks who couldn't be very "ninjay"...then again they really can't be too thin...can they...but I do want them to have some meat on their bones...

to me a true ninja is about using speed and wit to win not brute force.

I like them all varied. I admit, that's one part of Nickelodeon I actually like in that they're given all very different builds, even if I don't entirely agree with the way they're portrayed.

Personally, I like Raph as the largest, both height wise and build wise. I prefer Mikey with a similar build to Raph, but I always imagine him as a much more compact version of Raph, smaller all around, but still with a hefty build. Don takes the lean look, but not lanky and super thin...probably the most 'ninja' in build. As for Leo, I like him with the more traditional 'super hero' body type, muscular but not over the top.

somewhere in between...I want them all to be a little different in build ^_^

Nick's turtles are pretty much ideal to me.

In between for me. I don't like them too bulky but I also don't like them all looking like Nick Donnie either, lol.

Fit over bulky. Although I like my turtles short and, while fit, their shells do make'em look a bit round.

Like early Mirage, Nick cartoon, OotS and how Ross draw them.

In between, I like Nick's designs the best. 2K3's are my least favorite...

My favorite look of the Turtles is how they looked in the live action movies and the Mirage comics.

So I guess whatever this is would be my favorite:

http://theathleticnerd.com/wp-conten...vie-Aliens.jpg
http://www.playmatestoys.com/uploads...ry/1988_01.jpg

I voted somewhere in between and after looking at this image, that look is pretty hard to beat as well as the look from the first movie. One thing I would like to see though is them being a little bit shorter and their faces a tiny bit more turtle-like in the beak area.

I voted on somewhere in between. Not too bulky but still with enough muscle to show that they work out and are fit. Really like the Nick designs the best.

I voted "Lean and Fit", but that could be open to interpretation.
When I think "Lean and Fit" I am thinking of 2k7 Movie turtles.
or the 2k3 series.

When I am thinking bulky I am thinking of the new movie Raph, The dude is on Steroids!!!!!:o

I prefer a lean/fit look, but still with plenty of muscle- just not the super-huge body-builder kind of muscle. More like track-runner/gymnast muscle.

Ciro said something about the 4kids turtles looking too buff. Should have picked up a turtle or two when we were making our Walmart runs back in the day! From the bigger talking figs they have on display around here in Toys R Us and Walmart, I think the Nick TMNT look good.

I like them lean and fit or somewhere in between. Not a fan of super muscles.

I admit, I liked the 2003 designs a lot. I honestly didn't find them all that bulky, and definitely not to the point they couldn't get their Ninja on. I get why others wouldn't like 'em, but they looked close to how I'd always drawn them anyway, so there's a small bit of bias on my end. I mostly drew from comic books to learn how to draw, so I usually drew the Turtles with a little more "super-hero" build.

Past my own preferences, though, I still don't think being a little bigger than they are in Nick would hurt. In fact, it's on TV at the moment, and really looking at it, Donnie's got some pathetic delts, quite honestly. :lol: They wouldn't be Arnold-sized, but the kind of things they do require massive amounts of upper-body strength. And I don't know what some people base their ideas of certain athletes on, but a LOT of Olympic-Level gymnasts are HUGE, guys like John Roethlisberger and Alexyi Nemov (I haven't paid attention to gymnastics in like ten years) were absolutely jacked, so that's another thing I used to look at when drawing the Turtles, giving them more of like an Olympic gymnasts body, with really wide, thick shoulders and huge, thick legs, because that's the kind of body they'd develop doing those movements all the time.

Even beyond that, in wrestling you see a lot of guys who move in ways you wouldn't expect guys of their build to do. When I see guys like, John Morrison, or Rob Van Dam in like 2000, those guys were way bigger than most guys but the way they moved was unbelievable. I would see the Turtles having that kind of build. Not Brock Lesnar-sized, but definitely they could be fairly jacked and still move.

Since the Nick TMNT are apparently a little younger, it makes sense for them to be a little smaller, it fits the tone of the show just fine. In general, regardless of universe, I see Raph being more of a power-lifter when he works out, so I always see him being a little thicker than the others. I see Donnie being the most lean, as he probably works out the least. That's how I always figured it.

Although I love to see different interpretations in between is my fav. Mirage and movie 1 are great examples.

Well, in my mind, it depends on the Turtle.

Donnie and Mikey, definitely in the lean and fit area (with Mikey, not sure how fit, I do see him as the pig of the family, but perhaps he's like my cousin, can eat everything in sight, but due to a very fast metabolism, keeps her gymnast body)

Leo, in between, and I always saw him as the tallest of the four, so his height would make him appear more slimmer than he really was.

Raph, since he is characterized as the physically strongest of the brothers, he would actually be the bulky type.

So, I just can't pick one of the poll, it depends on the Turtle.

I voted somewhere in between.

The turtles should be lean in order to be quick and agile like a ninja, but I do believe that they should have some muscle mass to fight and defeat enemy mutants.

Since their turtles, however, it's hard for them to not have at least a little bulkiness.