Collectability/longterm likability of the nick toyline
 

I have spend hundreds on the 2012 series toys. I bought 2 of everything when the first wave hit and have been buying several figures a month for the last 4 years.

Today, when I went to look at how many figures I had accumulated, I found myself thinking "why the hell did i buy this". So much crap. None of this stuff has any charm- its just poorly painted plastic. I can gaze for hours on my classic TMNT toys and it fills me with joy every time. The old stuff is just oozing with color and detail, and the packaging almost always features great artwork. The new stuff just doesn't do it for me. I have no desire to keep any of this stuff, and I haven't really thought about any of it since I bought it years ago and started shoving it aside. Its like I was buying the nick toys to check a box on the list, rather than because I actually wanted the stuff. God, why did I buy so many flingers?? With Mega Bloks having finally released the kind of TMNT toys I have been wanting since I was a kid- I'm done buying nick toys

Do you picture yourself looking back at the current toys many years from now and regretting buying a lot of it?

In my opinion I feel like I'll regret the nick line. In 20 years it may be something else but I don't see those toys aging well because of the plastic type and how they made.

I've not bought new figures since I bought wave 1, Mouser pack and Rahzar. Besides a select few characters that I want, I feel kinda done.

I bought the Turtles and that's it. I put them in zolos for later. I will say the '88 packaging was superb and full of action, life. But those also represent something different for us versus the kids who growing up with the '12 versions. Time will tell but nostalgia for us '88ers is different for the '12ers. They may prefer the newer versions when they grow up and have money.

But I agree about the plastic on the new ones. It won't hold up as well over time.

I doubt kids today will have the same warm fuzzy feelings as adults have for the original show. The Nick show was OK as a Teen-Titans like show, but not the perfect charmer required to start a second wave of Turtlemania. If they want to recreate their 80's success without falling back on rehashing the OT designs, they need to make a show that blows the original out of the water in terms of color, charm, and design. The original show technically wasn't great- stories were full of holes, animation mistakes, etc. But yet the colors, sounds, and characters are burned into my brain. I think they just stumbled on the perfect formula with the OT

I don't think its a generational thing- This wave of turtles just doesn't have the same charm as the original- as evidenced by the lack of turtle mania

I won't be able to regret buying so much, I only have like 4 figures from the Nick line (not including my packaged Leo or the Stealth Shell Vehicle, just the Raph from it) but the figures are pretty well made and the franchise is doing pretty good. I think turtlemania is like how it was then because there are so many other things now its hard to be recognized, like us fans are pretty much hiding underground, in the shadows, striking hard and fading away.. without a trace... but in all seriousness there is a balance. It's like turtlemania is on the very tip of exploding into very much but it is held back by the other things like transformers or whatever other people watch, its just a bit of a strange thing...

I have a lot of figures from the 12 era and I love them. Probably not the best paint, and the lack of accessories is something obvious. But in the end I love the figures and they have cool designs and nice sculpts. They have some issues, like everything, but it's a good line of toys, and nowadays this is not an easy task. I can see myself looking back and enjoying this toys one time and another.

I stopped buying during just after Rat King, Shredder 2, & Spiderbytez (that was wave 2, right?) & only additionally picked up Genghis, Baxterfly, Casey, & Fugitoid as time went on. Had I continued to scope out all of the new releases, yeah, I would definitely have some serious regret. Hell, I regret getting some of early figures, even. In hindsight, they're kinda crummy (like Leatherhead & Baxter in the robot suit, for scale purposes anyway). Very little of this series will be worth much more than retail, especially due to how accessible loose ones are from the Chinese workers who grab 'em factory fresh & flip them on ebay a few bucks cheaper.

I strongly disagree with your comments about the nostalgia kids today will feel about the Nick show. I think (having known many) kids LOVE this show and will feel warm and fuzzy about it in the future. People said similar things about the Prequel trilogy of Star Wars, and we are now beginning to get then kids, grown up who grew up with the prequel trilogy and feel all kinds of nostalgia for it and prefer it to the original trilogy.

Anyways, back to the thread topic, I'm with you on the collectibility of this line. I felt much the same way when I looked at my shelf after a year of collecting it. Ended up selling all but Newtralizer and Kraang figures. I recently bought a Mozar however, and my plan is to customize those and make a cool space themed display with my Revoltech turtles. Not interested in anything beyond that unless they make a Mona Lisa.

I'm MORE interested in someone making an adult geared line based on IDW.

You're nuts. Where is this nostalgia for the prequels you're talking about?

This exact same thing happened to me a number of years back, but in regards to my OT collection. Not due to the quality, of course, but simply because I had bought alot of items simply as you said, to check a box. Sure I'm STILL nostaligic for the old toys and toon but I had bought so many items that really, when I thought about it, had nothing to do with that nostalgia. So I did what you likely will do soon: sold it. It won't be fun and will take some time ( I still have some stuff to sell...), but you'll feel much better in then end. In my case, I plugged all that money into something that actually DID care about passionately in the TMNT world, which is original comic art. And I am much more satisified with my collection ever since.

I bought the pupil-less Turtles and a couple of villains that I plan to repaint, but that's pretty much it. The line just isn't the same.

JTC Forums has a bunch of prequel lovers, 4chan's /co/ board has a lot, and /tv/ as well.

Everyone knows they weren't perfect, but they had some good things in them. I don't hate them as much after seeing TFA.

If I was collecting this line for myself I don't think I would still stick with it. I am buying them for my son and he really likes them though. When it first started in 2012 the first wave was great so it was something I could get behind. I wanted it to be for him what it meant to me as a child. Also getting in on the ground floor I decided I would try to get all the figures if possible to give him the collection I never had.

I got a bunch of the figures as a kid but there were tons that I never got. When I got to be a teenager I gave them away thinking I was too old for them and that they were what was preventing me from kissing a girl (turns out it was because I was socially awkward who knew? :P).

The nick line for the kids caused me to pine for the older figures and I have been hitting eBay and 2nd hand stores rebuilding my vintage collection. Side by side they are way more colourful and detailed than the nick line and hold up way better. Maybe the nick line will hold nostalgia for this generation but I don't see it being the same as we feel for the original line.

I only planned to buy the Turtles, but ended up getting Comic Con shredder, and then Bebop and Rocksteady. I still like that original wave of Turtles quite a bit – probably more than the later, more accurate ones, and the metalized Shredder still looks awesome, even though I don’t really care for the Nick Shredder design. Bebop and Rocksteady on the other hand… I’m not sure I’ll look back fondly on those two.

I participate in several Star Wars collectible forums, podcasts etc. and it's a topic that often comes up. There are younger members who grew up with the prequel trilogy that prefer it and have nostalgia around it.

Just because WE didn't see these things (let's say the Nick show for instance) as children, WE don't have a sense of nostalgia for it. That doesn't mean someone else won't.

Another thing is, nostalgia clouds judgement. it is nearly impossible to be impartial when you are comparing a series you have nostalgia for vs a series you do not have nostalgia for. The best way to handle this is to be self aware enough to recognize that nostalgia clouds your judgement.

Like I said earlier I agree with your comments around the Playmates toy line and the collectibility of it, but that is a separate issue from the Nick tv series.

No regrets, as I do only buy what I actually want. I know I won't ever be trying to resell anything in the future, and as some of you guys said these tend to be a bit lacking compared to the oldies, so I don't really see any sane reason to go overboard when my money is needed more elsewhere. I only get what I can't live without.

Though I have to be honest that there haven't been any for quite a while that felt like a must have. Honestly, the last ones I bought were the set inspired by the Mazes & Mutants episode. Considered the Mystic ones, but the paint and designs left me a bit unimpressed and passed on them. I suggested for Christmas and got one of the Dimension X figures (of which someone surprised me and got me the big Comic Con exclusive instead of the little one) and the one T-Machine I liked. Beyond that... meh. They need to try harder. (And not cheaper... nor weirder in ways that aren't appealing.)

It is funny to think about future nostalgia. It’s hard to imagine the current toy line being sort after, but I guess they probably will be on some level. It’s impossible to say how much and by who though – like the Phantom Menace stuff. People were buying that crap by the case; convinced that it would be desirable in the future, but as of yet, most of it is worthless.

I bought the turtles but Shredder and The Kraang were just not very good. The only other Nick Turtles figure I have ever thought of getting was metal head he looked kind of cool. The thing I primarily dislike about the new show in general is all the mutants but its an easy way to create characters for them. I also didn't like the design for most of the mutants in particular the early characters/mutants.

The Triceritons were done very well tho, LH is pretty good, I liked The Creep was it? The parody episodes of Friday the 13th or spin on 80's horror movies were cool. So its not all bad. Thats just the show the figures aren't very inspiring, the 2k3 show had good figures I'd say possibly better than the original 80's show figures with exception to the original first wave and a handful of others as the nostagia factor is high and they have that certain charm. I should say in general because there were a lot of original figures while interesting some I wasn't a fan of. The storage shell turtles, movie turtles 2 and 3 were all good. I just think they had a higher standard in 2k3 series where they were doing good work at least compared to now.

i kinda feel like you, i think i own 2 if not 1 of every figure/vehicle/playset made to date including that stupid Mutations line. and now they just sit in boxes in my spare bedroom and i was just thinking about that "why did i buy them" i would hate to actually go through the boxes and look at all the Nick stuff i have accumulated. i know its the biggest part of my collection and out weighs any other figure line i own. recently i decided im done with Playmates Nick line

Oh yeah. I also bought Rat King and Shredder 2, but I bought Shredder 2 so I could modify Wave 1 Shredders arms on him.

The 2012 shredder figures are so uninspired. I even prefer the original scoliosis shredder to the 2012 one

It's just toy collecting. You'll grow out of it I guess. I still think Playmates are release some fun and cool characters but also a lot of let downs due to price constraints. The 1st series of the Turtles were very impressive. The sculpts, materials and articulation. Then started with the skimming of paints and articulation. They don't even use the softer plastic like they did with the 1st release Turtles.

The line will still has it's appeal to me but I don't find myself that interested as before. Mostly because I find the season4 new characters boring. The vintage line was the exact opposite. A lot of random ideas were submitted to Playmates and if they like them, they get made into toys. Now the new figures rely heavily on what Nick Toons feature in the show which limits the imagination of the designers and sculptors.

Nah, it's not just "toy collecting" I've had some of my classic TMNT stuff for years and years and I still gaze at them for hours sometimes. The newer stuff is just uninspiring. You didn't have to watch the show to appreciate the old toys- intact, they were a totally separate "universe" in my opinion. The new stuff doesn't have that "TMNT feel" and without the watching the show (which has no adult appeal, in my opinion) its hard to form any sort of attachment to the characters

I'm not sure if the OP has any children, or knows any well, but I can tell you my kids LOVED the 2012 series when it first came on, and stayed with it hardcore for a good couple of years. So did their friends. In the UK, Turtles were the #1 selling boys toy at Christmas two years in a row. My boys have moved on to Star Wars now, but still watch and enjoy the 2012 series.


Now, I happen to think toy collecting - specifically action figure collecting - is a dying hobby for adults anyway, so will all this merchandise be sought after in the future? Difficult to say; the nostalgia will be there, but whether that translates into adults wanting to collect it all again, who knows?

We mustn't let rose-tinted glasses rob us of all objectivity. Just remember that when you proclaim that many of the simplistic and frankly nonsensical cartoons we enjoyed in the 1980s are "far better" than childrens shows today.

Of course, nostalgia forgives all - and long may that continue. We all have it, and I dearly hope every child growing up has as fun & colourful heroes as I did.

And for the Star Wars prequels... it's true! A number of forums I visit have a lot of fans in their early twenties now who enjoy (and even prefer) Episodes I-III. And good for them, nothing wrong with that.

I agree with all of this. Kids today love the new Nick TMNT even if some of us don't. Don't forget that TMNT is the number one selling toy just like it was back when we were kids. Will it hold it's run as long? Not sure but I have no doubt my son will have nostalgia for Nick when he gets older.

I help my friend who owns a toy/collectibles shop. This is definitely true. He gets a lot of young adults that come in and love the prequels and are looking for episode 1,2 and 3 figures.

The Nick line has given us some of the best TMNT figures - the four turtles from the first wave are amazing.

And the Mousers 7-pack is something I've been wanting since the 80s. I'm shocked it took this long to finally get released.

A lot of the stuff isn't incredible, but 2k3, Next Mutation and original line had bad figures too.

ALL of this is your opinion and your experience. Which is fine. It's great to discuss these things, but we need to be careful when other people offer experiences and opinions that differ from your own, not to tell them they are "wrong".

I am an adult and I love the new show. So do many of my friends. Speaking for myself and my group of friends, we much prefer the new show and IDW comics to the older material. HUGE fans of the new show, but not huge fans of the toyline. This is due to the shortcomings of Playmate's production. Lack of paint apps means no buy.

Interesting.

I like the '08 NECA figures better than Nick ones.

The first wave of Turtles were pretty good- they kind of exist in a universe of their own. They didn't pose very well but were leagues better than the 2k3 turtles and their stiff deformed legs

I didn't like turtles as a kid, I found it watchable at best. Never had nor wanted any TMNT stuff either.

But when I gave the new toys (one or two of the wave 1 turtles) a closer look I was realy impressed about the design, quality and articulation.

I were set to endure this "stupid cartoon" on a weekly basis, but it didn't take very long before I actually enjoyed it. I was amazed about both toys and cartoon, I thought something like "wow, this is actually realy good, way better than the old stuff".

But I don't think this line's popularity will last as long as the original's.

I bought the "core" figures (turtles, splinter, Casey, April), and some vehicles (party wagon, hotrod, grasskicker, T-rocket). Looking at the figures, I realized that I bought them more as having character representations of the current series. As with most members, Im not that impressed with the figures. The consolation is that I love the vehicles. They are a great fit even with the original turtles in my opinion. I dont think ill buy more of these figures. Maybe ill consider buying mousers for display, and ice cream kitty and Han if ever they decide to produce them.

Who knows? Maybe the obscurity of the current figures will be their selling point in the future?

It's funny to think that some current collectors have the mindset that only their collecting objects have universal nostalgia. It's either a lack of openness to insight or lower maturity if you think kids who grew up with 2012 Turtles won't want them. Just because it's not warm and fuzzy to you doesn't mean your experience is "correct" and others must feel the same. Dangerous territory in assuming what others like.

There are also some vintage star wars items that aren't worth anything. It's all about preference, condition and rarity in collecting. People will collect the 2012 carded figures down the road.

As is typical for any franchise and as was mentioned with Star Wars, the first generation will always provide the most dependable collectors. The problem is that I see fewer kids of today playing with action figures, especially given that the current generation of moms/dads have been raised on computers themselves, and that doesn't bode well in the long-term for most 21st century action figures. Currently, the Nick line's first wave of figures are pretty much what they cost now as they were when they first came out in 2012, and I don't expect that to change until the show is cancelled, and then if the franchise demand is rather weak, those prices will fall. The 1988-1993 figures will always be the most collectible provided that they are in their original cardboard packing AND are in good condition, with the loose figures lagging behind in terms of value (similar to how uncirculated coins appreciate more than circulated counterparts). I honestly haven't bought many figures after the first wave and at my age am concerned with a more dependable investment rather than just owning "anything TMNT" at risk of becoming a hoarder. Like all toy lines, the Nick line has its highs and lows, but since the vintage line had that "nostalgic appeal" to drive up its collectibility value, I just don't see it for this era unless if there are indeed rarities discovered and a cult develops. You can say the same with all comic series from Image onwards.

We're all adults on a Turtle forum- I think we're all pretty immature (not that there's anything wrong with that)

I hear you- I think there will be some that look back at the nick show/toys with fond memories. I'm speaking from my own experience. I've bought so many of those 2012 toys that I stopped caring about the second I got home from the store