Toy-Only Chars You Wanted In The OT
 

There were so many characters created for the original TMNT toyline that accompanied the animated series, yet most of them never got to actually have an appearance. For whatever reason, with a well of mutants to choose from, time & time again, we got mobsters, mad scientists, aliens, & even other mutants, the vast majority of which being uninspired & forgettable. It's a real head scratcher.

So, who would you have most liked to see, & how would you envision their episode(s) going?

I always thought the world tour season would have been the best opportunity to give these guys a chance to shine, considering many of them were inspired by other cultures. There's Lionheart, an English knight, Monty Moose, a Canadian mounty, & countless others with witch doctor, desert thief, samurai, & other themes. Such a waste. It would've boosted toy sales & everything!

I concocted a fake screenshot years ago of what a Pizzaface appearance might look like, by editing April out, drawing in the aforementioned villain, & making minor edits to Leonardo, as well as the image overall to match the quality of its original look.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...TEMfaSWXYM8oys

Along with that was how I'd handle the plot:

"Tony Rigatoni went mad in his quest to create the worlds tastiest pizza. While looking for the perfect special ingredient, he stumbled upon a warehouse where Krang & the gang were experimenting with ooze, & took a sample for himself. He used the goop for sauce, took a taste of the pie, & became a greasy freak hellbent on controlling the minds of man with Italian cuisine. Given his toyetic nature, might as well make it one big Playmates commercial & include not only The Oozey, but the classic Pizza Thrower, too. PF would use the fake store-front to lure in the turtles' leader & have him try his specialty, brainwashing him, & the rest of the turtles would have to band together, conquering their enemy using his own goods against him. "

One iconic figure's only time in the spotlight was a 2 second glimpse in an old Playmates commercial. Good 'ole Wyrm.

https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/up...mmercial01.jpg

We were honestly robbed not getting to see these guys, IMO. At least "Night Of The Rogues" busted out Scumbug & Antrax. But hell, there was that one episode where Baxter turns half of the city into insects, another with a snake-guy, who isn't Scale-Tail, flooding the city with his slithering kin. I realize the timelines on their creation don't always align, but damn, talk about missed opportunities. Oh well.

I guess I'm saying I most of all wish we'd gotten Pizzaface & Wyrm. They're incredibly memorable & gross (in the best way possible) designs.

There is no world tour in the Fred Wolf cartoon, just Vacation in Europe. However, Archie has a world tour.

Is the implication here that Leo made out with Pizza Face?

Anyway, what I have to add is not so much about "toy only" characters, and I don't really care what did or did not make it into the show (though I find it funny that a character having had a toy back in the day seems to corrolate more with modern day appearences than wheter or not they were actually in the show).

I do find it odd that Casey and the Triceratons pretty much only seem to show up because they had toys. It's like if taking characters that were established in the comic was such a low priority, they had to create at least five ****** characters like Bugman, Don Turtelli, Zach, Algernon and Hokum out of thin air for every Mirage-original they ended up using.

Scratch would have made sense with all the other mobsters in the show.

Hothead/Warrior Dragon would have been amazing

Pizza-face and Wyrm were the two big ones, also wish Scumbug got an intro ep before the Season 7 episode.

Scratch, in his 19th century prison inmate clothes, reminds me more of the Dalton Brothers from Lucky Luke than TMNT.

The Warrior Dragon at least has an Archie appearance.

Wasn't the toyline full of the Turtles in different outfits? How many of those made it into the show?

Almost none of them, besides the obvious stuff (Turtles in trenchcoats, or the Cyber Turtles ep in Season 8 ), etc.

Well Powder's post already expresses all my opinions I had with the show when it came to mutants, in fact it wasn't really until season 5 that we got a bigger chunk of mutant of the day episodes with some popular toys making it as cartoons, before that it was almost like a very special episode if a toy character showed up instead of robots/mobsters/aliens/Shredder.

A wasted opportunity definitely, I mean how many of those robots could've easily been Fugitoid episodes? I would've loved some of the more obscure toys to have gotten an episode or even cameo, hell how did Ace the Duck only get a cameo? He was fairly popular and everyone knows how ****ing awesome Ace the Duck really is.

I really wish toy backstory Ace Duck could have had a role in the show.

Ace Duck has so many conflicting origin stories he's like a Multiverse unto himself. :lol:

The interesting thing is, the 2K3 cartoon tried hard to integrate as many outfits from the toys as possible.

Brand Synergy!:tlol:

Monty Moose, Sargeant Bananas, Walkabout, and Scaletail just to name a few.

Here is an attempt to connect the action figures and toys to the cartoon episodes, comic issues, storybooks and video game levels:

Undercover Donatello = The Maltese Hamster (even if I know all four turtles wear trenchcoats, but the other four weren't released until later)

Space Cadet Raphael and Apollo 11 Turtles = Shredder's Mom

Slam Dunking Donatello = Peking Turtle

Punkrocker Donatello = Shredder's New Sword (all Rock and Roll Turtles also fit for the Secret of the Ooze final scenes)

Mutant Military = Big Blow Out

Sewer Sub = Leonardo Versus Tempestra (Diving Bell)

Powerlifting Donatello = Leonardo Cuts Loose

Wacky Wild West Turtles = Bury My Shell ad Wounded Knee, Six-Guns and Shuriken

Cave Turtles = Prehistoric Turtlesaurus

Rhinoman and Mighty Bebop = Adventures of Rhinoman

Robotic Bebop and Robotic Rocksteady = Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop

Bride of Frankenstein April = Super Irma (very loose, Halloween-theme)

Cyber Samurai Turtles = Cyber Turtles, Archie's Dreamland

Artic Donatello = Take Me to Your Leader, Muckman Messes Up

Shredder's New Sword, Leonardo Versus Tempestra, Leonardo Cuts Loose, Adventures of Rhinoman, Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop, Cyber Turtles and Take Me to Your Leader makes sense to me (if somewhat loosely). But the rest I'll need time stamps or explainations for.

I feel like most of the toy characters that did show up were after their toys were already old.

Some of the obscure figures that did get animated I wish they had done differently. Scumbug was presented as a recurring villain in his debut appearance and Ace Duck seemed to be a fictional character instead of someone who existed in the same reality as the turtles.

Would have loved to see the TMNT Star Trek suits on screen but it would be a problematic rights issue so I guess no way. :ohwell:

Wait a second...you can draw Fred Wolf TMNT? You kept that talent a secret. Pizza Face fits right into that screenshot! :o

Ace Duck and Scratch. Always wanted those figures as a kid.