Army Ant (David Arshawsky X Treasure Monster Toys)
 

Surely you all remember Killer Bee & Needlenose, the infamously gnarly insect steeds from Playmates' vintage turtle line. Well, David Arshawsky, their designer, had a couple of other concepts laying about the studio, which never saw release. One such example is ARMY ANT, a deranged yet diligent drone, marching onward into battle.

https://i.kickstarter.com/assets/046...1qaYUva7iII%3D

David, who is responsible for so many of our favorite Playmates turtles pieces from days past, teamed up with my buddy Jonathan at Treasure Monster Toys (who have been developing a toy line with some Mirage guys), to get some of his awesome unreleased pieces into the hands of longing collectors. Started with his Waterbear, Tort https://treasuremonstertoys.com/prod...aterbear-loose) & will carry on with some incredibly sick stuff you may have even seen teased in the past.

I was brought on to draw a map of mystery for the release, which also included working on top of an original illustration of David's character, which was both a surreal honor, & a little bit nerve-wracking! Thrilled to be involved. I might have even picked the color for his walkee talkee. :tlol:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...fQ&oe=671102CD

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...WQ&oe=6710D378

You can follow the Kickstarter for it now, should begin soon. Can't wait!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...rtoys/army-ant

Kickstarter link at the bottom is broken.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...rtoys/army-ant

I'm surprised there's not more chatter about this. I think it's pretty cool! I've got a complete Killer Bee and am only missing a few easy pieces for a complete Needlenose... I'd love to add Army Ant to that collection. He's kinda not doing it for me though? He just looks a bit awkward, like his legs shouldn't be bending the way they're sculpted and his head needs more detail paint among all the red. That price, too. That's tough to swallow.

I think I might grab Inferno though, the... drumline hippo? Or something? He looks cool, and there's a lot of OG Playmates DNA in there. The tattoo sleeves don't fit for me though, so we'll see. Either way this is a very cool project!

Would have been all over it 3+ years ago but now reason and old age are taking hold and telling me I don't need it. There is no limit to the amount of cool stuff people could make with plastic, and make no mistake, this is cool. Yet it doesn't mean they should, or that I must fund it, or own it all. Needlenose and Killer Bee are doing just fine on the shelf as the dynamic duo and as much as a part of me would like to see this guy join them, at the end of the day this would be what we call excess.

My feelings exactly. Cool though.

So...why won't Playmates or NECA produce this?
(I'm probably getting the pair anyway)