You Know What I Notice in this Era, That I Didn't in Last?

[Konchadunga]

The past.

More specifically, back during the run of the 2003 show, it was like a cultural revolution had been launched against Fred Wolf; I couldn't find any merchandise for it in stores, and certainly not anywhere near the 4Kids merch.

These days, that's not true at all. I was in Target last night, and I saw, next to a pile of merchandise for both the Nickelodeon show and the new movie, a shirt for the Fred Wolf Turtles with the caption "Partying is my Superpower!" Elsewhere in the toy aisles, I see the Fred Wolf Party Wagon for sale (incidentally, I haven't seen any of the Fred Wolf action figures, though). Then there are DVDs of Fred Wolf on sale, along with the new series.

I've said "Fred Wolf" a lot, but it's not the only retro thing. Reprints of the Mirage series now have a wide distribution. The Fred Wolf age group now is old and obsessed enough to care about it. There's also collections of the Archie series.

It's quite a shift, to say the least.