How you became a fan of the TMNT?

[Doc_ock_4mugen]

For me it started on the late 80s (87-89) don't remember exactly when. I remember that I fell in love with the TMNT.... Probably it was either with the Toon or when I saw the Wacky Action Michelangelo. (I'll lean more towards the Toon but it could've been the toy...)I was at a K-B toys and I saw him. It looked cool, a Turtle that was a Ninja! That screamed awesome to me. Plus he looked like a goofball with his tongue sticking out... That made me and by me I mean my dad spend $4.99 on him. After that I was hooked... I remember saving all of my spare lunch money in order to have $8.98 for the weekends that I spent with my dad. (Which ususally involved a stop at a toystore for me to spend my saved money...) I loved the Turtle toys and the old Toon. I do remember seeing one of the comics as a kid, but I wasn't That into comics at that age and I believe that I was a comic book racist... (I only enjoyed colored comics...)

It all changed when the Movie came out... My love for the toon wasn't exactly the same after the movie... I loved the movie even more... Then I hit the Teenage years, the age when it ain't cool to play with toys... But I still kept my TMNT... Somehow I lost most of my collection... (Probably my dad got rid of it... when we weren't getting along... Cause he was the first one on the Teenage Boys don't play with toys campaign...) I disliked the Next Mutation and My TMNT fix was nearly run dry... Then Came the 2k3 series... I was tempted to buy the toys, but I was already spoiled by the awesome combo of sculpt and articulation that was Marvel Legends. I was into the Toon, but not the Toys...

Then I found a match in heaven... The NECA TMNT figs... It combined the awesomeness of the TMNT and ML-like Artic. Also I found the first 2 TMNT movies on the bargain bins at Wal*Mart. Early 2009, I was able to read the earlier TMNT Issues... I discovered a whole new world that I've missed, but somehow felt familiar (2k3 Toon). Mike's been my fave because of his lighter attitude compared to his brothers, something that's remained constant in most of the incarnations of the TMNT that I've seen. Maybe the contrast of Mike's character vs his brothers' is what kept me a fan... Or maybe it is the link that I have between the TMNT and the better times that I had with my father... I'm not completely sure which one is it...