What’s with the lame Rocksteady and Bebop designs?

[Bry]

Yeah, the art for Bebop and Rocksteady and the Turtles seems to be the newer art they produced for new retro-style merchandise 5+ years ago. It looks fine, but definitely a bit "off". The Turtles themselves are taller and leaner than most of the art from the '80s/'90s - their height and proportions almost look closer to the 2003 versions than the '87 designs.

Originally Posted by Powder

It's not a copyright issue. Those are the Mutatin' action figure designs, & the art itself replicates art from the early 90's of the exact same style. I agree that it's kinda lame, though.

Good catch! They definitely look like they're based on these:



(And I still find it weird that Bebop's human form on that toy was a white guy with orange hair for some reason...)

Originally Posted by Ninjinister

I want that top shirt so bad. So bitchin'.

I actually picked it up at a Hot Topic sale when I was in the States recently. It's pretty great. Love how some of the "TMNT Adventures" mutants are represented.

[Metropoliskid41]

Originally Posted by Bry

Yeah, the art for Bebop and Rocksteady and the Turtles seems to be the newer art they produced for new retro-style merchandise 5+ years ago.

No it is not new stuff that was produced 5 years ago, that is the same design and the same imaging that was used in the late 80's and early 90's. I posted pictures earlier in the thread of stock art on TMNT Merchandise from the early 90's and its the same

[Bry]

Originally Posted by Metropoliskid41

No it is not new stuff that was produced 5 years ago, that is the same design and the same imaging that was used in the late 80's and early 90's. I posted pictures earlier in the thread of stock art on TMNT Merchandise from the early 90's and its the same

IIRC, they did produce new "retro" style art for the Retro line that started around 2009. For example:





I believe these are made with the new art, while this...



...is old art, or at least is directly based on (or traced from) an older drawing. You can tell because the body proportions and style are slightly different, and the elbow/knee pads are drawn differently (and closer to a Mirage/2003 style).

Weirdly enough, the newer "retro" art seems to always give the Turtles big, happy smiles, while the actual retro art has them with gritted teeth and angrier expressions far more often.

[DarkFell]

I got this shirt from a Spencer's a couple of months ago. The dude wearing it isn't me.


And I was wondering about the character designs as well. I'm glad I found this thread and finally got some info.