5 years after Viacom buys the turtles, thoughts?

~~Leo656~~ · 04-16-2015, 02:12 AM

Nah, if people have taste they'll go back to older things without having new product product thrown at them constantly. There are brand new fans of He-Man, Dick Tracy, Thundercats, Speed Racer and Voltron every day, and those things haven't been "relevant" in ages. But people go back and rediscover them every day. You don't need to constantly pump out new plastic to create a new audience for something. All of those things, like TMNT, were only a "fad" or a big deal for a few peak years, and yet, they've stayed moderately popular enough for decades, despite not being aggressively marketed or revived every few years. People just have a natural nostalgic curiosity. Even stuff that isn't being recycled never really "goes away", as long as it was popular enough at one point.

Now, what you're talking about is totally different. You're talking about trying to keep the TMNT brand "alive" as a fad or a phenomenon through constantly being branded and merchandised so that people will buy it. That has less to do with what's good or bad for TMNT or its fans, but everything to do with companies making money.

Point of fact: They could stop doing new TMNT merchandise, TV and movies tomorrow, and the brand would never really "die", because it's already long ago reached that certain level of popularity. People would forever talk about it, write about it, and occasionally create new content about it. And "new generations" of fans would be exposed to it and become fans of it even without a barrage of crummy movies. Other than Next Mutation, there was a near-drought of TMNT "content" for almost a decade. It survived. Think about just that for a second... TMNT survived, despite there being a time when TNM was the ONLY new TMNT content being made! That's pretty impressive in and of itself, honestly. It's strong enough to be kept alive purely though its own existing fanbase and the people they in turn expose to it, to the point where it honestly doesn't need a never-ending cycle of mediocre "stuff" being churned out by a corporation that only sees it as a way to make a few bucks.

I mean, I get it, you like having a never-ending stream of plastic thrown at you, with your favorite Corporate Brand logo on it. Fair enough. I'd still argue that it's damaging to the long-term integrity of the brand, though. Especially anyone who sees the potential of TMNT as something made for more than 6-year-olds.

04-16-2015, 02:12 AM	#11
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Nah, if people have taste they'll go back to older things without having new product product thrown at them constantly. There are brand new fans of He-Man, Dick Tracy, Thundercats, Speed Racer and Voltron every day, and those things haven't been "relevant" in ages. But people go back and rediscover them every day. You don't need to constantly pump out new plastic to create a new audience for something. All of those things, like TMNT, were only a "fad" or a big deal for a few peak years, and yet, they've stayed moderately popular enough for decades, despite not being aggressively marketed or revived every few years. People just have a natural nostalgic curiosity. Even stuff that isn't being recycled never really "goes away", as long as it was popular enough at one point. Now, what you're talking about is totally different. You're talking about trying to keep the TMNT brand "alive" as a fad or a phenomenon through constantly being branded and merchandised so that people will buy it. That has less to do with what's good or bad for TMNT or its fans, but everything to do with companies making money. Point of fact: They could stop doing new TMNT merchandise, TV and movies tomorrow, and the brand would never really "die", because it's already long ago reached that certain level of popularity. People would forever talk about it, write about it, and occasionally create new content about it. And "new generations" of fans would be exposed to it and become fans of it even without a barrage of crummy movies. Other than Next Mutation, there was a near-drought of TMNT "content" for almost a decade. It survived. Think about just that for a second... TMNT survived, despite there being a time when TNM was the ONLY new TMNT content being made! That's pretty impressive in and of itself, honestly. It's strong enough to be kept alive purely though its own existing fanbase and the people they in turn expose to it, to the point where it honestly doesn't need a never-ending cycle of mediocre "stuff" being churned out by a corporation that only sees it as a way to make a few bucks. I mean, I get it, you like having a never-ending stream of plastic thrown at you, with your favorite Corporate Brand logo on it. Fair enough. I'd still argue that it's damaging to the long-term integrity of the brand, though. Especially anyone who sees the potential of TMNT as something made for more than 6-year-olds.