Future of the Turtles

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I don’t think he keeps doing it for money though. He could have stepped away years ago if he wanted.

I'unno about all that. I'm not in any way involved in the situation but I'm aware he had some business ventures blow up on him over the years, and that he himself was at various points alleged to have engaged in some questionable business practices outside of Mirage.

I'm sure he's doing very well, but I doubt he's at "F*ck-You Money" status. He cashed out on his ownership of TMNT long before Laird did, AND the $60 million that Nick paid Laird for the brand is... well, kind of a joke. I mean You or I would kill a truckload of orphans for $60 million dollars, but it's actually not a ton of money considering how "huge" the brand is supposed to be. They spent more on either of the BayTurtles movies than they did for the entire franchise, for f*ck's sake.

Consider that Disney paid over $4 billion to George Lucas for Star Wars, and it really hammers home how small-time the TMNT franchise truly is. In the grand scheme of things, it's... nothing. It's only big to "us" because we care about it.

Anyways, Eastman had already cashed out years before then, and whatever he got back in the day, I highly doubt it was anywhere near $60 million. He probably doesn't "have" to work these days, but it's probably in his best financial interests to do so. Outside of TMNT, his track record is... spotty.

And, not to be mean or anything, but it bears pointing out that like most others from Mirage, if it's not TMNT-related nobody was ever exactly beating down any of their doors with job offers. Whether it's fair or not, outside of TMNT Eastman (and Laird as well) never managed to achieve any tremendous success, and there are multiple reasons for that, I figure. Eastman's greatest success outside of TMNT was arguably with Heavy Metal, but he bought into that, it's not like he created it. And some say he wasn't exactly great in that role, either, but I wasn't there nor did I follow the situation very closely. I just know that outside of Mirage, not everyone who worked with the guy has great things to say about him.

For my money, Eastman's greatest "success" wasn't even with TMNT, anyways. It was banging Julie Strain back when that meant something.