Have you grown tired

[Lone Wolf]

I'm 19 years old, a full-time college student, and my story seems to be quite the opposite of what most people on the board have related so far. When I was a kid, the turtles were a passing fascination; something I loved, but loved as a passing trend. I adored the movie and the games, and I watched the cartoon occasionally. Eventually I moved on and completely forgot about it; from 6th to 11th grade, the TMNT concept could have fallen off of the edge of the earth for all I knew. I wasn't aware of the the Next Mutation, the end of the old cartoon, or the comics.

Then one Saturday morning of my junior year, I came across a marquee for "Mutant Turtles" on the digital cable listings. What? Reruns of my childhood fascination? It turns out, no, not at all. Its Raphael-a NEW Raphael- and Casey Jones, duking it out, just like in the first movie! It set me on fire. I got online, downloaded all of the episodes, found thetechnodrome.com, read everything I could find on the TMNT, found out that there were comics from Mirage Studios that portrayed the Turtles similarly to their New Toon and First Movie incarnations, and then bought ALL OF THEM. (That is right, I have every single Mirage TMNT comic, although not all of them are first printing... I didn't really buy them for their rarity).

Then of course I had a girlfriend or two, I transferred over to college, I went to my first anime convention, I started working 30+ hours a week while going to school, and so the TMNT started to fade out for a while. Of course, when I say "fade out", I mean I let the cartoon episodes get ahead of me, and only bought the first wave of the new toys (I HATE variants, always have). TMNT are the only reason I kept (and still have) toys or physical comics (I'm purely digital now, save for TMNT and one manga I like).

Now I am more into it than ever. I have kind of sacrificed the social life I used to have, but I think its actually more healthy to have something like TMNT as a hobby than drinking or raving or whatever, as it doesn't seem to screw up my GPA or overall positive lifestyle in general, and is more life affirming than hanging out with other unambitious people who like to spend their time drinking and dancing their lives away.

So basically I am more into now then I ever was, even with "real life" growing more cumbersome, thanks to the Mirage and 4Kids versions of the TMNT. Of course, I have never really felt I was a victim of the dichotomy that everyone in this thread keeps suggesting, the one that states that TMNT is "an escape" and that "real life" will necessarily encroach upon ones ability to entertain such dreams.

Personally, I love the TMNT for the same reason I like any other fictional universe or cast of characters: They appeal to my sense of life. They reflect the world as I see it. Behind the absolute ridiculousness of the idea of four battle-hardened turtles with a rat as a sensei, I see four individuals that are completely unique and alone in the world, that must discover for themselves the meaning and purpose of their own lives. Like all of us, they have a cultural heritage to draw from (Splinters Ninja teachings or whatever), but their raw enthusiasm and intransigent independence have always separated them, made them unique. They face increasingly hostile and morose situations, but they never (at least not permanently) lose their benevolent sense of life, of their implicit conviction of the world being a place appropriate for their existence, of the idea that they can achieve a life worth living. Thats what absorbed me about the first movie; that they could live amidst such greyness, but are themselves such beacons of the potential exuberance in the act of living. They can make you laugh, even when the situation might ask for the worst from you. This perspective has made them a regular part of who I am, of the things I enjoy in this world. I have never felt as if I've had to "grow up" from something I see as so important to my enjoying life as an adult: the projection of characters that either illuminate or reinforce the priorities of my life, namely that of spiritual perseverance (in the idea of possessing such a conviction of one's own efficacy that they can only smile or laugh at lifes adversities, which are trivial by comparison) and of a belief in the good ( that what you believe in is _really_ worth fighting for, and that when its challenged, you don't back down) and for me, thats what the Turtles do. Do I read more intricately woven, more subtext laden literature? I'm an English major; sure I do. Have I read Maus, or any other avant-garde comics? Yes. Does that stop the Turtles from being something I "seriously" enjoy? No.
I could go on forever (I think that much is obvious), but to summarize, I will never outgrow the idea that the Turtles and their adventures are whats right about my soul, and that the parts of the world that think them "trivial" or "dumb" or "childish" are exactly those things.

[PizzaPower]

You sound like a true Turtle Fan Dude.

[Lone Wolf]

Cowabunga.

[verminator_x]

loved the four green guys since i was 6 year old and sometimes i takes breaks. like for two years ago i hadent read in the old tmnt archies comics and when i just sat down and read them i was in the old tmnt fantasy world like i was when i was kid. i think i always will have tmnt some where close to my heart. my friends think im immature and silly that i still like turtles but we are all different.

[Sage Ninja]

I was tottally obessed with the TMNT when I was younger they where so cool and i couldn't get enough of the interaction that the turtles had with each other. I loved them to bits.

the funny thing is that I wasn't in to them until I was about seven or eight years old. (I was was only three years old in 1987 when they first came out) and when I was wicked little I only remember watching a handful of episodes.

But when I was like seven or eight years old (maybe I was possiably a bit older) the USA station got a hold of them and had permission to run the series on there station ( the reruns while the newer ones where run on staturdays). I remember they used to come on twice a day monday through friday. Two episodes back to back, they would show it in the morning and then they would show the same two episodes in the eveing at 5:00 in the afternoon they used to come on right after Real Ghost Busters. And during the summer they would show three eppisodes back to back with each other, I was in turtle heaven and was so hooked on them .

It was watching them on this station that made me fall in love with them because of the great treatment they got on there channel. I remmber when I would see the same episodes on NBC that they would sometimes cut for time and put in more commercials

Then I would watch the newer episodes that they would air on saterdays and that always made me happy. the best thing was that when a new episode came on saterday it didn't really take a ridiculously long time for it be shown during the week on the USA channel. In fact at one point they where showing new episodes that I never even saw on NBC, it was on this channel that i got to see the European episodes and the first live action movie.

I was really getting Ninja turtles like six days a week two sometimes three times a day.

Then at some point USA stopped airing them and started airing episodes of American Gladiators in the morning and at night So I only had saturdays now to enjoy my turtles. And then they got into the redsky episodes and I really didn't care for them at all and I abandoned them and my fandom went into hybernation for many years and I got into other things and the TMNT where really just a distant memory.

It was not until just recently when I saw the first season of the classic TMNT the first season adverticed in a comic book store that was sparked slightly. By that time the new toon was on and since the TMNT was something of my past I really didn't give it to much notice execpted for a slight morbid curosity.When I got the first season on vhs and I watched the pilot episodes OMG i felt like I had just been watching these episodes the other day. In other words I picked up where i left off. Leaving me wanting more and more of my turtles again.

ANd seriously if it weren't for the mad slow pace these seasons of the orginal toon coming out on dvd, i probably wouldn't have given the new toon the time of day. But since my Turtle fandom had come back with a vengence I nedded my daily helping of turtles. Rehashed turtles or not. And eventually I came to appricate the new toon in its own glory. But I'm still a huge fan of the classsic toon no matter how much it gets bashed for not be clase enough to the mirage comics. It was kick ass in its own damn right.

So am I tired of the turtles? NO way! I am surpriced as heck that after all these years that I am again back into the turtle fandom and I even get to enjoy a completley new spin on the turtles as well as the one that I grew up with as well. I know that at some point after the turtles run its course on TV ( or the start to suck again like they did in Redsky) It'll go into hybernation (maybe for good this time around seeing as I'm adult now) again and I'll move on again to other things.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Originally Posted by Lone Wolf

I'm 19 years old, a full-time college student, and my story seems to be quite the opposite of what most people on the board have related so far. When I was a kid, the turtles were a passing fascination; something I loved, but loved as a passing trend. I adored the movie and the games, and I watched the cartoon occasionally. Eventually I moved on and completely forgot about it; from 6th to 11th grade, the TMNT concept could have fallen off of the edge of the earth for all I knew. I wasn't aware of the the Next Mutation, the end of the old cartoon, or the comics.

Then one Saturday morning of my junior year, I came across a marquee for "Mutant Turtles" on the digital cable listings. What? Reruns of my childhood fascination? It turns out, no, not at all. Its Raphael-a NEW Raphael- and Casey Jones, duking it out, just like in the first movie! It set me on fire. I got online, downloaded all of the episodes, found thetechnodrome.com, read everything I could find on the TMNT, found out that there were comics from Mirage Studios that portrayed the Turtles similarly to their New Toon and First Movie incarnations, and then bought ALL OF THEM. (That is right, I have every single Mirage TMNT comic, although not all of them are first printing... I didn't really buy them for their rarity).

Then of course I had a girlfriend or two, I transferred over to college, I went to my first anime convention, I started working 30+ hours a week while going to school, and so the TMNT started to fade out for a while. Of course, when I say "fade out", I mean I let the cartoon episodes get ahead of me, and only bought the first wave of the new toys (I HATE variants, always have). TMNT are the only reason I kept (and still have) toys or physical comics (I'm purely digital now, save for TMNT and one manga I like).

Now I am more into it than ever. I have kind of sacrificed the social life I used to have, but I think its actually more healthy to have something like TMNT as a hobby than drinking or raving or whatever, as it doesn't seem to screw up my GPA or overall positive lifestyle in general, and is more life affirming than hanging out with other unambitious people who like to spend their time drinking and dancing their lives away.

So basically I am more into now then I ever was, even with "real life" growing more cumbersome, thanks to the Mirage and 4Kids versions of the TMNT. Of course, I have never really felt I was a victim of the dichotomy that everyone in this thread keeps suggesting, the one that states that TMNT is "an escape" and that "real life" will necessarily encroach upon ones ability to entertain such dreams.

Personally, I love the TMNT for the same reason I like any other fictional universe or cast of characters: They appeal to my sense of life. They reflect the world as I see it. Behind the absolute ridiculousness of the idea of four battle-hardened turtles with a rat as a sensei, I see four individuals that are completely unique and alone in the world, that must discover for themselves the meaning and purpose of their own lives. Like all of us, they have a cultural heritage to draw from (Splinters Ninja teachings or whatever), but their raw enthusiasm and intransigent independence have always separated them, made them unique. They face increasingly hostile and morose situations, but they never (at least not permanently) lose their benevolent sense of life, of their implicit conviction of the world being a place appropriate for their existence, of the idea that they can achieve a life worth living. Thats what absorbed me about the first movie; that they could live amidst such greyness, but are themselves such beacons of the potential exuberance in the act of living. They can make you laugh, even when the situation might ask for the worst from you. This perspective has made them a regular part of who I am, of the things I enjoy in this world. I have never felt as if I've had to "grow up" from something I see as so important to my enjoying life as an adult: the projection of characters that either illuminate or reinforce the priorities of my life, namely that of spiritual perseverance (in the idea of possessing such a conviction of one's own efficacy that they can only smile or laugh at lifes adversities, which are trivial by comparison) and of a belief in the good ( that what you believe in is _really_ worth fighting for, and that when its challenged, you don't back down) and for me, thats what the Turtles do. Do I read more intricately woven, more subtext laden literature? I'm an English major; sure I do. Have I read Maus, or any other avant-garde comics? Yes. Does that stop the Turtles from being something I "seriously" enjoy? No.
I could go on forever (I think that much is obvious), but to summarize, I will never outgrow the idea that the Turtles and their adventures are whats right about my soul, and that the parts of the world that think them "trivial" or "dumb" or "childish" are exactly those things.

That was well said dude. Well said indeed.

[Masked Ninja]

It was indeed well said. Details aside, it's how it is for me, too. I am a happily revived TMNT fan, and it's mostly an art hobby for me.

[NeoBix]

Nah I'll never get tired of TMNT. I might put them on hold for a while for something more important (like real life) but I'll never forget them or be tired of them.

[XERO]

I have all 3 movies, the first season of the New Cartoon, and the COOTS songs all memorized.

I must be insane.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Benvenuto

I have all 3 movies, the first season of the New Cartoon, and the COOTS songs all memorized.
I must be insane.

Not at all, cause u were there....

[Spitfire]

Ive loved Turtles ever since I could remember. I always had some TMNT toy in my hand or a comic book in front of my eyes. And that still lingers on inside me it just isnt as consuming. My love for TMNT still shows. I have a huge stack of the comics in my closet, a large poster on my door, a big beach towel hung on my wall*Hey I like that towel!*, All the current DVDs lined up all pretty on my DVD rack, an old comic poster by my bed, this old cloth thing with the turtles surfing on it on the back of my door, an old TMNT blanket on my couch, and my bed spread is the old school TMNT*Sadly it got stained though....*. That seems like alot and maybe it is but it doesnt show to much with the huge RE 4 display on my wall and an entire wall covered with records! haha yeah. What Im getting at is. I never stopped loving TMNT but my life is going on and I dont lose intrest but it is no longer the number one concern of mine. I have other things to worry about

[sdp]

I've always gone in cycles of being super interested and then not caring for a while, that's how I am with most franchises I like, and it always keeps things fresh for me since when I come back there's all this stuff I missed in the down years. I think the current cycle peaked around the time 2012 ended and it's only been a downward slide since then in interest despite being in a golden age of TMNT figures.

[CyberCubed]

I wonder what people were tired about in 2005. The early 2000's was like the first revival of the TMNT franchise we ever had.

[Venom]

I dunno man, Next Mutation drag was still mildly lingering, the Image comics were all "wtf-y" to folks, 2K3 was still finding it's footing and Volume 4 was considered ugly and Pete's soap box to some.

[shredder orokusaki]

Today imet with one of my friends who is 37 years old and he is big fan of me and my foot ninjas too. He told me thath e saw the 2016 movie3 days ago on tv and he liked it becuase of Krang. Then i told him that the movie was not good and that it deserved to fail because i didnt fight the turtles. Then he alsso said about how when he was a kid and watched the 1987 series that some of his friends were telling him that it is not for children because Krang looks like a brain and they tryed to convice him to stop watching it. But he watched to see how hard i beat the turtles and all of my adentures while i and Krang were trying to conquer the world. So they found Krang scary but not me? Imagine what those people would had said if they saw the 2003 series where i tear Stockman apart piece by piece!

[D-ray]

Yeah but back then they had the comics, the 1987 show and other stuff. The 2003 adaptation was barely hired in the whole world.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Venom

I dunno man, Next Mutation drag was still mildly lingering, the Image comics were all "wtf-y" to folks, 2K3 was still finding it's footing and Volume 4 was considered ugly and Pete's soap box to some.

I don't live in the States and I was a kid at the time stll. All I knew about The Next Mutation was what I read about it on the Mirage official website at the time, and I had no clue what Image comics were. I didn't read the Mirage comics besides the first few issues that were available for free on Mirage's old website in the early-mid 2000s.

As a kid who grew up watching reruns of the 87 series in the late 99s/esrly 2000s, I was excited when I heard a new TMNT series was coming. I certisblt wasn't losing interest. Now, ofc, after a couple of seasons, and as I got deeper in my teenage years, I also focused on other stuff. The Turtles weren't my sole interest.

I began losing interest in the TMNT around 2012. I wst he'd the first few Nick show episodes and didn't like it much. Plus, I was busy with university. And, around a year or two later, the awful first Bay Turtles movie comes out and single handedly made me lose interest in any modern take on the TMNT.

I'll forever treasure my memories of the 87 and 2003 series, but I can't say I call myself a big Ninja Turtles fan any more. The only thing that would make me check out any future TMNT stuff again would be if Viacom sold it to a company that would handle the property well.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Originally Posted by Prowler

The only thing that would make me check out any future TMNT stuff again would be if Viacom sold it to a company that would handle the property well.

This. While I am happy both the two Bay produced films and Rise failed financially, I won't be satisfied until the property is out of their hands. They no longer have any good will from me despite The Last Ronin and Batman vs TMNT (which also has its issues).

If there's a property they should look into buying, it's Doug.