memories & anecdotes from the golden years of turtlemania

the fixer · 04-13-2007, 08:50 AM

I guess we all have some cool, naive, heartwarming or sad childhood memory anecdotes about the Golden years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom during the late eighties/early nineties...

I, for one, have many of them... Maybe you might be intersted in hearing them. Maybe you even have a bunch of your own to tell...

Here's one to begin with...
Mind you, this occured when the Turtles had only just embarked on European tv and absolutely no merchandise was out yet.
I remember being in this Belgian themepark where they had this 'duckcatching' game. I loved those as a kid. With the help of my mom, who placed back the lesser valued ducks (behind the back of the proprietor), I was a true duckcatchin' master.
After I finished the game, the propietor counted my points and showed me the rack from which I could choose my prize. My heart really skipped a beat. I hadn't noticed it before, but on the toyrack hung a Ninja Turtle action figure... the first one I'd seen in my life.
It usually took me forever to choose a prize in a game like that, but that time, the choice was made in a split-second.

I was going totally ballistic during the carride home, singing the Turtle themesong non-stop until we arrived.
It was only at home that I realized something odd about the figure... It said 'Turtles Fighters' on the card. At that time I didn't know the original name of the green warriors I loved so much, I only knew them as 'Les Tortues Ninja' since the show only aired on a French network. It didn't take me long though to realize that 'Turtles Fighters' probably wasn't the English translation of 'Tortues Ninja'.
Suspicion rose over the figure... I was too young to know about pirated goods, but old enough to suspect there was something fishy about the figure.
In the months after that, I stopped playing with it. I didn't feel comfortable playing with it at all...

Shortly after, the Playmates figures came out -clearly labelled Ninja Turtles-and I sort of forgot about my mysterious Turtle fighter. It was buried somewhere deep in my toychest.
Many months later, when the second movie was about to come out, French 'USA Magazine' devoted an entire issue on the Turtles. Is I started to read it, I was shocked to find a picture of my duckcatch prize ,crossed out in red, in an article titled 'Attention! Pirates'...
It said that Mirage spent $80 000 in an effort to stop the worldwide copyright theft that plagued their Ninja Turtles franchise. The article ended with " Do not encourage pirates! Do not buy their products!"

I was struck with disgust and guilt, as if the article was pointing at me with a blaming finger. I rushed up to my room and franticly started to dig in my toychest in search for the pirated abomination. Once I found it, I cut off its arms, legs and head. it might seem overreacted now, but I felt a lot better

After that, I customized the dismembered plastic shell as a toy Turtle communicator, later known as a Shell Cell.

So in the end, it turned out pretty well. The doubt surrounding my mysterious figure was lifted, my conscience cleaned, and I'd made myself a toy no other kid had

I hope you enjoyed my first little (well... little...) anecdote at least a bit

Before i go, I just wanted to show you what my Turtle communicator looked like before my harsh costumization...

DUM DUM DUUUUUM!

Cliff

*Magdolin* · 04-13-2007, 05:44 PM

Aww....when i first herd of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, me, my sister and my dad were flipping thorugh the channles on TV. I saw a bit of the second movie. And i wanted it so bad. I told my mom about it. Then i woke up one morning when she got home from work. And to my suprise, she had gotten the first TMNT movie for me! It was on tape, and i watched it that evening. I laughed and laughed until i coudn't laugh anymore. Thats when i realized that Mikey was my favorite. I now have all three of the movies on DVD And i still have the first one on tape. Then, i started getting the old sereis. I loved them so much! Then i started finding some of them on Youtube. I have a few DVD's of the new series. And after awhlie, i saw the new TMNT movie in theaters. Now i'm waiting for it to come out on DVD on july 10th. And once that comes out, i'm going to get it.

Now i've probabley put you to sleep with my talking. I'm sorry....^__^

Oh! Look under my signature and there will be some links. If you want you can click them.

TheAnimatedSeries · 04-14-2007, 02:08 AM

I liked your story. I know how you feel, too. I always hated being associated with anything I thought was a disgrace to something I love. The main reason I even looked for a TMNT messageboard was to share stories like this and relate. I'll share some of mine when I'm not about to collapse. In the meantime, either of you please share some more.

*Cascadia* · 04-14-2007, 10:42 AM

The show came on as a pilot on Sunday mornings at 10 AM. I was 8 years old at the time. I would watch it when I got a chance. Eventually, the show gained popularly that it moved to weekdays at 4 PM.

Swany · 04-14-2007, 11:21 AM

I actually dont remember the show that much I was too young. I do however remember all the toys and annuals my brothers had thats how I got exposed to the turtles. Everything got hauled out of the loft a few years ago and I had a peek through it all. I think it all got given to a charity shop.

Gutted eh?

Bad Guys Lover · 04-14-2007, 04:43 PM

Those were the days...

I was 7 years old when I watched TMNT for the first time. I remember it so well... The show was starting every morning at 9 a.m. I was at my grandmother`s, who was watching my baby brother. She was putting him to sleep at that time, so I was free to watch my favorite show

. And it was like that almost every day. The only thing I don`t remember clearly is when they actually canceled the show.

TheAnimatedSeries · 04-15-2007, 12:26 AM

I was five when I saw the first movie in theaters in 1990. I was sick with the flu or something and kept having to leave the theater real quick to go throw up in the restroom. I was asleep for most of the time though, the only thing I remember about actually watching the movie was waking up and seeing Donatello in the truck when he and Casey were working on it. I also remember that next to us were two 30 year old guys, and my brother and I thought they were weird/awesome for being old ass Turtles fans. I'm sure they were just fans of the comics, or if not, just harmless pedophiles.

*Revan* · 04-15-2007, 12:41 AM

I tell you a sad story.

As most of you can understand, I was completely consumed by turtles as a child. Had the figures, had the cartoons on vhs, had shirts, had bedsheets...
I played tmnt with my neigborhood friends way too much. Anyway, one day I was playing turtles with my babysitter. Raph was my favorite so of course I had to find weapons. What's a turtle without his weapons. I opened a kitchen drawer and grabbed two butterknives which I then slipped through my belt loops. Well, I drew my weapons from my belt and declared "I'm a ninja turtle!"
My babysitter told my parents I tried to cut her with 'steak' knives and the next day my parents took ALL my turtle figures and packed them away. I never saw them again. Worst day of my young life.

I started collecting my lost figures years later via ebay and garage sales. When I first saw the new 2k3 figures in stores I was so excited I bought each figure they had. Been collecting 2k3, ff, and movie figs ever since.

*zkarlette* · 04-15-2007, 12:55 AM

I did watch the OT religiously and saw the movies more times than I can count but I was never able to have any of the old figures because my mom said they were for boys so she would not buy me any.....I had to wait until now that I can get all my stuff myself

*Revan* · 04-15-2007, 12:58 AM

^ I don't know what's worse. Having your entire collection stripped from you, or not being allowed to have one in the first place.
Perhaps it's better to have loved and lost.

the fixer · 04-15-2007, 02:39 AM

Hey, nice to see some of you are willing to share their early Turtle memories.
Guess I'm not the only nostalgic soul 'round here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neutrino

My babysitter told my parents I tried to cut her with 'steak' knives and the next day my parents took ALL my turtle figures and packed them away. I never saw them again. Worst day of my young life.

That's truly sad.
Say, y'know where that babysitter lives now? Maybe we should scare her with real sais this time

Quote:

Originally Posted by zkarlette

I was never able to have any of the old figures because my mom said they were for boys so she would not buy me any

Sad as well... It's true that TMNT's never been popular with moms...
Even some boys weren't allowed to have them. I remember knowing this extremely rich kid who got every toy he set his eyes on from his mom, yet he wasn't allowed any Turtles figs...
I was incredibly lucky in that respect. My mom had no problems with the Ninja Turtles and even took me to see all three feature films more than once.

Ta, mom!

Gothamite · 04-15-2007, 04:51 AM

Pirates, Paedophiles, Vomiting, and steak knives!

These stories are pretty extreme!

TheAnimatedSeries · 04-17-2007, 03:21 PM

Does anyone remember the hype for the first movie?

I had a couple small storybooks that retold the movie but with OT designs, that was pretty fresh. We only had the first one for a while though and we it ended at Splinter showing up in the fire, so we thought he was going to die in the movie and show up as a ghost. I also had this pink shirt of the movie logo with their heads peaking out of the sewer I think, which was incredibly badass for being the color pink.

I met Leonardo at the mall, only he was advertised as Raphael and was by my approxamation a seven foot tall carpet monster.

CudleyCowlick · 04-17-2007, 04:38 PM

I remember my 8th birthday party, which was TMNT-themed. This was in '92 at the height of the madness and I had been into the Turtles since '89 so it was pretty much all that I ever thought or talked about. (So little has changed... hehe.)
But anyway... I had the balloons, the plates, the cups and the napkins and the noisemakers, a dang tablecloth, even TMNT giftbags for all the guests. Picture about 15 sugared-up rugrats running around in TMNT pajamas, screaming at a feverish pitch battling with makeshift bos and plastic nunchuks, you get the idea.
Then of course, the main event, my mom had been taking cake-making lessons (she's a real pro now), and had gotten one of the Wilton TMNT cake pans. She did the best frosting job you could imagine, I didn't even want to eat the thing. (Okay, so I did). Then of course I got a whole lot more of the Playmates toys. It seemed like at the time I must be getting close to having them all, but I really just had no idea how many of those were out there, even by 92. You gotta give a kid credit for trying though.

04-13-2007, 08:50 AM	#1
the fixer Hench Mutant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: BELGIUM Posts: 395	memories & anecdotes from the golden years of turtlemania I guess we all have some cool, naive, heartwarming or sad childhood memory anecdotes about the Golden years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom during the late eighties/early nineties... I, for one, have many of them... Maybe you might be intersted in hearing them. Maybe you even have a bunch of your own to tell... Here's one to begin with... Mind you, this occured when the Turtles had only just embarked on European tv and absolutely no merchandise was out yet. I remember being in this Belgian themepark where they had this 'duckcatching' game. I loved those as a kid. With the help of my mom, who placed back the lesser valued ducks (behind the back of the proprietor), I was a true duckcatchin' master. After I finished the game, the propietor counted my points and showed me the rack from which I could choose my prize. My heart really skipped a beat. I hadn't noticed it before, but on the toyrack hung a Ninja Turtle action figure... the first one I'd seen in my life. It usually took me forever to choose a prize in a game like that, but that time, the choice was made in a split-second. I was going totally ballistic during the carride home, singing the Turtle themesong non-stop until we arrived. It was only at home that I realized something odd about the figure... It said 'Turtles Fighters' on the card. At that time I didn't know the original name of the green warriors I loved so much, I only knew them as 'Les Tortues Ninja' since the show only aired on a French network. It didn't take me long though to realize that 'Turtles Fighters' probably wasn't the English translation of 'Tortues Ninja'. Suspicion rose over the figure... I was too young to know about pirated goods, but old enough to suspect there was something fishy about the figure. In the months after that, I stopped playing with it. I didn't feel comfortable playing with it at all... Shortly after, the Playmates figures came out -clearly labelled Ninja Turtles-and I sort of forgot about my mysterious Turtle fighter. It was buried somewhere deep in my toychest. Many months later, when the second movie was about to come out, French 'USA Magazine' devoted an entire issue on the Turtles. Is I started to read it, I was shocked to find a picture of my duckcatch prize ,crossed out in red, in an article titled 'Attention! Pirates'... It said that Mirage spent $80 000 in an effort to stop the worldwide copyright theft that plagued their Ninja Turtles franchise. The article ended with " Do not encourage pirates! Do not buy their products!" I was struck with disgust and guilt, as if the article was pointing at me with a blaming finger. I rushed up to my room and franticly started to dig in my toychest in search for the pirated abomination. Once I found it, I cut off its arms, legs and head. it might seem overreacted now, but I felt a lot better After that, I customized the dismembered plastic shell as a toy Turtle communicator, later known as a Shell Cell. So in the end, it turned out pretty well. The doubt surrounding my mysterious figure was lifted, my conscience cleaned, and I'd made myself a toy no other kid had I hope you enjoyed my first little (well... little...) anecdote at least a bit Before i go, I just wanted to show you what my Turtle communicator looked like before my harsh costumization... DUM DUM DUUUUUM! Cliff

04-13-2007, 05:44 PM	#2
Magdolin Professional Dork Join Date: May 2005 Location: Society of Midnight Ninjas. Posts: 1,970	Aww....when i first herd of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, me, my sister and my dad were flipping thorugh the channles on TV. I saw a bit of the second movie. And i wanted it so bad. I told my mom about it. Then i woke up one morning when she got home from work. And to my suprise, she had gotten the first TMNT movie for me! It was on tape, and i watched it that evening. I laughed and laughed until i coudn't laugh anymore. Thats when i realized that Mikey was my favorite. I now have all three of the movies on DVD And i still have the first one on tape. Then, i started getting the old sereis. I loved them so much! Then i started finding some of them on Youtube. I have a few DVD's of the new series. And after awhlie, i saw the new TMNT movie in theaters. Now i'm waiting for it to come out on DVD on july 10th. And once that comes out, i'm going to get it. Now i've probabley put you to sleep with my talking. I'm sorry....^__^ Oh! Look under my signature and there will be some links. If you want you can click them. __________________ "When life gives you lemons, make yourself some pie. Or squeeze 'em in people's eyes and run away, whatever floats your boat."

04-14-2007, 02:08 AM	#3
TheAnimatedSeries Foot Soldier Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 158	I liked your story. I know how you feel, too. I always hated being associated with anything I thought was a disgrace to something I love. The main reason I even looked for a TMNT messageboard was to share stories like this and relate. I'll share some of mine when I'm not about to collapse. In the meantime, either of you please share some more. __________________ ...but thats just one black mans opinion. Whats yours? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is better than SOTO and the 2007 movie. You would know that if you were a gangster.

04-14-2007, 10:42 AM	#4
Cascadia Oregonian in heart & soul Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,731	The show came on as a pilot on Sunday mornings at 10 AM. I was 8 years old at the time. I would watch it when I got a chance. Eventually, the show gained popularly that it moved to weekdays at 4 PM. __________________ Formally known as Scientific freak

04-14-2007, 11:21 AM	#5
Swany Stone Warrior Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Near Glasgow. Scotland Posts: 924	I actually dont remember the show that much I was too young. I do however remember all the toys and annuals my brothers had thats how I got exposed to the turtles. Everything got hauled out of the loft a few years ago and I had a peek through it all. I think it all got given to a charity shop. Gutted eh? __________________

04-14-2007, 04:43 PM	#6
Bad Guys Lover Hench Mutant Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 268	Those were the days... I was 7 years old when I watched TMNT for the first time. I remember it so well... The show was starting every morning at 9 a.m. I was at my grandmother`s, who was watching my baby brother. She was putting him to sleep at that time, so I was free to watch my favorite show. And it was like that almost every day. The only thing I don`t remember clearly is when they actually canceled the show.

04-15-2007, 12:26 AM	#7
TheAnimatedSeries Foot Soldier Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 158	I was five when I saw the first movie in theaters in 1990. I was sick with the flu or something and kept having to leave the theater real quick to go throw up in the restroom. I was asleep for most of the time though, the only thing I remember about actually watching the movie was waking up and seeing Donatello in the truck when he and Casey were working on it. I also remember that next to us were two 30 year old guys, and my brother and I thought they were weird/awesome for being old ass Turtles fans. I'm sure they were just fans of the comics, or if not, just harmless pedophiles. __________________ ...but thats just one black mans opinion. Whats yours? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is better than SOTO and the 2007 movie. You would know that if you were a gangster.

04-15-2007, 12:41 AM	#8
Revan Han Shot First Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Paper Street Soap Company Posts: 3,687	I tell you a sad story. As most of you can understand, I was completely consumed by turtles as a child. Had the figures, had the cartoons on vhs, had shirts, had bedsheets... I played tmnt with my neigborhood friends way too much. Anyway, one day I was playing turtles with my babysitter. Raph was my favorite so of course I had to find weapons. What's a turtle without his weapons. I opened a kitchen drawer and grabbed two butterknives which I then slipped through my belt loops. Well, I drew my weapons from my belt and declared "I'm a ninja turtle!" My babysitter told my parents I tried to cut her with 'steak' knives and the next day my parents took ALL my turtle figures and packed them away. I never saw them again. Worst day of my young life. I started collecting my lost figures years later via ebay and garage sales. When I first saw the new 2k3 figures in stores I was so excited I bought each figure they had. Been collecting 2k3, ff, and movie figs ever since. __________________

04-15-2007, 12:55 AM	#9
zkarlette Fashionably late Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: CA Posts: 4,146	I did watch the OT religiously and saw the movies more times than I can count but I was never able to have any of the old figures because my mom said they were for boys so she would not buy me any.....I had to wait until now that I can get all my stuff myself __________________ "If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time" E.W

04-15-2007, 12:58 AM	#10
Revan Han Shot First Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Paper Street Soap Company Posts: 3,687	^ I don't know what's worse. Having your entire collection stripped from you, or not being allowed to have one in the first place. Perhaps it's better to have loved and lost. __________________

04-15-2007, 04:51 AM	#12
Gothamite Random Punk Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 25	Pirates, Paedophiles, Vomiting, and steak knives! These stories are pretty extreme! __________________ - "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." - James Dean ~By the way...DON'T CALL ME GOTHY!

04-17-2007, 03:21 PM	#13
TheAnimatedSeries Foot Soldier Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 158	Does anyone remember the hype for the first movie? I had a couple small storybooks that retold the movie but with OT designs, that was pretty fresh. We only had the first one for a while though and we it ended at Splinter showing up in the fire, so we thought he was going to die in the movie and show up as a ghost. I also had this pink shirt of the movie logo with their heads peaking out of the sewer I think, which was incredibly badass for being the color pink. I met Leonardo at the mall, only he was advertised as Raphael and was by my approxamation a seven foot tall carpet monster. __________________ ...but thats just one black mans opinion. Whats yours? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is better than SOTO and the 2007 movie. You would know that if you were a gangster.

04-17-2007, 04:38 PM	#14
CudleyCowlick Stone Warrior Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vermont, USA Posts: 721	I remember my 8th birthday party, which was TMNT-themed. This was in '92 at the height of the madness and I had been into the Turtles since '89 so it was pretty much all that I ever thought or talked about. (So little has changed... hehe.) But anyway... I had the balloons, the plates, the cups and the napkins and the noisemakers, a dang tablecloth, even TMNT giftbags for all the guests. Picture about 15 sugared-up rugrats running around in TMNT pajamas, screaming at a feverish pitch battling with makeshift bos and plastic nunchuks, you get the idea. Then of course, the main event, my mom had been taking cake-making lessons (she's a real pro now), and had gotten one of the Wilton TMNT cake pans. She did the best frosting job you could imagine, I didn't even want to eat the thing. (Okay, so I did). Then of course I got a whole lot more of the Playmates toys. It seemed like at the time I must be getting close to having them all, but I really just had no idea how many of those were out there, even by 92. You gotta give a kid credit for trying though. __________________ THE DARKNESS AGE IS RETURN!