You’d have to travel very far to find someone who’s never heard of the franchise.Shown below via the Australian retailer popcultcha we have our first look at two of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2-Packs coming from Playmates Toys we first told you about the other week. To this day, as Funko Pop figures or even through the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, the four heroes and a half shell remain firmly engrained in the minds and hearts of people everywhere. Unlike other popular action figures of the era, the Turtles didn’t disappear. Eventually, the sales cooled as video games and video game consoles started to take over pop culture.
These were the sort of characters you wanted to spend your time with, and kids couldn’t get enough.Īt its peak in 1990, the Turtles represented 60% of all movable toys sold in America. You wanted to collect every action figure and vehicle you could, because it made you feel a part of the fun. The Ninja Turtles toys sucked in a whole generation of fans. But with the Turtles you could kind of pick and choose.”
You had to find your way into that character from a personal point of view. “And I think that diversity in terms of-because, usually, a superhero like Superman or Batman or the guys we’d grown up with were a singular character. “There was a little bit of something for everybody, no matter who you were, how you behaved or whatever the case may be,” Dawson told Under the Radar. It just needed to connect with the audience in a unique way. It proved that it didn’t need to be award winning or recognised to succeed. There was no stopping this juggernaut as more lines were produced, including ones that turned the Turtles into sports stars and even horror legends.įilm producer Kim Dawson summed up why Turtlemania eclipsed other established franchises of the time. In many ways, this was a metaphor for what was about to happen with the rise of Turtlemania.Īccording to The Los Angeles Times, the Ninja Turtles toys merchandise made over $1.1 billion in retail in just four years, making it one of the three bestselling action figures alongside G.I. The toys debuted at ToyFare in New York City and there was huge publicity around the event, as a rigged manhole cover exploded and the Turtles came out of it. While it might’ve seemed like a relatively small launch, it was anything but. Additionally, there were only four vehicles released: the Turtle Trooper, Cheapskate, Turtle Blimp, and the Foot Knucklehead.
The premiere series of Ninja Turtles toys featured the cast of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Splinter, Shredder, April, Bebop, Rocksteady, and a Foot Soldier.
Much like other toy companies, Playmates didn’t play all its cards straight away. After the launch of the popular show, Playmates stuck to its end of the bargain and released the first toy line in 1988. However, the company insisted that an animated series be created before it invested in this unknown quantity, hence the creation of the 1987 animated series. Licensing agent Mark Freedman shopped the idea around on behalf of Eastman and Laird, but only Playmates Toys took the bite.
No one thought a toy line could be successful with TMNT‘s core demographic. The reason is simple: the Turtles were seen as far too dark and strictly for a mature audience. But rest assured, none had as much of a cultural impact as the Ninja Turtles toys.ĭespite the initial success of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series, there wasn’t much interest from toy companies then. From He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to Transformers, it’s difficult to not get caught up in the nostalgia and hype of the franchises. Think of the ’80s and what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Action figures.