–>> Iconic toy sculptor, STEVE VARNER of ** VARNER STUDIOS crafted all 4 of Nick’s initial 2012 TMNT figure wave bodies and all, with one noted exception.. Michelangelo.
Stefan Varner, son of Steve and fellow toy designer at VARNER was in charge of creating Mikes noggin. Four ( or more ? ) attempts were made to get Mikey’s face just right. The fifth head passed Stefan’s and Nickelodeon’s expectations and that is the current noggin you’ll find on main Mikey figures in production worldwide. This particular sculpt is etch signed by the artist.
..the rejected head set atop the manufactured PLAYMATES Mike body.
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TARA returns with a new Collector’s case for Playmate’s NICK TURTLES !!
Published by Grandreams between 1990-92 – the UK had a range of ‘Hero’ Turtles coloring books, poster sets and activity books. These were mostly sold in Newsagents and Sweet Shops.
The color-in imagery used within these various stationary books was artwork based on the TV show. A lot of images were the Turtles and Splinter fighting off Mousers and Foot Soldiers. And like with the current censorship, there was not a nunchuck in sight.
No idea who the artist behind these was, but the random pictures were all very well drawn and stood out at the time. Being a coloring book, the images were easy to trace and make customized pictures from. As a kid I never really coloured in any of these and enjoyed copying through on white paper with the help of a desk lamp. The coloring books also had a nice crisp colorless image of the logo to trace around to use. An improvised method to use as I didn’t have a computer or the world wide web back then.
Art I ‘bootlegged’ from one of the coloring pages (1991)
Here are a few scans, and in optionally higher-res for the photoshop generation to have fun with. Click the links to view and download. Have fun!
Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) is now viewable in the ‘land of Oz’. Australian fans rejoice!
A month has passed since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released Stateside and people are still talking about it. Regardless of the positive/negative feedback, it is great that the first live-action outing in 2 decades for the TMNT is making a repeat presence in movie theaters. Perhaps that is why the movie didn’t receive a worldwide release.
Prior to release, the promotional poster advertising the movie caused quite a stirbecause of the imagery used coupled with the release date. Of course, September 11th (or culturally abbreviated as 9/11) is a calendar date best known for the World Trade Center tragedy in 2001.
Promotional poster originally posted on (now deleted from) Paramount Australia’s Twitter feed.
It doesn’t need explaining that the imagery depicting the brothers diving from an exploding hi-rise rooftop struck a nerve with many. Someone in the art department probably ‘didn’t get the memo’ and got ‘pink slipped’ as a result. All in all, the whole setup (even though offense was likely not intended) was in bad taste.
Now the movie is finally out in Australia there is still a month to go for the European release (Oct 17th). The worldwide gross by the end of the year stemming from this globally thin-spread launch schedule should prove interesting.
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On a personal note. An anniversary day like today is one where I reflect and count the blessings I already have, hug my loved ones a little tighter and spare a thought about those who made sacrifices in what had been a very tragic day in worldwide history.
This second wave of all-orange ooze (as a nod to retro mutagen no doubt) has different shade repaints of the mini turtles from wave 1.
Unlike the bandana colors of the American release, the mini turtles are still different shades of green. Although, this wave has an exclusive ‘chase figure’ of sorts with a Golden Turtle!
US wave 1 Leo on Left, UK Wave 2 Leo on Right
The Golden Turtle is part of a competition and promotion with Nickelodeon UK to win prizes and a vacation to Greece! The orange ooze canisters have only been found in Tesco stores and are likely an exclusive.
Punters who don’t find the Golden Turtle can still enter the competition via a promo code that every canister comes with. The promo code with The Golden Turtle is to prove authenticity.
Whilst having a clear out last year, I found a few magazine clippings from UK publication Smash Hits!. (a British equivalent to Tiger Beat.).
The Fly was a small cartoon strip featured in every issue. The Fly is literally a fly on the wall interviewer who annoys his interviewees. This particular edition has him donning a foot clan headband and visiting the set of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
(Click to enlarge)
None of the boys ever admitted to having that saucy affair with ‘Kids in America’ singer Kim Wilde. What could have been the basis of such infidelity? :). Gotta love Kim! <3 The same issue of Smash Hits! also featured a hair-do workshop from Mr Ninja Rap himself – Vanilla Ice! I scanned and shared the article on my personal blog last summer for which Van Winkle himself plugged on Twitter.
More ‘attic clear-out’ stuff to come. It gets better from here.
The same issue of Smash Hits! also featured a hair-do workshop from Mr Ninja Rap himself – Vanilla Ice! I scanned and shared the article 
