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LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :: Exclusive NYCC LEGO Kraang “Battle Damage Suit” Minifigure / ..signed by Steve Lavigne (( 2012 ))

–>> ** Last Week’s NYCC unavailing of the new LEGO TMNT line-up was the first ‘brick-toy’ related piece of news to come for the shell-backs in almost a decade since their 2003 era MEGA Bloks counterparts & their vintage ( and extremely rare ) 1990s Italian brick toy releases.

Two NYCC exclusives were offered up to celebrate the brand-new LEGO line-up at the Convention itself, a daily free raffle ( one ticket per person per day ) was set at unreasonable and random times for an exclusive all black SHADOW-LEONARDO Minifigure with a NYCC logo skateboard. It was a mess. Miscommunication seemed to be the key for the raffle, times set for the raffle on a following day had the contest ending earlier than stated the day prior; for example.

Many figures went unclaimed at the end of each raffle, reports of boxes of the figures were seen unopened after the raffle and some people were seen with more than one figure.

Before Tokka totally jumps the gun, i can only go so far with what i’ve heard and seen myself at the convention.The entire trip was very overwhelming ( and positive ) an experience for my first NYC Con. The main staff manning the LEGO booth, building a TMNT LEGO mural and helping the kids and families with the BRICK tables were incredible !! My personal experience with those stating times of day of the raffle was confusing so i actually missed 2 of the four raffles for the Leo figure and so did all my friends. A day or so after the first raffle – up to now, the LEO and KRAANG minifigs are going for sale online in some instances for over $300. A pretty unbalanced contest and it seems that more of the LEGO figs went into more EBAY hawkers hands than kids and fans hands that just wanted it for pure enjoyment. Duno, wish i knew how to cheat to get one of those Leos. Guess i’m dumb.

Meh, you know Tokka.. he always likes the bad guys better anyway.

A much more reasonable & even more fun event was on hand during the convention day of the 13th at the Rockefeller Center LEGO STORE:

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New York City, NY

Don’t miss an exclusive LEGO® Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™ event at the LEGO® Store!
On Saturday, October 13th, help us celebrate our newest theme! Visit the LEGO® Store at Rockefeller Center and get a sneak peak of a LEGO® Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™ set launching in January 2013!

Plus, be one of the first 300 people to visit the LEGO® Store at Rockefeller Center, dressed as your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle™ and you will receive a free exclusive minifigure!

October 13, The LEGO® Store at Rockefeller Center
Saturday, October 13: 10 am – 8 pm

Families and Kids & Ninja Turtles of all ages ( and even one little Shredder !! ) showed up in costume or TMNT clothing of any sort to have a showdown with the Raphael Zombie and get a glimpse of the NEW TMNT Lego battle set due early next year. The Kraang “Battle Damage Suit” Minifigure offer was part of a much more family-fun event than wrestling the NYCC for raffle tickets for a figure you’d prolly never get.The staff at Rockefeller rocked and made the chilly, early-morning “TURTLE ZOMBIE” Tokka much less cranky and hungry for LEGO BRAINS !!

Thanks, Guys !!

~ t

** View LARGE On Black **

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** View LARGE On Black **

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Later during Tokka’s big trip, the base of the figure was signed by MIRAGE legend & alumni ** Steve Lavigne at his SHELLBACK ARTWORKS in Wells, Maine.

The Spindly Return of SPYDER BYTEZ; well kinda

–>> ‘The Daily Show’s Lewis Black guest starred in Saturday’s third episode of Nick’s new TMNT Toon : “Turtle Temper“.

Black played the portly & cantankerous Vic just can’t get a buyer for his exclusive cell phone camera coverage of the Teens fighting Kraang Droids. But the Kraang have more than enough hankering to provide Vic with a healthy dose of Mutagen ooze; by way of Raphal and his “Frog” brothers. Next thing ya know, Vic’s a real spider,Man !! Can’t wait for a Kraang alien to put the video of that incident up on YouTube.

Spyder Bytez harkens back to just a matter of years ago actually to the tail end and Pre- TURTLES FOREVER final season of the TMNT 2003 era; “BACK TO THE SEWER”.

Cyber Shredder was on the loose, Splinter was missing in the cyber-verse ( if you recall ), mad digital-mutants, Baxter’s goopy dinosaurians, and good ol’ fashioned demons were all the rage for the Teen’s blow-out season !!

In TMNT:BTTS episode 147 – “The Engagement Ring”..::

“Casey and Raphael head to Chinatown to find an engagement ring for April. They are given a ring that turns April into a monster. After successfully turning April back to normal, the man gives her the real engagement ring and she and Casey are engaged.”

The terrifyingly possessed April ( serious.. she was creepy n’ freeky in this ep ) summons some twisted creatures from the evil ‘RING OF YIN’ to go after & Raph and Casey with her mistakenly new found powers.

The creatures the Ring had manifested were two massive flying ‘Spider’ -like demons called the SPYDER BYTEZ, apparently post production. Tho’ they are never mentioned by name in the episode.

Hence the origin’ ( at least of the name ) of the Turtle’s bouncy arachno-enemy & Mutant Menace in the new show !!

Tho’ i guess calling Black’s character a “Return” – technically is only kinda,sorta, not-really, partly true sorta.,kinda. Uh – –

Also on a nerdy note: the flying Spiders in the BTTS ep were two demonic manifestations or so from an evil ring unlike Vic’s toxic mutant transformation.

April also managed to call upon a giant Mole Mutant thing initially dubbed by one of the coolest bad-guy names i’ve ever heard :Metalliclaw. His name was changed to the less than catchy and i suppose the less COPYRIGHT – infringing name ; Metal Klawz.

Yeh i guess you wouldn’t want to get a certain iconic Metal Band’s lawyers thrashing all over you. But hey the guy is cool & he really digs, and really digs the sewers, and really digs the Ring of Yin and ringin’ Raph’s neck !!

** View LARGE On Black **

Toy versions of the Ring’s creatures were supposed to be offered as part of the somewhat season accurate TMNT SUB SEWER figure line in 2008.

Unfortunately .. and i mean VERY unfortunately, only the Turtles in their Monster-Catching guises were released from this line. By the time SUB-SEWER hit stores, The Turtles toys as a whole were already struggling to make sales quotas. This line itself, even the Turtles were a little tricky to get hold of as older “TMNT” branded merch was still hanging on pegs in many stores. Stores were also dropping the toy line so it really was a tricky time to get Turtle figures in brick n’ mortar retailers.

I recall only getting like one or two Sub-Sewer Turtles early on.Way late in the game, like as of LATE 2009 & early 2010 did i get the rest of the Teens.

SUB-SEWER Leo was offered extremely late in the 2009 TMNT 24th anniversary year as part of the TOYS R’ Us exclusive ‘SLUDGE RUNNERS’ vehicle combo-pack. The other Turtles were supposed to come out in deluxe combo-packs too – but only Leo was released.

But alas the Spider Bytez & Metalliclaw toys were dropped from the SUB-SEWER wave altogether , apparently victim to the sagging sales of the “TMNT” toy line in that 2008 – Early 2010 time-frame. Bad decision if you ask me.

And unless you are some weirdo who hates really – REALLY COOL looking toys, you can’t tell me that’s kind of not a tragedy taking a look at that freekin’ cool prototype of Klawz !! !!

So we never got the Spyder & we never got the Naked Mole and that kinda BYTEZ !!

Yeh yeh.. ya see what Tokka did there !!

~ t

Metalhead, Dogpound, Fishface on card/due soon ; ‘HERO Turtles’ ..Return of the U.K. sensors

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–>> Some grubby ebay diggings show some grubby ebay listings for Metalhead, Fishface, and Dogpound in package, with slight paint variations than the prototypes shown earlier this year.

So let the manic ebay bidding begin, or the more sensible penny-pinching ..cuz if you wait just a week to 3 .. these guys will start showing up on pegs in brick and mortar or in more abundance online at more sensible prices. The choice, of coarse is yours.

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“COWABUNGA, Ol’ CHAP !! “

Almost everyone knows by now the edits made by U.K. censors in the early 1990s to TMNT animation,movies, and related product lines. “HERO” Turtles was wildly successful none-the-less in spite of edits eliminating most of Michelangelo’s nunchuku skills and scenes & the word ‘ninja’ itself nearly altogether. This did create a bunch of uniquely labeled U.K. TMHT memorabilia – but still the edits went down in Turtle history as something infamous.

Across the Seas, GGM’s pal “HERO” chimes in with this with his recent viewing of the new NICK TMNT show in England ::

“Nick UK have edited out Mikey’s Kasurigama from the new show here. Crazy stuff.”

..interesting little bit, i guess what goes around comes around and in this case the censors return to the TMNT with a little vengeance.

Heh, just like old times !!

~ t

Jester’s Pointillism Review of Rise of the TMNT

This is kinda just a stream of consciousness thing I started back with the 4Kids series on the Technodrome, and figured, why not keep it alive for the new Turtle incarnation. There is very little critical value to this, it’s just mainly my thoughts as i viewed the episodes.

The Jester Pointillism “Review”:
*They re-edited the training scene. The lightning bolts that flash at the pressure point after Splinter schools Raph are gone. I liked those.
*Ahhh good ole algae and worms. Maybe Yoshi/Splinter felt that even humanoid pet Turtles still like algae and worms…*shrugs*
*Mikey’s the cook again. And his recipes are kinda gross…ahhh nostalgia.
*HAPPY MUTATION DAY! Though how can there be older and younger brothers with a…never mind. We all kinda assumed this is what they’d shell-ebrate anyway, right? Sorry….bad joke.
*New origin. No Chet. 🙁
*”That was us!” OHHHH NO!
*I do like the Kraang’s broken English. “This place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place.” the line just seems to work if you know these people ain’t human, but rather “a brain thing.”
*Always laugh at Mikey’s “MOM!” line.
*”Yes…and no.” Splinter made a funny.
*Love Rob-atello. Like there was any doubt.
*Sad Turtle Eyes….adorable!
*Love the Filmation Star Trek: TAS reference. Is that Cam Clarke as Captain Ryan? I know it can’t be but it SOUNDS like him.
*As pointed out, love Mutagen Man on the comic cover.
*Like the “katas” before the boys leave, I just hope it doesn’t become stock footage.
*Splinter’s instructions are spot on…well maybe except the bit about the toilets. Kinda ironic they live in a sewer, but the topside restrooms are gross.
*Farting Hob, a bit much…
*”There could be an adventure around every corner…there isn’t but their could be!” Love Leo’s optimism.
*”I dunna Donatello…IS IT!?” They seem to be nailing that these are 4 teenage brothers rather well.
*As I said before when the Pizza Taste Test video first hit:
Growing up in a glass bowl
With chameleons, lizards, and tadpoles
It hardly enters your mind
That there’s something better than this.
A better treat than a carrot
Maybe a seed from a parrot
Believe me when I tell you
The word gourmet just don’t exist!
*Ninja run weird.
*April uses A LOT of gel in her hair.
*Would a anthropomorphic Turtle really crush on a human chick? Still leads to a fun bit.
*Save April and her father Ron Howard, Turtles!
*Teamwork is sorely lacking…kinda like Darkness on the Edge of Town…I think that’s the 4Kids episode.
*Raph’s uses Sai Flip on Kraang. It was NOT super effective.
*”I didn’t know you were going to land where I was stabbing.” Not sure if just punchy, or if that line was really pretty funny.
*Kraang run weird
*Mikey uses Random Blade Flail on Kraang. It is super effective!
*Kraang’s hug heads. I wonder if it’s a set up for the Kraang takes over Shredder bit from Archie.
*”It was a humongous brain! And it had eyes, and a mouth, and it latched on to my melon. Weird, huh?”
*Pass buck to the right…poor Mikey.
*Wait…Mikey’s right? I guess he is.
*Hamato Family Photo = American Gothic. All Yoshi needs is a pitch fork.
*Mikey for Leader. Why…. Just cuz!
*Wait for villains to show up, get sweet van. Wha? Worked before.
*”I’m thinking of something green. Green. Greeeen.” “Is it Raphael again?
*Snake’s face has a surprising amount of detail.
*Coach Leo says “Swing Away”…if you can read his hand signals.
*It’s Mommy!
*Oh…Brian Bloom is Ryan. Who’s Brian Bloom? He’s Captain America?
*I thought Crankshaw sounded like Kevin French.
*Mikey wants to drink the ooze to become a super mutant…but does this ooze even work that way? I mean…they don’t explain how Splinter becomes a rat, the turtles just bigger, humanoid Turtles, and Snake (later) becomes a….weed.
*”WHY WON’T THIS THING COME OFF!”
*Is that Solid Snake?
*Raph sounds like a toned down 4Kids Raph with his ripping Mikey.
*Taking the scientists out of the city….maybe to THE TECHNODROME!?
*Ok, yeah Mikey’s letting Snake escape was kinda weak. But then again it sets up Leo’s “master plan” so maybe it’s a win-win.
*”Oh great, we let him get away…” ACTING!!!
*Raph pouring his heart out to Spike was sweet.
*I wonder if we’ll get any Yoshi and Saki: Buddy Ninjas flashbacks….I really can’t wait to see the Saki/Yoshi/Shen story fleshed out.
*April’s plan was not a bad idea…but these aren’t any mere human thugs.
*”Kraang, are those who are coming to this place, coming to this place…” Yeah, I can understand Snake’s frustration…
*Oh, look…I just noticed the very obvious weeds growing up from the cracks in the road at the place which Snake wishes the Kraang would call “here”…
*These human mutations look painful, but why did Splinter’s mutation seem more…well…not monsterous?
*Ok, Mikey that plan isn’t THAT hard to follow.
*You’re not a bone head, Mikey…just a little childish.
*Donnie more working and less fawning.
*Using the arm to bar the door…not that gruesome, really people.
*Snake Weed however…a bit gruesome. I mean, I can see his bones and muscles. Wonder if that’ll be part of the figure.
*Raph’s “Let it go, man.” line made me chuckle both times I heard it.
*Donatello: Action Hero! GET TO DUH CHOPPA!!!
*Beating the baddies by being a kid…unique. All though Leo’s fanny slap was a bit much.
*We get it, the Kraang really like the word “place”.
*So April’s staying with Aunt Agatha and Uncle Auggie?
*Not sure what to make of the Donnie crush on April…kind weird.
*”You asked…” 😀 No right or wrong, only choices. “You could have chose Mikey?” “No, that would have been wrong…” Poor Mikey, but funny….funny.
*Hey a Hispanic, Asian, Irish, African Newscaster voiced by Jim Meskimen.
*Shredder has great cable service…and some wicked scars. Maybe you should get that looked at. Maybe some ointment…
*So Shredder’s helmet is more functional than anything…kinda a Dr. Doom motif.

Fresh from the Future;Tokka meets TMNT: FF’s CODY JONES; CLAY ADAMS

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–>> Comic-conventions are the biggest strain on Tokka in any given year as preparation for port-reviews, interviews and networking are months in the making & so anxiety filled.

The actual event is mostly a mad-dash around a very large area chasing down potential work opportunities & important faces looking for talent. It’s not all business and frustration, and forever reason – there are always many surprises for Tokka each and every year like this. ::

While taking the motions that will help shape and determine Tokka’s future; someone from the future came and visited the past this past summer on one of Tokka’s interviews.

More precisely.. be it time-travel, coincidence, or fate :: one of Tokka’s interviews was with 4kids TMNT: FAST FORWARD & BACK TO THE SEWER’s CODY JONES,April & Casey’s greatest grandchild !! A.k.a. actor,V.A. & comic writer **Clay Adams !! !!

He was also the gritty vocal talent for Mirage Donatello of the PRIME TURTLES in the insanely popular TMNT Swan-Song; TURTLES FOREVER !!

Tokka’s composure & spine during the interview; rest assured was as upright as gooey, radioactive-ooze.

Scrambling for something to be autographed, Clay signed a 4kids style TMNT school folder i’ve yet to post.

He also signed a copy of Tales of the TMNT v.2 #59 i had on hand. Split-second reasoning : 1) it’s a Mirage Book, and he was the only official voice for Mirage Donatello & 2) Tristan Jones. This being one of Tristan’s masterworks for Mirage – at that time on the side he was working on the U.K. TMNT Magazine with Andres Ponce creating TMNT:F.F. comics for the mag. Just made sense in lieu of the connection.