–>> One of two Turtles collector cases made by Tara i know of. The slightly larger 1990 “DELUXE” TMNT case boasts holding 20 figures and has more familiar Lavigne/Brown style guide art decor.
This one boasts holding 12 figures & accessories, but i guess that’s theoretically true depending on the size of the figs & how many weapons and such are crammed into the 2 brittle, plastic inner trays.
I barely remember when i obtained this, it was so long ago. I think might have twisted my ma’s arm to pick it up for me at the Salvation Army for like 50 cents when i was still in high school or summin’.
This case here with the weird lookin’ Turtle graphics has seen allot of action and ware. It came without the cheap plastic handle the deluxe case has ( or similar, vintage collector cases for like Hot wheels, Real Ghostbusters, He-Man or G.I. Joe. ect. also made by Tara ).
Those handles are awful anyway and in my experience with them when i was a boy was that they always fell out if TOO MUCH WEIGHT of the toys within’ gave gravity the advantage. The dang case would fall off from the handle in transit with dropping the case on the ground. Sometimes the case would open spilling the toys.
The top inner tray was the most damaged and is still cracked, but the worst of the cracks have been repaired with some household epoxy and clear packing tape.
Initially for years the handle i had used an old ribbon that just didn’t really quite work well as a holding mechanism and looked like crap.
Within’ the past year i replaced the ribbon with a jury-rigged handle made from shipping twine & and a broken piece of an old leather belt.
The old box still shows it’s age and ware, but the newer handle looks ascetically a little bit better. With the repairs, the ol’ case still does the job.
It seems the paint on Leo .. particularly his plastron appears slightly more vibrant than on the carded versions purchased years back.
..dang, these figs still looks so good.
Arguably the best comic Turtle figures ever created ( some say the best overall TMNT toys of all time ).
i’m a little jaded about the topic at this point after trying to remain optimistic about this line, i.e. series 2 ( Shredder and Foot ) and beyond. Guess Tokka was delusional.
After 4 years now, we are on the dawn of new TMNT T.V. show toys, and a new wave of collector toys ..particularly focusing, at least initially on the classic cartoon show as you may know.
It appears NECA has given up on the TURTLES all together, and it’s likely that no more TMNT comic figures will be put out by them. I feel pretty sad even after they told me directly that they still had the license after the Viacom transition. So hardcore Turtle Toy fans like my friend Vaughn were right, this is it.
With Playmates back at the controls entirely of all TMNT figures, they will really have to ratchet it up to mark the quality of the NECA line in their upcoming collector line.
The price on those toys coming out in the fall will be a little higher similar to the effect of MARVEL LEGENDS, so they just might be at a higher quality point. That’s more than likely a good thing, fingers crossed.
Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I pretend to be, a baker or food expert of any kind. In fact I tend to be pretty dumb when it comes to all things cooking. So don’t judge this post as such!
Oh man. It has been a while since I was genuinely excited about posting something. This is totally it.
I am a big proponent of shopping “mom-and-pop”. I love “start-ups”. Be it internet or otherwise. So when I discovered through my good friend Jack that a small online cupcake bakery in New Jersey was offering…wait for it…
NINJA TURTLE PUDDING PIES!!?!??!!?!?
I was a little excited. Ok, a lot excited. So I ate two of the pies that Jack bought (Take that, Jack!), and then I went and ordered some. But before I get into the pies, lets take a tryst back through history to the original pies that these ones pay homage to.
The year was 1991. The TMNT were arguably at the height of their popularity. I was 10 years old.
There were a number of Ninja Turtle food products on the market, from breakfast cereal to corn puffed pizza flavored snack chips. One such entry in this catalog were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies by Hostess. These were simply a variant of their standard fruit pies that they had been making for years, except they were filled with vanilla pudding (to simulate ooooooze) and were green instead of…you know…pie colored.
As memory serves, these things were pretty darn delicious (despite the questionable color scheme). Though really, the childhood memory is probably better than the actual pie was.
Fast forward 21 years (that makes me sad!). Enter Polkadot Cupcake Shop. An online-only cupcake company that (you guessed it!) specializes in all things cupcake. Recently, bless their little hearts, Polkadot has rolled out limited edition “Throwback” Ninja Turtle Pudding Pies! So how do these pies compare to the originals?
Well, Original 1991 Hostess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pies obviously don’t still exist for comparison. That’s probably a good thing…cause that would be really gross. So, at 12:30 this morning, I ran out to 7-11 and got us the next best thing. A Hostess apple fruit pie! You see what I do for you? I spent a $1.79 for this review!
The Polkadot pies come 12 in a box, and are individually wrapped in small plastic baggies. The box of 12 will cost you $25 USD plus shipping. For me, it averaged out to about 3 bucks a pie. When buying from independent shops, you often find you pay a bit more than you would from a massive company like Hostess, simply because smaller companies can’t deal in the kind of volume of product that the big guys can. But, like I said, supporting the little guy is kinda my thing.
Size wise, they are a little bit smaller than the modern Hostess pie (Not sure how much smaller, since, by the time I wrote this post…I sorta…already ate both of them. I’M SORRY! I LOVE PIE OK!?!?!)
Yup, still filled with vanilla puddin’! So how do they compare taste wise? Well, I wouldn’t say that either is better. But they are different. The primary difference being firmness of the crust. The Hostess pies are machine made, and made…well…quite some time ago. This makes for a very firm outer crust.
Meanwhile, the Polkadot pie is hand made and made to order so , while delicious, it is definitely a softer pie. They don’t shatter when you break them in half like the Hostess pies do. Which affects presentation more than taste. Some of them got a little squished during shipping, while I’m pretty sure you could step on a Hostess pie and have it keep relative shape.
The bottom line? Since Polkadot is an online only store, it would be a little unrealistic (in both time and money) for you to keep you shelves stocked with these little darlings on a consistent basis. But, if you’re a Turtle fan (which…since you’re here…you probably are) and you want to be able to say “ZOMGS LOOK WHAT I HAVE! I’M EATING MY CHILDHOOD! NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!” then these are the pies for you.
Besides, it’s a WAY better idea then breaking open that sealed box of Ninja Turtles cereal I know you have lying around. Seriously dude…don’t eat that.
Check out Polkadot Cupcake Shop Here!
And like them on Facebook here!
–>> Having constantly expanded on his rich creative history with Mirage and TMNT, Ryan’s artistic talents have continued to entertain millions of children for a very long time now !!
This one boasts holding 12 figures & accessories, but i guess that’s theoretically true depending on the size of the figs & how many weapons and such are crammed into the 2 brittle, plastic inner trays.
This case here with the weird lookin’ Turtle graphics has seen allot of action and ware. It came without the cheap plastic handle the deluxe case has ( or similar, vintage collector cases for like Hot wheels, Real Ghostbusters, He-Man or G.I. Joe. ect. also made by Tara ).
The old box still shows it’s age and ware, but the newer handle looks ascetically a little bit better. With the repairs, the ol’ case still does the job.
![Toy Fair 2012 :: Nickelodeon "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" Peek / 'CLASSIC COLLECTION Leonardo (( 2012 )) [[ Courtesy of MTV Geek ]]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6810760923_9e901e9ba0_n.jpg)
