Some Questions Answered From Playmates

Hi Everyone!

We recently sat down with Adam Key, Playmates Product Manager for the TMNT, and he was kind enough to answer some of our questions in the wake of the press release from 9 days ago.

GGM: It has been public knowledge for quite some time now that the Comic Turtles line had been shelved (around the time that the ill-fated Music Turtles got the axe). Are these new comic turtles mentioned in the press release the same ones we saw debuted at NYCC09? And what was the inspiration behind bringing the idea back?

Adam: Yes, we knew that the collectors wanted these figures and we felt it was an appropriate time to bring them back after having success with the 25th Anniversary Figure Line. Only the 4 turtles will be brought back for the original Comic Book. No Splinter, Shredder or Foot.

GGM: The press release mentions a continuation of the vintage rereleases. Can we expect a number of figures rereleased past what we’ve seen prototyped atlready?

Adam: For the first time since 1990, we are bringing back the Movie Star Turtles. We are very excited about this as we’ve seen that these are quite the hot commodity on Ebay. The texture of these figures really brings out the feel of the original movie.

GGM: What is the current status of the Fugitoid figure? Pre-order stores have been pushing back the date to december. Is this accurate? If he performs at retail, could we hope to see more collector grade figures from Playmates?

Adam: These should be fulfilled shortly, but I will have to look into this and advise later.

GGM: Many fans out there have been wanting to see the toyline return to it’s roots with more attention focused on secondary characters, and maybe even see Playmates work with some of the sculpting greats from the 90’s toyline again; such as Scott Hensey and Steve Varner. Any thoughts on these things happening down the road?

Adam: Unfortunately retail demand is mainly for the core turtles. We tried to feature as many secondary characters as possible for the 25th Anniversary line (i.e. Bebop, Rock Steady, Casey, April). We understand that there is demand for these from collectors, but there are high costs to tool these figures and the volume doesn’t support it. We believe in 2011 when the movie comes out, there will be more demand for a very deep line. Keep the suggestions coming….

GGM: Is there anything else you’d like to convey to the fanbase or promote?

Adam: We would like to convey that we are continuing to support the turtle line throughout 2010 with TRU, and we expect a huge year in 2011 with the new movie that will continue into 2012 and beyond.

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As always, we would like to give a huge thank you to Playmates for giving GoGreenMachine.Org such candid access to their line of business. And a very special thank you to Adam for spending some time with us today. Have comments or suggestions for Playmates? feel free to email to them to us at Stephan@GoGreenMachine.Org or leave a comment here!