–>> FOOLISH – abandoned Turtle art from the Tokka-archives. Unclear why these were made, they may have been web-comic fodder from back in the day when i was doing an infrequent gag, usually one-panel comic format for the old, fairly defunct UNDERMANHATTAN site.
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Sorry for the delay in content the past week or 2, i was recently dealing with hospital issues and real life drama and it did set me a bit behind on the news, i shall amend that with this and upcoming posts. We’ll start with Movie related bits and the like.
TOYARK :: It ain’t no joke .. like it or not these 1/6 scale high-end movie figs are due soon.
–>> As i set this letter up, keep in mind that i used to go by my birth-name “David”. With the exception of family and certain close individuals i usually prefer not to go by this name anymore as i have been working on legally changing my name to “Tokka”. But in 1993 i was still under my parents care, so it was different time and case.
Actually this letter from Dorothy Sloan, the former Publishing Assistant at Mirage Publishing during this time was correspondence sent on my behalf from a letter mailed back East by my Mother. I don’t recall the contents of that original letter nor do i recall my Ma mentioning that she had sent it initially. It may have been a surprise planned on her part. There were times my family played an active role in trying to help me obtain my goals. Maybe this was part of that. Tho’ based on this note, my ma also indicated that we would be going on a trip to Northampton, Massachusetts and the Coast inquiring about vising Mirage Studios itself. That trip would never manifest, well not right away. My Ma may have also stated about my wishes to pursue a work in industry.
In the 1990s, early on in my career at Cartoon School – many of my own medical issues would collide with my education in the field presenting a constant need for inspiration and direction, advice and counsel as the road ahead for me would be very “Rocky” to say the least. Cliche or not, or whether Dorthy picked up on this need for a little guidance from my Mom’s words — the suggestions in the note are as relevant today as they were over two decades ago. Perhaps an aspiring young comics professional, a student just out of school, or the struggling comics pro or artist in industry may find a little bit of solace from this letter. If anyone ANYWHERE can gain some positive influence and encouragement from it..by ALL MEANS, please do !! Tokka is right there with you. While my career is slightly taking flight, it’s no where it could be.
Thus, maybe that is the nature of any type of career in the arts field, design, comics, animation ect. But then again in 1993 i had no idea that my past experiences in industry good or bad would manifest the remarkable ways they would have. I have been actively trying to recover Dorothy’s letter for several years now and am happy to finally be able to share it with everyone digitally. On a final note, the ill-fated trip of 1993 to the East Coast to visit Mirage Studios WOULD happen near 20 years later for Tokka in 2012 and we would go to the sites of Mirage Studios and a few other places and landmarks in Northampton. The places that would make up pivotal grounds for the creation of the TMNT, their friends, enemies and stories. Especially in those important early years of the Teens’ comic book development.
Over at Figure Hobby Club, a member there got a tour of the ThreeZero studio. They were allowed to snap a bunch of photos, and they showcase a few new 1/6 scale figures.
Bebop and Rocksteady Join Shredder on his Quest to Defeat the Turtles During
a Brand-New Episode of Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Premiering March 8 at 11:00a.m. (ET/PT)
Franchise-favorite villains, Bebop (J.B. Smoove) and Rocksteady (Fred Tatasciore) hit the small screen when brand-new episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return Sunday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. In the action-packed episode, “The Pig and the Rhino,” Donnie finishes a new batch of retro-mutagen, in hopes of saving Karai, while the Turtles find themselves hunted by Shredder’s new vengeful henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady. Beginning March 8, Turtle fans can watch the special hour-long premiere “Battle for New York” pre-released on Nick.com and the Nick App through March 15. The episode will premiere on Nickelodeon Sunday, March 15, at 11:00 a.m. (ET/PT).
Also beginning March 8, Turtle enthusiasts can participate in “TMNT Mutation Madness,” an interactive bracket-style tournament that will give fans everywhere a chance to cast their votes in four rounds of mutant match-ups counting down to the Ultimate Mutant Champion. While Nicktoons airs mutant-driven Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes, the tournament starts online with sixteen mega-mutants including: Fishface, Spider Bytez, Tiger Claw, Slash, Bebop and Rocksteady, among others competing for the title of Ultimate Mutant Champion. As part of Nicktoons’ “Mutation Madness” each round, will reveal the brackets narrowing from 16 to 8 to 4 to 2, with the Ultimate Mutant Champion debuting March 23. Along with casting a vote every round, fans can enter special sweepstakes for prizes and unlock exclusive content to learn more about each mutant through bios, gifs, images and videos.
For more TMNT action, viewers can logon to Nick.com for full episodes, quizzes and games, including “Shadow Heroes” and the recently release, “Mikey’s Day Off.” In the new game, crime has taken the night off, but that doesn’t stop Mikey from relieving his boredom by sneaking around the turtle lair to throw paper balls at his bros.
–>> Every year during San D, Tokka is usually able to get at least ONE REAL QUICK illustration from Kevin Eastman. At the “0” hour of closing, everyone was cleaning up, SDCC’s security was about to beat and arrest me and Tokka’s head was about to explode into 25 billion little HD Technicolor Pixels. It just wasn’t gonna happen.
Then suddenly this young chap stepped-up to the plate, one of Heavy Metal Magazine’s rising STARS – SHANE .. and here we have a quick and cool TMNT masterpiece for Tokka to add to his TURTLE art-collection in the same genre o’ black & white vibrancy that started the whole EASTMAN Legacy in the first place !!
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..where to start with the news after such an absence the past several weeks, Tokka ??
H’mm – -Step at a time, lets start with the end of summer toy and collectible news ::
Mondo TMNT and Iron Giant – overlooked by Tokka at SDCC. Sorry was so busy — Check out the awesome “!st Turtle” vinyl, highly stylized Lil Mikey, and the cool MOUSER 2-pack vinyls !! My god, awesome !! !!
..and if KidRobot, Mondo and Loyal Subjects weren’t enough mutating vinyl into all sorts of Turtle shapes ..YES ANIME well – -throws this one outta left field — Yes Anime Super Armor TMNT Vinyl Figures (( these little guys are really incredible !! Whole “SUPERMAN LEGEND VIBE !! ))
..i’ll try to summarize the movie related FLOOD of merch and such we got this summer and hopefully get to comics AND MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT YOU REALLY ONLY FIND HERE in the coming days and posts !! Yup, that’s my testimony n’ i’m stickin’ to it.
Bare with me again please, still trying to rebound. Also trying to build back a little bit of a team and network here like we started with when Stephen first founded this ol’ place. We’ll do the best we can.
Also apologies personally if i promised to incorporate your news info in my updates and have failed or not gotten to it yet. Please forgive me, it has been a very traumatizing year, let alone summer.
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TOYARK :: It ain’t no joke .. like it or not these 1/6 scale high-end movie figs are due soon.
Comicbook.com :: in case you hadn’t heard; CASEY JONES Confirmed;Stephen Amell Cast As Casey Jones In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2
3Dprint.com::
