–>> .. ain’t no foolin’ this April, ** PARTNERS IN KRYME is back on the case, better hurry up – there’s no time to waste.
During February’s **Jared’s Epic Party ***& last month’s D-Lux Expo P.I.K.’s Richard Usher ; an iconic musician from the first and third TMNT movie soundtracks revealed some very cool TURTLE RELATED music items. He’s fesh off the soundtrack to Activision’s “TMNT: OUT OF THE SHADOWS“ video game – – he’s in a current of anold-school re-surge of legendary musicians with now famous & classic TMNT movie relates songs, with fresh takes and variations on those classics & brand new material .. – –
..in fact Richard’s been performing his brand new “T – U – R – T – L – E POWER” 2.0 live ;
“ROCK THE HALF SHELL”.
– .. If things go according to plan and negotiations work out, ROCK THE HALF SHELL WILL APPEAR on the new soundtrack for PARAMOUNT’s TMNT film due in August.
–>> With Toy Fair wrapped up for another year; TMNT made a massive presence in the showrooms unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Round 2 hi-lights include ::
TMNT: Jay Cochran – 2014.02.10
“Shown.. are new images for the TakaraTomy ARTS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trading Figures. These figures stand about 5 centimeters/2″ tall and feature a good amount of articulation. All four Turtles will see release and include their signature weapons. Look for them to be released in May 2014 for 300 yen each.”
There was just so much more going on with companies like SAKAR & Funko as well; updated info will be provided as it becomes available thru’ reliable and familiar sources.
• •
Earlier in the week, Tokka was kindly asked to remove a link to unauthorized Paramount TMNT Movie product photos from Toy Fair. A polite conversation came up about the ramifications of the leaked info, and leaks in general.
Security was pretty tight at TMNT movie section of PLAYMATES’S showroom and ZERO photos were to be taken in ANY capacity of the product. But again, someone did go rouge and snapped some pix anyway. that further set the Web on fire. In some instances.. it is way to late.
To paraphrase an old JOE ROGAN character quote ::
“Taking images off the internet is like taking pee out of swimming pool; once it’s in there ..IT’s IN THERE.”
And even before the interwebs .. the “NEED TO KNOW” by fans, gossip columnists, Hollywood journalists or have you — that was out there trying to get access to insider info & sneak peeks of the latest projects on peoples’ favourite films and projects. The ‘Net just increases tenfold.
And while every other Angry NERD video blogger, toy reviewer,forum member, or Geeky website guy wants to be the first with the latest images from the set of the Film, or to give fans access to images we just aren’t supposed to see til’ later – – like it or not.. :: there’s a dark side to all of this.
Keeping control of “LEAKED” info is gonna speculative at best when a big company rolls out a big production if be TMNT movies or any other big production say like Star Wars or Transformers. Whatever; the companies do their best to keep an eye on what the public can see early on and what they don’t want the public to see.
With controversial choices in producers and directors, miscommunication on story elements ( remember the “TURTLES ARE ALIENS” bit ?? ), unspecified but opinionated verbal descriptions of the movie designs – – fans’ curiosities have been on edge for quite awhile now. Noone can totally blame the passionate TMNT fanbase that genuinely cares about the property that so influenced their childhoods and continues to inspire new generations as well as the “ORIGINALS” exposed to the Turtles who are now grown-ups.
But what it boils down to is the backlash on the little guys ; I.E. the companies producing the licensed products tied to the film like PLAYMATES’s workers and the like. And in the end it stalls the release of said products and actually THE FILM ITSELF. People just trying to do their job are getting the brunt of the heat from PARAMOUNT when images of product are put online. and ultimately all the image leaks can and WILL cost people their jobs and will lead the production company to clamp down and trust the fanbase LESS in the future as time goes on. This will create more tension between the studios and fans and just will not bode well at all for anyone with each and every big budget project as the studio just won’t trust people to not share things they aren’t supposed to. They’ll clamp down more and more for the sake of damage control.
While i’m on the soapbox, for full disclosure within’ the nature of the argument; this very website did publish SOME of the same set and children’s costume images in “LEAKED” released a number of weeks back – so i don’t think that makes us any better or less guilty than anyone else. The damage Paramount didn’t want to happen has been done. If you CAN call it that; i don’t know fully. Some people are very opinionated about the designs so far and are pretty negative in some cases. But just as many are applauding the designs and are very excited about the release of the new film.
I don’t have the answers to the conundrum of this day and age when what’s ethical, moral, the freedom of speech, the need to know, the fandoms and the internet create negative ripple effects on those behind the scenes and ultimately those effects on the fans in general.
But as stated; like it or not – there are major ramifications of “breaking the rules”; yes TOKKA IS FINE TO TALK .. i admit that. It’s a tough balance all of this. Leaking info in regards to a big film like the TMNT reboot can have some real-life damage once the fandom gets its hands on the things too early.
Maybe there’s some lessons to be learned here, maybe the production company can share select information on a more controlled and progressive manner instead of being very secretive and seemingly alienating fans. I just don’t know.
I do think ALL OF THIS is something to think about on all ends especially if it’s going to cause real harm such as costing someone their job.
A very difficult topic, but it’s one that’s rarely discussed it seems as freedom of speech & protecting a franchise’s important aspects and assets conflict. That really does need to change. But ” how ” is the main question.
–>> Trivial observation: while it may have been a basic design choice, most K•B ads from back in the day..say 1980s and 1990s that Tokka recalls were illustrated like what we see here in this complete ad set. That may have been a cost saving measure as well. Or maybe it was just a printing choice of many retailers at the time. Countless stores had illustrated newspaper print ads for decades. You’ll still find them on occasion in newspapers and the like today. Most newspaper ads it seems are mostly photographic nowadays however.
I recall black & white print ads in newspapers say like in a classified page that were also illustrated for the toy store. I don’t think i have any photographic ads in my archives for K•B ( formerly ‘KAY•BEE’ ), unless they are from the late 1990s or early 2000s.
Not 100% sure, but this may be my only complete circular set for K•B nay for some random and loose pages. I don’t always get to post these COMPLETE ads as there is very time consuming process that takes a bite into my personal work. However, in the long run they are important pieces of TMNT advertising and toy history, if not just Toy history in general. A glimpse into the past of retail toy shopping in a per-internet shopping era.
Guessing things like this just really didn’t survive many recycling bins or rubbish collections just short of microfiche or someone saving them or what have you. It’s prolly beneficial to all when i do make the time to post ’em digitally.
Sometimes i am asked of the fate of K•B after the final bankruptcy and demise of the once iconic Mall TOY retailer in 2008.
TOYS ‘R’ US came in a year later to purchase all intellectual properties, names, iconography, logos, licenses, et al. like they had with the operations of the FAO Schwarz brand the same year.
Last seen K•B was used in SOME labeling within some TRU stores to possibly a lesser degree than the FAO Schwarz branded boutique set-ups in the retail stores right now. I’m not sure what products received that labeling or if that continues currently or into the future. Time will tell.
The stores became a staple for shopping centers and malls in North America for decades and has burned into countless childhood memories including mine.
I’m sure a portion of the value of that iconography is what lead to the TRU purchase in ’09. That value may resonate into a major return of the K• B brand in some form or fashion some day.
–>> .. i’m convinced Falco’s figure is a really decent interpretation of your favourite Rodent Sovereign. But you know the drill with Playmates; to keep costs low – so to sometimes on these figures paint apps will look different than how you may expect or different than their prototypes, or may be totally eradicated from some portions of the figure altogether. Rat King had a little bit of this issue going on as you may recall. –
Cold-Blooded and deceitful, formerly known as Dr. Falco. The Rat King is determined to rid the city of humanity and claim it for his rat brothers. He is able to see through the eyes of rats and control them with his telepathic powers. Destined to take down the Turtles, the city should be wary of the one called The Rat King.
• WEAPONS: Army of Rats & Telepathic Powers
•TEAM: Rats, Kraang
There’s no rule stating you can’t take matters into your own hands to make your new toy better. Some light metallic spray paint misted on, a simple black acrylic paint wash and some careful painted details on his rodent minions, and R.K. starts to look much filthier and a bit better. Hopefully a little bit creepier too.
☣ ☣
.. the ‘RAT O’Lantern’ taken and modified from ‘CREEPY CRAWLIN’ SPLINTER’ – 1990.
Works perfectly for the Rat King so he can see his way thru’ particularly darker corridors of the sewers n’ catacombs of NYC.
~ t
☣ ☣
Quick round-up of related TOY notes for 2014 via TNI !! ::
In recent days; ** Toy News International ** has posted a small barrage of TMNT ’14 PLAYMATES toys,LEGO and FUNKO paper crafts. ::
Still no sight of MOVIE related toys — we’ll keep ya posted. They are due out in the coming year to tie into the new movie and everyone is very nervous.
–>> Psycho Summer is over “BACK” to school n’ trying to get back to round-ups of the most imperative news. We’ll focus on the comics and related front for this postin’, Hun – cuz there’s just so much going on .. Tokka’s beaky brain is hurtin’ so much cuz he’s so overwhelmed while he’s workin’ too hard !!
DIGGER T MESCH (MINIMATES, AGENT 88) and BLOND (BATMAN) will be signing from 4 til 7
All books signed by KEVIN EASTMAN (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES)
Buy a signed book/Open Bar available after signing!
Written by JOSHUA ORTEGA (Gears of War) from a film treatment by DIGGER T MESCH (Agent 88, Art Asylum), “The Other Dead” is a six-issue miniseries examining what happens when a mysterious infection causes every single member of the animal kingdom to turn into blood-thirsty, ultra-strong zombies and attack an unsuspecting human populace. Interior artist QING PING MUI, master colorist BLOND and cover art from The Mighty KEVIN EASTMAN, co-creator of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” round out “The Other Dead” creative team.
People have been arguing for years whether zombies should walk or run and this September you can add flying, swimming, hopping and slithering to that debate as IDW Publishing unleashes zombie animal hordes in “The Other Dead.”
What’s the premise of “The Other Dead?”
Joshua Ortega: At the highest level, two words: Zombie. Animals. “The Other Dead” is the world’s first zombie animal epic, exploring what happens when the animal kingdom is turned into a horde of flesh-eating monsters.
As far as the story goes, a monstrous hurricane — even worse than Katrina — is about to hit southern Louisiana just as the Vice President is killed during an outbreak of a mysterious infection that’s turning all animals into ravenous, cold-blooded killers.
Into this mix is thrown our eclectic cast of characters: Tommy Romero, a 10-year old cancer survivor who’s struggling with his faith and belief in life; Azrael, Tommy’s older brother and a member of the Norwegian-like death metal band, Decapitated; Justina Abelinda Cortez, Az’s girlfriend who’s an exotic dancer and a Puerto Rican bruja/witch; Chet Wayne, a racist ex-Army Ranger who’s been preparing for the apocalypse for years; and Barack Obama — yes, the actual president of the United States — who ends up in the eye of the storm, dealing not only with the hurricane but the zombie animal outbreak as well.
..
In short: EIGHT new issues – 800 new pages of content! 🙂
As some of you may have heard issues nine, ten ( OUT NOW ), eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, AND sixteen of cereal:geek are ready for pre-ordering – I hid myself away for a good few months earlier this year and FOCUSED like I’d never focused before…and the result was eight brand new issues full of content! 🙂
..ISSUE 10’s cover feature focus’s on TMNT SUPERMAN LEGEND – with awesome art and anime-article coverage by James himself sourced in part, for the first time ever by the Snapper you know n’ Loath .. TOKKA !!
• •
Catching up to your IDW TURTLES books like Tokka ??
Come’on ..we know some of ya are out there. GGM recognizes you hard workin’ Turtle Super-FANS matter n’ count just as many as the SUPER-NERDS workin’ for the big SUPER-NERD sites.
“Greetings TMNT fans!! IDW has been publishing the TMNT for nearly 2 full years (can you believe it?) and with every month that passes, the IDW TMNT cover gallery grows larger and larger. As the IDW TMNT database expands, the blog format has really made the usability a bit cumbersome. In other words, it’s become very difficult to find a given TMNT title, issue, TPB, or HC on my blog…especially those TMNT publications from months and months back.
Well, all that is over now. I’m pleased to announce that I’ve organized all the IDW TMNT Publications on my blog into 3 categories: Comic Books, Trade Paperbacks (TPB), and Hardcovers (HC). Within each of those categories you’ll find a list of every IDW TMNT Publication to date, neatly organized by title. Within each title you’ll find the links to every single issue for that title, listed in order of publication date.
All of this newly designed awesomeness can be found on the right side of the menu bar at the top of the blog. The menu is labeled “IDW TMNT Publications.” Just mouse over the menu and watch the magic happen!” –RICH
Here’s Rich’s run-down on the last of the third quarter & the beginning of the 4th on what you may already have or have yet to collect !! ::
Hi-lights from this past weekend’s ニンジャタートルズ TMNT 2k12 Japan premiere Party ( thanks to Zimmer & Pachira, and via TMNT-C !! )) ::
![Nickelodeon TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES :: 2014 Toy Fair;Tokka's fave hi-lights - 48" MY SIZE 'MICHELANGELO' FIGURE vii (( 2014 )) [[ Courtesy of figures.com ]]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7427/12651084545_30e04d6e1f_n.jpg)
![TAKARA TOMY ARTS :: Nickelodeon TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ; ニンジャタートルズTrading Figures peek i (( 2014 )) [[ Courtesy of Hobby Search, via TNI ]]](https://v4s.yimg.com/so/7397/12495264404_9160ffd1c9_n.jpg)
![Nickelodeon's TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES :: RAHZAR ; HI-REZ pic (( 2014 )) [[ Courtesy of TNI ]]](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/11555327145_a6f8239138.jpg)
