Much like pro wrestling the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been a part of my life. I grew up playing with the 80s and 90s playmates figures, birthdays and Christmas’ I would get maybe a couple figures or a vehicle. Overtime my childhood figures broke or been sold in a yard sale. As an adult, I have bought and sold my childhood TMNT collection twice. Right now the collection I do have I’m happy with and won’t be selling it off anytime soon… With that being said, here are my top five TMNT figures.
Shell Slammin’ Mike
Combining my two favorite loves in life pro wrestling and Ninja Turtles. I would use Mikey in my Hasbro universe facing the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Big Boss Man. Playmates really got this figure right with the accessories. Black cape, MWF Championship belt, and just like the gimmicks from the 80s an animal mascot with his Sewer Snake Buddy.
Ace Duck
I can’t tell you how many times I lost Ace’s wings and hat around the house. I would make Ace dive bomb on Shredder and his goons every chance I got… Nowadays, Ace Duck is one of the few carded figures I have in my collection.
Baxter Stockman
This figure, just like Ace Duck I had trouble keeping up his wings and back claws. But when he was complete he would rain terror in the sewer lair, sometimes taking over and calling it his place until the Turtles could regroup and take back their hideout. Baxter had another use in my childhood, I always looked at him as Cronenberg’s The Fly. It just made sense to me. A human fly character and there’s a movie called The Fly… It’s a no brainer!
Mutating ’ Bebop
Two figures in one, basically a Transformer… I would poor the Ooze on to human Bebop and transform him into the warthog mutant that he’s known for. I’m more of a Bebop guy when it comes down to it, I think it’s the punker look he sports.
Slash
When I got Slash, he ruled over everyone in my TMNT universe. He looked badass! Way cooler than his animated series counterpart. To me, Slash was something a baby face helping out the Turtles against Krang’s Android Body.
The newest TMNT cg animated show looks like it’s winding down with season 5 only to be replaced with an old school 2d animated version. I’ve been a big fan of the show when it launched and I thought did a great job of incorporation of TMNT lore while also doing some things to make it all fresh again. I’m bummed they are leaving this incarnation behind. My guess would be the voice cast will be getting too expensive after the 5th season so it’s off for another reboot rather than shelling out (hehe see what I did there) for voice actors like Seth Green and Sean Astin to reprise their roles in future seasons. Who knows. Guess we’ll wait and see what the new show holds.
