Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who were celebrating today! I hope there was lots of good food and good company for all!

Foot Soldier Mask Movie Prop

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Ryan writes in showing off a very exciting acquisition he's made:

Like many of you I grew up a big TMNT fan. I was 10 years old when I saw the first action figure commercials in 1988 and remember looking everywhere for them before they finally arrived in stores. I actually still have most all my toys, over 65 + some still in package. I was so into the cartoons and definitely loved the first 2 films along with the CG release of TMNT last year which was great to see the 4 heroes in green back in theaters.

I was so taken back by the first movie being 12 years old. When the opening scene came up I'll never forget seeing for the first time those real-life Foot Soldiers packing up the truck with stolen goods. Who would have thought that 18 years later I would get an opportunity to own a piece of that movie magic.

I found this through the Prop Store of London posted one morning back in June I believe. Perhaps it came from a former owner or production crew member? I honestly don't know how it happend upon the site being available. I really don't know how long it was up that morning, but without blinking I placed a layaway on it and paid for it over a few months time until my last payment and shortly arriving finally in September. I was a bit unimpressed by how they presented it on their site, but I was certain I could improve how it displayed. The initial photo shows what the mask looked like as received.

I finally got around to working on it this past week and now it looks a lot more presentable. The only minor thing I did was fix up the few broken seams along the sides and removal of all the fuzz in the hook loop velcro. Other than that, this mask is maintained as it was received and think that the usage gives it personality. I wanted to maintain the overall integrity of the piece, but those seams didn't look good. It's amazing to see in person how different it looks than how it showed on screen. I thought the BUG EYES were metal wire mesh... its actually a plastic grid and painted! And the mask itself you'd think is black... no! Silvery gray spandex and then coated with a black fabric spray paint of some sort, giving it that weathered look. I would have never guessed as well as the metal gromets on the mouth that look to have originally been painted black, but has since worn through. This mask has definitely seen a lot of action looking at how worn it is.

To finish off the bust I sewed a chest piece to cover over the shoulders/bust to make it look more complete. I still want to get a display case and darken the bottom base, but overall am very happy with the result compared to before.

Unfortunately this kinda dwarfs my entire TMNT toy collection, so I don't know what I'll be doing with the toys! It is overall a very impressive piece and I do feel extremely lucky to own a true piece of my childhood from that day I first saw those Foot Soldiers on screen. That was a big deal then, it's a huge deal to own one of those masks.

Ryan also adds:

I'd like to add one more bit of importance to this piece for me. I believe this was the last project that Jim Henson worked on before he died. Owning a piece of something he was involved in is a real treat and I have always loved the work he has done with puppetry and creatures. I remembered crying the day of hearing of his death. He was so ahead of his time.

I REALLY HOPE they are working on a BluRay edition of the live action films. They desperately need the HD treatment and I'd sure be one of the first to buy a set. Come on, New Line! Get with the program!

I think those are words all Turtle fans can agree with - Hear, hear!

"TMNT" in Argentina

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Nacho sent in a bunch of pics showing some of the goodies theaters had when TMNT was released last year.

A special promotion at the cinemas in Venezuela: pop corn tub, drink cup and stickers decorated with the TMNT.

With this "combo" people received a ticket to win TMNT action figures.

     

   

   

Happy 25th Anniversary to the TMNT!

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The official 25th anniversary of the TMNT won't be celebrated until May 5, 2009, 25 years after the release of the first TMNT comic book. But today marks 25 years since Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird sat watching too much bad TV and made the first doodles of what would become the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hurrah!

DVD Update ... Or Not

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The above DVD covers caused quite a stir when they appeared on Amazon.com out of the blue yesterday. Not just with fans, but at Mirage itself where they first learned of these new DVD covers at the same time.

What does this mean? Are these DVDs with brand new content? Or just repackaging of the old content? Unfortunately, it's just repackaging of the old content.

Does this mean that there's no chance of a Special Edition and/or Blu-Ray release of one or all of the movies? NO. I can report that there is still hope in both regards, although it is also far from being a certain thing. Hopefully I can provide a more specific update within the next couple of months.

Michael Turney Autograph

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This showed up in my mailbox today:

     

This is the storybook based on the first TMNT movie (an item I read a billion times during the long months between the theatrical release of the movie and the VHS release). The title page is signed to me by Michael Turney, who played Danny Pennington in the movie.

Thanks, Michael!

UK Michaelangelo Cookie Jar

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Hero wrote in with some neato pics:

So I was digging through my boxes of stored stuff in the attic yesterday. These are like boxes of things I have not opened in years and forgot about during my multiple house moves.

I came across my old Michaelangelo ceramic cookie jar. This is something my mom bought for me back in 1991 at a seaside gift-shop in a place called Weston Super Mare. I think at the time this was around £5 and of course there was a colour of each turtle respectively.

I figured I’d take out this find and immortalise it further in cyberspace in victory of all the house-moving it has survived. I am certain this was a UK only item and has a Hero Turtle like feel to it.

   

   

Have a special TMNT item that you'd like to share? E-mail me your story and pics!

Peter Laird's "Blast From the Past"

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I got kinda annoyed with the disjointedness and disorganization of Peter Laird's "Blast From the Past" posts on his blog (it's pretty impossible to find any of the old stuff without scrolling through every single page), so I made a chronological listing of all of them.

Everything that has been reposted to Blogger is linked to Blogger; anything not yet reposted to Blogger is linked to the original posting on the Planet Racers Web site.

This is the first 149 "Blast From the Past" entires from Peter's blog. You can read his on-going personal blog here: http://plairdblog.blogspot.com and his on-going TMNT blog here: http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com

001 - TMNT #1 Fifth Printing Cover (Pencils)
002 - Pencils for Cover of Tales of the TMNT Volume 1 #7
003 - "Cyberinking Experiments"
004 - "Alien Gardener"
005 - Angoulême Mini-Poster/1992
006 - Donatello with Android on Rock
007 - Richard Corben Color Sketch for Cover of TMNT Volume 1 Issue #2 Third Printing
008 - Dodecahedron Ornament
009 - Kevin Eastman TMNT Group Shot
010 - Jack Kirby Birthday Turtle
011 - "The Art of Mirage Studios"
012 - "Frustrated Turtle"
013 - Rejected Shredder Playset Idea
014 - "Return to New York" Collection Cover, Preliminary Drawing by A.C. Farley

015 - TMNT Montage Painting

016 - Wistariahurst Museum "The Art of Mirage Studios" Show Poster
017 - Archie TMNT Classics Digest #2 Cover
018 - "Team Mirage" Hare Scrambles Turtle
019 - "Ninja Alligator"
020 - Original Turtle Action Figure Prototypes
021 - "How to Draw Turtles" Cover Pencils
022 - Proposed Portfolio Cover Pencils
023 - TMNT Volume 1 #2 Unfinished Inks
024 - TMNT #2 Character Sketches
025 - "City at War" Battle/Pencils
026 - Leonardo at "Fandom Directree"
027 - "Election 1980" / Hampshire Life
028 - Archie TMNT Movie One Adaptation Covers
029 - "Who is the Unknown Ninja?"
030 - Laird/Dooney Barbarian Turtle
031 - TMNT with Dimensional Gateway
032 - Voices for Children TMNT Poster
033 - Donatello w/ Radio-Controlled Motorcycle
034 - "Who is This? Futitoid" Iron-On
035 - TMNT Volume 1 #2 Cover/Inks and Tones
036 - Donatello's New Costume
037 - Leonardo's New Costume
038 - Splinter's New Look
039 - Michelangelo's New Costume
040 - Raphael's New Look
041 - Elite Fights Foot/Pencils
042 - Mirage TMNT Color Series #1 Cover Pencils, Unused
043 - Donatello Firing Mac-10
044 - Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
045 - Portsmouth Minicon Poster
046 - Alien Snake Hunter
047 - "New Comic Day" Pencils
048 - Fugitoid Action Figure Concepts
049 - Exoskeleton Concept for Bad Guys
050 - TMNT as Drawn by Jack Kirby!
051 - Bulldog Mutant
052 - "Bad Guy" Vehicle Designs
053 - Unused Pages from TMNT #1, Vol. 4
054 - "Space Leonardo" Pencils
055 - Donatello in New Costume Color Study
056 - Kirbyship
057 - Interrupted Meal
058 - Will Vinton TMNT Sculpts
059 - "The Unknown"
060 - Donatello and Montana Moo
061 - TMNT and Foot Vehicle Designs
062 - Evil Mutants
063 - Jumper and Crawler
064 - TMNT Color Series #2 Cover Pencils
065 - Leonardo and Frostbyte
066 - Proposed TV Guide Cover
067 - 1992 Portsmouth "TurtleCon" Flyer
068 - Pencils for Portsmouth 1992 "TurtleCon" Flyer
069 - Unfinished Ad for TMNT #2
070 - Design for "Wacky Ooze Buggy" Toy
071 - Early Splinter
072 - TMNT #50 Cover Pencils
073 - Large TMNT Group Shot, Pencils
074 - Color Pencil TMNT Pinups
075 - Donatello Fighting Robot, Pencils
076 - Pete as TMNT with Pencil
077 - Iron-On TMNT Group Shot with Logo
078 - TMNT Drawing on Tablecloth Scrap
079 - Robot Fighting Arboreal Beast
080 - TMNT #5--Anatomy of Two Pages
081 - Raphael's Shower
082 - Pete's Inks, TMNT #7
083 - Pete in Old Studio
084 - TMNT Vol. 1 #15 "Clean" Cover
085 - TMNT Fight a Robot
086 - Pin-Up: Donatello on Rooftop
087 - Pin-Up: Leo Fights a Monster
088 - Pin-Up: Raph with TCRI Alien Gun
089 - Front Cover of PBBZ Limited Edition Reprint of TMNT Volume 1, #1
090 - Roughs for Leo and Usagi Story "The Crossing"
091 - "Gorefolio" Artwork
092 - Fugitoid Iron-On
093 - TMNT Group Shot
094 - Fugitoid Birthday Card
095 - Baxter Stockman and April O'Neil Sketches
096 - Sketches for Foot Robot from "City at War"
097 - Gizmo and a Turtle Play Cards
096 - Eastman/Dooney Barbarian Turtle
097 - TMNT Vol. 2 #5 Cover Pencils
098 - Archie TMNT Adventures #44, Pencils and Inks
099 - Archie TMNT Miniseries #1 Cover
100 - "Melting Pot" and "Commandosaurs" Pencils for Ad
101 - Raph Fighting a Foot Ninja (Unfinished)
102 - Leo w/ Shuriken Slingshot
103 - TMNT Color Series #2 Cover Pencils
104 - Motocross Turtle
105 - Turtle with Megablaster
106 - Redrawn Two-Page Spread from TMNT #1
107 - Mirage Studios Triceraton Iron-On
108 - Donatello Sparring with Robot Donatello
109 - Unfinished Donatello Sketch
110 - Unused TMNT Color Logo
111 - Donatello with Computer
112 - Leonardo Pinup
113 - Illustrations for Our Ad for the Dark Horse Miniature Lead Figures
114 - Donatello About to Throw Bo Staff
115 - Crab Mechanic Mutant
116 - TMNT Group Shot Cyberinking Experiment
117 - Splinter Character Sketches
118 - Design for Evil Mutant's Vehicle -- "Hover Trike"
119 - "Nano" Designs
120 - Dragon with Mushrooms
121 - "Rhino Mutant" Rough Sketch
122 - Leonardo with One Sword
123 - More Splinter Sketches
124 - Spider on Head
125 - Flying Dragon
126 - Emily Dickinson Portrait
127 - Robot with Birthday "Cake"
128 - Robot Fighting Swordswoman
129 - Motorcycle Designs for "Return of the Justice Force"
130 - Design for the "Battle Nexus" Arena
131 - Foot Tech Ninja Design
132 - Donatello Riding Creature
133 - Spot Illustrations for CBG
134 - Sample Comic Page
135 - Freshman Year
136 - More Unused Gag Cartoons
137 - Ninja Turtles Day in Los Angeles
138 - Garbageman's "Whale Sub" Sketches
139 - Evil Utrom Designs
140 - Turtle Design for 2K3 Show
141 - Ninja Tribunal Ship Modification
142 - Leonardo Fighting Triceraton
143 - Weird Meeting Doodle
144 - TMNT Spot Illustrations on Duo-Shade
145 - The Christmas Snail
146 - "They Came from the Fifties"
147 - Triceraton Archeologist
148 - "A World Beyond"
149 - Demon Turtle

A New President? Or an Old School President?

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Here's something random that I found by complete accident.

Visit Zazzle.com to pick up this creative celebration of the new President-Elect, Barack Obama, that plays off of the classic TMNT cartoon logo!

C.O.W.-Boys to Return to 'Tales' in 2009

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Next week, the C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa will make their third appearance in the Tales of the TMNT title with the release of Tales #52. (Note: TMNT Adventures fans don't want to miss this issue, as it also features the legendary Cudley the Cowlick!)

This week, Ryan Brown, creator of the C.O.W.-Boys and creative force behind too many TMNT projects to list here, revealed that the C.O.W.-Boys will return for a fourth and final time next year in Tales of the TMNT #58. Like past crossover issues, Dario Brizuela will be contributing his fantastic skill and style to the pencils for the issue. He's already completed the cover, which you can check out in full--along with more awesome pieces of art--over on Ryan's C.O.W.-Boys blog.

And don't forget to sign the C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa DVD petition while you're at it!

Mirage's Fan Reply Postcards

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The previous post on Mirage's unique postage meter stamp brought up a conversation in the comments about the postcards Mirage would send in response to fan mail and/or fan art. Tonight I dug out the postcard I received in response to some fan art I apparently sent (I clearly recall receiving this postcard, but I can't for the life of me recall the art I sent).

The front of the card shows the line art from the cover of TMNT Adventures #18. If you look closely on the back you'll see that same Raphael postage meter stamp (all the blots are from the residue of poster putty I used to hang the postcard on my bedroom door for years). The postmark date is September 17, 1991. Man, that was forever ago!

Did you ever receive this or a similar postcard? Still have it? Send me a scan!

Ryan Brown adds: We gave Murph's girlfriend at the time the task of answering all the TMNTA fan mail. She did a phenomenal job!! We'd print up the postcards using different TMNTA cover art at a local printer and then give them to her to mail out. Murph and I wanted to send something special to the kids who took the time to write in. I'm not sure how many different covers we used for the postcards but I believe we utilized quite a few.

And:
Murph and I loved to read the fan mail. We personally signed and sent the first few but suddenly the amount of mail increased so much that we had to pass it along to someone full time and that dude was a newly arrived Dan Berger. As Dan's workload increased Murph's girl friend stepped in.

The Mirage Studios Postage Meter

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Doing a bit of Fall cleaning today and I came across this old scrap of paper. This is quite the testament to some of the random stuff I'll end up clipping and saving.

The scrap is simply a piece of brown packaging paper with postage affixed. The package, having come from Mirage Studios, also features a stamp with Raphael and the original TMNT comic book logo. I think most all of the mail they sent at this point in time featured the stamp. Mail from Mirage today features no such stamp, probably due to changes in postage machines.