Original TMNT Cartoon Cast Reunion Podcast Now Online

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The audio recording of last week's original TMNT cartoon voice cast reunion extravaganza is now available to download as an episode of Rob Paulsen's Talkin' Toons Podcast.

Get it now over at RobPaulsenLive.com!

Complete Original TMNT Cartoon Series on DVD November 13

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Season 10 just came out a couple weeks ago, but if you've been slacking on picking up Lionsgate's releases of the original TMNT cartoon series, you'll probably be interested in the special complete series package planned for November 13, pictured above.

As announced on TV Shows on DVD, the 23-DVD set comes with a plastic Turtle Van storage case. It is priced at a quite reasonable $99.99, although it'll probably be available for less through discount retailers.

The pictured box states that there are over 3 hours of bonus features, however, at the moment no information is available on whether the content of the discs is identical to what has already been included on the existing releases, or if new content is planned.

TMNT Original Cartoon Cast Reunites August 24

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A live recording of Rob Paulsen's Talkin' Toons podcast on August 24 will see the reunion of almost all of the lead voice actors from the original TMNT cartoon series. Currently scheduled to appear are Rob Paulsen (Raphael - duh), Barry Gordon (Donatello), Townsend Coleman (Michaelangelo), Cam Clarke (Leonardo), Peter Renaday (Splinter), and Renae Jacobs (April O'Neil).

The show will be at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Los Angeles at 8pm, August 24. Buy tickets now!

TMNT Season 10 DVD to Include Missing Episodes!

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Yesterday, via TVShowsOnDVD.com, the box art for the TMNT Season 10 DVD was revealed, along with some very exciting news about the two "missing" episodes, "Once Upon a Time Machine" and "Planet of the Turtleoids."

Dear Valued Customer, 

Thank you for your patience. We have confirmed that the bonus episodes, Once Upon A Time Machine and Planet of the Turtleoids will be included in the Season 10 release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  

Thank you,
LionsGate Shop Customer Service

This is very exciting news, indeed! Now, if only we could get them to throw the Turtle Tips PSAs on there as well...

TMNT Season 10 Comes to DVD August 14

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Lionsgate has announced that it will release the final season of the original TMNT cartoon series on DVD August 14.

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo are back in the classic final season that pits turtles from the past and present against the evil Lord Dregg and his minions. Determined to enslave mankind, Dregg will stop at nothing to win: causing a piece of the sun to crash into Earth, opening a giant portal to pull the planet into Dimension X, and even draining the life energy from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Carter soon realizes that the only way to defeat Dregg, Krang and Shredder is to bring the Turtles' past selves to the present...doubling the Turtle power! But will they make it in time before Dregg's invasion is complete? Featuring time-warping serious Turtle muscle, season 10 is a totally tubular finale!

As noted on TVShowsOnDVD.com, the collection will include the 8 episodes of season 10, plus special features that include interviews with animators who worked on the show.

Unfortunately, this release comes without any sign of the two episodes that were indadvertedly left off of any DVD collection, "Once Upon a Time Machine" and "Planet of the Turtleoids." TMNT fans have been trying to notify Lionsgate of this oversight for more than a few years, but they've taken no notice of these requests. Also missing from any DVD collection are the Turtle Tips environmental messages that ran between episodes on CBS.

A Closer Look at the TMNT 2012 Toys

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Yesterday's exciting reveal of Playmates' 2012 TMNT lineup was part of a pre-Toy Fair event held in MTV's New York offices. In addition to the pictures we saw, there was also a series of short videos posted on MTV.com. These videos give us some closer looks at everything being offered ... and raise a few questions as well. Let's take a look at what there is to see...

Packaging! Bright and bold colors look quite sleek - Very nice! No complaints here.

Here's all of the loose figures on display. And here's where the questions start...

Yesterday we were shown this AMAZING picture of figures that were quite universally coveted by TMNT fans and toy collectors everywhere. These are not exactly the same as the figures shown last year at the Fan Preview Events, but they're equally fantastic.

Now, look at the above two pictures carefully and you'll see that the figures look nothing alike. Mike's awesome chained nunchucks? Gone! Painted weapons? Nope! Any indications of detailed paint work or the wash seen in the first picture? Nadda! I really hope these aren't the figures that will eventually be shipping, because that will seriously deflate my enthusiasm for them. :(

Moving on, let's take a look at another oddity: Splinter.

Last Spring at the Fan Preview Event held at Nickelodeon Studios, the Splinter we saw barely resembled an action figure, so I can't use that as a comparison to this, but I don't recall any of the images we saw of Splinter having a white face. I really hope this looks better in the CGI designs than it does here.

Here's another look at Splinter next to April. There isn't much to say about April, really, but this is our first good look at her character design for the new series. Obviously it's a radical change from any April we've previously seen.

And here's a closer look at the bad guys, a Foot Soldier, a Kraang alien in an exoskeleton, and Shredder.

In addition to the basic figures, there will also be new figures with "special features" released approximately every six months. The first wave will be "Power Sound FX." These figures look to be more closely designed to resemble the Turtles as we will be seeing them in the new CGI series.

Hey, look. The Leo on the package has only two toes.

And there will also be a Shredder figure with the sound feature.

Playmates is expanding the TMNT line beyond the new Nickelodeon TV series to also include a "Classics" line that features highly-articulated figures based on the Turtles seen in the original cartoon series. If the line sells well, it will be expanded to include more characters and, possibly, more universes. These figures will be in the 6" height range.

There is more to look at and share, but I'm going to break this into multiple posts to keep this from getting too long. Stay tuned for more, and considering Toy Fair hasn't even started yet, there should be more pics and news to drool over during the next couple of weeks!

The World Trade Center as the TMNT Saw It

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Ten years ago today, the skyline of New York City changed forever. As the Turtles have always called New York home, that lost skyline was often seen throughout all the mediums in which TMNT stories have been told. To reflect on the time before September 11, 2001, here's a look at some of the reminders we are left with of the World Trade Center, as seen through the eyes of a TMNT fan.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

The Twin Towers silently established the location of all three live-action TMNT movies.

TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (1993)

TMNT Cartoon Season 9 on DVD August 16

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News broke last week via TVShowsOnDVD.com that season 9 of the original TMNT cartoon would be released on DVD come August 16. Now, the cover artwork has been released and the DVD is showing up on websites available to pre-order. Get it from Amazon.com!

This is the second to last season of the original cartoon, but with four episodes of season 10 having been released on the season 1 DVD, there are only four episodes left to be released on DVD. Well, six more episodes, as Once Upon a Time Machine and Planet of the Turtleoids still haven't been included on any release and Lionsgate shows no sign of acknowledging this or righting this. But if they ever do decide to really complete the series, hopefully they can also include all of the Turtle Tips shorts that aired on CBS in between episodes. (hint, hint!)

TMNT Retro T-Shirts Hitting Stores

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The first items from the new "Retro" line of TMNT merchandising is beginning to hit stores.

HotTopic now has the Bebop and Rocksteady t-shirt pictured to the left (top), as well as new hats and wrist bands. You can see all of HotTopic's TMNT merchandise here.



Urban Outfitters also has a couple t-shirt designs, the best being the "Say YES to Pizza, Say NO to Drugs" shirt (bottom left). There is also a women's tee.

80sTees.com is also featuring some new t-shirt designs.

TMNT Retro Merchandise

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KidScreen.com brings us some news of the upcoming TMNT Retro merchandising push:

Time flies. Or in this case, we should say it does roundhouse kicks, wields nunchakus and eats a lot of pizza. 4Kids Entertainment's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are turning 25 in 2009, but the IP owner is getting the celebration off the ground early with a new retro-inspired licensing program debuting at US retailer Hot Topic in November.

Building upon the success of the retro apparel program from licensee Giant Merchandising, 4Kids andMirage Licensing have developed a comprehensive TMNT retro campaign based on the art from the original late-80's TV series. TMNT retro boutiques will roll into 700 Hot Topic stores next month, accompanied by a feature page on the retailer's website (www.hottopic.com). Along with apparel, the boutiques will proffer caps, beanies and belt buckles from Bioworld. Other licensees onboard the TMNT retro program include NECA (collectible figures), Etchstar (laser etchings on iPods and laptops) and Disguise (Halloween costumes for TMNT's lead characters), and product will continue to rollout during 2008 and into the 25th anniversary year.