Threadless TMNT T-Shirt Design Contest

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Threadless and Nickelodeon have announced a T-shirt design contest where you get to pick the winner! You have from now until April 15, 2013 to submit your design. The submitted designs will then be posted for community voting. The winner wins money and pizza! All of the details are over on Threadless.com.


Get drawing! Tired of seeing the same stock art over and over? This is your chance to create a truly unique TMNT T-shirt! Ladies! Tired of tolerating the male-targeted shirts? This is our chance to create something flattering and geeky!

When you're done, share your submitted design on the Ninja Pizza Facebook Page!

Product Review: TMNT Adult Costume Hoodie

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The fine folks at TVStoreOnline sent me this awesome hoodie to show off to you guys. So, here's me being a dork.

Click here to get one of your own!

Election Day is About Parties

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As TMNT fans, I think we can all agree that there's only one party worth voting for. (But please, no anchovies.)

Kevin Eastman Auctioning Pieces of TMNT History

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On May 10, 2012, through Heritage Auctions, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman will be selling significant pieces of TMNT history from his personal collection through public auction.

Items to be sold include the first ever group drawing of the TMNT (above), one of the first ever TMNT toy prototypes, a Press Proof 1st print of TMNT #1, a collection of TMNT movie scripts (including a draft of the original TMNT 4 script, plus concept art), and more!

You can check out a quick preview of all of the items over at Kevin's DeviantArt account. If you're ready to open your wallet, head over to Heritage Auctions for auction and bidding details!

UPDATE! The final selling price on the first ever group drawing of the TMNT was an astonishing $71,700!!

Sneak Peek of TMNT Shell Shock Ride

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As has been announced, Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN, will next month be opening a brand new thrill ride, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell Shock. The ride is currently under construction and Ninja Pizza reader Sonia sent in some photos of of the progress.

Nickelodeon Universe and the Mall of America are planning a grand opening for the ride that is sure to be an amazing event fans won't want to miss! Stay tuned to Ninja Pizza for more details coming soon.

A couple shots of the ride from above. You can see the sewer entrance and the post that will eventually hold the ride itself.

The sewer entrance from ground level and the "Antonio's Pizza" logo on the opposite side of the sewer arch entrance (not an actual restaurant as I first thought).

Some close-ups of the interior of the sewer entrance.

Thanks for sending these in, Sonia!

We Are Not "Sewer Heads" - A Note to Playmates and Nickelodeon

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Last week when Playmates released their first peek at the 2012 TMNT toy lineup, there was also a series of short videos posted to MTV.com featuring Karl Aaronian from Playmates talking about each of the different lines. In these videos, he drops in the term "Sewer Heads," referring to the long-time Turtles fans.



As press coverage of the new toys grows in the build-up to Toy Fair, this term has been showing up again. And it is because of this recurrence of the term that TMNT fans wish to declare to both Playmates and Nickelodeon:

We are not "Sewer Heads." Please stop calling us that.
It is dumb and rather insulting. Think about it.

Now, I realize that we don't have a "cool" name for our fandom to sound off in your interviews and press releases akin to "Trekkers," "Browncoats," "Whovians," or "X-Philes," etc. But the thing is, all of those names happened organically, by the fans. They weren't assigned by marketing departments. We officially reject this "title" that you've assigned us.

If you absolutely must use something in your marketing copy, we respectfully suggest you change it to the less insulting "Shell Heads." We are not declaring this as our title, and take no ownership of it. But it's better than the name you've given us.

Really, it's probably just best if we stay "Ninja Turtles Fans." After all, Lucasfilm and Hasbro seem to be doing pretty well selling their products to "Star Wars Fans."

TMNT fans, whatever they be called, are encouraged to have their voices heard on this matter. Please send Tweets to @PlaymatesToys and @TMNTMaster. You can also post on the Playmates Toys and Nickelodeon TMNT Facebook pages.

Maybe with some good ol' fashioned Turtle Power we can get use of "Sewer Heads" killed and buried before Toy Fair actually starts.

UPDATE! @TMNTMaster has assured us that we will no longer be called Sewer Heads! Your voices have been heard! Thanks for listening, Nickelodeon!

Scavenger Hunt Costume Giveaway

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Even though we're not in Halloween season, the folks at HalloweenCostumes.com, together with Ninja Pizza, want to give one of you a sweet TMNT t-shirt costume! The winner of the scavenger hunt will receive their choice of the above t-shirt costume designs.

To win, you will need to submit five (5) secret words via e-mail. All of the secret words have been hidden on NinjaPizza.net. The first secret word is located below. Scan the QR code found on each clue to find the location of the next secret word.

The winner will be chosen in a random drawing from all qualified entries received by 11:59pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012. Winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. Contest is open to all United States residents.

Special thanks to HalloweenCostumes.com for sponsoring this contest!

Nickelodeon Universe Announces New TMNT Thrill Ride

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Posted on Nickelodeon Universe's Facebook page, the new TMNT "Shell Shock" ride has been announced for the Mall of America indoor theme park, located in Bloomington, MN. The ride is scheduled to open in March 2012, and will take riders 70 ft. in the air. Each rider will control their seat, which can rotate wildly like a plane propeller or gently teeter-totter like a seesaw, making no two ride experiences the same.

If Nickelodeon needs anyone to test ride this new attraction, I'd be happy to volunteer. ^_^

But what's really neat about this mock-up of the ride is that it gives us a look at the CGI design for Shredder! Of course, we can't be certain that this is his final design, because it is just a mock-up, but the Turtles are consistent with all the images of them that we've seen so far.

Thanks to Sonia for the tip!

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Trailer Film Cels Now Available

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Last month, as a participation prize in the December Coloring Contest, I gave away laminated strips of 5 film cels from an original 35mm copy of the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie trailer. I still have some of these strips left, and am making them available to people who support Ninja Pizza by sending a donation. You can find all the details over on the new Ninja Pizza Store page. Please remember that only clips from the movie trailer are available, not the entire film. And please include a second or third choice for a scene or character, as availability is limited.

As always, thanks for everyone's support!

December 2011 Coloring Contest Winners!

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As we head into 2012 tonight, here are your winners for the coloring contest! I really have to stress how hard it was to pick a winner in the "Hard" category. I had 3-4 favorites that I kept flip-flopping on, but in the end I decided to award the prize to Nigel Morey, for this fantastic piece:

And in the random drawing of all entries received in the "Easy" category, the winner chosen was Charles Dickerson, who submitted this fantastic piece that transported the Turtles into Seattle:

Thanks again to everyone who entered! If you haven't checked out all the submitted entries yet, you really must. They are all up on Facebook. Also (and this would be why this posting is coming so close to midnight, and past it for many of you), I've compiled all of the submissions into an online PDF "magazine," as another means of viewing all the winners. You can check this out on Issuu.

I also want to make everyone's work available to download at full resolution, because some of them would make for really fantastic desktop wallpapers. However, that will have to be added later, as I'm quite out of time for the year as it is.

I will be shipping out everyone's prizes over the next week or so, and if you didn't enter but would still like a strip of film cels from the original TMNT trailer, I'll also be posting information on how you can get one of those. Happy New Year, everyone!

"A Wild Night" T-shirt

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Today's new t-shirt design from Shirt.Woot! features a ridiculously cute little turtle with an orange eye mask who has seemingly overdosed on some pizza. If you find you can't resist this inspired piece of clothing, head on over to Woot! where you can grab it today for $10, or thereafter (until reckoning) for $15. Cowabunga!

Recent TMNT-Themed Podcasts

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Two awesome geeky podcasts have recently had TMNT-themed episodes that are definitely worth your time to download and listen to.

The first is from Nerdy Show, which has interviews with Polaris Banks, writer/director of the recent Casey Jones fan film, and Steve Barron, director of the first TMNT movie. (Tip: Skip ahead to 30:00 to hear Polaris Banks and to 1:12:00 to hear Steve Barron.)

The next comes from Nerdist and The Mutant Season podcast, which spent some time with Kevin Eastman as he prepared for his LOST ANGELES: 35 Days With Kevin Eastman exhibit (going on right now!) at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.

Completed TMNT Mural at Meltdown Comics

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As previously reported, a couple weeks ago Kevin Eastman and Mark Bode went to work to recreate the cover of TMNT Vol. 1 #1 on the side of the Meltdown Comics building in Los Angeles. The completed mural, pictured above, came out absolutely AMAZING! And now Adam Dorsey has put together a short video documenting the creation of the mural. Check it out below!

And don't forget that the LOST ANGELES: 35 Days of Kevin Eastman event kicks off tomorrow with a weekend showcase of Kevin's TMNT work!

LOST ANGELES: 35 Days With Kevin Eastman

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As previously reported, Kevin Eastman and Mark Bode are RIGHT NOW in the midst of painting a gigantic wall mural of the cover of TMNT Vol. 1 #1 on the side of the Meltdown Comics building in Los Angeles, CA.

This mural painting is a kickoff for a month-long event centering around the art of TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, called LOST ANGELES: 35 Days With Kevin Eastman.

The mayhem starts November 30, with a weekend dedicated to Kevin's TMNT work, and each of the next four upcoming weekends having their own theme. For a complete schedule of events, visit the Melting Comics website.

Live Kevin Eastman & Mark Bode Art Event in LA November 17-19.

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TMNT Vol. 1 #1 Cover Art

Mark Bode and Kevin Eastman will be at Meltdown Comics in LA November 17-19 as part of a massive art project. November 17-18, the two will be painting a gigantic mural on the outside wall of Meltdown Comics that will resemble the cover of TMNT Vol. 1 #1. As it's one of Mark's specialties, the mural will be done in a graffiti style with spray paint. Then, on November 19, both artists will be back at the store to sign autographs.

Wall Mural Concept Sketch

Happy Halloween!

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It's Halloween! For the last week or so, TMNT fans on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr have been sharing pictures of their TMNT costumes and pumpkins. You can check out all of the pictures in a special Halloween Fan Photos album on Facebook.

If you've got a picture to share, whether it be new or old, e-mail it to me and you'll be added to the album!

Safe trick-or-treating, everyone!

Thank You, Steve

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TMNT Papercraft

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If you don't follow the Ninja Pizza Tumblr blog (and if you don't, you should), you missed today's post of the above picture of some completed TMNT papercraft toys. I just thought the photo was neato, but the picture sparked some interest in the actual papercrafts, so I've collected a bunch that were on the old 4Kids.tv website for your downloading and building pleasure.

You can download the collected .zip file here.

The Ninja Pizza Tumblr blog is updated once a day, every day, with a different TMNT-related image. Absolutely anything can show up here, so be sure to keep tabs on it to discover something new, old, interesting, or just cool!

"Panel to Panel: Exploring Words & Pictures" Available to Pre-order

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Back when Mirage was still publishing, they had struck a special relationship with John Rovnak of PanelToPanel.net. Books ordered through John often included exclusive, signed bookplates, usually featuring brand new art. Well, times change. Mirage no longer publishes comic books, and John no longer sells them. However, John has been working on a very cool project that is just about ready to (finally!) be published.

Using the connections and relationships he's established through his years as a comics fan and retailer, John has compiled a book of comics, art, interviews, and articles that feature many creators whose names will be familiar to TMNT fans. You can read the full contents on the Panel To Panel website.

Here are the highlights that should be of particular interest for TMNT fans:

• STEVE MURPHY: Comes Out of his Shell by John Rovnak.
• MARK BODE: A 21st Century Renaissance Man by John Rovnak.
• DAVE SIM: The General in His Labyrinth by Jon Mathewson.
• BUDDY COPS in Full-Color by Mark Martin.
• BEAT PANELS: OR; IS THERE MONEY IN POETRY COMICS? by Stephen R. Bissette featuring the graphic poetry of Peter Money and Rick Veitch.
• An archive of past interviews, from paneltopanel.net, featuring DAVID MACK, LARRY MARDER, LARRY HAMA, JAIME HERNANDEZ, JAMES STURM and STAN SAKAI.
• and more….

The book is scheduled to ship in August or September. Order yours now!!

Introducing the Fresh and New Ninja Pizza!

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Hey everyone! I'm really excited today to show you the project I've been working on for awhile, and that's this brand new look to the website! (Something that has been long, long overdue.) Pretty much every part of the site has gotten way cooler. So please, poke around and check all of it out!

I also now have a new e-mail address: rosemary@ninjapizza.net. The old one will still work, but this is now my preferred address for matters concerning the site.

If you're not yet aware, Ninja Pizza has active accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube that you should check out and follow/like/subscribe to. I'll be making an effort to deliver regular, unique content to each of those channels. But of course, all the news you need to know will be delivered right here on the blog, as always.

That said, we're only two weeks away from San Diego Comic-Con! Details for the Con are still vague, but there should be some news to report from Nickelodeon and IDW about their upcoming projects. For anyone attending the show, I'll post a schedule of TMNT stuff in a week or so (or whenever stuff is made known).

Thank you to everyone for staying tuned to Ninja Pizza for your TMNT news - I really think we're going to be in store for some fun in the next couple of years!