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!

2012 TMNT Action Figure Pictures Now Online

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With Toy Fair fast approaching, MTV Geek has put up an exclusive preview of the 2012 line of TMNT figures from Playmates. There are two links you want to check out: Toys based on the new Nickelodeon CGI series and TMNT Classics.

I am particularly fond of the basic Turtles figures from the new show, but everything looks really amazing! And, if you look closely on the picture of the Sewer Lair Playset on the first link, you'll see figures from what will probably be wave 2, including Splinter, Shredder, and April O'Neil!

Be sure to check out both links for a look at everything, including vehicles and talking figures! The information given to us from Playmates at the Fan Preview Event last year was that these would be in stores in August 2012.

Upcoming TMNT Collections From IDW

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Back in November, IDW released it's first collection of the original TMNT comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird with the oversized hardcover, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1. Vol. 2 of the Ultimate series is due out sometime in the next couple of months, and a Vol. 3 has popped up on Amazon.com with a July release date listed. The first collection of the new ongoing title is scheduled for next month.


Now, information on some other titles is leaking out:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half-Shell (April 25, 2012)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics: Volume 1 (June 19, 2012)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro Series Volume 1 (July 3, 2012)

Over on the IDW TMNT forum, editor Bobby Curnow has shed some light on what is looking to be an aggressive publishing schedule of TMNT reprints. While details are still tentative, it looks like once they get rolling we can expect a book a month in a rotating pattern of different titles.

Essentially we're looking to release everything, staggered... including the Mirage TMNT ongoing (which we will be calling 'TMNT Classic'), Archie (which we will be calling 'TMNT Adventure' I think) and Tales of TMNT (keeping that name).

I think they should start coming out in June, and will follow a schedule something like this:

June- TMNT Classic Vol. 1
July- TMNT Adventure Vol. 1
August- TMNT Classic Vol. 2
September- TMNT Adventure Vol. 2
October- Tales of TMNT Vol. 1
November- TMNT Classic Vol. 3
December- TMNT Adventure Vol. 3
January- Tales of TMNT Vol. 2

And so on.

Again, those are target dates, and are subject to change.

Curnow elaborates that the "Classic" title will include all of the Mirage TMNT books not included in the Ultimate Editions (skipping those in the Ultimate Editions) in the order that they were originally published. These books will be newly colored.

As for the issues that are in the Ultimate Editions, IDW isn't done with those yet. Curnow adds:

HOWEVER, we do plan to release those issues found in the Ultimate Editions on an individual, month by month basis, as stand alone floppies that are colored. The idea being if you want the 'pure, unfiltered' Mirage early stories, you go to the Ultimate Collection. But if you want something new, at a lower price point, there's the floppies, hopefully covering everyone.

So, wow! This is going to be a lot of stuff! This is very encouraging news for TMNT comic book fans, and will hopefully expose the books to many more people who have never read them.

IDW TMNT #6 Variant Cover Guide

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TMNT #6 from IDW is in comic shops today! You can also check out INFESTATION 2 #1, which, featuring the TMNT, is also in shops today (check out the previous post for details).

Here's a preview!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Dan Duncan.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover C

Cover C: Rob Guillory.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

INFESTATION 2 #1 Variant Cover Guide

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Today launches IDW's new crossover event, INFESTATION 2. #1 of the main series of 2 issues is in shops today. Two dedicated TMNT INFESTATION issues will be in shops in March. And then the event concludes in April with INFESTATION 2 #2. There are also other dedicated crossover issues if you want to check those out, but the TMNT will not be featured in them.

If you're not sure about this one (or are really excited for it), you can check out a preview.

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Alex Garner.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Livio Ramondelli.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover C

Cover D

Cover C: David Messina.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover D: Alex Garner (signed).
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 25 copies ordered.


Cover E: Alex Garner + Tattoos. (Not Pictured)
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 25 copies ordered.

Cover F: Joe Phillips (sketch). (Not Pictured)
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 50 copies ordered.

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!

IDW Michelangelo #1 - Variant Cover Guide

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The new year is almost here, and Michelangelo #1 is celebrating the occasion. Check it out in comic shops today!

If you don't have it yet, you can check out a preview.

Cover A

Cover C

Cover A: David Petersen (color).
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover C: David Petersen (black & white).
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover B

Cover D

Cover B: Andy Kuhn.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover D: Kevin Eastman.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 25 copies ordered.

IDW TMNT #5 - Variant Cover Guide

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Whether or not you're done shopping for gifts for others, take some time today to go get yourself a little something from your local comic shop. Namely, TMNT #5 from IDW. This month it comes styling in only three different covers, plus a global edition (that I think won't be available until next week). Then next week you can make a return trip for Michelangelo #1. Happy shopping, everyone!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Mateus Santolouco.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Dan Duncan.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover C

Cover D

Cover C: Kevin Eastman.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover D: Global Edition.
International cover; distributed to newly acquired international territories.

December Coloring Contest Prize Package Details

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There's still just under a week left to enter the first annual Ninja Pizza December Coloring Contest. There have been a bunch of really great entries so far, all of which can be seen over on the Ninja Pizza Facebook page. But if you haven't entered yet, he's a little incentive for you to break out the crayons.

As originally mentioned, the two winners will receive a prize package that includes an IDW TMNT Ashcan comic, a limited edition Ninja Pizza button, and a set of basic/common cards from the Upperdeck Trading Card Game. I also said I'd see what else I could find to throw into the mix. Here's a peek at what I've come up with (so far - there may or may not be more).

Vintage TMNT Christmas Card (new)

TMNT (1990) Trailer Laminated Film Cels

As you can see above, there's a vintage TMNT Christmas card (new, never used), and (I think this is the best part) a series of laminated film cels from an original print of the classic 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie trailer. Each strip will consist of five cells and I think they make for rather neat bookmarks. Each winner will have their pick of which small clip from the trailer they would like.

And because I was able to get the film cell idea to actually work, I'm announcing a PARTICIPATION PRIZE! Everyone who enters the coloring contest will receive a laminated strip of film cels! You'll be able to request a character(s), which I will do my best to fulfill, although I can't make promises about specific clips/scenes. After the New Year I will be making additional film strips available to purchase, but it's going to be the left overs of what I give away through this contest.

International participants will be requested to make a small donation to cover the cost of shipping your prize, and while I won't require it of US shipping addresses, donations would still be appreciated.

Happy coloring!

IDW International Distribution

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As some international comic books readers know, the new TMNT series hasn't been available in their local comic books stores. This has been due to IDW not having full international distribution rights for the series. This technicality seems to have been resolved, and there is good news: International distribution of IDW's TMNT books will start later this month with the release of TMNT #5 and Michelangelo #1. At the same time IDW is going to give the international readers a way to catch up with the story by releasing special "Global" editions of TMNT #1-4 and Raphael #1. These new global editions will all have a single cover, which reuses art from the original release of each book. You can see all of the new covers below.
Thanks to Rich for his help gathering these!

TMNT #1 - Global Edition

TMNT #2 - Global Edition

TMNT #3 - Global Edition

TMNT #4 - Global Edition

TMNT #5 - Global Edition

Raphael #1 - Global Edition

IDW Raphael #1 - Variant Cover Guide

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Raphael #1 from IDW is out today! Now don't forget, this issue takes place after TMNT #5, which hasn't been published yet, but absolutely must be read after TMNT #4. So if you don't have that one yet, grab yourself a copy when you're in your local comic shop to grab this issue. And here's your obligatory variant cover guide.

If you haven't made the trip yet, check out this preview of Raphael #1!

Cover B

Cover B: Franco Urru.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover A

Cover C

Cover A: David Petersen (color).
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover C: David Petersen (black & white).
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover D

Cover E

Cover D: Kevin Eastman.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 25 copies ordered.

Cover E: Jetpack Comics.
Retailer exclusive cover for Jetpack Comics.
This cover can be purchased for $14.99 from Jetpack Comics.

"Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation" Now Streaming on Netflix

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Well, here's something I didn't see coming. The infamous 1997-98 live action TMNT TV series, which has never seen a proper video release in the United States, is now available on Netflix's streaming service. Saban recently reacquired the rights to its TV shows that had previously been owned by Disney, The Next Mutation being among those shows. And it looks like they don't intend to sit on it. Could a DVD release be in the future?

Despite an over-abundance of odd sound effects, The Next Mutation is a part of TMNT history that's still worth checking out, especially if you've never seen it before.

December Coloring Contest - Two Ways to Win!

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Hello, December - It's contest time! I've been tossing this one around in my head for awhile and I think it should be fun!

This is a coloring contest, so entering is simple - Color one or both of the provided pictures, e-mail it to me, and you are entered in the contest.

"Easy"

"Hard"

RULES!

There are two different categories and two different ways to win. There is an "Easy" category, which is a classic piece of cartoon licensing art from the 90s, and there is a "Hard" category, which is the Eastman and Laird cover to the first TMNT movie comic book adaptation. The winner of the "Easy" category will be chosen at random from all entries received in that category. The winner of the "Hard" category will be my personal favorite entry in that category, judged based on overall skill and style. You can enter both categories, although you can only win one prize package. The pictures can be colored digitally, or print them and color traditionally.

PRIZES!

I am still determining what the prize packages will be, but they will definitely include a TMNT IDW Ashcan comic, a set of basic/common cards from the Upper Deck TMNT TCG, and a Ninja Pizza button. I'm going to try to find something Christmas-y to throw in, too. And maybe an additional surprise or two.

ENTER!

Entries will be accepted between now and 11:59pm PST on December 24, 2011. Entries should be e-mailed to me in either .JPG or .PNG format. Submitted entries will be posted to Facebook on a regular basis as they are received. Winners will be announced on or before December 31, 2011.

DOWNLOAD!

Download the "Easy" picture as a .PSD file, or get the .PNG to print.
Download the "Hard" picture as a .PSD file, or get the .PNG to print.
Download both .PSD files.