Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

If you will, please think back to the early 1990's.

For the past few years, only a handful of merchandisers could rightfully lay claim to having one of the best San Diego Comic-Con exclusive items. With dozens of different companies all vying for that top spot, the competition was absolutely fierce. However, in that great big mix of exclusives, one company constantly found itself topping nearly every toy fanatic's list. NECA has been on a major roll as of late, and with this year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Predator and Aliens offerings, its grip on the Comic-Con crown doesn't look like it will loosen.

We haven’t heard much in the realm of a third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, but the TV branch is at least keeping busy. 2018 will see a new Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, switching to a new animation style and adding “more humor, a younger and lighter feel and all-new dimensions to explore.”

It's been nearly five years since IDW's ground-up reinvention of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the publisher's line of Turtle-based comics have stayed strong as one of the most innovative and exciting licensed properties on the shelves right now. One of the coolest things has been seeing a generation of creators who grew up on Turtles get their hands on the property and the new issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe sees Michelangelo getting involved in a missing person's case that leads to the discovery and debut of the semi-obscure villain Wyrm

There are several times in my life where I have tried to stop buying action figures, for all the reasons that you'd expect. They're expensive, they take up space, and while I'm not above making Storm Shadow drop a Stone Cold Stunner on Batman while I'm on the phone and need something to do with my hands, it's not like I actually spend enough time playing with them to keep them form just sitting on my desk gathering dust. But every time I try to get out, something brings me back in, and nothing has ever gotten me as hard as the new line of Ninja Superstars figures from Playmates, in which WWE Superstars are combined with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they are amazing.

After a month of anticipation, "Treehouse of Horror" binges, and spooky Twitter names, Halloween is finally upon us. This special day means so much to so many people, and one of the greatest joys it gives us is licensed costumes based on comic book properties. Some of them are incredibly detailed and accurate to the source material, some of them are hilariously bad, and some, somehow, manage to be both. We've rounded up some of the best comics-themed Halloween costumes from this year to provide you with some last minute inspiration for the big night.

The NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Set was arguably one of the most anticipated and sought-after San Diego Comic-Con exclusives this year. Fans have been after more NECA TMNT figures ever since the company delivered its Mirage-inspired foursome way back when. The rest of the planned line, which consisted of Shredder and the Foot Clan, never saw the light of day --- though those "lost" figures were retooled and repainted to fit into the Foot Clan companion set to this Turtles collection at SDCC. The Turtles themselves got all-new sclupts, paint apps and accessories that more closely resemble the animated characters on which the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game were based. The wait has been long for some truly quality TMNT figures, and even though these are a very specific set of ninjas, they're damn brilliant.

If you didn’t like Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, just know that it could’ve been a lot worse. An early draft of the script turned the Turtles into aliens from another dimension and Shredder was turned into Colonel Schroeder, a secret alien who can grow blades. That’s just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which gets totally tubular with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Production on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell, maybe) is gearing up, which means we’re going to start hearing some casting announcements — like this one, which should make geeky fans pretty stoked: Arrow star Stephen Amell has just joined the cast of the upcoming sequel, playing the one and only Casey Jones.

For most of us, the pain of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' has come and gone (though the movie opens this weekend in the UK), and it's probably best to put it behind us. But, maybe somewhere throughout the development process, maybe there was a good 'Ninja Turtles' movie in there somewhere before it was homogenized within an inch of its life. Case in point: this new concept art that reveals classic TMNT villains Bebop, Rockstead and Krang almost made their way into the film.