Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures - Getting Started

Getting Started

The first TMNT license came in the form of a role-playing game by Palladium, followed by miniatures from Dark Horse. Within a year, First Comics began to reprint the early issues in color volumes; four were produced, stopping at issue 11. These sold well, and Eastman and Laird were soon contacted by Mark Freedman, a licensing agent who believed he could make something of the Turtles. Freedman took the idea to a variety of toy companies, only to be turned down by those who felt the concept was not popular enough to support a toy line. Only one company expressed interest, a little-known California company by the name of Playmates.

Not entirely willing to risk marketing a small cult comic book, Playmates insisted that a cartoon series be produced first. Development initiated with a creative team of companies and individuals: Jerry Sachs, famous ad man of Sachs-Finley Agency, brought together the animators at Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, headed by award-winning animator Fred Wolf. Wolf and his team combined concepts and ideas with Playmates marketing crew, headed by Karl Aaronian and then VP of Sales, Richard Sallis and VP of Playmates, Bill Carlson. Aaronian brought on several designers and concepteer and writer John Schulte and worked out the simple backstory that would live on toy packaging for the entire run of the product and show. Sachs called the high-concept pitch "Green Against Brick". The sense of humor was honed with the collaboration of MWS's writers, Walk Kubiak, Aaronian, Schulte and Sachs. Playmates and their team essentially served as associate producers and contributing writers to the miniseries that was first launch to sell-in the toy action figures. Phrases like "Heroes in a Half Shell" and many of the comical catch phrases and battle slogans ("Turtle Power!") came from the writing and conceptualization of this creative team. As the series developed, veteran writer Jack Mendelsohn came on board as both a story editor and scriptwriter. David Wise, Michael Charles Hill and Michael Reaves wrote most of the scripts, taking input via Mendelsohn and collaborating writer Schulte and marketing maven Aaronian. In signing with Murakami-Wolf-Swenson Productions, Eastman and Laird saw the production of the first TMNT cartoon in December 1987. Playmates held up their end of the deal and produced the first series of TMNT action figures in the summer of 1988. The premiere series included the four Turtles, Splinter, April, Shredder, Rocksteady, Bebop, and a Foot Soldier. Vehicles included the Cheapskate, Turtle Trooper, Turtle Blimp, and Foot Knucklehead. Each vehicle set was packaged with a jokebook and a small catalog. If one was to clip the "Pizza Point"s located on the reverse side of the packaging then a person could redeem them along with a small fee for other Turtles merchandise like VHS tapes, posters, bath towels, among others. Corresponding firmly with its animated series counterpart, the original TMNT action figure line would last ten years and develop a legacy within the toy realm.