Welcome to another “Toys on a Tuesday”, a series about Toys, what they are worth, what we remember, and what we want since we are now adults with enough money to afford reissues of childrens toys from our own childhoods. In this edition of the whenever we want to publish it type series, we head back to the realm of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).
This time we are going to continue the very popular series about the old Playmates TMNT toys that I grew up with and see what they are worth today. Previously we covered Series 1 from 1988, and Series 2 from 1989, so this time we head into the 1990 offerings which were much more interesting than what other franchises like Transformers were offering at the time.
Terms to know: TMNT TMNT TMNT
- Variant: A variant is a slight change from the original version of the toy. This could come as a coloring change, a change of costume or outfit, the materials used in making the toy, or just something as simple as an error getting into a batch of the mass-produced toy.
- Loose: Loose figures are the ones you’ll mostly find out in the wild. A lot of the time this will be the basic figure itself (The lowest price for the category) without any accessories. Some collectors will prefer to have the figure along with everything it originally came with, known as “complete”, which gets the higher prices.
- Graded: These toys are the holy grail of being a hardcore collector. What happens is that someone will “Slab” their toy, usually right from purchase, and send it to the Action Figure Authority, who then inspect the toy, its packaging, and everything else before assigning a grade to the product and shipping it back. Like the graded comic books, you’ll find today, these figures are in high demand due to how close they are to straight out of the shipping box in quality, thus demanding high prices.
- Slabbed: A Slabbed item is picked up right from the store shelf or through a special order and then placed in an air-tight hard plastic case to prevent damage to the toy. A lot of these cases are made with built-in tabs to keep the card from bending and are also UV protected to decrease the plastic encasing the figure from “yellowing” over time.
- MOC: Meaning “Mint on Card”, this is the term used for 100% complete and original products. The “Card” is the cardboard backing that the figure rests on. The figure itself is encased in a soft plastic “Bubble” for protection so people won’t steal the things. The closer the whole product is to its original straight-from-shelf condition, the more “mint” it is. MIB: Practically the same as MOC, but instead of being on the card, it means “Mint in Box”. This term is used for box items such as vehicles and play sets.
- PRICES ARE ON AVAILABLE PRODUCTS VIA EBAY “BUY IT NOW” AND PRICED CORRECTLY AS OF THE DATE OF PUBLICATION IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS.
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $10 (incomplete) to $30 (complete)
Price (MOC): $80 to $150
Price (Graded): $300+
Card Back Text: Because Don’s only got two hands, this roomy reptile relies on his storage shell to tote the tools of his trade. This storage shell superhero may not have anything up his sleeve, but check out his back! Don’s got his bo snapped to his back for easy retrieval. And when the going gets Turtle tough. Don just opens his back and selects a weapon from his awesome arsenal: a sewer slingshot for the fast movin’ Foot; a fish knife to scale the Foot down to size; a shark fin hatchet for hacking hoodlums; two ninja stars – one for each hand; and a killer pizza – the pizza that slices back! Don’s the first Turtle to perfect his storage shell. Not only can he hide his weapon arsenal in his back, but he can also sneak secret sewer stuff past the Foot Clan. Go ahead, try him out – but don’t be surprised by his tricky Turtle insides!
Well, this is a weird one. The only actual turtle in the lineup with a gimmick that didn’t go too far when it was originally released, now comes back as a 4-set with the TMNT Classic re-release line. The storage shell turtles were nothing more than the original line with a back shell that opens up and allows you to put all the weapons inside. The problem here is that not all the weapons were able to fit inside the shell enclosure, Donatello being the main one proving this since you had no way to get his iconic bow-staff into the space. A lot of people really didn’t think too much of this design, making it one of the more common and cheaper toys to come out of this line.
Variant: (Figure) V on the chest can be Blue, Green, Brown, Purple, Maroon, and Red.
Price (Loose): $15 (incomplete) to $25 (complete)
Price (MOC): $55 to $225
Price (Graded): $335 to $850
Card Back Text: You smell something fishy? That’s because you just picked up Ray Fillet, the coolest sea creature to ever leap from the deep. Spawned from a marine biologist and a manta ray, Ray Fillet emerged from a toxic sewer pipe only to discover himself super-strong and super-slimy. He’s a Foot-fightin’ fish who helps the Turtles when they’re in deep trouble – underwater, that is. Ray rescues best when he’s submerged, ’cause he transforms from a water wimp to a fist-fighting fish. Aquatically assisted by Fish Stix, Ray Fillet filters out crime from the coral reef. Using his mean-faced Scarfish weapon and Ray Gill Gun, the Foot don’t stand a chance when they’re up to their knees in water.
Poor Ray Fillet, no one really cared about you did they? Probably one of the least-liked characters back in the day, with only one appearance in the TMNT cartoon and only one in the Archie TMNT comics (That were popular at the time) before getting a part in another series by the name of Mighty Mutanimals (Also by Archie comics). Even weirder than his appearances in comic books and TV shows, is the amount of variants that Ray Fillet has as an action figure. With 6 different versions of the V pattern on his chest, you would think Ray Fillet would be the character that would be worth a fortune. But it seems that, in this case, variants do not equal top value… Maybe if he was more popular.
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $5 (incomplete) to $40 (complete)
Price (MOC): $55 to $130
Price (Graded): None Available
Card Back Text: Descended from giant mutant earth pandas, a thousand years in the future, Panda Khan is the Samurai ruler of a genetically improved tribe of battlin’ bears. Leaving his alien world in search of great adventure, Khan boarded a Tong pirate ship and using the ancient art of Ting Zing Pao, time-traveled to Earth, 1990. Landing in the sewers, Panda Khan linked up with the Turtles for an unbearably good time. Living by the code of the Khan, Panda Khan “Khantinues to help the Turtles combat crime and cruelty wherever he finds it. Outfitted with his protective chain mail and samurai armor, Panda Khan’s hard for the Foot Clan to bear.
Look! It’s Usagi Yojimbo as a Panda!
Seriously, I do not have much to say about this one. Panda Khan was a good play on the fact that most Panda’s come from China and Gengus Khan sort of sounds like Panda Khan, but that’s really it. I like the plating on the outfit, giving him a typical Samurai look, but I do not remember him from any media at all… After some research, I found out that his name is Li Yang, a character from the same universe that Usagi Yojimbo comes from, and there was a deal where he was going to make an appearance in the TMNT cartoon much like his rabbit counterpart. Li Yang also appeared in a couple of the Mirage comic books in crossovers with Usagi Yojimbo.
Variant: Figure: Green Knee Spike, Red Knee Spike
Price (Loose): $10 (incomplete) to $25 (complete)
Price (MOC): $120 to $255
Price (Graded): $380
Card Back Text: “A Loner, A Lizard. A Skatemaster. Mutated from a head-banging, thrash-metal, teenage guitarist, Mondo Gecko is the coolest lizard to surf the concrete jungle.” Known to his cold-blooded boardin’ breathren as “The Mon,” Mondo Gecko likes to skate the sewers and grease the grind. This maximum maniac grooves on shining the curbside and puts fun and freedom ahead of everything else. He’s always stoked and lookin’ for a new adventure. So when the Turtles need some extra help, Mondo’s ready to skate, rattle and roll. Mondo Gecko and the Turtles make funky freestylin’ friends. Teenager to the end, Mondo’s got his brain jammed into Michaelangelo’s frequency. They’re both party dudes – and that makes for a totally awesome twosome. With braces on his tubular teeth and cream on his mutant zits, Mondo Gecko chomps and chews on Butter beans and rips through the sewer pipes, ready to crash and thrash the Foot.
The only teenage mutant with the radical attitude of the 90s that would rival Michaelangelo! Mondo Gecko would be the first figure in the TMNT line that would come with a sheet of stickers that you could use to decorate the figure, his skateboard, or anything else you wanted. This would make getting a complete figure a lot harder to find since this sticker sheet would either be used or go missing very easily, making the MOC versions VERY collectible. There have been a lot of Mondo Gecko figures released over the years, but this one is probably the best sculpted one out of the lot… Even if people think that the Mutant Mayhem one is the coolest. Though there is a re-release version on the market, it will be interesting to see how the value of this version is affected.
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $15 (incomplete) to $40 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $85 to $225
Price (Graded): None Available
Card Back Text: Wingnut, the clutzy, caped vampire bat, quietly hung out on his home planet, Huanu. That is, until Krang destroyed it. Saved and sucked into a vortex before his planet exploded, Wingnut ended up on Earth, along with Screwloose, a levelheaded Huanu mosquito. Furious and frantic that Krang obliterated his planet, the crazed Wingnut’s out to get even with Krang or anyone else associated with the burbling brain. That makes him a perfect ally with the Turtle Teens. Despite Wingnut’s bloodshot eyes, defective radar, stunted wings and over-sensitive ears, he’s determined to be a sewer-superhero. Even with constant training from our green Teens, Wingnut’s more likely to bump into a building than bust a baddie. Armed with mechanical turbo wings invented by Donatello, Wingnut flutters and putters to put the bite on the Foot Clan.
This was one of those toys that I never wanted to go near as a kid. Wingnut was a character I only saw in the Archie comic book and he was horrible. They did appear in the TMNT cartoon as villains, even though they were portrayed as anti-villain characters in the comics and even with this figure. Wingnut would appear again on his own in the Mutant Mayhem movie with a much better look, but even then the character didn’t get much screen time and the figure wasn’t all that great to have in any collection… Which I have. As for this one, the biggest issue is the lack of paint on Screwloose, but Playmates was starting to get a bit cheap on the paint applications at this point.
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $4 (incomplete) to $25 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $75 to $150
Price (Graded): $520
Card Back Text: Triceraton is a simple beast, who wants nothing more than to eat rats and destroy Turtles. Ever since our three-fingered green guys visited his homeworld in Dimension X, Triceraton hasn’t gotten his beauty sleep-and boy-oh-boy does it show. This ugly cold-blooded creature uses the full capacity of his walnut-sized brain to seek out and destroy all Turtles! And Triceraton would rather shoot first, since he can’t ask intelligent questions later. His Laser Phaser and Neutron Neutralizer come in handy while chasing the Turtles from the sewers to the streets. Often employed by the Foot Clan as an Advance Attack Alien, Triceraton comes equipped with Platinum-plated Chest Armor, three-count ’em-three razor-sharp horns and a spiny, slashing tail. And check out those rascally rodents on his detachable utility belt-just in case Triceraton needs a quick-energy rat snack.
One of the original TMNT villains from the original Mirage comic books, the Triceratons were a warrior race who came to Earth to conquer it and take the Fugitoid back with them. But back in the 1990s, they were one-off villains in the TMNT cartoon and didn’t get a comic book appearance. This would be rectified in the 2003 TMNT cartoon where the Triceratons were given a huge story arc complete with an invasion. If you want to make a classic collection, then this would be an amazing troop builder to get if you can get them cheap enough. Imagine doing a street scene of New York where you have the Turtles sandwiched between a battle between The Foot Clan and the Triceratons!
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $5 (incomplete) to $25 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $60 to $300
Price (Graded): $350+
Card Back Text: While tinkering with an unstable mental device, the infamous Dr. Honeycutt transferred his brain to his android servant – making him the world’s first and most sought after servo-scientist. Now a hunted hybrid humanoid, Honeycutt’s on the run. Officially classified as a Fugitoid, he bumped into the Turtles while trying to escape through a transdimensional portal and returned with them to Earth. Loyal to the end, Fugitoid assists the Turtles in developing new devices. He’s particularly fond of Donatello’s ingenuity. Fugitoid is skilled in many languages – from conversational cockroach to Mongolian mumble – but he’s best used as a super-scout for the Turtles. Armed with his grappling claw and skeletal servo-scanner, Fugitoid can get himself into unusual places. He’s an endless source of data, details and other dehumanized delights. Fugitoid. A good guy to run around with.
Another one of those weird characters who would not get popular till a later series. Fugitoid was a character from the Mirage comic book days that would not get seen in any media till the 2003 TMNT cartoon. Fugitoid actually pre-dates the TMNT franchise that was integrated into the Mirage comics later. Fugitoid is another one of those figures that is pretty common as it was a bit of a shelf warmer back in the day, but complete on-card versions have gone up considerably since his 2003 and 2012 appearances in both TMNT TV shows and comic books.
Variant: (Figure) Dark Spot version and Light Spots version
Price (Loose): $5 (incomplete) to $25 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $80 to $200
Price (Graded): None Available
Card Back Text: Napoleon Bonafrog, also known as Genghis Frog’s surfin’ siblin’ from the south, hopped away with his two swamp frog brothers, Attila and Rasputin, to join Genghis in the big city. Together now, they join forces along with the Turtles to lick the evil Foot Clan. Inventor of the “hop, skip and a jump” attack formation. Napoleon Bonafrog employs his strategic swamp senses to outwit Shredder’s mindless minions. Forever followed by Flyboy, his Mutant Fly Friend, Napoleon drafts his bug buddy into service as a swamp spy. And when Flyboy feeds Napoleon the facts, the fearless frog fights the Foot with his Foot-swatter and Serpent Slasher. Protected by his horny toad armor, Napoleon Bonafrog puts the Foot down for peace.
The frogs were an interesting comparison to the turtles back in the day. We had mutant frogs who were created by Shredder in order to combat the turtles, but after the frogs found out they were working for the bad guys, they jumped and joined the turtles as “cousins” and together they would band together for adventures in all forms of TMNT media in the years to come. Napoleon isn’t one of the more well known of the frog crew, with his “brother” Gengus Frog getting more of the spotlight in modern media, but this was the beginning of getting the set of the frogs in their only full series appearance.
Variant: Text
Price (Loose): $35 (incomplete) to $50 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $125 to $200
Price (Graded): None Available
Card Back Text: Mutated with muck and transformed with trash, this fuming, former sewer worker oozes mysteriously through the city’s sewer system, searching for morsels of muck, sludge and slime. This grungy garbage man tolerates the sewer-dwelling Turtles because they respect the dignity of the dark and the sanctity of the sewer. And the Turtles think Muckman’s cool ’cause he looks like a pepperoni pizza. Though Muckman stinks like a landfill, it doesn’t bother him. Don’t be fooled by the clothespin on his nose-that’s not to keep the smell out, it’s to keep the garbage in! But what does Muckman have besides a nose clogged with gunk? He’s got Joe Eyeball! The amazing three-eyeballed, no-nosed parasitic pal, who decomposes his way through sewer pipes and can see through the thickest sewer stench. And be sure to keep an extra helping of Retromutagen Ooze (not included) handy, ’cause Muckman likes to keep his flesh fresh.
While Joe Eyeball suffers from the same lack of paint that Screwloose does in his release, Muckman comes off as something that really stands out in the TMNT lineup. The addition of an oozing mouth and chest gimmick gives Muckman something different from most of the other figures in this lineup. To be honest, I would not be surprised if the designer of this particular figure went on to design all the figures in the Toxic Crusaders cartoon toy line. The use of a goop leg leading to a trashcan lid “foot” is a great addition to the design that shows that the crew at Playmates were ready to make some sick design decisions in order to make characters stand out. Muckman comes in the mid-range of the figures with people really wanting him for their collection, even if he is a loose figure.
Variant: (Figure) Green Knife Accessory / Grey Knife Accessory
Price (Loose): $18 (incomplete) to $35 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $130 to $160
Price (Graded): $415 to $680
Card Back Text: Pizzaface – Shredder’s crazed culinary creator – had a plan to become the most powerful pizza chef ever. So he zapped himself in his Retromutagen oven, hoping the energy would bake him with badness. But the hungry Turtle Teens burst into the parlor and pulled Pizzaface out. Now this half-baked bozo wants to get even with the Turtles for foiling his formula. All the Turtles wanted was a large pepperoni to go – but instead they got part pizza and part Pizzaface! Possessing the power of the pizza pie, Pizzaface is the ultimate Turtle nightmare: traveling from parlor to parlor, he terrorizes the Turtles, trying to turn them into tasty teen topping. Armed with flying piping pizzas and a Pizza Box Shield, this peg-legged pizza piper follows the Foot, even though he’s only got one good leg. And what’s worse? He delivers.
I have no idea what to say about Pizzaface. He was a character who was invented to flesh out this year’s release of figures. Pizzaface didn’t get a comic book or TV show appearance till they renamed the character Antonio for the 2012 TV show, so technically this character has nothing to do with TMNT media outside of this figure release. The idea of an evil Pizza maker is an interesting idea given the turtles relationship with Pizza… The one time sotry really writes itself at this point. However, his character card says he is Shredder’s crazed culinary creator, meaning that Shredder had a pizza chef on hand in the technodrome! A weird revelation that Shredder also eats as much pizza as the turtles themselves. As for the figure, he is easily available loose, but gets very pricey once you start looking at those MOC and Graded options… Buyer beware I guess?
Variant: Text
Price (Loose): $10 (incomplete) to $45 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $170 to $300
Price (Graded): $620
Card Back Text: Victim of Krang’s insidious experiments, Seymour Gutz woke up from a lab table only to find himself hideously transformed into Mutagen Man – a pathetic, dripping, ever-changing mutating monster. Confined to a mechanical life support system that holds his mutating body together, Mutagen Man is now dependent on Ooze to replenish his deteriorating form. Forced to do Shredder’s bidding in exchange for Retromutagen Ooze, Mutagen Man reluctantly performs dastardly deeds to get the substance his body so desperately craves. Armed with his Mutagen Machine Gun, Mutagen Man relentlessly tracks down the Turtles and their allies. Head for the sewers and hide your Ooze! Mutagen Man’s on his way – and you just know he has the guts to get you!
Variant: None
Price (Loose): $5 (incomplete) to $35 (Complete)
Price (MOC): $85 to $125
Price (Graded): $150+
Card Back Text: Sent to eliminate the bug problem in the Technodrome, a mild-mannered exterminator got accidentally oozed and mutated into the scampering, sickening Scumbug. Unable to face other customers, Scumbug saddled up with Shredder as his ace assassin. Armed with his poisonous pinchers and a tank full of Anti-Turtle Spray, this rude roach chews his way through almost anything. His power claw and bullet-proof shell make him a tough Turtlebustin’ bug. And when the going gets rough, this roach gets other bugs to rally ’round him. Using his super-sensitive antennae as a telepathic link to insidious insects, Scumbug’s the Pied Piper of the creepy and the crawly. You’ll know when you’re near his army- just listen for the crunch.
Variant: (Figure) Purple Belt / Yellow “S”, Purple Belt / Red “S”, Black Belt / Yellow “S”
Price (Loose): $12 (incomplete) to $50/$250 (Complete depending on version)
Price (MOC): $250 to $345
Price (Graded): $650
Card Back Text: In an attempt to fight fire with fire, Shredder created the perfect Turtle terror – a ninja nemesis from Dimension X named – Slash. This snarling, snapping mutant menace is the total opposite of our beloved Turtle Teens. He’s a crazedcarnivorous cannibal who only eats tender Turtle tenderloin – even for breakfast! This anti-Turtle teen slashes his way through the sewers on a maniacal mission of mass destruction. Armed with his Psycho Sai and one good eye, Slash skewers anything that’s good and green. This mad monster hates everything the Turtles love: pizzas, parties and pranks. Allied with Shredder, Slash won’t until he’s devoured our green Teens. His spiked knee and elbow pads and horned shell keep Slash a cut above the rest.
The real must-have for this year. Slash is one of the fan-favorite villains (and sometime hero) of the TMNT brand. There was something about a more violent crazy version of the turtles that just appealed to the kids in all of us, probably because we were terrors for our parents or something.
The figure is the most sought-after, even after getting a couple of re-releases starting with the 25th Anniversary version, a Classic re-release as solo and pack figure, and the many different versions from other shows available, this version is the most expensive figure to collect. What doesn’t help is that this original has 4 different belt variants, making some rarer to find than others, obviously increasing the price, with the highest loose figure fetching the same price as the cheapest MOC version.
For those of you who have this original version, I salute you for either having too much money or holding onto the hottest character to be released up to this point. I do have a couple of these MOC myself, but they are the 25th Anniversary version and the Classic re-release version. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and be able to get a Graded one to put into my collection.
We’re three series in and there were a lot of toys to talk about. But I can hear people already wanting the full range of toys that appeared in 1990, such as the Wacky Action line and other sub-series. Well, if I gave you everything in one article, then why would you return later to read more about my obsession with TMNT toys and what they might be worth today? Maybe once I am done writing about all the basic assortment figures that came out, I might go back and give everyone all the sub-series that came out as well… Only time will tell. TMNT TMNT TMNT
