TMNT Memories

[Michaelangelo]

Hiya, and welcome to the TMNT memories section of TMNT-L.  This area is here for people to share their memories with their friends.  Share anything from your memories from your first toy, your first time seeing the Turtles, going to see the movies, going to the tours or any other event from your history with the TMNT.

Please keep this area to memories.  Meaning past events, even if the event happened over the weekend, like a convention review, it is a past memory.  Though if you want to plan something to put into the memory area, plan it in the event forum.  

In this topic I'll put links to Memory of topics of events.  Just incase the topics disappear into the past.   The Memory of topics is going to be stuff like "Your first memories of the Turtles", "Your memory of seeing the Movie at the Threatre"  or "Memory of the Turtle Tours".    Very open events that any of us fans could have done and would like to share.   Though people are free to make their own topics on the matters as well.

Movie 1 Memories
Coming Out of Their Shells Tour Memories
Movie 2 Memories

In this topic please do take time to tell us about your very first memory of the Turtles.  Be it good or bad, I'd love to hear everyones first memory.  

[Michaelangelo]

First memories posts... hmmm seems no one has posted about this yet, so I'll start it off.  (Seeing as how I gave this topic almost a year to get a reply )

My VERY first memories of the Turtles goes back to a Si-Fi Convention back in the 80's.  We were big into wearing our costumes at conventions, for my dad's costumes were big prize getters.  So other convention goers use to try and stall us and keep us from the contest... they more focused on my mom and dad than us kids, so this was one of those conventions where we got down to the contest late.  We barely got to work the crowd to let people know our costumes were home made, I was a Blue California Raisin (because we couldn't find a purple paint).  I remember being very upset when these four guys in these green not so well cloth thrown together costumes, won the contest... (they looked like the "Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang"!).  Though this memory fell into the back of mind as a few years later when I saw my first offical TMNT toy.

I was at my brother's friend's house.  He brought out a coffee tin with toys in it, most of which were He-Man and ThunderCats, which was the big thing on our block back in the day.  Though when he dumped out the tin, there was this green toy, it wore an orange mask and has weird weapons sticking from it's belt.  I picked up the toy, and asked what it was.  The boy (not giving RL names, and can't think of a good nick for him)... said "Ninja Turtles".  I choose to play with that toy that day, it just really stood out to me.  I thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Though I didn't have him using the chucks, I didn't even know he came with chucks... it was a few of the other ninja weapons that came with him that was on the belt.  I remember hating the belt because it was hard to get the toys in and out of it.  

A week later, my brother came in while I was watching Fox 50, for "Chip & Dales Rescue Rangers" and he changed the channel!  How dare he!   There was this show, and these Turtles were fighting these robots to protect a gaint rat.  It didn't hit me at first that this is the show, that toy I liked so much was from.  Though I found myself getting pulled into it as we watched... "Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers" was a rerun any how.  That's how it started... after that I raced home everyday to watch TMNT at 3:30pm on Channel 20.

Anyone else have a story to tell?

[Raphael]

I first got intro'd to the Turtles back in 1987.  Had just started a new job, and the offices were a few blocks away from one of the local comic shops. Now, up to this point, I bought your standard comics, Marvel/DC releases. I decided to go to this store (Wilkie's Wonderful World of Comics, Books & Cards) to see if I could finish off my (ok, no jokes) Ewoks & Care Bears series. I think I may have gotten a few issues. Anyway, one day when I was there, I ran into one of my cousins. He had a copy of the 1st issue of "Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters" and was trying to sell it to shop owner. They couldn't strike a deal. D (my cousin) offered it to me for $1.

Now, the cover of that issue is very amateurish, especially if you're used to the slick covers of Marvel & DC comics. I had no interest in wasting $1 on it. He eventually gave me the comic. It sat at home for a bit, unread, until a friend started reading it...and laughing. Soon, I had picked up the back issues (5 of them). In the letters column, people often referred to the TMNT, so I debated giving them a shot (but they were on issue 12 at that point, so I knew it would be costly to get the back issues if it did turn out that I liked 'em).

I eventually caved and bought the comic. It was nothing like the Hamsters - where the Hamsters were silly, the Turtles were serious. Still, it was enjoyable. Next thing you know, I'm buying the back issues, and the guest appearances, and the Dark Horse figures and the Palladium books and the hard cover limited edition book (that one cost me $125!!)...then the ads started...for the toys...and the cartoon. I was hooked...like a wide mouthed bass.

Although...I admit, before I caved and bought my first TMNT comic, I did write to the Hamsters comic to say that I much preferred the Hamsters. Heck, I think I even spelled Raph's name as Ralph.  

 4444
(signature courtesy of a rushing cat)

[AristaNiara]

I was on a superhero kick back in kindergarden.  I grew up in a neighborhood full of boys.  I was one of few girls and the boys basically got me hooked on superheroes.  So the boys in my neighborhood started telling me about some green turtles that save the world.  I laughed at them and hung out at one of their houses one day and watched TMNT for the first time.

I do remember that the guys were saying who their favorite was and how they thought that it wasn't fair that there was a girl turtle for me to be when we played outside.  Well, we now know why there isn't a girl turtle but I kept up with the series after that all thanks to my younger sister who I won't embarrass by telling the story since she might come online and kill me...

[Lady Mew2]

I first memory is when I was 6 yrs old and I started watching Ninja Turtles. Later I mimic the way Leo and Donny used thier weapons.

[Shredneck]

The first memories I have of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was in December of 1987 when I saw the pilot episode of the animated series.  I fell in love right then and there.  In 1988 I began seeing the action figures on shelves when I'd go shopping with my mother.  My very first Turtles toy was a Michaelangelo (when the toys were manufactured with the squishy rubber heads as opposed to the hard plastic ones).  Prior to the time of the Turtles cartoon I was always into He-Man, Transformers, Voltron, Thundercats, etc.  The Ninja Turtles toys seemed so different, they stood out, they were a different kind of hero.  As weeks went by after my purchase of the Michaelangelo figure, the rest of the turtles followed, more episodes of the TV show followed, and I became more and more engrossed with TMNT.  But nothing changed my life forever like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics.  My parents had bought me a couple of the collected books from the original Mirage series published by First Publishing.  When I first got into the Turtles I could barely read, but by the time I got into the comics I was well into second grade.  I loved other comics like X-Men, Batman, you name it, but the TMNT comics actually made me want to become a comic book artist.  I drew Turtles every day, in 1990 I even won an art contest that my school was having promoting the book fair with a drawing depicting Mikey and the Shredder, with a talking bubble over Shredder's head that read: "I love shredding into books" with his blades penetrating through a copy of the Ninja Turtles movie adaptation book.  Aside from all of that, I collected everything that I could with TMNT on it, all of my t-shirts had TMNT characters on them, I even tried to convince myself that I was indeed a turtle trapped in human skin.  I remember seeing the first Turtles movie on opening night.  My parents were going to refrain from taking me opening night and said "No" when I asked.  But after a two hour temper tantrum I persuaded them to take me to the last showing at 9:00pm, I had to pull some major drama to make that happen, looking back I can imagine how irritated my parents were and as an adult I feel bad about it, but at the same time, I don't regret it at all haha.  The memory of seeing the movie is so stuck in my mind that I can remember it as if it were yesterday, I even remember scenes in the movie that seemed to have been deleted from the home video/DVD version (or am I just crazy?)  I'm 27 now, and my passion for TMNT has yet to disappear.  I have an enormous collection now (though all fail in comparison to the mighty collection of Ms. Michele Ivey) and I continue to follow my dream of someday being able to draw a TMNT comic book series (heck I'd settle for just being able to draw a cover).  I've had different fandoms over the years but none have been so prominent as my fandom for the TMNT!   

This is exactly one half of my TMNT collection, I'll post more of it when I can figure out a way to display it all, I want to be able to share the whole thing with all of you.

[RobinYinSama]

i remember watching TMNT(80's)in China it was yrs after had finished, it was chinese dubbed though and all i remember was these i think mutated frogs and they were captured and a gurl turn really big and the turtles tried to feed her sum kind of tablet but she refused to eat it and they put it in icecream. Then i began watched the 2003 one i didn;t even know they were TMNT.

[fmagirl0919]

i remember when i got my very first tmnt item. i was like 2 years old and my parents took me to toys r us and i saw a raphael plush on the shelf and i grabbed him and wouldnt let go of him. hehe lol. i still have him too. hes falling apart a little but thats ok.

[NinjaNette]

My very first memory of TMNT. I wasn't even in kindergarden yet. I remember waking up early in the morning and going to the living room (this would be like the year of 1993 or 1994). I would sit by the shelf of movies and just stare at the cover of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II Secret of the Ooze movie case (the movies belong to my brother who passed away with Lukemia Cancer in 1992). I would watch that movie over and over. I always got hyper and excited when I saw it. Donatello would make me laugh when he grabbed hold of the plushie bat and hit the robber in the face with it. From then on, I would imagine TMNT talking to me when I was little.

As the years went by, I started getting more invovled with TMNT. I started watching the show everyday at 6:00 pm on Cartoon Network. Then on Saturday and Sunday. I always missed it on the weekend for some reason. I saw almost all of the episdoes. I missed a few, because family was always watching T.V. It's hard watching TMNT, because my brother was a fan of TMNT, and my Mom kind of gets a little emotional when it comes to TMNT.

My collection of TMNT started in Middle School. My sister was the one who got me TMNT as a Christmas gift one year. Then when I started my freshemen year in High School. I remember coming home and an action figure of Raphael was stuck in between the doors to my home with a note, "Can you find them all"? I went inside and I saw my sister sitting on the couch. I went to get something to drink and found Leonardo I think in the fridge. I smiled and thought it was kind of funny. My sister and best friend were in the living room laughing. I went to the bathroom afterwards, because I really had to go bathroom and saw Michelangelo's action figure sitting on the counter. After that I went to my room and saw Donatello's action figure on my bed. My sister use to get a discount on TMNT stuff at Toys R Us. She would put things on hold and would bring them home. She did all she could to get most of the TMNT stuff. I remember that.

From then on I started writing my own TMNT Fan fiction, because TMNT fascinated me that much. Till this very day, I imagine TMNT talking to me just like when I was little.

[Thenegativeone09]

I actually remember something going like 2 years back when the animated TMNT movie in 2007 came out and I was like ehh... but my friend is a huge fan of the turtles (or was, I don't remember) and invited me to go right after I bought tickets to Hills have Eyes 2, so I decided what not and went to the movie with my friend and sold the Hills have Eyes tickets, after seeing the movie, my TMNT old self from childhood came back to life and it has been a guilty pleasure for me since.