New Additions to the TMNT Collection IV

Over the last few months I have succumbed to the addiction that is on-line shopping. Seriously, once you start you find so many other cool things and you just can't stop...that is until your wife reminds you that you have children and bills to pay. This realization led me to be pretty selective of what I've purchased recently and as a huge fan of the Green Machine there are a ton of options. So without wasting anymore time, here is part 4 of the newest additions to my TMNT collection!

TMNT Novels

I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Like kids everywhere, we saw it in theaters, had the VHS tape, reenacted the fight scenes in our backyards and read the official TMNT Movie Novelization! I remember getting the movie novel in mine and my brothers Easter Baskets in 1990. We loved the movie photos inside and the small changes that were in the novel versus the actual finished movie. My brother and myself each also had one of the cartoon novels. They just happened to be "Buried Treasure" & "Six Guns and Shurikens".  When I found all 3 of these books in an ebay lot, I knew it was destiny! I paid the $12 to the seller and once again had these books back in my collection after almost 30 years!

TMNT Mini-Pinball Game

This was another gift from my wife. This time it was for my birthday. She really gets me. For it's size, it's actually a really fun game and me & the kids are constantly trying to beat each other's high score. Not to brag, but I currently own the high score with 6,853,050 points! My only complaint is that it is a little clunky trying to hold the game and hit the flipper buttons. There really isn't a truly comfortable way for me to do this with my man hands. Still, very fun game though!

TMNT Snapz

Not too much to say about these. I had seen them multiple times at Target near the trading card section, but never bought them due to the price point. These 2 guys ended up in my Christmas stocking thanks to Santa and I scored the ultra rare Sensei Splinter figure! Overall these are pretty cool looking and the suction action feature does stick, but I don't think I will be hunting down the other 3 turtles to complete the set.

TMNT: The Last Ronin Comics

This is the story TMNT fans have been waiting decades for! The original concept for this book was put together by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird during the early success of the TMNT back in the 80's. Allegedly, due to the rise of popularity in the TMNT, Eastman & Laird ditched the project to focus on the business end of the license and the idea was dropped...until 2020 when "The Last Ronin" #1 was released. It's a good story so far and the first issue has set up the 5 issue series nicely with a few twists. Can't wait to read the rest of this series when it is released bi-monthly from IDW.

NECA: Musical Mutagen Tour Box

I love this stuff! I was a big fan of the "Coming Out Of Their Shells Tour" back in the 90's and I was really amazed to see it make a comeback in the form of the Musical Mutagen Tour in 2020. The Turtles sport their on-stage looks and the NECA box includes some great items for around $20. Here is what was inside!

You got a Musical Mutagen Tour tote bag, All Access Lanyard, 4 guitar picks in the Turtles classic colors, a show ticket and....

This AMAZING T-shirt! I was kind of worried when I was only able to find the set in an XL size. I'm usually a L man, but I'm glad I picked this one up. The sizes for the shirt seem to run small and this shirt fit me as well as any of my other shirts. The graphics are neat and include the Musical Mutagen Tour artwork on the front with some tour info on the back. Great set from one of the most memorable and weird moments in TMNT history! I am still looking to score the figures from this set at a decent price, but that's wishful thinking.

Thanks for bearing with me and checking out some of the latest additions to my TMNT collection. I gotta say, I'm running out of room and may have to expand my basement collection area because I'm sure there is more to come for this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fanatic! COWABUNGA!!!!

New Additions to the TMNT Collection III

Over the last few months I have succumbed to the addiction that is on-line shopping. Seriously, once you start you find so many other cool things and you just can't stop...that is until your wife reminds you that you have children and bills to pay. This realization led me to be pretty selective of what I've purchased recently and as a huge fan of the Green Machine there are a ton of options. So without wasting anymore time, here is part 3 of the newest additions to my TMNT collection!

TMNT: The Incredible Shrinking Turtles Book

I had some of these books as a kid, but never this one. This book came as a gift in a package from the ultra-cool Hoju Koolander! If you want to check out some of his radical retro flavored articles or videos you can check them out at RetroDaze.org or on the WIZARDS! Podcast on Youtube.

TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze VHS Tape

I have extremely fond memories of owning this VHS tape as a youngster. Me and my brother would watch this movie daily. This copy is a special one though. It comes from the Mirage Studios Archives and was in the collection of TMNT Co-Creator Peter Laird! Don't believe me?

I bought it off the Mirage Studios website and it came with this sweet Certificate of Authenticity! It only cost me about $10 and I love it! If you would like to own a piece from Mirage Studios, they typically hold weekly ebay auctions. You can view the items available by clicking HERE.

TMNT Party Wagon: Hot Wheels

I kept seeing this mini version of the Turtles' Party Wagon pop up in my Twitter feed. People were finding it everywhere. I searched my local Walmarts, Targets and Dollar Tree stores, but had no success. Instead of continuing the trend of disappointment, I decided to buy this off ebay for $5. After I made that purchase, I began finding these all over the place. I picked up a few extras and gave my son one, Ieven sent one to a collector in Canada who was having trouble locking one down. I really like the details and for $1 or less, you can't beat the usual Hot Wheels quality of this toy!

Funko Pops!

My wife scored me the Target exclusive Metalhead figure for Christmas. This was a big surprise for me and she was really proud of herself for tracking him down. She's a keeper. The Casey Jones, I found in a clearance section at Walmart. This was odd to me since they had just recently came out. I didn't have a Casey in my Pop! collection yet, so I took advantage of the possibly mislabeled figure and now he stands proud next to my Turtles on the shelf in the basement!

TMNT Valentines

I found the vintage looking TMNT Valentines on clearance for around $1 and my wife found the other 2 boxes for me. Of course the kids wanted to use some of these for my friends and I let them go to town. I remember what a thrill it was to receive a Ninja Turtles Valentine. I received a card featuring something I loved on the biggest love day of them all and it was AWESOME! Who am I to keep another child from experiencing that same thrill?

Thanks for bearing with me and checking out some of the latest additions to my TMNT collection. I gotta say, I'm running out of room and may have to expand my basement collection area because I'm sure there is more to come for this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fanatic! COWABUNGA!!!!

A Celebration of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

A few years ago I received this LIFE "America's Parade" book as a gift through work. I hadn't read it in years and as luck should have it, I stumbled upon it again while searching for my Wii Zapper for my son! It was in the back of a long forgotten cabinet in the kids playroom in the basement. I started flipping through it and remembered how cool this book was! It tells the story of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from it's small start as an idea imagined by a few immigrants working at Macy's to express gratitude toward their new American heritage in 1924 to the huge spectacle it has become today. Here were some of my favorite shots from the book.

The stories in this book are great, the history is interesting and the behind the scenes images are priceless. If you are a fan of this parade, I suggest you take a look at this book. Now stop reading this awesome blog and enjoy some time with your family! From everyone here at 20 Years Before 2000 .. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Retro Reading Corner: The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album

Originally published by Harper/Collins in 1991, the Simpsons Uncensored Family Album is a scrapbook through the history of the quintessential Nuclear Family through the eyes of it matriarch Marge Simpson. It is filled with mementos from Homer and Marge's years growing up in Springfield to the present day with their 3 children Bart, Lisa & Maggie. I love the way this book is presented through the characters viewpoint of events and how it incorporates classic scenes from some of the best episodes. I wanted this book back when I was a Simpsons fan in the 90's and I finally grabbed a copy at a used book store for around $1. Let's take a look inside and delve into the backstory of one of the most iconic animated families in television history....

I loved seeing these photos of Homer and Marge from before they had children. It really gives you a glimpse into the people they would become and how they got there. I may be getting too deep with this one, but it's always cool to see what your parents were like before you born. It gives you a deeper appreciation for them as people. Plus it's pretty surprising to see Homer's High School Certificate of Merit.

Here is where it all began. This was the start of the Simpsons clan. Baby Bart has finally arrived. I wonder if he got his name from the package shown on this page. Who would include that in a family scrapbook?

I included this page because of the El Barto Wanted poster. I always thought Bart was cool and strived to be an underachiever (and be proud of it). I gotta give Chief Wiggum some credit, he was pretty close with this sketch though.

"Bart's Dog Gets an F" was an early episode highlight for the Simpsons. It finally put the spotlight on Santa's Little Helper and the results were amazing. Who can forget when the family dog destroys Homer's new $125 pair of Assassins sneakers. Great scene, great episode & cool page in the Simpsons family album.

I just added this page because it reminds me of the day I first watched the Simpsons Christmas special when it aired on FOX 5 on December 17th, 1989. I watched it when it very first aired and I have been a fan of the show ever since.

This Simpsons Family Tree was especially interesting to me. If you follow the lines to the left you will see that Homer is actually related to Mr. Burns in some crazy way! Interesting stuff. I wonder if this book is cannon to the series? What a cool way to end this entertaining trip through the first few decades of the Simpsons Family History. Now enjoy where it all began with the first Simpsons short that aired on The Tracey Ullman show on April 19th, 1987.

In Search of The Goonies Novelization

Every once in a while I like to challenge myself to find a piece of my childhood that will bring back great memories of my amazing childhood. This time around I have found myself on a quest to find and purchase the novelization of my favorite movie of all time...The Goonies! This book search didn't happen just out of the blue, but thanks to some of the guys I follow on Twitter like Shawn Robare of Branded in the 80s fame. I've read some of these adaptations of movies and sometimes they contain altered events and deleted scenes that never made it into the movie. I am hoping this is the case with The Goonies. So I searched online...

but the prices were a little out of my range. After that didn't go as planned I ran another search, this time for used bookstores in my neighborhood. I found 3 of them in the area! It looks like I am now on my own Goonie adventure, but instead of looking for rich stuff I was hoping to uncover a wealth of  fantastic fiction. I have journeyed to 2 of the bookstores so far, but no Goonies novels were to be found. Instead I picked up some other great literary works of art based on a few awesome characters that were popular back in the day. Here is what I scored for under $5!

Alf: Mission To Mars (Checkerboard Press, 1987)

Heathcliff: In Outer Space (Marvel Books, 1985)

My Pet Monster: Goes To School (Western Publishing, 1986)

Pound Puppies: Problem Puppies (Western Publishing, 1986)

Roger Rabbit: Make The World Laugh (Western Publishing, 1988)

TMNT: The Storybook Based On The Movie (Random House, 1990)

Not a bad haul overall. At least I found something to bring home and read to my kids before they head off to bed for the night. But it wasn't what I was looking for, it wasn't The Goonies. Well, I still have one more shop to check for my paperback white whale! Wish me luck and pray I don't end up like Chester Copperpot!

Retro Reading Corner: TMNT ABC's for a Better Planet

Since this Sunday is Earth Day, I figured that I would bust out this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book from 1991 and give you guys a few pointers on how to help make the Earth a better place.

This book is chock full of great tips and ideas from the greenest guys I know on how to be a responsible inhabitant of our planet. Below are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

F is for Fast Food

I is for Ivory

L is for Litter

P is for Pesticides

R is for Remember to Recycle Rubbish

Hopefully these lessons will help you have an eventful Earth Day this year. Now get out there, plant a tree, enjoy the nice weather and always remember the lesson Ya Kid K taught us to be green and keep it clean!