TMNT Co-Creator Kevin Eastman Talks Turtles and Discusses Action Figures

 

There may be no franchise more loved by kids and adults alike than the incredible Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. First printed in 1984 in a black and white comic strip, then released as an original film in 1990, the four turtles – Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo – have certainly taken the world by storm.

In this interview, Randy Falk from NECA sits down with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, who talks about how surreal it has been working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the past forty years, and how excited he is that the franchise only continues to grow through time. Eastman recounts how mind-blowing it was for him to watch his pen-drawn characters go from “2-D to 3-D,” from comic books to TV shows and movies, with people across the world now buying action figures of all his turtles and villains.

To add to the already existing magic of TMNT collectibles, NECA has just released a line of TMNT character figures that are all “nostalgia-based,” digging deep into the original roots of the series, with characters like Metalhead, Pizza Monster, Rat King Vern, and many more being brought to life in action figure form.

Eastman himself has proclaimed that NECA figures are a TMNT collector’s dream, simply because of the superb detail that goes into creating each one. Particularly pleased with the fact that NECA turned his original Fugitoid character into an action figure, Eastman also takes some time in this interview to dream about other TMNT characters he’d love to see come alive as action figures one day – Kirby with his crystal pencil, the little orphan aliens, and Savanti Romero, just to name a few!

Each collectible in this line comes complete with packaging art created by Eastman himself, making these figures a must-have for any true Ninja Turtles fan. Whether you like to take your figures out of the box like Eastman or leave them inside to retain their value, we have no doubt you’re going to love all the incredible TMNT figures in this line.

 

Read Full Interview Transcription Below: 

Marc: Welcome to the Haulathon, I’m your host Marc Summers, and today we are headed into the sewers in search of some ass-kicking Turtles. We are going straight to the source and sitting down with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Co-Creator Kevin Eastman and NECA’s own, Randy Falk, to talk about the brand new figures you’re all gonna get, and you’ve all been waiting for.

Randy: Hey guys, this is Randy from NECA, thanks for joining us, and today I have a very special guest, an old friend, a dear friend, super talented, a legend if you will, Mr. Kevin Eastman.

Kevin: I joke and tell my kids, they call me the ledge, they can call me the ledge, I’m a legend. No I'm kidding, it's a pleasure to be here, this is awesome, yes it's super exciting. So, thanks for having me.

Randy: Yeah, thanks for taking part in this. So, one of the big things for 2022 is the return of Mirage to toy shelves. Years ago, we did some action figures in partnership with you and Peter, but we're going much much deeper now and really paying tribute to where it all began with the classic Mirage line. So, is it surreal for you, after all this time as we approach almost 40 years to see these characters as they originally were designed and drawn in toy form?

Kevin: It is. It really is surreal and it's the coolest thing ever, sort of one of those growing up a fan of, you know pop culture and all kinds of genres, from you know all those Star Treks and Star Wars and all those things that I had loved as a young man, and to see something that you created in 2D become something 3D, it really is mind-blowing. And sort of holding in your hand, and going “How did this happen?” And in particular, as you mentioned, Peter and I working with NECA, for many many years, hands down the original NECA turtle toys, based on the original comics, were just, they were it. That was like, you know, it wasn’t changed or adjusted or anything. That was just how – I don’t want to say badly we drew them, but that was how we drew them. That was how we drew them back in the day, so that was a real treat some of my favorites so I am thrilled that you're going back to the Mirage line in general, there’s a lot of fun characters in there. That's you know, the foundation that built all things Turtles really.

Randy: Right, and obviously we will be doing Turtles and doing new iterations of the turtles but we kind of are going in a different direction at least when we start and getting to some of the secondary and tertiary characters and the first one while it might not be an obvious choice to some is Fugitoid. So you have the sample in hand, and what are your thoughts about Fugitoid himself?

Kevin: Just, so epically cool in every way shape and form. This really was, the Fugitoid was actually the first character that Peter and I created together, was a brainchild of Peter’s. He's a huge robot fan. He was, to me he always drew mechanical things and robots and stuff like that,  to me that looked like they can actually work. And so he had this idea about a fugitive robot that sort of, mistaken identity, mistakenly accused of a crime, and becomes a fugitive – we kind of made up the word Fugitoid - but it’s like Fugitive Droid, all the other things, but that word is kind of our own creation. But man, that was the first work that Peter and I did and that is what led to the creation of the turtles, so seeing the Fugitoid is, you know the first one out of the box is just so appropriate and so awesome, and it is just like it was drawn back in the Mirage days. It’s a, it’s a real treat.

Randy: Awesome. Yeah, it’s great for us too, that was one of the very next characters we planned to get to back to in our original Mirage run, and then the line, it you know, it didn't succeed at the time, but now Turtles is bigger and stronger than ever and we're able to pick up where we left off and it’s thrilling for us as well. One of the nice things people may not realize yet cuz they don't have these in hand, or they soon will, is that the packaging art, you have a hand in. You are actually supplying all the original character illustrations on the toy packaging.

Kevin: Yeah, that was, I really had such a good time doing that cuz you know I really appreciate NECA inviting me to do that, it was a real treat. I still have some of the original, this paper that we did the original comics in, and is called this dual shape paper, that gives us kind of this really funky sort of tinted design. So it was actually, to draw the Fugitoid again, using the original paper, the original style, was, you know, was just a treat. And yeah, it just makes it even cooler, I have to now clear off more shelf space for all of the new toys. But having a really good time doing it.

Randy: It’s excellent to collaborate with you on it, and we like, as you know we do a lot of iterations of the turtles, be it the classic both cartoon or the films, we want all of them to have their own respective line look and visual identity on the shelf. So collaborating with you on to finding that look for Mirage has been you know, a surreal thing both for me and Trevor cuz we grew up, you know, fans of you and Peter and what you did, and having those books in our formative years and you know, teens in high school and so forth and then it's like full circle we get to make these toys and then work with you on, you know, designing the packaging and implementing your art into the packaging, so it really helps you know, bring it all together, really appreciate it.

Kevin: Again, I’m having a really great time doing it. It’s obvious why the fans are such big fans of the NECA line is because you know whether you are looking at the movie line or the original Mirage line, you really, the attention to detail to make them, just like they, you know were torn out of the pages or off the TV screen or off the movie screen is just perfect. And that's what’s done. You know that’s what they want to see, that's what we want to see, that's what we grew up with, that’s what they grew up with, so it’s awesome.

Randy: I'd like to know and I'm sure the fans would as well, what would you like to see? I mean we're talking 30 some-odd years of toys and all the different versions of course now with Mirage, and we can talk a little bit about us exploring IDW as well. But what do you yourself as a turtle creator want to see immortalized or realized in action figure or collectible form?

Kevin: That’s a really good question. Because it is, you know, the ones that I think immediately pop to mind probably wouldn’t make like you know, great toys in particular. The first one that comes to mind is in the Donatello one-shot we did, we created a character named Kirby obviously based off the legend that inspired you know, so many of us, Pete and I in particular. So we had this character named Kirby and he had this little pencil with a crystal on it, that whatever he drew came alive in this other Kirby-esque world. So that was a tribute in some small way to thank the person that inspired us in such a huge way. So I would love to see a Kirby toy. But you know, going a little sillier, I always loved the Little Orphan Aliens. We did a one-shot, Michelangelo Christmas special, and the hot toy that year that was being you know, hijacked and stolen from the back of a toy store, was these kind of based on the Cabbage Patch Kids that Peter and I came up with this idea called the Little Orphan Aliens. So they were orphans and aliens and you adopted them. And that was really fun. And then, for bad guys, I’ve always liked Savanti Romero. He was always one of my favorites from the Turtle Cerebus over, the big horns, and Savanti Romero, for anybody who hasn’t picked up on it yet, was inspired by George Romero and Tom Savini, I think is how you pronounce it, but he was he was our baddie in that movie. In that comic chain. So those would be fun.

Randy: Now do you have, I see some in the background, so I guess it’s an obvious question. You have a lot of collectibles and figures around. Do you sort of keep up on what’s out there, do you have what catches your eye, like all over the house or the studio?

Kevin: I do, I love them all dearly. And I, you know, it sort of becomes like a rotation system, as like, you know, a new one comes out, a new Turtles action figure, I collect lots of different kinds of figures and figurines and I love them, you know I'm again, a genre junkie. But Turtle toys I love them, they go up on the shelves and they stay there until another new one comes, and then the ones that are here either move into another place of prominence or are put into carefully stored storage boxes in the garage. But, I love them, and you know it’s funny cuz some of them I open because I just can't resist. You know, it’s such a blast to take them out and then you know, set them on your desk and play with them a bit. Ah, I’m geeking out here too much. But no, I collect them all, and I keep them all. They’re real treats and they’re real treasures.

Randy: To be sort of I guess introspective for a minute right, did you ever think you and Pete, as you were drawing and putting this all together that some thirty-five to forty years later there would be this collection, and generations now of people that collect all the different versions of the Ninja Turtles and that it's still going and we're talking about you know hundreds of different characters at this point. We alone have hit probably close to a hundred in our cartoon line, then you add in you know, Mirage, the feature films from 90 and 91, what we're doing this year together on IDW with the Last Ronin. I mean it just seems like it's bigger than ever.

Kevin: That’s probably what is so incredibly mind-blowing is that you go back to the you know, the very first comic book and the dream was quite simple. As you mention Jack Kirby, Peter and I adored Jack Kirby, and many other creators that inspired us, the giants that we stand on the shoulders of. You know that, I still remember telling my folks what I want to do for a living and they were like oh we're going to have one of those kids that’s never going to move out of the basement. But it was a dream that I had, and the dream really came true in 85 when Peter and I were able to draw comic books, and pay our rent and eat, and that was, nothing bigger, nothing bigger could have topped that ever. And that was just the beginning. And then you think, you know the original comics series and the success and how much fun we had with that to see it go on into the different toys and the cartoons. And the fact that you know, when it should of, sort of drifted away into the ether, and then you know the memories for some childhood fan back in the day. It’s just never gone away, it's been you know, peaks and valleys. But you know, Courtney I do a lot of conventions, we’re looking forward to getting back to doing conventions and we adore the fans that have given us the greatest living, the greatest life and they'll bring out some chewed up toy that they've had that their dog ate part of it but they've somehow kept it all those years and they want an autograph on it, so yeah really it is quite humbling. It’s quite, to say it’s a dream come true doesn’t seem like it sums it up the way it really feels cuz it’s pretty amazing.

Randy: Yeah for sure, and we’ve known each and interacted off and on for a number of years and you're genuine, always come across very gracious and very humble, you know, as a collaborator and peer, in terms of our working together, but I see the way you interact with the fans and you’ve done signings at our booth in the past, and you know you're just a great dude that you can tell has always been down to earth and appreciates everything that Turtles has given you, which is cool. It’s amazing to see, you know, here we are again with this incredible new collection and you did the unthinkable and sort of relaunched yet another version that people are rabid and crazy over and that would be IDW’s The Last Ronin. So let's talk about that a little bit. Were you surprised at all about sort of the fever pitch that it reached with instant sell-outs and reprints and just how rabid everyone has been consuming each issue of the mini-series as it comes out.

Kevin: Yeah, and you know, mind-blowing at the very least. It was really a very interesting idea in that, going back to its original, its origins which was Pete and I back in 1987 we had completed a large arc for the turtles, we had wrapped up a number of storylines and plotlines and things that we were kind of looking like where do we go from here? And this is pre-cartoons and toys and all that and so we said, let’s look 30 years down the road and see where the turtles would be and that will give us sort of a beacon to work our way towards. And so we wrote this – this is about a 20 page outline – as of yet untitled but it was then a story set 30 years in the future. So fast forward to the IDW comic line and we had been working with the incredible team Tom Waltz who wrote every one of those issues and all of the fantastic artists who work on that line. As we were approaching Issue 100, we were looking at the same situation, “Where do we go from here?” And I mentioned, I said, you know, I’ve got this story that Peter and I originally conceived you know, now thirty plus years ago. Let’s take that approach, let’s actually take this whole story, adapt it, with respect to the original story, and then look into the future of where the turtles would be say in 20 years. And that’s where the name, The Last Ronin, which a lot of people, hopefully it’s not a spoiler, people that are reading it, Michelangelo was the first Turtle drawn and he's the last Ronin who has to sort of pick up the baton and complete the mission that they were asked by their father back in Turtles Issue 1 back in 84. So, the response has been overwhelming, you know from you know the Escorza brothers, who, you know I do all the layouts, Tom and I write the story based on the original story I wrote with Peter, and then I do the layouts, and then the Escorza brothers do the main body of the art, and I work with Ben Bishop, who’s a buddy of mine from Maine who's just fantastic. And he’s done sort of the flashbacks. I wanted him specifically to do the flashbacks for the series, and I’ve got a couple of pages in there. But again, it’s the fans that come out for this stuff, that, it really does, it is quite humbling. I think that's the only word I can think of. It's been a journey and it's been awesome and I know everybody's waiting on Issue 5 which is over there, I’m working on it, and I'm excited for everybody to see the Final Chapter, because it’s going to be everything I wanted it to be and I think it's going to be everything that the fans are expecting it to be so, pretty excited.

Randy: Yeah absolutely, I mean as a fan first, we’ve loved reading it. Even though you have shared stuff with us through the development, you send us a PDF here and there, we sort of looked at some stuff ahead of time, but I still am at the store picking up at my local comic book store, supporting the Indies and picking up the book when it releases and for us, from a toy perspective, we largely based what we do on nostalgia, or Legacy brand, so everything we've done with Turtles historically has always been from Mirage or the original Wolf cartoon and then only the classic, like the Henson Turtles right, we haven't done anything from a modern era at all, but Last Ronin is breaking the mold for us. We are going in deep, we’re sculpting a full line. Hopefully you’ll see 8 to 10 figures released in 2022, and it's another one that we are just thrilled to be working with you on, and to bring this version of the turtles and all the supporting characters to toy shelves later this year.

Kevin: Well, I’m so excited. I feel like, you’ve got it covered, because if you think about it, if it’s based on a story that Pete and I did in 1987, so you're still nostalgia, so you’re still hitting that spot, but we’re just, you know, sort of the reinvention thing. And I just have to say quickly, when you guys did the movie line, I saw a photo of them online the first time, and I thought it was a still from the actual film, I was like wow, that’s a great shot, I don’t remember that from any of the publicity stuff in the film. But no again, kudos to you guys, cuz you really continually knock it out of the park with that stuff, and fans are going to be blown away with the Last Ronin, and you know I'm sure that people are going to start lining up soon to get this guy. Look at this guy. Fugitoid. I can’t wait.

Randy: There’s a little tease, little sketches on the back of what’s to come on the back of that Fugitoid box with a few more that they’ll be eager to get their hands on as we head into the summer and hopefully convention season will be back out there on the convention floor together, it would be great if you know we get some of that normalcy back and get to see all the fans face-to-face and maybe have some cool Turtles exclusives again for Con season.

Kevin: I’d love it, cuz I know you miss them as much as I do. You know I always adore the Cons, and just sort of the energy and the feel of it, the camaraderie, and for people like us, and you know all the fans, it’s the happiest place on Earth.

Randy: Without a doubt, I mean the collaboration we’ve had with like with Judith for April O’Neill and we’re working with Ernie now from Secret of the Ooze for Keno, so getting some of the talent involved who either didn’t have figures before or that are out there also embracing what Turtles means to all these fans and doing conventions, doing signings and celebrating this rich history. I know they want to be out there as much as you know, all of us do, and now there's a lot of cool stuff for them to autograph that didn’t exist before.

Kevin: That’s exactly right. I’m excited. And that is, you know again, there’s a lot of times we’re all so busy that's the only time we get to see some of those friends that we've known, relationships I mean – Ernie and I text pretty regularly, Happy New Year and how’s the family and all that stuff, so it would be great to give him a big ol’ hug in person. So, I look forward to that very much.

Randy: Definitely, well we will let you get back to work and wrapping up Issue 5, and I want to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to join us and the fans here for Haulathon and talking Turtles. And also thank you for the amazing packaging art and for collaborating with us on bringing Mirage back into collectors’ hands this year.

Kevin: Super excited, so so excited about this line the fans are going to go nuts, and I can't wait till you show them the other things you're doing. It's going to be – shhh

Randy: Lot of good stuff to come. Thank you very much Kevin, I appreciate it.

Kevin: Pleasure Randy, thank you.

Marc: How bodacious was that? That’s right, I said it. I said the word bodacious. Hey our thanks to Kevin Eastman for chatting with us. You can pick up the latest Turtles figures at Target stores at a Target.com. And if you’re shopping internationally, why don’t you go to Haulathon.com? We’re gonna see you next time, when we catch up with yet another, pop culture legend. See you then.

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