Unreleased Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Toys

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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Toys That Never Made it to Shelves

The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy line was marvelous by all accounts. The numerous figures, vehicles, accessories and miscellaneous merchandise were 2nd to none at the time. The toys were vast, not only did we get a Raphael but we got a cyber Raph, Military Raph, Magician Raph, and even a Troll Raph. What about the stuff left on the cutting room floor? There were numerous toys we never got to see on shelves (only in catalogs) so with that I present to you a selection of some of the unreleased TMNT!

 

Knight Mike

Odd one considering all the others from the Warriors of the Forgotten Sewer were produced except…

Spellcaster Splinter

Another one left out. Splinter/Gandalf!

Technodrome

Not to be confused with the produced Technodrome this one was set to be released during the initial first wave in 1988. Made with a blow-up dome and a detachable Technorover! The Technorover was one vehicle I wish were produced during the run.

Savage Leo w/ Sewer Warcat

We did get Savage Leo but his Warcat was left out.

12″ Giant Cyber Samurai

Giant! Mechanized! Samurai! Piloted by a mini mutant this giant was going to have motorized walking action. I want it.

Sidewalk Surfer

Look familiar? That is because you saw it during the short lived Toxic Crusaders toyline.

Party Hearty Wacky Wagon & Macho Mutant Module

Love the dragster look on the Party Wagon and Mutant Module.

Pizza Powered Prop

zip cord powered hovering turtles.
CORRECTION: It was indeed produced! Very rare though, check out tmntfan’s comment down below.

Turtles Movie Sewer Subway Car

The subway car from the TMNT movie. This would have went so well with movie toys.

Team Ninja TMNT

What look to be futuristic Turtles in bad superhero outfits from the 90’s I see why these ones got canned. Futuristic Ninja Stylin!

Turtle Tenderizer 4X4

A modification on the produced Monster Mutant 4X4 this one was for the bad guys. This thing did in fact pop up in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project for the NES in level 3.

Shredder Ooze Challenge & Raph’s Pizza Chompin Challenge

Two air powered handheld games that never saw the light of day. The designs on these look cool which is disappointing since we never got to play them.

Turtle Popcan Racer

This one is something else. Powered by actual soda in a can you pumped the top priming the can with air then let it rip. I am rather confused on this one and can see why it never made it to store shelves. If I read it correctly you basically spray soda all over the place to get the toy to move. Parents worst nightmare.

Warrior Rahzar with Fur

Fluffy Rahzar! This one basically looks like Grizzlor from the Masters of the Universe line 10 years prior though I have to admit a fluffy Rahzar would be cool.

Metal Mutant Bebop and Rocksteady

I enjoyed this line for some oddball reason, must have been the vac metal armor that won me over. A Bebop and Rocksteady release would have been great!

This is only a selection of the total number of unreleased toys from the vintage line, I assure you there are many more. Quite a few unreleased figures were simply repaints of previously released figures so no big loss there but damn who wouldn’t want some of these more original toys!

Part 2 is now available!

  • Ed Wilson

    I’m fairly sure you would just fill an empty soda can with air and use it to power the car. I think the reason it may not have been released was because it’s kind of hard to guarantee a metal canister won’t explode in some poor kid’s face from too much pressure.

  • This post is amazing, I’ll be linking to it soon!

    That 4×4 is awesome, and I love the subway car.

  • Thanks Tommy it was fun to research and put together. I really like my Turtle 4X4 I have and I can only imagine the fun with a Foot Clan version!

  • Ahh that makes sense. Still seems like something that would be destined to fail with kids…or like you said explode in their faces.

  • Absolutely. It could have been really fun or really lame depending.

  • tmntman

    There were quite a few other items that didn’t get produced too. They had a whole fleet of vehicle packs planned for the Mini- Mutants line. There was a giant April O’Neil planned. And as has already been mentions, the missing Jim Lee Leo.

    However, you are incorrect about the Pizza Powered Prop. It was released. I own one.

  • So it was! Wow I have never seen one online or otherwise, thanks for the info!

  • tmntman

    Actually there were pneumatic powered vehicles produced in the 80’s. They didn’t use metal canisters and they didn’t have anywhere near the pressure needed to explode. I found the one we had as a kid after a quick Google search, the Air Jammer Road Rammer.

    My guess would be that the pop can racer didn’t get produced in part because retailer support for vehicles was dwindling at that point. But I also suspect that trying to make the vehicle robust enough to be played with like the other TMNT vehicles made it too heavy for the pneumatics. The Air Jammer vehicles were extremely light. It’s also possible that there could have been issues with other manufacturers holding a patent on the design.

  • batboy999

    Ex-President Ninja Turtles! Reagan Leo and Carter Mike! Ford Raph and Bush Raph!