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
Spellcaster Splinter
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
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
Party Hearty Wacky Wagon & Macho Mutant Module
Pizza Powered Prop
CORRECTION: It was indeed produced! Very rare though, check out tmntfan’s comment down below.
Turtles Movie Sewer Subway Car
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!