I wonder if it started that way at first. Did TMNT get developed because of toy companies or was just just a mutually lucrative venture? Did it start earlier? Like Lone Ranger and Buck Rodgers type stuff? Interesting to think about for me.
It was happening long before TMNT. Transformers, He-man, Teddy Ruxbin, Gummie Bears, She-ra, Care Bears, etc. I’m no expert on which was the first, but I’m sure that the kids that watched it would be too old to really get into TMNT once that IP hit the market. TMNT wasn’t even really inspired by toys, the comic was first, they just heavy exploited the toy market later. Shows like Care Bears and transformers were created specifically to sell toys as opposed to designing toys to sell a show.
If I’m not mistaken, He-Man was the one that started the boom of “cartoons that are actually 20 minutes of ads for a toy line”, all thanks to the amazing profits that George Lucas was making off the toy rights of Star Wars.
Bucky o’Hare’s characters were designed after the toys, ensuring that any holes a kid would see in the toys was also there in the cartoon. These holes were usually on the soles or hands to attach accessories.
They definitely latched onto the merchandise train, regardless of timeline. The toys are strange though, as they’re a mix between the cartoon and the comics. And the comics got really sci-fi, while the cartoon stayed in NYC
I wonder if it started that way at first. Did TMNT get developed because of toy companies or was just just a mutually lucrative venture? Did it start earlier? Like Lone Ranger and Buck Rodgers type stuff? Interesting to think about for me.
It was happening long before TMNT. Transformers, He-man, Teddy Ruxbin, Gummie Bears, She-ra, Care Bears, etc. I’m no expert on which was the first, but I’m sure that the kids that watched it would be too old to really get into TMNT once that IP hit the market. TMNT wasn’t even really inspired by toys, the comic was first, they just heavy exploited the toy market later. Shows like Care Bears and transformers were created specifically to sell toys as opposed to designing toys to sell a show.
If I’m not mistaken, He-Man was the one that started the boom of “cartoons that are actually 20 minutes of ads for a toy line”, all thanks to the amazing profits that George Lucas was making off the toy rights of Star Wars.
Bucky o’Hare’s characters were designed after the toys, ensuring that any holes a kid would see in the toys was also there in the cartoon. These holes were usually on the soles or hands to attach accessories.
TMNT was a comic book series in the 80s, long before the first movie and the cartoons that followed.
Yeah true, kinda forgot about that. Guess i mean just the cartoon in this example, but it was just the first cartoon i thought of.
They definitely latched onto the merchandise train, regardless of timeline. The toys are strange though, as they’re a mix between the cartoon and the comics. And the comics got really sci-fi, while the cartoon stayed in NYC