Old concept art for a series of 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Wars crossover toys has been unearthed, and the designs are wild.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Wars were two of the biggest names in toys in the early 1990s, and some newly unearthed concept art has revealed the designs of some wild crossover toys that sadly never saw production. For franchises so long-running and prolific in pop culture, there are bound to be loads of planned but cancelled “what if projects.” The opportunity to see what might have been, however, is rarer.
Much of Star Wars’ early success was tied to its early toys from Kenner Products, who also produced Real Ghostbusters toys. The first film’s rich, unique world of aliens and starships lent itself naturally to merchandising, and Star Wars toys quickly became some of the hottest items on the market. While TMNT never quite reached the same height of popularity as Star Wars, it developed a high level of success in its own right by the early ‘90s, expanding from comic books into movies, cartoons, toys, and more.
Newly revealed concept art has shown a pitched line of TMNT and Star Wars crossover toys that never ended up being made. Shared to Twitter by Warner Bros. Games’ Alan Johnson, the concept images show some crazy fusions of the two universes, including A Luke Skywalker/Leonardo figure with a lightsaber katana, a Michelangelo/Chewbacca hybrid with a bowcaster made of nunchaku, and cyborg Shredder/Darth Vader. According to Johnson, the designs were pitched in 1991 after the Kenner/Hasbro Star Wars license lapsed. Check out the toys below:
Back in (I think) 1991, Kenner/Hasbro allowed the #StarWars toy license to lapse. Playmates made a pitch to get it, complete with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover concepts by TMNT artist Michael Dooney.
— Alan Johnson (@TheAlanJohnson) May 4, 2021
They didn't get the license, but these are so cool! pic.twitter.com/29FSeAmhIO
Here are some versions of that Star Wars x TMNT concept art with detail callouts too. pic.twitter.com/S3o5qeqEJB
— Alan Johnson (@TheAlanJohnson) May 4, 2021
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High profile crossovers are nothing new in the toy world, but it’s still exciting to see some of the ones that never quite materialized. The fusion of characters is particularly bizarre, and the results are both baffling and oddly compelling. Shredder as a Sith Lord is perhaps the most natural combination of the bunch, given that Darth Vader’s suit was largely based on Japanese samurai armor, and that both characters are already cybernetic.
The brand power of both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Wars has grown considerably since the '90s. TMNT still undoubtedly has a dedicated following of longtime fans, and the modern Nickelodeon series have introduced the turtles to new generations.
Although fans never got to see the TMNT x Star Wars crossover, we did get a TMNT x Thomas & Friends crossover, with the Heroes in a Half Shell as trains, and TMNT x WWE team ups, with the Turtles reimagined as popular wrestlers.
Original source: Screen Rant.
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