This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #0
A new age of mutant madness begins with the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This special zero issue is your very first look at the new adventures the guys in green will be getting into this fall! Will the TMNT be able to master their new weapons, or will the weapons master them?!
I would always see this advertisement to purchase authentic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animation cels in the pages of the Archie published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics. I always wanted one, but never could find them in any store near me. I just accepted defeat as a youngster and moved on with my life, until I was doing a search on eBay and stumbled upon some listings for TMNT animation cels.
I made a few bids on some of the cels, but only won one of the auctions. It was a scene with April calling from a phone booth. I know it's not the greatest example of animation art, but it is from one of my favorite properties of all time and it's mine!
Here is a closer look at the artwork. This is the first animation cel that I have purchased and I can really see myself starting a collection of these one of a kind works of past pop culture. Next on my list is an actual cel of the Turtles themselves!
I didn't pay much more than what these were actually going for back in the 90s at your local Toys R Us store. I'm glad the price sticker is still on this piece. The price tag itself is now a piece of pop culture history since we will never see these again on any toy packaging again!
The April O'Neil piece did come with a Certificate of Authenticity from Murakami Wolf Swenson Inc stating that this cel was used exclusively in creating the animation for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series!
I love the packaging for this item. It has this great illustration of Mikey drawing the Shredder! Pretty cool! I will probably have this framed, so I can add it to my TMNT collection. Right now I am working on putting together a specific section in my basement dedicated to only the Mean, Green Machine and this will be a nice addition to my medley of mutant merriment! TURTLE POWER!
