Brand New TMNT “Classics” Figures Mysteriously Appear
Mysteriously in the dark of night, as if from the very shadows (or the sewers, perhaps?), a brand-new 2021 re-release of the original line of TMNT action figures has surfaced in Walmart stores across the US.
So far we’ve seen one vehicle and all four original turtles looking pretty much identical to their original launch run in 1988. They even have squishy heads! These turtle bois also include their original weapons, still attached to the sprue as they were in ye olden tymes.
Listed on Walmart.com as “TMNT Classic Basic Leo/Don/Raph/Mikey”, the figures are available in Walmart stores all over the country. You can find listings for them on the website as well, but they appear to be completely sold out for shipping. Unless of course you want to pay scalpers 3 or 4 times their actual retail. Please don’t do that, though.
Along with the four turtles, fans have reported finding a new release of the classic Party Wagon, though that has been way harder to locate. Which should surprise nobody.
Where Can I Get TMNT Classic Figures?
For the moment, they seem to be sold exclusively at Walmart. The weird thing is, they just appeared one day. I’ve tried my best to track down a press release, or any kind of announcement from Playmates Toys or Nickelodeon. I found nothing official.
After digging and digging, I managed to find only a single reference to this re-release from back in July. The Youtuber CoolToy mentions that the line is exclusively being sold at Walmart in the US.
According to him, there was no official announcement at all. The line was meant to be a big deal with fanfare and a huge release. Unfortunately, product links started circulating online and the products sold out before the general public even knew they existed!
This sounds a lot like the scalperiffic nightmare that was Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins line. Back in June, I wrote a (fairly ranty) piece about how badly Walmart butchered this release. They could not stock enough MOTU figures and scalpers were having a heyday. It hurt my heart, and it hurt the hobby.
I really wish Playmates would come clean about what they intend to do with this new line. If they’re going to keep making TMNT Classics, that would be great. If they have the stamina and wherewithal to outpace scalpers and make these awesome toys available to all kinds of collectors… that would be amazing! But if this is a limited run and these end up being highly collectable, I’d like to know that too.
Either way, the figures look great and I can’t wait to see what happens with this line. The figures currently retail at a reasonable $12.97 and the Party Wagon is reportedly about $35.
Happy hunting!
