Welcome to Part 2 of my interview with Michele Ivey, best known as the Turtle Girl for her large collection and vast knowledge of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For Part 1, please check out the previous entry where we discussed her life a bit more.
Now we’ve talked about your origins and different aspects of the fandom, let’s discuss your collection for a minute. What would you say is your favorite piece in your collection that you have and what was the rarest item for you to find?
Rarest piece in my collection… oh that’s a hard one because a lot of my items are rare. I could say the heads from TMNT 3 or the Combat Cold Cuts from TMNT 2… so yeah, Movie props are rare, original comic art is a rare thing.. TMNT merch from Japan and other countries… oh and a 1st print of TMNT #1.
My favorite item in my collection is a tie between my home made Turtle Costume and my Autograph Shirt. The costume has brought me some wonderful memories and have been a big part of my life. The T-Shirt is my project that I started in 2004 that has turned out to be really impressive… filled with autographs from all parts of TMNT History.
The original Playmates line lasted for ten years, and in that time there were many, many figures produced and many more probably unreleased. What was your favorite series of figures and what would you consider the worst vehicle and/or figure that was released?
My favorite series of Turtle Toys goes to the TMNT Movie toys from 1992, those have been a big favorite of mine since they came out.
Worse Turtle toys… that’s a hard one, I like most of the Turtle Toys that came out. I wasn’t to fond of the Toon Turtles, because it was the only set of Channel Six characters we got and they were done up kind of goofy. Wacky Action toys were fun, but sadly they were easy to fall apart. I think the thing that annoyed me most about the toys was making some so that they were rare… to where the kids wanting the toys no matter how they search could not find them.
A good example is Hot Spot and Scratch… when I saw them on the list of Turtle toys I wanted them really bad. More than the Camel, the ant, or the elephant… I wanted the dog and cat. I circled them on my list all the time as the toys I wanted the most. I was a little kid, I wasn’t going after value of the toy I was going after what I liked… but I never did get them as a child. It wasn’t till I was grown up and buying stuff of ebay that I finally got those two in my collection. They sit on display… as a reminder of the toys I tried to find when I was young.
One of the unique things that I loved about the old Turtles line was that there were so many side characters that were exclusive to the toyline like Genghis Frog, Pizzaface, my favorite Ace Duck, and Scratch. Was this helpful for keeping the line going as long as it did or was it simply a matter of cashing in as much on the property as they could?
Heh well I’ll like to say Genghis Frog was in a few episodes of the original series, Ace Duck was from the Archie Comics and is mentioned very briefly in one episode of the original series. Though I know what you mean about toys only for the toy line like Pizzaface, Scratch (which was in a game and now can be found on a shirt), Halfcourt, Sandstorm and many others. These were made to cash in on the hype.
Do you think it’s interesting that there were so many variants of the main four but after 1988 they never reissued plain classic versions of the Turtles until the startup of the 4kids series?
They did have plain Turtles coming out all the time… the first set, the TMNT Movie 2 Toys, the Action Turtles, The Next Mutation toy line, the 4Kids series, the TMNT 2007 movie. Always saw them around, I was tired of how many sets of Turtles we got when I wanted toys of characters like Tatsu and Keno. Ninjara would of been an awesome toy, instead I have the new version of Clown Michaelangelo.
Venus de Milo has a polarizing effect on the Turtles franchise to this very day, and yet when I looked back on things, the same cannot be said Mona Lisa, who only ever had one figure and that one appearance on the cartoon and yet there’s not a lot of negative criticism about her in the same way there is for Venus. What’s your feelings on Mona Lisa?
Mona Lisa was a very fun character, and by her not being a Turtle it was ok with a lot of people for her to be in the series. She had a spark to her that when I saw that episode I wanted to see more of her in the series. I was really disappointed that she was only in one episode… Though if I have to pick who makes a better girlfriend for Raphael, I go with Ninjara. She’s my favorite female character in the TMNT History.
In either the Mirage or Archie Comics or Image runs, what would you say are the five best stories?
Five best stories from TMNT comics… ok here we go counting down to my favorite.
* 5 * “I, Monster” the original Rat King story in tales of TMNT. Very interesting comic and I love how it turned out.
*4* Image is hard because they all tie in together, but I’m going to go with the Michaelangelo story line of loosing Shadow and because of this Raphael deals with the Foot, which all leads up to Raphael becoming the new Shredder. Image did a great job and was willing to push our limits to see how far they could go.
*3* “Twlight of the ring” in the Mirage TMNT volume #1. This issue is great, the art is different but totally works for it, and it’s a story based around Donatello. Really interesting, and fun. It’s been one of my favorite Mirage comics for a long time now.
*2* “Blight sight” issue #59 of the Archie Comics. A wonderful Michaelangelo story, about him being caught by the Government. It is where the Turtles come public in the Archie Comics. Great art, great writing and all around awesome story!
*1* Mirage #1, Volume 1. This story means so much to me that it remains my favorite. We get to know Shredder in away you don’t get to see him in any other story. You get to see the Turtles as they were meant to be. And learn the true reason why Splinter taught them to be Ninjas. This issue done by Eastman and Laird is a master piece which I will forever encourage people to read.
You’ve mentioned it several times, so now it’s time to really go to town about it: Cowabunga Corner, what do you expect to get across with it, and would you like to tell viewers about what they can expect in future episodes.
Cowabunga Corner, the video blog where I come out to tell my real stories. The things that have not made it into any interview, show, or even message boards. I plan to show video and photos through my life and fandom. Starting off real heavy with the Turtle stories since that’s what people come to see, but I do want to go into other parts of my life. Like about RSD, what is it and why it’s changed my life. Also talk about my family members, friends and pets.
People see me as the Turtle girl, but do they really know why I’m the Turtle girl? Not if they watched VH1’s “Totally Obsessed”, or many of the other stories out there about me. They see a girl with a collection… and the think the obsession is about the collection, but really for me the fandom comes before the collection. I wouldn’t have all of this stuff if it didn’t mean something to me. I’m a Ninja Turtle fan, who’s done a lot of crazy things and I like to share my stories.
Coming up on Cowabunga Corner, home footage from the set of Ninja Turtles : The Next Mutation, more video from Party Turtle gigs, home video taken during the filming of “Totally Obsessed”, interviews with TMNT guests, interviews with fellow TMNT fans, reviews of episodes, comics, movies, toys and more. I hope everyone enjoy all that this blog will have to offer. 🙂
We look forward to everything that you’re going to be doing in the future. Is there anything that the fandom has taught you that you wish to say to other people, even if they’re fans of other things?
I’ve learned through fandom that just because a group of people like the same thing, doesn’t mean we’ll all get along all the time, though it doesn’t make us a worse or better fan if we don’t get along with everyone all the time. I’ve got a lot of good friends in and out of the fandom… but I’ve watched some of my good friends leave the fandom because they didn’t get along with others who are in the fandom.
I don’t think anyone should let the fandom affect how they feel about the things they enjoy, be it Turtles, Star Trek, Venture Brothers, or any other thing out there. We’re all human, and have the right to enjoy what makes us happy. As long as we’re not hurting anyone.
One very important lesson is that there is no “Best fan” We’re all great fans for taking part in the fandom and supporting what we love. The thing that hurts the fandom the most is people challenging each other for the top spots. I did not become a fan to compete for being the best, I became a fan because I like what I see and collect. That’s what makes a fan. If we could loose the “I’m better than you” or “I got more than you” games… the fandom would be a happier place.
Your life has been impacted so much by a lot of people, not just connected with the Turtles. Is there anybody that you want to personally thank?
There’s a handful of people who deserve Thanks for the way my life has been. Most of all would be my mom and Grandma. Through all times in my life, good and bad, they have always been there for me. My Grandma was someone who never let me down and gave me a lot of wonderful memories. She encourage me and helped me so much I could never say Thanks enough!
I’ll like to Thank Eastman and Laird, for creating the Turtles and giving me a hero on TV that I could understand and inspired me to stand up for myself even though I didn’t have super powers or enough money to make myself a bat belt with all those gadgets. I’ll also like to Thank David Wise, for writing the original cartoon and giving the Turtles the personalities we know them for to this day.
I’ll like to thanks Jim Henson, who sadly I never got the chance to meet, for inspiring my dad to build costumes and inspiring me to wear costumes and work puppets, he was a master and my favorite artist.
There’s so many more people who deserve Thanks, as no matter who you are a lot of people can touch and you and change your life. There’s never only one person who helped… it’s a group effort ([;{-)
Thank you for taking the time to discuss your life, the fandom, and all things Turtles with those of us who still have fond memories of the series.
Anytime, I enjoy getting to spend time talking to Turtles and getting to know fellow fans. For I myself, am only another fan *G*
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