These ‘Mutagen Ooze’ Turtles Are Awesome, Because Ghostbusters

Posted 7 years ago by Toys

Mutagen Ooze TMNT

If there’s one thing that always goes hand in hand with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, it’s really weird Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys. The 80s and 90s saw tons of wacky TMNT figures based on everything from Star Trek, farming, sports, and literally everything in between. When the new Nickelodeon TMNT show and toys were gearing up, I knew we’d get wacky figures eventually, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.

We’ve barely just now been able to find a steady supply of regular-type TMNT figures on shelves, and suddenly Playmates has them dressed up as Ghostbusters. They may be called Mutagen Ooze Turtles, but come one, they’re Ghostbuster Turtles, and I think that’s why I like them so much. They’re actually pretty horrible action figures. There’s barely any articulation at all.

But Ghostbusters! I’m sure Playmates was going for a more generic hazmat/Ooze-proof suit concept, but it screams Ghostbusters to me. So, until we get actual licensed Ghostbuster Turtles (why didn’t that happen in the 80s?), I’ll have to get by with Ooze Launchin’ Leo, Ooze Tossin’ Raphael, Ooze Scoopin’ Donnie, and Ooze Chuckin’ Mikey.

You’re supposed to fill their little flipper things with ooze from those awesome Ooze Canisters, but that sounds messy so I haven’t tried it yet. This first wave of wacky TMNT figures in the new line has made me realize where I’m going to draw the line on collecting with the new Playmates toys.

If the figures hit me in my nostalgia feels, I’ll probably get them. If they’re wacky enough that I can’t not get them, I’ll get them. If they’re just weird and out of scale with the rest of the figures like the Flingers, I’m not going to bother. I’m sure Playmates is insanely interested in a dorky twenty-something blogger’s reasons for buying or not buying their children’s toys, by the way.

Now, how wacky do you think the new TMNT line is going to get? Let’s think of some examples. You know we’ll get sports and music-related Turtles sooner or later, but what else? The Turtles as US Presidents? Boring Office Workers? Zombies?

  • ” The 80s and 90s saw tons of wacky TMNT figures based on everything from
    Star Trek, farming, sports, and literally everything in between.”

    Was always a big fan of the Universal Monsters TMNT figures. I have the Wolfman/Leo figure somewhere. Need to dig it out.

    • Nice! I never had those as a kid but this Halloween someone sent me a Dracula figure. They’re pretty awesome.

  • Yep, this is when I draw the line. I understand they have to keep making new figures to keep the toyline fresh, but I can’t get behind stuff like this. I hope they’ll keep the original, non-wacky figures available as long as possible before all you find are the wacky variants. I also hope the wacky versions don’t start invading the cartoon, because then I’m done with that, too.

    • I draw the line at anything sports-related.

  • Also forgot to mention the new heads that look more like the cartoon version than the standard Turtles in this series. Whatcha’ll think about that?

    • I like it. In fact, I noticed their faces before I even took in the rest. Raph looks badass.

    • Yeah, I want to buy a second set of Raphs, and swap the Ooze head onto the original body and then paint it black to be the Archie comics Wrestling Raph…

  • I just bought all four of these over the weekend!

  • Jim

    Zombie turtles would actually be a really awesome idea, if they did it properly.

  • I’ll be really surprised if we don’t get some sort of Foot Clan/Turtle mashup (sort of like Hand and Luke in Stormtrooper gear.) Zombie Turtles would be fun for Halloween…

    As for these Ghostbuster Turtles, I love the new heads, but and kind of disappointed in the paint application. Find a set of the four figures where Mikey’s teeth weren’t on his lips or Leo’s eyes weren’t on his, well, eyes, was much more difficult than I expected. I like the concept, but these feel much more rushed to production than the core set of figures…

    • That would be cool, and yeah these do seem pretty rushed.