when i was in kindergarten through about 2nd grade, playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during recess was the coolest activity ever. EVAR. “playing TMNT” basically amounted to LARPing, but we were at an age that made it acceptable to do so and still be cool. i was the only girl playing (i begged/whined my way in), and so they always made me be april. i hated that. sometimes, i got to be sensai splinter… but either way, my role mostly involved sitting around on some playground structure waiting… waiting to be rescued, or waiting for the Turtles to come back from their mission. super boring. i wanted to run around and beat the crap out of other kids, which was what the boys were doing. 

if i was really lucky, someone would be out sick from school and i could get bumped up to donatello or raph… but michaelangelo and leonardo were pretty much out of my league, because i was a girl and girls have cooties.

i think i had more fun playing with the action figures at home, with my brother and cousins, since no one could tell me that girls had to be april. i had more turtles figures than any other kid i knew. my brother had some of his own, so we had some duplicates. (especially of the core characters like the Turtles, Splinter, Shredder, and Krang. but only one April.) plus i had the sewer, pizza shooter, and the technodrome. any boys from school who came over to play were told they had cooties and promptly shot in the face with the pizza shooter. my action figures, my rules. there is an important life lesson in there somewhere.

i recently exhumed a forgotten box of TMNT from my mom’s basement… this is what’s left:

1988 issued toys:
Donatello Michaelangelo Leonardo Raphael Splinter April O’Neil Shredder Foot Soldier Rocksteady Bebop The Technodrome Footsoldier Turtles Party Wagon

1989 issued toys: Casey Jones Usagi Yojimbo Ace Duck Rat King Leatherhead metalhead Turtle Pizza Thrower Sewer Playset

btw… pizza shooter… AWESOMEST TOY EVAR. no one would make such a thing these days!! it shoots little discs of plastic!! it hurts!!