With Halloween right around the corner, it’s no wonder that the latest story arc includes classic monsters such as Frankenstein and Dracula. That being said, you might be surprised to learn that this tale has its roots in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles history. Back in the 90’s, Playmates Toys actually worked with Universal to create a crossover toy line which turned our heroes into the monsters from their various film franchises. This line was fairly popular, so it may in fact have been the impetus behind these latest spooky episodes from Tales of the TMNT.
Our first hint about this story arc came from New York Toy Fair 2017, when Playmates Toys revealed their plans to create yet another crossover set featuring the turtles as classic monsters. At the time, they confirmed that this was a cross-promotion for one of the tales that would be told during the final season of Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now that the episodes in question have begun to hit the air, you’ll be glad to know that the Monsters + Mutants toy line has officially hit store shelves.
To be fair, this might not be news to some fans, as the toys have actually been popping up in stores for at least a month now. Even so, there’s a chance that some shellheads weren’t aware that Playmates Toys has essentially brought back the Universal Classic Monsters line from the 90’s. The Monsters + Mutants line may not have the Universal brand attached to it, but these characters aren’t necessarily owned by the studio, so it’s perfectly safe for Nickelodeon and Playmates to bring this crossover back to life.
The main toy line includes Donatello as Frankendon, Leonardo as Mutant Mummy Leo, Raphael as Vampire Raph and Michelangelo as Werewolf Mikey. If you want to see where these character designs came from, check out our reviews for the latest story arc or watch each episode on Nick.com (available as of 10/05/2017). Alternatively, you can wait to get the episodes on DVD when The Final Chapters is released in December.