Growing up a TMNT fan brings with it a certain amount of universal truths. Like me, you probably remember Saturday mornings as a kid, dressed in your Turtle pajamas, watching the cartoon. You have plastic bins filled with action figures, vehicles, and play sets. You’ve eaten at least one Turtle themed food, whether it be a cereal, fruit snacks, an ice cream, or maybe even one of those fruit pies that came with the trading cards. But all these things weren’t enough. You didn’t want to just watch the Turtles on TV, or play with toys, you wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. This feeling leads to costumes of various degrees. The costume set in stores that came with a mask with a rubber nose attached and elbow and knee pads. The one your Mom made you for Halloween. A quick and dirty costume made out of stuff you bought at the 99 cent store for that college event. The one you and your wife spent months on to get ready for Comic Con. That’s my experience, and I’m sure it’s the same for many of you out there too.
Courtesy of The Prop Shop, www.thepropshopsite.com
I called these universal, because whichever Turtles fandom you associate with, whichever version you watched, you’ve probably done these things, or are on your way. But if you’re like me, and you walked out of the movie theater in 1990 and saw the Turtles, alive for the first time… Well, have I got a treat for you.
Let me introduce you to Casey Carty. Casey, along with Celena Comerio, and part time crafter Jenae Hearn-Everitt, run The Prop Shop, a small company based in Port Huron, Michigan, that specializes in recreating the Jim Henson style costumes of the 1990s movies. All of their costumes are commissioned pieces, meaning if you buy a Leonardo costume, it is specifically yours. Â They have other costume lines, namely ones based in horror, and also buy, sell, and trade collectibles of many fandoms. But you’re here for the good stuff. Check out the gallery below!
The early pictures in the gallery represent the teams earliest work. Over time, you can see how the proportions changed, and they move towards a style that is nearly identical to the 1990s style. That Raphael is just spot on. Despite being a huge Leo fan, I have to say I’d probably go with the Undercover Raph costume. I could finally live out me and my friends dream of rolling off a cab and reenacting the Raph/Casey Jones fight from the first film! “A Jose Canseco bat? Tell me you didn’t pay money for this!”
Check out all of Casey, Celena, and Jenae’s work at www.thepropshopsite.com! And let us know what you think about the costumes in the comments!