Tales of the Turtles

This is not a drill. After several years of waiting and wondering if we’d ever see the turtles team up with their friend Miyamoto Usagi again, it would appear that those dreams are finally coming true. We don’t have a lot of information on this new project just yet, but one sharp-eyed fan did notice a rather interesting logo on display at the Playmates Toys Panel. To be accurate, there were a lot of unfamiliar logos promoting potentially new toy lines at this event, but one of them was definitely hard to miss – Samurai Turtles: Featuring Usagi Yojimbo.

If they are planning a toy line based on the character of Usagi Yojimbo, they must have secured the rights to the character. What remains to be seen is whether or not Playmates secured those rights on their own or with the help of Viacom. If this is something that Viacom pushed through, chances are that we are going to see Miyamoto Usagi either in a new comic book series or in Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. Unfortunately, other than the logo that Playmates shared for a new toy series based on the character, we really haven’t received any other information.

Until we hear more about Samurai Tales, we simply won’t know what plans are in store for Usagi Yojimbo. However, the mere fact that we’ve seen this rabbit ronin attached to anything modern is a good sign that we will be seeing more of him soon. Several fans have been asking me whether or not we’d ever see Miyamoto Usagi in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise again, and now it looks like that might actually be happening.

For those who aren’t aware, Usagi Yojimbo is a character that crossed over from his own comic book series into the TMNT comics back in the 80’s. Shortly after, he also made an appearance in the original animated series. The last time we saw him with the turtles was during the 2K3 series, and many fans have been hoping to see the character return once again in the modern Ninja Turtles franchise.

Here’s hoping this turns out to be more than a toy line! Oh, and is anyone else curious about that Tales of the Turtles logo? Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a well known and beloved comic series. If they have plans to modernize this series, something tells me a lot of fans are about to be very happy. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear something during the Nickelodeon panel planned for later this week. Keep your eyes peeled for more information on both Usagi Yojimbo and Tales of the Turtles in the coming weeks and months!

Are you excited that Usagi Yojimbo might be joining forces with the turtles once again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or via facebook/twitter.