The Share Your Nostalgia experiment is nearing a close. It’s been fun for me to see what my fellow bloggers have chosen as the Toy of Their Life. They were asked to write about the ONE toy that meant the most to them as a child. What was the toy that had to go wherever they went and that they took to show and tell? What toy is the one they look back on as their favorite.
Today, I have yet another musical blogger friend to introduce you to. Stewart love music, and especially the top hits. I am talking about those songs that sat on the top of the charts. To be more specific, on top of the UK charts. His site is a delight to read. The UK Number Ones Blog can be found here: https://number1sblog.com/ I always love to compare how a song does here and in the UK. Check it out when you can.
Stewart is ready to go, so grab a slice of pizza and read on …
Heroes in a half shell… Turtle Power!
First of all, thanks Keith for giving me a slot on your Toy Nostalgia series! My piece of toy nostalgia isn’t so much something I remember having, but something I remember wishing I had. I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – or Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles as they were known in the UK, as the word ‘ninja’ was considered too violent for our delicate ears back in the late 1980s – and it was for a while my favourite TV cartoon.
I had the plastic figurines, Michelangelo (the orange one) being my favourite, as well as bad guy Shredder and his warthog henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady. I’d have loved the evil brain-in-a-jar Krang too, though I don’t think they ever made him into a toy. Most of all, though, I always wanted my own Turtle Van (AKA The Party Wagon). Yet, for reasons that are now lost to the mists of time, I never came to own one.
Maybe I didn’t have enough pocket money, maybe other toys took priority when it came to asking for birthday and Christmas presents, or maybe (and this is most likely) my parents weren’t up for shelling out on yet more plastic junk. My mum and dad were big believers in educational toys – LEGO, Meccano, arts sets and the like – and The TMNTs clearly weren’t educational enough. And looking at pictures of the Turtle Van toy now, I don’t blame them. It looks a lot cheaper and nastier than I remember…
Anyway, this wasn’t the only desirable object I was denied as a kid. I remember desperately wanting a Soda Stream, and a Mr. Frosty, and never getting either. But this isn’t the place for airing childhood grievances… At least I had friends who owned the Turtle Van, and could play with it when I went to their houses.
I just watched the opening credits of the classic cartoon for the first time in years, and was transported back to Saturday mornings in my childhood living room. I could remember most of the words (They’re the world’s most fearsome fighting team…) and the loveably hand-drawn animation. I drew the line at the live-action movies though. Something very creepy about seeing the Turtles come to life in Latex…
Finally, seeing as I run a blog all about number one singles, it would be remiss of me not to mention the fact that the Turtles were so popular that they even enjoyed a chart-topping record in the UK: 1990’s ‘Turtle Power’, by Partners in Kryme. Enjoy!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
ninja turtles were huge!!
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Awesome Stewart! I saw a Ninja Turtles movie in the 80s at some point. I didn’t really know much about them because I wasn’t a kid then but I thought they were pretty cool.
I remember Mr Frosty and thought it was cool…but I don’t know if that was the American name to it? Soda Stream looks cool as well.
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To be honest, I wanted a Mr Frosty and a Soda Stream (it turns regular, flat juice into a fizzy drink! name a more exciting invention in human history, I’ll wait…!) more than the Turtle Van. Turtles were a passing phase, the other two I wanted for years and years… But I did love the Turtles cartoons as a kid.
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Hey the movie was really cool!
Yea the Fizzy Stream looked ok but Mr. Frosty was cool. They also made a Snoopy one.
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TMNT were certainly a big deal in Canada as well. With the timing of their peak in popularity I didn’t know of any children that were into them. That said they were fairly ubiquitous so I guess we all got a fair dose. Too bad you got short changed on the van. Clearly a character building strategy by your parents.
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Thanks for being a part of the series, Stewart! I remember when the Turtles were big, but I had probably grown out of the action figure phase.
I do remember many younger family members were into them! Believe it or not, my three year old has a couple TMNT T-shirts!
I suppose “The Toy I Wanted, and Never Received” could be a whole new topic! I know I have a list of a few of those.
Thanks again for a great contribution!
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Thanks for asking me! To be honest, I wasn’t into action figures much as a kid – no time for Power Rangers or any superhero stuff – so the TMNT were an outlier. Something about them just appealed to me.
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Kids get fascinated with all kinds of toys, so I understand your excitement. While the name Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rings a distant bell, I cannot recall the context. I’m not sure the cartoons were shown in Germany while I was growing up there. I also don’t believe any of my school friends had any of the figurines you mentioned. I’m afraid drawing a near-complete blank here! :-)
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I was just beginning working in a photo lab in the early ’90s and boy, I saw a lot of photos with turtles giving thumbs up in the corner…there were cheap 110 cameras adorned with turtle images that had a built-in filter that put a turtle on every picture!
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A man after my own heart, Stewart!
The Turtles came WAY after my toy days … but my boys were just at the right age! So we had quite a few Turtles merch in the house!
And better – now that have long flown the nest, I’ve found a figure of Raphael (press his shell and his left leg kicks out!) that now proudly sit in my office. I’ve also inherited several DVDs and already had the 12″ Partners in Kryme single. 😀
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I remember that about the figures…! They were cool, and would have looked so much better in the Turtle Wagon… (thanks mum and dad…)
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