{"id":139315,"date":"2025-11-05T07:08:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ripped.topps.com\/?p=139315"},"modified":"2025-11-05T07:08:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:08:35","slug":"collecting-cowabunga-the-1990-topps-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-set","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ripped.topps.com\/uk\/collecting-cowabunga-the-1990-topps-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-set\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting Cowabunga | The 1990 Topps Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Set"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Revisiting an Early ’90s Hobby Classic<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Date:<\/span> Nov 5, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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In the spring of 1990, the idea of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie might have seemed absurd to those out of the know. Here was a film based on a black-and-white indie comic that had started as a parody of popular superhero tropes, featuring four anthropomorphic turtles who lived in sewers, ate pizza, and fought crime with ninja weapons. Oh yeah, they were also named after Renaissance artists and trained by a mutant rat sensei.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, at the time, the franchise was already exploding in popularity, anchored by the quick-hit cartoon that started airing in 1988 and a growing merchandising wing. And so, the live-action adaptation was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late 1980s had been dominated by sanitized superhero fare, but the 1990 TMNT film presented something different. The film’s gritty urban setting, combined with its themes of family, loyalty, and identity, resonated with audiences. And the practical effects, crafted by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, brought the characters to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each turtle’s face was a masterclass of animatronic engineering, capable of subtle expressions that CGI would struggle to replicate for decades. With only a $13.5 million production budget, the film went on to gross over $200 million worldwide and become the highest-grossing independent movie of its time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by The Old Turtle Den (@theoldturtleden)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\r\n