As part of the Haulathon festivities, I got an amazing opportunity to talk with Mr. Kevin Eastman himself about the event, the exclusives, and his ongoing contributions to all things TMNT!
What a joy it was to chat with Mr. Eastman. He has so much passion for what he does, and it is amazing to have him involved with so much in terms of current TMNT. Especially the toys! Read below for some unique insight from the man himself. We really appreciate Mr. Eastman taking the time to chat with us!
Fwoosh: Mr. Eastman, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us about Haulathon today.
Kevin Eastman: My pleasure, it is nice to talk to you.
Fwoosh: We have a few questions about the upcoming Haulathon, which is shaping up to be quite a big event.
Can you talk about the Haulathon TMNT Toxicity Now! Muckman figure, how it came into being and what you contributed to the design process?
KE: First, I think the Haulathon is such a wonderful idea, it gives collectors like myself an opportunity for new and unique versions of characters that have never been seen before like the Toxicity Now! Muckman and Joe Eyeball. Aside from the glow in the dark aspect of it, I love all of the little extras, like the can of ooze, the garbage can backpack, the gun, all of the little stuff that was literally ripped right off the TV screens so to speak, for one of weirdest and most bizarre characters in the Turtles universe.
That is what was so much fun in terms of the original process of creating and co-creating some of these characters with not only Peter, but some of the incredibly talented animators and writers that we got to work with back in the day. It is the evolution of something this bizarre and this gross and this creepy, you know – some mom looking at it in a toys store and saying, “I’m not buying you one of those toys – that’s awful!” But that’s the fun part of it, we all liked it and liked characters like that who were ultimately so unique and could gross out our parents.
This particular version of this toy is just fantastic, I think. It’s such a wonderful and strange design, and just like the original version, I think it will be a wonderful addition to the collection for people who are collecting all things Turtles, specifically from this time period – the 90s throwback stuff, which is fun.
Fwoosh: Absolutely, and I know collectors love a good glow-in-the-dark figures, and coming together with a character like Muckman, which I will admit, was one of my favorite characters when I was a kid. What do you think it is about that perfect storm of gross-out and extreme detail that makes him such a beloved character amongst TMNT fans?
KE: I think it is the uniqueness of it. Yes, you have the gross-out factor, but it is one of those beautiful things that was able to comfortably exist in the Turtles universe because if you think of a concept as silly as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it gave us such a platform to bring in so many different characters, even characters from other comic universes like Usagi Yojimbo, or from the Mirage comics, or the newly created characters like the Mutanimals. Bringing some of the characters from the earliest versions of the Turtles multiverse, half the characters ended up being blended into that animated and toy universe – and those were developed originally as role-playing game characters and that time period. So, it’s been a real treat to take something that is not just robot concept, or a superhero concept, or something else, it’s a place where you can have such a nice variety of characters within that universe and not feel like it is out of place. It makes it more fun, and I think – more creative.
Fwoosh: Yes! I know a lot of these characters and items for Haulathon are collector-facing and focused, but for those of us who have young children who have become TMNT fans, what does that mean to you, or what do you think it is about the enduring quality of the brand that makes it just as relevant today as it was when it all got started?
KE: Honestly, it is one of those things that is so humbling and incredibly mind-blowing. I wish I could take credit for it and say I did it on purpose, but it really was one of those happy accidents with an idea that came from such a pure place with Peter and I being such big comic book fans and geeks if you will, which was a slightly different meaning to it back in those days, we just loved comics and cartoons and the silliness of that, we loved that world. So, having it be able to evolve from a comic book to a cartoon to a toy to those movies in the early days, you original fans who helped make that all possible, we stand with great gratitude for all of that. You are the reason – it’s your fault! No, you are the reason this all happened, but then when you go one step further and say, now we have another generation of kids coming up who are still finding something original and unique and something they like about the Turtles these days – it’s an even bigger compliment.
We don’t know what it is, but it hits that bright sweet spot with the spark of creativity and we found a whole new group of fans, which is pretty amazing.
Fwoosh: It really is amazing. And as someone who is a such a fan and such an ardent collector of these kinds of things, knowing that you are working with the team at NECA is such a perfect storm of doing justice to all of these characters. What is it like working with Trevor and Randy in working on figures like Toxicity Now! Muckman and bringing these characters to life?
KE: Well, I guess it’s that… they are so damned talented to be blunt, and it’s really something. When you look at the diversity there, for example, when they first showed the figures they created of the Turtles based on that first Turtle movie, right up to that Judith Hoag April, I mean to do something that realistic is amazing. I honestly thought it was a photo from the movie set when I first saw some of those things online. Then they went into all the different adaptation, the other Turtle movies, the other characters, making all of those live-action things come to life like they are living breathing characters, is really something.
Then, to switch gears immediately to the cartoon versions they have done, and going back even further to some of the original NECA toys that were done based off the original comic book and looked like they were literally torn off the cover of that first issue, it speaks volumes not only about their passion for their craft, but also their creativity to create these things as they remember them, they want to make it perfect for the fans who are going to join in on the ride. It was really that original cartoon series that launched the Turtle universe globally, so it’s wonderful that they are doing that with the animated look of some of these characters. Then, they are also doing some really fun things with the original comic book characters which is super sweet for us. So yeah, such a wonder group of creative people who are really passionate about what they do.
Fwoosh: Agreed, and they are taking us on the full journey now, from the original comics, to the cartoons, to the movies, and now to current things like The Last Ronin. You are obviously workin on that now, but can you talk a little bit about your future TMNT projects?
KE: It is such a joy to be able to be working on the ongoing Turtles series with some incredibly talented people and writers and artists. I have just enjoyed it so much. The Last Ronin series has been a blast bringing to life an idea that Peter and I had back in 1987, and continuing to build out the edgier older part of the Turtles multiverse, if you will. There are a number of other things we are developing on the comic book side, and we want to continue to build those out in a way that keeps it wholly unique to the IDW vision of them. There are so many new versions with the cartoon and the upcoming Seth Rogan project, but we kind of staked out our vision for the IDW Turtles and we are going to keep building that universe with the same excitement we had back when we started in 2011. It’s been a blast.
Fwoosh: Well, Mr. Eastman, thank you very much for your creations and continuing to be such an integral part of how they continue to evolve. We are very much looking forward to Haulathon and I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.
KE: Absolutely, and my pleasure, Nic. Thanks for all your support over the years – take care and hopefully we see you out there on the convention circuit soon!
Fwoosh: You too, and thank you so much – take care!
See all the details about the Toxicity Now! Muckman figure HERE. Also:
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon) – 7” Scale Action Figures – Ultimate Glow in the Dark Ultimate Muckman & Joe Eyeball retails for $36.99.
It will be available to purchase at the launch of Haulathon on 3/18. The figure set will only be available in Target stores and online at Target.com and Haulathon.com on 3/18.
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Source: Fwoosh
