The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles put Playmates Toys on the map, providing the company with a huge boost during the first 'Turtle Boom' in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Now the Turtles are back on TV as part of the 'Fox Box' and Playmates is back with a new series of action figures based on the slightly darker and edgier new Turtles animated series.  The Turtles TV show just debuted and it's still way to early to tell how the current generation of kids will react to the TMNT, but it was clear at Toy Fair that Playmates is banking on a real resurgence of interest in the sewer-dwelling shell heads.

 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Playmates has relaunched the Turtles with a basic lineup of action figures that includes the four turtle figures, each of which comes complete with its martial arts implement of choice, plus figures for the turtles' mentor, Splinter, and their nemesis, the evil Shredder, and one of his minions.  Subsequent series will include the turtles' human helper, April, as well as additional villains.

 

Playmates is placing a lot of emphasis on TMNT vehicles, which indicates that the company is aiming for play value over collectibility.  The TMNT Armored Attack Truck (aka the 'Battle Shell') features a working winch plus dual action torpedo and missile launchers.  The Turtles Fast Blastin' Cycle also comes armed with a front-mounted rocket launcher, while the Sewer Slider can fire off ninja stars from its front blaster.

 

The Simpsons

Other mass-market toy lines do well for independent retailers outside the U.S., where stores don't face the same sort of mass market competition, but the Playmates Simpsons figures are one of the few major company toy releases to sell well in a wide variety of shops here in the States -- something that was demonstrated by the fact that Playmates Simpsons toys consistently made the ICv2's Top 10 Cool List, which measures sell-through at pop culture stores.  The problem with any 'mature' line such as Playmates Simpsons toys, which recently shipped its eleventh wave of product to retail, is keeping the line fresh and keeping collectors interested.  Playmates has done an excellent job of this with its interactive playset environments, which enable the Simpsons action figures to speak characteristic lines of dialogue when placed in the environment.  For 2003 Playmates is increasing the vocal abilities of some of its Simpsons figures with some wild voice response technology and bringing back new versions of the key Simpsons characters to go along with the more obscure denizens of Springfield, who are now being immortalized as action figures for the first time. 

 

Pro Zone

Playmates' other major initiative in the boy's toys category also depends on the inclusion of talking chips.  Playmates is mounting a challenge to McFarlane Toys' near monopoly on sports action figures.  Playmates Pro Zone Major League Baseball Action Figures feature some of the top hitters and pitchers in the big leagues including, Bobby Bonds, Derek Jeter, and Randy Johnson.  While the players themselves don't speak, when they are placed in the appropriate environment (batter's box, pitcher's mound), a baseball announcer (ESPN's Stuart Scott) provides commentary on their actions.  As is the case with McFarlane's sports figures, the Pro Zone action figures do look very much like the players they represent.  Time will tell if the talking feature will find favor with fans and collectors.  Playmates plans to bring out a NASCAR line of Pro Zone figures in the Fall, but so far no word about other major sports.