{"id":36870,"date":"2022-05-19T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T04:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/?p=36870"},"modified":"2022-11-26T16:19:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T21:19:42","slug":"tmnt-antrax-addendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/2022\/05\/tmnt-antrax-addendum\/","title":{"rendered":"TMNT: Antrax addendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember the saga of Baxter Stockman<\/a>, and how two unrelated characters were combined into the fly we know today<\/a>? He was far from the only time that happened.<\/p>\n

In 1990, Playmates released a set of figures dubbed the \"Mega Mutants\" - a bee and a mosquito that were large enough to serve as vehicles for the normal-sized characters. Those were the only two ever released, but Playmates designer David Arshawsky worked up concepts for a couple others, including a rhinoceros beetle and an ant:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

(It's possible that one didn't move forward<\/a> over concerns about Hasbro's 1987 Army Ants<\/i> toyline. Either way, this is the first effort we know of to introduce an ant character to TMNT<\/i>. There was also art with a more \"WWI\" feeling to it, and another take that would have been more \"picnic\" than \"war.\")<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1991, Dan Berger and Ryan Brown pitched Grisly Grimace, an evil mutant weasel who dressed as an executioner:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Around the same time, Berger worked with Michael Dooney to pitch concepts for a mutant ant. On April 24, there was a plain figure; seems like Playmates was on board with the idea of an ant, but wanted a little something more added on top of it, which would explain why a week later on May 2, Berger and Dooney submitted gladiator and astronaut costumes; those were also rejected, on May 10, it was a barbarian or a pirate.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice that each of those rejections and resubmissions took about a week - the final submission, of an executioner, was more than a month later, in the middle of June. Why the big gap?<\/p>\n

One of the 1992 figures was King Lionheart (not that one<\/a>), a pretty straightforward idea:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While that figure was in development, David Arshawsky pitched some ideas for a little \"sidekick\" figure to go with him. What kind of hanger-on would a king have? Why, a jester, of course! Arshawsky went back to his Mega Mutant concept with Antic Ant:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

That was rejected (too cute, maybe?), so he tried again with another king-adjacent job, Executioner Ant:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Mirage and Playmates were apparently excited enough about that idea to take it from being a sidekick to a fully-fledged figure:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

So that big delay in the Berger\/Dooney execution submission? That would be the period when Arshawsky was doing his submissions; guess the marketing team liked his idea, but wanted to give B&D the chance to apply it to their repeatedly submitted idea. The final Antrax uses Arshawky's body shape, but B\/D's costume design and accessories. The power of collaboration!<\/p>\n

<i>And now, some more OAFEry:<\/i><\/H5>