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Well, Fedex brought something cool for Gobo to play with today.
It’s the Neca toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van. I didn’t even get a shipping notice for the thing. Maybe when Gobo falls asleep, ( yeah, right ), I can give it a once over for myself. 🤓
It’s the Neca toys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle van. I didn’t even get a shipping notice for the thing. Maybe when Gobo falls asleep, ( yeah, right ), I can give it a once over for myself. 🤓
Category All / All
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File Size 1.2 MB
Listed in Folders
As much as I love this thing, and although I did always call it "the Turtle Van" as a kid, its name in most merchandise up until has almost always been "Party Wagon." It was called this by Playmates, Mattel, Jada, Mega Bloks, etc. Until NECA, I believe only Lego ever called it the Turtle Van (when they weren't calling it the Shellraiser). So it's weird to see NECA, usually very big on tradition, call it the unofficial slang term for it kids had as opposed to the actual name that it's had for all these years. Did they do it to honor what people knew it as (as opposed to its actual name) or to set themselves apart from the pack?
Since this is supposed to be the one from the cartoon, Neca did do it right. But, I actually have no idea if they referred to it as the Party Wagon in the cartoon though. I did watch the series through fairly recently but that wasn’t something I paid attention to. 🤓
That's a good point. Looking at the Ninja Turtles wiki, the cartoon version of the van is indeed just called the Turtle Van. It does note it is "also known as the Party Wagon," though provides no specific source for where in the show it is called that. In any event, outside the show, it's had a pretty consistent name, with only Lego calling it the Turtle Van until now. It's not a deal breaker, though, just something interesting. I do actually think "Turtle Van" is a better name for it, and am unsure exactly why Playmates etc. went with "Party Wagon" for so long (though it was called that first since I think the toys predate the show by a bit).
A similar situation is what exactly what the call the Ghostbusters' car(s). In all merchandise, it's the Ecto-1 (or Ecto-1A, depending), and I believe was also called that in The Real Ghostbusters, but that's actually just its license plate; the actual name for it is the Ectomobile. That said, "Ecto-1" is a perfectly good designation for the first in what ended up obviously becoming a series of numerous Ectomobiles (i.e., "Ectomobile" being any vehicle designed for the Ghostbusters' use). Still, I do kinda wish it'd be called by its original, proper name more often, especially in merchandise.
Slimer has the same problem. As far as I know, he was not known by that name until The Real Ghostbusters; during production, his name was Onionhead (both due to his overall appearance as well as his bad smell, with the latter trait being downplayed into near nonexistence in the finished version of the movie as his slime, not his smell, became his defining characteristic). The original toy also didn't call him Slimer but simply the Green Ghost, which is the name I knew him by until the cartoon.
A similar situation is what exactly what the call the Ghostbusters' car(s). In all merchandise, it's the Ecto-1 (or Ecto-1A, depending), and I believe was also called that in The Real Ghostbusters, but that's actually just its license plate; the actual name for it is the Ectomobile. That said, "Ecto-1" is a perfectly good designation for the first in what ended up obviously becoming a series of numerous Ectomobiles (i.e., "Ectomobile" being any vehicle designed for the Ghostbusters' use). Still, I do kinda wish it'd be called by its original, proper name more often, especially in merchandise.
Slimer has the same problem. As far as I know, he was not known by that name until The Real Ghostbusters; during production, his name was Onionhead (both due to his overall appearance as well as his bad smell, with the latter trait being downplayed into near nonexistence in the finished version of the movie as his slime, not his smell, became his defining characteristic). The original toy also didn't call him Slimer but simply the Green Ghost, which is the name I knew him by until the cartoon.
Back when Playmates started making turtle stuff, they were insistent on promoting the party nature of the turtles and then also had that element of wackiness too. Maybe that’s just how they geared it towards kids although it was never necessary. The turtles were cool enough on their own.
Yeah, I think Slimer didn’t have a name until the cartoon. I do remember the Green Ghost name. Pretty a sibling had that figure.
Yeah, I think Slimer didn’t have a name until the cartoon. I do remember the Green Ghost name. Pretty a sibling had that figure.
Anyway, I'll never actually call the van the Party Wagon myself, but as mentioned I do think it's interesting NECA broke with tradition (regardless of what the vehicle was actually called in the cartoon).
As for Slimer, it isn't that he didn't have a name until the cartoon. He had a different name until the cartoon changed it. He was originally named Onionhead because of his smell (and the fact he kinda looks like a rotten green onion). In the script and deleted scenes, his stench is bad enough to make someone gag like they're trying to cough up a hairball. However, in the finished film, the only time his smell ever seems to come up is after they've caught him and are negotiating with the hotel manager. There's a lot of coughing from everyone and the manager keeps covering his nose and mouth. By the time they did the cartoon, the bad smell angle was gone altogether, and greater emphasis was placed on his sliminess because of the iconic "He slimed me" scene, hence the name change to Slimer. But his nasty smell would come up again one last time. In his first scene in Ghostbusters II, Louis smells him before he sees him, and evidently he literally smells like shit ("It smells like somebody took a big--" he begins before stopping as he notices Slimer).
If I had to guess, different people worked on the movies than the cartoon, and the people making the sequel wanted to go back to Slimer's origins of smelling bad as opposed to just oozing slime everywhere; you'll not that apart from his name in the credits ("Slimer as Himself") no allusion at all is made to Slimer's sliminess. But after this, I'm pretty sure every subsequent appearance has had Slimer not like anything in particular.
Anyway, I just think it's interesting how he can go from concept to final design without changing much where physical appearance is concerned... but have three different names and also what seems to have been two disagreeing factions about what his main attribute should be, his slime or his smell, with the slime team winning out (largely thanks to the cartoon, I bet).
As for Slimer, it isn't that he didn't have a name until the cartoon. He had a different name until the cartoon changed it. He was originally named Onionhead because of his smell (and the fact he kinda looks like a rotten green onion). In the script and deleted scenes, his stench is bad enough to make someone gag like they're trying to cough up a hairball. However, in the finished film, the only time his smell ever seems to come up is after they've caught him and are negotiating with the hotel manager. There's a lot of coughing from everyone and the manager keeps covering his nose and mouth. By the time they did the cartoon, the bad smell angle was gone altogether, and greater emphasis was placed on his sliminess because of the iconic "He slimed me" scene, hence the name change to Slimer. But his nasty smell would come up again one last time. In his first scene in Ghostbusters II, Louis smells him before he sees him, and evidently he literally smells like shit ("It smells like somebody took a big--" he begins before stopping as he notices Slimer).
If I had to guess, different people worked on the movies than the cartoon, and the people making the sequel wanted to go back to Slimer's origins of smelling bad as opposed to just oozing slime everywhere; you'll not that apart from his name in the credits ("Slimer as Himself") no allusion at all is made to Slimer's sliminess. But after this, I'm pretty sure every subsequent appearance has had Slimer not like anything in particular.
Anyway, I just think it's interesting how he can go from concept to final design without changing much where physical appearance is concerned... but have three different names and also what seems to have been two disagreeing factions about what his main attribute should be, his slime or his smell, with the slime team winning out (largely thanks to the cartoon, I bet).
I'd like to get one... but I don't have any Turtles to go with it. The NECA figures are expensive and the Turtles themselves are often hard to get for what I'd consider a reasonable price. As much as I love NECA's stuff, their prices are a bit high and they only make so much of any one product, and, worse, people grab them up as soon as they come out so they can sell them on eBay at jacked up prices.
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