If you’ve got several thousand dollars to spare, you could bag yourself the Holy Grail of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle collectibles.
Kevin Eastman, one half of the creative duo that came up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is selling his entire collection of Turtles merchandise and paraphernalia in one enormous lot on Ebay. The lot contains pretty much everything that ever had a Ninja Turtle put on it, as well as a number of unique items that you can’t get anywhere else.
At the height of their popularity in the early 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned up pretty much everywhere. Eastman made a point of collecting one of every piece of merchandise, so the lot includes things like lunchboxes, breakfast cereals, towels and even skis. Also included is the Leonardo costume from the 1990 movie, videotapes of most of the original TMNT cartoons, and original concept artwork for a lot of the toys. The full collection runs to fifty boxes, some of which apparently haven’t been opened in twenty years, and Eastman has signed each one with a head sketch to prove their authenticity. Eastman will also sign up to 250 items from the collection, if the buyer so desires.
But if you want the collection, you’re going to either need very deep pockets or know a lot of Turtles fans who want to chip in. The bidding started at $50,000 and has a reserve which is yet to be met. So far, there have been seven bids, each one adding a hundred dollars or so to the total, but as is often the case on Ebay, the bidding will likely heat up when the deadline gets a little closer.
Considering the size of the collection, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone bought it with the intention of breaking it up into smaller lots and reselling it. That said, there’s some very dedicated collectors out there, and this is the mother lode of TMNT collectibles; it’s entirely possible that someone is ready to drop upwards of fifty grand to have their very own Turtles museum.
Source: Bleeding Cool
