Mutant Mayhem! The 15 Most Tubular 90s Ninja Turtle Toys

Are you looking for the top Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys from the franchise’s golden era? Don’t worry, Rediscover 90s Toys has you covered!

The first line of TMNT toys actually came out in 1988, and the franchise began with the comic book series before that in 1984. Even the iconic animated series began in 1987!

Despite its reality as an 80s franchise, the wildly popular toy range – the variant action figures, vehicles, and playsets we all loved as kids – was released during the 90s. So, you could be forgiven for thinking the toys inspired the show, and not the other way around!

Anyway, this article’s all about the coolest TMNT toys that came out in the 90s.

So, grab a gooey slice of pizza and give us your best Ninja Turtle battlecry as we dive in.

COWABUNGA!

1. Giant Turtles (1990)

What’s cooler than a giant version of your favorite toon turtles?

As if they weren’t mutated enough, each giant version of the four turtles was three and a half times the size of standard action figures.

Perfect for city or sewer play, each of the 13″ Giant Turtle toys were fully poseable. Equipped with their signature weapons, they’re guaranteed to intimidate every other toy in your bedroom.

These awesome Turtle toys have actually already made a modern comeback thanks to Playmates Toys, the original producers of the 90s line. Even better, you can pre-order Giant Raph, Donny, and Leo re-issues from our affiliate partner Entertainment Earth right now!

No word on Mikey just yet, but he’s probably up to his old shenanigans somewhere.

2. Mondo Gecko (1990)

Born in a quarterpipe somewhere in Hawaii, Mondo Gecko is a thrash-metal skateboarding lizard and close ally of the Turtles. With his Turbo-charged Sewer Skateboard, “Mon” is ready to grind on some Foot Clan chumps and eat your homework for you.

Mondo Gecko also came with a label sheet letting kids decorate his skateboard (or anything else, sorry Mom) with some gnarly stickers.

Like the previous Giant Turtle figures, you can find Mondo Gecko on Entertainment Earth all by his lonesome, or in an awesome pack of other classic figure re-releases.

3. Panda Khan (1990)

Step aside Kung-Fu Panda, the OG is here!

While he never appeared in the TMNT TV show, Panda Khan (real name Li Yang) is one of the most beloved TMNT characters from crossover comics and was honored with his own action figure.

Using the ancient art of Ting Zing Pao, Panda Khan was able to time-travel from his alien world of anthropomorphic pandas to help the Turtles. With his Dragon Claw’s Sword and Fusion Blaster, it’s no surprise Shredder’s foot soldiers find him unBEARable.

As of May 2024, it looks like Panda Khan could be making a comeback. Galestone Media acquired the rights to the character back in 2020, and an animated series has been in production ever since. With any luck, that means a Panda Khan action figure renaissance might also be on the horizon!

Now if we could just get some Street Sharks action going, we’d be all set!

4. Heavy Metal Raph (1991)

How do you make the coolest turtle even cooler? Give him a guitar!

This glam rock version of Raphael is ready to deafen Shredder’s foot soldiers with radical riffs and brain-melting basslines. With his new Bass Bashin’ Guitar, this rockstar turtle has no trouble keeping the beat.

Oh, he’s also replaced his shurikens with vinyl records and now carries a pair of modified drumstick sais. The other Turtles say it’s a phase, but we think they’re just jealous.

The nostalgia-focused action figure company Super7 has produced a recreation of Heavy Metal Raph, but he’s a little more… stiff than he was in the 90s.

5. Mutant Military Turtles (1991)

Get ready to stand at attention and salute these green army men turtles.

With Uncle Sam on their side, these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are ready to divide and conquer Shredder’s forces like a New York pizza pie!

You’ve got Lieutenant Leo for the Army, Pro Pilot Don for the Air Force, Midshipman Mike for the Navy, and Raph, the Green Teen Beret. Each action figure came with its own military-themed accessories and a United States “Anti-Foot” flag.

Was it propaganda? Possibly, but boy did Green Beret Raph look cool on our toy shelves!

6. Super Shredder (1991)

Everyone knows Shredder, the main antagonist of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and an all-around toxic personality.

Just when you thought he couldn’t get any worse, the new and improved Super Shredder arrived with an imposing figure that featured “twice the Turtle-eating turbulence” of his regular version. Yikes!

This particular figure was re-issued several times, and a rare all-black version was only available via a mail-in promotion for Chef Boyardee of all things. There was also a version of Super Shredder with purple-colored armor only released in Europe, and that is unfortunately the superior version.

Even loose, the all-black Super Shredder will cost you more than a few pizzas online. Some recent eBay listings have seen it sell for between $400-$600 or more – just check out this Chef Boyardee Super Shredder figure that sold for $800!

7. April, the Ninja Newscaster (1992)

The Foot Clain is about to get some bad news, and April O’Neil is here to deliver it with style.

This action figure puts April at the heart of the action, converting her camera equipment into ninja-style weaponry. Talk about being multi-talented!

Using her samurai-style camera and broadcastin’ bo, April’s ready to give Shredder a painful close-up he won’t soon forget. Described as the “world’s first judo, ju jitsu jammin’ journalist, ” this figure is definitely one of the coolest TMNT toys.

8. Movie III Samurai Turtles (1992)

In the history of the TMNT craze, 1992-1993 was all about the third live-action movie. In this flick, the titular characters travel back in time to 16th-century Japan to save the rebellion and rescue Princess Mitsu. You know, just a regular mission for sewer-dwelling superheroes.

Each action figure released to coincide with the film was based on how the Turtles appeared in it. As such, these figures are very distinct from the rest of the TMNT toy line. Some might even call them strange, but we think they’re radical!

Since Leonardo was always the sword guy, he’s the most period-correct of these super-sized samurai (as period-correct as a mutant turtle can be, obviously). With his giant katana and Karuta-style armor, we’re glad this mean, green, fighting machine is one of the good guys.

9. Hot Spot (1993)

As tough as the Turtles are, they had a lot of help along the way. One of their most trusted allies has to be the fire-fighting Dalmatian, Hot Spot.

Using his Foot-fightin’ Fire Axe, Hot Spot chews through bad guys and debris with ease. Like any good dog, he’s also got a large bone between his teeth (which he won’t hesitate to use as a cudgel when bad guys get too close).

10. Scratch (1993)

Before Swiper started swiping, there was Scratch the Cat.

This despicable feline is the Foot Clan’s answer to Hot Spot and comes with his swindlin’ sidekick Jail Bird along with his Bag o’ Burgled Loot, Criminal Cake Gun, and Felonious Fish Club.

While a pretty unremarkable character, Scratch has achieved legendary status amongst toy collectors. Even loose, an original Scratch figure hovers around $3000 online, while a sealed version can easily sell for $7000 or more.

We would have to burgle more than some tuna and kitty litter to get our hands on one of these!

11. Undercover Turtles (1994)

Looking for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? You won’t find them here. The Undercover Turtles are the perfect noir sewer sleuths with their fedoras, “real fabric” trench coats, and an arsenal of gadgets. Think Inspector Gadget if he was green and had an obsession with pizza.

The Undercover Turtles have also become some of the most valuable TMNT toys for collectors. As of writing, there’s a listing for the full set of all four sealed figures on eBay for $25,000. Wow!

Super7 has produced a newer version of the Undercover Turtles line, but it’s all solid plastic – not at all how we remember it. Thankfully, there is also a newer, more deluxe version that comes complete with gadgets and fabric trench coats that you can find elsewhere.

12. Pizza Wars Playset (1994)

While Dominos and Pizza Hut fought for control of the Friday night dinner demographic, another pizza war was secretly raging in kids’ bedrooms.

The Pizza War Playset was part of the mini-mutants line of TMNT toys, and it featured Michaelangelo as well as his favorite pizza joint.

This bodacious battle set was packed with state-of-the-art defensive technology like a working pizza disc flinger and a marinara-sauce-covered delivery slide for gooey escapes. Of course, it was fully compatible with the whole range of mini-mutant action figures, and the packaging encouraged kids to collect them all.

Probably the most interesting part of this playset – the mini pizza shooter – was actually an idea carried over from an earlier TMNT toy. 1989’s Pizza Thrower assault vehicle had a motorized disk launcher that fired larger pizzas at enemies of the Turtles. Playmates used the same mechanism and disks (although they were themed differently) for their Earthworm Jim and Chicken Run Toys later on.

13. Metal Mutants (1995)

If nothing else, the TMNT toy range is impressive in how many ways it made our favorite cartoon turtles even more exciting. In 1995, kids were introduced to the Metal Mutants, a fusion of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and mystical spirits that gave them shiny, metalized armor.

The creators of these TMNT toys clearly took some inspiration from the Power Rangers with their animal-themed mecha armor. Of course, toymakers also had to even the odds by giving Shredder his own Metal Mutant figure, even though he was already mostly made of metal.

With Metal Mutants, kids got two toys in one. The armor could be taken off and then folded into its spirit animal form to fight alongside its wearer. So cool!

14. Coil Force Turtles (1996)

With awesome “cowa-boinga” spring action, the Coil Force Turtles could deliver blows with real kinetic force. Anything but tightly wound, these spring-loaded heroes came ready to send Shredder’s goons spiraling out of control.

The Coil Force Turtles are some of the highest quality in the entire range, both in their play value and design. These tightly wound turtles are also popular with collectors, costing around $150 sealed and $40 loose on eBay.

15. Dino Turtles (1997)

Guess what? Shredder’s got his hands on some dinosaur DNA, and the turtles have been forced to mutate themselves to keep up. It ain’t easy being green!

The Dino Turtles sport some seriously cool mutations, with Michaelangelo gaining the thick horns of a triceratops, while Raphael sports the spiky ridges of a stegosaurus.

Each Dino Turtle figure came with some awesome prehistoric-themed accessories. Tyranno Shredder (the mutant dinosaur version of Shredder, of course) is genuinely terrifying.

All figures also had buttons on their mutated backs that made their arms swing violently (not as much as the Coil Force Turtles, but still pretty awesome).

The Dino Turtles almost gave the Biker Mice from Mars figures a run for their money in terms of weirdness… almost.

These were just some of our favorite highlights from the early era of Ninja Turtle toys, but we think we covered the basis pretty well. Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

And don’t forget, for more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokemon, and all things 90s, you can follow Rediscover 90s Toys on Instagram, Pinterest, and our other social media pages.

It’s what Master Splinter would want you to do.

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Peeps Asked!

What year did Ninja Turtles toys come out?

The first line of TMNT toys was released in 1988 after creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird gave Playmates Toys the rights to produce the toy line.

How many Ninja Turtle action figures are there?

Of the original run by Playmates Toys, around 400 TMNT toys were released between 1988 and 1997. In the following decades, more toys would be released to tie in with feature films and spin-offs/reboots of the original show.

Are Ninja Turtle toys worth money?

Yes, many vintage TMNT toys can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars if they’re still in their original packaging. For example, the original 1988 Turtles can sell for upwards of $1200 on eBay today.

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Lee Davey

Lee is curator of nostalgia and a long-time collector of loveable junk. An 80s baby, 90s kid, he knows he had it good when it came to Saturday morning cartoons. Spends his life trying to recapture the dopamine hit of playing Game Boy for the first time and believes Beanie Babies will make a fortuitous comeback. Obsessed with everything (and anything) retro, he is your trusted guide to a world of 90s toys, games and collectables.

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