02/05/2004 Entry: "Two new articles! Freddy's Bubble Gum & the TMNT Fan Club Kit!"

I tried out something new today, let's see how it works out. Instead of taking something that can be summed up in three words and stretching it out for sixty pages, I took two things and created two shorter articles. They didn't end up being that much shorter, actually, but they're still much less of a drain to put together. If the feedback's in its favor, maybe I'll start doing this a little more often.

First up, it's Freddy's Bubble Gum! Made by Topps in 1989, Mr. Krueger took his Elm Street franchise to new heights by letting kids chew his unholy Chiclets. I have no idea why I find this stupid gum so interesting, but I can't help myself. I just stare and stare at it, all the time, wondering where the Hell it came from. Going from one side of the universe to the other, the second article deals with the Ninja Turtles...

It's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fan Club Kit! An exclusive offer advertised on the earliest Ninja Turtles action figures' packaging, kids received everything from a sticker to a bandana, and even a letter from some guy they'd never heard of. The article provides an in-depth look at the packet's contents, and I kinda go overboard when talking about the really cool envelope. But you know me. I love my envelopes. By the way, tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be so fucking old.

Chestnuts roasted by Chopstick Sensei @ 02/05/2004 09:47 PM EST

Oh, I should've mentioned that the two-short-in-a-day doesn't mean two-short-in-a-day and then skip-two-days. Example: instead of three looong articles a week, we could have one looong one and four shorter ones, like these.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 02/05/2004 09:48 PM EST

(longtime lurker, firsttime poster!) Yeah, I'm one of those 16 who care about the Fan Club package! I had that, but like too many old toys, it went the way of the garbage man...eh, oh, well...happy birthday, Matt!

Chestnuts roasted by Pat @ 02/05/2004 09:53 PM EST

That Freddy's Gum thing looks almost like this toy candy from the sixties called Hippy Sippy,which came in containers shaped almost like hypodermic needles and had phrases on them like "Hippy Sippy says he'll try anything!". Parents groups and the goverment got them taken off the market. Just an intersting bit of trivia.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 02/05/2004 09:59 PM EST

hey matt, I'd buy you that TV if I had the money, but right now I can't even afford the cheapest thing on your wish list. Anyways, why am I never the first person to read these things? Just once, I'd like to be the first one to post in the blog! :(

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/05/2004 10:06 PM EST

Matt, It's nice to know someone else feels as strongly about getting mail as I do :)

Chestnuts roasted by Rob @ 02/05/2004 10:14 PM EST

Hey wasn't that gum like 10 years old? Happy Birthday for tommorow Matt. Aren't you gonna be like 23?Y'know you used to be that guy with the funny blogs and saved me from boredom in class so yeah it cool how you are now Matt when I talk about your articles in everyday life :-)

Chestnuts roasted by Rebekah @ 02/05/2004 10:14 PM EST

Well, Matt, Happy Birthday! Can't say I can get you anything on that list, but I do have a lot of leftover crap you might like.

How about it? The last episode of Cheers circa 1993? The Ronald McDonald storytime where Ronald read books to the Fry Guys? Illegally copied video game help tapes from 1985?

Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 02/05/2004 10:24 PM EST

yeah Happy b-day. im gunna leave a comment because the list hasnt reached 100. and on the stickeer there all wearing the red bandanas because the orginal turtels were had all the same(seen in the comic cover) and and they werent as goofy in the older stuff too. and id get you those mighty beens(and a pack for my slef) but my moms a bitch about the whole online ording thing.

Chestnuts roasted by Jared @ 02/05/2004 10:24 PM EST

and hey mr. mr. mr. i know you review alot of old nick stuff on your web site... well i found a old pinweel tape at this used cd/record store in the city.to bad i was broke :(

Chestnuts roasted by Jared @ 02/05/2004 10:26 PM EST

In grade school we used gum as currency, and as a bartering system, if I wanted to borrow someone's pencil crayons that's two pieces easy. Freddy Krueger gum would've been the Fort Knox of trading, how could any gum be cooler. I also joined the TMNT fanclub as a kid, all my friends and I were into it so I joined to shame them and show I loved those wacky turtles the most. This also occured when I heard my best friend had a store bought Leo costume for Halloween, so I got my Grandma to hand make me a huge Donatello costume, full body, Why do things if you can't make your friends feel bad because of it??

Chestnuts roasted by Brrent @ 02/05/2004 10:26 PM EST

ok, and now that I've actually read the articles, I just want to say that I hate it when my foot falls asleep. Happy Birthday Matt! I'll say happy birthday to you on my site and send you a couple new visitors whenever my DNS settings kick in and I can publish my site on our new servers. Then I'll send you that e-mail I briefly mentioned in the spongebob article comment thingy.

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/05/2004 10:28 PM EST

Forgot to include by well wishes, happy b-day Matt!

Chestnuts roasted by Rob @ 02/05/2004 10:31 PM EST

Matt, happy birthday.

Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger

Mushroom, Mushroom

Ahh, snake, ahh snake, OOh its a snake.

Badger Badger Badger...

(People who surf too much will understand this)

Chestnuts roasted by Badger @ 02/05/2004 10:32 PM EST

Sorry I can't afford to get you any of that stuff on your list Matt, I'm down to my last $100 bucks, last CANADIAN $100 bucks.

Hey, did anybody else here ever have that Ninja Turtles Pizza Throwing Machine? You know the one that was louder than a vacuum and could cut a cat in half.

Chestnuts roasted by Tyler @ 02/05/2004 10:39 PM EST

Turning 24 or 25 I think. Lemme be the first to give you your birthday boobie flash! Woo!

Chestnuts roasted by allicat @ 02/05/2004 10:43 PM EST

That whole "be prepared to fight evil wherever you find it"-thing sounds like kids would take that as: "beat the living hell out of anyone who upsets you so you can be like a real ninja turtle!"

When I played with my TMNT figures as a kid, they never succeeded in saving April or much anything else 'cuz I've always hated cliches. Also, the spine on the first Shredder figure always grossed me out.

Chestnuts roasted by Rewolf J @ 02/05/2004 10:49 PM EST

Hey Tyler, was that the little tank thing that came with the plastic pizzas? My cousin had that thing I think. We broke it, but then again, when me and him were little we broke everything. And now he's married and I have a kid on the way. We got old :( But not as old as Matt! Happy Birthday buddy!

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/05/2004 10:54 PM EST

I agree about mail. A day without mail, even one of those stupid mail flyers that the grocery store puts out weekly, is a sad day indeed.

The Freddy Gum is...odd. Definately one of the strangest things I have seen.

The TMNT kit...stranger. The comics don't really look like the official Mirage comics (at least not to me, I'm not that familiar with them), but rather like someone has copied them crudely.

I do remember Pizza Points, but I have no clue WHY I remember them....weird.

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron @ 02/05/2004 10:57 PM EST

"Speak N' Shell?"

You SO rock.

The articles were really good. I too am glad to know that someone else lives for mail.

Happy birthday in about an hour eastern time. I hope it's excellent.

Yay!!

Chestnuts roasted by Rainbowfeet @ 02/05/2004 11:01 PM EST

I remember the pizza points, but my most fond memory of TMNT toys was on the back of the Michaelangelo figure packaging was where it said that it takes 8 pounds of pressure (or whatever it was) to break bone, and the nunchucks (or however you spell it) generate 80!

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/05/2004 11:02 PM EST

I was never that much into Nightmare on Elm Street, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was in 6th or 7th grade when Ninja Turtles started hitting it big, so my interests were on other things. I thought the concept was cool, however either because of my age, or whatever it was at the time it never sparked my interest enough for me to check out any of the figures. I do remember my little cousin being quite fanatical about the Turtles however, about like I was with Star Wars (still am BTW), He-Man, and Transformers. I've seen most of the Elm Street movies but for some reason or another I found them largely forgettable, maybe it's just me, but I liked Friday the 13th a bit better... but like all horror films I lose interest after they run the things into the ground with sequel after sequel. I do remember vaguely the merchandise line of Freddie.

Chestnuts roasted by Justus Cade @ 02/05/2004 11:07 PM EST

Happy Birthday Matt!

I remember wearing the orange bandana that came in the TMNT kit with a massive amount of pride.

I had more hubris when I rode around the neighborhood five years earlier on a MOTU bigwheel proclaiming that He-Man could totally whoop Megatron's ass though.
I was 5, how was I supposed to know that Skeletor was so woefully inept?

Chestnuts roasted by Jett @ 02/05/2004 11:26 PM EST

happy birthday for tommorow matt!

can you go on another trip and talk about it? i love those articles <3

Chestnuts roasted by Rachel Cakes @ 02/05/2004 11:34 PM EST

Yeah, I'm down with splitting up the articles like that.

I used to save Pizza Points, Proof of Purchases, etc, etc. I never actually turned them in though... or wait, did I? Now memories are resurfacing of me not wanting to cut squares in the backs of the boxes. I definitely kept the cardboard backing of whatever toy I bought. Maybe I always thought I was gonna save up points for the biggest thing on the prize list, but the only one I ever did was the "design your own Joe" thing. Which was pretty fucking cool, but I basically just ripped of Sewer Rat with my character, because Sewer Rat was that cool.

Chestnuts roasted by Chopstick Sensei @ 02/05/2004 11:40 PM EST

I was a member of the Turtles club, but I remember the bandana being red.

I had the pizza shooter. I didn't use it much though.

Chestnuts roasted by JG! @ 02/05/2004 11:55 PM EST

I wanted to save pizza points as a kid, but my mom argues that saving Kool-Aid points was enough. Oh well, we bought Kool-Aid more often anyway. Plus, I think my brother still has the 750 unexchanged Kool-Aid points stashed away. Hmmm...should we get the pitcher, or the water bottle?

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 02/06/2004 12:02 AM EST

I saved pizza points for the longest time....from the early 90s until they neared the end of the Turtles line and released figures like the dude with a basketball hoop on his neck. Never once did I see an opportunity to use them though. Seemed pointless to me, never anything to use them for.
Though I wasn't in the Turtles fanclub, I was in the WWF and Power Rangers fan clubs respectively. The Power Rangers one came in a box, and included some awesome stuff like static clings of all the rangers, tattoos, and some other stuff i dont remember. The WWF one had a cassette with wrestlers music on it. That was in the golden days, 1992....it even had an 8x10 of Hulk Hogan in his Suburban Commando outfit. Crazy stuff.

Chestnuts roasted by Martel @ 02/06/2004 12:18 AM EST

haha the old rubber headed turtles...after about 5 hours of play smooshing their heads in...their eyes would end up with slits in them from the broken rubber...oh the greatness...

Chestnuts roasted by lordsorrowx @ 02/06/2004 12:20 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt!
Oh man, today in 711 i found BBQ chip flavoured liquid candy! I was scared or else i would have bought it...I just bought some Juicy fruit instead but seriously BBQ chip flavourd LIQUID candy????
someone hold me Im still scared...

Chestnuts roasted by Allie @ 02/06/2004 12:23 AM EST

Oh yeah, Happy 25th you old bastard

Chestnuts roasted by Brrent @ 02/06/2004 12:26 AM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt. One day when I am the world's most beloved eccentric billionairess I will buy you presents, but now I am a poor college student living with my parents, so you will have to wait a year or two.

I was never a member of the Ninja Turtles Fan Club, but my friends and I had our own unnoficial NKOTB fan club in like grade one, only at the time I didn't know who the New Kids were, so everyone else told me that my favorite had to be Danny because no one else liked him. Some girl liked Jon, but he was old and creepy so I dunno why.

Chestnuts roasted by Gabbylicious @ 02/06/2004 12:36 AM EST

The pizza thrower is _the_ coolest ninja turtles toy ever, and in fact, I still have one... but no pizzas for it.

I don't really remember ever seeing the freddy gum either, but I do remember the simpsons gum that came in toothpaste tubes... I remember it mainly because my aunt told me that if you swallowed it, you could fart bubbles.

Chestnuts roasted by gesis @ 02/06/2004 12:38 AM EST

Also... [since I forgot] Happy Birthday... as far as gifts... I have some centuries old chocolate flavored gum you can have. Buying a delorean has sapped every dollar I will have for the next eternity.

Chestnuts roasted by gesis @ 02/06/2004 12:42 AM EST

I never joined the Ninja Turtles club, but I did join the Fox Kids club back in the early 90's. What the hell was I thinking?

Happy Birthday by the way!

Chestnuts roasted by Jeremiah @ 02/06/2004 12:42 AM EST

Hey Matt, and happy birthday! I was a member of the TMNT fan club, and in fact... I still am! Not only do I still have the bandanna, but I am, currently, carrying the membership card in my wallet with my name scrawled in a ten-year-old's messy hand. My member number? 200751. Turtle Power!

Chestnuts roasted by Lady Millicent @ 02/06/2004 01:02 AM EST

Oh yeah... and my bandanna is Michaelangelo orange. I'm assuming, then, that they came in all four color varieties. What I wouldn't give for Donatello's purple... *sigh*

Chestnuts roasted by LadyMillicent @ 02/06/2004 01:23 AM EST

I was a member of the TMNT fanclub in my native country. Didn't get a bandana but got a patch which I still have somewhere. I got a badge and letter and maybe some stickers. I vaguely remember a newsletter that came for a few months then stopped. Don't know who signed our stuff, it was probably one of the turtles.

Also Happy Birthday Matt. You are about 2 months older than me. No wonder most of the stuff here strikes a cord with me.

Chestnuts roasted by Sepp Heckmann @ 02/06/2004 02:07 AM EST

I've been lurking for quite a while now, so I figured it was about time I posted something...
Happy Birthday, Matt! 25 isn't that old, but what do I know? I'm only 20 and I freaked out about that. The only thing that got me through my little crisis was the realization that 21 was just around the corner. (Like that stops me now!)

Is there some sort of milestone at 25? If there is, I don't know about it. I think it's time to make one up, that way you can look forward to being 25.

There is one advantage to turning a year older: You get cake. That's at least a +1. I really like cake, especially birthday cake.:)

Chestnuts roasted by Andrea @ 02/06/2004 02:11 AM EST

Happy lappy birthday, Matt! You're only as old as you feel. I loved the Toitles since episode 1 up to that weirdness in the last few seasons. I never liked gum, but Freddy's the bomb. So are you, Matt. Biggity bomb.

Chestnuts roasted by Armagideon Time @ 02/06/2004 02:11 AM EST

I used to like getting mail, now I hate it. I wish they had a Canadian version of that book 'How to Disappear in America' so I could go so deep in the figurative underground that no one is even aware I exist.

In Canada, we got patches with our Ninja Turtle Club. They were way cooler than the bandana.

Chestnuts roasted by Cannibalizer @ 02/06/2004 02:32 AM EST

I was totally in the fan club. I defenitely remember seeing the envelope. The rest of the stuff I'm fuzzy on, cept the bandana. I had two of those, a red one, and a purple one. Oh yeah, I had that pizza launcher, but the one toy that sticks in my mind is the turtles balloon. That was a cool toy for about a month. Then it went flat.

I dig the two articles at once. And having them be a little shorter is no big deal.

Chestnuts roasted by Dustin @ 02/06/2004 02:34 AM EST

I was totally in the fan club. I defenitely remember seeing the envelope. The rest of the stuff I'm fuzzy on, cept the bandana. I had two of those, a red one, and a purple one. Oh yeah, I had that pizza launcher, but the one toy that sticks in my mind is the turtles balloon. That was a cool toy for about a month. Then it went flat.

I dig the two articles at once. And having them be a little shorter is no big deal.

Chestnuts roasted by Dustin @ 02/06/2004 02:34 AM EST

Matt, gotta say, I like this, two shorter articles versus one long one is MUCH better. No offence, but sometimes I just dont feel like devoting a half hour to fully understand how much a movie sucks. Besides, sometime youll print an article about something I have no interest whatsoever in *cough*transformers*cough* so its nice to have a choice and not have to wait a few days to see another article.

Chestnuts roasted by The Dude @ 02/06/2004 02:58 AM EST

man, it's really taking a long time for these DNS settings to go into effect... anyways, I never joined the Turtle's fan club. I did, however, join the Burger King Kids Club (which I think I saw on an article or post here on X-E). Anyways, so instead of getting all that cool turtle stuff, I got a giant poster of Scottie Pippen. I felt ripped off, because I was a Bulls fan but they sent me Pippen and not Jordan :(

Chestnuts roasted by Skitzo from stupid5pin.com @ 02/06/2004 04:06 AM EST

Turtles were heros in the uk, not ninjas and mikey never had nunchuks until this year

cowabunga!

Chestnuts roasted by Gaz @ 02/06/2004 04:30 AM EST

Happy birthday, Matt. You should watch out for that gum. It's obviously cursed, and cursed gum and birthdays mix about as well as oil and penguins.

Chestnuts roasted by Ian @ 02/06/2004 05:35 AM EST

Jesus Christ Gesis. You own a Delorean and your Aunt told you you could fart bubbles? You are, or at least are surrounded by, the coolest people in the world.

Chestnuts roasted by Chopstick Sensei @ 02/06/2004 05:59 AM EST

Happy Birthday! The older you get means the longer you're alive, which means the more fun things you write about.

Keep on livin'!

Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 02/06/2004 06:37 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt..
Hope you get hammered outta yer mind today ;)

Definatly do the short article thing.. nice surprise to load up X-E before I leave for work and find 2 articles!
Almost missed my ride reading them tho.. hehe, he's beeping up a storm out there, gotta go! ;)

Chestnuts roasted by Cyanyde @ 02/06/2004 07:15 AM EST

First of all. Great articles Matt. Every one is talking about the Turtles...which is cool, but let's give my boy Freddy some love. Freddy is what brought me to this site. I think the gum should have been a deep red color. Then you could pretend you were eating the dried up flakes of blood from Freddy's victims.

Gesis - I envy you greatly. I will eventually be buying a Delorean. It is on the list. What have you learned about getting parts for it? Seems like that would be the most expensive part.
There is a guy down here who has a Delorean and his personalized license plate says:
FLUXED
That is just so awsome. Much better then the stream of black smoke emanating from his exhaust pipe.

Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 02/06/2004 08:37 AM EST

I think the mystery of the gum label is pretty much solved. That shot is a "vote me" pose. Yes, good people, Freddy's running for president. He got my vote.

Happy Birthday, Matt !
Have a look at your mail today - There will be nothing with my name on it.

Chestnuts roasted by Creature SH @ 02/06/2004 08:49 AM EST

Happy Birthday Matt! I like the 2 article format too. I have kind of a short attention span, so it's nice to have some variety...

Chestnuts roasted by B-Dawg @ 02/06/2004 09:15 AM EST

Happy Quarter of a Century, Matt! I remember, years ago, when I turned a quarter of a century... Y2K, the Bush/Gore election, still waiting patiently for the Lord of the Rings trilogy to start... those were the days.

Duck must be busy w/ school. Hey, check in once in awhile.

I like the choice of the two article setup, too. I was totally into the Freddy article, while the TMNT article was skipped. Sorry. But, at least I was happy.

Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 02/06/2004 09:53 AM EST

Big Freddy fan here as a kid! That gum was awful, even when it was fresh! But, hey kids who idolize badly burned child molestors who now stalk teens in their dreams get what they deserve. I used to have the stickerbook, the maxx f/x doll and just about any piece of shit they slapped my man Krueger on. Ah, the good old politically incoreect days....

Chestnuts roasted by Gerald James @ 02/06/2004 10:11 AM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt! 25 hurts a little, huh?

Chestnuts roasted by Avery @ 02/06/2004 10:35 AM EST

I had the uk version of the turtles fan club pack. I got a green pen and a letter and a badge.

and that was it. Damn you lucky yanks and your magical bandanas and comics!

Chestnuts roasted by vyle @ 02/06/2004 10:58 AM EST

I feel so young! Urgh.

I was never into Nightmare on Elm Street, though when Freddy Vs. Jason came out I went and rented the older Nightmare flicks.

Turtles though, I was a Turtles fanatic. I still have a bunch of the old episodes on VHS. It's kinda sad when you see an article on the alien meatballs and scream "I have that one! Yaha!"

Or the episode where Rocksteady and Bebop became mutants. I haven't watched that one in awhile, but I seem to remember that was the episode where the Turtles all had to fight these big robot death machines of doom that Shredder threw at 'em.

Nothing with Krang. *sad*

Chestnuts roasted by Snowman @ 02/06/2004 11:20 AM EST

this my first post i have to say this this my favorite website im 18 and alot of the stuff is before my time but still enjoy all the articles. I always wait with baited breath for new articles, since you mentioned the tmnt fanclub what about the gi-joe fanclub. I remember there being flag points (im pretty sure thats what they were called) you could send away for limited edition figures. thanks for all the side spliting articles so far keep it up!

Chestnuts roasted by vintage_vibe @ 02/06/2004 11:35 AM EST

Does Dr. Forrester's Double-Butt Graft count as a Wuzzle?

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 02/06/2004 11:55 AM EST

Happy Berfday Matt!

And to naysay, I prefer your other format. These articles are funny, but they seem to meander from the point (if there was any) and end rather abruptly. Besides, I think its the over-analysis that gives your articles their unique charm...so don't let these other "quick-fifty" types sway your writing style...listen to me!!! I'm a random internet poster who actually makes an impact in your life! And if I don't, well dammit I SHOULD BE!

Chestnuts roasted by Phandral @ 02/06/2004 12:40 PM EST

I get what you're saying, though I'd bet that I meander from the point just as much with the longer stuff. :)

I think it just boils down to what's being written about. Freddy Gum can't be a 3,000 word article, and with the way I do movie reviews, they can't be a 1,000 word article. I'll decide which works best as the topics hit.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 02/06/2004 12:44 PM EST

Matt, I think I joined that fan club too, but it was probably in the early 90's, since I don't remember getting the comic. Remember those maps of the Turtles' Sewer and the descriptions of everything that would come with buying certain vehicles? I loved looking at those things.

Chestnuts roasted by Digger @ 02/06/2004 12:49 PM EST

At work in Schaumburg, IL right now... Don't know where the bandana factory is, though.

Chestnuts roasted by Katie @ 02/06/2004 01:29 PM EST

For a brief time I tried collecting Popsicle Pete points - I just never had the patience to stick something like that out. I was a big Ninja Turtles fan, though. The best was Raphael because he had a red bandanna. And red is the best colour.

Chestnuts roasted by Kristen @ 02/06/2004 01:51 PM EST

Happy birthday Matt, first of all. :)

Secondly, I found this site that at least mentions Freddy gum, if you scroll down to F; not sure if it's the same stuff though.

Chestnuts roasted by Jen @ 02/06/2004 01:55 PM EST

man, i never joined the tmnt club. i feel so left out. i had the tmnt house thing thogh. it had a telephone pole and the lines would become a swing...WOW! i just remembered the karate kid junk..like the dojo and the dolls..oh man..i want them again..screw tmnt KARATE KID DOLLS!

Chestnuts roasted by nelson @ 02/06/2004 01:58 PM EST

Ok first off those are not "four Raphaels" If you knew anything about the TMNT you would know that all four Turtles wore red bandanas in the original comic books, and they still do in the Mirage Studios comic book series

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 02/06/2004 02:32 PM EST

Okay second off if you read the sentence afterwards you'd see that he mentioned it but instead you just came and griped first and boy do you look like a stoopid shithead now!

Chestnuts roasted by Idiot Catcher @ 02/06/2004 02:44 PM EST

1) Happy Birthday, dude. You rock. Keep up the awesome work. I don't know if you'll be proud or not by knowing this but 85% of what you write here makes sense to a Brazilian 80's kid. So your work reaches all over the globe too. Congrats.

2) I like the 2-short-article format. We get more stuff to read for the same price AND you don't get to be as tired as if you were doing a huge one full of nonsense just to fill up your quota.

3) I almost fell outta my chair when I got to the site yesterday, after sending you an e-mail the night before about the He-Man petition, and seeing his mug plastered on the front page. I knew you'd be there for him!

Chestnuts roasted by Roddy @ 02/06/2004 02:47 PM EST

Well, I for one was one of the people that hated when the Turtles went cartoony. My dad bought me a copy of the first ever original Eastman and Laird TMNT comic about a month after it first came out, and I was hooked. The original turtles were much darker, more violent, and even said some swears.

Don't get me wrong, after I got used to the idea of the cartoon color-coded turtles (the only way to tell the difference in the original comics was by their weapon), I still liked everything TMNT, but to this day I still like the original Turtle comics (along with Fugitoid) much, much better.

Chestnuts roasted by alienmagic @ 02/06/2004 03:04 PM EST

Hey there! I've been hovering about here for quite, quite a while, but I've never actually posted until now. Um. >_>; Hi!

Happy birthday, of course! ^_^

Gosh, I was such a turtles fan back in TEH DAY. But I never was part of the fan club. Now I feel like there's a huge, gaping hole in my childhood. ;_;

And well, if nothing else, at least the gum was absolutely, literally right. ^^ No one really -does- know this gummy version of him.

Chestnuts roasted by Ellie @ 02/06/2004 03:21 PM EST

...holy heck, that post of mine was a convoluted mess of emoticons. Sheesh. I admit I have a problem. There ought to be some sort of Ambiguous Emoticons Annonymous.

Chestnuts roasted by Ellie @ 02/06/2004 03:24 PM EST

My sister had the pizza shooter. I tried to trade one of my Ninja Turtles things to her for it. (I think it was a helicopter?) She wouldn't do it, and I hated her. Mom eventually confiscated the pizzas because she heard about some kid putting his eye out shooting them at himself or something; I vaguely recall making new ones out of cardboard.

We lost the pizza shooter at some point, but one of Mom's stolen pizza's is still in the computer drawer at home. Watching... waiting...

Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 02/06/2004 03:42 PM EST

Many happy returns of the day! I hope your birthday brings you all the fun and happiness that you've given me through X-E.

I like the two short article format, but my favorites are the longer movie reviews, so if you mix it up like you said I think it would be perfect.

I really don't understand people who seem to live only to correct other people to heighten their sense of superiority. I mean, was your desire to correct Matt so pressing that you couldn't even read on to the very next sentence before rushing to the blog to try and make him look stupid? On his birthday, no less? For shame, Mr. Anal-Retentive. For shame.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 02/06/2004 03:44 PM EST

Someone compared the double-butt graft to Wuzzles up there. I wish I had the patience to research why...

Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 02/06/2004 03:45 PM EST

Yeah I did miss that part but please don't call me a "stoopid shithead" that's a bit uncalled for.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 02/06/2004 04:37 PM EST

Happy Birthday Matt! I think of you every time I hear the word McGriddle.

Chestnuts roasted by TheSecretOwl @ 02/06/2004 05:39 PM EST

hey MATT ___ HAPPY BIRFDAY BUDDY!

Chestnuts roasted by Graves @ 02/06/2004 05:48 PM EST

Happy B-Day, Matt!

Wow...if I'd have had that TMNT fan club kit when I was a kid, I would've loved the thing. The Turtles kick ass. Heck, I think I've still got all of my old TMNT action figures...

Chestnuts roasted by The ORIGINAL Paul @ 02/06/2004 06:26 PM EST

I was so hooked on the Turtles that I even bought those lame birthday-themed ones. I still cherish my Mouser though.

Chestnuts roasted by Digger @ 02/06/2004 07:15 PM EST

Happy B-day, Matt. Been reading XE for over two years now, every time it's updated, and through all sorts of the craziness that happens, it always brings a grin.

Much peace.

jiv

Chestnuts roasted by JohnIllyV @ 02/06/2004 08:14 PM EST

Scary, my foot fell asleep at the end of that entry too.

Here I thought everyone was hardcore Leonardo all this time, good to see Don was popular enough to be the turtle who's headband was duplicated somewhere in Illinois.

I was always about Donatello.

Chestnuts roasted by Lady Yate-xel @ 02/06/2004 09:09 PM EST

Happy Birthday, Matt! How does it feel to be a quarter of a century old? (If it's not good, don't tell me. I'm turing 25 in April.)

I read whatever article Matt's written that's on a subject that interests me, short or long. Variety is the spice of life. Variety and nutmeg.

I hate bloody horror flicks (I turn pea-green at a paper cut, much less Freddy), so we're going to skip gruesome gum and go straight to the Toitles. My sisters and I were all fans of the Turtles. I must have seen the first movie at least two or three times in the theater, and we grabbed the first two movies on video the moment they hit the stores. We never missed the cartoon on CBS or afterschool in re-runs.

For all that, I don't remember us ever having any of the toys. I'd say we were getting too old by that point, but we did still have My Little Pony and She-Ra and Thundercats then. Maybe they were too expensive. Or maybe Mom figured my cousin (who was as obsessed with the Turtles as Matt and had every toy in existance) had enough Turtle stuff for all of us.

We weren't part of the Turtles Club (although I do remember the teaser on the toy boxes), but I do very vaguely recall being members of the She-Ra and My Little Pony Clubs. They were basically the same deal, with patches or stickers in place of the bandana and comic. We waited just as impatiently and drove our mom nuts asking her if the club stuff came yet.

Oh...and I also still love getting mail, even bills. It's nice to have something to anticipate.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 02/06/2004 09:56 PM EST

Freddy and TMNT, two of my favorite things in this universe side by side. Well, I'm happy to say that I belonged to the TMNT Fan Club. I could be wrong, but I think this is how I ended up with four stuffed Ninja Turtles that I just dug up from the basement about three months ago. They're still in pretty good condition.

I also still have Metalhead but I lost the Pizza Thrower who knows how long ago. Yes, I enjoy hanging on to "crap" like this when I can. A lot of my old stuff went to charity and whatnot though, damn spoiled brats.

As for Freddy, he's probably the main reason I'm such a horror addict. Well.. him and Sammy Terry. Somebody told me that Robert Englund died yesterday and I almost had a heart attck. Come to find out, they were talking about the "Cool Ghoul," but I don't know if anybody on here actually knows who these people are so I'll shut up now.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (#2?) @ 02/06/2004 10:26 PM EST

Happy Birthday!!! YAY!!! My sisters bday was the 2nd. haha like you really care...but anyways wish I had money to buy you something but right now I'm broke. Anyways thanks for the articles it made my day a little better. :)

Chestnuts roasted by Crissy @ 02/06/2004 10:37 PM EST

Happy Birthday! *phew* Made it by two minutes* I hope! Hope you enjoy the present...Amazon promises me it will be there shortly...so you'll have mail! *does the mail dance* *not to be confused with the male dance* This was a sad waste of space. Oh, well.

Chestnuts roasted by purplegirl247 @ 02/07/2004 12:01 AM EST

Rats. Technically missed the actual birthday date. Oh, well. Consider it your first birthday wishes for next year!

Chestnuts roasted by purplegirl247 @ 02/07/2004 12:01 AM EST

Mmm... whatever you're doing with the newer articles isn't showing up well with Opera. A lot of times, everything but the text will load. I guess it's that scrolly thing so the background doesn't move with it, but it's annoying to have to switch to Internet Exploder to get my X-E fix. :

Chestnuts roasted by Amanda @ 02/07/2004 12:17 AM EST

That tmnt fan club article is pretty cool. I wish I would have been a couple years older back then so I could have had more tmnt stuff. I'm 16 now and I colelct the old ninja turtles things; bowls, puzzles, toys..etc. I want one of those bandanas..I wonder if there is one on ebay right now. And how do you not know where schamburg illinois is? I used to live near there. Too bad I didn't know they had tmnt bandanas or I would have had my other 2 year old buddies and I go rob the place clean of them and keep a few and store the rest in a vault and sell them in teh future since barely anyone would have them since we would have had them all... but that didnt happen. Well peace

Chestnuts roasted by Greg @ 02/07/2004 12:55 AM EST

Dude, a Sammy Terry mention from a reader!!! Check out http://www.sammyterry.com to learn a little bit more about this great man that helped to shape my oh so pointless childhood and make it just a little sillier.

Chestnuts roasted by Rex @ 02/07/2004 01:53 AM EST

*Freddy continues chewing the same piece of gum for the last 15 years. He can't understand how it never loses its flavor. Out of anger, he spits it onto the floor and points at it*

"Why won't you DIIIIE?!?"

And happy birthday Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Gavok @ 02/07/2004 02:09 AM EST

Oh my god...for YEARS, I've been trying to remember where I got that TMNT catalouge that offered me a full set of Series one collectible cards (they basically depicted the first two-part episode). Matt - thanks. That article brought back an amazing amount of memories for me.

God, I miss my bandana.

Chestnuts roasted by Voodoo Ben @ 02/07/2004 02:45 AM EST

Happy B-day Matt. The two article idea was a great suprise as i hit the main page.

Someone mentioned the Balloon, i totally remember that, with the "bombs" and such. *nods* good times, good times...

Chestnuts roasted by weasel with a handgrenade @ 02/07/2004 04:13 AM EST

Man, do I remember that club. I really wish I still had that comic. It was the whole reason I joined!

Official (all-red-mask) TMNT comics were VERY hard to come by and, to be honest, still are.

Chestnuts roasted by Tetsu Deinonychus X @ 02/07/2004 12:57 PM EST

Happy Belated Birthday to The Matt Nobody Knows.

I remember going to the theatre with my family to see some cartoon when Freddy's Dead was in it's run. I asked the ticket seller for the Freddy's Dead 3-D glasses and she gave me a pair. I then went home to put stickers in my TMNT Sticker Book whilst hoping they'd pop off the page in 3-D goodness.

TRUE STORY.

Chestnuts roasted by JessieSpano @ 02/07/2004 01:20 PM EST

Rex, I'm guessing you're from Indiana? Surprise, I'm not. It seems like everybody that knows who Sammy Terry is lives or used to live in Indiana except for myself. For some reason my area (in Ohio) used to get channel 4 from Indiana. I thank God every single day for that, too.

My horror host viewing just would not have been the same without Sammy. I mean, Dayton has Dr. Creep (who we love dearly) but Sammy was always my favorite. I noticed that the site says Sammy is trying to get back on tv again, guess I'll have to move to Indiana since we don't get channel 4 anymore.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (#2?) @ 02/07/2004 03:08 PM EST

Is the Freddy that Nobody Knew supposed to have something to do w/ the fact that Freddy's face looks like chewed gum? Or the chewed gum looks like Freddy's face? The chicken? The egg? Who knows.

Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 02/07/2004 07:41 PM EST

I was a card carrying member of the fan club as well! Shame my father lost all the fan club stuff when we moved from New York out to AZ. And those Pies in the background where kinda good. Still this Pathmark we used to go to had TMNT Cookies, namely that big shortbread cookie, with green frosting, and a spoon put in it with a head with frosting on it. Things themselfs gave me a good sugar rush for an hour.

And I remember seeing the Freddy gum on a field trip to this comic Museum. I don't know if it's still around, there gift shop was kinda lame. They only had one of the Nightmare on Elm St Freddy Gum things left and a friend of mine got to it first.

Chestnuts roasted by Beaker Mike @ 02/07/2004 07:44 PM EST

i was part of the fanclub, but alas, all that remains is the bandana.

Chestnuts roasted by adam @ 02/08/2004 01:05 AM EST

Holy S***, I have that bandana. I use it to wipe my nose. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Darkcid @ 02/08/2004 06:03 AM EST

Count me as one of the 16 fan club members. You described everything PRECISELY how I reacted when I got the blasted thing, so I'm thinking that maybe Matt's me from a parallel universe... or maybe I'm a parallel universe version of Matt. But we're in the same universe, meaning that if we passed each other on the street... UTTER CHAOS AND THE UNWINDING OF TIME.

Chestnuts roasted by j23 @ 02/08/2004 01:39 PM EST

Happy Birthday to Matt. (And anyone else having a birthday at this point in time.)

I'd like to see a review of the Minicomic, being a minicomic fan and all.

Donatello rules! Even more so on the new show! That is all.

Chestnuts roasted by ShadowWing the Technorganic Autobot @ 02/08/2004 02:58 PM EST

Hey Matt, did you know that in the new TMNT cartoon on FoxBox, Shredder and Krang are both one and the same person? The Shredder is just a mechanical body for Krang to ride around in!

Chestnuts roasted by Jay Langdon @ 02/08/2004 03:41 PM EST

The TMNT pudding pies were the best! Keep up the good work with the page :)

Chestnuts roasted by g_smoothness @ 02/08/2004 10:40 PM EST

To: Jay Langdon
----------
Why that is blasphemus, they must be killed

Chestnuts roasted by OtherMatt @ 02/08/2004 10:40 PM EST

I was a member of that club. It was a big thing back in the day and there was a huge tie in with Pizza Hut.

I even had the patch sewn on my Mario jacket before I sold it.

Chestnuts roasted by Kiwi Matt @ 02/08/2004 11:50 PM EST

The origin of Freddy's gum is simple.
Freddy was a child molester and killer, so obviously that gum was used to lure children to their touchy feely doom. One of the parents from Elm street must have stumbled upon Freddy's chewy stash while burning him to death. Thinking he could make some quick cash off of sick people like you, he threw those deadly treats in and tube and started selling them.
You've got sickness Matt, and that gums not gonna cure it.... Just throw it away man.. just throw it away...

Chestnuts roasted by HugeHugeNipps @ 02/09/2004 04:59 AM EST

happy birthday uh 3 days ago i guess

Chestnuts roasted by Colin Eff @ 02/09/2004 07:48 AM EST

I wanna be a turtle club member!

Chestnuts roasted by icymatt @ 02/09/2004 09:36 AM EST

not only is Schaumburg, IL a town, but its a pretty rich town with alot of shitty people.

on a much stranger note, i have that bandanna and was never a member of the fan club. weird.

Chestnuts roasted by lurching beast @ 02/09/2004 10:01 AM EST

To OtherMatt
-------------

Actually, that was the storyline in the original comic befor it was toned down for the kiddies. The original B&W TMNT comic is basicly on par with the old Conan The Barbarian comic in violence level.

Chestnuts roasted by Jay Langdon @ 02/09/2004 10:39 AM EST

Matt, I would send you a dollar to help you get that tv. Just tell me where to send it.

PS- Happy Birthday like a week ago.

Chestnuts roasted by The Return of Long Duck Dong @ 02/11/2004 02:04 PM EST

I'll pitch in a dollar to for that t.v. and happy belated birthday!Love your website!!

Chestnuts roasted by Liz @ 02/21/2004 09:39 AM EST

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~schapira/tmntnet2.mov

Chestnuts roasted by pp @ 02/21/2004 09:29 PM EST

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~schapira/tmntnet2.mov

Chestnuts roasted by pp @ 02/21/2004 09:29 PM EST

I use to be in the Fan club, use to wear the bandana all the time in school. I thought i was the shit, and the booklet, i still have, its a mini comic book, i think its in black in white.I put the sticker on my school lunch box, i dont have it anymore, and the certificate should be laying around somewhere in my massive comic collection.

Chestnuts roasted by A different Matt @ 03/01/2004 05:33 PM EST

I use to be in the Fan club, use to wear the bandana all the time in school. I thought i was the shit, and the booklet, i still have, its a mini comic book, i think its in black in white.I put the sticker on my school lunch box, i dont have it anymore, and the certificate should be laying around somewhere in my massive comic collection.

Chestnuts roasted by A different Matt @ 03/01/2004 05:35 PM EST

OK, that line "The Freddy Nobody Knows" that you see on the sticker...that has to be some kinda in-joke form the people at Topps. I ran a Google search, and X-E is all that came up, so I doubt the phrase is related to any of the Elm Street movies. Bizarre...

Chestnuts roasted by A Fan @ 04/10/2004 04:35 PM EST

Ok, I have an effin' bag full of "Pizza Points" and I'm seriously thinking about turning them in with some money to Mirage, to see just what happens,.. I seem to remember a paralell in whihc Homer Simpson found an old Animal Cracker box from the 70's in his attic and won a free trip to Africa, and if he wasn't compensated he was going to sue the company

Chestnuts roasted by adamfindeve @ 04/16/2004 05:24 PM EST

I had quite a few of the Freddy Gum containers when I was younger...I kick myself for not saving them nowadays, but they were sold in regular boxes with the Freddy Krueger Logo on it...I can remember at least 10 or 12 different pics & sayings on each one...as for the gum, generic Chicklets.......

Chestnuts roasted by Freddy Fan @ 06/16/2004 12:26 AM EST

That's cool to hear that Schaumburg had something TMNT in it. Schaumburg is like 20 minutes away and has the 3rd biggest mall in America (used to be the biggest, damn minnesota)

I think I'll go over there and see if I can snag some moldy bandanas.

Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 06/28/2004 05:19 PM EST

That's cool to hear that Schaumburg had something TMNT in it. Schaumburg is like 20 minutes away and has the 3rd biggest mall in America (used to be the biggest, damn minnesota)

I think I'll go over there and see if I can snag some moldy bandanas.

Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 06/28/2004 05:19 PM EST

That's cool to hear that Schaumburg had something TMNT in it. Schaumburg is like 20 minutes away and has the 3rd biggest mall in America (used to be the biggest, damn minnesota)

I think I'll go over there and see if I can snag some moldy bandanas.

Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 06/28/2004 05:19 PM EST

whoops

Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 06/28/2004 05:20 PM EST

Hey, I just found five of those Freddy Bubble Gum tubes at a garage sale and being a huge Nighmare fan I bought them, $1 for all of them. I was curious about their history too and I found your site first on a google search. They all have different pictures and saying than yours but have no gum in them. Just thought you should know that there's more out there.

Chestnuts roasted by Carlie @ 07/12/2004 12:02 PM EST

The Ninja Turtles rockso much that I NEVER miss a show!!

Chestnuts roasted by Katrina @ 10/08/2004 09:33 PM EST