 I first got into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1988 when I was given a Raphael action figure for my eighth birthday by a friend of the family's. A soft-headed Michaelangelo figure followed that same year on Christmas Eve. However, my fascination with the TMNT hadn't officially begun until that fateful day a few months later when I was watching Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers and I decided to flip to another channel during a commercial break, where I saw the TMNT in all their animated glory trying to rescue their Master Splinter from certain doom! The characterization of these amusing heroes had sparked my interest, and I wanted to learn all that I could about them. Of course back then the internet didn't exist yet, so I had very little knowledge except for how they were depicted in the cartoon. Before long though, the first movie came out and I was astonished by how different its story was from the cartoon series. The dynamic of the characters was so intense and lifelike! However, I still adored their animated counterparts. In mid-1991 I came across Archie Comics' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series, which also held my interest, especially upon learning about the Mighty Mutanimals spin-off! Throughout my childhood I drove myself and my parents crazy looking for as many of the toys and comics and other merchandise as I possibly could.
During the mid 1990s, I also enjoyed watching other kiddie programs like Garfield, Tiny Toons, Ren & Stimpy, Animaniacs, and the early years of The Simpsons. I also enjoyed reruns of older TV shows such as I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeanie. In the years I starting becoming a teenager, my interest in those programs started to fade and were soon replaced by more grown up TV programs like Friends and Spin City. I also became a major movie buff and loved buying movies on VHS. Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, the late Chris Farley and many other comediac actors always kept me in stitches, though my all time favorite film series has always been Back to the Future!
 By the time I was in high school, I almost completely lost all interest in the TMNT, until Playmates re-released the classic action figures in 1998. At the time I had my first part-time job, which was at a Wendy's in Towamencin located between my hometown and Lansdale. Upon creating my very first e-mail account on AOL, I started regaining my interest in the Ninja Turtles with the help of some die-hard fans on the internet, who soon lead me to the online community known as TMNT-L, where numerous fans like myself have gathered throughout the years! I started to learn all about the original Mirage comic book Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird had written and how much the movies tied in with them. Renet, Professor Honeycutt (aka Fugitoid), Mikey's pet cat Klunk, Casey Jones' adopted daughter Shadow, and even the Justice Force soon caught my fancy as I began collecting as many issues of the original comics as I could, as well as completing my collection of the Archie series.
The early 21st Century brought about a resurgence of the franchise, despite the departure of Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, while Peter Laird worked with Mirage Studios to continue the original comic books, which lead to their partnership with 4Kids Entertainment that started the second animated series. While it was very different from the original cartoon, I enjoyed the new show very much. At the same time the super hero craze was beginning. I had gotten into Smallville on WB (later branded CW), as well as Cartoon Network's Justice League and Teen Titans, which quickly lead me to take interest in reading DC Comics. The Spider-Man and Fantastic Four movies also got me interested in the Marvel universe, but I definitely preferred DC, mostly because it often touched on the idea of alternate realities co-existing with each other! Thanks to social media, I've gotten the chance to communicate with people who worked on the TMNT among other things. I've e-mailed Mirage comic book writer/artist Dan Berger many times in the past, and chat with voice actor Townsend Coleman on Facebook who I've considered a good friend for quite some time now.
 In early 2006 I got to have Michele Ivey over for a visit as she was passing through the area. I was super psyched since this was the first time I ever got to actually meet up with somebody I had met over the internet and it happened all in the safety of my own childhood home! A few months later I moved into an apartment downtown where I was able to come and go as I pleased, though I decided to leave most of my belongings at my parents' house where they would be safe since this apartment operated as a halfway house for the mentally ill. After getting a job at a grocery store near the Montgomery Mall, I started going on eBay in search of various collectibles, though it was mostly Ninja Turtle merchandise, as I would also frequent the outlets to see what other stuff I could get my hands on! I had also gotten chummy with two other friends from the TMNT fanbase, Andrew Modeen and Lisa Weisert. Andrew tried to get both of us to come visit him in Seattle, and while my parents were reluctant to let me travel out west like that, Lisa jumped at the chance and ultimately ended up living there with her boyfriend Ben whom she met at a job she briefly took out there.
In early 2010 I got invited to hang out with Michele Ivey at New York Comic Con, though I could only afford to go for one day and my father had to go with me as I wasn't yet used to traveling on my own. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience and I got to meet the voice actors who played April, Leonardo and Baxter Stockman in the 2003 series, all of which signed my instruction manual for Konami's Battle Nexus video game for the original X-BOX. I also got to meet Caroll Spinney, the original Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street!
During 2011 I decided to put the Ninja Turtles on the back burner for a while and focus on newer fads like Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in its early phase, which kept me preoccupied for a while, until IDW came out with a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. By that time buzz about the new CGI cartoon set to air on Nickelodeon started circulating the internet, as well as little tidbits about the Michael Bay produced film reboot. My own life had changed quite a bit around then as I ended up leaving my job and started attending a place called Wellspring Clubhouse where I met some new friends, like Patrick Murphy, who shared my interest in the world of fiction and entertainment!
 In the summer of 2012 I moved back home as my folks were planning to relocate to Carlisle, a suburb of Harrisburg, to be closer with my sister and her family. While I was somewhat apprehensive about leaving the Philadelphia area behind and saying goodbye to my friends and close relatives, I was also excited about the idea of bonding with my niece, nephew and brother in-law. Sure enough we ended up moving in mid 2013, and I got the chance to bond with the kids. They would often spend the night at our new place and we'd watch television together. Not only did I get them interested in TMNT, but they got me interested in some of the shows they like to watch! That same summer I got to take my first ever trip out to California and had the chance to finally meet up with Andrew Modeen, who helped me get into San Diego Comic Con so I could meet Kevin Eastman for the first time! My cousin Kyle, who was in the middle of planning his wedding was cool enough to chaperone me the entire time, and I got to spend a week with him in San Francisco.
The summer of 2015 was extremely eventful as not only did I get a new apartment and a new job at the local Wal*Mart, but I took a second trip back to southern California to attend San Diego Comic Con where I got to see Kevin Eastman again! The following week I stayed in South Pasadena with Michele Ivey and her sister Miki at the home of our friend Cynlee. Despite dealing with some severe health issues, Cynlee and the Ivey sisters took me around the Hollywood area. Not only did I get to see some awesome sights, but I also had the pleasure of meeting Renae Jacobs, Townsend Coleman and Robbie Rist at different places during the trip! Sadly, our dear friend Cynlee passed away a few months later.
In the fall of 2016 I quit Wal*Mart for personal reasons, though I had saved up enough cash to take a third trip to San Diego to attend Comic Con in 2017, where I had the pleasure of finally getting to shake hands with Rob Paulsen and Greg Cipes following the only panel I ever got to sit at for the 2012 CGI cartoon. In early 2018 I saw Greg Cipes again at a small event in Philadelphia where he was promoting Teen Titans Go to the Movies We briefly talked Turtles before I bid him farewell. A few months later I had my parents take me to see Rob Paulsen again at Sci-Fi Valley Con in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was a really amusing interaction as I was job hunting at the time and I mentioned to him that I had an interview lined up for a hotel in Carlisle I was interested in working at, and he mentioned that he had some new gigs he was preparing for as well. This was shortly before the announcement that he would be voice directing Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
That fall I got a new job at a McDonald's and was able to start saving up again for conventions and various traveling. In June of 2019, I had planned to revisit Altoona to see Rob Paulsen along with his Animaniacs / Pinky and the Brain costar Maurice LaMarche at Sci-Fi Valley Con, but that plan fell through as I had to work that weekend. So instead I decided to save up for a fourth trip to California. Unfortunately, by the time I made this decision, it was too late to attend LA Comic Con, which I had recently heard about, so I decided it'd be nice to take a simple vacation to Los Angeles, which I did in late October of 2019. I spent most of that trip touring around Hollywood, but I also attended a couple comedy shows and went to a karaoke party hosted by an actress I occasionally communicate with on Instagram. At one point I met up with an old high school friend named Melanie who I reconnected with via Facebook. She lives closer to Anaheim where Disneyland is located and she enjoys frequenting the park. I had hoped to go with her, but that particular Halloween was her 1 year anniversary with her boyfriend (whom she married about a year later), though she did take time out of her schedule to hang out with me for lunch at Jack in the Box. I got to see Greg Cipes that Halloween in Venice Beach where he was performing with his band. A few days later I got to meet up with Townsend Coleman at a nice little restaurant near Burbank where we chatted over breakfast.
In early 2020 I had planned to attend Sci-Fi Valley Con in Altoona, Pennsylvania. That time around I made sure that I would be able to get the weekend off so I could go. It was to be a plethora of awesome voice actor talent, such as Phil LaMarr and Kari Wahlgren, both of whom have provided voices for characters in the 2012 CGI Ninja Turtles cartoon. I was particularly excited about meeting Jim Cummings as I was a big fan of Disney's Winnie the Pooh and Darkwing Duck as a kid, plus he was also the voice of Leatherhead in three different episodes of the original Ninja Turtles cartoon! Sadly, that event was ultimately postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I was still planning to go, that is until I got an e-mail that changed the course of my plans!
 LA Comic Con was advertising Smallville star Tom Welling doing photo ops and autograph signings in September of 2021, and I jumped at the chance to go! I ordered myself a three-day badge for the convention as well as the photo op and signings with Mr. Welling. There was a brief period when I almost gave up on these plans when the event got pushed back to early December as I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get time off work in order to attend. However, seeing as how the tickets I ordered were non-refundable, I simply rescheduled my trip for the new dates and made sure that I would have that weekend off. Things got even more exciting when I was informed that Mr. Welling would be joined by his co-stars Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover and Laura Vandervoort! Tom Kenny, voice of Spongebob Squarepants, was also there and seeing as how he did voice over for the last two Nickelodeon iterations of TMNT, I was pretty psyched about meeting him as well! The trip went well and I had a fun time, though on the day of my flight home I came down with a pretty bad case of the squirts, possibly due to a stomach bug. Thankfully I managed to make it home safe and sound, but with some pretty badly soiled pants.
In early 2022 it was announced that Rob Paulsen would be returning to Sci-Fi Valley Con, along with his aforementioned Animaniacs / Pinky & The Brain co-star Maurice LaMarche. Jess Harnell who plays Wakko Warner was set to go as well, but for some reason he had to cancel. However it was also announced that Billy West (Futurama, Ren & Stimpy), E.G. Daily (Rugrats, Powerpuff Girls) and a couple others would be attending. But what had me the most excited was that Rob's fellow Ninja Turtles from the original 1987 series would be joining him! Cam Clarke and Townsend Coleman were both announced around the same time, though for whatever reason they hadn't booked Barry Gordon until a couple of weeks later. Not coincidentally, it was around that same time that the video game company behind Shredder's Revenge revealed that all four of them were reprising their roles for it! Thankfully, my tax return for the year was more than enough to spend on autographs and photo ops, not to mention travel expenses and hotel room stay.
Having decided to volunteer at the event, I had my father drive me to Altoona that Friday, which is just a 2 hour drive from Carlisle. I quick paid for all of the autographs and photo ops I decided to get. Billy West was the first person I got to meet, and I had him sign my old Ren and Stimpy plush dolls, both of which I momentarily misplaced. I was able to retrieve Ren at the main ticket booth, but Stimpy was a lost cause. Due to a flight delay, Cam Clarke had to postpone his appearance with the other 3 guys, so I simply had Barry Gordon sign all the DVDs that Townsend Coleman and Rob Paulsen already signed on previous meet-ups. Getting to finally meet Barry was a real treat as I got to talk with him about his appearances in shows like Three's Company and Archie Bunker's Place. While wandering around the sales floor looking for artwork and toys to buy, I happened upon Michele Ivey and her sister Miki who were selling leather bound art books with TMNT images on the covers. After attending Billy West's Q & A panel, Michele and I spent an hour catching up.
The next day I got my photo taken with Billy West and voice actress Grey DeLisle. While waiting around for Cam Clarke to make it to the convention center, I got an idea to have him and Barry Gordon record some funny dialogue as Rocksteady and Bebop for this site's 404 Error Page. I got Barry to do his lines, and when Cam finally made it, everybody got in line to have their photo ops with him and the rest of the Ninja Turtles. Not long after that, the TMNT panel started, though because Cam got there late, he wanted to make up for lost time, signing fans' autographs, therefore only Barry, Townsend and Mr. Paulsen were there to talk with us. After the panel ended, I got in line for Cam's autographs and voice over.
On the final day of the convention, I was assigned to supervise the retro video game hallway which was right near the elevator. Not having much to do as the convention was winding down, I went to see the Iveys one more time who were on a mission to have the TMNT voice cast sign a book for a good friend of theirs who had recently fallen ill. I also took the opportunity to sign the book, wishing him well, and got to say one last farewell to all four actors. Later that evening, I began working on my web site and invited the Iveys to come hang out before we would part ways once again. Only Michele came over and we had a nice chat.
The first half of 2023 had been pretty uneventful, though I spent a lot of that time working on various projects on my laptop and playing my old X-Box video games from the early 2000's. Soon as spring came around, we started getting snippets and trailers of the upcoming new animated TMNT film Mutant Mayhem. Some fans were a little disappointed that April was no longer the ravishing redhead we remember from the first 3 cartoons, but this new version of her reminded me a lot of a friend I once knew in college by the name Whitney who liked 80's music! Sadly I lost touch with her a long time ago, and as far as I can tell she's not on social media at all. I was super excited to learn that not only are Bebop and Rocksteady in this movie but so are 4 of the 7 original Mighty Mutanimals, though of course they're very different from their classic Archie Comics design. Interestingly, Leatherhead and Wingnut have been gender-swapped to be female this time around, while Mondo Gecko and Ray Fillet remain male.
Having made plans with my aforementioned friend from high school who lived close to Disneyland, I saved up enough money for a holiday weekend with Melanie at the beginning of December. After making all the necessary flight and hotel reservations, my trip was booked and I was on my way back to the sunny west coast! Having heard that Disneyland is a lot smaller in comparison to its Orlando, Florida counterpart, I was surprised to learn just how small it actually is. It's no larger than Hershey Park or Dorney Park back home in Pennsylvania.
Nevertheless, I had a great time! Melanie suggested we do California Adventure Friday, December 1, then the main Disneyland park the following day. Originally we were going to park hop from one to the other as she wanted to treat me to dinner at this one restaurant over at California Adventure, though due to scheduling conflicts on her end she could only join me in the evenings. As much as I enjoyed reveling in the Christmas themed celebration in the parks, it kinda sucked that the it got dark so much sooner than it would have in the summer, but thankfully Melanie knew the place like the back of her hand, and we went on a lot of awesome rides together.
One attraction I found particularly interesting was Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. While I'm not that big a fan of that particular franchise, I do appreciate how much influence it has had on the TMNT. In fact during the entire ride, I couldn't help but imagine the attraction being changed into an "Escape From Dimension X" type ride set around the classic 1987 series where the Turtles had to rescue people from the Technodrome. It wasn't that hard to imagine Foot Soldiers in place of Storm Troopers or Shredder in place of Kylo Ren (Darth Vader's grandson). Frankly I think whoever designed the ride might have also been a life long TMNT fan!
In the beginning stages of planning this trip, I wanted to go visit Lisa Weisert and her boyfriend in Seattle, though due to a recent tragedy, Lisa hasn't been in the mood for visits around this time of year. My second plan was to take a cross-country train ride back to Pennsylvania, until it was suggested to me that I fly back on a cheaper airline than the one I normally use for travel.
In the end I chose to spend the remainder of my vacation in Los Angeles, hoping I would get to hang out with good old Townsend Coleman again. As luck would have it, he had an hour or so free to meet up with me that week. We originally planned to hang out at Mimi's, the same restaurant we went to 4 years earlier, however that particular establishment was being torn down and moved to a different location. Luckily there was a Costco food court nearby, so we headed over there instead and hung out while I snacked on a hot dog and he ate a slice of pepperoni pizza (given the fact that he's the original voice of Michaelangelo, I couldn't help but be amused). After that I headed down the street to a 100 year old Scottish pub called Tam O'Shanter. Apparently there's a table in the back Walt Disney himself used to sit at. While I decided not to bother waiting for the chance to sit there, I decided to simply go to the bar area and have a little desert. I made a note that come next visit I would definitely made a reservation to eat there along with whoever might be traveling with me! Later that afternoon I took the bus to downtown Hollywood where I checked out the Walk of Fame, did a little shopping and toured the Wax Museum. Among the likenesses of many well known movie and television stars were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themselves, closely resembling how they appeared in the New Line movies from back in the early '90s!
2024 started out on a rather turbulent note for me as I wasted pretty much all of my tax return money on some online gift card scam, which caused me to sink into a brief depression, and I started drowning my sorrows in assorted junk food! Despite my binge eating, one good thing did come from this: I realized that I was ready to leave Carlisle and move back to the suburbs of Philadelphia where I grew up. I contacted my buddy Patrick who had just gotten a studio apartment on the ground floor of a low income apartment building based in Souderton, right on the border of Bucks and Montgomery Counties! I jumped at the chance to get on their waiting list, so I had the owners mail me the application forms, I filled them out and I was quickly put on their waiting list!
My folks were getting worried about my eating habits, which of course lead to some major weight gain. It wasn't until early 2025 when I came down with a really bad coughing spell, which turned out to be caused by a respiratory infection, that I realized I needed to start taking better care of myself. Having become diabetic, I ended up being prescribed weight loss injections that helped curb my appetite. It also helped me save money on DoorDash deliveries! Throughout all of these troubles, I kept my spirits up by spending my free time working on this web-site, as well as playing my favorite video games and continuing to collect TMNT comics! |