Imagine a world where Star Wars not only crossed over with the Transformer universe, but also lifted the manhole covers of New York and went into the sewers. Back in the 90’s that almost happened as Playmates pitches an idea where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossed realities and became Star Wars characters. Imagine, Darth “Shredder” Vader meets Luke “Leonardo” Skywalker, or Leia “April” Organa fights alongside “Michelangelo” Chewbacca and “Donatello” C-3PO.
The original Instagram post landed in January 2020, when geeks_antiques first posted the Playmates concept artwork, pointing out that while the Turtles never visited a galaxy far, far away they did go galactic with the Star Trek franchise. The team at Jedi Temple Archives delved deeper into the hostory of this what-might-have-been moment in an article.
Earlier this week, ‘Director, Influencer Relations at Warner Bros. Games’ Alan Johnson reposted the images, wiith some clearer versions that caught a lot of people’s eyes.
Back in (I think) 1991, Kenner/Hasbro allowed the #StarWars toy license to lapse. Playmates made a pitch to get it, complete with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover concepts by TMNT artist Michael Dooney.
They didn't get the license, but these are so cool! pic.twitter.com/29FSeAmhIO
— Alan Johnson (@AlanJohnson) May 4, 2021
Here are some versions of that Star Wars x TMNT concept art with detail callouts too. pic.twitter.com/S3o5qeqEJB
— Alan Johnson (@AlanJohnson) May 4, 2021
Well worth a delve and a read at what could have been a fun detour into the sewers.
