Playmates redoes its own 1988 Turtles, and all four are in stock at 18.99

Playmates has been making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since 1988, and with a year left on the licence it has gone back and made the first four again. BigBadToyStore has all four 1988 Remastered Turtles in stock this morning at 18.99 each, and the pitch printed on the back of every box is “It’s 1988 again, only better.”

The figures are 4.5 inches and carry 13 points of articulation. Leonardo’s box holds two swords, two throwing stars, two punch daggers, a blade weapon and a weapons rack; Michelangelo’s holds two nunchucks, two throwing stars, two punch daggers and a kusarigama [1]. The bases reward buying more than one. Each is a section of rooftop with its own clutter, a trash can and a satellite dish on Michelangelo’s, a skylight, a rooftop aerial and a dropped slice of pizza on Leonardo’s, and the listing photography shows them snapped together along a brick wall into one scene. Playmates put a “Collect all 4 Remastered Turtles!” sticker on the back.

Playmates has held the licence from Viacom Media Networks since 1988, and it said on 23 December 2025 that it had been formally notified the agreement would end on 31 December 2026. Paramount and Mattel announced the replacement on 10 February 2026, a multi-year global partnership that gives Mattel the master toy licence from 2027. One detail in the December notice matters more to a buyer than the headline did: Playmates keeps the right to sell remaining Turtles inventory for 90 days after the licence expires, which carries the last of it to roughly the end of March 2027.

The two 2012 Battle Shell figures are bigger and cost more. Leonardo and Michelangelo, both 26.99, both 10.5 inches, built off the Nickelodeon series rather than the vintage line. The shells open. Leonardo comes with two swords, two knives and two throwing stars.

Then there is the Toilet Taxi. It is 26.99 with a 4.5 inch Donatello included, and it revives the Wacky Action line: pull-back wind-up drive, a detachable bowl blaster, plunger headlights, mud flaps made of toilet paper. BigBadToyStore says the window box takes its illustration style from the original 1990 packaging art. The taxi itself rolls on four City Sewer manhole covers, flies a “Flush The Foot” pennant off the aerial, and seats Donatello on an actual toilet in a white crash helmet and goggles. Nobody needed this back!

All seven were read off their listings this morning, and every one has a live add to cart rather than a notify button [2]. The 1988 Remastered four are the cheapest way in at 18.99. Mattel’s licence starts in 2027, and it will not be making a 1988 Playmates assortment.

If you are filling gaps rather than starting from scratch, the Super7 side of the shelf is moving at the same time: ReAction+ Wave 2 went up for preorder last week with Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bebop and Rocksteady. Playmates’ last convention slate is worth a look too, since its SDCC 2026 exclusives included a Platinum Shell blind box line and a Snake Eyes crossover.

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[1] Toy Habits, which ran the batch first, writes that Michelangelo “packs 3 nunchucks and 2 throwing stars”. The box contents on the BigBadToyStore listing read two nunchucks, two throwing stars, two punch daggers and a kusarigama, so we have gone with the retailer on all four items.

[2] The Toilet Taxi is the only tiered listing of the seven. The 26.99 is the standard BBTS Mint Packaging tier; a Substandard Packaging tier sits under it at 25.64 with limited availability, meaning a dented box rather than a different toy.

Sources: BigBadToyStore product listings, products 197602, 197607, 197612, 197620, 197593, 197572 and 197597, all read first hand on 23 September 2026 for price, stock state and box contents. Toy Habits, 22 September 2026. The Toy Book on the 23 December 2025 notice and the 90 day sell-off window. Mattel’s own announcement, 10 February 2026. Product photography: Playmates Toys, via the BigBadToyStore listings.

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