10 years ago in Playthings
Staff -- Playthings, 8/1/2001
Cowabunga!
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were riding high on a wave of popularity in 1991. An animated series and feature film based on the comic book characters met with success, while Playmates scored big with their licensed figures (Mike, the Sewer Surfer, pictured). That year, the Turtles took top honors in PLAYTHINGS 9th Annual Best Selling Toy Survey, outranking Barbie and G.I Joe for the second year in a row. Playmates continued to release new figures based on the heroes and villains of the franchise as it geared up for the first movie sequel, subtitled The Secret of the Ooze.
Hasbro continued its assault on toy store shelves. The company's WWF Wrestling figures (Hulk Hogan, pictured) placed 8th in the top ten survey, as new tag team figures, featuring spring-activated maneuvers, debuted.
