Welcome to my new little corner of YuBlog.org. I have decided to blog about the many pop culture/random items from my youth.  As a child, my family was far from wealthy but I always had great birthdays and Christmases. Becoming entranced by the many fads from the 80s to 90’s, I believe I had the advantage of experiencing some of the best cartoons and toys a child could have. When I find an old treasure from my youth, it takes me back to the good times of my younger days, and sparks my creativity and imagination. This blog will take you along for the ride looking back on artifacts from my youth.

For my first blog I wanted to start with what has become a legend in my family, the Turtle Trooper, or as it became known in the Glatfelter household the Tupa Turpa Terachute.  It was Christmas 1989 and Ninja Turtle Mania was sweeping the nation.  My birthday was in March of that year and had already started my Turtle obsession.  So of course, Ninja Turtles were the hot item on my Christmas list.  Since I didn’t write much as a 4-year-old, I would tell my parents what I wanted based on commercials and toy ads.

One toy that I really wanted was a parachute for my Ninja Turtle figures. It seemed like the perfect item. A combo of Ninja Turtles and throwing things in the air was perfect to a 4-year-old. Of course, since I was 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the hardest thing to say I told my parents I wanted the “Tupa Turpa Terechute.”  They had no clue what I wanted.  My hopes of floating Turtle bliss seemed impossible.  Then came Christmas morning. I ripped into the many gifts and to my surprise there it was, the Turtle Trooper Parachute.  It just so happened by chance my parents got different Ninja Turtles toys and one of the was the Turtle Trooper.

My Turtle Trooper became long lost over the  years, but the legend of the toy continued throughout our family.  They said it was called a ‘Ninja Turtle Parachute’ and I was mumbling some nonsensical words, but recently I found this item and to my surprise it actually sounded like “tupa turpa terechute”…well kinda. So without further adieu here it is:

As it says on the box, the chute opens to 22 inches! I also love the simple artwork of the early TMNT toys.

Once the box is opened, we see the contents of the box: The Turtle Trooper, blueprints, sticker sheet, and turtle joke book!

Remember when turtlenecks were fashionable? Back in 1989? I’m talking to you, Colleen!

All right, here is the Turtle trooper with all of its stickers placed, ain’t she purty?

To test ride the Turtle Trooper, I picked up a 25th anniversary re-release Michelangelo.

The figure is a dead-on re-make of the original Turtles from the late 80’s. It’s a shame they didn’t find a way to make the nunchucks more solid; right out of the box the things are ready to break.

Here is Mikey, ready to brave enormous heights (well, for a 4-inch turtle).

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