Remember back in the day when Playmates was taking over the toy aisles with all of their awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys? Well, one look at a toy store or retailer in the past few years will reveal that they have come back quite strong. Ever since Nickelodeon brought the TMNT to an entirely new generation of viewers, the much beloved toy company has been producing some of the hottest selling toys out there. How popular are they? Well, take a look at the Ninja Turtles section of the toy aisle this holiday season and chances are you’ll notice a lot of sold out shelves.

Although most of their toys thus far have been directly related to characters in Nickelodeon’s series, their latest batch of action figures is set to break that trend by going back to the roots of our heroes in a half shell. Back in the 80’s when they first got their hands on the franchise, they based their models of the turtles off of the characters they saw in the original comic books. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it looks like Playmates has decided to show some love for the unlikeliest of comic book heroes by creating a set of all four Ninja Turtles based on their original comic counterparts.

No, these toys won’t be black and white, although the original comic series once was. Instead, in order to remain true to the origins, Playmates has elected to give them all the red bandanas that they had when the series was first printed in color. Hardcore fans will no doubt appreciate the attention to detail shown in the paint job which pays special attention to the shading lines that long time readers will be very familiar with. Needless to say, these are some of the most awesome looking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys we have ever seen. I know I’ll be picking them up!

In addition to these fantastic comic book inspired action figures, Playmates will also be releasing a slew of other figures based on the Nickelodeon series. Fans can expect to finally get their Bebop and Rocksteady fix, as both will be making an appearance in the next run of toys. In addition to these two well known characters, we will also see Tiger Claw, Baxter Stockman (in fly form), and Karai (in snake form).

What do all of you shellheads think? Are you more excited for Bebop and Rocksteady or all of the turtles in their original comic book form? Let us know in the comments below or sound off in our forums!