LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: A Potential Investment?

Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja (or Hero, as they were cautiously known in the UK) Turtles? The heroes in a half-shell exploded onto the cartoon scene in 1987 and quickly inspired a live action film and, of course, a host of toys/merchandising. Despite only being around 20-years-old the toys are already starting to attract attention from collectors, with some rare figures fetching up to £100 in special TV/film auctions.

So, with that in mind, it could be worth investing in a new range of LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles building sets that are going to be launched in 2013, alongside a new computer animated cartoon series by Nickelodeon. One of the standout items in the line-up of models is likely to be the Shellraiser Street Chase set featuring the Turtles’ new vehicle and new bad guy Dogpound in a New York pizza delivery van.

What’s more, minifigures collectors will be delighted to hear that the Ninja Turtles sets also come with brand new figures based on characters from the cartoon, including the Turtles themselves, Master Splinter and their arch-enemy Shredder. Judging by the fact that individual Batman minifigures now sell for about £10, these too could be a worthy investment.

Meanwhile, a range of action figures based on the cartoon and launched last week are already performing above expectations. Created by US toy maker Playmates, they're being distributed in the UK by a company called Flair and according to Toy News, pre-orders were sky high and "demand to date has exceeded all expectations".

Again, these may be a wise investment, particularly if you've got the full set of Turtles - plus, if stock is a limited as Flair suggests (although, of course, that could be a marketing ploy) and the popularity of the TV series causes the figures to sell out, you could quickly make a small gain on your initial investment. A bit like when people were going crazy for Buzz Lightyear toys several years ago. Then again, even if you don't end up selling them, you'll still have some great-looking action figures - I've already ordered the set to pop on my desk!