Lynx-O's painted eyes

I've always hated the way the Lynx-O figure looked with those eyeballs painted on his closed eyelids. It looks ridiculous.



Does anyone know why at one point LJN (or one of the other production companies) started to paint eyes on Lynx-O?

Funny thing is that the exact same thing happened to some of the figures in the vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.



I can picture meetings at both LJN and Playmates where some suit suddenly went "Survey says kids want to see eyeballs on their figures. Get the black paint out!"

I believe a variant of the Lynx-O figure with actual eyes exists.

"Daremonger, post: 93073" said:

I believe a variant of the Lynx-O figure with actual eyes exists.

Different than the one pictured above? Are you saying that the orange behind the pupils is white? I dont remember seeing one like that, but would be very interested if you have any pictures!

I've searched online for a variant of the Lynx-O figure with real eyes, but I found none. You may be right -- no such variant exists.

The reason the TMNT figures started getting the pupils painted on was for a different reason. In the original Eastman and Laird comics they were pretty much always shown with no pupils while wearing their masks/bandanas so toys reflected that look. However Playmates started including pupils on some different later figures to make them look more like their cartoon appearances.

"Mark M, post: 93081" said:

The reason the TMNT figures started getting the pupils painted on was for a different reason. In the original Eastman and Laird comics they were pretty much always shown with no pupils while wearing their masks/bandanas so toys reflected that look. However Playmates started including pupils on some different later figures to make them look more like their cartoon appearances.

You're absolutely right. It's just that, during the transition between mirage eyes and cartoon eyes, it looks like Playmates started paiting black dots on Turtle figures that weren't originally meant to have eyes. Sort of as an afterthought.
Also, they seem to have done it haphazardly, so that some Turtle figures in the same wave turned up having eyes while their brothers didn't.



Later figures, especially in the 'Toon' line finally looked like they were meant to have eyes.

But anyway, like you said, Lynx-O figures suddenly having eyes is another matter completely. I wonder what went wrong there...

"the fixer, post: 93082" said:

....Also, they seem to have done it haphazardly, so that some Turtle figures in the same wave turned up having eyes while their brothers didn't....

Thank you for that picture, this is the first time I have seen TMNT figures in the same figure series with and without pupils. :)
Are these Turtles and Lynxos from your collection?

As for Lynxo the only thing I can think of is possibly a variation between the factories producing them. Also I think the beard paint looks different.

Ya, I am honestly not sure why some of the Lynxo's have eyes. I believe they were more prominent in the UK as opposed to the USA. I am assuming that some production facility went rogue and put them on. I guess I can see where it might make sense to some factory worker who is not familiar with the cartoon at all thinking "why is this character missing his eyes?" and "fixing" it.

"Mark M, post: 93084" said:

Thank you for that picture, this is the first time I have seen TMNT figures in the same figure series with and without pupils. :)
Are these Turtles and Lynxos from your collection?

As for Lynxo the only thing I can think of is possibly a variation between the factories producing them. Also I think the beard paint looks different.

Nope, they aren't from my collection, sadly... I wish! ;)
The TMNT pictures come from this site:
http://www.tmnttoys.com/
A very informative site if you're interested in TMNT figures from the very beginning up until the latest Nickelodeon figures.

"adssse, post: 93088" said:

Ya, I am honestly not sure why some of the Lynxo's have eyes. I believe they were more prominent in the UK as opposed to the USA. I am assuming that some production facility went rogue and put them on. I guess I can see where it might make sense to some factory worker who is not familiar with the cartoon at all thinking "why is this character missing his eyes?" and "fixing" it.

Very good guess... That's probably what happened...
I'm sure someone was trying to 'fix' Lynx-O unaware that he was making it worse. :)