Board 8 > What was the biggest thing in kids' media after TMNT but before Power Rangers?

(+) Yeah! (+)

We're talking about the period from 1992-1993 primarily, in which the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze was beginning to die off (starting probably with the release of the second movie which was a commercial disappointment) but before Power Rangers debuted in the fall of 1993 and really took over as the dominant kids' fad in 1994. For those like me who remember this time, what would you consider the biggest thing among kids during that in-between period?

Here's what I've identified as the biggest candidates:

Batman: Between Batman Returns, Batman: The Animated Series, and a slew of toys and games, along with the surging comic book market, Batman was big in the early 90s, probably as big as he'd be until the release of The Dark Knight in 2008.

Mario: You could arguably make the case that TMNT was never the biggest kids' craze if you consider the release of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 in the West in 1988 and 1990 to have eclipsed TMNT-mania in popularity even during its height. Mario was still going strong in the 1991 to 1993 period, between Super Mario World, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario All-Stars, the theatrical movie, several cartoons, and lots of toys and tie-ins. Did Mario return to the top in 1992? Did he ever leave?

Ren And Stimpy: For all the controversy it garners now due to its creator being a creep, Ren And Stimpy was probably the biggest Nicktoon out of the gate in 1991, until Rugrats overcame its slow start a few years later (to arguably supplant Power Rangers as the biggest thing until Pokemon). Was Ren and Stimpy popular enough in 1992 and 1993 to be the biggest thing of its time?

Nickelodeon in general: Then again, you could consider 1991-1993 the peak of NIckelodeon's Golden Age. Between the birth of Nicktoons and Snick, classic game shows like Guts and Legends Of The Hidden Temple, and big shows like Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures Of Pete And Pete, Nickelodeon was massive at this time. Was it the craze that bridged the gap between TMNT and Power Rangers?

Sonic The Hedgehog: Sonic exploded onto the scene with a trilogy of great games and tons of merch in the early 1990s. Was Sonic the #1 craze among kids at the height of its popularity?

Street Fighter: Street Fighter II was arguably the biggest arcade game after the 1980s Golden Age. Was it truly the biggest game of its time, and the most popular thing among kids from 1992 to 1994?

Arcade Games in general: Or should we include ALL the Silver Age arcade games in this category, including NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat (which wasn't really for kids, but they played it anyway)?

X-Men: The X-Men were surprisingly popular at this time, bolstered by the early 1990s comic boom, a hit Fox Kids TV show, and lots of games and merch. Were the X-Men the biggest thing of their time amongst kids?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Or... was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still the biggest thing, right up until Power R

X-Men, provided the timeline of the animated series fits properly, which I dont know
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Jakyl25 posted...

X-Men, provided the timeline of the animated series fits properly, which I dont know

The animated series had big ratings before Power Rangers launched (which is why Fox paired it with the Power Rangers season two primetime special in the summer of 1994).

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I should also clarify, I was in 6th grade in 92/93, for reference.

People in my age group were big into X-Men, but then I got into Power Rangers when that started but no one came with me. Stupid puberty
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Big Bad Beetleborgs

I may not be a great judge because as a kid I was into all of these at the same time and didn't hang with the bigger kid groups much but I remember in grade school we played Ninja Turtles in 2nd-thirdish grade and Power Rangers in I wanna say 4th-5ish grade with no other pretend in between. And that was something the other kids said too because most of the other stuff on your list was more niche with one random kid or three maybe knowing who Batman was. Southern kids weren't really gamers whatsoever except me and the nerds with the odd kid maybe having Street Fighter or MADDEN but no one really talked about it. It took till High School before people freely admitted to playing FPS games and we all played Halo. No one knew X-Men back then but me, and Marvel wasn't very popular in general at all in my childhood, well before the MCU.

Swat Cats
Anamianiacs
Tiny Toons
That Shark Cartoon (Shark Thugs? I don't remember)
Captain Planet

TMNT definitely was the biggest until Power Rangers for me. Everyone watched Nickelodeon but it wasn't as oversaturated as TMNT, which had movies, a cartoon, comics, games, toys, a musical... yeah.

I feel like there was nothing in between for me. I went from one the next.

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I was all in on the TMNT craze (even went to their concert), but I dont remember Power Rangers being anywhere near that level of popularity, at least among anyone I knew. Video games in general were much more popular, particularly Mario and Street Fighter.

Jesse_Custer posted...

I was all in on the TMNT craze (even went to their concert), but I dont remember Power Rangers being anywhere near that level of popularity, at least among anyone I knew.

Are you sure this isn't just because you aged out of the audience for that kind of stuff? Like, I don't remember TMNT ever being anywhere near as big as Power Rangers was, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
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Xeybozn posted...

Are you sure this isn't just because you aged out of the audience for that kind of stuff? Like, I don't remember TMNT ever being anywhere near as big as Power Rangers was, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Yeah, that could be. I was just speaking to my experience.

In our school we went directly from Turtles into Power Rangers. Mario and the Simpsons had already been popular before that so I don't remember anything major coming inbetween.


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I don't think there was any sort of equivalent in this time period. Video games were always a bigger deal for me and my closest friends anyway, but as far as something huge in the TV show + toy line department, there was nothing in between TMNT/Power Rangers that was like, the dominant fad of 1992-1993. TMNT was still big anyway.

There were some TMNT clones like Street Sharks that did pretty well in that timeframe, but they were never as big as TMNT itself.

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was there anything that would be considered a "big thing" between TMNT but before Power Rangers? I kinda thought PR basically stole the TMNT crowd. Power Rangers was 1993 and TMNT3 was also that year, even if that movie was nowhere near as loved as 1 or 2. The cartoon was also still pretty much in its prime

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Home video games. It was the heyday of Nintendo versus Sega, and that took up a lot of my time and energy (and that of my friends). We didn't live near any arcades, so we spent our time playing SNES and renting Genesis.

Uglyface2 posted...

Home video games. It was the heyday of Nintendo versus Sega, and that took up a lot of my time and energy (and that of my friends). We didn't live near any arcades, so we spent our time playing SNES and renting Genesis.

aren't you like five years older than that demo?
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Nothing was big like Turtles was. And maybe it's an indication of my age, but I didn't feel like Power Rangers really came close, either. More like a fad...that somehow now has a bunch of spin-off franchises and is still going strong 25 years later...

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Leonhart4 posted...

I feel like there was nothing in between for me. I went from one the next.

This. I don't think there was a real inbetween, even with TMNT falling over in its later years.

If anything, the only thing that would of been in the middle with a big enough "I need this" for kids would of been either a SNES or Genesis, depending on which side you fell on.

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NFUN posted...

aren't you like five years older than that demo?

Admittedly, yes. I was young enough to like TMNT for the first two movies, but by the time Power Rangers came around I'd aged out of it. With that said, I'd more or less made videogames a nearly fulltime hobby at that point.

I also watched some kids programming like Animaniacs, Batman, and the Disney Afternoon, but The Simpsons had made watching animation a more acceptable pastime.

based

Metal_DK posted...

was there anything that would be considered a "big thing" between TMNT but before Power Rangers? I kinda thought PR basically stole the TMNT crowd. Power Rangers was 1993 and TMNT3 was also that year, even if that movie was nowhere near as loved as 1 or 2. The cartoon was also still pretty much in its prime

TMNT's popularity was kind of the wane by 1993. Even with Tournament Fighters coming out.

And The Third Movie got it in the arse from the critics (rightly so).

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I immigrated to the US in early 1992 (as a 6-year-old), which gives me an interesting perspective toward this q since I had no prior knowledge of TMNT. I think it had to be X-Men. The premiere was the first media event I remember my new friends and myself being hyped for.

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