For much of the late eighties and into the early nineties, it seemed like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were everywhere. You could find them on TV, at the movies, at the arcade, and especially on toy store shelves. Over its near decade-long, the original Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line spanned several hundred figures, playsets, and vehicles.
In a line that expansive, some figures are bound to be rarer than others, and none commands more premium prices than Scratch the Cat, released in 1993 at the tail end of the line. Loose, Scratch sells for more than five hundred dollars, and a still-in-box sample can go for upwards of three thousand dollars. So how much would a collector be willing to pay for a one-of-a-kind prototype of this grail figure? The answer might be almost $100k, the asking price for this eBay listing.
What Makes Scratch the Cat So Rare?
End of toyline figures – Kenner’s “Power of the Force” subline, Mattel’s Laser Light He-Man, and Kenner’s Super Powers Cyborg – are usually the rarest and most collectible characters in a set. The reason for this is straightforward: when a toyline’s sales decline, retailers order fewer figures. Lower order numbers mean lower production numbers, and decreased sales mean that few kids and collectors are buying the already-scarce figure. Wait a few years until nostalgia creates an aftermarket for the line, and soon, these late-comers no kid or collector wanted become the stumbling block to a complete collection.
A prototype like the figure in this listing is an even rarer commodity: this Scratch is a “first shot,” made in the factory with whatever plastic was available to test the mold and see how the finished figure looked. “First shot” action figures prototypes appear at auction sparingly, as they were for internal use at a company like Playmates only.
It was policy to discard these prototypes once they had served their purpose, and they would only be preserved if an employee decided to bend workplace rules and keep one. When a prototype of a grail figure like Scratch does become available, a six figure asking price isn’t uncommon – demonstrated through the recent listing of these prototypes for The Last Starfighter action figures.
What Keeps Collectors Interested in Scratch?
While several figures in Playmates’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line are comparably rare, Scratch the Cat stands out as the line’s holy grail. 1993, the year Scratch was released, was a pivotal year for the line, as it saw Playmates make the decision to move away from producing new characters. In 1994 and 1995, new releases consisted almost solely of rehashed turtles (some in bizarre crossover outfits, like the Star Trek turtles).
Scratch and his 1993 wave mates were some of the last classic-era additions to the Ninja Turtles universe. Scratch stood out among this wave thanks to an appearance as an early-level boss in 1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue video game. This, coupled with media appearances like a feature in an episode of toy collecting reality series Toy Hunter, has only served to increase Scratch’s notoriety.
In 2022, Super 7 even included an update of the figure in their “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics” line, giving many collectors their first chance to own a Scratch. This has done nothing to reduce the demand for the original figure: in 2023, Heritage auctioned off a carded Scratch for a record-setting verified sale $5,320. If the seller of this prototype can get even one tenth of his $100k asking price, he’ll break that record by more than double, and cement Scratch as the most prized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figure ever produced.
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