Recently something has struck me whilst looking after my 3 year old Nephew Nephew Parker, that history repeats itself no matter what, when something is truly Cowabunga!
Back when I was an 11 yr old youngster I visited MGM Studios part of the Walt Disney World complex in Orlando. It was a fantastic day with my then Family of 11 merry peeps being chased, hugged & collecting Autographs from all the characters that were around. I have to admit that before the visit I did not know what or who to expect, so imagine my absolute shock & pleasure when I ran into my then “Heroes” - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles to be exact!!
In case you didn’t know, the gang were renamed to the ‘Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles’ for the European audience due to the violent connotations of the word "ninja". Of course, in the USA they still go by the name of ‘Ninja’ turtles.
So here is some rare footage of a young UV-Buddy owner who thought she was April O’Neil, actually meeting the legend herself.
And then the leader of TMNT followed by her favourite, Mikey.
No, this is not a blog just to show off some old & very embarrassing photos of myself….
Fast forward 25 years to 2015….. I now very proudly look after my niece’s little man Mason who at the age of only 3 has found a love for my li’l green friends. During 2015 I took Mason to meet Leonardo at a local Soft Play Area; and later, whilst supplying Cornwall's ‘Crealy Theme Park’ with UV-Buddy UV reactive goodies I managed to take him to meet Leo (again obvs the same one) and Raphael.
Mason is now 10 and is more a footballer/skateboarder kinda, lad but he never forgets his links as UV-Buddy’s Mascot.
It was at his club St. Day FC we helped raise funds last Summer by Personalising some goodies for the team to wear proudly in their colours.
So eight years later, we have a new turtle fan - Mason’s younger brother, Parker. There is still a debate as to whether it was myself, or Parker’s ‘papa’ (my brother Mark) who introduced him to the green ninjas.
He absolutely loves them and his favourite is the “Party Dude” Michelangelo.
That’s when I had the idea of using these “Heroes in a Half Shell” & their “Turtle Power” to try & encourage the little ones to be UV aware
So using UV-Buddy I have designed, ‘Leonardo who Leads’, ‘Donatello who Does Machine', Raphael who is ‘Cool but Rude’ and never forgetting the favourite of three generation’s - “Mikey” Michelangelo
Let’s hope these Heroes are with us for many more generations to come!!