In an unexpected crossover, Netflix and Hong Kong-based Playmates Toys are bringing together the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with characters from live-action series Stranger Things in a new action figure line for kids ages eight and up.
These Stranger Things Upside Down Remix two-pack toys feature one Turtles figure (dressed in ’80s gear) and one character from Netflix’s smash-hit show. In the first wave, launching exclusively in US Target stores this October, pizza-loving turtle Leonardo is paired with super-powered tween Eleven (pictured). Additional products will launch in February 2023.
At press time, Stranger Things season four was still the streamer’s most-viewed English-language TV series, according to Netflix’s Top 10 website. It dropped in two batches this May and July, and a fifth season was greenlit in February.
The worlds of TMNT and Stranger Things are both growing. TMNT has a new CG-animated film from Nickelodeon and Canadian indie prodco Point Grey Pictures coming out next year. And Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of Stranger Things, launched their own shingle (Upside Down Pictures) this week to handle film and TV projects that are part of their overall deal with Netflix. This new slate includes a live-action Stranger Things spinoff and a stage play set in the brand’s universe.