First drawing TMNT auctioned.

In the 1980's and 1990's they were everywhere: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Made famous by their widely successful animated TV series and three movies, there's probably not a kid in the world that hasn't heard of them. A fourth CGI animated movie was released in 2007, created by Imagi Animation studios, which I thought looked absolutely great. Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1983, their first ever drawing of their crazy turtles  (above) is now up for sale at Heritage. Kevin Eastman had the following to say about it:

"Late in November 1983, Peter Laird and I were sharing a studio (our living room) in Dover, New Hampshire. One work night, in an effort to make Peter laugh, I drew a sketch of this character I called a "Ninja Turtle" and threw it onto Peter's desk. He did laugh, and did a version of his own -- to which I needed to take it one step further, and did a pencil sketch of four different Turtles, each holding a different weapon -- and gave it to Peter, who wanted to ink it in -- and when he did, he added "Teenage Mutant" to the "Ninja Turtle" part of the logo, and we both fell off our chairs!"

To read the complete story, check the upcoming auction at Heritage. The going price for the artwork has been set at $ 50.000.

Above: Kevin Eastman doing a 'Shredder' sketch (left) and Peter Laird at the studio (right).

As for the future of the turtles, a new animated show for Nickelodeon is in the works right now and should be on your TV by the end of this year. A reboot of the movie franchise is also expected, as Viacom (owner of Paramount Pictures) has bought all rights to the Turtles from Eastman in 2009, after Laird had sold his share of the franchise a year before. Michael Bay's 'Platinum Dunes' production company officially announced a release date for the first movie for Christmas 2013.

Die-hard fans of the turtles are still holding their breath out of frustration since they heard Bay was going to slam-dunk this one all the way to the box office, which will probably earn Gazillions, but with how much respect for the original creation? Apparently the Turtles will be portrayed as being 'aliens' now, in the new movie.