![]() A possible Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle museum is also in the works. So where does such a hobby lead an obsessive? Ivey plans to hold a Turtle Convention in 2009, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Mirage Studios' TMNT franchise. "But it's the sports fans who'll put on crazy makeup to 'support their team.' And they're considered perfectly sane!" Besides, Ivey argues, everyone has something that they enjoy and believe in, be it sports, religion, comics or fishing. "The comic and cartoon fans are pointed out as 'different,'" Ivey says. She's never seen the film with her face painted and drunk, screaming and acting like an idiot. "It took me a couple months to read it was the first book I'd ever read but I got to see the movie and I continued my learning." And when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie opened in theaters nationwide, Mom offered her a deal: Read this book about your humanoid half-shelled friends and you can see the movie on opening day. In 1990, Mom saw her daughter's interest in the TMNT and handed her a book about them. In fifth grade, I was at a first-grade reading level and the school wasn't giving me any help." "I grew up in a family that's all dyslexic mom, dad, sister, brother, all of us. ![]() The Ninja Turtles actually improved her reading skills. For Ivey, the characters are only part of her passion. The characters created by Massachusetts artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird originated as a 1984 self-published comic book. "Characters in shows that are made for only the story or the teamwork don't always show real personalities." "I really find myself a fan of the Turtles for their personalities," she says. Why the Turtles? What have they got that other comic heroes don't? People got a show about a girl who wants to become a real Mutant Turtle and only took karate because she likes the Turtles, who lives on a steady diet of pizza every day, who makes little or no income. She continues: " Totally Obsessed is full of lies, but funny to watch. They also had me spar with my brother while I was in costume, and he was able to take me down two times, so that was the footage they used." "They filmed me at a dojo with a sensei I haven't trained with in seven years, and wanted us to act like I was training regularly with him. My mom and dad did about two hours on the front porch and they even flew in a friend from Minnesota for an interview, which they didn't use." "My interview was a good three hours sitting on my couch. "They showed up at my house and were here for three days of filming," Ivey says of the VH-1 taping. In August 2004, VH-1 profiled her on Totally Obsessed and Canadian television's Fanatical did the same this month. Such Ninja Turtle devotion has made her a small-time celebrity. The value of her collection approximately 40,000 items total is anyone's guess. This massive assembly is kept upstairs, which, years ago, was converted into a Turtle-style lair. She's got boxes and boxes of original Ninja Turtle cereal sealed in plastic wrap with the free Turtle cereal bows attached. There's a pair of giant Turtle wristwatches hanging here and multiple Turtle alarm clocks atop furniture. There are at least 420 comic books, many rare and valuable (including the oft-coveted first edition of the first Turtle comic, worth more than $1,500), and more than 2,210 trading cards. Ivey says she owns about 1,200 toys opened and factory-sealed. (She purchased two movie props for a hefty $4,000). ![]() ![]() Her bedroom sees at least 85 pages of original comic-book art and nine props from the first three TMNT movies. Since her TV-cartoon introduction to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a 9-year-old, Ivey has assembled a collection of TMNT comics, animation cels, movie props and more basically anything she could get her hands on. Mom is a housewife.Īs a kid, Ivey gleaned much from the four teenage brothers who grew up on the brink of suburbia, looking for the light that might define their lives. Her father is a factory worker and an amateur B-movie costumer of monsters. She's has no job a freak electrical accident at a local factory left her unable to work and lives at home with her parents. Ivey, who resembles Velma from Scooby Doo, could be every comic-book reader cliché brought to life, if she were a dude. She went out and picked the book up, and sure enough. She tells me that I'm in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Someone at church told my mom I was in it. "One day I was at a convention, down in New York at the Big Apple Con," Ivey says, sitting on her bed, which is outfitted with Ninja Turtle sheets. Ripley's Believe It Or Not! confirms the fact VH-1 glorified it. See, Ivey owns the world's largest collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles memorabilia. She's a passionate woman, hence a bit obsessive-compulsive. Michelle Ivey, 29, inherited her pack-rat behavior. ![]()
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