This unassuming rhinestone-encrusted piece of fabric used to make up part of Michaelangelo's flashy outfit as seen in The Making of The Coming Out of Their Shells Tour (1990) direct-to-video mockumentary. It would have been glued onto Mikey's bandana (and, in fact, some residue still remains to this day). The bandana eye star can be seen when the Turtles perform outside on top of the marquee at Radio City Music Hall.
After Jim Henson’s Creature Shop decided not to make the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour costumes, the suits were quickly put together by another studio in five weeks' time. Later touring costumes ditched the eye star and used running shoes and spandex pads to help the actors move around during the two-hour-long live show. (The original costumes also had bulky shells, but were later replaced with light jean vests after rehearsals.)
In 1990, Pizza Hut put up $20 million of its own money to sponsor The Coming Out of Their Shells Tour, a 40-city concert that launched at Radio City Music Hall. Sweaty performers pretended to play instruments through exaggerated movements in their rubber suits to crowds of screaming Turtle fans. Over 2 million cassette tapes of the show’s soundtrack were sold that year with the purchase of a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut.
The official Turtles Tour video made no attempt to hide that Pizza Hut was the real captain behind the wheel. Even Senior Vice President of Marketing for Pizza Hut, David Novack, appeared midway through to deliver a press statement on the pizza chain's behalf, gushing: "We're just absolutely thrilled to get the world's most famous pizza eaters to hook up with the number one pizza company in the world. Pizza Hut will launch the most aggressive promotion ever done in the record industry to support the Turtles' new music, which I'm sure all of America will love."
