From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles To Ancientz: Howard (Quiggly) Chang’s Faith-Fueled Journey Of Creativity & Purpose (Inspirational)

What happens when one of the creative minds behind the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles walks away from fame and finds God — only to build a brand-new universe that fuses faith, purpose, and pop culture?

In this powerful and inspirational podcast episode, Reginald D sits down with Howard “Quiggly” Chang, the former Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy designer who turned his lowest life moment into a divine calling. From designing one of the most iconic franchises in history to creating Ancientz, a faith-fueled universe of spirit-powered heroes, Howard’s journey proves that redemption births reinvention.

He shares how God met him at rock bottom, how prayer revealed his next creative mission, and why the next generation needs heroes powered by faith instead of fame. Together, they explore creativity, healing, and perseverance through life’s valleys — reminding listeners that even in seasons of loss, purpose never dies.

This motivational conversation blends pop culture nostalgia, entrepreneurship, and divine creativity — perfect for dreamers, believers, and anyone rebuilding after brokenness.

Tune in to discover how faith and creativity can rebuild your life, restore your joy, and remind you that your best work is still ahead — press play now and be inspired!

Howard's contact Info:

Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ancientz/ancientz

Website: https://www.ancientz.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ancientz_official

FB: facebook.com/ancientz.official

motivational, inspirational, motivational speech, motivational podcast, inspirational podcast, Howard Quiggly Chang, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ancientz, Christian motivation, spiritual growth, inspirational stories, perseverance, overcoming failure, finding purpose in pain, motivational interview, faith based,

Transcript

 Welcome to real talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D.

On today's episode, I have Howard Chang.

He is a true creative legend. He's one of the original minds behind one of the most iconic franchises in pop culture history,

the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

But his story doesn't stop there.

After years in the toy industry,

he hit a turning point.

A moment where faith, purpose and creativity collided.

Today, he's back with something extraordinary.

Howard Chang is the creator and co founder of Ancients,

a bold faith fueled universe where spirit, power, heroes battle darkness and brings light to a generation that desperately needs it.

Welcome to the show, Howard.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Hey, Reginald. Thank you for having me on today.

Reginald D: Yes, sir, thank you. Thank you so much.

Let's jump in it. I'm gonna start out by asking my guests, you know, just one basic question to kind of set the tone. So where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well,

I was born in South Korea.

I came during kindergarten. I was six years old to la, California, Los Angeles. And my parents moved to San Pedro, which is on the beach on the southern part of Los Angeles.

It was literally. Their house was half a block from the beach. The cliff. It's not a beach, it's a cliff. And they still had the same house today. They moved there in 79.

They still live there.

So my childhood was a beach ***.

I had a beach view every day. I remember up until high school and even college,

I would wake up to the ocean view of Catalina island in Los Angeles.

And it's a fun life. Fishing, surfing, everything you can imagine. Hawaii in California. That's what it was.

Reginald D: Okay. Yeah. It's not wrong being a beach ball man.

So, Howard,

you had such an incredible journey from helping shape the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles legacy to creating a brand new universe with ancients.

When you look back, how does it feel seeing where God has brought you?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well, I kind of grew up in and around the church. I would not say my parents are strong believers in any sense,

but I guess as immigrants and I was a young child, you would be dragged to church and I would be plugged into certain Bible studies here and there. So I kind of knew the stories of the Bible I grew up with, but I never really had that intuition of what it is to be connected to God.

So basically I had a broad strokes knowledge of the Bible.

But it was many years later, after I got married and going through the divorce, which is about 12 years ago,

when I can honestly say I hit a low point in my life.

Ground zero.

And when you're at your lowest point, you have nowhere to turn. And God showed up and showed me how to pray,

how to connect with him and how to have a relationship with him.

And I would like to say 12 or almost 13 years ago now is when I truly became in tune with God and fell in love with him.

Reginald D: So let me ask you this. How did that redefine your sense of purpose?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So my first job out of college,

I was lucky enough to have a mom who found a newspaper ad to get a job at Varner Studios. And at that time, it was 1989,

and the Ninja Turtles toys came out the year before.

So a company called Playmates Toys took a risk and created the Ninja Turtles as toys.

And. And I joined a year after 1989, right after high school.

And I ended up designing over a hundred Turtle figures.

And I didn't know what they were. But years later,

even today, they're still coming out with new toys and new movies.

That franchise has just been going.

They just celebrated a 40 year anniversary a couple years back.

So I didn't know I was being a part of an iconic toy line when I was doing it.

So with that experience, almost 10 years of designing Ninja Turtles, I went off in a different direction here and there.

I kind of gave up on that whole dream of becoming an artist.

I went into all these different directions doing business, manufacturing, programming, you name it.

And when I finally connected with God and really gave my life to him,

I learned how to pray.

And you know how most people, when they pray, they find answers,

find healing.

I would see visions,

and during that time of prayer 12 years ago, I saw visions and images of the figures that I've created for ancients.

The main reason that happened was because I was looking at the Christmas tree and wondering, hey, what can I get my kids for Christmas that's Bible focused, that has faith embedded in it?

I couldn't find anything online.

There was nothing around that I could imagine.

So me being a former Ninja Turtle toy designer, I'm thinking, hey, you know what?

The world needs something that makes the Bible look cool. And they could compete in pop culture. They could, just as the Turtles did. So I put things that I love,

which is Robotech, which I grew up with and brought in Pokemon. If you mix those together, what do you have?

An awesome robot line. And I wanted to mix that with Bible characters.

And I really believe God's the one who orchestrated all this through prayer.

Reginald D: Yes, man, absolutely. So anxious is rooted in Hebrews 11, the faith hall of Fame.

Why did that chapter of the Bible Speak so strongly to you, and how does it shape the world and characters you build it?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well, you know, the name Ancients came a little later, actually. Initially,

I came out with the name Prophets,

the Z, because the Z always makes a name cooler, right?

Prophets with the Z. And then we came across, you know, some issues with difficult time trying to trademark that because other people have used it.

So we were like, you know, when you try to come up with a name,

that's a tough, tough piece in life, like giving your kid a name.

Right. They're stuck with it forever.

It's like, it's harder than getting married, coming out, the neighborhood, business.

So we prayed about it. And my wife,

I got remarried about eight months ago to Gloria, and she was praying, and she saw a message online from Tim Keller, and he was talking about ancients 11,

about the hall of Faith.

And it just fit what we were doing perfectly,

simply because it mentions all of the ancient heroes in the Bible.

And one of the key differences of Ancients compared to any other IP or superhero or toy line out there is that,

you know how Superman has superpowers? Even the ninja Turtles, they're mutants, Right.

Even spider man was bitten by a spider and he got mutant powers.

The heroes in the Bible, they don't have superpowers. They were weak. You know how David was a young shepherd boy when all the warriors in Israel were afraid to fight Goliath?

He went in with faith.

Reginald D: Right.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So our heroes run by faith, not by superpowers. And I thought that was a pretty cool catch.

Reginald D: Yeah, it is, because it goes to my next question. You know, you're creating these heroes, and they're rooted in spirit instead of fame or power.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah.

Reginald D: You know, what does that mean in the culture where most heroes are driven by ego or revenge?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah. I mean, that's been pretty much the status quo of all of these pop culture movies and comic books and toy lines. They're all rooted in self power, and it's all about what they have.

And I think it's about time.

The world sees the Bible as a powerful superpower where you can gain strength and overcome obstacles. And it's made. All of them are like a underdog story if you think about it.

Even Noah, I mean, he,

you know,

wasn't a strong guy who can beat everyone. He just trusted God and listened to what he was commissioned to do, and he overcame obstacles. And I feel like almost all the stories in the Bible, you know, story of Joseph, these are stories that I feel the world has to know.

And when you're going through hard times.

You know, you can't be Superman, but you could be a David.

You could be a Gideon or Joshua, who's like all of us.

Reginald D: Yeah, exactly. They were just ordinary people that had a call on their life.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Right.

Reginald D: So you helped create one of the most iconic toy lines in pop culture history.

How did that early work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles influence the creative DNA of ancients today?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well, you know, growing up, I guess.

Reginald D: Yeah.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: I grew up in the public school system,

and that's one place I always excel in art classes, and I was always the best artist in the school.

The school had commissioned me. Even in elementary school,

as a third grader, I designed the school logo, the mascot, and I would win contests.

So I always figured I had a gift where I can communicate using a pencil, a pen, you know, colors.

And it was a gift I feel that God gave me. And not that I'm boasting, but I hear from other people saying, this is great.

So I felt like, okay, great, let's utilize.

And,

you know,

I didn't know what I was designing.

Back in the early days of the Turtles, I was part of the first wave. There's been many waves,

but many years later,

all the fans that grew up with the original wave of Ninja Turtles, when it first came out in 1990, it was the number one selling toy in the world, Right?

So if you were a kid playing with the turtles in 1990s, you're now 40 something years old.

Reginald D: Right.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So I go to Comic Con once in a while, and my old boss, Steve Varner, he still has a booth there, so I would just go with him.

And it would be surprising when people. There are fans out there of Ninja Turtles, but they're super fans. And those super fans are all at Comic Con, Right?

So they would recognize our work and they would ask for autographs. They would ask us to sign their unopened boxes. And not that it was fame, but I realized there was recognition in the work that I did and that it made an impact on people's lives.

And, you know, going into ancients, I always felt I did a lot of different businesses,

but I felt like as a toy designer, I really excel. I get that feeling that I'm pretty good at toy design,

figure designs, and creating.

So it just came to me 12 years ago again, when I was going through the whole low point and learning how to pray.

I was trying to figure out and make sense of what God was putting in my head of these images and visions.

And it all made sense back when I was designing the turtles. I can design an entire ninja turtle figurine in one day.

To do these ancient characters, it took 12 years simply because.

Because when it's yours and you're the one designing it,

everybody maybe out there who's creative,

they need it to be perfect. It has to be perfect. But then there is no such thing as perfect.

And if you aim for perfect, you'll never get there.

It might take 12 years,

right?

So my wife, Gloria, she's, like, telling me she loves the concept. She goes, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Just take it up to a point and just get it done. And I thought about how design works, is, you know, even car design.

Every four years, there's a new version of the Honda Accord. There's a new version of the BMW, because design evolves over time. But you got to start somewhere. And that's where it started.

I finished it. I got it ready in literally six months and was able to get to Comic con this year in July.

And the people that saw it, you know, we love the reviews. We didn't get any bad reviews. They loved it.

The people at Comic Con, a lot of people have been going there for decades. And the recurring messages I was getting from the people were that they've been coming for 20 years.

You know, how many more Batmans can we have? And,

you know, they were refreshed to see something like this.

Reginald D: Yeah. And you said something, Howard, that was powerful that, you know, you was at your lowest point,

and that's when God spoke to you,

and you knew then, you know, you came up with this new thing.

And I always say to people, you know,

when you're at your lowest point, that's when God's really going to speak to you and tell you what's next. You know, a lot of times as humans, we at the high point in life, we don't listen clearly about things.

But when we are at our lowest point, man, that's exactly when it's going to happen.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah. When you're going through the lowest point in your bank account, when you're going through the lowest point in your marriage, when you're going through your lowest point in your addiction.

I mean, savor that moment, man, Because I feel like that's when God really speaks. Because I feel like that's when you really, really, really crave his attention.

And that's when God shows up most clearly.

And I remember one thing during that low point,

you know, I was going through the whole divorce arguments and figuring out that we want to get Divorced and live separate lives. We had three young kids, you know,

and you know, when you're going through that, there's a whole lot of weight on you emotionally and physically.

So I looked like a mess.

And you can tell,

right?

So a good friend of mine came by, saw what was going on. I didn't have to say a word.

Well, I did tell him that I decided to just get a divorce. I can't take this anymore.

And what he told me was,

hey, this is too big for you.

You should just let it go. Lift it up to God.

And with my kind of like a general knowledge of God,

it didn't make sense at first, but when he said those words,

I felt like the weight just disappeared.

And suddenly I felt light again.

So immediately I just started searching, searching. I found a new church to get plugged into. I found a life group.

And it was literally within months, my life was transformed.

Reginald D: Yeah, man, that's great.

That's how it works. That's how it works. So, Howard,

the ancient Kickstarter launched August 15, I believe. What can fans expect from the first wave of figures and stores that you launched?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah, well, it ended October 1st.

We made our goal.

Okay. We were hoping to make $100 million, but no, we just barely made the goal.

What we have here are art toys. They're called designer toys.

It's little different than the mass market toys that you would find from Mattel or Hasbro because they have the infrastructure to make mass market toys.

They have the manufacturing and the dollars to make it happen until we get a deal,

which we're working on with the major toy company.

These are our toys that we have to produce here,

which might be worth a lot of money later if they get it, but they will be made personally, painted, and touched by me.

We're trying to get as many as we can built here every month so we can get into people's hands. What we have are.

I'll show you here.

These are 10 inch figures.

This is David.

You can see his name up here.

Reginald D: Yes.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: And then his most prominent verse, 1 Samuel 17.

Reginald D: Yep.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So this is one of the characters. Like I said, it's Robotech meets Pokemon. Right.

And they have little jet packs in the back. We have four male characters with the same body shape in different colors. We have Gideon,

Joshua,

David and Noah. They all have their different unique colors and they have their unique accessories. Like, David has a sling. Noah has, like, a hammer. He can build things in real, real quick, like Fortnite.

Gideon has a flame. Right. They all have different Accessories. We have two female characters.

I'll show you real quick.

They have a different body shape,

obviously. This is Deborah. They have longer hair.

Reginald D: Yeah.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So we have Deborah, you know, and then it's down here from Judges Chapter four.

We have Cesara,

her arch nemesis. Also up there. He's a lopsided robot. One arm has a claw, one arm has a battering ram, but he's 15 inches tall. He's much bigger.

We have Rahab, which is the other female. Go through here.

We have Joshua here.

This is a 20 inch Goliath back here, if you can see it.

We have two versions of Goliath which is 14 inches and 20 inches.

Again, these are pretty heavy and they're hand assembled, hand painted,

so it'll be very detailed. But yet they're pretty expensive to build. So they are pretty pricey.

And we're hoping to get a toy deal so we can get the prices lower. But these will be collector's items. These are real collectibles.

So we're going to try to get it out there. And we're working on getting funding for our project so we could manufacture these through a real factory.

Again, that takes time. We also have the mini versions of every character.

I don't know if you've heard of Loboo, but these are also keychains with light up features. They all have light up features with the eyes and the hair.

So we're finishing up our story, Bible and the first origin story. Because everybody's asking for the story and it's very exciting.

I mean, later on I'm sure you can share our Instagram and our website, but we're going to keep people updated with how that's going and it's going to be a key part of, you know, our pitch to people.

Reginald D: Wow, man, that is remarkable. That is so extraordinary and so different.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: There's no one. Noah has this color here.

Reginald D: Yeah. Yeah, man, that's amazing, man. I mean, yeah, somebody's gonna pick that up. Don't worry about that part.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well, the thing is,

yeah, I feel like we need something like this. The world has really never seen something that's Bible centered and gives hope to this level. We're hoping that we'll get the support and the backing and the love from the faith community first,

that they recognize what we're doing and it's gonna spill into pop culture.

Reginald D: Right.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: I mean, you don't have to be a believer to buy it.

If it looks cool and they like the story, they would want to collect it. Right.

And the story is Actually being told in 2040, like in the near future. So it's not like the stories in the Bible.

We're not reenacting those with robots.

They are the spirits of David, of Joshua that are operating the robots.

See, most robots are operated by humans, Robotech, even Power Rangers or humans operating them. But these are actual spirits of David. Goliath. That's Goliath's spirit operating that robot about in today,

this day and age.

So the story is interesting. It's going to happen in Washington D.C. new York City, Shanghai. It can happen in London.

So it's going to be a spiritual war happening all over the world.

And it's going to be good versus evil.

And all these events going on in the world today, you know, the polarization of America, right and left,

the Ukraine issue, Middle East. They're all going to have to stop to fight together against evil.

Reginald D: Man, that is so amazing.

So amazing. Man, that is. I mean, that is incredible.

I'm telling you. Because here's the thing,

you know, in a world filled with darkness and chaos,

you know, you have a story like ancients to help equip the next generation with faith and courage.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah. That's the whole idea.

Like, you don't have to even have read the Bible or even pick one up,

but you'll see the story, you'll want the characters. And let's say you connect with the character. Like, let's say I never picked up the Bible or even was interested in reading it, but let's say I really like this character and it's happening now and kids are wearing it for Halloween everywhere.

Right.

And I really connect with this character, and I see that he's Joshua.

I want to look in the Bible to see the backstory of who Joshua is. My favorite character. Right.

So if we can get really moving and get these characters out there to millions of people around the world,

I think that would be my mission, to get people associated with characters and their backstory in the Bible.

Reginald D: Man, that's so strategic.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: God.

Reginald D: Man, that's so strategic. But it's real, though, at the end.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Of the day, you know, have you seen anything like these before?

Reginald D: No.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So I'm asking, what's the coolest toy line or franchise that you can remember that had pop cultural appeal that made the Bible interesting and cool to maybe non believers?

Veggie Tails. But Veggie Tales are mainly marketed to Christians. I mean, that. I don't know any non believers.

Reginald D: I don't know any person myself.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: So we're revolutionary. We're Here.

Reginald D: Exactly. Exactly. So, Howard, let's go to this. What's one message you want every listener, especially young creators, to take away from your journey?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Okay, well, one of the messages.

My first job, again, I was a toy designer for eight years.

I was good at it. I enjoyed it.

But if you make what you love into a job, a J, O, B, it takes away from the magic that you have.

So whatever you do, I mean,

let's say I'm a musician, it turns into a job. I'm good at it, and it's not enjoyable anymore. How do you get out of that job mindset? I mean, that's the biggest challenge.

What's tied into job is money.

Reginald D: Right?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: And the more you connect money to what you love, it feels like it just kind of rips apart the enjoyment part.

I mean, we're hoping this will do well so we can continue.

We could touch more lives, as many lives as possible.

But as soon as I start associating money to it, the enjoyment kind of dies.

Does that make sense?

Reginald D: Makes a lot of sense.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, it's great to do what you love, but again,

I guess that's why, you know, the Bible repeatedly says, put aside your love for money.

Reginald D: Right.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: It's the whole money factor that really rips apart dreams, I think.

Reginald D: Yeah, it does. And I was saying something the other day to somebody that,

you know, people look at the money and then say, hey, I got this purpose,

but I need all this money to do my purpose.

At the end of the day, if you don't get that money that you need right then.

Then you quit on your purpose and your dreams. But you got to flip it, you know, you got to say, okay, I'm gonna walk in my purpose. And when you walk in your purpose,

then as you go,

money will eventually turn,

especially when God has ordained it and he's put it inside of you.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Right. I agree with that. I mean, look, we don't have any money. I mean, we burned everything, but we're doing what we can. If it's there, we'll use it. But, you know, it costs a lot of money and time and effort to get this thing ready for Comic Con in.

In July.

And, you know,

the joy came when I was ready to show to people.

Right.

I feel like that joy, when we finally finished everything, I'm ready to take it to San Diego.

I think that joy was greater than if I made millions from it. So I think I have to disassociate money. Money's a different factor.

I just got to enjoy and put my heart into the process,

not the reward.

Reginald D: That's it. Enjoy the process, man. Enjoy the process. So, Howard, I have some rapid fire questions I like to do.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Oh, man, you're scared of me when you say that.

Reginald D: It's gonna, you're gonna be okay. Okay. Who is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character you ever designed?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Well,

of the four, Michelangelo is my favorite.

And I again, I designed hundreds of them. There was a book with all my sketches,

a 400 page book with a lot of it was mine. One thing that really sticks to mind is the basketball Michelangelo.

It's Michelangelo's orange. But I put on a red jersey and I put a number called 23 on it and I got away with it. And I was just an 18 year old artist and I love basketball, right.

And I put some Reebok pumps, I don't know if any of the audience know what that is.

You have to pump it from the top and it gets, it gets tighter and you could release it.

And I put some Reebok pumps on there and I put Horace Grant eye goggles on there. And it became one of the most best selling turtles throughout time. And they still make it not the same version, but a newer version of it.

And that's what I remember the most.

Reginald D: Okay, so what was your most challenging lesson you've learned in this new season?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: That whole money part.

Try to disassociate that with the process.

And that's the hardest part. Once you get over that little obstacle, I feel like that joy really, really, really sits in. And that's when you really depend on faith,

right?

Reginald D: Absolutely. So what is your dream collaboration for Ancients?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Dream collaboration,

man. You know what I've been hoping for?

I don't know. I play golf and there's this golfer named Scotty Scheffler. He's like the Tiger woods right now, number one, killing everybody on the golf courses.

And he's a, you know, openly, you know,

faithful believer. And every time he goes up, you know, it's all God, I'm not doing this. And I want to make a Scottie Scheffler version of the Ancients with his Nike and TaylorMade and holding a tailor made golf club.

And I want to put,

you know, Philippians 4:13 on the side and present it to him and hopefully I'll get on his platform and he'll love what we created for him.

That would be a dream collaboration. And you know, maybe even Terry Underwood, but Tim Tebow maybe, right?

Reginald D: I like that. I like that. I really like that. So in one sentence, what does never stop creating, never stop believing mean to you right now?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Okay, that's a tough one. Never stop creating. Never stop believing in one sentence.

Reginald D: Oh, you can do more than one.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: That to me says,

never give up hope.

I'm 54 years old.

I'm doing a startup,

running out of money.

So never give up hope. Let me do this till I'm in the grave, man. I still want to create. I want to do so much more. I'm working on Moses right now.

I'm working on Joseph, Zipporah, Jezebel, Pharaoh. I mean, how many characters in the Bible, Right?

So age is just a number. I don't know how many characters you can extract from the Bible.

Reginald D: Sure.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: There's more than 10,000. There's a lot. Yeah. So this could be bigger than Pokemon, you know. So that's the word, never give up hope.

Reginald D: That's it. I like it. And like you say, man, you know, age is nothing as long as you still got that gift and that creativity inside of you. You get to just keep doing it until you can't do it anymore.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: I'll be immature till the day I die.

Reginald D: So lastly, Howard, how can people support the mission or movement you're building through?

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Ancients,

pray for us, number one.

Number two, follow our Instagram. Tell people about it. I just want the word out. I want everybody to know what Ancients is.

We're doing as many trade shows as we can afford and have the energy to do.

We're going to do podcasts with people like you so we can get out there and number one prayer and talk about it.

Instagram.

We're going to keep adding new posts about what's upcoming, what's available,

the whole process that we're taking to get everything done. We'll announce new ventures, new partnerships, and hey, if Scotty Scheffler says yes,

you'll see it on Instagram first.

Reginald D: Yes, absolutely. Howard Chain, everybody. Howard's been a blast, man, having you on tonight. Thank you.

Thanks for tuning in to Real Talk with Reginald D. If you enjoy listening to Real Talk with Reginald D, please rate and review on Apple Podcast. See you next time.

Howard (Quiggly) Chang: Five stars.

Reginald D: Thank you.