So, understanding that I’m nearly 26 years old, and that I’m probably the only one among my friends (as geeky as some of you are) who watches Nickelodeon’s ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, it’s probably safe to assume few of you saw the most recent episode.

But if you did, you might have caught a pretty cool little nod to the fans who are old enough and cognizant enough to get the reference.

The Turtles were gearing up to do some LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) and Mikey is trying to convince Raph to play along with them. Sean Astin, who most of you will recognize as Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings, does the voice of Raphael.

The conversation went like this:

Donatello: “Cool! Sounds like fun!”

Raphael: “Sounds like stupid… Count me out.”

Michelangelo: “C’mon, Raph, if you play with us, I’ll let you wear my +1 Ring of Awesome.”

Raphael: “Forget it. I don’t do rings.”

So, considering what we know about Samwise’s experience with rings, I think it’s safe to assume this was an intentional wink at TMNT fans who are also fans of the LOTR movies.