A. Das Baron on Origins in Toy Collections

This is Kevin Conway, and I am the goddamn Batman.

Hi, this is Dan Gilbazan, and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Jazz here, and

I am so diggin' the Geekcast Radio Network. Cliff

jumper, commence countdown. Five, four, three,

two, one. Toycast oh yes Listen to the only toy

podcast you will ever need Hello and welcome

to an all -new generation of toy cast as we get

the origins of any and all toy fans that we can

I am of course tfq and Mike joining me in this

episode of Toycast which is episode 103 103 episodes

folks. Yep. That's right. We're back. It's we

took seven years off and We are back and we are

talking toys, not just topics. I've brought over

my origins format from the pull bag where we

talk about how people got into or out of reading

comics. And from all things Transformers, where

we talk about how people got into or out of being

a fan of the Transformers franchise. You got

introduced to this person in episode 101 and

you got introduced to the other person that I

had on the last time which was Josh So he had

his introduction and now it's time for me to

not knock the medical disc off my desk And it's

time now for us to talk to mr. A Das Baron Hello

We got ourselves a whole bag of sound effects

going on tonight. Mm -hmm. Yep. There used to

be a built -in recorder for Skype that used to

do, you could insert all kinds of sound effects,

but that's no longer a thing anymore, apparently.

Get yourself one of those obnoxious radio jockey

sound effect clips. Yeah, sound boards and all

that. Yep, yep, yep. So, since Josh's episode...

As of this recording, it has not been released

or fully edited yet. I'm still in the middle

of editing it. But since Josh's episode, originally

we had 41 questions. We now have 42 because 42

is the answer to everything, folks. Starting

off, what is or was the first toy you remember

having as a kid? I had to think about this. So,

I mean, you know, we've gotten all sorts of little

Dinky toys around it, you know one or little

and it's hard to pinpoint one exactly But if

I am going to go back and think about one particular

line, I mean I only got one from this It would

be the I think it's the Ankylosaurus Ankylodon.

I'm not terribly terrific with dinosaurs from

the definitely dinosaurs toy line Interesting

I'm sure there. I mean if I really really thought

hard about it tracked all of my My experience

is back to you know, like two or three. This

is 87. So I'm Okay, I'm like three that makes

sense. I'm cognizant at the point But you know,

it's after that it went on to like all the franchise

like 80s franchises the 90s franchises toys But

I think that was probably the first one that

stuck out in my mind Awesome Yeah, I'm just reminded

of how old I am compared to you and Josh. I won't

tell anyone. Don't worry. Hey, at least Dave

ain't here yet. Was there a particular adult

who was supportive of you playing with toys as

a kid? Was there anyone who was unsupportive?

I mean, I never really got any guff, so to speak,

for playing with toys as a kid. As I get, once

I got older, my, my dad had came to me and he

had, had said that he thought when I was little

growing up that he wasn't there enough for me.

And, you know, I, I told him, I never got that

feeling from him. So I think looking back on

it, because he felt that way, he went ahead and

bought me like everything. So I guess you could

say he was the most supportive one I had with.

buying toys. Cool. He, you know, he was there

for Ghostbusters. That's probably the most tied

in he was to align with me. And then there were

turtles, of course. But definitely Ghostbusters

was what he and I shared. And I don't think there's

anyone necessarily unsupportive. There were people

that kind of gleefully poked fun at me. I mean,

it wasn't anything totally malicious. I remember

my friend's dad. It's a guy you're playing with

your dolls again. You got another doll. However,

the fact that my friend also collected action

figures and was also the same age as me. So I

don't know if his dad just did that to everyone

or if it was just me. God, what my grandfather?

My mother's father. So he's like one or was 100

% blooded Italian. And he would always refer

to them as figus. I think he was like, oh, you

and your figus. instead of figures. And now we're

really bringing up memories that I hadn't thought

about. When I was little, he when he would come

over, he would take an item or two of mine and

hide it. Do you have any idea how much that pissed

me off? What you like playing hide and go seek

with your toys? No. That's that's funny. What

types of toys were your favorites to play with

as a kid? I meant obviously action figures. I

had a few Like hot hot wheels and matchbox cars,

but those were all just gifts from people that

didn't Quite know me I never went out on my own

and bought hot wheels or anything like that roleplay

items more particularly the Ghostbusters ones

I didn't have many Ninja Turtle ones I think

I was at that right age for roleplay toys as

like a three or four year old. So figures and

role play toys. I mean, it would explain why

I have so many Super Sentai role play items.

And they ain't cheap. No, they ain't. You just

kind of answered this. What were your favorite

childhood toys that really stood out more than

the others? I mean, by the time I got onto the

Ghostbusters bandwagon. Pretty much everything

I was into, more or less, was a franchise type

thing. So anything that wasn't heavily franchised

just kind of went under the radar. It's like,

eh, it's a toy I have, blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah. I had a few spare Transformers that I got

mainly as gifts. And I was never huge into Transformers.

Like, I remember watching the cartoon. But they

definitely weren't my favorite toys. I see. Sorry.

I gave it a second shot in 2009 when I worked

at Toys R Us thinking, okay, I'm going to start

buying a couple of these and see how they go

over. And nothing came of it. So I bought a few

and then that was it. They're doing a lot better

these days, I can tell you that. It's like a

new line every year. Well, yes, but everything

they're doing in the Kingdom line and stuff,

it's like we finally actually have an actual

Galvatron that is actually purple, that is somewhat

fully accurate to the movie design and everything

else. I mean, he may be seven hundred and something

dollars, but we actually have a Unicron that

is a planet. Not just this, this half planet

thing that we got in Cybertron or Armada or whenever

that was. I don't remember. Okay. So do you prefer

the label of action figures, dolls, toys, or

other labels? I meant like in reference to what

I call my toys. Yeah. I mean, obviously action

figures. I have dolls and those are dolls. So

I guess both of them would fall under the umbrella

of toys, but you know, I have no problem explaining.

Well, we'll get to this a little later when it

comes to another question, but I, for specific

reasons, if I need to sound a little more mature,

I will refer to them as collectibles. As Josh

would say, they're commodities. Good guys, bad

guys, which toys were your favorites to play

with the most? Definitely, as an adult, I gravitate

more towards villains. They seem to be much more

colorful, much more like, you know, they play

by their own rules. But as a kid, I guess I gravitated

more towards the good guys. I didn't have the

imagine - well, I did have the imagination, but

I didn't have the sense of humor and, you know,

everything that makes me me right now when I

was a kid. I was very controlling with things,

so it was the good guys at the beginning. What

is or was your favorite toy vehicle and or play

set? I mean, with play sets, it's going to have

to be the Ghostbuster Firehouse. As a kid, I

didn't have many of the 80s play sets or I had

like I didn't have Castle Grayskull. I wasn't

into Masters at the time. Really, the three main

playsets I've ever had are the Ghostbuster Firehouse,

the TMNT Sewer Lair, and the Batman Returns Wayne

Manor slash Batcave playset. Oh, wow. Yeah, that

one was pretty cool. Because by the time I started

getting into Star Wars when Power of the Force

II came out and the special editions were coming

out, I was making my own playset out of like

cardboard boxes and manila folders. It's like

this is the color of tattooing basically, so

I'll just make an entire like mini city out of

this. So and I don't have to color anything in.

So as a kid, you were making mini cities. I mean,

again, we could probably get into this later,

but the best thing about all those commercials

were the play, like the Batman commercials, were

the Gotham City scenery that they had there,

and it blew my mind. I want this. Yeah. Where

is this in the Toy Story? Yeah, exactly. I know.

What features define a good toy to you? How true

does the item feel in comparison to the source

material lightness? I mean nowadays as a collector

I want things to have To resemble what they're

supposed to be if I was a little younger and

you know Like you had to go with action features.

I would like something that's in a true unobtrusive

Like there there are some that just like I was

I was watching a video on Chuck Norris karate

commando And the toy line for that and Like the

the action features made sense and they didn't

get too much like, you know granted they were

stuck in like a kicker a Chopping thing, but

it it made a lot of sense to the toy and what

it was So as long as it does something like that

Yeah, it's that you know, it's a feature that's

true to the character Yeah, absolutely What does

toy packaging have to have to draw you in so

either as a kid or as an adult when you go into

a toy store or I can't even say a toy store anymore

unless it's right that just owns a toy store

but like when you go into the toy aisle and you're

looking at Here's hoping that the the shelves

aren't empty But like when you would go into

a toy store What was it about whatever packaging

that, ooh, I want this one. Well, that was the

thing with the 80s and some of the 90s is that

they needed to make packaging that stood out

from everything else, yet everything else is

trying to stand out. I do have an incredible

fondness for the real Ghostbusters purple card

and purple boxes. But the one that drew me the

most in were the Ninja Turtle boxes, and that

really sketchy kind of, not the greatest artwork,

but there was something just so tactile to it,

like I could reach out and touch it. Yep, absolutely.

I had gone into Walmart last week and I saw the

Ghost Popper, which I almost bought. It was like

$20. And it looks like it's molded from the same

thing. However, it's not molded in the right

color plastic. Oh, no. The original gun is black

and has a gray handle. This was done in that

blue purple color that the backpack and the gun

came with. Right. So I guess, I don't know, maybe

they're going to try to release that down the

line and then just have everything kind of mix

in with one another. But it was on, it was in

a purple box, which really stood out to me. And

it was a good price, but because of the coloring,

I just couldn't pull the trigger. Yeah, it has

to be accurate. You got to get your plastic colors

right, people. Do you open your toys or do you

leave them packaged? If you keep the toys packaged,

do you have any specific criteria for that? Like

if the packaging is cool or if especially with

a lot of the Japanese figures that I have, which

come with tons of accessories. It'd be easier

or it's easiest to just keep the boxes and keep

the accessories stored in the boxes. Because

if I tried to baggy all of them, it would be

a nightmare. And like a lot of the Japanese stuff

has really interesting bright colors that you

don't necessarily see in the regular boys action

aisle in the US. And just like the photography

is really nice or if it's something that's vintage.

I definitely want to keep the box for that But

in terms of action figures that I display the

majority of my figures come out of the box Very

cool. Very cool If as a kid or an adult you only

were allowed to choose one toy franchise to collect

from which one would you choose and why? This

question is only for actually one specific person,

but since it's on the list, it's because of this

person is the reason because he's only allowed

one collection in his house. I'm just going to

cave and say real Ghostbusters because we're

not getting any new real Ghostbusters toys. Was

it the diamond ones? But they just use the bodies

from the movie ones. Yep. And like, It just feels

like we get we get teased and teased and teased

about a new collector grade real Ghostbusters

line and with the ghost no less Am I ever gonna

get a boogeyman? I don't know So I might as well

just collect the old ones because it looks like

we're never gonna get the new ones Mm -hmm. I

blame the Scalari brothers As an adult, do you

prefer vintage or modern toys? I do have a handful

of vintage stuff. Mostly if it just like fits

my aesthetic, I'll get them. But for the most

part, I do prefer modern toys. What is one toy

you can always play with? We're going to go PG

with this? You know what I mean. At least with

you, I don't have to edit that out. True. I mean,

most of my things either get stored or put in

the display case after about a week of me owning

it. And then if I have people over and you know,

some drinks are involved. I like to bring my

things out and show them off. And a lot of people

can get behind that. And I you know, I get super

excited like a little five year old showing off

my things. So usually what what brings everyone

to together better are like the roleplay items.

Now I also I also have this terrible track record

of when I let people see my things, they get

broke. Broken. So yeah, you kind of let all the

DeValls in the world into your apartment then

because, you know, DeVall likes breaking. He

doesn't like breaking things. We know that story.

He's a klutz. Love you, Jason. The last time

I brought my toys out, it was the gold Zeo Ranger

battle staff, the Bandai America collector one,

which is, you know, the right little size. And

my friend takes it out of my hand and she starts

swinging it around. Oh my god, don't drop that.

Don't drop that for the love of God. Don't drop

that. She did not. That's good. Yeah, I was on

edge for a couple seconds there. That would not

not have been good at all. Yeah, but I don't

think there's one specific Even though there

are always toy lines that people never purchase

are there any that you specifically and purposely

Avoid this can be a toy line a specific character,

etc And any anything that just you know has awful

awful action gimmicks and what have you. Sorry,

Josh, but like any of the 90s Kenner stuff. Okay,

let me rephrase that any of the 90s movie Kenner

stuff. Jurassic Park gets a pass, but everything

else like I would see those figures on the peg

and Even the presentation just bored the living

hell out of me Yeah Nobody but Josh loves the

water world toys He's gonna make bank on those

one day well how much we're that hey, you know

what and that's fine. That's all well and good

for him That's great. If some moron out there

wants to spend money on toys that nobody else

cares about It's okay. So Josh's love for for

Kenner's Waterworld toys, which again, yes, I

admit it, I never even knew there were Waterworld

toys. Hell, Lettoland Records just recently released

the Waterworld Expanded Soundtrack. But the point

is, that movie was godawful. And I can't believe

they made toys from such a godawful movie. Now

I know that there are toys from plenty of other

godawful movies, but... Josh's love for those

toys is like my love for Caddyshack 2 or Neverending

Story 2. I love it and it's fine, but yet nobody

else I know will ever admit to saying that they

enjoyed it or they liked it or whatever kind

of thing. So we get it, Josh. We get it. Are

there any toys? in the past or currently that

you wish you hadn't bought them. Are there any

toys that you may have sold that you regret letting

go? Um, I mean, I'm not going to lie. There is,

there were some initial regret after buying the

2011 Thundercat line. I still have all of them,

you know, just because of the sheer fact that

I'm a Thundercats fan. I don't know. I mean,

could these Could these have been one of those

toy lines that no one bought and then give it

like 10 years and then everyone's looking for

it because no one bought it? I don't know. So

we'll see about that. There are some other lines

that I have in boxes. I initially bought them

to hopefully resell them down the line and I

think that's already starting to bear fruit.

However, I don't know if I want to let them go

after a while. Oh, no. Any that I've sold that

I've regret letting go. I guess I could say my

Masters of the Universe classics figures. Basically

all I have left are a He -Man and Skeletor with

Battle Cat and Panther. I had the majority of

the line up until 2016 or so. Sounds about right.

So like I didn't get any of the super seven stuff

So, you know, I'll watch all these videos about

them and then I think oh god, I wish I didn't

sell them but at the same time Collecting that

line and the whole Maddie collector comm was

an experience that I was along for the ride and

so I have all those memories burned into my brain

and You know, I can't let go of those, I can't

sell those. So eventually, I just felt like,

okay, you know, these have outgrown their welcome

here. You know, I learned a ton about Masters

over the past 10 years through a friend and through

this collection. But I was never a He -Man fan

as a kid. So I just kind of got in, got what

I wanted out of it and then sold it. Yeah, there

you go. That works. that's how you should probably

do some lines where you know somebody says oh

you should check this out and you watch end up

watching all 130 episodes and you're like oh

i really would like to have these classics toys

that's my only if only mattel and digital river

would actually sell them to me versus every other

scalper right that was on the damn anyway that's

a discussion for another day You were saying

the problem I lost my train of thought there.

Oh, okay. There you go. How large or small is

your toy collection? Do your toys take up the

whole house or are they relegated to one room

shelf or something like that? Oh, Mikey, Mikey,

Mikey, Mikey, Mikey. I already know the answer

to this question, but I still have to ask the

question. My toys are littered in every room

of my apartment, with the exception of the bathroom.

They are everywhere. However, compared to some

diehard collectors, my collection is not seen

as that big. I've sold a lot over the past decade

or so, so it has trunk. to say the least. So

I don't think it's that big, but it's definitely

not that small. How do you keep track of your

collection? I don't. So you don't have a spreadsheet

somewhere letting you know every single thing

you've ever bought? No, no I don't. Really? I'm

worse with clothes. There sometimes I'll go through

my drawers like, oh my god, I did buy this. Wow.

How do you display your toys? I like to have

them in my two display cases. My larger of the

two needs to be fixed. There are empty shelves

there from things that I've sold. I have to rearrange

to account for all of my X -Men Marvel Legends.

And a lot of things are on shelves. Like any,

almost any space that has a ledge of some sort,

there are toys on them. Cool. Cool. If you could

only keep one toy from your entire collection,

what would it be and why? Basically, if heaven

forbid, the apartment catches fire, but you can

only save one thing, what would it be? I mean,

I love everything for different reasons, but

I guess for nostalgic reasons, it would be my

original rubber -headed Michelangelo from TMNT.

Mm -hmm. He doesn't have the accessories. He

doesn't have his belt. He's got a scratch on

his chest. It's it's not too bad It just looks

like minor battle damage, but I don't know I'm

I Of all the four turtles he was my favorite

always and I just have a lot of memories with

that figure very cool very cool And on the opposite

end and here's the toy box challenge you get

one 18 by 18 by 18 box The only toys you can

keep have to fit in the box. What can you pack

into it? Well, there go a lot of my roleplay

items. At least the newer ones. Like the Japanese

ones, as you go back, they get smaller and smaller.

So I would definitely take my boxed Jetman changer.

That's pretty small. Turtles. Probably a Skeletor

of some sort. I guess probably my classic Skeletor.

I'll take Panther with me to boot. Don't touch!

Hurry Skeletor, hurry! If they don't update him

any further, but I'm sure they will, it's the

retro -carded Amazing Spider -Man. Oh, very cool.

Even though he cannot fully raise his head up.

So I have him in a pretty cool crouching pose,

but his head is kind of down. So you have emo

Spidey. I just have to give him a little flip

of the hair. I might as well take Mary Jane with

me. Well, if you're going to take Spider -Man,

you might as well take Mary Jane. And this was

the assembled one using the body from the two

pack and the head that came with Gwen Stacy.

Interesting. Very cool. Anything else? Maybe

a... Not food fighters. Grocer gang. I collected...

I think I have. every figure that came out from

that line, and it was really nice to see something

that wasn't attached to some sort of franchise

or IP, and it was just really refreshing to see

at Toys R Us and Five Below. Would I take the

toilet with me? I'd probably take the green toilet.

Actually, now that we talk about it, I will also

take the fearsome flush with me, because that

was my dad's favorite real Ghostbuster toy. Very

cool, very cool. I have a crushed Vegeta figure

sitting on it. He looks stressed. Yeah, very

uncomfortable apparently. Are you a Funko fan?

I'm going to have to say no. I have maybe about

five pops because they're like very specific

ones. And you know, like you don't find many

collect collector pieces of whoever it's about,

or there's just something about it that made

it a little more presentable than like a regular

one. Hence the Skeletor on the throne pop that

I have. I probably wouldn't get a regular one,

but you know, it's, it's got all the attitude

in it. So I couldn't really say no. The only

regular one I want because I don't have it currently

is the Terror Claws Skeletor. Okay. Off the top

of my head. I don't have my phone next to me.

I believe he was. A target exclusive, but I don't

think so I'd have to look it up later Because

that's different enough like battle armor Skeletor

I had anybody can have battle armor Skeletor

regular Skeletor anybody can have regular skill

like my he man the one he man figure I do have

Well, I do have Prince Adam because Prince Adam

is a separate character even though he really

isn't but like for me with the like Getting an

actual version of he man. I have a slime pit

he man, which was a GameStop exclusive So he's

basically looks like he's all covered in it looks

like he spent a day at Nickelodeon Studios kind

of thing So that's very cool So yeah All right,

what was the most money you spent on a toy or

a collectible item that is deemed to be a toy?

Are we accounting for shipping? I guess. Sure.

I mean, I think with shipping, this beats out

the Sentinel. Okay, with with shipping, I think

he's like 350 is I spent $400 roughly on a collector

grade. So this is meant to fit an adult, not

a kid. common rider Kiva belt and you know, it's

it's got Voice activated commands that this was

properly imported rather than me having to go

like get an overseas shop to send it to me. So

the instructions were in English, even though

if you're to talk to the device, you have to

speak in Japanese. Okay, which is fine by me.

I have I have other devices which our voice our

Japanese voice activated. And it's it's fun to

do. It's got a little bat in the center and he

kind of acts as a little buddy in the show. And

you pull him off and like he chomps on your hand

and then you have to put these little slot things

into his mouth. And it gives you different powers

and whatnot. However, if it's boxed up right

now, but in order for me to take it out of the

box and show someone it's a nightmare because

everything is individually bagged. And there

are multiple pieces to it. And you want to be

delicate Oh, God. I think I might have only opened

it once. Can you tell folks, being a toy collector

is very stressful. Oh my god, is it ever. What

toys are you collecting or actively searching

for right now? Well, if Target would somehow

get me a nature blood. I mean, seriously, I was

going to say, is it that hard? But yes, it is

that hard. I hit four different targets yesterday.

Nothing. Now I'm sure if he's going to hit the

pegs in this area, it's not going to be for a

while. But I'm starting now. I hunt regularly

for modern things at target. And if I search

long and hard enough, I typically eventually

find them. I did wind up finding Baroness. By

the grace of God, I found Baroness. So, I'm hoping

over the next month or two I'll be able to come

across him. Very cool, very cool. This feels

like the same question, but what modern and or

vintage toy lines are you collecting right now?

So, yeah, it is kind of the same damn question.

I gotta redo some of these questions. I only

answered one figure. There are plenty of lines

I'd like to collect. Like that new Ninja Turtle

line. They look really nice, but they are so

expensive. I've been waiting forever for essentially

a continuation of the Mattel Thundercat line

because this is something I've been waiting forever

for. However, at this point, it has taken them

so long to get off their asses and make this

happen. And at the price point that they're at,

there's no way I can keep up with this. And it

crushes me to say that. If they make a hammer

hand, I will definitely get him. I do not have

any of the Ninja Turtle line. However, I am on

the fence about getting that variant mutagen

man. And if I were to only own one figure from

that line, it would 100 % be Ace Duck. Of course.

I will get him. There are so many, I also get

Marvel Legends regularly, there are so many vintage

lines that pop up in my head. Maybe I'll start

collecting this or maybe I'll start collecting

that. And then they just kind of go by the wayside

and I never wind up starting them. I would love

to get an entire Minton card collection of the

Dark Knight collection for Batman. I have one.

Which is the Iron Winch Batman, which was my

very first Batman figure. The card is pristine.

I forget if it's punched or not. It might not

even be punched. Or it's punched, but it's not

punched out. There you go. You know, the Batman

animated series would be nice. I have a card

to Joker, but that's it. I don't know how done

I am getting Jojo's Bizarre Adventure figures.

I have like the main Jojo and the main villain

from each arc of the original timeline, not the

rebooted one from that has two different stories

going on. Those are expensive. So usually like

once that once I haven't really read that part

of the manga. So once I do, I'll probably get

more attached and then we'll immediately want

to buy the products for it. There you go. That's

what that's my big problem. That's that's usually

somebody's you know, it's usually all of our

big problems. We see something where it's like

oh This reminds me of this or oh, I like watching

this cartoon. I want to own a piece of this cartoon

whichever cartoon anime whatever you want to

call it like and again Say what you will about

the movie and I don't know why he loves those

toys so much, but maybe As a kid, Josh loved

Waterworld and, you know, maybe that's why he

has those toys, but, you know, it just depends

on who you are and what you like, I guess. Yeah.

Do you visit toy shows or conventions? When they're

happening? Absolutely. New Jersey seems to be

a hot spot for a lot of conventions. But I haven't

been to many out in that state in a while. There

is ZoloCon, which normally happens in the fall

in this area. There is also RetroCon. I'm sorry.

ZoloCon happens in the winter. RetroCon happens

in the fall. And I try to go to that in varying

degrees. Sometimes I'll go in and I'll mingle

and I'll be there for a couple hours. Hopefully

I have someone with me. Or there are other times

where I'm by myself and I know exactly what I'm

looking for. I'll make two rounds of the floor,

the selling floor, and be out within like 45

minutes. Wow. I know what I want. That's good.

What do you think it is about our generation

that causes our childhood toys to mean so much

more to us than, for instance, our parents' generation?

Well, I mean, I think a lot of it comes down

to the the way they were branded with all the

cartoons as a as kids because I How the rule

go did they not have that before like 1981 82

and then they They had all the tie -ins to happen

after that So like you have all the mythology

that's presented to you that you know You store

basically in these figures and then you have

your own mythology that you may make up and then

you To bring them together and it's just one

giant hurricane of the starter. Right. What is

your motivation for purchasing toys to display

to play to fiddle to I don't know, hang upside

down like a bat mostly to display and to fiddle.

I'm more of a fiddler, not necessarily a player.

My process with a lot of action figures or toys

are that I will buy it, bring it home or, you

know, it comes in the mail and I'll open it and

I'll keep it on the coffee table for about a

week. Play with it. More so just fidget with

it. Play with the joints. Make sure everything's

working. Make sure the joints are loose enough.

Not too loose. Heat anything up that needs to

be heated. And then once I figure out a way to

incorporate it into the collection at large,

I will or just box it up and put it in the closet.

Very cool. Have you ever purchased a toy for

a child with the anterior motive of playing with

it yourself? Uh, not yet. Uh, I have a niece

now, so that will be in due time. So we'll see

how her personality blooms in the next coming

years. Okay. So how old is she currently? Was

she just born? She's two months. Okay. So she

was just born. Yeah. And thank you for, yeah.

Okay. All right. So. Question 29 is have you

ever purchased a vintage toy for a child because

you enjoyed it as a child? For you, I'm going

to modify that question and ask it this way Which

vintage toy that you loved as a child are you

going to be getting for her? Hmm I mean that's

that's a little tough because I I don't know

what type of personality she'll have whether

you know, it's like, I don't care about playing

with boys toys or you know, you want something

gender neutral. Oh, you know, it'd be a good

one. So was the initial run of Power Rangers

was that after your time? No. So do you remember

those gloves that they made? And they eventually

made boots, which had little Yeah, had little

activation chopping features. And then when you

crossed your arms, it would play the theme song.

Yep. So I had the Blue Ranger and the White Ranger

and my sister had the Pink Ranger ones. And we

had a ton of fun with them. My parents loved

them. We would bust them out when they'd have

friends over. They would all get a kick out of

that. That seems like a pretty solid choice if

they were ever to remake those. And what I mean

by as far as me not being completely out of it

is I knew what they were. I wasn't actually because

by the time Rangers came around, I was 13 to

15. So but I still know what you're talking about.

I've seen them. So yeah, that's that's very cool.

All right. Do you do it? Are you a toy customizer?

Do you do any modifications or anything like

that? Painting, building dioramas, that kind

of stuff? I had done some modifications in the

past when I met Josh for the first time. albeit

for five minutes. Even though we've known each

other for a couple years now, I've only met him

in person for about five minutes. He sold me

a number of food fighters. And they were a little

worse for wear. I mean, they weren't terrible.

They just had some wear marks. So I went and

bought some model paints that matched them and

touched them up pretty well. And after that,

I would... In case I had a figure that just wasn't

meeting my needs, like I got the movie Doctor

Strange from the Marvel Legends wave, but his

temples weren't white enough, so I just touched

them up. And then I wasn't happy that they gave

us a more modern slash, I think, video game looking

Dormammu. from the build a figure from that set,

which was just a carry over from the book of

Ashanti set. Right. So I took like the skirt

piece off and then I tried to color him more

classic classically. But then Hasbro announced

that they're going to put out a vintage looking

Dormammu, which my one friend already has. So

I will be looking for that in the meantime. And

like he the one I have is in is in pieces in

a bag, which I've long since given up on. And

at this point, yeah, there's no reason to continue.

Dioramas. Abso -freaking -lutely. I have a Monster

Island diorama for my Godzilla and Ultraman figures.

When I had my Master's figures, I did some backdrops

out of foam, which were made to look like Castle

Grey Skull and Snake Mountain for each faction.

I still have those. They're really neat. I don't

want to get rid of them. even though I have no

purpose for them at the moment. I built a Japanese,

I guess you'd call it castle interior. If you

remember, The Fouche did the Articulated Icons

Ninja series. And I went essentially all in with

that. So I needed somewhere for them to hang

out. So I have this little diorama that looks

like a little Japanese castle room. It's all

fabricated and it's got stuff everywhere. It's

a little neat, but I have nowhere to put it.

It's been sitting in my second bedroom on the

floor for a couple years now. But then I also

ordered, which it's supposed to be coming this

month, but I don't think it is. It is a city

diorama set for your Ultraman or your Godzilla

figures. And so I this is something I've been

dreaming of for years so much that I bought two

of them and they weren't necessarily cheap. So

I have to figure out a way to build a giant city

setup for my Ultraman figures which is going

to be pretty sweet. And then the Sentinels coming

in August or so and I want to have a full diorama

setup for that to be fighting the giant size

X -Men team. Very cool, very cool. So I have

already started preliminary sketching and just

test pieces so I kind of know what I'm doing

once I finally get to it. So I'll probably have

that done by the end of the summer. Very cool,

very cool. Do you think toy companies should

specifically have adult collector toys, toys

for children, or find a way to mix both? I mean,

I thought it was kind of cool how in the early

to mid -2000s they did a good combination of

mixing kids toys with adult collector toys, or

they were technically geared towards kids, but

they were given the aesthetic that a collector

would gravitate towards. Hence like the 2000X

line, Marvel Legends, I mean they were sold in

toy stores, and I've seen enough videos where,

you know, you're supposed to gear these initially

two kids, but people like you and I buy these

things up. So I, I think by having both in one

toy, it would help bridge the gap between kids

and collectors. Or not even that, like a collector

graded toy, as long as it's not brittle, like,

let's say a NECA figure, be able to don't I,

for lack of a better term, market down to kids.

We're taking down the kids, but like marketing.

Oh, well, you know, you're eight years old, you

need something super kidified and whatnot. Like,

no, kids aren't stupid. You know, they're not

going to screw around with that. And then if

they lose an accessory, they lose an accessory.

Right. Yeah. Do you have a my parents got rid

of my toys story? Yes. So I got to an age probably

like early teens, where I was revisiting all

of my Ghostbuster toys that I still had. And

I tore our house to pieces looking for the Ghost

Trap roleplay item. Because that was hands down

like my favorite Ghostbuster toy ever. Looked

and looked and looked never found it and then

I eventually asked my mother She said she didn't

know and then she eventually came back to me

and said oh I think we gave that along with some

other things to our family friends kids who are

a couple years younger and Okay, let me let me

get in contact with them and see if they still

have it and they didn't have it. Oh Wow Yeah

So it had eluded my grasp however, I do have

the Maddie collector one There you go. Was there

ever a moment when you were done with toys? Have

you ever considered stopping as a collector or

even selling your entire collection? I don't

know. Define how done we're talking about. Like

you've reached a point where your apartment will,

it's exploding at the seams. It will not hold

any more toys. Like you're just done. Uh, the

way Dave put it in episode 100, if they stop

making the three and three quarter inch or four

inch line for Star Wars, he will stop collecting

Star Wars kind of thing. Um, I mean, I, I feel

like I'm in the same boat as a lot of people

where they graduated high school, went to college

for a couple of years, and then they kind of

grew out, not necessarily grew out of it, but

they didn't really have the means to keep up

with it. or have space for it. Right. You know,

it's in the dorm room. There was me, I'd say

maybe only like a year where I didn't collect

anything. I mean, I did here and there, but as

a whole, I did not. Then like episode three toys

came out and then I, I got everything started

to fill up some of my shelves in the the dorm

room. I mean, there have always been little ideas

that popped in my head, like, what if I stopped

or what if I sold the whole thing? Because as

much as I love the stuff, the more you have,

the more complicated it gets. And to be honest,

the more exhausting it gets, but you're still

kind of hooked to it because you just want the

most iconic version of one particular thing.

But here are a couple hundred things that you

want the most iconic thing for. And if I just

got rid of it, it would wipe the slate clean

and - You know what to do. The clean slate protocol,

sir? You'd have to start all over again and find

everything all over again. Well, yeah, there's

that too. I'm sure if I just gave it all up,

there would be some point where it's like, okay,

let me start doing this again. Yep. And I wouldn't

want that to come and bite me in the ass again.

Yeah, you're you're young enough where if you

needed to start over you could but you don't

want to at this point Yeah, what is something

that does not have a toy of it. You'd love to

have it in toy form. I I think we discussed this

in the other episode, but I would love a hot

toys for all Julia and bison Or at least any

bison that looks like roll Julia Yep, that's

right If he had a little talking like box in

the back of his in his back that would you like

I can't quote it, but you know, it's like I come

down Yeah Yeah, you'd have to just rip that out

of the movie because obviously it's not like

they've got his voice frozen on ice. Yeah So

sad, but yeah that that would be very cool What

is a toy that you'd love to have scaled up and

functional for real people so so like for instance

Let's say like a communicator and Power Rangers

that actually work. Yeah I'm in any sort of Well,

they do scale up the common rider belts, but

they don't technically transform you in the common

rider So I guess those those are off the off

the shelf as though those get made. I feel like

most of the things that I want have been scaled

up at this point. How have your past significant

others, mates, partners, whatever you want to

call them, dealt with your collection? Well,

Mallory, my ex of, it's been about four years

now, she was fine with it. I mean, I'm sure if

it got to a point where it got real bad, she

would have spoken up and said something. And

I made it a point to make sure that I wasn't

hoarding toys too much when I was with her that

I made sure that I sold stuff. So when we were

together, you know, I boxed up a bunch of stuff,

went to a couple of conventions, or the local

toy store around the corner from me and I sold

stuff. However, the past four years of dating

has been a little tricky. So I, I feel like there

are some people who say they're okay with it,

but there's, but are secretly not. Yeah. Like

there have been some people that I've dated and

they've come over and I always give them the

warning that it kind of looks like the 40 year

old Virgin's apartment or house or whatever it

was. Right. I was like, just so you know, so

you're prepared. And I think there have been

a number of times where they seem to be like

cool with me and then I show them the apartment

and then I don't hear from them again. Well,

then that wasn't the right person for you then,

obviously. Right. I'm always struggling with

that. Yeah. Speaking of struggling, what part

of collecting do you struggle with? I mean, after

what I said about turtles and thundercats, it's

got to be the price point. Yeah. I have a lot

of Marvel Legends that I want and they're starting

to creep up again. My Spider -Man. collection

is near towards what I want it to be. I have

a lot of the X -Men that I want. All I really

want are more Fantastic Four characters. I'm

by far cherry picking Marvel Legends more than

anything now. The price point and just like how

much fun can I actually have with this? Because

I think I suffer like a lot of other people do

where we we buy to fill a hole and Right super

excited when this thing is coming and you can't

wait for it to come and then it comes and you

open it up and you play with it and then it goes

on the shelf and then you feel the urge to get

something else because that that rush is gone.

Yeah, absolutely. That's kind of in You find

listeners are gonna hear me say this every time

because that's just the way it is That's why

like I look at that leader class Galvatron the

one that's either out now or coming out for a

Transformers Kingdom The one that's the fully

accurate to whatever Yeah, and I'm like that

looks amazing. I would love to have it, but I

don't need it because it's not First of all,

it's $50. I can buy I could By single -packed

five McDonald's Funko ad icons, Ronald, Grimace,

Bertie, Hamburglar, and the McNuggets or whatever.

I look at that thing and I love that they've

done it. I love that it's there. Same thing with

the Commander Class Rodimus. For me, the biggest...

thing that I have a problem with is the price

point. And I understand why the price point is

there. I'm not saying it should not be there,

but because I am on such a strict budget and

right now, my focus is Funko. It's like, I admire

that from afar and I'm okay with that kind of

thing. But yeah, you're right. Price point is.

Yeah, that's kind of why like I will be interested

in an item that I I don't have any real connection

to, but I kind of wanted. So I will just go on

YouTube and watch reviews for it. So I kind of

get a feel of what I would be experiencing if

I were to buy it, because I experience it and

then I move on. Yeah. So by by doing that, you

know, I just get what I need out of it and then,

you know, focus more on what I actually want.

There you go. What is one positive and one negative

memory you have with buying toys? I think I can

bundle them into one instance. Oh. Well, that

would be working at Toys R Us. Okay. So, I mean,

it was equal parts great and a nightmare to work

at. Also, my collecting habits got way out of

hand when I started working there. Because the

one friend I made there was a huge collector,

and he collects all the Marvel Legends. All the

dc classics at the time all the master stuff

so it had me experimenting with things. Like

i like i said with transformers that. I'd like

okay let's see if this works if this plays out

and sometimes it doesn't in that case and then

like i started buying up all the dc classic stuff

even though i wasn't a dc guy but he got me into

dc stuff so i spent way too much there. But I

also got first crack at a lot of things. I remember

the Solo Twins wave of the three and three quarter

Star Wars figures. Those were like impossible

to find. The one, was he like assistant manager

or something like that? So there was a locked

closet in one of the office rooms. And it's like,

hey, come back to the office. He opens the door.

He throws this box at my feet. Pick what you

want. So I picked a bunch of them, including

the Solo Twins. I had never seen them in stores

after that. Wow. Very cool. If you could create

any toy, what would you want to create? So basically

whatever toy company, whatever it is, they give

you the keys to the kingdom and say you can do

whatever you want. What would you make? Well,

there's that Roll Julia figure. Right. And then

I'm going to go back to what I said when we were

on last time, the Machiko Saga box set of Rita

and all for other Super Sentai or Tokusatsu appearances.

I guess we've never gotten one that looks like

her. Right. What is the one piece of advice you

would give the toy collecting fandom? It's kind

of a mix of, okay, come on, they're just toys.

Try to think about things rationally and have

fun with it. I think that's going to be almost

everybody's advice at this point, which is just

have fun with it kind of thing. What is advice

you'd give to kids who enjoy toys? Don't be afraid

to enjoy it, because when you hit a certain age,

you're just going to be miserable like everyone

else. So soak up these times when you can. Absolutely.

All right, folks, we're going to take a quick

break and we're going to come back to close the

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And kinda like the kid who peeks at his Christmas

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Alright, we are back here on Toycast, and before

we close it out, you have anything you'd like

to promote, sir, or anything you want to share

with the folks? Um, I guess you can just find

me on... I mean, I'm on Facebook and Instagram

mainly. I know you point out that I still have

Twitter, but I don't use it. Um... But I think

my most snarky like I I enjoy Instagram more

than Facebook at this point Because I could just

put an image and be really snarky with it or

I can take something completely out of context

With no explanation to it. So you can find it

a dot dos baron And then on Facebook, it's a

period das baron Very cool. Very cool Alright,

thank you for joining us here on Toycast. If

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