Dave Draper on Toy Collecting Origins and Toy World Order

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

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Jazz here, and

I am so digging the Geekcast Radio Network. Cliffjumper,

commence countdown. Five, four, three, two...

Toycast oh yes Listen to the only toy podcast

you will ever need never I'll never turn to the

dark side 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'm a force TF2 and

Mike Joining me is Josh the floor burger. Hello,

sir. Howdy. Howdy. Howdy Howdy howdy howdy normally

Josh isn't here for origins because origins is

my thing and you know He's kind of flooding my

burger joint over here, but But because he is

a good friend of the guest that we are having

on you heard a little more it those are those

are very strong words, sir I know I wrote them

myself I'm aware he exists I think I can stick

him out of a crowd. Josh is the one that likes

anime, right? No, I think that's Daz. I don't

know. Oh yeah, he's a good kid. I like him. He's

the good one. He's a nice kid. Josh is that table

elitist anyway. Somehow, I've become a table

elitist because... Well, I think it's... Okay,

I missed that. I actually listened... I'm joking.

I am friends with Josh. And I listened to your

episode. We haven't even introduced me yet. I

don't remember table elitist? What is that? So

we wanted to go over the origins, but this is

weird. No, no, no. We had to go over the... It's

not weird at all. It is weird. It's actually

really weird, but the logic behind it is not.

So... We went over the background of how I got

the name Floor Burger and it sort of goes into

how you started calling me Floor Burger and it

just sort of devolved in picking us picking on

each other to Mike thinking I don't like tables

because I got named for someone who got drunk

and ate a burger off the floor. Okay. Well, you

leave my childhood hero alone. Yes, Michael.

Just keep driving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's

a whole other layer to that story, which is that

it wasn't really, it was, but it wasn't really

me doing it. I was doing it in character. Um,

so there is - Oh, so Flavid Dave returned. The

puppet, the puppet was the one that started calling

the floor burger. Oh, that's right. Okay, sorry.

Interesting. So - It's been a while since I've

seen the puppet. Yeah, that's because the puppet

seems to be in. Oh, no, that's a puppet seems

to be in hibernation. He seems to be, you know,

writing about it. He's happy to clam. He doesn't

actually have to do anything. And as you've heard,

ladies and gentlemen, we welcome back to Toycast.

You heard a snippet of his origin. in episode

100, but we are getting the full 42 - How long,

Snippet? How much did you edit? Um... I dunno.

What do you mean, like, a snippet? I was gonna

make a joke about how - It was like just yesterday

that I was on this thing, like, talking forever.

Well, this is episode 106, and episode 106 will

air sometime in the middle of August, I think?

I don't know off the top of my head. Anyway,

as you can hear, folks... When's his birthday?

He doesn't even know his best friend's birthday

folks. Alright, so as I've been trying to say

We welcome the Dave Draper from toy world order.

Hello You do know there was a bodybuilder in

the 60s named David Draper I was born in the

80s. So no, I didn't know that. Okay, they showed

the monkeys in the 80s which is how I know this

because I was in high school and they showed

they brought MTV brought back the monkeys and

he was on there as quote the bulk end quote and

if you're the fat kid named Dave Draper there's

nothing better than having actual screen credits

with your name saying the bulk so I love the

monkey oh I just hooked him up wow I think he

was in the minute work video uh land down under

but I'm not sure I always get that confused But

yeah, he was in the month and point being there

now I feel Draper Actually has actual IMDB credit,

so he according to this he was in Lord love a

duck don't make waves and he was in an episode

of the Beverly hillbillies I'm sorry. I finally

feel validated on this podcast because I am no

longer the oldest one here It's not because of

you, it's because of them. Josh and Dots are

so much younger than me, it's like, ugh. I know,

being two years shy of 40, I'm the young whippersnapper

in the room. Yes, yes you are. Alright, since

I did the introduction for the show, Josh is

going to start off the questions, and Josh is

going to be asking Dave 5 of the 42 questions.

Oh, is that my cue to go? Was that? That's not

helping. That would be it. Oh, that's my cue.

I swear to God, I'm going to start charging you

to be on this podcast. You make me edit more

and more crap out of it. Why are we editing this?

You know where to send my bills. So Mr. David

Draper, kind of an honor for me to be able to

do this interview. I do consider you one of my

inspirations, one of my early influencers for

collecting. So thank you for doing this. Really

appreciate it. You're welcome. So let's start.

Don't apologize. Please let me let me please

pass on my apologies to your wife. I was just

going to say it would be more of an apology towards

her. Right. Anyways, so number one, what is or

was the first toy you remember having as a kid?

Well, as I said in episode 100, I'm not afraid.

You will be You will be The earliest one that

I really remember having was an old Tonka Winnebago

camper I had forever and I like by the end the

interior was gone. It was just a hollowed -out

shell But I had it when I was a little little

kid I actually showed Mike a picture of me on

that Christmas when I got it and I was like four

or five And over the course of its life, it was

a sand crawler, it was the chase vehicle in numerous

Mad Max sequences that always ended with them

going over the stairs. So, yeah, that's probably

the oldest toy that I remember having. And then

I guess it came with figures, which I don't remember,

but they were like bendy kind of. They're like

the Evil Can Evil figure, almost. I have one

now, but it's not the one that I had as a kid.

Great. So, number two. And if we're getting a

little repetitive, I can modify some of these

to episode 100. So was there a particular adult

in your life who was very supportive of you playing

with toys as a kid, or anyone who was unsupportive

as a kid? Or let's even talk about, was anybody

supportive or unsupportive as you became an adult?

Excuse me. So ironically, it's kind of the same

person. It's my mother. When I was a kid, I don't

know about I supportive might not be the right

word, but like my dad kind of left when I was

about eight or nine And I didn't realize she

went back to grad school and I didn't realize

how When I was a teenager, I think or maybe just

out of college. I found food stamps in a desk

drawer I was like, when were we on food stamps

and she was like, oh it got bad. You just didn't

know But when Empire when the toys came out for

Empire Strikes Back I remember she came home

with a trunk full of all the new figures um for

me so um you know i think she knew that they

were important to me and uh uh she she never

let me know how bad things were and i always

seemed to have most of the toys i really wanted

um there were a few like the add -at or the fan

crawler the really expensive ones um i don't

think she could pull off but for the most part

i had most everything i really wanted uh now

After college, she was not particularly thrilled

that I hadn't moved on from toys. And that was

always an issue between us. She didn't like it

when I got into comic books in high school. I

think she didn't like that I was a nerd. I think

she wanted a sports ball playing, future doctor,

accountant, lawyer, adult man, person. I'm and

i was you know playing dd and reading comic book

with Wolverine but i keep telling you don't call

me. Snick and then after college i gave about

a year of working and going to school and i was

like this is terrible. I want to play with my

toys again. So i actually started collecting

right before right before star wars got hot and

i didn't even like i didn't know about the toy

shows. Like I really missed my window to get

in To get my collection really good. But yeah,

she she was not happy About me being a toy collector.

It's funny cuz my aunt man and actually thought

it was great. She thought it was awesome She

loved she loved going down and seeing my collection

and then towards the end every now and then I'd

like flying stuff on my porch The toy fairy would

show up and there'd be some random little Star

Wars toy that she found when she was like, you

know at the drug store or something and she thought

of me. So that's it. I think that's pretty incredible

that you mentioned that your mom really was able

to disguise or at least hide that you're going

through rough times and I think that's always

an incredible ability that parents can have sometimes

because even when I was going through similarly

rough issues as a kid from time to time or if

my parents were in a rough spot as well. I had

no idea. And I think moms sometimes have that

ability to cover that up with toys. So that's

pretty great that she was able to do that for

you. But at the same rate, not being supportive

as an adult, it's always hard to hear when a

parent might not be supportive because maybe

they think it's going to keep you from being

something. Like you said, she wanted you to be

something else. And I think that's what it was.

I think she felt it was holding me back. And

it might have been. I don't know. But, yeah,

I think she just wanted something else for my

life. Well, in the realm of that question, what

types of toys were your favorites to play with?

I think we kind of have an idea based on what

you've already talked about, but if you could

have a genre of toys that were your favorites,

your go to. He likes the He -Mans. Yeah, I love

the He -Mans. The weird thing is I've come around

on He -Man. I'll never be like a super fan like

Danny is. But I've really come to respect that

line and what it did. But yeah, I was an action

figure kid. I grew up in the era. Adventure team

was winding down. Niko was big when I was a little

kid. And then Fisher Price adventure people were

a thing right before Star Wars hit. The thing

is like my early Star Wars figures were actually

like the motocross bike rider from adventure

people had that orange jumpsuit. So he was in

pilot. You know, there's a gorilla and I know

it doesn't look anything like a Jawa but he had

like a like a dark mask around his eyes. You

know, that was the gorilla that went with the

Tonka Sandcrawler. You know, I was a little kid,

you know, and famously Star Wars toys didn't

come out until 1978. So for about a good six,

seven months, you know, we had to use what we

had. In fact, we didn't even know it was a thing

on the playground when word came out that they

were going to do Star Wars toys. So yeah, but

it was always action figures. Those were always

my favorite. Did any specific types of action

figures draw you in, though? Were you looking

for more articulated figures? Did they have to

match something you're after? Or if it was a

good toy, it was a good toy? I mean, when I was

a little kid, I don't know. I mean, you know,

when you're a little kid, I don't know that you

can be that picky about it. Migos were very articulated.

Is this the question? There's a question later

on, like what do you look for in a figure? I

think when I got a little older, I think it's

evolved over time. I think depending on when

I've been buying stuff, my criteria has been

different. When I was a little kid, I took what

I had. And that's actually kind of how I've come

around on Masters, because I think Masters is

a little kid line, which is not an insult. I

always compare it to Andy from Toy Story where

he throws all his toys on the floor and his imagination

like combines them all into one big adventure.

And that's Masters. You know, you've got, you

know, wizards and sci -fi army guys and cowboys

and ninjas. It's a little kid throwing all his

crap on the floor and playing with it. So when

I was a little kid, I just sort of played with

everything I had. When I got a little older,

it was Star Wars. It was the lights and stuff.

And then I got a little older than that and I

think I started to appreciate... I was always

more of an articulation guy than an action feature

guy. Specifically, that's one of the reasons

I was never big on masters, one of many. Another

one was the scale was different than what I was.

By that point, I was pretty locked into the form

scale. But yeah, and then nowadays, I sort of

look for sculpt and the idea behind the figure

and accessories. You know, I have a more of a

collector oriented mentality. It's weird as I've

gotten a little older and a little more collectory

articulation has become less of a Good thing

Because you know you have these Marvel legends

from like the old toy business days They have

like a million joints and all of them are loose

Yeah, and you know, they're like those little

stick toys that you know, you you crack on a

board or the The famous one is the Professor

X, which deliberately his legs were loose. But

some of those guys weren't supposed to be like

that to begin with, and now they are. So articulation

has become a double -edged sword. I know you

mentioned the word play pattern in your interview

a lot, which I like. I generally prefer not to

have mine dictated by what some grown -up thought

was cool. The one that I always use... is the

Indiana Jones figure, which had that spring -loaded

arm, which A, meant he couldn't do anything except

draw his gun or crack his little piece of string,

and B, that spring was, it broke. It broke easily,

and then his arm was useless. And this is Indiana

Jones, action hero, right? Like, I mean, he was

more of an action hero than any of the Star Wars

characters, really. I mean, he was getting in

fights and hanging from the back of trucks and

doing all this cool stuff. And the figure couldn't

do anything, which I think is one of the reasons

that line probably didn't go. I mean, it also

came out too late and they underpacked Indy,

but I think that Indy figure really is not a

good toy to play with. It's just, I mean, disappointing.

So I'm going to go off script a little bit and

jump off something that you just brought up.

about play pattern. So when you're younger, you

did the Toy Story Andy style, throw a bunch of

toys on the floor, make things happen, make your

own story. When you got to the more licensed

stuff like GI Joe and Star Wars, did you stay

pretty close to the script? Did you try to recreate

movie scenes or did you have the continuing adventures

of Luke Skywalker and the whole crew? Did the

movies ever impact how you played and interacted

with them? I think they impacted because they,

you know, obviously they influenced the direction

of the characters. Help! I think I'm melting!

This is all your fault! But no, I never tried

to recreate Star Wars. I mean, you couldn't.

Like, they didn't have all the characters. You

know, I mean, army building is a thing grown

-ups do. It's not a thing kids do because kids

are lucky to get a Stormtrooper. You know, like

I had one and there was no way, like my mom resented

buying... Luke Skywalker in different outfits

because I already had a Luke Skywalker, you know,

I was like, this is the best fit outfit, Ma,

this is what he's training with Yoda! And she's

like, you have a Luke. And that Luke figure was

terrible. That's another reason I never created

the, recreated the movies. That initial, I know

people think it's really clever, the slide lightsaber,

but that meant that his right hand couldn't do

anything. Exactly. And then for some reason,

Star Wars figures, their left hands were always

useless. They were always deliberately designed

not to be able to do anything. And this is actually,

ironically, this is how I learned when I was

a kid left from right. I had a lot of problems

with that. And then it was like all the Star

Wars figures had their right hand could hold

things and their left hands couldn't. Except

for Greedo. Greedo was the only left -handed

Star Wars figure. And for me, being born in 84,

that's after Star Wars came out. And even once

I started playing with toys, Star Wars was really

kind of coming to an end, if not at an end. So

imagine for me not knowing anything about Star

Wars. But I pick up a Darth Vader or a Luke Skywalker

with the lightsaber a hill but the blade has

already been pulled out. So what am I supposed

to think is happening with this figure? He's

solving mysteries with his flashlight. That's

kind of what it came down to. It was just dark

room adventure. Whoever I didn't know their names.

So yeah, you're completely right in my experience.

There's no such thing as luck So we're gonna

jump to back into the script for a second when

it comes to the things we're talking about Is

there a preferred label that you like to use

action figures doll toys play things? Plastic

doodads. Is there a label that you may use more

than others? Again, this is something that you

said I you know, they're all toys I mean if you're

talking about the little plastic men I prefer

action figures. Again, this was the thing you

said about play patterns. In my head, a lot of

people, it's weird, people have very weird arbitrary

definitions about things, and they get really

persnickety about it. And on another podcast

I used to be on, the host had a thing about that

an action figure had to be like six inches or

less, and then anything over that was a doll.

And I kept going, the term action figure was

created for G .I. Joe when it was 12 inches tall.

It was literally created for a 12 inch figure.

I don't care, it's a doll. It's one of those

weird things, it's very arbitrary. In my own

head, I sort of distinguish action figure and

doll by the play pattern. And a doll is something

you interact with as if it's its own thing. Like

a baby doll, right? You're the parent, it's the

baby. A stuffed animal, right? You're interacting

with that stuffed animal. And an actual figure

is like an avatar. You're projecting yourself

into it and having your adventures through that.

Unless you're pretending to be Godzilla, which

I did a lot. It's sort of like the difference

between having a one of those DigiPets or Gigapets

or whatever they're called, where you're taking

care of something and an actual video game where

you're playing in like Call of Duty or something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And in fact, that's kind of

how I... Kind of how I see, to me modern video

games are kind of like playing with your action

figures. The good ones are anyway. So, the bad

ones are like you're locked into somebody. Somebody

basically, this is my novel that I couldn't get

published, so now you have to walk around the

floors for an hour. So I'm gonna jump into one

last question before I pass it off to Mike. When

it comes to your collecting style, when you go

out and decide what you want to get, is it that

you're a completionist? Do you like to tell a

story with your collecting? Are you a cherry

picker? Or do you just buy what you like? It

looks pretty. I would like it on my shelf. I'm

going to get it. It's very arbitrary. And it

depends on the line. Like I have different standards

for different lines. Star Wars is more aggressively

complete. But even Star Wars, I'm not a completist.

I'm not a completist on any line. Like with Star

Wars, my rule was one of every character or significant

variation. You know, a line like Transformers,

I cherry pick. You know, I get like Grimlock

and Shockwave. Others, you know, it just, it

depends. So sometimes I'll just see something

and I'll think it's cool and I'll want it. and

I'll end up getting it. So, you know, like the

other day, Jason was telling me about the Animorphs

toy line, which is a Transformers spin -off.

Apparently, they had a really rare combiner that

turns into a Tyrannosaur. And one of my things

with Transformers is I like the combiners. And

I like dinosaurs. I was like, ooh, he's like,

oh, it's very expensive, blah, blah, blah. And

I'm already on eBay. yeah yeah yeah expensive

okay um so now there's one on my shelf but it

was just like i i don't know animorphs i don't

care about anamorph but i like i kind of like

transformers i like tyrannosaurs and i like combiners

so it was a very impulsive thing as opposed to

like star wars where like in my head i have a

list of if they do this guy i'm gonna get that

figure if they do this guy you know like It depends.

It depends on the toy and a lot. I am a little

curious about a combiner animorphs because that

raises all sorts of questions about kids getting

slammed together into one larger creature. But

that's another... Think about the implications.

Yes, like little human centipede kind of stuff

comes to mind. I'm not sure. I was thinking more

Steven Universe, the fusion gems, but okay. I

went to a darker spot. Well, yes, clearly. It's

a good thing we don't mind the innuendos or don'ts

around here. Good guys or bad guys, which toys

were your favorites to play with the most? I

think good guys. It's weird to me. Not weird,

but it's interesting that so many people gravitate

towards the bad guys. And I get that they're

generally kind of... Like, I get that villains

tend to be more interesting because there's more

you can do with them. You know, a character like

Superman, you know, just is very constrained

by the nature of his character. Unless you put

him in a black suit. Well, unless you don't understand

who Superman is. In which case, like, you know,

in which case Batman was right in that movie,

he is a threat to us all. The minute Superman

stops being Superman, Christopher Reeve Boring

straight lace with all these rules. He is a menace

to the whole world He is a monster and every

movie that's ever you know every movie or comic

that's ever gone that route has proven that Like

that's superman's biggest disadvantage. It's

a quote disadvantage end quote isn't kryptonite

It's the fact that he's a good person like a

profoundly You know Superman isn't just Superman

because physical superiority to human he's better

than us like and and That's I love that about

that character. It's very comforting that you

know he is You know Snyder of course made him

Christ -like he's actually more Moses because

of the origins of the character But like that

that idea that there is a sort of angelic person

Being that that he's got all the power because

you know the minute you even if you give it to

Batman You're gonna be in trouble something's

gonna go wrong like you know obviously someone

like like Luther has it. It's gonna be terrible

But yeah, I like the good guys. I was always

more like playing with Han Solo and Chewie than

Darth Vader. Well, Darth Vader was a terrible

figure. But you know, I always liked the good

guys more than the bad guys. I think with G .I.

Joe, which was a little later on, the bad guys

sort of started becoming more appealing because

they had a little more character. But it's a

weird phenomenon to me that people like to identify,

especially with the 501st. Identify with like

the clone troopers and the clone troopers and

the faceless sort of cannon fodder of the Empire.

It's like You're the bad guys and you literally

have no personality Like it's really weird that

you want to be that as opposed to like, you know

Luke or Han or you know Or even even a rebel

with your own elaborate backstory, you know And

it's funny you say that and I kind of agree with

it Although there is apparently a Rebel version

of the 501st, I just don't remember what it's

name is. The Bad Batch? No, not the Bad Batch.

There's an organization that does Rebel cosplay.

Okay, well... This is before... Well, it was

way before... This is like 2010 is when I heard

about this. Okay. So it's funny you say that,

and if you're just looking at Star Wars Empire

and Jedi... I will agree with you, yes, why the

hell would you want to be the cannon fodder?

However, I'm still in the middle of this, but

I have not finished it yet. I'm in the middle

of watching Clone Wars for the first time ever.

I'm up to season five when they're starting the

whole Darth Maul art. That's when I checked.

I checked out after the one where Anakin meets

the Trinity, the Mother, Father, Mother or whatever.

I hate it when they do... It's the force, but

it's more the force. It's better than the force.

It's beyond the force. Stick with what the universe

George created. I don't like that stuff. Okay,

and that's fine. But my point was going to be

is that some of the clone troopers and the storm

troopers in that show actually have a lot of

personality, have a lot of character, even though

they all look alike. You're writing a show where

everybody's a clone. You're going to have to

do that. Yeah, absolutely. You don't really get

that from the movie. No, no, you don't. Yeah,

they are complete. They are essentially red shirts

of the Star Wars universe. And in fact, that's

one of the big criticisms of the third film is

that CGI clones versus CGI robots and they're

all killing and you don't really have a stake

in it when Anakin kind of the thing with the

Clone Wars, the TV show. Even though I did get

tired of it and checked out, it clearly makes

the prequel trilogy so much better. It seals

in all those gaps and makes Anakin so much better

a character. Even Jar Jar gets redeemed. He has

one really good episode where it's like... Jar

Jar's problem was always not so much the character...

Partly but like that Lucas didn't do anything

with him like if you think about like Jar Jar

was hated and then Dobby from Harry Potter was

hated in the same way when he first showed up

and then in the end he sacrifices himself and

he saves Harry and in burying him Harry wins

the trust of RIP. I mean the character serves

a point and and does stuff heroic Jar Jar does

nothing like the first film all he does is bumble

about and then the second film of course he created

the Empire because he gets tricked into it and

then the third film he shows up in a cameo Like,

there should have been a moment where Anakin

comes to him and says, where's Padme? Right?

She goes off somewhere. Like maybe she goes off

to Mustafar because she's like, oh no, everything's

out of control. We need to make common cause

with the Sephardists while we still can because

they've got a standing army. So she goes to Mustafar

and Anakin's like, where's Padme? And Jar Jar

dies protecting Padme and the twins. People would

have completely done a 180 on that character

if he had stood up to Anakin or stood up to Darth

Vader and died, but like died heroically. Yeah

What is George didn't get George didn't ask my

input on those? Well and George just created

that character because personally I feel that

oh the kids need a kid character the kids need

that Bumbling character. I'm sorry kids in 1999

were way smarter than that. Well, that's the

thing. It's like dry I honestly feel George created

that character because remember these movies

were a tribute to the movies he grew up with

and in those movies There was always that character.

That bumbling, stupid, cowardly, quote, comic

relief character. And I don't think George realized

that it was always not the white guy. Like, you

know, it was always the same ethnicity. You know,

sometimes it was an African person, sometimes

it was Chinese, sometimes it was, you know, Mexican.

But it was never the white guy. And George just

didn't get... He thought if he makes it a pink

alien, nobody's gonna like... make the connection

to the racist stereotypes that this character

has. And of course, then he cast an African -American

person to play the character and everyone went,

oh, they're doing this thing. And he was, but

I don't think it was malicious. I think it was

the kind of character in the movies he loved

and he just didn't think it through. He's like,

it's an alien. But it was a... Again, apparently

his kid loved Jar Jar. A lot of little kids loved

Jar Jar. Back in the day, when the prequels came

out, Jar Jar did like that character. There's

a great documentary called, I think it's called

The People vs. George Lucas. It's a couple years

old now. It's seven or eight years old. It's

before Disney bought the Star Wars. There's a

great moment where the dad's there with his kids

and he holds up Empire and the kid's like, and

they love Phantom Menace. And then there's another,

the part that always breaks me, is then they

cut to some French guy. Because the classic thing,

for those of you who are too young to know this,

the classic joke was that the French loved Jerry

Lewis, who was a comedian back in the day, before

he did the telethons, and he was very broad and

goofy and kind of stupid. The act was stupid.

And so the idea that the snooty, elite French

loved Jerry Lewis, who was kind of the Jim Carrey

of his day, was always kind of a running joke.

So of course the French guy's like, ah, Georger,

magnifique! Jerry Lewis and Jar Jar Binks, the

French. I don't know where we were going with

this, but we've gotten here. That's okay, because

we're at a tangent. A sunny impassioned defense

of Jar Jar Binks. There you go, folks. Jar Jar

ain't all that bad. Like everything else in the

prequels... I think when somebody who really

cared about writing and character got a hold

of him, they fixed him. That's the whole thing.

The Clone Wars are great for fixing the prequels,

but the prequels work better as parts of a larger

story. By themselves they don't work, but as

part of a larger story where you see Anakin develop,

where you see him be heroic and good, and also

angry and flawed, and not just a creepy sex predator.

Where you see Jar Jar get to use the fact that

he lived on a swamp planet Help people and that

he actually knows stuff and he can do things

and he could be useful like it redeems the characters

100 % so Right, but at the same time I always

say it's like mash that thing went on like five

times longer than the war itself. So it's You

know, no, we're bringing back more clone wars.

Oh my god Number seven what is or was your favorite

toy vehicle or playset? Again, that's one that

probably, I'll just go with the Cobra Moray.

I think, probably my favorite G .I. Joe vehicle.

I have a soft spot for the Bug. Sadly the Bug,

I still have the box. So it's actually in the

box and in the background because the box is

big. So it doesn't really get the attention it

should because the Bug was amazing. It was like

nine vehicles in one. But I do love the Moray.

I think it's a cool looking vehicle. I think

it had fun play pattern. So, the Moray was probably

my favorite. When I was a kid, you really can't

go wrong with a big Millennium Falcon. That thing's

amazing. Yeah, it is. Did you and your friends

ever pretend with your toys that you had by this?

I mean, did you say, I'm going to be Luke Skywalker

and you can be Jar Jar Binks? Yeah. I mean, yeah,

I think all kids call dibs, you know? And I know

when we played J .I. Joe's, like, we called dibs

on the cool Joe's. And with Star Wars, I think,

you know, because you couldn't have two Skywalkers.

I seem to remember more people called dibs on

Han. Like, Han was the cool guy. Luke, again,

Luke had a bad figure. Although, if you used

X -wing Luke, it's kind of, get around. And then,

of course, we took like a little, you get like

an extra X -wing Luke and then you take a little

marker and make like a mustache and he'd be big.

So, but yeah, yeah, I think I know that we did

that. What features define a good toy to you?

How true does the item feel in comparison to

the source material likeness? Basically, you

keep saying that Luke had a bad figure. What

made him so bad? The lightsaber, the lightsaber.

Okay, multiple things. Number one, the vintage

Star Wars toys, especially the early stuff, is

all nostalgia. Those figures are not good. Although

the weird thing is the body sculpts are actually

very detailed, but the head sculpts are very

generic. Again, they have one useless hand. They

have, you know, very limited articulation. The

Luke... Luke, Darth Vader, and Obi -Wan had the

lightsaber thing, which meant they were... Unless

you recreated a lightsaber fight, they were useless.

And then Luke's was yellow, which, you know,

wasn't accurate in the movie. So, I think...

a certain degree of articulation. When you say

toy, obviously we're talking about action figures.

What makes Legos good or what makes some other

thing a good toy might be completely different.

For an action figure, I think you need some articulation.

I don't like action features. I want to play

with my toy. I don't want to have that dictated,

again, by some adult who's just trying to come

up with a gimmick. I want to be able to have

action with my action figures, not just, oh,

he flips. He flips again. Some of those are cool.

The first time you do them, if you're actually

playing with them, then they don't really...

I can't remember if Josh said this or not, but

the one company that got really good at it was

Toy Biz with their Lord of the Rings figures

and some of those early Marvel figures where

they had action features. But you could still

they still had articulation and they still had

an ability, you know Like you'd hear the racks

clink and you'd get a little nervous But like

you could still play with them and then they

still did the dumb squeeze his leg and his arm

twitches slightly. Yeah It's so exciting It is

interesting how action features and you put it

you hit the nail right on the head is that? Some

adult somewhere else some toy company is dictating

how you should be playing with this toy you're

using your imagination for And I think that was

limiting for a lot of kids like us. I know for

me it was very limiting of what and who I would

actually buy. If it didn't do what I wanted it

to do, I wasn't going to get it. I would quickly

add, one of the things I love about GI Joe particularly

is his accessories. Stuff. Like Joe's came packed

to the gills with stuff. Of course it all got

lost and it cost me a fortune now. But as a kid,

I loved all the extra stuff, gear, accessories.

Animal companions the best Joe's always came

with an animal So like stuff like articulation

and accessories, you know now as a collector

obviously the the faithful to the source, you

know faithful to the source procedure is a weird

thing that really only comes up with like License

property. I mean, yeah Joe was his own thing.

Yeah, it was it was faithful to us Yeah, Joe

transformers like, you know The cartoon might

not have matched them, but the cartoon came after

Star Wars of the big toy lines was weird because

it was its own thing and the toy lines chased

it Where everything else was the toy lines and

then the cartoons and the comics and everything

chased the toy and GI Joe was special because

of course the Larry Hama connection The comics

were very tied in with the toys themselves whereas

the cartoon was kind of off on its own weird

little universe I think the thing about how true

does the item feel in comparison to the source

material likeness is more of like Say you have

a and I know there are some of these out there,

but I don't know what line there I don't know

what year what what say you have a talking optimus

prime But instead of the awesomeness of Peter

Cullen, it's like the crappiness of Neil Kaplan

Kind of like say you have a 1984 g1 optimus prime

that has a voice box But it's not the guy you

hear and see on TV. So that's kind of more the

thing with the lightness part of it. Well, yeah,

that's also very specific. Well, that is, yeah.

The funny thing is, I'm thinking about it, because

my favorite Optimus Prime is actually called,

I have the Japanese version, they released him

in the States later on at Target, but the one

I have is called Super Fire Convoy, which turns

into a firetruck, and I have the Japanese sound

chip. So, like, you're talking about Peter Cullen,

I'm like, this Japanese guy's like, hey, hey,

Super Fire Convoy. I'm like, you know, I love

you, Peter, you're amazing, but this guy's great.

Like, I don't know who he is, but like, super

fire convoy. This is awesome. And he's got little,

little tiny missiles that will absolutely cause

you to choke and die. Cause Japanese toys are

amazing. So, and then he had the thing where

he like the cab transformed into a robot. And

then the trailer transformed into like a bigger,

you know, like a Magnus, ultra Magnus kind of

situation, but it was all in one toy. Which is

always like, I always thought that was stupid

that Optimus's trailer just transformed into

a into a gray plastic sheet of plastic. And it

still does that to this day, if you get the current

version. Hey, you leave Roller alone. Roller

was awesome. Roller was fine, but I'm just like,

Superfire Convoy was like, I'm Superfire Convoy

and now I'm bigger, cooler Superfire Convoy.

And then he could combine with the Ultra Magnus

that he did. Looks like it's crazy, man. That

was a giant toy. Doesn't Deval have that? I have

that. Oh, you have the, you have both versions?

I have, well I have, I have the American version

of Magnus, but I have the Japanese version of

Super Fire Convoy, whatever it is. I need to

find out. I know they released with Target. I

have the Super Fire Convoy. I have to find out

if it's the Japanese or the American one. I don't

know. Does he come with tiny, tiny, tiny missiles?

Up and down the the ladder and they're kind of

connected like a fish spine almost like I would

describe it Like they don't they don't fire out.

Yeah, you got the American version chief. No

bummer You can't kill yourself with that toy

What am I gonna do on Sunday afternoon I don't

know. Well, let me ask the next question. Damn

it. No We're gonna be here for four hours 42

questions takes four hours, which means it's

I'm gonna I'm gonna take Instead of 15 hours,

it'll be 25 hours to edit the damn thing anyway

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's his fault. He's

like, please please please Can I do the Dave

Draper interview with you and I'm like, I guess

Everybody this is Troy cast with Mike Blanchard

and the format Hey, I don't get that kind of

attitude from my dog. You know, I mean... I really

don't. She's a badger hound. We don't care. Oh,

stop. Does toy packaging matter to you? What

does toy packaging have to have to draw you into

the figure itself? Okay, this is another one

that split between when I was a kid and now.

Kid? No. Not at all. It was an impediment. It

was a thing to get through. Now, yeah, the retro

packaging gets me. Again, it's nostalgia. I now

buy toys. When Power of the Force 2 first came

out, I bought a bunch of extras. Keep them on

the cord, sell them, and blah, blah, blah, and

make money. Yeah, great. That worked out. But

now that I think Hasbro has figured out the concept

of nostalgia and that collectors have money after

30 years. Yeah, those adult people that are weirdos

and we don't like they'll spend money on things.

Maybe we should cater to them It's crazy, but

it seems to be working. So when I do the Star

Wars retro cards I love it just goes right back

to that childhood the happy moments I think I

think it's I honestly legitimately Nostalgia

factored in I think it's better miles better

than modern packaging especially like the dumb

Monochromatic cards with like somebody's head

at one of the corners Those are just lame because

you you see the kid like with Star Wars especially

you see the character you see it in context Like

even the weird ones you don't know you know they

were in the movie because there's a picture of

them from the movie right, so I think the Star

Wars packaging is better and then the vehicles

and stuff again like you get these cool little

scenes of you know them In the moment, you know,

Stormtroopers running the William Falcon or the

Ewok Village, you know, Princess Leia saying

goodbye to Luke when he took off in the action.

They were cool. They were little vignettes and

they were cool in a way that just like, you know,

like the window boxes are fine because you're

seeing what you get. And I can't knock that.

I do like being able to see what I can get. But,

you know, as a general rule, unless it's nostalgia

oriented. And I think G .I. Joe is kind of the

same way. Like G .I. Joe, it was like you saw

the character. Because, you know, the figures

themselves, the sculpts weren't always the best.

But you saw the character in this really cool

art and this really dynamic pose. I can't remember

if this is the question where we talk about stuff

like file cards. I like the file card. I was

never beholden. I never considered myself beholden

to them. Because again, I watched the TV show

which didn't really match up with the file cards

that well. So I was already used to the idea

that they were too... I think people are smarter

than Hollywood and other people think they are.

We can figure out that there's two different

things going on, two different continuities.

So it was a good guide, and if there was something

interesting, you'd use it. Like I think, I can

never remember his name, but one of the early

ones, the jumper, parachute guy, he was one of

the few Native American characters. He had like

psychic powers, which is mentioned on the card.

They actually used on the show. It was weird.

They used that on the show. I don't think they

used it in the comics. Just stuff like that.

Like little tidbits. Because, again, with G .I.

Joe, the toys come first. So you don't know anything

about them. You just know they look cool. And

then there's a little bit more about them and

their deal. And you can take that or leave it

as you did. And that's kind of how I did it.

Same with the Transformers. You kind of took

what seemed cool and kind of forgot about the

rest. So it was a nice bonus, but I never felt

locked into it. But that was a cool thing. And

then the other, I will say the one thing about

modern packaging, that sucks, falls. And it gets

me every, especially with Transformers, I don't

know why Transformers are the worst, but it gets

me every, probably because I'm less of a Transformer

fan than anything else, so I'm less familiar

with what's out there than anything else. Every

time I'll see a new thing on the shelf, my first

instinct is to flip it over, flip it around,

and see what else is out there. And they, some

lines do it, but a lot don't anymore. And it's

just like, oh, that sucks. Like, I want to know

what else is out there. So the thing with Transformers

packaging, as far as I know, I'm no expert. I

don't work at Hasbro. I know nothing. Okay? No.

Man, it sounds like Darth Vader's in this room

with us. Anyway, as far as I know lately, what

they've been doing is they want you to see the

figure, the character on all sides. so they'll

have obviously whatever's on the front of the

package they'll have a side shot or some sort

of mural on the side and on the back they'll

have some sort of like say on the front it's

in vehicle mode or beast mode or whatever you

want to call it the alt mode and say on the back

you see a full shot of the robot after you do

that and you include the 19 steps or whatever

it is that it's supposed to take to transform

the thing There really isn't a lot of room left

on the package for the cross -sell. Now thankfully,

thankfully my Funko Transformers number 44 Optimus

Prime, I can see regular Optimus, Bumblebee,

Megatron, Jazz, and Soundwave on the back of

it. So, you know. Not every, like, I think it's

actually kind of coming back. I know Marvel Legends

has, at least has headshots of everybody in the

wave. You know, and then they're really nice

because they tell you what part... Build a figure

come, you know comes with what figure we have

useful but in Star Wars I think generally does

it to just I think just transformers man I'm

always like I think because I don't know what

else like I see a new thing and I'm like I don't

know what else is out there because I don't follow

that one very closely the most like ah, I just

I want to look is there something cool is there

a You know, is there a shark to God? Is there

a new Grimlock? Is there something cool out there?

Yes, there is I know about it last week, right

Jason's got a thing for the movie based Transformers.

I don't know why. Because the movie came out

when he was a kid and he loves it. Oh, you mean

the real movie. I thought you meant the fake

one. Okay. Okay. Yeah. No, in that case, I understand

why. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Last question

before I hand you back to the floor burger. Do

you open your toys, or do you leave them packaged?

If you keep toys packaged, do you have any specific

criteria for doing so? Package figures take up

way more space and they're a little harder to

display. Unless you have a pegboard or something

specifically set up to display them, it's harder

to display. Again, I've been buying a lot of

the, you know, because we're into like the 40th,

50th, blah blah blah anniversary for Star Wars.

So I've been buying a lot of stuff and like finding

space on the wall to hang them up. I like the

retro carded stuff. So if it's retro carded,

I will generally display it in the package. Some

toys if they're expensive enough, I'll leave

in the package because it's just like okay This

was fun. I've spent a lot of money. So I'm just

not gonna open it I know I know Jason rips up

everything regardless of how rare or expensive

it is. I do have a thing I didn't talk about

in episode 100 with like some of the the older

toy lines the vintage toy lines I collect For

some reason I'll always get one on the package

at the end that I leave Like everybody else will

be loose and then there's one Just kind of let

go of this is what the packaging looked like.

Butch and Sundance the early years. I've got

one figure left on the packaging. My beloved

Legends of the Wild West. I've got that one is

on the package because it was the only way to

get him complete because he was rare and he was

always missing his hat. But I've got it on the

package because it's displayed as part of a larger

collection. This is what the package one looked

like. Everybody else was loose because I need

that space. I'm very, very similar to that. So

I'm going to go ahead and take over. I've been

nice and quiet. So number 12, I think we're on

number 12. If we're counting, I don't know if

we are still counting anymore. As a kid, you

were only allowed to choose one toy franchise.

And I'm going to guess. I think I might know

which one. to collect from, which one would you

choose and why? See, again, it depends on when

you're talking about, but obviously the answer

would, I mean, for a big chunk of my childhood,

the answer would have been Star Wars. Yeah. A

little earlier than that, like I would have picked

my Shogun Warrior's Godzilla. Probably. It just,

it did, but Star Wars, yeah, Star Wars came out,

we've talked about this on my podcast, our podcast

for so many times. People don't understand what

the 70s were like as a kid. They were not kid

-friendly. TV was kind of kid -friendly, but

not even really super kid -friendly. Like, science

fiction movies were generally hard sci -fi, like

2001, Silent Running. Planet of the Apes seems

quaint and funny to us now, but at the time,

especially the early ones, were very kind of

heavy social satire. That first one, you know,

was kind of dark, and... just the kids movies

were like, watershed down was the kids movie

where rabbits murder each other. And there's

that Raggedy Ann and Andy movie that's just depressed.

Like the 70s were a time when the auctores had

taken over. Up until 75, you had like very grown

up movies and you still had grown up movies.

Into the 80s, you still had grown up movies.

But 75 Jaws was the first summer blockbuster,

which taught the studios, hey, these teenagers

don't have much to do during the summer and hey,

they got money. Then Star Wars came along and

I think just redefined cinema and changed them

and created the movies of the 80s. But before

Star Wars, if you were a kid, there wasn't much

out there. It was grim. You had cartoons, you

had reruns of Little Rascals and Batman. Star

Wars was a thing. You don't have anything like

that now. The closest is probably The Avengers.

But like, Star Wars had new competition. And

I think that cannot be undersold. When people

go back and watch that movie now, someone who's

born way after, like you are Josh, born in A4.

I mean, the movie's fine, it's good. The Empire

is kind of a classic. But like, you know, it's

hard to imagine that, you know, the problem the

prequels and the sequels have faced, aside from

many, many other issues, is that they were born

into a world where all the other children of

Star Wars already existed. The prequels came

out at the time of The Matrix. The sequels came

out when Marvel was a thing. Ironically, Disney

was competing with itself. It's hard to undersell

what that movie meant. And you also have to take

in consideration that the 70s was just an amazing

feel -bad era. We had lost the Vietnam War. We

had Watergate. We had a president that was a

criminal. Who was thinking about using the army

to stay in power apparently like it was it was

dark times. We had the oil crisis we just it

was you know, America thought that everything

was kind of lost and Then you had this movie

come along that was hopeful and old -fashioned

and exciting and you know, it's gonna be okay

and it's gonna be you know It also coincided

with Star Trek being in syndication becoming

a huge thing which again was very hopeful and

optimistic and and I mean, at the end of Superman

2, Christopher Reeve returns to the roof of the

White House and he's flying there and the American

flag is blowing in the wind. And he said in an

interview, we couldn't have done this ending

like five years ago. It would not have gone over.

But Star Wars was hopeful and that's why it's

such a big deal. For those of you who don't understand

looking at it now, it was something that was

not anything else. And so that's why, obviously,

that's why that toy line's gonna win. Like, just

hands down over Migo or, I assume you're talking

about whatever toys were available at the time.

As much as I like the Price of Venom people,

they were all generic people of the 70s. Like,

you're not gonna compete, they were better figures

than Star Wars figures, but you're not gonna

compete with Han Solo. So it's interesting that

you would pick Star Wars not only just for the

quality of the characters that you could get,

but also sort of the historical meaning behind

it. I think for me, I would have just chosen

what had the best variety or the best vehicles,

but there is a lot of symbolism behind that whole

era because it kicks off the undoing of the Vietnam,

what was it called, Vietnamization of the United

States. Like the Reagan era kind of undid a lot

of that. I didn't want to get too into political

stuff, but yeah, I mean, I think that was Reagan's

thing, was being optimistic about America. I

mean, probably. I think, you know, I think there's

something to having a leader who says, hey, I

like the country we live in. I believe in us.

As opposed to, we all suck. We should just suffer.

And it's like, okay. And I think that was also

visible in a lot of the toys of the 80s, too.

One of the big stinks about the new G .I. Joe

line at Walmart, the quote retro line, is that

they took away the tagline, real American hero.

G .I. Joe was very patriotic. It was interesting

because obviously, if you know G .I. Joe, the

October Guard were also good guys. The Russian

Special Forces were good guys too. They were

sometimes antagonistic to Joe, but in the comics

especially. But like, generally they were presented

as a common ally against Cobra. Cobra was the

real evil. In the comic, Cobra was homegrown.

In the show, apparently they were this quasi

Lovecraftian alien thing. Well, they weren't

aliens, they were from Earth, but they just were

like... Snake people or something reptile people

the lizard people that are still the lizard controlling

us now so popular. Yes As an adult collector

specifically looking back at the last 30 40 years

If you had to just choose one for your preference

for your taste Would it be vintage toys or modern

toys and vintage Lego? Lego just like I would

go with Lego. I would go with Lego Lego is amazing,

Lego is cool, Lego has a lot of different stuff,

and you can get it. I mean, it's expensive, but

when I see a thing, hey, there's a new Lego Batmobile

out. I can go to the store within two weeks and

have one. Like, I really regret that when I made

that choice to go down the nostalgia route with

action figures. that someone didn't go you should

really hear off in the leg of legos like retain

their value like. Ridiculously after two years

there with all the money it's insane and the

unique part about legos is that the only thing

i can think of off the top my head would be matchbox

cards maybe like linkin logs or something like

that but legos you can have pieces from. The

nineteen eighties that still fit the pieces from

today which there's not a lot of toy lines that

can say that we can combine two things so that's

an interesting aspect so there is a similar question

of this but i'm gonna go into it out there do

you feel you're coming to an end of your act

of collecting you've mentioned stuff like this

to me you've mentioned stuff on the show a few

times and if so what is kind of signified the

phase three what's been that stand out. sign

for you that maybe the sun is setting on your

act of collecting? Well, I mean, what's the line

that, I mean, when people, they always say, this

political party didn't, I didn't leave this political

party, this political party left me. That's the

standard thing that people on both sides say

sometimes. I, collecting kind of is leaving me.

Stuff isn't getting made. You know, Star Wars

has moved to the six inch scale, basically. J.

Joe's trying. although they completely pooched

the rollout on that. The stuff that I collect

isn't really getting made anymore. And some of

it's just, I don't know, I hardly go to stores

anymore. I still get up at 6 a .m. and it's weird,

but I don't do anything. I just sort of sit around

in bed. I used to be up and getting stuff done

and getting to stores and hitting them every

day. hitting every storm there was a period this

is like in the 90s right hit every storm town

in the morning i still remember one time i remember

one time i'm walking my dog in the park i'm like

oh if i if i hurry and get her done i can go

home and get to target before it opens i'm like

that's eight o 'clock how the hell was i in the

like nowadays i'm lucky if i get to the park

by noon it's just and if you go there's nothing

there there's and i know some of that I guess

some of it's COVID, some of it's, there's some

other stuff going on that production has been

disrupted or whatever or issued. But I mean,

it was kind of going that way before COVID. It

was just the, you know, and some of it's just,

I mean, how many times can you buy Skeletor?

How many times can you buy Cobra Commander? How

many times can you buy Luke? You know, like there's

just, there's very little that interests me or

excites me as a general rule. I can just sort

of order it on Big Bad, and I don't know, I'm

just, it's just losing something for me. I mean,

I'm still buying crap, but like, I don't know

if I'm gonna be like Jason, because I've already

got a lot of vintage stuff. I've got most of

the vintage stuff that I'm really particularly

interested in unless it's something heinously

rare or expensive. So I don't, I just, I don't

know, it's just, the companies really aren't.

Gagging me and the one company that really kind

of had my interest for a while there with the

boss fight I feel like they become victims of

their own success We're like now they have all

these license properties and I'm like I kind

of want the the retrieving hacks I really enjoyed

those I love those theme we still all these years

later haven't gotten the space theme You know,

and there was supposed to be one after that that

was like a pirate sea monster theme that I was

really excited about but we've got the Phantom

and Zoro and all these King feature characters

that like old people like me remember but like

and they're cool figures i mean i've got the

Zoro it's a great figure i've ordered some of

the Phantom figures i've ordered some of the

flash quarter figures again i'm an old person

i know these characters you know and they've

got like the the wrestling stuff and they've

got Umbrella Academy which will hopefully be

a little more modern or you know but like where

where's the hack like the hack stuff was cool

because it was It wasn't beholden to something,

and it was new and unique, but it was also scratching

an itch that nobody else was taking care of.

And I miss those figures. Now they're doing zombies,

and it's like, well, that's a whole weird story,

because they're literally reissuing the toys

that Locker Toys did as a Kickstarter years ago.

Because Boss Fight basically made those toys

for them, and I guess they had it falling out.

So Boss Fight's got the molds, and they're reissuing

them, but it's like... In Zombie okay, and there

was a time I would have like killed for really

cool orange scale zombie figures now. I'm just

like I'm here over weird hobgoblin monster. I

want really want those site I want I want those

cool retro sci -fi Spacesuit characters that

look like the cover of the Star Wars disco album

I was so excited for those so you want stuff

that you haven't seen before you just don't have

access to otherwise or It was something yeah,

it was something interesting and unique and it

feels like well now we've got to do phantom figures

like okay I don't really I mean I know the character

but not really that attached to Zoro's cool Flash

Gordon is cool and you know, I mean, yeah, okay

You're doing both the movie and the comic strip

that's neat, but it's just like I was more I

don't know. It's just it's weird I was more excited

about their original stuff because it was it

was original and it was it again nobody was doing

well okay not mythic legions was doing it in

six and scale and those are cool toys but that's

not my scale so uh you know like i have a few

but i don't know it was it was you know it was

a cool thing that like nobody was doing and it

was just weirdly tied into my interests and now

they've gone off on a thing you know now they're

now they're doing sam and max and fuck your hair

and um Popeye and I'm like, okay, I mean those

are cool. I'm glad that you're successful enough

that you've got these licenses But I I missed

the stuff that got me interested in your company.

All right. So next question is a Little in a

different channel. What is one toy you can always

play with you can pick it up mess around with

it pose it Transform it throw it across the room.

What is one toy you can always play with? I don't

know. Probably certain Marvel legends. They're

just, you know, you always want to kind of like

move them around and play with them a little

bit. Those are good ones. Transformers, kind

of, you know, you say always. I don't know. I

don't know that there's any one toy that I will

always go, oh, I just want to play with that.

That's a weird one. I don't really have a go

-to toy. I mean, the closest thing would be they

have these little... these little sort of reproduction

arcade cabinets tiny little things like not even

a foot tall and They have one for Tetris and

I literally play about two or three games of

Tetris every night before I go to sleep. Oh cool

So even though there are always toy lines that

people never purchase they they Don't want it.

It's not they're not what they collect. Are there

any lines that you specifically? Purposely you

will not touch you have no desire to get it not

because you can't find it but it's just something

that you are intentionally saying never in a

million years. And this could be toy lines or

a specific character or anything like that. No.

No. I really... It's mostly... I buy a toy because

on some level it interests me. It stimulates

something in my brain. Whether that's nostalgia

or whether that's just... Cool potentiality of

a character and any a cool toy can come from

any toy line or any character, you know I we've

joked about I'm not a big Masters fan, but when

I don't remember the specific term But the movie

Skeletor which is not a movie Skeletor the guy

who designed it the William Stout collection

William Stout collection like That that care

that design is cool. Yes, it is Like, very, very

cool. So I was incredibly excited when they did

that. And again, I'm not a huge masters guy.

I mean, I, you know, Skeletor as a general concept

is kind of cool, but he looks weird. He's not

a skeleton. He's just a skull. He should be Skeletor.

The big buff guy. But like that design is just

so badass and cool. So yeah, I mean, a cool toy

is a cool toy, regardless of where it comes from.

And I think the reason why I came up with that

question, not to have, not just to have all negative

or all positive questions, was because for me,

yes, I collect Funkos. No, I do not collect every

single Funko that is ever, like, I'll walk into

Walmart, and Walmart is notorious, just like

they're notorious on all of the toy lines, but

they'll have all the Marvel zombies. I love my

Marvel characters. I do not need Marvel zombie

characters. Thank you very much. I have Marvel

zombies at retail? Funko pop? Yeah. No, no, no.

I mean the Funko pop ones. I saw one at my retail,

at my Walmart. Yeah, like - It wasn't even my

Walmart. The few Walmarts that I've gone to recently

in the last, I don't know, a couple of months?

Yeah, there was one day I went in and that's

all it was was Marvel zombie, Funko pop. There

was no other Funkos there. Maybe they came out

with like another - They have. They've come out

with tons of waves of that. But like Funko Pop,

Game of Thrones. I have zero interest in Game

of Thrones, so why would I ever buy? You maybe

have a specific license you're not interested

in, which I think Pops is going to be unique

because they cover so many licenses. They cover

literally everything. I think there's a pop of

me. It could be. Actually, you know what? Don't

know it's funny you say that I think I said this

to you in episode 100 or 101 or 102 or I forget

when I told you this Funco actually has a thing

on their website where you can Hop yourself you

get to pick out certain things certain clothing

pieces and accessory pieces hell at some point

I'm going to make Karen make quote -unquote drive

up to Everett Washington so I can actually go

to the Funko headquarters store and get one of

my own pop yourself Funko pops. Anyway, back

to the questions Josh. Right, so I have two questions

in this last one and then we're moving back to

Mike. Are there any toys in the past or currently

that you regret buying them or wish you hadn't

bought them? And then on the flip side of that,

are there any toys that you may have sold that

you regret letting go of? I don't really sell

much. And generally when I do, it tends to be

just quickly like, like I'll get something and

it's incomplete and then you get another one

on eBay to like get that one piece you need.

And then I sell the incomplete one that I now,

you know, So that's generally what I sell. So

I've never really, when I was a kid, I do regret

I left almost all my Star Wars figures at this

kid's house. And I was, you know, I was in my

teenage years, like early teenage years, and

I was like, eh, whatever. So like I literally

just lost all my, I lost but literally abandoned

all my Star Wars stories. So that I regret. As

for buying, I As strange as it seems considering

all the stuff that I do buy I try not to buy

things I don't want and I made that decision

very early on I do have a couple of Gundam snap

kit things, which you know, I was never into

Gundam I just thought they were kind of cool

and I got them and I never do anything with them

and Like you've got to like look at like a shelf

on the floor level to find them sitting there

even still out And I remember around this time

Dragon Ball V became a thing And I kind of got

into that a little bit, and Vegeta was cool,

and the Bandai figures were starting to hit American

stores. I thought about getting one, I'm like,

you know, you're just, you're gonna get out of

this quickly, you're gonna get bored by it, you're

not gonna want that figure down the road. So

I really try not to buy something that I know

I probably won't want. All right, Mike, you are

up. I laugh at question 17. Because question

17 and I know Dave is gonna say this go back

and listen to episode 100 How large is your toy?

I'm not even gonna say how large or small because

we know it's large folks How large is your toy

collection? Do your toys take up the whole house

or they really get it to one room shelf or something

like that? Did I tell a story about my chiropractor?

No, I don't think you did but you can go ahead

and do that now. Okay, so so My kind of friend

is a great guy. I needed a new mattress and he

had a pickup truck and I couldn't get anybody

else to help me. So he helped me go pick up a

new mattress and of course he had heard my friend

of mine who also sees him and she had told him

all about my collection. So he was kind of interested

and on the drive back it's like so what do you

got like a hundred hundred hundred toys? I'm

like something like that yeah and I'm thinking

on maybe part of one shelf sure about a hundred.

and of course like he just the best part of the

collection is when someone particularly when

they really don't know you know like like oh

i know you collect toys and then they see the

basement and they just of course like that's

just the first room like and then like oh my

god it keeps going and i i love when people go

you know i could just stay here all day i just

i i didn't see everything i'm like i know you

didn't um it's it's a base it's the entire basement

The way it's semi -finished, so it's almost like,

I describe it like a big donut. It's a big semi

-circular room. All the walls are covered with

shelves. The interior walls are covered with

shelves. There is no space for anything anymore.

There's another reason I'm thinking of quitting.

They keep hooking me with Marvel Legends waves,

and literally every single Marvel Legends figure

that comes out now. An hour of my time trying

to get it on the shelf. I'm not even I'm not

joking at this point So yeah, so it's big there's

a lot of crap I think there was a I think Mark

Belomo the the guy who writes the toy guides

I think it was him. He said on Facebook once

I counted I have a six thousand action figures

and that's kind of like Wonder how many I have

and I just I couldn't get past part of it was

I couldn't like decide whether or not the Jurassic

Park dinosaurs counted or not That got me tripped

up really early on. I'm pretty sure I got more

than six thousand actors. I would bet Having

seen your collection in person I can say that

the video walkthroughs just you can't get a Grasp

on the scope and size of it until you're actually

standing in there Don't know why but we have

the lights on it like makes everything in the

video go dark It's really weird. And of course

Jason doesn't want to like bring the actual studio

lights so like those those boxes are always really

weird and dark and But at the same way, it's

so meticulously care for it looks like a lot

of stuff But if you really do spend some time

looking at it, everything becomes very clear

and I think I have a question It's definitely

curated. I mean to the to the best of my ability

You know, there's so much crap now, you know

that was especially in the early walkthroughs

I would always say there was a plan. There was

a logic It's kind of gone by the wayside because

I had to get stuff on the shelf, but I do Try

to have you know, the X -Men are all together

You know the movie stuff is all together. The

Avengers are all lined up, you know there's there's

in the four inch Marvel figures there's like

The Ultimates and the new Avengers and the West

Coast Avengers and the OG Avengers in the center

and the Dark Avengers. I try to curate it. There

is a question about that. I'm going to pause

you. There is a question about that a little

bit later on. I know, I know. I'm not the one

who brought that up. I had to put my two cents

in there because I have been that person in your

basement saying, oh wow, oh my god, that's so

neat. I've been there, I've said it, and it's

very genuine. How do you keep track of your collection

or don't you? I don't. Little gray cells. Well,

okay. That's not entirely true. I like to think

that I try to remember everything I have vaguely.

It's funny, my mom, towards the end of her life,

she was an avid reader. And she liked to read

book series, you know, like the alphabet one,

the alphabet mystery. She liked mysteries, generally.

And she, one of the bane of her existence was

they would reissue a book with a different cover.

And then she'd be like, oh, I read this already.

And I started, once or twice, I've bought stuff

that I have already. And that, particularly with

the toy line, like Star Wars, I'm pretty good

about not buying something out of that. That

kind of... Star Wars and G .I. Joe I kind of

know I just recently bought a car from cars that

I thought was was new and I don't really know

that line right that's definitely a cherry pick

and I look kind of cute and funny so one thing

I do is I used to do I didn't do it this last

year you mentioned Jason's walkthrough but one

of the things I do on Facebook that will go through

starting November and take pictures of the entire

collection and post it on Facebook. And I don't

do that to kind of show off to my, you know,

100 or so friends. I do that so that when I'm

at a toy show and I'm like, do I have that guy?

I can kind of like, kind of quickly go on Facebook

and go to the album and like, uh, yeah, I got

that guy. There you go. How do you display your

toys? Do you display it with the possibility

of others to view it in mind, or is it just for

your own personal viewing? I mean... Kind of

both? Like, I guess I display it the way that

I want to see it, but I just sort of trust that

people will respond to that? You know, I think

I mentioned... I mentioned all my pros over 100.

I do like to tell... Kind of going back to the

thing we mentioned a minute ago, keeping things

together, I do have little scenes and little

bits and little narratives here and there that,

you know, is my way of playing with the toys.

Yeah, I, you know, it has to look good to me.

And that's, again, one of the reasons that I'm

really unhappy with, like, the way things are

going is stuff is starting to just become a blob

of color. Too crowded. And I don't like that.

And it makes me unhappy. So I guess I just sort

of like I do it for myself but I trust that people

will enjoy. I think part of it is that people

are so overwhelmed anyway that it really, I don't

think it matters too much. The level of detail,

the level of attention that I put into it. But

that's there for me, I know it's there. Yeah,

exactly. Alright, Josh has the next two questions

and then I have to be the one to ask that one

question because I am that fan. So take it away,

Josh. Alright so you have, like we just said,

6 ,000 plus figures. If you could grab one and

just one from your entire collection and that

would be the only one you could keep, what would

it be and why? You get only one. So again this

is a episode 100 question that came up. I'm like,

did you do the prototype for the origins in that

episode? Kind of, sort of. We were working out

the... So, Toycast Origins originally was...

I have origins across multiple of my shows, whether

it's comics, whether it's toys, whether it's

animation, whatever. Originally it started in

the pull bag over eight years ago. Originally

it was 25 -ish or so questions and now it's blossomed

into other things. And because I was going to

have Josh and Das on as new co -hosts with me,

I'm like, okay, well, let's figure this out.

Let's really get into the toy collecting the

toy fan mind and let's figure it out. And that's

how we ended up with 42 questions, because 42

is the answer to everything. So while yes, I

did... You like the universe and everything.

Exactly. So while yes, I did ask you this question

in that five -hour epic episode 100, here's hoping

you could maybe do a different answer so people

will actually go back and listen to that. Oh,

you can't, sir. Or I could change the subject

on the spot, kind of, and give you a brand new

question I just came up with. Uh -oh. Well, I'll

tell you what, Josh. If you want to do an extra

question... Will in the spirit because my answer

wasn't a toy so in the spirit of things I will

I will probably default to Shogun Wars that door.

Oh If I have to pick a toy I did not pick a toy

in episode 100. No, you did there's something

there's something a material thing You know,

I I got the point of the question was the dog

is safe. Everybody's safe What material thing

do I say and I pick something else? I would rather

save that than me and the toys in the basement

how to pick a toy, it would probably be Shogun

Warriors, Godzilla. So the other question I would

have asked is, you have been to Jason DeVall's

basement dozens of times. If you could take one

toy from his basement that you don't have, what

would you take? Oh, shit. And he has no choice.

He can't do anything about it. You can take just

one from him. Oh, shit. So the thing is, part

of the reason our friendship works is because

as a general rule, we don't really compete for

the same stuff. It also sometimes is why we clash,

because his approach is very different than mine.

He's looking for different things. That being

said, there is a Swamp Thing figure that I actually

bought, and he didn't have it. So he whined and

whined, and it was a repaint of an earlier one

that he had two of. And he's like, please trade

it to me, blah, blah, blah, I need that one to

compete. And the earlier one looks like crap.

And the one that I bought looks cool. It's got

a nice paint job. And I traded it to him because

the friendship was more important than the court.

But if I could rub it in his face and steal one

thing from that basement, It would probably be

that swamp thing. I love it. I fucking love it.

Okay, so next question also deals with rationing

a quantity of toys. So this is the toy box challenge.

You get one 18 by 18 by 18 box. So the size of

one of those HelloFresh boxes, basically. The

only toys you can keep have to fit in that box.

What do you shove into it? I would pick up one

of my my Japanese transformers from Japan and

Because Japan has no safety standards I would

use the jagged edges to jam it into the neck

of whoever the person that was making me I Would

cut them up and put them in the box Because Josh

is the one that came up with that question I

would feel slightly bad about it. I That's a

valid answer and I think I'm going to move on

before I we get to a more violent answer. There

you go, Mike. I guess you could say that was

a smashed floor burger. All right. I mean, they've

got Japanese toys are basically glass and fire.

Those kids are tough. I meant Josh would be the

smashed floor burger. One thing is when you smash,

you'd be sliced. Oh, God, that reminds me of

slice dice it's the new turbo ginsu turtles love

turtles are you a funko fan fan no the tractor

no I have a lot of pop I have more than I thought

I did so I don't hate them but I'm not I'm not

a it is not my primary focus I do not go to target

every whatever day they restock them if I see

one that meet certain, like a lot of them are

what I call complementary. I collect Star Trek,

I collect Star Wars, I collect Bossk, which is

a character from Star Wars, so I'll get the Bossk

pops. I collect the Gorn, so I'll get a Gorn

pop. I collect Aliens and Predator, I get those

pops. The other thing that I do is a lot of times,

because pops does everything, there are characters

that just have not had toys made. So, you know,

I get those Pops sometimes, because they're the

only version that I can get my hands on. Sometimes,

ironically, I got a couple of Avatar Pops recently,

and suddenly McFarland's like, I got the license!

I'm like, okay. Make hero, you bastard. No one

ever makes hero. Pops did. Pops made a hero.

No one else does. Although we did get Katara,

so it's like, yay! The cartoon that was hugely

popular with young girls was finally getting

a female character made. Have Toph and Wave 2,

dudes. That's one of my, that's actually one

of my all -time favorite shows. And I don't think

it gets the love it deserves and the death when

I didn't get it. It was a weird thing because

it was the show aimed for young boys, like 10

year old boys and the fan base was 13 year old

girls. So I think they got caught in this weird

sort of crap of, it's really successful but we

actually can't, people, the marketing people

are too... Locked into their mindset to properly

like market this to the actual fan audience Yeah

What was the most money you spent on a toy? I

think on episode 100. I talked about the Jordan

Hembrough challenge accepted. Yeah thousand dollars

for a stupid second USS flag in the box. Yep.

How much was that? Oh What do you think it would

be now? I still remember laughing verbally just

just out loud hearing that when you're talking

about it and I'm still impressed it's still a

really nice display piece anyways yeah I mean

it's like wow this is amazing like yeah that

box over there it's got another one that's kind

of fun There you go, I just actually to get give

a little fresh content I just did drop a bunch

of money on not nine thousand about seven hundred

dollars on something that Pretty rare and pretty

spiffy. There's a GI Joe knockoff from Europe

called Mandelman Madelman 2500 I believe Have

a bunch of these toys I can't remember the name

of it, but it's like a GI Joe line, but it's

a space themed The figures are like old Joes,

but like the the bad guys are aliens. You flip

their face around so it's like Zartan almost

except it's like Zartan meets Manny Faces and

they're these cool reptile alien dudes, but they

have a they had a playset I'm like ooh and The

thing is you usually can only get this line from

like Spain or Greece on eBay because it was released

but right had the play set for sale in Pennsylvania

and I was like I'm gonna put a bit in If I win,

I win, and I won. I'm kind of excited because,

like, ooh, this is a really cool rare. At this

point, I think I'm, when I get stuff, I like

that cool rare stuff. Because it's rare and,

you know, it's not a, you know, at this point,

it's like everybody's got a Skeletor. How many

people have Basitron? Oh, I have about three

of them, actually. Did you need one? It's funny

you said $700 and I'm like, ooh, he bought the

self -transforming Optimus Prime Yeah wouldn't

do that. I would do that on every level because

number one. I'm not again I Grimlock and Shockwave

are my guys. I like Optimus the character I would

I like them enough to be offended by what they

did with him in the Bay movies Starting with

the second one where he's ripping people's faces

off. Yeah, but I would not I don't go out of

my way to buy Optimus toys in general. I have

like one or two and I'm happy with them. And

I hate the very concept as we were talking about

action features. This is the ultimate dude. You're

playing with my toy. Like the engineers are doing

the playing for me. Why do I even need that toy?

I want a toy I can play with. I don't want a

toy that plays by itself. That's dumb. It seems

like you're actually just paying for a gimmick,

not even a toy at that point. Yeah, I mean, you

are. You really are. And how many times can you

do that, you know, even if it was a $40 toy,

how many times can you have it self transform

before you go, okay, that was cool, moving on?

Because you know you can't play with it. You

just wait for that moment. You'll wake something

if you try to move an arm. You know that's going

to be the case. You wait for that moment, you

have a big party at your house. That's when you

bust it out and be like everybody check out what

my optimist prime can do Yeah, but Josh. I'm

an anti -social weirdo. I don't have people.

Okay, that's fair The other anti -social weirdos

that you associate with occasionally Occasionally

introverts unite together, but that's right That's

why audio podcasting is the best medium because

I don't have to look at anybody I don't have

to look at facial features or to see that Dave

is frowning because I mentioned something or

whatever it is or to see Josh just grumbling

because Waterworld toys are the worst toys that

were ever made, you know I'm not saying they're

great, but they weren't the worst toys Jason,

there are three or four lines in Jason's basement

that I think easily are competition. Oh, I'm

sure. He still goes on about that. Tales from

the Crypt. Tales from the Crypt. I took one of

the Crypt Shels. Yeah, that, there's the one

with the kangaroo people. Oh, that one. Yeah.

Yeah. Jason loves that kind of garbage. That

bolo flea market that he likes to come up to

that's up by me. There have been warrior virtue

figures in a tub in a booth that have been sitting

there since I first went there Maybe four years

ago. They have not moved Maybe he's going to

know now to go get them So Alright one more question

Alright, so on the flip side of the expensive

part, what was the cheapest toy you bought, or

what was the best deal you ever got for a figure

that may have been worth quite a bit more than

you paid? See, I don't get deals. Like, they

see me coming. Oh, Dave Draper's coming. It's

going to be $800 for this two -inch figure. That's

the downside of doing podcasts like this. He's

the guy that throws money at things. He's the

guy that's spent $1 ,000 on a year's worth of

slack because some guy on TV said nobody had

two. The frustrating thing is the ball is really

good at making deals with people and getting

them to knock off a nickel on their 10 -cent

garbage bin figure. But then every time I've

asked him to try to do that magic for me, like,

he'll take one stab at it and he'll go, no, I

can't do nothing. I'm like, you know, it was

just different. But yeah, because you would have

to make an effort. So I will say, I will say

when I was selling to Cain County once, I tried

to offer you a deal, but you still paid full

price. So yeah, the the mountain. The like mountain.

Well, I don't know. Maybe I was trying to throw

you a bone. You may have been and I appreciate

it, but I still offered a deal. I think it was

like you offered me a deal and I walked off and

I changed my mind and I came back and I bought

it. Because it's a really... Speaking of boss

fight, that's where all my boss fight fantasy

figures are clustered around because it's a sweet

fucking play. Oh, it was a thing of beauty and

I'm glad you wound up with it because that was...

It is heavy duty. actually have no regret like

I don't let me put this way like I obviously

I want to deal like everybody else I want to

pay less because that way I have more money for

other things but I've never been a wait for Ross

kind of guy I'm not saying that I didn't I bought

things at Ross but it was usually because I was

there anyway usually first of all but like I

have no problem paying full price for something

because I know that like if you don't Hasbro

was like, look, we're going to make this new

Tomahawk helicopter, which I call the Eagle Hawk.

You guys got to buy this stuff or we're not going

to make anymore. And everybody waited for us

and they stopped making vehicles. I'm fine with

that. That's sort of like, you know, it is what

it is. So, yeah, I don't, when it comes to like

a flea market kind of thing or a toy show kind

of thing, yeah, I... I don't know. I just I'm

not good again. I we like to joke about me being

anti -social and not good with people, but I'm

not I'm not good at Bartering I'm not good at

haggling. I'm not good. I just tell me what it's

what you want for it I'll either decide I really

want it or I won't The worst the one that really

offended me was with the guy Toyman once had

a I think it was a I think it was a carrying

case for Star Wars because it was returned the

Jedi one which I needed Asked him what it was

what we wanted for and he immediately searched

for it on eBay. Oh, and I'm like Are you kidding

me? Why don't I just buy the one on eBay then?

Yeah, that's horrible Walked off Speaking of

toy shows. We're gonna hand it back over to Josh

Yes, you go Do you visit toy shows now? Actually,

it's not the question. It was the question, but

I I evolved it a little bit And instead, when

you visit toy shows or conventions, do you have

a strategy, a methodology to what you're doing?

Do you bring a certain amount of money in anticipation

for what you're searching for? Or do you just

bring a pocketful of cash and hope for the best?

I mean, again, it's one of those depends kind

of situation. I haven't. I haven't gone in a

really long time factoring 2020. But even before

that, I hadn't gone in a couple years. I got

a new puppy in 2018, and that sort of knocked

me out of the toy show game. Unfortunately, she's

kind of going the route of the last dog, which

means I can't really leave her alone too much.

Oh no. She's got allergies and she's chewing

her feet up. Oh jeez. So I'm probably gonna have

to like... Something is there's a stuff that

you can give the dog, but like that is horribly

expensive. So that might kind of knock me out.

I'll be able to go, but I won't be able to spend

any money. But it did. It's very heartbreaking

to watch them hurt themselves like that. Yeah.

But anyway, on the happier side, it depends on

the show. Like I generally bring more money to

King County than the toy man. I like to go to

toy shows. I enjoy. Part of my problem is that

like I said earlier Jason and I because I usually

go Jason because he's my best friend I need a

toy guy Not always like sometimes I'll go by

myself. Sometimes he'll go by himself He went

to the last toy man or last King County without

me because I had issues with the dog, but Like

he I want to go early and I like to bring a lot

of money. I know my budget for King County is

generally really high especially especially once

I started there was a dealer that had like really

the rare good stuff and for a couple of King

Counties I always made that my first stop and

tried to like get one really good piece but that

was you know that was like twice the whole twice

what Jason brought for the whole show um so yeah

Jason doesn't bring a lot of money uh but uh

uh you know I try I have I do have a budget for

shows I have a system for saving money. I save

all my change and I save When I when I break

a break a larger bill I save the one and when

I get up to $20 I take a 20 I put it in the kitty

and then I think that the $1 doesn't put in my

wallet That's how I kind of save up for the shows

It depends on the show depends on what I'm looking

for at the time. I usually don't have At this

point, especially I don't have like I want to

buy this because you'll never find that. You'll

only ever find it when you stop looking for it.

Usually when you spend a lot of money on one

that's not as good as the one in the show. But

what I was saying is that Jason also... I want

the good stuff and that usually means you have

to get there early because someone else will

get it before you do. Especially the other dealers.

I like to go to King County on Saturday when

the dealers are... Jason wants the cheap thing

that's dirty and he can fix and blah blah blah

and he'll Weedle the accessories out of somebody

he knows And you can just kind of show up any

time for that so He and I usually clash about

when we're gonna go and what we're gonna You

know, like he wants he doesn't care. He doesn't

want to get up early Didn't want to and I kind

of want to get there early Have you ever thought

about that's a little bit of an issue. Have you

ever thought about doing the Friday hotel? Show

I wouldn't I wouldn't know how to do that. I

would kind of love to do that Because that's

like the ultimate like that's where you get the

ultimate good stuff Although to be fair one of

Jason's arguments was the last time we did Saturday.

It was garbage Nobody was set up. Nobody had

anything and that is one of the problem King

County's it feels like it's kind of Been falling

apart like the first time we went it was a mate

both both shows King County and Toyman like the

first time I went they were amazing And just,

it seems like standards have fallen for both.

I think with Toy Man, it's an issue of it's always,

you know, like constantly on, or before a pandemic,

you know, it's like every other month. So you

do get sort of like the same dealers over and

over again, stuff over and over again. But I

remember seeing stuff in that first one that

just blew my mind. So, yeah. Yes, I sometimes

bring money. Yes, I'm sometimes looking for things.

We have roots, for King County especially, that

we do. I think Toy Man's a little more sort of

catch -as -catch -can. I like to go and look

at the stuff, but I don't like crowds. That's

another reason I don't want to go there late.

I have just issues. I'm a big guy and I just,

it's weird. I just feel awkward. I feel like

I'm in the way. I feel like people are always

trying to get around me and I feel buffeted and

I get really kind of, you know, I just, I don't

like crowds. I was at Meyer the other day and

it was like full of people and I'm like, oh my

God, I miss the apocalypse. I think you would

have not liked Kane County this past spring.

by about 11 o 'clock. I imagine people were like,

finally, we get to go back to a thing. I suspect

Toy Man will be pretty big in July. Let's see.

What is your favorite swear word? No, wait, that's

not the question. If you want, we can switch

these questions. I have a story about that. Using

the questionnaire created by Bernard Pivo for

La Couture. I had a friend in college from Sweden.

And of course, you know, when you know a guy

from another country. The fun thing is to teach

him all the swear words. And when he came across

the word motherfucker, his eyes lit up and his

childlike face filled with glee. And he would

just go, motherfucker! And we're like, okay,

that's a big one and you got to be careful and

you will get stabbed if you say that to the wrong

person. Motherfucker! I have a very soft spot

in my heart for motherfuckers. That's a good

word. That's a good word. Can be a little...

Confusing if you don't know the context however

So I think this is gonna be another big question

and you even threw me a little bit of a correction

on this one See there's an I'm not by accident

you threw me a little bit of a correction on

this one after I think listening to my origin

show But what do you think it is it about our?

Generation that causes our childhood toys to

mean so much more to us than for instance our

parents And for context, before you give your

answer, Dave, a buddy of mine who is also a toy

collector who his origins episode will be episode

109 of the podcast, he's the one that came up

with this question. Okay, I think it's a lot

of different things that came together at once.

You know, like I have a friend who's older than

I am, hard to believe. And you know, he was always

like, when I was a kid, we played with dirt clogs.

I'm like, yeah, and you know, they had they had

army men. But they had trains. I think that's

the thing. The people who we are now were the

weirdos who had the trains. You always have that

one guy who's got the little train set up in

his basement, and he's got the little city, and

those are us. It's just that there were fewer

of them. So I think part of it was the toys weren't

as cool. They weren't as memorable. It was the

Green Army guy. I think G .I. Joe started it,

and I think there are probably a lot of G .I.

Joe collectors. I think some of it's just...

The mentality, you know, the 60s started the

idea of being young forever and they wanted to

be teenagers forever. And then Generation X kind

of, you know, I really kind of think some of

it was that in the early 70s especially started

the whole, you're perfect, you know, and Mr.

Rogers is a saint, but this whole, you're perfect

just the way you are. Well, then why change?

Why grow up? I think Some of it is just, you

know, we had the 80s, and it was kind of an awesome

time. We felt, like I said, we felt good. And

then we went from the feel -bad 70s to the feel

-bad 90s, and then the feel -worst 2000s, and

then the feel -like utter garbage. Like, it just,

it seems like the 80s was just a unique time.

The movies still, they're still making sequels

to the movies from the 80s, you know? They keep,

you know, and it's like weird. They don't really

do much with the stuff from the 90s. They do

some, but like... I just think it was a unique

time and we want to hold on to that. Like I said,

I think we have the toys. I think culture in

general pushed towards keeping a young, you know,

keeping a younger mindset. I think adulthood

sucks. You gotta pay your taxes. You gotta...

That was always my thing. I never knew what the

cool kids in high school were doing. Like, okay,

they smoked and they stood around and were judgmental,

but what do you do? Okay, I'm sitting here like

a nerd. Rolling dice for my elf maiden who's

stabbing an orc. It's fun What are you doing

on a Saturday night? Okay. Well, that's fair.

But what you do after you have this that like

smoke a cigarette And then you spin around and

judge each other Yeah, like I never understood

like I never got into sports like I don't judge

people who are in are into sports But like I

mean, that's just like a okay footballs once

a week Basketball got kind of big with Jordan

in our household. And then everything else about

adulthood is garbage. You've got to maintain

it. You've got to get oil changes and your roof

leaks. Like I said, you've got to do your taxes

and you've got to keep your bank balance straight.

You've got to go to a place where people don't

treat you very well and use your labor. Nothing

about that is very appealing. And childhood is

literally the shortest period of time in your

life. You get to be a kid for a handful of years.

That's it. It's weird because like the years

between like 1981 and 1989 in my memory seem

like an eternity. Everything happened back then.

It was just this huge span of time. And then,

you know, we'll talk about something that happened

and like, you know, Lord of the Rings is 20 years

old. What? Mean the movies, you know, like yeah,

you know stuff that happened like a decade ago

It feels like yesterday. It's just weird. Yeah

and Excuse me. I think it's really interesting

that you brought up like I also as a kid Didn't

know what it meant to be cool. What activities

do the cool kids do? I know what I do. I play

video games I play with my toys. I watch wrestling,

but what do the cool kids do I didn't know and

I wasn't interested So it's fascinating that

you mentioned that. I was interested but like

I never could figure it out because I don't think

they did anything. I think they just sort of

existed and, you know, smoked and drank and had

sex and watched sports. I can give you two movie

references for how to figure out what kids did.

You can look at The Breakfast Club, The Jock,

The Princess, The Rebel, The Outsider, The...

Smart guy kind of thing where you can look at

the gym movie that i will always hold up above

most every other teen drama of its time nineteen

ninety nine ten things i hate about you where

you have the jocks the coffee kids that's costa

rican but head. You know that kind of thing so

you can look at certain things in media in the

certain decades you can kind of see even though

they're more stereotypical than anything else.

Here's the breakdown. Over there, we've got your

basic beautiful people. Now listen, unless they

talk to you first, don't bother. Wait, is that

your rule or theirs? Watch. Hey there. Eat me.

You see that? To the left, we have the coffee

kids. That was Costa Rican butt -head? Very edgy.

Don't make any sudden movements around me. These

delusionals are your white rastas. They're big

Marley fans. They think they're black. Semi -political,

but mostly... Smoke a lot of weed? Yeah. These

guys... Wait, wait. Let me guess. Cowboys? Yeah,

but the closest they've come to a cow is McDonald's.

These are your future MBAs. We're all Ivy League

accepted. Yuppie Green is back, my friend. Hey,

guys. How you doing? Close it, Boogie. Yesterday,

I was their god. What happened? Boogie Lowenstein

started a rumor that I... That I buy my IZOTs

at an outlet mall. So they kicked you out? I'll

still take him. But don't worry, he'll pay. But

you can kind of see the clicks and the things

that most of us really didn't fit into. Like,

none of the thr - I think out of the three of

us, Josh would be more the jock than any of us.

Clearly. Uh, so, no. I worked in the folder lab.

I'm saying physically out of the three of us.

I was athletic, but I was not a jock. Right,

but I'm saying, you're not like me. You're not

a 460 pound fat piece of blob typing on his computer

like, you know. I was too nerdy to be a jock

and too much of a jock to be a nerd, so I appreciate

that if it's a compliment, but we'll move on.

Dirty knocks with your snooty attitude. Another

question from my buddy Joe, and Josh kind of

evolved this as well. Joe's original question

that he threw in was, what is your motivation

for purchasing toys to display, to play, to fiddle?

And then Josh adds in, describe your collecting

style. Are you a completionist? We already know

you're not. A storyteller or a cherry picker

or otherwise? My motivation at this point is

to display the sort of display I will depending

on the toy I usually if I open it, which is common

I will probably play around with it for a little

bit, especially when it's got to go on the shelf.

I've got a like, you know Storytelling we talked

about this in episode 100. I I do like to have

I mean the whole collection isn't necessarily

storytelling and yet it is I you know There there

are multiple stories being told on multiple levels

because there's the story of the franchises The

narrative of the franchises and then the stories

of the products being made, you know, the product

the story behind like real American hero being

made is fascinating story behind Star Wars, you

know, nobody wanted to make those toys. That's

a fascinating story. And then there's the, you

know, the narratives that I create. And we've

talked about, there are little scenes, little

vignettes here and there. I think it was you

Josh or somebody inspired me to there was one

I always wanted to do and I never Tried to do

it and I couldn't get it to work and I've gone

back. So there's the the GI Joe platform the

the ocean platform. It's got a crane and So there's

a little playmobil One of my favorite toys of

all time playmobil porta potty So the crane has

the and the porta potty has a little thing on

the top where a hook can fit So they're they're

reeling in the porta potty and there's an eel

sitting there on the John the doors open He's

got a little newspaper. He's like what? Just

a little you know little things like In that

same platform, Lady J is sitting at her station

and, you know, Shipwreck's kind of leaning against

the thing because he's an 80s guy, so he doesn't

understand that he's going to be me too someday.

You know, just stuff like that, like, just little

stories. And it, you know, I mean, that is kind

of, it's what I like, it's how I play with my

toys. Most of it's in my head. and then you see

in the collection that little moment. Did I talk

about the Dixie's Diner? I can't remember if

I did or not. You've mentioned that on previous

shows, but you can... Yeah, the Dixie's Diner,

and then if you look, Scarlett and Snake Eyes

are sitting here at the counter together, sharing

a soda, and Duke is walking in, and everybody's

like, oh boy, you know, there's the whole, is

she going to go with Duke, is she going to go

with Snake Eyes, and I don't know why they ever

go... You're gonna go with a airborne not airborne.

Oh Who is Mara Wayne's? Ripcord yeah, I can't

like one of the many things that movie got Ridiculously

laughably wrong. Is it but is it Duke or thick

eyes? It's ripcord For half a second. I thought

you were talking about beachhead No, no Beachhead

would be a better choice. So stuff like that.

I do like I open I display it's why I buy it

and There are narratives all over the place if

only to keep me entertained. Well, that's what

it should do So have you ever purchased a toy

for a child as a gift or? Any other reason because

of your own opinions on the specific figure you

are purchasing as previous childhood experience

or recent knowledge I would be I think it'd be

more interesting if you ever bought a vintage

toy for a child Knowing that it would be fun,

but have you ever done that? I remember you had

a story about that that was interesting. No,

I've never done that. Especially not a vintage

toy. First of all, again, I am a weirdo. I have

no siblings, so I have no nieces and nephews.

My best friend doesn't have any kids. So it's

really never come up per se. I mean, the last

toy I ever bought for an actual kid was, ah,

it would have been 20, 21 years ago. How old

is she? How old are they? My other best friend

had a child two decades ago and I got one of

those teddy bears that has like a little thing

inside of them that mimic the heartbeat. Oh yeah.

So that was the last toy I bought for an actual

kid. I have a couple of times at stores. I remember

one time when Toys R Us was still a thing, the

Justice League figures. Want to say Justice League?

but like there's a little girl in the action

figure island she really wanted wanted woman

and they only had one and I had it in my hand

and I'm like you know I said to the parent you

know okay here you go he's like oh no she doesn't

need that I'm like are you sure she really wants

it he said no no no no I'm like are you sure

when she seems to think differently than you

do on this subject I am happy to give it to you

no no no no no I'm gonna buy it see ya Yeah for

twice I thought your dad's a jerk. Yeah, I've

done that a few times where I've had to make

that possible Sacrifice to a child because they

see me holding the exact toy they wanted or one

that they really liked The toys are especially

new stuff. It's for kids. Like I don't have and

I've never had a problem If they if they don't

want it if the parents not gonna buy it I'll

buy it but like I've never had a problem handing

a toy in a store Because come on, you do not

need it that badly. And the kid will appreciate

it a million. It can gather dust on my shelf.

One of my all -time favorite movies, top ten

easily, is Toy Story 2. And I love that the villain

went insane because he got kept mint in box.

Toys are meant to be played with by children.

So I have no problem giving something. In a store

setting, in a modern toy store, a vintage toy

is a little different. Then you're like, well,

that thing's expensive and you're just going

to wreck it. No. I knew a guy, not real well,

a friend of a friend who had a basement full

of all kinds of amazing vintage toys from the

80s, but he had three kids. So by the time I

saw them, they were garbage. Why did you not

protect them buy them new stuff and I knew things

that them I now know a moment in time that I

am Quote -unquote older and more crotchet ear

than Dave Draper Any kid goes into the electronics

island Impedes me from looking to see if there

are any new Funko's I'm just like sitting there

in because I'm fat and I use motorized cards

deal with it people I'm just sitting there in

my car like Come on, come on, let's go, you don't

need Funko Pops, go get the other toy action

figures that you really want. I kind of feel

like, get out of my way, kid. Did you just even

go after Pops? Oh, dude. I have been in like

Target and Walmart and various places in the

last six months or so, and I've, at least two

different times, I've seen kids all over the

Funko section in Target. So, we've talked a couple

of times that you have the logic and the narrative.

Is there a particular narrative in your display

that you are particularly proud of that you really

enjoy looking at or messing with or even updating

every so often? Is there one that you kind of

keep coming back to? I think I talked about this

on episode 100, on the flag, on the back of the,

on the fan tail, on the back. There's like I

actually tracked down. I originally had the tomahawk

and I found out there was a russian 118 scale

helicopter. So I tracked it down But i've got

the october guard, which is the part of it's

the jokhan box set and there's a couple other

characters from various Um that have been made

at various other times. They did the comic three

packs and that's the october guard An iron bear

is leading them and he's about to shake hands

with hawk Like I said, it was that idea of we

have a common enemy. So I call it east east west

And then, you know, each of them have like a

couple of generic soldiers. There's the Indiana

Jones Russian soldier for Bear. And then, what

was it? It was the guy that, there's a couple

of generic ones for Hawk. And then they have

like Cover Girl, movie Cover Girl has like a

computer. And then I actually have Black Widow

because she's Russian. You know, so they're like

translators. And then if you look at the tower,

Storm Shadow's hanging on and he's got his bow

and arrow and he's about to shoot Iron Bear and

disrupt the whole thing. And then I just got

an Eagle Force, the Eagle Force figure from the

Kickstarter. So now they're kind of over here,

hovering awkwardly, like, yes, we fought terrorist

organizations in the 80s too. Like everyone else

is like, okay, guys. You're great. Stay over

there. Except for Sergeant Bulldog, whose Bulldog

has run off. and Sparda from one of the JoCon

box sets. It's like a very balanced figure. She's

kind of like hunkering down to go, ooh, look

at the puppy. But yeah, East Meets West is my

favorite little narrative that I've carved out

on a very crowded, very crowded... The other

one is inspired by G .I. Joe... Not extreme.

Oh, it was the shorts before the movie came out,

the first movie. Oh, Resolute. Resolute. Yeah.

And Bazooka gets killed. And so on another part

of the deck, there's an ambulance and people

have gone, how is there an ambulance on the flag?

I don't know. Helicopters. And Bazooka is being

loaded into the ambulance and Alpine is standing

there looking sad. All the medical guys, all

the medical Joes are all gathered around. Because

he's he's dead he got killed and then follow

him. Okay, he is given the last right But isn't

there going to be in a voiceover on a radio at

the end that says he was okay after all That

was Duke. Oh, yeah. Yeah, bazooka didn't get

that bazooka got a boost like in a later episode

They're all sitting around and someone goes and

bazooka number. Yeah And then they went, they

blew up Springfield. That was the greatest. Which

I was like, fuck yeah, we're going to Springfield.

I'm like, yes. And I was like, oh no, wait, I

live near the small spot. Oh no. You don't know,

I live in Springfield, Illinois. So Springfield

having a tie with being the home of Cobra has

always been a source of amusement. They actually

held a joke on here, I assume because of that

connection. Yes. Well, you know, everyone's like,

why is this in Springfield? I'm like, you people

are GI Joe guys. Do you not know this? I have

a, my Larry Hama autograph is on the cover of

issue 50 when Joe rolls into Springfield and

like you see it on fire and then the Welcome

to Springfield sign is on the side of the side

of the road because that's the one that I wanted

to commemorate. As you can tell, I love my hometown

and my state. They're wonderful. But yeah. So

I'm gonna jump to another question because we're

throwing in some extras and I already know what

number are on anymore But this is always a hot

button issue a hot button topic and I'm not sure

if you talked about this on episode 100 but Do

you think toy companies should specifically?

cater to adults with adult collector toys just

child toys or find a way to mix both or create

two separate lines that cater to each group exclusively?

In your interview, you kind of hit on this. I

think for a while, Hasbro seemed to be hitting

on a nice balance. I think it's kind of the last

two. I think a good toy line is a good toy line

and will appeal to collectors. I think one of

the annoying things is they do these garbage

toys because it says everything you need to know

about what they think about kid. And it's kind

of true. I was very discerning as a kid in the

toys that I played with, but I think most kids

probably just play with it for like a day. I

mean, they are supposed to be a frame roll, so

it makes sense to make them kind of cheap. I

do think that the big companies, they're not

ignoring the collector market anymore, but I

still don't think they really seem to have gotten

it down yet or been comfortable. It's like this

old Simpsons line where it's like... Happy families

eat our crackers. We don't know if single people

eat our crackers. We don't want to know. Frankly,

it's a demographic we could do without. I really

feel like Hasbro and Mattel, they know, I mean,

they have to know. It's been 30 years. They have

to know collectors are a thing and a market force.

But I still, I think they just, they've always

done things a certain way. But at the same time,

I think, you know, you've got Star Wars Black,

which is a collector -oriented line. Marvel Legends

is really collector -oriented. I think They're

they're trying to do the best they can I also

feel we've talked about this on the show since

our podcast since the beginning That kids as

a rule are moving away from playing with boys

It's all about like they they get the screen

younger and younger. They get the phone younger

and younger, which is a damn shame, but it's

so I think I think these companies are going

to have to adapt, but I ultimately think either

make a great toy line that appeals to everybody,

which I think can be done. It has been done.

I think Origins is hitting that sweet spot. What?

I think Origins is hitting that sweet spot that

you're talking about that appeals to most people.

I guess? Like, are kids buying it? No, because

the collectors are buying them all. Well, there

you go. Well, they don't buy all the Skeletor's

and He -Man's. Hey, the 2000X is 2002 all over

again, baby! Yeah, but they can order a separate

shipment. Yeah. And here's the thing. Stories

now can order cases of He -Man and Skeletor.

So they're ordering cases of He -Man and Skeletor.

Because stories are stupid. And not stupid, but

they're not programmed for action figures. They're

programmed for general merchandise. And they

know He -Man and Skeletor. So they want those

on the shelf. Well, I think the reason why they

want those on the shelf is because you can always

you can always say hey I'm mr. Walmart in Springfield,

Illinois and I have six he -man and four Skeletor

or whatever six and six agents know he -man and

Skeletor. Yeah, like they don't know all these

other like there's a great There's a great line

from Larry Hama in in Mark Volomo's GI Joe guide

where you know some of the names on the file

cards like you you read the file cards the names

are kind of funny they're jokes and his thing

was if i can get a purchasing agent to laugh

they'll buy my product it's all about the purchasing

agent and these guys who knows who they are who

knows how hip they are to anything they've heard

you know they could they could be really plugged

in nerds like us or they could be a guy that's

heard of the mandalorian he's like a boba set

or something i've heard of he you know they've

heard This is why you always get Duke and Cobra

Commander and Snake Eye because those are the

ones that these guys have heard of and they don't

want to like you know Everyone just assumes I

think too many collectors assume that Hasbro

literally sends like drones or magic fairies

to the stores and puts toys on the shelves and

Deliberately is keeping characters or product

away from them, and that's that's not how it

works They they make what they think they can

sell And then they have to sell it to the companies

and then the companies distribute it. But the

key tricky part is getting the companies to buy

stuff. And that's why you always get Duke and

Cobra Commander and Skeletor and He -Man. And

not these other characters that these guys have

never heard of. Unless the toy lines sell really

well and they want to keep restocking it. Which

doesn't really happen. I think we talked about

on our last show. There's actually weird reasons.

Like, toy collecting is... The way these systems

work... toy collectors actually hurt themselves

because we buy everything at once and these stock

systems are designed for like lawn chairs and

blankets and you know milk which sells over time

so because i had this explained to me by by the

guy who worked in the toy department at walmart

like if you buy everything at once week one wow

we sold a lot week two half it week three you

know you've now chopped it down by quarter like

it's like wow these toy sales are terrible it

all sold at once. Whereas, you know, you sold

one launcher today, one launcher tomorrow. You

know, it's a thing that maybe Toys R Us might

have worked with, maybe GameStop will work with,

because they're a little more in the business,

but Walmart is like, look, we made our money

back on the thing that the computer says that

it's not selling. Yeah, it's like one figure

per week is the guideline. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, that's the problem with the collecting.

collective at a whole now. It's like, again,

Funko is a perfect example with even the GameStop

exclusives. Anytime there's a sticker on a Funko

pop that isn't just like an NBA sticker or a

Transformers sticker or something. If there's

a Target, a Walmart, a GameStop, a box lunch,

a hot pot, as long as there's a sticker on it,

all of those people like... What was it? It was

it was bulls. It was flocked bulls. I remember

this. It was just ungodly. I said this in your

episode, Josh. I went to Target. I got there

in Gurney, Illinois at the time. I was there

at seven forty five. There were seven other people

there waiting for them to open. We were all going

after whatever exclusive exclusives that Funko

was putting out for that target day. All I wanted

was one flocked bullseye, because I missed out

on the other version of bullseye that Funko had

put out. Generally, with the ad icons with Funko,

I only buy one. I don't need a regular bullseye,

a flocked bullseye, like you were saying, with

Bespin Luke and Jedi Luke. As long as I have

one, I don't care. Especially with the ad icons,

I don't need Colonel Sanders holding a cane.

I want Colonel Sanders holding a damn bucket

of chicken dammit kind of thing but it's like

everybody just rushes in and they only have so

many and then they're all gone and there's no

restock half of the time how many times okay

four fourths of the time number 33 and i know

you don't but i have to ask this to everybody

because i know i i know you i i know i did but

this is the reason why this is here Do you have

a, my parents got rid of my toys story? No. See?

Yeah, my mom... It's the opposite. Like, before

the divorce and the money situation got tight,

my mom apparently bought me a second set of 12

-back Star Wars figures. Oh, wow. But she hid

them away. Right. She knew me. Problem was, I

found them. So she didn't do that again. I have

the opposite. I could have been sitting on a

gold mine, but I was a child. Part of me kicks

myself, and part of me is like, I was a child.

The reason that I'm attached to these things

is because I played with them. If you don't play

with them, why do you even want them? You've

got nothing there. It makes feelings, especially

going back and buying those. wanted to have the

package. But I was a kid. I was a kid and I was,

you know, I think I've mentioned the story about

how my birthday is very close to Christmas. My

parents would literally, after I went to bed

on Christmas day, they'd take half my toys and

hide them and give them back to me on my birthday.

And yeah, this was the thing that they did. So

the fact that I like maybe a year or two later

was digging around everywhere. You know, constantly

looking for stuff. I kind of feel like maybe

I was justified, because my stuff kept disappearing

at Brigadoon Toys. So the interesting thing about

my birthday and Christmas, Christmas obviously

December 25th, my birthday is February 9th. So

if I wanted, let's say, Splinter or Shredder

from the original Turtles line, I would get one

of them at Christmas and the other one at my

birthday. I would never get two figures on the

same holiday. Yeah. Of that line, like I would,

you know, I would get Transformers and whatever

other things, anyway. Was there ever a moment

when you were done with, and I asked you this

on episode 100, so hopefully you can... Was there

a moment you... When you were completely done

with toys, have you ever considered stopping

as a collector or even selling the whole basement?

Like, technically, you could sell the basement

as a separate part of your house. I could. I

mean, I've actually had a store owner, for those

of you who remember the old Pop Culture Network

days, Damian, said he would not want to buy my

collection. Because it would just be so much

work to get it organized and put together for

sale. I thought about stopping. I would like

to stop. I'm really we mentioned this earlier.

I'm I really kind of am to the point where it's

just like I am losing enthusiasm. I have almost

everything that I want. I would like to move

on to other things. I would like to have the

money for other things. I would never sell it

off because I don't understand that mentality.

Like I don't understand. I put together this

collection and now I sold. I mean, aside from

wanting the money, but I've never been in it

for the money. Right. Clearly. But it's my question.

It's my thing. I will probably never 100 % stop.

I never did. Even in college, I picked up a GI

Joe. Then the X -Men stuff started coming out,

the ToyBiz X -Men stuff. I remember a dude came

into the cafeteria that I knew. They have this

cable figure that looks exactly like Rob Liefeld's

drawing, and I'm like, Because at the time we

didn't hate Rob Liefeld. And I still have that

cable figure to this day. I can point out two

figures in four years, but I will never stop

buying something probably, but I would like to

just put the brakes on buying kind of en masse.

I've got this big pre -order list on Big Bad

and I... Just every time I like add something

to it. I feel bad. I'm like, I would just like

to like run that out You know, I have that I

have a watch list on eBay and in my heart I would

like to get all those They're all stupid rare

and monstrously expensive But I would like to

get those and I would just like to finish out

my pre -order list and then be like Gone. I I

tell the story time and time again. I Started

collecting right after college. I started picking

up vintage Star Wars toys, and then they came

out with Power Force 2 And I thought, I will

put the vintage stuff aside, which was a huge

mistake, because it was cheap and available back

then. I will put aside the vintage stuff, but

I was just out of college, so I didn't have money,

so it seemed expensive. And I will buy this new

stuff, and I will buy all the new stuff, and

when it is done, I will go back to the old stuff.

And the new stuff were kind of the point it's

almost ended. I mean, they still do the retro

lines and the... Occasionally they'll do a wave

of vintage figures Which isn't confusing at all

You know like I did not expect to be in this

for all this time So yeah, I would I would like

to have that moment of I Think I'm there with

Joe. I think I think I gave classified a chance

and they just said we're gonna put target in

charge I'm like, okay done The one that keeps

killing me is stupid Jurassic World because I

love dinosaurs and they're so good. I want them

to change the scale. I want them to go all Amber

collection so I can walk away from that. Like

I said, Star Wars were pretty close. I keep cherry

picking Black Series stuff because there's just

characters you can't get. Like Jax the friggin'

Rocker Rabbit. I mean, I would lose my mind.

I wouldn't lose my mind really, but I would love

for a vintage collection. Better a retro collection

Jack because that would be perfect because that

that was like the first comic that came out No,

those are like issues seven eight nine like right

after The the movie adaptation like that was

the next story arc was was seven against the

planet seven at the world Magnificent seven meets

Godzilla and you're just like I Would love for

a record that would be perfect But they did him

in a black series and they did him in this weird

box that's like closed, got a lid, and doesn't

have a hook. So I'm going to have to open it

and display them that way. I'm just like, Jesus,

you guys screwed the six ways this Sunday. But

yeah, I would like to be done. I don't know that

I'll ever be able to. Because again, it's like,

what do you replace it with? Because I'm not

going to get into sports now. Movies are kind

of a thing. Like I just I have a harder and harder

time watching anything I don't know if it's my

focus man. I forced myself to watch Loki today,

which I enjoyed But I don't watch any I don't

watch you know movies are gone. Hope people come

back I don't know. It's just I don't know. I

don't know what I would replace it with in my

life But I'm keen to like find out There you

go What is something that does not have a toy

of it you'd love to have in toy form? Is there

anything like that anymore? Especially with Funko.

No, I'm not even joking. If you factor in Funko,

it's hard because, like, you know, Labyrinth

toys would be cool. They've done a couple Funkos

of those. I would have said Avatar, but they've

had toy lines. Now we're getting with Farland

1. I mean, there are... Those are probably the

two big ones, and I'm trying to think of anything

else that I really would be interested in that

hasn't had some kind of play. I can think of

specific characters. I would love to have a nice

four -inch scale gorilla Grodd. Don't have one.

I've got two, but one was the Mattel Infinite

thing. He just looks like a sad gorilla. Terrible.

And then the other one, whoever's making the

new one, Spin Masters? Jax? Spin Masters is making

the forage. Okay, yeah, they had a grill grad

and he took a little kind of... the sculpting

is just soft. It would be cool if they had detail

on him. I was hoping Haya would do them for injustice,

but a four inch grill grad, four inch scale Mr.

Fix -It. They've never done Greyhulk Mr. Fix

-It in the four inch scale. There are specific

figures. I don't think there's a property that

just hasn't had... I can't think of anything

that hasn't... actually had a toy. So Mr. Dave,

what is a part of collecting that you struggle

with? In other words, toy collecting can have

its struggles. What is one aspect that you tend

to struggle with the most out of all of it? Finding

grab. I order everything I can off of Big Bad.

It's why if you listen to the podcast the last

year or so, the minute you mention Tarter or

Walmart, I groan or cry. Or make a fart noise.

Jason wasn't kidding. When I found out that Happy

Hogan was a friggin' Target exclusive, I literally

had a box and I was smashing it on the table.

I was so pissed off. I am so tired of Target.

So finding stuff. I mean, you know, I think fellow,

it's always been weird to me. From the moment

I first got onto the internet, I've always been

surprised how I always thought that you would

meet other people that were interested in the

same thing you were. and you would just be like

instant friends and it would be cool and no like

for some reason most of us are a bunch of dicks

and it's kind of sad um because it's like all

the lessons that we learned as children were

be good people and stick with your friends and

be cool and and don't blow up planets and you

know so i i don't understand why everybody's

like such a selfish you know like i literally

quoted to a guy once if money is all you want

then that's what yours is Okay, if you're just

in it for the money, okay. I don't know what

Star Wars movie you were watching. Yeah, everybody

wants to be a President Scroob. All right, if

you could create any toy, what would you want

to create? Basically, any company gives you the

keys to the kingdom, budget is no object, what

would you want to do with it? My fantasy toy

line... kind of literally would be a really foreign

scale because it doesn't count. I've got D &D

toy line handled probably by Boss Fight. I would

love it to be kind of like where the armor is

removable and weapon, you know, different weapons.

I would love a D &D line with a sub theme of

Critical Role and do that Boss Fight hack. I

know I just I said a long time ago, two years,

two hours ago. I was sad I got licenses, but...

This one would fit in with their fantasy stuff.

I would love a D &D slash critical role boss

fights Technical difficulties, let's move on

shall we repeat that last line Dave and I will

edit around this I would love a Boss fight got

the rights to D &D and specifically critical

role. I would buy the crap out of that toy line.

There you go I think would be really cool if

they could make a toy line that Ford D &D where

you can pick from pre -made parts to create your

character and maybe they have 15 different pieces

of leg armor, 15 different pieces of chest armor,

you could just do that and then after you make

your character they send you your custom figure.

Well I know that time is a thing going on now

because we've been going on for so long but maybe

a question is coming up so maybe I'm answering

it but like you get me and maybe I missed my

chance on toys you can play with. I love the

Marauder stuff. I love like you get a couple

figures and a big bag of parts and you just make

your own characters and I can do that I can do

it all afternoon, you know parts and weapons

and they're designed to be like modular and customizable

and I Love that. That's so much fun. Make your

own characters That's one of the things I love

about games like XCOM is you can make your own

soldiers and you're telling their story and not

just some Someone else's preset story Exactly.

I love agency. Like I think the key word is agency.

I love having agency in a toy where you can do

what you want to do with it, as opposed to some

old man who thinks, hey, this will transform,

and then it'll transform back, and if you touch

it, it'll break. No, $700. What is the one piece

of advice you would give the toy collecting fandom?

Calm down. I used to be a pissed off, rabble

-rousing, angry young man in the 90s too. I get

it. I get being frustrated not being able to

get the thing you want. Believe me, I get it.

But just calm down, stop fighting with each other.

Like, I don't know. At the end of the day, I

get that they're important to you, but they are

just toys. Like, just try to get some perspective

on it. Try to find out why you need it so bad,

why it makes you so angry. Try to find productive

ways, try to help each other. Like, you know.

Just be excellent to each other. The ones that

had it right. There you go. What is advice you'd

give to kids who enjoy toys? Are there any? God

bless you. Be prepared for dark times ahead,

because I think that's a dying thing. I think

that's going out with rotary phones and VCRs

and physical media, which I love. Everything

that I like is dying, and I like toys. Maybe

you should just pick up the screen and you'll

be happy. Alrighty then. You can catch Dave along

with his buddy Deval every week, I think every

week on toyworldorder .com, Dave and Deval's

toys and collectibles. So go check them out.

With Dave's brand new polished microphone, you

can hear every single burp and cough that Jason

does. Thank you for joining us here on Toycast.

If you'd like to get in contact with us, leave

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now, I am TF2 and Mike with FloorBurger. Join

us next time when we'll be talking more toys

here on Toycast. Coming up next, folks, in episode

107, we get, uh, the Baron's Jersey journey,

I think? I don't know. Daz is gonna talk about

some... His... His... His... His... His... His...

His... His... His... His... His... His... His...

His... His... His... His... His... His... His...

His... His... His... His... His... His... His...

His... His... His... His... His... His... His...

His... His... His... His... His... Something

like that. I have lost my mind, folks, so we

will... Yeah, there you go. That's it. God, the

old guy had to remind me of what the young people

watch. Oh, God, that's scary. The young people?

That thing is like 40 years old. Or not 40, but

like 30 years old. Yeah, it's like 20... The

hip young kids from 2000. Hey. Go to bed, old

man. I'm trying. Thank you very much. And it's

like three o 'clock by you now. Yeah, well, no,

it's five. And I have to record in two hours.

So we will catch you next time here on Toycast.

Bye.