Wes Howard on Toy Collecting Origins and Building Poppin’ Off Toys

Jazz here, and I am so diggin' the Geekcast Radio

Network. Greetings, humans. This is Starscream,

and you're listening to Toycast. And if any of

you call me a parts former, one more time! Toycast

oh yes Listen to the only toy podcast you will

ever need Hello and welcome to an all -new generation

of toy cast as we get the origins of any and

all toy fans that we can I'm of course TF2 and

Mike and joining me today is Someone I've known

for about two years We've done one podcast together

before about two years ago. It was called pop

goes the Funko And it is that popping off toys

creator. Mr. Wes Howard. Hello, sir. How we doing

Mike? It's way too hot Way too hot and apparently

there's a train in the background. Yay and we

are here as I said to get Wes's toy origins and

Hopefully he doesn't give two -hour answers to

these 42 questions because if that was the case

we'd be here for 80 hours Yeah, something like

that What is or was the first toy you remember

having as a kid? Oh man, so I my earliest memories

of toys have to be the My goodness, they just

the wrestling figures the LFG. Ah, it's not LFG.

I just forgot the name but the big You know non

movable, you know rubber. Yeah rest LTL LJL JN

LJM. Yes LJM. Goodness. I could not I had a ton

of them and I still have them in my attic right

now, but I spent Days upon days upon days playing

with these things constantly awesome Awesome.

Was there a particular adult who was supportive

of you playing with toys as a kid? Was there

anyone who was unsupportive? No, I always remember

my mom just encouraging me to play and to have

imagination. I mean, I would go deep with my

toys. I would do full on movies and sequels and

three and four. Like I would just go deep. And

my mom always encouraged my imagination. And

I don't ever remember anyone telling me Hey,

don't play with toys or anything like that. What

types of toys were your favorites to play with?

Oh, it had to be the wrestling figures. I mean,

when I say it was concy, it was I would I would

do pay per views. I would line them up and match

cards. I would I'd go the whole nine yards with

them. Awesome. What were your favorite childhood

toys that really stood out more than others?

Besides the wrestling ones, was there something

else that stood out? You're like, oh, I'm this

kind of toy kid versus playing with go -bots

or something. Yeah, I had a lot of GI Joe. I

remember playing a lot of GI Joe guys. I remember

getting, you know, we'd see my cousin from Texas

once a year and we'd always bring our GI Joes

and, and just, you know, play GI Joes constantly

together. So yeah, I also was pretty big into

GI Joe. Do you prefer the label of action figures,

dolls, toys, or other labels? Has anyone ever

answered dolls to this question? Well, we've

only been doing this since episode 102. So, uh,

I don't think so action figures my man. Yeah,

absolutely Good guys are bad guys. Which toys

were your favorites to play with the most? So

like snake eyes was like one of my favorites

I realized he was a good guy, but he was a bad

good guy, you know, he was like You know, I guess

I like kind of the neutral guys like macho man.

Randy Savage was always my favorite and he kind

of went back and forth. He was kind of the good,

bad guy. So man, I'm going to land right smack

in the middle on this one. What is or was your

favorite toy vehicle or playset? OK, I remember

having the AT -AT walkers from Star Wars, and

I remember having that thing walk all over the

house. And the side opened up and you can have

all your guys inside of it. So I I play with

that thing constantly Awesome This is a silly

question because I used to do this as a kid But

did you and your friends ever pretend with your

toys that you had by this? I mean, did you say

I'm gonna be this toy and you can be that toy

Like I'm gonna be the Coke bottle top and you

can be the piece of glass kind of thing. Oh,

yeah Oh, yeah, we pull on movies What I guess

when I got my cousin I remember us we did a GI

Joe movie and then we even did a sequel the next

day and like the story picked right up after

the ending like a Big imagination guy. I'm sure

they were probably better than the movies we

got currently What features define a good toy

to you? How true does the item feel in comparison

to the source material likeness? So I'm a big

visual guy and I think When you look at something

if it hits you the nice that takes you back hits

you visually. I That's it for me. That's all

I need I have you know, my collectibles and my

toys I have them set up so I can see them That's

how I enjoy them most, especially at my age.

As a kid, I enjoyed them most by playing with

them. But now as an adult, it's visual for me

because that's what takes me back to those fond

memories. Awesome. What does toy packaging have

to have to draw you in? Nowadays, you can't go

into any store and actually find toys on shelves.

When besides one store in Nashville, Tennessee,

that is of course you have to be a funko fan

for that one So in general when you are collecting

toys when you're hunting for toys Specifically

at stores. What is it about the packaging that

draws you in? Okay, good example of this right

now they are releasing and it's for Usually it's

for SDCC, but right this year, whatever they're

doing a WWE elite figure of sergeant slaughter

Normally, I probably would not pick up this figure

because I tried to keep my elite figures Down

to the people that molded my childhood the most

now sergeant slaughter was certainly there But

you know, he's not one of the top guys that I

remember but the packaging for this figure is

just like the LJN. It looks like that packaging

did. And I have to have this. And I will not

open it up because seeing that packaging brings

me joy. So the packaging has to take me back.

If I'm looking for current toys, if I'm looking

with my son, I'm not worried. Really about the

packaging more worried about the function or

is he gonna be able to play with it? How's he

gonna be able to play with it? But from me to

buy a toy the packaging has to it has to resonate

with me So yeah, absolutely Do you open your

toys or do you leave them packaged if you keep

toys packaged? Do you have a specific criteria

for that? Right now I'm looking at a shelf that

has Elite figures out of package and elite figures

in the package. So I hate to be But I am both

like I have I'm looking at demolition, which

is there in the package and that's Cost me a

pretty penny They're in the package. Both of

them are down dead But you know once that there's

a bunch of like I have a macho man out of the

package and miss Elizabeth I like to set them

up. So my macho man is right next to miss Elizabeth

and mean gene Oakland has a mic sticking it in

his face Set up scenes with these guys. There

you go That is awesome If as a kid or an adult,

you only were allowed to choose one toy franchise

to collect from, which one would you choose and

why? You said as an adult or as a kid? Yeah,

kid or an adult. If your parents said, OK, Timmy,

you can only have Transformers. You can only

have wrestlers. You can only have one franchise

to collect from. I mean as a kid, I'm gonna I'll

choose WWF WWF all day long As an adult golly

Probably well, I got probably gotta say Pixar

because that's kind of what I'm you know into

the most with my kids now But yeah, you know

WWF WWF See I would just cheat and say Funko

because they have everything I didn't know that

was an answer, so I'll say Funko. As an adult,

do you prefer vintage toys or modern toys? I

don't get into... I had Masters of the Universe

growing up, but I'm not going out and seeking

to get the current Masters of the Universe, even

if it looks vintage or not. So that that's that's

tough for me I guess I guess vintage because

that sergeant slaughter packaging just I mean

I was like gotta have it, you know, so I mean

I guess vintage Cool now by this we mean an actual

action figure folks. What is one toy? You can

always play with so what is one? thing in your

collection that you'd be like oh I I can you

know take that out of the box or take it off

the shelf and Always just enjoy fiddling with

it because I played with it as a kid Well, I

mean I I mean I hate to have the same answer

for the WWF right I still have these LG and like

I get them down for my son every now and then

look with and like I'll just pick them up and

you know, so here's how I used to play Now pull

me take so many slams against the ropes one,

two, three We have a new champion, you know,

like I'm instantly back in it Even though there

are always toy lines that people never purchase,

are there any that you specifically and purposefully

avoid? This can be toy lines, specific characters,

that kind of stuff. I specifically avoid mashups.

It's just not my thing. I don't care for... my

WWE wrestlers to be zombified. Like that has

nothing to do with what I grew up with or what

I enjoyed. And I realize some collectors love

that stuff. That's great. No fault for making

them. It's just not my thing. So like mashups,

you know, I don't need Skeletor, you know, on

pan throw or something, you know, like it's just

not my thing. So you're not a masters of the

WWE fan yeah But They're highly collectible crazy

enough so someone smarter than me knows what

they're doing Are there any toys in the past

or currently that you wish you hadn't bought

them are there any toys that you may have sold

that you regret letting go specific on what I

buy now and I you know, I Mean I guess some of

the early pops I had that are now worth way more

than I sold them for I mean, I guess but You

know once I buy some I don't buy it to sell it.

I buy it to hold on to it. So yeah kind of, you

know, not many regrets. The one regret I do have

is buying a pop for 500 that's now worth 15.

All right. Oh, this is not so for those that

don't know, because I didn't really introduce

this part of Wes and I's relationship or how

I found him. Wes. owns a business. Wes started

this business about six years ago or so called

Popping Off Toys. PoppingOffToys .com. Go now.

If you're a Funco fan, Wes has everything that

is not exclusive to stores that you can possibly,

you know, he has most everything for Funco. So

this question does include your Funco part, but

I'm just like, I can't even imagine what your

answer is going to be to this. How large or small

is your toy collection? Do your toys take up

the whole house or are they relegated to one

room shelf or something like that? Well, before

I moved my business out of my home, it was thousands

upon thousands. But yeah, up in my man cave,

once there's the, as you come up the stairs,

the wall is completely full with Pixar. Pops

funko pops and then once you come in you see

a little desk that my wife uses and then there

is a shelf and a smaller shelf next to it and

that is where my harry potter lego and harry

potter funko pops and other kind of little harry

potter knickknacks go and they all have a specific

place and how they get there and how they go

there cross from it you know my daughter's barbie

dream house a bunch of barbies there's three

more shelves and they are full of Game of Thrones

Funko pops Breaking Bad Funko pops WWE Funko

pops in WWE elite figures and then my holiday

and parts interact pops So yeah, there's a bunch

up here, but we regulate it to the man cave Like

you're not gonna walk down and see my you know

action figures and Funko pops in the living room

it's so funny you say that because Karen pointed

out to me several times within the last two or

three years that we've been together four years

this coming August and There was a Redfin listing

House for sale. Yeah In the kitchen there were

like ten funko pops on a shelf and I'm like,

oh my god Really the people the real estate agent

didn't tell you to put those away So not to scare

people off from buying your house How do you

keep track of your collection if you do? Yeah,

there's a site called popriceguide or hobbydb

.com and I have them inputted in there. But that's

specifically for Funko items. I don't, my Elite

figures, I keep track of them in my mind. Like

there's not, there's probably 40 of them. It's

not like just great. So I don't need anything

for that. You know, you've mentioned where some

of your stuff is in the man cave, but how do

you like to display them? Do you? Put certain

pops with like do you mix the like I know you're

not a fan of mash -ups but like oh, it's okay

if if if Woody is standing next to Steve Austin

So there's one wall and that is Pixar only and

they are up there by specific movie So, Toy Story

1 is together, Toy Story 2 is together, Toy Story

3 is together, Toy Story 4 is together, and then

Toy Story is all together too. So, you know,

it is a pain in the ass when a pop comes out

from a movie and everything has to shift. I've

got to get Luca up there right now. So, yeah.

And then on the other side of the room in the

shelves... Everything's together. I'll you know

Game of Thrones is all together back to the futures

all together Right WWE together in the office

together and stuff. Yeah. No, they've got to

be with her What matches for me to enjoy it?

I could not just have them just smorgasbord together

It's only because of the lack of space and I

haven't actually put any shelving up but I can

look over on my because half of my actually a

good 95 percent of my pops are still in storage

but the ones that i have bought out here i can

see bob from what about bob is on top of comic

book guy who is on top of kevin smith the director

and then john wick is on top of clark griswold

in the in the station wagon so i need to i need

to organize a little better uh Okay. So this

is something I asked over on the pull bag for

comics. This is, this is where this question

comes from. Everybody is safe. You're safe. Your

wife's safe. The kids are safe. The pets are

safe. Everybody's safe, but the house is on fire.

What's one toy you'd run in to save? Uh, I'm

going to come get flocked lot. So, and if I had

time flock selling, they all. Yeah. Wouldn't

even save yourself, huh? Well, I thought you

said everybody was safe. Well, okay, well, save

yourself. I mean, it's, you know, you are now

popped, so. So the house is going under, all

my family's safe, everybody's healthy, it's okay,

and they're like, you can run in and grab one

object. That's what I'd grab. Awesome. All right,

here's the toy box challenge you get one 18 by

18 by 18 box The only toys you can keep have

to fit in the box. What can you pack into it?

Oh my gosh and not much 18 by 18 by 18 box. Yeah,

dude these Funko pop boxes. I mean that's probably

gonna carry 10 of them So I'm grabbing my crap,

dude. I gotta get my LJN figures. Oh, man. Oh,

that's tough, dude. I would probably. OK, I would

I would let the current elite figures go because

I'm going to grab some of my LJNs. And then I

would grab her. Yeah, I guess I grab some loose

pops. I'd say forget the box and I'll just grab

some loose pops so I can get quite a few in there

without the boxes. And as we've already figured

out he is one of these but question 22 and it's

sad. You're the first guest so far. Everybody

says either I'm not into it or I have a healthy

respect for it but it's not my thing. Obviously

with you, hello, you run a business. Are you

a Funko fan? I would say I bet my life on my

fandom of it. Yes. So why don't you tell the

story, you know, since we know that you are a

Funko fan, tell the story of the online business,

getting the story, you know, tell your whole

six year journey. Yeah. Yeah. I'll try to do

it pretty quick. So basically Six years ago on

my birthday. A friend of mine brought me a Funko

pop It was of Walter White and his underwear

from the show Breaking Bad my son who was three

at the time ripped it open and Of course, I knew

no better. I was like, what is this thing as

I oh man, it's this thing It's called Funko pop.

So as I it's pretty cool. I love this show It

looks like him. It's great a couple days later

I decided to look online see if they make any

other characters from the show and they did and

I actually saw on like Good morning, whatever

one of the good morning shows. I just have you

walking through and they were doing a You think

your star wars tours from your childhood or you

know, you're very valuable now Here's some toys

that right now could be valuable later and one

of their examples was a Funko pop So that got

me interested So I started looking them up and

started, you know buying them and i've never

been a collector ever in my life Thought collecting

was kind of stupid actually. Um something about

these things flipped the switch for me and I

started collecting and I just quickly fell in

love with the whole process of this. So I started

collecting then, because I worked at a non -profit,

I was like, well, we don't have extra money,

so let me sell some so I can have money to then

buy other ones that I wanted, some that maybe

have a little more value. Started doing that,

had a little knack for selling them, and decided,

all right, let me sell some on eBay. So I started

selling some on eBay, and then a company reached

out on eBay and said, hey, Want to ever buy these

wholesale let us know and I said, what does that

even mean? I went and got a business tax license

got a count with them Started buying from them

and then I said well, why am I paying them extra?

Let me just contact the company. It makes these

things Contacted Funko beat their door down.

They They sent me what I needed. I applied they

approved me. I got a rep. I started buying from

Funko Then I was like, well, I'm sick of delivering

these things to local people. Let me get a website

I mean I literally would post in on Facebook

my who wants one and they say I do and I'll drive

it to their house and they I was making nothing

Well, I mean if I want to sell to other people

I need a website So I was like, well I need a

name what my wife used to tell me quit popping

off She'd tell me stop quit popping off. Uh -huh

Oh my gosh, poppin', pop, Funko Pop, poppin'

off toys, poppin' off toys, that's it, let's

do it. I had a coworker, a coworker's husband,

make me a logo, and my vision was like, I want

like an explosion, in the words, poppin' off

toys in the middle of the explosion, kind of

like a, I don't know, like a cartoon explosion

almost. So got that, then went to wix .com, got

a simple little website, set it up, started sellin',

it did pretty good. outgrew that about a year.

Got a Shopify site and made some, you know, very

lucky relationships with some groups and some

influencers. And it just kind of went from there.

Take one small step each time I could. And now,

you know, I'm five years into this. I've been

told I'm one of the top national brands for Funko

Pops. And, you know, we're on track to demolish

all sales goals that we've ever set. That is

awesome So you went from the website to actually

having a store? Yeah, I kind of left that out

so Home for the first five years and love I wanted

to be here. The point was to see my kids grow

up to be there but I was The garage was completely

full. I worked at the garage every day. I had

employees come into the garage each day. We had

two storage units. I had to go to these storage

units three to four times a day. And I was like,

all right, man, something's got to give. And

one of my employees, their brother used to work

in this little space that they don't work there

anymore. And he said, hey, it's empty. I want

you all to go look at it. So we took a look.

And the price was right because of COVID. And

we took it. and made the jump to a retail store.

The reason why we did it was to be able to ship

out worldwide. I just, the retail store side,

I was like, man, that's cool. If I can just make

$2 ,000 a month in sales in a retail store, I'll

be okay. I never dreamed this retail store would

be big as it is. It is just absolutely just.

crushing. I mean, you know, all the work I did

in the national community, you know, is now paying

off. It wasn't just, you know, out of the blue.

Here I am. You know, I paid my dues, you know,

build my name up, but like people were ready

for it and they needed it. And it's been just

unbelievable. Yeah. I mean, there's nothing like,

like recently I was actually shocked. I haven't

posted these pictures online yet, but as I mentioned

earlier, You go into almost any Walmart There's

no transformers. I mean you're lucky if there

is there's no transformers. There's never any

like once in a blue moon, there's GI Joe's and

Walmart and So I went in and I I just like I

don't collect actual action fit like the only

two non fun go things I have currently right

now is a 3d printed Grogu that a buddy of mine

made and I recently just bought the Hot Wheels

Knight Rider Super Pursuit Mode car. This is

the first time I've had a Hot Wheels car in at

least 30 years. So I go into Walmart and I just

like to see like, oh hey, I'm out in Vancouver,

Washington at this Walmart and these are the

toys that are here if anyone's in the area kind

of thing and there's never anything at this Walmart.

So I go over to the electronics section expecting

it to be Empty and Snake Eyes just released Was

not expecting Like an entire like I could have

bought all of them. I could have bought the entire

collection of GI Joe Funko pops They had two

of every figure and all of them are Walmart exclusives

and I'm like Okay I like GI Joe, I do, but I'm

more of a Transformers guy and that's fine. I

had just gotten the other day, before this happened,

I was never expecting most Game Stops to still

have the... the lunchbox you know you know when

they do those but the special exclusive boxes

like a couple years ago they did they did disney

afternoon i think what was it last year this

year whatever they had the transformers gi joe

one well these are the blind boxes and i i hate

blind boxes so it's a whole other discussion

we can get into but i just i'm not a fan of those

if i want a figure sell it to me and that's fine

i don't care so i grabbed one The lunchboxes

and I'm like, I'm hoping to get Megatron, but

you know, it is what it is I ended up with Cobra

commander and Optimus Prime But I had already

had an Optimus Prime because one of our fans

had sent me one. You're right. Yeah, so As soon

as I go into the Walmart the next week or the

next month or whatever it was here recently and

I see all these GI Joe's I'm like, oh There's

like four different Baroness is here. Let me

just check the boxes make sure there's no Major

box damage and what? Oh, okay. So yes, I now

have Cobra commander and the Baroness and those

are the only two GI Joe pops I need Yeah, it's

just one of those things where these things it

like for me I also collect the ones where it's

you know like the ad ad icons to me or funko

is the best at ad icons because you don't see

toys of the ad You know, Trix Rabbit, or Count

Chocula, or Boo Berry, or... fucking, uh, the,

the, the... Lil' Sweet from Diet Dr Pepper, Justin

Guarini. When did he ever get an actual toy?

I'm sure somebody out there listening will say,

oh, well, he did have blah, blah, blah. It ain't

the same as a Funko Pop. Right, yeah, yeah. It,

it just ain't the same. What was the most money

you ever spent on a toy? Uh... I guess, ah, man.

Outside of the business, because, I mean, I'm

still 4 ,000. Yeah, outside of the business.

A toy for yourself, for your collection kind

of thing, yeah. $700. What was that? Well, it

was Flock Lotso. I just got sniped on an eBay

auction for one for that price. Oh, no. So a

friend saw another one up and grabbed it for

700 and then he basically gave it to me in return

for $700 worth of pops. So essentially, yes,

I spent $700. Wow. Yeah, but this was a two year

journey to get this pop. It was. Oh my gosh,

I, I have lost so many raffles for this pop.

One time I had seven of the 10 spots. It's still

lost. It was it was becoming this epic tale So

it did me pay 700. I was like screw this. I'm

I have to get this done Right. It's always been

my ultimate grill So that is by far the most

and then you know, I did buy a spent fine. Oh,

this is so embarrassing So I found this girl

in my car. You had a bunch of Game of Thrones

I was gonna buy her entire collection, but she

had the metallic children of the forest I was

like, hey, I want that for my collection. Tell

you what, I will pay you what you're asking for

that one. And then I want this huge discount

on the rest of them. So she agreed. So essentially

I did pay $500 for Metallic Chill in the Forest.

And then I bought the rest of her collection

for, you know, way cheaper, way less it's worth.

But HBO found another three to 4 ,000 of those

pops in a warehouse. Oh no. They released them

on the website. And then season eight was Horrible

and that pop is worth $15 today So boy, yep,

hey, this is a game you win some you lose some

I have won way many more times than I've lost

but That those are one story. I'm proud of one

that hey, it's unfortunate, but it happened.

Yeah So you kind of just answered the next question

What was the cheapest toy you bought was what

was the best deal you ever got for a figure that

may have been worth? quite a bit more than Just

started collecting pops I was you know, yeah

I was still in the phase of every every place

we went I had to had to Funko pop hunt in college

you have Funko pops, you know So I went and saw

my mom dad in my whole old hometown and I was

like, hey I'm gonna go pop hunt and y 'all hang

out. So I went to one store They didn't have

anything and I asked him. Hey, is there any other

stores? They mentioned like this hole -in -the

-wall place in a different city. I called him

up I said y 'all have any Funko pops and of course

he had no clue what those were So you have to

explain it in the right. Oh, oh, yeah, the bobblehead

thing. Yeah, I've got let's see a doctor doom

and I'll be I'll be right there. I'll be right

there So I found this guy's place walked in there.

He had like seven pops, but he had dr. Doom reggae

rosti reggae rasta purple haze I mean this guy

had gold and he wanted $12 each so I happily

paid 12, I spent $81 for these pops and walked

out of there with, I think I added, I think it

was like $850 worth of value. Wow. That was probably

the biggest score I've had in the collecting

game. Wow. Now this was obviously before COVID

and I know that People are starting to open back

up and everything else and I don't agree with

it, but it is what it is Vaccination is not cure

folks. That's all I'll say about that. Yes It's

great that we're all the people that do vaccinate

is great that we have less of a chance of catching

it But it's not a cure Uh, do you, so this question

was written obviously before COVID happened.

Do you visit toy shows or conventions when you

visit these places? Do you have a typical methodology?

Do you bring a certain amount of money for what

you're looking for that kind of thing? Yeah.

So, um, now I only do it. I haven't done it obviously

since COVID, but now I would only do it when

I have a, uh, a booth and I'm selling. Um, but

before I, um, I've been to San Diego Comic Con.

It was one of the worst three days, period, that

I've ever had. I'm just not a guy that wants

to sit in line for an hour to hear someone talk

about a trailer they're about to release. I can't

wait to see the trailer on YouTube in minutes.

So it just doesn't excite me. And if that excites

you, that's great. That's totally fine. It's

just not my thing. So I'll go down to the seller's

alley, and I will just walk it. See all the cool

stuff walk it walk it for hours, and then I'll

start narrowing down what I want to purchase

You know most time now. It's me purchasing stuff

for the business or whatnot, but me as a collector

That's it that'd be the same thing walk it walk

it many times and then start narrowing down I

got it down to this this this and then start

making my selections from there Very cool very

cool. What do you think it is about our generation

that care that cuz? Let me start that over. What

do you think it is about our generation that

causes our childhood toys to mean so much more

to us, for instance, than, say, our parents'

generation? Yeah, you know, we were kind of the

first generation where, you know, our dads really,

like, showed, like, actual love, like, said the

words, I love you, like... My parents, you know,

my mom's dad, great man, but she can never remember

him saying the words, I love you. And she knew

that she loved her, but like, they just don't

show affection. So I think, you know, uh, whenever

it was their turn to have kids, they wanted to

make sure their kids were loved and felt happiness.

And, and I think, you know, the technology had

kind of got to a point where these cool little

toys were coming out and being mass produced

much easier and being made, you know, way more

many places than ever before. And so I think

those are just really good times for a lot of

us as a kid playing with these, these, you know,

GI Joe and Masters universe and just WWE, just

all this stuff that. It brings us back to our

childhood. Childhood is innocence and you don't

get that back. And so being able to reconnect

with that innocence, it's a powerful feeling.

Yeah, absolutely. What is your motivation for

purchasing toys to display, to play, to fiddle?

Describe your collecting style. Are you a completionist,

a storyteller, a cherry picker or otherwise?

I am a completionist display. But I have found

the strength to not be a 100 % completionist

on some things. I can justify in my mind saying,

I'm only gonna collect the WWE wrestlers from

my childhood. So I do not have to collect the

CM Punk and all that. Let those go and be fine.

Pixar, I'm a completionist. I have every Pixar

pop ever made. Back to the Future, Breaking Bad,

Completionist, Completionist. But I'm getting

to a point with The Office and some of that where

I can say, you know what, I just want to collect

some of my favorite scenes and obviously favorite

characters. I don't need 36 Dwight Shrewts at

this point. So I have mastered the skill of being

able to be a completionist that fits my justifications

for completionists. Yeah, that's the same with

me. Like with Funko, I don't collect every, like

I have, and I don't have any disrespect for the

show. I've seen 20 minutes of the first. Seasons

of the pilot episode, but I have zero interest

in Game of Thrones funko pops. So that's something

I will net like Just because I'm a funko collector

doesn't mean I collect everything that funko

puts out because if I did that This two bedroom

apartment would be basically on hoarders next

week Have you ever purchased a toy for a child

with the ulterior motive of playing with it yourself?

Uh, yeah, sure. Why not? You got some traffic

going on. Yes. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Especially

my kid, you know, like I would, we'd be in the

toy store and, um, and side note, I'd never thought

anything would be more joyous than buying a toy

for yourself, but buying a toy for your kid is

one of the best experiences. Um, it's It's so

easy to like spoil your kids because it brings

you so much joy to see the joy it gives them

But I would definitely steer him like I mean,

what do you think? This one's cool, man. This

one's really cool Because I knew that I would

get home he'd go to bed and I would Pop it out

and you know play around with it Have you ever

purchased a vintage toy for your your kids because

you thought it would be Fun for them based on

your own preferences No, no, and and I guess

the reason why is I am I was like, hey buddy,

you want to watch this show that daddy used to

watch as a kid? He's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah,

so I put on Masters of the Universe and it was

awful Daddy you watch this I was like dude. It

was amazing when I was a kid I don't I don't

know like so like I kind of want to keep something

special in my mind I guess now Um, because it's

kind of like when you try to go watch an episode

of safe by the bell now And why did I like this

shit? This is horrible And so, you know some

things just need to be sacred yeah, it's uh As

someone who has run a pod a separate podcast

from toy cast the powers of grayskull series

for the last 10 years We've reviewed every single

episode of both filmation series The New Adventures

of He -Man, the 2002 series, and now we just

finished up our Revelation stuff last month when

Revelation hit Netflix. And some of those episodes

in Filmation do not. And I am a firm believer

certain things don't hold up. They're not supposed

to. You're supposed to... think of them as the

time that they were being made. So the first

season of He -Man released in October of 83,

which means it was being made in the fall, winter,

spring of 8182 kind of thing or whatever. So

I look at it in that kind of way. Do you do any

toy modifications or customs, painting, that

kind of stuff? No, no, no. It would not end well.

I buy toys that are completed because I am not

an artist. Do you think toy companies should

specifically have adult collector toys, child

toys, or find a way to mix both? I just think

a toy should be a toy. If you want to collect

it and keep it in the packaging, great. If your

kids want to play with it, great. If you tell

me something's a collectible, it's not it's no

longer a collectible. So I don't want to see

Masters of the universe collectible figure like

no I'll decide if it's collectible or not. So

I think it just let a toy be a toy I'm checking

my Baroness packaging to make sure it doesn't.

Oh, the only thing it says is collect them all

it doesn't say it's an actual collectible Okay,

Funko pops are not collectible folks They do

say on some of the back collect them all so I

understand that's a sales pitch I'm pretty sure

you don't at this point, but do you have a my

parents got rid of my toys story? Yeah, of course

man. I don't have any of my GI Joe's original

Star Wars toys anymore Gone, I mean everything

Teddy Ruxpin. I mean, it's all Gone and then

you know understand that's why they're worth

so much because everybody got rid of them. Yep

Outside of the business because the business

is what the business is Do you feel you are coming

to an end of your active collecting? If so, what

has signified this phase for you? Was there ever

a moment where you were done with toys? Have

you ever considered stopping as a collector or

even selling your whole collection? Hell no,

but I have also studied because you know being

in the business of selling these things to people

I used to get anxiety that this was all about

to end and then I'll bet what am I gonna do what

am I gonna do so I've come up with a theory of

the life cycle of a collector um you got the

new one just starts out They get everything any

and when someone comes in my store and I'm like,

what do you collect and I say, oh man, just You

know a little bit of everything. I'm like, oh

gosh, this ain't gonna last They're like anything

and everything just get get get these are cool.

These are cool. These are cool. That's fine but

you're gonna have to come to a point where you

say I need to refine this and only collect what

I truly like because you're not gonna last unless

you do that with anything you're gonna wake up,

you know by I have too much stuff. I have to

get rid of it all. And then you, you have some

resentment for these things because you know,

you're trying to sell them all and you're not

getting back what you put in or so like the life

cycle is, you know, once you feel overwhelmed

and you don't refine and you just start getting

rid of like that's when it's over for the collector.

And so I always try to encourage, and even if

it means less sales for me, I always try to encourage

collectors to refine. focus in on what you love

because All these things take up space, you know,

yeah, we all love NFTs these things take up space

and so yeah No, I I'm able I was able to refine

my collection so I'm able to still be excited

about new announcements new releases and Still

enjoy every aspect of it because I know what

I collect and I'm not after the next shiny thing.

Yeah That's like me with with certain pops like

okay take masters the universe I have one he

man. I have one Skeletor. I have terror claws

Skeletor because not just because he's a target

exclusive but because he's metallic he Reminds

me of the old action figure that I had. Yeah,

I have Slime pit he man again not because he

was a convention whatever shared whatever exclusive

of Funko but because I had the slime pit as a

kid. I hated the slime pit as a kid because I

always had to clean it up. And my mom ended up

yelling at me and grounding me when she had to

clean it up. So I'm like, oh, Funko Pop, slime

pit he -man, it's green translucent with red

eyes, fine, great. And I have Adam and Randor

and that's essentially my master's section of

Funko. I don't necessarily need I think I have

Evil in back in, I don't remember what I have

back in storage. I'd have to look at the Funco

app to see. Anyway, let's see. What is something

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

have in toy form? Something, oh man, that's gonna

take some thought. I mean, I mean the holy grail

for my business would be Nintendo pops From your

lips to Funko and Nintendo's ears, but Nintendo

is too interested in their damn amiibos Yeah,

it's not guarantee you Funko's reached out many

times. This is not even set it on several videos

and streams and stuff Yeah, yeah, so I mean that's

like the holy grail. It used to be the office

and then we got them so And then specifically

I want to see like like WrestleMania moments,

you know either pops or other things I would

just if they reliving moments I think is kind

of the next thing like Nostalgia is cool, but

like reliving nostalgic moments. Mm -hmm. I think

that can be very powerful So I would love to

see them start trying to go that route a little

bit Mean they they do have some pop moments and

I know they just released Yeah, the ring was

it was it stone -cold with your ring? Yeah, so

cold versus the rock. That's what got so excited

guys Like yeah, we can do this guys. We can do

it. Yeah But I just don't know how they could

pull off showing macho man on the top rope about

to do an elbow a steamboat on the ground like

You know that might be tough, but hey, I want

them to give it a shot Yeah, it would it would

kind of have to be like that Seinfeld diorama

where the pops are essentially You know, I don't

want I don't want to say glued in but basically

molded into the thing and it would be weird Yeah,

so this next question comes from the pull bag

or comic podcast where the origins actually started

basically over there The question is what is

one thing in a comic book that you'd love to

have in real life? So for the easiest example

is John Stewart's ring, you know the Green Lantern

ring You'd love to have that and the powers with

you know, so basically this is what is a toy?

You'd love to have scaled up and functional for

real people Legos. We could all live happily

ever after. Yeah, housing costs would go way

down if we could just build all the homes out

of Legos. Way down. Yeah, I've recently got big

into Legos with me and my daughter. We're building

the Disney Castle right now We do one bag every

night before bed And it's just like it's I mean

obviously I cherish it and I hope she does too

But I think Kali if they could scale up Legos.

Can you just imagine now? Oh, man, it could be

awesome. It would be awesome How has your wife

dealt with your collection She accepted it when

it started making us money. I can tell you that

She wasn't a fan at first I used to try to hide

what I got I was like, oh crap. I gotta hide

this But you know, she always found out but yeah

soon as soon as you know, I was like look This

is uh, we're doing okay. Okay, and you know,

she's and she gets excited about some things

too now It's fun to see her kind of geek out

a little bit over some things Yeah, and again,

that's the coolest thing about funco specifically

is that because they have their Pop lines specifically

in so many different things There's something

for everybody like, you know, everyone's a fan

of something Yep, absolutely. Toy collecting

can have its struggles. What is one aspect you

tend to struggle with the most? Okay, so one

aspect I struggle with with collecting. Is that

what the question is? I feel like I kind of solved

that. With the business. Yeah, I feel like I

solved like you know Trying to be a completionist.

I was able to you know, say I'm only gonna collect

you know this Mm -hmm. They said this or this

I think that was probably one of my biggest struggles

at first was Trying to catch them all if you

know Yeah, so yeah, I think that's probably most

people's biggest struggle as well What is one

positive and one negative memory you have with

buying toys? Well, the positive memories is I

will always be Either buying it, you know with

my kids or for my kids And then also it popping

off toys We have a saying people over pops and

so I give my employees permission to give away

a pop every single day Um, and so we, we, we

listen for stories. We get to know our customers

so we can kind of meet them where they are. I

mean, earlier this week had a guy come in and

he's going through a breakup with his boyfriend

and he's, you know, distraught and, and I'm listening

to him. But then he, you know, later on the conversation,

he mentioned that like, man, I was really wanting

to get that Miguel soda. Um, and I walk in the

back and I had one, a common and walk up front,

like he'd go, man, you know, This is for you,

and he just genuinely touched so like I live

for those moments where You know you can kind

of meet somebody where they are and give them

a little bit of joy with nostalgia and pop culture

with love love You know negative would be Buying

that pop for five hundred dollars Yeah, what

a loss that was wasn't a big one yeah If you

could create any toy from any company like basically

the companies give you the keys to the kingdom

What would you want to create? I Mean if I'm

talking about what I think would be most popular

I'm making Nintendo Bob's Breaking it in that's

like the question like when you get your exclusive.

What do you want to be from? I'm like Whatever

is the most popular right now, you know, but

if you know for me, you know specifically and

selfishly I'm probably gonna go for something

that that you know, like a You know a line that

I've enjoyed with my family, you know and try

to do something with that. So, Keys to the Kingdom,

family -wise, it would probably be a movie that

we all enjoyed and loved and cherished together.

If it's just me, I'm going for probably the wrestling

moments from when I was a kid. Very cool, very

cool. What is the one piece of advice you would

give the toy collecting fandom? It I mean I've

already said it it would be to to focus focus

focus focus This is a marathon not a sprint The

businesses you're buying these from Understand

that they're a business and they exist to make

money They are not going to stop because you

feel like you've got them all So you have to

focus to keep this fun and engaging. Absolutely.

What is advice you'd give to kids who enjoy toys?

Be a kid. I mean, rip open the box. Don't worry

about what's going to happen 30 years in the

future. Be a kid. Enjoy the moment. With all

these LGN figures I have, mint on card, they're

worth a lot of money. But I would never trade

my memories for having those mint on the card

right now, ever. So my biggest advice is just

have fun, play with them, come up with the most

crazy imaginary stories you could possibly tell,

because that's going to serve you better in the

future than just having them displayed on your

wall waiting for money to plop out of them. Absolutely.

All right, sir, why don't you plug the business

for those people in Nashville who are actually

might might actually hear this and want to stop

into the shop Yeah, if you're Nashville or anywhere

around come to five nine one six sharp pike.

It's popping off toys We're open Monday through

Saturday ten to five and for everyone else out

there listening popping off toys commas open

24 hours a day and We ship every day of the week

except Sunday Awesome, awesome. All right, thank

you for joining us here on Toycast. If you'd

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