Michael Tomaso on Collecting, Dealing, and Running Times Past Collectibles

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... ToyCast.

Oh, yes. Listen in to the only toy podcast you

will ever need. Ladies and gentlemen, this is

TFG1 Mike, and I am so sorry to everyone, the

listeners, but especially to Josh, and especially

to Michael Tommaso from Time's Past Collectibles,

that this episode is so very, very late. This

was episode 114 of ToyCast. This was recorded

back in summertime, I believe. I don't remember.

And if you hear any sound effects in the background

on my end right now, we are having a huge windstorm

here in the state of Washington. So that's what's

going on there, if you hear anything. However,

Josh... Mr. Floorburger, Mr. Floodburger, Mr.

Insert F -Burger here kind of person, was working

with Michael at his shop, Times Pass Collectibles,

and they had a conversation. So I hope everyone

enjoys this. There has been a lot that has happened

to me since they recorded this, and I will talk

about that in the closing. But for now, enjoy

this conversation between Josh and owner of Times

Past Collectibles, Michael Tommaso, right now.

Hey, thanks a lot, Mike. Yeah, hey, we are here

live at Times Past Collectibles with shop owner

Michael Tommaso. Thank you very much, Michael,

for having us in here. I had a great time spending

the day with all these fantastic toys. How are

you doing? I'm awesome. How about yourself? I'm

doing all right. I'm doing all right. So we're

going to do kind of an abbreviated Origins interview

here, that sort of trademark of ToyCast's toy

radio. And, you know, we're going to go through

a couple things about you and your background

and your shop. So one of the first questions

I just have to ask, do you remember the first

toy you remember having as a kid? Do you remember

that? I'm putting you right on the spot to start

off with here. Yes, I do. I got a Sears GI Joe

Vamp. So that probably set off a lot of stuff

I still see here in your store. You have some

fantastic examples of G .I. Joe. That looks like

they are fresh off of the pegs in 1991. Some

of them right from the 80s. So what were some

of your favorite types of... Toys to play with.

I think this is going to be pretty obvious at

this point. Well, my first love was always Star

Wars. But then after Star Wars was allowed in

83, then I got hooked on G .I. Joe. And I've

been a G .I. Joe guy ever since. I love their

toys. They're just awesome. You know, brings

back good memories and lots of good G .I. Joe

battles in my house and my buddies and also in

my cousin's house. So in all those battles, did

you ever have anything that stood out to you,

any toys that stood out to you more than others?

You know, even now you have a store filled with

phenomenal toys. Is there anything that you're

like, wow, that was particularly awesome? What

is it, 1985? For Christmas, Santa Claus brought

me a material, and I played with that thing for

weeks on end. I still have it. I still got the

original box. which I found out from my mother.

My mom and dad, they had it, which is cool because

the box is pretty nice and good. The pterodrome

is a little torn up, but I got parts to fix it.

So, obviously, enjoying G .I. Joe's, Cobra, Star

Wars, you have different sides. Did you prefer

good guys or bad guys? Always the bad guys. I

always loved Cobra. I thought the soldiers were...

Pretty cool and badass, in my opinion. They had

the coolest weapons and vehicles and all of,

like, really cool stuff. So, you just mentioned

the Terradrome. Is that still your all -time

favorite vehicle or playset, or do you have something

else that you would say is your all -time favorite?

I would definitely say the Terradrome. I still

have it in my basement and stuff, and I'll be

with it until I die. Well, so you deal toys from

all different eras. I'm looking around the store.

I see stuff as early as the 70s, maybe a little

bit earlier than that, depending on where I look.

And I see stuff as recent as just released in

the last month or so. Ooh. Technical difficulties.

Let's move on, shall we? You have toys from all

different eras, from as early as the 70s, maybe

earlier, to stuff that was released very recently.

What do you feel makes a good toy? Because you're

kind of seeing everything of the greatest toys

that have ever been made in the last 30, 40 years.

Well... You have, again, a lot of stuff we're

looking at here. In front of me, I see some of

the newer Turtle stuff in the package, and then

right around the corner, you've got a ton of

loose Turtle stuff. But for you, do you prefer

leaving things in the package, or do you like

opening them up more? I'm kind of weird. People

know me very well. I like to buy two of everything,

so I have two of everything. And then either

I find stuff loose, I'll keep that, or I... I'm

like, weird, if it's in the package, I won't

open it, and I don't know why, but I like to

have stuff in the package and loose, too. I love

loose. I think it's pretty cool, too. I really

like to do a beach thing, and then if I find

one at a toy shop or something, I'll definitely

do that. I think definitely, as you're probably

starting to learn as somebody who... as a part

-time job of hunting down collections and hunting

down things to buy, we have some limited commodities

around us. There's only so many packaged Han

Solos with the trench coat. There's only so many

of those left in the world and we're all hunting

them down. So, you know, it's interesting to

find out like who still wants to open that up

or who has opened them up in the past. Let's

go to the next question. This I might be able

to guess. As a kid, if you're only allowed to

choose one toy franchise to collect from the

entire rest of your life, which one would you

choose? I was going to say G .I. Joe, close second,

probably being Star Wars. Yes. So as an adult

collector and dealer and seller, looking back

at the last 30 to 40 years, do you prefer vintage

toys or modern toys? I like the vintage because

I grew up with it. I know the figures. I know

the parts and pieces and stuff like that. But

on the other side, I just got into liking Black

Series and stuff like that. And I also like the

G .I. Joe Classifieds. I think the G .I. Joe

Classifieds and Black Series are pretty awesome.

I think they're very well sculpted. You can move

their arms and legs and their head. You can accessorize,

especially the G .I. Joe Classifieds. I don't

know. To me, they're really... It's sort of the

best manifestation of those particular toys.

It's like everything you ever wanted in a G .I.

Joe. You get everything you ever wanted in a

Han Solo. You get it. But there's still something

very charming, even about the old five points

of articulation Han Solo, I think. So you buy

toy lines all the time. You buy all sorts of

stuff all the time. Even though there are always

toy lines that people never purchase, are there

any that you specifically and purposely avoid,

either as a collector or a buyer or seller? Is

there anything that you're just like, no, I will

not touch that no matter what? Well, people aren't

going to be able to put their kids through college

with Beanie Babies anymore. Oh. That's actually

not a bad idea, though. That's that. Yeah. You've

bought and sold a lot of things. Is there anything

that you wish that you got that you... Wish you

had not purchased, whether as a collector or

as a seller, anything that you're just regretting

ever having purchased? No, because I bought my

childhood thing. And this stuff now that, you

know, I have a full -time job, I work very hard,

you know, at the shop and stuff like that. I've

been kind of like toy hoarding a lot of the G

.I. Joe stuff. I've been finding, I know this

sounds crazy, but I have like five USS flags.

So, like... It doesn't sound crazy at all these

days. No, I don't know. I never had it as a kid.

I didn't know it existed, like, 20, 30 years

ago until I saw it on a TV show. Like, I never

saw that. There's a place of it at the stores.

At Toys R Us or Zaire Venture. All the places

my parents went to. I never saw one. And now,

for some reason, they just keep coming up and

I keep finding them. So you have a lot of inventory

both in the shop, a lot of inventory that you

have in storage, but your own personal collection,

how large or small is that collection? Does it

take up a whole house? Is it one room, a shelf?

Where are you at? What would you say? I have

a whole bedroom that me and my buddy is helping

me work on. I got all my jewels, all my flags

in the room. I'm a big fan of Kenner Mask. I

don't know if you know what that is. I'm a huge

mask guy. I could never afford it because when

you went to the store, I remember they were between

$15 and $20. And when you got $10 every other

week for allowance and stuff like that back in

the early 80s, you could only buy a couple figures

or a couple of this. You would have to save up

to go buy the mask and Transformers and stuff

like that. My room is pretty basic right now.

Eventually, when I get some extra cash, I'm going

to buy a display case and then stuff that my

mother and my grandmother and my grandpa gave

me, I'm going to put it in the case just separate.

I have almost all the G .I. Joe loose figures

that I bought about 10, 12 years ago. So I'm

going to put all that separate, like the stuff

from my childhood and then all the stuff that

I love and care for. So when it comes to when

you finally can display all of those toys, do

you think you're going to display it with the

possibility of other people to view it, or is

it just going to be for your own personal preferences?

For everybody. I think people that collect toys,

they often show off their collection. I mean,

I think I have a pretty decent collection. It's

not like some of these rich guys that I see drop

like $40 ,000, $50 ,000, $100 ,000 in shows and

stuff like that. it's it's it's modern you know

what i mean it's like what i can afford and what

i got you know and i'm very happy i got some

i as a joe guy and you guys should know this

like i was able to get a snake eyes a storm shadow

and i just recently got i spent a lot of money

on firefly because as a kid i got it at sears

and i played it on my cousin or left it at his

house or whatever and it disappeared at the time

and then Finally, one of the guys on the joke

pages had it, and I bought it, and it was the

best decision I ever made. And now I have it

in my personal collection and stuff like that.

But, you know, sometimes you are able to find

that hidden diamond in the roof, I guess you

could say, and put it in your collection. This

is always an obligatory question on the ToyCast

podcast because we've got... Our producer, our

director, our Wizard of Oz, Mike Blanchard, who

loves Funko Pops. Are you a Funko Pop fan? I

love the delayed response on this. There's a

dilemma. I know they're really popular and they're

really good and stuff like that. And I understand

my business partner refuses to have them in the

shop. Me, I'm kind of like, we should have them

in the shop because everybody, like one out of

ten people always ask for them. And I feel bad

because they come here disappointed when they

come to the shop and we don't have them. I mean,

I like to get them, but I got to do more research.

Like stuff like the vintage stuff, I know, and

some of the newer stuff that comes out. But the

Funko Pops, I mean, every week there's like 10,

20, 30, 50 different Funko Pops. I can't keep

up with them. You know what I mean? It's like

I'm trying to get into it, but there's just so

much out there I can't. I can't grasp it. I hear

you. I am shocked and dismayed. Well, now you

can't be both. You be shocked, I'll be dismayed.

So this is maybe a tough question, Nick, because

you drop money to buy collections every so often.

Are you willing to say how much you ever, the

most you ever spent on a single toy? Maybe not

a whole collection, but the most you ever spent

on a single toy? I bought 20 of my favorite G

.I. Joe Carter figures about five years ago.

I was able to, a toy shop in Chicago had a gentleman

who walked into the shop and he had the whole

entire G .I. Joe collection from 82 to the mid

-90s, I guess, 92, 93, 94, I guess, that era.

And if my wife ever fought, she'd probably kill

me. I went into my savings account, and I dropped

$6 ,000. Wow. As a collector, you know when you

see something, and I'm weird. Like, if I don't

see it ever in my whole entire life, and they're

dead mint on the card, like, you'll never find

it unless you get it graded or you find that

collection down the merry way. I had to have

them. I mean, I got Major Blood, Baroness, Destro,

Tracker, Stalker. I mean, I got so many Carter

figures. If my wife actually found out, she would

probably beat me up and kill me. We will make

sure she never listens to this. I hope not. But

I was very happy. It's like one of those childhood

dreams, you know? Now you save some money up

and you find those items that you didn't have

as a child. And you're like, damn, I want that.

I need that. And that's why I'm like, give me

a day or two. And I was able to come up with

a coin and go over there and buy some cash. That's

great. And then on the flip side of that, what

was the cheapest toy you ever bought but may

have held the most value? Especially because

you bought lots of stuff where if you break it

down by... I would say the Kenner mask. I was

able, a couple years ago, some guy had on Craigslist

a whole 10 or 12 of them boxed, and I bought

them all. I went crazy. I don't know. I'm weird.

Stuff that I didn't have as a kid, now I'm being

able to come back and find toys that I love and

I didn't have and play with still, I guess you

could say. and collect them still. So what's,

if you were to say you are currently collecting

anything right now, what is a line that you're

still currently collecting, or a line or two

that, or three lines, plural, that you're collecting?

Star Wars, G .I. Joe, some He -Man stuff, Transformers,

my buddy got me hooked on, what do you call it?

You know, I always loved Transformers, but they

were always so expensive, and, you know, I passed

on two lots, which I should have never did, but

I did. Now I kick myself in the butt, but now

I'm trying, like, I have almost a whole entire

loose collection of Transformers that I've decided

to keep for myself, and that I also have, I've

been buying a lot of boxed ones, too. So, working

the shop today, I was here six, seven hours,

and I think about, Let's say conservatively about

25 people, 30 people came through. And only about

three or four kids. Mostly people around our

age, late 30s, early 40s. A few younger folk

because there was a K -pop event just down the

street that drew a pretty large crowd and a few

of them trickled by. But what do you think makes...

Or what do you think it is about our generation

now that causes our childhood toys to mean so

much more to us as these late 30s, early 40s

adults and even like our parents' generation?

Me personally, I don't know. There's a lot of

toys. I was like an early 80s child, so I still

love Star Wars and stuff like that. And then

when I started collecting about hardcore, about...

probably about 15 years ago i decided like i

couldn't believe that some of the stuff i'm like

i didn't know that it existed kind of you know

what i mean like yeah when you started collecting

because there wasn't the internet and ebay and

uh i mean there was ebay but like i didn't know

much about toys but then once i graduated college

in 2000 i started noticing like once in a while

you go to a grad sale or state sale or something

like that and you found that toy like man i didn't

How much did you get? 20 bucks? Yeah, no problem.

I'll buy it. And then now it's just like, you

know, now I'm trying to find my childhood back

and get the best and brightest, I guess, toys

for myself. Well, on the subject of motivation

of buying toys, let's talk about the toy resale

industry, which is a huge chunk of your life

currently. When and how did you get into buying

and selling toys? Well, see, what happened was

in 2012, there was that, or 2010, that Jordan

Hembrough TV show called Toy Hunter. Yeah. And

me and my wife, I'm like, you know, I get home

from work, and I had it on the DVR, and then

I would start watching, and I'm like, oh, my

God, I remember having that. Oh, my cousin, oh,

my buddy had this. And I'm like, how cool is

that? I'm like, I can't believe. I thought, like,

most people just threw out their toys. Stuff

like that. But then I started getting hardcore

into collecting. And then one of my buddies told

me about estate sales. I mean, I always went

to grad sales at Craigslist. But then, like,

I got kind of, like, hooked on a bug, man. It

was, like, plastic crack or crack rock, I guess.

And I was able to, like, you know, find my childhood.

Like, Joe, Star Wars, T -Man, Transformers. I

couldn't believe the stuff that's out there,

you know. Especially going to... estate sales

and finding all these huge lots that these parents

got their kids you know you go to some of these

people that were rich and you find like oh my

god dude they had two of everything you know

yeah uh so what's one thing you enjoy about buying

and selling it's happiness i think people who

grew up in like i'm 44 you're 44 years old uh

you know my thing is it brings happiness it brings

that that um what is it uh that isn't that good

for me endorphins endorphins yeah and like oh

my god like this is awesome for me it's the hunt

i love hunting for toys i do it all the time

when i'm sleeping whatever i'm here it's fun

for me you know i just there's something about

happiness like especially when you find a good

lad and you're like damn this is an awesome figure

That's an awesome vehicle. I'm going to clean

and fix it up, put the parts and pieces in it

and stuff like that. So that's what I really

like to do. I know there's always difficulties,

especially running a shop and finding stuff.

What's probably, would you say, is the most difficult

part of buying and selling right now? Competition,

that's for sure. I can't keep up with some of

these guys. You know, the competition in Chicago

is horrendous. You know, you're going up against,

you know, when me and Eric started this about

a year and a half, a little bit over a year and

a half ago, maybe there was a handful of toy

shops, maybe five or six in the Chicagoland area.

Well, now, I mean, they're opening toy shops

like, you know, selling Funko Pops and Marvel

Legends and all this other stuff. And then you're

trying to compete against them. Eric and me,

our mindset is definitely going into keeping

it more vintage. But as time goes on and progresses,

you've got to get the younger generation of kids,

like the Marvel Legends and the Funko Pops and

some of the other stuff. That's why I've been

trying to get some of the newer stuff for everybody,

DC Legends too. What is something that realistically

you wish you could change about the toy resale

industry? I know that's a tough question. Like,

if there's one thing you could realistically

change. I just think there's a lot of people

out there that they batten out to everybody.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I am the kind

of person, kind -hearted, where if Joe Schmo

got a huge Star Wars collection, I'm so happy

for them and stuff like that. In the toy business,

as people know... they talk smack about everybody

and everything and you sell garbage and all this

other stuff, you know, you, it gets kind of out

of hand. You know what I mean? There's a couple

of people right now that like, they talk a lot

of smack about everybody and stuff like that.

And, you know, it's entrepreneurship and I understand

that. And I wish everybody good luck, but it's

just a lot of people. It's like, They're jealous

of that person. You open a shop, you've got some

cool stuff in your shop, but that shop doesn't.

So what does he do? He badmouths you and goes

back and forth. Well, and I think that's something

that a lot of people complain about right now

in toy collecting and toy selling and toy buying

is that massive amount of negativity. And that's

something that we've commented on a lot with

other people who've done these interviews where...

The biggest thing they say is just so negative.

Oh, it's horrible. And I don't know the right

solution to it other than you find your pocket

of positivity and you stick there. But back to

the actual functional part. So historically,

you've done a lot of toy shows before you opened

up the shop. You did a ton, especially at Kane

County. Why did you choose to open a shop and

are there any benefits to owning a shop over

doing shows? Shop is always fun. Me, if people

have known me for the last, I got kind of out

of hand and I was buying so much I didn't know

what to do with. And then Eric and I were himming

and hawing about opening a shop and we were going

back and forth. And then we finally, unfortunately,

opened the shop right before the week of COVID

and they shut us down. So it was kind of a bad

thing, but I believe in God and my mom is very

religious and I am too. And I really believe

in God does everything for a reason. And I know

it sounds bad to say, yes, we were open and clothed

at the same time, but it gave me and Eric the

opportunity to put the shop together, put the

stuff on the shelf, organize stuff, go through

parts and pieces. Like I don't think if we were

actually open. we would be able to have ever

done anything like that. Yeah, and having that

lead time, I think, is also super important.

And that is one of the weird things about COVID

that a lot of people benefited from is all of

a sudden they had time that they never had before.

So on the flip side of that, are there any benefits

to only doing shows and not having a shop? Well,

doing the shows is a lot of work. I mean, you've

got to take everything off, the racks. Take all

your Star Wars and all your G .I. Joe and all

your He -Man and all your good stuff and, you

know, bring everything that you want to keep

in the shop or you don't want in the shop and

get rid of it to show and bring it on or send

it on its way to the next lovely home, you know.

But having a shop is a lot of work. It's no joke.

I mean, if people know me, I've been here for

the last three months kicking butt, taking names.

I've been organizing. Parts and pieces. I've

been taking tons of bins that I've had for probably

10 years. I've been sitting like Joe, Star Wars,

even Transformers. I mean, now I've been able,

luckily, to start organizing the shop where it

needs to be and reporting the special place it

needs to be. Well, great segue into my exact

next question. Your shop is notoriously organized,

something that is noticed by a lot of people

who come in here, especially compared to some

of the other shops in the area, where they're

a wonderful organized chaos. But yours is very

separate from that. Yours, you can tell where

things are and where they belong. What's the

thought process on that? Is that something to

encourage people to find what they're looking

for faster? Is it for your own sake of knowing

what you have? For us, Eric is very anal, and

he wants his place, his family, clean, organized,

because when Mr. So -and -so comes to the shop,

and he needs that certain figure, well, there

you go, sir, and everybody that comes to the

shop, my shop is your shop. So him or her or

whatever will come behind the cabinets or the

countertop and find their item that they need.

There's certain figures, heathens, transwomen.

It's all well organized where everything is.

And for me, for us, our thing is have a nice,

neat place that people will come. Yeah. I mean,

looking around and watching people today, that

was a great experience. Seeing how people were

interacting with your store and checking everything

out. They could find things. And if you can find

something, you're going to buy it. If you can't

find it, you're not going to buy it. And there's

not a whole lot here that isn't organized. And

even the stuff that's not organized, you can

easily get to. So I think that's a very important

part overall, especially for collectors these

days. There are still collectors who like spontaneously

buying whatever they find interesting. And then

there are some who are, I'm looking for He -Man.

I need a He -Man. I need a mechanic. He's got

to have good armor. He's got to have a good weapon.

That's where I got to go with this. So a few

more questions that will kind of zip through.

Have you ever purchased a toy for a child, especially

a vintage toy for a child, because you thought

it would be fun based on your own experiences?

No, I haven't. Yeah. Do you do any toy modifications

or customs, like painting, building, anything

like that? No, I don't. I'm not a big creationist.

Do you have one of those stories where your parents

got rid of all your toys in one spot, came home,

and gone? This goes back to probably high school,

but we had a garage sale. I'm like, Dad, I want

to bring up your toys that you don't want and

stuff like that. And I'm like, no, leave my toys

alone. Just don't touch my stuff. There's a reason

why they're in the basement, in the boxes. Just

leave them alone, Dad. Please don't sell them.

Well, what does my father do? He comes up to

me. I get off of school at, say, 3 o 'clock.

I walk in. I say, oh, Dad, how was the garage

sale? He goes. Yeah, you believe this? I sold

those He -Man figures you had for a dollar a

piece. I'm like, you did what? And luckily, he

only sold like three or four of them. And then

I had the Raider. I forgot the first name of

it. But I had that, and he sold all my stuff.

I was going to cry. I'm like, no! Thank God he

didn't touch my Star Wars. There would have been

World War III for sure at the house. Yeah, that's

one of the crazy things with a lot of garage

sales and friends I've talked to because a lot

of friends have moved on from toys. They appreciate

what I have and they say, oh, hey, I had that.

But I've got a good friend of mine who gave away

all of his Ghostbusters toys. He had a ton of

them and just gave them away to the neighbor

kids. And, you know, that's great. I mean, maybe

some of those kids couldn't have toys and he's

sharing that, you know, the joy that they could

have with it. Yeah, and the experience. But at

the same rate, you know. We can always get into

the philosophy of they're just things. You know,

you don't need them. You can't take them with

you. But also things also represent comfort.

They represent joy and happiness. And, you know,

you can still get that from them. So there's

always that huge debate. And that's not actually

part of this interview. That's part of our three

-part series we're going to be doing later on.

And I don't know when. Anyways, moving on. I

think I know the answer to this one. Have you

ever considered just being done with toys, stopping

as a collector, just walking away from it or

selling everything and going away? This might

be a loaded question. So if you don't want to

answer it, I understand. No, I mean, honestly,

I mean, I love my toys and I love the happiness

of rugby. Sometimes it gets very overwhelming

for me. But then like on the flip side, when

I have a bad day. I could sit there and I could

look at these toys and bring, like, experiences

back in my head and memories that happened back,

you know, almost 40 years ago. I can't. I just

love them. Like, there's something of passion

I have about it. And most collectors can understand.

Like, I could never in a million years, like,

stuff that's sentimental, like my parents' thing,

I could never get rid of. That's something I'll

always have. Yeah, I have a Ninja Troll figure

buried. I know where it is, but it was something

that obviously my mom had gotten for me. It had

broken, and she kind of Frankensteined to try

to repair it for me. So it's like half Raphael,

half Leonardo. Yeah, she was just doing her best

to try to bring it back. Stuff like that that

you don't really ever get past. All right, so

a couple more fun questions before we close out.

Sure, sure. What is something that doesn't have

a toy, but you'd love to have in toy form? It

could be anything in your life. that you could

have shrunk down. It could be a roller coaster,

theme park ride. It could be Wrigley Field. This

part has been edited. Ha, ha, ha. You'll never

know what was actually here. All right. Well,

then let's flip it. What's a toy that you'd love

to have scaled up and functional for real people?

Anything. Realistically. Realistically? Like

a real life Darth Vader. Oh, just have, you know.

See, I thought you'd probably go with, like,

a pterodrome or... Well, if they made a pterodrome,

that's definitely right. I have to sell my kids.

Sweetie, I'm going to be gone for a little while.

I'm going to go visit the pterodrome. You got

to go hang out with those two twins, Tomax and

Zamod or Zaymod or whatever. Nobody liked talking

to Zaymod anyways because they didn't know his

name. All right, so this might also be an interesting

question. This is where a lot of husbands, in

fact, sort of stutter a little bit. How have...

How has your spouse dealt with your toy passions

and collections? Well, if people know me, I have

a problem with toys. Last week, I had almost

20 packages delivered to my house. They were

stacked, literally stacked, high, real high.

I got home, and my wife is like, I'm disgusted.

I am done with you. Look at this house. It's

filled with boxes. And I'm like, honey, I love

you. I buy a pair of shoes, and then the other

thing is okay. But, you know, it's fun. I love

collecting. I love to hunt. It's like, you know,

but she doesn't understand it, you know, because

I stopped going to the bar. I stopped drinking

and stuff like that for, like, now since my third

kid has come. And it's just like, I mean, don't

get me wrong. I wouldn't mind going to the bar

once in a while. But, you know, I don't go out.

party like I used to. The days are kind of pretty

much over. Maybe once a year or twice a year

with the guys, but now it's just like, you know,

so this is, I go, well, I'm not cheating on you

and stuff like that. I'm going to party and stuff.

I love my toy. You see me. You see me on the

kitchen table disassembling everything, cleaning,

fixing, doing everything for it, you know? And

then she then, when I kind of put her back to

ease, then she's okay with it, you know? She

knows I have a passion for it. Hopefully in five,

six years when I retire from my current job,

then I'm definitely going to do this pretty much

full -time. I mean, I think if I could be here

full -time, I think I would really kill it. I

think if I could see it more, I'd do a lot better.

Well, back to a more fun question. That's always

a difficult one for a lot of people. So if you

could create a toy line, a perfect toy line or

perfect toy based on... Anything you want. It

could be something that exists that you want

to update. And toys could do anything you wanted.

What would you want to create? Like a big one,

little one. Like how big are we talking about?

Lifesize? One of one. One of one that you go

play in as your own little clubhouse. Pretty

much. Yeah. In Chicago, it's not so small, but

I would definitely build a Millennium Falcon

with it. Guy, I think he was in England. He was

a carpenter. He was a kid who loved Star Wars,

and he built them, and they had it. Yeah. I don't

know if you guys remember that. A couple years

ago. Yeah. Like, at Christmas, he built this.

I'm like, that's goals I have. I mean, can you

imagine having the cockpit of the Millennium

Falcon as, like, a home theater for four people,

you know? And they have their own little... whatever

that little lounge space that they have in there.

That's where you sit with your buddies, watch

a football game, all that stuff. That would be

really cool. So last two questions. What is one

piece of advice you would give to the toy collecting

fandom of the collectors that are out there that

you deal with on a daily basis? If you can give

them one piece of advice, what would it be? Go

to somebody who you trust and like and they take

care of you. For me, it's for my customers. But

I don't consider people that walk in on shop

customers friends. You know what I mean? I mean,

the people that come in here, I treat them like

my friends. You know what I mean? I mean, I always

get good deals, but, you know, it's a passion

that we all have as collectors. And if I can

get back to one guy or girl or some kid and make

their faces happy, then that means the world

to me. And that's the one thing I noticed. Almost

everybody I've dealt with in here, I stuck up

conversations with. One guy came in and we talked

for about 20 minutes about everything from collecting

the Disney World to spouses and what it's like

being a collector with a spouse. There's some

really great people out there. And when you make

that connection, it's more than just a business.

It becomes more of a community. And then when

it comes to kids, you got three of your own.

What's advice you'd give the kids who enjoy?

toys. Play with them, beat them up, have fun

with it. My soon -to -be two -year -old, my middle

daughter, she, like my son, he was into Hot Wheels

and stuff like that. But then when my middle

daughter Madison, she just loves the G .I. Joe

toys. Oh my God. She brings out the tanks and

the cars and the trucks and bangs them all over.

And to see her play with my toys, it's kind of

fun. It makes me happy. Because she's got the

same passion. I mean, she calls them go -go's.

But, you know, if you've got a little one, they

love that stuff. And I hope she takes after my

bug. I don't think my wife will be too happy.

But definitely, she loves toys and trucks and

stuff. If she starts bringing in the cash you

bring on a regular basis, I think your wife's

going to be just fine with that. Oh, yeah. You

know, if she's seven years old and flipping G

.I. Joes, you know, she's going to be just fine.

Yeah, and that's awesome. I agree that when it

comes to toys, kids should play with them and

they should go nuts with them and take them out

in the woods. I always give the advice just because

looking as a collector now, I just say, hey,

put everything back in a Ziploc bag when you're

done. Don't lose that mask. That's how I was.

I was horrible. As soon as we had our battles

and stuff in my bedroom or outside or in my buddy's

house in their living room and stuff, I would

always make sure that all my stuff came back

to the right place I had in the carrying cases,

especially my Star Wars and G .I. Joe figures.

Well, Michael, this has been fun. I really appreciate

your time and bringing me on board the Times

Pass Collectibles ship. I'm calling it the TPC.

So I'm just going to refer to it in the future,

the cool way of the TPC. Um, hopefully people

know what I'm talking about when I say that,

but, uh, yeah, it was, this was a great opportunity.

I'm, I'm, I look forward to continuing on and

then, you know, we'll, we'll see if we can bring

you on for future episodes. Absolutely. Talk

about stuff. Thank you very much for you and

Mike having me in your show and, uh, guys, uh,

come to the shop. I think if you're in the, like

the vintage toy line, we got a pretty decent

selection of stuff. So, uh, thank you very much

for, uh, having me on your show and good luck

and God bless guys. And thank you. Yeah. Check

out times past collectibles on Facebook. Uh,

give them a like they, they do post pretty regularly

on their hours and they have any specials. Uh,

Michael here right across me does do some live,

uh, videos every so often talking about things

that have come into the shop and, and what are

some, uh, really exciting events that they've

got going on. We do have the Chicago Toy Show

October 24th over in Kane County. Even if you

are not a Chicago local or in Illinois, it is

worth flying in for. It's at 525 South Randall

Road in St. Charles. check it out. It's again,

Chicago toy show, October 24th. Check that out.

We will be there slinging toys. I'll be wearing

my bright orange vest being as obnoxious as I

possibly can be. Uh, thanks again, Michael. And,

uh, yeah, we'll talk to you soon. After listening

to that through the editing, I realized that

this is two months late or three months late

or something. Cause Josh mentions. The Chicago

Toy Show, which was October 24th, so that's a

little delayed. Well, at least this podcast was

a little delayed. Life was going on with me,

and sadly, it is not going so well right now.

Karen, my lovely wife slash ex -wife, I have

to say that because of governmental reasons,

it is what it is. She passed away November 6th,

2021. So, yeah, I've been kind of running on

autopilot. And I want to apologize to Michael

at Times Pass Collectibles. I want to apologize

to Josh and everybody. But I just could not deal

with certain things. And even though I've done

podcasts in the last two months. I almost forgot

about this one. I know we had it. I know I had

to edit it, but everything has just been so crazy.

So ToyCast will continue in 2022. I don't know

if myself and Josh and Das are going to do a

Christmas episode or whatever we're going to

do, if we do anything for Christmas, since Christmas

is literally right around the corner. I hope

everyone had an awesome... As awesome as you

can have 2021, I hope everyone who used to listen

to the podcast or everyone who is now listening

to the ToyCast enjoyed our return this year.

We do have plans to continue the show next year,

so stay tuned and we will catch you next time

here on ToyCast.