Origins in Toy Collections with Dan from Rock Nerd Radio

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

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Jazz here, and

I am so diggin' the Geekcast Radio Network. Cliffjumper,

commence countdown. Five, four, three... ToyCast.

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

will ever need. Hello and welcome to an all new

generation of ToyCast as we get the origins of

any and all toy fans that we can. I'm, of course,

Tf2 and Mike. Today's featured guest is someone

who you may or may not have heard yet, depending

on the release of this episode and the release

of his other episode, but it is Dan from Rock

Nerd Radio. Hello, sir. Hey, Mike. How's it going,

man? It's going sometimes. I wish it would stop,

but it's going So today it's time we started

talking toys here on toy cast and this is the

origins 42 questions all about toy collecting

and Kicking it right off the bat and the questions

that they start difficult here and they only

get even more difficult after the fact What is

or was the first toy you remember having as a

kid? Oh, man. I definitely remember having some

Transformers as a kid. I want to say the first

one that was like mine and mine alone in terms

of like not sharing with my brothers was a character

named CinderSaurus, who was a Sparkacon, I think

they were called. He had like a wheel with some

flint on his belly and you'd roam along, you

know, the table and sparks would shoot out of

his mouth. So I think that was my first like

toy that I remember having. Interesting. I mean,

you know, aside from like the obvious like baby

toys and stuff, but that that was like, yeah,

I mean, like, so when I did my episode back in

episode 113 of the show, I said something like,

well, if we're talking about what I really first

remember, it's, you know, those play school toys,

it's like the Fisher Price color changing flashlight,

or, you know, a board game or something. But

yeah, I mean, like, action figure that that kind

of thing. So was there a particular adult who

was supportive of you playing with toys as a

kid? Was there anyone who was unsupportive? That's

a good one. So my grandmother and one of my aunts

were very cool with giving me stuff that I wanted

action figure wise, even until, you know, like

my early teens, whereas I think I have a father,

I love my dad, but he's very sports oriented.

He's very, you know, he's a car guy. So I think

he was kind of hoping that I would stop with

the action figures and lean towards sports and

cars like my older brothers did. And that never

really happened. So I don't want to say that

my family was unsupportive, but every now and

then, like I'd come home from Toys R Us and my

dad would be like, Oh, another one, you know.

I mean, I hear starting lineup is coming back.

So, I mean, there's always that. I had a ton

of starting lineup when I was a kid. I remember

those. My brothers had a bunch of the starting

lineup guys. Yep. No Yankees, though. Nope, nope,

nope. Not doing it. I feel like they were more

football. I feel like my brothers had more of

the football ones than the baseball ones. Right.

Yeah. See, I only ever like I knew I know starting

lineup had done them all. But I only ever, I

think I only ever had the baseball and basketball

ones because between the Red Sox and the Celtics,

it's like, say what you will after. And I know

baseball trades, you know, trades in sports happen,

but I'm sorry. Roger Clemens at that time going

from the Red Sox to the Yankees was just like,

I'm dead as a kid inside. Like, stop it. Don't

even. Anyway. What? What types of toys were your

favorites to play with? Action figures, play

sets, vehicles, that kind of stuff. A little

bit of all of that. I liked Transformers as a

really young kid and then I eventually got back

into that. But I had a lot of the Marvel superhero

figures and then eventually X -Men was the big

line, there was a Spider -Man line, Iron Man

Fantastic Four, all that. So I liked those figures

and then if I could get a play set or a vehicle,

I was more than happy to have it. You know, I

had some of the like the X -Men Danger Room and

like the Marvel Super Heroes Training Center.

So like bases that kind of made sense. But then

there were definitely some vehicles that that

I had that didn't quite make sense. Like I remember

I had like a Spider -Man dragster at some point.

Like, I don't know why he needed that, but he

did. I mean, the man can swing on webs while

you need a car. Right. Exactly. You got your

web swinging license when you got bitten by the

spider. You don't need to go to spider school

or whatever. Right. But I had the Blackbird for

the X -Men. I had the Sentinel. Oh, absolutely.

Yeah. So I had the stuff that really made sense.

And then I feel like every now and then an ant

or somebody would be like, I don't know what

to get him. Here's Spider -Man car. There you

go. Boy, so you mentioned that next question

is What were your favorite childhood toys that

really stood out more than the others? So you

have this whole like let's just say you have

a whole room your whole bedroom filled with toys

What is the one corner of the room that sticks

out more than the rest? So, uh, so as I said,

especially, you know in my you know, but like

in elementary school age It was definitely the

Marvel stuff, but there there's a couple of really

special ones that really stuck out I had a I

had a transformer. It was a pretender if you

if you knew what those were oh, yeah I had a

pretender called Bugly I still have him and that

was something my grandmother gave to me and that

was always a really special one And then after

she passed that he just became more special So

he's always kind of been on permanent display

in my room or display room whatever I have and

then aside from that You know, as I said, I really

like those Marvel figures. So I had the first

cable that they put out. That was a big one that

I always remembered being a really special, special

to me kind of figure. And the second Wolverine,

it was Wolverine 2, but it was the Tiger Stripe

costume as he appeared in the cartoon. That was

another one of my really favorite ones. Cool.

Very cool. I still have that one too. Yeah, I'm

just now looking at Bugly and oh boy. Yeah, what

a character. Oh, yeah It was one of those very

small child things where I would bring it to

my grandmother's house and she'd answer the door

and I'd hold it behind my back and then I'd go

rawr and she would go, oh, get that away. She

always played into it and so that made me super

happy. But then as I grew up, I was like, oh,

such happy memories of my grandmother. So I'd

never let go of him. And when she passed, it

was one of those things. I was very close to

my grandmother. So when she passed away, Remember

like looking at it, you know my room and that

kind of you know after a while made me smile

again So some good stuff Yeah, very cool. Very

cool So I'm on the TF wiki looking at this character

and looking at the image of the toy and I'm looking

at and TF wiki if you don't know or most people

know this website but they often put like various

like captions under the photos and for the official

character image it says Insects don't have politics.

They are very brutal. No compassion, no compromise.

We can't trust the insect. Well, yeah, that's

an, and part of his bio. Bugly functions only

to control and dominate others. That's the first

line. I'm like, okay then. Well. What a character

you had as a kid. Only your grandmother knew

that. Do you prefer the label of action figures,

dolls, toys, or other labels? I go with action

figure, but then the one I started saying recently

to make myself sound like a high society member

is high end collectibles. That's what I go with.

But action figures, you know collectibles things

like that my wife when we started dating called

them dolls and like me and all my friends like

Simultaneously were like no no, you know, you

don't do that Yeah, and and that's kind of when

you got to take her to toy school and say no

no anything that's Under 12 inches anything that's

11 inches to 2 inches. That's an action figure

anything. That's 12 inches and taller that's

a doll with the exception of funko pops because

ten inch funko and ten and a half inch unicorn

they are they are action figures even though

i've said i said this on an episode recently

but i may say in the future so game stop and

funko and exclusives and conventions and whatever

else this summer one of the shared exclusives

was a ten and a half inch funko pop unicorn based

on the has lab $600 toy yep I'd rather spend

40 bucks for a funko pop to get the same damn

thing without having to worry about where I'm

gonna put this giant thing that I don't have

any money you know what I mean so but I looked

at it and I took a picture of them back -to -back

because I have the 10 I don't buy the jumbo pops

all that often these are the only two I will

probably ever have Unless somehow they do a jumbo

elf which they don't even have a regular elf

yet But anyway, I digress the only diff the only

half inch the ten and a half inches for unicorn

is because of his horns You cut the horns off

the figure. It's ten inches and I'm just like

oh god Funko He's supposed to be the chaos bringer.

He's supposed to be the destroyer of everything

make him 12 inches make him I don't know whatever

anyway Yeah, I don't want to spoil it for later.

You might get into something later. I won't say

it now, but go ahead. Good guys or bad guys,

which toys were your favorites to play with the

most? I mean, because I was the kid who would

have elaborate storylines when I was playing

with my X -Men, you know, like Apocalypse and

the Juggernaut are teaming up and, you know,

the available team today is Wolverine, Gambit

and Cyclops, you know, like, because those are

the figures I brought with me wherever I went

or something like that. So so I definitely played

with both equally. There were ones that always

kind of stuck out. as being more of a favorite

than other ones. I think now, looking back at

it, I like the villainous, the villain characters

more just because you don't seem to quite get

as many in toy lines. You know, there were always,

if you look at like a case breakdown of an action

figure, you would have five or six heroes and

then one or two villains. And it always kind

of bothered me that, you know, you'd have...

four good guys against one bad guy. And it was

always just like, oh, come on. They need more

here. Every wave had a Wolverine, but not every

wave had a Magneto. Yeah. And I think, again,

because for the listening audience, I am producing

Toycast way ahead in advance and episodes are

all out of order and everything else. So half

the stuff I've probably said already, I've probably

already said, but... I think that's because they

don't want kids looking at like, yes, you need

to teach your children. You know, if you have

kids, especially back then in the eighties without

internet and without whatever, like I, and I

didn't even know who, I mean, I, I know what

the pretenders are, but I had never heard of

Bugly. So the first thing I do is I go, Oh, he's

a Decepticon or he's in a bad guy. Okay. Oh,

he's that kind of bad guy. Okay. Great. Like

But you don't really want to have like, yes,

you're right. The good guys always outnumber

the bad guys, except in certain cases, I think

mask always released fairly. I mean, they had

an equal number of good guys and bad guys on

either side. Uh, they never, I don't ever think,

yeah, I don't know. But, uh, but yeah, you're

right. I mean, you always want to check out the

bad guys just to see what, what their side of

the story is. Right. Right. Okay, so I mentioned

this earlier, but did you have what is or was

your favorite toy vehicle or playset? So I'll

give you both a vehicle and a playset. You know,

the other thing, and I hadn't mentioned this

yet, the toy line that I absolutely fell in love

with as a kid was Seeker Wars. And that was something

that my brothers had and they kind of gave to

me as they grew out of toys. So they had the

the Tower of Doom and so when I played that was

like the bad guy base So that was my favorite

play set of all time Because it was just like

this menacing looking tower with guns all over

it and stuff and it had an elevator and secret

compartments a jail cell So like I loved the

Tower of Doom. That was my favorite play set

ever But when it comes to vehicles probably the

X -Men's Blackbird, because it was in the show,

it was in the comics, it could fit three people.

And that was, again, if I was going somewhere,

and my mom said, all right, you can only take

a couple figures with you, I'd throw three X

-Men in the Blackbird, and I'd be like, all right,

and a couple villains, and now I got my toy for

the day. Yep, yep, yep, absolutely. Yeah, those

vehicles, man, they... And that's one thing we'll

get into way later in this episode, as we get

to more modern stuff, but... Vehicles then were

outrageously awesome. Vehicles now? I feel like

they're hard to do now if you want them to look

good with the six inch scale, like a lot of toys

are. Even back then they looked kind of silly

with the five inch driver, but they could get

away with it. Now I feel like in the age where

these fans are looking for hyper realism, it'd

be hard to make that work. If they were going

to put out an X -Men Blackbird jet for Marvel

Legends, it's going to be three and a half feet

long. Yeah, and that's why you have these companies

like NECA like Super 7 That do these like I know

Super 7 has their ultimates lines for various

licenses and it's basically like I just looked

at Several of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

ones that they're doing is ultimates and I looked

at the shredder and I'm like, holy crap That's

the 80s shredder except it's a modern design,

but literally it has the has the purple flowing

cape, has the purple mask. Luckily, he has an

alternate hat that is his full shredder metal

helmet head. But that thing is $55. I don't get

it. I get it, but I don't get it. We'll talk

about that way down the line as far as price

goes. Yeah, price is definitely a factor these

days. Oh yeah. Did you and your friends ever

pretend with your toys that you had by this?

I mean, do you say I'm gonna be this character

and you're gonna be you can be that like like

Dan can be the The coke bottle top and Dan's

best friend can be the piece of glass or any

of that kind of stuff I mean, yeah when in terms

of like playing with our action figures. Absolutely.

Um, you know, I had said we we would have elaborate

stories and You know, I had a good, because it

was really the only thing I was interested in

getting as a gift as a kid was like Marvel figures.

So, you know, I would have these figures and

my friend would come over and he was the same

age as me and we would, you know, he would bring

his figures over and... You know, like he'd pick

up Wolverine and I'd pick up Magneto and then,

you know, he'd swoop in with Iron Man and then,

you know, I'd have, you know, Feng Feng Fum or

whoever, you know, go in and fight that. So we'd

be trading off and then sometimes he'd be like,

oh, I'm going to play with these two guys over

here. And I'd be like, okay, I'll play with my

two guys over here. You know, we would have like

the floor covered with figures. And yeah, of

course, you know, like, you know, my brothers

had He -Man toys. So Skeletor would be like,

you know, I'll get you yet, you know, things

like that. I'll get you, He -Man! God, I can't

do that anymore. I know several different people

that do good Skeletor voices. What features define

a good toy to you? How true does the item feel

in comparison to the source material likeness?

That's a good question. You know, it came to

a point, and I don't remember when I started

feeling like this, but... At some point I got

over like the gimmicks of action figures like

the first gambit figure to come out like he had

a you know You'd press a button on his back and

he had a spring -loaded leg so he would like

kick But I hated it because it wasn't you know

like it stopped him from being able to pose and

mess around with him You know there'd be character

into You know they'd press a button and they'd

like power punch or something, but they wouldn't

have any articulation otherwise So at some point.

I just wanted figures that had like the basic

you know several points of articulation, and

looked like the character they were supposed

to look like. You know, at some point, Toy Biz

back in the day started getting kind of crazy.

They had like a lecture of Sparks Spider -Man.

He'd be like, Spider -Man, this day glow green

costume. Like, why do I want this? This doesn't

look like Spider -Man to me. And now, especially

with Marvel Legends and Transformers, I look

for something that looks like the source material.

that if I put it on my shelf, I know it's that

representation of that character. And maybe they

have some cool accessories, but I'm done with

like play gimmicks. Obviously, transforming with

Transformers is a gimmick and I want that in

there. But other than that, I don't need like

spring loaded, you know, heal missiles or something.

I'm just looking for the character that's going

to look like it on my shelf. Yeah, there's a

huge difference in. A toy line being something

that turns from one thing to another, like, I'm

going to say this because they came first, even

though Transformers are better, like GoBots,

like Transformers, like anything like that. But

Transformers, you had essentially two toys in

one for one low price now at whatever store kind

of thing. That's different. That's not. like

and obviously over the nearly 40 years now yes

plenty of transformers have had gimmicks but

the art of transforming is not a gimmick it's

a built -in construct of the toy whereas like

you're talking about like battle armor he -man

you could like I'm gonna say it this way and

I know it's gonna sound creepy folks we are explicit

around here but you could rub his chest and his

his symbol same thing with battle armor skeletor

his symbol would change from normal normal chest

to being like battle damage yeah yeah yeah to

battle damage you know you could press a button

on the back of of tongue lash or to have his

tongue stick out at everybody kind of thing those

are gimmicks and yeah i Gimmicks wore off for

me very early. Right, and you know, it's interesting

that you say He -Man because as a kid, as I said,

my brothers had He -Man figures. The gimmick

to He -Man never existed to me. It was part of

the character, and I was fine with that. But

that line ended, and like when it ended, it ended.

It wasn't like, you know, okay, we're gonna keep

trickling figures out. Like on like Toy Biz Marvel

and Transformers, like there's always been some

iteration of that. But you know, Transformers

is just as guilty as having gimmicks too, aside

from the transformation, which is kind of part

of it. Like in Cybertron, they had the cyber

planet keys and you'd stick this thing in something

and a sword would pop out or they wouldn't be

able to transform without their minicon. Like

I didn't want that. You know, I want the bare

bones. I can do this without any other accessories

because if you lose that stuff, you're out of

luck, you know? Yeah. The only time and Transformers,

I have said for years now, I've said it a little

bit more loudly the last couple of years. Like

I just went on that whole diatribe about the

whole transforming thing, it's part of what you

get with that initial toy, but then obviously

they do add in gimmicks like target masters,

like power masters, like you're talking about

with the cyber planet keys. The only time I did

not mind... a gimmick in Transformers that had

to have something else to make it work was Power

Master Optimus Prime. I had that one. I still

have that one. I love that figure. Very cool,

very cool. Yeah, I love that toy. That toy is

amazing. Absolutely. What does, now this could

be as a kid or as an adult, but what does toy

packaging have to have to draw you in? So you

go into the toy store. or in today's market you

go into Walmart or Target or whatever else you

go into the toy aisle you scan the aisle what

what's the one thing a toy package like what's

the one thing because I know Marvel Legends never

died it's still going what's that one thing that

that that packaging has to have to make you grab

it and say I want this well I'll start off with

maybe the hot button topic on that I need to

be able to see the figure You know Hasbro and

a lot of other companies now are going with this

closed box thing and it's honestly I pre -order

more off the internet now because I know if I'm

ordering directly from Hasbro pulse I'm gonna

get the correct figure whereas if I'm buying

the new leader class transformer at Target if

that box looks like it's been opened I don't

want to trust it. You know, I don't want to spend

my, my hard earned money on something that if

I open up, isn't going to be the right figure.

And it's been happening a lot. So I definitely

need to be able to see the figure that is a,

a big part of it for me. Yeah, no, absolutely.

And let's just talk about that for a second,

because the whole point in this whole window

box, open box, closed box thing is they're trying

to, I'm sorry. No toy company. I don't care which

toy company it is. No toy company is going to

save the environment. I mean, you're not using

your producing plastic, you know, action figures

like they're not biodegradable. You're more concerned

about the packaging. What about the thing that

you are actually packaging? Like, it seems like

it's like a little bandaid to put on to make

the people who were crying about it happy. And

at the end of the day, it's just kind of stupid

if you ask me. I mean, seriously, it's like,

I assume you've seen Beast Wars at some point

or another. Oh, yeah. Okay. Optimus Primal said

it himself. Die -cast construction is a lost

art. If you can melt down the toy, because die

-cast is metal, if you can melt it down, well,

then there you go. You don't have to worry. Everybody

always says that we will get to this way down

the line in this episode, but everybody, oh.

30 or 40 or 50 years you're gonna see landfills

and landfills filled with Funko pops because

they can't be you know recycled or whatever kind

of so yeah it's like so from Window box to open

box to close box Window box is obviously the

best because like you said you get to see the

figure and whatever else as far as just I'm not

talking about environmentally but you know as

far as just being able to see the figure open

box was even worse than closed box because Everybody

ripping the head off LeBron James. Yeah, you

know Jeez I mean Yeah, that's that's ridiculous.

And then closed box is just like you said, I

mean Obviously, if you order online through whichever

retailer you want to order through, whether it's

Hasbro Pulse, whether it's Big Bad Toy Store,

whatever, you know, you're guaranteed. And yeah,

it's just it's crazy. So. Yeah, and I don't want

this to sound like, you know, I don't care about

the environment or anything. It's just I don't

see this as the way to for toy companies to beat

their chest and be like, look how eco -friendly

we're being, because I'm sure there's nothing

eco -friendly about the way these things are

produced. Probably not and No, folks. I mean,

you know, make sure you buy closed box because

the power is yours But going along with with

this question aside from that the hot button

political topic here, you know I got to see something

that's gonna make me want to to buy that version

of the character. Like, you know, I use Spider

-Man an example because he's such an easy example,

but they're always putting out another Spider

-Man figure. They're always putting out another

Wolverine or another Batman or another Superman.

You know, if I have my ideal incarnation of Spider

-Man on my on my display shelf, you know, you

have to really have something that wows me in

order to buy a new one unless you stick it in

like a two pack where I want the second figure.

But. You know like like they recently did that

that newer buck Marvel Legends spider -man on

like that vintage card and that was something

that Like yeah, that was enough for me to be

like, okay, I can retire my piece of spider -man

I'll buy this new one that looks really cool

and you know, they're putting out another one

that is pinless and it looks neat but it comes

with like a spider powered Mary Jane and spinner

at and You know, like it looks cool. But is that

really enough for me to be like, oh, you know,

I should buy this set I don't know, you know

Yeah. It's, and obviously with Spider -Man and

he, let's just say Spider -Man and Batman because

Iron Man, you bring him into this argument and

it's all going to be, well, which suit of the

week is he going to wear? Which suit of the hour

is he wearing? Kind of thing. Cause Iron Man

has like, and I know Spider -Man and Batman have

all the very like, I remember to this day Arctic

Batman from the nineties and everything else.

Right. And with Spider -Man and good. See, I

feel like that's also part of that argument,

too. Like they can argue that they can put out

all these Iron Man figures because it's, you

know, armor Mark 47 is this armor, this special

armor. Aside from the black costume and maybe

like the Ben Reilly costume, how many special

Spider -Man costumes are there? You know, like.

There aren't really that many so with him you're

kind of limited so they just keep making new

version I feel you know they keep making new

versions of The different of the you know now

on this book and now we're gonna do this suit

you know on this mold things like that Whereas

iron man you can just put out stealth armor,

you know module armor Arctic armor, you know

some subspace armor, whatever you want to do

And with Batman, it gets to me a little ridiculous

because like McFarland puts out a Batman in every

line now. And it's like, here's Batman in black

and gray. Here's Batman in blue and gray. Here's

Batman with a slightly different bat. And it's

like, all right, you're getting ridiculous. Yeah,

the only so let's just take. Well, I don't want

to say Batman and Spider -Man, but let's just

take Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. Right. OK.

Depending on what he has to adapt to, Bruce Wayne

can have about as many suits as Iron Man can

have. He has specific suits for various things,

fine, whatever, that is what it is. Spider -Man,

Peter Parker, nah, like you said, other than

the black suit, never really changed, but if

you widen that to the other, like you said, Ben

Reilly, now we have, we've had Miles Morales

for years now, we've got - 2099. Yeah, we've

got 2099, we've got, I almost called her Gwenpool,

but that's not Spider -Gwen. Spider -Gwen, yeah.

Yeah, so I mean, it varies, but it's also one

of those things where you just, and the other

thing is, depending on what the homage is to

you, various of these, like if you want the,

like, okay, perfect example, because it just,

well, recently in the last couple of months,

It just re -released to theaters with some bonus

footage or something, I don't know. Yeah, something.

No way home. You have Toby, Andrew, and Holland,

you know, the three movie Spider -Men all together.

So you kind of have a Spider -verse there because

they all have different universes because the

other two universes didn't matter until Disney

bought Marvel. Right. They mattered, but you

know what I'm saying. Yeah, I hear you. The whole

doctor strange kind of thing. So yeah, yeah toy

packaging. It just depends It just depends on

like you look at the again going back to like

him and you look at the Masters classics the

the gray skull green Green brick box, you know,

those were always cool to me the the Masters

classic stuff from about a decade ago or so because

you know It's a margin castle grayscale and then

you have a bio you have this you have that and

whatever else and it was always always nice but

yeah i mean there's always like. Certain and

depends on which like obviously. We are most

likely going down the boys toy aisles first like

but sometimes, you know If you're in a story,

like if you move to a new town you go to the

Walmart You're like I've never been here before.

Let me try it. Oh, this is where the trial starts

Oh, it starts with either preschool or it ends

with Barbie or whatever and somewhere in the

middle. There is the but the boys action line

also translates to various like there's the action

figure stuff and then there's the like oh you

want to be this kid that wants to be on like

the power wheels and the hot wheels and the not

hot wheels but like the the writings like the

tricycles and all that yeah whatever yeah I mean

you know because it is a wide variety of interests

when you look at you know just the idea of like

boys toys so yeah Do you open your toys or do

you leave them packaged if you keep toys package

do you have any specific criteria for that now

i open everything. The only two things that i

have in a package is. I had mentioned that exports

cable that first cable figure that came out i

had sold him a couple years ago and i decided

i want to try to find one on card. that I could

put in a case and frame it on a wall or something.

So I do have one package cable. And a friend

of mine, when the second live action Transformers

movie came out, there was a set of Autobots that

combined into it and turned into an ice cream

truck. And a friend of mine bought that for Christmas,

opened it, repackaged the robots so they were

in a compromising position, and added captions,

and then repackaged it. And that I have still

in a package because it makes me laugh every

time I look at it. Wait, wait a minute. You mean

to tell me that somebody went out and bought

a skids and mudflap ice cream truck and made

a porno. Who do you know? Alex brawn or somebody

like I need to, I, you need to send me a picture

of that so I can put that in the post because

holy crap, that's amazing. Yeah. The idea was

that, that these, these robots are stupid. So

we're going to do something stupid with it. And

by that time the movie had come out and I was

like, oh my God, there are these two blatantly

racist robots in here. So my friend kind of did

it as a goof to be like, stop supporting this

terrible live action franchise. And, you know,

I don't love the majority of the live action

movies. There are a couple that I do enjoy, but

yeah, I don't buy the live action stuff. I try

to stick to G1 -esque looking stuff. Yeah, I

only ever at the time when it was when the live

-action movies were you know Like you said 2009

2010 by the time the second movie came out I

saw it and I was like ooh like and then I saw

the I saw the the toy version of it after the

movie I was like, oh, I kind of kind of need

that. I kind of like it the only the only live

-action movie toy I ever had Was transformers

revenge of the fallen ravage and the only reason

why I had him was because the toy decided to

use a. Purple eyeball for his his front facing

let for his eyes on his head and I am. I think

I'd mention this to you in the comic episode

we did over on the pull bag my two biggest favorite

colors are black and purple so the toy was black

and he had a purple and I was like okay fine.

That's fine. I don't need to see. I don't need

to have a toy with Optimus Prime's bits falling

all out of him as he transforms. Don't need that.

But I'll take the black and purple DeceptiKitty.

That's fine. I don't mind that at all. Yeah.

I still have the first live action movie, Optimus

Prime, because I was hyped for the movie to come

out when it came out. So I have that. It used

to be real nice with the live action stuff, because

Hasbro would do a year or two of... Classics

or universe, whatever they'd call it. And then

they'd kind of stop to be like, here's a year

and a half of movie stuff. So like a year and

a half, I didn't have to buy any Transformers.

It was great. Now they're like, oh wait, we can

make money if we just keep putting out like the

generation stuff and the movie stuff. So I never

get a break anymore, but you know, so be it.

And, you know, this is a wider discussion for

a different show, but you look at what happened.

10 12 hell fifth Wow 15 years ago this year that

first movie came out but You know you you look

at the landscape of everything that went on during

the let's just say the first three movies So

from 2007 to 2011 you had all this product with

the movie you had all these other product But

we didn't really have any access to like we didn't

see a behind -the -scenes. We didn't see much

behind -the -scenes stuff nowadays There's a

Hasbro fan first Friday or what wacky Wednesday

or Mondo Monday or whatever the, and they have

all these live streams where you have various

toy designers and people coming on and explaining

and talking to BMAC and specifically the transformer

scene. Cause those are the only ones I know BMAC

and, and Evan and Isabella and Mark and all those

people. It's like, Oh, this is great nowadays

because we actually get to see. The figures sort

of sort of before i mean there are still weeks

and weeks are bad but you know. We get to see

them like specifically evan evan is usually the

one that all i have it right here let's look

at it kind of guy and. You know they they talk

through and i like watching those because i like

actually hearing from ten years ago we didn't

hear from the designers held twenty years ago

we didn't really hear from anybody at hasbro

because i just like. let's just put out this

you know whatever so but nowadays we we are living

in an age where it's like any toy company that

does a live stream it's like oh yay we get to

hear from the people who made it that's awesome

yeah yeah i really like that they do these like

live streams now because it it brings that nice

insight into it yeah and it's bringing them closer

with their fans than ever before right so you

know 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? Just one,

huh? Are we talking current or what are we talking

here? I mean, most of these franchises have been

around 40, 50 years. So you take GI Joe, Transformers,

He -Man, whatever. You know, you can only pick

one which one would you choose? I'd probably

still go back to Marvel Legends, you know that

I've been collecting Marvel forever I remember

buying the first wave of Marvel Legends stuff

So as much as I love Transformers, I think I

still have like if I had to completely cut out

one of my collect, you know Some of my collecting

ones in favor for another it would be Marvel

Legends would stay Hmm. Very cool. Very cool

As an adult, do you prefer vintage toys or modern

toys? Modern. It's interesting that you bring

this up. I had Dan Larson from Toy Galaxy on

my radio show a couple of weeks ago. One of the

things that we were talking about was vintage

is fine. There are some people that just want

to get the vintage stuff and that's fine. I'm

looking forward to modern engineering. I like

having a really good representation of something

that I'm passionate about. It's going to be able

to pose well. It's going to be able to stand

well. So I go with modern, nothing against vintage.

I do have a complete Secret Wars figure line,

so I do like that stuff, but I like buying modern

stuff. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And the thing

is, and I mention this in almost every episode,

is that I remember me in Florida in 1989 with

the Rodimus Prime Toy from transformers with

you know, he's got the huge legs and he's got

the the trailer and he's got the base and all

this and all that well now We have kingdom commander

class Rodimus prime and it's like holy crap This

is the toy I wanted 40 years ago, right? Because

that kingdom commander class Rodimus is essentially

everything the original toy was but so much more

oh yeah yeah absolutely and you know again there

are some people who love the aesthetic of vintage

stuff and you know you have like uh excuse me

like reaction doing uh you know like the stuff

that looks vintage but you know being produced

now and there's a market for it and people love

it and that's great but yeah i'd rather be able

to have a really well engineered like you said

like rodimus prime i had that original rodimus

prime myself you know he could move his arms

This new one, he can move in all kinds of ways.

I like that. Yeah, absolutely. What is the one

toy you can always play with? Man, always, huh?

I mean, really, because I got some display shelves

in my basement man cave area. So anything that's

on there that's accessible, I'll just pick up

and mess around with. You know, sometimes it

might be a Marvel legend, sometimes it might

be a Transformer. I have other stuff, too, down

there. But there is one Transformer that, to

this day, I love picking up and playing with.

They did a... During the... I think it was during

Universe or Classics or whatever, they did a

Warpath figure. And even though there have been

other Warpath figures since then, I still pick

that one up and still mess around with him quite

often. Mm -hmm. Yeah, Warpath is awesome. Oh,

yeah. In almost any incarnation. That guy was

so cool. Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool one. It's

like an H -tank, so he transforms in a cool way.

I always like that one. Absolutely. And, you

know, not that we want to be negative around

here, but there are always some negative questions

that we do have to ask. Even though there are

always toy lines that people never purchase,

are there any that you specifically and purposefully

avoid? This can be a toy line, a specific character,

et cetera. So again, it goes back to that toy

store question. You go into the toy store, what's

the stuff you're not gonna get? What's the stuff

you're gonna avoid completely and don't care

about? Yeah, you know, that's a tough question

because through my years of collecting, I've

definitely picked up stuff that I thought I was

gonna be kind of gung ho on and then I wasn't.

It kind of varies from year to year. A friend

of mine loves the Masters of the Universe Origins

line, and I wasn't going to buy any of that just

to save myself some money. And then I really

liked the Horde. So then a Hordak came out, and

I was like, oh, you know what? I'll pick up Hordak.

And then they did a Mantena and a Leech and a

Mosquito. And slowly but surely, I'm picking

up just the Horde. So it's controlling myself

in that way, but I can't even say it's not the

whole line. I think at this point, The one thing

I don't really pick up is NECA stuff because

I know NECA can get expensive. I know it can

get, sometimes there's some quality issues. Nothing

against the company. It's just, it's probably

one of the only toy lines I haven't picked anything

up from ever. So. Very cool. Very cool. So along

the same lines, are there any toys in the past

or currently that you wish you had not bought

them? Are there any toys that you may have sold

that you regret letting go? Oh, absolutely. So

in terms of buying stuff that I wish I didn't,

when Cartoon Network started that Thundercats

show, I forget how long it was. Not Thundercats

Roar. No, no, no, 2011. I know what you're talking

about. I loved that show, and they were putting

out like a seven inch line of Thundercats, like

classic 80s Thundercats. They did a Lion -O and

a Tigra, and I picked them up. I picked them

up right away because I was like, oh man, like,

you know, if this keeps going, we're going to

get the full Thundercats team and all that. And

then not only did the line not continue, but

with the next release, they shifted them down

to six or five inch scale figures. So the first

two were already out of place. So I was like,

well, this was a waste. I eventually sold them

for, you know, half of what I paid for them,

if not less. So that was a big regret. Like,

I hate when they do, like, when they stall like

that. You think you're gonna end up getting something

and then you don't get anything. But then talking

in terms of things that I regret selling, a couple

years ago, I was really cutting down on Marvel

Legends, and I decided I was only gonna keep

some characters that really meant a lot to me.

And so, like, I was keeping all the X -Men, because,

you know, X -Men's my favorite, like, era or

area of Marvel. But I started selling off characters

like Vengeance and Mephisto. I was selling off

a lot like the demonicy kind of characters. I

kept Ghost Rider. But, you know, I sold Mephisto

because he was a Marvel Select that they haven't

reissued and goes for quite a lot of money. And

now, you know, the possible next has lab is a

Ghost Rider thing. And part of me is like, maybe

I shouldn't have sold Mephisto. Like, that would

have been cool to have. But, you know, it happens,

you know. Yeah, absolutely. yeah that's that's

crazy yeah i i don't know i you know because

my collection now is a lot so i started back

to it i started my toy collecting journey back

in 2005 And it lasted until about 2011 until

some financial things happened and I had to get

rid of it all. But basically from 2005 to 2011,

I was buying my childhood back. I was buying

all of Optimus Prime, all this and all that and

everything else. So from 2011 up until 2016,

I didn't. I was like, okay, well, I'm done with

it because this podcast was not around. From

2014 to 2019, 2020. Yeah, we just brought it

down. It was seven years, 2014 to 2021. We just

brought the show back last year because a buddy

of mine and everybody else listening to the sound

of my voice knows this, you don't know this,

buddy of mine who helped me start the show passed

away in 2011. And I'm just like, okay, well,

let me see if I can keep the show going. It only

lasted until 2014. And then I put it on hiatus

and obviously now we're back. But. In 2016, like

I said, I found Funco and there are only a...

I don't even remember what it was because once

I remove them from my collection list in the

Funco app, I don't remember what they are. A

couple years ago, I sold maybe, I don't know,

100, 200 different Funcos I had at the time.

I had like over 300 at that point. Right now,

I'm up to about 200 again. but like I couldn't

tell you what like I have no regrets from needing

to sell those because when it comes to funko

and we'll talk about this way later down the

line I only grab the ones that I absolutely want

So there is that yeah, I get that and you know

in terms of regrets to like I mentioned You know

regretting selling Mephisto But there were a

bunch of other Marvel Legends at that time when

I was selling stuff that I don't regret You know

I had the the fantastic four classics Dragon

Man that I found in a hobby store by me when

it was first released I maybe paid $25 for it

which at the time was high for a Marvel Legends

and You know that's the character that I had

no disrespect towards him, but I just didn't

care So I sold them for a really nice amount.

There's rumors that there's a new one coming

out. So I'm glad I sold it before the new one

was announced. But if I tried to hold on to everything,

I would never let go of anything and I'd be drowning

in figures. So at some point I do have to turn

around and say, do I still need this one? And

that might be, do I still need this 15th version

of Optimus Prime? Or am I happy with this one?

You know, like that's going to change from person

to person. But, you know, it's something that

as I've gotten older, I've had to ask myself,

like, do I really still need this one? Do I feel

anything when I look at this? If he wasn't on

my shelf, would I care? You know? Yeah, no, absolutely.

And that kind of. Plays into the next question,

because 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? So, yeah, so they that my basement is my

Display area. It is you know, like my office

my theater room. It's all that and You know,

I have a I have a couple bookcases like DVDs

on it that have some smaller collections more

focused things on there Like I mentioned the

Horde so the Horde is kind of relegated to a

very you know to a shelf on a bookshelf But then

there's a wall in my basement That's about 20

feet across that has shelving all over it. And

that's where my Transformers and my Marvel Legends

are so It's about 10 feet for Transformers, 10

feet for Marvel Legends. It's shelves that go

anywhere from as high as three to, I'm sorry,

as low as three to as high as four, you know,

squares up. And yeah, that's where I relegate

my stuff. You know, my wife and I, my wife especially,

not that she's anything against my collecting,

but she was like, you're not gonna have just

stuff all over the house. You know, you have

to have it just made nicely and you have to keep

it clean, so. That's what I do, and I'm pretty

good about it. Very cool, very cool. How do you

keep track of your collection? Do you have a

spreadsheet or do you have a document or any

of that kind of stuff? That's a great question.

I guess I just have some kind of crazy man brain

where I can keep track of what I own. I have

never walked into a store and gone, do I own

this? I know whether or not I have it. I've started

toying around with the idea that at some point

in my life, I am going to have to make some kind

of visual spreadsheet that lists everything,

you know, pictures of the figure with their accessories,

things like that, because God forbid something

happens to me. My wife wouldn't know what half

this stuff is. And I would feel bad. I have a

very, you know, a number of very close friends

who would know it. But having to make them dig

through everything and look up pictures online

as to what accessory goes with this character

if the figure is not holding it in their hand.

You know, I really need to try to streamline

what I have. I started toying around with the

idea that, uh, if, uh, you know, now as I buy

stuff, maybe taking a picture of everything right

out of the box and being like, all right, here's

what we came with. Let's go. You know, that way

I know. And, you know, maybe even starting doing

things like putting, you know, maybe waves of

figures into like a Ziploc bag. So all the accessories

from that wave are together, things like that,

you know, but, uh, Otherwise, if you brought

me into a Target or Walmart and pointed at something,

I'd be able to tell you if I have it, don't have

it, or if I don't want it. That is very, very

cool. You mentioned earlier about your basement

and how you display your stuff there, but when

I say how do you display your toys, is it more

of having them in a specific way? Like you said

earlier, you were making scenes in adventures.

Do you have all the Transformers versus all the

Marvel Legends or whatever? You said earlier

about every 10 feet is a new whatever. Yeah.

Again, it's probably OCD is what I probably have.

The way that my basement shelves are set up is

split down the middle. 10 feet to one way is

Marvel Legends, 10 feet the other way is Transformers.

And like every cubicle is something else. So

like, you know, the Transformers will be like

season one Autobots in this one, season one Decepticons

in this one, season two Autobots, season two

Decepticons. And that's how and then like, you

know, like maybe like, you know, because I go,

as I said, I'm mostly generation one stuff. So

then like I even go into the Japanese stuff.

So it'll be a cubicle that has like the Autobots

from the Japanese Master Four series and the

Decepticons from the Master Four series. So.

Things like that, like that's how I break it

down. I try to keep it neat like that. I do have

a cube dedicated to just the Dinobots because

they're my favorite thing out of all Transformers.

And then I have like the big Titan figures on

top of the cubicles because they stand well,

you know, there's clearance between the shelf

and the ceiling. And then with the Marvel Legends,

it's kind of groupings that make sense. The X

-Men take up the most space out of everything.

So the top of a cube set is like the HasLab Sentinel.

And then like, because 90s X -Men were my jam.

So it's like the blue and gold team, X -Force,

X Factor, and you know, the little of Excalibur

that we have so far. So like that's there. But

then there'll be another cubicle that might have

like Magneto and the Brotherhood. And then there

might be one that's like, here's the original

team, you know, like things like that. And then

I'll have like Spider -Man with street level

heroes, and I'll have like a show up that's Spider

-Man villains, and then I'll have like an Avengers

shelf and then like an Avengers villain type

shelf. So that and by doing that, I find it also

forces me to question, especially when new stuff

is coming out. Do I have a spot for this stuff?

Will it display? Well, do I need it if I can't

figure out where I'm going to put it so that

that's kind of help, you know, figure out how

I'm spending things. Yeah, absolutely. That's

just, yeah, it's just kind of smart. So, all

right. If you could only keep one toy from your

entire collection, what would it be and why?

And basically how I frame this question is the

house is burning down. Every human pet, whatever

is, is outside and safe, but what's the one toy

you'd run back in to save? Oh man, that's, that's

tough. I would, I think it would have to be,

uh, Well, if not Bugly, for all the reasons that

I mentioned before, I have an authentic Generation

1 Transformers Fortress Maximus, and it might

have to be that one. That was when I was going

through a Masters program and I said I was going

to reward myself for completing the program by

getting a Fort Max, so I did. I spent quite a

bit on him because he was expensive at the time.

Of course, four months after I got him, they

announced the Encore re -release, so that was

fun. But, uh, but, uh, yeah. So I have an authentic

G one for max that he's complete stickers, everything.

I'd probably grab him. Very cool. Very cool.

On that note, folks, we're going to take a quick

break here and here's some ad stuff and, and

whatever else I put in this ad break. And we

will be back with the rest of Dan's story in

toy collections after this. How should I know

they'd have a can of shock repellent backspray,

Henry? Why you sniveling sardines? Are you pompous,

puffed -up penguins? Or friends? Make peace.

Have a shake on me. A joke a day keeps the gloom

away. What was that universal greeting again?

Never mind, I remember. Hey guys, it's Rodimus

Primal and be sure to check out my YouTube channel.

Join me as I have Transformers discussions, retrospectives,

toy reviews and more. You can also follow me

on Twitter at Rodimus Primal as well as Facebook

and Instagram at Rodimus Primal Show. Transform

and roll out and be sure to check out my content

till all are one. One of the primary themes of

Toycast is that we focus on... Times Past. We

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Alright folks, we are back here on Toycast episode

158. with Dan from Rock Nerd Radio. Hope everyone

enjoyed the commercial break. Hopefully I made

it a short one. Try not to make those things

too long, because people will tune out. All right,

questions 21 to 42. Are you ready, sir? I'm set.

I got a soda here with me to give me some energy,

keep my throat, you know, moistened up, and I

think I'm ready to go. say that usually before

usually when i start recordings when i do the

the intro and it's like i either slap myself

or i'm like okay drink them if you got them or

whatever kind of looks like whatever whatever

you got to do to get ready for that for that

opening it's like you know all right question

21 so question 20 21 is kind of like the opposite

so 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, boy. That's tough. You know, I feel like

I get to cheat a little bit because of transformers.

You know, they change their size. So whereas

Fort Max is like 23 inches tall, if I transform

him, he'd be significantly tinier. So I'd probably

put Ford Max in there, because that's a pretty

important one. Oh man, what else would I put?

Some of my favorite stuff that I would put in

if that was the only box I had I was going to

move or something. I'd say Ford Max. I'm sticking

with Fortune's Maximus. Probably like a Marvel

Legends Ghost Rider with a motorcycle, because

that could fit in there. It would just be filled

with my favorite Transformers and Marvel Legends

type characters. maybe a couple vintage things

that I've had since I was a kid that I've never

really learned to let go of. I came across the

other day my vintage Thundercats Mumrah, the

Malloway one where he was in the mummy. So I'd

probably throw him in there because that's a

neat one. If I could fit a full Voltron in there,

I'd probably throw in a Voltron. I think the

only way you're going to fit a Voltron in there

is if it's one of those... I don't want to say

mini mates, but that's all I can think of. Like

one of the more mini, it's like, just like the,

for example, let's just say Jada toys, just like

they've done with their transformer stuff. They

put out a nano metal fig of Voltron where it's

like two and a half to three inches and it's

die cast and all that. But yeah, I have a couple

of different like original Voltrons in my collection.

Um, I do have the one that. The when the Netflix

show started airing they did like the they did

the Netflix lines and then they did like the

classic lines So I bought the classic lines on

discount because they were getting priced out

at places So I bought them and You know like

they they I don't want to say transform, but

I'm gonna say transform um kind of nicely where

they they fold up kind of nice to make the arms

and legs and stuff so if you took Voltron apart

and into the individual robots but then kept

them where their arms that you know or their

legs are folded up it it might fit that might

fit in a box so yeah the only thing i can hear

in my head is is is voice of Neil Ross as Keith

from the classic series Dino therms, what the

fuck is a dino therm? They probably made up so

much of what they were saying just to sound like

peccino space jargon. Infra cells up, dino therms

connected, mega thrusters go. It's sad that I

know so much of that. Yeah. Well, I, you know,

we're all fans, right? I mean, and, and, and

that's the thing, like transforming toys or toys

that change from one, like that was the eighties,

not just transformers specifically, but I mean,

what else are you going to call it? Like, you

know, you had at least, you know, the lions aren't

The lions don't have wrote their own like robot

forms. They're just lions that they then combine.

Yeah, you know Combine into this Megazord of

whoops. Sorry. Hey, it's the inspiration for

Megazord So one of the that's true Megazord.

That is very very true. I I I remember I remember

this day I was 13 years old saw that very first

episode back. Oh God almost the next year is

30 years of Power Rangers. Holy crap I think

they've been out in Japan a little longer. Well,

yes, but let's face it. I mean, when I say Mighty

Morphin Charrangers, everyone always assumes

that it's... Yeah. So yeah, next year is the

30th anniversary of Mighty Morphin of the TV

show and everything else. I remember the first

time I saw that Megazord, more so the head than

anything else, even though... Voltron's head

really didn't look like that, but I'm like, hey,

that's Optimus Prime and Voltron combined, because

obviously the Megazord has a piece plate on it

and whatever else, but it's very interesting.

As long as you can fit one Voltron in the box.

Just going back to Power Rangers real quick,

and I apologize for the tangent, but it was a

show, I think, if next year is 30 years, I guess

I was eight when it came out. I was in third

-ish grade when Power Rangers hit. I remember

thinking like this is like Voltron but live -action

Because you know very very much monster of the

week, you know big robot combined slice it in

half the end Yeah, but I remember like trying

to get into Power Rangers and really enjoying

it Like my parents never bought me any Power

Rangers toys because they were like you play

with your X -Men. That's fine But uh, I never

like and that was something that I kind of let

go of as I got older like I didn't stick with

Power Rangers and I have friends who especially

through opportunities like the lightning collection

that Hasbro is doing now, who just never gave

up on it. Not that they're super nerdy and they're

not dressing up as the Power Rangers or anything

and going to conventions, but they still have

that deep love for it, where I'm like, I have

a deep love for Voltron, but not so much the

Power Rangers. I fully believe, and this is my

own personal opinion, if you were born in 1980,

which I was, you are equipped to grow up on one

section. And then as you get older, you find

enough. So I was four by the time Voltron came

out, I was 13 by the time Power Rangers came

out. And within those five years, there's so

much that happens between them. But I could still

look at Power Rangers and be like, Hey, it's

the 90s version of Ultron even though whatever

and I just absolutely like I I latched on to

the Power Rangers thing and everything else and

Nice I still somewhere somewhere. I have a photo.

I don't know if it's on Facebook or not, but

somewhere I have a photo of myself in 1995 right

after the movie premiered It was probably because

it might if you know, it was 95. I don't think

I actually saw I I had to wait the six months

to whatever, how long it took to get to VHS,

but I don't remember seeing the movie in theaters,

but I remember going to Toys R Us and grabbing

that Ninja Falcon or just the Falcons or forget

the right, like, look, I don't mind boogieing

with the bear, but like, let's face it, Tommy

Oliver is where it was at. And anything that

Tommy did, like, it was like emulation time.

And yeah, I have a picture of myself just looking

at the, I'm holding the Falcons or just looking

at it. And it's like, yeah, it's a, it's a long

time ago. Oh boy. All right. So here's the, this

isn't necessarily the toy version of the DC versus

Marvel question, but it's more of, oh boy, either

you like it or you don't. And yeah. Are you a

Funko fan? I don't have an easy answer for this

one. I'm going to say no, but not in a way that

I despise them. I have seen people who, in their

apartment, in their home, they have a wall of

just Funko boxes sitting on top of each other.

And, you know, when they first came out, like,

I knew some people who were trying to collect

every Funko that came out, but then they diversified

and so much, they have licenses to every friggin'

property out there. I don't think people could

keep up. And I'm an opener, like we talked about,

so I take them out of the box. I don't like to

keep them in their boxes. But I have a few. I

have very strict limits on what I'm going to

be buying when it comes to Funko stuff because...

You know, I'd rather divert my money towards

transformers and like traditional action figures.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't hate them, but I I'm not

one of the crazy people who's going to stand

online for them. And I'm not saying crazy to

be like derogatory. But no, no, you know, I had

one of my wife's friends a couple of New York

Comic Cons ago. You know, my wife and I had the

four day pass and they only had weekend tickets.

And she was like, oh, would you mind standing

on line for the Funko at the Funko booth and

getting this exclusive for my boyfriend and I

was like yeah I can go stand online no problem

and it didn't click what they were asking so

like first thing Thursday I went to the Funko

booth and there was like no one there so I got

online and somebody was like what are you doing

I was like getting online for the exclusive and

they're like did you pay to have a ticket And

I was like, no. And they're like, listen, if

you want to pay for a ticket, it's over there.

And then you have like a six hour wait time.

And I was like, nope, your friend's not getting

her funko, but you know, sorry, I'm done. Like

I'm not waiting six hours on the line. I'd rather

walk the shower floor. So there are people who

were like sell their souls and their whole day

to getting like that one funko. That is not me.

So I am a Funko fan, as many people have heard.

I ask this question every episode of The Origins

and whatever else. However, it's only for characters

that I absolutely feel like I'm not buying. Like

I've said this before, I use this as the best

example for me as far as what I'm not a fan of.

A couple, a couple of years ago. Xfinity gave

me, oh, would you like, it was one of the free

HBO Cinemax weekends or whatever, like, oh, free

trial, check it out. Okay, sure, fine. So I decided

to try after the show was already over, thank

God. I decided to try Game of Thrones, season

one, episode one. I made it through 27 minutes

of them walking and doing nothing. So I'm not

gonna be going out and buying any Funko pop Game

of Thrones characters is my point I have zero

I don't dislike it. I don't like it. I have zero

interest in Harry Potter I not gonna be but also

like, you know, but as you're saying this Oh

people with the walls of that that technically

is me because I have I have almost 200 of these

things Half of them are in storage, but even

the ones that are in my apartment right now There's

stuff over there. There's stuff on the counter

There's stuff on the floor behind me because

I haven't still haven't fully set everything

up yet I don't know the furniture from out of

storage yet So so yeah, but I mean, you know,

but there are those people that are like, oh

my god funko It's the most evil and there are

plenty of things that funko has done recently

that I'm not a fan of and that's fine and okay

and what it like I'm sure anything I say anything

that's coming out of this Out of my voice box

here if someone could like like on Twitter how

you can mute words I'm sure if someone in a podcast

would mute me saying something they would mute

me saying something But if there was anything

I could do to add to YouTube is to mute Every

single funko soda video because I do not understand

funko pops I get like I can okay, so Luckily,

I have some of these things ever like I'm looking

at the Marvel 90s Black Cat, so it's styled in

the Spider -Man the Animated Series Black Cat,

and it's a box. Yes, I can take her out of the

box if I want. If I don't want to, I don't have

to, but I can see her in the box. The Funko Sodas

are soda cans. You can't actually see the actual

figure. It's just a drawing of the figure on

the soda can. And I'm like, what? People say

that Funko pops are super deformed and they technically,

I mean, big head, little body. If you're going

to argue that's not a super deformed. Well, right.

But I'm saying like, like, you know, people will

define them as that. And then I look at the sodas

and I'm like, that's even more deformed than.

Then the pops, yeah, so if I could do away with

anything, it would be the Funko sodas. I just

don't personally get it. And I'm not saying no

one else should, you know, like it or whatever.

I'm saying for me personally, if I could erase

everything Funko soda, that would be great for

my own online whatever. So all right. Moving

away from Funko. Oh boy. Here's hoping your wife

doesn't listen to this show. What was the most

money you spent on a toy? I have the number,

I'll tell you. I will tell you, I got it before

I met my wife. She's fully aware of this story.

Basically, my rule of thumb, and my wife is fine

with this, is she's fine buying whatever I want

to buy as long as I can still pay my half of

the mortgage and pay my bills at the end of the

day. A couple questions ago, I talked about getting

that G1 Fortress Maximus. And it was before it

was reissued and stuff. It was a hundred percent

complete You know original stickers amazing shape.

It was a thousand dollars. That's the most I've

ever paid for a collectible Yeah, and I know

some people are probably sitting there saying

that's not that much and you know, that's fine

and I'm I'm lucky enough to were at the time

I would the job that I had at the time my bosses

knew because I was as I mentioned I was going

through that Masters program It was a small company

that I worked for very like very small company

and my two bosses were aware that this was my

goal So when I found one on eBay like I came

in and I was kind of hemming and hawing like

oh god You know there's one on eBay I'd like

to get it and so my boss was like tell you what

like I'll get it for you And then we'll just

take some money out of your paycheck every week

until you pay back a thousand dollars So like

my boss fronted the money for me and then you

know I got paid every two weeks So every two

weeks I'd give him 200 bucks so for you know

10 paychecks I was missing that you know I was

down $200 and that that paid for it like it I

know not everybody has the option to to pay off

things like that over time You know credit cards

being one thing, but no this was obviously no

interest my bosses did it so Yeah, so like doing

that made it not hurt nearly as bad because it

was just like okay Yeah, like two extra two hundred

dollars missing for my paycheck. I'll be fine

You know like it's not like I was spending my

entire paycheck on stuff So it worked out real

well, and you know it's definitely the craziest

amount of money I've ever spent on anything,

but uh you know with things like has labs and

stuff I feel like I'm getting closer and closer

again to dropping some big money, so Hopefully,

I never drop that much again, but that was the

most. To make this even straight, $1 ,000 for

an original G1 Fort Max that's pretty much complete

and all the stickers and everything else for

$1 ,000, that to me is actually a steal, if you

think about it. So I forget. Oh, I was watching

one of these other funko people on YouTube and

they were talking about what the What one of

the most expensive funko pops is and is a e3

2018 exclusive limited to 1 ,500 pieces of Super

Sonic This is a regular. This is actually a Shadow

the Hedgehog super so it's shadow and yellow

and red now keep in mind this is the standard

funko pop this is not a 10 inch this is not a

large it's the three four inch figure according

to the funko app it is valued at one thousand

one hundred and seventy dollars yeah and maybe

it's just because i don't have the mindset of

a funko collector and again no offense Yeah,

no, no, no, I know. The Fortress Maximus is 24

inches, you know, 22 inches tall. Yeah, no, absolutely.

It transforms from a robot to a spaceship, to

a city. It has play features, it has gimmicks,

it has an elevator. It's got this, you know,

it's got a head that turns into another robot

and that little robot's head also turns into

an even tinier robot. So like, there's so much

play in like a Fort Max. Oh, yeah, no. To me,

a Funco, it's just, especially when at that price,

I would keep that in the box and you're just

looking at it. Like, I don't, I have trouble

wrapping my brain around that. Yeah, I do too.

I mean. Especially since it's a licensed character,

it's not just Freddy Funko. I'm perfectly fine

with some of those, their own mascots being that

kind of limited edition thing, but it is what

it is. On the flip side, what's the cheapest

toy you bought or what was the best deal you

ever got for a figure? The best deal I ever got

for a figure, um... I mean in retrospect now

when I bought the Marvel Legends Dragon Man at

like $30 or $25 back when that first came out

because the guy who was running the collectible

store got a case of those figures in he's like

this is a bigger one I have to charge you more

like you know that was a great deal because that

figure now sells carded for like $450 so that

that was great But no, you know, I've gotten

some great deals in my life. To say I've kept

track of all of them, I don't think I'd be able

to, but... Actually, quite recently, I was in

a... It's a vintage toy and video game store.

A friend of mine is up near Albany, New York,

so I was up in this store. It's called Vortex

Video Games. And I traded in some Marvel Legends

that I no longer felt like I needed. And he gave

me a bunch of store credit, and... I got a couple

vintage Masters of the Universe stuff for probably,

at the end of the day, maybe I paid 40 or 50

bucks for it, and it's stuff that I know goes

for, I don't want to say significantly, but more

than that, so that felt like a good deal. It's

weird to say what a good deal is anymore, because

I feel like so many people rely on eBay as to

what stuff is worth. So many of those people

don't even check the sold listings. They just

look at what the current ones are. So they'll

say, oh, this figure's worth $75. Here it is

on eBay. It's like, yeah, that's a listing that's

been sitting for two and a half months. If you

go to the sold ones, the last highest sold one

was like $45. Oh, I want 70. Well, then I'm not

going to pay you. It happens so much. And I hate

that people use eBay. And I'll admit, sometimes

if I'm not sure what something is worth, if I'm

selling it, I'll go to eBay and then I'll kind

of aim like $10 lower than the highest last sold

because. Yeah, but like you said, you're, you

are actually doing your research. You're not

just going to like, if I sit here and do a eBay

search on. Transformers 1986 or 80's no it was

87 I think when Rodimus or whatever Rodimus Prime

came out but the original vintage Rodimus Prime

and I'm only looking at whatever the listings

are that's not what the figure is no you have

to you have to go down you have to click the

sold section and look at what it's sold for because

that's the only way you can then go to Somewhere

and say hey, I would like to make you an offer

based on this last sold price Etc. Etc. And you

know going along with that idea, too You know

if you can I know this doesn't apply to everybody

But if there are any vintage toy stores in your

area with trustworthy people or people that you've

gotten to know whatever Go to them. You know

like I feel like I'm cutting a PSA here But really,

the vintage toy store people are going to have,

in my opinion and in my experience, generally

better deals than people on eBay and even people

at conventions. Because when you're at a convention,

you got to pay for that table. So sometimes people

aren't willing to budge because if they're at

something like New York Comic Con being a big

one, but even a smaller convention, they want

to make back what they paid for that table. If

they haven't hit their $50 a day or $70 a day

yet, they're not going to be willing to make

any deals. I'm not trying to vilify anybody who

does this. I completely get that. You want to

make money back. At a vintage toy store that's

there all the time, if they rent or own the space,

they're not going to sit here and be like, oh

no, this is so marked up. They're going to have

prices that are a little nicer, I'm going to

say. Sometimes they're willing to make some deals

with you like a friend of mine the same friend

actually upstate from me He just found a new

vintage store that opened up and like, you know,

he went he was buying a couple things The guy

was like, oh tell you what, uh, you know, you're

getting all five of these. This one's free You

know like that people will do stuff like that

which goes a long way, you know Yeah, absolutely

Yeah, and I mean it's all about deal making and

especially like the convention stuff man, like

like you said Those people that are there selling

their toys, whatever toys they are, whether they're

vintage, modern, whether if they're regular or

if they're fun, cause they still have to pay

for that table. And as long as they've, you know,

usually it's like, whatever the let, let's just

say. traditionally Sunday is the last day of

most cons. Usually Sunday as they're packing

up, like that's the time when you go for deals

at conventions is Sunday when they're packing

everything up and they don't want, oh my God,

like, yeah, I've paid for my table and everything

else, but I don't want to go home with all this

stock. So if you're willing to take these 20

funcos for this - And that's kind of the double

-edged sword too, because there are some - vendors

at cons that you know are a store so they might

have 30 of this one thing in stock and you know

it's not gonna sell out and then the last day

maybe they make you a deal but every now you

know a lot of them are just independent businesses

whatever so if by that last day it's like oh

I'll get the deal they might not have that item

anymore and I've experienced both where like

on the last day of a con I get stuff for cheap

But I've also experienced where they've had it

all weekend and I go Sunday ready to be like,

all right, here comes my like $15 less offer.

And they're like, Oh, it just sold. It's like,

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's that, that kind of sucks.

So when you do visit toy shows or conventions,

what is your, like, what's your, your game plan?

Do you bring a set amount of money? Do you, you

know, Are you aiming for specific things like

between, let's say San Diego, Emerald City, and

New York, those are three different, very big

conventions that maybe not all the same vendors

are going to be at all three. So obviously you're

going to have to look for different stuff. What's

the Dan game plan for comms? So I've gotten in

the habit of bringing a set amount of money that

I don't really want to spend out of, you know,

like It's gonna vary per show that I go to like

something like New York Comic Con I'm gonna bring

a little more money because there's gonna probably

be you know I might get a sketch from an artist

I might you know get try to find some kind of

collectible thing and I know it might be a little

more expensive But then I go to smaller conventions,

and I don't bring as much money It's I the time

of me having any more of a game plan other than

this set amount of money has kind of gone away

because you know I've been collecting for a long

time now and I'm not someone who just willy -nilly

is like, oh, you know what? I've decided I need

all of this all of a sudden. You know, like I

have certain collection, little micro collections

of things that I've built up over time. And if

I'm missing, you know, something from that, I

might, you know, keep a photo of it on my phone

and like a folder like, you know, toy to track

down or something like that. And if I see it,

you know great I might look for that at certain

booths like let's say I'm looking for like a

vintage message in the universe character You

know if I see a booth that has he man stuff even

if it's just accessories I might go and I might

kind of you know look at that and see if I can

find what I'm looking for It's really gonna depend

on each show and what it is. I'm looking for

But I used to go in with like a list of like

alright like here are the figures I want to find

and here are the comics I want to find and But

I started feeling defeated if I didn't find it

all. So that's why now I'm kind of like, you

know what, here's a loose list. If I find it,

great. If not, hey, whatever. And I'm only human.

There are times that I'll be at a convention

and here's something that I never even thought

that I wanted or never forgot existed and I'd

see it and I'm like, oh, that's really cool.

And that's a good price. I'll pick that up. It

happens, you know? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. What

modern and or vintage toys toy lines are you

currently collecting right now? You've mentioned

Transformers and He -Man, but what others? Modern

toys is definitely, you know, the new Transformers

and Marvel Legends. That's pretty much the most

of modern. I did mention He -Man. I'm very strict

with my Masters of the Universe collecting. I

love the evil horde. So those are the only characters

I buy. So if they are any type of horde member,

that's what I'm buying. I'm so i know like with

messes universe origin so you know just put out

leech and mantana. And i know with the with the

master verse line they're putting out like hordak

and catra as they appeared in the princess power

sheer cartoon. So like that stuff you know i'm

just buying the horde members on keeping that

small again like another micro collection. When

it comes to vintage stuff i recently got the

bug because of this horde collecting the try

to find original. You know eighties horde members

so i'm trying to find certain members of the

horde and you know put them in like a very original

message universe like display i had a horde akali

chris lore and mantana from when i was a kid

so i had like some of the big names so now it's

about tracking down some of the other names.

But there's that and then the other thing is

i really love the secret wars toy line and i

do have a fully complete. Secret Wars collection

of all the characters, all the play sets, all

the vehicles. But I'm a very amateur customizer.

I don't sell any of my stuff because it's just

for me. I'm not comfortable selling things to

people because I don't think I have the best

skill out of you know that some people have.

So if I can find like some Junker Secret Wars

toys or like Bad Pain or whatever, I'll buy them

on the cheap and I'll try to make them into customs

of different characters. I kind of spend some

time doing that. Very cool, very cool. Now, you

do know that since you mentioned you're a Horde

fan and you have to have most of every Horde

thing, I have to tell you. Between hordak and

grizzlor and leech There are plenty of horde

funko pops They even released a horde funko pop

trooper where you could probably buy like ten

of them and have a horde troop army No, no me.

I actually have a number of those I think I have

all the horde funko pops and as I said like I

keep my funko buying very very very limited You

know cuz like I grew up You know, my brothers

were big He -Man fans. I was a He -Man fan. Like,

I could buy all those He -Man Funko Pops, but

again, I just really liked the horde. New York

Comic -Con many, many years ago, when, like,

pops were getting big, I remember just being

in a Funko Pop booth and they had a hordak, and

I was like, I like hordak, I'll buy this Funko

Pop. So I did, and now, you know, here we are,

however many years later. I think last summer,

I was in, like, a Walmart, and I was like, oh,

look, there's a Mantena Funko Pop. Like, I could

get behind that and then I was like, how many

Horde Funko Pops are there? So I have all the

ones that are currently out. But again, now that

I'm buying like Horde figures proper, part of

me is like, maybe I sell my Horde Funko Pops.

I don't really know if I need them anymore. And

that's the that's kind of the way I am with a

lot. And again, I'm not trying to be negative,

but with a lot of the Funko Pops I have, like,

you know, like, oh, you know, I like Doctor Who,

I'll buy Doctor Who and I'll buy the Tardis.

And, oh, you know, I like I'm trying to think

like, oh, Green Arrow or the Arrowverse TV shows.

So I bought a Green Arrow and I bought a Flash

and I bought a Reverse Flash. And now I'm just

like kind of looking at them like, ah, there's

just kind of space that I could be displaying.

I bought a Voltron one and then I bought a combining

transforming Voltron. What do I need a little

tiny Voltron Funko Pop for? So there might...

I called in. Hey man, you know what? If you want,

I'll send you a list of what I got. Anything

you want, I'll just send it up to you. That's

funny. What do you think it is about our generation

that causes our childhood toys to mean so much

more to us than for instance our parents generation?

You know, I I don't know I part of me thinks

that it's the constant re Reinvention of some

of the stuff like, you know, my dad like his

favorite cartoon growing up was like Rocky and

Bullwinkle and I was the only reason why I'm

aware of Rocky and Bullwinkle was that in the

90s, Nickelodeon had it on in the afternoon.

So I'd get home from school, I'd watch Rocky

and Bullwinker. I'd watch it on the weekends.

And my dad would like double, you know, he did

like a double take and he was like, this was

my cartoon. How are you watching that? But in

terms, but aside from like another movie or two

and maybe an animated series, I'm not even sure.

Rocky and Bullwinker was never really reinvented.

Like, how are you going to change those characters?

How can you make them fun and interesting? Whereas

our stuff is reinvented. Like, you know, He -Man

alone, I apologize to keep going to keeping always

going to him. But you know, like there was the

80s, Masters of the Universe, and there was the

new adventures in the early 90s, which flopped.

And then He -Man was gone for a while. But then

the 2000X series, like, that is my favorite bit

of He -Man television. Like, that's awesome.

And then, you know, now there are two Netflix

shows with He -Man. So He -Man is constantly

being reinvented. Thundercats has been reinvented.

And sort of sort of you know, and and then there's

been you know, just like nostalgia lines I was

in a Walmart the other day and they have those

new McFarland DC figures that are on the superpower

cards so you know if you were a superpowers collector

if you if you have any faintest memory of that

you might see that dark side or that Batman or

that Superman or whoever else is in that line

Green Lantern and you might say like now maybe

you're a parent Oh, man, I'll get this for my

kid, you know, be like the toys I had when I

was a kid or or it might just be like, oh, man,

like I want this to relive my childhood. I like,

you know, my parents like Howdy Doody or whatever,

like there was never like a Howdy Doody like,

you know, movie universe or action figure universe

that they could relive their childhood with,

you know. So I feel like it's just with else

they kept pushing that nostalgia, you know, G

.I. Joe Transformers and. Yeah, I also feel like

part of our generation. And by all means, you

know, let me know what you think on this, but

I feel like part of our generation wants to hold

on to that stuff to maybe remind you of the simpler

times when you were a kid, things like that.

You know, when my parents were kids, like they

were kids and then they grew up and that was

it. You know, like I don't feel like they ever

felt like they had to hold on to their childhood

where a lot of us really, especially current

collectors, like you never wanted to let go.

Yeah, and that's the thing like in the usually

the snarky answer to the question is well Our

parents didn't have all these toys, you know

our parents only had going to school playing

outside playing with your friends, whereas Let's

say late 70s all throughout the 90s. It's like

Stay inside play your video games play with your

toys have your friends over but heaven forbid

you go outside and be in front of that evil sun

god thing or whatever it is. I mean, yes, my

mom did always, and I was an outside kid as much

as I was more of an inside kid than I was an

outside kid. But I still, as an only child, I

still kicked the soccer ball up against the garage

every day. I still went out and tried to play

softball or baseball or whatever, field hockey,

whatever. Every time I could, as long as it wasn't

winter in Massachusetts, you could kind of do

that. Yeah. Yeah. And kind of thing, you know,

I grew up in a cul -de -sac. So then every family

in the cul -de -sac on the street had had kids

and they, we were all around the same age. So

we were outside all the time, but yeah, you know,

you'd be inside playing with your toys, you know,

or at night. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Like, so it

isn't like the eighties generation wasn't outside.

It's just that our parents and grandparents and

people before us, They didn't have all of this

awesomeness that we have had over the last almost

30, 40 years. You know, this is what it is. What

is your motivation for purchasing toys to display,

play, fiddle, describe your collecting style?

Are you more of a completionist, storyteller,

a cherry picker or otherwise? So it's definitely

for display and a little bit of fiddling. When

it comes to like my motivation if I'm a completionist

or not there there was a time that I that collect

them all mentality was You know ingrained in

me and you know cuz all the figures you used

to buy at the back of the box collect them all

and show you nice shots of all the upcoming figures

and stuff and this is pre -internet so you'd

walk into a KB and you'd or towards the rust

and you'd see a character you hadn't seen before

and the first thing I would do would would be

to look on the back of the package to see what

other new characters I didn't know about and

then kind of scour the shelves like, oh, there's

this guy. Hang on. Do I see this guy? And you're

like frantically look because you get all excited.

So, yeah, like I used to be the collect them

all. I wanted every figure. Marvel Legends is

what Marvel Legends and Transformers are both

what broke that for me. Marvel Legends at some

point, you know, like when I started buying them,

they were $10 each, then they went up to 15,

then they hovered around 20 for a while. Now

they're like 25 each. And if I'm looking at a

full wave of seven figures, you know, that's

over 200 bucks. And sometimes I just don't want

every figure in there, you know, and like they

get you with the builder figures. It happens

all the time for me, at least. Um, like, you

know, there's an upcoming Avengers wave by the

time this airs, it's probably out with the controller

as the builder figure. And I didn't want everybody

in the wave. And luckily someone is hooking me

up with a piece from one of the characters I

didn't want. So hopefully I'll have a, I'll have

a complete controller, but, um, yeah, it's just

like, you know, when they incentivize getting

things, it's you, you want to get them all, but

at some point you just can't afford it. And then

when it comes to transformers, You know, they've

been really, I've been really lucky that in my

recollecting of Transformers, which started in

the mid -2000s, you know, they've stuck to a

lot of the Generation 1 characters, and those

are the characters that I really identify with.

So like now they're putting out like characters

from the Cybertron trilogy, from the Armada show,

from Beast Wars, and I have no problem with those

shows, but those aren't the ones that I want

to collect. So like, I'm not going to sit here

and buy every transformer just to have it. Like,

you know, there's a new Voyager class Starscream

coming out and he's a he's how we look in the

Armada cartoon. I have no problem with Armada

Armada, but it's not a Starscream I need to have.

So like, I'm not going to buy it just to buy

it. I'm going to buy it because I actually want

to have that on my shelf. And in that particular

case of this Starscream, I don't need it on my

shelf. So, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's the

thing with these franchises and intellectual

properties that have been around for three, four,

five, six, seven decades. Cause we will get to

a point where at some point when I've become

even more of an old man than I already am, I'll

be talking like this and I'll be like, Oh my

God, it's about to celebrate 60 years of Transformers.

Like at some point in those at this point. For

almost four decades. There's something in the

brand for everybody and not everything has to

be for everybody like You know, no one is is

putting a gun to any of our heads saying you

must buy all the toys No matter what like it's

just not how business this is not how things

work and I got a friend likes at San Diego Comic

-Con this year They they announced a new Transformers

cartoon show is coming to Paramount Plus is produced

by Nickelodeon And a friend of mine was like,

aren't you mad? It looks like it's for kids.

And I was like, well, A, the brand's always been

for kids. We've just never let go. But B, no,

I'm not mad. I'm like, because if anything, I'll

check the show out. If I don't like it, I don't

like it. I'm not going to hit my chest about

it and make angry Twitter posts about it. But

again, I don't have to buy these figures. Someone

might be into it. That would be cool. I got a

niece and nephews. Maybe they'll be into it.

And maybe that'll be their favorite Transformers.

And that's great. And I'll talk about it with

them. And if they want to play with their Transformers

when I come over, like, yeah, that's fine. I'll

get on the floor. I'll play with Transformers

with you. But I don't have to have it all. And

I can accept when things change. And even recently,

and I know this might be controversial, there

was that Thundercats Roar show. I checked out

a couple episodes. It was silly. You know, I

didn't love it. I watched one episode and I was

like, and that's the thing. That's perfectly

fine. But all these people were like, oh, you're

destroying my childhood. Like, no, the original

show still exists. It's on friggin Hulu for Christ's

sake. Like, don't sit here and be like, you're

ruining everything. Because maybe some little

kid is going to discover Thundercats that way.

And maybe they'll really enjoy the show. So I

get so sick of these people who have like that

friend who I mentioned for this new Transformers

show. He was the same way. Like the preview came

out and he was like LOL this is crap I'll bet

you'll hate it. And I was like why do you take

pleasure in me like why do you like I'm not someone

who comes off like oh I hate this and I want

everyone to know. Like that's not my personality

so I was like why do you think I always have

to hate something? Like I can just be indifferent.

I can just not care, you know? Yeah, exactly.

And that's where I am now. Like if I see something

that I don't like, okay, maybe I don't like it

based off of the, and again, for me, and I say

this every single pod, I've said this in every

single podcast I've ever recorded when it gets

around to this kind of discussion for the last

14 years. trailers commercials They're supposed

to be advertisements to either get us to like

it or to show us that hey Maybe we're this isn't

for us. That's the whole point But it doesn't

meet like yeah, so for me the way I look at like

I'll take Okay, I'll take mo to because it's

the easiest and then I'll go into a more in -depth

thing here in a second Masters universe 83 started

with formation in the 90s you had new adventures

as you've already said 2002, we had the Mike

Young series and then we didn't have anything

up until the Netflix series show. And now we

have the Kevin Smith version and the, in my personal

opinion, the better CGI version, because I've

personally feel, and again, this is something

I've said in every podcast recently. Filmation

to us in the eighties is to what I personally

think the CGI version of He -Man now is to what.

kids our age than are now. So basically the CGI

version is the one you want your kids to be growing

up on now. Like we grew up on the filmation one.

With Transformers and Turtles, it's more of a,

Transformers specifically, but Turtles, it's

more of a, hmm, what's going on in this era of

animation? Like the eighties, obviously you had

that traditional standard, not traditional, but

that more 2D style, sell animation stuff. 2003,

you had all of that. You've got, uh, what, what

are the, let's see, 2003, what was that? Uh,

2012, the new, the first new Nickelodeon show.

And now you've got Rise of the TMNT. I saw the

current movie that they put out, but when I first

saw the actual animation style for the show.

I was like nearly almost 30 years, 40 plus years

of Turtles. I can safely say there's plenty of

other Turtles things for me. This animation style

for the rise of the TMNT is not for me. So I'm

just going to let people enjoy it if they enjoy

it. I'm just, I'm not going to pay any attention

to it. It's not for me. Yeah, and that's the

best way to do it. Yeah and the deeper part of

that is transformers for the forty years the

gender that the franchise has been around almost.

It is pun intended constantly transforming and

absolutely. You got g1. Technically there is

no g2 cartoon other than that opening animation

because there is a rehash whatever so see you

got g1 you got these stories you got these machines.

You've got you got the whole Unicron trilogy.

You got you got the whole Unicron trilogy. You

got RID. You got animated. There's so much. You

have all these like all of these might have some

similar aspects to the original. Like animated

is a perfect example. It was kind of a love letter

to the original. At least the first first couple

episodes where they were leaving the planet and

all that. It was different, but it was still

you can still see the imprint of G1 on the show

kind of thing. And it's constantly changing.

It's cause like I'm interested in checking out

the earth sparks show. You know, that's fine.

I'll check it out. I run this show. I run, I

help run another transformers podcast. So I kind

of have to at least check it out. Uh, but yeah,

no, like the, these people that just like, Oh

my God, I can't believe that like, It's not the

end of the world, there's still the past 40 years

of content that you can go check out and find

something you like. Exactly, and because I mean,

you know, the truth of the matter too is for

any of these franchises, if you were telling

the same stories about the same characters for

the past 30 some odd years, even you as a perceived

die -hard fan would get bored. Like if I was

watching Optimus Prime fight the Decepticons

every week since 1984, You know eventually like

I you wouldn't care like how many stories can

you tell so that's why you know other other entertainment

whether it be comics or a new series or a movie

they try to tell a different story while keeping

the core ideas in check because that's what they

gotta do you know. Yeah and that's gonna come

into question down the line here when it comes

to the toy companies but. Next up, you mentioned

you have nieces and nephews, so these next two

are going to be interesting. Have you ever purchased

a toy for a child with the ulterior motive of

playing with it yourself? Not yet. The stuff

that I've given my niece and nephews, it is solely

for them. My nephew, my younger nephew, my youngest

nephew, he's still at that age where when he

and they don't live close I have to travel to

see him so when I do get to see him he might

kind of excitedly be like here's what you got

me isn't it so cool and then I get to like kind

of fuss with it and it's like oh yeah that is

neat I'm glad you like it but I haven't bought

anything for them so I could be like oh I hope

I can play with it too I've definitely like growing

up Especially like in college, I would give like

a friend a video game for a birthday, knowing

that it was multiplayer and hopes that they'd

be like, Hey, we should all come over and play

this game. And I'd be like, Oh yeah, sounds like

a great idea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's so

funny. And then that question always reminds

me of the times that, you know, parents or uncles

or whatever, like, Oh, here you go. But secretly,

you know, if you want. to let me check that,

like, it's kind of like the whole Halloween candy

thing, like, here, let me make sure the candy's

okay before you play with it kind of thing. So

on the flip side of that, have you ever purchased

a vintage toy for a child because you thought

it would be fun based on your own preferences?

Huh, have I? Um, I don't think I have. I, I know

like recently for my nephew's birthday, He what

he got in like Godzilla so so my sister -in -law

was like, oh he made like an Amazon wish list

and one of them was like it was like I Forget

the company that makes it but like those like

big like rubber Godzilla figures that like maybe

only the hand and the head might move or something

I was like he wanted one of them and so like

those were things that I remember seeing forever

So I was like I will happily buy this vintage

thing for my nephew somewhat vintagey thing for

my nephew and like he loves it Apparently he

stomps around the house with it and you know

roars and everyone's face stuff. It's adorable

I have yet to actually see him in action doing

that but uh Yeah, but so, you know like again

if it's gonna make him happy great Like if one

of my nephews or my niece turned around and said

like I want a g1 optimus prime I know my brothers

would immediately be like, can you get on this?

Let me make it happen. I'd find a way to work

that out. Even if it's a reissue or something.

I'm the same way. I have all these cousins and

things and they've had kids over the years and

most of their kids are growing up now. I think

one of them just graduated high school. God,

I'm old. so anyway but yeah i mean if i you know

if i had you know like my youngest cousin cassie

she and her husband just had their fourth child

fifth child i don't remember they finally had

a son after like three girls so i'm like ooh

A new mold to mine when it comes to transformers

and they they live up in Massachusetts and I'm

in here in Indiana, but like if I was going to

send that kid one thing to impress upon them.

G1 astro train. It's got most. I mean, yes, there's

plastic in this thing, but like I'm holding it

right now. This black piece on it. That's the

die cast part. That's the metal part. It's like,

you know, you know, cause. Die cast construction.

It's a lost art. Oh yeah. So, but yeah, no, absolutely.

So you kind of already answered question 31.

So I think we can kind of skip this one, but

I'll ask it anyway. You said you were kind of

bad at it, so you don't do it. Do you do any

toy modifications or customs? I really do, but

it's all for my own purposes. I don't mean to

insult you if you say. No, not at all. No, it's

all for my own stuff. You know, I got a friend

who I kind of got him into customizing and he's

just very talented. He's like naturally talented.

So now he's selling his stuff via Instagram.

you know, people contact him about making custom

GI Joes and stuff, and I'm glad that that's working

out for him. My stuff, I make it mostly because

I don't have an official representation of that

character yet, and it's just for my own display.

I rarely will post about my customs on social

media, more so on my Instagram than anything,

but... I don't love posting about it. I've never

had anyone coming at me being like, this sucks

and you should stop. Every customizer I've ever

talked to has been like, hey, that's great. Your

technique is improving, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

My friends who I send pictures to, they're very

supportive of it. My wife is very supportive

of it. But yeah, it's more just for my own pleasure.

I would never go and try to sell it unless somebody

really loved what I did. And in that case, I'd

probably sell them the thing I made. I wouldn't

be like, okay, yeah, let me remake this for you.

I'd be like, just take this one and I'll make

another one. Yeah, exactly. All right. Here's

that ultimate question when it comes to toy companies.

Do you think toy companies should specifically

have adult collector toys child toys or find

a way to mix both? You know, I think they they're

already doing that mix both Yeah, you know like

cuz like you look at something like Hasbro and

I'll say Marvel just for the hell of it You know

Marvel Legends now they're going for 25 bucks

a pop And you know when they do these special

edition ones like the the spider -man 16th anniversary

or whatever year were up to they're like $30

each You know as I'm not a parent so I can't

say that I you know I wouldn't want to spend

25 bucks on my kid if it makes them happy But

I feel like that's a harder price tag to swallow

than those like open package ten dollar ones

that are going to have five to seven points of

articulation and is meant to be a played with

child's toy. You know, at the end of the day,

I don't think the adult collectors are the only

collectors. I think a lot of it is still meant

for kids. You know, Star Wars has a kids line.

Power Rangers has a kids line. They all have

kids lines. Jurassic Park is the kids line. You

know, any property you can think of, there's

probably some kind of kids equivalent. So, you

know, I feel like every company is doing a good

balance of it. Of course, companies like NECA,

they're not putting out kids' stuff. No, there

are specific companies that are specifically

for adults. I mean, you know, between NECA and

some of the Super 7 stuff that Super 7 is doing,

like anything that uses a... In their toy packaging

as their line of the ultimates the ultimates

is not for it's like that's for that's for us

from super seven. No i think neka the biggest

example i can probably say is the. coming out

of their shells stage set that they did for the

turtles show thing. But yeah, but you know, but

that also means too. So like, you know, at the

end of the day, you might buy your kid the new

transformer that came out or something. And there

are simpler transformers for kids and there are

more complex ones. But like, you know, something

like a has lab, you're not dropping that much

money for unless you really love your kid and

they're going to be super careful. But, you know,

like I feel like a kid can find a good toy representation

of anything they want. You know, I talked about

Godzilla before. Like really anything like short

of a kid coming up to me and being like, I want

a toy of the exorcist. I don't know where I'd

find that for you that isn't going to give your

parents nightmares as well as you. So, you know,

I feel like for the most part, companies do the

major companies, your Mattel, your Hasbro, your

Playmates. They're doing a good job of making

sure kids and adults have something to collect.

And then, you know, like we said, there are your

Super 7 NECA that is aiming at just adults, you

know. Yeah, absolutely. And I should not be surprised

at this. There are two. exorcist toys that funko

has done i should not be surprised at this no

no no i know i know i know but i was just curious

to see what and they have a pop of reagan and

they have a mystery mini of reagan uh but you

know it is it is what it is all right do you

have a my parents got rid of my toys story um

you know i'm i'm lucky to well Sort of, but not

really. So basically what happened was, you know,

I have two older brothers, and, you know, a lot

of my toys as a kid, I got from them. Like they'd

be done with it. It was like the hand -me -down

of toys, you know, like now you can play with

it. In my parents' basement still, all of mine

and my brother's Ninja Turtles are there. All

of their G .I. Joes are there and the few that

I had. But at one point, my mom decided, like,

because all of their toys were in the basement,

like I always held onto my Marvel and Transformers

stuff. That was always in my bedroom and like,

you know, in my closet, my bedroom closet. But

at some point, I remember my mom being like,

there are too many toys down here. You need to

sell these. And like my mom's church or my aunt's

church was doing like this big like garage sale,

yard sale type thing. So what my mom told me

was she was like, pick out all the stuff you

don't want. Bring it to the sale and you can

keep whatever money you you sell Now forget if

my brothers were in high school or they I think

they were in high school at the time So they

were like we don't want to do this We want to

go spend this Saturday with our friends and I

was like, okay, I'll come so like we had in there

like visionaries and supernaturals and Just like

some random 80s early 90s toy lines that we would

maybe only have like two or three characters

from No, Brave Star was one of them just came

to mind. And so I went to this yard sale thing,

garage sale thing. It was like indoors. It was

in like, you know, like the youth center or whatever.

And like my mom and my aunt had like all these,

you know, quote unquote, antique dishes and costume

jewelry and whatever. And I had this this table

full of toys. And and the only reason why I sold

all of it there was because my mom was like,

you have to sell this. So I sold it and like

as a kid in middle school I think I made like

a hundred bucks and When you're in middle school

at the time like a hundred bucks felt like a

million dollars like I was gonna go to KB You

know, they used to do three marble figures for

ten bucks I was gonna go there with a hundred

bucks and get you know dirty figure or however

many figures, you know Like I was I was so ready

to go and like my mom and my aunt sold like nothing

because nobody was in the kids weren't coming

up with their parents to look at dishes and jewelry

they were coming up to be like this is a cool

toy toy i want this so like it is yeah i know

the stories repair people are like my mom just

took it and threw it in the garbage and i never

knew until i came back from summer vacation or

something um They never did anything like that

for me mine's kind of like the happy ending of

like well I got to sell it on my own terms and

you know things like that the one thing that

my mom tried to make me get rid of and I would

constantly hide them and I'm glad I did Because

I didn't know their full origins until I was

older was my battle beast But we had like a tin

full of battle beasts my mom would always be

like you don't need these things and I really

dug them and I'd always hold on to them and then

when I found Out like I would hide them in my

room I'd like put them underneath like my underwear

or something like they like like the kid was

hiding the playboy, you know I'm I'm hiding battle

beasts under my socks But um, so I would always

hide them when my mom would be like you should

get rid of them So and then I eventually came

to find out that they were in Japan part of the

Transformers toy line technically So I have a

complete American Battle Beasts collection. I

haven't gotten into Laser Beasts. And I have

the vehicles, the play sets, that was like a

crown achievement that took me a couple years

to build. And yeah, they don't all have their

weapons, but I have every character. So that

was something that I'm glad that I never was

forced to get rid of because now my mom will

come over and she'll come into my basement where

I have all my stuff. And she'll be like, you

kept these battle beasts after all these years,

huh? And I'm like, yeah, you try to get rid of

them. Yeah, my and again, I my story never changes.

And I only tell I only say it every episode because

for the guest certification, because I don't

ever always think everyone's going to listen

to my actual episode that I did. But. My dad,

so I come from divorced parents, my parents divorced

in 1982 when I was two years old. Yeah, it is

what it is. Nothing I can do about it then, nothing

I can do about it now. One of them is gone anyway,

so it doesn't really matter. At the time, because

I came from divorced parents, I would only have

one, two, or three of the Masters of the Universe

bad guys. I would have a Skeletor and maybe one

or two other henchmen. But I would have all the

other, basically, you know, I would have 10 heroes

to three villains. My dad's house in Rhode Island,

I would have all the villains with like three

heroes. So like Tila is kind of SOL. She's hanging.

Castle Grayskull was at my mom's house. Snake

Mountain was at my dad's house. I had Grayskull

and I had Snake Mountain. Grayskull lasted about

30 years until bugs infected in one of my apartments?

Yeah, that's a whole other thing. But, but yeah,

no. So, you know, by 1986, my dad, by the time

I was six years old, my dad was like, Yeah, you're

too old for toys. I sold them all. I'm just like,

what? Yeah. So yeah, it is it is what it is.

Right now do you feel like you are coming to

an end of your active toy collecting if so? What

has signified this phase for you was there ever

a moment when you were completely done with toys

all together? There's never been a moment where

I've been completely done I have And this is

something I haven't really told a lot of people

so what a better way to do it than on a podcast

But I have been thinking a lot about I don't

want to say completely getting out, but definitely

cutting down on stuff. And I've been cutting

down, you know, to begin with. But part of me

was kind of afraid to lose my own identity if

I stopped collecting, because it's not the centerpiece

of my life, but it is a big part of my life.

You know, my own radio show, I talk about the

collectibles that are have been announced and

I'm excited about them. So I talk about them

because I'm planning on buying some of them.

So it is a big part of me. And recently one of

my best friends got rid of all of his marvel

legends just like you know he was gonna cut down

and he was like screw it i'm getting rid of everything.

And part of me was like what you do that like

what am i gonna talk to you about not that our

friendship on marvel legends but you know like

you like what do i have to say now there's plenty

to say is one of my best friends for a reason.

But like, it's still like, he'll still look at

the news. So like, you know, recently, as of

this recording, they announced a Marvel Legends,

like vintage card Ghost Rider, like on the 90s

toy biz Ghost Rider, you know, card back. And

like when they announced it, I like he texted

me to be like, did you see this? So here he is,

someone who's not collecting Marvel Legends anymore.

And he's still like, that looks really cool.

Like, I'm not going to buy it, but I know you

like Ghost Rider. So I can still talk to him

about it. So that's good, but like yeah, I've

never been done but I've definitely been at the

point where it's like maybe I don't need this

character or maybe I don't need this section

of characters and you know, I look at my own

display in my basement for my Marvel seems to

be the one that I'm always kind of going back

and forth on I look at that and I have a number

of dedicated shelves to mutants to X -Men and

then I have like Couple shelves of spider -man

but then there's like one Avengers shelf and

one Avengers bad guy shelf and and part of me

is like, you know Maybe I don't need to collect

Avengers characters anymore Like maybe I'm okay

with you know, even if I got rid of most of these

maybe I'd feel okay like keep a Hulk a Thor Captain

America Iron Man and like wasp ant -man and Hawkeye

or something and maybe I'd just be fine with

that like I Definitely look at it often as being

like I don't know if I need all this anymore

Maybe I can let go of some of it And I keep saying

I have cut back in ways. There are times where

Marvel will be like, hey, this is coming out.

And I'm like, that's nice. I don't need it. Transformers,

I have a harder time thinking of letting go of.

Every time Hasbro's like, here's the next wave,

I'm never looking at it like, ah, I don't really

need any of them. I'm like, all right, I don't

need that Beast Wars one. The rest I need. Yeah,

absolutely. What is something that does not have

a toy of it you'd love to have in toy form? You

know, that's a tough question because I feel

like I'm getting damn near everything I'd ever

want at this point. Yeah, in 2022, that question,

while it's a good question, it... just doesn't

seem like it's relevant anymore. Cause even though

they may not give us specifically what we like,

again, I mentioned earlier about the kingdom

commander class Rodimus. Technically that is

everything I wanted 30 years ago when I had the

original Rodimus toy, but like, you know, some

of the transformer stuff like, Oh, maybe It's

not painted as much as it should right here maybe

they can't go by this or maybe they can't do

this or maybe they couldn't fit this in. to get

it at a certain price point kind of thing. So

this question does feel, but I'm sure there's

plenty of things. And I'm sure if I sat here

for like two hours, really hemming and hawing

about it, I'd give you an answer. My most recent

one would have been, I would have loved an official

molten man figure. I had a custom that I made

and, and then it has, we're on the last live

stream that they did for Marvel Legends was like,

here's a Spider -Man five pack with molten man.

I'm like, well, I don't want anyone in that five

pack except molten man. So, I'm not buying the

five pack. I'm hoping I can find Molten Man on

the cheap. Especially with Marvel Legends, I

can't really think of too many characters I want.

I take that back. Feral from X -Force, I really

want her. I think that's the last X -Force member

I need. He had a toy in the old toy biz pre legends

days, but there was an X Factor guy named random

I would love an official random figure and maybe

a wolfsbane in her X Factor uniform And then

I think we're still waiting on Rachel Summers

Phoenix from Excalibur So there are a couple

people to round out my 90s X teams, but otherwise

like I Have all the big names, you know, I could

of course name some obscure character that five

people are gonna know but uh Well, you know,

but but if we're talking things that would appeal

to like an entire audience I feel like those

would those are kind of where we're at. So Yeah,

now that five pack besides molten man who's oh

god. The five pack is uh, it's uh the human fly

uh molten man, uh razor beast who looks cool,

but I don't know where I'd stick him on a shelf

They used the ultimate spider -man's like that

teenage spider -man body to do an ultimate black

costume spider -man So the way that was drawn

it had like more of like a purple sheen to it

So that's how the figures painted and then the

last figure in it is silver main on that ultimate

beetle body But it's all painted in gray with

like the silver main head, which is literally

A custom that I made a couple years ago. I took

an Ultron from like a target three pack and stuck

the silver main head that came with like the

race car that shocker had stuck that on it. And

I was like, now I have a silver main. And it's

the exact thing that I made a custom of. So I

was like, okay, way to go Hasbro. That's that's

stuck in my Instagram. Yeah. For me. I. Okay,

I'll say this and I say this every time because

I think a lot of the Funko fans know this, but...

Funko's... tagline is, everyone is a fan of something.

While that is true, and they have a lot of licenses,

the one license they have yet to crack is that...

Magical question mark box. So yeah, if we could

get Nintendo funko pops, that would be great

The only other thing I think I would personally

want like I would actively like step on people

to get and this is so stupid and silly is more

Batman beyond funko pops because the only things

we have currently are Batman Beyond suits. We

have the classic, the original one that came

out years and years and years ago. It was Funko

number 39. We have the new Funko shop one with

him crouching. We have the fugitive toys one

with him having glowing red eyes. And what was

the other one? Oh, the metallic one that came

with the DVD set. If you bought it at a certain

time when the, the Blu ray Batman Beyond. So

there are four Batman Beyond pops, but they're

all of Terry in the suit, the Batman Beyond suit,

like. I want Max. I want Dana. I want Bruce.

Oh yeah. Absolutely. But like, can you imagine

an old Bruce Wayne, Bruce, Tim style, Kevin Conroy,

old Bruce. And they do this with other characters.

They had like a Bob Ross is a perfect example.

Bob Ross, various versions of him have like the

squirrel or the raccoon or they Even Back to

the Future, Doc Brown. I have a Doc Brown Loot

Crate exclusive Funko Pop around here somewhere,

or maybe it's in storage, where it's him and

Einstein next to each other. So they've done

these little, like, I want old Bruce with Ace

or Terry with Ace. Like, I would love to have

a Terry McGinnis Funko Pop that is him out of

the suit, kind of. That would be really, really

cool. Yeah, I get that. Okay, so this one's a

little different not in toy form But what is

a toy that you would love to have scaled up and

functional for real people like it could work

in the real world I mean, I can't say Megatron

because that would be controversial and You can't

bring a g1 Megatron onto an airplane for reasons

so No, what would I like to see scaled up into

like a real -world form? She said that that's

a great question, you know, I Hasbro's been really

good about doing like more and more roleplay

items recently So you have like the Tesseract

and you have Captain America's shield and Thor's

various hammers and stuff I think it would be

really neat if You know, they have like the Iron

Man helmet, but I think it'd be kind of neat

if they would do like Maybe more of the Iron

Man suit like very least like repulsor gauntlets

like like a glove you could wear that, you know,

I don't want it to fire anything. I don't want

anyone to get hurt, but could like light up and

make the noises from the movies and things like

that. Don't they have that? Oh, do they? I mean,

I mean, I know they're like, like cloth children's

ones. I'm talking like a full on like moving

armor pieces, you know, because I have like the

Infinity Gold, like that thing's awesome. But

I feel like that's where I'm at. I feel like

replica, prop replica, like weaponry, things

like that. would be a logical step to scale up.

I can't say I wish I had an in -scale X -Wing.

Where am I going to park an X -Wing? I'd love

to have an AT -AT to get to work too. I feel

like there's some things that are highly impractical.

I'd love to have an Optimus Prime truck that

could transform, but let's be honest, that's

not going to happen. Well, okay, it's not upscaled

to be functional in the real world, but I mean

Robo -San is kind of doing that because it's

an art. I know, but like if they can do that,

can you, Oh God, I can't even. Yikes. Yeah. Yeah.

Transformers in the real world would not be good.

Not at all. How has your wife dealt with your

collection? uh you know she's she's fine with

it um it was something that i i was very upfront

and open about when we started dating that you

know like this is who i am this is what i'm into

and she never had any problem with it she she's

she's very fine with it um i that being said

prior to my wife i've definitely dated women

who were i don't want to say weirded out by it

but they weren't as comfortable with it you know

like One of my friends, another one of my really

good friends, his girlfriend at the time had

a friend that she wanted to fix me up with, and

their bright idea one time was like, let's go

to Walmart and walk around, because that's what

we did when I was in college. It was a 24 -hour

Walmart. So we went to Walmart and like we walked

into the toy section and a brand new wave of

Marvel Legends was there so I was like This girl

who like they're trying to fix me up with I'm

like buying three action figures and she's like,

what are you doing with those? I was like buying

them You know, duh. No, I was like I was like

buying them and she's like to play with and I

was like, no No, I just I just collect them like,

you know, I have a display show if I put them

on and it's a hobby And she was like, oh, don't

you think you're old for that? I was like no

You know, it's just what I'm into. And I needless

to say, that relationship never took off like

nothing ever happened from it. But there have

definitely been good. Yeah. Yeah. And no ill

will towards any of these people. I also feel

like, yeah, in the past, like 12 ish years, it's

gotten a little more accepted because of, you

know, the Marvel movies getting so big and stuff.

So now someone might not question it as much

as long as it was like a character they knew

from a movie. I've dated women who are very great

with it and were totally into it, would go to

toy shows with me to help me find stuff. I've

dated women who just were like, well, this is

kind of weird. Those relationships didn't work.

As I said, my wife is fine with it. My display

area is my basement and she's fine. It's not

like this tiny little damp basement. I finished

it all nice and stuff. Oh, yeah, she's fine with

it and my wife herself collects some stuff like

I'm sitting in my living room recording today

and like we have she has like a 12 inch electronic

Kylo Ren next to the TV that you know, you move

his arm and he'll talk she's got on top of our

bookcases a Like a couple funko pops like Star

Wars funko pops by like my wife like Star Wars,

you know just as much as I do so To say that

she doesn't have any interest would be a lie

too. She doesn't collect quote like I do, but

she has her own stuff too. The reason why this

is on here is mostly for those people that I

have on the show that are actually either with

someone or are married and whatever else, but

it's just one of those things where, again, about

a decade ago or so, we were having this whole...

thing of, oh my God, people need to, like, there

was a whole A &E, like, look, I like certain

things on A &E, A &E in general, I don't have

a problem with the network, but you're going

to put on a show and try to get into the toy

business by doing something called, like, yes,

drug intervention, alcoholic intervention. Yes,

I understand that stuff. But you're going to

put a show on the air called Collection Intervention,

and you're basically going to spring this on

people like they have problems? Yeah. Like, that

show just rubbed me all kinds of wrong, and half

the time the episodes were like, I'm gonna sell

this off, or I'm gonna sell this off, or... And

I'm just like, oh my god, society, like, what

the hell? Yeah, and I mean, and to that extent,

too... You know, leading up to my marriage, my

wife and I were living in an apartment together.

And in the apartment, it was a two -bedroom apartment.

The second bedroom was like a guest room slash

like office space. So, you know, really, I had

a shelf in our main bedroom that I had my Marvel

Legends on. And I had a bookcase in the living

room that I had some Transformers on. And that

was really all I could display at the time. Everything

else was in storage at my parents' house. yeah,

my wife was fine with it and like she would have

friends who would come over and Like they'd kind

of be like, oh, this is his stuff and they'd

be well when you get married it won't be there

anymore and My wife would be like why where's

it gonna go and they're like, oh you're gonna

let him display this after you're married and

like She knew how much it pissed me off and it

took everything I had to not respond to some

of those comments But she would squash that and

like god bless her. She would just be like listen

Like, just because I'm marrying him doesn't mean

he has to stop buying this stuff. Like, this

is his interests. This is what he's into. Like,

you're with a guy who likes beer and then football.

When you get married, did you make him stop drinking

and watch tennis instead? No, then fuck off.

Like, sorry, I don't mean, you know. No, no,

no, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, it's like,

I don't like it. Seriously. Make him stop drinking

and watch tennis. I'd have to drink more if I

was And I don't drink like I don't like I have

drank in my lifetime, but I am NOT a drinker

I don't drink like yeah, you know that that's

the thing I feel like some of these people thought

and you know for the most part I like all my

wife's friends, but I feel like some of them

thought that like by me getting married I was

going to start doing like more man stuff. And

I'm like, so what, become an alcoholic? Like

that's what you would rather have me do. Oh,

and you know, the same, you know, and it isn't

really the same thing with me, but when Karen

was, was still here when she was still alive,

like she knew it, like, again, it was a point

in my life where I'm like, everything is out,

like instead of having like this hidden label

with all this syrup things that I can't you know,

you know, what, you know, all these, all these

things on, on, on like food labels that you can't,

all these words on food labels, you can't know.

I'm like, look, this is who I am upfront. This

is what I do. This is what I have. This is what

like there was, uh, again, about five, six, seven,

maybe 10 years ago, somebody was like, Oh, the

easiest way for your date to leave you on the

first date. Tell them you're a podcaster. I'm

like, wait, what? Huh? Why? Like what's the difference

between telling them I am a podcaster or that

I work in, right? Like, seriously? Like, really?

Like, seriously? These these whole conceptions

of of various things have just, thankfully, sort

of most of them have kind of melted away. But

the fact that they were even there on any level

of anything is just right. Wow. And, you know,

I feel like to to maybe cap off this question

to anyone who's going to judge you on the fly

based on your interests. that are relatively

harmless, like if your interests are like buying

guns and hunting people, like you might have

some problems. Well, you know, if your interests

are just buying collectible things, whether they

be Funko pops or action figures or DVDs, you

know, people who have tons of DVDs and stuff

like it's not offensive. But if they're going

to judge you on that, then they're not they're

not worth it. They're not willing to get to know

you. and why you're into that stuff and why that

makes you excited, then they're just not worth

your time. You know, I've seen people, my own

friends, like pine after people, and I've done

it, too, who just like they didn't get why I

was in the comic book. They didn't get why I

was in animation. They thought it was weird.

And I would spend months chasing these women

around. And then finally, they'd end up dating

someone who was like, you know, your stereotypical,

like jock or whatever it may have been. I was

in college. You know, I'm not trying to. No,

no, no. Right. Yeah. It would just be like, why

was I wasting my time when I ended up finding

people who were, I was, I was just so much better

being with because they, they embraced my interests,

you know? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's the

thing. Like we, we, like Karen and I had plenty

of differing interests, but we also had plenty

of things that like, this is so silly and stupid,

but so she got me into. Playing bingo blitz,

which is a Facebook game, but it's also you can

get it on mobile and whatever else and Since

she's passed I didn't delete the thing. I still

kind of play I still kind of most the time I

just you know collect the daily gifts and then

I wait until I can play like because the thing

with that though and thing with all mobile games

is like Pay to play, pay to win. Like if you,

like, yes, you, you can collect your 84 credits

for this one day, but you may only have enough

credits to play one round, which is going to

be less than a minute and a half of your time.

Whereas like if I save up for three months, it's

like, Oh, I have over 2000 credits. I can play

for like four hours or whatever it is. So, you

know, she got me into that. I didn't necessarily

get her into Funko Pops, but she found plenty

of her own carrot. Uh, was it drunk uncle from

SNL? There was a pop of that. Uh, again, she

was into the Harry Potter stuff. So I would get

her like Hermione and other characters and things

like that, you know, and she had her own little

office space in the house that we had had and

whatever else. And she, you know, displayed her

like my collection was all in my office. Right.

My collection was all in my office upstairs.

Where is you know the only other pops in the

house really were the ones that were in her office

which is downstairs which is what was the what

the den was or whatever else so like you know

and. I mean i've seen plenty of house hunter

episodes where people have left pops out and

they don't really and thankfully on house hunters

they don't really address it but. For those of

us looking and we cease like, Hey, isn't that

a Funko pop on the refrigerator? What's going

on here? But it's cool. You know what I mean?

Like it's, I don't know. It's just, yeah, all

of these preconceived notions on any issue you

can face. I'm going to say this for, I'm going

to blanket statement this. Any preconceived notion

you have on anything, just drop it. It's not

worth it. Get to know the person or get to know.

whatever it is you need to yeah so moving on

toy collecting can have its struggles what is

one aspect that you tend to struggle with the

most huh what is one aspect i tend to struggle

with the most that you know i i think my current

thing is being able to tell myself it's okay

to not get a figure um You know, as humans, we

were social creatures. We want to talk to people.

So when they announce a new figure for whatever

company, if it's something you're into, even

if it's a character you might not love, there

have been plenty of times where I'm like, I need

this figure because everyone's talking about

it on YouTube. Everyone's talking about it on

Twitter. I want to be part of the conversation.

So like it's that fear of missing out. So being

able to tell myself it's OK to miss something

that that's my biggest struggle, you know, and.

You know that that happened as I said, I try

to stick to g1 transformers when the kingdom

line was coming out You know, they were they

put out like a leader class Megatron and I saw

it in target and I was like I'm buying this right

now because everyone's saying it's great and

I got it in hand and I messed around with it

needs a great figure but And I like Beast Wars,

but like that's not what brings me excitement.

So everybody was like, isn't he great? Isn't

he great? I was like, yeah, he's okay. Anyone

want to buy mine like that? That's kind of what

it And I currently have them on a shelf. I'm

like, because I have, I got the optimist primal

too. So I'm like, all right, I'll keep the two

leaders from beast wars. They can live on my

shelf. But, uh, it's, it's just like, yeah, like

that, that I don't always have to be part of

the conversation. I can enjoy something by watching

someone else get enjoyment out of it. Like adjusting

my mindset to that has been my biggest struggle.

Yeah, absolutely. And that was NC for me, it

was sort of easy. Cause again, I don't remember

if we've said this in this episode or not, but

back in 2011, I had to give up, I had to sell

off my actual toy collection I had because of

finances at the time and whatever else. So from

2011, up until I started this, up until I brought

the, or up until Funco came around, 2011 to 2017,

until it came around to me, 2011, 2016, I didn't,

for those five years, like you're saying, I can

look at a news story and say, oh, that's cool.

But I don't need it. It's okay. Like I'm, I'm

perfectly like, I'm not going to die tomorrow

if I don't have it. Now granted, I say that now.

And if Funko ever releases Alf in pop form, look

out, I'm basically going to devastate everybody.

I'm basically going to turn into Devastator because

like, seriously, if someone told me that if someone

asked me the whole thing of stopping, I could.

Yes, there's still probably plenty of Funko Pops

I would want, but I could stop my Funko Pop collecting

tomorrow if they announce that they are releasing

80s icon Alf from the show Alf. I'd be good.

What is one positive and one negative memory

you have with buying toys? A positive memory.

I mean, just any time that I get excited to find

something in a store that I wasn't expecting

is always a positive memory. But I do remember,

I want to say it was December 30th, so it was

the day before New Year's Eve. And Toys R Us

was still in business. I don't remember what

year it was, but they had announced a cyclonus

figure for Transformers. I was super excited.

I couldn't wait to find him. And I was hanging

out with my friend. We went to a Toys R Us on

a whim. And we walked to where the Transformers

are and there was a cyclonus on the shelf all

by himself. And I was like, this just made, you

know, the end of the like, this is the perfect

end cap for a year that that made me really happy

finding that one. My worst memory, and I'm kind

of an asshole for this story. Oh, no. My worst

memory was again in a Toys R Us. I had to be

in my 20s. Was in a in the in the toys or us,

you know, like Transformers or you know, just

action figure aisle And there was a little kid

screaming about how we wanted to buy a new toy

You know as little kids do and the mother was

trying to coax him out, you know No, we had to

get the present for someone so his birthday.

It's not your turn to get a birdie to get a present

You know, and that's fine parenting in my book

But then this kid was like, you know The mother

said something like you can't buy an action figure

every time you come into the store So the kid

being a kid and I'm sure he meant it as innocent

as could be went, well, that man's buying an

action figure. And the woman looked at me and

then like, look back at the kid and she's like,

well, there might be something wrong with him.

Like it was a weird comment to make, but I, it

was within earshot cause she was only 10 feet

away from me. So I got super pissed and I turned

to the woman and I bold faced lied and I said,

Ma 'am, hi. I don't mean to be rude. I'm like,

but this is actually for a very sick cousin of

mine who's in the hospital and might not make

it. I said, so if I could make his life just

a little bit better by giving him a toy before

he passes away, that's why I'm in Toys R Us today.

And the woman turned white and she was like,

oh my God, let me pay for that for you. And I

was like, no, no, that's OK. You've done enough.

And she was like, no, no, I insist. And like

it was fully for me. So I wasn't going to like

That's like super bad karma being like, yes,

buy this toy for me. So well, so I was like,

no, no, no, no. You're OK. I appreciate the offer,

but no, thank you. That's not necessary. And

I left and like I felt so terrible a that somebody

would be like, you're a weirdo for buying toys.

Like maybe I have a kid at home who I'm buying

a toy for. You don't know what my story is. But

then I kind of felt worse about making like a

lie like that. And I'm like, I really hope that

like I'm never in a position where I'm buying

a toy for someone. who might not be making it

through. Like it was kind of a terrible thing

to say and I don't take joy out of that story.

Like I told some of my friends we laughed about

it but like I really don't I don't feel comfortable

like doing I would never do that to someone anymore

because it was one of those things that as soon

as I said I was like oh that's regret. Yeah,

but at the time it's like, you've got to come

up with a reason. Oh yeah, I had to come up with

a reason to be like, how can I make you feel

worse? Well, okay. I'm like, but you. Like I

wish instead of her, like, and again, this is,

you know, hindsight is, is, is what it is, but

if the kid said, but that man's buying a toy.

What the mother should have said was, instead

of saying, even if you were still in earshot,

instead of saying, oh, well, he must be a weirdo

or something, she should have said to her son

that that man is a man. He is of age. He probably,

like, that should have been a teaching moment

for her son. That person can spend their money

how they want, you know, something like that.

Exactly, something like that instead of, yeah.

And instead of making you have to tell a story

that you now feel horrible about, you felt horrible

about it then, but you still feel horrible about

it after all these years. I'm chuckling about

it, but yeah, like it's not something that I'm

sitting here like we're not trying to laugh at

this story folks. We know it was a, we understand

mistakes were made and there's nothing we can

do about it now, but. Yeah, so that was probably

the worst part. I also got accused of being a

scalper once, which was very awkward. Oh no.

Yeah, when the Toys R Us version of the Transformers

masterpiece, Soundwave came out, I was buying

one for myself and a friend that I had, he was

like, I called him up, I was like, yo, you said

you were looking for one, there's like five on

the shelf, would you like one? And he was like,

yeah, if you can spot me, I'll pay you back tomorrow

is great. So I grabbed two, and this guy was

just like, why are you buying two, scalper? I

turned around and I went, one for myself, one

for my friend. He's like, oh, just got to buy

up the whole store. And I was like, no, no, there's

three more. There's still three on the shelf.

And he's like, oh, you're a scalper. They shouldn't

sell to you. And I just walked away. I was like,

you're insane. I'm walking away. I get to the

register, and he frigging followed me. And he's

like, tell him the cashier, like, don't let him

buy two. He's a scalper. He's a scalper. And

finally, like the manager came out and he was

like, you need to stop abusing our customers.

Like otherwise, I'm going to ask you to leave.

And then the manager, like politely was like,

what's going on here? And I said, like, listen,

like, here's the call log. I just called my friend

and asked him if he wanted this toy, because

I know he's looking for it. While I'm here at

the store. I said, if there's a purchase limit.

then file by my one, I'll tell him, you know,

you got to get to this Toys R Us. But I figured

I'd do him the favor. And the manager was like,

All right, no, I just wanted to make sure because,

you know, like, this guy was very worked up.

I'm like, he's screaming at strangers. Do you

want to believe him? Like, yeah, there's a Okay,

so a scalper. For those that don't know, and

after 157 previous episodes, why we have to redefine

this in 2022 is beyond me. But a scalper is someone

who will go into the store at any length of time

and buy up all of a certain toy and then try

to upcharge on the internet like like like if

you yeah if you were going to like if you dan

at that time we're going to be like i'm going

to get one for me and my friend and then i'm

going to make a bunch of money off the other

three like if you were going to buy all five

of them okay sure unless you have a call log

between you and your friend and your three other

nieces, nephews, family members, friends, whatever,

like, you know, yeah. But a scalper is someone

who will buy up everything. They won't just buy

two. Right. You're not making scalp money off

of two. Oh, God. If you saw if Hasbro, Marvel

Legends, whatever, if you could create. any toy

that the company gave you the keys to the kingdom,

what would you want to create? Right now, and

this is a very easy answer for me, right now

it would be a comparable Dephtsaurus from Transformers

Victory to go with the upcoming HasLab Star Saber.

Very good, very good. That's an easy one. What

is the one piece of advice you would give the

toy collecting fandom? Don't start, it will consume

your life. The best advice I can give and this

is kind of how I try to go through life in general

is You know be open -minded. It's perfectly fine

to not like something. But if someone's buying

something don't shame them for buying it and

Stick within your means, you know, I I I don't

know too many people who have like gone into

debt buying toys I don't know anyone but you

know, like if you know, you only have 60 bucks

a month for toys Don't say, oh, I can spend 80

this month and then I'll just spend 40 next month

because you and I both know that that's not going

to happen. So that's not within your means. And

sometimes pre -orders come a lot earlier than

expected. It just happened with me with Hasbro

Pulse. And like I was like, OK, rest of the month,

I got to pump the brakes. That's what that comes

down to. So. Yeah, absolutely. Final question,

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

Enjoy them, enjoy them. Do not let anyone tell

you you shouldn't enjoy them. You know i remember

when i turned like twelve my parents would say

like oh well you're not gonna like this stuff

when you're thirteen and then i turn thirteen

they say you're not gonna like this stuff when

you turn fourteen and every year it was you're

not gonna you're not gonna end and i did so you

know if it's really something you like be true

to yourself you know don't don't change because.

Someone at school is telling you that now you

should like girls in cars you know like if you

like collecting things be proud of it where it

on your sleeve you know. Maybe don't make it

every single conversation you have. What do you

be proud of it you know you are who you are and

you will be accepted and especially for the young

kids out there like i don't wanna get like a

mental health psa but you will find your people.

who are into this like you are and you know it

might seem like it's taking forever but i promise

you it will happen you know some of my best friends

i didn't meet until i was in college and the

reason why they're my best friends because they're

into collecting they're into comics they're into

the movies i'm into and you know finding them

is one of the best things ever happened to me

all right folks we are going to take one final

ad break and then we are going to come back to

close the show after this Hello all sentient

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platform. Every week on my show, I talk about

all kinds of pop culture. I talk about music.

I talk about movies, TV, comics, collectibles,

and so much more. I also feature a guest on my

show periodically, which you might enjoy. I have

a couple of special segments on my show, one

called the cover song of the week and my favorite

thing in the world this week. If you think this

sounds cool, check it out sometime. I hope you

do. On the Simplistic Reviews podcast, we talk

movies. We talk TV. We talk. Hello, Julie, what

the heck are you doing? Trying to make our spot

sound more exciting by adding explosions. Yeah,

I'm pretty sure you could've got the point across

with sound effects, not the real thing. Download

the show on iTunes or at simplisticreviews .blogspot

.com. I'm sure your insurance company will cover

that. No, they won't. No, they probably won't.

All right, folks, that's going to do it for this

episode of Toycast. So as always, I want to thank

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

like to get in contact with us or leave feedback

for the show, there are several ways to do so.

Visit the website geekcastradio .com where you

can listen to and comment on all of our content.

Send any email to feedback at geekcastradio .com.

You can find us on all the podcatchers, iTunes,

Spotify, Apple, whatever. You know, whatever

you listen to, whatever you use. Follow us on

Twitter at GeekCastRadio for the network, at

TF ToyCast for the show. I am at TF2 and Mike,

as Dan mentioned, he is at Rock Nerd Radio on

Twitter. Become a fan on Facebook, go to Facebook

.com slash GeekCastRadio. You can also check

out ToyCast or it might be under TF ToyCast over

there. I know the overall page is ToyCast, but

the, the at. thing might be at TF Toycast. Coming

up next time, I'm not sure. I never know, folks.

It's probably going to be a display case, but

I could be wrong. For now, I am TFU and Mike

with Dan from the Rock Nerd Radio Show. Join

us next time and we'll be talking more toys here

on Toycast. Alright folks, we're gonna take another

ad break. You're gonna come with a little bit

of that. Damn it.