Charles Shelton on Toy Collecting Origins and Transformers Nostalgia

I think I might go with Jeremy and try to pick

this up at TFCon this summer. I didn't have the

Transformers Omega Supreme as a kid, but I did

have one of the... I don't know if knockoff's

the right word or it was an alternate company

that was like the Galactic Man that Shockwave

was. It was another company that produced the

same figure. And I had one of those. And I don't

know what happened to it. I was as a kid, I was

not super, super, you know, careful with my toys.

So I didn't think about future collector opportunity.

Played with the toys. Yeah, just like a sucker.

I just played with my toys. Terrible. I know.

Jazz here. And I am so digging the geek cast

radio network. Greetings, humans. This is Starscream,

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

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

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 and today's featured guest has been

on all things Transformers Origins and we hope

to have him back on in the future but he is one...

One fourth, one fifth, one sixth of the transmissions

podcast team is Charles, AKA Big C. Hello, sir.

Hello. Thanks for having me on. It's great to

be back. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we are here

to be talking all about toys and how you got

started in toy collecting and everything like

that. So jumping into it. What is or was the

first toy you remember having as a kid? Oh wow

Oh, that's really hard. I mean I I Mean I I remember

Legos Legos was was a big thing for me even before

Transformers like I remember playing with Legos

Really little but I could I couldn't tell you

the set I you know, like I had lots of Legos

as a kid, but Was there a particular adult who

was supportive of you playing with toys as a

kid? Was there anyone who was unsupportive? Nah,

I wouldn't say either way. I would say my parents

were supportive in the sense that if I asked

for stuff and it was within the realm of possibility,

they would get it for me and they didn't discourage

me from playing with toys or anything, but they

also didn't go out of their way to feed my Transformers

obsession or any other obsession. Um, I think

one, I guess one time when I was, uh, so when

I was about eight years old, uh, I spent some

time in the hospital because I had, uh, I had

strep throat encephalitis and chicken pox all

at the same time. And, uh, I think my parents

were afraid that I wasn't going to make it out

of the hospital. So like, I think I, I asked

for like the big Lego castle system when I came

home. from the hospital, and they got that for

me. And then I was recovering, putting that together.

That was a very vivid memory for me. Because

I was like, after encephalitis, your motor skills

are hard to recover from. And I remember part

of my, I guess, physical therapy was putting

that castle together. And then I got better and

then was pretty happy after that. That's that's

good. Yeah. Yeah, that that's that I remember

being in the hospital Christmas of 88. I was

eight years old and I ended up having a seizure

at the time. So yeah, I was in Yeah, so I was

watching nothing but Transformers the movie on

VHS in the hospital as well as when the Jetsons

met the Flintstones. So those were my two VHS

selections that I always wanted to watch at the

time. So what types of toys were your favorites

to play with? Well, I mean, I think, of course,

Transformers is was one was definitely up there.

I mean, and that's kind of I think. If I can

say like what I what I still play with today

is transformers and Legos kind of exclusively

and those were definitely the top two when I

was a kid and also there were there were a lot

of like in the 80s there were a lot of other

building block toys that were not Legos that

had different like I remember constructs was

a big thing that and it was like more like it

was like beams and and joints that you put together

and you could build different things. I liked

a lot of the building toys and and playing with

all those different things and I mean of course

there was I think there was Tinker toys that's

the older thing that that I kind of inherited

uh you know for you that was before you know

the generation before me but a lot of building

toys I enjoyed. Yeah, other than Lego like you

said constructs there was also I remember building

stuff with the Tonka trucks I don't know if I

was you I assume I'm just using them as transportation

But like I remember having a giant metal Tonka

crane vehicle Lincoln logs, I always prefer you

know, yeah Lincoln logs over Legos sometimes

They were just a little bit cooler at the time

because, you know, back in the eighties, folks,

we didn't have all these Star Wars, this and

Death Star, that and, and build the, build the,

the, the, the fleet that flew out Yavin and,

and. No, you, you had, you had space city and

castle. That was it. Nothing Lego did not license

anything back at the back then mmm. No they did

not Now they're licensing magnet Pretty much.

What were your favorite childhood toys that really

stood out more than the others? So what are your

like? Favorites kind of like you would go to

this more than anything else that you had Yeah,

I mean it's it's got to be transformers. I think

I remember just loving The you know, I mean the

of course the mechanic of being able to turn

your toys into the one toy turns into another

toy. That's great. I had like I think right the

year after the movie came out that Christmas.

I got a bunch of of the movie Transformers. I

got one that I had ultra Magnus. I had cyclonus

and scourge hot rod cup and blur. and Metroplex

and you know, just having that using Metroplex

is kind of the little base and having all these

battles with the Autobots and Decepticons. I

love that. Also Voltron, I had a Voltron set,

the lions. That was a really cool toy. That die

cast metal Voltron. I wish I still had that today.

I wonder what that goes for right now. Yeah,

I mean. Well, in the condition I left it in,

it's probably probably wasn't worth too much.

OK, well, you weren't exactly paying attention

to secondary market value as a child. So, you

know, you know, we kind of already said that

before. But like, no, seriously, I wonder what

that would go for today. Yeah, I'm really curious

that out in 84 or was that out? Yeah, it would

have to be Yeah, probably around that I definitely

remember by my Voltron was hanging out with my

transformers at the same time so like you know,

I had all my Transforming toys hanging out together

But yeah, but those Transformers and Legos, those

were the two big ones for me. I did have some

assorted action figures, a little bit of He -Man,

a little bit of G .I. Joe, a little bit of Star

Wars, but never really got big on any of those

action figure lines. It was really just the Transformers

and Legos were the ones I asked for the most.

Absolutely. Awesome. Awesome. So do you prefer

the label of action figures, dolls, toys, or

other labels? I don't care. I mean, it's fine.

You can call them whatever. They're all three.

I mean, yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're dolls. It's

fine. It's okay. They're dolls. It's okay. You

can call them dolls. It's not a big deal. If

you really get bent out of shape and you have

to call them action figures, that's fine too.

It's their dolls. It's okay. We know they're

dolls. Yeah. The reason why I have that question

is because I remember my grandparents and older

people like them. So like their siblings who

were the same age as they were at the time. Just

older adults, not my parents, but older adults.

They would be like, Oh, you're going to go home

to play with your dolls. They're not dolls, grandma.

Like, you know, the stigma of, of what, whatever

it is. Good guys or bad guys, which toys were

your favorites to play with the most? Uh, good

guys. Yeah, I was, I was the, I liked being the

hero. And saving the day didn't didn't didn't

fantasize about being the villain and taking

over the world or anything like that. Well, I

mean, at this point, we're all villains, aren't

we? Because we've lived long enough. Oh, boy.

Yeah, well, I didn't I didn't die the hero. So

I guess, yeah, I'm living long enough to be the

villain. Sorry, somebody reposted on Instagram

the video of Rob Paulson and Kevin Conroy basically

doing Commissioner Gordon and obviously Batman,

may Batman rest in peace, but doing the Dark

Knight lines, that scene. it hurts more now than

when it was really awesome when they did it the

first time but watching that now after kevin

has passed it's like yeah holy fuck just hearing

him like look bale is fine whatever but just

hearing ket like he's the goddamn batman and

hearing him say that line is like oh wow you

either die a hero or you live long enough to

see yourself become the villain. So what, getting

back on track here, what is or was your favorite

toy vehicle? And play set. Well, I guess play

set I would I would have to say that Metroplex

the G one Metroplex was my you know, Autobot

City, all the Autobots hung out there and and,

you know, I guess, technically, he's a I guess

technically, he's an action figure. I don't know

if he if he qualifies as a play set, but he was

my you know, he's my base of operations there.

If it turns into a base, it's a play set. I mean,

you know, If it says base on the packaging like

three modes, you know, which that always Okay,

I know technically they're not triple changers,

but Metroplex has well Technically only I guess

city mode battle. I don't know if you can count

battle station mode as a third mode for being

a triple It's a little weird But it always like

kind of bummed me out that Tripticon did not

have a robot mode. He just has his dinosaur mode.

Hmm. Yeah. I mean, but you know, a lot, a lot

of the cons, well, all the, you know, all the,

a lot of the cassette cons had didn't have, uh,

you know, traditional robot modes. They were

just animals and then cassettes. So, well, yes,

but they, that's two things though. Tripticon

is only one thing. Yeah. Oh, well, no, technically

he is too. He does have the, the, the, the, he

does turn into a city. I'm losing my mind folks.

But the, what would the other question was vehicle,

right? So toy toy vehicle. Yes. Um, I, well,

I won't say a transformer, but I'll say, I guess

I'll say, um, the, I had the Lego, uh, monorail.

Set that had the it had the little battery powered

monorail. That was that was a really fun to play

with and you know it ran around the track and

everything I was really cool. Very cool very

cool did you and your friends ever pretend with

your toys that you had by this I mean did you

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

toy like Daryl can be the piece of glass and

you can be the Coke bottle top kind of thing.

Uh, yeah, I had a, um, so I had a next door neighbor,

uh, who we like when we were real little, like

I would say between, between the ages of, of

eight and 10, we'd bring all our transformers

out in the yard and, and have battles and stuff.

And yeah, we'd be, we'd each pick individual

toys or, or the toys that we had, the toys we

had, we'd fight them against each other for a

little bit. So yeah, it, I wouldn't say, I'd

say I probably grew out of that. pretty quickly,

like I don't remember doing that too often after

like past age 10, but, uh, but yeah, for a little

while. Yeah. It's mostly like elementary school

resets kind of stuff. Like, you know, when you

were actually taking your toys to school, cause

they used to let us do that folks. Now they just

now kids today now I'm going to bring my iPad

kids today. Don't know what it's like to grow,

grow up without technology. I used to be able

to hear the hum of the Apple to ease in my in

my class like No What features define a good

toy to you? How true does the item feel in comparison

to the source material likeness? so I mean I

would say the for the most important thing for

a toy is that it's it's just fun to play with

does it have you know, I Mean, I would I guess

a gimmick is something that it you know that

makes it just fun to interact with. Is it durable?

It's not going to just break on you if you, you

know, if you play with it too much. Um, I don't

think, I mean, I think, uh, like faithfulness

to whatever media you're watching it, that's,

I mean, for a kid, as I think as a kid, your

imagination kind of takes over. So it doesn't

really have to be super faithful to the media

or whatever representation. Uh, I mean, and you

know, For the original Transformers it was you

know the trance the toys came first and the the

cartoon models were you know were kind of simplifications

of the toy designs I mean we didn't know that

at the time But you know I think I think it was

it was it was never something that we were like

all I mean I think maybe maybe ratchet and ironhide

are the exception where there was the ratchet

and ironhide toys really don't look anything

like the cartoon characters, but They're headless.

Give them pumpkins, people. Give them pumpkins.

They're headless. Yeah. But everyone else is,

it's, you know, it's good enough. It's close

enough. I mean, there, there are some, there

are some that stand out. Like, you know, the

Galveston toy is all gray when he's purple in

the cartoon. That's a, that's kind of weird.

Luckily he hobby did a, did a, did a reissue

of that. So yeah. Yeah, thank God. Yes, I understand

the toys. We all know the toys came first, but

thank God that wasn't the case with the 85 line

because if Astrotrain didn't turn out the way

he turned out, he probably wouldn't be one of

my favorite G1 toys ever. I don't count the black

and white train repaint. That's not Astrotrain.

That's an imposter. It's purple, black and whatever

other color, whatever the, again, by that time

they were focusing a little bit on animation

model a little bit, not much, but a little bit.

I think that the 86 movie was really where things

turned. Cause they, cause I think the movie designs

came first and then they, you know, they designed

all the new toys around there. Yep. Most likely.

So you go into the store, whatever store it is,

whether it's a real toy store or whether it's

a Walmart or whatever, what does toy packaging

have to have to draw you in? Uh, I mean, I, I

really, one thing I really liked, uh, and I think,

I mean, this is not something that, that was

widespread in all the toys, but GI Joe and Transformers

in particular did this is that they had the little,

you know, the little, uh, Description of the

character on the back of the box like GI Joe

was like a you know, like a dossier file for

military file and then transformers he had the

tech specs and That's what the one thing like

giving giving you a little snippet of the whatever

This toy is supposed to be in the character.

It is I really I look for that But beyond beyond

I mean that's that I think the probably the first

thing is you know, is it Is there something that

hooks you into what it can do? What's special

about it? How can you play with it? Does it immediately

show you what's fun you can do with it and play

with it on the box? I think the example of Transformers,

the original Transformers that came... Packaged

in vehicle mode and then you see a picture of

the robot mode on the box So you immediately

know this turns into this so I get you know The

first thing is oh how I need to figure out how

to get it to turn into The cool robot mode from

the kind of you know, the the kind of plane vehicle

mode so I think that's a that's a nice little

hook but yeah, if you if you've got the whatever

whatever the play pattern is and whatever it's

going to do to keep you interested. I think that

needs to be front and center. Absolutely. The

sad thing is toy packaging nowadays is kind of

a double edged sword because we're either jaded

or excited the fact that they come packaged in

robot mode. We don't have to do any work anymore.

We don't have to. Transform these things anymore.

They're already in, you already did it for us.

You package it in robot. Okay. That's what we

want. We want them in robot mode. That's what

they're going to be done. Toy companies. We'll

get to that later. Do you open your toys or do

you leave them packaged? If you keep toys packaged,

do you have any, any specific criteria for that?

Uh, so I kind of it's, I, I In theory, I would

like to open my toys, but now I don't have a

lot of time and I think a lot of times my eyes

are bigger than my stomach and that sometimes

I'll get some toys, but I'll say, oh, I'm definitely

going to open this up and look at it and play

with it. But then it gets put on the back burner

and then it just winds up staying in package.

So I have a lot of toys still in package, but

That's just by accident, not by design. That's

it, folks. Trips to the stores is canceled. Bye.

Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's just...

I mean, I guess the other part of that answer

probably could be like, oh, that's why I buy

two. One to open, one to... You know, wanted

to leave in because I know a lot of us used to,

and some of us probably still do that. Yeah.

I can't justify that anymore. Not enough space

for that or money. That's true too. Yeah. Just

do what I did. Switch to Funko. Take them in

and leave them out. Doesn't matter. You don't,

you don't need to. Worry about whatever. If as

a kid or an adult, you only were allowed. I already

know the answer to this, but you are only allowed

to choose one toy franchise to collect from.

Which one would you choose and why? Yeah, that's

a hands down. I mean, that's that's not a that's

not even a question. And Lego. Yeah, I mean I

transformers as it's just been something that's

stuck with me since the 80s I mean I I went 80

in 1984 I was eight years old that it grabbed

me a hook me I fell in love with the media the

cartoon and the comic books as in addition to

the toys I You know even throughout, you know

Becoming a teenager to a young adult. I still

was you know hanging like I wasn't buying all

the toys But I was still paying attention to

what was going on with the franchise. I stuck

with Beast Wars. I went through Every iteration

of Transformers, you know, if not watching everything

at least paying attention to seeing what was

going on and Yeah, it's just it's something that's

that's my that's my home franchise and yeah never

give it up Never give up, never surrender. As

an adult, do you prefer vintage toys or modern

toys? I prefer the modern toys just because I

like to see the, um, the re -imagining of different

characters and figures and seeing all the articulation.

I mean, I guess, you know, it's also there's

a bit of an inflection point because like Can

say maybe I could say modern toys like ten years

ago like now things are on a you know The the

hollowness and the the kind of thinness of the

plastic is getting a little bit, you know further

further out, but there are still some bright

spots and and newer toys, but I still prefer

like You know starting with that the you know

the modern you know early 2000s to now classics

lines of Transformers that are that are reimagining

all the characters but having really nice articulation

and engineering that were the character the toys

rep you know represent the the uh the characters

a lot better but still have great transformations

and and and um you know playability absolutely

Okay, so I've learned that I apparently need

to rework question 14 because Everyone I've had

on this show. We all have a we all have dirty

minds. Oh boy, so What is one Transformers toy

you can always play with now if you take out

the Transformers part of that use your imagination

and Yeah, so what is one Transformers toy you

can always play with? I would probably say that

the G1 hot rod I Hot Rod was when I got it for

my birthday, 10 years old, and that was about

six months before the movie came out. I didn't

know what this character was or where it'd fit

in until I saw the movie a few months later.

But that was a nice toy. It looked really cool

and slick, a little bit futuristic car. The transformation

was nice. kind of head and face sculpt are really

evocative like you know the those those 86 movie

toys all had really you know well -designed faces

you know you'll contrast that to the early g1

like 84 85 characters where since they were all

from diaclone toys they you know their person

that their fate their faces and personalities

were not really well represented but the the

86 movie toys were really trying to to let you

know these are these are real characters so hot

rod had that face with the blue eyes you know

it was always something i noticed in the cartoons

like the autobots will have blue eyes the septicons

have red eyes but then all the toys had yellow

eyes i was like why what's going on here and

then that hot rod had those blue eyes i was like

oh this is a real autobody yeah it's so weird

Autobots had blue eyes, Decepticons had red eyes,

the Autobots fire orange lasers and the Decepticons

fire purple lasers. It's a rainbow of colors,

everybody. Oh boy. 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 character, et cetera.

I wouldn't say there's anything I'd purposefully

avoid. I mean, there, there's plenty of things

that are just not for me in turn, like, I mean,

you know, I, you've, you talk about Funko pops

a lot. I guess I would say I, I tend to avoid

those just because I, you know, I, I, in general,

I kind of avoid like the kind of statue display

toys that are, that are not really toys. They're

just there to display. So I guess I, if I, if

I'm getting a toy, I want something that I can

Manipulate and do something with rather than

it's not it has to be more than just something.

I'm gonna put on a shelf and look at Well, I

can't wait to hear more of when I ask you a question

22 because that's gonna be interesting. Oh boy

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

them go? Hmm. I do. Um, I guess once I bought

a, um, so there was a, uh, a bot con or I guess

it was, it was fun pub exclusive set where they

were, um, they were repaints of a, like a legend

size shockwave, but they were re they were repurposed

as reflector. And, uh, and You know, I bought

three of them to put them together and make a

reflector, because I thought there'd never be

a modern reflector. Of course, now we've got

tons of reflectors you can find in the War for

Cybertron line, which I did pick up that War

for Cybertron reflector. Before that, I thought

this was going to be my one shot to have a reflector

since I didn't get the G1 reflector back in the

day. Those were, I mean, I guess they're, they're

okay shock waves, but they're not good reflectors.

So I do definitely regret buying those. Cause

I, I, they did not look good. And I think I,

if I still have them, I don't have no use for

them. I should probably get rid of them. Check

the value. See what the financial market says.

You bought them low, maybe it's time to sell

them high. Maybe. Who knows? You never know.

I do regret not keeping my... older toys back

in the 80s keep like keeping them in better condition

there are there were a lot of g1 toys i had that

i just don't have anymore i don't think i actively

got rid of them or sold them but i just you know

they got put up in the attic somewhere or they

got broken or they were given away to family

or you know hand me downs to my brother or whatever

um and they're just gone now and i you know i

can't get them back and and so you know I do

regret not keeping better track of my old G1

toys. Well, you can get them back, but again,

money comes into play with that one. I'm not

willing to spend the money to get them back.

No, no, no, no, no. Oh boy. 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? They are at

my toy collection is pretty modest I wouldn't

say I have a huge like it if I think if you've

seen the like Daryl's Daryl's room that's that's

massive I have nowhere I can not compete with

that at all either relegated to one room and

like I we I have a I have a man cave in the basement

of my house but it's mostly taken up by the you

know by the entertainment center and the TV and

the like The new video game stuff and everything

but I do have a couple of I have a detox of Transformers

stuff and then a you know some boxes of toys

I have I still have to open so So it's it's pretty

modest There's a box of power core combiners

in the in the corner folks he hasn't opened them

yet Hey, maybe even get some money for those

who knows? Oh boy How do you keep track of your

collection if you do? I don't really keep track

of them. I just I buy what I like and and like

I play with them and put them on the shelf. And

yeah, I don't have them cataloged or inventoried

or anything like that. So I guess I'm a bad toy

collector in that sense. Oh, boy, just. Go to

the beginning of the podcast, folks. You'll hear

how terrible it is to play with toys. You know,

just, just as it's just the way it is. Like,

Oh my God, you must keep these in a, in a, in

a, in a seal, you know, iron man case or something

or other. So you mentioned earlier that you have

one or maybe a couple of dead tops, but other

than that, how do you display your toys? Uh,

yeah, I just, I have them like in, in this room,

just sitting like sitting on different shelves

in the detox on top of the detox. Uh, I have

my, like, I, I did buy the, um, you know, the,

the giant has lab Unicron. So that's, that's

standing there in robot mode on top of, uh, one

of my filing cabinets. Um, I have a couple on

my, like on my desk at, uh, and my. at my desk

at work. So, uh, you know, just hanging out there,

uh, don't even though I don't go into the office

that much these days, but, uh, there's still,

uh, yeah, it's Unicron. Oh boy. I saw, I guess

somebody just got it or something. They were

posting on Twitter and I don't want to call the

person out or anything, but They were posting

on Twitter, you have to transform it on the stand.

And I'm like, really? That's so weird. And I'm

like, I'm so glad I didn't waste $600. I just

wasted $40 for the Funko pop version, because

thankfully with Funko pops for now, they are

all based on toy design. So versus animation

model. So everybody is safe, the wife, the kids,

the whatever, the pets, everybody's safe, but

the house is on fire. If you can only keep one

toy from your entire collection, what would it

be and why? Oh, that's hard. Boy. Man, I... I

guess I'd, uh, you know what? One, one toy that

I, that I this, I mean, I got it. It's, it's,

I got it about 10 years ago, but it was a toy

that was really well done. I mean, I know this

is a weird choice, but that, um, the, the thrilling

30, uh, cosmos. It came out about 10 years ago.

That's that was a really fun toy to just transform

that over and over again play with it It was

just a really fun toy to play with and I Know

it's a weird. It's a weird choice, but I think

I would I would take that I know yeah, I know

people are screaming at me I'm letting my $600

unicorn burn, but I think that that's the that's

the toy I would I would probably have the most

fun with I mean, at least Cosmos is, you know,

small enough that you could essentially put it

in your pocket or whatever. Whereas Unicron,

you'd have to like, you know, go running out

of the house carrying this giant ball of flame.

And at least with thrilling 30 cosmos, at least

you're able to find it, even though it is on

secondary market. Now, at least it's not whatever

the, whatever that debacle was with the new one.

Like, Oh my God, I can't find this toy. It's

supposed to. I know. I saw that at, uh, it was

at TF con Chicago. People were selling it for

like 80 and $90 and it's like, no thanks. Yeah,

no, no, thanks. Nah, nope. All right, folks,

we're gonna go to a quick ad break. We're gonna

come back to continue the show after this. Hello,

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G1 all the way up to Cyberverse and beyond. And

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first and only Transformers Live Play Role -Playing

Game Podcast. If you love Transformers, there's

something for everyone at transmissionspodcast

.com. We are back here on Toycast with Big C

from the Transmissions podcast. On the flip side

to question 20, number 21 is, here's the toy

box challenge you get. And I assume this is inches.

I don't know. I don't mind using Neanderthal.

measurements on like certain Canadians, but here's

the toy box challenge. You get one 18 by 18 by

18 bucks. The only toys you can keep have to

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

wow. Okay. Well, I, you know, let's see. Um,

yeah, I'm trying to imagine those dimensions.

I can probably pack a few pretty, pretty, a few

transformers in there. I can, I can put that

cosmos out. Put that that origin bumblebee. That's

another toy. I thought was really cool Just recently

came out those those back to the future and Ghostbusters

Transformers that Gigawatt and Ectotron Yep fitting

there I'd probably put that Combiner Wars superior.

That was a figure. I really liked and still sitting

in my shelf there That The studio series hot

rod that's a do that it's a new one that just

came out last or a couple years ago, I guess

It was a really nice hot rod a Best one we've

ever gotten outside the original. Yeah, I would

say that That Lego I just got that Lego Optimus

Prime I put that in there that was a ride that

was combined those the best of both worlds combined

by level Lego and Transformers there. Transformers.

Yeah, I probably put an MPO one MP MP 10 a masterpiece

10 Optimus Prime there. Probably just the I guess

the cab the trailer might not might not fit or

maybe it'll fit if it can I'll try to get there.

Hopefully it'll fit in there. My My combiner

was Devastator and probably have to take it put

it in the individual construct the cons to get

it. Oh yeah. Any of the combiners you're going

to have to uncombine them. Yeah. That's just,

yeah. I, um, a classic star scream. Got to get,

uh, I think that was a really, that was kind

of the best star screwing you had for awhile.

Uh, and. I guess the recent Starscreams are good

too, the ones that are based on, pretty much

based on that design, but updated. Yeah. I'm

a sadist. If I had them, I would probably just

take the other two Seekers and ghost Starscream.

Hopefully the clear plastic holds up and everything.

Yeah, hopefully. You think they'd be able to

master that by now, but. Yeah. Anything else?

Um, I'd probably, I'd probably want to get put

a sound wave and all his cassettes in there too.

That's those are, those are always fun. Um, that,

uh, the thrilling 30 springer as that was a really

good, uh, triple changer toy. Yeah. I just got

a G axis a g2, you know g2 comics G axis I really

like that and then the tar I I ordered the tar

and I don't have it yet, but it's hopefully it's

coming soon And um, yeah, I think that's a I

mean I love Tarn from the comics IDW comics and

I think it was I never thought he'd get a get

a release in the main line that Hasbro main line.

So yeah, it's funny that he So obviously he comes

from the IDW comics and then he shows up in cyber

verse of all places. And now here we are X number

of years later after cyber versus over and done

with, and we have a torn and it's awesome. Yeah.

Very cool. All right. You've. Good. I say, I

think that, I think that's all I can think of.

All right. Well, that's going to be one hell

of a heavy box. Good luck with that. Good thing

the house isn't on fire. So you alluded to it

earlier. It's just not your thing, but are you

a Funko fan? No, yeah, sadly not. I don't, I

don't begrudge anybody there. They're Funko.

pop fun, but I can't get past the dead eyes on

the fun. The eyes, they creep me out. Um, the,

the transformers, Funko pops are kind of the

only ones that, that I'm okay with. Cause their

eyes, they, you know, they have the bright blue

or red eyes to, to match the robots, but all

the like humanoid Funko pops don't look right

to me. Yeah, but yeah, I don't know I like that

They're expanding on the eye colors more with

various characters and things like that. Like

it's not always just black soulless eyes And

it depends on the character design. I I love

the shockwave. The shockwave is great. Mm -hmm

I wish the eye was red, but I understand why

it's not because hello It's the it's the g1 version

and the funny thing is and I love that they did

this I first noticed this years ago with Mighty

Mugs when Mighty Mugs were a thing, because essentially

Funko Pops are just Mighty Mugs in the modern

day sort of. They, in the Mighty Mugs shockwave,

he has a actual wire, a black corded thing for

his, for his gun arm. Same thing on the Funko

pop. It's there as well. And I was like, Oh,

that's a cool, like it's just a little detail,

but it's nice that they're, you know, making

it sort of accurate to the thing. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Mrs. Shelton, turn your turn your

podcast off because what was the most money you

spent on a toy? Yeah, I think it, I think it's,

it's no question that that has lab unicorn, the

$600 unicorn. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I talked, I

talked it over with my wife before I did it.

She was okay with it, but it was, it was still,

yeah, that's, that was kind of crazy. Yeah, I

think, uh, yeah, the most I spent was. Eight

hundred and that was for 2008 spot con full set

everything. Oh, wow Sadly, you can't do that

nowadays anymore considering Shatterglass Rodimus

is being asked for like thirteen hundred dollars

anyway And I'm like how and why like I understand

it's a botcon exclusive. I understand that it

is what it is, but Come on. Like back in the

day, if I wanted just him and not just the whole

set, I think he was going for 400 back in 2008.

But that was when he was like brand, like the

Monday after the convention kind of thing at

the time. And as I was looking for various things

related to shattered glass, Rodimus, like somebody

was trying to sell the 2008, just the box with

the styrofoam. For a hundred dollars. I'm like,

wait, what? Seriously? You're selling the box

only for a hundred. Are you nuts? On the flip

side, what was the cheapest toy you bought or

what was the best deal you ever got for a figure

that may have been worth quite a bit more than

you paid? Oh, I don't. Yeah, I haven't found

a lot of like really great deals, but I guess.

Let's see. Yeah, I mean, I guess well Just recently

I got the That the creatures collide for pack.

It was a target exclusive. It had gold bug ransack

Scorpinok and like a waspinator repaid I forget

its name but it was it was retailing for like

$70 and just before Christmas last year they

they had a clearance for half off, like $35.

And I really just wanted the Bumblebee or the

Gold Bug. I just wanted the Gold Bug. So at $70,

I was willing to pay that for just the Gold Bug,

but I did pay the $35. But the other three figures,

I figure I can either sell them or give them

away or play with them. It's a, you know, it's

a, it's a bone. It's worth it for, for getting

that gold bug. I guess that's, that's not a,

that's not a great deal, but it's, it made it

reasonable. Yeah. I think other than obviously

people giving me things or whatever, you know,

that doesn't count. Cause that's not me getting

a deal. I think the best deal I got on a Funko

pop was a little sweet from diet Dr. Pepper.

They were running a promotion. And if you bought

three diet, Dr. Pepper, 20 ounce bottles, you

had three codes, you write those diet. It was

the eighties all over again. It was like, rip

those off, take a picture of them, send it to

us, blah, blah, blah. In four to six weeks, you'll

get your free Justin Guarini, a little sweet

Funko pop. Oh, okay. Cool. Still with a dead

eyes though, but it's freak. But it's freaking

cool because I didn't realize this until like

maybe a month after that ad campaign started.

I'm like, wait a minute. Is that American Idol's

first runner up Justin? It's Justin freaking

Guarini. Oh my God. That's amazing. Nice folding.

You deserve a raise. Thank you. You do deserve

a raise in the form of a sweet diet Dr. Pepper.

Ooh, sip it. Mmm, that is sweet. These are my

delicates. Tumble dry. Extra heat. I'll take

these. He just folds. Isn't she great? How do

you guys know? You're sweet going back and it's

been psycho. That Dr. Pepper. It's the sweet

one. Yeah, he disappears into that little sweet

roll. You don't tell it's him. Not, I think it

was like one of the notes, like one of the little

sing song notes. He, you know, he, he did not

like, it was one of those notes where I was like,

Hey, wait a minute. I know that voice. So, so

yeah. What modern and or vintage toy lines are

you collecting right now? Is it just transformers

and Lego? Pretty much i mean it's it's and lego

i'm picking and choosing like i i'm not i'm not

going crazy on the legos just because that that

can that can get real bad real fast but but i

did i did get the lego optimus prime i also uh

one of my one of my favorite video games is horizon

zero dawn so i picked up the horizon zero dawn

lego said it was a tall neck which is like a

giant robot giraffe. And I do have I still have

it and I have an older ecto one with like it's

the one with all the the four Ghostbusters as

as many figures. So it's not the it's not the

like the the more the recent like bigger one.

It's one that's a little bit smaller, but it

has the four Ghostbusters as minifigures. And

I still have that in the box. I intended to put

it together, but I never got around to putting

it together, so it's still sitting in the box.

That's another one that I accidentally kept in

the box, and now it's kind of like I still want

to crack it open and put it together. You know,

it's a good thing we're toy collectors, folks,

because when we eventually retire from whatever

jobs we have, we'll have plenty of time to open

all the toys we didn't open when we were working.

Yeah, I don't see that happening. Oh, come on

now. Just get your little Darth helmet on and

you know, pew, pew, pew. I just get the feeling

that's going to be like you're one day away from

retirement. Yeah, I'm just about to open all

my toys and then you keel over and then. Oh,

stop it. Don't. No, no, no. That's no, no, no,

that's no. Do you visit toy shows or conventions?

When you visit these places, do you have a typical

methodology? Do you bring a certain amount of

money for what you're searching for? Do you do

like, what is your convention approach? So I,

yeah, I do, uh, mostly just the transformers

convention. So TF con, uh, we go and we, like

everyone on transmissions, we kind of. That's

where we that's where we meet up in person That's

you know a couple times a year So just you know

just this year. I guess last year in 2022 I went

to TF con in Toronto in the summer and then TF

con Chicago in October and And we have, there's

a local show. Uh, I'm, I'm in the Pittsburgh

area. There's a local show called steel city

con. Uh, and that's like a, it's a comic comic

book and, and other stuff show. So it's like,

they've got, there's got a good mix and then

they have celebrity guests and stuff. I don't

go to that one super regularly, but I've been

to it a few times. So it's like 10 minutes from

my house. So it's pretty easy to go to. Um, but,

uh, but in general, I don't, I don't have. Like

a set strategy. Like my only goal is to not get

swindled at a toy show. Like, I mean, I'm, I'm

not gonna, I'm not gonna buy, like, I'm not gonna

buy stuff that's on the store shelves right now,

unless like I, I never see it. And I, and it's

not, it's, it's, you know, it's not above, uh,

you know, retail value. Like, uh, um, so I try,

you know, I will. tend to look for things that

are obscure or something that I couldn't get

otherwise or things that, you know, like there's

a lot of stuff you can order online, but I tend

like just to, just to keep my toy collecting

under control. I don't order a lot of stuff online,

but I say, you know, if I'm going, if I'm to

a special occasion, I'm going to the toy show.

I bring a cent of our money and I say, well,

there's a couple of things that I, I really thought

was interesting. But I, you can only get them

online. So if I see it here, I might pick it

up. So that's, you know, it's, that's the, the

convention, uh, convention exception is when

you, you know, for things that you don't get

online. So that's usually what looking for things

that I can't get anywhere else. That's what I'm

looking for. Yeah. I mean, and that's the thing,

like technically you can get most. transfer most

G one classic stuff on online, but You know,

you're not going to the convention or the toy

shows to buy what's in the stores now You're

looking for so somewhat good deal on Something

that's 40 40 something year. Oh god From 40 years,

yeah The A -Team just turned 40 the other day,

oh my god, I love it when a plan comes together.

I love when a plan comes together! What do you

think it is about our generation that causes

our childhood toys to mean so much more to us

than, for instance, say, our parents' generation?

Uh, I think we were all brainwashed as kids in

the eighties. I think that, I mean, it was, I

mean, cynically, it was the, you know, the deregulation

of toys where you could have basically have a

bunch of media that were half hour commercials

for the toys and they, you know, I mean, they

were, you know, originally just designed to,

to get kids and, you know, get kids hooked on

them and sell them the toys, but they did actually,

I mean, They're not Shakespeare, but they did

put some reasonable effort into making the cartoons

interesting and fun and appealing. And yeah,

I mean, you hit the kid at the right age, at

the right time, and they're hooked. And yeah,

it holds a special place in their heart. And

20, 30 years later, it still comes back to them.

So yeah, I mean, you know. blame blame Reagan

and deregulation of you know media and everything

and you get and we're all kind of you know a

little bit a little bit brainwashed yeah pretty

much but we loved it so much though like we didn't

mind being brain being brainwashed at the time

Yeah, no, I mean I'm not giving it up. I still

love the transformers Knowing that you're brainwashed

doesn't necessarily mean you can shake it off

No, not really What is your motivation for purchasing

toys to display play fiddle describe your collecting

style Are you a completionist a storyteller cherry

picker or otherwise? I'd say I'm probably a cherry

picker. I am really focused, like for Transformers

for me in general, the media is what keeps me

tied to the franchise. Like, you know, I always

loved the, as I said, I always loved the cartoons

and the comics as a kid. I've loved what like,

some of the artists and writers for the comics

in particular did with the storytelling in the

Transformers. I've always said that Transformers

storytelling has been at its peak in the iterations

of comics over the years and that includes Marvel

with Simon Furman and IDW with folks like James

Roberts, John Barber, Margaret Scott. uh... and

you know all the artists throughout the generations

back in the eighties with jeff senior andrew

wildman were were big for me jose del bow uh...

in the modern day folks like alex milne andrew

griffith casey collar uh... we don't we need

uh... all these uh... you know all these things

are what uh... has has uh... has kept me invested

in the franchise and When I collect you know

I want to see the toys that I want I want to

see those representation of those like those

original characters that get introduced in the

comics that don't necessarily have a toy origin.

I always love to see those characters getting

getting their do. uh... so you know i i i mentioned

the g access the g two character from the g the

marvel g two comics who never had a toy was in

the toy design he was designed for the comics

and just recently got it got a toy be very faithful

to that design which i i immediately had to get

uh... tarn where we're getting coming soon and

yeah i've already pre -ordered that separate

looking for them But yeah, but I'm definitely

not a completionist. I don't have the space,

capacity, time, or inclination to try and complete

lines of things. So I like to pick and choose

what I want. I would like to be a fiddler. I'd

like to be able to take them out and play with

each one of them. And yeah, I am kind of... bewildered

with the amount of things that I still have that

are still in boxes that I haven't gotten a chance

to open and play around with. But those are still

my goals to get to them eventually. Yep. A buddy

of mine used to be on the show. He's still on

the show every now and then, but Peacock or Michael,

when he and I first started out doing toy cast

back in the day, Would always joke with him.

I'm like, did you open any of the toys in your

closet today? No, they're still unopened because

he used to just Go to Target and just find these

amazing amazing thing. It's like, okay Well,

I don't know why you haven't opened any of those

yet All right Have you ever purchased a toy for

a child with the ulterior motive of playing with

it yourself? Plead the fifth? Well, yes. The

answer is yes. My younger son, he's now 16, so

he's well past the toy playing time, but he was

right at the age when the original War for Cybertron,

that was the video game War for Cybertron that

came out in early 2010. It's a good one. Yeah.

And they, and they were putting out the toys

that were tying into that video game and they

had a, they had a three pack that was Bumblebee,

Optimus Prime and Megatron. And, uh, I bought

that for him for his birthday, but you know,

with the, the thought that maybe we can play

with this together because there's three, there's

three toys, you know, we can have, we can have,

this is something fun we can do together. And,

uh, Yeah. And he's long since grown past it,

but they're still, I mean, I didn't, I didn't

migrate them back down to my collection, but

they're, uh, you know, I, I still fiddle with

them from time to time. He didn't do it yet folks.

Oh boy. Have you ever purchased a vintage toy

for a child because you thought it would be fun

for them based on your own preferences? This

is something that I try to do whenever I go to

a convention. I try to pick out something that

I think my kids will enjoy. A couple of times

I just bought them a couple of mini bots, like

G1 mini bots, because you can find those pretty

cheap. And I thought, you know, it'd be something

they'd be interested in. But my kids are, I think,

you know, my kids are what? Generation Z, Zennials,

whatever you call them. I stop at X, basically.

There are no more generations. The only generations

that matter are Autobot, Decepticon, or Paracon

at this point. Those are the generations. But

yeah, but my kids are They as they grew they

grew pretty quickly out of toys and they're I

mean they're all like they're. My older ones

are already teenagers. My youngest one is 11.

So she's on the path to being a teenager right

now. So they're all pretty firmly focused on

the digital stuff and tablets and phones and

apps and stuff. And no one really has time for

physical toys anymore. Uh, but I, I try, I tried

to get them a couple of like mini bots, micro

masters. I thought those would be fun for them

to fiddle around with. I bought some cabaya kits,

like I bought them each a cabaya kit. Um, you

know, so they could put it together, you know,

as a, and that's, you know, that's, that's the

fun. It has a, it's a transformer, but it's also

a little like plastic model kit. It doesn't require

any glue or tape or anything to put them together.

So, you know, and they, they, they enjoy that

for a little bit, but I think nothing's sticking.

Oh boy. Yeah. I'm sure other. People on other

podcasts have said this, but that's what NFT

stands for. No fucking toys for you. God. Do

you do any toy modifications or customs painting,

building, build dioramas, etc.? Nah, not really.

I think the most I do is I've. gotten a few label

sets from toy hacks, toyhacks .com where they,

you can get, you know, they design really cool

labels. I put those on some toys, but even that

it's, that's a rare thing for me. I don't, I

don't, I usually just keep them the way they

came. Yeah. Or you can get 15 % off your entire

order code. It's your show. I'm not going to

bring my plug into your show. I don't have a

stake in this. I'm not making or losing money,

so I'm just having fun with the discussion. It's

up to you. I don't even remember what the code

is. I just remember the 15 % off the entire order

and cannot be combined with any other offer.

That's what I remember. TM1234. Very easy. TM1234.

That's the code. Toyhacks .com. I think I need

to go back to Sesame Street. This is getting

expensive. Do you think toy companies should

specifically have adult collector toys, child

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

should find a way to mix both. I mean, I don't

think they need to focus on the adult. market,

I think they should just focus on making the

toys fun. Like I, I, I mean, I appreciate, uh,

like with transformers, they, they have different

lines geared towards, uh, you know, like I guess

the legacy, currently the legacy line geared

towards quote unquote adults, but those are all,

those are still toys that kids can play with.

It's not like anything, there's anything that,

uh, you know, wouldn't appeal to a kid. I think,

I mean, I would say the larger, like their larger

media strategy, I think they should tie everything

in together. Like, I mean, it seems, it seems

weird to me that their legacy line has kind of

like no media presence. Whereas they're, you

know, they're doing, of course they've got right.

They've got the new movie coming out, the rise

of the beasts, and they've got the earth spark,

the new show, but the legacy has like no media

behind it. And, um, I think if you want to attract

younger kids, you need to have some, I mean,

I guess I'm perpetuating the brainwashing. You

need to have some media there to, to, to track

the kids. If you want them interested in it.

Um, yeah, you need to have the media there and

you need to, I don't know. I see like on the

transformers official Instagram specifically

is where I see this, but I'll. Go through their

stories and I'll see what they're, what they're

posting. And obviously half of it is marketing

because they're, you know, trying to have us

and kids and whatever else buy toys, but like

everything in their stories is parents swipe

up now to get this for your kids. I don't know

any, I I'm not a parent, but I don't know any

parents in my friend group that would buy Tarn

for their child. Now I'm not saying that they.

put that on the Tarn slide. I'm saying that some

of that, like just like some of the ones that

are specifically aimed at us at, at the collector

market where it's like, okay, sure. You can have

the, the, the what it like is hot. The, the hot

rod you just mentioned. Oh, studio series. Yeah.

Studio. There you go. Studios. And my brain's

going between generations of legacy, legacy others.

Oh, right. Yeah. So, so you got a Series 86 hot

rod. Yeah, sure. You can buy that for a kid because

you can teach them about the awesomeness that

is hot rod and, and, and all of that. But I don't

know. Some of it's like, I don't know if I want

a kid. Owning certain toys. Cause that just doesn't

seem like it should be for a child, but that's

just me. And again, I'm childless, so I don't

know shit when it comes to raising children.

I mean, I just, I have the thing I have a problem

with is having like, like the, when I see the,

like. Like the, and the, I, I mean, I don't,

I, it's too early to say anything about the earth

spark line, but the cyber verse line in particular.

Was egregious in the sense that you had like

you'd have the same character in multiple versions

because you'd have so many like different Versions

of the of the same character over and over like

you have this very super simple very simple then

kind of reasonable and then like a Giant version

that kind of didn't make sense either. So it's

kind of like can we have like a can we unify

the line a little bit and just like I think what

kids would like is to have the toy like represent

like at least be somewhat recognizable to as

to what they see on the on the show and It seems

weird to have like I mean I understand if you

want to make you want to have toys for very very

little kids You know, maybe you want to have

a version for that But but but again like even

with like if you go back to the like older Transformers

lines, they didn't have multiple iterations of

the same character. They just had like smaller

characters. Those were the toys that could be

for younger kids. And then the bigger characters

got, were the toys for, you know, for older kids.

And it just seems weird to have like a really

tiny like brick Optimus Prime and then like a

very nicely well articulated Optimus Prime, but

with the same aesthetic. And it's, and I don't

know. It's And I don't think they did this. Yeah.

And I don't think they did this, but again, another

one example I can think of is. Here it is folks.

After nearly 40 years, we finally have an auto

converting Optimus Prime parents swipe up now

to buy RoboSense transforming Optimus Prime.

Like, no, you like. Well, like I said, I don't

think they did that, but the RoboSyn Optimus

Prime is an example of something I would never

buy a child. Yeah, definitely. No. And from what

I saw with through Adams's videos, that thing

takes up a lot of space, so it needs a lot of

room to move. And so if you live in a glass house,

you might not want to buy it. I mean, the, the

thing that I was surprised about, I watched,

I watched through his video too. The thing that

surprised me when he was, he was a fiddling with

it is. It can't like, it just can't stand there

turned off. Like it has to be actively on, like

all the servos have to be running or it can't

hold its own weight up. It has to like be always

be on and standing up. Yeah. For a toy, and I'm

specifically talking about the big one. I'm not

talking about the $300 cheaper one, the small

one. I'm talking about the original one that

they, the one that that idiot Kevin Smith and

his buddy showed off. Um, that one, the one that's

like a thousand dollars or more. You mean to

tell me that that thing needs to be taking up

all the power in the world just to hold up its

own weight? For a thousand dollars. Hell no.

Stan sold separately. So is the damn trailer.

That's another, don't even. Yeah. The trailer's

as much as the, as the figure. I know. Like,

and really, honestly, I've like, I think when

I first saw that, I thought it was cool. And

then I saw a couple of reviews and then I saw,

like we mentioned, through his review. And I

was like, Oh, okay. Yeah, he's right. You shouldn't

be buying this unless you have, unless you, you

know, live in a 10 ,000 square foot mansion.

Like, because again, it needs room to move. And

if you don't, you know, if you're, you know,

recording a podcast for nine and a half, almost

10 years or longer, in my case. out of a closet

which I'm not recording out of a closet but you

know that you know it's that money could go to

a thousand other things even toys better toys

that you can actually transform yourself That

was the other, like, don't get me wrong. I think

it's, and I know I'm on, I know it's supposed

to be your episode and I'm on a soapbox here,

but it's just, my brain is, I feel like a fried

egg over here. Do you have a, my parents got

rid of my toy story. Um. Not really, I mean they

kind of they they kind of just migrated up to

the attic or got given given to my brother's

like about he's he's like 13 years younger than

me So when I was off at college, he was you know,

he was he was he was came around like right for

the Beast Wars stuff So he was but he played

with my old Transformers. So nothing nothing.

Nothing My parents never like actually sold or

gave away anything one thing one thing that did

happen though was my my G one scourge. Like I

let, I let, and I let my brother play with my

G one toys. Cause I was in college. I was like,

it's fine. Let them play with them. And my son,

my, uh, my brother was playing with my, um, my

G one scourge and he asked my dad to trans to

help them transform it. And my dad actually snapped

one of the wings. So that was, you know, and,

and so that, that hurt a little bit, but you

know, it was fine. It was okay. Well, I know

what I'm, I know what, I know what clip I'm putting

in right here. Plasma energy's lethal. It nearly

killed me. And I did get, I did got the studio

series scourge. Cause I, I really, I love G1

scourge. Yeah. Studio series scourge is amazing.

Do you feel like you're coming to an end of your

active collecting? If so, what has signified

this phase for you? Was there ever a moment when

you were completely done with toys altogether?

Not yet. Yeah, I mean, I think. I'm, I'm trying,

I'm trying to get into a mode where if I get

new stuff, I get rid of some old stuff. Cause

I do, I have finite space, so I'm not trying

to continually increase my collection perpetually.

Uh, so I am, I am like purging some older stuff

or stuff I'm no longer interested in, but still.

You know, still buying new stuff and I mean,

they still, they still make cool stuff. I mean,

it's, it's hard to, it's hard to give it up.

There's still lots of cool, interesting stuff.

Plus I think, um, with, uh, with the, the transmissions

podcast, since we have a weekly segment where

we have to show off what we got at the store,

there's a little bit of pressure that you have

to have to have something every week to show

off. So, uh, you know, that, that keeps me, uh,

But you know, I even then it's not, uh, I usually

can't compete with the, with what Darrell's showing

off or bringing to the table. Uh, but I try to,

I try to at least have, you know, one new thing,

even if it's little or just a comic book or something

every week. So, so that keeps, that keeps me

going. Yeah, there, there's no keeping up with

that crazy Canuck. It's just not, it's just,

it's not worth the time or stress. Boy Darrell

watch Beast Wars damn it What is something that

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

in toy form so That's hard. It's hard now because

there's a lot of a lot of things that I would

have said they're get They've already gotten

toys or getting toys But one thing I guess that

I mean He has he has kind of technically already

had a toy, but it's not really him. I guess the

It's the from the Marvel Comics scrounge. He

was a little round wheel That was a blaster sidekick

on Cybertron He did get like he was that that

that thrilling 30 cosmos was repainted yellow

as scrounge and he was packed in with with the

Combiner Wars techno bots, but it was just it

was just a repaint of cosmos. So it's not I don't

count that as really scrounge. So I would I would

like to see a real proper scrounge. That would

be cool. And magic fingers his his audio and

video recording fingers. That sounds all kinds

of kinky and all. What is a toy that you'd love

to have scaled up and functional for the real

world? Oh, I think I got to go with the with

the most popular piece in the franchise. I want

an Optimus Prime. I want it. I want a real tractor

trailer. Optimus Prime. and then turn into a

robot and, you know, play basketball, go for

a layoff and hang out with them. You're just

cementing to me the reason why he is the worst

leader in Autobot history. He liked basketball.

What's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong

with it, as long as you're not doing it while

the Decepticons are attacking. Maybe we should

just cut his arm off and put it on a building

or something. Oh boy. Optimus Prime needs a Matrix

to tell him how to lead. Needs an old dead guy

in his head to tell him the right thing to do.

Jesus. And I know all Autobot leaders have it,

but still. Oh boy. How has your wife dealt with

your collection? She's been, she's actually been

pretty supportive. She's, uh, she, she doesn't,

she doesn't share my passion, which is fine,

but she, she allows it and, and I mean, she doesn't

actively encourage it, but she does actively

try to find things that she thinks I'll like

and that she's, you know, and she, she has gone

above and beyond to like, find different interesting

things to add to my collection, and not necessarily

just toys, but like artwork from different artists.

She bought me, like for Christmas one year, she

bought me the 25th anniversary Optimus Prime

that has, it's packed in with the DVD of the,

like the More Than Meci and the issue one comic.

And I was looking at it, and I never had a G1

Optimus Prime, so I was about to open it and

play with it, because I never owned my own G1

Optimus Prime. I never had that one. I had the

Powermaster Optimus Prime as a kid, but never

the first original 84 Optimus Prime. On I remember

this because it was like on Christmas Day. I

was looking I was like real. Thank you. This

is really nice and And she's like don't open

it. It's a collect you could have as a collector's

item. You can save it and I was like, oh, maybe

maybe you're right Maybe I shouldn't open it

and then years later I went to TF con and Peter

Cullen was the guest at TF con and I had him

sign that that boxed 25th anniversary Optimus

Prime and it's still it's in my detox now. It's

still still unopened sign and now has Peter Cullen's

signature So I definitely can't open it now So

yeah Yeah, your wife has done some awesome things

for you. That's not the story. I thought you

were gonna tell When you said when you said oh,

it's not just toys that she's gotten me. I'm

like, uh -huh And you want to tell the Victor

Karolyi story? Oh, yeah, that was that was pretty

amazing. Yeah. Yes, it was. So she yeah, I mean,

Victor Karolyi, who is the the narrator on the

G1 Transformers cartoon. And the interesting,

the funny thing was she. She did like, she did

research on which people we had actually interviewed.

So like she, you know, she looked at, she was

looking specifically for someone from the G1

series that we had not talked to yet. So, you

know, we had already on the podcast, we had already

talked to people like, uh, Dan Gilvazan or Greg

Berger. Uh, and she, and she specifically said,

Oh, Victor Karolyi, the narrator here and then,

and found him on cameo and got him to record

a birthday greeting for me. And so, yeah, I still

have the video for that. Uh, I showed it on transmissions.

Uh, yeah, it's something I'll have forever treasured

forever. And him, you know, immediate saluting,

he, he did his, uh, his, he did his narrator

voice where he said, you know, and, um, and it

was just. Awesome and having him talk directly

to me was was really great. Yeah Yeah, that was

awesome But yeah, I mean and that's just one

of many things like she also a few years ago

Andrew Wildman did like this print of Like when

he like the the classic Marvel Comics issue where

they you know, they had the like was issue 75

of Marvel Comics where Unicron attacked Cybertron

in the comics and Andrew Wildman had done this

print that was an homage to that and she and

he like did like I think he did like 500 prints

and numbered them and signed them and was was

selling them and she she like contacted him and

and bought one of those for me and got it framed

and everything. And I have that hanging up here.

She's gotten art from other artists. And just

going out of her way to find things that would

be just something that I would treasure as being

a Transformers fan. And she does kind of tease

me about it sometimes. uh give me give me a hard

time but she still supports me so yeah i could

i couldn't ask for anything more there you go

there you go toy collecting can have its struggles

what is one aspect you tend to struggle with

the most yeah i mean i i think it's it's already

been a theme here is this the struggle to actually

open and play with my toys and find space for

them so yeah the struggle of of You know in both

enjoying them but also not letting them overwhelm

me and my house Boy yeah that that should be

a problem What is one positive and one negative

memory you have with buying toys? I would say

like a positive memory I have is just getting

started in the Transmissions podcast, that really

kick -started me getting into... Toy collecting

regularly like before that I was I was buying

one or two things here and there but not really.

Like making a concerted effort to collect anything

but when when we started transmissions that was

something that that really like I was I was going

to the toy store you know. couple of times a

week looking around like when Toys R Us still

existed and, and they had transformers on the

shelves and looking at the masterpiece toys and

things there. I mean, that's seeing, I, I saw

a masterpiece sound wave on the shelves and at

Toys R Us and I kind of passed on, I looked at

it and I was like, and you know, it was, since

I'm early, I really spent like a hundred dollars

on this toy. It looks really cool, but I don't

know if I can spend that. So I kind of, left

it there and then like a couple days later or

a week later came back and it was still there.

I was like, well, I think, uh, you know, I think

I got to pick this up. So I did buy it. And then

there's another one that I didn't open that I

still haven't bought. I mean, probably 10 years

now. But then I took it to another TFCon where

Frank Welker was there and I got Frank Welker

to sign it. So now I can't open this one either.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Stop,

stop. Where did he sign it? Did he sign it on

the figure itself or just a box? On the box.

He signed it on the front of the box. We're on.

Okay. Well, if you're careful enough, you could

take an exacto knife or whatever and open the

part of the box that can be opened without screwing

up the signature. You'll be fine. Open the damn

toy, man. Come on, Dr. Pants. You got to get

on him about this one. I'm sorry. I cannot let

this go because I need to see your masterpiece

sound wave out of his box. Just like I bullied

Dr. Pants into buying the Funko pop 10 inch sound

wave. with cassettes, I am going to bully you

into opening your own masterpiece toy. Cause

that's ridiculous. I understand wanting to keep

the prestige of Frank Walker's signature, but

if opening the box doesn't screw the signature

up, you're fine. Open the toy. All right. I'll,

I'll, I'll take it under consideration. No problems.

I want photographic evidence. Damn it. Alright,

if you could create any toy, what would you want

to create? Basically Hasbro gives you the keys

to the kingdom. What would you do? No, wow I

Mean it's funny because I think I like like the

one little one thing I would have said was like

transformers Legos, but it's already happened

I mean, I would I would I would love to have

like a Like just a full -on You know what I Mean

it's it's maybe it's not It's it's not it's not

sensible for our modern age, but I would I would

really like to bring back gun Megatron I never

had a gun Megatron I'd like I'd like to bring

that bring that back in the toy line. You call

them submarine Just turn them upside down call

them submarine if you want But let's bring back

Gun Megatron and make a whole line of LEGO Transformers

and not just Optimus Prime, but as many characters

as we can get together. Wow, yeah. That would

be cool. I can just imagine it now, a $700 Lego

Unicron. Yeah, you're missing a couple zeros

there. That might be a little more expensive.

Most likely, I mean, with all the Legos that

they would have to, yeah, kind of. Ooh, ouch,

damn. I don't know why but somebody has really

the original G1 Walther P38 buy it now for $324

and right next to it oh well this says Hasbro

Takara Transformers G1 for 59 bucks for 33 bids

like seriously really Ooh, inbox, 290, yikes.

You may not be getting a G1 Megatron. Ah, why?

What, okay, what is the, like, do sellers on

eBay not look at sold listings, or is there not

a value of certain toys listed out there? What?

There is Transformers G1 Megatron boxed, unused,

Q grade this. What the hell? They want $3 ,500

with $80, $90 shipping. What? I can't, I can't,

I can't. We'll be here all night. Oh my God.

You got to be kidding me. And I thought 1500

books for Shatterglass Rodimus was a lot. What

in the Sam hell eBay? What is one piece of advice

you would give the toy collecting Phantom in

general? I would say, uh, just, uh, Don't don't

I mean I I mean I I don't want to tell other

people how to collect but I think I think don't

Don't obsess over Completing things or getting

everything like enjoy enjoy what you can like

What you can find or what you have or and and

whatever makes you happy, but don't go crazy

trying to get everything because I think that

that that way lies madness. Yeah, most definitely

this. I don't understand that. I'm I'm so incensed.

That's ridiculous. $3 ,500 for a G1 MegaTron.

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

Don't go on eBay. Stay away from eBay, kids.

I'd say, um, like enjoy your toys, but take care

of your toys. Cause, uh, even if you, if, as

you get older, you might say, you don't, you

don't care about them anymore, but 10 years later,

you'll be missing them. So just, you know, play

with them, have fun with them, but when you're

done, put them back in the box and, and put them

somewhere safe and, and don't be so hard on them.

Absolutely. Alright folks, we're into the quick

break while I compose myself because holy schnikes

We'll be back with big C from transmissions podcast

right after this I can't even talk anymore right

after this. We'll be back. See you later. We'll

be back. I don't know What was that universal

greeting again if you 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. Discover a world of vintage and modern toys

that's more than meets the eye with the Triple

Takeover Toycast. Hosted by toy writers and photographers

Toybox Sobox, 6 .0 and TF Square One, this informal

and chilled out series of discussions cover everything

from vintage Transformers to Mask, Diaclone,

Microman and more, be it nostalgic or current.

Whether you're a seasoned collector or a casual

robot enthusiast, all are welcome. Triple Takeover

Toycast. Like science fiction? Of course you

do or you wouldn't be listening to the GeekCast

Radio Network. Well, the Markhoo 42's Universe

Podcast is an award -winning sci -fi radio show

that's been around for over 10 years. We cover

everything from Doctor Who to the MCU to pop

culture and everything in between. A new show

drops on Tuesday mornings on the GCRN website

and all of the major podcast platforms. So listen

to the Markhoo 42's Universe Podcast. We are

back here on Toycast. Alright, sir. Promote transmissions.

Well, yeah, I am the co -host of our Transformers

theme podcast, Transmissions. We actually do

two shows every week. We do transmissions every

Wednesday, which is a show all about Transformers

toys and merchandise. And then on Fridays, we

do transmissions alt mode, which is a show all

about Transformers media. So we tend to do Transformers

comic reviews in that show. Of course, at the

moment, we don't have any comics to review, but

we are recently we are. Going back and doing

some EarthSpark shows. We actually reviewed the

first couple of episodes of EarthSpark last year

in November, and we did episodes three and four

recently. We're probably going to do some more

as we wait to see what's happening with the Transformers

comics license. But yeah, so those are those

are our main shows We also have a bi -weekly

show that is our transformers live play RPG podcast

and that's run by our really awesome producer

and editor Mike and he he and is the game master

and has his friends as different original transformers

characters that are in in the on Cybertron Going

through lots of crazy wacky adventures Uh, in

set in the IDW comic universe. So, uh, that's

a cool show empire of rust. Uh, so all of those

shows can be found at transmissions podcast .com.

Of course they're all on every podcasting service.

You can think of Apple podcasts, Google play,

Google podcasts, uh, Amazon, Spotify, uh, anywhere

you find podcasts, you can just search for transmissions

and they're there. We also have a Patreon if

you'd like to support us and that also is at

transmissionspodcast .com slash support and you

can find that there. We have a Discord, so if

you wanna just chat, you can go to transmissionspodcast

.com slash Discord and come on and hang out with

us there. And yeah, we're on all the social media

places and everywhere, so. Lots of places to

find us. Just go to our website and all the links

are there. You can find us also on YouTube. We

are doing that We've since episode 500 of our

show we've moved to doing full video shows that

are They all with our podcast So if you want

to watch us on YouTube, you can watch us on YouTube

instead of listening to us or you can do both

I mean It's you know, keep our numbers up help

us with down with views on YouTube, you know,

whatever whatever you like But yeah, all everything,

all those links and everything you can find through

our website transmissionspodcast .com. There

you go. There you go. Do you have any final words

before I run through our closing? Uh, just want

to say thanks. This was, uh, you know, I, I didn't

get a chance to listen to the other folks, uh,

toy origin show. So I thought it was going to

be, uh, like. pretty focused on Transformers,

but this was, it was nice to kind of expand things

and, and talk a little bit about just toys in

general. So, uh, really enjoyed this. Thanks

for having me on and, uh, really, uh, thanks

for, uh, you know, doing this for us. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Yeah. This, uh, this show, when we

debuted it in 2009, it was originally Transformers

Toycast and the sole thing was Transformers toys.

And a few years went by in, I believe it was

2011, Optimus Scourge, Gary Clark, he passed

away. And he, along with Proto Man, along with

a couple other buddies of mine, we started this

show and it's like, dude died. I don't know if

I like, I kept the show going up until 2014 and

I'm just like, nope. I'm done. I had already

sold all my Transformers toys. I was out of everything.

And two, three years ago, whatever the hell 2021

was, my buddy Josh said, hey, I have an idea.

And I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I have built -in

audience already. They may be a little... Cobwebby

and dusty but you know I can dust this off and

we can it's it's already built no no work of

needing to start a new show we can just bring

back the old one. So consolidation folks that's

the name of the game. Alright, thank you for

joining us here on toy cast if you'd like to

get in contact with us to leave feedback for

the show There are several ways to do so visit

the website geek cast radio comm where you can

listen to and comment on all of our content Send

an email to feedback at geek cast radio comm

here all the ways you can listen to us nowadays

Apple Google podcast leave us reviews, please

and Spotify has Star ratings. I like Spotify

as a as a as a Listing platform, but I don't

understand why they have star ratings for podcasts

with no actual Review says is what it is. Well,

it's on Twitter at the cast radio for the network

at TF toy cast for the show I am at TFG on Mike.

I know the show has a Twitter, but did you want

to give out your Twitter at all? Sure, I am at

CP Shelton on Twitter I don't post a whole lot,

but you can find me there and send the message

if you want Billionaires. Gotta hate them. Oh

boy. It was a cesspool in 2014. A billionaire

buying it isn't going to make it any worse. Become

a fan on Facebook. Go to Facebook .com slash

Keycaster Radio Network and also check out TF

Toycast over there as well as transmissions.

Next time on Toycast, I believe we're going to

have Robo Apollo. She is going to do her Toycast

origins. So for now, I am TFG1 Mike with Big

C, Charles aka Big C from Transmissions. Just

next time, we'll be talking more toys here on

Toycast. All right, give me a second. What are

you laughing at now? Okay, you can go look at

that stupid link. Oh, God. I don't understand

why. Why? It makes no sense. No, yeah. It really

makes. That's really, that's really odd. I mean,

I don't expect him to get. I mean, he's not gonna

get $3 ,500 for that. He's not gonna get $500,

maybe $500 for that, but I don't understand that.

Why throw away your life so recklessly? Yeah,

I just yeah, I like a sucker I just played with

my toys and terrible I know