Wasatch Pop on Origins in Toy Collection

Hey, this is Steve Bloom, and you are listening

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happen. It could. It could. Come on, boy! Mmm,

Bart's Butterfinger's so Butterfingery. Hit a

homer, dude! Crispity Crunchity Butterfinger

from Nestle. Nobody better lay a finger on my

Butterfinger. Hello and welcome to an all -new

generation of ToyCasts as we get the origins

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

course, TF2 and Mike, and the first Origins guest

in 2024 is none other than Mr. Wasatch Pop, a

.k .a. Mason, who has... 52 .4 thousand subscribers

on youtube how the hell did that happen and how

the hell have you been oh man i couldn't tell

you how it happened but i'm doing great man uh

i'm actually i'm honored to be your first guest

for uh 2024 i i had no idea that was the case

but i'm honored you thought of me because that's

that's a big deal right there yeah absolutely

uh so the audience knows this but we've been

doing origins uh 42 questions all about toy collecting.

Since 2021, I brought the podcast back after

seven years of hiatus because one of the guys

that started it with me passed away back in 2011

or 2010 or something. And I'm like, I get out

of toy collecting back then. And I'm like, oh.

And then, you know, late 2016, I found, I think

it was the original group. My buddy had the original

group pop. And I'm like, what the hell is this?

Ever since January of 2017, I haven't looked

back with Funko, at least with the pops. The

sodas, I don't know. Yeah, it's always hard to

embrace new stuff. I feel like that's probably

the easiest to embrace out of anything, like

Funko, I would say. Because they have almost

everything. Yeah, it's true. Almost everything.

There's one that they don't have yet that I've

been asking for for the past six and a half years.

And I'm like... You jerks, you could have teamed

up with Shout Factory and did it with the complete

series set. I want Alf, damn it. I actually have

heard a lot of people wanting that one. He's

a classic character, man. He's a big time. I

don't know why they wouldn't have done it already.

It's weird. Yeah, well, Funko is weird, so there

is that. It is true. But yeah, so Mason is here.

We're going to get to talking all about the toys

and how he got into toy collecting and everything

else. So what is or was the first toy you remember

having as a kid? Ooh, that is a good question.

I want to say it may have been Lego, I think.

I'm trying to think back to what I started first

collecting. I guess collecting and toys are a

little bit different, but they do go hand in

hand. I think as far as for me, The first stuff

that I can remember would probably be, like,

Bionicle Legos and, like, Hot Wheels cars, I

would say. Nice. Yeah, and I had one of those

big, like, carrying cases where you could keep

all your Hot Wheels cars in and everything, and

I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Hot

Wheels Superior, Matchbox Inferior. I never heard

that, but I totally agree with you. But then

again, I probably had a few Matchbox cars mixed

in there and I had no idea, you know? Yeah, that's

usually the way it goes, right? Yeah, that's

true. I mean, the Hot Wheels logo, you got a

little flame. It looks way cooler. So, I mean,

you know, in that regard, I would say I probably

liked Hot Wheels more just because, you know,

fire's cool, right? Fire, fire, fire's cool,

yeah. The and the funny thing is, I don't think

Matchbox like Hot Wheels were. Well, like you

said, they get the fire logo and I've seen a

bunch of Hot Wheels ads and I've seen a bunch

of Matchbox ads, too. But like between Hot Wheels,

Matchbox and Micro Machines, Micro Machines had

John Machida Jr. a .k .a. Blur. So that's just

an instantaneous sell for kids. Oh, absolutely.

Guy that talks a billion miles a minute selling

you these little cars. Was there a particular

adult who was supportive of you playing with

toys as a kid? Was there anyone who was unsupportive?

I mean, I had I mean, I have my brothers and

my sisters. So, I mean, they were always supportive

of me. I have my older sister, my older brother.

So I probably played with similar stuff that

they had. I mean, my parents supported it, too.

I was I mean, besides toys, I was always outside,

you know, playing sports and stuff to like baseball,

basketball. But they were supportive with any

hobbies that I had or anything that I wanted

to, you know, toys that I wanted to collect or

play with. So I wouldn't say there was really

anybody that was unsupportive by any means. But

I definitely had, you know, people that would,

you know, gift me stuff and things like that.

And then from there, I kind of found. things

that i liked but yeah i would probably say my

family was probably the biggest one nothing not

the most exciting answer by any means but no

i would say you know i would say they were the

most influential for sure yeah absolutely what

types of toys were your favorites to play with

oh man i mean like i said hot wheels was a big

one i loved uh like i said the bionicles because

those were ones that you could put together and

like when you collected them and stuff you could

build like one like mega big bionicle lego figure

which i thought was really cool um and then i'm

trying to think of the other things that i played

with i mean Not really necessarily toys, and

we'll probably get to this as well, but baseball

cards and basketball cards was a big thing, a

part of my childhood as well. So I won't go too

much into that, and I'm assuming we'll probably

get to that. Well, we can do it now because it's

not really on here. But it's funny because we

just finished the – that's the reason why you're

the first Origins guest of the year is because

we just did last week. uh, the wrap up for our

top 100 toys countdown and sports cards made

it on the list. And I'm sitting here thinking,

how the hell are sports? I mean, yes, according

to the toy hall of fame, they are a toy, but

I'm like, and then I went through my closet and

I found old Red Sox cards. And I'm like, okay,

I took a picture of it, sent it to my buddy.

Look, I'm playing with my sports. You don't really

play with them. You look at them, you read the

stats and that's it. I mean, it's not like. they

transform or anything no there's not much utility

to it other than but i mean if you look at like

other cards like yugioh or like oh yeah they're

actually you actually do play the game and it

could be considered toys like yeah those yes

absolutely yeah and yeah so but like unless you

know you're gonna get into starting lineup which

actually did make the actually tied i think for

101 or something like that i forget what it what

it ended up being do you prefer the label of

action figures dolls toys or other labels uh

i mean action figures is fine i don't i don't

care if they're called toys that's cool too collectibles

is up there i always like to joke because people

like to say that funko pops are dolls and so

when and so kind of backtracking a little bit

like so i ended up doing a like youtube and it

turned into like a small business or whatever

i ended up going full -time last year in april

and so whenever anybody asks me they're like

what do you do for a living i'm like i just collect

dolls you know i say to be funny and then they

just kind of laugh but then i'm like and then

i kind of talk about it a little more and kind

of explain the business behind it and then the

channel so but i mean i'll like i said mostly

i'll say dolls is a joking thing and people usually

laugh but i mean i i'm pretty open to calling

it whatever honestly yeah and most people are

the reason why i phrased that question that way

is because in the 80s folks when we were kids

one of the family members which a grandpa uncle

aunt grandma Oh, there's Mikey playing with his

dolls. They're not dolls, Grandma. That's where

that question comes from. I mean, like, when

you think of dolls, you think of just, like,

the, you know, I don't know. I'm trying to think

of, like, the old school, really, like, stuff.

Real hair, Barbies, 12 -inch. Anything below

12 inches is an action figure. Yeah, there you

go. I mean, even like the ones that are like

super duper old school that like people made

themselves, you know, just out of like cloth

and you stuffed it like that's that to me seems

more like dolls. Yeah. But that's just me. Yeah,

absolutely. Good guys or bad guys. Which toys

were your favorites to play with the most? Oh,

man. Good guys for sure. I would say I mean,

to be fair, it just kind of depended on like

what I was playing with. So like. I feel like

the most iconic like bad guys would be like Disney

stuff. And so if I did have anything that was

related to that, like I would lean more towards

villains and Disney because they're the cooler

characters, honestly. But I mean, good guys,

obviously, like, I mean, I love Nickelodeon.

So any Nickelodeon characters, I don't feel like

there's tons of like villains, really Nickelodeon.

But so I think I lean more towards good guys.

I would say just kind of depends. Yeah, absolutely.

What is or was your favorite toy vehicle or play

set? Toy vehicle or play set. I mean, we talked

about Hot Wheels and, you know, me and my brothers,

we would always build really cool tracks and

stuff. We'd always put them down like the stairs

in our basement to see how fast they'd get going.

You put a loop down at the bottom. I think actually

I had one of those ones where like they started

on different ends and then they kind of all met

in the middle and you'd see which one would crash.

If you remember that one, like the Hot Wheels

set. They're like the little wheels, you know,

and then they'd spin and then they'd send the

cars to the middle. I remember having that. And

that was an absolute blast. And I'm trying to

think. And there was some Lego sets that I had.

There was one in particular that I remember really

liking. It was like an NBA basketball Lego set.

And what you did was you'd have your guy and

he would be kind of like stationed in the middle

and he'd have some springs on the bottom. And

so you put a little basketball in his hand, you'd

flick him backwards and it would go into the

hoop. And I thought that was awesome. I'd do

that for hours. Like, so I don't know if that's

considered a play set by any means, but those

would be the ones that I feel like I have the

more like fond memories of. Very cool. Very cool.

Yeah. What features define a good toy to you?

How true does the item feel in comparison to

the source material likeness? oh man features

i accessories are a big deal i would say you

gotta you gotta have the fun fine details and

i feel like that's something that they did pretty

good back in the day but i feel like they almost

do it better now like i see figures of things

like i'm trying to think of the specific brand

or whatever it is i want to say it's anyways

i i saw some like i think it was kid robot like

spongebob figures and like the details that they

put into those episodes that i remember watching

as a kid so for me i think you know the most

important things is those just those little things

that help call back to kind of the nostalgic

even if it's like really tiny references and

things i feel like that's the most important

i don't know at least for me yeah absolutely

yeah what does toy packaging have to have to

draw you in so you go into Whichever big box

store, because we can't call them toy stores

because they don't exist anymore. But you go

into the toy section or whatever, you go into

a local comic shop or you go into the mall or

whatever, and you see seven different Funko Pops

or seven different whatevers. And we'll get to

Funko way later in this episode, folks. Trust

me, we always do. But what does the packaging

have to have to draw you in to make you want

to buy that? For example, again, you're a kid,

so your mom or your dad might say, okay, you

only have $11, $12. What does the packaging have

to have for you to be like, this is what I want?

I think for me, I mean, obviously, when you're

collecting action figures and stuff, they can

come in different ways with the different boxes

and the on -card kind of stuff. I think for me,

as far as it being accessible, a lot easier.

Because in my mind, like, I've always collected

things. If I pick something up that's, like,

on card, I'm more inclined not to open it. But

if it's something that's easy to open up in a

box and maybe even put back in, then I feel like

I'd buy that a little bit more. Because, like,

obviously, we're going to get to Funko and everything.

But those are pretty easy to open up, take out.

If you want to display it out of box, that's

great. And so for me, I feel like if it's something

that you want to display out of the box and it's

easy to do so, then I feel like I'm more inclined

to do that. Rather than if the packaging is colorful

and things like that, I don't think to me that

really matters as long as it's related to something

that I really like. But I think the most important

thing to me is if I can access it a lot easier,

if that makes sense. Yeah, and most toy packaging,

once you open it, unless you use like an exacto

knife, you're, you know. pretty much screwed

yeah and i guess it depends on how like you're

looking at something if you're if the the intention

is to collect it or if it's to play with it or

depending on how you want to display it i guess

that's kind of some different factors too but

so this is kind of in the same vein do you open

your toys or do you leave them packaged if you

keep toys packaged do you have a specific criteria

for that so i mean it depends so i do i don't

i don't only collect like funko pops so i have

like some lego sets that i hold on to and some

sports cards and things like that but it just

it just depends on what it is i mean funko pops

i love to display them out of box i take a ton

of different like i do a lot of like really cool

like flat lay like pictures and stuff that i

post on instagram of like different sets and

things when i come up with ideas so It could

be a number of different things, honestly. Yeah,

absolutely. If as a kid or an adult you were

only allowed to choose one toy franchise to collect

from, which one would you choose and why? I mean,

can I be biased and just say Funko because they

have all sorts of different licenses? Yeah, that's

usually what most of the Funko people I get to

come on, that's usually what they're going to

say because, like we've said, they've got everything.

You're like, I don't know. I'm just going to

say, like, NECA or something. I don't know. Just

throw you off. Now, for sure, Funko, there's

just too many licenses that I like, and they're

always making new characters and stuff. But,

yeah, for sure them. As an adult, do you prefer

vintage toys or modern toys? I like a good mixture.

I mean. I like the fact that with newer stuff

that I collect, I mean, they're bringing back

franchises that I enjoyed as a child, but also

things that I enjoy now. So it just depends if

I, if I find something that I think is really

cool, that's old too. Like for me, I've been

trying to get into like, these aren't toys necessarily,

but like retro, like vintage t -shirts of like

things that related to my childhood, whether

that be like cartoons or sports and stuff like

that. And so. Yeah, that's probably what I would

say on that one at least. Yeah. This is, again,

an aside. It's only because you brought up T

-shirts, folks. For years, I still buy every

once in a while, but I was a customer at Ripped

Apparel, rippedapparel .com. These are the guys

that do all the mashups of various designs, and

they have artists that will put Transformers

and Terminator together or something, and they

do these really cool reference. I had, oh, like

20 or 30 or however many of these. So I know

where the whole they weren't. I guess technically

they were retro, even though they were new design.

But it was just is just so fun. So I completely

understand that. Yeah. When you go into your

office or wherever you usually keep your toys,

what is the one toy you gravitate to more than

the rest? So what's the one thing you're going

to always want to play with? oh man okay well

so any of my simpsons stuff i always gravitate

to so i am like i collect i try and collect everything

simpsons that i find so obviously funko pops

uh lego sets what else do i have like other little

like kid robot figures too i really like those

blind box like simpsons mystery figures so anything

simpsons i feel like i'm more uh willing to gravitate

to this isn't really toy related but i bought

one of the simpsons like arcade one -up machines

yeah i saw that video that for me is the easiest

to kind of like turn on and just play uh even

though it's not really a toy necessarily but

it's it's surrounding you know my favorite stuff

that i like and honestly it just brings back

really good memories of me you know playing that

exact same game at like my local like pool they

had that same arcade machine so i mean Not necessarily

a toy, but I would say that that would probably

be the easiest thing for me to gravitate to would

be anything Simpsons. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah,

video games are toys. You play with them. They're

a form of entertainment, and if it entertains

us, then I guess we're playing with it. Oh, yeah.

I played plenty of video games back in the day,

so we'll throw that in the toy category. Things

you play with. There you go. It's funny he says

that, folks. He might be back later this year

over on Studio 2009 because I am just launching

the Gamer Origins 30 Questions All About Video

Games. Oh, man. I would have to be a little bit

more of a staple in the video game community

before I do that. I can just say I'm a fan. I

don't add any more insight to that. But, you

know, we all grew up with it. We all played them.

That's true. Again, the origins are very, you

know, how you grew up with whatever it is. So

toys, video games, comics, cartoons, whatever.

Right. 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, specific character, et cetera.

Oh, dang, that's a tough one. Specifically that

I avoid. Oh, man. dang you're throwing down the

real tough ones i i mean i don't know some of

the stuff that requires like a lot of building

i mean i say that i really like lego but that's

pretty simple building so i don't know i wasn't

really a fan my brothers were really into this

like do you know like the connects yeah like

building stuff like it was fun but i felt like

it was more complicated and stuff and so i think

for me i try and avoid those kind of things maybe

i don't know i wouldn't say that i go out of

my way to like blatantly avoid stuff but maybe

maybe that might be my best thing that i would

i don't know not really want to pick up i guess

yeah absolutely yeah those some of those between

erector sets and connects and oh no that's too

much work i just want to play with the thing

i don't like when we when we did the top 100

we talked about Mousetrap, made it on there somewhere.

I forget which entry, Mousetrap, the board game.

And I'm like, you spend five and a half hours

setting it up and five minutes playing it. How

is that fun? No, it's like pulling teeth. That

is awful. Are there any toys in the past or currently

that you wish you had not bought them? And are

there any toys that you may have sold that you

regret letting them go? Oh, geez, man. I would

say, I mean, dang, I can't think of anything

that I really let go of in my childhood that

I sold, really. I think all that stuff is still

at my parents' house, but I don't think there's

anything that I would regret selling. I think

maybe, I don't know, if we're on the topic of

video games, I do remember like actually selling

a good chunk of like. old gamecube games and

wii games and like some super nintendo stuff

that we had and like some of that i mean during

covid went up in value quite a bit yeah and i

mean honestly like sometimes value doesn't usually

play a big role in some things you know that

you have but like it kind of just stings a little

bit to know that you had something cool that

you liked playing that actually did go up in

value so i would probably say video games if

we can count that yeah absolutely yeah 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

here's the thing. If it took up my whole house,

my wife would absolutely roast me. She would

kill me. So I take up probably the biggest room

in my basement. I have a little bit of an older

house, so it's not huge by any means, but it's

a decent -sized room, and that's where my office

is, where I keep my Funko Pop collection or anything

else that kind of eases its way into my collection

as well. I do have a dedicated room, and anytime

I have anything that's kind of hanging out around

the house, I usually... get told uh what's this

doing here why why is this why is this up here

and i'll be like you're right you're right my

bad yeah that's gonna come up way later folks

oh boy yeah how do you keep track of your collection

oh i mean for me i i mean obviously there's some

apps there's the funko app that you can use you

can use hobby db as well like pop price guide

but as time goes on i feel like i just haven't

really been like scanning things into that And,

like, but I do organize things. So, I mean, I

have my shelves that are dedicated to the things

that I collect. So, you got, like, Simpsons.

I'm actually, like, looking at it right now.

Like, Looney Tunes, like, serial character stuff,

like, classic, like, 90s, early 2000s cartoons.

So, everything's, like, organized in a way. So,

yeah. Yeah, I use both the Funko app and HobbyDB.

I only use the Funko app just... So I can know

how many I have. It isn't really for the values

because as we all know, the Funko app has been

garbage for the last couple of years because

whatever, but, uh, it's impossible to know any

sort of value. Like, yeah, no, I just, yeah,

I just use it as a, this is what I have. This

is how many I have. Yeah. Kind of thing. Yep.

How do you display your toys? So at least for

Pops, I have a couple of different ways that

I really like. So there's a shelf that you can

buy at Walmart that's like a six -tier bookshelf.

It usually gets the job done. It's pretty inexpensive.

I want to say it's only like $50 or something.

So I have a couple of those, and that holds tons

of stuff. I really enjoyed using these. They're

like these Ikea pitcher ledges as well, and those

usually display stuff really good, and those

are cheap too. I have these little display things

that I put on my wall. They're from Vaulted Vinyl,

if you've ever heard of them. And they display

nine pops, basically. And it's a cool way to

kind of display your grails, maybe, and kind

of flex them, quote -unquote flex them, if you

will, if you have some cool stuff. But yeah,

I would say that's probably my main stuff. And

then I just have some built -in shelves that

already kind of existed in some closets and stuff

in this room. So that definitely helps. But those

would probably be my favorite. very cool very

cool so everybody is safe family members spouse

pets everybody's safe but the house is on fire

oh no if you can only keep one toy from your

entire collection what would it be and why oh

no oh geez what's the one toy you would run it

and save you can only pick one okay uh oh my

gosh let's see i mean maybe Maybe the original

Homer pop that I have, because that one's a pretty

expensive one, a hard one to find. I do have

a couple of signed pops that I think are really

cool. I love the movie The Sandlot, and so I

have some pops signed by the cast members. Maybe

it could be those. Oh, dang, dude. Is there a

group that we can save? That's after the ad break.

I mean, if we're going for value, I am holding

on to something that's, like, worth, like, close

to, like, four grand. But it's one that, like,

I've been kind of keeping. Maybe I'd trade it

away. But if, like, I wanted something that's

value that I could just take and then buy stuff

later, maybe I'd just do that. I don't know.

That's a tough one. Yeah, people always get stuck

on that question. All right, folks, we are going

to go to a quick ad break. You're going to hear

some ads and some other stuff, and we'll come

back with the rest of the questions right after

this. Just an old guy talking about old toys.

It's me, Willie, from the Toy Tomb Podcast. I

talk about toys from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s,

few 90s, and some mixtures of other toys in there

as well. If you'd like to hear me talk about

some old toys in podcast form, I'm available

on Apple, Stitcher, iHeartRadio. Just like an

infectious earworm, I'm all over the place. If

you like to see videos on old toys and old retro

games, check out my YouTube channel at ArcadeUSA.

Thanks for listening. Yo Joe! And welcome to

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right, we are back here on ToyCast with Mr. Wasatch

Pop. Question 21 is the flip side of question

20. Here's the Toy Box Challenge. You get one

18x18x18 box. The only toys you can keep have

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

Oh, man. Okay, so when you say 18, is that 18

feet, right? Let's hide width and depth. okay

okay are we talking like big big box are you

talking like yeah basically medium box medium

size box kind of stuff uh man i got i feel like

i gotta throw an assortment stuff in there i

mean obviously i i throw some pops in there for

sure i mean me and my wife we really like building

lego sets together so i i gotta throw a couple

of those in there i i can't say specifically

maybe which one But I don't know. That's a tough

question, too. I would say a good mixture of

Funko Pops, good mixture of Lego. And I'm sure

there's something else in there that I'm forgetting.

But, yeah, that's the first thing that comes

to mind. Absolutely. All right, folks. If you're

not a Funko fan, you better tune out for the

next little while because question 22, are you

a Funko fan? Duh. uh yeah a little bit when did

you first find them and what was it about them

that you liked the the most well so let's kind

of go back i'm trying to think of the first funko

well i think you know what where it all started

is i i found a youtube video and i don't know

if you've ever heard of this guy his name is

p2 vision p2 have you heard of him before no

i haven't So he would go out to like all the

different stores. I mean, obviously he collected

a bunch of stuff, but he went through a Funko

kick at one point. And he'd be going to like

Walgreens and stuff looking for like chases and

things like that. And I was like, oh, that's

pretty cool. And so I kind of did the same thing.

And I'll be completely honest with you. When

I first got into Funko, I was like, oh, some

of this stuff is actually worth a good amount.

So I was like, okay, maybe I can find things

and sell them. But it eventually kind of turned

into me collecting a bunch of stuff as well because

they had so many different things that I liked.

And so it kind of just transformed into that.

So, okay, let's go back. What was the question

again? I feel like I'm just rambling. I just

want to make sure I'm covering my bases. What

was it about Funko that you liked the most kind

of thing? So we know you're a Funko fan. People

have seen your channel. People have seen your

videos. People see you go out on your hunts and

everything else. But when you first found them,

what was it about Funko that you liked the most?

Right. Okay. Alright, okay, we're getting back

on track here. I think, I mean, the simplicity,

I like the way that it was displayed. I think

that's great. You can take it out of the box,

put it back in the box. The fact that there's

maybe some rarity to it as well, like you have

something that maybe not everybody has. and i

i mean the fact that they make characters of

a bunch of different things and they all display

the same way i mean obviously they make different

sizes of funko pops and stuff too so you'll have

different sizes of boxes and figures and things

but for the most part they all you know display

the same and you can have so many different things

of things that you like and they'll able to be

you know all in one spot if that makes sense

so that's kind of what attracted to me at least

funko was just you know the overall displayability

of things and the fact that i could collect pretty

much anything from the things that I liked. Yeah,

absolutely. And folks, if you're listening to

the sound of my voice and you've watched Mason's

channel at all in the last, I don't know, three,

four or five years, however long, how long has

it, have you been on YouTube? Oh man. I think

it started, let's see. I want to say it was 2017,

maybe, maybe even 2018. that's about six years

or so yeah about about six years i mean it's

i've been on and off like that pretty much like

hardcore dedicated making you know a couple videos

every week like off and on you know but yeah

i think i want to say it was sometime in 2017

2018 yeah so crap oh yeah so if you're hearing

the sound of my voice folks you know that this

completing your entire 50 collection challenge

oh yeah i'm glad you asked about that because

people ask me all the time they're like so did

that like stop and no it didn't just things get

in the way and sometimes like i i just get busy

and stuff but my goal is to finish that out in

this month and in february because i'm getting

awfully close i'm probably like 70 of the way

through of all the different 100 pops that i

need yeah it's just and i i honestly could be

making more videos and we probably could have

i probably could have finished that a long time

ago uh it's just i don't know it's just a lot

of other things happen you go to different events

and things you make different types of videos

and you feel like it doesn't really fit into

that But yeah, I'm planning on finishing it and

dedicating a little bit more time to get that

done because I definitely have other ideas that

I want to move on to that are semi sort of related

to that, but it kind of requires that series

to be wrapped up. Yeah, absolutely. 70%. Wow.

Yeah. and there's some hard ones in there too

because i i would prefer to you know find them

in stores yeah that makes a way better video

you know like oh they had this and i've been

looking for it forever and it's finally in front

of me rather than just like going online buying

it on whatnot or ebay like yeah that's just way

boring but it might actually have to do that

i might just make like one massive episode that's

like maybe like an hour long of me just like

finishing things out, finding things to add to

my inventory, making sure I have enough money

to buy stuff. It might just end up being one

massive episode. We'll have to see. What's the

biggest one you have left to get? Oh, shoot.

There's some random categories. Funny enough,

I actually have it on my phone. I was looking

at it earlier today because I have a new video

for the series coming out on Sunday, so I was

making sure my base is covered. I mean, there's

some ones that like, let's see in here. Where

did it go? I don't know. There's some weird ones

that I still need to get, like the pets line,

like pop pets. mm -hmm like in those ones you

just don't see very often like no and like football

is another one and that's a little bit more common

but still i mean it's just finding the right

stuff like the eight bit line is another one

um what else is in here you got like uh south

park apparently south park's its own line of

thoughts and there's like i think there's one

two pack that's worth like 100 bucks and i i

guess i could just buy it outright but like i

mean what fun is that you want to find it in

person right so yeah yeah exactly so it's just

random categories like that it's not like your

mainline stuff because that that was honestly

the easiest because there's tons of 100 pops

in those lines so yeah but i mean like i completed

some pretty hard ones like the other day like

i got one in the halo line because that's its

own line of pops and like ufc was another one

that i completed and that one's pretty hard to

complete too for $100 Pops. But yeah, I mean,

all the easy ones are done. It's just a matter

of, I don't know, just me getting them, I guess.

So I have two of the Pops. I have the German

Shepherd and the Maine Coon Cat. And I don't

know if there are any actual valued $100 Pops

in the Pets line. so and here's the thing i think

well and i look through at one point making sure

that they did have 100 pops i think i went through

like pop price guide maybe yeah i can't remember

but i think now it might have even if changed

and i and that's the point where i'm like do

i just you know scratch them off the list because

i don't have 100 pops in them anymore or do i

still just get the highest one because it was

on the list at one point so now i mean because

the series have been going for a while and prices

fluctuate but yeah i mean for the most part most

of that 100 stuff will stay at around that price

point but yeah like those weird obscure lines

sometimes those things change in price so that

that does bring up the question if if you take

it off the list or if you keep it on i don't

know yeah and it also goes to some of this when

you've gone on some of these hunts from the episodes

that i've seen yeah sometimes you'll oh it's

just over like it it's 105 or it's 95 like you're

still gonna grab it either way because it doesn't

it's still valued at a hundred dollars regardless

of what you end up paying for it kind of thing

like i bought uh from buddies of mine i bought

uh the tricks rabbit the i think it's the flocked

one i don't know yeah that's like a hundred 105

dollar value i think i paid that price which

is fine i don't mind paying that price i'm not

in this to for the value at all really right

so but but yeah no absolutely so yeah it definitely

makes me reconsider maybe how i went about the

series like because i've had a lot of fun with

it but if i were to like maybe go back and like

redo it i'd probably set because to do like collect

instead of $100 pops, I probably do $50 ones.

Yeah. That seems like it would be a little bit

easier because I started with 50 and then I get

$50. I don't know that to me. It was like, it

made a lot more sense, but you know, I can't

really go back now. So, well, it's one of those

things where if you, like you're saying, you

may end up making one long video kind of thing

to complete the series of. of, of the $50 Funko

pop challenge. And you may say in that, I don't

know if you will or not, but you may say in there,

okay, guys, some of these lines, there aren't

$100 valued pops. So if I just want to complete

the line and say, Hey, I have this Funko pop

from this line. I don't see a problem with that.

That's fine. Yeah. You know, so. Exactly. I don't

know. It's a fun series, though, and I felt like

it's a really creative idea, and there's still

tons of things that I can do with it and retweak

it and things like that. So, yeah. Absolutely.

Speaking of money and value and everything else,

what was the most money you spent on a toy? Most

money I spent? Oh, man. That's a good question,

too. I recently, I mean, I wouldn't say that's

a ton, but I mean, completing the Simpsons set

was pretty tough. I mean, some of those figures

can go for like four to like 600 bucks. I bought

a prototype actually recently of a, so do you

know, like the, the meme pointing Spider -Man,

like the two pack? Yeah. So I got one a couple

of years ago at a Funko event. And so throughout

the last couple of years, I've been trying to

complete it to add, you know, the proto. to complete

the two pack set. And I found one. And so that

one costed 400 bucks, which I didn't feel like

was too bad because I got the other one for free

at an event. So I was like, okay, I'm willing

to spend 400. That's not bad at all. So I, I

mean, yeah, I, I wouldn't say that I've spent

like over a thousand dollars on anything, which

I think eventually I will. There's some video

ideas that I have to buy those pretty expensive

ones, so we'll see if that appears later this

year. 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, dude, I've

come across so many different deals, it's insane.

And, I mean, that's part of the $50 challenge

is finding good deals, you know, and being able

to reinvest all those, you know, profits when

you sell things back into things that you want

to buy to complete collections and stuff. But,

oh, man, I think the best deal that I ever came

across, I mean, obviously I've gotten things

at events and things, but if you're familiar,

last year I did come across a LeBron James, like,

150 -piece gold. Yeah. And that was in correlation

with him passing, you know, the all -time scoring

list or whatever. So now he's number one. And

so he had it at a party or whatever. There was

only 150 of them made, which I think there's

probably less than that because they gave them

away in, like, gift bags and stuff. But anyway,

so that party ended up being here in Utah for

the All -Star Game last year. And somebody was

selling it on, like, basically it was, like,

the equivalent of Craigslist. They sold it for,

like, $900. And and that ended up being worth,

I think, like because I was one of the first

people to ever have it, like at least out in

the market and stuff. I think it was worth about

like eight grand at the time. Oh, wow. So, I

mean, 900 is a lot. But when you know it's worth

a lot more than that, like I think you're willing

to, you know, buy that. And then if you want

to sell it, great, which I ended up doing. And

then it funded a lot of other things that I have.

like other trips that I went on for like the

YouTube channel and stuff. But yeah, I would

probably say that was probably the best, best

deal that I've come across. Yeah. The best deal

I've ever come across. It has nothing to do with

value, but just spending the money. I spent $5

on three diet, Dr. Peppers. And then I got little

sweet in the mail like three weeks later or whatever.

That's the best deal right there. Yeah. I totally

forgot about that promotion. That is a good one.

Yeah. I love that. Do you visit toy shows or

conventions? When you visit toy shows or conventions,

do you have a typical methodology? Do you bring

a certain amount of money for what you're searching

for, et cetera? Yeah, so I visited a good handful

of each. I'll usually, like, I've never really

gone to any, well, no, I have gone to a toy show

that was outside of Utah, but. I mean, whenever

I go, I like to see if I can come across things

that are good deals. And the best deals that

I usually find is out -of -box stuff. And that

seems to be the most common thing that I find

at toy shows and things like that. As far as

a budget goes, it just depends on if I'm going

in there for my personal collection. or if I'm

going in there for the video series that we talked

about earlier. It just all depends, because with

that video series, I have a set budget that I

have for that specific video. But conventions,

I would say it's probably free game, because

I'll come across pieces that I feel like I never

see. uh ever or like if i see it in person and

i know it's in good condition and i want it i'm

definitely going to buy it no matter what the

price is it depends but uh that's kind of my

methodology so between those two things i'll

usually lean towards spending more at a convention

though very cool very cool yeah what do you think

it is about our generation that causes our childhood

toys to mean so much more to us than say for

instance our parents generation oh wow great

question i would say for us i mean we grew up

in an age at least for me i grew up in an age

uh you know late 90s early 2000s that there was

technology i think was starting to kind of transform

into what it was today so things were going from

like the internet age was starting to get like

really big you know that kind of stuff and so

i you know i i just i think it's just the way

that we grew up and how information was displayed

for us and we're able to like And now, I mean,

from, I mean, obviously people that are older

from us can like go back and like watch like

old shows and stuff really easily this way. But

I just feel like it's the way that we, we grew

up is just kind of the way that we collect and

we remember things and that kind of stuff. So

I, and maybe it's just, I don't know that that's

kind of the way that I'm thinking about it. Just,

just the way that we can remember things and

the way that we had access to things maybe. Yeah,

absolutely. Oh, man. Well, that would require

Funko to get a certain license that they're probably

never going to get. Sitting here thinking, wait

a minute. I remember watching Captain End the

Game. Oh, damn it. We're never going to get those

pops. What the hell am I thinking? I don't know.

They make all sorts of random stuff. You never

know. They got a lot of licenses. Yeah. They

haven't cracked the... the nintendo license yet

uh that is very true um yeah that would that

would open up another can of worms for me that's

for sure that would yeah because for me all as

i remember is all of the when mario 3 came out

and mario i remember all of the happy male toys

like the mario raccoon the mario cape the yoshi

the this the bowser's all that like i remember

all that stuff oh man What is your motivation

for purchasing toys to display, play, fiddle,

describe your collecting style? Are you a completionist,

storyteller, cherry picker, or otherwise? Ooh,

I would say I'm partially a completionist, and

then maybe that kind of contradicts itself maybe

a little bit. I am 100 % on the Simpsons line,

on the Funko Simpsons line, so I'll give myself

that. So it depends. I would say I'd probably

lean more towards Completionist, because if there's

something that I really like, I definitely want

to get every single Funko Pop from that line.

So I think I'd probably lean more towards that.

Yeah. And again, it's more about the characters

you love, but if you love, like, I'm in the middle

of my goal this year, and I think I've... Have

I scratched enough of that off, maybe? I don't

remember what the highest value Batman the Animated

Series pup is, but I've been trying to complete

that set. Because I love Batman the Animated

Series, Kevin Conroy passed away a few years

ago. That's right. That kind of stuff. That was

my goal by my birthday, which is next month.

Not going to complete that, but I'll switch the

date to the end of the year now that it's a new

year and see if I can. I think I just need the

robot Batman, the regular Batman, Robin, the

Joe. There's a whole list. So, but yeah, I mean,

that's the thing. Like you can be complete on

a certain line if it's the characters in the

show or whatever, like front, but you don't have

to have. 4 000 pops in a you know in somewhere

in canada i don't understand right i don't know

because like there's things that like the different

variants that they make of things and that kind

of does bug me but i think with like i said like

i brought up the simpsons line like they make

enough characters that it doesn't feel repetitive

to me like obviously there's a good amount of

like homer and bartz but it's nothing to the

fact that it's like it's a chrome one or it's

like yeah Like a scented, well, I don't know

how you do scented, but you know what I mean?

Like it's not stupid variants. It's like ones

that are like them as different, you know, things.

Yeah. So it's like, yeah. So it's cool stuff

and it's, it's referential stuff. I'm not as

like, I love the Simpsons. I grew up on the Simpsons

just like you did, but I'm not out to collect

all of the Simpsons, but I will, like I have

Bart man, I have Raven Bart. Yeah, from Treehouse

of Horror. Yeah, Treehouse of Horror. I have

– I think I have a Homer. I forget which Homer

I have. Oh, a couple of years ago. I don't know

if I sold it or not, but I had Ape Homer and

Marge Panther from Treehouse of Horror. It's

those – again, specific – or characters that

were never – I'm sure whichever company had the

– Simpsons license years ago I forget if it was

Bandai or Playmates or whoever the hell was the

original whatever I'm sure there was a Chief

Quimby action figures but like you think of the

character like Kang and Kodos I don't remember

if there was specific action figures of the aliens

ever so you know you get that too but you know

again it's choice of character in something that

you may not ever get in any other form and that's

what is so great about Funko Yeah, exactly. And

I'm actually looking at some of my collection

right now. And there's one that I, I'm thinking

of that I love Looney Tunes and they have a bunch

of really cool Looney Tunes pops, but there's

some of them that they've been making lately

that are just, I don't know why they're making

them. Like, so they have different like Looney

Tunes characters from like other WB licenses.

So it'll be like Bugs Bunny is like Harry Potter

or like Fred from Scooby -Doo. And I'm like,

this is so dumb. Why are we, I was like, I don't

need this. Like it's. and i and as much as i

love looney tunes that's an example of stuff

that i feel like is unnecessary because it's

something that really didn't exist and maybe

yeah it did in some form and i'm just not aware

but like i i don't know i just don't feel like

it's it's a necessary thing yeah no i don't i

i agree with you 100 i do not like the like okay

if you're gonna do like a space jam, new legacy

crossover where bugs is Batman and whatever is,

well, okay, fine. I get it because Batman and

Warner brothers and blah, blah, blah. Fine. But

like, I don't need bugs. Bunny is here. Like

I want King bugs or I want, I want something

from the cartoons that I watched as a kid, like

the, the bugs and hide to pack or whatever, you

know, all that stuff. Like, like I think, do

I, I don't know if I have Shaggy or not. I think

I have all the dogs I need for Scooby -Doo. I

only really needed one regular version of Scooby,

and I think I have him with his Scooby Snacks.

And then I just recently got the flocked box

lunch purple version of Scooby because purple

is my color. It's kind of my thing. Well, you

got that one for me. That's right. Yeah. That's

right. I was like, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

That's right. Thank you. And I have Scrappy because

Scrappy was a gift from somebody a couple of

years ago. And like, do I want Fred Velma and

all them? Yeah, sure. Eventually one of these

days, but it's not like super high on my list.

I want Funko to make more Transformers pops than

anything else and not hide them behind the stupid

NFT wall. Ooh, yeah. They have some great ones.

It's unfortunate that they're NFTs, though. They're

a little harder to get that way. I mean, I get

it. Now that they're out, you could go on the

secondary market and pay whatever the prices

are, whatever. But just the whole thing. I'm

the type of person, I'm saying this for you,

the audience knows this by now after X number

of years this show's been on the air. If I want

something, I want to be able to go and get it.

end of story like i don't want to gamble on toy

collecting i don't want a potentiality of getting

like if i'm gonna spend the money especially

uh like with your 50 like let's say you do a

100 challenge where you're trying to get a 500

funko pop or something i don't know whatever

but the point is i'm not gonna sit here and put

down a hundred dollars on the potentiality of

getting something i want i'm gonna go out and

spend that hundred dollars on the thing i want

so i can get it yeah it's it is annoying that

it's kind of locked behind that if it's like

taking a chance it's almost gambling you know

oh no it is like gambling if you think about

it yeah 100 i don't know there there could be

ways and i think from funko standpoint i don't

know how much more money they're making that

way like i would imagine I mean, it's probably

more because they're not having to produce a

ton of stuff and overproduce. So, I mean, from

a business standpoint, for them, that makes sense.

But as far as a consumer standpoint and your

overall happiness of collecting it, yeah, it

definitely kind of leaves a sour taste in your

mouth for sure. Yeah. Do you do any toy modifications

or customs? Painting, building, building dioramas,

etc.? You know, I haven't really done any custom

stuff myself. There's a lot more way talented

people out there than me that do that kind of

stuff. Something that I really like that I am

not great at, but people are really good at creating

like custom Funkos like digitally and stuff like

they do some really cool concepts. And I think

that's something that I would love to get maybe

more into. But I just don't think I'm talented

enough in that regard to do it. So I'll leave

the customization to other people, but I do,

100%, I do appreciate the art of it. Absolutely.

Do you think toy companies should specifically

have adult collector toys, child toys, or find

a way to mix both? I mean, honestly, it can be

interpreted as whatever. Because, I mean, you

look at Funko, I would probably say it's probably

leaned more towards adults. but then again kids

can collect it too so i feel like we're in a

day and age now that like companies will just

make things that are geared towards everyone

obviously i mean you'll go into walmart and you'll

see like the you know younger kids like toy section

and stuff and that obviously is more dedicated

to that but there still could be some collectability

aspect into those kind of things too so but i

i would say for the most part that most things

nowadays are you know it kind of crosses both

different paths of adults or kids. I honestly

don't think there's really one fine thing that

just says, hey, this is made for whoever. I mean,

I guess it depends on what the license is. A

kid probably doesn't know much. You were mentioning

Alf earlier. A kid probably doesn't know much

about Alf, so that would be more towards adults.

But you get what I'm saying. Yeah, or more of

the... The adult, like some of the movie's lines,

like Godfather Pops, no child is going to, or

White Men Can't Jump, no child is going to want

Sidney or whatever his name is. Like, no, they

want superheroes, they want SpongeBob, they want

turtles, they want whatever kind of thing. Exactly,

yeah. Do you have a My Parents Got Rid of My

Toys story? Oh. I don't think so. Cause I mean,

when I was growing up, I'd always like, I don't

know if I was borderline, like a hoarder is a

kid, like collecting things, but they knew if

they messed with my stuff that it was, it would

not end well. So I don't think I have anything

that I can think of that they would throw away

stuff because, oh boy, I would, I would get super

mad if that's the case. I, yeah, I don't think

I have a good story, but yeah, they knew that

that was kind of like my, my avenue of. you know

having fun so they they probably they would never

really touch any of that stuff even if they found

something today that they were like oh they'd

probably ask about it obviously they wouldn't

just like throw it away straight up because and

especially now because they know that i do a

lot of stuff with like youtube that involves

collecting they 100 wouldn't do it now either

yeah no yeah absolutely do you feel you are coming

to an end of your active collecting if so what

has signified this phase for you was there ever

a moment when you were done with toys all together

and have you ever considered stopping as a collector

or even selling the whole collection oh man i

i don't think there'll ever be a point where

i don't stop collecting It will always be, you

know, there will always be high and low points

where I collect more than I do less of things.

But I don't think I've ever thought about selling,

like, my whole collection. I mean, at some points

I think I saw some, like, old stuff, like I was

telling you earlier, that, like, I had some old

video games that I sold. Yeah. And I did kind

of regret doing that. But, yeah, I don't think,

I don't know. It honestly ebbs and flows. And

I don't think I'll ever stop collecting. It may

be something different in the future. But for

right now, I don't see myself ever stopping.

Will I be like I was like years ago buying tons

of stuff? Probably not. I'm more I'm more picky

on the stuff that I like now. I don't buy a ton

of new stuff. But so, yeah. Yeah, I look at all

the current like and. commons versus exclusives

i i don't really as long as i like the character

if it's a store exclusive fine whatever like

that doesn't really bother me at all like there

are perfectly fine common funko pops that are

you know they don't need 17 stickers on the box

right you know what i mean like i'm trying to

think of one that um I'm looking around my office

as well. Do I have a good one of some current

ones? I bought all the Muppets Christmas Carol

ones. Those are kind of cool. I still like those.

I need to get those and I need to get the Rudolph

set. I haven't got that yet. Again, this isn't

exactly a character that I'm super whatever on,

but you take the, again, White Men Can't Jump,

Billy Hoyle. Woody Harrelson's character, it's

him holding the basketball with his hand out,

and it's just the character from the movie. Okay,

that's a common pop. There's nothing wrong with

that pop. There's nothing wrong, like, if you

love the movie, then you're going to want the

collectible kind of thing. So I've never understood

why people, some people out there in the Funko

community are like, ew, common pops, those are...

bad like no they're not bad like god some people

i don't get it dude i just don't get it you'll

find it you'll find that in every you know different

community you'll find you'll find some head scratchy

people you know that you're just like all right

i don't understand but to each their own you

can collect however you want but yeah i get what

you're saying what is something that does not

have a toy of it you'd love to see in toy form

Oh, that's a good question. I mean, if we're

on the topic of Funko Pops, which that's probably

where we're at right now, I would have to say,

I mean, I would love some more SpongeBob Pops.

That would be great. There's some characters

that I think would make some really cool pops.

I don't know how familiar you are with SpongeBob,

but like the Flying Dutchman. Like, I think that

would make a really cool one. Like a glow -in

-the -dark pop would be awesome. I mean, there's

some like more Futurama characters that I would

love to see. as pops more simpsons characters

obviously and bob's burgers i love bob's burgers

too so i'd love to see some more bob's burgers

pops so it'd probably be those i mean specific

characters i'm trying to think like i'll poo

would be cool from the simpsons i know that there's

some controversy behind that that they you know

he's not on the show anymore and things but yeah

uh that would be a cool pop to get i mean i i

don't know it would there's there's kind of generally

like just those things that i would like to see

more pops of Yeah, absolutely. What is a toy

you'd love to have scaled up and functional for

the real world? Ooh, I mean, they're already

making gigantic Funko Pops. But then again, I'm

like, do I really want something that it's that

big? You know, like a life -size thing? Like,

they have the big displays that are at, like,

conventions or in front of, like, or inside of,

like, the headquarter stores and things. But

I mean... For me, I just like them the way they

are. I don't know if I'd really wanted to get

something that's that big. But I think it would

be cool. I mean, if you got like a gigantic one,

like maybe just like one of the Simpsons ones

would be fun. But as far as like for me that

I'm thinking from a collecting standpoint, I

don't think I'd want something that's that big.

So I've got an idea for a life -size pop moment

now. I don't know if this will ever happen because

it's a crossover that's... Well, no, Disney owns

it all, so it probably could happen. Okay. Tony

Stark Iron Man with the helmet off, inside Lard

Lad's donut with Nick Fury standing just outside

of the, just at the bottom of where the store

is. So it would be Lard Lad with Tony inside

the donut and then Nick Fury next to it. Okay.

That's perfect. Okay. I didn't even think of

that. That would be a good one. Now you got me

reconsidering my former statement there. Oh,

man. I don't know. That would be an epic one.

That would be cool. That would be very cool.

Yeah. All right, folks. Question 37 in a row.

How has your wife dealt with your collection?

You know what? I think she's embraced it. Cause

there's been a lot of cool things that I've been

able to do with this YouTube channel. And I think

that she's a, and I try and involve her as much

as I can. She's not in a ton of videos, but for

the things that we're able to go to and some

of the people that we're able to meet, like,

I think that she embraces that. I think she likes

the fact she loves opening like mystery boxes

and things. So whenever there's, like, mystery

aspect of things that I get, whether it's things

that I buy or things that are sent to me, she

really loves that. So, I mean, 100%, she supports

it. She kind of sees, you know, how my – well,

more from a collecting standpoint, like, she

thinks it's cool. But the fact that I'm able

to make it a business, too, I think that makes

more sense to her. Yeah. And I don't know. Yeah,

absolutely. Yeah. toy collecting can have its

struggles what is one aspect you tend to struggle

with the most oh you probably get this all the

time but it's space yeah yeah oh 100 space and

i i even like i said earlier that i have like

a pretty decent sized room down in my basement

but Still then, I'm like, oh, geez, this is,

we're running out of space. Can I get another

room? Can we extend a little bit? But then you're

like, do I need to do this stuff? Can we build

out the basement? Can we, like, you know, take

three feet of the neighbor's yard, please? Or

ten feet or whatever? Can I take over another

room? Like, is that okay? And she'll probably

be like, no, no thanks. My problem with, yeah,

you're absolutely right, space. And I only have

just... over or under 300 pops, and I don't even

think I have them all here. I think there's some

in storage, but I started doing this thing that

no one else has done, and everyone says that

I'm a lunatic for doing. I have my collection

sorted by the year the thing happened. Okay.

So it starts with Abraham Lincoln, who was born

in whatever year he was born in. He became president.

I think he was born in 1809. He became president

in 1860. Oh, you're literally like. Uh -huh.

Yeah. Okay. I thought you meant like early. Oh.

No, no. Never heard of that before. Yeah. So

when we get to the 80s and 90s, so Masters of

the Universe was 83. Transformers was 84. New

Kids on the Block was 84. Shiro was 85. Blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah. Get to the 90s, Batman

the Animated Series was 92, Boy Meets World was

93. So I've been doing it by year by whatever

the property was that it debuted or whenever

the – like, again, some of the historical characters

and some of the real -life people, it's like

you have to look at when they were born to figure

that out because that just makes the most sense.

Some people are crazy. Abe Lincoln, what would

be the oldest, though? Our collections aside,

what would be the oldest pop? I'm trying to even

think. I don't even know. Do we got a Jesus pop

in there? We could throw Jesus in there. I don't

know. If you want to get biblical. He'd be old.

I don't even know. But yeah, Abe, that's cool.

That definitely takes a lot of dedication, though.

I talk to you. A lot of dedication and a spreadsheet

a mile long because I have to make sure that

I have – you talk about scanning things into

– oh, man, if I had an app that I could do it

by the way I wanted – if I could build my own

personal phone call app to do it just the way

I'm – like, oh, God, did I write this down? Did

I not write this down? Like, oh, crap. And then

I don't have enough space. And like I said, I

just have under or over 300. Honestly, at some

point, I'm going to half the collection because

I don't need... I live in a one -bedroom apartment,

so it's like... They kind of take over the whole

place. You definitely have to pick and choose

the things that you like. 100%, I want this.

I don't really care about this other stuff. I

think everybody comes to that point, though.

Yeah, absolutely. What is one positive and one

negative memory you have with buying toys? oh

oh man there's i mean it's easier to remember

negative stuff that's for sure uh you know i

mean i felt like in the earlier days i actually

saw more negative stuff within funko like i felt

like releases and things stores were a lot crazier

like showing up to hot topic if you wanted something

and there was like a chase variant of it i felt

like there used to be tons more people and like

just the method of ways that people were trying

to like sneak into malls and things like that

to me is like the most negative thing i'm just

like well i guess you outsmarted me in a way

to like get to something but like that just seems

like it's overkill you know yeah and i can't

think of like a specific story but like there

were so many instances where stuff like that

happened somebody get kicked out somebody would

yell maybe a little shoving in intentionally

happen i don't even know what was the the guy

at target with Twinkie the frigging kid. Like,

really? You're going to get into a fight over

Twinkie the kid pop? Really? I forgot about that.

Like, really? And that thing is probably, like,

if you look at it from a value standpoint, it's

only worth maybe, like, $35 now or something.

I remember it wasn't really, it was more of a

rat race than anything else, but they announced,

I think it was the flocked bullseye at Target.

I showed up like 20 minutes before the store

opened. Yeah. And apparently I should have showed

up 30 minutes before the store opened because

there were at least six. I'm like, we're all

here to get the bullseye, right? And they're

like, yep. I'm like, crap, there's probably only

going to be six of these things. So I'm not one

of those types of people that I'm going to bulldoze

and push people out. It's not me. I'm not going

to do that. Uh, but I was first one in, I was

first one back there and I got one. Hey, I just

went paid for it. And that was that. But I, I

remember when I got there, I was like, Oh crap.

There's six other people here. Are you kidding

me? but you know it's it's bullseye yeah it's

true i mean like if you're if you're there first

like i don't have a problem with that it's just

it's just the ways of like finding yeah it's

the way you go yeah i don't know it's yeah that's

not no don't do that that's no let's let's no

no but i think like some of my more like if we're

going back to like the good side because i feel

like we got to bring up the good stuff oh yeah

some of the events that i've been to like different

funko events i think that would probably be like

the highest point of you know collecting and

just you know when when i've been a part of you

know collecting funko pops and stuff like some

of those events are just so fun and i think that

if you're no matter like how big of a collector

you are you got to experience one of those events

i think they're just really fun yeah and that's

probably been the the highlight at least for

me like i went to they were celebrating i think

it was the hq five -year anniversary over in

seattle and like that event was awesome and there

wasn't like a ton of people there really or anything

And, like, I had so much fun. So, I don't know.

And it could even be, like, a local collecting

event, too. Like, if there's a pop swap or something,

like, it doesn't even have to be, like, something

that you have to travel super far for. Like,

you just do your research, and those are some

of the fun, like, the most fun experiences that

I've had. Didn't you go to Fun Days last year?

I did go to Fun Days, yeah. Yeah. And a lot of

people are saying they're, like, yeah, you, like.

Somebody gave you tickets. No, I actually, I

bought tickets. Yeah. Like, yeah. And that's

another, that's, that's maybe another like sour

part to that, but that experience like had a

good part to it. And there's bad people. Cause

like, they just, you know, call you out and stuff

like that. But like, no fun days was, was fun

too. I thought it was great. Yeah. I, that's

what I don't understand about the more so the

Funko YouTube community than anything else. Just

because, like, let's say you put out a video

or somebody puts out a video about, let's say,

fun days as an example. And you specifically

say in the video, I got or I bought tickets to

fun. Like, most people will say in advance, hey,

look, I was given these or I was this or I was

gifted these or whatever. Like, nobody's hiding

under the couch whether they. were sponsored

to go out there or whatever which most of the

youtube people were not which is fine because

you know it is what it is but like some of these

people on youtube are like oh my god you got

that because you're in bed with like no we're

not in bed with the company leave us alone like

we bought it just like everybody else could buy

it No, I mean, and I've actually worked with

Funko on a couple of different things. So I'll

be transparent about that. And it's not, but

it's not everything. I mean, there's some things

that you get yourself and you make videos about

yourself. But yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I'll be

fully transparent. I've done stuff with them

before, but yeah. So since you have done stuff

with them before, if you could create any toy

from any company, what would you want to create?

So basically, Funko gives you the keys to the

kingdom. No budget is too high. What would you

do? You know, if I'm a man of the people, I'd

release Nintendo Pops for everybody. I'd open

the floodgates. I'd say, you want a Mario Pop?

Perfect. You want one of Bowser? Go right ahead.

Here we go. I feel like that's probably the number

one that would go absolutely bonkers. People

would love it. If they got that license, it would

be a license for them to print money. I don't

think all hope is lost on that. I feel like maybe

someday we'll see something. I just can't imagine

that it would never happen. It's probably some

sort of financial deal that... I don't know which

side wants more. Well, obviously, you know, if

you're fun, money, but I mean, like there's,

there's gotta be some compromise that's going

on and whether Nintendo could be stingy too.

Like, cause they're, I mean, their license is

pretty hard to, you know, they, they don't like

to go into other things. That's not their own,

you know, they're, they're pretty, they're pretty

tight knit on that kind of stuff. So I, I just

feel like it'll, it'll eventually happen. It

might not be the way that we expect, but we'll

see. Yeah, we'll see. And like you were saying

earlier about some of these concept artists,

oh, man. Some of the Nintendo concepts I've seen

for Pops, I'm like, Unkoe, Nintendo, just do

it already, please. Just come to an agreement.

I mean, you guys are both going to make money.

Let's just, and I, and I get like Amiibo is a

big thing and maybe that's why they're, they

don't want to do that. And, but I don't think

that would like detract from like Amiibo collecting.

Cause there's some utility to that where you

can actually use Amiibos for like games and stuff.

So that's what I was thinking. The Amiibos are

to use with whatever game that's included that.

Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know. It would just be

super cool if it ever happened. True. What is

the one piece of advice you would give the toy

collecting fandom in general? Well, it depends.

There's a lot of different ways that you can

look at collecting. People can collect for whatever

reason they want. I'm not going to judge anybody

to say that they collect for value or collect

for sentimental. Like I said, you could... Go

about it however you want. Obviously, it's really

important to set a budget on things. Don't go

into debt collecting. If you want to collect

something and you can only get one certain thing

at a time, definitely do it that way. Just be

smart about it. Have fun with it. Don't let it

be stressful, whatever you collect. That'd probably

be the best advice that I could give. Just have

fun with it. Absolutely. All right, folks, that's

going to do it. We're going to go to one more

ad break, and we'll come back to close the show

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Yeah. Hey guys, this is me. and I just wanted

to hop in here and tell you about my YouTube

channel, Wasage Pop. Essentially, it's dedicated

to everything pop culture and collectibles, but

I like to really focus on Funko Pops and obviously

the other things that I enjoy and collect. But

I like to go out on hunts to different stores

to see if I can track down the things that I

am looking for. And I also like to do a little

bit of twist where I go to like thrift stores,

garage sales, try to find things, you know, to

fund my collection in order to not spend a ton

of money. I also go to different events, stores,

conventions, and if that's something that interests

you, definitely. Be sure to subscribe and I hope

to see you over on the channel. Meet public.

All right, folks, we are back here on toy cast

and toy cast is back here in 2024. Mason, Mr.

Wasatch pop something. I did not ask you yet.

Where did the name come from? Okay. So people

ask me all the time. They're like, how do you,

some people don't even know how to say it, but

yeah, Wasatch. uh wasatch comes from so i'm from

utah there's a lot of mountains here in utah

and so the wasatch mountain range is the biggest

one like it's literally like in my backyard i

can like see it right there and so i figured

you know kind of give some utah ties to my name

so wasatch comes from that and then pop obviously

it could be pop culture or even funko pops if

you will so kind of combine those two things

if i if i were to go back i'd probably maybe

retool my name a little bit maybe something that's

easier to say but You know, I guess it's unique

enough that somebody remembers it, but yeah,

that's kind of the origin of it though. Awesome.

Very cool. Yeah. I mean, you can always name

it after the basketball. No, you don't want to

do that. Jazz pop. All right. So tell everybody

about your lovely YouTube channel, sir. So the

channel Wasatch Pop, it's all about collecting.

I like to focus a lot on Funko because it just

encapsulates so many different things that I

enjoy from cartoons, video games, pop culture,

you name it. Funko makes a lot of different stuff.

I like to go out and... hunt down things, looking

for things to add to my collection. I also like

to show that you can, you know, fund your own

collection by finding good deals and things.

So that's a big part of the channel is going

out to, you know, like thrift stores, garage

sales, other things like that. So I like to add

my own little twist in that way. And then, I

mean, that would pretty much essentially be it

is just a lot of collecting that kind of stuff

and just fun videos. The things that I like to

collect, the things that I like to make videos

about. Absolutely, absolutely. You can check

out his channel. The link will be in the show

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. As

I said a second ago, 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 check us out on

all the podcatching clients like Spotify and

Apple and all that stuff. We're on all of the

social media platforms, I think. ToyCast is specifically

on Facebook and Twitter. TwitterX is at TFToyCast,

and I think Facebook is just ToyCast. All those

links are in the show notes, as always. Next

time on ToyCast, I don't know. It's probably

going to be another Origins episode. I'm not

sure. I did want to do... with my buddy josh

who helped me bring the show back uh three years

ago has it been three wow 2021 was three years

ago holy crap uh yeah i know right i feel old

uh i wanted to do the what oh what was it called

Because he likes the neon 90s. That's what it

is, because he's big into neon toys and neon

was big in the 90s toys and stuff like that.

So we may be doing one of those. I don't know.

But ToyCast will be back this year. For now,

I am TFG1 Mike with Wasatch Pop. Join us next

time. We'll be talking more toys here on ToyCast.