Origins of Alex Dunn on Transformers Fandom

Hey, this is Josh Keaton and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Stan Bush here

and you're listening to the latest episode of

All Things Transformers. This is Optimus Prime

and you're listening to All Things Transformers.

Hello and welcome to an all -new generation of

all things Transformers as we get the origins

of many and all TF fans that we can. I'm of course

TFU and Mike and joining me this time around

is Transformers super fan podcast listener Mr.

Alex Dunn. Hello sir, how are you? Oh, not too

well, how are you Mike? Pretty good, pretty good.

And as always, for the All Things Transformers

origins questions, we got 30 questions all about

Transformers. Did you grow up with Transformers

and at what age do you remember first noticing

the franchise? I think I remember them when I

was pretty young. I think really I remember GoBots

first because that's the toys maybe that I saw

first that some of my cousins had. Right. I think

maybe the first Transformers I remember was a

friend's older brother had Croc something and

wolf wire from Like head masters. Oh wow G1 Yeah,

I think that was the first ones I really ever

saw Yeah, they were just in a bin of toys in

general. So Oh, here's an alligator. It turns

into most of a robot because he doesn't have

a head because the head got lost, right? Yeah,

I know I wanted him when I was a kid when I started

to figure out what they were but By that point

it was kind of late g1 and really didn't get

into him. It was Later on where I want to start

a bon -bon toys almost as an adult. Yeah Kind

of went a little overboard Yep, absolutely. What

Transformers generation is your generation and

why? Like I said, I didn't really have or have

much experience with G1 necessarily. And I kind

of skipped over Beast Wars because I was always

into cars and trucks and that sort of thing growing

up. So the animals and fusors were just kind

of a little weird for me. Probably, probably

not until like RID 2001 and universe. When I

started seeing, you know, cars and trucks on

the shelves again, and they looked realistic,

like, you know, vehicles you could play with

that also transformed. And it was probably. It

was really, I think, alternators that got me

a lot more interested, because they looked like

the 1 -18 scale vehicles or 1 -24 that I would

play with and collect. But they were robots,

and then the transformations were very interesting.

Yeah, and then you got the alternative line,

which is the, like you're saying, the 1 scale.

Transformers but the the alternative line was

like Specific ones. I think if I'm remembering

correctly, yeah alternative They went a little

smaller down to a 1 32nd scale. Okay, it was

really only like two molds Right This weird supercar

that they used for the seekers. Yep. I remember

that one Nissan GTRs that they used for Megatron

and Optimus and I think a StarSaver version and

a Fort Max Japanese continuity version. Yeah,

I figured those out a little bit later. We'll

just scour the internet for more information

on transformer toys and stuff. Yeah, yeah never

something I saw in person states on until Later

on so other generations of transformers. Do you

like pretty much everything? I've I've got a

little bit of every generation and a little bit

of every Every series that's come out in the

last 20 years and then I went back and I've bought

more into Beast Machines and Machine Wars and

Beast Wars and I've went back to collect some

G2 and G1 and I've got pretty much all of the

retail release stuff since Power of the Primes.

Oh wow. And I'm filling in some holes with Titans

Return and Combiner Wars and then going back

a little further to Thrilling 30 and That sort

of thing. I'm not I don't have as much on the

the movie side Mm -hmm. Some of that stuff was

just absurd So the debate former stuff it just

yeah, it just looks absurd and it does a fair

amount of it just not Not enough. Yeah, just

not not as much you get more of everything else.

Not as much as the movie stuff. Yeah There was

only and I had it for a while I've since obviously

sold it but it's been years but out of all the

babe movie stuff the only one I really wanted

was Ravage and I had him and the only reason

why I wanted him was because his little eye thing

was he was black and gray and the eye thing was

purple that was it those are my colors so you

know but that was pretty much the only movie

toy I bought back in the day because I didn't

care I don't want The outsides of the robots

are the insides of the robots on the outside.

Thank you. Oh, yeah Yeah, you know most of the

megatrons At least the the important ones and

yeah, it just looks like they're turned inside

out. It's not uh Not the cars and trucks that

i'm so fond of Yeah So speaking of the bavers

Are you? Like Lo, or are you indifferent to it?

I think the first couple movies, the first three

were decent. Last night, Age of Extinction, they

jumped the cyber shark. Yeah. And then Bumblebee,

Rise of the Bees, they came back around. Bumblebee,

I think... It had story rise of the beast There

was a lot of fan service and rise of the beast

there really was yeah, there was there was enough

story to make it at least interesting yeah, I

Respect the fact that the 2007 movie came out

and it was able to reignite interests in the

franchise Because without you know that interest

You already saw where G2 went downhill. It had

reinvigorated with Beast Wars and really changed

it up. And it was probably a similar point where

they needed to do something to really bump it

up because 2007 you were coming up into the Marvel

Cinematic Universe. They were going to get lost.

Oh yeah. get something to cause people to be

interested. And, you know, every person's starting

point is different. You know, people whose starting

point was the 2007 movie and, you know, that's

what they're most fond of. If they're still pouring

energy into the brand and it keeps going, then

that's good. Yep. Absolutely, absolutely. Who

is your end -all -be -all favorite character

from any Transformers incarnation? You can pick

one Decepticon, one Autobot, one Maximal, one

Predacon. Obvious choice usually is Optimus Prom.

I've got the most figures for him, but they've

made the most figures of him, so it's kind of

easy. But just, I mean, every kid loves semi

-trucks. You make a toy out of a semi truck.

Yeah, I'm pretty much sold. So Yeah, I gotta

go with prom mostly for g1. I don't know. I i've

liked a lot of Thunder cracker toys. I just like

color blue. It's really my favorite I wish optimus

was blue instead of red, but you know, it is

what it is He was blue in that one animation

error in that one episode. I forget which episode

it was there's an episode of g1 or the There

was an animation error where he they were lasered

like They were be chained up or whatever. And

I have a picture of it somewhere and I'll send

it to you so you can use that as a profile picture

if you want. I have Beast Wars. Maybe Rhinox.

I don't know. Just kind of the mostly laid back,

but not to be messed with, I guess. Yeah, you

don't want to mess with that chain gun of doom

I kind of like black arachnia and a lot of the

portrayals of her because She's not purely evil.

She's smart. You know mostly does what she needs

to survive no matter what side it is Yep Absolutely,

are there any transformers characters you hate

just can't stand them don't want to deal with

them Get them the hell out of here. I'm kind

of sick of bumblebee I Get it, you know kid appeal

character it was is the one to you know, bring

that age group into the franchise again but Just

too too much yellow stuff I Mean I like the buzz

with the bumblebee line and some of the stuff

that has come through that has nothing to do

with bumblebee most of Tom anymore Oh, but yeah,

just so much yellow. I think lately they've just

called it the buzzworthy line. I think they dropped

the Bumblebee part. I could be wrong, but I know

at first it was buzzworthy Bumblebee, but now

I think it's just buzzworthy. I don't know, but

like, yeah, like what I'm tired of with Bumblebee

is number one, thank God they stopped doing the

bee -bee -bee -bee -boo -bye -bee. radio be oh

yeah thank god they stopped doing that but like

come on can you get the man to come back one

more time i'm more than fine with any other voice

actor that's done bumblebee and any of the other

things but we're coming up on the 40th anniversary

next year and the only thing i think dan gilvazan

has reprised the role in is the upcoming i don't

think it's released yet and I don't think half

of the people I know will ever even get it, but

the Robosen Bumblebee that's either coming out

or is out or I forget what it, but I saw the

video for the Robosen B and I'm like, they got

the right, they got the person, they got the

guy, they did the thing. So I think that's the

only thing that he's really reprised the voice

in, in forever. Yeah. Bye. It's just the live

-action movies though where he's not talking.

I mean, yeah the early episodes of cyber verse

His voice was gone, but they brought it back.

They use as a plot point not yeah a Joke the

entire length of the franchise. That's because

the animation knows how to tell a story. I don't

like the movies Yeah, earth spark. The voice

acting is pretty good Yeah, it is. I'm just saying,

like, I just wish that he could get, like, one

more whatever. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, maybe

some flashbacks in the next live -action movie

or... I don't know if there's a point where they

can do... Maybe do, like, a time travel in Earthspark

where it's Bumblebee in the future and... his

voice has aged or something at that would be

cool that would be kind of cool not that we want

to encourage any more time jumping because that's

almost a cliche at this point yeah over your

lifetime as you got older did your interest in

the transformers franchise grow stronger or get

weaker oh it's definitely gotten stronger just

you know collecting more more stuff Getting more

and more into other aspects besides just the

toy collecting I kind of went all in on the 2019

reboot for the IDW comics, uh -huh Like I decided

to get the the volumes I Didn't read past the

first one Ended up buying them all but I didn't

read them But I did start with void rivals. I'm

trying to keep up on that. So I'm trying to read

the stories and get some of the background just

to be more interested. I still love the toys.

I just like to physically mess with them and

kind of have them on the shelves where you can

see the different colors and shapes and versions.

And that's the part I enjoy about it is just

being able to physically mess with it. Yeah,

that's cool. That's cool. Was there ever a moment

in your life when you were just completely done

with all of the transformer stuff? No, not really.

There's points where I maybe wasn't as interested

in the main lines coming out, but over the last

eight years I've been more interested in what's

coming out, at least most of it. Occasionally

there's some stuff and yeah, it's kind of dumb,

but yeah, absolutely. So with the internet and

All the fans having a voice about what they like

or don't like about Transformers Do you find

your voice gets lost in the shuffle or do you

just shout louder? honestly, I really don't care

if anybody knows what my opinion is most the

time like if there's other YouTube reviewers

that that I know a little bit or something I

might comment on something they post on their

on their social media or something you might

post or I retort to somebody on Twitter occasionally,

but I really don't worry about what my opinion

is and who knows it. And, you know, honestly,

my opinion is if I like something, I'm going

to buy it. And if I like it enough, maybe I'll

buy the repaint and the whatever. Because at

the end of the day, I think the The group doing

Transformers right now at Hasbro, they do listen

for the most part to what's being said and what's

out there. But also they report to somebody who's

looking at the purse strings. And I think that's

where a lot of this matters. If you really don't

like what Hasbro is doing with the franchise,

don't financially support it. It is what it is.

Absolutely. By what they're putting out, even

if it's not the absolute perfect version of something.

If you show support for the good products, it's

going to get better. Yeah, the team over there

now is between. Ben on marketing and Evan and

Mark on design and all that and everybody else,

man. They've given us more in the last, I don't

know, four, five, six years than we've ever really

had when it comes to this stuff. And there's

a clear line of sight of what they want to do.

And it's not just, it's not just fan service,

but also there is fan service. Cause they have

to cater to so many things now and they have

to cater to us. They have to cater to the new

fans. They have to cater to kids. They have to

whatever. And it's like, for what they're doing

and what they've got to do, they're doing a great

job about it with it. Oh yeah. I've worked in

various manufacturing for 20 years. I get their

limits on what they can produce because of the

costs and You've got to convince somebody else

that it's a good idea who may not care about

the brand at all. So you have to show them dollars

and cents why this works and show research of

what's going to sell, what's not going to sell,

because they know they put out an optimus, it's

going to sell. They put out a bumblebee, it's

going to sell. That you're going to get those

characters new versions once or twice a year.

There is no reason to complain about that. It's

just going to happen. Yep. But yeah, like you

said, Mark and Evan and BMAC, they're rolling

out these deep cut characters. Yeah. Variations

that you wouldn't expect. And, you know, yeah,

they used a cyclonus mold to turn it into Metal

Hawk. Yeah. And maybe it's not 100 % the Metal

Hawk you thought it would be. But you got a metal

hog you got a metal hog. It's actually Fairly

good. Yeah, and if you put those two figures

together, it's not obvious that one came from

the other yeah, you know, you put Prowl next

to Smoke screen. Okay. Yeah, it's kind of obvious

one came from the other one. But you know, you

got these variations that You know don't seem

like they should work, but they really do and

you know looking at Some of the stuff I've got

on the shelves, you know, we've seen the sides

quite mold how many times But they've done so

much with it. Yeah, and then the new one that

just came out Yeah, yeah the Armada and the mini

-con like the mini -con is pretty cool. Yeah

No, it just goes back to if you like this weird

stuff that they're doing pick it up, you know

Yeah, absolutely. What is your Transformers personal

anthem song examples, which you don't have to

pick this obviously Stan Bush, the touch there,

et cetera. The one that just pops in my head

is the touch. And I think it's just, it's the

intro for the 86 movie kind of like that first

big hit of transformer song that kind of, you

remember that first part of the movie. Megatron

must be stopped no matter the cost But the weird

part is I'll hear that and then every once in

a while it switches over to Mark Wahlberg No

Yeah, no don't and stop But then it'll fade in

a dare to be stupid mm -hmm just ages kind of

all rolls together, but it's usually the touch

and then Dare to be stupid just Some of the little

sound bites in the movie will pop just some of

the did it site sound effects I just kind of

hear those in my head every once in a while one

of the coolest things finally that they actually

did this was back in 2016 I think for the What

was 2016 the 30th and 30th anniversary? Vince

Nicola had were finally real what? 16 would have

been 30 second anniversary. Oh It was the 30th

anniversary of the movie is what yeah Yeah, so

yeah, so when but yeah, so 30th anniversary of

the movie when BotCon was in Louisville And I

think it was through in Trada records Vince had

released finally like an actual Full length.

I mean it had been released before but it was

like a bot con special thing but they finally

released the instrumental score to the movie

and The scene where the Decepticons are it's

after they launched the Decepticons chase the

Autobots and it's Galvatron versus everybody

and blah blah blah that Track closing in. Oh,

man. I hear that music all the time in my head

when I'm thinking about transformers Ah, it's

just so good. How often do you go back and re

-watch any of the Transformers cartoons? Not

really often. I was born in 83, so by the time

I was really conscious of what was on TV, it

was a little past the G1 stuff. Right. I know

I did watch Beast Wars some. But it was a hodgepodge

of cartoons and stuff at that point it was Beast

Wars and reboot and I Remember pole position

which apparently had a tie -in with like Hot

Wheels Mm -hmm back when I remember that and

then that was more the right age for Ninja Turtles

when those came out that was That's what I was

really kind of big into Really young I had, you

know basically all of the The first line the

four turtles and splinter and April and shredder

and bebop and rocksteady and Very cool Very cool.

Very cool. We all love transformers comics. Which

incarnation do you love and why? Um, I guess

the current one really it's the the one I've

read the most of so far and it hasn't even come

out Um, like I said, yeah, the void rivals, um,

has been good so far. Um, just introducing a

couple of the characters, but not being like,

Oh, this is a transformer comic yet. So I'm,

I'm interested to see how it's all going to tie

in. Um, and what I've seen tells me, or leads

me to believe that, um, the new one's actually

gonna be pretty good. So I'm gonna try to get

into it and read through it. I've always been

more visual media stuff, so. Yeah. Trying to

get into reading more, you know, as an old adult.

You're a young whippersnapper. You're not an

old adult. Get off my lawn. Tell it to my knees.

That's right. How big is your Transformers toy

collection? So being an engineer and very much

techy dorky guy, I have an Excel spreadsheet

with all my Transformers on it and we're at 1

,518 characters, figures, which that includes

like Titans Return, There's a big chunk because

the heads are separate characters from the bodies.

Right. And the way I've got it categorized, those

are two separate things. Um, so yeah, somewhere

around 1500 and I've, like I said, kind of dorky

and engineer brain. I've got it separated out

to where I know exactly how many I've got from

G1, G2, commemorative series stuff. Beast Machines,

RID, Masterpiece Cybertron. Yeah, a little over

1 ,500. It's most of a room. Well, it's overflowing

out of this room. I was gonna say, are they all

over the house? Not yet. We purchased a house

this year and most of my stuff is honestly still

in boxes. I've got my room shelves set up. I've

kind of got things in their bags on the shelves

where they're eventually going to go, but I haven't

got them all out of the bags yet, just slowly

working on that. But yeah, that's just the Transformers.

I grew up collecting Hot Wheels cars when I was

really little, so I've got a whole bunch of Hot

Wheels cars that I don't even know how many.

And then I've got a little bit of so many other

franchises I've got. Power Rangers stuff because

you know, I remember Power Rangers as a kid and

I've got like reissue turtle stuff I've got a

little bit of Motu origins. I've got The 66 Batman

stuff coming out from McFarlane Got a few Marvel

Legends. I've got a little bit of DC stuff Obscure

stuff. I just picked up the elf figure Over the

weekend at one of the local toy shops Very cool.

So I've just got just just a little bit of everything

to make it, you know fun and not just like whole

hog into one thing and You know not really get

any other ideas of how things could work because

I think Maybe some transformer fans collectors

They're just so focused on this one franchise

They don't look to see how well supported it

really is compared to other things. Like you

said, you know, like Alfstaff. You don't have

to give me Alfstaff, right? No, you don't. But

they complain, oh, we don't get enough Transformers

this or that. You know, they complain about repaint,

but you look at like Marvel Legends. How many

figures are made with the exact same body? They

just Yeah Like if you were if you're gonna get

into Marvel Legends and not buy repaints You'd

have like six figures and that's it Yeah, that's

not good and poor Alf he gets no respect No,

not at all. I mean the stuff the the neck of

her I don't remember what it is, Snacca, right?

Yeah, the new one, yeah, Snacca. Yeah, the review,

I saw it. It was fairly well articulated and

the review haven't cracked them out open yet.

That's on my to -list, but at least what they

are getting is good quality stuff, so. There's

one ALF product we deserve, we need, we must

have. Get your shit together, Funco. Seriously

how hard I know this is transformers and I know

I'm not supposed to be ranting about an elf pop

on somebody else's episode But Jesus Christ funko

how you do all this other stuff and yet you can't

give us one app when shout Factory announced

and released the the complete series multi like

there's a super bundle of the DVD series from

shout Factory where You get like a poster a t

-shirt this figure that faith is for like 275

bucks like all -in Everything how hard would

it have been for fun could have say oh by the

way guess what let's team up a shout factory

and Finally give Mike his al funko pop that he's

been asking for since 2017. Sorry no problem

Maybe you could get somebody to do a custom like

take a Chewbacca body and then kind of resculpt

the head give him a little bit more of a nose

Yeah, it might work. I mean if they can do and

they have done this and they're actually doing

this now So the Muppets pops are practically

pretty much vaulted at this point the original

Muppets pops But right now as we are recording

and eventually releasing this episode in October

of 2023 they are releasing Muppets Christmas

carol pops and they are releasing a gonzo pop

like I know gonzo's nose now snows are treated

very Yeah, but my point is if you can do gonzo's

nose you can do Alf's nose, too Yeah, I'm funko.

It's a good point. That would be the holdup as

the shape of the nose because Most funko heads

are just kind of round they are but they've had

plenty of heads that are also very different

and and yeah Look at all, look at some of the

anime characters and it's not getting into that

anime. Oh Lord. So speaking of about Funko, how

do you feel about non -transforming transformers?

Cause I know that's a thing with people. They're

like, Oh my God, it doesn't transform. It's the

devil. I, well, I mean, I've got all of the retro

toys, Funko transformers line minus the NFTs

and. We all know NFTs are stupid. They are, but

I still want the figures. I would love to have

them for a normal Funko retail price, not the

astronomical things that they've turned into,

I'm sure. I think I looked at Hot Rod on Mercari

the other day and somebody was trying to sell

him for like 150 bucks. So he's come down a bit.

Gold Optimus Prime is... unattainable. It's like

700, 800. I am not, I paid $800 for the 2008

BotCon set and that had what? Five regular figures

plus the, plus the, so that had eight figures

in it for $800. That's basically a hundred bucks

a figure kind of thing. I don't know if I can

pay 7 ,800 bucks for a Funko Pop Gold Optimus

Prime, so. Here's hoping by the time I'm 75 it'll

come down to a more decent price But some of

the other ones like I mentioned hot rod I think

Devastator is a decent price to like when I say

decent under $200 is decent for me kind of thing

I mean look people spend two or three hundred

dollars on actual transforming toys. So You know

for an NF. Yeah the whole you don't want me to

go on there. I already been in my friends I've

got the Funko's I've got If you remember there

was a series called alt modes which they kind

of transformed like the head is fixed but The

tiny little body will flip over and turn into

a tiny little car, right? Yeah, I've got their

their pure novelty stuff, but I've got all those

I've got About 10 Yep, 10 because I'm looking

at my excel spreadsheet 10 loyal subjects figures.

Those don't transform I've got 14 Super 7 reaction

figures. I can't get into those. I don't like

them For the most part. I'm not interested but

Some of the larger ones. Mm -hmm are kind of

interesting because they are very much Action

Masters. Yeah, that's what they are. I've got

Skyfire Alpha Trion because he came with a like

a soft goods type cape. I thought was pretty

cool Devastator is one of the XL figures. So

he's a little bit bigger, which is cool Grimlock

and Dino mode just looks cool The unicorn one

which is designed after the prototype of the

toy toy from the 80s It was cool. Ultra Magnus.

I love Ultra Magnus, too The toys, the red, white,

and blue color scheme always gets me. The shark

decon is kind of cool. And then the obligatory

optimus bumblebee and Megatron reaction figures,

the golden ones and the metallic specials. And

those were, I think, target exclusives. Yeah,

probably. You're like, OK, yeah, I'll grab it.

Why not? Go pop. So I've got... Several I've

got The red figures the Walmart exclusive robot

enhanced design. Yeah they're They're weird because

they're They're this mismatch of Transformers

and Marvel Legends. Yep. It's kind of like they

went over to the Marvel Legends team and went

Here's some transformer design. See what you

can do Because they're they're kind of soft.

They're not hard plastics. They're soft and I

think some of the characters benefit from it

the Transformers Prime RC yeah, let's take it

to get that figure and transform. It's very difficult

because it's a slender Figure with not a whole

lot of kibble type stuff hanging off of the original

design Right and the Galvatron I think it looks

pretty neat The Optimus really, eh. Yeah, it's

not. He doesn't have, you know, kibbles and backpacks,

but a good design like the Earthrise design didn't

have much of that anyway. I don't think that's

a character that benefited from it. Yeah. Some

are good, some are not great. It's just, it's

a different part of the franchise for people

that want to... Pose and experience it in a different

way. It's not wrong another thing that comes

in and gets people to Buy into the property.

Yeah, you know, absolutely like you said you

Don't necessarily transform your stuff because

it it's become somewhat difficult You just want

to be able to put it on the shelf and look at

it and I think things like red and pops and loyal

subjects that's what they do you put your character

that you like on the shelf and So many collectors

they they get transforming toys and they'll complain

about the transformation But you ask them How

many times do you transform to figure that you

really like to transform? Yeah, tell you like

six times Well, that's my bank put it on shelf

and they went on to the next one Well, that's

why back in the day and even more so now depending

on I mean most I could probably wrong about this

But lately most of the stuff has been packaged

in robot mode But that was one of the things

back in the day 10 15 20 years ago Why everybody

was buying? two of the same figure one to open

to put on your shelf in robot mode and one to

keep in package in vehicle mode kind of thing.

And now that Hasbro has kind of switched up a

little bit, it's like, you know, I don't know.

So it's all crazy. Well, the way the way I look

at it anyway, for what I collect and the way

I display, I try to pose everything. With a little

bit of a more action pose to it, right? I'm not

just stick straight which You know looking at

like some of the g1 stuff I have Yeah, that was

your only option. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, but the newer

stuff that does really have good articulation,

you know, give it a dynamic pose and then by

the repaint that's a different character and

leave that one in vehicle mode or a third alt

mode or something where you've got variation

and There's enough side swipes that you know

Yeah, an army of different poses, you know, and

they can all be different and just so that that's

I Don't that's the way I like to do it is You

know, I don't want to buy two of the same figure

But I'll definitely bought two of the same mold

or very similar molds so that I've got those

options Right. Because why leave it in the package?

I've got a handful of things in packages, but

not. I don't really buy it just to leave it in

the package for display unless it's, you know,

looking at the throne of the primes from kingdom

that was an exclusive type thing. You know, that

package has it's a display piece because the

way. the figures presented on a throne and It's

all tied together. So it doesn't move around

on that. Whereas if you open it up It's kind

of gonna fall apart. Oh no that and the the when

it's on pit of judgment, you know, that was another

piece that I just left in the package because

it's it's displayed already in a way that you

want to have it displayed And if you take part,

it's not gonna work out but all the stuff in

there You can get in another form, you know,

you can get the the quintesson judges is normal

retail at the the bailiff and all that normal

retail the shark decon Actually brought extra

sweeps from the studio series 86 line so I could

have Scourge and his sweep and then another one

for his armada like, you know options. Yep Options

are always good What is the one transformers

toy you could never part with ever the one? then

I'm gonna keep is the original 20th anniversary

mp1 It's not the Japanese release. It's the normal

Hasbro. I think Walmart exclusive release with

the battle damage So that was the first Transformers

figure that I bought really as an adult that

Got me back into like, okay. I do actually want

to like collect this stuff and it's It's a little

rough, you know, cuz I've messed with it a lot

so he's got a couple of missing pieces and you

know some of the accessories and the the matrix

chamber doesn't always want to stay in anymore

like the way it connects is kind of broken, but

I Don't know. It's just It's just the one that

got me back into it and it's it's unique in the

fact that it's just It was the first masterpiece.

It was the first of a new idea You know really

high -end collectible transformer figures and

the stupid thing is heavy Yes, it is imagine

if it was the MP04 which is the one with the

trailer I I've looked for that one. I've not

found it Anything I would want to pay But I've

got an mp10 So I can I can display a masterpiece

with a trailer if I wanted I picked up the mp10

version the Ghostbusters crossover version That

was kind of its own cool display when mp44 came

out the price shock on that one was a little

bit too much but there's going to be a version.

It's up for order now. That's MP44 in animation

deco, but it's no trailer. Oh, yeah. That's not

the new... No, it's not the missing link. Yeah,

it's not missing link. Okay, so it's MP44. B,

C, D, or E, whatever they're going to call it

to say. I believe it's S. Yeah. But the price

is a little bit more reasonable because it doesn't

have a trailer. I do display a lot of trailers,

but I don't need every trailer. So I'm perfectly

fine with not having the trailer for this one

because he's going to be probably robot mode

because the truck mode on 44 is not as impressive.

As the robot mode so What was the most money

you ever spent on a transformers toy or toy item

Toy item could be animation cell script any of

that kind of stuff The most for one thing is

definitely unicorn Yeah, when that was announced

I I made it a point to eat as little as possible

for the next six weeks. I just made sure I had

to get that because I kind of recognize that

that's one of those figures that the cheapest

and easiest you'll ever get it is HasLab backing

the original project. I haven't even opened it

because it shipped. Right when I moved from Michigan

to Tennessee, uh -huh, and I knew if I open it

I was just gonna have to put it right back in

the box to move right and so I never opened it

and Then we moved to Tennessee and I figured

well, we're gonna start an apartment and eventually

want to get a house So I'll just wait till we

get to that point and we just bought a house

this year I still haven't got around to open

it is a very excellent table The most I've spent

on any one item. Yeah. Um, I know I got four

times returned Fort Max a few years ago and I

think that was maybe a little bit more pricey

than it should have been, but it was, it was

after they first came out and you couldn't get

them anymore. Right. Right. I made the mistake

not getting, um, generation Thrilling 30 Metroplex

and Fort Max when they first came out But I've

made it a point to Try to to buy the Titans and

stuff when they come out that's usually Usually

about as cheap as they're gonna get some of them

got cheaper a little bit later on but Not enough

that I really felt bad about it Yeah, actually

bought a Tripticon for like half price. Oh nice.

That's cool And then when I opened it up, I realized

it was missing pieces. Oh, no It was from what

I could tell was factory sealed, but it was a

return Oh, no online and return it right and

they had it on the clearance shelf Yeah, full

tilt was missing his like entire left arm, oh

my god poor full tilt yeah, so that one I hung

on to it for quite a while, but I was lucky enough

to find another one in box for basically retail

what it was when it first came out It's the most

expensive left arm. I've had to purchase but

It's fine I ended up selling the the first one

I got Because he still displays well just you

know without full tilt stuck to his chest and

good can it is battle damage. It's fun Yeah,

that unicorn man, I would only ever I Said this

to somebody else on one of the other this show

or one of the other shows I forget if I ever

got it I would have to have somebody Build me

really really strong ceiling mounts Because I

would only ever want it hanging in the corner

in planet mode Yeah, and that's the other problem

is I've got a room for my figures and stuff but

when I open it I still have no idea where I'm

gonna put it. It's gonna like have to sit in

its own corner or something. Very much so. Have

to get up in the attic and like maybe I'll drill

a hole in the ceiling and kind of have it like

halfway hanging out the ceiling. I don't know.

Maybe look like it's like it's reaching through

the space bridge. Oh man, that would be hilarious

That would be awesome I'm really gonna have to

butter up my girlfriend for this one Yeah, you

might have to on that that's a that that's a

little that's a little Tim Taylor project I'm

sure you'd do it right though. I don't I don't

think you'd cut any corners on Because hello.

It's a $600 plus. It's the rest of the apartment

and all that. Yeah. Yeah that crashes down it's

gonna take out the TV and Oh no as it is. So

I don't want that to happen. Well, he is the

He is the chaos breaker. Yeah Well, there's one

way to bring the chaos. There you go. Do you

have a my parents got rid of my toys story? No,

my parents never really got rid of anything.

Oh, it's probably where I get it from No, I did

sell a lot of My TMNT and Hot Wheels and all

that stuff I had as a kid Thinking I want to

be an adult. I'm gonna go to college. I don't

need this stuff I was dumb Like I said, I had

the four original turtles and the van and the

foot cruiser and You know so many hot wheels

that the you might I collected and just decided

I'm gonna sell everything and I'm sure was it

rock bottom prices and flea market and So much

of that stuff. I would love to have back now,

but I've not bought all of it yet. Yeah, they

didn't get rid of it. They didn't tell me I had

to You know, I thought I'd sell it and make the

money so I could Go away to college and buy some

other things I needed like, you know books and

a computer But in the end I've bought so much

more other stuff and kind of shifted what I'm

collecting and But it's always funny. I'll I'll

see somebody will post about some retro toy line

that, you know, is defunct and nobody knows a

whole lot about and I'll see it and I'm like,

I had like one thing from that and I didn't even

know what it was. It was just, you know, cause

we would go to flea markets a lot when I was

a kid and I would just find a toy that I thought

was neat. I didn't know any of the backstory

to it and I'd play with it and mess with it.

And it turns out I had something from Starcom.

Like, oh, it's got this little dude with magnets

on his feet. That's kind of cool. And I found

out now that all the Starcom stuff is kind of

popular and expensive. Very, yes. There's one.

It's not like Starcom. The vehicles were somewhat

modular. You could change out the wheels and

add guns. I don't remember the name of it, but

like an incomplete vehicle. Local toy stores

here for like 125 bucks. Oh, wow Like I had something

like that one. I don't know where it went. I'm

sold it Probably sold it probably sold it probably

sold it. That's the That's the end. I'll be all

of oh crap. I didn't realize what I had All right

folks now it's time for the special questions

We are entering the Transformers Fantasy Funland.

If you could voice any Transformers character,

who would it be and why? Probably Wheeljack.

Really? Well, I mean, that's my background. I'm

an engineer. Right, yeah. Fixing things and coming

up with weird ideas and trying to sort out mechanical

problems. That's kind of my thing. And he's got...

Uh, in the latest, his latest era iterations,

you know, kind of a weird Southerny draw sort

of thing going on. Yeah. And I grew up in Southern

West Virginia. And when I first moved North to

Michigan to go to college, I actually had to

relearn how to talk because my accent and draw

was so bad. Oh, wow. Dang. Yeah. So I can do,

I think, pretty well with that character now.

There you go. Who is your favorite Transformers

actor slash voice actor? Well, I went to BotCon

in Nashville last year. It was where I live at

in Tennessee. It's within an hour. So it was

a good opportunity to go and actually see who

was there. And so I got to see Michael that voiced

tracks and actually I got him to sign a commemorative

series tracks, which was pretty cool Michael

McConaughey. Yeah, what kind of hey Mr. Walker

was there nice so very impressive Grimlock Greg

burger Greg burger. They were all there and doing

they did a reading panel Which was just Cool

to see them in person, just riffing on each other

and going back and forth. Um, but I think having

at least seen, um, Frank in person and just the,

the way he, he brought so much energy to a room

and like the joy that he brought the fans. Um,

I just think that's really special. And, uh,

Peter Cullen, I mean, does the same thing where.

They really bring a lot back to the franchise

that Realistically for them 40 years ago was

a paycheck. Oh, yeah, I mean they didn't go into

it going you know what I'm gonna I'm gonna influence

children for years based on this one cartoon

and They've voiced a bunch of cartoons. You know

that that's just what they did. That was their

job. It's Not much really different than like

Booty Anskey at the time, he took a weekend to

write what is now mythology that has lasted 40

years and grown to billions of dollars in revenue

for a company. You know, it, it was just a job

for them, but the fact that they come back and,

and, you know, speak with the fans and really

Contribute going forward, you know They're not

Yeah, it wasn't just a fleeting thing. I think

they really recognize what it means to everybody

that they've influenced. I think that's Very

commendable. Yeah, absolutely So this cannot

be anything that Hasbro has already done or has

is about to release but what is your dream? Masterpiece

figure Hasbro Takara, whatever same thing Do

Huh Yeah, I don't know uh Masterpiece I Know

the the Volkswagen Porsche licensee maybe come

around so they might be able to do Masterpiece

jazz would be kind of cool Yeah, that would be

awesome. But they haven't, they haven't touched,

like, cup. They haven't really done an official

masterpiece cup. Mm -hmm. I don't know, I'd kind

of like to see a masterpiece, I don't know, maybe

wreck car? Hmm, that'd be cool. Maybe a little

bit different. Yeah. Absolutely, it would be.

Studio Sierra's one is pretty good. Mm -hmm.

They could maybe amp it up a little bit. Yeah.

I think I'm more interested in, you know, some

more interesting collaboration type things, because

like the Ecto -1, Ecto -Tron, I really thought

that was a really cool idea. Like, yeah, it's

based on a pretty innocuous engineering mold

with the inferno mold. Hot Shot, or not Hot Inferno.

Yeah, I forget what that's based on. yeah well

it's based on the ecto one right so but the toy

mold what was the rope yeah underneath toy mold

uh she was part of the proms inferno uh combiner

wars protect your bots yeah that would be cool

i think i i I think you're one of the only people

that have actively said on any of the shows that

they actually liked the crossovers. A lot of

people don't like the crossovers. Yes, it's not

the standard Transformers characters, but it's

another thing that grows the overall brand. It

gets you just those complete fantasy things that

you wouldn't think you're gonna get you didn't

think you're gonna get Jigawatt the yeah, Jigawatt

like that doesn't make any sense I Would love

to see Tom Cruise get out of his plane and then

it turns into Maverick a robot like And it plays

volleyball with them, I mean the volleyball huge

but Or maybe it puts Tom Cruise in the volleyball

and then plays the volleyball with Tom Cruise

that way That's that's a little dark That's that's

a little dark I mean he's accepted a lot of missions,

but that one might be a little bit difficult

Yeah, I like the crossovers I like just the fantasy

land that you can go into with that Would love

to see the licensing for them to actually be

able to do You know the turtle van because I

mean that's that's something everybody would

love to see I really want the foot cruiser to

come back. Yes, that would be cool. I don't want

to have to pay prices for 30 year old foot cruiser

anymore Love to have a real of that and if it

turned into a robot even better, you know There

is one that Think I first heard proto man say

it and I've been saying it ever since but maybe

I I forget which one of us said it first and

I'm not trying to take credit from anybody but

the most logical Transformers Autobot car crossover

Get trans am on the horn put a frickin red scanner

on that black trans am and make it talk. Oh,

yeah They would make so much money if there was

a transforming Knight Industries 2000. You know,

I think now that we talked about that, that would

probably be the ultimate masterpiece. Because

you want to do that at a bigger scale. Yep. And

you want to be able to use better materials,

better paint, electronics. What's the point in

doing it if you're not going to have the scanner

actually working, right? That and if it has electronics,

if it has lights, you got to give it sounds.

And even though the man is 96 years old at the

current time of this recording of this podcast,

William Daniels is still here. He's still with

us. He could record two or three lines and you

could have a Modern day version of the Kenner

night 2000 voice car because getting one of those

things Working condition. Oh my The eBay prices

make me go make love to the porcelain god in

the bathroom because oh my god this makes me

want to puke oh I've had a chance to see a couple

in person at toy shop and They're not mint condition,

but they feel like mint prices. Yeah, that's

the that's the thing like If you want the original

Kenner Knight 2000 voice car to be mint condition,

you are going to be paying like original shattered

glass 2008 BotCon Rodimus prices, which I think

the last I checked Rodimus 2008 is like $1 ,600.

So the kit is probably like $2 ,000. Not trying

to be ironic about it, but like 2024. Like I

don't even know. what the Kenner voice car kit,

you know, complete, you know, fully functioning

is going for anymore. But I looked at it a couple

of months ago and I just, I just couldn't do

it. Not that I was going to buy it anyway, but

I just, I couldn't even look at it because it

just was like, Oh my God, my childhood. Well,

and the best thing about that is the way to amortize

a lot of these prices. You have to do repaints

and it's very simple. You just take it. and you

change the light bar out to yellow put a silver

stripe down the bottom and you saw this car it's

very easy and you know if you've got to get if

you've got kit then you got a back car yeah so

everybody's gonna double dip it's a win -win

i think they gotta do it okay so wow it's actually

not as bad as i thought it was gonna be if this

is the right one Oh, no, that's the remote control

one. Dang. I see a lot of just loose package

versions, but and I'll have to do some more research

on it later. But yeah, no, that would be really,

really cool. Yeah, I had, I remember having a

kit. It was the 164th Hot Wheels size kit, but

it came with a launcher. So yeah tube and you

slide it forward it shoots the car shoots the

car out. Yep Yeah, look for those those are expensive.

I Was so surprised I think it was I don't know

if it was an Amazon exclusive, but I bought it

off Amazon Hot Wheels did a super pursuit mode

Hot Wheels car kit and I've got two of those

I've got one out of box and one in box only because

I thought I lost the one that I had After I opened

it so I had to buy a second one thinking I completely

lost the one I'd open and then moving from Washington

here to Indiana last year Whenever the hell that

was I finally unpacked stuff and I'm like, oh

there's so I don't really need the one that's

in package anymore do I I do still have it but

Like it's a it's just a Hot Wheels version, but

it's so cool. It's on my desk. Oh, yeah I've

got two or three of them myself. Yeah Like I

said, I collect Hot Wheels and Matchbox and that

size diecast. I've got quite a few. The super

suit, the non -super suit one, the non -premium

where it's, you know, the regular wheels. It's

not the nice rubber wheels. It's three or four

versions. Yep. Where do you stand on the rumble

is blue, frenzy is red, or rumble is red, frenzy

is blue debate? Well, like I said, I never really

watched the cartoon a lot as a kid. Uh -huh.

So my exposure really is toys Okay, it doesn't

really matter like if you prefer the cartoon

set up because The animation errors are so abound

that it doesn't make any sense or if you prefer

this is what it says on the box It's the same

toy put it on your shelf like how many people

put them on their shelves and have the little

labels Like oh, this is who this is. No, it doesn't

matter Just put your little cassette boys on

the shelf and have them run around. I don't know

He's frustrated ladies and gentlemen, so the

great debate of the color of the cassettes has

frustrated the man I always go with cartoon logic.

Rumble is purple, frenzy is black. And that probably

actually makes a lot more sense. Yep. If you

could create any TF fiction, toy, cartoon, comic,

etc., what would it be and what story would you

want to tell with it? So basically Hasbro gives

you the keys to the kingdom. I just want something

that explains why Cybertronian vehicles have

cockpits. I mean... Why do they have to turn

into vehicles in the first place if they're on

Cybertron? Why was that their natural alt mode?

Just to go places faster? Maybe? I don't know.

Well, yeah. I mean, you can only walk so far

for so long. I mean, it's a planet made of metal.

You're going to want to race on it. Why didn't

they just all grow just wheels on their feet?

Why did they have to turn into a completely different?

I don't know. Maybe explain that part just Reminds

me of animated bumblebee when he's using his

wheels his is is Literally his is hot wheels

When he's in robot mode and he pulls his wheels

out and he starts zooming around and robot. Oh

man animated bumblebee. Oh Boy, or maybe just

I Don't know some of the engineering like how

does transforming work is is it transformium

and age of extinction was correct or no it's

the transformation cog that caused problems for

you i spent a long time trying to figure out

how machines work it bothers me well i mean you

know Yeah, they're they're robots made of robot

parts made of metal made of whatever They're

not partly metal partly real. They don't fly

around like silverhawks But I mean the transformation

cog if that doesn't work then their transformation

either isn't gonna work or it's gonna go haywire

Hmm just just the weird stuff like get more weird.

I don't know If you could live in any Transformers

world that you wanted, where would you live?

I don't know. I guess Cybertron. Mm -hmm. I never

was really a fan of like water and lakes and

Not really good at swimming. There's not a lot

of water on Cybertron. That sounds good But what's

the temperature like it like is it cold all the

time? I don't know. Do I need a? spacesuit Yeah,

I would assume you would need a spacesuit As

far as temperatures go I could not tell you I

I think it's very metal and cold but who knows

and You're only gonna get water on Cybertron

if you dig into that organic core really deeply

Yeah, and it's just it's energon and premise

is upset and you put a band -aid on it that's

right all right we are now exiting the transformers

fantasy fun land final question what is one piece

of advice that you'd give the transformers fandom

and transformers collectors in general don't

get your cog in a bunch like yeah Everybody's

first transformer is different Not everybody

is one purist You know, it's not Beast Wars or

die Just Pick up the figures you like and You

know, don't pick up the ones you don't like not

every figure has to be for you You know support

Support the people that actually make the products

like Be constructive about it, you know if if

mark or BMAC post something and you Not really

a fan of the figure be like, oh that's really

cool and maybe try to point out something you

do like about it or at least the collars are

good or something I mean Be constructive with

your criticism. Not just that looks dumb It doesn't

help any you know Actually support it and don't

try to tear everybody else's love of it down,

you know Absolutely doesn't help anybody. It

doesn't help anybody with transformers or Marvel

or Star Wars or DC just Be supportive don't be

angry. Yep. Absolutely and it's funny you say

that because I'm just like Sometimes I will ask

on Facebook or Twitter or whatever. Why am I

not getting enough? like not enough engagement

why am i not getting any engagement why what

isn't this how whatever the facebook gallery

whatever but at other times i'm like can't you

just screw out of all the posts i've posted in

the last 24 hours this is the one you decide

to give me a lesson in What my favorite characters

motivations were when he was a petulant child

before he was the leader of the Autobots when

Supposedly he got the other the red and blue

guy killed. Give me a break like People if you

ain't got look, I'm plenty negative I am I didn't

say negative stuff all the time, but really seriously

if it triggers you that much just vent to yourself

It's a whole thing but Yeah. It's the beauty

of social media in this day and age. It's not

who has the best opinions, the most informed

opinions, the most, you know, well constructed

opinions. It's who's willing to type something

out on Twitter 50 times an hour. Well, and I

have since changed it. But as we're recording

this September 17th, 2023, the 39th anniversary

of Transformers, even though it'll come out in

the beginning of October, I switched my profile

picture on Facebook to where Hot Rod is shooting

the squid, the safe cup. And because I had posted

that photo like two years ago when it was the

37th anniversary, I didn't want people to, oh,

what do you mean it's the 37th? So I redid the

whole text of the post and I just in all caps

with one exclamation point at the end best leader

ever and One of my good friends who I will not

name, but he knows who he is Just and I'm like

didn't we have this argument last year? Why do

we have to still have like every time like can't

you just? There are plenty of things I see on

social media that I do it I'm not reacting to

a post from somebody that I see the posts because

a lot of the times I don't see the post But if

I see posts and I don't like it, I'm not gonna

react to it. I'm not gonna comment on it I'm

just gonna scroll on by because it's not worth

the time. No, it's not it that's The amount of

stuff I actually interact with on social media

is Pretty low. Yeah, and if I do it's it's a

like or You know Hey, that's a really good picture.

Or, you know, I, I don't think I've never done

it, but I don't make it a point to comment that

sucks or that's horrible. Or, you know, anything

I do post, it's even relatively negative is if

somebody's commenting like, Oh, this part of

my figure is broken or doesn't work. Yeah. You

know, I might. So yeah, I had the same problem.

Maybe this is how you can fix it or reach out

like yeah, you give constructive feedback, but

telling me like just because I have an opinion

because I like that character and then telling

me the whole history of why you think that that

character's motivations are blah blah. Like yes,

I know this. That's beside the point. That's

not the point here. The point here is 39th anniversary.

favorite character, best leader ever, exclamation

point, no need to add your seven cents into it.

Oh, trust me. If they're given that kind of responses,

it's not seven cents. It's like 0 .7 cents. Well,

yeah, but like out of all the things I like,

if you and I, I don't know how much stuff of

mine you see on social on specifically Facebook,

let's not even Facebook. Lately, I've not been

posting a lot, but most times I'm posting either

the podcasts or memories or whatever. But I've

been on Facebook since July of 2008, I think.

So that's a long ass time. And I've posted a

lot in all that time. But out of all the stuff

that I've posted, that's the one thing that this

person, I was like, oh god, whatever. Alright

folks, we're gonna go to a quick ad break you're

near some ads and some other stuff. We're gonna

come back to close the show right after this.

So if you've never watched Transformers animated

but always wanted a reason to, now's your chance.

Likewise, if you've binged the series several

times, it's a great reason to watch through again

with us. Because regardless, if you're a seasoned

vet or a newbie, there's something for every

fan, because I ask questions. Why is Prowl such

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think is the answer. Subscribe to Two Mikes Two

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miss an episode. Are we coming off furious enough?

I feel like we're not living up to that. Are

we supposed to be like more angry, more fired

up? We're really in a good mood. We really enjoy

talking to each other. Yo Joe and welcome to

the Cracktastic Plastic Podcast, where a punk

rock band of brothers get together to talk about

one of our shared loves, toy collecting. Toy

hot by day, punk rock band by night. We'll take

any excuse to get the band. We all collect different

toy lines like those real American heroes. GI

Joe! To the toys that are more than meets the

eye. Transformers! To He -Man and the Masters

of the Universe! From vintage to modern and all

topics in between, you can always expect some

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talking toys here on the Cracktastic Plastic

Podcast. What was that universal greeting again?

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

Primal and be sure to check out my YouTube channel.

Join me as I have Transformers discussions, retrospectives,

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Till all are one. Hello all sentient beings!

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Steve Megatron will be back next episode most

likely we'll probably be doing some news thing

or maybe we'll eventually get to doing our rise

of the beasts discussion or something I forget

I did finally see the movie on paramount plus

and I enjoyed it for the most part so there's

that but I do have obviously some criticism of

it is there anything you would like to promote

sir I don't really post or put much stuff out

there maybe go support a local vintage toy store

go find one in your area that maybe is struggling

a little bit, they're not the best, but support

them because, you know, getting those little

toy shops more exposure and more business, it's

good for everybody in the long run so you can

find these older figures, be it Transformers

or G .I. Joe or Mask or Star Wars or any of that

stuff because, you know, helps people find some

some bit of happiness in a childhood long forgotten.

Go out and support your local toy vendors. There

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