Toy Collecting in Today’s Economy

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code KEYCASTRADIO when you register. Me Grimlock

not podcaster, me Grimlock King. Cliffjumper,

commence countdown. Five, four, three. So this

is Toycast and I of course am TFJ and Mike and

I'm joined for the first time here on Toycast

by Darth Devious, hello. Hello! And Slimeblower

Bob, hello. Hello, how are you? I'm doing pretty

good, yes this is Toycast episode 90 where we

will be talking about toys and in this crappy

economy that we live in. This is uh... The countdown

to the end of Toycast, because once we reach

100 episodes, I'm putting the podcast to rest

peacefully. This is the first time we've released

an episode of Toycast since Paul, Steve, and

myself did the 89 Batman show. God, I don't even

know how long ago it was. I'm not even looking

at the information. It's been a couple months.

but ever since uh... optimist scourge passed

away last year i just don't have the heart to

do this podcast anymore because he was one of

the ones that mainly uh... started with me uh...

he was the one that kind of pointing me in the

right direction of where the show should go when

when we started so with him gone i think ending

the show hundred episodes is a uh... is a good

thing so yes toys collecting toys in the in the

current economy here in the u s No, I know other

places like the UK and Asia and Australia and

all that stuff. They have bad economies, but

so do we. I mean, the US isn't it's not the land

of dreams anymore. It's the land of financial

debt. Yes, it is. So it is with you guys specifically.

You're both married and have children so I think

this would affect you guys the most more so than

someone who would be a regular toy collector

like Paul or myself or Spada or you know Pete

you know anyone that you know that doesn't have

kids, but I mean This all started with the the

price Pricing shit with Bruticus on BBTS and

Bob said something on Twitter about oh Hasbro

is making deluxe is $14 .99 now. What what what

did you say? Well, it's already hit our our our

area the prices for deluxe have been at target

are officially $14 .99 mm -hmm and just for regular

deluxe figures and Then that started a whole

thing with Octobot miss and I think Max of bottom

s got into it also, you know saying about how

Three dollars is no big deal, but Is when you're

getting a piece of crap like the quality is horrible

the plastic feels cheap There's no paint. I mean

at least put a faction symbol on it would be

nice. Yeah, you know something I mean, yeah,

you can get retro labels and all that stuff and

yeah, they're for kids I understand all that

because they were throwing all that at me, but

I'm gonna pay $15 for something Yeah, I don't

want a cliff jumper that the arms don't even

hold together for goodness sakes and it might

just be mine that It didn't hold together, but

I don't know. It's everybody's yeah I just kind

of feel ripped off on paying $15 for a figure

And yeah, I'm not playing with them. I'm collecting

them, and they're on my shelves. And once in

a while, my kids go, Dad, can I play with your

transformer? So I transform them for him and

let him play with them. And even my kids are

like, oh, wow, his arm fell off. And I was like,

yeah, it does that. Really? And then Paul's like,

well, they say that because you say that. And

I was like, no, my daughter, she's 10. And speaking

of toys, we just got her, she likes Monster High.

And we got her a flashlight. from Mattel. It's

actually made by Mattel and it's a flashlight.

You press the button and hold it in and it stays

on and then you can let go and it turns off.

She used it twice. The button falls off of it

and it's completely broke. And she's like, what

a piece of crap this is. And I was like, I'm

so sorry. You know, I felt bad. And she's like,

you know, so excited to get a new toy and then

it broke. It's like, what do you do as a father?

It's like. Sorry, honey, the little Japanese

kid didn't put it together, right? You know or

whatever, you know, I I didn't say that to her

but my mind that's where I went and I know that

but I'm sorry, but I mean I was having a bad

day Yeah, but if you I mean if you're gonna pay

$10 for a flashlight It says monster high on

it. You think it should work more than twice

And then you should have to use duct tape in

a metal ball to try to put it back together again

It fixes everything Well, it does, but I shouldn't

have to after I spent $10 on this flashlight.

Flashlight's not like building a rocket. It's

not that hard. Yeah, true. It takes like 50 cents

to make it because it's cheap plastic and two

batteries in it and a light bulb. I mean, it's

not rocket science. I remember back in the good

old days of the 80s as a kid that my Fisher Price...

Three lights in one flashlight lasted at least

a year and a half because the three lights in

one was where you could flip us like It had the

regular flashlight color then you can flip a

switch between red or green so it would give

it a red or green hue and that thing lasts me

forever, but toys today it seems like Almost

every person I interact with online every time

they buy a toy for the most part. There's something

wrong with it. There's There's hardly any you

know sure you You can try to put a positive spin

on a toy review, but most of the time if you

have crappy, you know stuff then I don't know

but it to me it just seems like the the deluxe

toys like You haven't collected for a while Mike,

but um The new prime figures are smaller and

smaller and smaller deluxe those are and it's

like but the prices go up and up and up but somehow

like the cyberverse figures are better painted

and Seem like they look better more time and

effort went into them for a little toy Than a

deluxe figure which would be easier to do in

my mind because you got bigger pieces Easier

to paint easier to sculpt. I guess I don't know

I'll agree with you on on the the cyberverse

being better painted but as far as size goes

I've got My dresser right now. I'm one side I

got all my classics Autobots on the other side

is all my classic Decepticons in the center is

all my prime figures. They're all pretty much

the same size in robot mode It's just they're

finding ways to compact them a little bit more

in vehicle modes making them look smaller But

they just the robot modes are so much larger

than their vehicle modes It's that they're being

clever with it in most cases. There are some

there are a few exceptions, but Right. And I

think we need to say this before we really continue

this, especially with Hasbro and Transformers.

Yes, we understand that Hasbro and Transformers,

because you're transforming it from one thing

into another thing, that that takes a lot of

engineering and all this and all that. We understand

that. So we're not really being negative here

about the process of how it becomes a car and

becomes a robot. It's more so that they keep

scaling down. You know, in In comparison, Mattel

has said, hey, the horsemen or whoever specifically

to Masters Classics are giving us $22 worth of

paint applications. That's what we have to charge.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So instead of taking

away like Hasbro will, instead of taking away

a paint app or taking away a sticker, Mattel

just leaves all it in there and just hikes the

prices up. Anyway, regardless. I don't think

outside of like orco and the larger beast figures

we've never seen a scaled down version of a six

inch figure in in the masters classics line you

know and again we can't we can't be talking about

this without pitting Hasbro and Mattel against

each other because Hasbro is now Doing the price

increases or they they have done price increases,

but they're taking away from the toys like the

first editions Why did that shit get cancelled?

Those toys okay granted RC was a little out of

you know Proportion scale wise as far as her

height But other than that those first edition

transformers prime toys were amazing. They were

great -looking They you know fit with a lot of

other things and I wouldn't mind paying 15 even

$20 for one of those something that actually

look it was thought out, but when this Stupid

you know our ID versions came out. It's just

like what did you do? No, you sent all the good

stuff to like England and stuff, but you gave

us like what you know, Indonesia should have

got, you know Oh, I know what it is. It's revenge

because the UK didn't get a lot of stuff in the

80s. That's what it is Well, I'm just saying

you Brits Well, if you guys think back to the

days of you know Beast Wars and stuff you got

like figures with metal and and all this stuff

and they were like nine ten dollars It's a lost

art. Yeah, and I understand that was years ago,

but Really like a deluxe prime figure. What do

you think it really costs? And then after they

add 10 % to it the store Walmart whoever adds

their cut to it You know, it's it's a $10 toy

that you have to pay fifteen twenty dollars for

And it's like the quality is just not there.

And like Paul was saying, well, they're for kids.

I understand they're for kids. And I'm almost

40 years old and I'm complaining about a kid's

toy. But in my mind, kids are probably thinking

the same thing. They don't have fifteen, twenty

dollars just willy nilly. They spend on a toy,

take it home and the arm falls off. You know,

like like Paul was saying about his toy, you

know, he got Croc, you know, from Batman. And

the arm just plumb fell off of it for no reason.

Let me ask you guys this now Obviously you guys

have two very different parenting styles Are

you teaching your children to? Save their allowance

if they get an allowance or anything like that

to save for what they want Or are you just getting

them the toys that they ask for I try to get

them to save up their money They don't get a

lot of money because we don't have a lot of money

right right now mainly they get toys on their

birthdays and Christmas special things like that

because they've got so many right now They really

don't need a lot of news new ones, right? And

they don't really want a lot of new ones. I'm

saying well, I want this I want that I want this

I want that What about you Bob, um with me turn

yeah, my my daughter she she gets an allowance

and she saves up money and if she wants something,

we'll talk about it. Okay, is this something

you really want? Because nine times out of 10,

she goes and buys it, plays for it for a day,

and then you never see it again. It gets lost

in the mess. Or if I'm out, when I get my paycheck

and stuff, and I go out and look for something

that's out, because I'm still looking for Viacom

and cannot find them anywhere. And if we're out

in the store looking, I would really love to

have this. Well, I'd really love to have a million

dollars, but you know, they just kind of deal

with it and Okay, we'll get something small and

that's like under ten dollars But that's only

you know, maybe once a month, you know So they're

not spoiled in any way and if they want something

really important They have to work for it and

because that's how I was raised, you know If

I want something and I'm not gonna borrow it

from somebody else. I'm not gonna borrow money

I'm not gonna get somebody to get it for me and

then have to owe them. I I have to earn it and

when I save up for it and I buy it it makes it

more Like it this is mine. I I worked hard to

get this kind of thing and I try to put that

value into them Yeah Now for me when I was collecting

and when I would go into the stores even Even

back when generations was first running not like

I don't remember when it was it was before the

dark of the Moon line came out And, you know,

obviously I wanted Optimus, I wanted Bumblebee,

I wanted, you know, Megatron, all that stuff

and everything else. But there'd be times where

I'd just go into Walmart and Target and just

look at the toy, specifically with Animated.

You know, I know, you know, Paul loves Animated,

I love Animated, but with that toy line, I would

look at some of those toys and I would look at

the price tag that the stores had on them at

the time it was anywhere from... Here it was

anywhere from $9 .99 to $14 .99 for a Deluxe

back then. And it just depended. And it was just

like, is this toy really worth me wasting that

amount of money when I'm eventually just going

to either end up selling it or giving it away?

And it wasn't. It wasn't worth it. And that's

one of the reasons outside of my whole descent

into Maddie Hell. you know, leaving that subject

alone. That was one of the reasons why I stopped

collecting Transformers is because I would buy

stuff and then like a week later I'm like, I

don't need this anymore, let's sell it. You know,

I just kind of lost interest in it and I kind

of lost interest in not being able to use that

money somewhere else other than, you know, collecting

a toy. And I feel that same thing even with like

now. I mean, I'll go there and like I had RC

in my hand and I had Hotshot. Mm -hmm, and I

was like do I really need a repaint of bumblebee

for the 19th million time? And I was like which

one do I want and I walked around the store with

it a couple times with both of them And I was

like I don't want to put them both back And I

was just like they really didn't do anything

for me You know I wound up eventually getting

RC, but I was just like dog. I really need it

I don't really need it. I mean yeah, I would

like to review it You know for the YouTube thing

and stuff, but there comes a point where it's

just like don't really like it so why bother

buying it just to review it you know what I mean

it's like it seemed kind of like a waste of money

it's like what do I do with it after I review

it you know some of the well specifically the

two primary paints that I just don't care hot

shot and dead end I like I love the wheel jack

mold for wheel jack And I like the bumblebee

mold for what it is for the prime toy, but hot

shot That's just fucking stupid to me, and he's

not even in the show. Yeah yet. Well. Yeah yet

and Dead end is like okay. He's a Halloween toy

lovely. Did you read the bio on him though? No

um something like he got some bad energon Yeah,

and it made him insane or whatever and then he

he had a bad acid trip or something. I don't

know what he looks like the joker when he fell

into the pit of goo you know it's like when he

comes out and he's all you know the first joker

and it's just like they really couldn't come

up with something better than that i just don't

know your toys are on drugs i guess it's like

daddy what happened to wheeljack he looks all

scary now i just don't know what hasbro is thinking

with some of these repaints now Okay, you know

sure everybody in the beginning made the joke

about Oh a smurf jumper because he was all purple

and then they weren't gonna do the What is now

the SDCC exclusive version of the red with the

purple splotches? I honestly don't mind the purple

cliff jumper I think it looks kind of cool, but

at the same time It was some of these other repaints,

and I know that they want to you know repaint

or repurpose Toys so they can make that you know,

let's face it one toy probably cost them What

would you guys say to me to manufacture that

three bucks dollars? What what three dollars?

Oh, I thought you meant like an individual toy,

but that's the whole process. Yeah Probably one

to two thousand dollars Yeah, with all the research.

So with all that going into, you know, they obviously

have to, and I think that's why, sadly, the market

is pelted with bumblebees. I mean, it's like

a frigging hailstorm. And like Paul was grabbing

down my throat today, not to talk bad about Paul

or anything, but he was just saying, bumblebee

sells. And why not have that on the shelf? Because

it sells. And I was like, if they were selling

so fast and everybody loved them, why is there

so many of them? You know, did they just overproduce

them or kids are just going, yeah, look, there's

bumblebee and just walk on by. That's why I call

it the Sea of Yellow. Exactly. It's like every

time I go to the store, that's all I see. I don't

even see cyberverse or anything. It's like where

the pegs are for cyberverse or bumblebee. And

then you got to like rifle through all the bumblebees

and there might be one like wheel jack in the

back or something. It's like. I just don't understand

it. Instead of making the stupid mech tech weapons

for the voyagers. Why don't they just make better

toys? Get rid of the weapons I don't you know

okay deluxes back in 2008 2009 were fairly Decent

now that they are shrinking them down considerably

as far as you know Mean deluxe is at this point

or what maybe five four or five inches. They're

not like six or seven inches like they used to

be You know, I mean you might as well just stack

two three and three -quarter inch GI Joe's together

honestly, you know, it's I remember when like

voyagers were like huge and I got my first one

in a long time. My kids got me for Father's Day.

They got me prime our optimist and The thing

is tiny. I was just like really this is a Voyager.

I mean, he's not that much bigger than a deluxe

I mean well a couple inches actually actually

he's he's taller than The classics Optimus Prime

by about half an inch But in my mind maybe it

was just cuz I haven't had one in so long You

know since before when I was collecting when

I was younger it just even like The alternator

jazz figure towers over the Voyager Prime. And

I was just like, there's something not right

there. In my mind, I guess they looked bigger

in my head and I expected it. And then when it

actually got in my hand, it's like, okay. You

know, I remember when I got the 08 BotCon set

and you have Shattered Glass Prime in there,

which is essentially a repainted... Classics

optimus that toy felt heavy to that that Voyager

felt heavy to me the deluxe Rodimus felt you

know a decent weight size as far as a deluxe

size went at the time and now it's like Prick

and you can just shoot them across the room You

know, it's it's like you sent the damn things

up in space and they're weightless or something.

I don't know I just honestly I prefer Putting

my my money to other uses whether that be you

know getting stuff on iTunes whether that be

putting it back into geek cast radio and the

podcasting network and all that stuff, but it

Just I can't justify especially if deluxes are

now gonna be 15 bucks. No matter what there's

no way in hell Yeah, I mean I understand the

cost of everything Like you were saying in America

and even to make it in Japan and then ship it

here And then to have the store sell it and gas

to get it here I understand the price hike but

at least try to do something, you know Yeah,

I don't know as a toy company It's like they're

failing miserably on the line Like you said that

the first editions would have been awesome and

I would have been happy to pay $20 apiece for

those they could have made a killing but then

they scale it down, go cheaper product or something.

The only first edition one I have is Starscream,

so I don't have any to compare it. Kev, you have

Bumblebee, right? You have first edition and

the new one. He's missing at this point in time.

But anyway, I've seen it and it looks better

built, better thought out than just kind of thrown

together, hurry up, rush it out. You know, people

want them. It just I I don't know I Just don't

know why you know of course. I know why toy companies

exist. You know that's Obvious to you know sell

to kids and everything else right. I just don't

understand If they're for let's say the whole

process on one Deluxe or Voyager however much

it cost them to make it to ship it to put it

in stores to make the deals with the stores Whatever

else all that stuff You know and The prices that

they charge for it. I don't see how they're making

their money back Be besides just straight volume

well Like making their money back like you just

said all those bumblebees on the shelves, and

I know working in retail and stuff Once those

don't sell they go back to a warehouse and sit

or get destroyed, you know kids like Even a bookstore

they buy books and they don't sell they're on

the shelves. Where do they go after? Sitting

on the shelves for so long, you know, is there

a warehouse just full of nothing but bumblebees

there must be or skids and mudflap because you

know, yeah, it's like, you know, I'm in Iraq

skids and mudflap in my store like three months

ago Revenge of the fallen and it's like really

you still have a revenge look It's like what

do these stores do with all the shelf warming

toys? They just leave them on the shelves until

it's time to Just I mean do they send them to

you know a trash compactor where lots of makes

the trash smell like strawberries I don't know

you see and it's like I think they go to like

this big toy don't sell warehouse and then you

know, it's like Ten years from now they're gonna

find a huge shipment of bumblebees. Oh, look

what we found, you know and flood the market

again It's it's like I just wondered what they

do with them. I mean eventually Walmart's gonna

go. Okay, these things aren't selling let's get

them out of our stores taking up space for something

else that people might want That's essentially

what they've done with GI Joe. I mean, I think

Walmart and I could be wrong about this listeners

can correct me I don't know I know the whole

debacle with you know pushing the movie back

for 3d and because the test screenings failed

or did badly I think Walmart said well we're

not going to carry your your your GI Joe toys

anymore and every time I go to my Walmart they

have pardon my French but they have assloads

of um thundercat toys Anything you possibly could

want and every time I go there it looks like

nobody's ever touched them and They're just sitting

there looking sad and lonely like somebody by

me and nobody is Yeah, cuz nobody cares and it's

like what do they do with those toys? They have

to go somewhere after they don't sell well the

thing with thundercats is that was a deadline

to begin with because I Had only seen one video

and you know, I know People don't like the person,

but whatever. I saw a Pixel Dan video at one

of the conventions, I think it was last year's

Power and ThunderCon, where Bandai was talking

about the ThunderCats line, and then all of a

sudden they just stopped. Like, they weren't

talking about it, they weren't promoting it,

they weren't doing anything with the toy line

whatsoever, and the toy line, it was like, you

know, somebody threw... body over the edge into

the newspaper bundler and it just started bleeding

red everywhere because the production on the

Thundercats toy line essentially just halted

to a screech screeching halt and they wouldn't

talk about it they wouldn't do anything about

it and now with the show supposedly the show

is over regardless of you know them having you

know, booked 52 episodes. We've already finished

the first 26. I don't know if Cartoon Network

is gonna run the other 26 episodes because at

their up -fronts, it wasn't even mentioned as

a returning show for the next season. Oh, wow.

So, I don't know what's going on with that, but

it's like... And again, Thundercats, as much

as I love the franchise as a kid, I just can't

get behind those toys. for me personally it's

like oh well as a six -inch gi joe figured painted

like a cat you know what you know whatever i

know that's not what they are but that's just

the way that i look at it is like wow oh it's

i don't know the only one i have is mum raw and

he he's he's the the bigger figure the six -inch

figure he can't mom with the weak ankles yeah

he can't stand to save his life And it's just

like Bandai just kind of went, yeah, I don't

care. You know, and it's like, that's another

toy. I'm just glad I didn't pay for it because

Paul was nice enough after he reviewed it. He's

just like, I don't want this piece of crap. Do

you want it? And I was like, sure, I'll take

it. You know, it's free toy. I'm not going to

turn it down. The only thing that looked cool

to me in the entire Thundercats line was the

Thunder Tank. That was the only thing I liked

about that entire toy line. And and and Bandai,

you know screw themselves over with the Thundercats

classics because they couldn't decide what size

they wanted Lionel's dick to be eight inches

seven inches six inches, whatever Yeah, just

stick to one line. I mean make a good line size

class damn it Yeah It's sad size does matter

in toys Looking at you unicorn Just like these

new fall of cyber trying Fall of Cybertron toys

ever I'm so excited to get them and I'm just

I know I'm gonna be let down but like Brawls

already sold out on big bad toy store at the

pre -orders. Nope. No more. Yeah I Don't know

it's just I was asking my wife since she's an

author and her books go to bookstores and From

the bookstores do not sell her books for a certain

time because it's taking a valuable space On

the shelves that they could put something that

somebody that actually want to buy that's saying

that her books are bad I'm just using her as

a present example. Yes, right Listen to the show.

She's right behind me No, anyway, she says that

they get returned to the publisher And then from

there the publisher tries to sell them or give

them away to try to get them out They do discounts

on them to try to blow them out So like a $15

book may be $5 just to get them out of there

And I know they don't do that with transformers

or toys or anything But you know you go to Toys

R Us and you find a toy that was $25 on sale

for 10 Know the big mark chains do it, but I'm

just thinking Walmart, you know once they get

those toys don't sell the peg warmers Where do

they go? Is there like a clearance section? Yeah

the clearing it there's yeah Even the clearance

section doesn't I've been through my Walmart

several times. I rarely go to the toy department

anymore But even the stuff that they have on

clearance up front in the store. It's never like

deluxe packaged action figures from any line

doesn't matter whether it's transformers star

wars it's never any of that stuff the thing about

it is is like you know what i don't get is okay

i understand bbts puts out a certain amount of

money for certain amount of toys are you know

they have different budgets that they used to

go get all these toys that they used to sell

and yes i understand they do a markup and they

do the shipping and all that stuff and it's all

that cost and everything else but It's very rare

for me. I know BBTS has clearance and blowout

sales themselves But it's very rare for me to

see any deluxe transformers or Voyager transformers

on their sale pages It just is I don't understand

it and they'll have stuff. That's you know They'll

have like those larger scale not not hot toys,

but like other stuff. That's that's like super

expensive like price tag of 274 .99 for something

and it won't sell and then when they get to their

like Christmas sale or New Year's sale or after

4th of July sale or whatever the hell sale you

know you know vampire hunter day sale whatever

you know they won't mark those down and if they

do they'll mark it from 274 to 169 that's still

a hell of a lot of freaking money and you still

want to move that product there's no way Well,

I Cut I caught one huge sale on Big Bad Toy Store

about two years ago it's this huge statue of

Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean

movies and It originally sold for like two hundred

and fifty dollars. I Got it on one of their sales

for thirty bucks shipped And this thing is massive,

I mean I can't even display it anywhere right

now But every once in a while you get lucky I

Don't know do you guys have toys are TJ Maxx

stores that you're you know out where you guys

are I've seen them I don't ever go in them um

Go in there. They have the best transformers

because they get leftovers from what the stores

don't sell and That's that's usually what happens.

That's I've been I've been a TJ Maxx and they

actually have like dark in the moon figures and

actually reveal the shield They had wreck are

and and a lot of ones that I never got to see

that only hit the store for like a day and that

was gone You know, it's like I don't know if

they got recalled or or what but um They they

actually have TJ Maxx has good Transformers and

weird ones that you wouldn't expect you guys

have like You guys have like five below near

the either of you What is it five below? It's

like it's a discount store. Everything in the

store is five dollars or less Back at Christmas

time. They had Every single one of the RTS legends

figures for three bucks a piece and they had

some of the Scout figures including wind charger

Five bucks. Yeah, see that's the thing. It's

like, you know, it's like what Bob is asking

about What what what does Walmart Target toys

or us? What were the big box stores do with?

Stuff that sat there for god knows how long and

I think that's what they honestly do they will

make a deal with big lots or Coles or some really

strange off -the -wall Store that you like hell

even like JC Penney and Sears, you know, and

that's the thing Sears specifically sears back

in the eighties it was everything for kids to

get that wish book every year because even though

we knew we weren't going to get any of the damn

toys from sears that was part of the holidays

yeah that was part of the holidays that was part

of seeing them and i think that's what the big

box stores do is they will make a deal with a

smaller chain and say here we've had these on

our shelves for X amount of extra months than

what we thought that they were gonna sell for

they haven't sold Do you want them at a discount

price and then you can discount them for whatever

and I don't know I don't work in retail I have

no clue I could be wrong in this but I think

that's probably what they do because I know that's

what was done with robot heroes because I found

My at the time I had I think 20 25 different

transformers robot heroes I found majority of

them at Big Lots, like hidden in the little,

you know, toy section that they had at that store.

And that's how I found them and that's how I

get into them. And it's just like, I don't know,

it's just weird. You know what store I really

miss was KB Toy Store. Those things in the mall

back in the day, oh my goodness gracious, that

was, I just sounded really old saying that. But

anyway, we used to be mall rats and that was

the crap going in that store because they had

the best toys and they were cheap. And it's like

they don't have that kind of store. It's like

they need a secondhand store for crap that doesn't

sell. See, when I first got my first job when

I was 17, I used to go to KB Toy Store and they

had the Star Wars figures were like a dollar

a piece back then. Oh, yes. I'd get my paycheck

and I'd go through and I'd buy a bunch of Star

Wars figures. That's where I used to get all

my Ninja Turtles stuff. I used to go to KB Tour

Store and buy Ninja Turtles and WWF wrestling

figures because they were like $5 for a 6 -inch

wrestling figure. Every Friday, my dad would

be like, oh, where do you guys want to go? And

I'd be at the mall, and I'd spend my allowance

on mutant turtles. But it's like you go to Walmart

now, and it's just like really this seems like

a lot of waste of space for crap that nobody

wants All right, how much how much Ben 10 crap

does somebody actually really gonna buy? Yeah,

really how much or what was the? What was the

size class for the old Turtles toys? What was

it like five inches tall? I think there's four

four or five. Yeah, okay four or five inches

They weren't very tall back in back in oh nine

when it was the 25th anniversary I went to Target

and they had Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and I

think there was also Splinter there. There was

supposed to be April, but I never found her,

but there were like $7 .99 apiece. That's not

bad. Okay, I know it's not a transforming toy

or whatever, that's fine, but for those toys

and for what they are being the 25th anniversary,

that was not a bad price point for that. Not

at all. And now it seems like... you know everything

has to either be more costly and we get less

stuff or it's more costly and we still get stuff

that you know you have a splotchy paint crotch

or you have a left arm or a right arm should

be or you have a shoulder that's mismatched or

you know whatever Just can't see justifying money

on toys anymore. Like I was so pissed when I

first started collecting it was like The nostalgia

of it just hit me and I didn't care because I

had so much extra money coming in I paid eBay

prices I paid 300 bucks for a g1 blaster and

you know like C7 mint in box or something like

that and I got it and the box came and the price

on it was like, you know BJ's super store or

whatever else price like like $21 and I'm like

son of a bitch. Why can't it be the 80s again?

Yeah, I don't know I just I Think these toy stores

are the toy companies like Hasbro and Mattel

They would have a lot more money if they wouldn't

waste so much I mean look at all the packaging

and all that stuff of the toys that don't sell

Like the dark moon figures, you know come out

with what? People actually want, you know, the

main characters, the special ones, and, you know,

don't change our name from Dino to Dino, whatever

the heck his name was. Guido. Yeah, make him

Guido, you know. But, you know, you think of

all the packaging. Hey, I'm an Autobot! Yeah.

I'm an Autobot who eats the mushrooms to grow.

Where's my brother Luigi? But it's just like

all those shell formers. It's like all that money

that Hasbro spent to make wasting when they could

be using it for other resources, like stuff people

would actually want to buy. You know, they should

have a Hasbro club like Matty Collector, but

actually, you know, for collectors, somebody

needs to do it. All right, I agree to a certain

point that there needs to be something for collectors.

And there's hot toys, of course, but I don't

have $400 to spend on those. That's for a collector

who actually can afford to buy something like

that, even if, again, using Paul as an example,

because he's not here, so we have to talk about

him. paul will buy that but he'll make his money

back from views off of youtube so yes he's buying

it because he really wants it but he's also buying

it so you know he'll get the views of you to

know make his money back and that's all well

and good for the regular person that has a nine

to five job or you know a midnight to three you

know six a m job whatever that makes maybe slowly

better than minimum wage you know granted we

We should save our money to afford something

like that, but still, that's a lot of freaking

money for essentially a display piece. I don't

care what Paul says. Those hot toys are display

pieces. You're not going to find yourself playing

with Batman. Yeah, my kids would know. I would

never if I spent that kind of money. Daddy, can

I see Batman? Hell no. Hell to the no. You're

not touching it. With your eyes, not with your

hands. I'm afraid to touch it. That's $300. That

took me a long time to get. I'm thinking, to

average Joe, like you were saying, somebody that

collects can spend $20 to $30. I didn't mind

spending $20, $22 on Ghostbusters figures because

I wanted them. I love Ghostbusters. I wanted

to have them. Yeah, not not three paints and

then just different heads on bodies, but initial

wave the initial wave Yeah, like you and he man

you wanted the initial wave Yeah, and you were

willing to pay whatever and that's the thing

with Mattel They know if they give us all the

characters that we want right away Then we're

not gonna buy anything else from them. That's

why it's taken So long for us to finally get

a Mechaneck and so long for us to whenever we

get a ram man That's why that they've stretched

that out. We've already got a majority of the

core characters What did you think of the snake

man -at -arms? That's freaking stupid. Well,

I mean is that to me in my mind? I was just like

that's the service ring because the service ring

is a cool accessory, but It's a snake head with

man -in -arms armor. I mean, I think it's cool

if you already have a man -in -arms and you can

just, you know, swap out the heads and all that

stuff, because the armor on the snake version

is more in line with the 2002 cartoon. I thought

that was kind of cool, but the figure in general,

just as having a snake head on it, fuck it. Yeah,

I missed the whole... 2002 cartoon because when

I seen that review I was just like when did he

get turned into a snake I must have done way

more drugs than what I thought I did younger

I was like I don't remember him ever turning

into a snake in the cartoon yeah the 2002 cartoon

it's I completely missed it it's pretty damn

awesome honestly it's I need to go back and see

it if it's not say it's good I I better Is it

on Hulu or anything? I'm not sure. I don't think

it's on Netflix yet either. And I know that they

just, because I just saw it on my Netflix apparently.

By the first week of July, She -Ra is going off

Netflix. I have no idea why. I guess Netflix

might have lost the license to broadcast her

series. I guess they are on there. Yeah. The

beginning part one, they're like 15 minutes long.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I need to check those out then.

Yeah, I Have the first I think season on iTunes.

It's on DVD It's honestly getting it on DVD is

probably the cheapest way you're gonna be able

to get the entire series to watch it but it was

a damn good series because it It sticks to a

strict continuity and it tells an actual story

whereas the old filmation version was Individual

story, you know, there's some continuity there

But like each week or you know each day because

it was daily, you know five days a week syndication

It gave you a different story each day and that

that was good for that time But the 2002 version

was just a just a solid solid story But I know

they have figures that came out. So that just

didn't care. Did they have toys that came out

for that? 2002? That's actually why we have Masters

Classics online only, is because the 2002 toy

line failed in stores. 2008 was the first time

since in six years since the 2002 line failed

that they actually that Mattel actually Produced

master stuff it took them six years see I wonder

why they failed because like your fans like you

and me age Just weren't they just weren't selling

and half the time go in and they would find you

know He -mans and Skeletor's they wouldn't find

any other characters. It was it's kind of like

bumblebee syndrome. Yeah, you know So that's

where the toy people shoot themselves in the

foot Yep Which was my whole comment today, and

it's like seemed like you know here We are talking

about Paul again, but it seems like he jumped

on well of course They're gonna raise prices

cuz you know economy's bad, and they have to

make money, too But they're not doing it in my

mind. They're not doing it Logically they're

not thinking ahead They're wasting so much money

on this bumblebees and and like you said you

know the skids and mudflap crap that nobody wants

Bruticus that's in like M &M skittle colors.

I Don't want that. I'm not paying $100 for that

and see like like Bruticus itself I'm sorry putting

five deluxe toys together to form a giant like

that's not constricted that that's not very elegant

construction because The five figures put together

look like shit. Doesn't matter what colors you

have them in. The original, and I've said this

before, the original picture that was shown in

the Game Informer magazine of the toys. It was

swindling the G1 green and purple kind of colors.

It was very G1 looking, and I think that's what

the... what the SDCC exclusive is I forget which

one it is as far as which colors are which but

the one that really really looked like G1 I really

really like that on Swindle I thought it was

really freaking cool and then they went up and

changed it and I'm like yeah that doesn't look

good at all whatsoever when it comes to Swindle

on the color change but what is Hezbro thinking

putting five deluxe figures together To make

one giant combiner robot. I mean that's almost

as bad as that crappy power core stuff That was

horrible and those didn't sell for nothing. No

not at all I Looked at those and I was like really

that's supposed to be cool looking it's like

even Even my kids are like, what is that mess?

It's like it was just it was horrible Don't know

like with like Kevin. What are your thoughts

on on Bruticus and his you know? Transformation

from the oh well there goes Kevin again lovely

The I Just don't see how that's a decent combiner

I Don't get how Bruticus is a decent looking

combiner at all. It's it's five deluxe toys glued

together It's right gangly looking yeah That's

not all I can say it's it's very gangly looking.

I don't know if they've still got it mistransformed

or Yeah, how does the company mistransform in

their own figure? Yeah, I just blame Photoshop

It goes to prove to me that they have no clue

what they're doing or care because Okay, one

deluxe figure and it's piece of crap now I'm

gonna get five piece of crap deluxe is to put

into one big piece of crap. It's Look at knockout

look at his instructions how screwed up are his

instructions compared to how he's supposed to

be transformed Yeah, they're completely wrong.

You're like his arms are not even close to being

that way. They're supposed to be and It was wrong

and everything else his shoulders are wrong and

the instructions what's like with You have him

to Kevin. Don't you have the first edition Starscream?

Yes, I do It doesn't say anything about those

the wings in the back of his legs It doesn't

say anything on there. Are we supposed to have

them down or up or what the heck are those? You

know, it's like it doesn't say anything about

it in the instructions. It's like just now forget

them They're just extra bits on there for no

reason Well, they did the same thing with the

deluxe version of Megatron too. It's his transformation

According to the instructions didn't even have

you pulling all the winged tips out and everything

else I wouldn't even know know about that if

it wasn't for Pios video right and that's how

I I watch the the bigger guys that review and

stuff to watch to see if I'm even transforming

it right because the instructions are like what

and Mike you've been out of loop for a while

but the instructions lately are just horrible

well instructions for me in general were horrible

I just you know even as a kid even the G1 instructions

are you know just sometimes they just kinda sucked

but that's why you know as as as you guys just

said that that's honestly why I started watching

video reviewers is because you know for the most

part most of them know what they're talking about

unless you know you talk like a child molester

from northern California or you shake so bad

I can't see what the heck you're trying to do

yeah I didn't say that okay I did Or, you know,

Bruce Vane and all that. That's why I started

watching video reviews because I wanted to see

what, specifically with BotCon 2008, I wanted

to see what the figures looked like. I wanted

to see how they transformed or anything else.

When I was doing the collecting and I was buying

new toys and I would watch the... The videos

to find out what what I was supposed to do versus

that because the instructions Okay, that's a

nice picture and that's all it was. It was a

nice little picture It's a little tiny square

that I think that this one's colored and you

want me to turn it? This way it's four times

and then till laughs at what I don't Worse would

be awesome. I can't tell you how many times that

the classics optimist mold Had given me given

me problems with the twisting of the waist that

that second part like his his his chest piece

on his waist piece twisting because it's like

two different pieces twisting that around to

get the tires to go right and get the oh god

looking at the instructions for that thing is

just nuts that's how i am for the war for cybertron

optimus i cannot transform that thing for the

save my life and it's like really the instructions

are no help i was like a little bit of words

would be fine Take the left arm and move it counterclockwise.

You know, how hard is it to put words in? Yeah,

exactly. I know they're for kids, but you know,

at least when my kids would come, daddy, help

me do this or put this together for me. Yeah,

I would love to have words. OK, put four screws

in the back of it. OK, great. I don't want to

see pictures of screws and where the heck am

I supposed to put them? Yeah, exactly. I'm not

a rocket science. You know, I can't read schematics.

I'm not a bright man, as Forrest Gump would say.

I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.

I know what words are. Oh, God. But, you know,

at least so I can read how to put it together.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's just it's just nuts.

The instructions are just it's a worthless piece

of paper, essentially. But as far as the toys

in this economy, it just collecting is so hard

these days because the toy companies do make

some amazing, awesome figures. But at the same

time, you know... Where do you put your heart

into it? I mean... Well, where do you put your

heart into it, and where do you put your wallet

into it? Because I know there's a lot of people...

Chemists. I know there's a lot of people that

will save up their money and everything else

and be able to buy something really nice, like

a masterpiece toy or something like that. But

it's just... God I don't know. This is why I'm

glad I'm out of the toy collecting at this point

because I've wanted I've wanted DC direct figures

for a while now Batman the Arkham City Arkham

Asylum and I've watched reviews and I was like

man I would love to have one of those and I finally

found that place In town here and I went in there

in the store and found him and I saw him like

that She hold him in my hand and I was like I

was really excited about these Yeah, I got him

and I talked to the guy and the guy I was like,

hey if I pimp out your store on my YouTube and

the guy gave me 10 % discount for the figures

for doing that for him, which was awesome anyway,

I get him home open them up and I'm like You

know so excited to have them. I finally got him

and it's like oh the paint Underneath Batman's

arm is all smudged. I was just like son of a

You know, I had such high hopes and then to actually

get in my hand Was just like it was it was almost

like Christmas morning when you open up a present

and it was closed It was just like what a ripoff

you know, it's like I was so excited. I paid

$22 for this figure and The paint is horrible

on it or or the arm doesn't move because it's

like sealed painted shut or something I don't

know and like with Paul, you know, like I was

saying about his croc figure that he just got

you know The arm just plump fell right off it's

just hard to spend money on things nowadays for

quality like that yeah i completely losing faith

in it it's like now i kind of know why i didn't

collect you know from you know my twenties to

just to hear recently when i started again the

whole time i i never pay attention to toys yeah

you know and i'm the same way i didn't start

until i was twenty eight you know so that you

know and you know thirty two now and i'm already

i've lost interest in it and it's not it's it's

not for me personally it's not just because of

price it's also because of crappy quality and

it's also because in the last year or so and

i've told us so this before that i've moved like

four or five thousand times and you know you

know once you're settled and you have your collection

set up and it's like oh you gotta move and then

oh you gotta move again and you know it's like

it doesn't It's just kind of like, well, fuck

it. But the toys in this economy, hey, if you're

more than willing to save up your pennies and

be able to buy something that you really want,

that's great. Pretty much I'm using my kids as

an excuse. Because my son, he's four, and he

loves the rescue bots, the Transformers. They're

really cool toys and I like it but it's like

oh my son really would love to have the helicopter

even though deep down inside I really want it,

you know, but it's like I'm gonna buy for him

and give it to him after I review it You know,

it's like that's how my mindset is instead of

like going out and spending the thirty forty

dollars I'll just give it something that he'll

enjoy after I review it, you know, I'll do the

packaging the review Here you go son. Go play

knock yourself out, you know, so it's not really

a collection. It's like killing two birds with

one stone kind of thing. But I use my kids like

excuse, hey, the kids really want to go to Toys

R Us, even though I want to go just as bad as

they do. Yeah. Well, you know, with the whole

talk of price hikes and everything else, more

specifically to Mattel, and we've talked about

this before, you know, you've got some people

out there that I know one guy, he's a really

great guy, Mike Lacey. He has four club attorney

subscriptions. Good lord. Two for himself and

two for his son. The two for himself is one to

open and one to keep in box. The other one is

one for his son so Mike can save it for his son.

And then the other is for his son to open. Oh.

So when he gets older, here are all the in -packages

that I saved for you. Right. Right. When he gets

older, you know, Mike can present his son with,

hey, here's an entire collection of mint in -box

toys. If you know if you want them blah blah

whatever, you know, but it's like, you know and

and Mike and I have talked about this before

where it's like, you know if Mattel increases

prices because what people aren't considering

is that not only are the the regular He -Man,

Deluxe, whatever 6 -inch figure is going to increase.

That means the larger stuff and the multi -packs

are going to increase too. Right now a multi

-pack is anywhere from 20 to 40 to 60 bucks.

So if they increase prices, that can end up anywhere

being 20 to 60 to 80 dollars. And it's like,

I just can't justify that kind of price. And

I didn't even think about that because The deluxe

is going up to $15. What's that mean for the

voyagers and the other figures? They're gonna

go up to I didn't even think about that until

you know that if a deluxe transformer is now

1499 a Voyager is probably gonna be close to

30 bucks and the leaders if they are even I don't

cuz like I don't think they make them I was gonna

say I don't even think they're doing leaders

anymore, but leaders are probably gonna be close

to 60 70 bucks Which is outrageous. Yeah, that's

just outrageous any like like i know for example

from people who were in canada uh... when i bought

my leader animated ultra magnus he was forty

dollars at target and i've talked to people in

canada were like he was only thirty nine ninety

nine where you are is like i was like yeah he's

like and the person was like well he's uh...

he's like sixty nine ninety nine up here and

i'm like jesus christ really That was animated

leader ultra Magnus was $70 in Canada and I okay

I know it's a different country different financial

points and all that crap, but they pay for health

care in their taxes That's a whole different

show, yeah, that's a whole nother show so um,

you know buying toy not just transformers with

any toy in this economy It's a crap shoot because

you could get a toy that has bad, you know, you

know an arm falls off or Or the joints are loose

and eventually it'll fall off or you know you

go to a convention you buy a $70 a piece of marshmallow

fluff that starts pissing all over itself and

Yeah, whenever else turn start turning yellow.

Yeah. Yeah It's a crapshoot is what it is in

all honesty And that's the risk you do as a collector

or like a YouTube, you know reviewer You know,

I see that as something I love doing but I review

what I collect And it's like, where do I go for

now? It's like, do I keep collecting transformer

figures? You know, you buy two figures, there's

$30 down the drain. You know, and I'm just like,

that took me two hours of work to get to that.

You know, it's like, you know, in my mind, I

was like, wow, that's crazy. And you know, the

other thing about it is, is that, you know, the

hunt, at least for me, I don't know about you

or Kevin or... or Paul or anybody else, the hunt

for me is just so disappointing, especially now.

I guarantee you, if I was still hunting now,

I would be so freaking disappointed, because

every time I see friends on Twitter post, oh,

this star has nothing but bumblebees, or oh,

this star has nothing but this figure, it's like

it doesn't seem like the hunt, specifically for

Transformers. They they sold the shelves with

bumblebees so much that okay sure there might

be a Wheeljack all the way in the back behind

all the bumblebees there might be an RC there

might be Whatever you know a bulkhead or whatever

else. I don't even know what else prime You know

a cliff jumper or whatever else you know But

you spend forty dollars in gas going to fifteen

different stores looking for you know going on

this quest holy grail Yeah, exactly when you

find it and look at it. You're like Just I just

spent five hours and so much gas. Yeah looking

for this and I see it in person holding it in

my hand No, what why it doesn't look like it

did on the review Cool and Paul's review, but

when you have it in your hand, you're like yeah,

that's why for me it depends on on character

now and You know, I remember when I was, you

know still collecting I I coveted the animated

RCs, I really wanted every single version of

the animated Rodimus mold. Well, minus that breakdown

crap. As cool as the 2011 set is, I just wasn't

a fan of the colors on breakdown for the Rodimus

mold. But anyway, I more so focus on what characters

do I really love, what characters, figures do

I really want toys of, versus OK, I need to have

the entire Autobot team from Prime. I need to

have the entire Decepticon team and whatever

else. And see, I was going that way, but I was

like, OK, I'm done. You know, it's like I got

the Autobots I want. You know, I'm looking for

the vehicle because I need more Decepticons because

I only got Starscream, you know, and I got a

couple. I got like Megatron from Wars for Cybertron

and Soundwave and stuff, but. It's just okay.

I'm done. You know I'm gonna save my money and

wait for The the new jazz coming out from the

new video game. You know that's one I really

like because I love jazz as you know and He he's

somebody I collect so I will try to get jazz

from every line I can you know this because I

love that figure, but other than that I'm like

yeah, nothing really Whatever you know And even

if jazz is a bad figure, he's still jazz. In

my heart, you know, it's something I grew up

with when I was a kid. I'm attached to it, you

know. Well, yeah. Just like with how people are

with certain figures, you know, no matter what

line it is or how many different versions there

are of them, you're going to buy them. And sadly,

this day and age, the locomotive is kind of out.

So. Won't ever really get a classics or in any

kind of like updated version of astro train unless

it's a fucking bullet train Which is so stupid

see I was just gonna say I have the bullet train

one I'd be more than happy to send to you. No,

it's the henkay one, but oh, yeah, it's purple

and I Know what they look like but see that's

the thing. It's like okay if you look at the

all Right right and well And that's well, that's

what I want someone to do with astro train is

to steam engine Yeah, bring yeah bring the locomotive

back But in the you know, the the classics or

generations or whatever else kind of styling

and I don't give a shit about the bullet train

Yeah, the only bullet train that was ever cool

for me was rail racer The three midnight express

and rail run and oh yeah, the other one was I

forget what the other one's name was yeah I'll

see ya toys in this economy. Like I was saying

earlier to kind of close out the show. It's like

Yeah Save your monies and then you know if you

find something that you really really want cool

But honestly, I would put money elsewhere and

it I'll finish with I guess it goes buyer beware,

you know, you see something on TV and you take

one guy's opinion of it You can't take that for

granted that every single one of that figure

is gonna be awesome because one guy's Cliff jumper

is gonna work Mine is horrible won't hold a gun

arms don't close It's a piece of crap and it's

just a crap shoot, you know, yeah buyers beware

and i i don't understand okay it's uh... and

again we were trying to wrap the show up a couple

times but sorry i don't know i'd you know you

you bring up a good point understand is how with

any toy company how is the quality control so

much different from figure to figure if you think

of you know has bro and transformers as an assembly

line type of deal yes i know you know each figure

gets so much time and attention to it but if

you look If you have ten people in a line that

they're all working on the same molded figure

You would think even though it's ten different

people You would think that they would have that

they that they would all follow the instructions

their own instructions Yeah, and there'd be a

machine to like measure the thickness of the

plastic Even Laverne and Shirley had you know

that little thing that the bottles went through

and they looked for whatever in the beer bottles

You know, they did quality control It's like,

it can't really be that hard. You know, pick

every 10 figures and transform it to see if it

transforms or not. No throw it away. You know,

there has to be some rhyme or reason to it. I

don't know. It's like, I wonder if they, they

think we are there, you know, quality control.

It's not like we can send them back to them.

Take this cliff jumper back. I don't want it.

I want my $15 back here. Take this. $130 piece

of plastic crap ghost trap back. Oh wait, you're

gonna make me pay for shipping. Fuck you Yeah,

anyway Exactly, that's a there's all another

story the toys in this account toy collecting

in this economy does not mix well if it was maybe

Five six seven years ago. It would have been

alright, but since the economy has Essentially,

you know been flushed down the toilet You know,

it's the economy along with the quality is my

biggest thing I wouldn't mind paying like I said

before I wouldn't mind paying twenty thirty dollars

for a toy I know that's gonna be awesome, you

know every single time it's not a crapshoot You

know, but for a deluxe I just I don't see it

especially for a kid. That's kind of out of their

price range Exactly. Don't you think you know,

I don't know what your allowances are nowadays

for most parents but you know, I get my daughter

like Three dollars a week or whatever to help

watch, you know, my my son and this net a ten

-year -old doesn't need more than three dollars

a week I mean what she really I used to get like

five bucks a week But again, it goes to the economy

and what parents can actually afford. Yeah, exactly

I just you know, it would take her a month to

save up for a toy. That's $15, you know, yeah

that's that's nuts so all right this has been

toy cast you can find us on twitter at tf toy

cast uh bob's on twitter at at so fucking you're

such a jerk you did it it's no i meant just use

the ad sign and then your name dumbass not the

ad sign and at bob gilmer But it's at like Star

Wars you know get it at at Bob Gilmer. It's a

bad Star Wars reference. Bad Star Wars reference.

You know you should just respell your name at

Bob Glimmer. Glimmer or Gilmore like everybody

else thinks it is like Happy Gilmer. It's E -R

not O -R -E. I get called is there a Bob Gilmore

here? Son of Glimmer's brother. Or named him

Happy. Happy Gilmer. Alright, so this show has

gone down the crapper. IMTF2 and Mike, he is

Slimeblower Bob. Be sure to check out geekcastradio

.com, check out Bob on his YouTube channel. What

is your YouTube channel? It's just Bob Gilmer,

one word. Good. So that's it for this time. We

will see you next time when I have no idea what

we're going to be doing.