Latest / Ultimate Rewinds Podcast / Toy Collecting with Como Comics Ep #5

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Toy Collecting with Como Comics Ep #5 · Ultimate Rewinds Podcast

0:00
All
0:07
right. So, Drew, thank you for joining
0:08
me today. Uh, I know you're a comic guy.
0:11
You have your own comic book YouTube
0:12
channel like me. Uh, I know you're into
0:14
all that stuff, but I really want to
0:16
know just just in speaking to you a
0:17
little bit. We've had little
0:18
conversations kind of back and forth.
0:21
What else are you interested in? I know
0:23
there's a bunch of pop culture things me
0:25
and you have talked about. what catches
0:27
your eye maybe that you grew up with or
0:30
uh that you just kind of love and always
0:32
have loved. Yeah. Well, thanks for
0:34
having me on. Um I've I've never had a
0:38
shortage of wants. Um my mom would say
0:40
even when I was a little kid, you know,
0:42
soon as I got one thing, I was already
0:44
wanting the next or looking on to the
0:46
next thing. So, you know, it's it
0:48
started at probably I'd have to say
0:53
Silverhawks, Real Ghostbusters, um, in
0:55
the toy aisle. Then not long after that,
0:58
it was Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers.
1:01
So, basically, I was, you know, just
1:05
fulfilling my role as a member of my
1:06
generation that just had pop culture
1:08
spoonfed to us. um every day after
1:12
school, every Saturday morning, every
1:14
time we open the cereal box, you know,
1:15
we were just inundated with all of these
1:18
IPs that, you know, we grew up loving
1:21
and whether or not that was our own
1:22
choice or, you know, just what we were
1:24
conditioned to do. Um, you know, 35
1:27
years, 30 years later, however long it's
1:30
actually been from any given point, I
1:32
still love the stuff. you know, I just
1:35
still chasing that feeling of of how fun
1:38
it was, how great it felt back in the
1:40
day. And luckily,
1:43
I haven't had to do a whole lot of
1:44
rebuilding. Um, I got the call, you
1:47
know, my mom's like, "Come get your crap
1:49
out of my basement." Which is such a
1:53
better call than a lot of people get or
1:55
a conversation that a lot of people have
1:56
to have where they're like, "Hey,
1:58
where's my stuff?" They're like, "Oh,
1:59
that junk. I sold that at a garage sale
2:01
or I gave it away or I threw it in the
2:03
trash. So, I'd much rather be on my side
2:05
of the fence. Um, but for the most part
2:09
today, really what I'm chasing after is
2:11
I've continue to build out my loose TMNT
2:14
figure collection. I'm randomly chasing
2:17
some uh McDonald's Happy Meal toys here
2:21
and there. Um, just things that I' I've
2:24
wanted to pick up over the years.
2:26
Dabbling in VHS. Kind of got back into
2:28
Goosebumps. So, um, just any number of
2:33
things. I really like Universal Monsters
2:36
and scary things. Um, so anything that
2:39
is
2:41
80s, 90s monster or Halloween, um, type
2:46
items, I love that. I mean, just to
2:48
drive that point home, randomly sitting
2:50
here, I have a a carded real
2:53
Ghostbusters monster mommy. So, um, not
2:57
for any particular reason. and I just
2:59
moved something into where it was and I
3:01
haven't found a new home for it yet. So,
3:02
I literally just have this stuff
3:04
everywhere. Safe to say most of the
3:06
stuff that you were after was in the
3:08
90s. Am I right? Or because I I know you
3:10
have spoken you do have some 80s stuff,
3:11
but I kind of feel like a lot of stuff
3:13
you mentioned was was late 80s or early
3:15
90s. Am I right? Yeah, I I was born in
3:19
the early 80s. Um, but you know, we kind
3:23
of like I said, we got an early start.
3:24
My dad was the the TV guy. So I was the
3:26
son of the TV guy. So I from a young age
3:30
was teaching people how to use the giant
3:33
satellite dishes, if you remember those
3:34
from back in the day. That's what my dad
3:36
did. And kind of the way he broke the
3:38
ice with people who were nervous about
3:40
learning how to run it, was he'd have me
3:43
show them how to run this thing at five
3:44
years old. So it's the classic it's so
3:47
easy a kid can do it situation. Um but
3:50
you know, I knew where to find all the
3:51
good cartoons and stuff like that. But I
3:54
also grew up in the Midwest, um, pretty
3:57
much dead center of the country. And,
4:00
you know, that pop culture delay is
4:02
real. So, a lot of times by the time I
4:05
was learning about something, it was
4:07
already on its way out. We had a lot of
4:10
we're Walmart country, so we had a fair
4:12
amount of access to newer stuff, but
4:14
then also at the same time, there were a
4:16
lot of older department stores and
4:18
discount stores around. So, I was buying
4:21
my Food Fighters
4:23
probably in the early 90s after they
4:25
were already gone. Same thing with
4:27
Barnyard Commandos. I remember there was
4:30
Well, the store still exists, but it's a
4:32
a True Value hardware store in my
4:34
hometown had like eight or 12 feet of
4:37
toys. So, I know I bought some Gen One
4:39
Transformers there, Dino Riders.
4:44
So, while I got into a lot of these 80s
4:47
properties when I was super young, they
4:50
may have actually already been phased
4:51
out by the time I found them, but it was
4:53
just it took them that long to work
4:55
through the process to where I could
4:56
find them at my local five and dime or
4:59
or wherever. We also had the next town
5:01
over had a a Ben Franklin which was good
5:04
for uh you know kind of late run or or
5:08
after see we we didn't have a Ben
5:10
Franklin. I know True Value still
5:12
exists. We actually use it in my actual
5:15
real profession. So I I know I'm very
5:17
familiar with True Value, but like you
5:19
brought it up. I remember going to like
5:21
some of these department stores. Like I
5:23
remember Sears had some Masters of
5:25
Universe, J C Penney. There was a an old
5:28
department store by me called
5:29
Alexanders, which is no longer in
5:32
existence. Then we had stores like
5:34
Bradley's, Caldor. I'm not sure if they
5:36
existed by you. Did they? No, we had uh
5:39
let's see, we had a venture kind of that
5:42
one was a bit of a haul. Uh a couple
5:44
towns over had a place called Places,
5:47
which you know, it was just I mean it's
5:49
like you pulled it right out of the 70s.
5:51
It's in an old L-shaped strip mall. It
5:53
was kind of the anchor of that strip
5:54
mall. The best pizza place in, you know,
5:58
45minut drive was right down from it.
6:01
Had Mortal Kombat. you go across the
6:03
road and there's a big park with one of
6:05
those rocket slides, you know, that it
6:07
didn't matter what time of the day you
6:08
were on it, the slide was a million
6:10
degrees. So, it was just, you know, it
6:12
was central casting for a uh a Gen X
6:15
upbringing, even though I was getting in
6:17
on it as, you know, the uh the elder
6:20
millennial or the zenial uh that I am.
6:24
You brought it up because you said you
6:25
started to find these things as they go
6:27
as they were going out of like alcohol
6:29
fad. But with that said, that says
6:32
something about the toys themselves or
6:34
the line of of whatever you were
6:35
collecting at that time, how much of an
6:37
influence they had because if a toy is
6:40
dying, even was on, you know, I I was
6:42
lucky enough I was born late7s, but I,
6:44
you know, I had my first experience with
6:46
these kind of toys with Star Wars. I
6:47
recently did a video about, you know,
6:49
'8s toys, even though that first series
6:51
of Star Wars was late '7s, but those
6:53
those early8s toys that I grew up with.
6:56
I'm sure they trickle down to you
6:57
probably a few years later as they were
6:59
kind of moving out of my area towards
7:00
yours, which I never knew that that was
7:02
the case, that it would just go like
7:04
across the country. I always thought
7:05
like they started in California, worked
7:06
their way east.
7:09
Yeah. I mean, I think there there's some
7:11
of that. There's a great joke in How I
7:13
Met Your Mother. Uh the whole Robin
7:15
sparkles thing, you know, that mall uh
7:18
mall uh fashion or hype didn't hit
7:22
Canada until what, like 1993 or
7:24
whatever. That's kind of how it felt
7:25
growing up in the middle of Missouri.
7:27
You know, you're always two to three
7:28
years behind at best. Um but it it was
7:32
also interesting because I uh my
7:35
babysitter's son was a year ahead of me.
7:39
my they lived right or we lived right
7:41
across the street from them. One of my
7:43
best friends in the world grew up at the
7:45
bottom of the hill on that same block.
7:47
He was the youngest of four brothers. So
7:50
my first introduction to Star Wars was
7:53
him telling me about it because I didn't
7:54
have a clue. My parents weren't sci-fi
7:56
people. Well, my mom likes bad be sci-fi
7:59
movies from the 50s and 60s, but Star
8:01
Wars wasn't her jam. So the way I
8:03
learned about Star Wars was going down
8:05
to my buddy's house and he'd be watching
8:08
it. They had, I swear to God, every toy
8:11
from the entire line because each one of
8:14
his brothers were pretty much perfectly
8:16
spaced to line up with either a New
8:18
Hope, Empire Strikes Back, or Jedi. And
8:22
then we were born in 83,84.
8:26
Um, so by the time, you know, we stopped
8:29
uh soiling ourselves and kind of became
8:31
cognizant of what's going on, Droids was
8:33
over, Ewoks was over, and it was all
8:35
just handme-down at that point in time.
8:39
Did you guys have a Toys R Us near you?
8:41
No, we actually didn't get a Toys R Us
8:44
until
8:46
um and where I grew up is about an hour
8:48
and a half from where I'm at now, which
8:49
is Columbia, Missouri. And Colombia got
8:51
a Toys R Us sometime in the mid 90s,
8:55
early to mid 90s. Um Wow. But we had a
8:58
KB in the mall. That was my next
9:01
question is is you have a KB because
9:02
that was the next one that I went to.
9:03
There was a third one by me that I don't
9:05
remember the name of because there's
9:06
only one that I knew of, but KB I felt
9:07
like was everywhere. Yeah. And I mean,
9:10
that is my happy place. It had red
9:13
carpet. I could walk I can close my eyes
9:17
and I can visualize this restaurant or
9:19
this this store, you know? I I can like
9:21
walk you right to the aisle where the
9:23
Ninja Turtles were. I can tell you where
9:26
the electronic cars and all the crap I
9:29
didn't care about were. But that middle
9:31
aisle is where all the happiness in the
9:34
world lived. Um, just I can't I know
9:37
exactly what you're talking about. I
9:39
know. And I think everybody out there
9:40
listening is going to know. If you went
9:42
to a KB, you knew exactly. It was like
9:44
all all the way to the left was like
9:46
remote control cars. Then when there was
9:48
like a mix aisle and then that one right
9:50
there was where all the great action
9:52
figures were. And on the right they had
9:53
some odd stuff and that was the the last
9:55
style. But the only thing I remember
9:56
about KB Toys was that obviously you had
9:59
that aisle we're talking about with all
10:00
the great action figures, but when you
10:02
walked into the store at at the
10:03
register, even behind the register were
10:05
all the video games. And that's the
10:08
wildest thing. Yeah, absolutely. And it
10:11
would it just maybe it's because we were
10:13
so short back then, but it just seemed
10:15
like a huge wall of video games. And
10:19
it's just like, you know, it was
10:21
literally mecca for a young kid back in
10:24
the day. It was just the the sense of
10:27
wonder, you know, it just I maybe got to
10:29
go two, three times a year at most. So,
10:32
I tried to make the most of it every
10:33
time I was there. Yeah. I'm probably
10:35
about the same as you. Like I had to beg
10:37
my dad to go to Toys R Us or KB, but I
10:39
remember going in when and this is
10:41
obviously you said, like you said, you
10:44
you got some of this stuff later on, but
10:45
when the the Horde came out for Masters
10:47
Universe, the ultimate threat to the
10:50
universe is here.
10:52
I am Hordack and this is my evil horde.
10:58
[Music]
11:03
Your evil even scares me. Hard my
11:06
friend. The evil horde has no friends.
11:09
The evil horde. New from the Masters of
11:11
the Universe collection. All figures
11:13
each soul separately. Get me out of
11:15
here. From Mattel.
11:18
I remember seeing the commercials. I'm
11:20
like, "Dad, we got to go. But we got to
11:21
go now because they just hit the
11:23
shelves. And I remember calling and we
11:24
had like three or four KBs in my
11:26
vicinity. So like within 20 minutes from
11:28
where I was living at the time and I
11:30
would call and be like call and be like,
11:32
"Do you have the new Hordefingers?" No,
11:34
no, no. Finally got one that had it. I
11:36
had to wait for my dad to come home
11:37
because he worked like long hours. So
11:40
finally took me over there and like I
11:42
didn't see him on the shelves and I had
11:43
to ask someone and they finally brought
11:44
him out and like holy It's like
11:46
one of the the best experiences I've
11:47
ever had, man. Yeah, absolutely. And the
11:50
horde is actually the the He-Man stuff I
11:54
remember having as a kid because I
11:56
didn't have a ton. I mean I I know I had
11:57
like a man-at-arms, I had a a Stratos,
12:00
had a Prince Adam, you know, the peg
12:02
warmers, right, for the most part of the
12:04
older stuff were the ones that I had,
12:06
but I know I had a Grizzl a Leech. Those
12:09
were kind of my my two favorite uh MOTU
12:12
figures I had. And I had a Spyor. I
12:14
remember that. Um Oh, wow. But that was
12:19
I'm pretty sure those are figures I
12:21
bought at the hardware store. You know,
12:23
it wasn't um first run. It would have
12:26
probably been
12:28
86 87 at the earliest um before I got
12:32
those. So, I feel like they would have
12:33
been discount store grabs for the most
12:36
part. But that was the 87 was 87 was the
12:41
last year of the line. So,
12:44
yeah. And I mean, I've picked up a lot
12:46
of those figures since, but I feel like,
12:49
yeah, it was the last year for the line,
12:50
but we'd all all pretty much moved on.
12:54
But I also was right in that weird time
12:56
where
12:59
regular MOTU was wrapping up and New
13:00
Adventures was launching. So, you know,
13:04
I knew guys who had Grey Skull, but then
13:06
we had the New Adventures Power Sword
13:10
and I mean that it felt like everybody
13:12
had that. So, it was just this really
13:14
weird mish mash. And at the same time,
13:16
you know, silver hawks came in there.
13:17
And I actually still remember playing
13:19
with Thunder Sharks as a kid. I wish I
13:21
would have kept those things. But, um,
13:24
so that's something that's on my short
13:26
list to try and track down are those
13:29
bank busters cuz holy crap are they
13:31
expensive. Did you still have all your
13:34
stuff when you were a kid? You said your
13:35
mom didn't throw anything out, but you
13:36
still have all that stuff. I sold some
13:38
of it like at uh garage sales over the
13:41
years and stuff. I remember I had the
13:43
entire line of Ker Aliens when they
13:45
first came out. Loved those. And then
13:46
eventually I got to a point where it's
13:48
like, "Hey, I'm 10 years old. This is
13:49
freaking me out." So I sold most of it.
13:52
Um so those I know I sold. I've got um
13:57
there's some things I can't find, but
13:58
for the most part, I would say I have at
14:00
least 80% maybe 85% of everything I ever
14:05
had as a kid.
14:07
Whether that's that's pretty good. No,
14:09
that's good because I was like you like
14:11
I sold I remember before I moved to
14:14
where I am now, not the house, but the
14:16
area I am now, right? We had a big
14:17
garage sale and I sold all my Masters
14:20
Universe figures. It was like the worst
14:21
thing to do because I almost had all of
14:23
them. Sold Castle Grey Skull, Snake
14:25
Mountain, I had the Thundercats, I had
14:27
Voltron, all gone in one shot and I sold
14:30
them for like, you know, a buck, two
14:32
bucks. What the hell did I know as a
14:33
kid, you know? Yeah. I mean, and that's
14:36
why we all spend so much time and effort
14:38
chasing them now is because so many
14:40
people have that uh experience. Just
14:43
looking over here, I've I've bought a
14:46
monster face in box uh King County last
14:49
fall. I know that's something I had that
14:52
I I separated with at some point, but
14:55
you know, above that, I've got all my
14:57
monster in my pocket, which somehow I
14:59
managed to keep. So, and I still go home
15:01
and dig through and I I've got some of
15:04
my stuff out. I haven't even recovered
15:07
all of it yet. So, I still don't know
15:09
what I might find in some random box,
15:12
but for the most part, all my
15:13
Ghostbusters, the majority of my Ninja
15:15
Turtles, um, all of my Thundercat, well,
15:18
most of my Thundercats
15:20
all survived. And same thing with my
15:22
MOTU, but you know, I didn't really have
15:24
much there to to worry about.
15:27
So, you mentioned a few toy lines that
15:30
you grew up with, like Power Rangers,
15:32
TMNT, Ghostbusters. You have an absolute
15:34
favorite that you were like like no
15:36
matter what that was like your your
15:37
thing to go to. Um, it changed over the
15:42
course of the years because it started
15:44
out like Ghostbusters was Die Hard and
15:47
then as
15:49
the Turtles came on the scene, that was
15:52
my thing. And so I just kind of
15:53
transitioned from from Ghostbusters for
15:56
probably
15:58
three or four years into Ninja Turtles
16:00
for three or four years. And then um as
16:04
I started getting a little older,
16:07
perfect time is when they dropped Power
16:09
Rangers. So I was I think I was in
16:11
fourth grade. Uh I had just started
16:13
fourth grade when Power Rangers came
16:14
out. So I've still got my all my zords
16:17
and stuff like that, too. So, um, but
16:20
that was kind of the the three main
16:22
phases, I would say, with lots of little
16:25
side missions and distractions. I'm
16:28
going to get killed here. I know I'm
16:29
going to get killed from about this day,
16:30
but I grew up like I was already, I
16:32
think, in like in eighth grade or in
16:34
early high school when Power Rangers, I
16:36
think, was was hitting TV and everybody
16:38
was going crazy. Is it me or was that
16:40
like such a weird show to watch because
16:43
it wasn't like anything from the 80s
16:45
that I grew up with because they're live
16:47
action? I guess maybe it was where I was
16:48
so used to cartoons that it was just
16:51
like it was just incredibly weird. Is it
16:53
me or was it? It was interesting because
16:56
it kind of helped bridge the gap for me
16:59
um at least in my experience between
17:02
like the actual cartoons but then at
17:04
that time you know say by the bell
17:06
reruns were already everywhere. Um, so
17:09
you were starting to get into some of
17:11
those more like teen or older child um,
17:15
directed shows. So it kind of helped
17:18
blend between the teenage drama aspect
17:22
of it, you know, the live action stuff
17:25
um, well like the acted stuff and then
17:26
the repurposed um, stuff from Japan, you
17:30
know, which was all the the fight scenes
17:32
and stuff like that that kind of kept
17:34
some of the the cartoony element. So, it
17:36
kind of helped balance those two worlds
17:37
is kind of the the way I looked at it.
17:39
But, you know, I'd still go home and
17:41
watch Batman the animated series or
17:43
Darkwing Duck or Animaniacs or whatever
17:46
after school. So, it's it's not like I
17:47
was a purist one way or the other. Yeah.
17:51
To me, even in high school, Batman
17:52
animated series, like I'd get home and
17:54
that's the first thing I would turn on
17:56
uh once I got home from high school.
17:58
That was such a great show. But also, um
18:00
not so much Darkwing Duck, but the
18:02
original Ducktales. Yeah. one of the one
18:05
of the most greatest cartoons. Forget
18:07
just TV shows. If you consistently watch
18:10
that show, amazing amazing stories they
18:12
told through cartoons, which I always
18:14
thought was great. But yeah, Ducktals
18:16
was great. Tail Spin was great. I mean,
18:19
Disney was just on fire at that point. I
18:21
didn't care much for the gummy bears,
18:23
but you know, it it's okay. They didn't
18:25
all have to speak to me.
18:32
Now that you're an adult. Mhm. What is
18:35
like you you mentioned like the
18:36
McDonald's toys. Yeah. You mentioned
18:38
like the McDonald's toys. That has to be
18:40
a to try to collect. But what else
18:42
was like the first thing when you got
18:43
back into said to said to yourself like,
18:45
you know, now that I'm told, oh, I I saw
18:47
that I got to have that. What was the
18:48
first thing you kind of went back to was
18:50
like, oh, I need to grab this again? The
18:52
first thing I did is I bought a complete
18:54
set, and you know, this is probably
18:55
blasphemous, but I bought a complete
18:57
sealed set of the 1991 McNugget buddies,
19:01
the Halloween McNugget buddies.
19:03
Um, and I proceeded to open them and
19:06
they became my Halloween decorations,
19:08
but they all go back in bags every year
19:10
and all that. Then once I had that, I'm
19:13
like, you know, having the store display
19:15
would be really awesome. So then I
19:18
bought that and you can't see it very
19:21
well, but that's actually what is just
19:23
past that spinner rack right there. That
19:26
is the store display for the the mechan.
19:28
Where do you even find that? eBay, where
19:31
one finds all things. Yeah, I was going
19:33
to say there's no way like outside of
19:35
eBay. I mean, maybe like a garage sale
19:37
find or something. That would be wild,
19:38
but I don't know. A buddy of mine had a
19:41
friend who set up with him at Cane
19:43
County last fall, which King County is
19:45
the big Chicago toy show. happens three
19:47
times a year and he had one. I'm like,
19:50
"Dude, I didn't know you had that." He's
19:52
like, "Well, I didn't know you wanted
19:53
it." So, I missed out on that one, but I
19:55
found one shortly thereafter. But some
19:57
of these toy shows you'd be amazed at
19:59
the stuff that's still floating around
20:01
out there that you can pick up. See, I I
20:04
go to they have a couple toy shows by
20:05
me, and there's actually going to be one
20:06
at the end of July, like literally down
20:08
the road for me, which is the first time
20:09
I'm I'm seeing that there's a show this
20:11
close. But the other ones by me, like I
20:13
keep seeing the same stuff over and
20:15
over. Like they'll have old loose MOTU
20:17
with, you know, none of the gear, none
20:18
of the accessories. Um I don't even see
20:21
TMT original stuff like loose. I'll see
20:23
the LJN WF figures once in a while, all
20:26
completely destroyed, but everything
20:27
Yep. Yeah. Every everything's new that
20:29
I'm seeing now. Everything's new. All
20:31
the newer toys that are coming out, they
20:32
have that, but nothing vintage, which
20:34
sucks. Yeah, you see a lot of that. And
20:36
we're pretty fortunate. There's a really
20:38
longunning uh toy show in St. Louis
20:40
called Toy Man. Um the guy who runs it
20:44
crams so many vendors in there. Just by
20:47
the law of averages, you're going to
20:49
find some older stuff, but yeah, it's
20:51
like every year a little bit more of the
20:55
classifides and legends and all that
20:57
stuff kind of creeps in and just chokes
21:00
out the vintage stuff. But I'm also the
21:02
point where
21:04
I'm so tired of seeing just basic Star
21:08
Wars figure, vintage figures, basic G.I.
21:11
Joe's. It's just like you always see the
21:13
same stuff. Um, and I realized that the
21:16
reason you see the that stuff all the
21:18
time is because that's the common stuff
21:20
and you know it's harder to find the
21:22
harder to find stuff. That's why they
21:23
call it harder to find stuff. But the
21:26
thing I like about Kain County is that
21:28
it's so massive and everybody just, you
21:31
know, they'll save up and bring out
21:32
their amazing stuff and you can go
21:35
absolutely hog wild up there and I have.
21:39
H have you ever found something that's
21:41
like incredibly rare or like the like
21:43
the crown jewel of your of your toy
21:45
collection? Um trying to think
21:51
trying to think what I'd even consider a
21:53
crown jewel. I know like last fall in
21:55
Chicago I came home with a
21:59
Chef Boy RD Super Shredder. So, it's the
22:01
Mailaway Super Shredder figure, which is
22:05
one of the I don't know, it's probably
22:06
in the top 5% 10% of Ninja Turtles
22:10
figures. Uh, that was really cool. Um,
22:13
maybe that was last spring. Last fall, I
22:16
picked up the monster face like I
22:17
mentioned. Uh, that was just something
22:19
that I don't know. I think it was like a
22:21
$300 thing because it's mint in box, but
22:24
it's just a great display piece. Trying
22:27
to think actual grail level stuff.
22:31
because I feel like I'm still working
22:32
towards a lot of that. Um, I know I was
22:35
in St. Louis this last time. I bought a
22:38
I'm working on the second wave of the
22:40
TMNT Universal Monster figures. So, I
22:43
was pretty thrilled to find a U
22:46
Leo as the creature from the Black
22:48
Lagoon. That's one of the
22:52
tougher ones of the Universal line. So
22:54
that last series is just outside of
22:57
Bride of Frankenstein. They're pretty
22:58
pricey, a little tough. But is that the
23:00
NECA series? Because we see the NECA
23:02
ones off of the team. NECA is kind of
23:04
riffing off of that. Playmates um in 93
23:08
94 I believe is when they did the
23:10
original wave of uh Universal Monsters
23:15
TMNT. So, the first wave was Dawn is
23:19
Dracula, Leo is Werewolf, Mike is
23:22
Frankenstein, and Raph is the Mummy.
23:25
Got that one knocked out. Thank God. Uh,
23:27
then the second wave they came back and
23:29
it's April as the bride of Frankenstein,
23:31
Leo is the creature from the Black
23:32
Lagoon,
23:34
uh, Mike as the invisible man. That's
23:37
one of the money ones. He's I think he's
23:39
the most expensive of all of them. And
23:42
then the last one is Raph as the Metal
23:45
Luna mutant from the movie This Island
23:47
Earth. Now, it's just these are all
23:50
loose, I assume, right? Yeah, I'm a
23:52
loose collector. I actually wound up
23:54
trading a carded uh hard to find carded
23:57
turtle for my uh Super Shredder, my
24:01
definitely a lot more um financially,
24:05
what's the word I want to look for? Uh
24:07
responsible to collect loose. Yeah, I
24:09
will say that because the carded
24:10
gets out of control. Yeah, I I do have a
24:13
few carded things, but for the most
24:15
part, I don't want a complete carded
24:17
turtle set. I mean, it's going to be
24:19
painful enough to try and do a complete
24:20
loose turtle set. Um, but I I did buy I
24:24
got a really good deal on Heritage
24:25
recently, so I wound up picking up uh
24:29
four tinbacks, TMNT tinbacks, and
24:32
they're all the soft head Macau
24:34
releases. So, I got Splinter and then
24:37
three of the four turtles that have the
24:39
fan club insert. So, I got Raph, Dawn,
24:41
or excuse me, Raph, Leo, and Mikey, uh,
24:45
that are all fan clubs. And I, whoever
24:48
put this lot in that auction probably
24:51
got a talking to, I think it was
24:52
supposed to go in a different auction
24:54
auction. It was literally the last lot
24:57
on uh, Sunday night, which is when they
24:59
run all their golden age books, right,
25:01
on their weekly comic sale. Yeah, it was
25:04
the last lot. I got it for a song. I
25:06
couldn't buy two of them at retail for
25:08
what I paid for the whole lot. So, you
25:10
know, this better be lucky than good
25:11
sometimes. I got to start paying
25:13
attention to heritage toy sales then.
25:15
Gez, because I have started to try to
25:18
put some stuff together like G1
25:20
Transformers, which can be ridiculously
25:22
expensive. Like for people who collect
25:24
Transformers, the G1 line, especially
25:26
the first 18 that came out are just
25:28
insane. forget forget boxed or even, you
25:31
know, sealed, which is almost impossible
25:33
to find. The loose figures alone are a
25:35
fortune, right? I've got a I've got an
25:38
Optimus. I've got a Starcream. Um I'd
25:41
love to have a Megatron. I actually just
25:44
closed a deal. I'm going to go pick up a
25:47
toy collection. I think uh what's today?
25:50
Tuesday on Thursday. And all I can see
25:53
is it's a box and then some other spread
25:56
out of G1 Transformers in there. I don't
25:59
even know exactly what all's in there
26:01
yet. So, I'm really looking forward to
26:02
diving through that. But, you're right,
26:05
those those early Transformers are just
26:09
awful. Especially like I' I'd love to
26:12
have a box Megatron. I'd love to have a
26:14
loose Megatron, but when you got guys
26:16
that are talking, you know, you get down
26:17
and they're inspecting the quality of
26:19
the styrofoam that's in the box, it's
26:21
like I I'm going to go focus on
26:23
something else. You guys are uh a bit
26:26
much.
26:28
But this is a good segue because you
26:30
mentioned that you just picked up you're
26:32
going to be picking up a toy collection.
26:35
I know obviously you have a comic
26:36
YouTube channel, but I know also that
26:38
you're you deal you deal with shows and
26:40
stuff. Do you deal toys as well? I'm
26:42
just dabbling in it. I've been picking
26:44
up toy collections here and there over
26:46
the last three or four years. Um that's
26:49
actually how I got a lot of my MOTU
26:51
stuff back is I bought a huge
26:54
collection. It's almost every figure
26:57
from waves one through five and a couple
26:59
of six including an attorney. Just
27:01
awesome stuff. Um but I kind of wanted
27:05
to hit critical mass almost a little
27:07
bit. I didn't want to go out with just a
27:09
few things. And um so I've been filling
27:12
up those giant 27gallon totes or
27:15
whatever they are you can buy at the
27:17
warehouse stores. And um I've got a
27:20
stack of those staring me in the face.
27:22
But I finally started going through uh
27:24
for my last comic show that I put on
27:26
here in town. I sold through a bunch of
27:30
my dollar books. So, a lot of space that
27:31
would normally be taken up with cheaper
27:33
comics. I found some nice tabletop
27:35
display cases. I went through and I got
27:37
a bunch of stuff ready to uh put in
27:39
those. So, for the first time, I did
27:41
actually sell toys.
27:44
And let me ask you, what is the
27:46
difference? And I I've always wanted to
27:47
know this because I've set up at a few
27:49
shows to sell some comics, but what is
27:51
the difference between selling toys and
27:52
selling comics? Is there a big deal if
27:54
you're set up at a show or is the
27:56
collector are basically the same? It
27:59
kind of feels the same. I feel like toys
28:01
you have a lot bigger opportunity to
28:03
miss because with comics you can just
28:05
fit so much more variety in that same
28:08
square footage. Um, you know, you can
28:10
fit 300 books in a long box or 250 books
28:13
in a long box. I bet I don't have a
28:16
hundred toys in in one of my uh my
28:19
tabletop display cases. Especially when
28:21
I went through and I tried to make sure
28:23
I picked up a lot of and and completed a
28:26
lot of the the TMNT figures and put them
28:28
in nice plastic bubbles. You know, they
28:30
look really great, but you know, you
28:33
lose the the some of the volume you can
28:36
fit into the booth when you up the
28:38
presentation like that. So, it's it's
28:40
just it's similar, but they each have
28:42
their nuances, I'd say, would be the the
28:45
main difference. So, you mentioned the
28:48
blisters. So, what do you use? Because I
28:50
know there's a lot of people out there
28:52
use different things to kind of display
28:53
whether they're, you know, they're
28:55
selling at a show or they're, you know,
28:56
at home on their shelf. So, what do you
28:58
use? Well, I've got I don't have one
29:02
here with me, but I believe they're just
29:04
little clamshell bubbles from I think I
29:06
got them at Collector's Warehouse. They
29:08
sell a variety of different sizes of
29:11
them and I try and use those for some of
29:13
my better figures, especially if I've
29:14
got like complete figures um that I kind
29:17
of want to display more. Now, what I do
29:20
have, if you know, you just got a random
29:22
figure that this one actually has a
29:24
couple accessories, but you know, if
29:25
it's just a a random figure and it's
29:28
incomplete, I'll just throw it in the a
29:30
Ziploc bag and, you know, then you can
29:32
dive into the bins, which I think what
29:34
most people are probably accustomed to
29:36
experiencing at a toy show.
29:41
How about the um the market for toys as
29:44
per comics? Is there a big difference?
29:46
Obviously, I'm very familiar with the
29:48
comic side of the market, but the toy
29:49
side of the market, although I'm, you
29:51
know, a small collector of toys. I'm not
29:53
into, you go into some people's rooms,
29:55
they have, forget it. It's just like
29:56
everywhere. There's every little
29:58
figure they grow up with on a shelf. But
30:00
the market for toys, is it would you say
30:02
stronger than comics right now? You
30:04
know, is the collector I I we kind of
30:06
covered that already, how the
30:07
collector's mindset was, but how's the
30:10
market for toys right now? in my limited
30:13
view just kind of in the things I have
30:16
uh been chasing and following it almost
30:18
feels like it's weaker than comics are
30:20
right now had a similar trajectory going
30:23
into COVID you know everybody just had
30:25
so much money and they dumped it into
30:27
collectibles so things got insane um on
30:30
that side of the world just like they
30:31
did over with comics but I feel like the
30:34
toy side has come down quite a bit
30:36
harder or at least maybe quicker maybe
30:40
the the better way to look at at it is
30:42
that toy dealers are less likely to to
30:46
sit on something that they know they're
30:48
going to lose money on. They'd rather
30:49
just get the money that they can back
30:51
out of it and invest that into other
30:53
things. And honestly, that kind of seems
30:56
to be just a general trend I see um in
31:00
toys versus comics where a lot of times
31:03
dealers
31:04
don't really care um if something moves
31:07
or not. You know, they've got their
31:08
price and that's what they're going to
31:10
sell it at. I feel like a lot of the toy
31:12
sellers I see are a lot more motivated
31:14
to move products so they can cycle in
31:17
more stuff because as much as uh some of
31:22
us comic guys may look like hoarders, I
31:24
think some of the toy guys put us to
31:26
shame. Um yeah, I I agree with you. Um
31:30
the the one thing I've noticed and and
31:31
it's come to my mind is that you know
31:34
the stuff that we grew up with in the
31:35
80s and I and I'll say you know early to
31:37
mid 90s is that as our kids grow up like
31:41
I feel like while some of the toy lines
31:43
have kind of maintained like
31:44
Transformers you get new iterations of
31:46
Transformers a couple times a year but I
31:48
feel like when we're 70 years old all
31:51
those lines will be forgotten. Do you
31:53
think that's part of the reason why toys
31:54
have dropped right now? especially those
31:56
vintage toys that are like, you know,
31:58
kind of harder to move because there's
31:59
less interest in them now.
32:02
I don't know. I mean, I look at certain
32:04
IPs. I mean, like you said,
32:06
Transformers,
32:08
um, Ninja Turtles is kind of in the same
32:09
way. At this point, you're looking at
32:11
what, four or five generations of people
32:14
who have grown up with one iteration of
32:17
Turtles or Transformers or um, you know,
32:21
what have you at this point. And I think
32:22
that's going to help some of those
32:24
brands stay relevant. Um because you
32:27
know T-M is 40 years old now and there's
32:30
maybe been a three-year window where
32:32
there wasn't some sort of culturally
32:34
relevant turtle action out there. Yeah.
32:38
Transformers I mean I feel like
32:40
Transformers is as strong or stronger
32:42
than it was even when we were kids
32:44
almost like those are two bad examples.
32:48
I No, you're right because those are two
32:50
those are the two that have kind of like
32:51
withtood everything that's going on. But
32:55
Thundercats, Voltron, Ghostbusters,
32:58
Masters of the Universe, you know, even
33:00
though Mad Balls even had a comeback,
33:02
you know, not too long ago. Like it
33:04
seems like everything that was old came
33:05
back, but then didn't do as well once
33:07
they came back. So that's my mind. Like
33:09
I I think you're right. Transformers,
33:11
even G.I. Joe, household names been
33:13
around since their first iteration. But
33:16
like after those specific lines, I feel
33:18
like everything else like it's going to
33:20
go by the wayside. Like stuff that they
33:22
reissue to take those Thundercats, the
33:24
new Thundercats toys, like who who's
33:26
buying them? Kids are not buying them,
33:28
right? The adult collectors are buying
33:29
them. I think that's right. And I think
33:31
one of the big problems they have is
33:33
just accessibility. Um you I'll just
33:36
grab this. That's a good point.
33:38
um Ghostbusters figure doesn't have a
33:41
price on it, but I know I've picked up
33:43
some Turtles figures and stuff recently
33:45
or looked at them. Retail price was
33:47
$3.97 for these things back then. You
33:50
look at some of the Star Wars figures,
33:51
they were $1.77.
33:54
Who can go and amass a collection of
33:57
toys like we had when we were kids when
33:59
the most basic crappy action figure you
34:02
can get right now is 10 to 12 bucks. You
34:05
know, if you look at the 6- in figures,
34:07
they're 20 to 25. So, I I feel like the
34:11
toy market is is doing the same thing
34:14
that the comic market has done. They're
34:17
trying everything they can to get money
34:19
out of the fans that they've managed to
34:21
retain to this point as opposed to
34:23
putting money and effort into growing
34:26
new fans for for the future. I think you
34:29
hit it right on the head right there.
34:30
Case in point, like Masters Universe
34:32
Origins, the newer line that came out in
34:34
2020. They started out at $9.99 per
34:38
figure. Yeah. Now they're like $21.95
34:40
per figure, which is ridiculous. And
34:43
they did that like halfway through. They
34:44
started putting out deluxe figures,
34:45
which to me I have a problem with deluxe
34:48
figures in general because they come
34:49
with a lot of Hocus Pocus that I don't
34:52
think is necessary. I'd rather have just
34:53
the figure with a with a few cool
34:55
accessories on card and and pay the
34:57
cheaper price. Is that the same thing
34:59
you would say the same thing? Yeah, but
35:01
that mosquito was pretty sweet with all
35:04
like the clip on blood effects and all
35:07
that stuff. I mean, that one was pretty
35:08
cool. Um, but yeah, for the most part
35:11
it's it's just gimmicky. Um, like we
35:14
didn't need a deluxe version of was it
35:16
Leech? Yeah. Come on. Like come on.
35:19
Yeah. No, we don't need that. Ramman was
35:22
a was a deluxe figure. Yeah. I mean,
35:24
back in the day, he just came with an
35:25
axe. That's it. Like I don't you can't
35:27
make up for how crappy that figure was
35:28
40 years ago by making a deluxe version
35:31
of him. Now you're just that ship has
35:33
sailed.
35:35
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35:36
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