Build, customize, and mobilize! In today's Mutagen Men we travel to the distant Planet Zi, a world of mechanical life-forms known as Zoids, machine-like animals modified into piloted war machines. Dating back to the 1980s, Tomy and other companies have been producing Zoids model kits near constantly in the decades between, including several forays into North America. These model kits feature intricate robotic animals - mammals, reptiles, dinosaurs, and more - overloaded with weaponry and piloted by tiny plastic soldiers. Despite its depth and longevity, Zoids remains a fairly obscure toyline. Join us as we climb into the cockpits of our Strikezillas and ponder this mystery! 

Resources:

https://www.zoid.us/ 

https://theironbible.com/ 

https://zoids.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page 

Episode 048: Zoids

Welcome back to the world of indie toys! In today's return to the boundless rabbit hole of the Glyos System Series, we explore one of its largest realms: SpyMonkey Creation's Battle Tribes, and its spin-off series, ManOrMonster Studio's Warlords of Wor. These lines feature miniature fantasy and sci-fi figures taking heavy inspiration from Masters of the Universe and pro wrestling toylines, with every figure including a variety of head, outfit, and accessory options. Join us as we discuss favorite tiny barbarians, orcs, wrestlers, and dragon men, and touch on many corners of the wider Glyos world! 

Resources:

https://glyos.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_Tribes 

https://glyos.fandom.com/wiki/Warlords_of_Wor 

Episode 047: More Glyos

Mattel's Masters of the Universe toyline is full of colorful characters with fantastic powers and incredible action features. One of the oldest is Teela, the warrior goddess, sorceress, barbarian warrior, and only female figure in the first wave of toys. Teela appears in nearly every iteration of Masters of the Universe, her snake staff ready to fight back the hordes of Skeletor. In today's episode we explore the many toys of Teela, starting in 1982 and journeying through the latter years of Classics and into the Super 7 era. Join us!

Episode 46: All About Teela

Micro size has the power to surprise! Today we journey to the twilight years of Hasbro's classic Transformers toyline, when Hasbro was struggling to boost a waning audience with lots of new ideas. In 1989, one of those new ideas was Micromasters: a subline of tiny Transformers scaled to compete with Galoob's Micro Machines. We explore the patrols, the squads, the battle stations, the combiner transports, and beyond. So grab a handful of tiny Autobots or Decepticons and join us! 

Follow along: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Micromaster#Toys 

Episode 045: Transformers Micromasters

Get equipped with mutagen! It's time for another look into the history of video game tie-in toylines, now featuring everyone's favorite super fighting robot, the blue bomber himself: Mega Man. We discuss our personal histories with this long-running game series and dive into several toylines depicting Mega Man and his endless battle against Dr. Wily and his army of themed robot masters. 

Episode 044: Mega Man Toys

Strap in and journey with us to the year 2009 when Paramount and Hasbro released the first of several barely-remembered live-action G.I. Joe films: The Rise of Cobra! While the movie is perhaps best left in 2009, the accompanying toyline remains one of the best of the property's long and storied history, and may also represent the last time G.I. Joe had relevance as a property marketed primarily to children. So grab your Delta-6 Accelerator suit, weaponize the warheads, and join us for a deep dive into this often-overlooked toyline! 

Episode 043: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

One of the biggest blockbusters of the 1990s, Jurassic Park was a media extravaganza, featuring tie-in comics, games, and of course, toys. The classic Kenner JP line is deservedly beloved, featuring four-inch renditions of the famous movie characters as well as a legion of articulated dinosaur figures packed with action features like DINO DAMAGE. Today we get out our trowels and dig up the bones of the original Jurassic Park toyline, then explore several of the spin-offs and sequels. And that's chaos theory!

Episode 042: Jurassic Park

By popular demand, we're kicking off season three with one of the greatest toylines of the 1990s: MIGHTY MAX! Billed as "Polly Pocket for boys," Mighty Max featured tiny, palm-sized playsets called "DOOM ZONES" filled with all manner of monsters, robots, demons, and aliens. Highly inventive, filled with color, often imitated but never surpassed: join us to find out why Mighty Max captured our imaginations. 

Resources:

http://www.mightymharduk.altervista.org/home.htm

https://www.retrojunk.com/a/9HdRb2NkdD/mighty-max-playsets 

https://mightymax.fandom.com/wiki/Mighty_Max_Wiki 

Episode 041: Mighty Max

Have you ever burnt out on a hobby? Rising prices, completionism, fandom drama, and other factors can wear down the fun factor of the hobbies we love. In the final episode of Mutagen Men Season 2, we discuss times we've burnt out on our hobbies, how it happened, how we recovered, and how we take steps to avoid it. Join us!

Episode 040: Hobby Burnout

We return to one of our earlier topics: the Uncanny X-Men! We dive back into the Toy Biz and Marvel Legends world to discuss the X-Men movies, X-Men '97, X-Force, and the many, many action figures that spun out of these beloved properties. Join us for a discussion of Marvelous proportions! Excelsior!

Episode 039: More X-Men

The MUTAGEN MEN explore the toys of the past, present, and future. We are: Eric "Toys and Tomfoolery" Setzke Dustin "The Dragon Fortress" Verburg Luke "Video Dracula" Jones

Luke Jones

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