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

"Conquest is made of the ashes of one's enemies!" Who said it? That's right, Starscream, the original Decepticon air commander and one of the most famous and popular Transformers of all time. Today we explore the early history of Megatron's screechy lieutenant and several of the toys that represent him through the 1980s and 1990s. Join us and follow along at TFwiki: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Starscream_(G1)/toys 

Episode 038: All About Starscream

SEND IN THE MARINES! It's time to head back into space and explore another R-Rated film franchise with a bestselling children's toyline from the 20th century! This time, we explore Kenner's beloved Aliens toyline of the early 1990s, which featured a menagerie of xenomorph designs original to the line as well as space marine figures, playsets, vehicles, and, of course, goo. We discuss our childhood interactions with Ridley Scott's and James Cameron's groundbreaking movies as well as how the xenomorphs fit into our own toy boxes. Join us! 

Follow along on Figure Realm: https://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure?action=seriesitemlist&id=183&figures=aliens 

Episode 037: Kenner Aliens

Mighty Robots, Mighty Vehicles! In today's episode we explore GoBots, one of the most famous competitors to Transformers in the 1980s. Though it was often treated as a knock-off of Hasbro's famous and long-lived toyline, GoBots arrived first. We discuss what gives this line its reputation and whether it really deserves while visiting many of our favorite residents of Gobotron along the way. Join us! 

Follow along: 

https://gbwiki.shoutwiki.com/wiki/GoBots_(toyline) 

https://www.the-liberator.net/site-files/robot-toys/gobots-machine-robo-series-index.htm

Episode 036: GoBots

Today, the Mutagen Men seek strange new worlds on the edge of settled space! Welcome back to the 1990s, where toy aisles were overflowing with Kirks, Spocks, Picards, Borgs, Ferenghi, and many more 5" citizens of the galaxy, all competing for space in your toy collection. We beam ourselves up to the Captains' Couch to discuss the highs and lows of Playmates' trailblazing Star Trek series, one of the first action figure toylines marketed to both kids and adults. Join us!

Follow along here: https://thetoycollectorsguide.com/playmates-1992/ 

Or here: https://www.wixiban.com/toys/playmates.htm 

Episode 035: Playmates Star Trek

NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z: The Z fighters are faced with their greatest challenge yet - finding good action figures of themselves! Join us as we talk about one of the most legendary manga and anime series of all time, and its rocky road to producing articulated toys of Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and the rest of your favorite Saiyans and their adversaries. We talk Toonami, Irwin, SH Figuarts, Dragon Stars, and more, all with a secret special guest! Join us! 

Episode 034: Dragon Ball Z with SECRET Special Guest!

Welcome to Micro-Earth! In today's episode we journey back to 1975 to explore one of the greatest Japanese toylines in history: MICROMAN. We explore the tangled, interconnected pathways of G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Micronauts as they intersect with the world of the Spy Magicians, the Acroyears, the Gunrobos, and the rest of the tiny cybernetic visitors to our planet. 

Follow along at micromanforever.com! 

Episode 033: Microman

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

Mutagen Men Toycast