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Wrestling, Star Wars, and Spaceships: An Interview with Yuma
407 Plays6 years ago
On this episode of Adventures in Collecting, Dave interviews one half of wrestling tag team The RockNES Monsters, Yuma about his toy and memorabilia collection, as well as his thoughts on Star Wars and his very own toy line!
Follow Yuma @yumabooma on Instagram & Twitter
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Intro by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
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Introduction to Adventures in Collecting & Guest Yuma
00:01:01
Speaker
Dave. Hi, Eric. Hey, Dave. Do we curse on this podcast? Yes, Eric. Yes, we do. Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast.
00:01:22
Speaker
I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and halls, along with our journeys as collectors. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Dave, and I'm your host.
00:01:43
Speaker
And Eric has today off, which is why I'm doing the intro. But fear not, everybody, because we do have a special guest, and it is an awesome special guest. You may know him from his voyages in the Sorian 2, landing in such places as Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and Bar Wrestling. He is one half of the tag team known as the Rockness Monsters. Our guest this week is Yuma. Thank you for having me.
00:02:12
Speaker
Welcome aboard. Thanks for joining us on the show this week. How goes things, man?
Rockness Monsters' 10th Anniversary
00:02:17
Speaker
Things are good, man. Things are good. You know, we're kicking out the Rocknest 10th anniversary tour. We've been attacking for 10 years, been all around the world and around the galaxy, and we want to add a couple more stops. So we're ready to work hard. Right on.
00:02:31
Speaker
Um, I, I love telling the story about our kind of how we met, but specifically how we met through toys. Like that goes back to Bodhi Rook. Yeah. No, that, that, you know, when Rogue One, so when Rogue One came out, I was, um, in, I had just started wrestling for CDW. Well, yeah. And technically it's my evil clone, but his memories are my memories. It's crazy, bro.
00:03:01
Speaker
But yeah, Rogue One had just come out and the toys were like fantastic and there was this wave towards the end there like that came out post December, it came out like February, but it never actually hit. And so I was like struggling to get some of the really cool brand new characters that had awesome figures and I could not find Bodhi Rook anywhere. And he was like the last main guy on the Rogue One team. He was Rogue One. I had everybody but the pilot and I was like stressed out about it.
00:03:30
Speaker
You and your brother happened to come through for me and you guys got it. And I think you gave it to Sky, right? Yeah, I gave it to Sky. Yeah. Sky had brought the United TV title to defend against David Starr at CCW. And, uh, and you made the handoff and that made it back safely to me here in California. And, uh, and it was, it was just great, you know, like, cause I don't like shopping online. I hate it. It takes the thrill of the hunt away.
00:03:59
Speaker
But that hunt was dead. There was no way it was not going to hit retail. There was no intentions of it. They never did. Well, actually, what's weird is it did. I'm lying. It hit once.
00:04:10
Speaker
And I found everyone in the wave except for him. So someone took like the one boaty and I was like, live it. And then you came through and saved the day. I saw three of them that one day. I'm like, you still need this, right? And then, and you were like, yeah, can you give it to Scorpio Sky? And I'm like, I will absolutely do that. I'll be there this weekend. And, um, yeah. And I worked out perfect, man. It was your savior. And honestly,
Challenges of Collecting Star Wars Toys
00:04:37
Speaker
that's still,
00:04:38
Speaker
But that's one of the best Hasbro figures to come out since the Disney purchase of Star Wars. There's been a lot of great figures, especially in that scale and in that simple style. But that's one of the best because, I mean, everything about him was completely unique. And Star Wars isn't known for reusing parts. Typically, everyone has a unique mold. But his stuff was real special. And his accessory, a lot of people came with weird stuff they don't use. But his accessory was like film accurate. It was awesome.
00:05:08
Speaker
It's a great looking figure, and that's the kind of shame of that line disappearing, that kind of, like, basic...
00:05:17
Speaker
I want to say it's like a five point of articulation line, but that's the classic scale, you know, 3.75 inch and then the little limited articulation, which, you know, it doesn't bother me. Like I like that. I have an imagination. Sure. I would take some elbow joints and knee joints, maybe a ball joint shoulder, but that's all I need. That's all I've ever needed to have fun. I don't, I don't need the super articulated stuff. And on that smaller scale, a lot of times it looks like trash. There's a set out right now at Target.
00:05:46
Speaker
And it's Luke and his Dagobah fatigues, you know, and it comes with a Vader whose helmet breaks apart to show Luke's face. It comes with an amazing Yoda. So two of those figures are amazing. And then Luke has these like overly jointed bare muscular arms that look like garbage and people are passing on it as a result. I just saw it. It's weird. It's bad.
00:06:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think my brother just picked that up. It's on our Instagram. I think he took some pictures of it. But yeah, it's the Yoda is fantastic, though. That is that's probably one of the best Yodas I've seen in ages. I think it's the best Yoda in that scale ever by far. And then depending on how depending on what comes out in the black series, those get better and better. That's just not my my forte.
00:06:35
Speaker
but that's definitely the best Yoda in the small scale, by far. Yeah, absolutely. It's such a good figure. I've actually been thinking about, every time I see them, I look at them, they remind me of like old WWE Hasbros, but I love that galaxy of adventures line I'm thinking of hopping in.
00:06:57
Speaker
Oh dude, you should. So that was a, that was a, you know what I mean? I like to hunt and I like to hunt like a week or two before and see whatever early stuff gets put out that I can get away with. Um, just a little extra excitement and something I already love doing. And I went to Kohl's the day before an entire day before it was Friday. Uh, no, it was the Wednesday before it was two days before. And, uh, and sure enough, they had the galaxy adventure figures and I really like stylized stuff. I like when properties I like are taken.
00:07:27
Speaker
and twisted into just a, you know, someone else's drawing of them, whether it be like anime style or like TV or even like super gross out. But this is just like a really cool, like cartoon style and the figures themselves are fantastic. It's kind of sad that they are not selling well. I mean, they're sitting everywhere. Not all of them. You can't find sin really easily, but I mean, like the troopers are sitting, Kylo is sitting, Ray is sitting, but like some of the more unique ones like Chewbacca,
00:07:58
Speaker
Those are selling well, but I love them. I got the Jet Trooper, and the Finn, and their articulation is awesome, it's not too much. They look good, the paint is good, and they have action features, which I hate, but they're very subtle, there's no buttons, and you can avoid them completely while playing. Yeah, and the other thing that I was looking at, too, is that it is a brand new line. It's a jumping-off point, which I think is... unless you've been collecting Star Wars forever, which...
00:08:28
Speaker
For me, it was always a difficult thing because there's just so much. Yeah. And, you know, I had a lot of the Return of the Jedi era figures from when I was a kid. So we're talking like proper Return of the Jedi with the lightsaber arms and stuff like that. Yeah. It's a cool jumping in point because it's new. The only thing that's
00:08:57
Speaker
And it is cool because it's not often we get a brand new style and it's brand new. It's only, it's five inch. So it's not even like in scale with anything else they've done, which bothered a lot of people. But I mean, I think it's neat. And other than like the really gimmicky ones for kids, like the ones that you take apart and can put back together differently. This is the first really new one in decades or well, I guess since the black series in 2013. Yeah. But, uh,
00:09:25
Speaker
But you know, you're right, it's cool to jump off, but I'm just, I'm worried that they're not going to keep it going because it's just not selling well. And then it, you know, it kind of makes you wonder, are the regular, the regular kind of classic size, the three and three quarters going to come back? I think they have to. I think they were taking maybe a little break because so many sold so poorly, ended up on clearance, ended up being at the 99 cent store, which is awesome, by the way.
00:09:55
Speaker
Uh, um, you know, I think they just didn't sell as well towards the rust clothing changed a lot, but you would think they would pull back entirely and not take a new risk. So it's really weird to me and I'm sad. I'm genuinely sad. Like I'm super sad that I don't have any of my classic scale from these new characters. Like, uh, the vintage collection I like, but it costs more, which is a bummer. Some of them have the, they're overly articulated so far. I've gotten Zori bliss.
00:10:23
Speaker
and one of the Knights of Ren, and those are fantastic. But, you know, I don't see me getting everyone from the new movie like I normally like to, because I don't know if they're all going to translate well in that super articulated style. So I'm bummed, but I'm also being patient because I think they will come around and they'll hit that simple style again.
Intricacies of Star Wars Figures
00:10:43
Speaker
It's just so weird with it being the last movie of this saga.
00:10:47
Speaker
You would think they would have at least just done all these new movies. Like, why skip this movie? But we also don't know. They could be hitting in the spring to carry over for the fact that there is no new movie coming. That's true. Because they're going to need to fill these gaps. They filled the gaps from, you know, post-Clone Wars animated series to Force Awakens with just rehashes over and over and over. And they sat. They didn't sell. Because it's like, well, I already have Janglefit. Why do I need this one?
00:11:17
Speaker
Oh, Obi-Wan comes with a battle droid, like, cool, but I already have one of each of those, like... So, yeah, it's funky, but I think I'm just gonna hold out hope that, you know, in the spring we're gonna get a big drop of that, celebrating both Rides of Skywalker and, um...
00:11:33
Speaker
the Mandalorian because the Mandalorian is going to be in the vintage scale as well the the super articulated and I'm all in on that but those don't come out till May and I'm already hooked now so I ended up actually getting black series figures which I never do unless they're get okay that was going to be my next question is where do you sit on the black series stuff I love it but as a guy who likes to display as much as he can
00:11:58
Speaker
Um, it's hard. They're big, you know, it's the same reason I don't have much of my wrestling stuff out. That six inch scale is just, it's big, you know, they're sturdier, they're easier to display, but you run out of room quick and as good as some of these blacks, I mean, I've passed on gorgeous figures that I love and would love to have, but I'm sometimes I'm just like, you know what? It's 20 bucks. That was another thing too. You know, me, I gotta, you know, I got a kid and a family and I can't really spoil myself like I could in the past. So.
00:12:28
Speaker
For me, it was like, okay, do I get this really dope Black Series figure? Or do I get two, maybe even three of my preferred style in the five points? With those being $7.99, you know, it's almost a wash, why not just get three? Yeah. But yeah, I feel like for me, that's the reason why I never got into the Black Series is just because there's so much and they're all great. And they're like, it's
00:12:54
Speaker
It's such a black hole of stuff that you could fall into because you can't, when figures are that awesome, pick and choose. It's really hard. Oh, definitely. And there's characters that aren't even near my favorites, but their figure is so good. Because I love toys. Obviously I love characters, but I love toys. So when toys are super good, it makes me want them. I really like Admiral Holdo, Laura Dern's character in Last Jedi.
00:13:25
Speaker
the one that like most people hated. I thought she was great. Fantastic character. Awesome character. Yeah. And her black series figure is out of this world. It's got like one of the best uses of soft goods I've ever seen. Her face was on point with the digital printing. Like it looks like Laura Dern, the purple hair is perfect. But I was just like, I mean, that's a gorgeous figure. And I was like, but what the hell am I going to do? Just have her yell at my pole figure?
00:13:53
Speaker
And I don't think they made her in three and three quarters. No, they didn't, which bummed me out because I definitely would have put her in my general layer. So it's a bummer that some characters get skipped over and like, you know, or because they weren't popular. I don't know. Sometimes it's frustrating who gets a figure and who doesn't. Star Wars has always been pretty good about making damn near everybody, but we still have a lot to go, especially from these new movies and especially in that scale. Yeah.
00:14:22
Speaker
So hopefully they come back to it. I think they will. They're going to have to fill the gaps. And I don't know if they'll just focus on the vintage line because it's, you know, 1199 compared to 799. Eventually, you know, with, with the tariffs and everything, instead of prices going up, that might be why they're just going to sell their higher, their higher margin figures. You know, it's got a higher price. I'm sure it doesn't cost much more. So that might be why they're focusing on it too, is because of all the trade shit. Yeah.
00:14:52
Speaker
I don't know. Now another thing that I think and we talked about this with just the idea of loving toys is your retro shelves and you've put the retro shelves up on social media recently and they're fantastic because it not only takes me back but it it's a way to kind of see that how toys have kind of evolved almost in some form or fashion. Oh definitely I mean my retro shelves are some of my favorite and I would say
00:15:21
Speaker
Out of the two I posted, probably 95 plus percent of each are my originals from my childhood. That is not like re-gotten stuff. That's my stuff from my childhood. The lunch boxes that have more toys inside them, mind you. The lunch boxes are all original. I carry them to kindergarten every day.
00:15:45
Speaker
You know my mom I think my very first lunchbox was my x-men wand and then I think I had a monster to my pocket one for first grade It might have been flip-flopped. I have to check my kindergarten photo where I'm holding No, yeah, I'm holding my Xbox one my ex and my x-men. I hate Xbox Box and my king griffey jr. Folder now So yeah, like those are my like original things I could tell you right off the bat. The only things that are that I've gotten recently are
00:16:15
Speaker
The Waterworld figures, I passed on those as a kid and always regretted it. And I got those real cheap on eBay recently in the box. I got to open them and everything. Oh, very cool. And then the Beetlejuice figure I got recently at a toy shop is just too good of a price. It had all his sword. His head was still fit on nice and tight.
00:16:36
Speaker
So I got that one and then a couple of the monsters in my pocket that got recently because I never had all series one and I really want to complete it. So one of my buddies that goes to bar wrestling all the time, we did a little trade and I was able to get a hold of some of the ones I'm missing and I'm almost done with series one. I don't even think I'm going to try on series two and definitely not on series three because they're so hard to come by. But you know, if I see series two ones when I'm out in the wild at swap meet stuff, I'll grab them. You know, they're always pennies. They're cheap. No one knows what they are. Um,
00:17:07
Speaker
But yeah, man, that's what I love those shelves because that is my that is my life. That is my 30 plus years of toys. And that's not even close to all of them. Those are just the most fun ones that I know my son likes to look at some of my favorites. And and you know, you're right. It shows the progression about toys used to be, you know, really squat and stout with wide legs or an overly bust.
00:17:29
Speaker
to stuff
Yuma's Retro Toy Collection
00:17:30
Speaker
that has almost no articulation to mini rubber figures. It really goes the spectrum of how toys have been since my childhood and how they've changed. And I love looking at them, especially the colors, man. Our childhoods were very, very, very vibrant, and I love it. Lots of loud colors in the 80s and the early 90s, for sure. One of the ones that I love looking at, because I never knew anyone else that had it, was Mask.
00:17:57
Speaker
I loved the cartoon. I had a lot of the toys. I destroyed a lot of them. I wish I still had them, but they were like, I beat them up. I'll tell you what, those are two of the ones that are brand new for me. I never had masks at all. I knew about it because I had some, these two neighbor boys, Jimmy and Jason, they lived three houses down from me and they babysit me sometimes. And they always had really cool toys. They were probably,
00:18:26
Speaker
three years older than my sister. So like five, six years older than me. Um, and they had masks and they, I remember they always had Lego, like the best Lego shit. Like, uh, they had the space, the electro and the magnetic stuff. Like they had like the actual monorail at work. So they always had, and they had masks, but I never did because I was only into pretty much, you know, dinosaurs and then Ninja Turtles at that time. Like, cause those were already gone.
00:18:53
Speaker
by the time I started really collecting, I think that line died out in maybe 88. Yeah, around that. I think 88 or 89, and my first collection of stuff was 89 turtles. But they had them still, and I played with them, but I never owned them. Same with Dino Riders. I never owned them, but one of my older friends had a bunch, and I would play with them at his house. So I've been trying to accrue those, but the Floyd Malloy in my collection,
00:19:19
Speaker
I actually got from my older, my, my brother-in-law, my wife's older brother. He had given just like, you know, like a little shoebox of Hot Wheels to my son and there was two Floyd Malloys in there and I was like, huh, what is this from? Like this looks familiar, but why does it have knee joints? That's what got me thinking. I was like, why does it have elbow and knee joints at this scale? What is this? What is this? What am I thinking of?
00:19:51
Speaker
They were awesome and that was one of the really cool things was at such a small figure they did articulate. They had so many, so much movement to them because you had to get them on or in the vehicles.
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, they had to fit in like a little helicopter or like a billboard that turned into a motorcycle. And you're right, they had great articulation for the size. There was a two inch scale, which most recently Marvel had done that. It started with the Guardians of the Galaxy One movie. They had a little two inch scale that had little vehicles and I loved it. I have so many of them. That's like
00:20:28
Speaker
One of my favorite lines in recent years and then they ended it after Age of Ultron because nobody bought those. But that's because that movie was fun and nobody wanted anything from it. So I'm pissed because I really, really thought when Rogue One came out, since it's all Hasbro, I was like, whoa, since this is a different movie, it's not an episode, what if they do a different toy line for it? So I really thought they would jump into that two inch microverse is what they called it, I think, or miniverse.
00:20:57
Speaker
I really was hoping they were going to do that for Rogue One. Like, slightly bigger than Action Fleet ships. Because I have the Milano from Guardians, and it's awesome. It's such a cool toy. It fits like one figure in it, but it's great. So, those are the closest thing to mask, and I feel like we've gotten it ever.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, those, and I liked them too, because they were kind of like, they had a park transformer vibe to them, but they had, they were masked. So me being the wrestling fan that I was when I was a kid, I was like, this is cool too, because it's, it's kind of got that, you know, like the demolition vibe to it. Yeah, no, and the helmets are super cool. That's the only thing that's bumming me out when I find them loose. Of course, they never have their helmets. They're in a pile on the ground on a blanket next to auto parts that have swapped me.
00:21:45
Speaker
But I found some pretty mint ones and I think I've paid like a dollar for them. So like, nobody really knows the same with my Battle Beasts. I think I got three for a dollar at the Swamp Meat. I found a new lady that's from Mexico. She has no idea what any of her stuff is. And, you know, she sells it dirt cheap. She just like, she just wants it gone. And she's always got new stuff. And the Battle Beast stuff, it was like the
00:22:10
Speaker
the coolest rock-paper-scissors of all time because it was- Yeah, again, another line I didn't do, but man, how cool to have a toy that's also a game without any stupid buttons or springs or anything. It's just a toy. It's like, hey, it also is this. It was a heat-related hologram.
00:22:33
Speaker
One of mine, I think like my armadillo that I got or something, it still works. All the others, the sticker's been peeled off, but that one still works and it was water. It's fire, water, and wood. Like wood? And the beauty of Battle Beasts is, and me and one of the cameramen from Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, my buddy Shano, he wasn't really a new one, my posted one. He's like, yeah, what the hell are those?
00:23:00
Speaker
And so I sent him a link to the list of all of them, and they've made every damn animal that's ever walked the earth, like the most random animal. There's an echidna. There's a, there was a, uh, like a, like a particular type of squid. Like they would put arms and armor on any animal. And I love it. The first one I found was a koala. And I was like, this is the best.
00:23:22
Speaker
Yeah, they were insane. And it was one of those toys I remember I found one time and then I never saw again. Like I got a couple packs of them and I just never saw it in the stores again. See, and those are ones I never, ever remember seeing in stores. I remember early, early childhood at KB seeing masks.
00:23:41
Speaker
and seeing Dino riders like towards its tail end on clearance, especially, you know, in the baskets in those white metal baskets, the little round ones that would sit in the middle of the store. They'd be in there. So I remember those. But I don't think I've ever seen a carded battle beast figure in my life in person. I certainly don't remember it. But I
00:24:06
Speaker
I remember that they existed and then I bought them, but I couldn't tell you what the card looked like. Yeah, and I can't even picture them where they bubbled. And I could look it up, but it's like, uh... I want to say they were, like, muscle or monster in my pocket in a way, but... See, I can't picture them being, like, loose-ish like that. They're so sturdy and wide.
00:24:32
Speaker
So another thing that kind of ties into that style of figure, or at least for me, and I think it's a super fascinating thing that you've done and pretty awesome to be honest, is you've made your own figures and like little kind of mini, those mini scale toys that are along the lines of like a muscle or a monster in my pocket. Yeah.
Creating Custom Toys with Yuma
00:25:00
Speaker
like what gave you the idea to do that and how how did it turn out how I mean I've seen the pictures of the Saurian too which is your intergalactic shuttle and yes also of well it was like the little eyeball guy but I forget his name
00:25:22
Speaker
Well, let's do this. Since this is more about toys than it is about pro wrestling, let's break character. Let's let me be Andrew for a sec. So originally I wanted to make some merchandise for vermin and I wanted something that nobody else was doing. I was like, man, like, and you know me, my favorite thing is toys. And I was like, what if I make toys? And I just started collecting this line of toys called mutant mania. There were these
00:25:47
Speaker
like wacky, like, like, imagine if Ninja Turtles had a pro wrestling league. Well, it did actually. Uh, but in the, in the comics it did. Um, so, but take that and like kind of give it some gross out, you know, some boogers, some snot, some, some like, you know, bulging eyes. It was a really cool line. And then there was just this rat that was just had the best looking head. I was like, whoa. And the thing with these was they had a weird rubber, like not an O ring. It was like, uh,
00:26:17
Speaker
It was almost like a little, just like a little peg, but it was flexible and you would put the lower legs and then the torso and then the head on it and you could swap them however you want. And I loved it. And then I started looking on Instagram. I looked up bootleg toys cause I, one of the guys I followed, um, made them, but his were all like, you know, just modding old star Wars figures, you know, using vintage parts and making new characters and then casting them and reproducing and selling, you know, 50 of them, whatever.
00:26:45
Speaker
So I looked at his stuff and I asked him some questions and he wasn't very helpful. And then, so I just looked at the people he followed and I found a guy named, um, dollar slice bootlegs and I asked him just a few questions and he was completely helpful. And I was like, you know what, I'm going to give this a try. I'm going to make a little rat figure to sell it shows and I'm gonna put it in a little box.
00:27:10
Speaker
And I was like, I'm going to make some of them solid colors with a blind box. And then I was like, I'm going to fully paint some and charge a little more for those. And that's still my method. So what I did is I took three different pieces from three different of the mutants and I cobbled them together into being a little rat wearing a denim vest and shorts, just like vermin Johnny Yuma.
00:27:37
Speaker
And I named him Pee Wee Vermin and I did a little bit of modding to the back to fill in the gap where the weird like rubber part was. And so I put a little work into it. And with a lot of trial and error, I ended up making a ton of them that came out awesome. And I was super proud and they sold like crazy. I sold, I think I sold like 24 of them on the very first day. You know, not a big profit margin, especially with all the trial and error and the wasting of materials.
00:28:05
Speaker
And then I, my son was born and with all the chemicals and stuff, I just kind of had to stop. And then when we had changed everything about Rockness, I was like, I was like, you can't be about space and not have toys. And I thought what, it was my probably favorite line of toys ever growing up. Micro machines. And I was like, I have to make us a micro machine of our ship. And I had already sketched out how I wanted our ship to look. I wanted it to look like a Loch Ness monster.
00:28:35
Speaker
You know, I wanted it to look like a plesiosaur with a long neck, four fins, and a small head. It's super unique. Super unique look. And I think if you put it next to like a plesiosaur, you would get it. You'd be like, oh, I see it now. It's shaped like that dinosaur.
00:28:51
Speaker
And so, and I did that using pieces of some of my favorite ships, a little bit of, you know, a little bit of grinding, sanding, modding, just retooling. And I had a brand new awesome looking ship. And I tell you what, I couldn't have picked a more difficult shape to make the venting required to make sure I didn't have air bubbles, getting that neck to fill in the mold. I went through a lot of materials trying to get that right. But man, once I had it, I was so proud. And then I was like, well, shoot.
00:29:20
Speaker
What are they going to shoot at? Nothing. So then I decided to design a ship for vermin as well. And that's where the pest fighter came in, in my new two pack of ships with where you get a plain gray, sorry. And two, and then a solid black vermin test fighter. And I love them. I'm so proud of them. I really am. And I'm still missing a tool that will help me get next level, which is why I haven't made the figures of, uh, me and BHK yet.
00:29:44
Speaker
I have the original wax sculpts that my father-in-law did. He used to be a sculptor for Gentle Giant, animator for Dreamworks and Warner Brothers before that. So he's like, he's the fucking man. He is just the coolest and the best, most talented dude. And so we've got these little figures that I'm going to make, but I'm still missing one tool. And if I would have had it, probably would have made the ships even better, but I'm proud of them. Same with my alien. His name is Hybean, the eyeball. Yeah.
00:30:09
Speaker
That was me. I got inspired by a He-Man character that someone made for a contest and it never got made into a figure. And I love eyeballs. I always have. Um, I just think they're just really cool looking and they make me think of the nineties, you know, things just had bulging eyes. You think about matte balls, you think about Toxie's eye bulging out. So I decided to make us a little alien friend. So I made the bloodshot brawler from outer space high beam. So a little bit of a weed joke, uh, and mostly just an eyeball with a knife.
00:30:40
Speaker
Yeah, but they, I mean, they turned out fantastic. I thought... I'm stoked. Yeah. They were really cool. So is that something that you're, obviously you're still going to be doing it? Yes. Awesome. Yeah, no, the figures are going to be next. They're going to be fully painted, and they're going to be only available as a two-pack. You don't get to pick which one of us you like more.
00:31:07
Speaker
You, you either like, you either like Rockness or you don't. Um, and then they each are going to come with, I made a, uh, an alien thug, uh, to go with, to go with them. So every, every pack will be, uh, a figure of me and a figure of BHK. And then they'll come with a, uh, randomly packed, uh, alien, uh, logarotidin thug. It's a race of reptilian aliens that speak Spanish.
00:31:33
Speaker
Now, are they going to be the same size as high beam or are they going to be more? No, so the figures are, I think just like two and a half inches, just below three. High beam is like an inch and a half. And then the thugs are all just bootleg monster in my pockets. So they're all about the same as high beam. So they're they're diminutive compared to us, but they're still a threat. Okay, so you guys are going to be in that like mask size.
00:32:00
Speaker
Yeah, but a little thicker. Like imagine if, if, if muscles were just like a little bigger, like we're not quite Decca Keshe and we're not Chibi Keshe. We're like right in between standard muscles and the Decca size, which are about four inches. So we're like kind of in the middle. And you know, I gave my father-in-law some reference figures and you know, he was just like, you know what? I can't really sculpt this tiny as I used to. I'm going to do my best. And I was like, brother, I'll be thankful for anything.
00:32:27
Speaker
And they came out great. I love them. And they're unique, you know, they're our scale. Yeah, totally. That's that's awesome. So definitely everybody be on the lookout for those when you go to either championship wrestling from Hollywood or bar wrestling. Definitely. I want to I want to get them out, you know, by before the spring. They should have been done already. But you know, we had a lot of stuff with a move and
00:32:50
Speaker
I've been dealing with a lot of stuff from a car accident. So it's just a lot of stuff got in the way and it really bums me out because I wanted them ready for our 10th anniversary tour. Um, but we're going to do those. And then also my biggest undertaking is I'm making articulated, uh, Kenner scale figures of me and BHK in our outfits that we wore returning from space. The more, the more, uh, like cargo, we cargo look with the, uh,
00:33:19
Speaker
with the sleeves and stuff like that. So yeah, so I have some five point of articulation figures of us coming out as well, but that's gonna be my biggest undertaking by far. That's awesome stuff.
00:33:32
Speaker
I'm looking forward to seeing all of that once they're finished. Because it's definitely something I enjoyed kind of looking at the in progress stuff on social media. So that's, that's super cool. Yeah. And I love sharing that. I love sharing that too. You know, it's fun to see the process. And if it wasn't for a guy like dollar slice bootlegs, posting his process, I would have never been able to like, you know, reverse engineer my own stuff.
00:33:57
Speaker
I was too afraid to ask questions. So I made, you know, I've gotten some stuff done just from watching their process backwards. And then I finally got the, you know, the guts to ask, Hey man, I need help. And he helps. He's helped me so much since then. So, you know, I'm really grateful cause it's an artistic community, but there is money. Some people, this is their only job is making toys. So they got to be very protective, but some of the guys are still so helpful and, and, and it's great. You know, I really appreciate it. And then I don't think my, uh,
00:34:26
Speaker
two pack of ships would have come out as well as they did without some help. So kind of transitioning from that into wrestling. Now I know we're mostly a toy podcast, but there's still got to be a ton of fascinating stuff that you have just from your career. Oh, absolutely.
Wrestling Memorabilia and Sentimental Value
00:34:44
Speaker
My wife gets a little mad. I wouldn't call me a hoarder. I'm a collector. You can walk on my floor. There's not stuff everywhere.
00:34:54
Speaker
I've never gotten rid of a single piece of wrestling gear that I've owned. It's all very important to me. There's memories attached to every single pair of tights, no matter how ugly, no matter how poorly they fit. It doesn't matter. There's a memory on every single one of them. So I've got all of those. I've never gotten rid of a pair of gear, including my very, very original Johnny Mahalo debut shorts, which were not even close to what I designed. I swear to God, it's the ugliest damn gear on the planet.
00:35:24
Speaker
Someone described it as a doink goes to the beach. Take that for what you will. They're awful. They're hideous and they're put away, but I'm not going to ever get rid of them. And then I'm trying to think what else? Oh, I have a vest, my denim vest. I used to, um, after I would work, uh, for a new company, I would always write that company on there. So it's, it's, it's covered. Uh, John Carla was there when I added CZW to the, uh, to the vest. And, um, you know, that's really special to me. It's, it's, it's been around the world, literally.
00:35:54
Speaker
You know, uh, I even brought it to Japan. I didn't wear it, but I brought it and you know, it's been to Mexico. It's been everywhere I've been. And it's, it's fun to have that. And you know, I've got my Rivera jacket that, you know, me and Kevin got, uh, we were taken to a Rivera by Kiku Taro and, you know,
00:36:12
Speaker
When you go there on your own, sometimes you don't get a jacket, whatever, but when you have the referral, basically, of a respected Japanese wrestler, when they say, hey, these Americans are good, take care of them, you know, we got fed and we got jackets, and so I've never worn it out. I think I put it on just the day I got it, and that's in my closet, and I'll never get rid of that either. A lot of people have kind of sullied the joy and the specialness of getting a Rivera jacket, but you know,
00:36:41
Speaker
You know, we worked our butts off and we had the respect of, you know, DDT owner, the head of DDT at the time was Takagi and Kiku Taro. And they were like, hey, take care of these Americans. They're really good. And, you know, so that felt good. But like I earned it. That's awesome. That's I mean, that's kind of the best kind of memories is just the stuff that you've that's kind of gone down the road with you, I feel. Yeah.
Disney Park Souvenirs
00:37:06
Speaker
Um, all right, we're gonna wrap up with just kind of the last thing and it's something that I know we both absolutely have in common. Um, I know you're a big Disney park guy too. Um, any any cool stuff from as far as like what you, you know, any cool souvenirs or anything like that that you collect from from the parks as well.
00:37:29
Speaker
Like for me, it's, I have, from East Coast Disney, we have the magic bands, which are kind of like the park tickets. I have, I have like a kind of linked up, like I just kind of wrap them around each other. So I have like almost like a large belt of magic band. That's super cool. Cause I know they just came out with, man, the Lauren ones, like there's so many cool ones. And I mean, like, is,
00:37:56
Speaker
without saying the price. Is that an expensive hobby? Because they look fancy. They look high-tech. I mean, the big thing is they're your hotel key. So you get one every time. Like, you can purchase more. Like, I got a Chewbacca and Porg one last time. But ultimately, you get one just like a solid color one every time you stay. Oh, see, I didn't know that. That's really cool. Yeah.
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's a cool thing to collect. I mean, we don't have those here. I like that that's something unique to your side, you know? I mean, for me, we started doing some of the popcorn buckets. Some of the cooler cups, like the BB-8 one that came out in 2015 is awesome. It's just super detailed. It's weathered and aged like he's been in the desert of Jakku. It's great. It's like a toy almost. We have some of those.
00:38:50
Speaker
Our, my wife's big collection is the Disney Tsum Tsums, the little stuffed, uh, bean shaped ones that you stack. Uh, we like those and the little rubber ones that they used to sell at Target and, and everywhere. They would do blind bags. I'd open them with my son. You know, that's our main Disney thing, but you know, I've got some stuff like, um, I have this cool Disney afternoon pin that I got in, geez, probably 93 or something. One of the, one of my earlier trips to the, to Disney land.
00:39:18
Speaker
because my mom is from Orange County and she's had a friend that was one of that is still one of the heads of pyrotechnics there. Um, and so like, you know, we got hooked up sometimes when I was a kid and randomly we won three different sweet steaks to Disneyland. We won one from bond. We won one from bonds, which was a grocery store out here. Uh, I won in the magazine drive once and then we won another one from the same bond. So
00:39:47
Speaker
It was just, it's a trip. Oh no, that's right. One was from bonds, two were from magazine drives. And so, you know, it was, it was, it was just weird. And I have a, I have a toy still. It's a star Wars toy that I got at the star tours shop. I have a blaster that I got there when I was really, I think when we went, when I was in second grade and on that same trip, I got this book and I don't know how to explain it. It's black and gold on the front. And it's just about everything. Star Wars.
00:40:14
Speaker
from behind the scenes stuff to like a huge chunk on merchandise. And for me as a like seven year old, that was my first look ever at the vintage figures. I don't know if you remember that big yellow back
00:40:28
Speaker
Display of every figure that they made for for in the vintage line. Yes It was that it was that one and that was on the back of something So that was a two-page spread in the book and it told you who every character was and I lost my mind That was my Bible as a kid like I would stare at that two-page like thing over and over and over and
00:40:51
Speaker
So that's probably honestly my favorite piece of anything I've ever gotten at Disney. And I probably could have gotten it at Walden Books or something, but I got it there and it's still with me. It's on my shelf right now and I love it. And you know, hopefully my son had some, we go to Disneyland a lot. We're not as much as we used to, but we've gone a lot and he loves it. And I really hope he has some treasured memories and some stuff. Cause you know, we buy him stuff and he likes it. He plays with it. Oh, I just thought of something else. I have still,
00:41:20
Speaker
the original decoder card for Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. When the ride first opened, the line was like super interactive, and AT&T Home Phone Service at the time had these cards you could get if you went to one of their locations or whatever, and we knew we were going to Disneyland. Indiana Jones was opening like a couple days before that, and so we went and we got the cards.
00:41:51
Speaker
because we had AT&T so we got the cards when my dad went to pay the bill or whatever and it has a decoder so you can read all the hidden messages in line on the ride and it's crazy and what sucked is like the main big chunk all it did was tell you to get AT&T for your local and long distance. That was like the Christmas story. Drink your Ovaltine. Dude it was. It was literally drink your Ovaltine but in the coolest like line queue ever.
00:42:19
Speaker
Yeah, that was I mean, that's one of the the rides that last time I was out there. I was like, this is or the first time I had gone out there since I had seen Indiana Jones. I love that ride. That's fantastic. I heard they're going to revamp it for ahead of the fifth movie coming out. So I can't wait because I was hoping they would add maybe like a minecart coaster like the one in Europe. I don't know what I hopefully I believe they don't change the ride too much because I love it.
00:42:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's great. The thing I got to see at some point is Haunted Mansion. Not there in Halloween, no. And I love nightmares for Christmas. Oh yeah, dude. That's money. It's so fun. It is so cool. Like it just is. It just works and it's great and it's fun. You know, my son loves it. He loves to see Santa Jack as he calls him. So yeah, you definitely got to get out here between Halloween and Christmas because it's awesome.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's on the list. It's something I gotta do. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you for being on the show. Anything
Upcoming Wrestling Events and Social Media
00:43:23
Speaker
coming up in the month of December that we've got to look out for where we can find you? Well, you can find me on December 19th at the absolute very first showing of the Rise of Skywalker. I will be seeing that with my wife and my homies, especially the big homie Watts.
00:43:40
Speaker
Uh, we're going to be there, but before that, I should probably mention that Rockness monsters are heading to China. We're landing the sorry. And two in Shenzhen, China for middle kingdom wrestling, biggest show of the year, bash at the bay too. We're going to be in tag team action in China, making our Chinese debut. This company's awesome. Independent wrestling is super small there still, but it's growing and they're on the forefront and we're really excited to be a part of that.
00:44:08
Speaker
Very cool. All right. Thank you. And we'll keep an eye out for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and Bar Wrestling as well. Oh, yes. And then, of course, follow me on Instagram and Twitter at YumaBuma, Y-U-M-A-B-O-O-M-A. And then you can also check out my son's meme page, MySonTheMeme, all one word on Instagram. All right. Thank you very much. And maybe we'll do this again sometime. We'll do a part two. I hope we do. Thanks, buddy.
00:44:40
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both on our show notes.
00:44:56
Speaker
Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
00:45:20
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer Frank Kablaui. This program and many others like it on the non-productive network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.
00:45:49
Speaker
you