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Roboforce the Animated Series Season 1 and Star Trek Wave 2 with Nacelle's Brian Volk-Weiss
269 Plays25 days ago
Friend of the pod Brian Volk-Weiss is back to talk about the premiere of Roboforce Season 1 as well us updates to the Star Trek line! Join us for a chat about the Nacelleverse, working with the Rock, and more!
Follow Nacelle on Instagram @toysnacelle, watch Roboforce Season 1 now on Tubi, and preorder Star Trek wave one now on Big Bad Toy Store! https://tinyurl.com/yc3ajwtj
Follow us @aic_podcast on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:03
Speaker
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. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Guest Introduction: Brian Volk-Weiss
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. ah You see him already here on screen, Dave. our Our guest is no stranger to the show.
00:00:38
Speaker
ah Actually, fun fact, there has been no other guest with this amount of appearances on this podcast. I have actually lost count. ah He's the and man behind the toys that made us, a toy store near you, robo RoboForce, and the entire budding Nacelliverse. On top of all that, he is now...
00:00:58
Speaker
burdened with the making of star trek collectors dreams come true brian volk weiss welcome back to the uh the show friend thank you for having me and no burden whatsoever you're herere like our uh tom hanks that's right that's right five appearances But cooler.
00:01:16
Speaker
Tom Hanks, but cooler.
RoboForce Season 1 on Tubi
00:01:18
Speaker
i So as as we as we mentioned, RoboForce ah Season 1 is now live on Tubi, which is super cool. um What inspired you to do this kind of look and feel ah for the first entry into the Nacelleverse animated universe?
00:01:38
Speaker
um You know, it's it's funny. um I'm a big believer in like, it's it's like a weird thing to, it's a hard thing to explain, but like, I like taking the, can you hear me?
00:01:52
Speaker
Yeah, we can hear you. Oh, okay. So I told you the the Wi-Fi in this hotel is horrible. um So I like taking new and I like taking old and kind of, for lack of a better expression, smushing them together.
00:02:07
Speaker
so As it relates to the writing and the characters and the plots, I think it's very modern. But I wanted to have this kind of retro vibe to the whole season, if not the whole Nacelleverse, because it is, ah you know, it is a toy from the 80s.
00:02:27
Speaker
Almost all the brands that we have are from the 80s and 90s. Only Garlu ah is not. So... I really wanted to have this um this kind of retro vibe.
00:02:42
Speaker
And that's that's what we aim for. Yeah, i love the ah the intro, the Nacellverse kind of ah stinger that plays before it that has all the different characters. Seeing them all together on one screen is is wild. Just it's it's just wild.
00:02:59
Speaker
Pretty crazy. Yeah, I admit, you know you know, it's funny, like, I'll either have an idea or someone else will have an idea that I i approve. And then, you know, a week, a month, three months later, i get a, um you know, I get a ah link to watch something.
00:03:19
Speaker
And it's like, oh, yeah, this is crazy. So yeah, that's that's how I felt when I saw it the first time. it was it was It's so funny you say that, but yeah, I had the identical reaction.
00:03:32
Speaker
Well, i'll I'll tell you, and in our house, it definitely had a ah Saturday morning cartoon vibe because I put it on for the kiddos after after breakfast. And we all we all sat down and watched, I think, the first like four episodes. Oh, great. And the girls loved it.
00:03:46
Speaker
You know, they were they were upset that we had to continue on with our day and come back to it later. um They wanted to keep watching. i mean, the the characters are great. are great the storytelling is like nice and deep but like good enough good enough for like an adult to sit there and watch but also you know the kids were able to follow it and you know are already starting to pick out their favorite characters and yeah ah that's great and by by the way it is now my mission in life there is an after credit scene in the sixth episode so okay uh sit through the credits all right you got it
00:04:23
Speaker
So we've seen like the ah the lore and the vibes that have been kind of brought forth by the toys um since they came first.
Easter Eggs and Toy Lore in RoboForce
00:04:32
Speaker
But will fans of the toy line, long time fans, new fans, catch any Easter eggs from the toy lore?
00:04:42
Speaker
So for are you talking about Robo Force or all of the properties we work with? Robo Force mostly, but any properties to anything that's out there.
00:04:52
Speaker
what What we tried to do, and I've seen a lot of people comment about this, so I think it worked. um We tried to have a lot of Easter eggs, but be subtle about said Easter eggs.
00:05:08
Speaker
So, you know, again, if you know who Garlu is, you you see him almost any time you're outdoors in Detroit. But if you don't know who Garlu is, it doesn't affect anything.
00:05:19
Speaker
You see sectarians walking around. You see some ah bovines from Mumesa walking around. So there are, you know, the I believe one of the only cowboys in Mumesa references is just a cow walking through an airport in Hawaii.
00:05:37
Speaker
So if you know, you know, and if you don't know, you're like, why fuck is there a cow? um But that and then hopefully whoever asked that question will do a little research and be like, oh, so so there's tons of Easter eggs.
00:05:52
Speaker
um Robo Force has like if you if you got to episode three I don't know if you saw this or not, but in the background of the defunct RoboForce headquarters, you'll see a capsule that says something like the NASGAR capsule.
00:06:10
Speaker
That is a reference to a RoboForce character that never got made because the line was canceled so quick. Even though pictures were put out of it, it never got made.
00:06:22
Speaker
So that's the kind of stuff there is. But again, if you don't know... It don't matter. so and, you know, to one of your other points you made, We really worked very hard so that your daughters would like the show and you would like the show.
00:06:39
Speaker
So that's it. And it's a tricky thing to do. It's much easier to pick one or the other and just embrace it. But, you know, my favorite cartoons, X-Men, Batman, the animated series, like these these cartoons operated at multiple levels.
00:06:59
Speaker
And that's really what we tried to do. Yeah, and I mean, shouts to ah to to Gavin you know on on the on the team over there. I mean, he's he's one hell of a writer and i you know loved what he did with the Gundam series. And you know as soon as I saw his name pop up in the opening credits, that was also a little bit of a surprise to me. I had not realized that he was involved in this. So seeing his name in the opening credits, I immediately got like the tinglys because I was like, oh, this is going to be good.
00:07:24
Speaker
um' ah I'm actually very mad at Gavin at the moment because yeah there are two things I have tried to avoid my entire life because I know my personality.
00:07:35
Speaker
One is Doctor Who and the other is Gundam. And just out of respect, because I love Gavin, was like, you know, i'll watch an episode or whatever. And now I'm obsessed with Gundam.
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah. So and and so it's but what a coincidence. So is my wallet. Yeah. No, Gavin, we were very, very, very, very very lucky um to to get him.
00:08:02
Speaker
Yeah, definitely avoid the Doctor Who one because that one will get sucked in like super quick. Yeah. By the way, another one is, um, is, uh, what's the one, Stargate.
00:08:13
Speaker
That's another one where I'm like, i guess the won yeah. So now listen, I would love for you to get the, the, the doctor who bug, because there is a severe lack of doctor who toys outside of, outside of a, a very small market and in England.
00:08:32
Speaker
So, you know, maybe you should catch that bug. Just throwing that out there. Just, Yeah, it was more of a like, I know you don't have a lot of time type of warning, but like it it's great. I'm sure it's great. Here's the thing. If I got into it and we could, we'd probably do the toys. But what I've learned from Star Trek is.
00:08:54
Speaker
I really can't do anything like this if I'm not passionate. And like the reason why Star Trek is working, and boy is it working, um it it's because of possibly 5,000 characters 40, 45 of my 40, almost 49 years on this planet has been spent doing research to know the exact eight to pull out of 5,000. And, you know, some people thought it was a little crazy ah to be doing certain characters, but it it it it it is definitely working. and
00:09:35
Speaker
I don't know. I always joke, but I'm not even really joking. Maybe in retirement, I'll get into Doctor Who and Stargate and everything. So before we before we switch gears to Star Trek, a couple more things about Robo Force.
Working with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
00:09:50
Speaker
ah You are working with ah with the people's champion, the final boss himself, ah Dwayne The Rock Johnson, on bringing the show to life. ah What's it like working with the the one person in Hollywood that's busier than you?
00:10:04
Speaker
You know, I got it. People ask me that all the time. And I'm very lucky because there is a lot of other celebrities I've worked with. And I got to kind of dodge and weave because they're assholes or they're crazy.
00:10:15
Speaker
Dwayne is exactly what you would think. He's a ball buster. He's funny as hell. He can get very serious at the right times.
00:10:28
Speaker
And you can have these like really deep philosophical like debates, for lack of a better word. And again, we're not talking about like Socrates or anything or Socrates.
00:10:39
Speaker
But um and again, I don't talk to this guy, you know, all the time. I don't want to come off as though I'm saying anything like that. But he he's exactly what you think. First time I met him, first time I ever spoke to him.
00:10:51
Speaker
I was actually interviewing him for Behind the Attractions season one. And you know, you want to kind of click with people the interview and whatever. So I just said to him, I made an offhanded comment about his episode that he's in, in Voyager.
00:11:08
Speaker
And he laughed and we talked about it a little bit. And then the interview ended and he stayed on the Zoom with me because it was in the middle of COVID. We had to do it by Zoom.
00:11:20
Speaker
um But he stayed on the Zoom with me for almost half an hour ah talking about Voyager and why that was such an important thing for his career. And he didn't have to do that, as you know. So that's what he's like. He's he's wonderful. He's absolutely wonderful.
00:11:37
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:11:45
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:12:02
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:12:14
Speaker
That's
00:12:20
Speaker
And tell them the Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:12:26
Speaker
And now, back to the show.
Community Involvement in RoboForce
00:12:29
Speaker
So speaking of other people from the community, um we recognize some civil some ah familiar voices from the community on the show.
00:12:39
Speaker
um How did Friends of the Pod, Toy Shiz and Dan Larson get involved? um Yeah, Matt, it was really Matt's idea, because Matt was a producer on a toy store near you before he moved over to the Nacelleverse.
00:12:54
Speaker
And when we were working on it it, he was like, hey, why don't we have some of our friends do voices? everybody And some of my other friends, you know, the guy who does the computer voice all throughout RoboForce, you know, that's ah I've known that guy. That's Jake Harris. I've known him like um over 20 years.
00:13:11
Speaker
And, ah you know, you just you want to work with your friends. Like if you have to be in an audio bay with someone, why not someone you've known for 20 years? So it it really is that simple.
00:13:23
Speaker
ah love Jordan. I love and i I love these guys. um And we just wanted him in the show. It's awesome. Yeah, it was it's very cool the to see them, you know, to see like our our peers and our friends. And its it it just adds that ah additional layer of and two very, two very recognizable voices that you're not going to. Oh, yeah. like Oh, yeah.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah. So so what's ah but before we switch over to to Star Trek and and start talking a little bit more about that, what's what's next for Robo for us, Brian? So um based on the reaction, you know, it's today is only day four.
00:14:00
Speaker
So, mean, we'll need at least 30 days, if not 130, probably about 130 days to really know for how it's doing. but a hundred and thirty days to really know for sure how it's doing But based on social media, based on IMDb and Reddit, its people really, really seem to like it a lot.
00:14:19
Speaker
um Everybody love seems to... The only negative comment I've seen um is that people are kind of knocking the animation. um And, you know, again, compared to Disney or Illumination, that's a fair...
00:14:36
Speaker
statement to make but other than that everybody seems to love the characters and the plots and the twists and the turns and the comedy and the heart so if if a month from now we are looking good uh we will probably um the process to make season two awesome very cool So um changing gears, hopping into the final frontier.
Positive Reception of Star Trek Figures
00:15:06
Speaker
um You officially announced series two of the Star Trek figures at WonderCon. um What's the fan reception? i know you kind of said a little bit so far so good, but um what's the what's the reception been for the character selection?
00:15:22
Speaker
Oh, for the character selection for wave two, much better than wave one. But I think that that's because I think we shocked. i mean, literally, i got a text from a friend of mine who's in the toy business and he works on Star Trek, too.
00:15:39
Speaker
And he texted me. You probably know who he is, ah but he texted me interesting selections dot dot dot. but that was for That was for wave one.
00:15:52
Speaker
So we went a little more mainstream in wave two. though I still got my BEM there. um But no, the reaction to the reaction to wave two has been phenomenal.
00:16:04
Speaker
And the way I can tell you how phenomenal it has been, um it even more blew up sales of wave one. Oh, good. Good, good, good.
00:16:17
Speaker
I said this the other day, so I guess I can say it again. ah no one's mad at me yet. But you know when you do stuff like this, you know there's spreadsheets and our CFO and all that stuff.
00:16:29
Speaker
And you know we had a prediction for where we'd be after six months financially, where we'd be after a year. And in about a month, we were where we thought we would be in July.
00:16:43
Speaker
So, and I think they dropped like March 1st or March 2nd. So by the beginning of April, um we were where we had prayed to God we would be in July.
00:16:56
Speaker
Awesome. very you know And I saw today, you know, we're recording on, ah you know, on April 15th here that they're they're now wave one ah while its it is up on ah the Nacelle store dot com.
00:17:09
Speaker
It is also they're available on Big Bad Toy Store now for for preorder as of today. So that's pretty cool, too. Yeah, yeah. And they they went up on Big Bad. You may have said that, but you were a little frozen.
00:17:22
Speaker
But yeah, went up on Big Bad today, which is also something heard that the community wanted. um Obviously, i yeah every time I order them from Big Bad, you know, they give you one of them stickers.
00:17:35
Speaker
my I have a black garbage pail, the most cliched black garbage pail you could buy in an office, and you barely can see any black. It is so covered in stickers.
00:17:46
Speaker
So, um so yeah, so I'm not surprised that was a big request. So, you know, that that's, that's series one, you know, that's, that's up for pre-order. When can we expect the pre-order for, for wave two here?
00:18:01
Speaker
It'll be this year. Okay. all right And we also know we have we have some surprises ah that, ah as a call this morning, i can now tell you ah mid to late summer, we have a pretty good, awesome surprise.
00:18:19
Speaker
Okay. okay no ah That sounds like it's it's right about around ah ah San Diego Comic Con, perhaps, maybe? Maybe. maybe San Diego.
00:18:30
Speaker
Maybe Star Trek Las Vegas. will Okay. well we I think it'll be Star Trek Las Vegas. Because we have we have a lot of announcements in San Diego, including Star Trek. I mean, especially Star Trek.
00:18:46
Speaker
Like, we're going to have a lot of prototypes and other things there that no one has seen before. Probably going to tease Wave 3. So um so but the the the announcement, I think it's very hard for me to be patient and save things.
00:19:03
Speaker
But I do believe we're going to wait for Vegas. all right. So one other question, one other question about wave two. So since captain Kirk comes with a literal horse, um, will that be like a deluxe release or is it going to be just that in in the normal?
00:19:20
Speaker
So he is, he comes with a complete horse. That's just his accessory. Sweet Jesus. Okay. All right. Yeah. And yeah it's not, it's not articulated. Uh, so i want to be very clear about that.
00:19:31
Speaker
Um, but no, I, the The way I look at it is, as as you guys know, we're going to be doing characters one day um that we'll use the mold from Jellicoe and we'll put another head on it.
00:19:45
Speaker
And that's going to be a very cost effective thing for us to do. So we'll, we'll make up our money with that kind of stuff. Um, but I just, I don't think it's fair to the customer. And as you guys know, 99% of my life, I am the fucking customer.
00:20:00
Speaker
Um, I just don't think it's fair. Like I remember, um The Gamorrean guard ah from the Black Series was gorgeous. ah To this day, I consider it to be like the one of the the tippy tippy top of toy manufacturing.
00:20:18
Speaker
But i remember it was like 60 bucks. And I'm like, why is this 60 bucks? Yes, it has some fur. But yeah, so I just I really $28.99. twenty eight ninety nine That's our price point. um And that's that's what we think it should be.
00:20:35
Speaker
Horse or no horse. Genesis package or no Genesis package. Amazing. It was funny. My fiance, who's more well versed in Star Trek than I am, she is like a Star Trek fan.
00:20:47
Speaker
When I was like, oh, yeah, it's Generations ah Kirk. She goes, was he come with a horse? I go, actually.
00:20:55
Speaker
It's funny you say that. Yeah. Funny you mentioned that because he does. So, you know, we know how important fan feedback is ah to you ah you know as a fan, you know as somebody who is so kind of ingrained in the community and you've already been incredibly receptive to it thus far, especially when it comes to the Star Trek stuff. I mean, you guys had that whole poll about the ab crunch or no ab crunch.
00:21:21
Speaker
going to the biker mice with the ab crunch or no ab crunch and going back and adding the ab crunch like you've you've you've been very responsive and and as you know from your previous chats with us we like to highlight some of that feedback wherever we can we know you know you can't be everywhere all at once uh and we we have a little piece of feedback that we found that we'd like to play for you is it is it all right if we play you a video real quick And the the Wi-Fi
International Availability of Star Trek Figures
00:21:45
Speaker
has been horrible. Did you say you want to play me a video?
00:21:48
Speaker
Yes. All right. We're going to put this video is is a little bit of feedback for you from from a a fan. OK. okay like to say a big thank you to Brian from Nacelle, and um the wonderful people from nacellestore.com who are not taking orders from anyone outside of the US for that new line of deep cut Star Trek figures. I was looking forward to getting all of these, but now since I'm going to be chasing them on eBay for scalper prices, and it's going to cost me about $100 AUD, something like that, $80, $90, $100.
00:22:21
Speaker
um I can't afford to get all of them. I can't afford to spend $800 a wave. So I'm not going to be able to get all them now. So f*** you. You're supposed to be for the fans. All this talk about, oh, we're doing this for the fans. We just want to make them for the fans.
00:22:32
Speaker
Well, apparently that only meant the American fans. So you, Brian.
00:22:38
Speaker
So we came across that video and he had some choice. Steve had some choice choice words for you there. um was a lot.
00:22:49
Speaker
So ah lots of expletive deleted ah terminology there. We sure did. we had to scrub it, and then we had to scrub it again. But that being said, ah you know do you have any updates for Star Trek fans outside of the U.S.?
00:23:07
Speaker
Five hours later. but yeah I got worried. I thought you'd think I hung up on you because I was so mad. No, I was just i was just about to say, Brian is one of the... one of the most busiest people on the planet and is always everywhere all at once. So and to please ah yeah listeners, viewers, be be patient with the connection here. But now that you're back, ah do you have any updates for our fans, Star Trek fans outside the U.S.?
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah, i no, no, I got good news for Steve, whatever arts 89. Uh, but here's the funny thing because the, the wifi, the good news and the bad news, the bad news, I couldn't hear anything cause the wifi was so bad.
00:23:52
Speaker
The good news I'd already seen it. Uh, I have to admit, I think I watched it three times. Uh, so I'm very, uh, very familiar with it. Um, by the way, in, in his defense, by the way, you know what I love about that video?
00:24:05
Speaker
Um,
00:24:08
Speaker
Read the comments because like his own followers are like, dude, are you serious? Like you're getting a little crazy here. um But um yeah, I, um i listen, passionate passion. and passion i will say this though, in his defense,
00:24:24
Speaker
that In Australia, what we hear called the C word or the see you next Tuesday word, um it's in in Australia, it's it kind of more is like asshole.
00:24:37
Speaker
um So I think there is a little language barrier going on or maybe being denial. But also friend. But yes, I do.
00:24:45
Speaker
It's like a double meaning. well Did he call me friend? No, it could mean either, I'm told. Yes, no, you're absolutely you're absolutely right about that, yeah. So, yeah, so it'll make everybody happy, but the the good news is Mr. SteveArts89, whatever his name is, by the way, my lucky number is 89, and I have since ah dropped that as my lucky number because of Steve89.
00:25:10
Speaker
um But, um yes, they are now for sale in Australia. There we go. all right. So all right Star Trek in the land down under.
00:25:21
Speaker
oh Yeah, that's actually big news. That is. It's great. Yeah, it's huge. It's great. So, Steve, hopefully we get that message.
00:25:32
Speaker
That's right. And yeah, we're now for sale in Germany, Australia, Canada and England. Even bigger news. Awesome.
00:25:44
Speaker
So ah Brian, we'll be adding Brazil soon. Oh, even even better. Yeah. Obrigado. Obrigado. Star Trek, more places. i So I know right our time, our time is short and your your connection, your your you are doing your best with what you got over there ah in in that hotel.
00:26:05
Speaker
um You can watch Robo Force, the animated series on to be the entire season is season. Season one is live now available on to you. you can You can follow Nacelle Toys on Instagram, and you can pre-order all of your Nacelle Toys at nacellestore.com.
00:26:22
Speaker
Brian, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. As always, it's ah it's a pleasure chatting with you. All right. Thanks, guys. Sorry about the tech. All good. Take care.
00:26:32
Speaker
Take care.
00:26:36
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 in our show notes.
00:26:52
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.
00:27:07
Speaker
Don't try this at home. Voidware prohibited in some assembly required. Each sold separately. Not a flying toy. Consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours.
00:27:16
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablaui. 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.
00:27:36
Speaker
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