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An Interview with McFarlane Toys' Tye Butler
413 Plays6 years ago
On this episode, the brothers Weinbrecht talk to Tye Butler, DC Content Manager and Toy Photographer with McFarlane Toys. What's coming down the pipeline in the DC Multiverse line? Why does Tye need to put a sign on his Spawn collection? What's it like working with the Toddfather himself? Listen and find out!
Follow Tye on Instagram @tyebutler__photography and feel free to ask him questions about Mcfarlane Toys!
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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
Introduction and Safety Reminder
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, Dave. Hi, Eric. Hey, Dave. Do we curse on this podcast? Yes, Eric. Yes, we do. Hi, everyone. It's Eric and Dave, your friends at the Adventures in Collecting podcast. We hope that you're staying safe and healthy throughout this incredibly unprecedented time and current health crisis we're going through. Everyone, including young adults, is at risk for coronavirus. And the best way to protect yourself is to stay at home and practice safe social distancing.
00:00:29
Speaker
Staying at home helps lower the risk for everyone, including your family members and those most at risk. Yeah, just avoid eating or drinking at bars, restaurants, and food courts. Use drive-thru or delivery options and stay at home if you're not feeling well. If you have any symptoms of fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath, call your health care provider before going to their office.
Podcast Focus and Guest Introduction
00:00:51
Speaker
Most of all, just take care of yourself and your family and enjoy this episode of the podcast.
00:01:03
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. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. We're back with another episode, right, Dave?
00:01:33
Speaker
We are, we're here. And again, still separate. Yes, still separate. We are indeed social distancing. And we are also social distancing with somebody all the way from Arizona today, Dave. We are. So from Denmark to Arizona. It's where we're traveling the world without going anywhere. Accurate, accurate. On today's episode.
00:01:58
Speaker
Um, so I'm not going to bury the lead. Uh, today we have with us, uh, based out of Phoenix, Arizona, Ty Butler manages the DC content coming from McFarland toys. Uh, he's also an incredible toy photographer with an equally as impressive toy collection that he, he recently showed on, on Instagram. Uh, welcome to the podcast. Hi, we're, we're happy to have you. Oh, thanks for having me. I'm, I'm stoked to be on and talk to you guys. Sounds great to have you here. Yeah. Thank you again. Yeah.
Collecting Challenges and Inspirations
00:02:28
Speaker
So yeah, before we kind of jump into everything, we always ask our guests what they're collecting right now and what toys have you the most excited. So what are you collecting right now, Ty? Yeah. Right now, mainly just DC Universe classics. I'm going back and getting a bunch of those that I didn't have. Right now, I'm trying to hunt down that new Black Series wave of the Commander Bly and the
00:02:58
Speaker
Dooku and Those have been it's been kind of a mess with everything going on. It seems like at least admire and nothing new has been put out yet So and it's kind of I don't want to go to Walmart's or anything like that I'm trying to check online and not pay all those crazy eBay prices but uh, yeah, mainly like right now just that I found a couple of the newer Marvel Legends waves and those have been pretty solid so far and Yeah, no
00:03:26
Speaker
mainly a lot of six inch stuff right now and some of the older DC stuff and it's been kind of cool building off of going through each wave of the old DC universe classics and picking up the ones I never had. So yeah. Now, now with your, you know, we'll get more into it a little bit later, but with your, your role with McFarland toys or any of the, the
00:03:49
Speaker
DC The DCU figures are they providing any sort of inspiration or they are they sparking any any ideas getting the gears turning? That's the idea. That's kind of my whole spiel on getting them for the most part It's like yeah, it's like good for me. It's like cool I have all these cool characters and stuff like that on my shelf and they pop but it's I can also use it as a way to show Todd like hey, let's do more of these or like do something like this but like better and
00:04:19
Speaker
Because some of those older DC stuff, there's a lot of limitations when it comes to the articulation and everything like that. And some of the details on them weren't as, I don't know, they're not as present, but I think that's kind of my goal.
00:04:37
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, I feel like they're more in the realm of toys, right? And what you guys are doing are more in the realm of collectibles. And that whole issue of scale and articulation and detail, I mean, that's what kind of separates the two buckets, right? Is that level of detail.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah. And that's what I've been trying to tell people. It's like we're, we have this awesome license and I think we can really, really just gain off of that license and just making some cool action figures that have never been seen before that DC can like bring or like the brand of DC can bring to the table. It's like with the old McFarland detail and a mix with DC would be insane. And I think some of the new stuff we have coming out is really going to show that.
Passion for Toy Photography
00:05:24
Speaker
Is it also extra cool when you're scouring online for stuff that you're looking for to see stuff that you've done, that you've worked on? Yeah, no, it's definitely surreal. I think my first figure I worked on while I was here was the Doom Slayer figure that we just did. I bought three extra ones just to have because my images are all over the box.
00:05:51
Speaker
And I think that's kind of cool. I think that and the Mortal Kombat stuff, the Scorpion and Sub-Zero, those images I had a blast with. I'm a huge Mortal Kombat fan, so that really hit my heart. So it was...
00:06:06
Speaker
It's awesome. I'm so stoked to just keep seeing that kind of stuff. And I'm stoked to see more of the next DC stuff coming out too. That's someone I kind of had more of a play in or my hand into, but it's still really cool. Like, oh yeah, I shot those photographs. That's awesome.
00:06:24
Speaker
I have to tell you personally, I hadn't played a Mortal Kombat game in probably 15, 16 years. It had been a long time. This wave of toys, the scorpion figure, of course, spawn being included as a downloadable character.
00:06:39
Speaker
That actually got me back into the game. I picked up Mortal Kombat 11 and I can't put it down.
Mortal Kombat Toys and Collaborations
00:06:45
Speaker
It's so batshit crazy and violent and at the same time oddly beautiful. And we featured the one photo that you had posted the other day, the one with Scorpion ripping somebody in half.
00:07:03
Speaker
it's you know the photography that you do with the figures like it really does amaze us you know when we when we see you recreate like the covers and you know of course the stuff that you did with with um the mortal combat 11 spawn like it's it's incredible work it really is
00:07:18
Speaker
Thank you. That's one thing. Me and my buddy, you've tagged him in a few things, the plastic rib grime. His name's Noah. He's our graphic designer at McFarland. He and me both just feed off of each other. We're like, hey, let's replicate this cover. Let's do this. So it's kind of cool to have someone there to gain inspiration from and draw more ideas off of. So we're going to keep doing that. And
00:07:43
Speaker
going back to the the Mortal Kombat stuff like that game is ridiculous like you're saying and uh I think they have an awesome roster that a lot of those characters don't have a lot of love and action figure for them and I think we can definitely like get more of those out because the line's doing awesome and especially like the spawn coming out um that one did huge numbers for us and uh say those scorpions said zero my personal favorite is the Johnny Cage
00:08:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great figure. It's a great figure. He's sweet. I know there are some limitations with the articulation in Scorpion and some Zero. Just please pick up Johnny Cage and just base your opinions off of that. Yeah, now you were talking a little bit about that Johnny Cage figure on the interview you recently did with Toy Shiz, how the neck articulation on that figure is actually a little bit different. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, he has a, it's weird because it's a separate neck joint on top of just the head, like the neck is, it's not fused to the body like most figures. It has its own little divot and ball joint inside the chest cavity. And it just plugs in there and then there is a ball hinge on top of the head or in the neck joint. So it's definitely unique and it's fun to like, you can actually get him like tilt his head in different ways and like get him to show more of his like cockier side.
00:09:06
Speaker
So, we were also saying in the Teusches interview, for the White Knight stuff coming out, the Azrael that we were putting out has that same kind of mechanism, but it also has head articulation underneath the hood, which the arrow figure from our first wave didn't have. I know a lot of people were upset, including me, that you can't rotate his head underneath the hood.
00:09:31
Speaker
Yeah, and I love to see how you guys actually are kind of evolving
Consumer Feedback and Design Evolution
00:09:37
Speaker
on the spot. And we both got that impression from you when we first met at Toy Fair, and we were talking a little bit about it. There are admittedly some issues with the first wave of the DC figures, but it's clear, unlike other things, we're like, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus because I know we're both fellow Marvel Legends collectors.
00:10:00
Speaker
you know, there will be complaints about, you know, a body piece and they'll just continue using it regardless of those complaints. I feel like you guys are being very nimble in terms of taking feedback and kind of trying to evolve how these figures work. And to me, that's very evident. It's very evident that you guys are doing that. Thank you. Yeah, that's kind of the
00:10:25
Speaker
It's kind of like what we're trying to do. It's always just a progression. And so you're saying like the Marvel Legends Day eventually progressed until what they got now. And their molds right now are awesome. And it's my opinion of brain articulation and stuff. And I think we can get there and maybe do even more. And I think we're at a good point right now in this.
00:10:47
Speaker
I think the process we have right now too and just always like communicating and adapting and showing people or like showing just people back here in front of the, Hey, let's, let's try this. Let's do this. This didn't work the first time. Let's try it next time. Like, I think it's a, like I said, it's a evolving process, but I think right now we're, we're definitely, we're trying our best. So. Well, well, first of all, thank you for, for listening. It's, it's great to not only be able to connect directly with
00:11:17
Speaker
the people who are responsible for the products, but the fact that you actually respond and we've seen you pop up countless times in other places, it really does make a difference. It really, really does make a difference. Well, thank you. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm trying to be just someone there that people can talk to essentially that's in this position and that's kind of what I would want if I were not in this position.
00:11:46
Speaker
Kind of just like, I don't know, just make it seem like that. I mean, we are here for you guys. And that's kind of the goal and just have a connection from collector to like company. So. Well, speaking of evolution and being a collector yourself, how, how did going back to the, the box art and the, the, the actual like, uh, inception of these figures, how did you get into kind of like toy photography and how did you get into that part of the business?
Journey into Toy Photography and Career at McFarland
00:12:17
Speaker
Well, um, I, I've been on YouTube forever, just, I never really made videos or anything, but I always followed these guys that originally did articulated comic book art with like book nice 10 in all of them. And I remember when that was arising that I don't, that was like 10 years ago, it seems like, I think, and I started from there, just like getting inspiration, like actually cutting out like old comic books, just bubbles and everything is doing my own kind of just photos like that.
00:12:46
Speaker
And then I went to school for photography at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff here in Arizona. And I did a lot of product photography and a lot of sports photography. And so I kind of built up a strong portfolio from there. And, um, I just found this position online and I was like, Hey, like this, there's no other person in like Arizona that can get this job of me. Like I need this job. So, um,
00:13:16
Speaker
But yeah, I've always just been just shooting just fun photos of all my figures and just I find it is a lot of enjoyment and seeing what kind of cool action shots and poses I can get them into and then turning into a career. It's just insane. Yeah, and we definitely saw that with the murals that you had set up at Toy Fair. Those were outstanding.
00:13:39
Speaker
Thank you. The dioramas, the others, they were me and our painter, Nathan and Noah, like I've been saying, took like a month just to knock all of those out. And it was such a fun process. We make all our own sets and everything here too, I would just foam.
00:14:00
Speaker
So a lot of the stuff you'll see in the photos we have made here. So I think that's like our biggest one yet, the DC stuff that we had, that big city block. I think our goal right now is to keep expanding on that and just adding to it even more for like the next shows because I know we're going to have more figures to show and they need to fit on those. So very cool. We're really stoked.
00:14:22
Speaker
So now you were saying that this is a job for you, only you could do this. How long ago did you start working with McFarland? I'm coming up on my one year mark, actually. I started May 1st of last year. No shit, congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. It definitely was super unexpected, but I've made it like a
00:14:47
Speaker
And I was determined just to really just go at it and just pursue this as much as I could. And they liked my stuff, so I'm happy they chose me. And how did you transition from photographer and graphics department to heading the DC content coming from the company?
00:15:13
Speaker
Yeah, so that was definitely really random. But also, it was like at the time I had applied, it was announced that McFarland had gotten a DC license and I gave him even more motivation to do it. I was like, I have to like jump in and just just see like what it's all about. Right. And
00:15:33
Speaker
I got in and the old, the DC brain manager that was there, his name's Evan. He's an awesome dude, such a cool dude. When I introduced myself, I was like, hey, I'm really begging to DC, so if you ever need anything, let me know. He ended up coming to me and just talking about it. I showed him how much I knew my stuff.
00:15:59
Speaker
he kind of showed me to Todd and just kind of went from there. And then he ended up moving on to a different position elsewhere and kind of like pushed me more into Todd's ear. And then it's not really a brand manager position. It's more of a content expert thing. So it's showing them what's popular right now, like what characters didn't need to be made. Articulation, I can throw in my two cents pretty much and just kind of go back and forth with Todd and like everyone there in the Carlin. So.
00:16:28
Speaker
So it's almost like an advisory role. Pretty much, yeah. But I do definitely have some power in it. So it's cool to go back and forth with Todd, though. Even if he's not totally convinced, like, oh, we should definitely do this because of this. And he gives me his feedback. I'll give him mine. And it's definitely a very unique position. But I'm very stoked to be in it.
00:17:00
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I can, I can only imagine, you know, we've, so we were fortunate enough to get a time with Todd at New York toy fair. And that's the first time that, um, Dave and I, you know, had ever met him, you know, at all of like the fan events we'd ever been to, you know, we're both really big fans. So it was kind of like a pinch me moment for both of us. Um, but I, I can't imagine, I can, I cannot imagine trying to.
00:17:27
Speaker
for the lack of a better term, like cage him, like put him in a box and be like, hey Todd, no, I think we should do this. Like, I can't imagine being in that position. I'm intimidated. Like it's definitely a scary moment at first, but like he's such a cool dude. And like, I would say he's an awesome, like just an amazing person, just super cool, super down the earth and an amazing boss too.
00:17:54
Speaker
I think we have a lot of trust with each other, like just in general. And it's just, I hear saying it's like my first day that I was there. Of all things, I met his dog first before I met him. And he let his dog just run around in the office and it just came into my office like, whoa, why is this dog here? And he came around and he's like, well, this is the guy I've been hearing about. I was like, oh my God, that's insane.
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah, I know. It's been such a cool experience. And just to be able to work with one of my childhood heroes and just the creator of Spawn, that's insane.
Balancing Design and Articulation
00:18:31
Speaker
So we kind of started getting into the feedback of fans and everything and the articulation and scale and everything. In Toi Shih's interview with Todd, he kind of gave a little bit of his insight into how he thinks about articulation, which totally blew my mind because I collect really two figures for the most part. I collect six-inch, highly articulated guys, and I collect
00:19:00
Speaker
you know, three and three quarter five part points of articulation, Star Wars figures, like those are like my bread and butter. So to me, there's no in between. It's the five points are like 2020 plus, you know, but that consideration, you know, going into like the figures that McFarland has made for years and like the bread and butter of like the semi posable statuesque figures.
00:19:23
Speaker
Well, you don't assume there's room for agility there. Yeah. What kind of challenges does that present to you guys in terms of of getting out these new DC figures and like what the fans expect from them? Yeah, no, it's it's definitely what you're saying is there's a lot of times where it's hard to talk to talk about those kind of things, but also like he's very open to it, too. And he kind of likes that, like push back a little bit, but are like at least to hear your your
00:19:52
Speaker
like your words essentially, just like your reasons. Um, but I think just like overall the success of like the first, like the four night waves, like that kind of showed, Hey, people are interested in, like they, they need articulation. And I think that's kind of the standard he has from moving forward. I think some of the, I read, I watched that interview too with him and, uh, choices, but I think a lot of the time, like what, at least what I'm getting from it, or is this like,
00:20:18
Speaker
If you've seen the newest Black Series wave where he's saying that some figures don't need certain articulation points, it's like the new Black Series wave where the Knight of Ren figure where he has only single jointed knees. It's like I did it because the costume design only allows him to do so much. And I think that's what he is meaning more like that.
00:20:41
Speaker
Not where, like, oh, it'll be completely statue-esque. Like, did you see the video he posted yesterday of the Kickstarter spawn? Yeah, yeah. I think that's what he's more meaning like. He's adding articulation, but there's definitely some that aren't there, but it's very different based on the character's design as well. I know he really wants to keep the aesthetic and just the overall look of a costume.
00:21:10
Speaker
And I know the whole reason behind the torso articulation for that spawns design with all the chest design where it has the white stripes going through. He doesn't like when that gets broken up. So it's a lot of that going into it, too. So there are definitely some challenges with that. But for the most part, I think we got a good system going on.
00:21:38
Speaker
It's just, like you said, it's like kind of an improving process as well. And just seeing, hey, like this could work. Hey, if this didn't work, let's do it again next time. So, or do it early next time. So. There is something to be said too about articulation making sense. Yeah. Like, you know, spawn shouldn't be able to do splits because spawn doesn't do splits. Like. Yeah. You should be able to crouch. Yeah. But yeah, no, I guess you, like that's a hundred percent it too.
00:22:06
Speaker
Well, even somebody as going back to Marvel Legends, somebody that's as limber and stretchy as Spider-Man, it still looks funny when he has a standard twist at the waist because you try to take a picture of him and all of a sudden you have this chunk of unpainted plastic that's sticking out because you've rotated him at the waist.
00:22:28
Speaker
and the lines aren't matching up his hips are now like completely out of whack like it's it's almost it almost is too much articulation and that sounds crazy because i love posing my figures and taking pictures of them but like i get that and it to me like i feel like that amount of care going into something especially like
00:22:48
Speaker
the Kickstarter spawn and all the detail and clear labor of love that that is. I actually kind of love that he doesn't twist at the waist. I saw some people drinking about it, but I kind of like it. I don't have a complaint about that.
00:23:04
Speaker
You know, I agree. And it's, um, I think one way too, though, we're kind of going around a lot of that is if you, I think I show you guys the, uh, the Shoto figure for Shoto figure from my hero academia, how he has like that rubberized torso and you can really bend
Future Innovations and Releases
00:23:18
Speaker
them in. Like there's an ad front underneath it. I think we're really messing around with that kind of joint and future waves and other related things. And I think that's really gonna.
00:23:29
Speaker
take off. And I think people are really going to enjoy that because I think the next few we have coming out that have that are going to blow people's minds. And I think that's, it's so cool. I can't really talk too much on it, but that's, that's what I'm super excited for. Fair enough. Fair enough. We won't, we won't push you. I'm excited to talk about it. So it's like, I can kind of hint at, you know,
00:23:53
Speaker
Well, in terms of, in terms of innovation, you know, you guys did something really interesting with the whole, like, uh, you know, prior to you guys having the license, it was Mattel, right? So they had the connect a figure or like clicking connect, whatever they called it, or Marvel has the, the build a figure. You guys did something, something interesting with your, your build a figure model with the Batmobile. Yeah, definitely unique. Different sake. I know Todd really wanted to do a Batmobile.
00:24:20
Speaker
I thought that that was really interesting because when you put that thing together, granted, of course, it obviously doesn't scale with the figures, but it's a great model. It's a lot of fun. It's a cool little display Batmobile for sure. Yeah. I personally, I'm not the biggest fan of it.
00:24:39
Speaker
And like, I would prefer to do something bigger, but obviously we can't do that. So that'd be massive and probably super expensive. But, um, the way he was explaining where he's saying that you can, like the goal is to have a bunch of different Batmobiles over the course of like the time we have the license, that would be awesome if we had like, like 20 Batmobiles or different kind of vehicles that is used in different lines. But, um, like just one by itself, not as cool, but I think like an army of them would be kind of cool.
00:25:10
Speaker
Yeah, and they're and they're a fun size to like they're they're not um, you know, they're not super tiny and you know They're not huge and clunky like a like a big expensive vehicle would be but I thought it was interesting that
00:25:24
Speaker
that take on it and you know to the point of you know kind of re-engineering the articulation of some figures to kind of you know hide the joints and make them bend a little bit more realistically do you guys have any other future you know plans for the the build a figure line you know outside of batmobiles like any other kind of like innovative things you're thinking about or yeah um i know tah one thing we've really been talking about and like i know taht has said it a million times it's like
00:25:52
Speaker
He likes building figures, but he thinks you should be able just to put out a bigger figure instead of just making you buy all the individual figures.
00:26:02
Speaker
because there are some that kind of get left out or like that are like not as treated as well, essentially. It's like a Marvel, like some of the Marvel Legends stuff. It's like, there's some characters like, I don't really care about this one. Like, but I have to get it for the build a figure. He wants to make one for every single character has the same amount of love and passion put into it. So I definitely think right now we're talking about doing like bigger characters and like a bigger pack kind of thing.
00:26:29
Speaker
But on top of that, I know there is a there is a plan for a builder figure I don't know too much more than that though Yeah, I mean I got to imagine based on just kind of his MO like going all the way back to like the original spawn series line with with Overkill, I mean that was a huge chunk of plastic in the same box as you know spawn with his plank with a nail through it, you know, like it was a
00:26:55
Speaker
It was wild and like even even the first um, you know those first waves of the DC figures with the the Batman Unchained and the and the or the Superman Unchained and the the Batman in the armor figure like like yeah, it doesn't surprise me that he wants to cram as much plastic as he could possibly can into the package like that Not so bad. Yeah
00:27:17
Speaker
So I gotta imagine that the big bill to figure he's likely planning is probably like massive. Yeah. So you recently posted a bunch of stories going through your collection. Why did your spawn stuff need a very clear sign on it?
00:27:36
Speaker
So yeah, no, I the the picture I showed was all my all my spawn stuff in my office and It says Ty's personal collection. Do not touch it is for Todd essentially because he'll come in sometimes and get you grab some ideas and this will grab them and take them off elsewhere and Then just will forget to put them backwards as we'll lose them. I'm like cool, but you know graphic designers like put that up and they should help wasn't gonna happen anymore, but I
00:28:06
Speaker
Occasionally happens, but it's all good Yeah, cuz those those videos that he posts are I mean, it's almost as much as as much fun as like finding out what the actual update is to the The spawn campaign you see like the video that he's gonna put out about it. Um, I've enjoyed Todd with the signs. Yeah Yeah, and same goes for when you guys launched the DC Multiverse products like those first couple videos of him just kind of like
00:28:36
Speaker
walking through opening a figure in the office. He is such a wild personality that he is as entertaining as the product he produces. And I have to imagine that, are you at all a part of making those videos with him? I was a part of making the first Kickstarter video, the initial launch one, where he's talking about the whole history and how everything's gonna break down.
00:29:05
Speaker
Um, but the, the ones where he's been announcing all the goals, that wasn't me, but I have helped a little bit with like those, like the DC stuff like that. I wasn't like that was in my office when he opened up all those figures first. So it was definitely a wild experience, but it's fun to watch. And, and you could tell like, if this is, this is sheer enjoyment, like this is Todd's at the same level that we are. Like when, you know,
00:29:34
Speaker
I think my Wonder Woman's getting delivered next week. I'm going to be pumped to be opening that. He's the fan at heart at the same time. He makes a lot of this stuff for himself too. It's like, what if I want to make something that I would enjoy? He's basically opening what he just created.
00:29:58
Speaker
I, yeah, no, I get the same excitement from opening stuff that I've worked on too. And it's just, it's, it's very cool to see you though. And that's not to be surreal in a sense. Oh yeah, no, for sure. And it's just, again, it's like, I kind of ask myself, like, I tell myself, I'm like, dude, like the worst day that you have at the office is like, Oh, like, I don't know if like a certain character you want is like maybe in question or like, whatever, like you're still making figures at the end of the day.
00:30:28
Speaker
and you're doing what you love. It's so cool. And you get to hang out with Todd every day.
00:30:36
Speaker
So your collection, we've mentioned it a couple of times, your collection is massive. You posted pictures of your shelves. You have a wide array of superheroes and villains and Star Wars characters and stuff. Are there characters that are missing from your collection that you want to make specifically? Do you have goals of your own in terms of, man, it'd be really great if I could get Todd to make this figure? Oh, that for sure.
00:31:06
Speaker
Yeah, no, I definitely want to expand a little bit more like on a lot of the Flashpoint stuff. I definitely think we need to make a solid Thomas Wayne Batman. That's right up the McFarland Alley. Exactly. The pointy cape on the shoulders. That's like super, super Todd. But definitely Flashpoint stuff.
00:31:34
Speaker
Like I said, Demon Etrion is like one of my favorite characters. I love you in Justice League Dark. Just a lot of characters that like haven't had figures before either. It's like a Godspeed, the Flash villain. Oh my God, I'm just thinking, I know you guys mentioned it on the Toishas interview, but I'm thinking like how awesome a McFarlane Toi Swamp thing would be.
00:31:57
Speaker
Yeah, oh yeah. So one thing I think he's definitely overdue. I think, yeah, he would be awesome as just like a super big character and just with the McFarland detail too would be awesome. Monsters are the bread and butter of the McFarland brand. So like, I mean, that's gotta be one. And I'm surprised, I'm sure there's like a calling out for him out there. I'm surprised I haven't seen more of it, to be honest.
00:32:23
Speaker
Yeah, no, for sure. It's like the TV show is just on. Yeah, I was gonna say, especially with the series just having happened. Yeah, so I definitely think we can capitalize on the hype for it right now. And there's the animated movies I think coming out and I know the newest ones coming out soon. But for Justice League Dark. And I definitely I know Todd's a huge fan of like the darker characters. I know he's a huge fan of Dr. Fate too. I think that'd be a really cool one to do. He hasn't had a figure in forever.
00:32:54
Speaker
And that one, like the DC Universe classics, one's super expensive online. So I think it'd be a good way to get people back into it or have them have one for their collection, including me. It's a shame Mattel just did the Gotham by Gaslight stuff because that would have been great for McFarland as well. I mean, we can't, it'd be cool to do like
00:33:17
Speaker
just do what maybe later on or even soon, doesn't matter, but we do want to pay him in like a horse or something. Yeah. Well, that's a great point. Have you guys experimented or thought at all about doing like two packs or like a figure with a vehicle? Right now, the only vehicle you guys have put out was the Batraptor, which was super cool, by the way. Yeah.
00:33:42
Speaker
a very, very like niche vehicle. But have you guys thought about doing any, any, you know, two packs or, you know, like deluxe figures or anything like that? Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. Like I say, I definitely want to get out some sort of motorcycle at some point, either that being like a red hood in his motorcycle or Lobo in his motorcycle. And there's like that, uh, I forget what the other one was. Um, I think those would be really cool. Um,
00:34:11
Speaker
even like just to go as far as like doing maybe like a Metron in the Mopius chair from the new gods. That'd be really cool. Yeah, I definitely think that that's definitely a thing to keep going forward since the Batraptor did super well. And then two packs definitely I would imagine we do we'll do some eventually.
00:34:36
Speaker
maybe more of like a, I don't know, like maybe completing more teams or however, however it'll work into the lineup. I think it'll benefit in a way, but I think it'll be really cool.
00:34:46
Speaker
it's it's such an expansive universe like there's we're like just kind of scratching the surface on like obscure characters let alone anything like that and it's it's it's you know it's like a possibilities or endless type of scenario almost yeah and it's like I want to do more of those obscure characters too it's like
00:35:09
Speaker
Mattel did a whole line of, I think it was like the dark side way of where it was like C listers for the whole characters. And it's like, I would like to do something like that, or not even that, but just more than just, you know, Batman centric characters. If Hasbro can sell Rock Python, you guys can go pretty deep. A lot of my arguments too. I think they bring that up.
00:35:38
Speaker
And plus, I'm sure you guys have access to the other comic book characters. So outside of the DC stuff, I mean, the last time, you know, McFarlane did any of the... Like the image characters? Yes, thank you. I mean, there's got to be a whole array of figures from that realm, too, that you guys could start thinking about. That's what my dream would be, to do some sort of image comics line.
00:36:06
Speaker
But I honestly just don't know where that would sell. I know a lot of people would buy them, but it's kind of hard to convince these big retailers, hey, let's do a Savage Dragon or who. Can I get the Max? But that would be awesome. Yeah, exactly. That'd be awesome. Just to do something like that and do a Build a Figure Max even too. It'd be sick. Oh, yeah.
00:36:30
Speaker
But no, that's- Well, with the kind of temperature of everything changing with this environment, the way that, you know, things are going, I mean, who knows?
Spawn Figure Kickstarter and Impact
00:36:40
Speaker
the Kickstarter alone. I knew you guys were going to knock it out of the park with the Kickstarter when you were talking about it at Toy Fair and you had that initial model out. But I was flabbergasted with how quickly this thing set a fire and exploded. Impressed, happy, excited, all of the positive words I could think of.
00:37:03
Speaker
For me now looking at something like that like the possibilities are kind of endless like I'm I'm almost at this point I'm I'm less excited for what the next stretch goal is because I'm already in whatever like Just whatever he whatever he announces is like fine. I don't I don't care at this point But um, I'm I'm more excited to see like what's next like what's the next thing? so you said the possibilities are endless like
00:37:29
Speaker
there's a whole array of spawn characters to do. And I would love to get a Redeemer out there, or even just easily a Violator would be super cool and clown. I'm trying to think. Chapel would be really cool. There's all the overt kill. It'd be insane. Even all the different spawn renditions and going back to doing all the old medieval spawn and gunslinger spawn, but fully articulated would be so cool.
00:37:58
Speaker
medieval spawn is always like kind of that first one you think of. Oh yeah, yeah. The original one is still one of my favorites and then like even like the more statuesque ones I have almost every single one of the medieval ones and I'm it's so like that's a dream character for sure.
00:38:16
Speaker
Unfortunately, I was pretty brutal with my toys when I was younger. And I had almost that entire wave, the folded up violator with the bendy arms and legs, overkill, medieval spawn, clown with the flipping head. I had them all.
00:38:37
Speaker
The only one I have left is the original Spawn, and he's missing literally all of his accessories and most of his paint, and he's floppy. Like, if you pick him up, like, and wiggle him, like, you could barely make him stand. So I would love to see some of those, like, from that original line get the same refresh that this is happening, because I'm just, I mean, every time.
00:38:58
Speaker
I definitely think that's one of the plans and the goals, or at least I would love to see it, is to go back and redo it. I think we definitely can do more now since we saw the hype around this first one. I think people are even more stoked because I got a ton of DMs yesterday just saying, hey bro, your articulation looks awesome on that spawn. Sorry for being so critical about it and all this stuff. And I'm like, yeah, I really think we can do some really, really cool stuff with this.
00:39:28
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, I was really excited. Um, you know, and Dave can vouch for this. I was like shaking holding the the Mortal Kombat spawn in my hand at toy fair. Like I was I asked, you know, if I could just hold it in the packaging. I was like, oh, my God, I can't believe I'm holding this.
00:39:45
Speaker
The fact that there was so much energy behind the need for that Spawn, the Mortal Kombat Spawn figure, that you can't get it. It makes me so happy to see that there's still so much love for that character after all these years.
00:40:02
Speaker
With the Kickstarter, how did the idea go from, let's make a Mortal Kombat spawn because we have the Mortal Kombat license and spawn as ours, to let's do a Kickstarter? Yeah, I think Todd has had that in the works for a while now, even before I was there.
00:40:23
Speaker
So I know it's been kind of tossed around here and there, but I know Todd like a few months back was like, we need to like, just do it. And they've been sculpting that thing. It seems like forever. And, uh, they, uh, they finally were like, let's just announce it. I don't like one thing Todd really wanted to do was kind of bring more positivity into the air from like all the stuff that's going on with the coronavirus and everything. I know he really wanted to just kind of uplift more people, like people's moods and everything. So, uh, I think that was one of the things that really like kind of pushed it.
00:40:53
Speaker
And I think now's a pretty awesome time to do it because not a lot of people are announcing new things either. So I definitely think it was a good call on that end. But it's been in the works for a while. I know that. Were you anticipating it kind of hitting that goal as quickly and flying darn near close to 2 million at this point? No, not at all.
00:41:16
Speaker
I knew it was gonna pass it, the original 100,000, but I was like, oh, maybe we'll be lucky to get 10,000 in the first day. And then, no, it hit it in 12 minutes.
00:41:29
Speaker
It's it's funny. Eric and I were talking about this day when he was like, I knew it was going to pass, but he was like, I didn't think it was going to be the first day. And I was like, I am 100 percent not shocked because just thinking about how much someone like I have not had a spawn figure in ages, how much like you would want that. Yeah. When I saw it just flying, I was like, absolutely.
00:41:55
Speaker
Yeah. No, I remember a couple of people coming up to me at toy fair and they were like, dude, nothing's going to sell in minutes or like that. It's going to be, it's going to hit it in minutes. I'm like, I don't know. We'll see. And they were right. So definitely, definitely insane. Cause I remember all three of us in our group chat, the, uh, me and Nathan and Noah, we're all just like updating each other, bro, hit it in 12 minutes. And then you're just like, Oh, it's at almost a million, like in the first few hours. I've never been happier to be wrong.
00:42:24
Speaker
Yeah, for real. I've also never been happier to be right, too. That's fair. Yeah. I think it definitely shows people now, like you're saying, that there is still interest in spawn. And this Kickstarter is definitely a proof for that.
Personal Collection and Inspirations
00:42:40
Speaker
We've gone through quite an array of things over the last 40 minutes. We've talked extensively about the things that you collect and what you're hunting and what your bread and butter is.
00:42:55
Speaker
We always like to ask people that we know who have big collections, two things about said collection. What their favorite piece is, which I know can be tough because it's like picking your favorite kid. And two, what the absolute like batshit crazy weirdest thing is you have in your collection. Oh, God. Yeah, no, I would say definitely my favorite thing right now. That's so hard that you're saying.
00:43:25
Speaker
I would say like I love like the, I've been like one of the OG Marvel Legends collectors and I still think the Series 6 Deadpool is my favorite with dupe. I just remember being so sought after and I was like so proud to have that. Definitely that one will hold a special place in my heart. Probably that one and then probably the weirdest one. Oh God, thank.
00:43:57
Speaker
That's a hard one too. I wouldn't really necessarily say weird. I'd say more unique. My grandfather is the one that got me into collecting. He made me a lot of custom figures growing up.
00:44:14
Speaker
because he used to paint like a ton of model cars and tanks and everything. There'd be a lot of characters that Hasbro or ToyBiz hadn't put out yet. And I was like, hey, could we like do something with this? And he'd make them for me. So I have like, I have a custom, I have a whole, whole Deadpool core for out of figures. So I think that one's like, definitely my most unique as well, or my most unique.
00:44:37
Speaker
That's awesome. So your grandfather was like a model collector, or did he also collect the action figures? He collected action figures. He collected everything. He collects DVDs. He collects Marvel Legends, Marvel Universe figures, anything DC, Spawn, and he's the one that really got me into all this. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. So what does he think about what you're doing now? Oh, he loves it. He's so happy.
00:45:07
Speaker
your dream job. And he's I'm very like, he's very supportive of it. And I can't thank him enough. And he I give him a few, like, I'll get him a few fingers here and there. And I'm planning on getting him like a whole like DC wave once everything comes out for this year. So very cool. Very cool. That's that's awesome to have that that kind of like familial connection to it. Yeah, yeah. So it's it's definitely really, really cool.
00:45:37
Speaker
Well, Ty, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today and for putting yourself out there for everyone all the time, taking these questions. We know that being on the internet and painting that target on yourself definitely attracts a lot. Yeah, for sure. But no, thank you for having me too. It's been a blast.
00:46:01
Speaker
Again, like if anyone has any questions or anything, please feel free. Like I'm here to talk to you guys. So, so where can, where can they find you? Where can we send these questions to? Uh, I would say Instagram would be the best and it's a just Ty Butler underscore photography. Awesome. And we'll, we'll keep an eye out for, uh, for any questions that come our way. We'll, we'll send them to you and you know,
00:46:26
Speaker
And we'll keep an eye on the awesome things that you're doing. Once that blue and gray variant Batman comes out, I'm really hoping that you take that in the spawn figure and recreate some of the comic book covers that I have in spawn. Yep, yep. I think that's kind of the idea. Awesome. Well, thank you again, Ty, so much for being here with us. We really appreciate it. Yeah, no problem. Thanks again, Ty. Yeah, anytime.
00:46:55
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.
00:47:11
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.
00:47:35
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Franca Blaui. 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.