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More Than Meets the Eye: An Interview with Hasbro's Mark Maher
420 Plays3 years ago
On this episode, Dave and Erik sit down with longtime Hasbro designer and endless source of bot knowledge, Mark Maher. Hear about the latest Transformers news along, Mark's history designing toys, and more!
Keep up to date with all of the Hasbro on Instagram @hasbropulse
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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 to Adventures in Collecting
00:00:02
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.
Diving into Hasbro Collaborations
00:00:23
Speaker
Along with our journeys as collectors. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hi.
00:00:33
Speaker
We are back, Dave. And we're going to keep the Hasbro train rolling.
Meet Mark Maha: Toy Design Veteran
00:00:43
Speaker
Let's do it. Because we're following up two bonus episodes that we had with the Marvel Legends team, and then shouts again to best friend of the pod. And I guess we could say correspondent now, other Dave, who sat down with Lenny and Emily from the G.I. Joe team.
00:01:01
Speaker
But today, we're going to keep the Hasbro fan bus rolling. So this week's guest has been designing toys at Hasbro for a decade. And his unique style and touch can be found throughout the many franchises the brand makes products for. From his work back on Baka Zonks and Hero Mashers, to original designs for the retro GI Joe line, and most prominently, Transformers.
00:01:29
Speaker
We are thrilled to welcome Hasbro product designer, Mark Maha, to the show. Mark, welcome to Adventures in Collecting. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Thanks for having me, man. I've been listening to you guys for a little while now, so I'm very excited to be here. Oh, thanks. That means a lot to us, man. For sure. You guys have a solid show, and I'm super excited to talk to you. I'm always excited when someone says that, so thank you. That's awesome.
00:01:59
Speaker
It's weird to think that the people that we want to have on the show listen to the show. It blows my mind. I don't have all the time in the world for sure. Time is definitely cut in half nowadays greatly, but I do try to get in some podcasts. I try to get in a lot of cartoons as well as much as possible. I love some cartoons.
00:02:27
Speaker
We're we're gonna we're already going off the rails here. What cartoons are you watching? We're breaking frame here. All right.
Mark's Early Influences and Collecting Habits
00:02:34
Speaker
So right now I'm actually I'm deep into super dimension century August Whoa, I have never heard of that one So a lot of a lot of the stuff that I'm into is just it's really really like early transformer stuff so it's like it's heavy heavy robotics like
00:02:54
Speaker
heavy diaclone world and all the stuff that is kind of like lurking around that early 80s era, which is all like, you know, most of it was all Takara Tomy, but you know, that that's pretty much where I like to dwell in a lot of my stuff. So yeah, that's what I've been watching recently. Something something kind of clicked a couple months ago.
00:03:21
Speaker
And I came across one of the toys that I used to have when I was a kid. And then I was like, oh, yeah, Orgus, I forgot all about this. And I never actually got to see the animated series. So I looked online, got the Blu-rays, and now I'm deep in there. And it's been pretty fun, actually. It's not the greatest animation, but the robot sequences are really cool.
00:03:47
Speaker
all of this tracks. This makes sense. I mean, it's just, you know, everyone has like, you know, their world that they like to dwell in. That's kind of the world I like to dwell in. It's just all robots, you know? Well, it's good. I mean, that's gonna come in handy for you. It really does. Yeah.
00:04:12
Speaker
So before we jump into the toy design and your history with toys, we ask all of our guests, since this is a show about collecting outside of the cartoons you're watching, what are you currently collecting? So currently, I do not have a lot of space left in my collection. So I'm pretty much like collecting like one offs, basically.
00:04:42
Speaker
of like different series of stuff. I mean, Transformers is obviously the first and foremost and probably will always be the thing that I'm collecting. I don't think I can ever break, break away, you know, but, but right now there are a couple other series that, you know, I hadn't made the purchases yet, but I'm definitely like looking around for some good prices. The Diaclone series that Takara told me just, uh,
00:05:12
Speaker
Released I don't know if you're familiar with that series. Yes. Yeah, those I mean those robots look insane. So I definitely want to get a couple of them and I still haven't picked up any of those Orgus figures, so I kind of want to get a couple of those especially the the main guy the Bronco 2 I definitely want one of those because that was what I had when I was a kid and
00:05:40
Speaker
I'm dabbling on trying to buy some converters. I don't know if you're familiar with those. Oh man, I'm just looking up that Bronco too. That thing is really, really cool looking. Not what I was thinking in my head. Super rad. It was like, it's like, you know, it's on the Robotech, Macross side of things instead of like, so Transformers, you know what I mean?
00:06:04
Speaker
The key that draws me in is that it's still transformed. It has three modes, and I'm just like, all right, triple changer I'm in love with. And I still dabble in some GoBots as well. So again, there's a trend here. All of this tracks. All of this tracks.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's you know, it's it's hard to break frame. And when I do break frame, it is like a Marvel Legends. And it's like, you know, I just recently got that modok figure from Tony and oh, my God. Does it get any better than that modok figure? Did you do the the regular release or did you get the the pulse con one with the cheeseburger gun? I got the regular release. The cheeseburger gun is pretty crazy, though.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, what I love those kind of like random, like, I mean, it's a deep cut. It's a deep cut of a figure, you know, that I think it's in like one or two panels in that book. But like, it's such a memorable moment when you have an army of Elvis modox firing deadly cheeseburgers of people. I live for the deep cuts for sure. So.
Mark's Path into Toy Design
00:07:26
Speaker
Mark, how did you find your way to Hasbro? So it's, you know, it's pretty interesting that story, because I really, I didn't really think, I don't know why it never occurred to me when I was younger and like trying to get into a career and stuff like that. I just never really thought that like,
00:07:49
Speaker
who made toys or anything like that. I just never really knew anything about industrial design or any of that stuff, really. I just completely went over my head and I just completely ignored all of it. So when I went to school, you know, first, like my brother actually went to school for illustration and like, you know, because we were both of us were like super into toys, super into art. He got me into comic books when I was like super, super young and like really good, solid toys and cartoons.
00:08:19
Speaker
Thank God he did that because, you know, that kind of formed and shaped my whole entire life, basically. So, you know, you always want to be cool like your older brother. So that's that kind of shout out to him, Kevin Maha. Kevin Maha design, you got to check him out, draw some cool stuff. So anyways, so once he got a college for illustration, he actually had a hard time getting like a career. And I was like, Oh, man.
00:08:49
Speaker
This dude's nasty. Why in the world does he have an issue? If he can't get a gig doing Illustration, I'm definitely not going to be able to get a gig in Illustration or any kind of art field. So I went completely in the other direction, which is I was like my parents, my folks were like, computers are the way of the future. Why don't you just get into computers? So I was like, all right, I'll do computers. I like computers.
00:09:19
Speaker
I actually went to school for computer information systems. And when I got out, I built computers. And I was in Boston, taking down old PCs and installing new ones and doing that whole gig, which is about all the while on the side, I would still do artwork. And I was really getting heavy into mural artwork and stuff like that. So I always constantly did
00:09:49
Speaker
like the design and artwork on the side. So in that world that I was like, you know, I used to hang out with a lot of people that went to RISD. One of them, his girlfriend, actually this dude JJ, his girlfriend who was super talented. He makes pottery now. He's like really, really talented. His girlfriend was a temp at the model shop at the prototyping lab at Hasbro. And I was like,
00:10:20
Speaker
What? I was like, what do you mean? And then she just described the job that she's doing to me. And I was just like, well, I already kind of do that on the side. I was like, I didn't realize that that could be a career. Now here I am, like, you know, putting the pieces together once she told me like the gig because
00:10:42
Speaker
Before that, I have the Decepticon symbol tattooed over my heart. I'm a die-hard Transformer fan. And I love GI Joe as well. So when I heard that, I was just like, oh my god, is this an opportunity to actually work on the thing that I love? And that was it. As soon as that firework went off into my head, I was just like, holy crap. Why didn't I do this in the first place?
00:11:12
Speaker
I harassed the temp agency for at least like two years. I just harassed them, harassed them until I got in. And then I finally got in. And then that was it. I just like, I just worked as hard as I could work. And then like, you know, that's when I met like Tony and like, you know, Eric Ridlon, I had like a really group of talented artists in that, in that like little room that we used to work in the prototyping lab.
00:11:40
Speaker
And I learned so much in such a quick amount of time about like, you know, prototype painting and stuff like that. I edged my way over to Transformers after I like was started to work on GI Joe stuff with John Warden. And that was it. I was just sold like brand me Hasbro employee me for life after that. I was like, this is it. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where,
00:12:08
Speaker
We've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people over the past two years that are in the toy industry and it doesn't cease to amaze me how it's literally like, I'm passionate about this and I'm talented and I'm just going to do it. Just that kind of stick-to-it-iveness that has come across from all of the creatives and designers that we've met.
00:12:34
Speaker
It's just it's amazing to see to really see somebody who follow their passions and then you know Become the thing that they want to become It was it was definitely like it was just a very shocking experience for me where I was just like okay What do I have to know to do this like and then once once I really started getting going in there then I started learning like you know what?
00:12:58
Speaker
designers do and product designers. So then I started taking all the classes and then I went like super deep and I tried to like learn everything possible in industrial design to try to like get to that world, you know.
00:13:13
Speaker
So speaking of the design process, we've talked a lot about your love for Transformers and you
Birth of Hero Mashers
00:13:20
Speaker
mentioned G.I. Joe, but we mentioned at the top of the show that you were behind the creation of Hero Mashers, which is a product that as fans of Lego and kind of like the play of toys and kit bashing and things like that. Tell us a little bit about how you came up with the idea for Hero Mashers.
00:13:43
Speaker
So that's, again, another pretty interesting story, pretty random. So we used to have this guy who worked in a marketing, Ben Russell, a British dude. He's a good chap. He came over and was like, hey, Hasbro's doing this grand idea fair. You want to do it? And I was just like, what is it? So basically, the grand idea fair was running for the design and development group. And it was open to everybody.
00:14:13
Speaker
else because, you know, Hasbro is great like that. They'll say, you know, any if anyone has a great idea, you pitch the idea and then maybe it can get made. So this grand idea fair was like, basically that like if you had a good toy concept, like you would then put together a presentation and then you'd pitch the idea to like our senior leadership team.
00:14:37
Speaker
which is, you know, kind of like one of those like dream come true moments, you know, where you're like, Oh, well, let's yeah, let's do this. And yet again, like what we were talking about before, you know, I just like to kind of like sit in my little world and draw and like design and build toys and stuff like that. I'm not very, a very good salesman or, or a marketing person. So Ben Russell was like, that guy, that guy could talk his way into anything. Basically. He's like,
00:15:07
Speaker
the smoothest talker I've ever met. So it was a match made in heaven, really. So we put together two different concepts, which was interesting. The other concept, I don't think it ever really got picked up by any of the teams or anything. It was interesting. It was like Bruce Banner. You'd have a Bruce Banner toy, and then you could fit that three and three quarter inch toy into a six inch Hulk toy. Basically, you could delay.
00:15:37
Speaker
It was so like, yeah, it was kind of cool. It was, and then you'd have, uh, you know, Peter Parker or like you'd have Spider-Man and then you could get into like a venom soup. Basically. It was kind of like the play off of the whole transformation thing. Gotcha. And then the other concept that we had, which was kind of across all brands. So I made these models out of, uh, like Star Wars, Marvel and Transformers.
00:16:04
Speaker
And some of them came out pretty cool. It was like Chewbacca with Megatron arms and stuff like that. And I repainted them all. And we ended up pitching that to the senior leadership team when they were coming around. And what's really interesting is that the booth right next to us actually had somewhat of a similar idea. And I think that was the solidifying moment
00:16:33
Speaker
in senior leadership's team's head where they were like, all right, more than one person is doing kind of the same idea after after Ben just like did his tap dance show and completely sold this idea onto these guys. Like they went over and they looked at that. And I think that that in my eyes, I think that that solidified it to them where they ended up, you know, that concept went to I believe it was Marvel.
00:17:01
Speaker
And, uh, I believe it was Chris Jervoy. I'm not really sure who ended up, or maybe Bobby Valla worked on it. Uh, but then they would just, that concept just like, you know, came into being hero mashers. Like it's pretty interesting.
00:17:17
Speaker
Right. Yeah. And I mean, that line was super cool because, you know, to your point, like you could give, you know, I'm just thinking of the Marvel and Star Wars ones alone. Like you could make like Dr. Darth Vader, you know, like you could, you could mash up Dr. Doom parts and Darth Vader parts or, you know, make, you know, Han Solo of Mandalorian. Like you could do whatever you wanted to do because all the parts were hot swappable, which was awesome. Yeah.
00:17:47
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was like, uh, one of those cool moments where you're just like, uh, we wanted to obviously do all the licenses, but like, you know, with licensing and everything like that, that's like a nightmare to actually get approved by like, you know, Lucasfilm to Marvel to like, uh, to us from my little pony or something. You know what I mean? Like, so I think that they, they ended up keeping it Marvel at first. Was it just Marvel at first?
00:18:15
Speaker
and they expanded after that? I definitely remember the Star Wars ones as well. Yeah, the ones I remember were the Marvel and the Star Wars, and I think the Transformers came to... Yeah, there definitely were eventually Transformers ones as well, because I can vividly remember like the... there was like a Bumblebee... I want to say it was a Bumblebee and maybe Starscream like two-pack.
00:18:43
Speaker
So you can like, you know, mix and mash their parts, but yeah, I think I do remember that. It was a, it, that, that line was, was incredible because it kind of combined, you know, the action figure and kind of like the, you know, uh, kind of like a Lego aspect, but also, you know, in a long line of, of people who, you know, kit bash.
00:19:06
Speaker
know, action figures, especially, you know, ones like GI Joe's or Marvel Legends, you know, it kind of, I think for, you know, younger, either younger collectors or honestly, just kids playing, it kind of, you know, forces your brain to think about your toys a different way, you know, like the way that they come in the package isn't the way that they have to stay, you know, like you can, you know, you could change them. Yeah, it's interesting that like,
00:19:33
Speaker
I think that was at the cusp of, you know, the whole like, uh, iPads and like, you know, social media and everything with a phone and like you, I watch my niece all the time and she's just like flipping through YouTube videos on command. Like she just wants to do whatever she wants to do. So with a toy, if you want to take off the arms and put on new arms, you should be able to do that.
00:19:59
Speaker
You know what I mean? You're the controller of your, your domain. You're basically in charge. You make your own toy. It does open up the mind to a lot of creativity and imagination. It's like a, there's no wrong answer toy. Yeah. Everything, everything's fair game. I like that. That's good. So before we hop into the world of Cybertron, um, let's talk a little bit about the, uh, retro GI Joe line that you've worked on.
00:20:28
Speaker
What was it like getting to work on the reimagining of such an iconic line? Well, when I first got to Hasbro in the prototyping department, I got to like paint a bunch of GI Joes. That was right there was just an amazing dream come true where I would get like, I worked on that Sergeant Slaughter from Comic Con. And after a little bit of time, like John Warden,
00:20:55
Speaker
was really comfortable with being like, all right, yeah, I want to do some camo pattern for his pants. But can you just do it? And I'm like, yeah, no problem. Of course I can. I'm like, this is Sergeant Slaughter. Of course I can. So I ended up working on a couple of those lines. And then when I got over into design, it was a crazy moment where Lenny came over to me.
00:21:24
Speaker
Guess what? I'm like, what? He's like, you're working on Retro Joe. I was like, what? I was like, I didn't even know we were doing Retro Joe. What's happening here? So I come to find out that Edgar Sarat was working on a whole bunch of GI Joe figures. And they were branded the Retro Cardback Joes. And I started looking at them.
00:21:53
Speaker
Unfortunately, you know, since we work so far ahead, like we work almost like two years ahead now. All of the selections for that retro line were pretty much done, like the focus of what that line was, as far as like, you know, trying to replicate the retro card backs and then doing deco that kind of like embodies that card back and then
00:22:22
Speaker
and then the molds that they chose. So I had kind of a really easy job when I came down to it where I was just like, oh, Cobra Commander's blue, no problem. So there wasn't too much thinking at first, which was, I was like, all right, you know, not really bummed about it, but just like, okay, like, you know, I get to work on Joe. This is amazing.
00:22:50
Speaker
So, uh, and then that was right when the, the Fang, uh, copter was like, uh, the gyrocopter was just made as well. The sculpt was already done and I just got to deco it. And I was like, Oh, this is pretty awesome. I can't believe we're doing the vehicles as well. So then I obviously, once we had all the meetings, I was just like, how many of these dudes are we making? Can we make them like, where's the new tools? Like let's get this going. I mean.
00:23:18
Speaker
a resurgence of Joe is always on probably everybody's toy collector mind, you know?
Challenges in Designing Retro GI Joe
00:23:25
Speaker
Definitely. So I ended up getting to do the new tools, which was like Stalker and then the Grunt after that and then the Cobra Troopers, I ended up having to use that pilot body because that was already made and
00:23:44
Speaker
It was just, I guess, the cost. I don't know how much money they had to play with for the entire like forecasting and all of that. I really don't like kind of jump into any of that. I'm just, just tell me what I can have new and what I have to partial and what I have to read the echo. And then I'll figure it out, you know, the money. I don't want to get in anybody's pockets, you know, like that.
00:24:10
Speaker
That's stressful. I just want to do the fun stuff. That's such a good point to consider. I think a lot of people, us included to a certain degree, when we see new figures, and I'm doing air quotes, there's always
00:24:32
Speaker
I feel like there is kind of a precedence for a certain amount of reuse with certain figures. And I think that's something that's, you know, it's line agnostic. So whether it's, you know, G.I. Joe, whether it's a Marvel legend, whether it's a Star Wars Black Series figure, there's always going to be some level of kind of reuse.
00:24:55
Speaker
Creatively kind of how do you work within those those confines like what are some of the things that you do to kind of you know? Get the product that you want out You know but working within the the confines of having to reuse a body in in that case that's a really really really good question actually because
00:25:17
Speaker
You got to see what tools are available first. A lot of molds are old, especially in gel. In order to retool or reuse one of those old molds, you're definitely going to have to repair half the molds for half the pieces. So there is a cost associated with that. So thankfully, we have amazing engineers on the team where I can talk to them about a lot of those things.
00:25:47
Speaker
I conjure up the characters I want to do and look at what's been released and see where the holes are and where the thirst is. Obviously, Lonzo Stalker, you're going to need stalker in this retro wave. That's a staple in my mind. You know what I mean? To half.
00:26:17
Speaker
to think about the reuse after you get your main character, that's the real fun part, actually. That's when it gets really interesting, and especially for Transformers. I just love, love to do those things because that's where you can get your third tier, fourth tier characters that you normally wouldn't get because you're reusing the mold. You're making that investment worth it
00:26:47
Speaker
by redoing the mold like several times over. But if you do a good partial and if you pick the right characters and you put the right pieces together, I mean that other character you get out of that first character is just like
00:27:04
Speaker
It's like a brand new toy, in my eyes. If it's done right, of course. And see, I think there, when you're thinking about the reuse of an action figure, maybe it's the same body book, but it's got, whether it's just different paint deco, or it has different hands, there's just kind of like a minor change.
00:27:28
Speaker
When you jump to Transformers, now you're talking about a thing that transforms into another thing that is now a completely different character, but yet somehow is reusing some of the same parts. And to me, that is like, that's like that, that, that GIF of like the woman staring off into space while like the math equations are floating in front of her face. I just, I honestly, I can't even begin to wrap my head around how that decision making even happens.
00:27:58
Speaker
And yeah, I'm over here saying it's the fun part. I know it is. It's really it's super complicated stuff. But at the same time, I mean, I wouldn't want to say I have my own agenda or anything like that. But you know, I've I've collected since I was a kid. And you know, I've seen the characters that haven't had
00:28:23
Speaker
redos and characters that people talk about and characters that really could shine in certain lines where I'm just like, oh, man, we got to figure out how to get this guy in here. And then that's when the wheels start to turn. Sometimes it's like, all right, you know your A tier characters all the time for a lot of the segments, especially, well, for me and Transformers and for Joe.
00:28:50
Speaker
But when you really start getting into those other characters is really where you start to flesh out that whole entire line where you're like, oh, wow, I could get this guy and this guy and this guy for this price. And no one's going to know. Or it's still going to be a very successful toy because just the recolor or the repaint is just going to be on point.
00:29:21
Speaker
That's actually one of my main goals in Transformer Land is to really make sure that our redecos and our repaints and our partials are really doing justice to the other characters. Because too many times I've seen in the past where like, you know, I mean, alt heads are great, like, but if the body doesn't fit the alt head or the weapons and accessories don't fit that alt head to make it that guy.
00:29:49
Speaker
It's it I I get hurt by it, you know, because like when your hardcore you want you want everything that goes with that guy to make him an individual. So I I try my I try my damnedest to do every character is as much justice as possible. And so does everybody else. I mean, it's funny me and Evan Brooks have a chat on teams where we just talk all day and all night.
00:30:17
Speaker
Basically, we just shoot each other ideas for partials and different characters that we can make out of the characters. Yeah, it was funny the other day. It's like, oh, yeah, I was thinking about that in the shower. And now I can't remember what that character was that I wanted to make out of that mold. I was just laughing. Because it's nonstop. There's so much. And like you said, it's super complicated because there's an alt mode and a robot mode.
00:30:47
Speaker
You know, there's a lot to consider. So you're just constantly thinking about toys in the back of your mind while you're driving and everything else. If there is one takeaway from this interview, from anybody listening to this interview,
00:31:02
Speaker
Please take away from this the fact that the people that make the things that you love, think about them so much that they're thinking about them in the shower and talking to each other about them through Microsoft Teams at all times of the night. Just please take that with you. The thought process is happening at all hours.
00:31:24
Speaker
It's happening right. I'm surprised Mark is able to focus on this interview. That's probably why it's not that great. Stop it. Stop it. No, but it is. It's labor intensive, but it's definitely a labor of love.
00:31:44
Speaker
Oh, hands down. So speaking of another labor of love, PulseCon just wrapped up and the new generation's legacy line was officially announced.
Transformers: Legacy Line and Multiverse Concept
00:31:55
Speaker
So how did you guys decide to take a multiverse type of approach? That's a really good question. I think, you know, when John Warden was such a powerful figure on the Transformers brand,
00:32:12
Speaker
He did so much that siege line is Pretty much mind-blowing every step of the way. I think that everybody pretty much feels like that, you know And it'd be funny when I was down in the model shop like, you know, I'd have like
00:32:32
Speaker
hour to hour long conversations with John Warden all the time about Transformers because he was actually the guy picking the lines and looking into all the characters and doing that like that. He knew I was just a hardcore fan so he would definitely come down and just talk Transformers with me while I was painting.
00:32:54
Speaker
Which is like a dream come true, really. Like, while I'm getting paid to paint this toy, I get to talk toys. But he had the early seeds pretty much laid down. He had this deck that he put together. When Lenny came onto the brand, he basically gave Lenny the deck. And we went through the deck with like the whole team and everything. And, you know, a lot of the ideas that John already
00:33:23
Speaker
kind of, you know, kind of had down on paper, he had like Marcelo, Martiree, like doing a bunch of concept art for a bunch of the figures already. And I was that actually was pretty impressive to me, because he was thinking so far ahead. And now that I'm in that seat, like kind of like picking the lines and stuff like that. Now I understand why he was doing that, because it's it seems like
00:33:52
Speaker
time flies so much faster. So you, since we work so far ahead, it seems like you're always trying to like, get enough time to think about that next year as to what characters are you going to do? How's the line going to roll out and all that. So it's really, it's really interesting when he had all that information. I mean, we were just like, Oh, this is, this looks awesome. This is cool ideas, you know, so.
00:34:21
Speaker
Uh, I think most, I think the ideas of like coming into the multiverse were, uh, very popular at the time as well with Spider-Man and everything. Oh yeah. So I think, you know, Transformers has this insane history. It's like almost 40 years. And there's so many different characters from each, uh, universe. And it's just like, you know.
00:34:49
Speaker
You got Armada, you got Cybertron, you got Prime, you got all these different looks and feels of all these different characters. What happened with the Prowl mold we made into Barricade and like your first G1 Barricade, basically, it seemed like that went over really well with everybody. And I think John grasped that concept and was like, you know what?
00:35:17
Speaker
this would be really cool is as if we took a lot of these characters from all these different universes and kind of focused on this like, you know, universe where it's, it's almost like a clean slate. Cause I don't know if you know a lot of, you know, a lot of transformer stuff, like it doesn't really line up a lot of times. It gets, it gets a little hairy. That's for sure. It gets a little muddy, gets a little sticky.
00:35:45
Speaker
It does. It's one of those things. It's such a big brand. There's so many different facets to the brand. What's going on in cyberverse animation, which I recommend watching. I've been watching it. It's fantastic. Have you guys seen any of those cartoons? I started the new Netflix series with my daughter because I watched the movie with her.
00:36:10
Speaker
and she loved it and I was like well we can watch more Transformers and she's like yeah let's watch more Transformers so yeah we started in with with Netflix and you know I'm actually staring at I just picked up to the two core club the new core newest core class Optimus Prime and Megatron and we've been we've been having some battles so
00:36:35
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah, I got to actually work on that Megatron and came up pretty sick I was pretty happy that the gun turret on top you can actually rotate. Oh, yeah got like articulation to it. Yeah, that was pretty cool Yeah, I can't wait to actually shoot these guys. They just came in the other day Yeah, and plus you got the little mini Megatron gun that can also like fit into The deluxe's hands as like a representative of Megatron turning into a gun. Mm-hmm
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah, since we can't do that, which is kind of a bummer, but I still, I have my G1 inbox over here, like staring at me at all times. That's one of my crown jewels, you know?
00:37:19
Speaker
Well speaking of the new line and kind of play features, one of the things that you mentioned during the presentation at PulseCon was that the Energon weapons could combine to make custom weapons or
00:37:35
Speaker
kind of harkening back to, you know, hero matches again, right? Being able to combine things. So how did you work out that play feature? We didn't really get to see a whole lot of it, you know, as kind of on the table there. So just curious to see, you know, or hear, you know, what can we expect from that?
00:37:56
Speaker
Well, it's interesting what happened with the fandom in the world of Transformers when the weaponizers kind of came into play, which is the guys that can actually break apart and weaponize all the other characters across the line. That kind of solved the problem that I feel, maybe not a problem, that just kind of filled in an area that Transformers has been trying to
00:38:24
Speaker
be really, really good at filling for a long time, which is that imagination build, custom builds, almost like what we tried to do with construct bots and stuff like that. It's basically like a build your own transformer type of world, which is very difficult, obviously, because you have two modes and everything.
00:38:51
Speaker
But that weaponizer category and then we did the fossilizers. The fossilizers are so cool. They're really cool. So cool. I thought the same exact thing because those were still part of Warren's era. I did get to work on a couple of them afterwards, like which like the rack tonight I got to do the deco for and then wing finger. I worked with a sui-san and Takara told me to do that guy, which was a partial
00:39:21
Speaker
off of the first paleotrex, which doesn't even look anything like that first character at all, because it's obviously pterodactyl compared to a T. rex, but yeah. Yeah, the fossilizer's just, I mean, that's just good toy making. That's all, that's all the fossilizers are. It's like, oh, this dinosaur that breaks up into fossils and weaponizes all these other guys into bone guy, bone armored, insane robots. Okay, sign me up.
00:39:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's why edit great. Yeah. So once that kind of exploded where, you know, just seen all kinds of amazing builds on social media and all across the forums and everything. I don't know if you've seen some of them, but the one that really sticks in my mind that will always stick in my mind is.
00:40:15
Speaker
I think it was either four or five paleotrexes that was combined into looking almost like a predator.
00:40:24
Speaker
I've, I think I've seen some, I've, I've honestly been checking out like the hashtags on them. Well, I mean, not like today, but, um, you know, a few weeks, months ago, you know, checking out the hashtags on them and seeing the custom builds. And yeah, I've seen stuff where like they've people have built stuff that has like a wingspan that's like, you know, almost a foot long and like, you know, kind of just all these crazy combinations of stuff that I honestly, I don't know how people have the vision.
00:40:54
Speaker
to even like figure out what to use where to make something like that. But yeah, it's it's that that play feature was incredible. Yeah, once that opened up the Pandora's box, I think that's where the energon weapons came in, where we were like, OK, if you can do that to all these characters, why can't you do that with the weapons?
Crafting Energon Weapons for Transformers
00:41:20
Speaker
So and also, as you know,
00:41:24
Speaker
the combiner that will be coming will should have the ability to have large customized weapons so why not have that that kind of play feature fit into that whole entire category you know i think that's kind of where it all started you know i mean uh
00:41:49
Speaker
Energon is always a constant thing. I mean, I wish I could, you know, put all LEDs and all of these characters to have the lifeblood of Energon flowing through them. But, you know, you can't. If you can have Jay and Silent Bob reveal a self-transforming Optimus Prime, who knows what's capable, what's possible in a few years.
00:42:12
Speaker
Who knows? It's very true. I mean, that was what, price point $700 and I sold it right out. Twice, sold out twice. Twice, yeah. Two runs gone in like minutes. I mean, it is, it's amazing. When you see it, you're just like, oh, I obviously want one of those.
00:42:30
Speaker
When we did the fan wall, that was the first time that they did the fan wall where they had, you know, members of the community, you know, kind of there to do like the reactions.
00:42:47
Speaker
They wanted to test the feed and everything beforehand to make sure we can all log in and it was a day before. The room that they put us in was the same as they put us in the actual dress rehearsal room. So we're sitting there just BSing with each other and then all of a sudden the feed cuts to Jay and Silent Bob and we're like,
00:43:07
Speaker
What's, what is this? And like, we're all muted. So like at that point we can't even talk to each other. And then all of a sudden, like the feed cut, as soon as Optimus Prime started transforming on his own, we were like, what is this? What's happening? And then all of a sudden the feed cuts and I'm like, you didn't see anything. None of you saw anything. And we're like, okay. Wow. We'll be back tomorrow. And it was just like, it was incredible. And obviously like everyone,
00:43:37
Speaker
everyone who was a part of it was totally cool and everyone kept their mouths shut and it was, it was, everyone was behaved. So, you know, the next day when we got to see the full reveal, you know, it was, yeah, to your point. I mean, it's just one of those things where it's, it's like, it's like a childhood wish, right? Like asking your optimist prize. It's the thing you've always wanted transformers to do. Yeah. That and combined. So like it's, you know, we've been getting,
00:44:07
Speaker
Everything at this point. Yeah, it is definitely the golden age of of toy collecting really I mean, there's so much good stuff like being released all the time It's that's why I pick and choose now and I'm very picky because it's you know, I mean you only have so much room and and there's just so much good stuff about that and
00:44:31
Speaker
I actually recently just got a six-inch rocksteady figure, too, which was bananas. Nice. I'm a big fan of the turtles as well. I should have said that before. Hey, it's all good here. I'm looking at turtles right now, actually, in my little display. Yeah, that's such a solid toy line.
00:44:57
Speaker
I backed that Kickstarter book that came out a little while ago. It was all the toy concepts for all the turtles, all the lines throughout the years. The book knocked me out of my socks. I was just like, oh my god. Some of the illustrations in there for the concepts of the guys, I was just like, this is such, this is the reason why I want to be where I am right here.
00:45:26
Speaker
Is that the Varner Studios one? I believe so. Yeah, it's amazing. They're one of my favorite follows from our account on Instagram because they've posted wax molds of figures that never existed. So they've been posting wax molds of the
00:45:50
Speaker
The toxic crusaders wave to that never existed and it's like seeing those Instantly just takes me back. I could smell the slime Just takes me right back so it's awesome getting you know getting the peak behind the curtain as it were on that kind of stuff and
00:46:09
Speaker
Yeah, I've been actually trying to get our team to do more of the peeking behind the curtain. So hopefully everyone can be more vocal about trying to get more info. There's so much love that goes into each one of these toys. It's hard to capture all of the details and all of everything that goes into it. So I would love to have that forum.
00:46:39
Speaker
So if, you know, people would want to like to hear that kind of stuff, I mean, be vocal about it so we can try to get it get it done, you know. And now a word from our sponsors. And now back to the show. That's really cool. And, you know, you always want to see or hear stuff like that, those peaks behind the curtains, those things that we would have bought, things like that.
00:47:09
Speaker
or just even the stages of just production. So speaking of the line and speaking of you being an outspoken G1 enthusiast, the line will give you the opportunity to pull from a deep catalog of designs. Are there any parts of Transformers history you're particularly excited to work on? I would love to say.
00:47:39
Speaker
I would love to say the ones that I am very, very excited about. I can say I was really, really stoked about doing an Action Master, which was the jackpot with the Pterodactyl Battle Master. Action Masters is something that I wasn't into as a kid. I kind of left the game when Action Masters came out.
00:48:06
Speaker
getting back into Action Masters is really interesting, especially for Transformers, because it's just so break frame from regular Transformers. So I was really excited to work on that. Even though I didn't do the head sculpt, actually, I think that was in the jazz mold, the studio series jazz mold that Evan Brooks did. So he ended up putting in that jackpot head
00:48:37
Speaker
in the mold so then we can redecco it later on. So once I saw it, I was like, ooh, we got to find a space for this guy. We need an Action Master, especially because Super 7 did that Banzai Tron. And I was like, oh, I was like, yeah, they beat us to the punch here. I was like, but Action Masters is super cool. It's just really, really weird. It's really cool.
00:49:02
Speaker
really cool color schemes, so I'm super excited to do anything Action Masters. Other lines that are very cool that I would love to kind of peruse around. No spoiler alerts, but this is just me talking. I would really like to get into the
00:49:28
Speaker
the really weird series. I don't know if they say weird, but like obscure that we really, I don't know. There's not a lot dedicated to a couple of these series, but they did exist and the toys were actually really cool. Machine Wars is one of them. I don't know if you guys know about the Machine Wars. Not super familiar with it. It's really, yeah, it's kind of obscure. It's really weird.
00:49:56
Speaker
It's super cool super cool though, you know, I mean like there's just really cool stuff going on there. G2 is uh, you know, we just did laser prime and I love G2 figures. G2 got really crazy with color schemes. Anything that kind of has an insane color scheme, I pretty much love. I just
00:50:22
Speaker
It just breaks frame from your norm. And that's kind of what draws my attention. And the color schemes are just really, really good for Transformers. And when you go into that G2 series, you get to find a bunch of really, really cool and obscure ones where you're just like, wow, didn't even know this existed.
00:50:48
Speaker
So one of the other things, too, that I feel like we've talked a lot about the design of the actual character, right? But I feel like over the years, the transforming aspect of the figures gets better and better and tighter. And what's the term, less kibble, right? What's it like working with Takara Tomi?
00:51:12
Speaker
and seeing your designs go from vehicle to robot and back and forth and really kind of seeing them come to life. It's mind-blowing to be honest with you. It really is. I mean, when we kick off a product, it's a car, a Tomy, especially, you know, a lot of the stuff, especially because I'm a G1er, you know, a lot of the early G1s were, you know, licensed vehicles, really, you know, that were just
00:51:43
Speaker
I don't know if they were really licensed, but they were straight up looking like the licensed vehicles. So now that we're not doing licensed vehicles, so it's very interesting to kind of make up your own fantasy vehicle for the guys' alt modes. So that's an interesting world to explore. And as you've heard me on the PulseCon, we work with a bunch of
00:52:12
Speaker
super talented concept artists out there like Dan Kana and Robbie Musso and everything like so we go back and forth and and I go back and forth with Takara on and that's actually the really really fun part is is the going the back and forth is just like they have ideas we have ideas and it's like everyone's super passionate about it we all just want the best toy that we could possibly make
00:52:40
Speaker
under the parameters that we're given and plus have really solid engineering, which is a whole huge category of Transformers that I don't think gets enough love or isn't talked about enough because it's so complicated.
00:53:02
Speaker
And that's kind of what you're, what you're talking about is like, you know, you get to see, uh, the transformation steps. I mean, you can give suggestions to Cara as to what you're thinking for transformation, but in all reality, they own transformation. They're the masters. They've been doing it like, like Kunihiro-san has been doing it since like the eighties. And it's just.
00:53:26
Speaker
You work with the guy that made the toys that you grew up on that you absolutely love. It's one of those moments where you're just like, is this real? Is this real life? Is this really my job? What's going on here? It's just amazing to me because again, to reference these two little core class guys that I picked up, it's a $10
00:53:51
Speaker
It's a $10 price point toy that has two modes, like two very clean modes. But when it's in robot mode, he has full articulation.
00:54:07
Speaker
You can get him in a natural walking pose with bent knees and a swiveled torso and a turned head. It's insane. It is actually insane the amount of articulation that is in the robot mode alone, let alone, like you mentioned with Megatron, you turn him into the tank and all of a sudden he's got a turret that rotates.
00:54:36
Speaker
It's just to me it is it's mind-blowing. It's it's so far beyond the Transformers I remember playing like Dave Dave's old Transformers, you know, like when we were kids, you know It's just it's it's mind-blowing. It is mind-blowing how far that's the like tech has come I mean those were even still very intricate them but yeah, like with the core class ones those are pretty neat because it's like everything that You could do at the time but fit into
00:55:07
Speaker
like a smaller and, you know, better price point. It's pretty amazing. Yeah, it's definitely mind blowing. I mean, I still love obviously the old G1 toys, even though, you know, some of them can't even bend knees. It's ridiculous, the articulation factor, but they're still magical. It's still the magic, the magic of being able to turn something into something else without even being able to tell.
00:55:34
Speaker
like that it turns into the other thing where you're like, Oh my God, there's a robot inside of this jet. What do you mean? What do you mean? What are you talking about? And then you do it and you're just like, you feel like you just won a prize. You're like, I accomplished this puzzle. I am, I am the man. Where's my next puzzle? And a lot of people don't talk about the puzzle play either. Like, you know, you get
00:55:59
Speaker
This is a two for one deal, stop and shop special here. You get two figures for one price. You get accessories and I mean the magic that's there, the learning capabilities that you have with the physical touch and just your mind working to transform something. There's so much involved that there's so much to love. That's really the reason why, as you can see, I don't really break frame too much.
00:56:29
Speaker
Well, everyone used to, so when we were in office, you know, when we, my, my office job that I had, my stress reliever was a, uh, I guess it was a deluxe, uh, dark Energon prime, uh, Optimus prime, um, with like translucent orange and purple and stuff. Great toy. I remember painting that. That was a goodie.
00:56:53
Speaker
Oh, I didn't realize you worked on that one. Awesome. Um, yeah, that was my stress relief toy. So when I was at work, like I always had toys around me on my desk, but like if I was on like a
00:57:04
Speaker
call or if I was doing some kind of like long video edit it where I needed to you know watch stuff for a long time I'd be noodling with that thing back and I could almost transform it with my eyes closed at this point because I've I have it has gone back and forth so many times but that's that's honestly like as an adult that as as much as I I
00:57:27
Speaker
usually cringe when I mention it, but the Michael Bay movies, especially that first one, made me look at Transformers again for the first time in a really long time. Then as an adult, too, I was like,
00:57:42
Speaker
Who wants a stress ball and I can have a transformer instead. So like, you know, and then, you know, too, it was, it was like, okay. So like I started going back and, you know, I found that, that optimist prime, but I was like, it's kind of sick that Bumblebee is a Camaro now. Cause like.
00:57:58
Speaker
I can also have a Camaro on my desk at any given time. So, you know, it's just those little things. And again, like it became a stress relief, the little clickety clackety noises, the, what are they calling now? ASMR, the sound of it transforming the kind of feel in your hand. And again, you feel like you won a prize. Like when you get it and you time yourself, it's yes.
00:58:23
Speaker
Yeah, that accomplishment, that accomplishment does a lot, especially when you're a kid. I'm sure when you can conquer a transformer without instructions. I mean, I remember when I was in the model shop and I would first get the gray models and that would be the first time I would, I would see the actual toy that the designers are making with Takara Tomi. And that was my, that was literally my favorite thing to do with my,
00:58:51
Speaker
clear my hour, especially if it was like a masterpiece or something, and I would just sit there and transform the prototype and just try to figure it out without any instructions or anything. And that experience right there is just so satisfying to be able to grab something that you've never seen before, transform it into its robot mode, and then obviously take it apart and then paint it.
00:59:21
Speaker
It was just a magical experience being able to do that. You were like a kid in the candy store, you got to try out the first everlasting gobstopper. That's awesome. For me, I always go back to Soundwave. He was like a cassette player. I thought that was the coolest when I was a kid. Coolest boom box ever. Yeah.
00:59:47
Speaker
All the boomboxes are amazing. We just revealed that blaster. I'm so excited about that, dude. It came out dope. So now with the new Transformers film announced and coming out in the near future, are you excited to see Transformers like Optimus Primal and Chitor go from toy to film and back to toy in the studio series?
01:00:13
Speaker
I mean, say whatever you want about the movies and the Michael Bay franchise, I can still watch all the movies and I still find enjoyment on all of them. And it's still fascinating to me to watch a Transformers movie to see these guys live in action and actually transform on screen. I mean, that first movie where blackout transforms and he's got like the holographic pilot and he just wipes out an army base.
01:00:43
Speaker
My mind was on the floor, like an ooze. I was just like, oh my god, this is the best thing I have ever seen in my life.
01:00:56
Speaker
And that's how I feel. I feel like every single time an announcement for a movie for Transformers is going to happen, I feel the same exact way. I'm like, this is going to be mind blowing. I am so here for Ron Perlman, Optimus Primal. I just, I literally, I cannot wait for that giant robot monkey. I cannot, I cannot wait.
01:01:21
Speaker
Like the fact that there's a there's a Beast Wars movie coming is just. I just. It's so cool. I'm so excited. It's almost like, well, what's yeah, what's what's left? Oh, yeah, Beast Wars. Like, you know, you know, there were the Constructicons at one point, like they've just been. I don't I don't care how dumb they are. It's so much fun. I just want to see that. I just want to see Transformers transform and like blow stuff up. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's fun.
01:01:50
Speaker
It's all about the action when it comes to transform. Even in the cartoon, even those little segments in between each commercial break where jazz would fly in, transform and spin around and chew, I was just like, oh my god, that's the coolest thing in the world. Are you kidding me? And that was just a commercial break.
01:02:12
Speaker
Now I have to ask, have you, have you had the opportunity to go on the Transformers ride at either, uh, universal? Yeah, you have. I have, I have, and it's a wild, it's a wild ride. Best. When, when, when Peter Cullen kneels down and is talking to you and you, you truly get a chance to appreciate how big Optimus prime would be to like you, a human. Um,
01:02:39
Speaker
Yeah, I I to this day I cannot wait to go back and take my daughter on that ride because I I leave that ride with like my cheeks hurt from the entire time This is real. Like I can't believe this is happening I'm so happy to hear that cuz that's exactly how I felt, you know, I mean I even like that I like that character evac that Universal Studios like yeah worked with
01:03:08
Speaker
Hasbro to come up with in the Deluxe toy. Remember, I think Joe Kaid actually worked on that toy. He ended up putting an alt head in that mold, which was a Frankenstein head. It was never going to be used, but there was room in the mold, and he put it in there. And then when I got the gray model in, I looked at the head. I'm like, wait a second.
01:03:33
Speaker
Is this, how did this get in here? You know what I mean? And then I run down to Joe and I'm like, Joe, there's a Frankenstein in it. And he's like, Oh yeah, I know. It's like, what are you talking about? Oh, it was, uh, yeah, that, that ride though, that ride is really intense. It's really cool.
01:03:53
Speaker
And just seeing the guys suited up in the Megatron outfit, walking around outside, yelling at people and stuff, that's a treat, too. I mean, Universal Studios is a treat, you know? It is. Like I said, I'm excited to go back for my daughter's now old enough to appreciate some of it. So I'm excited to get her. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, that's definitely a lot of fun. Yeah, I'd love to go back.
01:04:20
Speaker
So outside of your work at Hasbro, you mentioned it earlier on that you produce some other art. And I've seen it. You produce some gorgeous work on what most would still consider to be a more unconventional medium. So tell us a little bit about Overspray Studios. Thank you for the kudos. So Overspray Studios, which
01:04:50
Speaker
was kind of the child of me and my buddy, Jimmy Ostio. He actually works as a set painter for the films and everything. He's actually working on Hocus Pocus 2 right now. Oh, nice. Oh, that's shooting in Rhode Island, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's super talented. Amazing, amazing work that he does. But that was
01:05:15
Speaker
I was definitely the brainchild for Overspray Studios. But before Overspray Studios, I think it was when I was younger, I just, you know, I got I got exposed to graffiti at an early age, just like riding around in the backseat of my mom's car, like on the highway. There was there was like a really, really prominent graffiti scene in Providence and in Rhode Island. So
01:05:45
Speaker
It wasn't really anywhere you could go without seeing it. So kind of made like a weird impression on me where I was just like, Oh, look at that. That's cool. It's like a big devil face on the side of the highway. I wonder who did that. So cool. You know, so when I was a little older, I started like kind of getting into it where I was just like, Oh, this is actually kind of, this is actually really cool. Like this, uh, an enormous amount of talented people out here, like doing all kinds of amazing artwork.
01:06:14
Speaker
So I started, I started getting into it and then like, I realized that, you know, obviously it's kind of dangerous. So I was like, maybe, I was like, maybe let's, let's try to do more of the murals and practice and actually try to get good before I do any of the dangerous stuff.
01:06:36
Speaker
So I focused more on a lot of the murals and stuff. And thankfully, a lot of barber shops and a lot of people would allow me to just paint their wall and paint whatever I wanted, which it was a blessing and a curse, I'm sure, for them. But I learned an incredible amount. And also, I kept meeting all of these super talented artists in that world where
01:07:06
Speaker
You know, some of them, like, you know, eventually as I, as I kept with it, the more and more I would meet them, the more and more I would realize that, wow, a lot of these people actually like have like really good careers in the art world. And the exposure that I, I, I was kinda, I kinda got from all of these different people and different walks of life and like, uh, kind of different styles and different aesthetics and,
01:07:35
Speaker
It just really made a large impact on me where I like really went in. I went in real deep on the murals. And then I just started doing it for basically a business. Me and Jimmy just got together. We got a studio downtown in Providence and revamped the whole thing, turned it into an art gallery. And then, I mean, we just constantly did the art hustle really, like try to sell canvases, sell artwork, have shows.
01:08:05
Speaker
But mainly focusing on a lot of installs a lot of mural installs, you know been in a lot of different places I met a lot of different people and Thankfully, you know that was the reason I found out about the temp job at Hasbro was through one of those people that was in that world where I was just like oh you do what and then I kind of led me to Wear out what I'm doing now, which is something that I'd love to do. I don't have as much time
01:08:34
Speaker
time as I did before to do a lot of that work, but currently I'm actually getting another studio right now and I'm going to try to start doing a little bit more here and there. I only pick certain projects now because it's labor intensive. Doing wall mural work is very labor intensive, but I really like it because it's a break frame from sitting behind a laptop or sitting behind a desk. You're out in the world.
01:09:04
Speaker
You're kind of like, you know, out in the moment and it's just large scale. It's very freeing. It's very like a freedom of expression, you know, like whipping your arm around from like left to right as far as you can go to make a line. It's just like, it's an indescribable experience. You should try, always try to urge everybody, anybody that is into drawing or anything like that, you should try to paint a wall because it's
01:09:33
Speaker
It breaks your mind up where you're just like, wow, this is a whole different, this is like more of a full body sport here. Then once you get into the ladders and everything, that's when definitely jumping into the bath of Epsom salt and taking a bunch of ibuprofen.
01:09:55
Speaker
But it makes it wicked sore, but I mean, it's well worth it in the end because you get that final product that you worked years and years and years to develop the skill with the spray paint can and all the other materials that you use to accomplish that like piece of artwork where you're just like, all right, yeah, like I feel good about that, you know? Listen, I spray painted a bookcase in my backyard once.
01:10:23
Speaker
And two coats and my hand was frozen in that like pushing down the Like button like it was I thought I had carpal tunnel so I can't imagine I can't imagine doing an entire wall I would that would not that would not work. Well for me. I don't think I Can't imagine doing something creative Like for me, it's complete utility, you know, like I
01:10:51
Speaker
Yeah, it is. It takes a long time to develop the feel and touch and it is. It's pretty difficult. But I mean, when you see all these people around the world and what they actually produce with a can of spray paint, you're just kind of mind blown. You know what I mean? You just don't even understand it sometimes.
01:11:16
Speaker
I definitely don't I I'm bewildered by most of the stuff that I see nowadays, you know It's one of those things where I just have you know the utmost of The utmost of respect for it because it's you know, like I said just having used spray paint as a utility like I can't imagine just the sheer amount of ability that goes into that and
01:11:42
Speaker
It's intense. It takes a while to learn for sure. There's a lot of times, man, when I first started, all I wanted to do was quit. I couldn't stand how bad I was at it, you know?
01:11:57
Speaker
It's just, it's so frustrating. A lot of people do. A lot of people put it down after a while where they're just like, you know, you don't work through all the problematic like situations to get better. You're just like, you know what, this is for the birds. I'm all set.
01:12:16
Speaker
So does that art style ever inform your choices when playing with color during toy design? Yeah, 100%. I've used a lot of transformer color schemes for art murals, and it's the same thing. Stuff that I've learned in that mural game, like I've applied to deco sheets for transformers and everything.
01:12:46
Speaker
It's seamless. I mean, you learn so much from that world that it's really cool to like scale down everything and kind of put it into, even when I was painting models, it was the same exact thing. It was just like everything would influence each other. And you're just always constantly trying to build and get better and use this as inspiration for that. It's fun. It's really fun.
01:13:13
Speaker
Uh, it's definitely a lifelong process for sure. I still, man, the thing that I would love to see is I would love to see you do art for, uh, one of the classified figures. Like I would love for you to be like the, the, like Mark Maha did, did the, did the, the art for the eventual judge figure, you know, like that, like each, how each box has its own artist.
01:13:42
Speaker
right, your art would be perfect for it because it's like each one has its own character, its own, you know, its own kind of feel. And you're so connected with, you know, with the, the, the line and, you know, with, with the IP that it would be, it would be awesome to see, see your art on there. Yeah. Thanks, man. Yeah. That's what I would, I would be honored for sure. I mean, there's so many powerhouses that are doing those. They're coming out.
01:14:12
Speaker
Fantastic. I mean, just the classified line is pretty mind blowing in itself. My brother keeps calling me about it all the time. He's like, oh, I finally got major blood. I'm like, yeah, man, I could have tried to get that from you at work, but I'll tell you, it's hard. It's hard to even get them at work. They go like hotcakes, man, you know? Yeah. And the distribution currently doesn't help anybody.
01:14:38
Speaker
I mean, the fakes are so good. It is like I was saying before. It's the Golden Age. It's the Golden Age. We have so much to choose from, and there's so many good things being produced. Can't get enough. Well, before we wrap up with our last question, I think it's time for a little Q&A.
01:15:02
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.
01:15:18
Speaker
Visit them in person at 106 Main Street in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at ChubsyWubsy.com. That's C-H-U-B-Z-Z-Y-W-U-B-Z-Z-Y.com, and tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
01:15:38
Speaker
Three questions that came from no one in particular. We had a bunch of questions that came in that were very similar, so we just kind of combined them to make three questions for you. Dave, would you like to take the first one? I would. What is your favorite and least favorite bot to actually transform? Oh, man. Wow, that's a good one. That is a good question.
01:16:08
Speaker
All right. So I know my least favorite is that actually it's a whole series of figures, the human Alliance series of figures. I cannot stand transforming those figures at all. There is just too much going on for me. I just, uh, yeah, I have a rule in my transformations that I love anything that you can open up almost to be a huge
01:16:37
Speaker
like puzzle piece, flat puzzle piece with pieces all over the place. I'm no, I'm all set. I'm like, no, no. I'm like, I don't have three hours for this. I'm sorry. I can't do it. It's too frustrating. So the human alliance series gets me, I mean, it's a, it's a dope series. Like the vehicle modes are really cool and it's like really cool that you get the human guy with it. But yeah, that series gets me every time.
01:17:05
Speaker
Um, my, and what was the other one? My favorite, my favorite bot. Oh, wow. I mean, that is tough. That is, that is a tough one. And I'm going, this is what I'm going to go with because, uh, I'm a G one. Uh, I'm going to go with it. Obviously the typical, the typical answer would be often as prime because it's transformations. Great. Uh, but I'm.
01:17:32
Speaker
going to go with my favorite character actually which is Cyclonus and the transformation isn't really good it's just like I really really like that figure and I really really like the character so I'm gonna go with that. The question wasn't best it was your favorite and that's one of those things right your favorite doesn't have to be the best it's just your favorite. Yeah he's definitely my favorite that jet mode for that
01:18:02
Speaker
G1 Cyclonus is still, to this day, a mind-blowing jet. All right, next question. While you guys are good about announcing new product before it hits shelves, there are still surprises in the toy aisle. Is that done on purpose? Ah, the surprise and delight.
01:18:27
Speaker
I saw this question come in from a couple different people and I was actually thinking about it because I had never really thought about it before, but pretty much every single figure that you see on a shelf now from a major company, whether it's Hasbro, Mattel, McFarland, whatever, there is some sort of social media announcement for it before it comes out.
01:18:49
Speaker
and or and or a live stream right to actually announce it but with transformers there is a lot of like there's there was a whole Bumblebee line that was in like new packaging with no plastic like it was an all cardboard packaging with the new boxes and everything that was not shown anywhere period but like it's out and you can buy it and they look great but like now
01:19:11
Speaker
There was, there was like no pop and circumstance with it. Um, so yeah, do you guys do that on purpose to kind of give people that, that, uh, that like nice little, I mean, so yeah, that's kind of not really my, my camp, you know, that's kind of like what marketing is, uh, you know, they're dabbling, they're, they're playing games, they're, they're figuring it out. They're figuring out what's a cool, uh, strategy and whatnot.
01:19:40
Speaker
I kind of stay out of that, but I do actually like the fact that that is happening. I can say that because there was a feeling that you used to get when you were a kid and like your mom took you to the store or whatever and you were going to get a new toy and everything was new to your eyes really and especially when you went to a different
01:20:10
Speaker
I mean, I don't know what toy stores that you guys used to go to. The one that sticks out to me was Zier's. I don't know if you had Zier's. No, we had KB and Toys R Us were the two big ones for us. Oh, well, I mean, how old are you guys? How old are you guys? I'm 40. And I'm 33.
01:20:32
Speaker
Alright, alright, so no don't remember the zeros on Dave No, no didn't have those around there. No interesting Ames. How about Ames? Do you remember Ames? I think there was but like we also had Bradley's and Kaldor Yeah, and like came Oh Kaldor is a good one came on. That's a goody like there was but KB toys was Out of the area before I remembered I
01:20:58
Speaker
New Jersey's weird man like we have like all even like those the stores now like the Ross's and like the Ollie's And some of these other store like they're not in New Jersey. They're like skip two Ross's Jersey is interesting. I'll give you that I've been to Jersey a couple times and all I can remember is like golf courses and plazas We got a little bit more than that but like
01:21:28
Speaker
I went to Atlantic City. I did do that. That was pretty cool. We went off Atlantic City, though. And we got some really, really good Cambodian food at this really, really small joint. And all me and my friends fit into this place. It was super small. It was like a closet. So we're all up on top of each other and everything, trying to eat noodles. It was great. Best kind of place. Good time. Yeah, it was a good time. So surprise and delay.
01:21:58
Speaker
I think, yeah, I think a no comment is coming out of my mouth and I'm going to give you the definitely pay attention to the stores. Like get out there, go search around. There could be even more programs like that, which is pretty wild. I mean, I know what you're talking about, the Buzzworthy Bumblebee. I worked on the four pack for the Buzzworthy Bumblebee. I worked on the
01:22:23
Speaker
that Cybertronian mode Bumblebee, which we finally got that done, that he's like the little UFO with the golden rods. Pretty amped about that one. Pretty amped. We finally get there. But that fangory was really dope in that four pack. I was super excited about him. And even that Blackarachnia repaint, which had the toy head, but
01:22:52
Speaker
It was based on the card art from back in the Beast Wars days, where she had the leopard skin bra on, which is wild. Now see, those kinds of color schemes is what I'm talking about. Those are the ones that give me the warm and fuzzies, and I get super excited about because they're so different. They're just so different from any toys that you can get. But yeah. Surprising delight. It's kind of crap. Yeah.
01:23:20
Speaker
Yeah, kind of a crappy answer. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Dave, do you want to finish out our Q&A? I will. Has the team ever considered including more human characters from either the film or the cartoon in the line, whether it's something like, you know, an in scale or I guess three and three quarter would sort of be in scale, probably smaller, actually, or even like a classified style. Hmm.
01:23:49
Speaker
I can tell you this we I mean we've talked about especially me coming out of jail when I when I first got on the job it's just like where the O ring figures like right away someone told me retro fingers I was like O ring right and they're like now I'm like well
01:24:04
Speaker
I got really mad, and then I was like, no, no, these are cool, though. These are cool. Well, now it's O-ring. And then, well, yeah, I'm definitely a proponent of that. I wish I could actually send you some files. I have like a whole presentation for the O-ring, like broke it all down into all the pieces, like what material we're going to use. Actually, I got Dan Conner to do this like sick O-ring.
01:24:32
Speaker
Illustration that like cut snake eyes in half so you can see like the glowing o-ring inside of them Yeah, it's pretty wild. It was really good. Maybe we can get that out there somehow But yeah, I you know we talk about it all the time really and you know We have meetings with our fan council and they talk about it all the time, too So there's a want there. You know there's like a There's like a lot of characters that we could actually do
01:25:03
Speaker
for that kind of like you know scale it is it would be definitely excuse me a weird scale because of like you know what would you make it for would you make it for like our commanders or our leader scale and then there would have to be like that almost the three and three quarter but not really like a little almost shorter i mean we've we've done a lot of
01:25:29
Speaker
like characters in the past, like that human alliance series, those had figures. I mean, we just did, we do do a lot of slug figures though. I mean, Transformers really, yeah, it's tough to get the human figures in there. I mean, well, all I can say is we talk about it. Who wouldn't want another John Cena figure? I mean, I know Dave would want it. I would get it. Would you get it? Yeah.
01:25:59
Speaker
All right. All right. See, that's good information right there. Because I mean, I'm obsessed with the robots, like the human figure on the side for me. But you know what? Those prime, we did some slug figures for prime, which was the human figures that were pretty popular in that series. But they were like they were just slug figures, but they were definitely a tiny scale. It would be cool. I'm totally on board. Like a John Tatoro.
01:26:30
Speaker
Oh, that'd be pretty good. Yeah, I'd enjoy that. Yeah. Like, especially for studio series. And it would be cool too. Like, even if they were like, it would be almost, um, like mask scale, right? Like the, the mask old, old school, like mask figures. Oh, maybe we could build the tool where we could make.
01:26:51
Speaker
the mask figures afterwards, how about that? How about we do all that? Always, always think, always pitching mask. Oh, never, never not pitching mask. Yeah, mask is always something I'll be on board for, for sure. Oh, that's good to hear too, man. That was one of my favorites when I was much younger. Wow. Yeah. I mean, that cartoon was really good. The cartoon was pretty spectacular.
01:27:20
Speaker
You know what that's something that I haven't done in a long time is watch one of those episodes. I remember Not too long ago. I tried to break out a he-man Disc and I was like, yeah, no No, this is I can't even do this and I was recently talking about that with You know with with the reintroduction of of he-man and and the revelation, you know show I was talking to a couple people about that. It's like yeah, don't go back. Let let
01:27:47
Speaker
Let let you remember remember that the way that you remember it and just Just let it go. It's it's it's I I love it. I still like it. It's still fun to look back on I'm I'm glad you can still enjoy it. I really I really am. I wish I could I Know how I'm in that camp too. It was hard. It was hard. I turned it off. I was like, yep I can't do this when they said that the new show was gonna be a sequel to it I was like if I'm gonna watch the new show
01:28:18
Speaker
Mean I do like a long time Yeah, and I and then I was like, you know, I guess I go watch these with with Maddie You know, she might like them and then I got through like two episodes and I was like, no I'm just I can't do I can't even leave this on in the background. Like it's like I
01:28:37
Speaker
No. Yeah, no, you're right. There are some awkwardness is just wild. You're just how did I want? I don't know. It's it blows my mind. But I will sit through a lot of stuff just just to
01:28:54
Speaker
to relive those memories. Well, with that, Mark, you have survived the Q&A, which brings us to our final question. Dave, would you like to take up your role as this podcast's James Lifton and ask the final question? I would love to. So the final question that we ask all of our guests is,
01:29:19
Speaker
What is your favorite and or strangest piece in your collection? It can be one of each or it can be both. Oh, yeah, this is a good one. All right. All right. You ready for this one? This is this is one I knew it was coming. So my strangest and I would say my most collector, probably my most valuable piece as well. Really, I think so.
01:29:48
Speaker
So I have, so I, thankfully I've gotten a gift from Takara Tomi Rika-san who works out there a while back when I was still a model artist. It was at a BotCon. And it is a lucky draw. Vac Metal Gold Magmatron toy. Whoa. Sealed in box.
01:30:19
Speaker
mint condition. Yeah. And I, I, you know, I've done a lot of research on it and I've talked to a lot of different people and the, you know, I know there's more than one, but I think there's 10. I think there's 10. So it's definitely one out of 10. That's awesome.
Spotlight on Magmatron from Beast Wars Neo
01:30:45
Speaker
Yeah.
01:30:45
Speaker
Don't know if you're familiar with magnetron. It was part of that whole Beast Wars neo series out in Japan. No, I actually have seen pictures of I'm trying to pull one up real quick to refresh my memory, but like it's got the Yeah, I just I just found another one. Yeah Yeah, yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Oh, this is really I mean
01:31:13
Speaker
It's a banana. The toy is bananas like magnetron in itself is just a bananas toy. And I think what ended up happening was is that came up in conversation and I'd went on a tear about how insane that toy is because it literally is insane.
01:31:30
Speaker
it's so different and it's like three creatures that combine into this combiner and it's like magmatron like the name just sings to me and even the color schemes of the creatures are wild. Yeah like if it were not painted all gold it's like uh it's like like one one is red one is like a like a slate blue and then is in the other like silver or gray
01:31:57
Speaker
Yeah, it's together. It's just yeah, yeah, that is a that is a wild that is a wild color palette. Yeah, so it's definitely that I would say that that's probably my best piece. So awesome. We got we got to add that one to the list of of top ones. That's a that might be right up there with with solid gold. Migo Caesarhead.
01:32:23
Speaker
Who's, who's was that? The solid, Marty Amers of, of Migo himself has a solid gold, uh, Migo head of Caesar from, uh, from Planet of the Apes. Oh, you know what? Yeah. I'm going to drop another, I'm going to drop another one on you before we leave. Just because it came to my mind and I forgot all
Exploring Bot Shots and the Elusive ROM Bot Shot
01:32:47
Speaker
about it. I don't know why that just dropped into my mind, but I had, you remember bot shots by any chance?
01:32:53
Speaker
I'm
01:33:11
Speaker
They were like little chibi versions. I'm looking them up. I remember them by look. I didn't remember that they were called. It was an actual game. This is like Battle Beasts. Yes, it is like Battle Beasts. I'm glad that you said that. I love Battle Beasts. You'd roll them into something, preferably another player, and then they would flip up, and then they have the
01:33:35
Speaker
the spinny square on their chest that would reveal the power and whatnot. And then you'd play that game, which they were very popular. And I couldn't tell you how many of those things I painted. But I have a ROM bot shot, which was never released, which is pretty wild. I don't even know if maybe there's a picture of it online.
Introducing Transformers Wiki's Matt Karkovich
01:34:02
Speaker
Yeah, I actually.
01:34:04
Speaker
Gotta love the internet, man. I just found a wiki dedicated to bot shots. You know the wiki guy, Matt Karkovich? No. Oh, man. If you want someone on your show to talk about Transformers, that's the guy. That's the guy. He knows every single thing about Transformers ever in the entire history of Transformers. Wrote the whole wiki himself. He's such a good dude, too.
01:34:33
Speaker
just amazing amazing stuff yeah i'm looking at i'm looking at rom right now rom the space knight canceled yeah i got that i got that little gem i got that guy
01:34:49
Speaker
Yeah, that one's not going to see the light of day. Hey, maybe you never know what's what's old is new again forever. So maybe maybe bot shots is going to make its return. Well, triumphant. They did really well. I mean, what do you guys feel about Rob? You like, it looks awesome. Look at him. This is the space night. I think it was. I think he's pretty cool. That's a cool looking.
01:35:15
Speaker
Yeah, pretty cool.
Staying Updated with Transformers News
01:35:16
Speaker
Well, listen, Mark, I would say before we let you go, let us know where we can find you on the web. But you are a man of mystery. So where can we learn more about Transformers? Where can we find out the latest news?
01:35:32
Speaker
Well, of course, always check on Instagram. Official Transformers account is obviously where all the drops go. Hasbro Pulse, always constantly check Hasbro Pulse. There's always goodies popping up on there. And stay tuned for more Transformer Tuesdays coming out and Fan First Fridays and all kinds of cool live shows for you guys.
01:36:01
Speaker
We got, there's a pretty packed slate coming. So be prepared. We're ready. We're at the ready. I'm sure you guys are. Mark, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the pod with us tonight.
Closing Remarks and Credits
01:36:20
Speaker
This was so much fun. And thank you for sharing your passion with all of us. Thank you. You guys are the best.
01:36:30
Speaker
It's been an awesome experience, and I can't wait to do another. Let's slate another one in the air. 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.
01:36:58
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.
01:37:22
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.
01:37:52
Speaker
you