Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Cryin' Out Cryptoids: The War for the Green Planet and Chat with Creator Craig Goldberg
3 Plays8 minutes ago
Cryptids... ever heard of em?!?! From the Mothman to Sasquatch, Cryptids are a long underserved community when it comes to toys... UNTIL NOW! You know Craig from the YHS and Toy Anxiety podcasts, but today he's joining us to talk all about the uber-successful Cryptoids kickstarter, making the jump from podcaster to toymaker, and what folks can expect in the final week of funding
Back Cryptoids Here on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cryptoids/cryptoids-war-for-the-green-planet-action-figures
Follow us @aic_podcast on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube
Start creating a podcast today with Zencastr! Learn more.
Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Adventures in Collecting podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting.
00:00:34
Speaker
Dave, we're here. Hi. hey How are you doing over there? um i need ketchup packets.
00:00:47
Speaker
Run into anything ah familiar there in the in the the Pine Barrens? I saw a guy named Paulie and a guy named Christopher.
00:01:01
Speaker
Well done, Dave. Well done. um Yeah, so
Dave's conversation with Bob Gale about Back to the Future
00:01:05
Speaker
we're we're back. ah You had a really cool conversation our last episode, Dave. I got message to be here at the Pine Barrens. Well, if you're wondering why Dave is in the Pine Barrens, that'll all make sense shortly. We hope you enjoyed the last episode. That was something fun and different. Dave, you got to talk to Bob Gale of Back to the Future fame. Of Back to the Future fame.
00:01:33
Speaker
um yeah Among other things. used cars which I didn't get a chance to talk about but um another movie that I love very much but yeah that was a lot of fun you know I really enjoyed the Back to the Future musical when I got a chance to see it on Broadway so it was really cool to be able to talk to to Bob Gale about that and about other you know Things that ah are in his career that I hope everybody enjoyed to hear it, get to hear about, including a super jelly video game.
00:02:13
Speaker
i'm I'm very jealous that you got to have that conversation, um but it was really cool. So if you are listening to this and you haven't had a chance to ah to enjoy the last episode, make sure you definitely go back and and check that out as well, ah because it was it was great.
00:02:29
Speaker
Or if you got friends that are into, you know, the Back to the Future series or um just other points of Bob Gale's career, a little lost media talk in there, like, there's there's some there's some good stuff in there.
00:02:45
Speaker
Yeah, for for sure. um But yeah, so we're we're
Instagram giveaway announcement with Hall of Famers
00:02:50
Speaker
here with a... ah we we We do have a guest that we'll be bringing on shortly. um But ah in the meantime, a little bit of housekeeping. So it is a new month. It is, in fact, April. And we have a giveaway. So this month's giveaway, we are partnering with um our friends at Collect Major and...
00:03:14
Speaker
future Hall of Famers themselves, Axe and Smash of Demolition, to give away a trifecta, a trio of big rubber guys. They'll be heading into the Hall of Fame this coming weekend, as you're listening to this.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yep. But you can win a a sold out and sought after trio of big rubber guys. That's right. From Collect Major, it is Axe, it is Smash, it is Crush. um You can enter to win all three of these. ah So...
00:03:48
Speaker
Instead of ah bidding on them on eBay, you can you can roll the dice and see if you walk away with a set of them this month. So as always, it is on our Instagram exclusively. So at AIC underscore podcast, um look for the pinned posts. All the rules are there.
00:04:05
Speaker
ah You have all month long to enter. So we will we will close we will close the ah the giveaway at the end of the month and on May 1st announce our winner. So a big, big rubber guys giveaway. Perfect timing with with WrestleMania and and yeah Dave, like you mentioned, the gentlemen, the legends themselves will be going into the Hall of Fame. So you can have some Hall of Famers.
00:04:30
Speaker
I believe they're playable in 2K this month. Wow. Yeah. yeah First time in the video game in a long time. And you're welcome. Their theme song is now stuck in your head and I don't feel bad about it.
00:04:43
Speaker
So I'm going to have to get out my copy of pile driver and listen to it.
00:04:50
Speaker
But yeah, uh, so that housekeeping is, is, is easy this week. That's it. Just go enter the giveaway. It's, it's an awesome giveaway.
Craig joins to discuss toy collecting passion
00:04:59
Speaker
but, But today we have a a guest on the ah on the pod, a first time guest, a new friend of the pod. We get to collect a new friend today. um You know him. an old friend, but a new friend.
00:05:13
Speaker
Yeah. Somebody we've been friends with for a while, but I just haven't had a chance to to connect. And um we have all the reason in the world now ah because they have ah Craig, who we're about to bring on here, has has You know him from the Toy Anxiety Podcast, of course, from Yes, Have Some. But ah Cryptoids, War for the Green Planet has been the the new indie toy darling. They're Kickstarter funded in less than two days. And we ah we are in the final week of the campaign, that final push. We all know that is so important to every Kickstarter, even the ones that are fully funded. um And and you know we are super excited to welcome Craig to the show.
00:06:01
Speaker
Hello. Can we, can we, thanks for having me. I only want to talk about wrestling figures. so I mean, we can do that too. People are sick of Mothman. Like I, I'm, as you guys are talking them about, excuse you, listen, as you guys are talking about your giveaway, I'm staring at my big rubber guy shelf.
00:06:21
Speaker
And I really think I'm not a completist, although I want to be. I was a little bit late to the game, but I personally think the Legion of Doom and and the Rock and Roll Express are like amazing figures. All of them are amazing, but I got to get my hands on those ah those demolitions. So I'm entering the contest is what I'm saying.
00:06:39
Speaker
There you go. There you go. Yeah, the the the the big bad toy store variants of Legion Doom in like the classic red and black. love I love I love that they cast those in the promo, like the promo eight by ten pose were like it i animals like like kind of like ducked down. It's so good.
00:06:58
Speaker
Out of everything, I mean, there's a lot, obviously, in this toy room. um But they I love my big rubber guy slash LJN slash. And I just want to put this out. I did coin this phrase. Nobody else has used it. i'm trying to get it picked up by somebody.
00:07:13
Speaker
Mattel JN. I don't know why. no It's so good. The Mattel JN. right there. which I all, it's the only reason I have a Logan Paul action figure. So yeah.
00:07:28
Speaker
I didn't want one, but you know. Yeah, but here you are. I unfortunately have two, of three. I forgot about the LJ, Mattel JN. Yeah. There we go. See, you're doing it. d Yeah, I'm going to go, I'm going to, I'm going to with it, but it's, yeah.
00:07:44
Speaker
I got a message. ah Steve, just kind of drop it casually, see if he picks up on it. ah in In all seriousness, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Matt will get that off the ground. Yeah, we could get it over together. We'll get it over together.
00:07:57
Speaker
Another collab post yeah to the toy community. Just to us us, you guys, and and Matt and Brian getting over Mattel J and Yeah. Yeah. Um, but no, thanks for having me. i I'm super excited to talk about whatever you guys want. We can talk about cryptoids. We could talk about wrestling figures. We can talk about whatever you guys want. I am here to do that.
Craig's toy collecting journey and focus on Batman
00:08:22
Speaker
Well, I mean, this is a show about collecting, right? So the first thing that we do always like to ask our new guests is, uh, you know, what, what, what's getting you excited right now? Like, what are you collecting? What are some things that you've recently picked up?
00:08:35
Speaker
You know, it's funny. i We had Toyland couple weeks ago, which is ah the big local toy show, and it's grown over the years, and it's gotten really good. And we were set up with the the Cryptoids booth there. So I do this kind of yo-yo thing where I... i I will be hyper-focused on vintage you know lines, and then I will swing the other way, and I'll be hyper-focused on modern lines, and then I'll be like, I'm sick of this. and and i just It's like an ADD thing where I just go back and forth all the time. So Toylana was amazing this year. There were so many good vintage dealers. like
00:09:08
Speaker
ah you know We do this thing on on Toy Anxiety when one of us starts a new collection or starts a new line. We we do the Ecto-1 siren. So I'm always like, you know...
00:09:19
Speaker
Whatever it is, you know, vintage, swamp thing, police academy, Bill and Ted, you hear, these are all Kenner lines. I'm a fan. you I'm a Kenner guy. ah But even other things like, you know, Robin Hood or Hook. Like I'm always starting. that My new thing is i had food fighters as a kid.
00:09:38
Speaker
never really had them as an adult collector, see them all the time, never think of anything of it. And then for whatever reason, recently I've been thinking about them a lot. So went into Toylanta thinking I was going to really start some new vintage lines and and all that, but I ended up buying a bunch of modern stuff. I bought a bunch of mythic legions. I bought big, bad workshop, a cops and crooks figure, ah which which is awesome. So cool. um And, and I, you know,
00:10:06
Speaker
I got, I got some, uh, legends of dragon or, which is an indie toy line. very cool stuff. I found the new, uh, scare glow chronicles figure. So as of today, I'm a completist on chronicles. We'll see how long it lasts.
00:10:22
Speaker
Uh, but I just, I just love toys. So I get, I get excited about all sorts of toys and action figures all the time. It's a huge part of my life. It's, it's my number one hobby. And, uh,
00:10:34
Speaker
i dont know. There's a lot of good stuff. I mean, there's, there's always going to be some good stuff, but it feels like right now there's just, there's a lot of great indie toy lines. There's a lot of great stuff happening. Even the big, like Mattel's killing it. Hasbro's got a lot of stuff going on. So there's just a lot happening.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We, we, we refer to it here on, on, on adventures collecting as our, our latest micro obsession. Um, so yeah, it's, but, but I, I feel you, I feel you. It's there's, we, we joke around and we say like, it's never been a better time to be a toy collector, right? Like there's just so much out there. That's so good.
00:11:11
Speaker
And yeah it's just in, in large, vast amounts. Um, And when when something runs its course, there's always something new behind it. Like, yeah, it's weird too. Cause I, I, I started, um, I don't know if you guys are hot toys guys at all, but I started buying, and i had various hot toys at one point. I had, you know, some Marvel, some star Wars, whatever. And and it was just like impulse buys. Like, listen, I like the MCU and I
Craig's band experiences with One Way Letter
00:11:40
Speaker
like star Wars a lot, but
00:11:42
Speaker
i'm ah I'm a collector. I want to pursue a collection that makes sense. Yeah. You know, I want to put together the checklist. I want to have my Google sheets and and all that stuff. Um, so I got rid of all those and I started a proper one, six Batman collection, uh,
00:11:58
Speaker
like two years ago and and uh batman's my number one superhero by by miles and miles so um i got a bunch of uh you know i got some of the keaton stuff i've got ah you know movie specific i'm not going into like you know the arkham games and and the comics and all that yet i say that tomorrow i'll probably buy a the dark knight uh returns uh hot toy but um But so I'm really excited about that. And then I have my first Jazz Inc. I got the Catwoman on pre-order. Oh, okay.
00:12:31
Speaker
The Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Jazz Inc, but they're just a really incredible company doing amazing stuff. and you know they're based in, I think, the Netherlands and just another level of of design. So, yeah, just another thing to spend money on.
00:12:48
Speaker
They're the ones with like the squishy faces and like the magnet eyes and stuff, right? So I don't know. There's in art and then there's jazz. I've never held one in my hands and yeah I'll be honest. And maybe this is blasphemous. I don't watch a lot of toy content on YouTube. So I'm not ever one to be like, let me go watch this.
00:13:08
Speaker
Hot toys unboxing. I just, it doesn't do anything for me. That sounds weird, but like, ah it's like talking about toys and i'm glad people watch our show, but I don't necessarily seek it out too much.
00:13:21
Speaker
I have to admit, I'm i'm the same way. um if If it doesn't hit me on like an Instagram reel when I'm like you know yeah catching up on what's going on just like yeah in the industry. um And i saw i I thought it was that company, that there was like a 1.6 scale Heath Ledger Joker that they did. And like the face was like looked like it was like a soft silicone and had like magnet a little magnet pen where you could shift the eyes around. I did.
00:13:48
Speaker
I do think that might be that's interesting might be in art, which is very similar. it's another i don't know where they're based, but they're very similar to Jazzing. Jazzing got their start doing like these big Star Wars dioramas that were not licensed, um and then they kind of moved into ah doing... Whoa, Train. I hear Train. That's awesome. Very close to my house.
00:14:11
Speaker
Thanks, Train. I didn't even mention all the Sopranos references, which I'm in my like fourth rewatch of the Sopranos right now. I just watched Pine Barrens the other day and I went into it thinking like, you know, everyone says Pine Barrens like the best episode. So I was like, let me really, I'm like too much hype. But then afterwards I'm like, no, it's really good. it's It's very good. Yeah. But anyways, no, uh, jazzing, they, they, they got the license to do one, six scale Batman vehicles a couple of years ago. So they don't, they've done like their Tumblr is like, it blows the hot toys Tumblr out of the water. They're 89 blows. It just another level. Um, and they do the figures too. They, uh,
00:14:49
Speaker
They don't have the license to ship the figures to America because of because of Hot Toys. So you have to go through um like a third-party distributor to to get them. So it's it's a pricey adventure, and I don't know how much I'll i'll do, but the the Michelle Pfeiffer Cowwoman is so epic looking. I had to get it.
00:15:07
Speaker
Well, I'll have to keep an eye out for when ah when you get your hands on it and if you post anything. Yeah, I will. I'm sure I will. Actually, i might not. I don't do a lot of that. I used to. Like, here's this toy I got. now I'm just like, whatever. it on the shelf.
00:15:22
Speaker
okay well send me so at least send us a dm though so like i'll text you i got it yeah it'll just say i got the figure like a year from now then you won't hear from me perfect perfect perfect well uh you know you guys are are well regarded uh in the ghostbusters community right uh i mean that's that's how i think you know we met was through talking about ghostbusters stuff yeah um And it's been ah after a few years of like new stories, new movies, excitement. What's on what's on the horizon that you're really looking forward to in in kind of that that world of Boston Ghosts? Yeah.
00:16:00
Speaker
It's funny. You said we're well-regarded. I'm like, i don't know. It depends who you ask. ah we um No, we love it. I mean, we we love Ghostbusters, and we we've covered the franchise for 10 years now. And it's crazy to think that in the 10 years of YHS, we've had three live-action movies. Yeah.
00:16:19
Speaker
So it's like the first whatever 31 years of my life. There was two movies. and Those both yeah happened when I was very young as a child. So the franchise is is alive and well and and you know there's been great comics. Hasbro's done some amazing stuff.
00:16:36
Speaker
Dave, we talked about the the HasLab ah at Toy Fair and and how great that Ecto is and um you know Plasma series and all that. Obviously Mondo with what they're doing with real Ghostbusters is amazing.
00:16:49
Speaker
One of the most exciting things happening in toys. I mean, for years, people were saying, when is NECA or Super 7 going to do, you know, give Ghostbusters, the or real Ghostbusters, the the TMNT treatment. um And then ah just Mondo got the license and they're, I mean, you know, they're they're beautiful, expensive toys.
Discussion on the Ghostbusters franchise evolution
00:17:11
Speaker
but they're awesome. um But as far as movies and stuff, I mean, like I'm sure there's a new Netflix animated series in development ah that I think is going to be like 2027.
00:17:23
Speaker
um I'm sure we'll hear something soon. Now that 2026 is going be halfway done before we know it. oh Yeah, it's crazy. And then I'm sure there's more movies and and, you know, the, you know, I do think it's important to, to start figuring out,
00:17:38
Speaker
what the future of the franchise looks like. I mean, that's, that's all these franchises. Like, um, that's why I'm really excited about like star Wars star fighter and some of that stuff. Like I want, I want to see, you know, I do love Luke Skywalker and I love Peter Venkman, but you know,
00:17:57
Speaker
Time to move on probably. like Yeah. What's next? What's next? I did. I love afterlife and frozen empire though. they're they're so fun. So yeah. Yeah. I love the idea too, that it's the kids and like, it's this kind of corporate empire being bank bankrolled by Winston.
00:18:13
Speaker
Like, I'm thinking, like, a Batman Inc. say If you ever read Batman Incorporated, like, that would be that would be cool. Have, like, a Ghostbusters Inc. where it's like, all right, here's the, you know, Las Vegas chapter. Franchising.
00:18:26
Speaker
Yeah, franchising Ghostbusters. It's actually a really capitalist idea. Like, I mean, that works in in in our society. i could I could see that. And, you know, Winston being ex-military, he's got the...
00:18:42
Speaker
got the chance to do the training he does and i listen every ghostbusters fan has like 10 ideas for um what they think should have and it's like every franchise like if i if i was writing uh you know doomsday this is what i would do um but i do have a lot of faith in the the creative team and and i you know we've been lucky enough to work so closely with with sony and ghost core like you see how passionate and well thought out these things are and uh you know, it's, it's, um, it's, it's a weird franchise because it's big and everybody knows Ghostbusters, but it's also not that big. Like it's not Star Wars big. It's not even Star Trek big, but it's still big.
00:19:23
Speaker
It's just kind of hard. I think that first movie is so iconic and so ingrained in people that like, you're always going to be compared to that. So it's just, I think it's kind of hard to be honest. Yeah.
00:19:34
Speaker
and it And it's a it's a it's a if you really think about it, like if you you unpack it, right, like at the end of the day, Star Wars, you know, whether it's whether you're talking about A New Hope or, you know, even Empire Strikes Back, like at the end of the day, it's a science fiction movie, right? Like it is that sort of boils down to. But like Ghostbusters, that are that original movie does so many things that.
00:19:58
Speaker
in so little time and is kind of this like genre hopping yeah weird movie that like on paper shouldn't work and it right boy did it you know like so so so yeah be compared to effectively lightning in a bottle and like ah like an anomaly it's it it is it is a it is a strange bar to live up to It is. And it's such a good concept. I mean, I think that's, if I had a ah any, uh, constructive criticism, i I just think that there's so much you can do with that world that I, I hope that the, you know, there's different storytellers that, that get the chance to, or even, you know, Jason Reitman and Gil Cannon, like keep, you know keep making those movies because I just think there's so many cool directions you can go with it. And, uh,
00:20:47
Speaker
The thing that always drives me nuts is like we live in a world where like you know Stranger Things and Wednesday and Beetlejuice are so popular and make so much money. There's no reason why Ghostbusters shouldn't be capitalized. It's the same the same audience, right? It's spooky. It's kind of kid-friendly, but not. like It's just, i don't know.
00:21:10
Speaker
But I love it. yep There's a lot of Ghostbusters logos in this house.
00:21:17
Speaker
I'm sure sure I'm looking at my act though right now. It's right. It's within arm's reach at any, at any given time. Over yonder somewhere. I just keep looking at the firehouse behind you Oh yeah.
00:21:30
Speaker
That's my guy.
00:21:34
Speaker
Oh, and there's the, they're doing the concerts like the, Oh yeah. don't know what it is. I'm guessing it's orchestral. It's actually going to be like literally right in um our backyard almost.
00:21:45
Speaker
where Eric, um, yeah. Where like my fiance's family lives. Yeah. That's really cool. That's awesome. Yeah. We, um, we saw that in Atlanta a couple of years ago with, with the orchestra. It's all, it's a really fun experience. I mean, I've, we've, I've gotten the chance to go see a bunch of those like Jurassic park and others. It's really fun to see if you're into like the scores of these movies, which I'm sure you guys are like, it's, it's really fun.
00:22:13
Speaker
Yeah, I've only been to one of those types of experiences and it was actually like, honestly, couldn't think of a better one because you don't have to worry about dialogue or anything. We went to go see Fantasia with a live orchestra, which was outrageous. Like and it was in I think we went to like Carnegie Hall or it was like it it was a ah famous venue to in New York City on top of it. um So our ah Maybe it was Carnegie Hall.
00:22:42
Speaker
I don't remember now. but Radio City Musical. Yeah. Madison Square Garden. I don't know why I can't think of the name of it. 7th Avenue Subway.
00:22:53
Speaker
the Where they do like the um ballet. ah oh yeah yeah. I can't think it. I don't know where. I got i saw a Nightmare Before Christmas in Brooklyn. That was pretty crazy. And it was with Elfman. and Oh, that's cool, yeah.
00:23:10
Speaker
Everybody pretty much. That's wild. Very cool. So um last month you made the jump from toy podcasters to toy makers.
Introduction to Craig's new toy line, Cryptoids
00:23:21
Speaker
I know it's so annoying. so Tell us.
00:23:23
Speaker
so How dare you ah tell give everybody everybody the lowdown on cryptoids work for the green planet. Yeah. Well, we wanted a long name.
00:23:35
Speaker
We needed a really long name. You wanted to be the fallout boy of toy naming. Exactly. ah Yeah. I, you know, I played in bands for a long time. So that was definitely a thing in like 2005 where it was like, what's the annoying long title for the song that has nothing to do with the song.
00:23:55
Speaker
ah But we we could talk about that another time. Oh, oh yes. So, so I got one. I was in a band. I was in a band at the time and we had a song that was called, if you want to get fired up, get fired up, but don't headbutt me again. oh Nice. I know. I know what the story behind it rule that title rules. Listen, I know what your band sounded like without.
00:24:17
Speaker
Telling exactly right. No, I was in a band. I, I, I, it's a weird part of my history that don't talk about that much, but I, I, we were signed. i toured for six years. It was, I was going to be a rock and roll musician until I wasn't until I was like, we're getting nowhere with this thing.
00:24:35
Speaker
So what was the band? So the band was called one way letter. ah we were ah kind of like, we, we were female fronted emo pop punk ish band. ah And we, we were, we got together in high school. We were really bad. And then we kind of got good.
00:24:57
Speaker
ah But, you know, most bands that succeed, they you're kind of in four or five other bands first. Oh, yeah. This was like our first band. And like we got signed to this label called Negative Progression that put out a lot of good bands ah from from your guy. I don't know what years you guys are born or everything, but like. um' I'm assuming we're around the same age. So they had a the couple bands, like the Goodwill and June Spirit. These were like bands from the Northeast that were, yeah ah you know, kind of part of that, like New Jersey, Long Island type. I know those are two different places. Don't, don't sue me, but like just the Northeast, you know, emo scene. No, there's a lot of co-mingling. Yeah. Yeah. yeah um And, you know, we we did it and like, we, we played with amazing bands. We, we got to tour and, and we got, you know, we almost signed to victory records and and then they passed. And then we were like, I took it as a sign. Like this is never going to happen the way I want it to. So we just kind of, you know, and at that point it was like totally burnt out, but
00:25:58
Speaker
I love, love music. I'm a drummer and it was a big part of our life. The, the, our claim to fame in 2007, we were named alternative presses, like hundred bands to look out for whatever. And that we were broken up by the time the article came out. So look out there. Done.
00:26:17
Speaker
so you know my biggest thing is i got to play at uh the bamboozle festival in in new jersey twice oh no so i get to tell people i played in the parking lot of of giant stadium so that's that's my little my little tiny piece of of the puzzle that's really awesome yeah that was such a cool that was a cool festival that was a big deal it was a like before or after skate and surf like all that stuff yeah It was the sequel to Skate and Surf. Yeah. we Our thing was like, we would we were like insane. So like our label would be like, hey, like we're in Atlanta. We're like, they're like, do you guys want to open for Silverstein this weekend? We're like, heck yeah. They're like, cool. It's in Buffalo. like, oh, all right, we're going. So like we drove to Buffalo and then we did the same thing. We drove to Odessa, tests Texas to ah open for Hawthorne Heights, like at the height of their popularity. Yeah.
00:27:08
Speaker
And i was like, oh, there's like so many people. I was like, this is great. We're rock stars, but you know, and then, but you're not. So we, it was a you know, I love that. I still have such a deep affinity for that genre and that music and, um you know, as problematic as some of it is. as far as the people uh my yo we don't have to go to details but my all-time favorite band is from long island and you can't really talk about it publicly anymore but there's not a poster right there that's behind my uh my star wars that star i have to hide it because i'm not allowed to talk about it
00:27:46
Speaker
You also feel guilty when they come up on the on a playlist and like you just kind of nod your head. I used to. And I'm just like, whatever. Like, if I have to stop listening to every musician who is problematic, like I'm just going to listen to static. Like it's like wrestling, too. Like he's like wrestling.
00:28:04
Speaker
I have I have a mountain of Hulk Hogan figures. I know. And it's like, and every time I see an ultimate warrior figure, Ooh, and I'm like, Oh, but I'm like, ah, it's like, it's just a character. It's not the person. So exactly. like I saw the, I saw the movie life reunion show and crime and stereo open and someone else.
00:28:23
Speaker
some of the most popular band played first but we won't talk about that wait a minute now i'm curious okay we'll talk off air we'll talk off air yeah yeah yeah and i don't even know if i'm allowed to like saves the day anymore but they were my favorite band at one point but still like them they're yeah they're good they're okay we're in the clear okay yeah um okay but as far as i know crypto cryptoids yeah i'm your your audience is like what is happening sorry um no they're totally used to this okay totally fine yeah um this is not new so we through podcasting and through doing yhs and toy anxiety over the years like obviously like one benefit is like we've just gotten to meet so many cool people and gotten to know a lot of people like in the toy industry and um so like kind of learning some of the the ropes of like you know we've got friends at hasbro friends at mattel friends at mondo and like
00:29:20
Speaker
That's just a benefit that has happened as like a side effect of podcasting. but I'm fascinated by the toy industry and the process of like making toys and, and you know, ah there's been this huge influx the last five to eight years of independent toy makers doing really, really amazing stuff, especially in the wrestling space. I mean, between zombie and, you know, ah major and there's everything. I mean, there's, there's, you guys know, um, yeah,
00:29:53
Speaker
Power Town. Just kidding. There's so many... Sorry. there's Maybe eventually. Yeah, man. We'll see. You never know. There's so many great things happening, but especially like in the indie toy space for like these gen genre action figures. Mythic Legion, Savage Crucible, Animal Warriors of the Kingdom, 9 to 5 Warriors. like Yeah. plenty Amazing.
00:30:14
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. and theselunderling And it's not just like making action figures. It's like launching IP with lore and all this stuff. So... I started kind of thinking about like, well, what would our version of be of this if we were to ever go to go down that road? And part of it for me is like, I love Ghostbusters more than anything in the world, but it's never going to be mine. Right. I have no ownership over it. And like eventually, you know, as time goes by, like we're very fortunate with our connections and the way we cover the franchise, but like it's not forever. And I'm aware of that.
Transition from podcasting to toy making
00:30:47
Speaker
um i don't I never want to be the guy like, back in my day, you know, it's lame, right? you want I want to always evolve and progress. um So originally I was like, i want to do something. There's...
00:31:01
Speaker
I thought we maybe had a little bit of this unique or distinct advantage, having a podcast and a kind of a prebuilt in following that, you know, the hardest thing with running a Kickstarter is getting people to pay attention to it.
00:31:14
Speaker
And yeah it's really hard to stand out for a lot of different reasons, but Um, because we're familiar with this space, we have toy anxiety, we have YHS. I always thought like, Hey, if we have an idea that we're passionate about, we should explore it because it could be really cool. So my, I've told the story a couple times, but I don't know if you guys have heard it, but so my original big plan was, I was, I was like, Oh, I know what I'll do. Cause my whole thing is like, I want to find a lane. I don't want to be derivative. i don't want to be the eighth guy doing,
00:31:44
Speaker
you know, fantasy 112 figures. And I don't want to be the fifth guy doing Hasbro style wrestling figures. Like I wanted to figure out a lane. So my, my original idea that I was gung ho about for like four months was i was going to do O-ring wrestling figures.
00:32:00
Speaker
That was going to be my thing. This was two years ago. I talked to Cardona about it. I was going to book some time with him. I was going to, you know, get, pick his brain on running a toy. talked to Canik, like talk to different people. Hey, what you think? You think there's, you know, is this viable? You know, could we sign, you know, can we get macho man and and whoever, and, and really do like a world building ring GI Joe style wrestling figure line. Got the Instagram, got the domain name, real wrestling heroes. It's going to be perfect.
00:32:35
Speaker
And then one day I woke up and I said, I'm not passionate enough about this to go down that road. We had we had some designs already sculpted of Macho Man. like We didn't have the license, but we were I was getting ready to do it.
00:32:48
Speaker
I love wrestling. I would even say I'm obsessed with wrestling, but I just didn't know if that was the there was so much going on in the wrestling space for for figures. And then i like O-Ring.
00:33:01
Speaker
think it's fun. I've got fond memories of GI Joe, but I'm not passionate about that scale. So I abandoned it. And, you know, a year and a half later, there's multiple companies doing O-Ring wrestling figures and they're doing it well. And was one of those things where I was like, Hey, I think it was a good idea, but we probably wouldn't have been first to market. And, you know, we're, we're not, I mean, what pro wrestling teased it is awesome. Like, Yeah, those are good.
00:33:28
Speaker
so so then i started kind of pivoting had a couple more ideas some i still think could be viable so i'm not gonna share them publicly um but we love kryptids and like we had gone on a road trip um during the time when I was working on the real Ghostbusters book, we went to Pittsburgh ah to photograph somebody's collection. And on the drive back, we went out of our way to go to West Virginia to go to the Mothman Museum.
00:33:56
Speaker
And I've always liked cryptids and I've loved Bigfoot as a kid and I love UFOs and I love, you know, Jersey Devil and and all that stuff. And it just kind of dawned on me one day, I was like, I called Jacob, our co-host and everything, and I was like, hey is there there's not a great line of cryptid action figures. And he's like, well, there's got to be. And I'm like, we're both diehard toy collectors. I'm like, okay, well, what is it?
00:34:20
Speaker
And he's like, I don't know. Lots of people have made, you know, there's Bigfoot figures, there's Yeti figures, those things have existed. But I was like, man, but there's not like a ah line of them.
00:34:33
Speaker
Right? And then you start doing the research, you're like, there kind of isn't. Yeah. um So then, again, i have a lot of big ideas and then I have to get reeled back. So my first thing was, I was like, we're going to be the mythic legions of cryptids.
00:34:50
Speaker
we're going to have We're going to be premium 30 plus points of articulation, the best designs. And then I was like, no, we're not. They four horse. We're not, we're not going to be four horsemen. and then like a week later, they put out their Jersey devil figures. Like, we're definitely not going to like that is.
00:35:08
Speaker
Yep. you know I want to find our lane. So pick some people's brains. I love getting other people's opinions. um I rarely take people's advice, but I love asking them what they think. It's like ah trying to validate like my... No, i'm just kidding. I do take people's advice. And in fact, I won't call them out personally, but a friend of mine in the toy industry, he was like, why don't you do them...
00:35:31
Speaker
like Kenner style. Like, why don't you do this like with a retro kind of look? So then we pivoted. We're like, we're going to do five POA Kenner style cryptids.
00:35:43
Speaker
And then I was like, no, that as the, we're cutting our audience in like more than half. Yeah. I love, I love a five POA figure. I love a Kenner figure. I love a figure that just looks like this. You put his arms up and he does this. oh Yeah.
00:35:59
Speaker
But not everybody does. So, This is a long-winded way to say we have this hypothesis. Is there a lane for the collector who appreciates modern articulation, modern design, and and, you know, great packaging, great presentation, but also wants like that retro aesthetic, like fun colors, big, bright, bold. um And we got really excited about it.
00:36:27
Speaker
And that's where we were like, okay, we think we found that lane. Right? right It's like any entre... i love like ah you know I watch Shark Tank every week and I love entrepreneurship and i and I love when you're passionate about something and you can't not think about it, that's that's where your brain goes. like That's when you got to go with it.
00:36:48
Speaker
So Jacob started you know sketching up designs and he and he came up with Mothman right off the bat and I was just like, This is not what I was envisioning at all, but I love it. um And we, we've been working with Tristan, our sculptor for years, trying to figure out a project to do together at the glowing ghost on Instagram. Yeah.
00:37:09
Speaker
Unbelievably talented, super, super good talented. Oh my God. Very. Yeah. Like we got like he, cause he's young and he's, and he's just now doing some awesome stuff in a couple of years. He's going to be ungettable. Like he's going to abandon us. I know that, but for now we're good. No, Tristan's done an incredible job bringing these designs to life.
00:37:32
Speaker
um And so, yeah, we just started kind of mapping out what this would look like. Our original plan was to launch a launch launch in April of 2025.
00:37:43
Speaker
Even up, even in February, 2025, we're like, yeah, we're going launch in April. Like thinking back, I'm like, we were, we didn't have one final sculpt that like, obviously I was, I don't know what we were thinking. And it's not that kind of thing where you're like, oh, we were kids. Like this was just a year ago.
00:37:59
Speaker
and So, ah But so we put a pause and said, let's get some designs finalized. Let's figure out how Kickstarter actually works.
00:38:09
Speaker
um And we so we launched, I think we revealed our sculpt for Mothman in november of last year and the response was so strong and so positive that it kind of gave us the the motivation to go okay people are into this people are excited let's let's keep chipping away at this um and then by time the the new year rolled around we we had revealed yeti and we were about to do bigfoot and the aliens and stuff and
00:38:40
Speaker
uh, the reaction was just really positive. And like, you know, Toy Shiz was sharing our stuff and Preternia was sharing our stuff. And, Robo was covering our stuff. Like, I don't really, you know, I've gotten to know him a little bit since, but i didn't know Robo. And like, he's got this huge toy following and he was,
00:38:57
Speaker
unprompted covering our thing. So like it was kind of surreal. Um, and then it's just a grind, like getting ready for the Kickstarter to launch. So yeah, it's been, it's been two to two and a half years straight of, of pre-work to get to this point.
00:39:12
Speaker
Um, and now the Kickstarter has been up for like three weeks and it feels, or four weeks, whatever it's been. And it just feels like it's been a lifetime. It's so exhausting. So yeah that's, that's the origin story. Yeah.
00:39:24
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:39:32
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:39:49
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:40:01
Speaker
That's
00:40:07
Speaker
And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:40:13
Speaker
And now, back to the show. It's clear you guys have put yeah a ton of work into this. And I mean, as somebody who like, I love the Mothman. I'm ah um'm also a huge cryptid guy. um You know, growing up in New Jersey, we had we New Jersey and, yeah you know, obviously are the Jersey devil and everything, which, by the way, when are we? I still read weird pictures. But like when you guys posted that initial image of the Mothman, i my my like jaw was in my chest. Because it didn't look it didn't look like a
00:40:50
Speaker
um like, hey, we're, you know, we're screwing around and we're podcasters that are becoming, you know, like, like falling ass backwards into like the toy industry. Like it was very clearly like ah a labor of love that was that was very evident. And I think that's why, you know, i mean, we shared it immediately. Toysh is like you said, returning a robo. It was very clear that it was like, no, no, no, this is a real thing that like you're going to be you're going to want to keep an eye on. And Yeah. Well, I just, I don't, I never wanted it to be like in vain.
00:41:23
Speaker
Right. Like I never wanted it to be, um, by the way, there's been some podcasters who've done really great toys. Like I think what Hatter did with, with a flip or, and i thought it was really cool. It was interesting. He found his lane, right. It's like ye a tongue in cheek thing, but he, but he treated it very seriously and he ran a very successful Kickstarter. Um,
00:41:47
Speaker
But it's not easy. And I knew it wasn't going to be easy. And I didn't want it to ever be like, oh, we're just doing this because we think we can. Like, I want people to, and I don't even want to think of it as like, and this is a little like ambitious and there's going be somebody listening to this who like rolls their eyes, but that's fine. um To me, it's much bigger than we're making toys. Like,
00:42:09
Speaker
I want this to be an IP. Like I want this to be, you know, like masters of the universe started somewhere. Ninja turtles started somewhere. Like we've all heard the story our whole life. And Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird messing around in their apartment and trying to make each other laugh. Like, um,
00:42:27
Speaker
I, one thing that when we did Toilanta, kids were really reacting strongly when they were walking by and they were seeing, you know, we had the the fully painted mothman and to see like a six-year-old kid tell his dad, like, I want that, buy me that.
00:42:43
Speaker
And obviously we didn't have product to sell, which really killed me. um It was just awesome. Like, like, like, so again, it's like finding Elaine, like, a collector's line that kids and collectors are gravitating towards. Like, obviously it's, you know, these are expensive figures. They're, they're, you know, designer figures, whatever you want to call it. But like, I don't want to just say like, this is for the serious adult collector. Like if you're into world building and all that great. If you're into like cryptids and UFOs and weirdo conspiracies, there's something here for you. If you're just a kid who wants a purple mothman, great. Like, like, uh, you know, We're trying to find about a 45 year old who wants a purple mothman. Whoever wants a purple mothman. But by the way, we've only had a, when we first revealed mothman, we had a couple of people like, that's not what mothman really looks like.
Details on Cryptoids' Mothman variants
00:43:34
Speaker
And like, okay, like we're trying to kayfabe it. Like we, we know this is our version. not trying to step on toes, but yeah. Yeah.
00:43:42
Speaker
I know i I popped for the the the black Mothman. That's that's that was. Yeah, that was my. mothman or That was my off the charts. Immediate day it went live.
00:43:54
Speaker
It was like, yep, there we're going to do that. We're going to do an alien. Thank you. I appreciate it. And it is surreal because I'm, you know, I'm 42. I've been a hardcore toy collector my whole adult life. So like I'm the one sweating bullets, tracking, you know, pre-orders and has labs and everything else. And so to be on the other side of it has been a very interesting kind of surreal experience, but I'm, I'm enjoying it for sure.
00:44:22
Speaker
I think the other thing that's really interesting too is like you mentioned other podcasters and, and, you know, toy influencers, whatever, whatever word you want to, you know, classify us all into, um you know, have have bridged the gap and have done something like this. And, you know, like Wade with unparalleled universe comes to mind with right. Right. But like, that's part of his brand, right? Like that's like his character that people see,
00:44:46
Speaker
every week when they, you know, when they tune into his show, the first thing that they see is Odius and, like, it's been his kind of, like, icon and his his thing, right? Like, like you said, this is a a unique IP. This isn't, like, a representation of Toy Anxiety or yes, have some. I mean, it it is, like...
00:45:05
Speaker
Right. ah Its own thing. So it's, it's not sure you have that, that built an audience that you can leverage, but still like, you like you need to hope that the thing you're delivering on hits with people. And yeah, well, I, I get the distinct feeling that the majority of our, our people who are gravitating towards it are not really familiar with us at all, which I'm happy about because that I didn't want it to be a self-contained thing. Like we wanted it to get out there.
00:45:35
Speaker
and be covered like a legitimate thing. Like I, I even like, I try to keep a a lot of separation between, you know, like it's not toy anxiety, is still toy anxiety. Yes. We're talking about cryptoids and stuff, but we're not just pivoting to like the crypto. Like we've done some crypto specific streams and and things like that, but like, you know, we still want to do what we do and, and I don't want to just turn into like ah somebody begging everybody to like back our Kickstarter. um We were fortunate enough that it, that people showed up in a very big way and and backed it very quickly. Nobody was more shocked than us.
00:46:15
Speaker
Um, I did, i had confidence that it would fund, but I don't think I was prepared for that. You know, whatever that first, the first day we were at like $128,000, like in 24 hours. And I follow Kickstarters. I know it's not lost on me that that was like an achievement.
00:46:34
Speaker
Um, And then I'm immediately like, I've got all these charts and I'm tracking every other Kickstarter that's ever existed. And that's like a daily, like, where are we? Like, what can we do to continue the momentum? Because the big thing with Kickstarter is like after the first five or six days, you kind of flatline no matter what, yep no matter what, even with has labs, you see it all the time. So we've been trying to figure out ways to keep things fun and exciting and and kind of the the middle points.
00:47:02
Speaker
um And, uh, look, yeah it's like first week, last week, always. First week, last week. And so, yeah, were we're we're hoping for, like, another big surge. We've got some surprises coming up. And, you know, we did Bat Boy, like, midway through, which was a really fun way to ah kind of add another figure to the to the lineup without it.
00:47:24
Speaker
You know, it was truly, like, a surprise. Like, we... we I don't know if a lot of Kickstarters have done that. I'm sure some have, but it was like, this isn't a stretch goal. This isn't an unlock. This is just something new. It's a licensed character.
00:47:37
Speaker
ah You know, every great toy line has a guest star, whether it's Usagi Ujimbo or The Fridge or Bat Boy. So, ah yeah, but we're we're super, super excited that people have turned up in a big way.
00:47:54
Speaker
So how did you get to like, you know, i you you had talked about like the trip to the Mothman Museum, but what made you land on Mothman, Shadow Mothman, Yeti, Bigfoot and the Rockwell, like the Greyhounds?
00:48:11
Speaker
So it's, we knew we were going to do Mothman. Mothman is maybe more popular than Bigfoot. Like everybody loves Mothman at this point. It's a big deal. We knew that was going to be one.
00:48:21
Speaker
um You can't do cryptid slime without Bigfoot. So we knew he was going to be kind of the leader. um And you can't make them toy line without reusing parts. So we knew we needed another Sasquatch. So that's where we did Yeti. um ah Obviously with the armor and stuff, like we think it actually reads pretty differently.
00:48:43
Speaker
um But we kind of started talking about like, what if Yeti was like, you know, almost like very at peace and he's one with the earth and he's, you know, uh, uh, maybe he's Buddhist and maybe he hangs out with monks and maybe he wants nothing more than to be connected to the universe, but also he will kill you and he will, you know, kill a bear and, and fashion its skull into a helmet. Like, uh, he's a complicated guy. So,
00:49:18
Speaker
One thing we're really having fun with in general is like all of these cryptids tend to have either some sort of like geographical or cultural significance.
00:49:29
Speaker
um And we're kind of using that and and not shying away from it. um You know, Sasquatch, for instance, has a a lot of Native American roots and even Mothman has some Native American roots with ah the whole cornstalk story and all that.
00:49:47
Speaker
So we don't want to shy away from it. We want to be really respectful of it, but realizing that like in our story, we get into the lore and we're a little bit back and forth because you got to have lore and you want it to be fun and exciting and build the world. But I also don't want to inundate people with like,
00:50:05
Speaker
you know, 20 pages of like, you got to read all this to understand. Like we just wanted to kind of set the the baseline and and kind of set yeah the foundation. So in our lore, basically the cryptoids um are the original inhabitants of earth.
00:50:22
Speaker
They are of earth. They are all part of the cultures and the lands that they, they have been part of for whatever millions of years. Um, and at some point they kind of go into hiding, uh, for reasons we'll get into at another point. Um, but then you got the reptoids who are the the evil race of reptilian scum who live in the middle of the earth, who want nothing more than to rise from the middle of the earth, take over all governments, take over all corporations and make the earth inhabitable for, ah anybody who's, uh, not cold blooded. So we definitely kind of have like this early nineties,
00:51:00
Speaker
Captain Planet, Toxic Crusader kind of like vibe that that's just there. But it's at the end of the day, it's like a basic good versus evil. We get to play with folklore. We get to play with mythology. ah And the aliens are there because it's just part of this world. And I thought, who doesn't want gray aliens? And we're not ready to reveal if they're good, bad or neutral, but they're there and they will play a bigger part into the story. Yeah.
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's just it's just fun. Like we're just creating something from nothing. And now we have a discord for our backers and people are talking about the Lord throwing ideas and like we're stealing those ideas because they're good. And like, it's awesome. like It's just it's a great time.
00:51:42
Speaker
So so you you mentioned you mentioned Bat Boy. And for me, this is I think this is probably the most interesting thing of this and was not on my bingo
Introduction of Bat Boy to the Cryptoids universe
00:51:51
Speaker
card. Like when you when you had all of your surprises and like unlocks and things. Yeah.
00:51:57
Speaker
You know, like could end like it's it's a licensed character from Weekly World News. Like i i remember the days of tabloids, like seeing those, you know, at checkout. Now there's a musical.
00:52:11
Speaker
How did this conversation even start? Well, we like Bat Boy. Like we just, Jake, we always talk about Jake and Abby and I, like we were always talking about weekly world news. And like, I was a big fan. I would always buy weekly world news. And you know, i wanted to think it was real so bad. like weekly world news is like wrestling when I'm 10 years old. I'm like, this is real. This is Bat Boy.
00:52:35
Speaker
Look at him. He's scared. um So we're, we're, Early on in the discussions for cryptoids, we were having a lot of like, what if, and one of the what ifs I brought to the table was like, what if we got Batboy?
00:52:50
Speaker
like a licensed bat boy figure. And it was like, ha ha, that would be funny. And then me, I'm like, well, I'm going for it. So um early on, I reached out to weekly world news. They were like, yeah, let's do it.
00:53:03
Speaker
And we're like, oh, okay. Like, we um you know, it wasn't like ah ah you know, slipping Jake the Snake 500 bucks under the table at a convention. Like it was a little bit more professional than, than some of the wrestling deals, I'm sure. But, uh, they're a real entity with a real IP and, you know, there's a Netflix Bat Boy show in development with the creators of Riverdale.
00:53:26
Speaker
So Bat Boy have a little bit of root of a resurgence. Although on April Fool's Day, uh, we can world news did post that he died, which was, um, but, uh, in our lore, uh, he is part of the team.
00:53:42
Speaker
He's part of the Cryptoids. I don't know how well-liked or tolerated he is, especially by Mothman, because they're both from West Virginia. Is he Danhausen? he's There's probably a little bit of a Danhausen. You know, I want... so I could probably say this because nothing happened with it, but a year ago i was like, Oh, let's get Dan housing in the line. Cause I feel like he would have done it and it would have been fun to have like a, like just anything to bring more attention to the line. So there are like other human characters in pop culture that I would like to bring to cryptoids at some point. ah But for now, bat boys are our big licensed guest star.
00:54:22
Speaker
And um you know, we're Pete, the reaction was really good. uh people you either know it or you don't so that's why we have the two different sculpts because like even if you don't know bat boy i want you to still be like but he's a really this is a fun thing um so we kind of have like the cryptoid stylized head and then we have the classic tabloid head and it's available in this blue or we have a black and white like tabloid edition as well Yeah, it's it's so great. Honestly, the the thing that this this you know ah world is, the vibe that it gives me is I was a huge Eerie Indiana fan. like That was like one of my favorite shows. Oh, yeah, okay.
00:55:05
Speaker
And like I could totally see like Elvis being in this line. We were just watching X-Files, and it's like...
00:55:17
Speaker
It's perfect. I, uh, I just started watching X-Files from the beginning for the first time in my life because I feel like I don't have any business being a co-owner and managing director of a toy line in this world and not understanding X-Files references. um hey spoiler alert it's great very much enjoyed it so good uh so um it's one thing we're really excited about because we can pull from traditional like americana folklore north american folklore cryptids uh, we can, we I want to do a whole wave of like Japanese, yokai. i want to do, you know, ah we've got Ratatoskr, which is the little squirrel that comes out with Bigfoot. He's from Norse mythology. Uh, he's a little gossip queen who climbs the tree of life and, and spreads, uh, gossip between an eagle and a dragon. And,
00:56:13
Speaker
Now he's on our team. I don't know why, but he is. So um there's it's just like a huge sandbox to play with. We're never going to run out of out of characters. so And the other thing that's cool too is like nobody owns lore.
00:56:29
Speaker
Like there's no, like yeah for the most part, right? Like there's nobody that like owns Mothman or or Bigfoot or anything. So like you're even Jersey Devil for that matter.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yeah. the the lunch Right. We really want to do Jersey devil. We really do. We have some preliminary sketches. Don't like wave to, I would be surprised if he's not there. um We but majority of these creatures and characters are like in the public domain.
00:56:57
Speaker
And that's why it's really important we because we are, you know, trademarking everything and the designs. Like we, we want, when somebody sees our Mothman to know that's the cryptoids Mothman. Right. So I, it's almost like we want them to take their own identity within like the brand that we're building. If that makes sense.
00:57:15
Speaker
um Just because it's like, there I've been as as a kid in elementary school, I was like obsessed with reading Bigfoot books, ah even though they were all like from 1972 or whatever, you know, how school libraries are. Um, and, uh, I've always been kind of fascinated by this world and also cryptic collectors and enthusiasts. Uh, they're an underserved community. It's a lot of plush, lot of Etsy 3d printed key chains. And not that there's anything wrong with that stuff, but we kind of thought like, man, these people deserve some, some toys like this.
00:57:56
Speaker
I know I wanted them. I can't ah every day. I fantasize by like how i'm going to display these toys. So I'm just a collector at heart. So speaking of collectors, you guys gave a little bit of a surprise to the, uh, the, the, the cryptoid community by, ah by unlocking the, uh, the, the reptoids, uh, a little early. So yeah that was, that was a cool move for, for you guys. Yeah.
00:58:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where it's like we're really confident, especially going into this last week, that like we're we're you know that we're going to get there. And for the people who did back the all-in bundle, I just wanted to remove any and all like anxiety or worry or stress or confusion about whether or not... Because the original plan was like...
00:58:45
Speaker
you pre-order the bundle. And if for some reason we don't unlock something, you just get a credit. Like other Kickstarters have done that successfully. And I thought that was a really good way to like show everybody like one button. Here's the all in bundle. But I just want to take that anxiety away. Like, and we like, and also like,
00:59:04
Speaker
I mean, there is a benefit to us because it, it allows not only the people who've already backed the all in bundles to be confident in it. It makes people who are maybe on the fence go, okay, I I'm good now. I'm, well, I'm going to get it all. And also like,
00:59:20
Speaker
people just want to army build the the different colored reptoids. So we got the green, the albino and the blue, like they're all available. So um it's a win, win, win for, for everybody. um And we do have like other bundles. ah Like we've got this bundle that you're looking at.
00:59:36
Speaker
and Then we have another one that includes one of the Batboys. We have another one that includes both of the Batboys. And then depending on the last week goes, we might have like a fourth, like ultimate VIP. This is everything throw it against the wall kind of thing. But we'll see. We're, you know, we're taking it one day at a time and not, you know, getting too, you got to be willing to pivot when you run a campaign like this, because if you get too set in your ways, you're going to be, you're going to find yourself banging your head against the wall. So.
01:00:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. The main thing is people to find value in in the thing. Cause it is a lot of money to, to be committing. So, yeah. So we are, um, in the last week, the, uh, there are some mysteries on the, on the board. yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there any, any hints as to what could be, uh,
01:00:27
Speaker
What could be ahead in this last week? Yeah, I would pay attention to all of our social media. The plan is to be revealing additional, you know, accessories, you know, maybe some alternate heads, things that'll be packed in with some of these bundles, like the added value. um maybe some exclusive weapons, maybe some more variants depending on where we're at. And then we've got one thing that I'm really, really excited about that I'm not even going to tease, but you'll know it when you see it.
01:00:57
Speaker
um And I think it's going to be the kind of thing that kind of like really because my whole thing is like i want this toy line to feel like it existed in 1991 um and i also don't want people to think we're just like here's your glow in the dark mothman and here's your vac metal mothman and even though i want to do both of those i want to have some purpose to the way that we're reusing the the molds and everything so we've we've got a plan that's what i'll say we have a plan Awesome. yeah Yeah. And I mean, if your goal is to to look like you're in that early, early to mid nineties realm, I mean, we talked about this offline, but like the the moment I saw the Bigfoot figure, I was like, oh, this, this is like the Kenner, um, uh, swamp thing aesthetic. Like I i could literally, i could, I could feel the figure without having to actually hold it. And Mothman's got that kind of bulky Playmates vibe. Like, yep.
01:01:53
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. It was, I mean, those are, yeah yeah literally when Jacob was designing Bigfoot, he was like looking at his swamp
Influence of Kenner's Swamp Thing on Cryptoids
01:02:03
Speaker
thing figures. Like, it like we're wearing our influences directly on our sleeves and dragging those sleeves across the dirt. Like the, first when we put our first logo out, someone was like, that reminds me of captain planet.
01:02:15
Speaker
Yep. This reminds me of inhumanoids. Yep. the Mothman looks like a Ninja turtles figure kind of like, but we also wanted to like, subconsciously you're thinking about those things but like we had our display at uh toylanta we had all the prototypes out like that's the first time i was like man this also feels like its own thing and i was really proud of it so yeah Yeah, i I think there's something to be said about, and we've we've talked about this with a couple of other you know indie makers on on the show before, but like there's something about being familiar enough, and and whether that's like ah a look, a feel, a size, right but like something that is familiar to collectors, but also at the same time unique and different.
01:03:04
Speaker
And I mean, I think, I think you guys are checking all the boxes there yeah now it's fun with this. thanks So I appreciate that. Thanks. i' trying So I think the only thing, only thing left to left to do before we, we, we, uh, say, uh, part ways for the evening is yeah where can people back this?
01:03:26
Speaker
Yeah. So final week on Kickstarter, um, You can find us on our social media at Cryptoids Toys. You can also just go to CryptoidsToys.com, all one word, and it'll forward you directly to the Kickstarter.
01:03:41
Speaker
If you don't want to do that, you can just go to Kickstarter.com and search Cryptoids, search action figures, search, you know, Toys, whatever, it'll it'll come up there in the the first couple.
01:03:52
Speaker
um And then, you know, we've got a lot of cool, one thing we did is we've been collaborating with different artists um that we really love to to do some exclusive merch. So we have a ton of like add-on merch.
01:04:04
Speaker
ah We did ah a patch and a shirt with Tom Whelan, who's an amazing artist. He's done a lot of work with Mondo and Disney and Universal. yeah yeah um We did um a Mothman shirt with our buddy, John Yerkeba, who's done a lot of Ghostbusters stuff. ah And we did an exclusive a block print with Attack Peter of Mondo fame. So we, we i don't know, being able to like,
01:04:31
Speaker
take some of our favorite artists who are also our friends and bring them into, ah this line. And then like our, our, our main kind of key promo art was done by, uh, Matt Frank, who's a ah Godzilla IDW artist. And just, he, he really brought it all to life for us. So, Um, and we're early on, so we're kind of still trying to figure out like our visual palette when it comes to, you know, packaging art and comic book art. And so we're, we're kind of letting different artists do their own interpretations.
01:05:03
Speaker
Um, uh, that's really fun. Well, listen, Craig, um you know you you guys funded this in 32 hours, and I know you you said you might yeah you might have been shocked. i I had a really good feeling going into it that you guys were going to do this and in in less than two days, and you know i'm really I'm really happy that ah that it worked out that way. As somebody who's excited for these figures and you know as somebody who's excited to see you know somebody in the community succeed the way that this has you know succeeded for you guys,
01:05:35
Speaker
We will put links in the description. um If you are, regardless of of where you're listening to this or watching this, we also have in our profiles on all of our social media. So AIC podcast.com forward slash links.
01:05:50
Speaker
There is a a pinned link to back this. It will be there. It has been there the entire length of the campaign and it will continue you to be there. um So if you have not yet gotten in on cryptoids,
01:06:03
Speaker
You still have time. Get in there. Get your order. The ground floor is the best time. Yep. The ground floor is the best time. Yeah. I mean, you know, ah prices will go up a little bit after the Kickstarter, um depending on what we still have, ail you know, the availability to offer. And obviously every day there's some new international crisis that is making the cost of goods and shipping and logistics higher all the time. So it's like...
01:06:31
Speaker
there's no good time to do this stuff anymore. So I'm i'm glad we're doing it and people are receptive to it, but ah these are trying times we're living in. So I'm glad we can bring people some joy.
01:06:42
Speaker
Don't let the real life war for the green planet ruin your chance to enjoy the fictional war for the green planet. Exactly. Or wave two is going to end up being like war for the red planet. Like we're going to Mars. We're taking the war up there. There we go. Yeah. Well, Craig, thank you so much for, for taking the time to, to be with us tonight. Thank you. It was an absolute pleasure thank youm chatting with you and, um and yeah, good good luck. And we can't wait to see, see what's next here.
01:07:11
Speaker
Yeah, well, we usually say we're a um a when, not if, but ah when has long passed. Yeah, when has already happened. When? Well, listen, like I said, appreciate it.
01:07:22
Speaker
ah We've had so many people come on our shows to promote Kickstarters. And like, if at a minimum, I have a new deep appreciation for just like the amount of work that goes into this. So.
01:07:33
Speaker
um Hey, if anybody's out there and you're on the fence, just go for it because life is short and we need more cool toys and you might be the one to make those. So do it.
01:07:44
Speaker
That's my PSA. There you go. Dave, send us home.
01:07:51
Speaker
upstairs
01:07:54
Speaker
Thank you for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review this podcast wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro.
01:08:05
Speaker
Learn more about him in the show notes. Our music is Game Boy Horror by The Zombie Danes. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Adventures in Collecting, and on Twitter at AIC underscore podcast.
01:08:21
Speaker
Stop by and say hi. Show us your hauls and photos. Tell us your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it on a future episode. um try this at home vo where prohibited and some assembly required each sold separately not a flying toy consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours
01:08:41
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablaui. This program and many others like it on the Non-Productive Network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.