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No One Out Hustles Mitch: Grapplers and Gimmicks with Hastteltoy
704 Plays2 years ago
This week on the pod we sit down with the "Hustle Man" himself, Mitch from Hastteltoy as we discuss his successful toy store and the launch of his new retro-inspired wrestling figure line, "Grapplers and Gimmicks."
Follow Mitch and Grapplers and Gimmicks on Instagram @hastteltoy and @grapplersandgimmicks visit https://www.hastteltoy.com/ to get your figures!
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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
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
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Transcript
Zencastr's Crowdfunding Campaign
00:00:02
Speaker
You've heard us talk about how much we love Zencaster. We've told you about how awesome their podcasting platform is, how easy it is to host, record, and publish adventures in collecting with their all-in-one web app. Well, now they're giving you, our listeners, the opportunity to support us and the nearly 30,000 other podcasts powered by Zencaster. That's right. Now you can invest in the podcasts you love
00:00:29
Speaker
through Zencaster's crowdfunding campaign. For as little as $100, join a community of other investors who seek to help Zencaster and independent podcasters like us succeed.
Introduction to Adventures in Collecting
00:00:41
Speaker
If you're interested in investing in Zencaster, go to wefunder.com slash zencaster or click the link in our episode description below to claim your slice of the future of podcasting.
00:00:54
Speaker
That's WiiFunder.com forward slash z-e-n-c-a-s-t-r. Toyobobs and dads. Adventures in collecting is about toys, but it might not be for your children. Especially if you don't like words like f*** or s***.
00:01:26
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 halls, along with our journeys as collectors. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting.
00:01:57
Speaker
Hi. Dave, two weeks in a row. Full length episode, two weeks in a row. This must be a special occasion.
Guest Appearance: Mitch from Hastelltoy
00:02:05
Speaker
It is. I really have nothing to add. Every now and again, you get a little surprise. And with February being a shorter month, here's your surprise for this month. I guess we could say,
00:02:25
Speaker
This is our Valentine's Day gift to you, our listeners, right? Because this is the day before Valentine's Day. This is Monday the 13th. Yeah. Yeah. So happy Valentine's Day listeners. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. Our gift to you is two weeks in a row of full length episodes and a new friend of the pod, a new guest, a first time guest.
00:02:47
Speaker
Um, you may, you may, uh, sense kind of a theme here, you know, back to back episodes, you know, cool stories about indie toy makers who are making, uh, who are making wrestling figures. Uh, so, so, you know, we're, we're, we're continuing the trend here. Um, you know, running a successful toy store these days is, is no small feat, especially, you know, surviving the pandemic and, and everything that we just kind of went through the last two years, but doing it while starting your own wrestling figure line.
00:03:16
Speaker
in an already crowded field is another story entirely. This week's guest is doing just that. Joining us to tell us about his store and the new grapplers and gimmicks line is the hustle man himself, Mitch, from Hasseltoy. Mitch, welcome to Adventures in Collecting. Hey, what's up, boys? How are we doing today?
00:03:39
Speaker
We're doing well. Happy Valentine's Day to everybody out there. Yes! Nothing but love from Mitch from Hastell Toy. And I mean that sincerely. We're going to give you some audio treats. Oh, nice. Nice. Sure. I mean, my wife says nice things about my audio. I don't know. Maybe I could just share it with the entire world now. There you go. Perfect.
00:04:05
Speaker
But thank you sincerely for having me on. And it's a pleasure. I'm glad I finally made it to the podcast. And I'm excited to talk about all things, grapplers and gimmicks and toys. So it's my life. So I like talking about it. So before we jump into the toy line and the store, the first thing that we'd like to ask all of our guests, as this is a show about collecting, what are you currently collecting and what are some of the more recent things you've picked up?
00:04:36
Speaker
Well, personally, I don't know if it's sadly or if it's intelligently, but I don't collect wrestling stuff anymore. It's been like that for quite a few years now, basically since I've
00:04:55
Speaker
I took the next step and I took the leap of selling toys for a living. I figured since we do a lot of wrestling stuff, and especially in the beginning, Hastell Toy was all wrestling. There was no Ninja Turtles or any other such things. So I just cut out wrestling from my diet as far as figures go.
Evolution of Hastelltoy Business
00:05:21
Speaker
It was very sad in the beginning, but I survived and now I provide them. The less I collect, the more I can give to the public because it's less stuff that I'm keeping and hoarding for myself. But I do like, the most recent thing I bought was probably the NECA
00:05:45
Speaker
Dracula bella logosi dracula we had them because we obviously are an official retailer of mecca so when i get them those are the things i usually wind up hoarding is you know one of each of those from the case so we did get recently the dracula bella logosi and i kept also his,
00:06:04
Speaker
coffin, which was the accessory pack for, uh, for old drag himself. So those are the new, the newest thing. Uh, those are the newest things that I got. Um, but I do collect a lot of like universal monster stuff, horror, memorabilia, Ghostbusters, Ninja turtles. Um, and I do all different skills, Indiana Jones, Batman returns is my favorite Batman movie. So I collect lots of Batman returns stuff.
00:06:33
Speaker
Um, so yeah, so that's a, but the wrestling figures, uh, I will have to throw in there that little, little hassle junior there, my son, Mitch, uh, junior, he, he does collect a lot of wrestling figures. So through him, uh, I get to, uh, I get to still live my childhood, uh, through my son's eyes and I get to play wrestling with him. So there's nothing wrong with a little vicarious collecting that, uh,
00:07:03
Speaker
Uh, me too. And so, you know, he likes to try to put me in wrestling moves now and, uh,
00:07:10
Speaker
It's always fun to watch your, you know, 60 pound son who's eight years old, try to, you know, he thinks he's going to suplex you or something on to the bed or something like that. Um, but I just go along with it, you know what I mean? And, uh, you know, I got to admit I've, I've, I've dropped a lot to my son. So I was going to say, are you not putting the kid over Mitch? Come on. I have to, you know, even if it's just a, you know, finger poke of doom from my son, I have to, I have to do it. You know what I mean? So.
00:07:38
Speaker
It's, it's fair. It's a fair, it's a fair outcome. So you mentioned the store. How did you get into the collectible business? Well, I mean, I'm a lifelong collector of action figures. That's mainly thanks to my mom because she kind of pushed me in that direction, I guess, when I was younger, which
00:08:04
Speaker
At the time, I guess video games were still kind of in their infancy, uh, as far as Nintendo. I remember when I got my first NES, but that's a story for another time. But, uh, I always loved playing with action figures. I thought it was cool that you can always, you know, do different things and, uh, you use your imagination. So that's why I kinda, I'm kinda happy that my son is one of the rare kids these days that still enjoys, uh, playing with toys. Um, but, uh, but yeah, so lifelong collector.
00:08:34
Speaker
Um, and then, you know, as time went on, like early 2000s, like 2007, 2008, um, I, I got my first account with a major toy company, which was Jack's Pacific at the time. And then I started doing, um, you know, uh, buying wholesale and selling wrestling figures and stuff like that. Um, sadly it didn't last that long because only a few short years later, Mattel took over.
Rare Collectibles and Community Building
00:09:02
Speaker
and as much as we know in love and tell their minimum order quantities and stuff to get stuff directly from them is a lot more than it was with jacks so i'm so i kinda did that a little bit there and then. I believe it was like two thousand seventeen was when the retros came out. So i started buying those and then i.
00:09:27
Speaker
Quickly morphed into me reselling used Hasbro's and then it just turned into like a second job and then you know after that it's kind of just snowballed from Hasbro's to old Jack's figures to ljns to you know
00:09:45
Speaker
so on and so forth and then from that spawned all the other good geek things that we love to collect. Marvel superheroes and all that other good stuff. So it just happened. I've owned a DJ company for 23 years. That was my real job for a long time. Weddings, sweet 16s, communions.
00:10:11
Speaker
mitzvahs, things like that. MC, DJ, get out there and show them how it's done type thing. And then that kind of just turned into, you know, this is a side job. Basically the toys, selling the toys was basically just to kind of recoup the money that I had spent on my own toy addiction. So I don't know, it just happened. And then I kind of started dealing with Cardona before he even
00:10:41
Speaker
I had a podcast about toys, and then he kind of helped put me on the map. And that's why I say as much as they bust my bananas to say it kindly, it's all a mug. I know that. And if you know, you know, right? So that's it. So they helped me out a lot. So I'm always indebted to them, those guys.
00:11:05
Speaker
So in all the years of kind of doing the store now and seeing the different things come through the shop, what are some of the craziest things that you've had the opportunity to kind of pass along to other collectors? Wow, countless, countless amounts of Hasbro's for sure. That was like my claim to fame at one time. I guess I was the Hasbro guy for a while, you know what I mean, online. And then
00:11:35
Speaker
So any, all those rare ones, mail away hogan's, uh, mail away undertakers. Um, it's still kind of hard to decipher whether you have a mail away bread hard or not, because, you know, they still put that purple heart bread as a variant in one of their series there. So, but yeah, mailaways, uh, prototypes, uh, several of which that I sold to, uh, our friend Matt Cardona, uh, mentioned him again, um,
00:12:03
Speaker
But I think we have to pay him a dollar every time we say his name. I think he should pay me a dollar. Son of a gun. Um, but I had a diesel wrestling buddy, which I sold to Matt and I think he still has that in his collection. It was the prototype, one of the prototypes for the just toys, uh, wrestling buddies that never came out. So that was the first thing I'd sold him, which was probably one of the rarest things that I ever acquired. Um, you know, and then.
00:12:32
Speaker
There were a couple other things too that I kind of either indirectly or directly helped him acquire. One of them may or may not be the diesel two up head wax sculpt from somebody who used to work for Hasbro. And then there was a couple other things that were super rare that they elude me right now. But I know I definitely, you know, most of this rare, rare stuff went to that guy. So.
00:13:01
Speaker
So with that rare stuff, like, were you actively seeking those kinds of things out or were they coming into you as, you know, because you had kind of developed the reputation as like the Hasbro guy? That is a great question. And I don't think anybody's ever asked me that before. Uh, usually have to volunteer that information, but, uh, the, uh, originally it was before I had a storefront or anything like that. It was me going out and.
00:13:31
Speaker
and hunting and hunting and hunting and like, you know, lead after lead. And it just, you know, it's not easy, you know, especially now with the power of the internet and everything like that. Like people know what stuff is worth for the most part. It's not like you can just, and not that you want to deceive people
Impact of Store Relocation
00:13:46
Speaker
either, but you know, to try to get some sweet deals where you want to kind of capitalize on and build a company.
00:13:53
Speaker
Those flea market days are over. Yeah. I mean, look, you have professional thrifters out there. You know what I mean? That's like, that says it all, right? I mean, these people are literally making, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year just thrifting stuff, you know, but, uh, but yeah, so in the beginning it was really hard. It was, uh, you know, going out and, but then once you start, um, you're making nice with people and they see that you're pretty decent fella. And, uh, there's a lot of these other folks out there that are not so kind.
00:14:23
Speaker
Um, they start coming to you, you know what I mean? And it's like, Hey, listen, I, I just got this medical bill and the, I need the money and you know, can you help me out? You know what I mean? It's not always like people always thinking of like, and it's God forbid, it's sad to say, but people always thinking about like that, you know, arm scratching people that are coming in and, you know, looking for money to do, you know, things, you know, um, a lot of the time it is people that, you know, need money for legitimate medical expenses.
00:14:52
Speaker
or need money to pay bills or they had a car accident and they need a car. So there's always those people and I think I had a good reputation and I still do for giving people top resale dollar for this stuff. There's guys that want to pay you 50 cents a Hasbro and I was out there paying a few dollars a Hasbro. But yeah, that's a great question. A lot of the time now, especially with
00:15:21
Speaker
you know, everything that went on the last few months moving here and all that kind of stuff, like it's, it's, it's kind of refreshing that I can just kind of have people come to me and give me stuff. You know what I mean? So, but yeah, that's, that seems, seems to be like a common thread for what we've heard from other people where it's like, you know, once you are kind of known to be like, you know, a friendly place for things to go and like, you know, somebody who kind of looks out for
00:15:52
Speaker
for the hobby, you know, that stuff tends to find you. Yeah. And I think a lot of that comes from to like the fact that I still am a collector, you know, obviously not wrestling stuff anymore, but still collecting stuff and still trying to piece together like vintage collections and stuff of figures I had when I was a kid.
00:16:12
Speaker
You know, I know the deal and like, you know, you know how many times like I was in years ago where I was in need of money to pay bills or make rent or whatever the story was. Um, and I would sell my stuff. You know what I mean? Uh, so I know what it feels like and it's, it really sucks to have to, to have to do it. Um, but I, I just kinda, and I, and I was lucky enough that I had a lot of friends in this business that I was able to, when I had to do things like that to make money.
00:16:40
Speaker
that I was always, my friends were always there for me and I was always able to get a decent amount of money for stuff. So kind of just want to pay it on, pay it forward, I guess, or however they like to say it these days, these kids, you know, but it's, I feel like an old man. I'm 40 years old people, but I feel like 140 sometimes.
Toy Collecting and Generational Sharing
00:16:59
Speaker
You're amongst peers in that regard. Yeah. And I mean, that's how hobbies kind of survive too, is with that pay it forward. Like the next generation has, if the previous generation just keep everything, the next generations don't get a chance to know what it is. Yeah. And that's another thing too. And that's why like, I came up with this whole algorithm of why Hasbro's became so valuable.
00:17:28
Speaker
at one point, you know, and a lot of that has to do with what you just said too. And part of that is the reason, you know, A, it was because the retros came out. So it reinvigorated everyone to go and buy these Hasbro's that they had when they were kids, which was great. And kudos to Mattel for doing that. And they're really the ones responsible for the revival of, you know, the old school wrestling figures, you know, um,
00:17:56
Speaker
The other thing was, over time, these things get lost or they get destroyed. They go down in a ship or, God forbid, there's a fire and people lose their stuff. Well, somebody stuck a firecracker up Ultimate Warrior's rear end and it blew up. So as time goes on, since 1990, they've
00:18:18
Speaker
You know, they've depleted more and more and then you have little customizers that broke them apart, you know, so and then the last thing that I kind of, you know, came up with was that, like what you said, like they're getting locked up in collections. You know what I mean?
00:18:34
Speaker
And now people aren't letting them go because they went through hell and high water to get these things, you know what I mean? So now they're like, I'm not, you know, this is going to my detail, you know what I mean? They could bury this shit with me, you know? That's the, that's, you know? So, I don't know, it kind of, kind of tied into what you said. I ramble sometimes people, get over it. But, but yeah, so very true what you said. You guys make some really good points. I got to tell you, I've been on like,
00:19:02
Speaker
probably six or seven podcasts since I started the toy line. And you know, you guys got some good stuff, man. I'm very impressed. I mean that sincerely. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We try. Yeah, we do what we can.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's people that are true collectors and that's the heart of it. If you're just somebody out there looking to make money, and obviously the money is good and obviously I have to pay my bills too, but when you're a collector, you understand, unless you've lost your way over time, but you understand what needs to be done and
00:19:40
Speaker
You know how you how you should treat others, you know
Grapplers and Gimmicks Toy Line
00:19:43
Speaker
what I mean? So So that's that's So you mentioned you've been doing a little bit of a of a tour here, you know because you have some you have some news You know as you've you've recently launched your your own toy line. So yeah Tell us how how did uh grapplers and gimmicks come to exist? it's uh, it's a song as old as time people I uh
00:20:09
Speaker
I started mid early 90s when Hasbro's ceased to exist. I just was one of those people that couldn't let go and they were just so near and dear to my heart that I would literally make customs. I took paint and paintbrush and broke heads off of Hasbro's and this is way before the boom. So obviously they were getting them for like three for $10 and you know, even KB had them for a little bit after that.
00:20:39
Speaker
Um, but, uh, man, if I had a time machine, but, yeah, no kidding. Right. Bark and Ben Hasbro's. I remember the, I remember those KB rolling carts have just filled with. Yup. Yup. I remember how it smelled like I remember going into KB and how it, they used to have those, they were like, uh, how do you describe it? It's almost like, if you know what, if you're listening and you know what grid wall was, and if you weren't around and you weren't alive.
Nostalgia and Toy Hunting Memories
00:21:09
Speaker
in this time to be in KB. They were like gridwools, like these, it was almost like a basket, but a big one with wheels on it, and they would just dump them. They must have literally just opened up the cases and dumped them into this box. No one cared about mint cards. No. Yeah, it's like how you see DVDs at Walmart now.
00:21:30
Speaker
It's a dollar slick. Yes. Yes. Yes. I want more DVDs. Yeah. Thank you for the analogy. That's exactly what the F they were like when you go to Walmart and they have these DVDs for five bucks or three bucks or 10 whatever it is in that and you know mix and match movies. That's exactly what it was. It was those exact things. They had those grids on them.
00:21:53
Speaker
And holy cow, man. Like I remember it like it was yesterday. I, I, I obviously grew up and lived in New York most of my life until I moved here to Ohio, but, uh, I had the, it was the queen center mall was right across street from where I went to high school and literally we're familiar right across the street from cathedral prep. Uh, that's where I went to high school and there was a KB in that queen center mall. And I remember leaving.
00:22:24
Speaker
I remember the day like it was yesterday I remember leaving school and going to the mall and holy crap I went downstairs down the escalator because KB was on the bottom floor at the time right outside the escalators and I went in the KB and I saw this
00:22:41
Speaker
freaking giant bin of Asbros, and I was literally almost shit in my pants. I remember seeing this, and I'm like, now, doesn't that mean I'm a lot to a lot of other people at the time? Like, at the time. But for me, it was like, holy crap. Now, like, you know, I have all this, like, I was literally buying them at the time.
00:23:02
Speaker
a lot of the time just to rip them open and break them apart to make other has bros which sounds crazy now but then it was like three for ten dollars you know how many has room with how many wrestlers i can make out of these guys you know i mean.
00:23:16
Speaker
Oh man, but again, the smell, I just remember that smell of the plastic and the cardboard, you know, you would be digging through this stuff. I'm sure that girl behind the counter thought I was insane. And of course, you know, I had a limited budget then. I was only working, you know, part-time or whatever. So, you know, I remember spending like my entire part-time paycheck in there at one shot, like buying all the, I worked out with those big KB digs, you know, with Hasbro's loaded up, you know, they definitely thought I was insane for sure.
00:23:45
Speaker
digging through them looking for, where are those orange and yellow cards? There's got to be one, right? Dude, you didn't, I'm like, holy crap. Cause that was my first thought. Like, holy shit. Like, am I going to find diesel in here? Cause it was like the rumors were out there already. Like you hadn't seen any of the prototype cause there was no internet people.
00:24:04
Speaker
Not until I think I got into sophomore year of high school. There was no internet, okay? So you didn't know anything. All we knew was the Hasbro's were done and that this company Jax was taking over and it took them a year to produce a figure. But there might be one more series. There might be one more series.
00:24:26
Speaker
But holy shit, man. I remember digging. I remember Razor was in there. Kamala was in there. Owen Hart, maybe. There was Bret Hart from that series. There was really a weird assortment. I think there was an IRS.
00:24:42
Speaker
Try to remember everything that was in there but i remember there was some foreign cards in there if i'm not mistaken i think they had like surplus of spanish cards and french cards. We're not in the english language and that may or may not have been the first time i even seen those because i remember you know. Collecting them from the beginning.
00:25:02
Speaker
And obviously we didn't, we didn't get the foreign cards of Toys R Us or anything like that. So I remember seeing those, uh, Oh man, what a good time. What a, what a great trip down memory lane. This has been, that's also depressing because I'm an older shit now. Thanks guys. You know, it's one of those things where when you get together with people like that are, that are from, you know, our generation.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yeah, like especially on the east coast because we were in New Jersey. We grew up, you know, grew up in New Jersey still still here, you know, Mill Creek Mall and Seacock and Seacock is and so caucus.
00:25:41
Speaker
or Willowbrook Mall in Wayne. But my fondest memories of KB, I can literally, if I close my eyes, I can picture exactly where it was. Not only is that KB gone, obviously, but the mall that it was in is also gone. But I can vividly remember the smell of the mall. I can remember the brown tile floors that were in Mill Creek Mall. I can remember the way that the
00:26:09
Speaker
the like floor to ceiling like those like glass door windows were locked up and like you could before you even got to the store like there were certain there were certain card back in the middle of the mall yeah there were certain card backs that like you could see from a mile away so like I remember in 99 when when you know Hasbro put out the
00:26:30
Speaker
The episode one Phantom Menace figures and they have those giant, you know, the giant Darth Maul was on the card back and that it was right on like the front display window. And before you even got to the story, you were like, there's a wall of figures waiting for me. It's just, it's, it's something, unfortunately that like,
00:26:48
Speaker
I don't know if people are ever going to really properly experience again with like new stuff. You know, like I will tell you this in where I am now, uh, cause I moved from one part of Ohio to like a 20 minute away, uh, in Ohio, we're in Hartville now.
00:27:05
Speaker
We were in Canton, but what happened was the foot traffic in the store that I had originally opened in Ohio was terrible. It wasn't that it was a bad store. We had a beautiful store, floor to ceiling, and it was like 1,500 square feet, great store, great whatever customers we did get in there that were organic.
00:27:27
Speaker
great customers who made definitely some new friends, but it just wasn't for the amount of rent I was paying there. It was not, it could not exist because I was taking my money from all my online sales and other things and shows and things like that that we do. And I was paying bills for the store with that, which can't be if you're going to run a successful business. So I did it for a few months, but it had to be moved. So I moved to this other spot in Hartville, which it's called the Hartville marketplace.
00:27:56
Speaker
And it's basically, if I had to describe it, it's not like a flea market that we know in New Jersey or New York or Long Island or anything like that. It's a flea market technically, but it's set up almost like a mini shopping mall. So everybody has their own booth. They have restrictions on people that you have to be there at certain times. And, you know, um, and even though you're an independent contractor, you still got to kind of like be there when they're open. You know what I mean?
00:28:25
Speaker
So when I designed this store or space, I wanted it to kind of look like when you go to Comic Con, because we do New York Comic Con area, but I wanted it to look like a Comic Con, you know, booth, a massive one. But also I kind of wanted it to be like a KB and
00:28:50
Speaker
The reason for that is because as much as I love Toys R Us, I don't know how it was by you guys, but when you went to Toys R Us, most of the time, nine out of 10, they didn't have shit because people would, it was such a big store that they always had to cater to different things and then they had the Baby Zara stuff and the diapers and all. So it was like, you hardly ever found anything in Toys R Us.
Ohio Store Relocation Success
00:29:14
Speaker
When you went to KB,
00:29:15
Speaker
I felt that because they specified, they didn't have diapers and baby wipes and formula and shit like that. They had figures. That was what you went there. And when you went there, they had stuff. No matter what, I honestly cannot remember.
00:29:31
Speaker
ever going into a KB and not buying something, because they always had at least one thing that I liked. Maybe it's because I collected too much shit and I wasn't too much, you know, I was into too many different action figures, but I always found something be it Rocky, superheroes, wrestling, you know what I mean? There was always something there to buy, you know what I mean? So, but any case, so this, when I designed this thing, when you approach it, my spot, my store, my space, whatever you want to call it,
00:30:01
Speaker
There's figures hanging on the outside. There's figures hanging on the inside. I got like 500 square feet right now. And let me tell you, man, I fit 2,000 square feet worth of shit in here neatly. And I really, I was proud of myself. I'm pretty proud of myself. I know exactly what you're talking about, by the way. I've been to one of those in like rural Pennsylvania. Yeah. We drove past one.
00:30:29
Speaker
I was so confused. Dave, you remember that one time I sent you the pictures of the restaurant figure one? We were in PA, and it was the same thing. It said flea market, and I was like, oh, cool. Flea market usually has good snacks. We were out doing something. We had my daughter with us, and we were like, let's go. A handful of tables outside. Yeah, we were like, let's stop. We'll grab some fun flea market food, an arepa maybe, and hit the road. And then we started walking around, and I was like, this is
00:30:58
Speaker
Unlike anything I have ever seen in New Jersey. And sure enough, one of the spaces was a wrestling figure one. And I just started sending Dave pictures. I was like, Dave, you gotta get in the car. But it's wild how just shifting from one space to another can completely change your foot traffic. It's so much better there. You know what I mean?
00:31:28
Speaker
And like I said, it, it really, it had nothing to do with me because we, I had a lot of the people that fought the great, the great thing about going from New York. And at one time we were running both stores for a short period of time before I decided to move here. But like the cool thing is that like, I never got, I never got to meet the people that
00:31:57
Speaker
were following me for all these years that lived in Ohio and I don't know why but I never realized that like how big of a collecting community Ohio is you know and I had people coming in like literally that have been buying from me for years and they just they would just come in and they would like hug me
00:32:21
Speaker
And they're like, thank you for all the good deals over the years. And I've literally had this happen several times. And I'm like, it catches you off guard. But it's awesome because I didn't realize. I feel like even before I moved here, I kind of had a place here because of the collectors and the loyal people that followed me on Instagram and bought stuff from me on my website and stuff like that.
00:32:46
Speaker
But it's just so cool, man. I'm so happy. My bills are much less now too, which now it also afforded me the opportunity to start my own convention, which I felt like it was fate, not only through the toy company and then now doing my own toy shows and stuff like that.
00:33:12
Speaker
It's really cool, man. And they're definitely all going to be geared towards fans. Again, it's not all going to be just about making money. It's about doing something that I love to do. You're so grateful for it. People say blessed. You can say whatever you want. But it's great, man. A lot of people get up in the morning. They hate their jobs. I got to be grateful for the things that I have. I always try to look at the glasses half full type thing.
Sponsors and Collaborations
00:33:43
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors. 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.
00:34:08
Speaker
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00:34:27
Speaker
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00:34:56
Speaker
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00:35:08
Speaker
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Nostalgic Wrestling Figures Creation
00:35:17
Speaker
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00:35:37
Speaker
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00:35:57
Speaker
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00:36:22
Speaker
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00:36:49
Speaker
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00:37:09
Speaker
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00:37:38
Speaker
manscaped beard hedger one stroke one guard 20 lengths and now back to the show so speaking of that full glass let's let's get back to the the toy line itself so the actual launch of grapplers and and gimmicks how did how did you get there ah man like i said just the um
00:38:07
Speaker
making the customs since I was a kid. And, um, I always knew like in my mind, like how I would want them to look if they had continued. And also the guys that I was making customs of in 95, 96, 97, 98, uh, I think I was doing them up until almost a year, 2000 when I graduated, uh, high school. So I was still, still making them then, you know what I mean? And,
00:38:36
Speaker
It may not have been as much because then I started driving and then I started going out with girls and stuff like that. But you know, that's where it all spawned from. You guys are listening, not going to be able to see this, but this is the original Godfather custom that I made when I was a kid. So that's what I based the actual
00:39:06
Speaker
godfather on so you could see there was a inspiration there you know what i mean uh the only thing that i changed a little bit was that i i decided not to give him as many tattoos because i wanted it to be uh as close as possible to the original hasbros you know i mean you when you you put them together you know i mean they look like they were they were supposed to be in the same this is amit by the way uh
00:39:35
Speaker
they looked like they were supposed to be in the same generation. That's why, like, when I speak to my sculptors and stuff, I tell them, like, that looks too good. It's like, they think I'm insane. All right? And I'm like, no, I want them to look old. Like, I want them to look old. That's too detailed. To me, this looks amazing. You know what I mean? Like, this is the way I want it to look.
00:40:02
Speaker
But I'm gonna need it to look a little shittier you're gonna need to Yes, like like yes, that's that's what I tell them I'm not gonna lie like I'm not that big Trust me. I stand behind my my inspirations here and my vision They don't look shitty. Trust me. I promise you, you know, I'm not in any way demeaning my my product here, but
00:40:28
Speaker
will say that I Believe in my heart and this is not a I believe Everybody's doing God's work if you're making a four and a half inch wrestling figure that's meant or inspired by the Hasbro's you get my love and and I mean that sincerely and that goes to you know cellos on me Whoever decides to brush of course, you know my buddy Sal brush collectibles doing he's doing them
00:40:55
Speaker
It's a disco. We've had Sal on the show. We've had we've had we've had zombie. Yeah, we're just collecting everybody. Yes. And I love this. I so, you know, I I love them all.
00:41:11
Speaker
But I want mine to look as close as possible to the old ones. I don't want them to be too detailed. I don't want them to be too shitty. But they have to have that. There's got to be that balance between. There's got to be that balance between realistic and cartoony. And as we all know and love.
00:41:32
Speaker
Hasbro's had like a perfect blend and that's why in my opinion they're the greatest wrestling toy line that was ever made and it's because they they took the best of both worlds the action figure look and they took the realistic look and they kind of just put them together and it was like the perfect recipe so that recipe uh whereas it'll never be no matter what it'll never be as
00:42:00
Speaker
Perfect, but I will try to get it as close as I can to to that so So you mentioned you mentioned the smoke train Charles, right? Yeah, I'm Tony Norris Savio Vega Mark Canterbury. I think he had Dennis Knight in there, too And you mentioned like your inspiration is all those figures that you tried to make as customs, right? Will the line continue to focus on the attitude? Well, that's the thing so
00:42:30
Speaker
We're, we're in like the, we're like the middle of the new generation era was, uh, which is where I feel like the Hasbro is left off. And then there was like a year or two or three more, like that new generation, you know, over the top characters. Right. And then we went into the attitude error, which to your credit, yes, that's where the smoke train, uh, saw his, I guess, rise to, you know, intercontinental fame. Right.
00:43:00
Speaker
Because before that he was Papa Shango and then Kama also. So yes, so it will. My vision was to, like I said before, before I got sidetracked again, was
00:43:17
Speaker
But I'm going to make the guys to continue to continue the line. And if they were still producing figures now, I want to make those guys that were inspired by that generation. You know what I mean? So, yeah. So Savio, Tony Norris, you know, some of the other guys that we have, Mark Canterbury, Dennis Knight, those guys would have, I think would have been
00:43:45
Speaker
made if it continued another year or two down the road you know i mean so so yeah so that's that's kind of was my hope which i think uh you know some of the other companies are touching on too like that Jeff Jarrett amazing you know i mean looks like the orange card i've already seen people taking it off and you know and i respect that so much like taking it off and then putting it on their own card that
00:44:09
Speaker
You know, but it was orange with the, you know, the WWF logo on it and everything like that. Like I just saw it the other day, actually. It looks so cool the way the guy did it. Um, but yeah, that's, that's definitely my goal to try to fill in the gaps, I guess is the best way to put it. You know, and it's so interesting hearing everybody talk about everybody that's making a, a retro baseline. So like, whether it's.
00:44:36
Speaker
Steve Ozer talking from the marketing level at Mattel. He's a great guy, by the way. He is. And we've had the opportunity to chat with him about what Mattel's doing with the Hasbros and what Mattel's doing with the Hasbros. What Mattel is doing with the retros. We know what you mean. But it's one of those things where it's so, to us, it's so fascinating to hear how
00:45:05
Speaker
everyone has their own approach to how they're filling the gaps. Like, right. Like, you know, they're literally because they have, you know, the WWE master license and like, they have some of these guys locked up that like they could do rhythm blues, Greg Valentine. Like they, like it can do that kind of stuff versus, you know, what Sal's doing with rush where it's like, wouldn't it be cool if Larry's Larry's Obisco had a retro style figure? Like I'm going to make my favorite wrestlers that like completely forget about
00:45:34
Speaker
you know, didn't get made, would have never in a million years gotten made. Right. Like that French angel figure. It looks so cool, man. Even if you have no freaking idea who the guy is, that figure looks awesome. And I've, I speak to Sal every day, you know, for extended periods of time. And he's, you know, we video chat and like, I'm like, let me see that French. I don't know what it is about it. I always liked these oddity type guys. I just think that figures.
00:46:02
Speaker
figure is awesome. Yeah. And even like his twist with like doing the horror themed figures in that, in that like, that has no style, like, you know, and of course, you know, zombies just crushing it, you know, making kind of getting modern, but also filling old like that Dan houses everywhere. Oh, yeah.
00:46:22
Speaker
Uh, it's uh, it's a great it's it's one of the great the great ones that he's done. I uh, I think the the jeff jara it's really awesome I think that I love the dino bravo. That's cool. Like, you know, he definitely should have had a hasbro. I don't know what happened there Uh, so because he's still around, you know, yeah, but it's just it's so cool to see Because because one of the questions that inevitably always comes up is like everybody's making retro style figures now it's like there seems to be a new company making a retro style figure every day
00:46:52
Speaker
But if you stop and actually look at it and you stop and you think about it and look at it, nobody's stepping on anybody's toes because everybody's doing it slightly differently.
Hypothetical Wrestling Figures Continuation
00:47:01
Speaker
Right. It's very unique. You can go to
00:47:06
Speaker
You can go to Wendy's. I know everybody hates the fast food and they ribbed me about it too on the podcast, especially for me being my own mascot. But I'm not going there with it this time, folks. You can go to Wendy's and get a hamburger. You can go to McDonald's and get a hamburger. You can go to Burger King and get a hamburger. And even Arby says hamburgers now.
00:47:29
Speaker
They're all amazing, but they all taste different. So it's the same thing, you know what I mean? We're all doing the figures that are in the same scale that I feel in my heart that all these guys, including Zombie, including Sal, including Chella or Wrestling Trade or whatever they're called now, there's a reason that we're doing this and it's not,
00:47:56
Speaker
to become millionaires, at least that's not my reason. It's just to do something that maybe we wish would have been done back then. Could you imagine the Hasbro's ran from 1990 to 2023? They had never left the license to somebody else. You know what I mean? You'd have everybody. Think about how many Hasbro's we'd have. Yeah. And they would all look
00:48:23
Speaker
you know, the same for the most part, you know, I mean, the same scale, the same. So, I mean, I get, you know, I remember being so pissed when Jax got the license and they were taller than the Hasbros. I'm like, I get what their reasoning was because they had to make guys again to sell more figures.
00:48:46
Speaker
You know, there's a whole business model behind that, right? So they had to make them different scale because they had to sell more bread hearts. They had to sell more undertakers. They had to sell more Shawn Michaels. Uh, I don't agree with it personally, only because, uh, they could have made multiple different outfits and most of those guys. So it didn't have to be. And plus there was all these characters that never even got made. So they could have just made them the same scale. But in any case, uh, that's where we had the Ben, the, uh,
00:49:13
Speaker
I remember the Just Toys Bendoms and I got that Diesel Bendom and it was the same height as the Hasbro's and I remember losing my shit because back in the day... Our brands made it work. Yes. And I swear, I swear, man, like, they didn't even advertise those bendoms. I remember going into Toys R Us and finding those, seeing those bendoms on the pegs and I'm like,
00:49:39
Speaker
What the fuck is this? Like what are these bendoms? Like and then I remember seeing them because they I mean I could be imagining this but I'm almost positive they came out before the bone crunchers came out because there was that gap in between 94 and 95 which they didn't they didn't they never got released or was it 95 and 96 whatever it was but there was no there were no wrestling figures for that time so
00:50:07
Speaker
I remember going in there and like, holy crap, like what are these things? These are not the ones that I preordered from Ringside Collectibles in its infancy. You know what I mean? Because they were the ones that first had them. I remember getting a flyer in the parking lot from Ringside saying, preorder these figures. And we didn't know how big they were at the time. We just ordered them because they were on this pink, I think it was a pink flyer. I'm not mistaken.
Marketing and Licensing Challenges
00:50:31
Speaker
And I remember it was a black and white picture and it was like coldest number and you can preorder your
00:50:36
Speaker
your jack's figures this is this happened people if you're listening to this you're a little younger than us this really happened i went to national coliseum and john from ringside before he was john from ringside uh he was handing out these flyers with his friends and that's that's how it got started at least that's how i remember it so
00:50:59
Speaker
So now that you have some of these talents signed, like Charles Wright, are there plans to do any of their other characters or any of the other personas that they represented in the ring? I feel like I've been very fortunate
00:51:27
Speaker
you know, to be granted certain things that I did and, you know, the smoke train. What the problem is, is that WWE owns like Papa Shango and Kama and things like that. So it's really hard. It's a really, it's a gray area. I know there are companies out there that just go ahead and do whatever the hell they want. I'm not, I don't want to be one of those guys because I don't want
00:51:54
Speaker
And have, I don't want to have any enemies in this business and I've done everything in my power to, you know, avoid drama and avoid having any kind of, um, issues with any, anybody, you know what I mean? Um, so the sad thing is probably not, um, only because, you know, we,
00:52:17
Speaker
But I don't want to, you know, I'm not a millionaire. I can't afford to have any of these kind of issues happen. So I say I'm very fortunate that I've been, you know, permitted to do certain things and that I was able to do things. But sadly, you know, I don't think certain things like that we can't do. However,
00:52:44
Speaker
There will be, uh, I can tell you this, this is breaking news maybe because I haven't announced this anywhere else and not even on my social media, but there will be a different, um, colorway variant for, uh, for the smoke train likely. So he'll have a different, different color outfit on, you know, limited edition type thing. Uh, so that's kind of cool. Um, and then, uh, we got Mark Marrow.
00:53:12
Speaker
So I'm thinking we do Mark Marrow. Maybe we could do a Johnny B Band type figure. So there will be certain things like that that will have, there will be colorways, variants, and limited edition stuff like that. So hope is not lost. We will still do something to kind of
00:53:38
Speaker
make everybody happy.
Industry Relationships and Expansion
00:53:40
Speaker
So if Smoke Train is your favorite wrestler and you have a favorite Smoke Train match, you will have several incarnations of your favorite wrestler, Smoke Train. So I hope I answered your question as best I could without saying anything incriminating. You didn't say anything incriminating and you didn't give away the farm. So you're good at this already. You're good at this already. I'm trying.
00:54:09
Speaker
I don't know, but I do love WWE. I do love Mattel and I do love Bill Mckenna, believe it or not. He's a great guy. He's ordered several things from me. Steve and I go way back before Steve even worked for Mattel. So I have nothing but respect for those guys and I love what they do sincerely. Um, and, uh, you know, I'm glad that we can all work together and uh,
00:54:37
Speaker
I love all you other guys too. Even if you hate me, it's fine. That's okay. I understand. But I still love you guys and I appreciate everybody that's pitching in to keep the dream alive with the Hasbro-esque figures. So will the lines stay in that Hasbro retro style or are there plans to expand to more styles? This is another good question.
00:55:07
Speaker
I will always keep the dream alive with the Hasbro-esque figures. But... Next question.
00:55:23
Speaker
that's
00:55:41
Speaker
Yeah, plus don't forget Sal is doing the ECW brush collectibles. He's doing the ECW San Francisco Toymaker style figures. So that's a separate, you know, again, I have, I have nothing to do with that, but I'm just saying there are, you know, there are other things. And I know some of the other companies have done the six inch figures and those are awesome. Yeah.
00:56:09
Speaker
It's crazy. All right. Did you see that macho man? How are they even doing? I don't even know how that works. I don't know how they figured that out. I don't know. But hey. Isn't there an atom bomb coming out too? There's an atom bomb. There's a blue meanie. I think it seems like something, and I don't know how factual this is, but from what I can tell that it looks like Chella might have been purchased. By Reston Trader. By Reston Trader. Yeah. It seems like that's what happened. I don't know.
00:56:38
Speaker
Maybe they ran into some issues with managing production. They were documenting it pretty well on their social media feed. But it seems like wrestling traders is taking the reins. But yeah, to your point, lots of options out there. But we're excited for what you have to offer here. I appreciate it. Like I said, I'm digging everything.
00:57:06
Speaker
on a personal level, and listeners don't take this the wrong way. But I'm very happy I don't collect wrestling figures right now, personally, because there would be thousands of dollars a year spent on all these, because I'm compelled to support all these people.
00:57:25
Speaker
I would just be broke from buying. Can confirm. Yeah. It's tough. It's not easy. It's really tough. It really isn't. There's so much. There's just so much content now. I wish more of it sucked. Yeah. I wish any of it did. It's all good. Yeah, this is true. Any of it. Yeah. Somebody please make a bad singer. My problem is this. I leaned over to my wife the other night.
00:57:54
Speaker
We were just laying there, watching TV or whatever, and I'm like, man, I, uh, now we're making these Hasbro style figures. And I'm like, shit, now I really want to go back and get all the Hasbros again so we can stick my, I can stick my, my figures with the Hasbros.
Toy Line Development Insights
00:58:11
Speaker
And she just gave me like the dirtiest look, man. And I was like, nevermind. I, uh, I think it's a bad idea. Um, you know, but I think, don't tell her, but I think little by little,
00:58:24
Speaker
I want to be like, oh, I got this so I can compare the scale to research. Yeah. I mean, and you can see that they're in scale, you know what I mean? Yeah. But, uh, yeah, it's research and development. So I have to get them. So little by little, maybe, you know.
00:58:39
Speaker
That's the thing, you write a line item into the line's budget. You have that R&D line item. And it's like, hey, maybe I cut some of these figures in half to figure out mechanisms and maybe some of them are just for scale purposes. Yeah. That's another thing too, man. I wish I could get these things to have actions. But I also feel like for what they are, they don't need actions. And I don't think people
00:59:09
Speaker
people want to pay double the amount for figures just so I can go like, you know, like that, you know what I mean? The other thing too is like, realistically, the people who are buying these, like, like, we're not playing with, we're not, no, we're not playing. Right. Right. Which is what everybody says, you know, but just me as being like an insanely, you know, OCD,
00:59:32
Speaker
I don't even know, email person, I just, I want them to have those actions. You know, it's just, it's not cost efficient. It just doesn't, it's, you know, and a lot of people, like you say, are keeping them carded. They're not, you know, they're opening them. They're just putting them here on the shelf. You know what I mean? So yeah, they're not essential, but it would be awesome to, I wish I had the money and the power to do this. You know what I mean? But it's just, uh, it's not in the cards, at least not right now anyway. You know?
01:00:03
Speaker
So before we head into our final question here, there's just one other thing I wanted to ask, you know, we've talked about, you know, in depth about the store and how you've, you know, you've moved the store and you've learned a lot through the store and now you've launched this toy line. Is there anything that you've learned from owning a toy store that you're kind of taking with you into starting a toy line? Like is there, is there anything that you're doing
01:00:27
Speaker
Any of those learnings that kind of inform the decisions that you're making as now somebody who runs a toy line? Yes. It helps when you know how to budget certain things and what you've got to do to get to certain levels. Thankfully, because of the store and because of my good dealings with people,
01:00:56
Speaker
I feel like that's definitely contributed indirectly or directly to the success that we had right away. You know what I mean? That's why I always try to support Sal, who doesn't have a store, who doesn't do this full time, who just kind of starting out in the toy business. You know what I mean? Because he didn't have to follow him and he did a lot with what
01:01:25
Speaker
you know, what he had, you know what I mean? I feel like, you know, it was a little, it was, it was slightly easier because I had, like you say, I had the experience. I had the distribution. I already know how to like pack up 50 boxes in a day. You know what I mean? Because I did a massive claim sale or something like that. So that's all going to help me. You know what I mean? Um, and then the fact that, I mean, the first and foremost thing, uh, is that I made these,
01:01:55
Speaker
lifelong friends in this business. So like, I'd say 90% of the people that you see that I've signed for grapplers and gimmicks, or that I produced, I'm producing figures of, uh, already are people that I've already spoken to or have had at my head in the New York store. Um, or people that, that I've already had relationships with, you know, I didn't have to like,
01:02:21
Speaker
for most of them, I didn't have to, Hey, can you get me someone's number or I have to go through an agent or had to blah, blah, blah. Thankfully I've, I've treated a lot of the talent and a lot of the wrestlers with respect, uh, because I do respect them and the sacrifices they, they really did make. You know, it sounds like when WWE says it sometimes on these pot on these documentaries, it kind of sounds like you, you know, the, it's kind of like,
01:02:49
Speaker
not cliche, but it's something that it's like a standard and it maybe becomes, um, like de-sensitized, you become de-sensitized to it a little bit. But when I say it, I could say it from personal experience that it really is, that's genuine. You know what I mean? And it, what they say is true, you know, because I sit with these guys at dinner, you know, that's a popular rib now too, with the steaks and all, but you know, I speak to these guys about their life experiences and you know,
01:03:17
Speaker
And you treat them, you just gotta treat them nice, man. And you treat everybody nice. It doesn't matter if they're famous or not. And then, you know, there's one lesson that I learned in life is that it comes back to you, man. You treat people nice, you treat, you know, you treat, I'm a big believer in karma, you know?
Unique Collectibles and Personal Favorites
01:03:35
Speaker
So if you, you know, so yes, to answer your question 100%, it's definitely helped me. You know, there is a lot of good that came out of,
01:03:47
Speaker
owning the store and already having some kind of a foundation with these guys and stuff like that. Well, with that, it's time for our final question. So Dave, would you like to fulfill your role as this podcast's James Lipton and ask our final question? Why, yes, I would. So our final question that we ask to all of our guests.
01:04:12
Speaker
What is your favorite and or strangest piece in your collection? It can be one of each or it can be both. Hmm. The strangest. Oh, this is good. This is a good question. The strangest thing I. I don't know if it's strange, but I have like a weird obsession with Popeye.
01:04:43
Speaker
And I actually bought a Robin Williams custom 1.6 ed a few years ago. And I'm pretty good at painting from my customizing days. And I put together, assembled a Popeye 1.6 action figure of Robin Williams, because there's literally zero action figures of Robin Williams as Popeye from the 1980 movie.
01:05:12
Speaker
So that's probably the most unique or strange thing that I own, something that I put together from different pieces and stuff like that. That's amazing. You're going to have to share a picture of that with us. Yeah, that's really cool. Because I also have a weird Popeye obsession. Do you? Spinach is actually my favorite vegetable because. Spinach rolls, spinach from a can, frozen spinach.
01:05:38
Speaker
Creamed spinach, I eat it all. I literally just picked up these North Light Studios Popeye. I have Popeye, I have Olive, and Bluto will be here tomorrow. Who was it? Castor Oil was the other one? Yeah. Or Cold Oil, one of the other ones. Yeah, it's Castor. I'm not getting all of them. I'm cherry picking. I have all the Mezco figures from the early 2000s. I have a figure that's
01:06:05
Speaker
You can't even find anywhere online. It's like a Japanese toy fair exclusive. It's just like one of the rarest action figures, I guess, in existence that people don't know about. Yeah, I think it's up there with like the blank from Dick Tracy.
01:06:22
Speaker
But yeah, I'll send you tons of pictures, man. I got a pretty sick Popeye collection. So I have that Nintendo from like the early 80s, the Game & Watch tabletop. The green one? Yeah, the green one. I have it. I still have my original one from when I was a kid. Yeah, that's mine too. Yeah, mine's missing the battery door, the little slidey thing. But other than that, it's still fully functional.
01:06:49
Speaker
so nice yeah that's great that you know that music uh when you get the spinach and she kicks the spinach can oh man but uh i also have um the popeye the board game there was a board game that came out for the movie it's like a square box
01:07:10
Speaker
but I don't have the pieces for it anymore, but I still have the original square. I'll send you guys pictures of it. It's so awesome. Very cool. One of my favorite pieces, it's also one of my favorites, but I have a few. I think my favorite piece is probably a tie. I have the Premium Format Mummy. I love that. That's probably one of my rarest
01:07:40
Speaker
Um, and favorite, most favorite pieces that I own. Um, it's massive and it's hard to get as well. Um, but I also have a prototype of the library ghosts from, I know of only two other people in the world that have one.
01:07:57
Speaker
One of them is Matt Cardona. And the other guy, the other one is this guy Shrek. The Shrek, he's got like a page on Facebook. He's a cool guy. Um, but he also owns one. So I'm one of three people in the world that have this prototype of the library ghost from, uh, Eleanor Twitty from Ghostbusters. So that's, that's probably my two favorite things.
01:08:19
Speaker
That's awesome. Very cool. Very cool.
Connecting and Preordering
01:08:22
Speaker
So before we let you go, please remind our listeners, where can they find you on the web? Where can they find you on social media? And most importantly, where can they preorder their grapplers and gimmicks Charles Wright smoke train.
01:08:40
Speaker
So it's a Hastell toy and or grapplers and gimmicks on Instagram. That's the best way to kind of keep in touch and find out, uh, you know, what's going on and what figures are coming out and all that good stuff. Also Facebook Hastell toy. H a S T T E L T O Y one toy, not two. Um,
01:09:00
Speaker
Sdeltoy.com is where you can go and purchase your pre-order for the smoke train. And I will also reveal another thing because I've had so much fun here genuinely. I will reveal one other thing, and that is about five days ago, I paid for the entire run.
01:09:21
Speaker
to be made. So they are officially, officially, officially, uh, in the works. And so we won't have to wait a year to have them. Uh, we won't have to wait, you know, five months to have them. Hopefully, um, you know, within two and a half months ish, we should have them in hand. Uh, and, and we'll distribute those in the meantime.
01:09:50
Speaker
We will be doing another pre-order. I believe Ahmed, AK Tony Norris is what we're calling it, will be the next figure in the line, which I believe is a very popular one. People are really looking forward to that one. And the only reason for that is, again, these are all exclusive things that I have not revealed anywhere else, is that the Savio
01:10:20
Speaker
It took a, it was supposed to be, Savia was supposed to be second and AK Juan Rivera was supposed to be second. But, uh, with the sculpt, I couldn't, I just didn't, I wanted it a certain way and we did a lot of back and forth. And I think now we finally perfected it. So it's done, but, uh,
01:10:48
Speaker
In order to keep the bowl rolling, so to speak, I, uh, I decided to put Ahmed Johnson ahead because we got the sculpt, we got the skull down to where I wanted it. Um, and I felt like it was perfect, uh, literally perfect. And so I decided to make the judgment hole to just kind of skip, um, skip a little bit, just so, just so we can make the, this Tio Savio.
01:11:17
Speaker
Perfect, because I want it to look exactly how I imagined it. But anyway, so yeah, so there's a little bit of exclusive info for you guys. So you won't have to wait a terribly long time if you pre-order the Godfather smoke train figure. He's the Godfather on Instagram if you want to follow him, so that's funny.
01:11:42
Speaker
Well, congratulations, man. That's huge news. So you guys got it. So I haven't even posted that on Instagram or anything. Probably within the next few days, once this airs, I'll give it a day or two, whatever you let me know. And then, uh, I'll probably announce that, you know, uh, whatever I said to you just now as far as like distribution and manufacturing and stuff like that. So, but it's in the works. Very
Podcast Conclusion and Future Projects
01:12:06
Speaker
cool. Well, sweet.
01:12:08
Speaker
We'll of course include links to everything that you mentioned in the show notes, so everyone that's listening, just hit the show notes, tap the links and hit the follow buttons and the subscribe buttons and all that. Mitch, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. We're really excited to see what you do next with grapplers and gimmicks.
01:12:28
Speaker
It's a pleasure. You know, I love being on here and you guys asked legitimately, I mean it from my heart, like you asked me some good stuff that I hadn't been asked previously. So, you know, you guys got a good thing rolling here. Just keep it rolling. You know, just follow your heart. And it seems like you guys already have a pretty nice following and everything, but it can only grow and get better. So just keep, you know, keep doing your thing and, you know, I'll be here to help you guys. And if you ever want to have me back on again,
01:12:59
Speaker
You know, I'm always, you know, down the road. I'll always be here, you know, at your disposal if you want to have me back on again. All right. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. Dave, send us home. Everybody have fun. Enjoy. Enjoy all your toys.
01:13:18
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both on our show notes.
01:13:35
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.
01:13:58
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.