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Getting Back in the Ring with Mattel's Steve Ozer and Magic Olmos
298 Plays2 months ago
In this episode, Dave and Erik sit down with returning guests and friends of the pod, Mattel's Steve Ozer and Magic Olmos! Let's get caught up with all the latest WWE action figure news, answer questions from around the community, and even get a little exclusive reveal.
Follow Steve @actionfigureattack and Magic @magicolmos on Instagram!
Follow us @aic_podcast on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Welcome
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. And I'm
Podcast Focus Overview
00:00:16
Speaker
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.
00:00:33
Speaker
hi Dave, ah we're back.
Toy News and Events Reflection
00:00:36
Speaker
We are. It's it's been like a weird sort of run of episodes, right? We did like a little toys on the phone. We had a couple of premium Toyota events, a couple of AIC news, but it's been a while since we've we've had some some guests with us. Yeah. And I think, um you know, speaking of premium Toyota events, you know, we're not too far off from a bash in Berlin. um and Although we are Very much stateside for this one.
Travel Wishes and Family History
00:01:06
Speaker
yeah we are bash today we're We are not in ah in in Berlin. um and neither are are That would be cool, though. i mean That would be awesome. We do need to make that trek out to Germany at some point and like find where our family came from. It was just in London and France. Yeah. and come closer Closer than I've ever been. Coincidentally, right before backlash. but
00:01:29
Speaker
right before another premium live event. So I think we're we're laying it on pretty thick. ah let's Let's not bury the lead. um Joining us on the show today, two returning guests.
Guest Introduction: Steve and Magic from Mattel WWE
00:01:42
Speaker
um you know We always like to say all all of our guests are are some of our favorite guests, but ah but two of our absolute favorite guests ah making their return to the show i under the Mattel banner.
00:01:56
Speaker
For those in the know, wink, wink, nod, nod. Uh, we are joined by Steve Ozer and magic, almost from the Mattel, uh, WWE team guys. Welcome back to adventures in collecting. Hey fellows, how's it going? Thanks for having us. Uh, it's going good. Always a pleasure to have you guys. Lots. And it was awesome to, to finally have met Steve in person and Philly.
00:02:22
Speaker
true Yes, and yes, finally. That's why I love WrestleMania. We finally get to to meet each other and mingle in person. I was in the middle of the ocean. Otherwise, I would have been there too. When I couldn't... do I'm glad you made it back. Are your arms tired? Yes. Yes, they are. They're still tired. Really long swim. um No, what I ended up doing was when I couldn't get tickets to... So we had tickets to WrestleMania in our cart on Ticketmaster.
00:02:51
Speaker
And when we tried to check out, it crashed, dumped our tickets, and then I couldn't get a pair for the weekend anymore. So you immediately started swimming? and Sort of. um No, instead out. So when Forrest Gump that just ran, started running? Yeah, he just started running. Just started swimming. Started swimming. Next thing I knew, I was in Mexico.
00:03:12
Speaker
No, we we booked like a revenge vacation. So what I was going to spend on WrestleMania tickets and like WrestleMania weekend, I was like, let's go on vacation instead because I'm mad. So not only did I not get to go to WrestleMania, but I actually didn't watch it until the plane ride back. So like we were like, and my, my, my daughter and I, you know, we, we watch it kind of, you know, I guess pseudo religiously. So we're sitting there on the ship, like knowing that it's happened and we're like,
00:03:42
Speaker
Did he finish the story? Do you think he finished the story? So like the moment we got on got back stateside and had Wi-Fi, fired up and died. And
00:03:57
Speaker
But like we're we're watching it on the plane on my phone, like fist pumping and like freaking out. So it was still a fun experience watching it.
00:04:07
Speaker
And meanwhile, that was like the easiest vacation week, like few days where it was like, I'm in charge of AIC. Oh, wait, I'm at like WrestleMania weekend. Cool. Yeah. You are not for want. I came for now on 10. Right. Yeah.
00:04:24
Speaker
Well, we have a lot to talk about today with our guests, but before we jump straight into the WWE wwe ah talk and and the most important part, the the Q and&A, which we'll get to later on, um let's address let's address the shark in the room, speaking of ah of swimming.
Street Sharks Relaunch and Toy Features
00:04:42
Speaker
um Before we jump in, Steve, tell us a little bit about ah what's going on with Street Sharks, relaunched to some crazy fanfare.
00:04:50
Speaker
ah without the need of Vin Diesel even. Like it just like immediately just took off. It could have helped. me I would have welcomed him back, but street sharks are back. ah It's the 30th anniversary of the original toy line. So we brought them back and we've kind of given them that Motu origin style treatment of upgrading the articulation. So now they're articulated at the legs, the knees, the elbows, the hands.
00:05:17
Speaker
um But we retain everything that everyone loved about street sharks originally like the action features specifically ah that job shopping action and some of the other characters have you know extra action features streets here actually has swappable hands so that we keep the articulation you have those claws that would extend out of his fingers.
00:05:38
Speaker
But anyway, you know, we revealed these back in March I want to say ah First wave went up for pre-sale then second wave went up for pre-sale time to San Diego Comic Con in July um And yeah, you can get these at your favorite retailers as well as Target. it's It's so cool that they're back. They're amazing figures This are really cool, right?
00:06:05
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I had so much fun with those when, you know, when I was a kid and just seeing them, like seeing those boxes with the cages, like back on the show again is one of those kiss me back visceral, uh, you know, moments. Cause those were, those were so cool. I still are. They're still really cool. So it's great. And it's really cool seeing in them back. And the, the San Diego comic con exclusive was really neat too with the, with the bomber jacket.
00:06:31
Speaker
Yeah, Shark Among Us, Ripster. And that jacket is just one of the sickest soft goods jacket for an action figure I've ever seen, a real zipper on it and everything. ah So hats off to Sam Pack who designed that figure. Been very cool to get to work with the team and and go back and watch all those episodes again and and try to you know pick what we want to do from the original toy line or from from content.
00:06:56
Speaker
Really cool. And then we had a great panel where we showed even more figures that should be coming your way early next year. It's exciting times if you were a Street Sharks fan for sure. Yep. Yep. And total shouts to the team on the soft goods there. You know, Intel continues to be like, you know, leveraging all of those years of Barbie soft goods making into the other lines. Love to see it. You love to see it.
00:07:24
Speaker
We got to steer steal that jacket style magic for our WWE stuff. Absolutely. That thing is amazing. I was actually in a team meeting with some of the people from Street Sharks recently, and I had just like finally seen it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I was like really blown away by how like closely they looked to the exist like the previous ones and like how much nostalgia I got immediately looking at them. But like in the team meeting, I said this,
00:07:45
Speaker
That was a very quickly corrected thing. Now these have been improved in every single way. Their articulation is better. The material is better. Everything about them is actually better than they were before. But somehow they still managed to capture all of that nostalgia and the exact feel. and like Just holding their hand feels like how I felt playing them as a kid. That was pretty pretty cool. they're really They even have drop-down hips. You can't really see it much on... Yeah, you see it there on slam. Improved in everywhere. Nice. Very, very cool.
Magic's Return to Mattel and WWE Figures Excitement
00:08:16
Speaker
All right. So magic. Yes. In the modern wrestling figure era, you are the first designer to have now worked at the two largest American pro wrestling companies. Um, how does it feel to be back at Mattel and what takeaways do you have from your time away? That's amazing to be back. I'm like, I,
00:08:35
Speaker
It's always been a dream to work here and then having had that shot back in like 2017-18 to work with the WWE team, ah being gone, I was definitely longing to come back one day. um I'm super excited that and grateful that I got the opportunities that I did get to do my own thing and still work in the wrestling space and build up my thumbprint on that wrestling world in the way that I have. So it's really exciting to be back. I feel like I have so much more knowledge.
00:09:00
Speaker
um more confidence and just I'm more eager to get started here and like really dive in even more than I have been and kind of put my thumb for it back on this one and improve the line and WWE and try to contribute to this history and this legacy and I definitely feel like I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the official capacity you to do both companies but there's been people in unofficial capacities doing like vendor work something that have done great stuff for us both companies though there's somebody else too ah yeah I won't say his name, but he's he's a a very good person. and He also kind of did it both. ah One of the unsung heroes of the line. It is Dan, but that there's somebody else who maybe you're not thinking of who who did both both lines. But it just goes to show, you know, when um
00:09:49
Speaker
when collectors or fans want to talk about a war like it's just like on the wrestler side of things like the wrestlers are all friends with each other and so were we you know it was just like this group of friends who was just making wrestling figures across every every company it was awesome It's really cool because like ah but my previous company, there's people that worked at ToyBiz who did WCW figures. They're coming back. There's people that worked at ToyBiz that did WCW, people that worked at Jack at my company. There's people that worked from Jack here. like Wrestling, once you started doing it, it feels like you really never leave. The people who've been doing it for 20, 30 years are still doing it now. Pretty impressive. I think one of the other cool things too is like you know with with the just the time gap between the last time you were at Mattel and now and and what you were doing in between,
00:10:34
Speaker
You're now getting to kind of take a crack multiple times at at talent, you know, kind of across the span of their career, you know, like, you know, just throwing the name out there because he's he's so kind of prevalent everywhere but CM Punk, you know, i like, you've kind of almost followed his His trajectory, right? And and you know some of some of your finest work has been on on that that ah that athlete. and i'm really And I know I so i can very clearly speak for Dave on this. like We're excited to see what you continue to do with him going forward.
00:11:13
Speaker
For sure. I remember a Survivor Series last year when he debuted. I was so pissed. I was really mad. I was like, I think he went back. Damn, I was so mad about it. And then now coming here and seeing the actual finished version of that figure, pretty close. So awesome. It makes me feel better.
00:11:32
Speaker
Yeah. I remember having a conversation with you about how, um, how a cult of personality might have been ruined. prefer prefer you Now you get to enjoy it again. So yeah. yeah
00:11:45
Speaker
Well, it's, it's, it's, like I said, it's, it's awesome to see, you know, to see that kind of family vibe across the industry. And we see it, you know, with all of the people that we've, you know, uh, had the opportunity to chat with over the years. It's great. Like when one of those San Diego Comic-Cons or something like comes up and I, you know, we get to see pictures of like everybody out to dinner, you know, across companies, across different brands. It's just, it's, it's a.
00:12:08
Speaker
It seems like a really cool, i you know, industry experience and and kind of family. So it's it's nice to hear that too. We're all just fans at the end of the day of everything. It's true. fan It's a really small industry too, kind of weird, like super small. Fandom drives everything. Yeah. And it's certainly like, you know, it's you always keep saying, we always keep saying it and it always feels like it's like,
00:12:36
Speaker
Well, at some point we're not going to be, but it's like literally the past five, six, seven, and who knows how much more in the future is like the best time to be a wrestling fan and the best time to be a wrestling toy collector. Like, yup. So much good stuff out there. And speaking of good stuff, um, over at Mattel, you guys have been innovating, uh, pretty, pretty quickly, uh, over the past few years.
00:13:01
Speaker
things like, you know, pinless joints, bringing butterflies to, uh, you know, certain female talents. And of course, everything that you've done with the main event line, that is hashtag anything but basic. Um, but, uh, you mentioned during your chat with ringside that we're getting new ankles and feet on, uh, on, on the figures. Uh, what kind of articulation can we, can we expect from that kind of re-engineering? Let me see, I think.
00:13:30
Speaker
i think Yeah, he's got them. So this is the made-to-order Sam Punk figure. He's got an example of how we'll be executing the feet from now on. So you'll see that there's a pin that comes out of the bottom of the ankle that inserts into the the shoe or foot. ah So that gives, of course, the back and forth motion. but and as well as the 360 swivel here. ah So much improved and it's flush against the ankle now or lower leg, whereas there was a little bit of a gap before to allow for that rocker ankle. um So really huge improvement here for the elites and ultimates as well and pushing them towards you know modern action figures even more. So really excited about, you know, um
00:14:17
Speaker
the posing possibilities because now you can get a wide stance and still have both feet flat on your your surface. So very cool, very excited about that. um A long time coming, some of us were pushing for this for a while now, um but you know we kind of focus on one innovation a year typically to to invest some tooling money in. and Now is the time to to upgrade those feet. Well, I got to say, you know um I called it out before, but these main event figures. So I was able to score the the chase Eddie the other day. Oh my god, what a what a like a huge deal. Because i it just makes these so much more versatile, like in general, like they they can they can now kind of like play with the elites, you know, um which which is great. So love love to see thee the the the level of innovation there.
00:15:11
Speaker
Yeah, and you know what's cool there is it's not just um what you would think on the surface level of the leg articulation improvements, but we we looked at what other manufacturers were doing, um even within Mattel, and there's that swivel on the thigh as well. It's not a thigh cut swivel, but there's a swivel on the ball that gives you even greater yeahp even greater range of motion. So we really wanted to maximize what we were doing there to to give the most play and posability.
00:15:40
Speaker
Those main event figures, honestly, coming fairly coming from that side in, like those are amazing, especially for the price point. It does such a great job with all of those, especially now with all the articulation improvements, this really next level stuff. really incredible And the swappable hands and heads and stuff, it's just, it's yeah, the possibilities are are endless because like, if you have an ultimate Eddie and you want him on, you know, to change expressions on, on this gear, you can,
00:16:06
Speaker
you know, pop the head and put the ultimate head on and change those expressions. So I mean, it's, yeah, it's amazing. I love that I feel like, you know, Motu origins did a lot of like firsts for Mattel and kind of really with with with the the w WWE Motu line and then, you know, the WWE superstars and kind of that pop and swap ability that's like unadvertised, but everyone kind of gets it. It's so great to see that. It's so great to see that, um you know, moving across into into more of the WWE stuff. So yeah.
00:16:41
Speaker
yeah Katana and Caden and Maxine and that I mean, it's to they're just great. It's it's a delight like putting
Favorite Figures from WrestleMania and Comic-Con
00:16:51
Speaker
getting those kind of together now and getting them posed and trying to figure out what we're like, OK, where are they going to go here? It's it really, really, really happy with how Maxine turned out, especially out of everyone mentioned, probably one of the best main event figures so far. Yeah.
00:17:11
Speaker
I'm just going to keep Eddie in my shimmy pose.
00:17:18
Speaker
So ah we saw a big set of reveals at ah at WrestleMania and and and an even bigger set of reveals at San Diego Comic Con to both of you. what are What are some of the figures you're most looking forward to seeing out on shelves and and in the hands of collectors? What do you think, Magic?
00:17:39
Speaker
ah The obvious answer for me is the Ultimate Ray Ripley. That thing's amazing. Really incredible what they were able to do with that. And then the new ring looked awesome. Great to have that update there. Those rings are incredible with the way you build them and like the wood and all the like innovations there. It's really fun. Really good stuff. I think for me, the money in the bank, CM Punk, because I know how badly so many people wanted that figure.
00:18:05
Speaker
um Steiner Brothers, you know ah that look for them, i I wanted to make happen and I wanted to make it happen as ultimates. So I think those people who were very vocal about you know why is it taking so long, I hope it was worth the wait because you know we wanted to do this a specific way um and I think we we did them right.
00:18:29
Speaker
um And there was just so, so many great figures. But the jacket detail, the fact that like colors are different and it's such a weird subtle detail. that I don't think a lot of people would notice the fact that it's there, like one's brighter, one's a dollar. Like that's how it actually was in real life. That's amazing. That's just so like.
00:18:49
Speaker
Really good authenticity there. Yeah, great, great eye from Bill Mckenna to catch said that they were actually different jackets. and the The sleeve length as well, but how far the yellow goes up is different on on each jacket.
00:19:01
Speaker
um And the Papa Shango Ultimate Warrior, ah call not calline what sort of Coliseum Home Video-esque inspired packaging to go along with that. ah Very cool, like very, very memorable moment for fans who were watching during that period of time of the the black ooze and the curses that were happening to Ultimate ultimate Warrior.
00:19:21
Speaker
Um, and I love trying to get out like the, the wacky ultimate edition figures, uh, whenever we possibly can. We got going out gobbledygooker. Uh, now we got, uh, Papa Shango to go along with the the wild gimmicks. So very cool, very exciting. I think that was, that was one of the talks of the show as well for us. So, so last year we saw the gobbledygooker and, and undertaker set kind of in that two, two pack, technically three pack, if you count the egg, right. Um,
00:19:49
Speaker
and And this year the Papa Shango and an ultimate warrior one and both were Amazon exclusives. Is that kind of like a yearly plan at this point to do one of those? I don't want to call them wacky because I feel like that makes them like less awesome than what they are, but like grudge match or gimmick deeper cut.
00:20:08
Speaker
You know, gimmicky. two kits Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. pay Paying some some love and homage to the the great gimmicks. um So I think the hope is that that could be an annual thing. But, you know, these need to perform well. ah Or, you know, maybe there's there's someone on the Amazon Amazon side of things or someone at Mattel that just has a different idea and that could cause it to change. um But I mean, if if sales are great and it's overwhelming,
00:20:36
Speaker
why pivot away from it, right? So let's let's try to to make these packs a success and we can try to one up ourselves next year, hopefully. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. Speaking of.
00:20:49
Speaker
those ah those gimmicks that deserve a chance in the spotlight. We've had the goon, we've had Zodiac, we've had the Sultan, um all on our shelves in in the recent past. ah Speaking of things that were not on anybody's San Diego Comic Con bingo card, um Make a Difference Fought 2 was definitely not on on ours, for sure.
00:21:11
Speaker
um What led the decision to the decision to bring another short-lived memorable character like this to the line? And I know you were just kind of alluding to it a little bit, but is that something even in mainline series that we could expect ah continue to see and kind of see more of in the future?
00:21:29
Speaker
Yeah, so you mentioned a few names. Goon, he was he was mainline, collector's edition, but still mainline and and make a different spot too will be mainline elite as well. ah So we have access to talent and all of their gimmicks. We were doing who in the legends line. um So if there's who, exactly. um If there are ways we can we can get them out that that makes sense that we know we'll have you know full sell through so that we keep waves flowing out, we're absolutely going to explore every look possible, every gimmick possible that you can think of. um And you know we have our our legends list.
00:22:08
Speaker
From wwe e and they're helpful with putting aliases in a separate column on that excel document and then if there's something that they don't list i'm i'm adding those names of like i'm an okay. Not hard we gotta do who is well um so yeah i mean it was just time right time for for to.
00:22:30
Speaker
um There's a ah wave. It's actually going to be all Samoan superstars. ah And bill Bill got very excited. And it was it was just the perfect moment to pull the trigger and and make that figure. So will he have the jacket? He will have the jacket. Yes. It's awesome looking. We saw a first pass at the soft goods just the other day. um And I'm sure you know Bill and Magic will finesse it and and perfect it.
00:22:57
Speaker
So you you mentioned that it's going to be an awesome own wave. Is it, is it going to be, uh, a normal, like elite, whatever number, different packaging, or is it just kind of just tap? It's just, like it's just a normal, it's just, it worked out that way. Right. So my one's happened to be hot in w WWE right now. you don't Um, so it wasn't very difficult to put a wave together. That was, uh, awesome. So, so there might've been two other renders that were shown at Comic Con that are in that wave. Possibly.
00:23:26
Speaker
OK, good. I will say this, too. And um I remember talking to Bill and ah I think Robert and ringside John at the at WrestleMania. And I was like, I popped the biggest for when I saw who in the the display case, like nothing else. I'm like, is that who?
00:23:47
Speaker
I think that was the collective reaction. And that's what we want. We want people to be pleasantly surprised by what they're seeing and think like, you know, even though I say we'll do anything and everything, as long as the talent is available to us, um you still you still think they would never have done who and and we're doing it and you would never never have done, you know, the gobbledygooker or the goon or make a different spot too. But, you know, that's that's fun when you break those reveals out. um Expect the unexpected.
00:24:16
Speaker
Yeah. And, and, and you know, anytime, anytime you hit that new gen era for me, it's just like, right, right in the cockles of my heart. Uh, any, I will jump at the opportunity to add any new gen talent to my, my, my shelf. yeah Um, so the greatest hits, uh, and from the vault lines have had the opportunity to bring sought after figures from the past, uh, into the hands of collectors that either missed out, uh, the first time around or, or just coming into the,
Greatest Hits Line Figure Decisions
00:24:45
Speaker
uh, the game. So.
00:24:46
Speaker
What is the thought process behind deciding what wrestlers to include ah in these series ah going forward? So we collaborate with the Ringside team for the selections on From the Vault, specifically. um Whereas Greatest Hits, that's that's more of us in-house at Mattel making those decisions. And you know we we just look at a variety of factors. You need to sell through on those waves as well. They're part of ah regular Elites. They're not a separate line. um So if you look at the bottom of the package, Elites is a toy number, gdf sixty
00:25:23
Speaker
It's the same toy number on Elite Greatest Hits. So that's just a way for us to ensure we're not overshipping some of the other waves. So we keep pumping out waves, moving on to freshness constantly, and we just literally can't make any more new figures. We're totally maxed out in what we can do. So we wanted to bring out some figures from the past that are either hard to find, maybe they were never even released, like the upcoming Natalia.
00:25:50
Speaker
um Or just you know looks go-to looks that some collectors want to to have in their WWE collections. So no set rules. We just evaluate everything that's been done. um what What do we think the desire ah is for those figures? And how can we upgrade them to make them even more ah meaningful and improved and modernized versus the original releases?
00:26:15
Speaker
So the two things that always come up with this line are at least like that, that we've noticed, you know, in, in kind of our circles are, you know, people who, who have mint on card.
00:26:26
Speaker
you know versions of those those first run figures, right? you know The quote unquote like devaluing of the the secondary market. And and also just the ah though the want for people to contribute to like, hey, we we would love to see this figure. We would love to see that figure. Some sort of kind of fan interaction or polling with the greatest hits or fault line. Gorilla Monsoon. i' Sorry. I had something in my throat there for a second.
00:26:51
Speaker
ah So what do you guys do to take that into kind of consideration with with these lines? I mean, you guys are already doing unofficial polls by calling that those names out in every time we reveal a wave or every day period, you know, Gorilla monsoon, you know, any name comes up. So we're paying attention to that. Obviously, I'm on social media often on my Instagram account.
00:27:20
Speaker
usually the most. I'm on the forums, I read the forums, I participate once in a while in the ringside forums, so you know it's not like you're not being heard, um and all that stuff is being considered. So if we can do it, ah we want to do it, or or maybe we hear it and we're saving it for for something specific. You know, like you mentioned somebody there, maybe maybe I know, and I'm waiting for something specific for that. um and that's not I don't think it's a good fit for greatest hits perhaps, but um you never know. You just keep calling out what you want. I don't think a poll is needed.
00:27:52
Speaker
like there's There's nothing you guys are going to say in a poll that you're not saying on a daily basis anyway, or that I also don't want. It's very fair. very Yeah. Yeah. Cause it's like, you know, you go back to the fan takeovers for the, the ultimates and it's like, well, why not all three? Like
00:28:14
Speaker
But um we've also seen some changes in gear, speaking of like the greatest hits idea, um some changes in gear and color variations in the greatest hits line and for wrestlers um to set them apart from their original releases. Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Patista come to mind. um What informed those choices for those color changes when bringing those um those molds back onto retail shelves?
00:28:44
Speaker
Yeah, so a little insider baseball, like these are called carry forward skews. So these are skews from the past that we have, we can do minimal changes too, if any changes. The elbows we can change because that's how we do arms now with that modern double jointed pinless arm.
00:29:04
Speaker
For the Deco changes, um Bruno, that was just a color swap, right? Like literally just like change change that that PMS from from the blue to whatever green PMS that was, boom. And same for Batista, the logos, like all that stuff stayed the same. It was just like changing that that base color of the plastic to a different color. So when we can do like little tweets like that, that don't like throw a monkey wrench into the development system and create You know a ton of extra work when everyone is already stretched in those are ways we can smartly plus things up oh without you know breaking anyone's backs so it's a way to to to make things happen greatest hits any any re-release figures what you probably won't see is like completely new deco like Seth Rollins in flames but then Seth Rollins in his his mesh tights like you know nothing nothing extreme like that.
00:29:59
Speaker
Okay. So, so we can expect, you know, a slight, maybe color variation or, you know, uh, basically that's, that's it. and And like you said, like the upgrades to, you know, some of the articulation. Yep. At least for now, at least for now. Okay. But if we're talking about greatest hits, I did see tons of questions, um, about miss specifically because we did not show him at San Diego Comic Con. So, exclusive exclusively to you guys, this is the Miz that we'll be getting in greatest hits. So celebrating his WWE Championship reign, Miz with spinner title and his entrance jacket.
00:30:40
Speaker
but There you go. Very cool.
Inclusion of Japanese Wrestlers in WWE Line
00:30:44
Speaker
That's your Miz. Very cool. The WrestleMania main event, Miz. Awesome. Gold mary gold boots. Gold detail on his trunks. There you go.
00:30:54
Speaker
That's awesome. Very cool. Well, there you go. An exclusive, an exclusive reveal. You heard it here first. ah So anyone, I don't know if you guys had a chance to see our, our lists.
00:31:07
Speaker
ah for the first half of the year but both of us um ranked the ultimate Oscar figure high on our list I think it was like number three for me and and it might have been like number five for Dave I think it was like higher than that it was it was up there for me yeah top top five for both of us for sure you know easy top ten but Uh, just an absolutely remarkable figure. And there's been some other really, really great, uh, you know, Japanese wrestlers that are, you know, are either upcoming, uh, like, like Muda and Kairi Sane, um, or the, the, the most recent, uh, EO sky, but with bull Nakano now getting, uh, inducted into the WWE wwe hall of fame. Uh, is it any, are we any closer to putting her next to, uh, Alondra blaze on our, on our shelves?
00:31:55
Speaker
I wish, I wish we were, ah but I mean, first of all, you know, like a specific talent. If we get them, we will make them. They signed them for us to make figures. They signed them to put them in video games. There's no like WWE signs them and nobody's going to do anything with them. So the second we get a green light that WWE has signed Volna Kano, you know, Makina drops everything and and starts his, his, his process.
00:32:22
Speaker
But um I will say nothing nothing further on bull. I would love to announce that she's going to be in the legends line or or maybe we do a retro or superstars figure of her, but but nothing yet. um I've expressed interest to w WWE. I've told them, you know, how many Various figures we could possibly do of her, but you know the ball is in those parties court Not just WWE, but but bull also needs to agree to that as well So um up to up to them to sort it out, but they know that we are interested in there that you guys are all interested Yeah, that would be a zone We live in a world where we're getting
00:33:02
Speaker
three great mood of figures. but Yeah, seriously. Oh my God. At least. At least. This is Bill we're talking about. Three we know about. Yeah, I mean, it's it's just crazy. And, and you know, i we we know how, ah how much, you know, Japanese wrestling means to Bill. And it's something that, that, you know, I think we all share an affinity for. So. Absolutely.
00:33:27
Speaker
very, very excited to see, uh, what's next there.
Muda's Appeal Across Wrestling Audiences
00:33:31
Speaker
And mood is a great one because of course, if you're a Japanese wrestling aficionado, that's amazing. But like that WCW, NWA culture, uh, like they,
00:33:43
Speaker
you know, Muda was a central figure for a couple of years there, feuding with Sting and, and yeah you know, with Gary Hart as his manager and aligned with with Terry Funk. It was was an awesome time back then. And just seeing those images in a magazine, you know, as a kid, was just like, who is this guy? Like, you know, exactly why he wore the face paint to draw you in. So, you know, there's a lot of crossover appeal with somebody like Muda. And Bulma Kano, should she come along around? Yeah, absolutely. it's Always go back to it. What a time. What a time to be a fan. um So speaking of another great retro. Retro era kind of figure set ah stars from the territory era was another way to awesome way to represent legends in the line um and have its own kind of packaging and its own different flair to it. um Is there an opportunity to continue that or is that just kind of like a one and done four pack?
00:34:43
Speaker
That theme specifically was was meant to be one and done. ah yes you know We're months out now. It's been on sale for a while. if If you guys would have sold that item out day one, I could have went to leadership and be like, oh my God, we're onto something here. 70s wrestlers is where it's at. um but you know i think i think We kind of knew, we knew the audience for it. um When you move beyond mid 80s or so, it starts to become niche of niche and maybe of niche of niche. um Not to say that those guys aren't great and the pack didn't do well. It did, but it performed to our expectations of of that particular pack.
00:35:25
Speaker
um And I think you can do other themed sets, but I think, you know, Legends of the Territory era specifically, um that that's that's going to be one and done. So very cool pack, amazing packaging. ah The titles included were awesome. Harley Race, finally. Gorilla Monsoon and rest in Wrestling Gear, finally. Another superstar, Billy Graham. And of course, you know, Muhammad Ali in Street Gear, so I can take that airplane spin.
00:35:52
Speaker
oh But you know well we'll include those talent elsewhere. We have a Legends line. um We can put them in mainline elite. Who knows what what comes around the pipe? WrestleMania elites for for early WrestleMania years. um We'll see what we can do. So from a retro era question to a retro question, um the retro version of Rip from ah No Holds Barred is coming with a winged eagle championship belt.
00:36:23
Speaker
ah will ah Will there be other opportunities for classic titles to to jump back into the the the retro line? I sure hope so. ah It was a long time coming to to get a title out. I think that original retro ring, maybe you know magic because you were around when it was in development, that blue retro ring from 2017 or 18. I think they wanted a title with it, ah but for the price point, they they couldn't get it in there. it was it was it was The cost was tight to get it at that 1999 at the time price point.
00:36:58
Speaker
You remember that at all? Like how that got nixed? I vaguely remember that, but that sounds about right. Like pri wouldn't work. um But hey, ah when you have when you have Hogan, who doesn't have lots of deco on him and Zeus, same deal. um And Sherry and and Liz, they really have the the soft good skirts. We had a little wiggle room in the budget there to get that title in. So and it happened. And I want it to happen again with other titles. So fingers crossed. And now a word from our sponsors.
00:37:34
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.
00:37:51
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 ChubsyWubsy.com. That's C-H-U-B-Z-Z-Y-W-U-B-Z-Z-Y dot.com. And tell them that Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:38:16
Speaker
And now, back to the show.
00:38:19
Speaker
So, uh, quick, quick aside, you know, mentioning, uh, bringing, just bringing magic back into the conversation for a minute. Uh, you know, now that you're back, you know, thinking about the things that you've worked on in the past at Mattel and, and all the things that are churning out now, what are, like, what are you most excited to, to work on there now that you can kind of dig your
Monday Night Wars Line Excitement
00:38:41
Speaker
hands back in? You know, we've talked about retros, weve talked about superstars.
00:38:44
Speaker
ah elites, ultimates, main events. like what what are what are you What are you looking forward to most? I think I got really lucky that the one thing I really wanted to work on the Monday night wars, I was immediately told, Oh, you're going to work on a Monday night at wars. I'm like, Oh, awesome. Exactly. My wheelhouse. Um, I was around for the very beginning of ultimate. So seeing that grow and like how big it is now and how many figures they are and how much they did bands. I've been here. I'd love to take a crack at one of those one day. I know Bill's holding them pretty close to the test, but I'll grab one or we got some coming your way magic.
00:39:18
Speaker
Um, yeah, so anything had to do with all those things and the current stuff is really cool I really love the like the current product going on the storylines So anything I get a chance to do on the new or something like first time in the line anybody would think that cool Yeah, those those Monday night Monday night wars figures are outrageously good. Like yeah outrageously good elites. um Shouts to you guys for including the meme face with with The Rock. I mean, that was chef's kiss. That was great. And they're they're all great. Like and they fly like.
00:39:54
Speaker
Oh my God, yeah, you can't you can't find him. Super popular. I think the only one locally here in New Jersey that that seems to be hanging out from this most the most recent wave is the the Triple H. He's the only one that's that's kind of still there still there. It's actually impressive. um Yeah, he he was a last minute swap in, which is why the difference of from the previous release was so minimal.
00:40:19
Speaker
ah It happens sometimes, you know, uh, you gotta, you gotta change things the last minute and swap the Ray, right? The Ray we had to swap out. Um, but it's It's encouraging to hear that it's doing so well, and you know we know that it's been difficult for people to find, partially because it's it's performing even better than than what we had expected. So we're trying to you know ramp up production a little bit, slowly grow, not to overship anything, but ship a little bit more until we hit a sweet spot. In Walmart, they've been fulfilling those pre-orders now, so we're we're
00:40:58
Speaker
Smoothing things over from where things were a year or so ago with with other exclusive lines And I think that you're gonna have satisfied consumers with the pre-order process and hopefully find them in store over the next year or so Yeah, and and there's with that line. I mean, there's so much to do with Monday monday Night Wars I mean like there's there's so the the the well is deep It sure is Oh yeah, Magic gave some wishlist talent to me and I'm um pressing w WWE to try to sign them. um They were already on the b list though, but anyway. um
00:41:36
Speaker
We're trying to get more. um And until then, we'll we'll get all the variations of the talent we do have out for meaningful dates and, you know, ah tertiary gimmicks that you wouldn't expect. Golga, great example. Like we had earthquake John Tenta under a deal. So perfect way to get a Golga out there. And there's going to be more. Yeah, hopefully some more oddities to go with him. Man, I would love that.
00:42:02
Speaker
at least kurgen and luna yeah i was gonna say i recommend luna specifically and well actually and kurgen i always just think back you when i think of the monday net wars era i think of the my bone crunching my bone cruncher collection like that that kurgen with like the permanent claw with like the tips of his fingers all blacked and you know he I think he came with the jackal um at the time. Actually, he was the that kurgan figure. but Yes, he did. Or did he? I think he did. It was a two-pack and a single kurgan with a soft goods tie-dyed shirt. yeah Yes. yeah And we had to buy both because we had already had the kurgan with the jackal, but we needed the shirt.
00:42:47
Speaker
um you know At the time, there wasn't this thing called eBay or Macari where people were making shirts for wrestling figures. so ah you You had to buy the other one. but ah but yeah like i there are just so many There are so many fun things that ah from from that that really, really exciting time in wrestling to to make. so yeah Yeah, if we can unlock, I mean, just looking at Nitro alone, I mean, WWE, yes, of course. But then looking at Nitro alone, there's so many great gimmicks and characters and memorable performers to pull from. So wherere we're trying. But even even with what we have, there's lots of fun stuff to do ah that that's untapped. So we're working on it. I know Magic's excited. ah We had our first lineup brainstorm session a week or so ago.
00:43:36
Speaker
um Yeah. Well, good times ahead if you want to make mutual friend and and friend of the pod, Ryan Ting happy, you know, you got to get Glacier in there.
00:43:49
Speaker
Glacier and Mortis. Yep. Would love it. Yeah. yeah cross So we were talking. Oh, go ahead, Dave. Yeah, as I say, we we were talking about accessories. um We ask every time, but figure we'd we'd throw up throw it back out there. um Any movement on the reintroduction reintroduction of accessory packs, whether it's like weaponry or um more titles or anything along those lines.
00:44:17
Speaker
Magic just hit me up. He's he's on your side. He hit me up this week, right? Maybe earlier this week about accessory packs. um It's just tough for me. It's tough for me to give up.
00:44:29
Speaker
totally transparent with you guys it's tough for me to give up a slot for a totally new developed figure right like do we make this do we make this cm punk or do we make a pack that has a kendo stick and a mop and a belt right like We make this, right? that that That's where I'm coming from. And like, I think from a leadership standpoint, when you present this, when I have to present this to leadership and I say, Hey, we're going to do this accessory pack and everybody's been asking for it. And they asked me what the, you know, what the quote is going to be. And it's going to be low. Um, they're going to be like, why don't you make CM Punk from his return? but Right? So it's just like, I,
00:45:17
Speaker
Look, if there's a way to do it that you know I can get it through and it makes sense, um sure, great, but um it's definitely lower on my priority list, because and I think you would also...
00:45:30
Speaker
Vote for a new a new figure with new deco and new soft goods as well if you had the choice. It's just one of those tough calls you have to make. But we'll look to include all those accessories everywhere else possible. you know load Those you know ring bundles that have a figure and accessories and um with elites and with the main event two packs, all that good stuff. But um I do have to make those tough calls and you know sorry.
00:45:57
Speaker
Well, the thing that I'm really looking forward to, too, is those tag team packs that are going to be coming through creations, like Imperium, Thuddlies, Headbangers, like that.
Mattel Creations Strategy for Tag Team Packs
00:46:08
Speaker
is Was that kind of thought of as like, let's use this as a way to get these characters out, as opposed to waiting for like a Legends wave or waiting for something along those lines?
00:46:22
Speaker
Well, we are still experimenting with Mattel Creations and what that could mean for the WWE action figure collector. So, you know, we're trying a lot of different things there and see what really works. It allows us to experiment a little bit, like, you know, the territory pack, retros living there, the ring, thus the scale ring, crowdfunding. So, you know, we had we hadn't tried two packs yet or tag team two packs.
00:46:47
Speaker
um so That was something that was requested for for quite a while the return of elite two packs So <unk> we're giving them a shot on Mattel creations and we want to see how well these three sets do um Does do they work better as two packs online? Or would they have just worked fine if we release them as six single figure, so we're about to find out um Eric I got one more before a Q and&A if you go. Yeah All right um Another wildly successful can't stay on the shelves series so far has been the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles w WWE crossover. Um, that's something saw debuted at at WrestleMania. Like that was basically the announcement of it. Um, is there, you know, potential for more series behind these first two and is there more like crossover potential out there like
00:47:43
Speaker
ah masters of the universe like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yeah, I know it's it's performing great. Everyone's really happy with its performance. um i think I think that helps make the case to do more TMNT figures maybe down the road. um It would have to take a break now because they're They're out the door at this point right we have to develop more figures but there were lots of concepts for the turtles that were left in the cutting room floor that we could like literally dust off and and get right back to work again with with no changes even needed um so cool stuff you know that that we just couldn't make out with these first six figures.
00:48:24
Speaker
um And as far as other co-labs or mashups go, like so many things lend themselves well to wwe WWE. I don't want to say what they are off the top of my head because I'll be you know tipping my hat about them. But you know there are other things other discussions we constantly have about ah mashup opportunities for w WWE. And you know should any of the those deals get done, we'll certainly um keep pumping them out.
TMNT and WWE Crossover Potential
00:48:51
Speaker
jeica magic I think i think we this was another um in another interview. Sorry guys, we do other interviews. ah we we asked We asked you what mashup you would want to see. Do you want to throw out a different mashup now perhaps? What did I throw out the first time? and I don't remember. I guess you can throw out anything now since we can't remember. Honestly, the turtles would have been my number one, ah especially you guys, like maybe when I was there, like I was 15 or something before I was there.
00:49:20
Speaker
is that those like excellent like warrior turtles and like undertaker and they're like I think playmates that are actually sorry playmates yeah their actual turtles as the wrestlers like that was amazing so to see this execution that the team did now where it's the opposite like figure as the turtle and like the cool gimmicks like that's like really awesome obviously I really love the turtles though that'd be my number one well but I just want to throw it out there Andre the giant as the android body with Bobby the brain heen in his crank. That's that's one and Becky Lynch is April O'Neill. Come on. Yeah, come on. It's right. Like I said stuff was on the cutting room floor. Okay, and we only had six lots so we can use
00:50:00
Speaker
Well, when- See, that's what happens, right? Like, I was talking about those accessory packs. The same thing happens here. It's like we we got sick. Kevin Nash is super shredder. i Look, look. What do you think the first words that came out of my mouth were?
00:50:16
Speaker
kevin nash is super shreter about followed by what are we even doing here if we don't do nothing Well, listen, you know, like you said, when things sell really well and they can't be kept in stock and they're almost literally on fire.
00:50:35
Speaker
you get to go back and pick those things potentially up off the cutting room floor and be like, look, let us do more. These did so well. But it's, you know, as always, it's just one of those, like, you know, round of applause, yeah standing ovation types of, and and i types of products. Kofi and x Xavier wearing the action figure gear in ring, just like perfect. So dope. Yeah.
00:51:03
Speaker
I think one of the typical gear makers made the gear and he did an outstanding job recreating it and just having them wear it multiple weeks on TV ah was was very, very cool to see.
00:51:17
Speaker
So with that, Dave, I think we are ready for our Q and&A ah yeah section here. So i Dave, remind our listeners, our viewers, um how can they submit questions for future episodes of Adventures in Collecting? Okay. So friends, you're going to see a story on Instagram and it's going to say who the upcoming guests are. And I'm staring right in the camera. I mean, i mean all of you.
00:51:47
Speaker
Um, you're going to see a story and it's we're going to read those questions and those, um, I guess Instagram handles that have submitted those questions. So follow at AIC underscore podcast on on the old Instagram and you can join in.
00:52:22
Speaker
Yep. And we, we fully understand, you know, uh, magic and Steve, very active members of the community. Um, but they can't possibly see everything and talk to everybody all the time. So we want to make sure that we take a ah you know a moment on our, on our episode here to get your voice heard. So we've, we've collected a few questions here. The first one we're going to start off with is just, ah it's and so now that there's a video, I can acknowledge the,
00:52:49
Speaker
camera you can You're doing great with this. A fire round of requests. So we know we can't always tell lightning rounds whether or not superstars are coming to the line. um But as you said before, requests are important. So here is a quick list of requests ah from our followers for your consideration. i GM Nick Aldis, Ultimate Drew McIntyre, Drew Carey,
00:53:18
Speaker
Kona slash Evil Crush, The Legion of Doom, Chuck Norris, WCW Retros, Ultimate Bailey, 2005 Triple H, and Akira Tozawa. I think none of us would have ever thought of any of those things.
00:53:39
Speaker
and No, all great, all great. Some very easily accomplishable, some we're working on, some not signed to deals. oh Right. It just, if if they're available, we're probably going to get to it. Did I hear Drew Carey, like the comedian? Yes. the Price is right. yeah w romy We WWE Hall of Famer, Drew Carey. so rumbleook here and That-eliminated. That request came along with the Chuck Norris one as a proposed like companion to the Hollywood elites line, doing like a celebrity
00:54:13
Speaker
like oh the celebrity wing of the hall of fame yeah where it's like drew caring and i'll tell I'll tell you some insight now um since it's years out and it never came to fruition at one point we were very deeply trying to do elite celebrity two packs with a superstar and a celebrity talent. um And any pairing you can possibly think of was on our list and we were trying to make it happen, but obviously it didn't come to fruition.
00:54:45
Speaker
um But a great suggestion, um obviously where're we're on the same same wavelength, um maybe someday maybe someday, whether it's two packs or or something else. I mean, look, sometimes you just get them one at a time and Johnny Knoxville makes an appearance in the elite collection. um It is what it is, or other times you get Zeus and you can you know run run with a talent like that. So um we'll keep asking for talent or you know pursuing options and whenever whenever possible.
00:55:15
Speaker
All right, Dave, do you want to yeah do you want to hit them with the first real question? Yes. um This looks like it is. I am DJ Luis asks.
00:55:30
Speaker
How will the ultimate Rhea come packaged? Will she be like Bischoff and Kane? Yes. Easy, easy start there. Yeah, there you go. Perfect.
00:55:42
Speaker
um At Hordak grim on X asks, a lot of the thicker men have two muscled arms. Any chance Bill is working up a more body accurate set of arms for those talents? I don't know, but I would pass that request on to, you know, the man on the left of my screen.
00:56:11
Speaker
So yeah. Yes, Dave. Yeah, Dave. You answer that question. guys
00:56:18
Speaker
no man magicric i My arms are not muscled whatsoever. so I'm not your guy for that. So more body accurate arms magic. That's what that's what people want. That's something I'd like to see too. I think like body accuracy is really pivotal. That's something I tried to do in previous lines.
00:56:37
Speaker
um The new stuff here, I'm seeing like there's more and more body accuracy. I think it's the triple H ultimate that looked just like triple H. Like that was amazing to see. So I think the team's already been on that train is trying to move that direction anyway. So yeah, I think it's a good way to go. Yeah. I mean, even that, uh, the, the ultimate Roman, the one with the two belts, like that torso change made ah such a difference in that figure. All right. Uh, next question, Dave, do you want to do this one?
00:57:08
Speaker
Yeah, at cats. Baldur zero nine. Asks, is there any update on the unmasked gray that was revealed for Monday Night Wars? And as we've now seen. Four of the ultimates that were intent. OK, so this is kind of like two questions. I'm going to reread this. um So first question, is there any update on the unmasked ray that was revealed for Monday Night Wars? Second question.
00:57:36
Speaker
Since we've now seen four of the ultimates that were intended to be included with the Nitro stage as elites, will Big Papa Pump be getting the same treatment? ah No update on Ray. The figure's canceled. If things change and we can release that figure, absolutely, it'll it'll come out. um But as of as of right now, it's a no-go.
00:57:58
Speaker
um Ultimates from the Nitro stage. Uh, Scott Steiner is fair game. We're making figures of him. Uh, there's a Monday night war line. He should absolutely be included in it in what look I don't, I don't honestly know yet. Uh, but, but I mean, chances are very high he's going to appear in, in Monday night war and and definitely elsewhere. Now I'm sorry if you've answered this question before or if there is just
00:58:29
Speaker
a continued no answer for it. But what was, is there anything, any other insight you could give into the Ramaserio figure? Like was in terms of why it was canceled? Not at this time. No. Cool. Fair. Just figured I'd ask. Just figured I'd ask. All right. Uh, next one comes from at blaze Myers. Um, when will the MSG first match back CM punk elite that was revealed be available?
00:58:57
Speaker
It is a top picks elite figure. And I think it's the second wave of the year. So, you know, early 2025 at retail ringside, I mean, they get things early. There's a chance that they would get that in time for Christmas. um I don't even know if they put it up for pre-sale yet, but um you know, you want it early, get it at ringsidecollectibles.com. Use code whatever your guys's code is for 10% off. AIC. AIC. Use code AIC.
00:59:26
Speaker
i Yes, thank you.
00:59:32
Speaker
ah Dave, last do you want to do the last Q&A here? Last Q and&A question. um This one is from lots of people. um They asked about various scale playsets, cages, entrances, Hell in a Cell, ah Elimination Chamber, etc. Are there any plans to do another crowdfund in the future of maybe just another just an entrance way or just a cage or something along those lines. Well, you know, at lots of people. ah Magic, you want to talk a little bit about this and I'll chime in towards the tail end with more.
01:00:08
Speaker
Well, super new to the team, but I mean, I personally would love to see some of this stuff come to fruition.
Crowdfunding for WWE Playsets Challenges
01:00:14
Speaker
I know other places have been, it's hard to do these things because they're so big. There are so much plastic, so much initial investment, but Mattel Creations is something that's really great in the sense that it lets a WWE team do these big projects and lets them do stuff that's otherwise like unobtainable. So if there is an opportunity for that, I think Mattel Creations is like the perfect place for it. And me personally, I would love to see some of these like world of world building Eastfield is something you've never had before, it'd be awesome. Yeah, yeah. um If you think about um like main event scale, we'll call it, like for the the kids' rings and playsets. We have a bunch in our tool bank already. We have a modern elimination chamber. I think we have the original elimination chamber. We've got a Hell in the Cell, ah cages from various eras. um It's really like, what is retail willing to carry? That War Games one was great.
01:01:07
Speaker
Yeah, in a period of time. And WarGames is still on fire as a set. And, you know, our retailers still want to support WarGames. So I'll be honest with you. i've I've been saying, hey, is it time to to give that a rest and bring one of these older cages back? ah But they don't want to give up on WarGames because every time we just do a little sticker refresh on it, we're off to the races on on sales again. um And that's because, you know, there's tons of new kids coming into WWE all the time. um And, you know, that that um
01:01:38
Speaker
That place that in that that match in particular seems to resonate, ah but i would love to get some of those other sets out specifically elimination chambers is top of mind for me um year round whenever these conversations happen i'm like. what about um so we'll see We'll see, but we do need we do need a retailer who is interested in in that set or a set like that to to commit to it, which brings me to crowdfunding because the retailer is essentially crowdfunding these items. right Even if it's already done, they have to commit to it. They have to commit to the minimum for us to go into production and and sell it to them.
01:02:15
Speaker
um But with crowdfunding, you know then the power goes to to you guys. um And we're going to do something else, whether it's crowdfunding or made to order, we're going to utilize that Mattel Creations platform to explore different you know different types of playsets. We tried stages, one was a success, one was not. um And maybe it's it's something else. Maybe it's a cage. Maybe it's an interview set. I don't know.
01:02:41
Speaker
um but But there's lots to pull from from w WWE e and you will see something like that on Mattel Creations again. Maybe even as soon as next year, if we we can get our act together. ah Yeah, one of the one of the questions that was kind of bundled in there, somebody was looking for a scale elimination chamber. And I like i started to like Twitch when i was when I read it because I was like,
01:03:08
Speaker
I would love that, but i'm where you where are you going to put that? It's interesting because you get feedback. Feedback is dangerous sometimes in the wrong hands because you see a lot of feedback of like the nitro stage was too big. How big would that scale elimination chain chamber be, right? Insane. The nitro stage is too big. so it's It's really challenging.
01:03:33
Speaker
um to hone in on. on Even a hell in a cell would be enormous. Yeah. What's big, but not too big. ah You know, price points, electronics, no electronics. So, you know, we're listening to all these suggestions and trying to figure something out to give you what you want. But maybe ultimately, like, even if we did a poll, like yes, something would win, but all the people who didn't vote for that winner are going to be bummed because they're You know, I wanted the elimination chamber. I wanted Hell in the Cell. I wanted the Brother Love Show. ah So um it's it's really tough, but we'll do our best to make sure whatever we wind up delivering to you is the very least exciting and that that the majority of you will hopefully want. Yeah, I mean, the cage related stuff like like the Hell in the Cell or like, you know, the the big blue, ah you know, the the blue cage or even like the the classic ah like the cage after that. Right. Like those at least like
01:04:27
Speaker
You could collapse, you know, you could take them apart, like put them out just for like a little bit and then put them away. And they go on rings you already have. Yeah. Like, like there's, uh, you, you actually, uh, Steve, you said this the last time that you were on is like, when we talked about the the the blue cage.
01:04:44
Speaker
It was like, okay, how many new gen rings did we sell? Well, that's the only amount of cages that we could sell, right? Because that's it. That's what's out there. At a maximum. And then how many of those people realistically would buy the cage a fraction, right? It makes it tough. But we have more rings out there now, right? We have to ring a year. They're all compatible, just a little bit of a ring skirt swap or something. And you're kind of, at least in the realm of good to go.
01:05:13
Speaker
ye ye but exciting stuff guys you you have you magic if you if you had to choose one collector playset to do what would it be of anything or just pages any collector playset for w WWE no matter what it is or or item collector item high price point you know I was just thinking about this but I wasn't going to say because I wasn't going to say it because maybe I could actually do it one day. But I'll say it, let's boil it. It would be really funny and kind of really cool to see the mankind like boiler room flash backstage set and just feel like pipes and a bunch of breakaway components but it's dirty leaky tiles and dirty locker room and it's huge and it fills your whole room up and you can't do anything else in your room.
01:05:54
Speaker
Does it come with a rat? to hop up You have to hop over it to get to the bed. Does it come with a rat? Does it come with a special mankind that has a rat, too? You'd have to have the rat. You know what? I'm going to answer that question, too. I would want i would want the blue cage. that's that's That's the one for me. Actually, Steve gave a really good idea. I want you know like either, and maybe it's like a two-sided thing, but I either want like the control center, the WWF control center, w WWE control center, or like backstage interview. Like a yeah somebody like trying to get me into the arena this Saturday night and it's just Gene and whomever. Do you guys remember the Kmart playsets? Yes. Yes. They were great. They were so great. that That's, that's the thing, you know, when you,
01:06:49
Speaker
You lose retailers like Kmart or Toys R Us, it like eliminates opportunities like that. But those are great. ah Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe they can live on Mattel creations. We'll see. Well, and then this is throwing it back to the line. But like, if you think back to like, even like the heartbreak hotel, ye that was, that was effectively a, ah a build a figure. Yes. A certain barbershop would be a great place set too.
01:07:15
Speaker
I wish we had Marty. Yeah. That's the unfortunate thing. Not that it's unaccomplishable without him, but that would just be like the icing on the cake of a perfect play set. Yep. Yep. Yeah. People, people could put an old Marty, ah old, very expensive on the aftermarket. They could put some John Cole cone, build a figure legs out the window. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Definitely.
01:07:43
Speaker
Alright, so that that you guys have survived Q and&A. ah thank you Thank you to everybody who submitted questions. um so he did great we have We have a tradition on the show, both of you are aware of this from your your times being on in the past, that we have a typical final question that we wrap things up with. As both of you are now repeat guests, um you both have answered our standard final question. so Dave has prepared for you a a alternate final question. um 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 your alternate final question, Steve, in this case, it would be your third final question. If you could build a five-figure greatest hits wave going back in any
01:08:39
Speaker
Figure any series in Mattel history who would be included. Is that magic's question, too? Yes. yeah You go first. You go first, magic. Why do I gotta to go? have more I feel like I've been making them. Jeez Louise. but Only figures ever were made or anything. Yeah, so it's a great a greatest hits line. No, it has to be a... Yeah, they've gotta be...
01:09:08
Speaker
have made have um made I'll do it, I'll do it. um The first China from the two-pack with Triple H but upgraded with better articulation. a
01:09:22
Speaker
The Trish Stratus, um the classic Trish Stratus that we released a year or so ago but with a new head. oh How many figures in the wave? Five? Yeah, five.
01:09:40
Speaker
Paperbag Cody.
01:09:45
Speaker
Man, this is tough. WrestleMania III, Defining Moments Hogan. I feel like I'm cheating with that one. ah okay And a redo of the SummerSlam, was it 90 in Philadelphia? Ultimate Warrior.
01:10:10
Speaker
okay Okay. So for me, there was a macho man. You guys released, we had like the Kango black hat and like a chains neck, like a block on it. I really love that figure. I have it some more. What up much? Yeah. yeah I love that be man much profit. This track on Hogan. Yeah, exactly. Uh, that one one was amazing.
01:10:33
Speaker
Uh, that purple Mysterio, I think when he faced Eddie Guerrero way back when in WCW, where he has like the question marks all over him. I really liked that figure. I know it's pretty recent, but that's awesome. Uh, you guys did a bunch of really great, great mysterious. Well, the most Toyota man on the planet. I guess. And then you have to go with the Eddie Guerrero from that with the mullet at the same time, put that together, make that match. Cool. Uh,
01:11:01
Speaker
He's really done everything, kind of like the hard part of this job, like trying to think of something that wasn't done yet. I think like finding your great moment that people are going to resonate with, but hasn't been done. Well, listen, if you want to include one, you know, there's a really great gorilla monsoon figure that was really hard to find that had swappable arms. Yeah.
01:11:25
Speaker
You know, it's cool. He's not including it. No, he's not. He just laughed. He just laughed and said, no, it's like, and no, it's not my era. I'm not particularly tied to him. um The mantra man, the gym, that would be really cool. Come back one day, a update articulation, but it's so cool and exclusive. Maybe you don't want to ever touch it again. And who knows the license with all that going on with Slim Jim. I've included too much man's array.
01:11:53
Speaker
and an Eddie Guerrero. You got one more, one more.
01:12:00
Speaker
I would have said like final boss Brock, but like he's so new, but I just love that look. but I would say like the retro version of that and that same like beauty shirt, bring that back there. There you go. Barely different. Yeah. There you go. And there are your five nailed it. We got them nailed it. Nailed it. Awesome.
01:12:18
Speaker
Well, guys, with that, that rasping... It's one of those ones I was trying to think if I could come up with five. and i um man Look, shout out by the way, shout out to Wrestling Figure Database. oh yeah What a lifesaver when we're doing these greatest hits lineups of just being able to scroll through there and and check things out. um But yeah, that guy doesn't get enough credit. For real, yeah. i Wrestling Figure Database and also super nice dude. um we've We've talked to him a bunch of times. Really, really good guy.
01:12:55
Speaker
um Very passionate and his site rules and and and like just the it's awesome. I go to it a lot I went to it when I was thinking about this question to be honest. Yeah, the the the search function on it I mean is just out of this world and and he's he's got stuff on there that I've never even heard of before like ah ah Wacky off-brand stuff like it's just it's it's wild. It's a fun site to just go on You know what if you are listening to this and you have not been on the site yet wrestlingfiguredatabase.com, search your favorite wrestler or your least favorite wrestler and go look at the all of the amazing toys that you didn't know that they had. that's just Just do that. um But with that, that does wrap it up. um Guys, thank you so much for for joining us. But before we we say goodbye officially, please tell our listeners ah where can they find you guys on social media and where can they keep up with the latest WWE wwe releases from Mattel.
Guest Social Media Handles
01:13:57
Speaker
You can find me at Instagram, magic.almost. That's my Instagram. I'd be there. You can ask me, yell at me, do whatever. Yeah. I'm on Instagram at action figure attack and Twitter and X and tick tock action figure tack. Uh, new WWE info, tune into my account, action figure attack brings that collectibles all their social handles as well. Um, and wrestling figure database they're on it. So, uh, get all the latest stuff from those three sources. I got to say you doing those reels for the reveals now. Yeah.
01:14:35
Speaker
Thank you. excellent Like no no shade on on any particular websites, but certain galleries are very, very finicky on mobile. And that is just your, your reel of like the glam shots and the mint on card shots just makes things so much easier. So then thank you so much for, for doing that for, for all of us, Steve. All right. I'm glad I do that on my Saturday mornings when I should be sleeping in.
01:15:04
Speaker
It makes a difference. Make a difference, Fatu. Make a difference, Steve. let's make a different steve You're sitting there early. That's my Comic Con outfit for next year.
01:15:14
Speaker
There we go. Well, the next ah elite squad jackets, the top line jacket could be like the bottom jacket. and go Aren't I supposed to get a jacket now with this amount of appearances? Wasn't that talked about last time when you were like, Oh, we're going to present you with something. It was fine. It was a question about five figures, but I thought it was a jacket. yeah yeah So we, we, we have talked about jackets. It's not completely off the table.
01:15:39
Speaker
Um, but budgetary constraints, uh, you know, listen, sometimes it just, you know, things, things end up on the cutting room floor. That's just the best way that it works. Okay.
01:15:52
Speaker
man
01:15:55
Speaker
Well guys have, we're going to say goodbye now. Have a great, uh, a great evening. Thank you so much for for taking the time to chat with us for showing off some new stuff. Magic, welcome, welcome back to the world of Mattel. ah you know we're We're excited to see what what you guys do next. ah Dave, send us home. Keep enjoying the wrestling everyone.
01:16:19
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.
01:16:35
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.
01:16:51
Speaker
don't try this at home vowa prohibited and some assembly required each sold separately not a flying toy consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours
01:16:59
Speaker
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