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Open Mic 14: Queen G Part Deaux
6 Plays1 year ago
The MVP and The Queen cross paths once again to catch up on what she's been up to since their last convo (big things), and of course we have to discuss the recent explosion of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with the new movie, the upcoming 40 year anniversary and much, much more!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Line-Up
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome everyone to a another episode of open mic with the MVP Marco. I am obviously your host
00:00:45
Speaker
The MVP Marco. Coming back again with another special guest. But before we get to my special guest, I'd like to just say this is obviously brought to you by the Pod Foundation, which is my home of all homes. That includes the Chick Foley show, which I am on as well. I'm actually recording tonight at some point. So yeah, I'm doing a double duty tonight.
00:01:12
Speaker
But anyway, that is also the Turnbuckle Tavern, who I also do a show for every Thursday, 8 o'clock on YouTube. You can watch us live just running down the week in WWE. It's also the Extra Cooler show. Nick, who is also known as Extra Cooler.
00:01:32
Speaker
has been doing pretty big things as of late, just designing stuff for celebrities left and right with his artwork. So congrats to him. He's a great dude. Hope to have him back on the show at some point. And then we have coming down the aisle with J-Bone, who's also my co-host on the show that we do, The Raw Down.
00:01:50
Speaker
on Turner Buckle Tavern. But enough of me, let's bring in my guests. This is a two time, I think this is my second, second only two time guest. She's a very busy woman and she's very hard to nail down. So I'd like to bring her in right now. The Queen G.
Ninja Turtles Movie and Queen G's Experience
00:02:13
Speaker
I do. I move the sky for you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes. You know, I was like, I was, um, you know, as soon as, yeah, I think we talked about this on the last time you were on, uh, the, the Ninja Turtles movie wasn't out yet. It was just like a, you know, an idea. It was something that just popped up and they were doing like the kind of the gorilla campaign for it. Just, you know, you know, posters everywhere and stuff like that where you're like, what the hell is this?
00:02:39
Speaker
We didn't know it was going to be animated live action. We knew Seth Roman was doing it, which obviously was going to have that type of a comedy. But we didn't know what it was. But the first thing I thought in my mind was like, as soon as that movie comes out and there's enough time after it, I got to get her back on so we can do like a deep dive and then catch up on everything you've you've been doing because you've been very busy as of late. But yeah.
00:03:02
Speaker
that's uh yeah I see um he finally made it. I made it yes I'm here. So what so what's your what was it what was it like earlier why was your.
00:03:12
Speaker
Why are you so like, you know, almost going to make it to the show tonight? What happened? Well, it's all good stuff. So I've started to do more things on social media and, you know, trying to balance all the social media platforms, long form content, short form content.
00:03:35
Speaker
And then on top of that, brands and sponsorships, right? So I'm getting ready to go out of town again, because I've been celebrating August the whole entire month, because it's my birthday month. And I'm getting ready to go out of town again. So all of a sudden, all these like sponsorship stuff is coming in. And I was just trying to get like, you know, tier like the most important ones.
00:03:59
Speaker
done first. And I was scheduled to do some long form content, some editing, but then I got a gift from Nickelodeon. So I was like, well, I have to put them first, right? I don't want to lose that. So I've just been moving, but I'm not complaining. It's definitely good to be busy. And next week I'll be on vacation. So I'll have that that much needed break. So yeah, I'm excited. There's a lot going on. It's good.
00:04:26
Speaker
Yeah, I've seen that. I definitely want to dive into some of the stuff you have been doing, because I've been seeing, like you said, you've been doing a lot more long form videos and stuff like that and content on your page. A lot to do with TMNT, that whole world and stuff like that. So very exciting things. I think the last time you were on, it wasn't that crazy for you as of yet. No, it wasn't. I'm not going to take credit.
00:04:55
Speaker
Oh, thank you. I don't think this show did anything. It was all you. It was all you. Thank you so much. I mean, well, you know. Thank you. No, but yeah, I seen that you mentioned Nickelodeon and.
00:05:09
Speaker
I think when I did reach out to you, you actually will hop into the movie. You actually were in attendance. They pretty much invited you out. Tell us the experience. How did that go? That was definitely a unique experience. We got invited. Well, I said we because I brought my brother, but I got invited.
00:05:31
Speaker
I brought him along with me because he's a Ninja Turtle fan too. We got to go see the screening. It was either like four or five days prior to the release date to the public. And we got to see it at Paramount Theaters in Hollywood. So they had this whole big festival thing going on. So it was just really exciting to be in that environment with
00:05:58
Speaker
Ninja Turtle fans and Paramount and then like
00:06:03
Speaker
usually, you know, you have to pay a little bit to talk to Kevin Eastman. He was just walking around him and I want to say Jim Crow, the co-director or whatever of Mutant Mayhem. So, you know, we got to sit and talk to Eastman in like a relaxed chill environment. It was, yeah, it was really cool. And then to see the movie before everyone
00:06:33
Speaker
And I still had tickets to see it like the day before the release but so I got to see it twice before the release but
00:06:40
Speaker
You know, big shout out to Nickelodeon Paramount Pictures. They are really been taking care of me. And it's just, it's just really cool to get to do all this stuff. And then like, I'm nobody. I'm just the chick who loves the Ninja Turtles. And they just want to like, send me stuff. So I'm like, my younger self would just be ecstatic, you know? Like, no way. It's cool. Yeah. I'm having a good time.
00:07:08
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, like I said, I think I want to definitely get into like some of the, you know, the the franchise.
00:07:15
Speaker
like now compared to, you know, when it was back when it first started and like the fever of it anyway, but what was it? What did you get to ask Eastman any questions? I mean, I'm assuming he was like not heavily involved in the movie, but definitely somewhat involved in it. Yeah, a little bit. I have a question that I want to ask him, but whenever I see like,
00:07:45
Speaker
like celebrities, right? Like I'm just weird. Like I, I just want to say, Hey, and I don't want to be that person who's just like all over them and ask, you know, talking their ears off. So I got to see him, uh,
00:08:03
Speaker
the weekend before at San Diego Comic Con. So I had talked to him then about Mutant Mayhem and then he had also talked a lot about Mutant Mayhem and his thoughts at the Comic Con. So by the time I saw him in Hollywood, I really didn't have anything else to talk to him about. I do have a pressing question. I want to know like
00:08:28
Speaker
I want to know if it bothers him anyway, or if he cares anyway when you have all these different versions of what he created. I'm curious, Nickelodeon has several different takes on the Ninja Turtles, all the different cartoons and the movie. I'm just curious.
00:08:50
Speaker
you know, does he care at all or is he so far gone in the business sense, right? You know, he's being paid regardless. So if he cares, you know, I've always wanted to ask him that, but when I saw him in Hollywood, it was just kind of like,
00:09:09
Speaker
Yo, he's just walking up. No one's talking to him, taking pictures. It was so chill. I just was like, yo, I just saw you at Comic Con. And he was like, oh, what's up? And then we just talked a little bit briefly, and we kept him moving. So I think that helps too, that he's so down to earth. He's easy to talk to. You can talk to him like a friend. You don't talk to him like somebody you worship. I mean, I don't worship him, but people who are in awe of celebrities.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know. It's just been, yeah, it's been cool. It's been a lot. Yeah. He's actually, I think around here, Northampton, Massachusetts is where him and Peter actually came up with the idea. You guys just see him all the time, right? Like that's the hometown.
00:09:58
Speaker
I mean, I wish, but the actual city of Northampton, I believe during 2020, around 2021, they got a bunch of money from like the COVID relief and stuff, and they were putting in a bid
00:10:13
Speaker
I'm not sure if you heard about this.
Crossovers and TMNT Universe Expansion
00:10:15
Speaker
They're putting in a bid to repaint the manhole covers. Oh, yeah. I don't think it ever went through. I think they kind of... No. Yeah. I didn't know that they were bidding on it. Yeah. But there was a big news thing that said the city approved and they got this big project that they were going to do that. And I just thought that was really cool. Oh, yeah. They haven't done it yet then. Yeah. But yeah, I was like...
00:10:43
Speaker
then I obviously did my research and I was like oh man they're like I mean they're around in like New Hampshire as well like uh Peter and Kevin they both traveled around that area and that's where it all originated from here in Massachusetts so I mean but yeah they've been around forever. That's um that's a a huge like accomplishment uh to be just you know adored by their hometown and their people and I believe
00:11:14
Speaker
I believe next year is Next year or is it this year at the end of the year, but they've got a 40th anniversary Coming up now. It's got to be next year next year 84, right is when the turtles were yeah So I guess that it's you know I think like like you said when you're gonna ask him that question if he actually cares if there's so many different variations He's probably just happy that for the fact that
00:11:36
Speaker
you know, people are still celebrating this franchise for 40 years. You guys are going to have like parades and stuff out there. I'm definitely going to Granite Con, right? That's the Comic Con in Massachusetts. It's in New Hampshire, right? Yes, I'll definitely be there because I know that's just going to be like
00:12:01
Speaker
I can't imagine what they're trying to plan. Everyone associated with TMNT, like the last Ronin and Mutant Mayhem and the voices of the cartoons, they're all gonna be there. And it's gonna be a huge event. I'm really excited.
00:12:18
Speaker
Yeah, I'm gonna have to take a travel up there. It's a few hours away from me, so it's not too much. Yeah, I'm in California, so you can make it. That is true. I don't know why I'm complaining about travel, bro. That's like a four-hour flight for me. Oh, my God. But yeah, so when you're talking about like the
00:12:42
Speaker
like the experience that you had there. And I see like, you know, like, I just see the video actually before we hopped on, that you actually got sent the controller, the Xbox controller with the scented pizza. When they first announced that, I was like, this has to be some type of like, joke or prank or like one off, like only one person is going to be able to get this or they just made it just as you know, like a thing for the movie. But
00:13:08
Speaker
No, people are actually getting it like yourself. They're actually seeing how is it? How weird is it? Are they for the public yet? I think they're coming out. I know they're gifted to influencers and all that kind of stuff, but I do think they're coming out soon. And yeah, that was one of the things that just had me
00:13:26
Speaker
stressing out, not stressing, but just like moving because I wasn't planning on getting it today and I have like full on plans for the rest of the week. So I was like, Oh my God, I need to bust this out quick. Um, cause I don't, I don't think they know how long it takes when they ship me stuff, you know, for me to get it. So I just didn't want them, you know, hanging around like, is she gonna post something about this or not? You know, I was like, let me get this out of here. But same thing when I saw the advertisement,
00:13:55
Speaker
It was like, really? Do we need a scented controller? Like, I mean, what, what kind of scent is it going to smell like? You know, is it going to smell like anchovies or something, you know, or something weird that the Ninja Turtles would like. Um, but now that I have it in my hands, it's, it's really neat. It's, it's, it's a light, like.
00:14:17
Speaker
pepperoni type of scent, you know? I was trying to clean up and I spilled a little bit so now my entire game room smells like pepperoni. Is it like an oil? Yeah, it's just an oil. It's like a little diffuser. If you're a Ninja Turtle fan, it's a cool thing to add to your collection.
00:14:41
Speaker
I wonder how that would be like just playing while you're playing a game and just having that like, can you, do you have to turn it on? Is it timed? Is it like air fresheners that like. Yeah. You press the button and it's got its own timer and it just every now and then sends out a scent like it's like a diffuser. So, um, I think it's a bit distracting dude. I'm on a meal plan. Like I can't be smelling pizza while I'm gaming.
00:15:05
Speaker
I would assume that would work when you're like you know playing like a really frustrating game and uh yeah literally just kind of toss the control across so they just whip it and smash it and then just like that aroma comes up and it just like kind of relaxes and you're like yeah playing like the older
00:15:22
Speaker
Ninja Turtles games like the NES ones. Yeah, like the first one, the water levels. Yeah. That would help. I would hope anyway. Maybe that's why they... I'll let you know. I'm going to try it tomorrow when the DLC for Shredda's Revenge drops and see if it relaxes me during the chaos.
00:15:45
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I've been on Shredder's Revenge. I've been playing it recently. I mean, it's one of my favorite turtles games. Side scrolling, beat them up. I thought that game, you know, it is a wonderful job paying tribute to the old school games with a newer look, you know? So it's definitely one of those games with the Ninja Turtles that just doesn't get old.
00:16:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah, no, definitely. And I actually downloaded some DLC for Injustice 2. Oh, let's go. Yeah, you know who's on it. Yeah, I do. I mean, when people ask me, have you played with Donatello? I'm like, bro, who are you talking to right now? I love it because they look like the movie, like the live action movie Turtles, which I think is amazing. And I like that they didn't put them in like a Mortal Kombat because I don't want to see, you know, Turtles.
00:16:38
Speaker
Like they did in free fighter. Yeah, I know exactly like exactly. That's uh, I mean it's still not that you know, not that the turtles aren't like adult and they do have like, you know, like the last rodent kind of, you know, goes into that realm, but like, I mean, I still want to see them as.
00:16:54
Speaker
you know, lovable turtles that are just, you know, fighting crime. Nothing, nothing violent in that sense. I would love for them in Justice 2 to do like a remake or do like another one. I think we're long overdue for that because it was so well received.
00:17:16
Speaker
And we hadn't had the turtles in that type of look and that type of style. Like we had tournament fighter, but in a more modern type way at that time, like I think they should give us something else.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I wonder if there's any chance with James Gunn, who's taken over, you know, the DC Universe movies. He's obviously, you know, really good with, like, if you'll watch Guardians of the Galaxy, he's really good with those, like, lovable characters that were, like, with Rocket Raccoon. Yes. And also, I mean, it probably will never happen, but I mean, I mean, it'd be awesome if you kind of, like,
00:17:53
Speaker
impose the Teenage Mutant Turtles into the DC Universe, kind of like the Injustice. I would not be mad at that. That would be awesome. I think you should pitch that. I think that's a really good idea. I mean, I guess I think you do a great job. Like he does an awesome job at like those like really offbeat
00:18:11
Speaker
you know, characters. Yeah. Not the humans, but like the, you know, like I said, those, like those weird characters, he does a really good job at making you like, you know, feel for him and love him and stuff like that. I think he'd do a great job if he like, it could be a cameo. It doesn't have to be a full on like, move. Right. You know, we'd be like,
00:18:30
Speaker
Yeah, maybe they do like their, the last one with all the superheroes are in one movie and maybe they just show up and help fight for a little bit, something, I don't know. I love it. I'm gonna write a letter, I think. Yeah, please do, see me on that. But let's get to the movie. So first of all, what did you think first and foremost?
00:18:56
Speaker
I was pleasantly surprised if I know myself and I do, I do know myself. I was not excited about the movie only because it just wasn't what I wanted. I wanted more of a mature film, but
00:19:16
Speaker
I walked out of that theater thinking, wow, Nickelodeon, I think they did a really good job with giving something that the adults could get with Ice Cube.
00:19:31
Speaker
some of the verbiage that he was using, some of the things that we're saying, some of the jokes, right? They were adult jokes. Even some of the action, the way that they, you know, like the no deity scene, like that was a really dope-ass scene, you know? But still be entertaining for children, which is, you know, what Nickelodeon wants. That's essentially their target audience, but you could see how,
00:19:59
Speaker
They didn't want to throw away the adults followers on this movie, especially knowing that there are so many adults that are waiting for this film and do not want to see it fail. I was really, really, really happy. I walked out of there smiling and I thought,
00:20:21
Speaker
they did a really, really good job. Now, there are some things that I was like, well, for instance, it took me probably about two minutes before I got over Donatello's voice. Like, okay, so he's not the only one that hasn't hit puberty. I get it, but he was so dang cute.
00:20:40
Speaker
You know, so I was like, Oh my God, Donatello is adorable. I don't have to like him, but my teenage self would totally have a crush on that Donatello. So I was happy with him. I was
00:20:55
Speaker
I was kind of like, this is weird, the backstory with Splinter. We've never had a story where he was just kind of like a nobody, you know, he's always been either
00:21:11
Speaker
splinter who knew and najitsu or he was some out to Yoshi and so for him to kind of just be like just the square dad was hard for me to swallow I I didn't really care for that but
00:21:30
Speaker
he made up for, you know, he came through later as clutch and saved his boys. So I got over it. I don't have a lot negative things to say. I have some things that I was like, that's different. But at the end of the day, I think it was a good movie. And I believe most of the turtle fans are are really, really happy with it. Yeah, definitely. Did you did you pick up on anything like in the movie like any like
00:21:56
Speaker
like nuances, any like Easter eggs. Yeah, I picked up a few. I need to go into YouTube and watch the people that really researched it and found all this stuff. But it was really cool with the layered sign for the restaurants. I thought that was awesome. The Go Ninja Go music that came on.
00:22:17
Speaker
in the car. There was quite a few that I picked up that I think that's also helped the older fans because we could see the new movie paying tribute to the old movie and respect. You should, right? There wouldn't be this movie without the original Turtles.
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, it was cool. And I think I went and saw it three times. And, you know, each time I was in there, like, you know, what am I missing? What am I missing and just trying to catch? But I think there's like 28 or 30 goose eggs. And I didn't see that many. Oh, yeah. There's I'd seen Eastman, obviously the high school Eastman High. Right. Yeah. The high school.
00:23:03
Speaker
This I've made have been just because I always try to like read into too much stuff and try to like over analyze things But it seemed to me like each turtle Had a different art style to them that rep obviously they represented their individual selves, but they also Represented as you said at the beginning kind of bring it back the different versions of the Ninja Turtles over the years so
00:23:30
Speaker
If you go back and watch, now you're probably gonna have to go back and watch it. I'm happy to. Leonardo looked more, his face looked more like the original live action movie, like hit the shape of his face. Yeah. Raphael was kind of more of the brooding CGI version movie. Yeah.
00:23:54
Speaker
And then Donatello and Raphael were the two versions of like the Nickelodeon cartoons. Yeah. Or actually, you know what, Donatello is kind of like the, you kind of look like the older, like the 80s cartoon.
00:24:09
Speaker
Um, and Michelangelo was more of the, like the Nickelodeon style. So like, like I said, maybe I was reading into it too much when they all look different. And I, the one that really popped out to me was Leonardo. Cause he had the same, like, same, like, if you go back and watch the old Ninja Turtles movie, he had like the, literally the same like face almost as, as a Leonardo in that movie.
00:24:29
Speaker
I was like, oh, maybe they're kind of like, I'm not sure if they did that on purpose. Oh, they had to. Or they just did that. I was like, maybe they're representing all the different turtles over the years, but within each one. And then obviously I went into the deep dive of, you probably heard like the reasons why they really didn't get into that. Why Splinter gave each one of them their weapons, why they represent each one. Have you seen this like conspiracy theory that they have? Oh, yeah, yeah. And I think it's a good one.
00:24:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's a, yeah, I mean, it kind of makes sense with all their personalities and the, you know, obviously like Leonardo, he's the only one that has a kind of like a sharp, sharper weapon. Yeah. Yeah. That he can like actually stab people with, but he doesn't cause he's controlled. Cause he's controlled. Yeah. Raphael, you can't give that to him cause he'll probably stab somebody. He's got a defensive weapon. Yeah. He has a defensive. So he, he, he has short range so he can't go, you know, he has to actually go in and fight. He's got anger issues. He doesn't need an offensive weapon.
00:25:29
Speaker
Exactly. And then like Michelangelo with the, you know, him being kind of like scatterbrained and, you know, that's the, you have to be, I mean, I've tried it before. They definitely hurt if you do get hit with them. You definitely have to be a skill that obviously don't tell him being the smartest.
00:25:47
Speaker
he gave a boy a stick he got a stick yeah let's say just what do i do with this uh i gotta figure out i mean i can figure out all these other types of things and i get a thing and they kind of showed it on the movie yeah it's just like how the hell did i how the hell would i use this thing right he's like what am i gonna do with this so yeah i thought they did um
00:26:07
Speaker
i thought that they recovered the lack of uh let's say like screen time for donatello in the past movies yes 2007 i mean he had anything like he's never never really had
00:26:24
Speaker
so many lines and in this movie like I Might be a little biased. He was the star but he had like a lot of He had a lot of lines like he talked. Yeah Leonardo did so I was really impressed with that like dude. My boy is you know up there Yeah, they do like on the past movies they do usually focus on
00:26:51
Speaker
like the relationship really with like Leonardo or Raphael. Yeah. Kind of like Michelangelo and Donatello, kind of like the, you know, the back like characters or like the co-stars or whatever. But on this movie you're right. It didn't seem like they were more the focus. Yeah. But I do think that they...
00:27:09
Speaker
I feel like they fell off a little bit on Michelangelo. We really didn't get to see his personality, the party side. It came out that one scene with him and Mondo Gecko when they were going back and forth.
00:27:29
Speaker
I just, I hope in the next movie that we get to see more of Michelangelo's personality come out. I think they did a great job with Leo Roth and Donny, but I felt like Mikey's personality is kind of like an afterthought. I don't know, maybe because technically he's the youngest, so he was just kind of there, but everyone likes the party dude. So I was like, dude, hook my boy up with some lines. We want to see.
00:27:57
Speaker
We want to see that side come out a little bit more. But I don't know. That's what I thought. Would you think of the characters
00:28:06
Speaker
as far as, like, the bad guys. Like, if you watch, obviously, the older cartoons and stuff, like all those, you know, Mondo Gecko, you know, Superfly or Baxter, like, they kind of accept, well, on this movie, they're two separate people, but on the original, they're, you know, I mean, on this, they're two separate people, but on the original, that sort of stockman turns into the five. So they kind of kept it separate on this one. But would you think of, like, them being, like, kind of good guys as opposed to,
00:28:34
Speaker
The bad guys always. No, yeah, I didn't like that at all. You know, Rocksteady and Bebop, they're Rocksteady and Bebop. They're Shredders minions. So for them to be on Team Turtle is, I'm not having it, dude. I don't like it at all. And as far as Gecko and Ray Filet,
00:29:01
Speaker
uh you know they're they're they have always been good so that's cool but left her head over there wing that you know scumbag all that uh they need to go to their side so i'm thinking when shredder right because i'm assuming the way that they ended the first movie that if we when we have a sequel they better not mess that up yeah exactly
00:29:25
Speaker
That will have a shredder and he will recruit his minions and they need to Be over there like did rock. No, especially rock steady, dude. I'm not I'm not doing that. I'll write Seth Rogen and Jim Crow I Mean like I understand you guys are trying to do your own story, but that part ain't it. Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm hoping we get a new saggy Oh Jimbo
00:29:53
Speaker
Um a parent in the next movie for those that don't know Um samurai samurai rabbit. That's all you need to know. They'll look it up Um, he's probably one of those badass characters that they have on there because samurai's are awesome. Anyway, so Yeah, there you go right there. That's it. Yeah, he's uh, yeah, he's one of the i'm assuming he'll pop up at the next movie um, but yeah, I mean like as long as they do it
00:30:20
Speaker
rights um you know i was not really feeling the look of ray fillet and mondo gecko like ray fillet through the comics cartoons toys has always been a very confident dude and looked confident you know he was big he was strong um
00:30:45
Speaker
And in Mutant Mayhem, he was just singing all the time, right? And it was like, why are you just singing your name all the time, dude? This is not Ray Fillet. But I mean, they've already sketched that out, so I guess that's the lip. But if they're going to do Usaji Yojimbo, he needs to look like a master in what he does, right? Because Usaji, he doesn't play a game. So please do that right.
00:31:11
Speaker
Um, did you, I know we talked, we talked about this last time, the last Ronin. Did you, did you, I know you are too like big on it. Have you turned a page at all or are you still lukewarm to the last Ronin storyline? I have, I have made a turn and the reason for that is
00:31:34
Speaker
Uh, when I briefly got to talk with Kevin Eastman and I was telling him, dude, I am stressed. Okay. This, this series of you, Ben Bishop killing off my guys.
00:31:51
Speaker
It's not a good look. And Kevin was like, look at me called him Kevin. I have talked to him a few times. I feel like I've heard that. But respects of Mr. Eastman, he said,
00:32:08
Speaker
There's so much going on with the Ninja Turtle franchise that you have to look at everything as its own universe, right? So the last Ronin is a Ninja Turtle universe where
00:32:28
Speaker
There's one turtle and then there was no turtles left. Um, so like in my heart there's other universes right of the ninja turtles and so i've made peace with that and um and so I dug off on the sequel uh the last years and Once I got past that I mean it really it really is an interesting story now i'm not completely
00:32:52
Speaker
on board with these four new Ninja Turtles. I feel like they need to earn my love and respect. They're strangers to me, but I am open-minded and enjoying where this, that universe, the series is going and they just finished. I think we just got our last issue on the last, on the last years. And so now we're getting ready to get
00:33:16
Speaker
uh the next series which the four new turtles are teenagers so i don't know it's kind of cute and it seems like they are going like full force with the last room because they are coming up with a uh a video game
00:33:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's like it's a third person action type game, which I'm very, very excited for. So hopefully that'll, uh, you know, bring some more, um, eyes to the, to the product. Yeah, no, you definitely, you brought something up too that we kind of, you kind of circle back on you talked about crossover.
00:33:51
Speaker
things. So we on the Chick-fil-A show, we had this conversation a while back about like, you know, the crossover when they take like, you know, like with wrestling figures, for instance, they used to do crossovers with like Digi-Turtles. They did one back then where they have like the Ultimate Warrior was a
00:34:08
Speaker
Ninja Turtle. There was a Batra Man one. There was a John Cena and Undertaker. So I think each Turtle represented one. And then they did a Ghostbusters one where the Rock was one of the Ghostbusters. And John Cena, Stone Cold, C. Boston. And I think the Undertaker was Slimer or whatever. How do you feel about those crossovers? Do you like what they do?
00:34:32
Speaker
Crossovers are like turtles. So because you know, they have like the stranger things two packs that they have on now Which I think is pretty cool because I'm a stranger things fan. Oh, are you? Yeah, I love stranger things And you know like they have like we just woke up the Street Fighter crossover with that So like how do you like what are your thoughts on like that? You know when they cross over?
00:34:52
Speaker
I like it. I think it's cool. I like to use the word cool. So you might have to edit that out. But I like how these different universes collide, and especially when they fit. I am really enjoying reading the Street Fighter, Ninja Turtle crossover. The fourth issue, I think, just came out today. That's what I picked up.
00:35:20
Speaker
Usaji, Yojimbo, and Ninja Turtles have been crossing over for years when they did the Ghostbusters. I am also reading the Stranger Things, Ninja Turtles, and that one, I'm having a difficult time really grasping it because I never got into Stranger Things. So I don't have that relationship with the characters that a lot of people have, but
00:35:42
Speaker
with the Ninja Turtles being it and they've got these aliens and stuff like it's just something we've never seen with Ninja Turtles you know like it's aliens so yeah i i love it i i mean technically the Ninja Turtles have been crossing over for for decades you know with playmates when they've been doing all these different turtles and all these different costumes and as different characters um
00:36:08
Speaker
I enjoyed the Ninja Turtles and Batman. I thought that was a really good series. Yeah. So I think it's great. It's also a good way to keep the Ninja Turtle franchise alive because it seems like there's always something to look forward to. They just keep coming out with all these different universes colliding. So I hope that they continue to bring us like a whole bunch of stuff. I'm here for it. I love it.
00:36:39
Speaker
It's interesting, especially with something with the Ninja Turtles franchise crossing over into those worlds, especially Batman. When I seen that, I was like, how's that going to work with the Ninja Turtles and Batman? Obviously, if you know Batman as a character,
00:37:00
Speaker
obviously not phased by any games because I mean he deals with if you follow his uh 80 plus year career uh he's done with a lot of different uh individuals yeah he has so that was like nothing new and I really enjoyed uh
00:37:18
Speaker
the Turtles personality coming out with Batman, because Batman, he knows what he's gonna do, he's gonna do it his way, and this is the way it's gonna be done. And the little pushback that Leonardo was giving him, it was fitting. Yeah, they definitely made it work. Yeah, no, when I read that, I was like,
00:37:43
Speaker
Who did Kevin Eastman have any, did he do any writing on that? Did he have any input on those series? Or is it that just something that's like one of those things where it's like an alternate thing where someone else just takes the story line? Yeah. I mean, his name is on it, right? Cause he's a co-creator, but as far as in the writing, I don't think so. I don't think he was really involved. And all of these other ones, the Street Fighter, the Stranger Things,
00:38:14
Speaker
Even Usagi Yojimbo, when I went to the Comic Con in San Diego, I got to sit at a panel with Stan Sakai and his people. And he went back in telling a lot of us, because a lot of us, myself, I haven't been following Usagi Yojimbo wherever I'd like to. I want to know all the history, but I haven't. And so he kind of went back and talked about how when him and Mr. Eastman were talking,
00:38:45
Speaker
Kevin was just like, uh, are you going to do the comics with the Ninja Turtles in Usagi? And he was like, oh, I guess I just, I guess I just have to write the story, you know? So Kevin Easton gave, you know, gave all of the power, I guess, to San Sakai. He trusted him that he was going to write a good story and take care of the turtles. So I wonder if
00:39:10
Speaker
everything else like the Street Fighter because you don't see Eastman's name on it other than the inside cover as a creator if they just have to get licensed to write the story and then approval. Yeah, and then it's all on them to
00:39:26
Speaker
As long as you don't kill off the turtles without his permission, you know, and it's good to go. See that would, it's another good question. I would, I would love to dissect his brain. Like, dude, what are you just in the last Ronin and that's it, you know, like, yeah.
00:39:45
Speaker
I'm wondering if he has anything like, I mean, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like giving you all these questions you can ask. I wonder if he has any other like future storylines or plans.
00:39:57
Speaker
himself or you know Ninja Turtles as far as like the comic book series goes because I was actually you actually brought a good point up with like the stranger things like That it works with stranger things because they deal with Kind of like portals and dimensions that so if the storyline is has anything to do with like, you know dimension X and all stuff and if there's some
00:40:22
Speaker
That's where the connection probably is. I forget, I think it's like the Russian government or some type of crazy lab people created this portal almost to another world inadvertently. And that's where all these creatures started going through. So maybe that's why they had that crossover with the Ninja Turtles. How the hell did y'all just come up with stranger things of all this stuff to cross over? But yeah, that makes sense.
00:40:52
Speaker
And yeah, Stranger Things is based on the 80s. So there's a lot of things they pull from different 80s. It's very 80s inspired, a lot of different movies, TV shows. I do love that part. It's all based back in the day. And
00:41:10
Speaker
The comics, the turtles are back in the day turtles. They all have red bandanas. They kind of have like the, the Mirage turtles look to it. In fact, they do have the Mirage turtles look to it. So yeah, that, that whole timeframe is pretty cool. Yeah.
00:41:30
Speaker
And that kind of feeds into the alternate, like how, you know, Kevin Eastman said, like think of the turtles as like alternate, you know, universe type things. So you can have like these turtles, like the red bandana turtles in this universe. So you can have like the different color bandana ones and these ones that you can have. So actually that actually makes sense. I actually like that idea that they went back to that. Because those are my favorite ones. I mean, a lot of people, some people don't like how they all have the same color bandana, but
00:42:00
Speaker
I like it. It seems like, you know, they're more uniform in that sense. Yeah. But what the red band is who hated that. That's history. That's how they that's how they started. So you're basically saying you hate the history of the Ninja Turtles. They all had one color. That's how they started. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love the fact that they that they did that because I mean, I just remember the comic suit because I was like the thing that really popped.
00:42:27
Speaker
Back then, it was a black and white comic, but they had the bright red made-in. That's the only thing that kind of popped out on those comic books. I'm more nostalgic when it comes to that aspect. Yeah. We love the old school stuff. We love it. That's our passion. It's part of us and who we are. Yeah, definitely.
00:42:55
Speaker
Let's get into some stuff that you're, because we kind of talked about this at the beginning, you're a lot more busier nowadays, but how's been the influence, the social influencing game, how's it been treating you?
Social Media Strategies and Influencer Challenges
00:43:12
Speaker
Oh, it's been treating me really well. It's taken some time to
00:43:20
Speaker
I think I figured out how to balance everything. And that's mostly because I finally decided to make the jump to YouTube. I was, I was scared. I was nervous because I was just thinking, dude, I barely have time to post on Instagram and TikTok and
00:43:37
Speaker
creating long form is just, I don't have time for that, but I'm actually enjoying it because I feel like I get to share a little bit more about who I am, you know, and people ask me about things in my collection and kind of stuff like that. I get to go in more in detail and depth of that. And then other stuff that I do, you know, people forget that I'm a retro gamer or I'm a gamer. Like I play video games.
00:44:07
Speaker
all the time. I have a gaming collection, but my Instagram has really took a hard shift towards Ninja Turtles because that's where everything started coming from. So it was a lot for a while, just trying to find time to
00:44:28
Speaker
post to YouTube and do the Instagram. And then cause I was kind of like on a clock, right? You got to, I think you have a year or something like that to make partner on YouTube. So I was flipping out on that. It was a lot, but I got to a point where I'm balanced. Now I, I do posts that are related to YouTube. So that way I'm not working twice, I guess, if that makes sense. Yeah.
00:44:53
Speaker
And it's still fun. So as long as I'm having a good time, I got no complaints. I think this is really cool and even more exciting that I'm meeting more people in these different communities, gaming communities, collecting statues, Ninja Turtles. It's just, yeah, it's been a fun ride still.
00:45:19
Speaker
Yeah, I'm gonna, yeah, I have to kind of, you know, give you some guff for my algorithm on my Instagram because all the Ninja Turtles stuff, there's other, obviously there's other collectors that are popping up. I'm like, damn it, I don't want to see all these people. But no, I'm joking. I mean, it opened my eyes to a lot more collectors out there, a lot of
00:45:48
Speaker
So I mean I kind of thank you for it but don't thank you for it. I know like anything that I look at like I think if I like it twice dude the algorithm just like
00:46:05
Speaker
boom shoves it like for a hard minute I was getting nothing but dog memes and stuff like that which is great because I love dogs but I also still wanted to see the other content that I like but the algorithm was like yeah like I'm only gonna follow only probably one
00:46:27
Speaker
I'm a Teenage Mutant Turtle Collector, and that's obviously you. I'm not going to follow these other people. It is cool to see everyone else's collections, because I'm a collector, so I like to see how everyone has their set up and stuff like that. I'm not going to follow it. I'm not going to follow it. I mean, it just needs to chill out now.
00:46:52
Speaker
It's a lot of stuff on YouTube. I did a podcast with the statue collectors. And so there were a team, right? It was two of them. So once I got off the podcast, I liked and subscribed to both of them. And then I checked my homepage. I'm getting nothing but random statues I don't care about. No.
00:47:17
Speaker
See, that's the annoying part of social media is, well, nowadays, anyway, back in the day when Instagram first started and stuff like that, you didn't have to worry about algorithms. Whatever you followed, that's what you see. You didn't see anything else, which made it a lot easier. But kind of shifted to that.
00:47:38
Speaker
Since you're, you know, you get heavier, like you said, making the longer form videos and stuff like that. Has it, have you seen like a challenge in trying to get your, you know, your videos to show up more? Or do you feel like with the algorithm stuff, it's actually making it a lot easier for people to, you know, see your content?
00:47:58
Speaker
Um, you know, I'm, I'm not even that far yet on trying to dissect what the hell I'm doing. I've been focusing on, you know, SEO and trying to help the algorithm.
00:48:17
Speaker
push my content to where it needs to go. Um, I'm still learning all of that stuff. And honestly, right now where I'm at with, with my channel, I feel I just have a better chance if it's something that's searchable now, you know, versus like, I'm going to,
00:48:42
Speaker
I want to post this Usagi-Yojimbo figure because it's a San Diego Comic Con exclusive and it's unique. It's different.
00:48:54
Speaker
I don't know if that figure, in fact, I'm positive. I don't think that figure right now is highly searched right now. Yeah, exactly. It'll probably get minimal average views versus the Shredder's Revenge thing that I posted yesterday, which is a high searchable thing, even though it has nothing to do with what I posted. Just because it's Shredder's Revenge, it did well. Yeah.
00:49:19
Speaker
down the line when I can find some more time, I'll do more research and see if I can figure out the best way for the algorithm to help my content, but I'm still just trying to make sure that when I post it, it uploads. It goes to where it needs to go.
00:49:41
Speaker
Yeah, I started really late, but I felt like I started when I needed to because I wasn't ready to invest the time.
00:49:50
Speaker
Now I think I've kind of figured out a way to manage everything. So I'm excited. And I like that people can find me on YouTube and see more of the content that they've been wanting to see and that you can't really see in short form, you know, content. So I got a lot of videos that I want to post out. But yeah, when I get there.
00:50:14
Speaker
the cool thing about YouTube too is because of the now they have that uh they have like the shorts type of thing where you're like oh rails are ticked on they have either one of those you can like edit your videos down to like
00:50:28
Speaker
you know, to have those little clips and stuff like that. I think the thing I'm using now, I can actually like, you know, I can take this video, and I can kind of like upload it to like whatever thing they have. And it can kind of like, you know, slice it up in a way where it's like, you know, short form video. So, and then, but I'm not, like I said, I'm not gonna try because I'm not really
00:50:51
Speaker
It's a doing it right now. Anyway, it's uh, i'm still getting into like editing and all that stuff which is Which is a pain? Figuring that out in itself, you know editing and all that. I don't have a background in
00:51:05
Speaker
videography or media, none of that stuff. So everything that I do is just like trial and error, but I will say inspiring was this one YouTuber was just like, just post your content. Cause he was like, because your first hundred videos or more are going to be trash, but they get better, you know, but you don't know it until you keep posting. So I'm just,
00:51:33
Speaker
put it out there see what happens it did well it didn't oh well it's still like a history of of content as i'm progressing so yeah no it makes sense it like i actually kind of like had that same you know
00:51:49
Speaker
like thought pattern. And I was like, you know, trying to figure this whole thing out. And, you know, obviously with with the Chick Foley show, we just do audio. We don't do any video. So it's a it's an audio podcast. There's no video element to it. And we don't edit. We don't like whatever we say on the show. Right. It comes out and whatever happens, happens. If someone if we're laughing uncontrollably, it's not edited out. It's it's whatever. You're going to have to listen to it. But it makes it a lot easier.
00:52:17
Speaker
But with YouTube, when you want to deal with videos and stuff, they have a lot of things that prevent you from uploading your video. I just told you at the beginning, I usually have a theme song. That theme song is not an original. It's from a song. So if I post this video, they're going to take the video down because it has a song that is already live out there. So with videos now, you have to upload them and then use those generic
00:52:45
Speaker
know, theme songs or like a whole page on YouTube where you can like select what music you want to add to your video. But I really don't care about the music and all that stuff. But yeah, I had to learn that that was like something that you have to learn too. So I was like, I'm trying to like, you know, figure this out a little bit better than
00:53:01
Speaker
than it was before. And yeah, like I said, I've got really into the social media game as much, but like, for instance, I watch a lot on Instagram, they show a lot of like mobile game ads and stuff like that. Sure enough, guess who popped up? But a mobile game ad. This lady right here that I'm speaking to, it was the Ninja Turtles,
00:53:28
Speaker
game that's on Apple, on the Apple store there. Actually, I actually downloaded it. It's actually really fun. It's fun. Yeah, it is a fun game. Those ads are hard, too, because they want you to be creative, right? Yep. That's why they're hitting the influencers up. They want your spin and your follow, but they're going to whitelist it and push it themselves anyway.
00:53:54
Speaker
So they're like, okay, why don't you go ahead and put this together? And then you're like, oh, okay. And I put it together and I'm like, yay. And then they're like, okay, well, we need you to cut out blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and add blah, blah. I'm like, okay, well, now it's not really my video. You should have just told me exactly what you wanted, but at the end of the day, it's still creating the content.
00:54:15
Speaker
Yeah, those ads, I've had people, they hit me up and they're like, can you stop posting your ads so much? I'm like, bro, it's not even me. No, it just pops up. It happens. Just block it. I'm not even pushing my stuff. It's not even me, dude.
00:54:34
Speaker
Yeah, like, yeah, you have that little X and it says don't have any more. Yeah, or I'm good. Yeah. I'm like, you don't have to message me. You can block it yourself. That's kind of, actually you brought up a good, kind of like a good topic. So when you are dealing with like, you know, we'll say like vendors or, you know, people that reach out to you that want you to promote their stuff.
00:54:58
Speaker
Even on TikTok, when you see a lot of the TikTok creators, they use their own comedy style to present whatever product it is.
00:55:11
Speaker
Right. Is it, I mean, I'm assuming TikTok's probably a lot different from Instagram and stuff like that, but have you, is it, how is it like working with, you know, those like, you know, advertisers and stuff like that? Like you just said that you made a video and they just chopped it up. Like, what, like, does that happen all the time or is it just certain? No, yeah. Well, I don't want to say smaller, but maybe we'll just say,
00:55:41
Speaker
less popular, I don't know, like, so like working for like Nickelodeon and Paramount's, you know, they have big guidelines, right? Yeah. So
00:55:51
Speaker
anything that could be presumed or sexually related, showing too much skin, or they only have certain colors that they want on the screen, you can't wear white, so you know, stuff like that. Okay, the bigger companies, yeah, they'll send you like a full on list of the do's and don'ts and you try your best to follow it. But then
00:56:16
Speaker
They take your video and it's not even the, the team, uh, that given you the feedback it's, um, it's the, uh, the investors, all the people associated with it. Right. And so the team.
00:56:33
Speaker
they are actually really supportive and really helpful, right? Because they need me to do well so they look good to their bosses, right? So they've been pretty good. Now the less like popular companies, they didn't care. I put out an advertisement.
00:56:57
Speaker
for this company. And I looked at it 50 times. I was like, okay, they should like this, right? It's good to me. It should be good to them. I sent it to them. Sorry. I sent it to them. And
00:57:20
Speaker
They said it's great. They were like, we love it. We're okay. When can you post this? So I'm like, okay, cool. I'll post it. So I posted it. The moment after I posted it, I was like, Oh my God, I'm sitting under a desk, which was why I didn't pick it up. And I was wearing shorts, right? But I was comfortable in my own home thinking that the camera was only had this much and I had a glass desk.
00:57:50
Speaker
I was showing quite a bit of legs. Had Nickelodeon or Paramount or any company like that, they would have been like, girl. Yeah.
00:58:02
Speaker
Now, this is not a small company. This is they're a decent sized company. But when I saw it, I was embarrassed. I was like, Oh, my gosh. And then the comments came in, like, I'll buy anything from that girl. Like, you know, I was like, that's just not who I am. I just
00:58:22
Speaker
that was the best play of me. So had they been like a little bit more like stricter and probably had more of a team to go over the video, that would have been caught. So it really just depends on on who you're working with. Yeah.
00:58:42
Speaker
When I did the ad for Splinter Fate and stuff like that, it was a full-on team. And I've done some other ads with some smaller, and they were just like, oh, that's great. Just post it. They just want the exposure. They don't care. So yeah, it really depends. But I'll tell you what, I learned a lesson. I need to thoroughly go through my own videos before I can. Yeah, you definitely want to do a quick review.
00:59:12
Speaker
Yeah, before you, it's like it's like sending an email to like, say you write like a very important email to someone.
00:59:17
Speaker
You want to proofread it before you send it, because you might have something like obviously misspellings, but something might come off a way that you don't want it to come off. Yeah, I did also send it to my girlfriends, too. I need my friends to just take a look at this. In fact, after they saw it, they were like, OK, we've got a couple of things. And I was like, oh my god. Anyways, in that video, I am selling gaming equipment, not thighs.
00:59:46
Speaker
oh yeah i mean you know back like i was gonna actually say like yo back in back in the early days of instagram there was a lot of like you know
00:59:59
Speaker
As far as like, well, I'll use, cause you know, I'm in that room. So like for professional wrestling, there was a lot of like women out there, like, you know, bottling and like wrestling shirts and all this stuff. But weren't weren't sure if they're actually like legit, like fans of wrestling probably weren't. Um, so when I seen, uh,
01:00:18
Speaker
when Chick Foley or Sheena, who I'm with now, she was kind of like, she was like at the beginning with like one of those big influencers as far as like women goes in, in professional wrestling. And like, you know, she was like, you're posting pictures of herself and like shirts and all that stuff and you know, gear and like, you know, so I'm like, you know, and then she started like posting like actual like, you know, comments on things, things that were happening and stuff like that. And I'm like, I'm like, all right, now I could tell who's like,
01:00:46
Speaker
doing what, like this person's just doing it just to get like, you know, likes and all that stuff and probably get like sponsors. This person's, you know, doing it, but they also have knowledge of it. And they're actually, you're definitely one in that, in that realm, like you,
01:01:01
Speaker
weren't intentionally doing that stuff you're just doing it because you're like you know I want to you know make the best content possible at the same time you're excited in the sense that you know I'm actually getting to do this but then it's like oh crap I didn't mean to let this out but I was actually gonna say that video about what what advertiser was it will you like
01:01:21
Speaker
transport to like the 80s. Was that the? That was the playmates. Their retro spring collection where they brought back the giant turtles and the sword shell turtles. Yeah. I thought that was awesome. How long did that take to do that? Well,
01:01:41
Speaker
That technically, um, that was, that was a really big project. And so I think my first online meeting with them was in December. And at that time, I think, uh, I think I was clear to post it in end of April or early May. Okay. So.
01:02:09
Speaker
Five months, I was back and forth with the team at Paramount because they had already pitched their idea to their Playmate partners, Nickelodeon and Viacom and all that. So by the time they got on board with me and we'd gone through the contract,
01:02:32
Speaker
They told me what they wanted. I gave them my best interpretation of how I would do it, but what they wanted. And what they wanted was me going back in time, looking like I went back in time and showing off the turtles. And that one was really difficult too because
01:02:58
Speaker
I like my brand is like, I'm the queen G and I'm in the lioness den. Like everything that I do happens in this space. And, uh, but I couldn't record in here because I have so much stuff that's not.
01:03:14
Speaker
Nickelodeon, right? Nintendo stuff, anything that was not theirs couldn't be in the video. So I was like, I'd have to tear the whole game room down, right? So they were like, we'll just shoot it outside. And that was the whole thing, but they were really helpful. But yeah, that idea, that was not my idea. That was theirs.
01:03:44
Speaker
Oh, that's, uh, that's actually pretty, uh, you know, that's why, you know, I usually, uh, I don't like to record on video in my room just cause of that simple
Content Creation and Brand Partnerships
01:03:53
Speaker
fact. I have so much stuff in there. That's not like related to just, and I don't want it to be like, if just in case I am interviewing someone that's, you know, uh, you know, with an alternate, like, you know, whatever it is, I don't want to send the wrong idea. So I used to do literally, I used to record for my office.
01:04:12
Speaker
where I have all my collectibles and all stuff hanging everywhere. That's the best way to do it because in the event, a big company wants to pick it up and share it. If you have stuff in the background, you can't do it. And I'm getting there. I'm really stubborn because this space is who I am. But Nickelodeon, when I do reels, they have to cut it up because they don't want
01:04:41
Speaker
Dunder Mifflin or Nintendo in a Nickelodeon post, you know? And I'm just like, bro, get over it. I'm not talking about Dunder Mifflin. I mean, who cares? It's a completely different audience, trust me. But yeah, it's a struggle, but it's still really exciting and really fun. Plus it's a great show. I mean, who doesn't love The Office? You mean to tell me nobody at Nickelodeon or Paramount wants The Office, right?
01:05:11
Speaker
I know exactly. Can we get a, do you think there'll ever be a, a office TMNT crossover? And if there isn't, who would, so who would you pick as each character? Who do you think would fit as each character? Not, you don't have to go through every single character in the office because it's a ton of them, but we'll go with the main characters. Who would represent what character in the TMNT universe do you think? Well, I think,
01:05:42
Speaker
I think it would be fitting that it, Leonardo would be Michael Scott, but I think Michelangelo's personality would fit better to be. Yeah. Michael Scott. Maybe Leonardo would be like John Halpert and Rocio could be the white, you know, something. Oh, okay. All right. I like that. April Anil would be Pam Beasley. I mean, yeah, I think we could, uh,
01:06:07
Speaker
We can make it work. I don't know about Master Splinter though, like Stanley. Maybe Stanley, yes. That's actually you.
01:06:20
Speaker
Yeah, I like that. I like that idea. That's actually a good one. That's actually just came out the top of my head because I actually never thought of a crossover between the Office and the T.A. Jr. and Charles, but that'd be kind of funny. Because I see a lot of people do like, you know, parodies of the Office and stuff like that. Yeah, they should. They do look for different characters, but that'd be pretty interesting if they didn't.
01:06:44
Speaker
something like that. Now you have another thing to pitch. I hope you're ready. Well, you get it. You got to start pitching these when you see when you see your best friend, Kevin. Hey, hey, Kev, can you I get an idea if you just pitching it now, but so as far as like
01:07:08
Speaker
uh like the your brand obviously what do you i mean obviously you're doing big things now and you're starting to like you know kind of like in the beginning big things popping as i like to say but uh is it like where do you see this going are you gonna like do you feel like you're gonna take it the next step further because you already kind of have like those
01:07:28
Speaker
big partnerships already. Do you think you see it going bigger? Where do you go after this? But I will say, actually, no, I won't say because I don't know if I should legally say that. But I will say that I've continued my partnership with Paramount. But when I think about like, where do you want to go? What are you doing here?
01:07:59
Speaker
You know, this is just me sharing stuff that brings me joy. So ultimately there really is no end goal, you know, like, Oh, I did it. I mean, I think, uh, doing a deal with playmates in Nickelodeon is okay. You've, you've done it. But when I was trying to think of like, let's set another goal, right? So I don't like to be complacent. Um, what, what would you like to do? And I, I think that something that would be really cool.
01:08:29
Speaker
would be if I could get to the point where
01:08:35
Speaker
um cons comic cons would invite me um not to be like i'll come up take my picture but to sit uh at like a guest panel and and you know and conversate about stuff like this right uh the ninja turtles and what they got going on you know because they do that all the time with um youtubers right they'll just have you can come and go to the um
01:09:02
Speaker
a panel of YouTubers talk about stuff and people want to hear them. So I think that would be cool if I could get invited. They paid for my flight, paid for my hotel, and paid for me to be there, would be neat. Now, is that possible? I don't know, but I think it's a good goal to have, right?
01:09:25
Speaker
getting gifts and sponsorships and brands is neat because it supplements my income. But like, something like for me, like, that's like, hey, I think I think that's that's an interesting goal to have. And hopefully, I'll come up with other goals as I continue to move forward with this and see what type of opportunities are out there that I'm not even aware of.
01:09:49
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think like the, you know, the goal with that too is, you know, to, you know, not only maybe not be invited, but like maybe have those like, like you said, kind of like sponsor, sponsor you.
01:10:03
Speaker
at those like events, like here we have, you know, this person, maybe even like, maybe not be in the like panel, maybe like ask questions at like one of the, at one of the, be like a, you know, not a reporter, but like a journalist. And do like interviews maybe with like, with people. Like after the panel, Kev Kev would come over and I would talk to Kevin like, dude, this is gonna go on my page. Like I think that would be awesome.
01:10:32
Speaker
I'm still working my way up there, but I do know that Tom waltz is a fan of the queen and we were, I was eating dinner after one of the days at the con at granite con.
01:10:50
Speaker
I'm at the bar eating my food, minding my business. I had a great time waiting in line, trying to get everyone's signatures, including Tom Waltz. And then he just comes over, like he ran over. I saw him in my peripheral and I was like, Oh no, is he not, he's not coming to me. Is he like, Holy crap. Like, what do I do? And he was like,
01:11:09
Speaker
I just want to let you know I'm a huge fan of yours." I was like, oh shit, are you serious, bro? Like me? He was like, yeah, I love your content. And I was like, this is weird. I'm nobody without him and their team with Mr. Eastman.
01:11:29
Speaker
It is nice that if I could get to the point where like the last Ronin crew knew of me or knew who I was. When I was at the Comic Con, I was talking to one of the
01:11:49
Speaker
marketers for the loyal subjects, the toys, the figures, and their Ninja Turtle line. And dude, he was excited, right? To talk to me. He was like, Oh, yeah, queen, let's talk. And Ben Bishop from the last Ronin, the guy who killed the turtles. Yeah. And he starts talking to dude and then dude introduced me. And I was like, Oh, yeah, what's up, Ben? Like, I was just playing around. And Ben was like,
01:12:17
Speaker
Do I know you? I was like, no, but you should. So if I can get it to a point where he did, right? Like that far into the turtle community, I think that's a huge accomplishment. Yeah, that's that's I mean, that's and that's where it is, right? Like, you know, just a recognition piece is probably like, you know, what everybody's goal is at some point, like, obviously, you know, all the other stuff will follow a line.
01:12:45
Speaker
like the deals and all that stuff. And you know, Bunny hopefully. But to be respected by them, I mean, I'm the totem pole as far as like,
01:12:55
Speaker
the TMNT world, but I do help promote exposure, you know, to some of the content. So I feel like, you know, they can just buy me dinner a night or two. I mean, I don't think I'm asking for that. You're bringing like, yeah, I mean, you're bringing eyes to the, you know, to the product. Obviously, it's not like, you know, if the Queen G disappears, like, you know, nobody's going to check on TMNT, like at all. It's like, that's not going to happen.
01:13:25
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like you're, you know, one of the premier influencers for them. It's people like me too, right? Who adore the Ninja Turtle world, right? And when all of us, we help pay their paychecks.
01:13:43
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, going to watch the movies, buying the figures, buying the merchandise, all that kind of stuff. I almost wore my... It would have made sense, but I think I mentioned this on the last show that we had together. I had the NECA April O'Neil, the first movie.
01:14:03
Speaker
oh yeah very diverse april nail as she likes to call herself um it came with a um it came with the channel uh three badge like the press badge like with her face on it and it's like it's signed by by her by judith uh i was not aware because just to be like goofy be like a you know journalist interviewing you but i thought that was stupid so i didn't do it
01:14:24
Speaker
But I think just like that, that stuff right there, I'm not the biggest Ninja Turtles collector, but I do collect some, like the movie, the movie figures, because that's super nostalgic for me. I love the movies, the playmates, the figures, not so much the new Mute Mayhem figures about
01:14:48
Speaker
to into those but they I think they look pretty cool. I'm more of the nostalgic person so like anything with the red bandanas. Anything with like I said movie oriented. I'm all for in the old playmates actually not not big on the open shell.
01:15:06
Speaker
Playmates ones, do you like those ones? Yeah, like the shells open up and you can put like a bunch of like weapons and stuff in it. Those are, I feel like they're too like bulky. But yeah, I mean, it's, I think it's just a, it's a great time to be a collector. I'll tell you that much. It's not a great time to be a collector. No, it's an expensive time. Oh yes, it's definitely expensive. I should say, I should say that. Yes, it is. It's expensive.
01:15:34
Speaker
But I always get that if you do have the beans, definitely do what you need to do. I don't know if I had the beans, but I'm going to make it happen because the way that NECA is coming out with all of this nostalgic line of turtles is
01:15:54
Speaker
amazing when I saw everything on display at Comic Con I lost my mind because I was just thinking how am I gonna afford this because they're not um a lot of that stuff they're not selling individually they sell them in packs so you have to get the whole damn pack um which is fine but yeah I'm the same way I'll buy the neck of stuff because they're
01:16:19
Speaker
they're doing their version of the old school stuff so like yeah my heart, you know is attached to the old school stuff so. When the secret of the set came out, I have that the turtle three samurai set I have that and I really only want to just get donatello but neck will not allow it, you have to. The whole pack and then they've got all these.
01:16:43
Speaker
NECA is going on a frenzy where they are starting to, they're continuing the line of figures from the Archie comics back in the day. And I'm just like, oh my gosh. So you are attacking every 40 year old right now. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So I was like, oh my gosh.
01:17:04
Speaker
Yeah, I do. I do like the the Eastman and Laird NECA line. But they look just like the comics and the movies. And see, that's the only thing about the Super Sevens.
01:17:26
Speaker
I like the look that the Super 7 is doing. It's similar to the original Playmates, just a more modern version. But the NECA and the detail, I mean, it's so different. It's so good. It's hard to pass.
01:17:46
Speaker
Yeah, I do have the set of, I never know how you pronounce it. I know it's the loyal subjects, but they have like the best action series with the Ninja Turtles. And I do have one where it comes with a comic book and they're individually colored. Matilda Santilugo.
01:18:08
Speaker
Yeah, I have all four of the Donatello, obviously Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. I have Donatello of, if you're talking about the loyal subjects IDW run of Santalucos version. I have the colored Donatello, and then because they had to buy the sets, I have the full set of the black and white.
01:18:34
Speaker
Santa Luca version of those turtles and I'm really just getting into his turtles in the IDW comics because I started late, really late because I wanted to finish the Archie comics in its entirety but I mean those figures are spot on and that was another thing that I said in the video because
01:18:59
Speaker
Fun story, the loyal subjects hit me up a little while ago, a while ago, and wanted to partner up. And the figure, the figures, I was just like, eh.
01:19:15
Speaker
So I was like, eh, I'll pass. Yeah. So, because I didn't really like, they looked, they didn't look like good quality product to me. So I was, I didn't want to slap my name on it. I didn't want to push anything that I would not buy myself. But then they came out with these freaking Santalucco IDW version. And I was like, oh my God. So I hit them up like, yo,
01:19:42
Speaker
You guys are my partner, dude. Let's do it, right? And they were just kind of like, no, girl, go away. So I was like, yeah, I blacklisted myself with them. But then I saw a dude at Comic Con and he was like, oh, no, I'll get you back in. So I'm hoping that I'm back in because after talking to him,
01:20:03
Speaker
They are going to run with this IDW run for as long as they can. They've got a lot of characters that they're going to put out. And I just think that's really, really, really cool, because for whatever reason, IDW characters, they just haven't done them. And now the lawyers are doing them. So it's cool.
01:20:27
Speaker
Yeah, I like the, like I got the, it's called like the best of whatever. So it's like TMNT best of Leonardo IDW comic book and figure set. That's what it is. It's like a box and it has like a comic book with all of Leonardo stories in it.
01:20:47
Speaker
I have all four of them but I thought it was a cool set because on the inside it's good for display too because each box is the color of the turtle but the figure itself is the original red bandana which hits me twice.
01:21:05
Speaker
I love the red video data, plus it has the pale of the newer versions of the different colors. I think they look pretty cool. They have that feel of both the old cartoon, as well as
01:21:23
Speaker
The old comic book so they kind of like master to write together pretty pretty good so that's why I picked up all four. yeah. And I have them all displayed that obviously next to each other, and it looks like it pops because of the colors of the box and everything but.
01:21:40
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's my best friend so far. These are their best figures that they're coming out with. Oh, yeah. I'm really excited for what's to come with the loyal subjects. By the way, loyal subjects, hit me up. I'm just saying. Oh, man. Yeah. Hit her up. Hit me up. Be any one of us. Hit everyone up. Hit us up.
01:22:04
Speaker
Before I let you go, one more question. So, on my last interview, I had a gentleman who was also with the, you know, the wrestling community and
Diversity and Representation in the Collector Community
01:22:16
Speaker
stuff like that. And we were talking about, you know, content creation, but, you know, for, you know, Black people in content creation, I think we talked about this too, a lot of, you know, anime is huge.
01:22:29
Speaker
with black people, with a younger audience anyway. And we talked about like, you know, like, like blurred con, you know, have you ever heard of that with the, you know, it's a place where, you know, black content creators get together and stuff like that to, you know, you know, trade ideas, you know, network, all that type of stuff. I definitely want to go to something like that.
01:22:55
Speaker
Do you feel, um, the question I had for him was like, you know, we had kind of like a conversation about, do you feel like, you know, content creation is, you know, is, is it, is it there for, you know, for black people that are in this realm? Um, cause we came up on a realization. I think I'm the, I mean, he kind of said it too. He thinks I'm the only black wrestling figure collector.
01:23:21
Speaker
that he's ever seen on the internet. Yeah. Cause I mean, I see, you know, everyone else. Yeah. I might be, I, I don't see anybody in my algorithm or just searching that looks like me that collects wrestling figures. So he's like, he's like, so like, he's like, there has to be a way for like,
01:23:45
Speaker
you know, us to get like that out there. Do you feel like that's like a thing? Like, do you see other black TMNT collectors out there at all? I mean, I don't, you're the only one I know of. There is, yes. That I see it anyway. I do know a small group. And it's interesting because
01:24:09
Speaker
They're a group, right? They don't live far from each other and they go to comic cons together. And there's maybe like six or seven of them, something like that. But outside of that group, no. And
01:24:28
Speaker
I'm pretty sure, you know, they got together because once they, you know, found each other, they were like, oh, snap, you know, we should we should we should hang out and kick it. Actually, no, I lied. It is a small group. And there's like there's not seven of them. There's like four of them. Yeah. The other guys are are white guys. But no, I definitely think
01:24:54
Speaker
that part of the reason why I might get more exposure compared to other Ninja Turtle collectors is just because there's just a saturation of just white males, you know. And so I'm
01:25:13
Speaker
And it baffles me, I mean, it shouldn't, but it's still weird to hear like on every single post that I do, there's at least one person that says, oh my God, she's black and she's female and she likes Ninja Turtles. And I'm just like, what do you mean? Like, bro, I've been here, you know? But they don't, I guess, I mean, I don't know any other, I know one other black female Ninja Turtle, well,
01:25:42
Speaker
She's kind of like a collector of multiple things, but as far as black and female and Indian Ninja Turtles, and she's one of my good, good friends, like we hit it off, right? Because I was like, what? When we met, so we became good friends, but there's, I don't know if it's not that there's a lot of us. I think there's a few of us, but,
01:26:10
Speaker
I want to say just either not knowledgeable on knowing that if you post your content that you might find other people like you and people might find you, right? Just kind of quiet like how I was for several years. I mean, I didn't really start getting noticed until like 2020. And I didn't start posting until 2019.
01:26:37
Speaker
So I mean, imagine if I had started posting when a lot of other people did like in 2015 and stuff like that and blew up. So I know that they're out there. They probably just don't know that we're out here too.
01:26:53
Speaker
Cause I didn't, I had no idea there were all these different communities. I had no clue, but where do you go to find that if you don't know? Yeah. That's it. That's the thing too. Like we were, we were kind of talk about that. Like, is it, is it something like, are you kind of like, are you ashamed? Do you think people are just gonna be like, you know, what the hell are you doing? Why are you collecting it? Like, is it something like that with like, with us, like where it's just like.
01:27:16
Speaker
you know, the anime world's blowing up like crazy. But like, but it comes to like other aspects of like, like black people in the nerd culture. It's like, there's no real like, I don't want to say outcry, but there's really no like, you know, outpouring of like, Hey, we're out here too. Like we like that. It's very strange. It's very, it's very weird to be like, I'll see like a lot of black content creators for wrestling, like just like to, you know,
01:27:43
Speaker
Podcasters and something there's tons that I follow and that yeah be so I'm aware of them But as far as like collectors, I don't see any I think I literally got the oath I think I'm like the only one that's out there or maybe there might be a couple more out there That's strange. Yeah, I might be but yeah, I just I don't think It's kind of in my head do I can only speak for myself, right? I
01:28:12
Speaker
female, black, where I live is not like I see other collectors or black people talking about Ninja Turtles in Nintendo every day, right? So I just keep to myself, right? It wasn't until I just happened to go on Instagram, saw a post, responded, and I was like, dude, I got that. And then the Ninja Turtle community just brought me in. They were like, you need to join this group, this group, and this group, and this group. And when I did,
01:28:42
Speaker
they welcomed me right in you know they were like introducing and making sure that people were speaking to me if they hadn't done that I probably wouldn't be sitting here because I still wouldn't I wouldn't know that there are other people out there that share the same passion and then
01:29:03
Speaker
How am I supposed to find, if I go and start a group right now on Facebook for black female Ninja Turtle collectors, it's going to be me and one other thing. How do I get that out there? How do they know to find that? Companies like Black Girl Gamers and Noir and stuff like that is set up so that we can share that type of thing.
01:29:29
Speaker
energy with people like us, which is cool. But yeah, I think collecting is it's a little bit different. I think
01:29:37
Speaker
I don't, I don't know if it's like an insecurity issue or if you feel shame for spending our money on this kind of stuff. That's what I feel. That's what I feel it is. I don't know. I walk into my room and I just be like, wow, this is the room. Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes you're like, when you're in it and you're, you're collecting and you're buying all this stuff and you're like, oh man, this is great. But then there's those days where you like, like you said, you walk into your room and you're like,
01:30:07
Speaker
What the hell? What am I doing? What am I doing with myself? But then at the same time, like, you know, for me with collecting, it's more or less like, I try to collect with like nostalgia and memories that I get from some things. The same thing, obviously with like, you know, music and movies and stuff like that. But with collecting, it's like, you have that like thing and you can always look at it and go, oh, I remember this time in my childhood. Or I remember I was here when I seen
01:30:36
Speaker
you know such and such that's why that's why I like collecting and I think that's like
01:30:41
Speaker
That's where the message should be. If you are a collector out there, it should be like, hey, you're not collecting, you're not wasting your money. You're collecting because obviously everyone has their own reasons. But the main root of it is memories and nostalgia and things like that. When you look around your room and you're like, oh man, it gives you a good feeling. It brings you to a safe space, essentially too. That's how I look at it anyway.
01:31:07
Speaker
That's what that's a message. I try to I want to get out there I just don't know how to do it as far as you know more of those people a lot Yeah The other day I usually when I wake up Feed my dogs. I usually have like my breakfast and my coffee. It's like in the kitchen, but it's kind of like at a bar area and Whatever reason and the other day I was like, you know what? I'm gonna have my
01:31:36
Speaker
coffee in the other room and the other room is where I keep my statues and my turtle collection and all that and I was sitting down having my coffee and I just
01:31:49
Speaker
really felt good, right? I just started to have like this flow of happy childhood memories and I just really felt comfortable in that space. And I think that's also part of the reason too why it brings collectors so much joy is because when we're looking at all these things, there's history to it, whether
01:32:16
Speaker
It was you remember going to blockbuster with your family and renting the first Ninja Turtle game and bringing it home and whooping ass, you know, or the first time you went to the turtle movie and you got to see the shredder. I mean,
01:32:33
Speaker
I was like, I need to have breakfast in here more often, because I feel like this room knows me more than anyone on this planet. You know, it's just it's like a piece of me. And I
Community Support and Authenticity in Collecting
01:32:45
Speaker
just I felt good. And I don't know why we don't share that more that side of it, like, yeah.
01:32:53
Speaker
If you want to get to know me, you need to understand why this room is important. It's not like a big, you know, history lesson. It's just, it's history. Yep. And you can, you know, I think that's one of the things too, is you can speak to what you collect. Like you're going to go like, here's the reason why I got this. Here's the reason why I have this. I think, and I think that's something that can definitely help out. And I think that's, it's just a way of trying to present it. Um,
01:33:23
Speaker
in a way where you can make it comfortable for people to also share their collections. I've been to a lot of communities where we share our collections and we're like, we talk about these things and all that stuff. But as far as like with Black collectors,
01:33:42
Speaker
It's kind of hard to like get them out of the woodwork and I'm trying to, me, myself, I'm trying to do it. I'm kind of like taking it off my shoulders and be like, hey, where the hell are you? I need more of you out here. So like to be, to represent. It's a big task. It's not easy, but. I'm going to try.
01:33:59
Speaker
They're out there and I wonder to like Like I I do know this one young black man who is a wrestler figure collector and You know, he pops up every now and then he posts and it's almost kind of like
01:34:23
Speaker
I don't know like if you ever follow someone and they'll post post post post and they stop posting for a while and then they maybe they'll come back and post some more and then they'll disappear again and if you know anything kind of like people's patterns I interpret that as things are going good post post post and then something
01:34:47
Speaker
you know, in your life, just prevented you from being involved in social media, you need to focus on something else. So you kind of can understand that, you know, everyone is going through some type of thing. Then when they come back to posting, okay, stuff's getting in. If we could
01:35:07
Speaker
get more of us together, right, than some of those times when you can't post. You can still talk to other content creators and, you know, collectors who are probably going through the same stuff. Yeah, no, definitely, you know, not to, you know, a lot of a lot of the times it's like, you know,
01:35:28
Speaker
you have FOMO on things, especially it can be expensive, like we talked about earlier, and, you know, the newest thing comes out and you might want it. And then, you know, you see other people are getting it and then you don't have it.
01:35:44
Speaker
And now I can't post about it because I don't have it and all that stuff. There was one last year, I think it was SDCC, I think last year. They were revealing left and right, tons of stuff. Neko was revealing stuff. The wrestling figures that came out, Mattel created the
01:36:06
Speaker
They have their Mattel Creations website. We have Mattel exclusive figures like Barbie and WWE and all that stuff. So they had a lot of that stuff. And then they had the regular store line stuff that you would buy at the store and all that. So I remember in our, we have a Chick-fil-A show Facebook group where we collect and stuff like that. I remember just being inspired and going in and saying, hey, there was a lot of stuff that was revealed today, a lot of things that are coming out.
01:36:35
Speaker
you know, collect how you collect. Don't feel like you don't keep up with the Joneses. If you can't keep up, that's fine. Like you're not here to impress, you know, anybody with your collection and you're here to, you know, share what you have. And that's pretty much it. And I felt like inspired to do that sometimes. And that you get, you kind of like brought that out. Like that happens. Like someone left the right and then something happens where, you know, they might not have the money to buy something or something might happen else in their life. And they
01:37:03
Speaker
they just like you know stop cursing for some reason and like you said we need to like be able to have that communication and say hey how could we ever been posted or you know right yeah you do something like that you kind of get to know people you know through their through posting and meeting them and i know i felt that kind of pressure i i had tickets uh to go to comic con um this is my first time my first year so
01:37:28
Speaker
Didn't know about preview night and all that and then the pre preview night. I didn't know about that. So I got tickets Friday Saturday and Sunday and I had some family Emergencies that come up so I couldn't go Friday. I couldn't go no, I couldn't go Friday and but I was able to get a flight out Saturday and I
01:37:50
Speaker
seeing everyone posting all the stuff at Comic Con, right? That I was supposed to be at. And people are hitting me up like, Queen, why haven't you posted? It's weird, but you feel that kind of pressure like, oh my God, why am I not there taking pictures, posting this stuff, buying it? I don't really want it, but I don't want it.
01:38:11
Speaker
post about it. It's like an unspoken pressure. Yeah, that we don't, you know, really talk about it. And but if you're in a good community of people, then you can. And at the end of the day, dude, no one really cares.
01:38:30
Speaker
If you post something really cool, people are going to be excited about it probably for about five minutes and then they move on. So I don't even know why we put this type of pressure on ourselves to keep up with stuff. Just keep up with yourself and what's true to you and what's important to you. But if
Conclusion and Social Media Connections
01:38:51
Speaker
you're not around the right people to talk about it, it can be really stressful.
01:38:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. And I think I think you ended it perfectly there. I don't think we could go on after that. That was like that was a perfect explanation. But I definitely want to thank you for joining. Again, this is great. Always. Hopefully we can do it again before you completely blow up and you're inaccessible ever. Oh, absolutely. Whatever the next big
01:39:23
Speaker
thing is, whether it's TMNT or the 40th anniversary, I would love to get together with you and chat some more. Yeah, definitely. And obviously, you know, put your socials out there. Where can we find the Queen? The Queen G can be found all across the board, that Queen G 22, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all of that. Awesome.
01:39:51
Speaker
Um, like I said, we'll end it there and thank you everybody for listening. Um, and, uh, hopefully I'll have the, uh, video up, uh, soon so you can actually watch as well. And, uh, yeah, thank you for listening. I'll talk to you soon. Peace.