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From the Mosh Pit to the Pressure Pot: An Interview with Dollar $lice Bootlegs
443 Plays4 years ago
This week, Dave and Erik are joined by artist, designer, and art toy extraordinaire, John Pryor - better known as Dollar $lice Bootlegs! Find out about his journey from hairstylist and active member of the punk scene to toy bootlegger, to now launching an all original line of his very own.
Follow D$B on Instagram @dollar_slice_bootlegs and @slicecityrebels. Also follow John's wife @hoarceebu and Slice City Rebels collaborators @AdamBartonTattoo and @ScotttHensey!
Follow us @aic_podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction to Adventures in Collecting
00:00:06
Speaker
Toya Bobs and Dads! Adventures in Collecting is about toys, but it might not be for your children. Especially if you don't like words like f**k or s**t.
00:00:23
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and halls, along with our journeys as collectors. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hi.
00:00:54
Speaker
Dave, we're back. We are. We are in unprecedented territory. I think this will be another week without news, isn't it? It is. I don't know if anyone out there even cares enough to correct us, but I think this might be our longest weekly streak in a row. Yeah, this is...
00:01:21
Speaker
This is like our look into kind of the toy world in general here. Like this is kind of like, we're doing our best, there's no toy fair, so we've got cool stuff. I was just gonna say, I feel like we're bringing the toy fair heat from here from a New Jersey. We've got it. So is there something that I shouldn't do today, Dave?
00:01:48
Speaker
Eric, please, please, whatever you do, do not bury the lead.
00:01:54
Speaker
You know what? Only because you asked so nicely. You know, you used your peas and carrots. Your please is there. So you got it,
Interview with John Prior
00:02:01
Speaker
Dave. This week's guest has made his mark on the toy community by creating amazing pieces in the world of bootleg and art toys. And he was subsequently featured in the Master Casters documentary. Now he's gearing up to launch into a new adventure with fresh original designs. Welcome to the show. Dollar Slice bootlegs himself, John Prior. John, welcome to Adventures in Collection.
00:02:25
Speaker
Yo dudes, what's good? Hey, thank you for having me and thanks for the lovely intro. That was really nice. Thanks. Oh, it's, we're, we're super excited to talk to you. We love your work and, and, you know, as we mentioned before, we started, started recording, you know, a mutual friend, Yuma Booma on, on Instagram has nothing but a praise for you and you know, the, the, you know, there are people out there that you're inspiring. So we're, we're, we're excited to have you on, man. Another shout out for Yuma two weeks in a row too.
00:02:57
Speaker
He's going to need a jacket one of these days. Yeah, he's he's part of the club. So he's got to make like a dog tags for your gang or something and send him some out.
John's Toy Collection and Challenges
00:03:08
Speaker
I like that. I like the AIC dog tags. We could be like we could be the the the Nick Gage of of toy podcasts. Yeah. Or have like T-shirts with names on the back or something. Toy gang affiliated. That'd be sick. Toy gangs, dude, that's where it's at.
00:03:26
Speaker
So before we get started, you know, learning more about you and the projects you're working on, as this is a podcast about toy collecting, we ask all of our guests, what are you currently collecting? Oh, my man. I mean, geez, at the moment, it's pretty eclectic.
00:03:48
Speaker
I've been just, I mean, just like anybody else, I've been picking up random reaction figures depending on what license it is they're dropping. Right now I've been grabbing those storm shadows and snake eyes that they did with the reaction series. Just, and those things are just so pretty, you know, like they look like the cartoons, you know, but like five point articulation figures. They're really neat. So.
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah, reaction has been picking my wallet with those NECA, those NECA target animated turtles and the movie figures. They just keep on coming out with the hits. And how can you say no? And where I live, dude, in Monterey, there's so few and far between shipments. So it makes it extra fun just to try and find these things in the wild.
00:04:43
Speaker
sometimes takes like eight months to a year before they show up on the shelf, but it's worth it. You know, I just found the last set of the twin frogs about three weeks ago and what does come out in February or something. So literally I've been looking for a full year and they finally hit the shelves here. So I don't know. NECA makes it fun. It's like old school collecting in the eighties and nineties. Like just keep looking. Eventually they'll show up, you know, you don't have to go to like eBay or anything.
Toy Collecting Regrets
00:05:11
Speaker
It's true.
00:05:13
Speaker
Right. I mean, do you guys collect those at all? You've been following that line or? So I do the I do the movie turtles. Oh, word. And you got your token and raise our two pack.
00:05:27
Speaker
You know, I, I decided I decided I was going to go into the line late and it was after that two pack came out. So yeah, that's, that's one. That's a, there, there are two, there are two releases, like recent action figure releases that like really, um, I have regrets about and that's, that's one of them. What's the other one, dude? I got to know now what the other one is. Uh, the has lab, uh, Java sale barge.
00:05:55
Speaker
Oh, word. Yeah. Oh, because that's that's my my main focus is the the three and three quarter and Star Wars figures. And I just at the time I was not in a place where I could I could spring for it. And, you know, I still don't have the space. But like, I'm a little bit
00:06:16
Speaker
More stable now at this point. So I you know if I could do it now I would but like yeah after market on that thing goes for like $1,300 Yeah, that one's that one figures these days. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's wild what that turned into Yeah, that's that's never gonna happen. But uh word I love I love those those new GI Joe reactions and I love that they did really cool that they did that special like India release of snake eyes like that like weird
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, I just found those last week here and like, you know, grabbed one to keep in the package and one to open and mold up. But yeah, have you found them yet? They look just as good in person.
Helmet and Customization Journey
00:07:00
Speaker
It's really neat. The colors pop on them in a way that I didn't really think would be possible. If that makes sense. It's one of those things where they look better in person.
00:07:12
Speaker
100%. Right? Yeah, it's unusual these days. Usually, toys look better in the pictures. So that's fresh. Well, dude, on the NECA and the sale barge, I got you, I'll send you pictures of mine. But it's all good. And then other things I've been collecting as well. I
00:07:34
Speaker
I have a focus collection, and so I'm constantly adding to it. I've been collecting the original Malbolgia from the second series of spawn figures, and I just hit 76 the other day. So I'm almost at 100. So after I hit 100, I'll be done collecting those. So wait, so you have 76 McFarland series 2 Malbolgias?
00:08:01
Speaker
Dude, now did you collect? Yeah, I do. But I mean, did you collect back when those came out? Because when those came out, they were harder to find, like, then I don't even know, like, they were the most rare sought after figures selling for like a buck 50 on the aftermarket, you know, and like, I've got like a special connect, like my grandma used to drive me around trying to find one.
00:08:25
Speaker
You know, again, where I live, there's just no finding toys. So we spent about six months, like every couple of weekends driving around the area. So I just got this like love for the toy for like what it meant to like the industry and toys. Like what a dramatic shift that was. That was like, Hey, get this, check out all these spray on paints, check out the size, check out their articulation, check it out. It's a standard release figure. Get with the program.
00:08:49
Speaker
And on top of that, it's just like, it reminds me, like my grandma was just like, she's not around now, but she was awesome. And she just like was my cheerleader. So I have a lot of good memories driving around, hunting for toys with her in Malifolgia, being like one of those. It was also like that weird, awkward time when you're like, just getting into high school and the last thing you want to be doing, like at least in the nineties was being seen collecting toys.
00:09:13
Speaker
but I didn't care. It was cool to hang out with my grandma and it was cool to get an album. So yeah, I just need a hundred for some reason. Yeah, I had it best. I was looking for toys and also wearing Stone Cold Steve Austin shirts all the time. So it was like between the wrestling and the toys, I was just like, yep, I'm the coolest.
00:09:34
Speaker
Oh, man. Sounds like we would have been homies. That's that's exactly it. Yeah. No. So, yeah, I don't know. That Malboja figure is just really special to me. So I've been managing to pick a few of those up every month. And lastly, but not least, if anything, these guys make analysis, more designer toy, designer art, but they make one to one style like robo tech kind of even galleon style helmets and clothing. It's this brand called Machine 56.
00:10:04
Speaker
I've just been adding more of their work to my collection over the last month. They had a few drops on some masks and I don't know if you've ever seen them, but they literally look like something that hopped off of Robotech, except for you can actually wear it's functional. I mean, I wouldn't wear it because there's like only 56 to like, I don't know, 10 of some of these things, but
00:10:26
Speaker
I was going to say, are those the helmets that you wear in your Book of Boba Fett videos? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, those are all machine 56. And yeah, they're unreal. I don't even know how to describe it other than I've been obsessed with that brand for the last two years, and I managed to add a couple more masks to the collection. I don't even know. You guys have seen them? Yeah, they look sweet. Oh, no, that's cool.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I've been, I mean, it's, it's, we're all Star Wars fans here. So anytime I see people that I, you know, I, I respect talking about Star Wars, I, I, I'm kind of drawn to it. So I've been watching, uh, you know, the videos that you suck Lord and, uh, and, and friend of the pod Peter have been, uh, have been doing and they're, they're fun to watch. So heck yeah. Oh, thanks. Yeah. They're, they're fun to do. It's so, it's so wild. Like that.
00:11:21
Speaker
You know what, like everybody is a far across the country, but every Friday we get together, the three of us to talk about Boba Fett. It's so cool. Literally is across the country. You got you and you, uh, Peter's in what he's in, uh, like Illinois west, right? Yeah. And then, and then yeah, every time zone, it's wild five here, seven in Peter and eight, uh, in suck Lords.
00:11:48
Speaker
And we've managed to do it seven weeks in a row now on Friday, which is just mind boggling. That is mine. That's a feat right there. Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty fun. Yeah, especially with the season finale coming up, you know? I know, right? That's just about to happen. Oh, man. As we record tomorrow, so. Yeah.
00:12:15
Speaker
So what was the first figure that you saw that made you want to get into customizing and creating your own figures? Okay. Um, geez. Now this is like a little blurry because this is back when I drank. Um, and it was either Sam sushi by a Falcon toys or the pink star by a suck Lord. I can't remember which one it was first and which one led to the other and down the rabbit hole I went.
Artistic Background and Toy Making Skills
00:12:44
Speaker
but it was like 2014, my homie, true prey. He like tagged me in a star cause post. Um, do you guys follow that collector or know who that is? He's not on Instagram too much anymore, but he used to have the most insane collection he'd post regularly from. No, I'm not familiar. Okay. It's a K a W S star cause check them out.
00:13:08
Speaker
Um, and I can't remember if it was the pink star or Sam sushi, but my buddy true prey tagged me and I was kind of buzzed and just, you know, kind of blew my mind. I just didn't know what to think of what I was seeing because, you know, I'd seen kit bash toys, but these, I think it was the Sam sushi because it was, it was like the, um, translucent arms and head. Like it was obvious. This dude was actually casting his toys.
00:13:34
Speaker
as opposed to just kit bashing and gluing stuff together after he chopped them up and sanded it. And that really messed me up. That really messed me up good. I didn't know what to think about that. And I just didn't know what to how to handle it. And I just dove down that rabbit hole. And within that day, I think I, you know, I had obsessed myself with killer bootlegs, Healy made, Balkan toys and suck horn.
00:14:03
Speaker
And that would be sometime in February. And I obsessed for weeks. I didn't sleep well at all. It was gnarly. It messed me up. I did not know what was going on, except for that I wanted to be a partner.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean I could relate to those micro obsessions as I personally refer to them where like there's just that one thing that jumps out and it's literally the only thing I can think of until I either figure out
00:14:35
Speaker
I guess like what that thing means to me or if I'm going to be part of it or if it's like, you know, outside of my orbit. But, uh, yeah, I, I totally, totally understand what it's like to see something and just be like, whoa, I need to know everything that there is to know about this right now. Like right. Yeah, it did not make sense to me. And I just couldn't for the life of me understand how they were getting the results they were getting and like,
00:15:01
Speaker
I mean, I really couldn't sleep. I'd really be sitting there thinking about one of Peter's rainbow airbrush paint jobs and just being like, how did they do that? Are they measuring? This is like three in the morning. It was all bad. I should have known right then and there that
00:15:21
Speaker
eight years later be here talking to you because there was no direction. It was either like do it or like become an insomniac. I don't know. I didn't understand or know how to. I just knew it was what I wanted to do.
00:15:34
Speaker
So after seeing that you know that first figure and finding the inspiration to start down that path was was kind of making toys. Your first artistic expression or or did you evolve that from something else had you had previous art forms.
00:15:53
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, you know, like in the classic sense of like, you know, 2D art, like painting, drawing, all that stuff. I had all my hopes and dreams of being an artist smashed out of me in high school by my art teachers. So I didn't really think of what I was doing in my 20s as art. But yeah, I sang for a couple of bands, you know, you write music, you sing, you know. And for about seven years, I was a hairstylist.
00:16:20
Speaker
And that's a whole other art in itself right there, just the coloring and cutting and every aspect involved in that. So the toys wasn't my first artistic endeavor, but it was my most authentic and like intentional and realized. And I was definitely outside my comfort zone when I started.
00:16:42
Speaker
Now, being a hairstylist, did any of that working in a 3D space, did any of that translate when you started working on toys? Yeah, yeah. Funny enough, it's wild. I'm so grateful that I was obsessed with color and that I was doing color during the Paul Mitchell ink blot days when the MySpace scene here was happening because
00:17:08
Speaker
A lot of my clientele was just doing the most wacky contrasty cuckoo banana colors and patterns and getting away with it. Not just for folks that I knew on the street, but I had a period of time where I'd go on tour with a bunch of different bands and do their hair and style them before a Draven shoe photo shoot or a video or before they went on stage.
00:17:36
Speaker
If you've got Silverstein Records, look in the first couple albums, you'll see my name in the back of vocals and all that, you know? And I don't know, I had this whole other world in the music scene, but yeah, like doing hair and colors, especially the whole color theory was insanely valuable to doing toys later and understanding color theory. And also just later on, you know, wanting to do weird stuff with like, you know, fake hair on things or just different kind of like,
00:18:05
Speaker
Crafty things I learned from hair that they could be applied and worked with toys as well. It was bizarre, but it worked out How did the opportunity to be featured in master casters come up oh Jeez master casters That is that that's so cool of master
Featured in Master Casters
00:18:27
Speaker
casters. So I'm not exactly sure how it happened Timothy Patrick
00:18:34
Speaker
the man behind the project, Tim, he probably sent me a message or he might have just come and introduced himself to me like straight up like designer con and it was either 2015 or 16. And I mean, I remember shooting some footage there. But one way or another, yeah, he just came out of the blue and you know, it's like, hey, do you want to be in this? And I love doing that kind of stuff. I don't
00:19:03
Speaker
turn those down. So I was really excited to do it. And it was amazing because, uh, I think I'd recorded four different segments at that point. So, you know, this was another one and I was like, okay, bro, we'll see, but it's great. Cause it really came out and that guy has killed it. He has worked so hard and it's on to be now, you know, it's on Amazon prime. Uh, he's done a great job of distributing and getting in eyes on it. Yeah.
00:19:31
Speaker
And for those of you that aren't aware of what Master Casters is, it's this incredible documentary. I cannot recommend it enough. If you follow members of the toy community, especially the toy art scene, you will see some familiar faces in that. But it's such a cool look into the art form. It really is well done.
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, there's just so much authenticity and, like, love for the community and, like, the art form. I can't thank Tim enough for what he did. He really nailed it and really, like, that's a perfect portrait of that time and just the overall vibe and feel of, like, who we are and what we are about is like the, you know, resin bootleg designer art toys, whatever you want to call it. So getting back into the process of actually, you know, creating, because I think, you know,
00:20:25
Speaker
Everybody who is a toy collector is familiar with how toys function. Depending on the format that you're in, the type of movement and articulation that you've come to expect in certain things, whether it's a counter-style 5POA figure or a super articulated wrestling figure or comic book figure.
Engineering Toys and Successful Creations
00:20:47
Speaker
You know, when you're making something or for the first time, um, how often does everything go right on, on the first try? Um, I mean more specific, like when I'm making something like trying to get like a rocket firing, like mechanism to work or like, uh, like doing something I haven't tried before. Like, uh, I don't know, like.
00:21:13
Speaker
Kula dancing kind of that kind of stuff. Yeah anything like when you're when you're when you're when you're trying to You know make the thing that's in your head come to life in front of you. Hmm. Okay It's it's usually pretty decent hit ratio. I've been fortunate enough with the stuff that I've engineered and written out beforehand it generally works out the only issues I really had were the rocket firing blue
00:21:40
Speaker
I did rocket firing blue snaggle toothes a few years ago for DKE. And just figuring out how to not get the springs to blow out internally, that was the only time I really had something really fail on me. But besides that, getting something to work out to begin with, the way my process is, is I've got a few bins of toys that I generally draw from, and I'll just dump them out.
00:22:07
Speaker
just start staring and I'll see a shoulder that I want, you know, and I'll see a gauntlet that I want, and I see some knee pads I want, and then I go from there. And I've got it pretty much laid out and mapped out before I start molding and casting on what I'm going to do. So when all said and done, you know, that the molds pull fine, the figures look the way I expected them to.
00:22:30
Speaker
And, you know, that was even when I first started out, I'm still using the same couple bins that I dumped out for my original character. Like my original release is like the slaughter bot and duck man, you know, my NAR ears, you know, eight years ago. It's just just kind of how it's worked for me. So so much like fails. I mean, sure, I've had designs I don't like once I see them actually mold and cast it up. But not to sound too cocky, but
00:22:59
Speaker
I've been fortunate enough that I can generally engineer or troubleshoot all the issues I come across, oddly enough. I think the biggest, scariest one I came across was when Arby's wanted me and my wife to make them a bobble-headed H. John Benjamin for one of their ad campaigns. And I don't have bobble heads, and I definitely didn't quite know how to make it work with a solid piece of resin.
00:23:29
Speaker
But just one night of insomnia and a little time on the paper and the first attempt worked, which I didn't expect. I expected definitely to have to throw against the wall and start over. But the thing sprung back and forth and it made it into the ad. So I don't know. I don't know. I think I do use a sound kind of lame saying this, but I've got a
00:23:57
Speaker
ridiculous amount of confidence in the toys and the work that I make when I'm making them. I just it's come out well since I started and I just feel this is like my calling and what I'm supposed to be doing so maybe it's a bit different you know it's just hey this is what this guy's intentions and what he's supposed to be doing so it works.
00:24:17
Speaker
Well, I feel like too, you know, over the past eight years, you've, you've developed, you know, a keen way of kind of like reverse engineering, right? Cause a lot of, a lot of what you have to do kind of like on the outset is reverse engineer something that has, you know, is kind of like tried and true, right? Like, like at the core of it. And then.
00:24:39
Speaker
You know once you kind of have that down and you know with with kind of your your built-in confidence and creativity there, you know It really seems like you you know, you do have kind of like almost a templated process No, thank you. Yeah. No, I agree. It's just like it It just it does it just all falls into place somehow and I Think another thing is like, you know
00:25:06
Speaker
Again, the confidence when I came into it, man or monster was the only guy who was articulating stuff. When I got into it, there were really, really poorly pegged toys that you turn the arm and they fell out. It was like, well, bootleg. And I came in and I made magnets the standard in the game. You know, like I can go in any customizing group now and anybody who's casting a resin, they're dumping neodymium magnets in there. And I fully credit myself with that and normalizing it and making it a standard for the game.
00:25:37
Speaker
And I feel like that just added a little feather in my cap too, just being like, Hey dude, like when I got into, you know, like when I got into this, no one was articulating. I figured out, well, I better do this with these magnets and it worked. And it actually became this standard. It's just kind of like, okay, I have confidence and where I lead myself, I can, I can trust my steps and that are sturdy, you know?
00:26:02
Speaker
I don't know because it's funny. I don't generally have this level of confidence in a lot of things, but when it comes to my art, my toys, I do. Would you say process was the most thing that was the most difficult to nail down or was it just more trial by fire in a way? Yeah, it was trial by fire.
00:26:28
Speaker
Just starting out, I didn't mess around. I got my pressure pot right at the start. I wanted to have all the correct tools, so I didn't have to make a mistake and be like, oh, jeez, I should have used the right tool to start. So basically, again, I was drinking. I used to not be good at drinking, but I did it anyway. So when I started out, yeah, it was a little harder to figure out because I was still drinking. Then I stopped drinking. And then it was just like, OK, follow these steps. Do everything the way it
00:27:00
Speaker
I don't even know how to put this.
Challenges and Redesigns in Toy Making
00:27:02
Speaker
Just follow the steps and do everything the right step of the process and it will come out right every time. That's basically what happened. There was a bit of learning curve six months into my career. I moved to my studio and I was near the ocean and there was a lot of humidity. I didn't know that resonant and humidity hate each other.
00:27:25
Speaker
So there was about two and a half months where the majority of my casts wouldn't come out. And I thought that like maybe, you know, it was just magic. There were six months. I was doing really good at this stuff and hey, I had a chance and there you go, dude, back to, back to the loser's bin and failing at everything you try. So back there, but fortunately I googled around and learned it wasn't me. It was the humidity. I moved to a different area, changed the humidity, got everything properly vented. And there we are talking now.
00:27:54
Speaker
man that was a horrible horrible couple months I really did I thought like oh well that's what it that's what tastes like to be good at something well savor it because it's never coming back pal set resin sadness
00:28:14
Speaker
Now you mentioned that there were some designs where you were like, I don't know if that came out the way that I wanted. Is there something that you've made that you would look back and go, you know what, I'd probably do this differently or I'd like another crack at it. And then is there something on the other end of it where you've kind of seen it and it's been like, yeah, I would not change a thing. This thing is perfect.
00:28:39
Speaker
Word. Yo, all right. So mid 2017 into like late 2018, I was using spray on Mod Podge clear coat. And it turns out that stuff bubbles up after about six or eight months. So
00:29:00
Speaker
I would undo everything I did then and I'd feel really bad for anybody that has a piece from that era. If it looks like it's like got a disease, just shoot me a DM, let's get that fixed. But yeah, I'd like to undo all of those specifically. I've never had experience like that prior or afterwards, but oh man, it's wild seeing those things. It just looks like they had like a bubble bath and no one tolled them off, you know?
00:29:30
Speaker
It's just like, they definitely didn't leave my studio looking like that. Now you have a part of Dollar Slice history. Yeah, seriously. It's like I look at that. Anybody brings me a piece like that to sign or they want to show me like, aha, I know exactly where I was when this was made.
00:29:52
Speaker
Do you want me to fix it for you? Because I'd really like to fix it. But those and oddly enough, I mean, I push myself when I do pieces for shows and there's two separate pieces that I did for clutter galleries for their inaction figure shows. The first one was this figure called 18 Visions.
00:30:16
Speaker
And I love it to death, but execution wise, he leans to the right a little bit. His leg is a little, it bows in for some reason. And the master didn't do that, but the molds and the casts do. And I don't have one myself. There's like two in existence, but I really love that toy. So I'll go and look at it occasionally in the pictures and just
00:30:43
Speaker
that knee, or not knee, but that curved calf leg. I just, I would really like to put a cane in his hands, stand him up a little bit more and, you know, give it another go. So maybe one day, maybe I'll have like a work with my wife or someone in horsey poo and she'll sculpt it up, an original version. And then on the end of the spectrum, the other end, there's the para. And that was another piece I did for inaction figures. And that's like a
00:31:13
Speaker
Giant 18 inch beast, you know, I think it's about three prongs of resin and unfortunately The engineering was a little off. So when it got to the inaction show he took a spill and gravity Gravity maimed his existence. So it's one of those things like I wish I could I give him another shot and you know get him a little less gravity prone and
00:31:41
Speaker
You know, not having to do nose dives, but maybe someday. I don't know. It's, it's, it's cool to do things that you like, but at the same time, like why dwell on the past? Cause there's like a lot of cool stuff to do now and in the future, like cooler stuff than I did in the past. But that said, there's always that opportunity to revisit. True, true. And, and like, I was going to, like, you know, you asked as well.
00:32:06
Speaker
There's cool stuff in the past as well. I would never change my original slaughter box. Those things just came together from one of my original bins. Dumped it out. Saw Sergeant Slaughter's goofy arms on there. I wanted to use the torso from the GI Joe snake armor since the day I decided I'd be doing this. I didn't know how. And then the Gronk legs on the Gronk droid, the power droid, the vintage Star Wars figure, it just kind of made sense.
00:32:36
Speaker
That figure is just so ridiculous. He's got these little tiny legs and somehow his gimongous hulking torso and these bulky arms and one finger pointing like he's some authoritative beast, but he's just all funny and short and beefy and pigeon legs. It rules. It just works. I don't know. And the fact that it doesn't fall over
00:33:01
Speaker
And that no one had used the snake armor beforehand. It just, it just works. You know, it worked and it's, it's still timeless. I anytime, you know, I want to paint a few up, throw them, uh, just instant into my Instagram, not even like in the store. And you know, there's somebody who wants to give them a forever home pretty quickly. Oh yeah. I love looking at all the colorways you've done on them. The, uh, you know, they, they look like they're, I like the ones that look like they could be like, uh, like gummy candy.
00:33:31
Speaker
Oh word. Yeah. Yo, I agree with you. There's something so surreal and fun about these translucent see-through pieces and just like, yeah, I don't know, man. It's really, thanks. It's really fun to make them too. And other pieces, you know, like my last piece before I started moving around, I had to move my studio and moved twice in the last year houses, but
00:33:59
Speaker
My Professor Waffles piece, that one really, I'm still mighty proud of myself like I made it today. I just really wanted to tweak out and get all dweedily-dweedily on heritage and when things were made.
00:34:17
Speaker
I took a vintage, vintage Star Wars source material piece. Then I took a modern vintage piece. Then I took a modern modern piece. And then I took like a 80s Robocop piece. And I took a modern reaction Robocop piece. Then I took a ready player one pieces just to throw it all together with the way ready player one kind of
00:34:44
Speaker
took all of these properties and slammed them into one space. So it's kind of like the gloves and they've got like this remote control infinity kind of vibe. So it's just kind of like throws down hammer's home, the idea of just everything being connected and controlled. And just because they're rad, I gave them some action master Transformers legs too. And it's just, it's just a, yeah, it's just my, it's one of my favorite pieces. And I really, I'm really psyched on that piece and what it,
00:35:14
Speaker
what it did and I actually haven't even released it yet. So I'm excited to put these 10 things out sooner or later. Well, as soon as not that they're going to last long enough for us to be able to actually share them and and get them out into the world. But as soon as we see it, we'll definitely definitely share that out.
00:35:34
Speaker
Oh, radical. Thank you. Yeah. Hey, you know, you never know. It's like sometimes you think something's going to move and you're hanging out with it six weeks later. So I always appreciate a super grateful for any promotion. So thank you. And now a word from our sponsors.
00:35:53
Speaker
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Community Connections: Punk Rock and Toys
00:36:10
Speaker
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00:36:22
Speaker
And now back to the show. Well, one thing that the three of us all have in common is that we all share kind of a deep affection for the punk rock community as well. Do you see any parallels or connections between that community and the toy community?
00:36:40
Speaker
Well, yeah. Where where did you guys come up? You went to like shows like DIY basement show kind of stuff like. Oh, yeah. So we're both. Where are you guys out of? We're both born and raised in New Jersey. Yeah. Oh, nice. OK, how old are you guys or what what era of the scene were you going to shows? Dave, you want to go first? Yeah, I'm 40. So like. Oh, OK. Perfect. OK, New Jersey. So get that. OK, I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt you. Tell me. Tell me more.
00:37:08
Speaker
You guys go see saves day shows lifetime like. Yeah, definitely familiar with with some of those with like, you know, like Wayne Firehouse and. You know, even some like Montclair, Birch Hill, like go even go into like bigger venues, but wouldn't feel bad cafe. Mm hmm. OK, OK, Brad, OK, so yeah, you know what I'm talking about then. So yeah, I mean, personally, I mean, because, you know,
00:37:35
Speaker
post MySpace era punk rock and like DIY is a completely different animal. It's just like, Hey, what's it like to have a global reach? So, okay, red, you get it. So like, yeah, I think it's totally the same. I see so many parallels. Like, you know, I, I came up in the nineties hardcore scene. I was just,
00:37:55
Speaker
I dove headfirst into that in 96. The second I found out about this band, Redemption 87, dude, I was at every Bay Area hardcore show I could at every weekend. And I see just the whole Wild Wild West aspect. It's like you just can create whatever you want for yourself in the game, whether it was a band and going on tour, or if it's making your own toy and creating your own audience and getting it out there for everyone to see. It just is like tenacity and the like,
00:38:24
Speaker
pure, like, um, I don't even know the word arrogance. Not arrogance, but just the willingness to put yourself out there and be like, yeah, check out what I made. It's worth sharing with everybody. Put your eyes on this, you know, like get this same thing as being on stage for 15, 30 minutes, you know, singing these songs and, you know, flailing around kind of thing. Um, yeah, I,
00:38:48
Speaker
I totally could see a lot of also, you know, like there's a lot of folks where they wouldn't necessarily make it in so much normie kind of careers or whatnot. And same with like, you know, you'd see the hardcore community be like, wow, these people are right where they need to be. This is where they thrive, you know, and a lot of us in the designer, the resin toy community, I feel is very similar. We're very, um,
00:39:17
Speaker
cut from the same antisocial cloth, I guess you could say, you know, but when it comes to our art form and what we do, we're just on point, you know, but yeah, I don't know.
00:39:30
Speaker
Well, it's funny for me because this... Yeah, like, I would go to it, but Eric, you were doing it. Yeah, this podcast kind of... I mean, I'm currently recording it on the microphone that I used to scream into, you know, like... Oh, rad! You know, it's... Doing this podcast not only was a way for Dave and I to, you know...
00:39:54
Speaker
kind of talk about our hobby and talk about it with our friends initially and everything. This was kind of filled to that creative void for me because I've never been creative with my hands in terms of art, but I've always been behind a drum set. I've always been behind a guitar. I've always been behind a microphone since I was 15, playing in windowless basements and jumping and putting my head through drop ceiling tiles.
00:40:21
Speaker
It's always been that, right? And then I got married, I had kids, and it becomes more difficult to gig once you have kids running around. And it's just so happened that the bandmates that I was with at the time, we all kind of hit that point in our lives where we were ready to kind of split off and do our own things.
00:40:43
Speaker
the adult crash as they say yes for real and i uh you know i had been looking for something to kind of fill that void and you know to your point it's a it's a level of confidence you know when you're a performer you're used to putting yourself out there and saying like listen to me or watch me look at what i'm doing and this is kind of like a weird way to be creative but also
00:41:12
Speaker
Showcase real art at the same time and like talk to the people that we love and the people whose art is incredible and you know people who are who are really the the the gears and axles of the industry that are really kind of driving the toy world and you know, we get to chat with them and we get to have these cool moments where you know, I
00:41:35
Speaker
we get to help showcase their art and at the same time be like, look, we're a legitimate news source and we're here to help and we're here to have fun. I think between the actual creative aspect of it, regardless of what side you're on, and then the actual community vibe, it's scary similar sometimes. Oh, yeah, definitely.
00:42:01
Speaker
You're so right with that. The whole cult of personality going on with different artists, you know, like people might not like each other, like an artist, not even for their art, but just for something they heard someone said that they said one time. It's, it's really funny, you know, and you know, you'll get people who are fans of an artist, you know, for their art, but also just for what their messages are, regardless of the way they get it out there. They're just like, yeah, this, this, I identify with this. This is an identity, you know, it's interesting. It's really cool.
00:42:32
Speaker
I enjoy it. I, you know, the stuff I've been doing has resonated with some folks at a point. I think there's like four or five people that have my logo tattooed on them throughout the planet. Yeah, it's yo is koalas. There's this one cat out in the United Kingdom and it's from his kneecap down to his ankle and the dude's like six six and it's like full color rendered just like the actual logo.
00:43:00
Speaker
Yeah. There's this other dude who tattooed from his like leg, his thigh line to his kneecap, you know, from like his hip. He tattooed himself, you know, the logo, like it's, yeah. So, I mean, I definitely see like how you get these people that are fans of the work or the message or just overall vibe. And to the point where I was like, yeah, here are the dollar slice bootlegs on my skin. What's good?
00:43:28
Speaker
It's wild. I'm super grateful for those folks.
New Venture: Slice City Rebels
00:43:31
Speaker
You've got a new venture out. It's Slice City Rebels. So tell us a little bit about that and how it's different from the previous work that you've done. Right on. Okay. So Slice City Rebels. This is, this is wild. So Slice City Rebels, it really feels like I'm starting over again. At the same time, it feels like I'm living a dream. Like it's already like,
00:43:57
Speaker
gravy train with biscuit wheels, movie life status, but it's like, hasn't even totally started yet. So, uh, you know, I, one of my favorite styles of art is tattooing and tattoos and like, you know, I've literally covered from head to toe, uh, face tattoos, all that jazz. So I, I, uh, I managed to, um,
00:44:22
Speaker
start collaborating with one of my favorite tattooers ever. Um, he's, he's my buddy, but at the same time, I don't know if you guys have been friends with people in like big bands or whatever. It's like, yo, Hey, we're friends, but it's not like we're going to start a band together, you know? So it's like this whole other bananas level. Like now I'm making toys with this dude, Adam Barton. And if you, if you haven't heard of him or seen his work, Adam Barton tattoos are like, you know, again, like,
00:44:50
Speaker
a few years back, if you saw a Venge seven fold on TV or like good Charlotte or like, uh, Atreyou or like, you know, he did the, the Venge seven folds, like a logo and all of their tattoos and all that fancy jazz. And, you know, good Charlotte sing about him, have like rhyme his name with Nike dunks or something somehow. So yeah, it's, he's just such an amazing artist and, um,
00:45:17
Speaker
definitely like my top three tattoo artists. He's in there. And I finally I just asked him like about a year ago if he wanted to like, you know, make some toys together. And we did some back and forth thing and we figured it out and we started up Slice City Rebels. And some of them are based on my original characters that I've made, you know,
00:45:41
Speaker
toys I've already. Other ones are ones that were bouncing around in my head since I started out in 2014. I just didn't think I was going to be able to give them proper justice. So I never quite got them into the stages of like molding or casting, you know. So I, uh, me and Barton started working on these things and, uh, geez, the illustrations and the, uh, the way he articulated my words into actual
00:46:10
Speaker
you know, drawing and illustration is just beautiful to the point where it's like I couldn't imagine these characters any other way now that I've seen them. And, you know, we're doing we've we redid Big Rad Wolf, Slaughterbot, Professor Waffles. And my versions are awesome and I love them, but I couldn't ever see them any other way after I've seen his illustrations and interpretations of them. And that's just next. I just
00:46:41
Speaker
I'm beside myself. It's so cool to see one of my favorite artists designing my favorite toy. My toys that I make are my favorite. I'm not going to lie. I love my character. So it's wild to see these. And then we got Scott Hensley from the original vintage Ninja Turtle line to sculpt him up for us. We're working with him. And to see that level of heritage and talent and just the passion
00:47:11
Speaker
Just, it's incredible seeing his sculpts and bringing him to life. And at the moment we have one that's come fully to a realization, the Robolope. That'll be our first one. I think you guys have seen it. I was just going to say, can we talk about Robolope? Because you did give us a little peek behind the curtain and boy, is that thing awesome looking. Yeah, that's really cool.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, please, please talk about Robo loop. I'll just sit back here. You guys talk about it because I have, you're honestly the first people that I don't know that's actually seen it that I've talked to, you know, that like, aren't just like, you know, I talked to on the radio or they're my friends, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is my first like time that we've shown it to people that have like, just aren't like close, close in that.
00:47:56
Speaker
Cause you know, I just didn't want to let it out too soon. And funny enough, he just, he just put up photos last night. So now that the rabbit's out of the hat, totally, but please discuss the robo-lope. So, so first and foremost, I mean, my, my gut reaction when, when, uh, when you first sent it to me, I wanted to go and dig up, uh, my, my buckioh hair figures. Cause he looks like character straight. I mean, he has that, um, you know, obviously has that, that.
00:48:25
Speaker
that old school playmates TMNT vibed him. But he's got that like that cool space look. I mean, like I love like the robotic leg and I love the color way that you guys pick with it. You know, that having like the the kind of metallic teal in that is all Adam Martin. Yeah, that's all Barton. He got to color the first edition of that one. And it's I mean, right there. Look at that, guys. Just I agree. I love those colors.
00:48:54
Speaker
it has such a like a playmates vibe to it that that to me just like is like what screams awesome about it yeah those those swivel hips like I just I there there's something about that era of toy making that is timeless and there's like a couple there's like a couple of periods like a couple of toy lines that I think
00:49:19
Speaker
Have left such a mark on toys in general that like they kind of have become their own gold standard and I would say like playmates TMNT obviously Kenner Star Wars and and O-ring Joes, you know are the first three that come to mind where it's like you cannot go wrong.
00:49:38
Speaker
If you make a toy modeled after one of those kind of like, uh, systems, right? Like if you're, if you're, if you're in one of those ecosystems, a, you have a built-in collector base of people that like absolutely adore those lines and will forever. Like, like, I mean, super seven's reaction line is literally.
00:50:00
Speaker
What if Kenner made everything? Everything. And, you know, Playmates is still cranking out those, you know, those resurrecting those old molds and cranking out, you know, Ninja Turtles figures. And they can't stay in stock because they're still so good. So like the fact that you partnered with the people you partnered with for this project and are operating in a space where, again, like there's already
00:50:30
Speaker
Beloved toy line that will fit in right with what you're doing. I mean it's just It's perfect. Oh, thank you Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, that was the that was the plan was it was definitely one of those things where they can stand alone is really cool toys But the same time
00:50:48
Speaker
You're going to want to put them next to your other playmates figures. You're going to want to put them next to your other, you know, Ninja Turtles and all your Marvel characters and mutants like they just fit in. They work with your vintage 90s toys and they're just they just I mean, there's just a heritage just screaming through. I mean, they came from Scott Sands like Scott Hensley. You can't help but just like infuse his toys with his artistic, you know, vibe, you know, and
00:51:16
Speaker
Another thing we wanted to do in keeping what you're talking about is the folks who are going to collect them because of Playmates alone, we wanted to give a little extra value to people that were going to pick them up. They're actually a little bit beefier than normal figures. They're ranging from six to seven inches.
00:51:37
Speaker
Be kind of hefty like, you know You could disassemble them and put all the pieces in a sock and if you needed a weapon, you know I'm just saying, you know if you're at a show and some rival crew shows up and you're beefing or something Just put them in a sock and pull some hate greed show status man, especially Roelope you could take out an eye. Yeah. Yeah, you really one of those antlers pokes through the next thing you know your puncture and eyeballs and
00:52:06
Speaker
It's like a sock of death of blindness. Yeah. Yeah. No. So yeah, we're, we're doing those and we're, it's just, it's crazy. It's, it's been surreal. It's, it's been really fun getting to know Scott and like emailing with him and he's just so humble and modest about his work. It's, it's wild. You know, the guy's a legend and he's had his hands in so many generations, childhoods with their toys. And he's just like, just the most mellow kind humble guy. It's been really fun.
00:52:36
Speaker
And just the overall starting over with the, you know, this is completely different in the sense that we own these characters, like we own these figures. This isn't like one of those things where I'd kind of in the back of my mind, regardless of how heavy the kit bashing was, it's still, those weren't my sculpts, you know, unless, unless my wife did something, unless we collaborated, those weren't my sculpts.
00:53:00
Speaker
And when it comes down to it, it is like, hey, I'm just putting other stuff together. And to suddenly have it become its own entire, hey, these are mine and Barton's. Those are ours. These are our characters, down to the fingernail. These are original. These are ours. It's a great feeling. It's just a totally different, I feel way more empowered and confident with it or what it is.
00:53:28
Speaker
And the burning question with these, when, when, when are we going to be able to see more of them? When are they going to start becoming available? All right. So we're working towards hopefully, um, you know, again, you know how this stuff goes. You have a timeline and then reality sets in, but we're looking, we're, we're aiming for a May, June release for the Robolo and, uh, hopefully staggering them every couple of months after that. Uh, there's going to be a five initially.
00:53:58
Speaker
And we're also working on a comic book for it as well. Yeah, again, Barton is just such an amazing artist. As a fan, oh my gosh, I'm so excited. You can see Barton doing all sorts of comic book stuff.
00:54:17
Speaker
And then it's just like, Hey, this is awesome. This is our property and our characters and we're going to make a comic and like, bring him to life and put him in adventures. And man, it's, it's just so cool. It really feels like, you know, this is what those eight years were like for. This is what.
00:54:37
Speaker
starting out was for was to launch into all original, you know, completely owned line. You know, we have Safoobies coming out as well with two different vinyl companies like forties. Like we're really we're going all in, which is neat that the opportunities are presenting themselves to do so. The continued evolution of the Safooby revival. Love it. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, we have. So we have a robo-lope coming out with Monkey King. They're going to be putting out the robo-lope.
00:55:06
Speaker
And then Toy Art Gallery are going to be putting out the big Rad Wolf. And this is just all, you know, just in the beginning stages. And you know how it goes with Sifuubi, they'll be about 18 months to 24 months before they're out. But oh my, that will be really neat once they are out. And I have a sneaking suspicion that David Arkowski is going to be sculpting him. Another vintage playmates, they should have sculpted him. So yeah, it's...
00:55:36
Speaker
Like I said, it's been surreal. It's like movie life status. And even if it just stopped right here, it'd be fulfilling, but it's just the beginning, you know? So probably the Robolope will be out in June or May, June. And we might even have an issue with a comic out by, you know, mid summer or late summer and time for designer con. Sure.
00:55:56
Speaker
Very cool. And, and, you know, we've, um, we've, we've talked about a lot about collab collaboration and especially, you know, with, with what you're doing with slice city rebels, but you've alluded to it, uh, you know, throughout the interview so far that you've, you've collaborated quite a bit with, uh, your wife who is also a sculptor. Um, so what's it, what's it like working together in that capacity and, and tell us a little bit about the work that she does.
Wife's Sculpting Contributions and Recognition
00:56:20
Speaker
Yeah. So this is wild. So my wife, Katie,
00:56:24
Speaker
She she goes by the artist named horsey boo Don't try and just google it. You got it. It's it's spelled funny. It's h-o-a-r-c-e-e-b-u Horsey boo, and she's a sculptor a toymaker and She she literally got into it by Watching the last Jedi and thinking the porgs were cute and we had
00:56:49
Speaker
been together maybe about six months and I gave her some sculpey and she sculpted up a porg. And by the time she was done with the first sculpt, she already was over it and was revising and making a second sculpt. Then we molded and cast it. And I think by her fifth sculpt, she was sculpting for Arby's. She's just masterfully talented. It's bananas. She'd never done it before.
00:57:16
Speaker
wanted to sculpt a porg, sculpted the first one, it was very rudimentary. The second one looked like it could have been like a designer Kenner piece. The third one was a porgicidal, it was suicidal tendencies, porg. And it just had so much soul and it was so cute. And yeah, she, I don't know what it is. She's just a prodigy when it came to sculpting. So she picked up some clay and she's been doing it like three years now, I think, three and a half years.
00:57:46
Speaker
It's been a lot of fun. It's bananas watching her grow as an artist and just seeing her explode just on her own merit. Nothing to do with me, just her sculpts and releases alone. Like within the last year, she did a sculpt of that character from the Kevin Smith film, Tusk. She sculpted up Mr. Tusk. And that thing is terrifying.
00:58:15
Speaker
It's got straight up like nipples on its back, a nose on its shoulder. It's a perfect figure, like eight inch figure rendering of the actual Kevin Smith prop. When you Google Mr. Tusk now, all the reference is mainly her sculpt. It's insane.
00:58:38
Speaker
She can't keep them in her store. They take her about I don't know two weeks each to make and she can't even keep them in there, but Yeah, it's it's been great. She's a She's just an incredible artist. She puts me to shame in every regard She's been doing it half as much or half as long a time. So that that's great That's always that's cool. It's it's amazing though. It's a lot of fun watching her grow and You know it
00:59:09
Speaker
funny enough, she's been involved in some of my most controversial pieces, you know, like, and some of my most popular ones. Like we did a bootleg, we were going to do a piece with the TNC surf designs. And that kind of fell through and it became kind of controversial. So we she sculpted up their shaka Kong, so it ended up being
00:59:33
Speaker
And I think that was her sixth sculpt or something like that. So Arby's and then straight into the fire with controversial toy with all sorts of brands coming after her. And after that, it's just been nothing but smooth sailing. I have to shout out one of my favorite moments of I guess was it late last year? Well, when she did the Simpsons Greta Thunberg figure and Matt Groening actually
01:00:02
Speaker
Has one like yeah, that was just like that was one of those moments where and the two of us I'm speaking for Dave. He's right here, but we're huge Simpsons fans You can comfortably speak for me on that one and that was one more like no joke. We were living vicariously through you and That video we were just like ah
01:00:27
Speaker
Yeah, that was surreal. Yeah, that that one was wild and it honestly couldn't have come in a better time because Katie had she had worked herself so hard up until designer con and she's got chronic illness. It just really wears her out. So we get to designer con and she'd worked so hard that like she was literally just done like she could she left the hotel room maybe for three hours the whole weekend.
01:00:56
Speaker
designer con. So that couldn't have been, that literally was the best medicine she got all weekend was I was sitting there at the booth and Graining's, you know, making the rounds and there was like two C's coming and I'm like, yeah, I got this. I double checked with her beforehand. Cause she was at the hotel and I was like, is it okay if I, if I give Graining one of your, your Gretas and you know, of course she was fine with that. And Graining is just such an impressive and inspiring guy.
01:01:25
Speaker
You know, he comes up, he talks to us about us, me, and people were at the booth with me. And I was like, you know, we insist we'll give you one. He's like, okay, but here, let me make sure and just give you like a charitable donation towards the heart, you know, and not going to argue with him. You know, it's like, hey, if you want, sure, dude, here, 20 bucks, something like that. He literally pulled out the exact change and was like, here, take it, you know,
01:01:53
Speaker
And I'm not going to say no to a millionaire. I certainly am not a millionaire. I'm closer to not a millionaire than a millionaire. So not going to argue with him, but it was just such a neat kind gesture because it was just like, Hey dude, you guys are profiting off of and banking on my creations. This is my favorite piece. I'm going to record a video for your wife. Like that, that whole video, I sent it to her afterwards and that was like,
01:02:21
Speaker
That kickstarted her weekend, and she came out for a little while to the convention and hung out. And it was the sweetest, most humbling, inspiring experiences of DesignerCon in a long time. That was really cool. Matt Groening's a stand-up dude from my experiences and hers. Love to hear that. Oh, and also, I must say, like, yeah, her Greta sculpt is just bananas. Again, like, staying with a lion's heritage
01:02:51
Speaker
It looks identical to anything that was put out in the series by Playmates. Yep. Mm-hmm. That and, you know, how could you go wrong with a combo of porg and suicidal tendencies? Porgicidal, bro. Yeah. Yeah. That one was fun. Yeah. You're currently talking to the biggest porg.
01:03:16
Speaker
porg fan in existence in my brother Dave here is he's literally like king porg. Yeah, I was sick. Anytime like I was just. Jeez, like a month ago, maybe back from Disney and I was like, oh, there's a new porg and it makes noise. I need this. Do you do porgs are so cute? I love porgs. I'm on I'm on your team there with porgs. They're just.
01:03:43
Speaker
They're rad. It would be great. You know what? Listeners, Mandalorian Porg. There you go. There's your gift from Dollar Slice. Love to see a Mando Porg. A little Porg with a little chibi Mando armor on. Oh, my heart. Someone's going to do it. My heart. All right, so now is time for some Q&A.
01:04:10
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement, searching for them at larger retail stores.
01:04:26
Speaker
Visit them in person at 106 Main Street in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at ChubsyWubsy.com. That's C-H-U-B-Z-Z-Y-W-U-B-Z-Z-Y.com. And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
01:04:42
Speaker
So we we got some we got actually this was this was interesting because we got a lot of the same or similar questions from people so I can't credit these these next four questions with any one individual like we normally do for this segment.
01:04:58
Speaker
But more than four people who gave you questions about me. Wow. Ripping. Thanks, folks. All right. So the first one and by far this was this was the most popular question. What advice do you have for people looking to make their own toys? Oh, cool. I like that question.
01:05:22
Speaker
Just start doing it. Go on YouTube. Look up how to build a pressure pot, build your pressure pot, then get your resin and get your silicone. Get 327 smooth cast resin. It's nice and forgiving. Uh, gets the mold star 20 T it will last a long time. Oh, start doing it. Go on craftsman's a steady craftman's page. Like that will show you how to do anything you need to do. But,
01:05:48
Speaker
To start making toys, stop thinking about it, stop dwelling on it, stop waiting about it. You know, if you got to save, save, don't let, that's of course you got to do that, but yo, just do it. Like there's no other way to make toys than to make toys. You just have to start. You're not making toys until your hands are messy and you're got silicone and resin on your pants. There's no other way to do. So you just dive in head first. Don't look, just do it.
01:06:19
Speaker
All right. As someone who has spent so much time boiling, popping, and casting, how do you feel about 3D printing? Words. Oh, that's fun, too. I think that 3D printing has its place, you know? I feel that, like, just as, like, what is it? What is it that the band, not Bandcamp?
01:06:48
Speaker
What's that app, the Apple app for making music? Okay, yeah. Okay, there we go. Well, there you go. Like the way I see 3D printing and molding, casting and kit bashing, it's just the same thing as, you know, your garage band, you're taking samples, you're just dragging, clicking. It's got its place. It's definitely cool. I mean, some really neat stuff's been made on GarageBand. I like to plug into and play, you know, have the amp,
01:07:18
Speaker
instrument, you know, maybe the master piece that I'm molding, cast it, put in my pressure pot. So I feel like there's value in either. It's definitely a lot easier just if you just want to make some customs or something or you just want like what you just saw on Book of Boba Fett last night, and you want to find the file and download it and make those yourself. I think they're rad.
01:07:47
Speaker
You know, I could be a grumpy old, like old man about it and be like, Oh, well, you're not molding casting. Like that's got no place, but that's not true. And that's not like staying with the evolution of toy making and you know, like cool. That's what we did in the past and could only do it, but it's the future. The future is cool. Like now people are 3d printing. Uh, I, I appreciate it. I think it's got its place and you know, I, I definitely have.
01:08:13
Speaker
3D sculpts. I'm working with Dave Bondi at the moment for working on it. Again, the punk rock scene, again, East Coast, Lord Ezak from DMS, Scarhead, Danny Diablo, working on putting out, yeah, I'm putting out a toy for Ezak. And Bondi sculpting that up right now again, too. And that's the same thing, we're doing playmate scale. But yeah, he's going to come with a mug of beer, a paint pen and a mic.
01:08:44
Speaker
And again, Barton did the illustrations in the turnarounds for him. It's awesome. But you know, that's one of those things like it's just.
01:08:53
Speaker
Bondi doing the 3D sculpt seems most in keeping and most efficient with this one. So that's what we're doing. But yeah, I appreciate it. And you know, I'm not going to lie, I absolutely adore, like I'm in love with the fact that you can print an eight foot Boba Fett if you want, you know, like the, the, they stay high def regardless of how big you blow them up. And I love that. I love the jumbo aspect and like just how crazy you can get with that stuff.
01:09:21
Speaker
Well, speaking of Boba Fett, this was actually my favorite question from this. Along with Killer Bootlegs and Sucklord, like we mentioned, you've been doing your book of Boba Fett recaps. Why do you think that Boba Fett has become such an important character in the bootleg toy community?
Boba Fett's Influence in Bootleg Scene
01:09:41
Speaker
Fair enough. Well, that works because I just wanted to really quick give a shout to Pete and Morgan. You know, Sucklord and Killer, love you guys. Thanks for being awesome.
01:09:50
Speaker
killing it. We've made seven episodes. And what ties that together is like, with Boba Fett, I feel like in our community and the resin casting bootlegging scene, he's part of the heritage. I mean, that's who Sucklord based his character and his avatar off of.
01:10:11
Speaker
And regardless of whether or not we want to, he's everywhere. I mean, Succord is the scene. He is the art form. He's Ian Mackay, dude. He started Straight Edge. So it's impossible not to at least see that Mandalorian helmet with a visor one way or another.
01:10:31
Speaker
And then you get to Killer, who was second in line with this stuff. He adores Boba Fett, you know, and his work was all super Boba Fettified and was just a ton of Boba Fett, Boba Fett, Boba Fett, Boba Fett. So the two of those guys, they just hammered it into the ether of the whole community into the blueprint.
01:10:51
Speaker
And on top of that, I feel like Boba Fett, like unintentionally, if you look at Boba Fett, he came out in 1980, 79. If you look at him, he is literally a highlight reel of every cool toy and something that came out in the 80s into the 90s.
01:11:07
Speaker
Robo, he's robotic. He looks like a transformer. He's all spacey. It kind of looks like something that could have been in Ninja Turtles. At the same time, he could have been in G.I. Joe. At the same time, he could have transformed. It was just completely unintentional, but that guy is literally a highlight reel of everything for about 15, 20 years of toy influence.
01:11:31
Speaker
I feel like that's another reason. Even the armor, the way it looks like turtle shell. I mean, he just is an incredible soup can. He is a great piece to work off of, to riff off of. There's always some new approach. And if you don't like new approaches, there's hundreds of approaches people have already done and you can do your version of them.
01:11:52
Speaker
And he's just, the four book of Boba Fett came out. He was, you know, there wasn't even a personality or anything so much. So you could infuse him with whatever you wanted, you know, you could boom, a Buddha Fett, you know what I'm saying? And it worked. Even now it works. He's, he's all chill and laid back. Now we've gotten to know him a little bit better. You know, um, I think between just suck Lords ties to him and popularizing the image and just how Peter really hammered it at home.
01:12:22
Speaker
And yeah, just being a highlight reel of everything cool to come in that decade just randomly happened to be like, I mean, Boba Fett. And plus dude, that rocket firing like action, you know, we were all looking for someone who had that. Oh, you don't play with your toys anymore? And you had Star Wars figures? Can I come over and look at them? Maybe I'll give you $5 in a Crystal Pepsi, you know?
01:12:49
Speaker
Like we all wanted to find a frickin' rocket firing Bulbafet when we were kids. Yeah, once we had somebody say, define Toyetic, and their answer was Bulbafet. Yeah! Geez. Wow. Yeah. I mean, that, it's true. I can think of a, like that single figure keeping the entertained.
01:13:12
Speaker
on drives to see family that were like six hours away. You know what I'm saying? We're like seven years old and just tracing the lines of his armor and the rocket and just the character and just all the adventures he can go on in the back seat. He's got a freaking rocket pack. And he's like the most famous, like, well, this is, this toy is dangerous. Like in sense of like this was changed. Yeah. It was like, well, why it's cool.
01:13:40
Speaker
living life on the edge, even as a four year old, you're like, yo, I could die. I can't even comprehend what that means. But man, this thing could do it. So the last question in the Q&A is prefaced with making toys is hard. Did you ever feel like quitting at any point? Oh, geez. Yeah.
01:14:05
Speaker
Making toys is really hard and keeping your confidence up to continue making toys or just being okay with being broke your whole life is just something that like, yeah, there's, there's times where stuff's not going right. Uh, deadlines are screaming at you. Uh, your hands are shaking and the lines are coming out wrong on the pain.
01:14:30
Speaker
You've got to deliver and it's just not, doesn't feel worth it at that moment. You're, you know, sometimes a project will be overwhelming and I won't sleep very much for weeks and it can, it can be daunting. You know, I'm not going to play it cool and be like, yeah, bro, it's rad every day. I wake up, I put on my rainbow glasses and I'm just hype, bro.
01:14:55
Speaker
There's a lot of times where it's just like, man, what is wrong with me? Like, maybe I should just take these face tattoos to SoundCloud and start rapping. Like, I don't know, but like, it's just, it's hard at times, but yeah, you feel like quitting sometimes, but there's, you know, it comes down to it. There's nothing better. And there's nothing I could ever imagine doing, you know, like, it's, it, I,
01:15:19
Speaker
managed to make this work so far, no way I'm ever going to quit. No matter how hard it gets or how sleep deprived or how many pennies on the hour I'm making, I don't care. This is what I want to do until I'm dead, and that's what I will. Well, with that, you have survived the Q&A. So that was it for the Q&A. Oh, ripping. Well, I'm grateful that they were nice to me.
01:15:46
Speaker
And that brings us to our signature moment in every episode of the podcast here where Dave fulfills his role as this shows James Lipton and asks the final question. So the final question, what is your favorite and or strangest piece in your collection?
Favorite Collection Pieces and Displays
01:16:08
Speaker
It can be one of each, it can be both.
01:16:15
Speaker
Jeez, I hate to be like broken recordy and like, I tried to, I dwelled on it for a while and I'll probably think of it right after we're done, but it really is my Malbolgia. I just love that thing. I, my very first one, the very first one I got with my grandma when I was 14 after months in the car, driving around, trying to find that thing. It's, it's my Malbolgia. It's got a dot on its foot so I could tell it away, tell the difference from it between the 75 other ones. And, um,
01:16:44
Speaker
I, it's not so strange, but I just, I just love that thing. Uh, it's my most favorite for sure. And strange toys. I mean, that's hard. Uh, that's, that's super challenging because, uh, the, the, the, the community I'm in, I mean, just, I don't even know where to start. One of your best friends is suck Lord. I don't even know what I just, uh, I've got a, uh, jumbo 18 inch, uh, what you call it show gun style suck Lord.
01:17:12
Speaker
with a jelly, I don't know how explicit I get, but it's got a jelly something you'd insert in your butt on one side. Hey, we don't king shame here. You could say butt plug. Yeah, yeah. It's got an epic little see-through butt plug for the left hand and the right hand's holding this crazy pink lightsaber. He's got a
01:17:39
Speaker
jeweled money sign on. It's awesome. It was the centerpiece for the Suckadelic Woop Bear Show in 2017. That's probably my other prize. That's my prize weird piece for sure.
01:17:54
Speaker
Good answers. I honestly, I could spend the next half hour just talking to you about your Malbolgia collection because I love those early spawn figures. Do you have them all displayed, like all 76 of them in one spot displayed? I'll send you guys a picture on the IG messages. The last time I took a picture, I think I had
01:18:22
Speaker
66 or so. And I took a picture at this one place we were at for about six months and it was the whole staircase. They're just all up and down. I've got one in the package still, because it's covered in Korean stickers and Korean packaging. So it looks really cool. But yeah, they're all out of the package. They're in storage right now, but we're actually in process of unpacking them over the next six weeks or so. We're getting all our toys out of storage.
01:18:50
Speaker
Um, and yeah, they're, they just all, uh, start fit. They used to fit on a shelf. Uh, all of them just stacked up there. And it looked like a scene out straight out of like a labyrinth or something, you know, like a bunch of Jim Henson Muppets just fit there. There's so much soul and so much personality and that sculpt and the way that faces and the exaggerated jaw and eyes and the way his hands are, he can kick his legs around. It's.
01:19:17
Speaker
It's such a gang, like it's such a gangly, awesome, weird figure. Like it always has been. He's got so much personality. It's so fun. And just like any ones that you guys have, these all suffer from the same issue. They, they just are like, don't I go and they do a flip into the ground. Like you have to lean them extra far back because for some reason they always do somersaults forward onto the ground. Weird top heavy. I mean the, but that,
01:19:44
Speaker
Todd continues to do that to this day, is how much plastic can I get in this package for $20? I mean, that's... To this day. To this day. That's awesome. Well, listen, before we let you go and we sign off for the evening, tell our audience, where can we find you on the internets? Okay, radical. So, you can find me on the internet, on Instagram, at Slice City Rebels.
01:20:14
Speaker
for the Slice City Rebels series I'm doing with Barton. Barton is Adam Barton Tattoo. And then my main account is Dollar Slice Bootlegs with an underscore in between each word. Awesome. And I just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to be on the show with us. It was awesome finally getting a chance to talk to you and learn a little bit more about you.
01:20:39
Speaker
All right. Well, no, thank you guys too for the time and, you know, throwing together these questions and time to have me on the show. I appreciate it. Um, I was curious, can I plug the, uh, just one more time, the slice city and the projects coming? Absolutely. Yeah, of course. Okay. Right on. Right on. Thank you. So just the plug rundown again, please go check out my insanely talented wife, Horsey boo. Um, she's just,
01:21:09
Speaker
bananas with what she's doing. She's working on a Boba Fett sculpt at the moment. I'm not even sure if I should be saying that, but whatever. You heard it here first. Go get it.
Shoutouts and Endorsements
01:21:22
Speaker
And then, yeah, my partner and collaborator for Slicity Rebels, go check him out, Adam Barton Tattoo on Instagram. He is just one of the most inspiring, impressive tattooers out there and just
01:21:36
Speaker
You'd be psyched to ever collect a piece from over here in Santa Cruz. Go hang from the Lost Boys Bridge and then go get a tattoo from Barton. And again, check out Machine 56. I can't emphasize enough how much you need to get this brand in your life. Machine 56 makes some of the neatest handmade designer helmet mask wearable art
01:22:00
Speaker
And they make some jackets, pants, other stuff as well. It looks straight out Evangelion or Star Wars or Robotech and it's all handmade limited edition. It's really neat. I've become pretty good friends with them and it's just been really impressive seeing their process and how they go about creating these pieces and really inspiring just to see how they work. So please check out machine 56.
Future Plans and Closing Remarks
01:22:24
Speaker
And last but not least, please go follow Slice City Rebels. We will be having releases very soon and they'll are not going to stop once they start. So get on board. And we'll make sure that we include links to all the social media profiles in the show notes. So if you guys want to start tapping away to follow.
01:22:47
Speaker
You'll find all the links that John just mentioned in the show notes. Thank you again, John, for coming and joining us. Once Slice City Rebels gets some more releases out, we'll have to have you come back on and talk more about the process. Oh, please. Me and Barton were talking about that. He's never even listened to a podcast, let alone been on one. He was trying to figure out how to listen to tonight's podcast. He was like,
01:23:16
Speaker
They found out that they're recorded afterwards. So that would be awesome to have him on with me so we could discuss our process and what we're doing with the series and where the comics at and all that. That would be rad. Thanks dudes. That would be awesome.
01:23:30
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.
01:23:47
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.
01:24:10
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer Frank Kablaui. This program and many others like it on the non-productive network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.
01:24:40
Speaker
you