Transcript
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.
Speaker: And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Speaker: Hello everybody and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting Premium Toy Addict Event. We are back ah to talk about the wwe WWE's 2025 Elimination Chamber, a premium live event that ah had a lot going on.
Speaker: historic even many would say but before we dive into who Dave and I think were the most toyetic uh and and deserving of a figure from Elimination Chamber a little bit of housekeeping so first and foremost uh it is March 2025 which means there are a couple of things going on that you need to know about One is our March 2025 giveaway is live over on Instagram. So ah this wonderful i PVC diorama statue of AEW's Brian Danielson is ah is up for grabs. So visit us at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram. You will find a pinned...
Speaker: i a pinned post on our feed, as well as in our highlights under the giveaway section, and you have an opportunity throughout the entire month of March to win ah this statue. So we will announce the winner on April 1st.
Speaker: No fooling. ah And you have until then, until March 31st, to enter. So again, that's at AIC underscore podcast. ah and And you can win yourself a gorgeous ah PVC diorama statue of ah Brian Danielson, courtesy of our friends at Diamond Select Toys.
Speaker: So, yeah, so make sure you check that out, especially if you're a wrestling fan. ah You know, it's ah a great piece for your collection. So we are giving one of them away. The second thing that you need to know about for March of this year is our second ever collection.
Speaker: live show. ah So we are recording the show live in front of the audience there at ZapCon New Jersey on March 29th.
Speaker: i We are scheduled to go on somewhere around 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Time is still being kind of ah finalized, but... It is $10 to get into ZapCon. It is in Wayne, New Jersey at the Wayne PAL.
Speaker: ah We will put a link to where you can get tickets in the description below. But ah make sure that ah if you are in the area, if you are into comics, if you enjoy adventures and collecting and want to be part of our live audience, we would absolutely love to have you.
Speaker: ah We will be talking to friends of the pod, previous guests, Blaine and Chris from the team over at NECA. ah We're going to be talking about... ah their art, the process, what k Chris, you know, again, what Chris and Blaine do at NECA, as well as their own personal art. Chris will be set up at ZapCon with his own ah table, his own booth, ah selling some of his amazing art. We of of course, were big fans of Chris before we, we knew him before we knew that he was a ah part of the NECA team. So we are super excited to be chatting with him again.
Speaker: uh, um If you watched any of our Toy Fair coverage, you'll have seen that ah we interviewed Blaine. We got the booth tour at NECA, and he might even be able to bring some of those things that we saw for the first time as media ah to this event. So that way you can see it with your own eyes for the first time. So we're really excited to sit down with both Chris and Blaine and have a fun conversation. And of course, ah you know if you're there and you have questions for them,
Speaker: Maybe we'll even carve out some time for some questions from our live ah studio audience. So, ah yeah, so we'll be at ZapCon ah all day, hanging out, chatting with people as they come by, maybe shopping for some comic books ourselves, because, of course, this is an event run by Zap Comics out of Wayne, New Jersey, our favorite comic shop.
Speaker: in the entire world. They are incredible people. um They've been around for as long as we've been enjoying comics, and we're we're super excited that they're having us back ah to have another live show. So again, going to say the date one more time.
Speaker: It is March 29th, Wayne, New Jersey. and We will be going on somewhere around 4 p.m. So definitely make sure you get there beforehand so that way you have tons of time to go around and shop and then ah hang out with us and and and you know enjoy the live show.
Speaker: Aside from Chris and ah Blaine being there, we will also have a couple of giveaways. at the event for people who are in attendance. We haven't quite figured out how we're going to give them out yet, but ah we will. We will have giveaways. So please make sure, again, ah that you swing by, that you say hi, that you and enjoy some incredible art and comic books, and and even um some other toy makers. So Gene St. Gene, somebody who's been sculpting action figures and statues for a very long time.
Speaker: ah You probably have some of his his stuff if you own some Diamond Select pieces. ah He is he's an incredible incredible sculptor um and ah and seasoned vet of the of the industry. So he will also be there.
Speaker: So i yeah, lots to do at ah at ZapCon. Again, March 29th, Wayne PAL. Make sure you check it out if you are in the area. ah You can also visit... um If you don't want to go into the show notes and click, you can visit zapconnj.com to get your tickets.
Speaker: Or just visit Zap Comics and on Valley Road in Wayne, New Jersey and pick up your tickets there. So, again, really excited to do another live show. March is going to be a super fun month. Plus, it's a day after Dave's birthday. So, um you know, you'll get to... ah help us celebrate the big guy's birthday. So make sure, i again, you're in the area, we'd love to see you.
Speaker: ah The first live show was a lot of fun, so ah excited for this one as well. With that out of the way, I think that's all of the housekeeping that we have to take care of before we jump in here and talk about our our premium Toyotic event.
Speaker: So ah if this is your first premium Toyotic event, ah what we do here is we don't discuss the matches, ah who won, who lost, Uh, we leave that to the, the, the bigger guys out there. What we're concerned about is the toys who had the coolest ring gear, who had the craziest moment that needs to be captured in action figure form.
Speaker: Uh, whether it's a, uh, an ah elite, whether it's an ultimate, whether it's a multi-pack, uh, we dissect a, a premium live event or a pay-per-view. And, uh, and we tell you who we think a pitch, if you will, to our friends at Mattel, um,
Speaker: who we think deserves a toy from the event. So without further ado, let's let's kick it off um and let's get into the first picks. This is going to be structured a little bit differently than than usual because i I only have technically one pick and I haven't listened to what Dave's are yet. So i I know he didn't pick the same thing that I picked because we did discuss this previously, but I don't know who he picked.
Speaker: So what we're going to do is we're going to Pass it on off to Dave here. He's going to rattle off his picks and then come back and we'll talk about mine. My first pick, pick number one, is going to be Roxanne Perez.
Speaker: Um... You know, somebody who is overdue for a new elite. um Her last elite was back when she was a babyface NXT Women's Champion.
Speaker: um so let's get a heel version of Roxy out. um She had the black and maroon going on, um which was first-time gear for... for the Elimination Chamber, so I think it's a perfect opportunity to get Roxanne Perez a new figure, um represent her Elimination Chamber look if if not no other kind of options from NXT arise.
Speaker: um It's a good way to get her back out into the Mattel Elite mix. So Roxanne Perez, choice number one. For choice number two, I'm going to be a little less exaggerated here. I'm not going to fly all over the place, even though I just did. I'm doing the hands.
Speaker: um Which works out really well on a blue screen kind of background when you're wearing a blue shirt. I don't know. um Better choices, Dave.
Speaker: So... Speaking of better choices, um, another great choice for the second pick from Elimination Chamber, and that is going to be from the women's tag team match between, um Nia Jax and Candice LeRae, and my picks, Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus. This would be a perfect two-pack, whether we're looking Mattel Creations or maybe a main event two-pack, um,
Speaker: matching black and white gear black with blue kind of accents to it. arm Trish had the cutout of the maple leaf on her gear with her logo in it, celebrating her anniversary in wrestling.
Speaker: And, um you know, the tough part will be, as we've seen with previous um previous hockey jerseys, is It'll probably just be like an Elimination Chamber jersey if we have the hockey jerseys. Obviously, they will not be able to have the Leafs jerseys.
Speaker: um But, you know, i thought it was cool with the Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys. um Blue and white. What a coincidence. Did not plan that.
Speaker: So... Yeah, they had the Leafs jerseys. They had the ah know blue, white, and kind of black gear. I think it would be a great two-pack. So let's get... And let's... It's never going to hurt to get um you know maybe Tiffy with the the belt in there. what I'm sorry.
Speaker: Championship title in there. um Get her a figure with the title. And as well as get a new Trish out there. Because, hey, yeah you always need more legends. There's never enough...
Speaker: legends and why not celebrate Trish and Tiffany teaming up. So that is my second pick. Trish Stratus, Tiffany Stratton. On to pick number three.
Speaker: Pick number three is going to be three. From the unsanctioned, um but still had a referee or multiple referees, unsanctioned, I guess, Toronto street fight?
Speaker: Um, no rules, no sanctions, no real rules except for the rules. Um, between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, um, I'm, I'm a sucker for, you Street Fight Gear KO, and he had on the commemorative shirt for, with the, uh, you know, the duct tape K and then a duct tape maple leaf, which I thought was cool.
Speaker: Um, And, you know, I mean, i feel like we get, like, a KO a year, but, you know, we're due, like, another really great KO figure. It's been a little bit.
Speaker: um You know, usually the KO Mania ones are pretty good, or or that figure. um But, you know what? That KO... that KO Ultimate might need one of those ah Greatest Hits fix-ups.
Speaker: And I think this is the perfect way to do it. um Get KO in you know the fight gear and the special commemorative shirt from the event. um Maybe stick a chair in there with him. I know we probably can't do a barbed wire chair, but you know stick a chair in there.
Speaker: Perfect figure. So, um you know, make him a little taller, guess. And um there we go. So let's get one of those greatest hits fix up.
Speaker: Not quite an actual greatest hits, but almost an entirely new figure. um KO in the Street Fight gear. That's my third pick for Elimination Chamber 2025.
Speaker: And now, a word from our sponsors.
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Speaker: That's
Speaker: And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
Speaker: And now, back to the show. All right. So as I mentioned, my pick is a is a singular thing. So Elimination Chamber, lots of really crazy things happened. You know, we had ah the the ah the the in the Women's Chamber match, we had Jade Cargo coming in and taking Naomi out.
Speaker: um And if you've been keeping tabs on SmackDown, we've confirmed it was Naomi and full-on heel turn. Did not see that coming. Spoilers, I guess.
Speaker: um But the big moment from Elimination Chamber was after the end of the Men's Chamber. John Cena comes up victorious i with a little help from from a very bitter and vengeful Seth Rollins.
Speaker: And then Cody comes out and they have their baby face on baby face moment and we think we know where we're headed for for WrestleMania and then the the final boss comes out with Travis Scott and says, Cody, give me your soul.
Speaker: And Cody says, Hey, Rock, go yourself.
Speaker: Yeah, that's what he said. And then all hell breaks loose as John Cena turns heel, kicks Cody in the in the Rhodes family jewels, bludgeons him with a Rolex, and and boy, oh boy, after 22 years, we have a heel John Cena, arguably one of the coolest, if not a most kind of earth-shattering heel turns since...
Speaker: Hogan at Bash at the Beach. at a Bash at the Beach. I don't know what a beach is. ah Bash at the Beach. ah We have a crazy heel turn. Whether or not it'll have the same ripple effect as as this heturn as that heel turn did on the industry, it's yet to be seen.
Speaker: However, we did also create... In the process, an incredible opportunity for a four-pack of wwe WWE Elite figures. Now, hear me out.
Speaker: So we've had a lot of Rocks. We've had a lot of Cenas. We've had a lot of Cody's. We've never had a Travis Scott figure. However, he's had a figure from Jazwares when he was in Fortnite. So he so the Cactus Jack character of of his... ah of his his Brain Child has been a figure in a different format, but he's never had a wrestling figure. And we know that ah Travis is a big wrestling fan. So here's my pitch for a Elimination Chamber four pack, right?
Speaker: You have The Rock that just came out in Elite 116, somewhere around there, 15, 116, with the soft goods, the the molded pants. update that soft goods for what he's wearing at elimination chamber.
Speaker: And then that's your rock. And, you know, give him the finger so he can, he can, he can cut the throat, maybe, and maybe a new pair of sunglasses that are a little more accurate than what he was wearing, but rock taken care of Sina,
Speaker: You can we can now get a new expression on Cena, right? We can get that that scowl. But otherwise, same scene of body. Give him the the gear that he was wearing at a at elimination chamber with the new armbands, new shirt, new hat, get a hat on.
Speaker: But give him give him that scowl that he's making when he's holding the belt up. i Cody. this is an opportunity to give us a suited Cody without the jacket because he spends before he gets, you know, undressed.
Speaker: ah He's, he's in ah the, the suit with no jackets. So we have not had that version of Cody yet. and He appears that way a lot. So in that suit where we can see that the vest and, um and just and no jacket, and maybe, you know, again, we've got a ton of different Cody faces that we can use already, but ah that would be great.
Speaker: And, and also with the rock, throw the weight belt in with the Cody soul on it and, and, uh, and the, the dusty roads death date, uh, dark as anything accessory, but it would be really cool. and then the fourth figure, the one that's the only one that's technically new tooling, um, would be Travis Scott.
Speaker: And that's a cool selling point. I mean, he was, he was ah a key, a key factor in that, uh, in that, uh, that moment. Uh, it's going to be something that's, that's remembered for a long time and whether or not he,
Speaker: you know, he continues to be part of, uh, part of the story here. Uh, that moment will forever be enshrined. Um, thanks to the, the impending receipt that will likely be coming his way since he, he, he seemed to have gotten Cody pretty, pretty good, uh, based on how Cody looked at on SmackDown the other night. And, and of course, Travis Scott has a new shirt up on WWE shop.
Speaker: this shirt, uh, wrestling is real, um, with the, the attitude era logo and everything. And, uh, you can get that shirt at WWE shop and we've got a link to that in the, uh, in the description, the bio down there.
Speaker: Um, so yeah, I mean, that this is a moment that's going to be enshrined in the, the annals of wrestling. Um, um, an absolute mega heel turn, absolute mega moment. And I can just picture the the box, the way that the figures would be laid out and everything.
Speaker: um, And, you know, if you can get that license for Travis Scott to make that figure, boy, you've got a you've got a whole new fan base that's going to be going after that four pack for for one figure alone. But that would be a great set piece.
Speaker: Great piece for figure photographers like myself to get some either new expressions or new outfits. um Can't go wrong with that. So ah so my pick... Usually pick three.
Speaker: ah Technically my pick this time is four, but it's all in one shot. So my, my pick, the elimination chamber um for what I think deserves to be a toy is a four pack of the rock Sina Cody roads and Travis Scott.
Speaker: And, i and, and we can call it the elimination chamber. He'll turn. That's, that's my, ah my pick. All right. So with that, that wraps up another edition of Premium Toyetic Event. We will be back next week with a full-length episode recapping our time at a toy fair, New York toy fair and this past weekend.
Speaker: Lots to digest, lots to talk about. ah We needed a week off from thinking about it. Truth be told, ah lots of late night editing video. So we're going to, we're going to,
Speaker: regroup. We're going to recap you on our Toy Fair experience and you can, you can listen to that or, or watch here on YouTube. Um, next week. So on Monday, uh, while, uh, we're on the topic of saying goodbye before you leave, make sure that you hit that subscribe button down there. So that way you don't miss it when we post new videos. For those of you who are watching on YouTube, if you are listening on your favorite podcast podcast,
Speaker: a platform. Please make sure you rate, review, subscribe, all of those great things to help our podcast get out to more ears. As I mentioned at the top of the episode, make sure you're following us at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram, on X, on TikTok, on Blue Sky. There's so many social media networks now.
Speaker: um Make sure you're following us for all the latest toy news, deals, availability, toy photography, anything and everything that we think would help out the community. Thank you so much for listening, for enjoying Premium Toyotic Event, and we will see you next time on Adventures in Collecting.
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 in our show notes.
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.
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