Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
An Interview with Bluefin's Justin Cavender
373 Plays4 years ago
"It's like Lavender, but with a 'C'"
On this episode Dave and Erik sit down with Justin Cavender, Digital Content and Design Coordinator at Bluefin AKA Bandai Namco Collectibles to talk about imports, the significance of Jaws 3-D, and even answer a question a two from you guys on Instagram! Listen now to learn more about Monster Hunter, Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, SH Figures collectibles, and so much more!
Hear Justin on the Geek Legacy's flagship and Pixelated podcasts:
http://www.geeklegacy.com/category/podcast/
Hear Justin on the Don't be Crazy Podcast:
https://dontbecrazy.podbean.com
And Follow him @edgyarmo on Instagram and Twitter, and make sure you're following @bluefinbrands on Instagram and Twitter for the latest news from Bandai Namco Collectibles!
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
Proudly part of the Non-Productive Network
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Adventures in Collecting
00:00:06
Speaker
are you ready kids get your parents permission check your mailbox and grab your shopping cart it's time for the adventures and collecting podcast
00:00:33
Speaker
I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls. Along with our journeys as collectors. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. We're back. Hi. I wanted to make y'all wait for it for a minute. Not only did you add a dramatic pause, but you also threw in a y'all. Yeah.
00:01:04
Speaker
Look at you. Where did that come from this week? I think that's just been something that's been hidden for a while, but also one of my friends basically opens every sentence with it. So it's cool. All right. Dave, I'm into it. I'm into it. And if it makes you happy, it makes me happy.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, my girlfriend's friend is from South Carolina and it's just, you know. Hey, hear it enough and it becomes part of you. We've we've said it before, we're from New Jersey. Our accent is kind of always evolving, right? Like we're just part of that part of the country. Well, as as usual, Dave, I am I am not going to bury it. I was going to ask.
00:01:54
Speaker
I asked on the Halloween. I mean, there was no Halloween episode. That wasn't canon. Yeah, we said we're never going to speak of that again. Yeah.
Special Guest: Justin Cavender from Bluefin
00:02:04
Speaker
So the the the the the lead that I am not burying, Dave, is that we have a special guest with us today. Do we, Eric? Yeah. So Bluefin.
00:02:15
Speaker
also known as Bandai and Amco Collectibles. They bring iconic toys and collectibles from the likes of Bandai Hobby, Tamashi Nations, Chokugan, Storm Collectibles, Flame Toys, Sentinel, Studio Ghibli, Blitzway, and so much more into homes all over the world. Joining us this week on the show to talk about all things imports is Justin Cavender,
00:02:40
Speaker
digital content and design coordinator at Bluefin. Justin, thank you for joining us on Adventures in Collecting. Hey, thank you for having me. And you know, I just want to say that you guys have totally ruined all movies for me where there's someone from New Jersey because I thought everyone's supposed to call like each other like a scumbag and have like this really cool accent, like a
00:03:04
Speaker
not for nothing, but you know, you know, frickin scumbag. And I'm not getting any of that from you guys. And it's really breaking my heart. I'm like, Oh my god, like 40 years movies have been lying to me and I am I am outraged. What you talking about? There you go. That's what I needed to hear. If I talk quickly enough, something all will happen. But
00:03:26
Speaker
This fucking guy over here. There you go. Is swearing allowed on this podcast? I wasn't sure. Yeah. Swearing is okay with us if it's okay with you. Yeah. I mean, I'll try not to swear, but every once in a while, if I get worked up, you know, I might drop an F-bob or something like that. We're human beings, so. Gotcha. Gotcha. We have wide vocabularies. Yes.
Justin's Toy Collecting Journey
00:03:50
Speaker
Justin, first things first, this is a show about toys and toy collecting. When we have a special guest on, the first thing that we always like to ask is, what do you collect? What's driving you in the toy collecting world right now?
00:04:09
Speaker
I am all about Transformers right now, like absolutely gone crazy town banana pants for Transformers. Uh, I dare say I have an addiction and you know, it really came out of nowhere because when I was a kid, I played with like He-Man and GI Joe and, and I had a few Transformers like Bumblebee and refractor and I had a sound wave, but that was it. And, and now it's my time. And, and I'm like, I gotta catch them all. It's really weird. It's like, it just over the summer, I was just like, you know what? I really want Transformers. I'm just going to get it, go all out and get some Transformers.
00:04:40
Speaker
Now, we follow you on Twitter and Instagram, and you've been posting a lot of pictures of the studio series line. And I have to ask, I am not ashamed to admit that I am late to the game with Transformers. Believe it or not, the Michael Bay films are actually what got me into Transformers. And I know you say that to people who have collected Transformers their entire lives, and they immediately gasp in horror. Oh, yeah.
00:05:05
Speaker
I've seen it in person, I mentioned it at a toy show once and the conversation ended very quickly after that. Yeah, that can happen. But I also love those studio series figures and I'm just curious, is it the same kind of way for you or do you just prefer the design of them? Well, it's a little bit of both actually. I think they photograph really well.
00:05:30
Speaker
Um, like I really dig the war for Cybertron stuff too, and they're cool and all, but you see a lot of the grays and the plastics and the joints and stuff. So, uh, when it's traditional to like, you know, get gen one sort of take on transformers, it's really cool and everything. But I think the studio series just photograph really, really well. So I get both.
00:05:52
Speaker
I am not biased, but I am a sucker for the first two Michael Bay movies and I really liked Bumblebee. I didn't care for three, four or five, but I really dug the rest. After the first two, they are kind of just a mess of explosions and even some reused footage. Right. The first two.
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, totally. But I really enjoyed the first two. I think they're fantastic. And I finally completed my Devastator. I say finally, it was only a couple months, but it was...
00:06:25
Speaker
total chore but it was fun at the same time and literally the night I finished it I go to bed with the biggest smile on my face and I wake up and then there's Hasbro announcing like this box set of all of them and I'm just like I've been waiting for parts all over the world to get to me and I don't want to say I was upset but I was it took the wind out of myself I'm not gonna lie
00:06:51
Speaker
I can't imagine how large that box is like, like, because I've, you know, I've seen I've seen Devastator, you know, built outside of the pictures you posted and I've seen him like to scale with other stuff. I, I, I truly cannot imagine how large that box is going to be. Yeah, it looks pretty. I'm sure it's pretty big. It's eight robots, which is quite a bit. And like I got the Scorponok for the war for Cybertron Scorponok. Yeah, I haven't opened it yet. I'm.
00:07:19
Speaker
kind of waiting till I have like this whole sort of collection thing going to where I can just have like this all out like play diorama set thing that I'm going for. And I figured if I opened it, then I might talk myself out of doing it. So it's just one of those things where I'm just like, well, just hang on to it and not play with it and get fully committed. Yeah, those are like fantastic. I've enjoyed seeing all of the new Transformers stuff, but to kind of
00:07:50
Speaker
changed course a little bit. How did you find your way to where you are with bluefin? Oh, man, I've been doing a lot of journalism for the last decade or so I go to all the trade shows and interview people much like you guys are doing a toy fair. And I did a lot of podcasts and my name just kind of got thrown out and I did some interviews and send an application and
00:08:13
Speaker
and all that jazz. And before I knew it, I was living in Seattle at the time and got this awesome phone call saying, Hey, why don't you come work for us? And so I packed up my stuff and headed on down to Southern California, which is where I'm from originally. I spent most of my life here, 30 years of my life here, and then spent the last decade in Seattle and then came on back.
00:08:35
Speaker
And so it was pretty crazy. So it's just a series of doing a lot of fun videos and a lot of interviews and just eventually it just all kind of came together, which is pretty crazy because at the time I was actually a store director for staples. And before that I was a manager at Target. And so I've kind of done a lot of things. I mentioned I was a janitor, you know, as a used car salesman at one point. So.
00:09:00
Speaker
I think the moral of the story is just keep chasing after your dreams, man, because you'll get there eventually. It might just take you a little bit longer than you wanted it to, but you just got to work hard and be your best self, and it'll pay off eventually.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's kind of interesting. Just over a year that we've been doing this podcast and kind of blogging about toys, Dave and I have obviously, we're passionate about it. We've collected for a long time, but all of the people that we talk to, it's so cool just to hear that just being passionate about
00:09:37
Speaker
action figures and toys and collectibles, eventually if you follow that passion, you follow it with fervor and you keep an eye out for opportunities that this industry likes to scoop up people that are passionate about it. Yeah, absolutely.
00:09:58
Speaker
And interestingly enough, I remember in 1998, I had just graduated high school and I was slipping through this toy fair magazine. And I remember thinking, how cool would it be to go to a toy fair and just see all this new stuff.
00:10:11
Speaker
And then fast forward to 2019 and I'm in a room with our CEO and our director of e-commerce and our CMO and it's just like, oh my God, I'm in this room and we're planning Toy Fair. And on my way home, I was like ready to cry. I was like, oh my God, this is crazy. I can't believe that I'm going to be going to Toy Fair. And then when I got there, I helped set up the largest booth that was at the event and it was just a
00:10:39
Speaker
a real touching moment. It was nuts, dude. It was a dream come true.
Toy Fair Experience
00:10:44
Speaker
It took 22 years, but it happened. And that booth, for the people that didn't see it, we took a bunch of pictures, but it was extremely impressive. I mean, the giant Gundam alone, just kind of chilling in front. I mean, it was so expansive. You guys were on the same floor as
00:11:07
Speaker
You're pretty close to the like the Funko area, too. Yeah, Funko and NECA. Yeah. And then Super 7 was down the same aisle as us, but just a little bit further down. And it was really cool. Made friends with all those folks, too. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's the one thing, like, you know, Toy Fair doesn't come off how it photographs. It's like it's larger. It's more expansive. It's it's extremely impressive, to be honest. Oh, I know. There's so much going on. I was like,
00:11:37
Speaker
looking at this one booth with like hula hoops and another booth with RC cars and I moved with board games like I was just all over the place I was like stroking out and I'm like I don't understand what's happening right now but I'm loving every second of it and just really cool man it's an awesome experience yeah this was this was our first as well so I mean you know walking around the first day I was actually there by myself Dave was not able to make it and
00:12:02
Speaker
Like I just remember at one point I sat down and I actually sat down at the, one of the seats in your booth and I turned around and I was just like, oh, there's like a five foot tall Totoro behind me. Yeah. Yeah. Today is real weird. Yeah. That was a cool booth, man. We had that giant Gundam statue that you mentioned. There was that Godzilla, there was a Goku. It's a lot going on. And of course the Totoro.
00:12:28
Speaker
So speaking of all, all of these, you know, the different brands that, you know, that you guys kind of encapsulate doing what you do for the brand must be insanely, insanely interesting because even, you know, if, if the lead time is short, you get kind of get to see everything, you know, right before everyone else does.
00:12:46
Speaker
Yeah, so it's really interesting because a lot of times things will end up on my desk that are projected to come out in like April or May of next year. Like just, you know, yesterday I got emails saying, okay, this stuff's coming out in April.
00:13:01
Speaker
And the whole business side of things is you're reaching out. Since we're a distributor, we've got to reach out to all of our customers, which are places like your big bads, your entertainment earths, your Amazons, and then your mom pop, like hobby stores and things of that nature. And so they have to decide months in advance
00:13:22
Speaker
if they want to carry this product, you know, so it's pretty crazy. It's like, like with comic books, same thing, right? Like you guys remember that magazine, like previews magazine or whatever, where you would see issues that are going to be coming out months ahead and you could order it ahead of time and stuff like that. And yeah, like diamond, same thing. They were distributor. And so you're like, man, do I really want to place my bets on this figure? Is this going to be cool in six months? It's a lot to think about.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's definitely part of the challenge, right? Is predicting how big the wave is going to be, right? Right. Yeah, it really is. I mean, there's always those staples like Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon and Gundam. And then it gets even more interesting when you have properties that just take off overnight. Like something like Demon Slayer, right? All of a sudden, it was a thing. And everyone's walking around in these
00:14:12
Speaker
green and black checkered robes, you know, what is happening right now? What the world is transforming all around me? And you're like, Oh, yeah, this is only the number one anime in America right now. And so it's just one of those things where you got to be able to know that that's going to happen and strike while the iron's hot. And, you know, people are going to love the show and they're going to go, I got to buy fingers for it. I got to buy this. I got to buy that. And so, I mean, we've all had that collector's mentality where you see something like, Oh my God, I got to have that thing right now or I'm going to die and it's going to be awful. And
00:14:41
Speaker
So we just got to be there for our, our amazing customers when something drops like that. And, and two, I'd imagine, you know, to add even more complications to the mix, right? You have a global pandemic that's happening. So you have all these, you know, IPs that have, you know, films and, you know, shows announced that get, you know, kind of thrown us under.
00:15:07
Speaker
because of social distancing and the way that kind of the industry is operating. So I can't imagine that that has made the choice selection slash production process any easier. Right. It definitely complicates things. It's weird, though, because, you know, like Wonder Woman, for example, that movie was going to come out before our S.H. Figure Arts was going to arrive. And because of the pandemic and pushing it back, it worked out differently. So that's kind of cool. I was like, all right, you know, because you know, you don't want the figure.
00:15:37
Speaker
like too much later after something's come out. So it always gets a little dicey that way. And so yeah, like something like Sailor Moon movie that got delayed, you know, Evangelion keeps getting pushed back. Monster Hunter gets got pushed back. And it's just this is the nature of the beast. And how sad is that? Like, you know, movie theaters are just struggling to hang on. And, you know, I certainly don't want to go to a movie and it's one of my favorite pastimes in all the world. And
00:16:02
Speaker
And now I just can't go. I don't want to chance it. I hate the idea of just movie theaters closing because they're so dependent on these films to release. Yeah, they make all their money from their concession and everything, but they're not selling any popcorn if there's no one buying tickets. So it's just depressing when you think about it. Yeah, it really is. And I mean, you have the kind of digital slash virtual response.
00:16:29
Speaker
platforms like Disney Plus and Hulu and HBO Max getting these releases. We were just watching that remake of The Witches, the one from 1990 with Angelica Houston originally. Now it has Anne Hathaway in it. We watched it and I was like,
00:16:50
Speaker
You know, my wife looked at me one point. She's like, why do you look visibly mad? This movie's great. And I actually was like, because I would have loved to have seen this in a theater like right before Halloween with our daughter. You know, like this would have been a great like theater movie and probably would have performed really well. But here we are sitting at watching on our TV. Yeah, no, no, it's
Movies During the Pandemic
00:17:14
Speaker
not. I like the one kid Bruno in that movie, like in the original one, I was like,
00:17:19
Speaker
Oh man, I'm totally Bruno. I'm just sitting there eating all this chocolate, dude. That's me. It's cute to worry about saving the world and I'm just eating my chocolate. Not much has changed 30 years later. Bruno is still Bruno. Oh man, I could do it. I got the build for it. I'm looking alive. You know, that's crazy that you mentioned that too, because like, I think the first and only movie I have purchased on demand has been Bill and Ted Face the Music.
00:17:49
Speaker
And, you know, I wanted to see that in a theater, but of course that wasn't going to happen. And I was, I was pretty excited to support that movie and, and, you know, Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves. And I've been a part of my life since I was 10. So I was like, Oh my God, I have to watch it. You know, I have to support these guys. And that was literally the first thing I've ever purchased on demand. And that movie was fantastic. Like I enjoyed it so much.
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah, they did a really good job with it. It had no business being as good as it was for a part three, again, something 30 years later. It's not like it's Jaws 3. Jaws 3 is the most award-winning film of all time. Yeah, especially the part where the severed head scars the lives of children attending SeaWorld. Yeah, and that little tube as they're walking by with all these bugs.
00:18:43
Speaker
Can you imagine? So I'm not really a fantasy world, but I'm not here to talk about bad about anything. But I just think about this movie that takes place at an amusement park and it's telling you not to go. This is the bad vibe. It's so crazy that they got away with that movie. And there's an interesting credit, too, because it's like at the beginning, it's like inspired by the novel by Peter Benchley. I'm like, how kind of credit is that? It's so weird. But I love it. It's likely there's a shark.
00:19:14
Speaker
That's it. Yeah. Totally. And like Dennis Quaid's like a maintenance guy slash fix everything kind of guy. I don't know. He's just a Jack. There's a shark and a Brody. That's like how it was inspired. Can you imagine that pitch meeting, though? Like, like, all right. So hear us out. We want to have this take part, take place in your theme park. Lots of people are going to die. But it's going to be in your theme park.
00:19:43
Speaker
the name out there man it's gonna be great people are gonna come everywhere and then you know SeaWorld did eventually make one of those little underwater tubes it's not as amazing as it is in Jaws 3 but they have this sort of underwater walkway that you get to stroll through and I'm like did they see the movie this is so crazy literally recreating it we were gonna be food this is terrible
00:20:07
Speaker
Well, so so going back to you don't want to continue talking about John's three. I mean, we could talk about John's three all night, but the preeminent Jaws three podcast. I don't know. I don't know how how deeply immersed you are in the world of podcasts. But if there is anything that that there is to be said about
00:20:31
Speaker
the splendor that is Jaws 3, it is in the episode of How Did This Get Made, where they go. That's true. Where they go. We'd be the second best Jaws 3 podcast. Yeah, because if you have not listened to How Did This Get Made, Justin, please do yourself a favor and definitely listen to that podcast. It's one of our favorites. But the episode specifically on Jaws 3 is Piss Your Pants Funny. Yeah.
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah, because it has the two dudes from the league, right? Yep. Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukis. Yeah. Yeah, I actually I do. I subscribe to it. I haven't listened to it in a while. They go on the road a lot. And and I have heard the Jaws 3 episode. I actually heard it on a train. And it's amazing. Absolutely love it. So there you go. That's a that's a three way endorsement for some some straight up pee your pants. Funny podcasting.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yeah. That's actually the first episode of theirs that I ever listened to. And I was like, I was just flipping through all the different movies that they were talking about and I'm like, just three. Oh my God. And I know that whole movie by heart. So it made it even more exciting. That's, that's a hell of a good one to start with. Yeah. The only problem is it was so good. It's like now it's at the bar pretty high. They, they have, they have, they do have some other, some other good ones. I mean, we, we could go on and on about terrible movies, but when,
00:21:57
Speaker
Why talk about terrible movies when we could talk about amazing toys? Perfect. Great segue. So speaking of all of the different brands and types of toys that you guys represent, it could be a little intimidating getting into some of these brands. So for those that are maybe collecting
00:22:22
Speaker
you know, the Marvel Legends, the Star Wars Black series, kind of like the stuff that you can, the really accessible stuff. How do you get into something like Gunpla or like the SH figure arts figures?
00:22:37
Speaker
Sure, that's a great question because it can be a bit overwhelming.
Starting with Gunpla
00:22:41
Speaker
When it comes to Gunpla, I just say, you know, get what you think looks cool. At the end of the day, you know, you're putting together a mobile suit, looks like a giant freaking robot. And the box art on these model kits, you know, do an amazing job of showing off how cool these kits really are and in the vein of Harry Potter.
00:22:55
Speaker
the one chooses the wizard you know so like when you're at a convention especially when you're at a convention you know you see if whether it be San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con you walk into our booth and your eyes will just pop out of their sockets from just being surrounded by all the kickassery and you know a model kit's gonna whisper sweet nothings into your ear and you're gonna be like Pikachu I choose you and then you're like I gotta have this model kit so
00:23:18
Speaker
You know, I would probably encourage you to, you know, pick up a high grade or maybe even like an SD kit, those little tiny super deformed like three inch model kits, just to see if you enjoy it. And, you know, keep in mind that there are some tools that would make it easier for you if you had like nippers and files and stuff like that, but
00:23:36
Speaker
But none of our hobby kits require paint or glue. So it is worth noting that as you improve your builds or you hone in on your skills and you want to spruce that goose and you want to add some touch ups or some panel lining or whether that bad boy like it just had a lousy day at the work job, that old chestnut.
00:23:53
Speaker
You know, it's just get what you think looks cool. It would be my most sound advice. I don't need you to brush up on 40 years of history of Gundam. Just get a mobile suit that you think looks cool as hell and start from there. And I think that's the thing, right? Because, you know, Gundam and, you know, and mechs, like they have like this four decade long plus history. And I think that I think it scares some people away. And, you know, I
00:24:22
Speaker
My, my, my brother-in-law, uh, it's, he doesn't collect toys. The only thing he does is Gunpla. And he said, it's like one of the most cathartic things ever to just sit there after like a really shitty day and put a Gundam together. Oh, that's great. I mean, that works for a lot of people and like sometimes.
00:24:42
Speaker
People forget that you can take your time with these things. A lot of people are like, oh man, I'm going to put on Lord of the Rings and by the time it's over, I'm going to be doing my model. You don't need to do that. Some people spend months or even years just fine tuning a model kit. They go all out with these crazy dioramas and this weathering and paneling and that's great. You do you. There's really no need to compare
00:25:06
Speaker
your model kit versus others, you know, you can be inspired by other kits and hope to be that good one day. But I think at the end of the day, just do what works for you, man. And as for like, I say, Jeff, you know, it's it's another thing that's hard to get your hands on, too, right? Because some of the stuff isn't available anymore. It's just been a couple of years and it's just not on the market. And the price for those things goes way up. So, you know, while it's fun to collect everything and have it all, I do think there's a little bit of joy in having that
00:25:36
Speaker
that white whale, you know, where there's that figure that just eludes you that, you know, you just want to scour the ends of the earth until you find it. And when you do, it's a pretty remarkable feeling. But, you know, whether it's Dragon Ball, Santa Moon, Street Fighter, Marvel, DC, whatever, you know, just do what you think looks cool, man. And SHF come with some really neat accessories and interchangeable hands and faces. And so just have fun with it. But maybe I'm crazy.
Gundam in the Toy Market
00:26:01
Speaker
I don't know. I could be wrong.
00:26:02
Speaker
Now that stuff is becoming more accessible, we saw that that SHF and the Gundam stuff got some highly sought after shelf space in Target. So how did that come about?
00:26:17
Speaker
Oh, man. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? Target guests can just walk over to either electronics or in the toy aisle. And it's in different places at different stores. But it's in one of those two departments. And you see Dragon Ball figures. It's crazy. There's the Dragon Stars from Bandai America. And then there's the SHF from us. And also some hobby kits. I saw Barbados and the Target ones. I was like, the hell? When did this get hit?
00:26:41
Speaker
And so I thought that was pretty cool. And then of course you have the Gundam universe and you know, it's definitely an interesting trend to target I remember, you know when Funko pop showed up a few years back and and even the reaction series I remember I was a target manager at the time and it was like 2014 and I saw big trouble in the little China figures on this end cap and I was floored I was like
00:27:03
Speaker
Are you fucking serious right now? Am I looking at big trouble and little china toys right now? What the hell is going on? And that's one of my favorite movies of all time. And I'm just like standing there in my red and khaki like, oh my God. And, you know, we're seeing like companies like
00:27:20
Speaker
you know, NECA and Super 7, us, you know, Bandai. You know, it's just crazy that I think maybe like just a buyer at Target is just a guy that's or a girl that's just like you and me and maybe they just have wall to wall shelf space and they're just like, you know what, we're gonna, this stuff's cool, we're gonna put it in our stores and
00:27:39
Speaker
People are gonna love it and so i think at the end of the day you know it's just my take away is that you know people just want options when it comes to the gunman super mega cool stuff and and it's one of those things were.
00:27:54
Speaker
maybe your town doesn't have a hobby shop. Especially if it's a small town, the whole idea of Main Street is just kind of dead, right? And it's really sad that you can't go into Chet's models and your downtown Main Street because it doesn't exist anymore, because your Amazons and your Targets and your Wall-E worlds kind of took over. And so at the end of the day, people still want to buy this stuff. So where are they going to get it? Now they got to go to Target.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was incredible to I mean, you know, it's it's odd because saying that we're toy bloggers and we try to like, you know, keep up with the news and, you know, see what other people are posting and everything. But it it caught us completely off guard. You know, our.
00:28:37
Speaker
the target that's closest to me has the, I'm just going to call it the bluefin section. Literally right next to the Mattel WWE Elite figures. And I'm so used to going down that aisle.
00:28:54
Speaker
You know, cause we kind of keep a checklist for each other. Like, you know, so that way when Dave's out, he's looking for a star Wars or Marvel legend stuff for me. If I'm out, I, you know, I'll look for the WWE stuff for him. And it literally was one of those things where I was like, okay, WWE elites. Wait a second. Is that, is that it?
00:29:14
Speaker
That's Goku. Wait, and model kits and there's nippers here and files. And I was like, wait, what the what is this? When did this pop up? And like, I guess the guy, you know, in the toy isle saw me just kind of like having a crisis of sorts. And he was like, oh, yeah, we just set that up this morning. And I was like, this is the coolest thing ever.
00:29:35
Speaker
That is red. Can I ask, so a target, each little section is a four foot section, right? How many sections of WWE figures were there at that target? Prior to the addition of that section? Two. Okay. So that's interesting because as soon as you mentioned target, I immediately went back to when I was working there and there used to be four sections. There was 16 feet of
00:30:05
Speaker
of wrestling when I started in 2014 at Target. And while I was there, it dwindled down to three sections. It was 12 feet. That was still a lot of real estate. And the thing is, it was always full of product. And what's interesting about that is that when it's full, it's not selling.
00:30:24
Speaker
Correct. Yeah. And it's kind of sad. And when you see that, you're like, oh, wow, it's well-stocked. You're like, yeah, it's well-stocked because it was fine. And there's that moment in the team members' day when they go and they put the stuff on the shelf, and it looks all pretty. And then over the course of the next few hours, it dwindles, and then it has to be restocked again. Problem with the WWE stuff was is it got set, and then
00:30:50
Speaker
That was it. I don't want to buy anything anymore. And so I just, as you were telling me, it was right next to that. Uh, my, my little, the little gears in my brain there, just like, Oh my God, did they lose another four feet?
00:31:01
Speaker
of wrestling toys. It's pretty nuts. Yeah. So in in in that aisle and this particular target, it's it's basically the end of the aisle. So they're now the the wrestling figures are now sandwiched between you and Star Wars. Cool. But it's company to be with. Yeah, for sure. And but it's it's really cool because, you know, you can one of the things that I like to do and it kind of sounds a little creepy, but like,
00:31:31
Speaker
I like to kind of just hang out in the toy aisle while I'm taking pictures for, you know, for Instagram and everything and see like the parents with their kids. And I grew up, you know, uh, with to Nami and watching Dragon Ball Z after school, like the whole saga, the whole, like the freeze of saga as long as it was dragged out and I'm going to give you five more minutes to live three episodes later. Um,
00:31:58
Speaker
Then you got the Titanic lady like, I've been waiting here for 82 years. Exactly. But it's still great that like all these years later, like the other day, I saw a dad and his son and he was like, oh, look, it's Goku. And I was like, like quietly to myself as I was looking at my Star Wars stuff, I was like, yes. Yeah, that's cool. You know, my first exposure to Dragon Ball was
00:32:22
Speaker
this super famicom game that my buddy let me borrow he had just his father was in um japan and they got stationed out where we lived and so he brought all this cool you know stuff from japan with him and one of them was this dragon ball z game this is like 1993 or 94 and um and i'm playing this game it's all japanese i don't understand a word
00:32:43
Speaker
You know, I can't read it. I just kind of figured out the buttons and everything. And then when Toonami was a thing and I see this cartoon, I'm like, man, where have I seen this before? And then I realized, I'm like, Oh my God, life ball. This is that crazy game that I was trying to figure out how to play. I still have it to you. Let me keep it. Yeah, that's a, that's a classic. Yeah. I'll send you guys a picture when we're done. I got to dig it up, but I know exactly where it is.
00:33:08
Speaker
So switching gears from from from Dragon Ball and the S. Well, I mean, I guess kind of in the same realm, but we talked a little bit about Gundam and you mentioned Gundam Universe and, you know, wave three of Gundam Universe hit over the summer. And so far, you know, three waves. People have been super excited about it. Wave four. It looks like there's been two two figures announced so far. Yeah.
00:33:34
Speaker
How did the 40 plus year old franchise that has been famous for model kits transition into the world of really just kind of action figures? Yeah. Well, that's a good question. So, you know, some people, you know, model kits, while they're cool as hell, aren't for everyone. And some folks just don't have the time to build them or maybe they lack confidence or they didn't even give it a try. Or maybe they just have zero interest altogether in model kits. Right. And that's fine too.
00:34:04
Speaker
you know turn that model kit into a figure and you know you're ready right out of the package and you have just renewed interest in in Gundam's again and you know maybe they love you know like you maybe they love Gundam wing 20 years ago on Toonami and you know now they have a chance to have a wing zero or a death site or tall geese that's in the way four that you just mentioned and you know it's it's a game changer for that collector and you know ultimately I think my takeaway is that you know just people just want one options and
00:34:34
Speaker
You know, they think Gundams are super mega cool and, and maybe they have zero interest in building one, but you know, you just take it out of the package and play with a new bathtub toy for 25 bucks and you're good to go, man. I mean, my Gundams are the rubber ducky of 2020 in case you didn't know that. I mean, I feel like that needs to be on a bumper sticker now. Right? Put it on the package. We are the rubber duckies of 2020. Easy peasy. Yeah. It's like the book jacket quote. There you go.
00:35:05
Speaker
You can have that. The rubber duckies of 2020, Justin Kavender. Bluefin. Oh, and it's, and it's Cavender, by the way. I should have said that before we started. Oh, come on, man. I've been saying it wrong for like. Your intro. Well, we're just going to, we're going to, we're going to grow and learn together. That's. I always say Justin Cavender, like Lavender, but with the C. Oh, C. I like that.
00:35:29
Speaker
I have I love lavender. I have lavender lavender bushes in the front of my house. Oh, there you go. I walked in a lavender field once. It was majestic. Now I'm going to call them Cavender bushes. Yeah, but we're seeing that trend kind of across toys right now. We're like stuff that has been, you know, typically a puzzle or, you know, you know, a model kit, you know, that kind of
00:35:59
Speaker
Origin toy becoming like action figures because now Transformers are even doing it, right? You know, they have those, those Transformers red figures. So it's like just kind of, everybody is kind of geared towards the, the action figure specific community. And I just think it's super interesting to take these, these giant mechs and turn them into accessible six inch action figures. I mean, it's great. Have you, speaking of Transformers red, um, have you seen those out in the wild yet?
00:36:28
Speaker
I saw them popping up on social media and I'm like, what the fuck? I have not seen them in person yet. No. OK. Yeah, I've not seen any of those yet.
00:36:38
Speaker
Um, I did watch a very scathing review of them. Um, Oh yeah. Who, who did the review member of the community, uh, shard and miss prime. Okay. Um, he's, uh, it was actually, I thought it was a little uncharacteristic of him to be, to be honest, he's, he's usually pretty, uh, pretty positive. Like he'll, he'll, you know, he'll definitely have things that he not picks on. That's not fair. Things that he, you know, provides critique on, which, you know, it was totally fine. Yeah.
00:37:08
Speaker
But this was rough. And honestly, I think they look really cool because it's, again, the same thing. Sometimes you just want an Optimus Prime that when you try to photograph him and you try to get him into a certain pose on your shelf, that he's not exposing
00:37:32
Speaker
you know, the process. That's what I was trying to say with the studio series. You don't really see that. But with the with like the war for Cybertron stuff and the gen one stuff, you totally see like the joints and the screws and that that gaping hole that that arm is eventually going to be tucked away in. Yeah. And it complicates things.
00:37:50
Speaker
Transformers and model kits, they're feats of engineering. It's reverse engineering at its finest. The fact that those things go together the way that they do, and then the fact that they move after you put them together, it's incredible. But at the same time, they
00:38:10
Speaker
there are benefits and, and engineering things that you can kind of skirt around. And, and, you know, ultimately it goes back to this and this is the way that I always kind of look at stuff like this is why do you have to piss in somebody else's Cheerios, right? You know, like if you want a transformer that transforms or you want to sit and you want to build a model kit, guess what?
00:38:32
Speaker
you can do that and just because the fact that you know. You now have an action figure form of that where you don't have to build the model kit and the person that just wants the opposite take really cool photos put it on the shelf like it's not eating into your pie it's just a new thing. Right.
00:38:49
Speaker
That's true. Yeah, you can kind of get in at your own pace, as it were. You know, you don't have to build or unbuild Optimus Prime. He could just be there. Right. Dude, I know exactly what you mean. Like, as soon as I transform a figure, that's it. I don't touch it ever again because I don't want to figure it out. I am such an idiot when it comes to transforming some of these guys. Like the the the masterpiece Bumblebee, that's that shit took me like three hours to do. And I'm looking at these instructions like,
00:39:19
Speaker
start, these don't work. This is the worst instructions ever. And so I, I have since that that one figure has made me just go online and watch sort of the step by step video process. And that is 1000 times easier than following the instructions that come packaged with these figures. So fun story, I feel your pain. My my mother-in-law happened to be in Florida. I've
00:39:44
Speaker
a couple weeks ago. And right now the masterpiece, oh man, which not, I can't think, all of a sudden I just forgot the name of the figure. One of the masterpiece film figures is hitting Ross, Ross for Less. Oh yeah, it was like the Ironhide one, right?
00:40:06
Speaker
Ironhide, yep, that was that was the one and She was able to find one there for me for like 20 bucks. I was like, this is awesome I've never had one of the masterpiece figures. I'm like really excited She brought it up and it took me It took me an entire football game on a Sunday To get him just to the truck form and I was like, you know what?
00:40:30
Speaker
This is this is work for another day. Yeah, that's right. He looks great, though, when he's a robot. So, I mean, he looked like he would photograph really well because he's like he's like literally so dark, so black. And then the silver just pops on his face, you know. And I have had him in my cart on Amazon for like months. And I just I can't ever do it. Now he's down to like sixty five bucks. And then I'm like, oh, maybe I'll do it. I don't know. But I've talked myself out of it.
00:40:58
Speaker
I will tell you, having no other pieces of the Masterpiece Collection, he's probably my favorite Transformer right now. Okay, cool. Yeah, he's fantastic. Oh, that's great. Speaking of other new things that are coming... More Transformers? More Transformers, no.
00:41:20
Speaker
We're just another job. Are you kidding me? Just five. Let's do it. Jaws. Jaws, the revenge. Well, that was already Jaws, the revenge, the revenge, the revenge. This time it's really, really, really personal. We get Michael Caine back for it, too. Yeah. Can you imagine how cool would that be? Oh, my God. You know, a little floaty Gundam taking on freaking sharks. Now we're talking.
00:41:46
Speaker
I have bombs the size of tangerines. No, we talked a little bit about Monster Hunter before, which has become a massively popular
Monster Hunter and Wrestling Figures
00:42:01
Speaker
franchise. There's a movie on the way with Mila Jovovich in it.
00:42:06
Speaker
You got her last name right, but you can't get my last name right? I'm never going to get it wrong again. The audacity. So tell us about what we can expect from the Monster Hunter figures coming to the SH monster art slide. Oh, man. Now we're talking. So I think Monster Hunter is so freaking cool. I'm terrible at the game. My friends have to carry me all the way through it because I just suck. But these figures are incredible. And I'm so excited about this figure line.
00:42:35
Speaker
so far we have the Narkakuga and the Rathalos and Those of you familiar with the game will recognize Rathalos right away He's practically the face of Monster Hunter and he's absolutely huge like his wingspan dude is 15 inches. It's it's incredible. He's he's a he's a big boy You got to make a lot of room on his shelf for that guy and Narkakuga is should be in stores now And then Rathalos will hit this month. This is November. Yeah, so yeah, I'll hit this month and I
00:43:04
Speaker
We actually just revealed the third monster tonight during the Tamashi Nations event that's going on right now. And that's right. That started today. Yeah, I was like just literally watching a presentation and then a then I just started tweeting everything as soon as it was as soon as it went live at five o'clock. I'm just like, oh, my gosh, you're this, you're this and this. And first thing I did was Monster Hunter. Personal bias.
00:43:31
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, we revealed, uh, Zenogre, which is pretty cool. And, um, he looks, he looks dynamite monster toys. Like in, in general, like monsters are always the most fun, like big, big ass dragons, giant snake things, like anything that's, that's monstrous is always, you know, ends up being the most toy addict. So I was excited when, uh, you know, when I had, I'd read the announcement that, that, that was coming to the.
00:43:57
Speaker
the Tamashi Nations line. It's just they look so fucking cool. Yeah. And monsters are cool. They are. They're incredible. Like King Kong is like one of my favorite monsters. And I mean, I don't know if you guys saw Kong School Island, but I freaking love that movie, dude. I just think it's so freaking cool. That shot when they're like on the helicopters and he's standing there and the sun's like his background light and everything. I just think that's so cool.
00:44:22
Speaker
Speaking of Kong, you guys are now doing Godzilla again. Originally, it had been with NECA for a while, and with that movie coming out eventually, maybe the King Kong versus Godzilla. I'm sure there's going to be a ton of additional monsters that we can collect. Yeah. Didn't they make Kong versus Godzilla figures?
00:44:48
Speaker
They made they made a King Kong figure. That's kind of like one of the head sculpts is like the 1933 looking King Kong. And then the other one is like a Skull Island looking King Kong. And they did make Godzilla figures from the most recent Godzilla film. King of the Monsters, right? Right. Yeah. But they have not explicitly made. Which we also have a Godzilla King of the Monsters. Yeah.
00:45:18
Speaker
Yeah, they did not explicitly make stuff for, I think the King Kong versus Godzilla stuff that's kind of like floating around out there. I want to say it's like, it might be Playmates might be making it. Yeah, it's Playmates. Yeah, it's Playmates. But in terms of like, you know. You're 100% correct in this Playmates. They made Dick Tracy toys, you know.
00:45:43
Speaker
I'm my Not not to go completely off off the off the rails here again But I'm I'm I'm currently obsessing over my latest acquisition, which is the the playmates Billy Eilish action figure. Oh my goodness
00:45:58
Speaker
And it is talk about talk about a wingspan. This thing. This thing also has. And yes, I mean, actual wings. It's probably about 15 inches from from tip to tip. The wing. Yeah. If I'm going to, we're going to be doing a review of this soon. I just took a bunch of pictures of it. It is a shockingly good action figure, like shockingly good. Yeah.
00:46:27
Speaker
Uh, you know, you know what I just got into, um, was, is the, I'm so late to the party. I was tweeting this last night that, um, the predator figures that NECA makes. Oh yeah. They are so bad-ass too. Like I've always looked at them and I'm like, Oh, that's pretty cool. You know, kind of monster. You could tap your foot too. You know, that's pretty bad-ass. And then I never really got them. But then last night, you know, I was at Target and I saw, um, like this alpha.
00:46:52
Speaker
Predator guy that just looks so badass He had like all these like crazy teeth and tusks and like this squid helmet thing and I was like, all right, I'm totally crazy I'm like, that's it. I can't take it anymore. It's just too cool. I gotta buy it. I think that might be their hundredth it is their hundredth variant of a predator, which is that alone that alone It's kind of insane to think about they made a hundred different predators. I
00:47:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's like I I've like avoided the aliens and the horror characters because it's just, you know, it's it's potato chips like you can't stop at one. I know. Isn't that nuts? Do you remember that commercial where it challenges you? Like, I bet you can only eat just one or whatever. Mm hmm. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, it was the alpha predator man. And I was just like, oh, my God, I need this. Remember, have you guys seen Napoleon Dynamite?
00:47:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yes. So, you know, when, when uncle Rico goes to the house and he's trying to sell the bowls and he whips out that sale ship in the bottle and the wife's like, I want that. Like I saw this alpha predator and I literally said that out loud, like I want that. I just picked it up. I'm like, I'm buying this. I don't care. I'm putting it in my basket. I'm buying it. That's all there is to it. And then.
00:48:10
Speaker
I looked around and I saw the Predator 2 Ultimate Armored Lost Predator. And I thought he looked pretty badass too. He's got like this LED helmet and everything. So I was like, fine, I'll get this one too. And so today in between, you know, social messaging posts and writing press releases, I'm like just scouring the internet for all these cool Predator toys. I'm like, okay, well now I need the Lost Tribe. So this is what I got to do. And I'm looking everywhere. And it's so ridiculous how you just go down the rabbit hole. And that's the coolest thing about
00:48:40
Speaker
toys and collecting is just going down the rabbit hole, man. Yeah. And I mean, we talk about it all the time on the show is is kind of setting up guardrails for ourselves. Right. It's like, well, I'm going to get this one figure. But if I get this figure kind of need this one, too, because otherwise it doesn't display right. Yeah, it's there's always a second one. And then when you get that second one, there's a third and then there's 50. Yeah, I already bought so today.
00:49:10
Speaker
Guys, less than 24 hours after I bought these other figures, I got the, um, the arcade versions of like that, that sort of purple predator and then the arcade, uh, xenomorph. Um, so I can pose them together. I think it'll be a lot of fun. Well, let me tell you, if you, if you cruise through Walmart right now, um, in that, in that new collectible section that Walmart's starting to put up, they have the reissue of like the OG predator from the first film. Nice. That jungle one.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Now we're talking. I have that guy. Oh my God. It's so freaking cool, man. It's so badass. And you know what's interesting about Predator 2 is like, you know, Predator gets all the love and that's great. It's an awesome movie. And I think it's incredible. Love the music, love the pacing, love everything about it. But Predator 2 like really up the ante, man. It's like hardcore violent. They shoot a billion bullets in the first five minutes of the movie. He's got that super mega disc of death. There's just a lot going on in Predator 2.
00:50:07
Speaker
And I think people just kind of forget how cool it is and Gary Busey wasn't quite crazy yet when that movie came out Not to mention when you when you look at the two of those movies, right? You have like the predator in the first film has has like worthy worthy opponents, right? Like armor Schwarzenegger is like basically the human equivalent in number in number two. He's getting bested by Danny fucking Glover like Yeah, well, I mean he's you know, he's this
00:50:34
Speaker
this cop that's seen and done at all right yeah he's using his wits he's getting too old for this shit yeah exactly cue the saxophone music yeah now we're talking
00:50:48
Speaker
You guys are great. I can talk toys all day long. We can get back to bluefin stuff too, if you like. I apologize. Well, yeah, Dave, why don't you, uh, why don't you bring up one of your favorite toys of the year? I think so. It was definitely something that I saw that I was like, okay, I need this. Um, it was, uh, the Jushin Thunder Liger figure.
00:51:08
Speaker
Um, we've seen a couple different versions. Uh, I know there was the ringside collectibles one that was in black and gold. There was the blue and white one. Um, there's been another one that's kind of more, uh, I guess the retirement tour Liger. Um, are there any more additional versions in the pipeline or, um, even bringing any other wrestlers, legendary wrestlers aboard? So I like where your heads at.
00:51:36
Speaker
But I don't have anything to share with you right now Your store collectibles has some incredible figures and some really unique licenses and I wouldn't put it past them to say the least However, you know, they're making tremendous strides with video game properties right now like Mortal Kombat Street Fighter and Justice Samurai Showdown King of Fighters Golden Axe Streets of Rage and now doc dark stalkers for credit lab, so they kind of have a
00:52:01
Speaker
a lot going on right there. And so they haven't let me know anything about any upcoming wrestling stuff, but I wouldn't put it past them. And I mean, for the record, I would love a ravishing Rick Roode figure. That's my guy.
00:52:25
Speaker
since you guys love wrestling so much that's uh that he was my bread and butter man him and perfect those are my two favorite guys of all time for wrestling nice yeah that's um i mean that takes me back a long time like one of the first shows i went to uh ravishing rick rud was on it um in the meadowlands in like the mid 80s but um yeah there's there've been some fantastic like there is there's a great metel rick rud that just came out recently i saw that
00:52:56
Speaker
Oh my gosh. And I need to get that. I mean, I liked, uh, you know, like your, like your ultimate warriors, even though he's like terrible, but he was fun at the same time. Like he's like the worst wrestler I ever did. Fucking guy. Um, but I mean, he got the crowd pumped, right? I mean, I remember being like 10 years old and be like, Oh my God.
00:53:14
Speaker
He's not making any sense, but I love him. So I'm like, I remember looking at my dad like, what is he talking about? My dad's like, I don't know, dude. Just watch it. Something about a cockpit and taking a plane now. He's a terrorist. I don't know what's going on. He's a weirdo. He's just shaking the ropes and throwing people around. It's fine. Just go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So he was one of my faves, too. But like, Bret Hart. Oh, my God. I freaking I don't know. I think we've all any any wrestling fan.
00:53:43
Speaker
You know, has had those matches where it was just heartbreaking and we were just like, Oh my God, this, I can't believe that this just happened. And.
00:53:51
Speaker
For me, it was when Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels had to fight for an hour. And then it was tied. And then Bret Hart walks away. And then Roddy Piper was like, oh, there must be a winner. And he's got to go back in. He's kicked in the face like eight seconds later and loses. I'm like, Jesus Christ, I hate wrestling. I remember being so mad. I mean, I didn't throw a fit or break any windows or anything like that. But I was just like, did you ever see the movie Ready to Rumble?
00:54:16
Speaker
where, yeah, you know, like crying in the car on the way back like stupid Diamond Dallas Paige allergies. Like that's totally where I was at. Jesus Christ, this is the worst day ever. I hate wrestling. Everything is ruined. And then, you know, that was that was my moment, man, where I was just so devastated. And it's so crazy that something like that can can happen. You know, this metamorphosis takes place whether I mean, you know, there's always those people like, oh, wrestling's fake and blah, blah, blah.
00:54:44
Speaker
When you get passionate about a character and you love him to death and there's an opportunity to have a freaking action figure for him, I mean, that's just so cool. Well, that's the performance aspect of it too, that just pulls you in. Heck yeah, man. I could watch all that stuff. When WWE launched a little network, first thing I did was watch every old wrestling event that ever happened. I was like, oh man, never long for the ride. I don't care about the new show right now. I want to go back 20 years and see what
00:55:15
Speaker
relive the old teenager Justin years or the pre-teen years. I remember being when King Kong Bundy crushed Hulk Hogan's ribs and I'm just like, oh man, that sucks. I remember that too. Right before WrestleMania 2, yeah. Then they get the cage match going. Those are the days. Well, that's the great thing about toys in general, right? Because whether you're talking about wrestling or
00:55:41
Speaker
an anime or a film or a TV show or even like, you know, other athletic stuff. Like I have, you know, sports figures, you know, from the teams that like, you can kind of take these, these moments that you have this emotional tie to and kind of have a, you know, a semi-permanent thing that represents that feeling, that emotion, that moment. And, you know, there's just so many different ways that you could slice that. It's, it's so cool to, you know, to be able to look at all of it.
00:56:11
Speaker
Yeah, you could totally like recreate kind of, you know, your, your history in, in this form. Sure. Especially now that they come with like so many different hand options and face options. You know, before you remember those old wrestling figures where they just had like one little gimmick where they could, you could push them down, then they would hop up or they could body slam somebody. Um, you know, just didn't do a whole lot. The LJ one LJN ones when like the first figures I had, they didn't, they just had the one pose.
00:56:41
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Right. They just stood there. You're like, okay, thanks, dude. But I mean, you got it and you loved it. You didn't care. You're like, your parents are like, you can take one toy to dinner. And you're like, all right, I got Marge and Eddie in my hands right now. Got a sweet ass mullet. Marge and Eddie is going to hop into my mashed potatoes. Exactly.
00:57:02
Speaker
Uh, so I mean, that was really cool. And so like, you know, now it's like, you get a figure and it comes with 10,000 accessories and hands and faces and like, shit, I can't lose any of this crap. And now that was kind of the beautiful thing with the lighter was that it had the Cape and it had the wire in the Cape and you can kinda make it flow. He could pose. It had the, um, the really cool torso. I mean, that just for me, it was kind of mind-blowingly good.
00:57:29
Speaker
Oh, it's incredible. And if you look up, there's some incredible photo galleries that people did with that figure that it's like, is this the real dude? Am I looking at a toy right now? Like what's going on? People go all out with their dioramas. And I'm so jealous. I love that stuff.
00:57:44
Speaker
It was funny when we unboxed that one. That was our first unboxing. That was. Was it? Yeah, I think it was. That was our first unboxing. And I immediately brought like a Brian Pillman with me because I was like, OK, I want to recreate some of the stuff that. From that old WCW match and. We were able to do it and took a few pictures of it.
00:58:11
Speaker
Yeah, Eric, we should send those over to Justin. Yeah, it will. We were actually able to do most of them without the use of like flight stands and stuff because just because of the articulation and like the center of gravity, it really is as as shitty as 2020 has been a year in general. It's it is a fine time to be an action figure collector because for sure stuff is like better than it has ever been. Like there's amazing stuff coming from so many places.
00:58:41
Speaker
Oh, I know. Dude, I check Hasbro Pulse like every goddamn day. You never know with those people. They're always just throwing new shit on their website. So I'm just constantly checking Hasbro.
00:58:52
Speaker
I mean, we talked before about, you know, grabbing like an old gem. My favorite SH figure arts figure, and this might sound insane, is the Michael Jackson Moonwalker figure. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's great. Talk about accessories. The fact that he comes with like a shadow stand that lets him do the full like lean. Like, I mean, come on. It's the coolest thing ever. Yeah, I tried that lean once and I almost lost like 18 teeth. It was bad.
00:59:21
Speaker
Yeah, you have to be a very specific type of human to be able to pull that off. And very few of us are on that level. Yeah. I'm about a deuce, deuce and a half, and it doesn't work out so well. So speaking of kind of like these dream moments, capturing these feelings, these emotions that we've had over the years, throughout culture and the things that we love, with all of the different
00:59:49
Speaker
brands and all the different types of toys that, you know, fall under your umbrella. What would be like the one thing you would love to see? Like this company making this figure. Oh, man. I, I would, I would sign if I got king of the hill figures, dude. That's what I want more than anything is like a king of the hill. I think that would be so badass. I would get the whole crew and it would be amazing.
01:00:17
Speaker
And I would just stare at it, and it would be incredible. And I would find my happy place with my King of the Hill SHF. But that being said, I'm also a gamer. So I would also really like Halo figures, or World of Warcraft, or even Dark Souls. Can you imagine SH sponsor arts of bosses from Dark Souls? Oh my god.
01:00:38
Speaker
That would be cool. I mean, there's so many cool things, but for me personally, King of the Hill would, would be it. I could, I could die a happy man. That would be amazing. Like, and I'm already picturing the way that it would work with like the face tiles where you could have like, like frightened Hank.
01:01:02
Speaker
people trying to recreate the opening credits. Oh my God. And with the level of articulation, you could totally do like a stop motion thing with them where you just build a nice little like fence dial and keep adding the beer cans and everyone else kind of going around and doing their thing. Yeah. Oh my God.
01:01:20
Speaker
Well, speaking of SHF, we did post an Instagram story up to our listeners and we asked them across all the brands, did you have any questions? And I have to say that probably 99% of them were questions for
01:01:43
Speaker
First of all, they were all Dragon Ball Z questions. No Jaws questions? No Jaws questions, can you imagine? They were all Dragon Ball Z questions and I know we're not gonna get into the minutia of like
01:01:57
Speaker
Why haven't you made Krillin? Where's, you know, where's this figure? Where's that figure? We're just, we're not going to do it. Um, we all know that we're not going to be able to get answers, but, um, I'll have you know, I have all those answers in a briefcase that is handcuffed to my wrist right now.
01:02:14
Speaker
What I will say is, though, the majority of what people I think are getting at are we live now, especially in this toy world, in a world that's so connected, right, where you have all these companies that are doing these virtual events, and they're showing a level of transparency that companies really haven't prior to this year with all of these kind of touch points and interactions that are more widely available.
Bluefin's Community Engagement
01:02:43
Speaker
Do you think there would ever be a consideration for things like fan polls or for surveys or for kind of ways for fans of the brands to kind of interact with them in a way to say like, hey, you know, fan choice polls work really well. Would you guys like this figure, this figure, this figure and vote?
01:03:04
Speaker
or even just something as simple as a survey where people could fill it out. Is that something that you ever would ever see as a possibility for any of these brands? Absolutely. In fact, we do surveys at every trade show we go to, which is really great. It's usually tied to some sort of
01:03:22
Speaker
you know, giveaway or whatever. But we always like to give surveys because we're really big on feedback. And one of my jobs, you know, I'm like community manager, basically. And so I'm reading everyone's tweets and Instagram posts and Facebook posts. Even when I'm in bed at like two in the morning, I'm responding to people on Twitter because community engagement is very important to me. And I want to know what you're excited about. I want to know what you're frustrated about. And and I share that information. You know, it's it doesn't
01:03:52
Speaker
It doesn't fall on deaf ears. It is my job to relay feedback from the consumer to Japan and to Tamashi. It's great and it's a lot of feedback, but you have to remember there's
01:04:11
Speaker
There's only so much you can do. There's licensing issues. There's production issues. There's a lot that goes on into making a figure. And it's not just a matter of type in this name here, hit enter, or control P, and then just start printing figures. It doesn't work that way. There's a lot that's involved.
01:04:34
Speaker
I can tell you right now that I would love for everyone to get every single figure that they ever wanted. It's a process. It really is. It's a slow process.
01:04:45
Speaker
At the end of the day, I think it's important to know that if you've ever tweeted at Bluefin Brands or messaged me in some way, I saw your message. I try to like them all, and I try to respond to all of them. But there's just some stuff I can't tell you. You can't just ask me, hey, when are we going to get this? And then me be able to say, oh, yeah, you're going to get that on June 14, 2022 or whatever like that. It doesn't work that way. I don't have that information.
01:05:12
Speaker
I just want your listeners to trust that I do everything I can to get your message across to the right people on a weekly basis, mind you. Well, there you go. I think that answers the question though. If there is enough fervor for a character, it's basically free market research. You know what your audience is looking for.
01:05:37
Speaker
And you know, in that same vein, let's just say that I post like the most sought after figure ever. Like let's just say that, like freeze, first form, freeze it, right? Everyone's been clamoring for that for a while. We posted an image of that. And then the very first post is like, when are we gonna get this? When are we gonna get that? Yes, but when are we gonna get this? And you're just like, oh, dude, just enjoy that you're getting this one for right now. Just five seconds. Just bask in the ambiance. Like love it for a second.
01:06:07
Speaker
But it's always, okay, that's great. But when are we gonna get this? And like, I feel you, man. I mean, I'm passionate about a lot of things. And, you know, I want stuff too. And I think seeing this side of the business, it's been real eye opening for me because for so long, I was just someone that
01:06:27
Speaker
that like your Instagram stories where you run to the store, do some toy hunting and see what's going on, what's on the shelf, what's exciting. Maybe even seeing that chase figure, that's one per case or something like that and it's like, shit, should I buy this or should I leave it for someone that actually wants it? I've asked myself this question, but I mean, seeing this side of the business has been just a truly remarkable and eye-opening experience. So many things that I had never considered before.
01:06:54
Speaker
our roadblocks and hurdles. It's a long way from Japan to the United States and there's a lot of red tape that separates the two and it's a process just to get a license to distribute something here in the United States. It's just one of those things. It's a group effort and it takes a lot of meetings and a lot of projections and forecasts and what have yous to make it happen.
01:07:22
Speaker
Well, there you go. So, uh, the, the, the message then there is continue to be vocal and, uh, and, you know, that you're listening. And I think that's the most important thing, you know, it's brands sometimes seem like they are, uh, impenetrable, you know, that there are these bigger, you know, larger than life entities that are not listening. And, you know, it's all about the bottom line and everything, but that's why it's important to have.
01:07:48
Speaker
you know, we love having people like you on the show, because it shows that like, yes, there is, there are actual human beings that exist that that workforce at entity that are fucking listening. So like, you know, just, you know, and and they are listening. Yeah. I trust me, I am trying really hard to be your champion and make
01:08:09
Speaker
everything happened for you and we did a live stream not so long ago and David who's He's like the senior marketing manager and just out of nowhere He's like, you know, he's he's like, you know Justin and AJ they run the social channels and you know They're listening to everything you say and they're your champions I had no idea he was gonna say that and I'm just like oh man and like you could just I could just feel it this tonal shift on on social media where I wasn't getting yelled at as much anymore I'm just like
01:08:38
Speaker
I'm doing everything I can to make this happen for you and it's going a long way. It's crazy. Once someone realizes that I'm not just posting pictures and making a statement and I'm actually interacting with you and having a good time and we're sharing collections and stuff like that.
01:08:55
Speaker
it really goes a long way and I've tried so hard to just build an awesome community because there's so many passionate collectors out there and I get it, we all get upset and we all get mad and there's exclusives that maybe you didn't get your hands on or I've been that same guy using the target app to try and get something that's a pre-order that I'll sold out in like eight seconds and I've been on that end and I know how frustrating it is but something like San Diego, you guys remember when San Diego Comic Con happened and there was just all these digital events, everyone was doing their own thing,
01:09:24
Speaker
Funko was doing their exclusives and neko was doing their exclusives and we were doing our exclusives and Everyone was just selling out in two seconds and then people were getting mad, you know They're blaming bots and and I can tell you right now There isn't a website in the world that can handle everyone in America all clicking refresh and bye-bye-bye Add to cart it is not in the cards. There isn't a single website that can handle that and I
01:09:47
Speaker
Everyone was learning, you know, it's a learning curve. No one had to do these digital events before. And when you go at a show to, let's say, like San Diego, Comic Con or New York, where there's 150,000 people there, there might only be, you know, 500 people in your line at your booth and your have four registers. Now, all of a sudden, you have to have
01:10:07
Speaker
30,000 registers and they all have to be working at once and that's just not in the cards. There's a reason why there's capacity issues at these shows because only so many people can fit. When you turn it into a digital space, now all of a sudden instead of having 500 customers, you have 50,000 customers or something like that. It's a game changer and it's a learning curve and we're all trying to get better at it.
01:10:30
Speaker
I feel terrible that you didn't get your figure, that the website crashed or whatever the case may be. I was reading the comments section on a NECA feed during San Diego Comic Con, and I'm just like, oh, my heart breaks for you, social media manager. It's so sad. I'm just like, oh, I'm sorry, man. Don't let me get to you. We all have, we're all, you know, I shouldn't say we all, but you know,
01:10:55
Speaker
We have memories like Goldfish, right? People don't remember even just last year the fact that an exclusive meant that Company X brought Y amount of figure to the show. And if you were Dave and Eric sitting at home in New Jersey during San Diego Comic Con, you didn't even have a chance because you weren't in the building. And everyone was OK with it then.
01:11:22
Speaker
And if there happened to be any left, sometimes the next week or two later, it would go up on a website if there was any additional stock. But nobody was mad about it then. It's the same process this year. It's just everyone could go. Yeah, the swimming hole has not changed size, but the amount of patrons has grown exponentially. Yeah, and it's tricky, man.
01:11:52
Speaker
It was, it's, it's frustrating for everyone. I'm not going to lie. Like, I mean, of course no one wants there with the poor guy or girl that's running the, the NECA social media is.
01:12:03
Speaker
is devastated that this isn't working out. There's times where I just lose sleep over something because that process wasn't done correctly or a website crashed or something like that because it's like, I want to fight for you guys to get your stuff and there's only so much I can do. Again, this is just one of those things. I was trying to pre-order a next-gen console just last month. Everyone was trying to get a PS5.
01:12:30
Speaker
And that was a nightmare for everyone. And Sony didn't, they had their guidelines of when their previews were going to go up, but then certain retailers decided, you know what, we're just going to go ahead and do it now. We're cool. And so everyone's like freaking out. They're losing stuff in their cards, not working. And everyone's getting mad and crazy. And then guess what? Like the next day we all just went on with our lives, you know? So it's like, once you, once you have that cathartic experience, that it's going to be okay. Then it's everything else is gravy.
01:12:59
Speaker
But it is crazy how in the heat of the moment, like we all live like in the now, right? We're just like, shit, I want this PS5. I gotta get it. I want it right now. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. What do you mean it's not working? How come it's, you know, this error is happening and I'm gonna throw my phone. I'm gonna be upset. I'm gonna write a letter and I'm gonna go to the nearest internet and complain and then blah, blah, blah, right? And so it's just, it's heartbreaking for all of us. So I mean, just at the end of the day, know that
01:13:28
Speaker
I read your comments, the positive and the negative. I take them both, and I take them to the people that need them, and I'm here for you.
Prized and Weirdest Collections
01:13:37
Speaker
This is what I'm getting at. All right. Awesome. So you heard it, everybody. You heard. Well, before we let you go, we have our one question that we ask everybody. It's our
01:13:51
Speaker
It's our James Lipton question. So we always like to ask everybody, either or both, what is the most prized piece of your collection? And what's the weirdest thing you have? Oh, okay. How weird like how weird like if I die and my relatives have to open up a chest and they're gonna
01:14:08
Speaker
Jaws are going to drop or just like weird toys that I have. I mean, let's let's let's say the weirdest toy in your collection and your and your most prized toy. Well, we'll keep it to toys. You know, keep it the toys. Yeah. You don't need to. You don't need to talk about those those pictures. OK. Let's see here. You know, honestly, I think
01:14:37
Speaker
One of my favorite things that I actually own is actually my Mortal Kombat 1-Up machine. It's something that, you know, it's not a toy per se, but I play it. So I'm counting that as a toy. Video games are toys too, man. They're toys and it counts. You know, I remember when I was like 12 years old and I walked into a 7-Eleven, there was this arcade machine for Mortal Kombat and I watched this guy play and he was sub-zero and he ripped off Johnny Cage's head with the spine attached. And I was like, Jesus Christ, that's the coolest thing I've ever seen. And it just became a dream to own a Mortal Kombat machine.
01:15:07
Speaker
I came one up made them. I was like, baby, this is I've never used the term non negotiable before, but I'm getting one of these machines and I got it. And coincidentally, she was out of town, but I had permission to get it. Just throwing it out there. But I put it together and I freaking played all night long. It's right here in my little game room and I love it to death and that
01:15:34
Speaker
That is probably my most prized possession. And as far as something weird goes, um, it's not a toy per se, but I have a plague doctor mask. Uh, if you guys remember those as ones with like the beaks, they're pretty cool. Um, I got that prior a couple of Christmases ago, I opened it up. I was like, what the fuck? But, uh, I love it to death. I absolutely love it.
01:15:54
Speaker
And I don't like really wear it or anything, but I have it and it's cool and it's weird and it's kind of a conversation piece. Hey, listen, masks are necessary in public now. So if you want to roll out with your plague doctor mask, I think now is the time to do it, man. I mean, live, live your best life.
01:16:14
Speaker
And scare the shit out of everybody. But it's a mask. Give me a break. But you also have to wear like the hat with it too, and like the moon. So like you gotta, if you're gonna do it, you have to really like have to do it. You gotta go all in. I know man. Problem is it's all black and it gets hot over here. Southern California doesn't believe in winter. It's just always warm. It was like 118 when I got in my car like a couple weeks ago. I was like geez!
01:16:39
Speaker
That's warm. I grew up in the desert and like, and I get it, man, it gets hot. But like 118, that's like, that's like Mad Max Fury Road shit, dude. We'll start to go crazy when it gets that hot. You gotta be careful. Yeah. You stand too still on a, on blacktop at 118. Your shoes might melt. Yeah. Bad news bears, dude. I don't like it. Oh, you know what though? Can I just add something really quick? Um, absolutely. When, um, at the beginning you had asked me what I was most excited about and, um,
01:17:07
Speaker
Right away. And Jaws 3 is the answer. That is one of the answers. That's part one of a two-part answer. The only thing that I was really excited about is that 66 Batman deluxe box set from Mezco. You guys familiar with that? Yeah. Yeah, the five points. Yeah. Oh my God, dude. That's like a dream come true for me too, man. I can't wait to get that. I had
01:17:28
Speaker
I had pre-ordered it and I'm very excited about it. It's like seven figures. And then you get like the Batmobile and the Batcave and Wayne Manor diorama. And it's like, that is that's that's going to make my year next year. I'm so excited for that. Like it's my favorite Batmobile. It's my favorite Batman. And now I get to play with it. And I'm so excited and better half is going to be like, you know, check it on me. And I'm like, leave me alone. I'm playing with my friends. I'm really excited about it. If I had not gone like
01:18:00
Speaker
full on cannonball into the world of the four inch spin master Batman figures that are out now, including the three level Batcave slash Gotham city street dial. I would have gone in on that for sure. 100%. It was like for me, it was like, I'm already shoulder deep. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't do it.
01:18:26
Speaker
I can appreciate that. And now, now I'm going down this stupid predator rabbit. I can't. I gotta step away. I need to like just unplug from, from my phone and from the internet and just, and just kind of mellow out and play with my Transformers. Cause if I just keep seeing all this cool shit pop up, you know, you guys are talking about this is the year for toys, man. It really
Toy Collecting During the Pandemic
01:18:48
Speaker
is. I've, I've never bought so many things.
01:18:51
Speaker
in my life in the course of like nine months. It has been nuts. And maybe it's just because I'm a little stir crazy from like working from home. So it's become like my outlet. But I just feel like I have collected so much crap in the last like nine months and I'm eating up. I love every second of it.
01:19:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah. You know, you know how you get those on social media, get those pictures right where it's like you took this picture a year ago. It was a picture of my Marvel Legends cube, like my the little cube storage space that I have my my display in. And it was like. Maybe like 10 figures. And now I'm. We're just not going to talk about. Well, you're caught up, at least, I mean, to any movies that haven't come out yet. Fact.
01:19:37
Speaker
actual, actual fact. Did you get that, um, that Sentinel that has lab? No, no. So I, I love it. Um, I, again, going back to guardrails, my, my Marvel collection is movie movie universe. Okay.
01:19:54
Speaker
Good for you. I have a couple of very few exceptions. I decided to get a couple of non-film figures that are analogs of some of my favorite toy biz Marvel figures when I was a kid. And I have officially completed that with my recent acquisition of Dr. Doom, of the new retro Dr. Doom. Oh, yeah, yeah, that looks great. I haven't opened him yet, but that is the only one I was missing.
01:20:24
Speaker
What about you? You get a sentinel? No, no sentinels for me. Marvel Legends was kind of it's that was another one where it was like, hey, this is too much. And going back and collecting would be a lot, although I'm always still going to keep the idea of potentially getting a ghost rider to in the back of my mind. Sure. You know, I've since
01:20:49
Speaker
Like when things are a jumping-off point where I can get into it when it's new um so the DC multiverse Figures have been kind of what I've jumped into a little bit Keeping things my guardrails have been like if it reminds me of the Kenner superpowers or movies Okay, that's good Good for you. I need guardrails They're important man your book Dude, they're
01:21:19
Speaker
they're important, especially when you're as inundated as we all are with this stuff. It could get ugly real quick.
01:21:37
Speaker
There were no rules at some point. No, it's crazy. You know, I only have a few Funko pops and they were all gifts minus one that I bought for myself. And that was the Sharknado one. And that's the only one that I opened. And that's the only one that's worth a damn. Isn't that funny how that works? I saw it for like a hundred bucks. I'm like, oh man, it's just sitting on my desk. I totally just ripped it out of the package and just played with it. So funny.
Social Media and Closing
01:22:00
Speaker
So Justin, where can we find you on social media? Is there anything in particular that you would like to plug? This episode, just so that you're aware, we're recording it on Thursday the 5th. It will be live this coming Monday. So is there anything that you would like to plug before we sign off for the evening?
01:22:22
Speaker
Yeah, man. Thank you for the opportunity. I actually just happened to be on three different podcasts. There's the Geek Legacy podcast, where we talk about everything in the realm of entertainment news. There is the Pixelated podcast, where we discuss the week's highlight in video game news. And then there's even Don't Be Crazy, where we discuss and dissect what makes a film past or present absolutely amazing or just pure rubbish. And
01:22:44
Speaker
If you want to follow me on social media, you're more than welcome to, at EdgyArmo, because I'm Armenian. And even though there's no O in Armenian, it just sounds cool to say EdgyArmo. So if you want to check out some adorable photos and videos of animals doing really cute stuff and some toy photography posts every now and again, then be sure to follow at EdgyArmo. And then, of course, please, please, please follow at BluefinBrands for exciting news, product updates, giveaways, live streams, and all sorts of fun stuff.
01:23:13
Speaker
Awesome. And Justin, thank you so much for joining us tonight. And this was a blast. Yeah, this is a lot of fun. Thank you, Justin. Oh, thank you. It was a real honor, man. Sorry if I voguarded the mic. I like to talk. Nope. We love to have people like you on. We really appreciate it. Awesome. Thanks, guys.
01:23:37
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.
01:23:53
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.
01:24:17
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.
01:24:47
Speaker
you