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Chasing That Phantom Moment: All-Time Favorite Moments in Collecting
433 Plays6 years ago
On this episode of Adventures in Collecting, Dave and Erik talk the latest news from the upcoming Triple Force Friday, Funko's Newest POPs, Friday the 13th, Pennywise, and their recent hauls, along with Dave and Erik's all-time favorite moments in collection. Travel back to dirt malls in the late 90's for the launch of the Phantom Menace toy line and finding that golden Funko chase.
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Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, Dave. Hi, Eric. Hey, Dave. Do we curse on this podcast? Yes, Eric. Yes, we do. 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.
00:00:21
Speaker
I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and halls, along with our journeys as collectors.
Launch Issues and Listener Engagement
00:00:34
Speaker
All right. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, episode two. We're back. We came back to work, so it means that we liked our first day on the job. First of all, I'd just like to thank everyone who listened for tuning into episode one. Sorry for the little shaky launch there as we didn't have Apple podcasts ready to go at launch, but we have that sorted out. We are everywhere, as they say now.
00:01:04
Speaker
We are everywhere where good podcasts are found. Yes. Gentle reminder, if you are listening, be sure to give us a little rate and review. That helps this podcast get in front of more people. If you like what you hear and you're enjoying yourself listening, that's the best thing that you could do to make sure that other people find us.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yes. So with that, let's hop right into the news.
Triple Force Friday Star Wars Event
00:01:35
Speaker
I'm going to start off. Last episode, I talked a little bit about that leak for the upcoming Triple Force Friday. And there has been some more developments in that. Hey, Eric, if you're new to the game, when is Triple Force Friday?
00:01:51
Speaker
You know what? I should have had this date ready. I screwed it up last episode. Actually, no, I didn't. Didn't I say October 4th? Yeah, yeah. It's Friday, October 4th. So, Triple Force Friday for those who are new to the game. Very good, Dave. Star Wars is celebrating the launch of three things. The new
00:02:13
Speaker
newest game, Fallen Jedi, The Mandalorian, which is the Disney Plus TV show, and then of course, the 40 years in the making end to the Skywalker saga. The ultimate Skywalker film. The rise of Skywalker.
00:02:32
Speaker
So, as I mentioned last week, the Vintage Collection, Way of One coming for the Rise of Skywalker and for Triple Force Friday leaked, but further than that, some Walmarts in Canada have broken the street date and have begun selling them.
00:02:50
Speaker
The rub there is that all of the current vintage collection figures that are still on shelves in Walmart are marked down to clearance prices, so people have been getting some pretty good deals on products that are not supposed to be out yet. The latest I'm hearing today, though, as of
00:03:12
Speaker
September 14th is that they are now register locked. So people are being turned away and they're being pulled off the shelves. So like the people that got in there early, they got
00:03:26
Speaker
They got some early product. I'm very jealous because they're gorgeous. I actually didn't know the Poe Dameron figure that's part of this wave, same base as the Poe Dameron that was in the Black Series Walmart exclusive line for The Last Jedi and for The Force Awakens.
Toy Technology and Collectors' Concerns
00:03:46
Speaker
But they fixed the head on it, and they're using that 3D modeling that they're using on the Black Series figures, and it looks like Oscar Isaac. I mean, it's crazy. So they're getting better scans now? Yes. Well, originally, those scans were only for the Black Series and 6-inch scale figures. They're now bringing it to the 3 and 3-quarter scale, which is awesome. Very excited.
00:04:10
Speaker
I know there were those rumors early on of that scale or that size figure was no longer going to be present. Is that kind of quelling the fear?
00:04:28
Speaker
usually at this point, they will have announced the standard five points of articulation or five POA figures, like the ones that brought Kenner all the theme and put them on the map the way that it did.
00:04:44
Speaker
those figures that don't have the elbow articulation, the wrists, the neck, knees and everything. Thus far, they have not been announced. This could be the first major launch without that kind of baseline, which makes collectors like me and other people, people who focus on that scale are kind of freaking out a little bit because going into this, it's really the vintage collection and the Black Series. There's a new line that they're working on.
00:05:14
Speaker
It's that YouTube series that they do, the Galaxy of Adventures or something like that. It's an animated shorts thing that they do on YouTube, but they're bringing a new scale in. It's like a five-inch figure.
00:05:28
Speaker
for those of you listening, I just shrugged my shoulders and shook my head as if you could see me not know what that was. They look really cool. Those have also leaked thanks to Toys R Us Canada. They almost look like the Disney Store toy box figures. Very similar, very hyper stylized. They look
00:05:48
Speaker
More of a statue than a figure, per se? No, they have articulation, but they just look cartoony, which fits in with the line, the series that they're supposed to be emulating. Basically, this would be like if Mattel just said, we're not doing basics anymore. Series 101 is the last WWE basic and we're just doing elites.
00:06:12
Speaker
It would be like if they said, we're just doing elites and we're just doing that retro. Which they are not doing. Oh. Really? Yeah, those got put on hiatus was the word around Comic Con. Uh-oh. Yeah. I at least have them all men on card. So that's fun. And we'll have to talk about this on a future episode. But when these lines that we adore
00:06:40
Speaker
just get the plug pulled on them. We miss them and then all of a sudden they become this reminiscent thing. We got to keep that in mind for a future topic.
Exclusive Figure Announcements and Purchases
00:06:52
Speaker
The other piece of news that I have is some more of those New York Comic Con Funko Pops were announced. They look super creepy. I didn't get a chance to see the movie yet, but the scary stories to tell in the dark. Yeah, those are not
00:07:07
Speaker
They're just kind of just gonna be a line with the litany of things that have been announced that it would feel like
00:07:15
Speaker
I just think, like, everything I've been seeing from them is, like, New York Comic Con exclusive. And, you know, that new Avengers wave that they announced looks fun. Oh, yeah. I forgot about those. I really want taco hope, I think. I'm going to have to break my no-pop rule. You have shirtless pizza Thor, too. T-shirt Thanos, Mjolnir, and Shield Cap. Power and Glory Cap is what Hasbro at least refers to him as. OK. As I look at him on my shelf right now. Yeah, I short-haired Captain Marvel.
00:07:44
Speaker
and gauntlet iron spider, RIP. Yes, let's not talk about that. We're going to move on from that. Did you have any other news you wanted to share, Dave? Yeah, it looks like Super 7 announced that their wave of glow in the dark figures is coming out, and it's an interesting wave. It's the Super 7 reaction figures.
00:08:07
Speaker
It is Ghost, so it's Papa Emeritus, I believe it's three, is the figure that they have. There is a Jerry only, a Slayer figure, and a Motorhead figure, as well as Iron Maiden, Muscle, three-pack.
00:08:24
Speaker
all glow in the dark. Super 7 has brought back the idea of kind of almost like the Kenner style action figure and they have so many different licenses like Rocky and – I think I've seen alien ones too. They've had some Lucha Libre ones which are pretty neat. They've had baseball legends that have sold out like they've flown. So this is a neat little kind of variant that they have coming out that are going to be glow in the dark.
00:08:52
Speaker
presumably Halloween themed. That looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Also, Hot Topics and box lunches are starting to show that they've gotten the Haunted Mansion figures, pop figures in store, pop vinyl figures, and also they've shown up online and have sold out pretty much immediately. Don't forget to bring your death certificate
00:09:19
Speaker
Constance is one of them, but she is not. That character is not. I think that character might be in a mini, but the... It's a little exit bride, right? Yeah. Madame Leota is...
00:09:35
Speaker
One of them, it is also the little mummy. It is also Constance, who is the bride. And the other one is the opera singer. Oh, that's right. Constance being a Disney World character just continues to blow my mind like year after year. I remember when they introduced her, just a fact that it's like a hatchet wielding, what is she, like a three-timed widow? It's weird.
00:10:04
Speaker
I mean, it's super cool, though. Yeah, it is. But it makes for a cool pop vinyl. Yeah. I feel like we'd be remiss, too, in mentioning that today is Saturday, September 14th. Yesterday was Friday the 13th. And Funko has that new line of the horror guys. The five stars? Yeah, the five stars.
00:10:26
Speaker
Yeah, they've had those for a bunch of stuff like for Harry Potter. Yeah, but you see what they teased on their Instagram yesterday? I didn't. They're doing the NES colored Jason. No way. In that line. They had him like peeking out the side.
00:10:43
Speaker
And I would imagine that Freddie would be in the pipeline, too. But I did see a picture of it on Instagram, so I'd be remiss in not mentioning that. And also, it was brought to my attention by our good friend, Dave, at Zap. I swung by there today.
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah, I do love 8-bit purple Jason. I have the 8-bit pop vinyl for that. From news straight into halls, I'm pretty excited today. I got a package that I've been waiting for patiently. I finally got my first Avengers movie, Nick Fury.
00:11:19
Speaker
So Marvel Legend, very, very excited to get him. And I also got a neat little custom sculpt Tony Stark head for Marvel Legends that is the likeness of Robert Downey Jr. I don't know what the likelihood is that we'll get another official one.
00:11:39
Speaker
I can't pay what the aftermarket is asking for that first 10 years MCU Tony Stark. I can't do it. I spent $15 and got the head, which
00:11:51
Speaker
looks great. I have to get in there with the Dremel a little bit. It doesn't quite fit on the peg on the Iron Man body, but just holding it up next to it, it looks really cool. So I can't wait to get that on there. I have this display in my head worked out where I'm going to have kind of everybody with their masks off.
00:12:10
Speaker
kind of lined up. I'm going to switch it up in a little bit. Right now, I'll post a picture to our Instagram, but my Marvel Legends display currently features literally everyone that I have, and I don't know if I could possibly fit another figure in there. It is tight. I can confirm. You probably can't. I was surprised that I was able to get Nick Fury in there, to be perfectly honest.
00:12:37
Speaker
Like, and he just made it in there. The other thing that I bought, you know, IT Chapter 2 came out a week ago, and I went to go see it on the Friday it came out. And I liked it so much that I...
00:12:54
Speaker
in the parking lot on the way out, I went online and bought a NECA Pennywise. I got the one where he's holding Georgie's arm and he has the balloon, the I Love Dairy balloon. I got it aftermarket, so I got it out of box because I display everything. That will go on my desk at work and he'll be sitting there holding Georgie's arm and a balloon with blood all over his face and my co-workers will continue to wonder what's wrong with me.
00:13:22
Speaker
Light week for me this week compared to last week where I bought everything. This week, very light week. One really large box with a lot of paper in it holding the box lunch exclusive, Haunted Mansion, Funko Pop, Mansion Grounds Keeper. The only thing that I wish he had was the dog. He does not have the dog.
00:13:48
Speaker
That, for all of you Disney fans, at the end of the Haunted Mansion, when you go into the graveyard, there's the groundskeeper, terrified groundskeeper, and he's got the dog on the leash. He does not have the dog, but it's a pretty cool, stylized, pop likeness of the groundskeeper.
00:14:10
Speaker
You know what, they'd have to make one of those, what do they call them, the pop scenes? Oh, the houses, which I'm not in on the houses. Oh, you mean you don't want like totally out of scale? Correct. Ghostbusters headquarters, New York Firehouse. Yeah, because the Stay Puft for that would have to be like a 40 inch Stay Puft. And considering Peter Venkman's half the size of the house, no, I don't.
00:14:39
Speaker
I saw those. I saw a picture of them online and it was a real head scratcher for me. I couldn't wrap my head around those and I could not for the life of me wrap my head around the WWE Ghostbusters
Toy Crossovers and Sentimental Collecting
00:14:51
Speaker
figures. The likenesses look great. Great job making the rock look like the rock and John Cena and the translucent purple undertaker. They look great. I just don't understand. I don't get it.
00:15:07
Speaker
It's weird, but the figures themselves are phenomenal. Yeah, the soft goods, jumpsuits and everything. They are well executed. I just don't understand it. Yeah, especially when there's this market for something like a retro where people who watch wrestling want that and they don't want masters of the universe or Ghostbusters.
00:15:35
Speaker
Now with that said, if I were to get one of those, my crossover figure would actually be Ghostbusters because of just the fact that they're really well-made figures and they're elites. I still don't – I can't wrap my head around the Masters of the Universe line that's coming. I mean the only thing I could say about the Ghostbusters one is 10-year-old me.
00:16:01
Speaker
would want all of them and with our spreadsheet and our entrance ramp and everything, we would have a four-man tag match where it's like the Ghostbusters, they became the Ghostbusters. It would have been like Ghostbusters versus DX. Well, you couldn't because Shawn Michaels is a Ghostbusters. Oh, that's right. He's in that. I have to be like NWO.
00:16:24
Speaker
Yeah, he could do that. They did a good job making the Ghostbusters and I like who's in it and the translucent undertaker with the green title is pretty neat. Can't say, don't know how if that's going to be something that I would get yet and they are going to be like a Walmart exclusive, I think. Okay. If you're going to say one good thing about it, they did pick the right guys. I don't think those will peg warm.
00:16:50
Speaker
I don't think so either. Is there like a Ghostbusters anniversary that I'm not thinking of? Yeah, is it the 30th or the 35th? Okay, so it is an anniversary year because I feel like there's been a large influx of Ghostbusters stuff like everywhere. We were in Spirit Halloween and they had tons of Ghostbusters costumes and everything. I was like, did I miss something? Yeah, it's the 35th anniversary. There was a new line of pops.
00:17:16
Speaker
Speaking of anniversaries, this week I was thinking a really cool thing that we could talk about because I have Triple Force Friday on my mind and it was the anniversary of the Phantom Menace this year, is our favorite moments that we've ever had in collecting. I know I'm speaking in the past because I know one of mine, which also involves you by the way, is my all-time favorite moment in collecting.
00:17:43
Speaker
Collecting in general, the reason why we buy these things and why we display them and look at them, I feel like there is this sentimental element where we are reminiscing about actually playing with these toys.
00:18:02
Speaker
way that we've evolved as collectors from playing with them to either setting them up or the way that we choose to display them, there is this sense of nostalgia about it. I feel like we'd be remiss in not talking about some of the nostalgic things about collecting. Let's talk about our favorite moments that we've ever had.
00:18:25
Speaker
Okay, I want to know what the one that you're going to start with is because you've kind of built that. Yes. So for those of you that do not live in northern New Jersey, there are three words that will absolutely be meaningless to you.
00:18:40
Speaker
But for those of you that did live in northern New Jersey in the 80s and 90s and even into, I believe, the early 2000s, the words Mill Creek Mall will mean a lot to that niche audience. So Mill Creek Mall was
00:18:56
Speaker
picture, just your typical one floor, 80s mall, shaped in an L. It wasn't like the malls now where you get to the end and you can loop back around. When you got to the end, you had the food court, the music store, and you had to go back to the beginning. In that mall was the KB Toys that we haunted regularly.
00:19:17
Speaker
My older brother Dave here took me to KB Toys on the Phantom Menace toy launch day. And when you went into KB Toys, I can remember this as if I was in the store yesterday, but it has been, at least since this moment, it's been, what, was that 25 years ago? 20 years ago? Phantom Menace? 20. 20 years, yeah. 20.
00:19:42
Speaker
When you went into KB Toys, the Star Wars... Not math majors, we are. No. The Star Wars display where they had all the figures set up for the quote-unquote launch day, we walked through the front doors and it was directly to the left and it took up that entire wall. I remember
00:19:59
Speaker
it being your idea. And we were able to get, you know, Darth Maul and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. And I'm looking at, I currently have one of my displays set up is a Phantom Menace kind of like tribute display. And I'm looking at some of those figures that I've had for 20 years. And, you know, it was just looking back on it now gives me
00:20:22
Speaker
a new sense of appreciation of what retail was like for toy collectors going back 20 years where you could go in and I remember going in like a month later and wave two would be out and it would be available. People didn't really know the case assortment. There was no online. Do you have any more in the back?
00:20:44
Speaker
You had your mail away figures, you had the figures that were not advertised on the back. When it showed which ones were in that collection, I think base window might have been one of them. He had a blue lightsaber because nobody knew what color his lightsaber was yet. When I think about times like that,
00:21:03
Speaker
I think about going back to those days with even the re-releases of Star Wars when the modern power of the force waves came out. They were just so readily available and you could go and you can pick through and there wasn't just one or two racks of toys. It was a whole wall dedicated to it.
00:21:26
Speaker
You know, they were, but they weren't because there would still be the – somebody would still be short-packed. Yeah, but now with that short-packed figure, because of the way that the internet is and with the leaks and everything, sometimes those short-packed figures,
00:21:43
Speaker
They don't even make it out to the floor anymore. It's happening right now with Storm in the Marvel Legends retro. The ones that are packaged in that Toy Biz packaging. It's happening with her. It's happening with Mr. Sinister in the Marvel Legends. They're just not making it to the floor.
00:22:02
Speaker
and it's a shame. There's no chance in the hunt. You have to either get extremely, extremely lucky or find them online.
Challenges and Thrills of Toy Collecting
00:22:11
Speaker
I can't help but think back to that Phantom Menace release and just those red and black cards, just seeing all rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of figures, even if they were all Jar Jar Binks.
00:22:23
Speaker
or boss nast or the stripped down C3PO. I just remember there being a lot of them, and I miss that. Well, if you think about it, in this area, we didn't have Target or Walmart. No.
00:22:43
Speaker
almost the 2000s. So it was like you had to go to Keldor or Bradley's or Kmart or Toys R Us or KB. Like there wasn't – now you just have a Walmart target.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah, and to be honest, so Triple Force Friday is just a few weeks away. It's something I'm excited about. I'll be there early in the morning or even at midnight, depending on what's going on. But last year, or not last year, last time there was- Last Jedi. Yeah. I went to Toys R Us. I don't know what I'm going to do.
00:23:23
Speaker
I waited online for a SNES classic. And Toys R Us. Yeah. RIP. I mean, they're sort of coming back, but like... We don't know. Yeah, we'll see. We don't know what it is. We'll see. You go ahead, Dave.
00:23:37
Speaker
I mean like for me, a lot of it was – so if we're talking about that time, like another thing that was a big kind of place to get toys was flea markets. The Meadowlands Flea Market where you get $10 Jack's Bone Crunchers for like $15, $20 because you couldn't find D. Lo Brown in the store or the Hardy Boys or something along those lines.
00:24:07
Speaker
Yeah, Yoko Zuna was a tough find. You'd have to go to... What was the secondary market then? Which was you'd go to the flea market. The in-person eBay. Yeah. But if we're kind of looking at...
00:24:26
Speaker
Now, it's finding those chases or those variants or something like that in stores. Thinking back, I found, yes, there are ones through GameStop where I've pre-ordered and have been fortunate enough to get a chase.
00:24:47
Speaker
But finding the Star-Lord Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 chase in a hot topic, which, yes, that was the first easily accessible chase. But still, it's... Seeing that sticker. Yeah, you see the sticker. Or when I saw the Space Jam Taz one, I was like, I'm not collecting these.
00:25:08
Speaker
You know, when I found the Mad Max Immortan Joe and I was like, oh, that's the last one I need. Things like that. That's always fun, just finding those. But even, you know, like finding
00:25:21
Speaker
the KO mania to Kevin Owens elite variant or even though there's nothing really different about her Nikki Cross and the packaging variant with where she's wearing the, I guess, the bandana as opposed to it being packaged alongside of her. You know, things like that. There are those
00:25:43
Speaker
You know, like trying to find the Rock or the Pat Patterson elites that are at Walmart. You know, things like that. Finding those current, you know, either chases or exclusives that are fun. Well, speaking of packaging variants, you have one of my favorite packaging variants. Mistakes, actually. Don't you have a Reservoir Dogs figure that has the wrong, it's like Mr. Brown in a Mr. Pink box or something like that?
00:26:09
Speaker
It's Tim Roth, so it's Mr. Orange and it says Mr. Brown. That must have been pretty cool when he saw that. Yeah, I saw that in a Toys R Us. I want to say like in the Deptford, New Jersey Toys R Us or something along those lines. Oh, Deptford Hall.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, but to that point, that kind of stuff does still happen today, where you find that, like, we were at one of the toy shows, we mentioned toy shows on the last episode, but somebody had the Build a Figure group from the first Guardians of the Galaxy wave for Marvel Legends, and he had them for 15 bucks.
00:26:49
Speaker
I was literally the day before looking at that figure on eBay going, well, I guess I have to hope they remake Groot because I'm not paying $85 for this. And the guy was just like, yeah, I'm not looking to price gouge anybody. I just hope he finds a good home. And boy, oh boy, did he.
00:27:05
Speaker
and find a good home he did. But yeah, those little aftermarket gems and flea market shows, stuff like that, those are fun to find. Yeah. Or even just like when you see something like the micromaniac series that I just picked up, just finding that weird new line and just still being able to find it, that's always a good time. And I feel like that's
00:27:35
Speaker
a lot of the motivation, right? It's like that thrill of the hunt. I know as soon as new Marvel Legends that I'm looking for, like if they're MCU ones or if there's new Star Wars figures that are supposed to be hitting shelves, I have my path.
00:27:50
Speaker
I know when I'm going to hit what store or where. There are certain stores that I can hit before work. There are certain stores that I hit after work. It just kind of depends on when and where. When The Last Jedi came out, I was able to get – which I never saw on shelves again.
00:28:10
Speaker
the super articulated like the little mini black series, Walmart exclusive, Luke Skywalker, the Jedi exile Luke Skywalker, and the Praetorian guard, the elite Praetorian guard.
00:28:26
Speaker
just had them. They were out. It was like seven o'clock in the morning at a Walmart, and I was literally watching the person stock the shells with them, and I couldn't believe that they were sitting in front of me and then never saw them again. Well, that was like those – what was that classic line they just put out? Was it a retro?
00:28:45
Speaker
Yeah. I think they were just called the retro series, the ones that looked like the actual original Keter ones. Yeah. I saw somebody putting them out on the shelf and I was like, ah, I don't need these. I texted you and I was like, do you need these? You were like, no, and then I've never seen them again ever since.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, I love just thinking about all of the cool finds and the way that retail used to be with these figures and the thrill of the hunt is what keeps me going. Whether it's waiting online for somebody to drop something at a certain time and you get that digital cue and you're sitting there wondering if you're going to make it through and you get to the payment screen and it kicks you out and you storm away from your computer.
00:29:35
Speaker
Funko shop on Comic Con day. Oh, man. Or just trolling through discount stores to find figures that never made it to a regular store. Yeah. Distribution is so weird that that happens. We don't have Rosses here, unfortunately, but Ross, they're kind of like a Marshall's. Yeah, but we do have Marshall's and Burlington Coat Factory.
00:30:01
Speaker
You mentioned that today. Great lots. Burlington Coat Factory. Burlington Coat Factory is a toy section. I think the only toys I've ever seen there are like Nerf guns.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah, they have action figures and they had some stuff and then they had a Charlotte Flair WWE zombies figure. Well, you heard it here eventually, folks. Go to Burlington Co-Factory for some weird... Or don't. That way I can find it. No. Seriously. No.
00:30:37
Speaker
Burlington Coat Factory. I had no idea until I saw someone say, hey, you might be able to find stuff there. Yeah, that is crazy that these things never make it to the intended store. Yeah, there are figures that have like WWE figures that people have been looking for that they've never seen and that have popped up in discount stores. There is a
00:31:03
Speaker
I believe it was in the Han Solo, the Solo Star Wars story movie. There was an A-Wing vehicle with an A-Wing pilot in it that was supposed to be a Walmart and Target, like not an exclusive figure at all. Never made it. And then all of a sudden started showing up for like pennies on the dollar at Ross.
00:31:27
Speaker
And there were people waiting in line in front of Ross's, like in Florida and a couple other states, waiting in line for the store to open because they heard that this A-Wing was there. And it was, of course, you got the people that are online flipping it to make a ton on it. But you had other people that were just
00:31:49
Speaker
wanted to get their hands on it. I just wanted an A-Wing. Yeah. It's a great sculpt. The A-Wing is a smaller ship, scale-wise, so it's easier for them to make an accurate scale with a single pilot in it. It's like a sports model of a ship.
00:32:06
Speaker
And the weird thing is hearing about how like store exclusive ones are making it there. Yeah. Like there's full lines of retro figures that have not been seen other than at like, you know, online. And then, you know, to see it pop up at like, I think, what did I just see at Target? I think I saw Series 7. That's the line with Don Strowman, Zack Ryder.
00:32:32
Speaker
and a couple others, and you're seeing them before that pop up at Marshalls. All right, so I'm going to put you on the spot. If you could walk into a Target or Walmart tomorrow, and they had one thing that you have been looking for that would blow your mind if it suddenly was sitting on a shelf, what would it be?
Dream Finds and Nostalgic Hopes
00:32:56
Speaker
I mean right now I'm looking for that Elite 69 Rock that's a Walmart exclusive. So if you walked into a Walmart like that would be like that would make your day. Yeah that would be like the I've been looking for this for ages. So I could tell you what mine would be. First 10 years Tony Stark.
00:33:14
Speaker
No, not anymore. My biggest get, which is impossible, it's never going to happen, the pipe dream of a get, and I've managed to replace them in my heart with the next closest possible thing. The Scarlet Witch Vision 2 pack from Infinity War that was a Toys R Us exclusive that came out as Toys R Us was starting to disappear.
00:33:40
Speaker
The aftermarket on it is ridiculous. The sculpt on Wanda, on that figure, there are some that are like, wow, that really looks like Scarlett Johansson. They're like, wow, that really looks like Chris Evans.
00:33:56
Speaker
this figure looks like Elizabeth Olsen. Like it looks, it is so accurate to her, it is actually alarming how good the figure looks. And the Vision figure looks great, they're redoing, it's the same figure, just a little bit of a different sculpt, they're making a little translucent for the next Endgame wave. But that two-pack, if
00:34:17
Speaker
If I even saw that in person at a toy show, I think I would have a hard time not buying it. I mean, those figures are amazing and for me, it's a second chance at them because I remember seeing the pack at Toys R Us. I wasn't collecting the figures at that time. I was like, wow, this looks gorgeous. I kind of just want this because these figures are beautiful.
00:34:41
Speaker
but I didn't get it because I wasn't collecting them. So mine, if I walked into a store or a toy show or something like that tomorrow and saw that two-pack, A, I would lose my mind. I might pee a little and then I would buy it. So that's mine.
00:34:56
Speaker
Well, I think that's just insane. Thinking about that, I would be a different collector at this point if I could go back and be like, oh, yeah, I'll just buy that Elite CM Punk or that Elite AJ Lee or that Elite whoever because it was there at the time. Unfortunately, time machines are not real.
00:35:22
Speaker
but we'll always have our memories. So if I want those, I'm, you know, paying a hot two bills for them right now but that's, I mean, that's kind of how it works, right? If you're a late adopter, you
00:35:36
Speaker
uphill battle. You either get everything that you want from this point forward or you start trying to look back. I think all in all to put a pin in it, I hope this upcoming force Friday and these future releases and things, I hope the state of retail and that experience, I hope
00:35:59
Speaker
I really hope, if I could take away one thing, is I hope on Force Friday it's not me and a bunch of people my age or older. I hope there are some people there with their kids and their kids are experiencing it. I want to see that again. I am constantly searching for my Phantom Menace experience one more time.
Outro and Engagement Reminders
00:36:21
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.
00:36:38
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.