Open Your Toys Cast

I haven’t been too busy to catch up on the big 4’s media. We had a spoiler-filled discussion about Bad Batch, Kingdom, Revelation, and Snake Eyes. I think I said Spoiler like 37 times. It’s a good time to be a fan of the big four, for the most part.

Well, there was still no Comic-Con this year, but man there were some amazing things announced that I can’t wait for. Hopefully you were able to score some Mattel exclusives, I know a lot of people were not. I lucked out and was able to grab me the Scareglow and Sarge. While not necessarily an SDCC thing, the color-changing Pulsecon Exclusive Zartan looks to be a must-have for a lot of people, inc...

Target has had their fair share of bumpy rides when it comes to their exclusives, but they’re trying to do right by collectors with their Geek Out event. One of the things a lot of people can’t just grin and bear is the War for Cybertron trilogy, especially the new Kingdom series. Personally, I love supporting media for toy lines, even if they’re not the best stories ever told. However, the new He...

I love me some B.A.T.s and while we assumed they were coming to Classified eventually, seeing them this early makes me happy. The first 5-10 minutes of the Transformers series is some of my favorite animation of all time. I want all of them, Tetrajet Seekers, lamp post Soundwave, and especially Cybertronian Bumblebee. Nothing really new for MOTU, so I’ll just leave these Super7 Silverhawks here. B...

Again, nothing fancy this time, just a good long discussion about collecting.

This show’s favorite things are super-easy, but unfortunately, I may never own some of them. First up was the 86 Studio Series reveals. Luckily these are all mass releases and easy to secure. Not as easy to secure, but just as amazing, the Target exclusive Clone Wars-carded Black Series figs have been hitting stores everywhere. Some of the best MOTU exclusives ever will be hitting nowhere except t...

It was really nice taking a break off from these the last couple of shows. I’m still not quite back in my flow, but I’m glad I got a chance to get some thoughts down. I’m gonna skip my favorite items from this show. I’ll get these back on track next time around.

Winner for brevity... this guy!

One of the main differences I’ve noticed with the pandemic entering its second year is my tolerance for small talk has just about been exhausted. And not the small talk with a rep on the phone or a clerk in a store. I actually still really enjoy that. No, it’s the chit-chat with friends. I’m not sure if I think we should be talking about deeper topics, I’ve just become a reclusive curmudgeon, or w...

With the stimulus coming, let’s talk about higher-end stuff. For Joe, the announcement of a Mezco 1:12th Destro was huge, with an appropriate price to surely follow. Next up, you can buy essentially a life-size Child with a pram from Mattel for $400. Masters has got that beat by about $700 with their Life-size Skeletor bust. Transformers towers above all of them put together. Don’t pass up your ch...

We talked about a lot of toys that are not in the “big 4” this time around. Instead of my favorite item from each of the “big 4”, I thought I’d highlight some items that kind of correlate to our favorite franchises. First, for Masters, we have the Four Horsemen’s All-Star Round 4 Vote. They continue to kill it with this line with some of the most active and ravenous fans out there. For Joe, the Fi...

I've been cutting corners, literally, as I'm on a model kit tear lately. I’m really interested in the new Flame Toys Furai Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. I never really liked unarmored humanoids, but I’m in at least for Storm Shadow. In another way to cut corners, Hasbro has yet another seeker repaint on deck, but this time it’s a must-buy for me. I absolutely love the G2 Ramjet deco. Want a deep cu...

As we’ve been seeing for a few years now, what was old is new again. This time around is no different. MOTU’s throwback Origins line just released to all stores and announced a ridiculous amount of news and pre-orders. We get a few more coded listings for a wave 4 of the “retro” Joe line, including at least one trooper. While not necessarily vintage for me, for someone just ten years younger this...

What a year it has been for toys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much product in my life. Maybe it’s because the whole pre-order revolution really caught on this year. Maybe it’s because the toy companies see their window closing for our generation. Either there are some amazing things to look forward to. Classified has been a breakout line with lotsa new stuff on the way. Unicron will probably b...

What was some of your favorite news from this show? For Star Wars, the possibility of getting Luke and Leia from her training scene in Episode 9 is exciting. Not necessarily because of what they would look like, but more for the concept. Origins Battle Armor He-Man with a vintage head is exciting. This is based on a figure I got as a kid for Christmas back in the day. Not that we didn’t see it com...

No corny segue this time around, just my favorite stuff. For Star Wars, Regal Robot’s vintage carry case inspired wood plaques look amazing. Little pricey as expected, but still dope. Didn’t remember seeing the Deluxe Origins before but Cliff represented. Love that the battle damage effect is going to be there. The only Joe news has me less than excited. At least I’m happy I’ll be getting a “retro...

Hasbro is just killing it with their HasLab projects. The Razor Crest becomes their most successful one yet. Joe product is slowly being revealed, but the 3rd parties are stepping up to fill the void. Speaking of 3rd parties, 4 Horsemen continue to absolutely kill it with the lack of 6-7 inch new MOTU being revealed. I’m a little sad that we’re not getting a new transformable Wheelie, but I’m stil...

The votes are in and TFCon’s 3rd party panels are officially boring. I think the most riveting discussion was about HasLab’s Razor Crest’s newest stretch goals. Are you going to vote with your dollars? Classified gets some new/old news. I think the fans have been heard in regard to this line. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean the end of 4 inch super-articulated Joes and if does, can we at least get bet...

On this episode, we learned a lot. Sometimes in real-time. Like we’ll be getting an entire wave of Mandalorian Retro Collection figures. Mattel is doing some pretty cool things at Mattel Creations, including a clear Origins Skeletor. Just wish I would have learned of it sooner. We had heard rumors about the third wave of Classified, but now the trusted source that revealed earlier waves including...

Nothing fancy this time, just a good long discussion about selling.

Hasbro had no problem selling their latest round of Joe Classified exclusives. Once again, it was us that had a hard time buying them. Something we all would love to buy, but won’t be sold here is an amazing life-size Megatron water gun. Super7’s Snake Mountain is still for sale, but you’ll probably need to sell at least a few toys to make space for that thing. Hasbro has now sold over ten thousan...

This time around I’m going to address what we talked about in comparison to actual reveals via Pulsecon instead of my favorites. First up, is the complete absence of ’86 Studio Series. With multiple figures leaked already, why not at least address it? We’ve been covering the Holiday Troopers. Wow, that is some awful deco. They even joke about how Lucasfilm was super-hesitant about this, for good r...

My hoarding isn’t more evident than in my defense of the Studio Series Devastator Boxset. Something that is also a little ridiculous is the price of this 3rd party Bantha. As cool as it is, I don’t know how people can rationalize it. The new Joe movie is getting pushed back again, but that’s not stopping the new movie Classified figures from coming soon. There’s no new MOTU news, so let’s go with...

If you were born in the late ’80s, maybe Beast Wars is your thing. If so, WFC Kingdom looks to have you covered. For a kid born in ’75 like me, Return of the Jedi was probably your sweet spot for Star Wars. Well, the Retro Collection has got you covered. No matter when you were born hopefully, you can appreciate this amazing Arctic Scarlett and Sabertooth. Nothing new for MOTU since the amazing re...