Penny Men

Grab your ugly sweaters and a thermos of spiked eggnog, because we’re plunging headfirst into 18 Rankin/Bass Christmas specials—those gloriously weird, stop-motion nightmares that somehow became holiday icons (and childhood trauma)! From Rudolph’s questionable red nose to penguins with more attitude than Santa’s elves on overtime, we unpack every yuletide oddity, including: Puppet designs so bizar...

Welcome back to The Penny Men, where “so bad it’s good” is just the start! In this sequel session, Ben, Gregory, and Tom keep the cinematic confessions rolling, from animated oddities to misunderstood blockbusters! We’re talking: Flight of Dragons – Rankin/Bass wizard wars, dragon encyclopedias, and James Earl Jones as evil Magneto-in-a-robe Comedy sequel safety net – Wayne’s World 2, Ghostbusters...

Welcome back to The Penny Men, where the popcorn’s stale, the critics are wrong, and guilty pleasures get their day in court! This week, Ben, Gregory, and Tom champion the cinematic underdogs — the ones you love, the ones they hate, the ones you can’t quite explain! We’re talking: Disney’s Black Hole – killer robots, middle-aged astronauts, and a trippy, cosmic ending no one saw coming Alien from...

Welcome to The Penny Men, where the fossils are fresh and the facts are foggy! This week, your three favorite non-paleontologists take a big bite out of dinosaur media! From the silent roars of Gertie the Dinosaur to the Cretaceous chaos of Jurassic Park, Gregory, Tom, and Ben chronicle the prehistoric parade of dinos on screen, in comics, and deep in the toy aisle! We're talking stop-motion l...

Welcome back to The Penny Men , where the Moblins are multiplying and the timelines are diverging! This week, we’re pulling out our Master Swords and diving headfirst into Hyrule for an epic, full-length breakdown of The Legend of Zelda —the games, the lore, the cartoons, the CD-i disasters, and whether or not this thing could actually work as a movie! Join Tom, Gregory, and Ben as they dodge Tekt...

Welcome back to the Super Mario Memory Zone, where the pipes are leaky, the accents are dubious, and the opinions come flying faster than a blue shell on Rainbow Road! This time, it’s all about The Super Mario Bros. Movie —yes, the 2023 one—and the Penny Men have thoughts! We’re talking Pratt, Peach, Bowser’s piano ballads, and whether or not the whole thing should’ve been live-action again (just...

Welcome back to The Penny Men, where universes collide, timelines contradict, and the canon is… negotiable! In this high-velocity sequel to our shared-universe deep dive, Ben, Tom, and Gregory double down on the multiversal madness, chasing the tangled vines of the Donkey Kong–Mario–Banjo–Conker extended family tree until it loops back through Captain N, Saturday morning cartoons, and possibly you...

Welcome back to The Penny Men, where universes overlap, backdoor pilots sneak in, and the facts are fuzzier than a Yoshi after a sugar rush! This week, Ben, Tom, and Gregory peel back the curtain on shared universes and backdoor pilots — those sly spin-off setups hiding inside your favorite shows, games, and cartoons! From Happy Days launching Mork & Mindy to Donkey Kong spawning Mario, we div...

Welcome back to the only podcast where six means chaos and “sinister” means hilarious! In Part 2 of our Sinister Six spectacular, the rosters are finally revealed — and the results are a whiplash-inducing rollercoaster through Spider-Man’s best, worst, and “wait, who?” moments! Alliances are forged, feuds are reignited, and poor Peter Parker is about to have the worst week of his life! We’re talki...

Welcome back to the show where the lineups get legendary, the ground rules get wobbly, and the Spidey canon gets absolutely ransacked! This week, the Penny Men are assembling their own Sinister Six — six members, one original, five wild cards! It’s a buffet of bad guys: mad scientists, evil magicians, alien symbiotes, cybernetic bird-men, professional bowlers, and a guy who is literally just a wal...

Welcome to a very special installment of Nuggets of Nerddom , the sidecast of The Fantasy Draft Lineup —where dreams are drafted, fandoms collide, and no character is too obscure to get a spinoff! Joining us in the studio today is none other than Cousin Michal from the Polymuse Experience , and he's brought a five-minute prompt with galaxy-brain potential:👉 Name a character from any property...

Welcome back to the mutant mayhem! It’s Part 2 of the X-Men Fantasy Draft , where the claws are out, the powers are high, and the lineups get real weird! We’re building teams of eight X-Men and six Brotherhood baddies—and this time, the pitches are live, the rivalries are hot, and the drawings are already on the website (you’re welcome)! This installment kicks off with Tom’s squad , a teleporting...

Welcome to the Danger Room, where the backstories are tangled, the powers are unpredictable, and the drafts get mutant-level messy! This week, the FDL gang suits up for the most ambitious lineup yet: an X-Men Fantasy Draft! Who makes the cut when you've got decades of uncanny, astonishing, and sometimes downright obscure mutants to choose from? In this installment, we break down: The long, win...

Welcome to Nuggets of Nerddom , the new side-series where animation runs deep, memories run wild, and no mouse ears are allowed! In this bonus bite from the Fantasy Draft Lineup , we’re joined by The Cuz himself—Michal from Polymuse —to crack open a deceptively simple prompt: What are your top three non-Disney animated films? (Easy, right? Wrong!) From Don Bluth bangers to forgotten VHS fever drea...

Back into the ring we go! It’s Round 2 of the greatest Street Fighter fantasy draft in podcast history—and this time, the punches hit harder, the characters get weirder, and the fandom jar overflows with psychic predictions and off-the-wall picks! Last episode, we laid down the rules: pick eight fighters and one boss from anywhere in the sprawling Street Fighter multiverse! This time, each Penny M...

Welcome to The Penny Men’s underground tournament of fists, fireballs, and fierce opinions! This week, the boys go toe-to-toe with Street Fighter, the legendary Capcom franchise that sparked an arcade revolution—and at least three cartoon adaptations nobody asked for! In this roundhouse-kicking installment, Ben, Gregory, and Tom each draft their dream Street Fighter roster—eight fighters and one b...

Welcome to Shelf-Discovery! , where the spines are straight, the judgments are swift, and the authors are deeply personal! Gregory asks the eternal question: What three authors would you put on your most visible bookshelf to define your soul? And then Tom answers—with 47 authors and a war flashback to My Name Is Regina! In this rambling literary extravaganza, we cover: The forbidden six Tarzan nov...

The teams are in! The dice are fuzzy! The capers… are deeply concerning! Welcome back to The Muppet Caper Draft , where the only thing wilder than the picks are the plots! In Part 2, the hosts reveal their full heist-ready lineups— 8 Muppet heroes , 3 villainous puppets , and 2 confused human celebrities per team—and pitch the chaotic Muppet movies they were born to direct! Whose crew includes Row...

Welcome to The Muppet Caper Draft! , where the felt flies and the lore gets fuzzy! We’re starting strong—with googly eyes, vaudeville chaos, and one extremely questionable Fraggle pick! In this outing, the gang dives into the Jim Henson-verse to draft their ultimate Muppet heist crews! That’s 8 heroic Muppets, 3 villainous puppets, and 2 real-life humans per team—because even Gonzo needs a getaway...

Four faces! Infinite voices! Welcome to the ultimate voice actor showdown, where impressions fly, memories flare, and Bubsy somehow sneaks in! Again! In this jam-packed episode, the Penny Men attempt the impossible: carving a Mount Rushmore of voice actors! But good luck getting consensus when you’re juggling Mel Blanc, June Foray, Frank Welker, Rob Paulsen, and a surprise campaign from Snarf and...

The drafts are in—and now it’s time to face the music (and the haunted vehicles)! In this follow-up to our Masters of the Universe fantasy draft, we’re revealing the full lineups: twelve warriors each (six heroes, six villains), plus vehicles, playsets, mascots, and more! No takebacks! No do-overs! Just three grown men explaining why they drafted a guy named “Snout Spout”! We break down the picks,...

Welcome to the inaugural draft! The Fantasy Draft Lineup Podcast is open for business, and the rosters are locked in! Your hosts Ben, Gregory, and Tom are diving deep into Masters of the Universe—but with one major twist: No He-Man! No She-Ra! No excuses! In this premiere episode, we each build our dream team of six heroic warriors and six evil warriors, pulling from every corner of the MOTU multi...

It all starts here! Three lifelong friends crack open a stack of old comics—and accidentally launch a podcast! Welcome to The Penny Men, where deep dives meet dumb tangents and the back issues come with baggage! In this premiere episode, we wrestle with origin stories—our own, and everyone else's! From the golden age to the New 52, from Dr. Fate's rotating helmet rack to the multiple lives...