Ep 135: Let’s Chat With Thrilljoyseeker!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Collector Chatter. In today's episode, we're going
to talk to one of the members from the new Throw Joy Fan
Advisory Board, as well as the creator of one of the original
Throw Joy news Instagram pages. Can't wait to chat with him
about all things collecting, especially Throw Joy.
We're pumped for this episode. Collecting is the way.
Now let's chat. Hey everyone, welcome back to

(00:35):
Collector Chatter. This is episode 135.
I am Migs with Charlie as always, but we are here with a
special guest. Like I said in the original
intro, we have Alex here for Throw Joy Seeker.
What's going on? What's up guys?
How are you? Thank you for having me on.
I really appreciate it. I'm a huge fan and yeah, let's
let's get into some nice songs, get to know each other a little

(00:56):
better, collecting stuff. I'm so pumped to have you.
This has been a long time coming.
Obviously great friend of the channel.
We love your content and you. Know.
Let's just like start it off right there with that, you know,
let us know a little bit like what you do collect personally.
But then you know what made you start like the real joy seeker

(01:17):
account? I mean, you were one of like the
first the Real Joy accounts, which is pretty cool.
Definitely, yeah. So my kind of collecting
journey, it first started with like sneakers since high school.
I was like super intended, superinto Jordans back in, I
graduated 2010. So around like 2008, 2009.

(01:38):
That's like when it really picked up and it really got into
it. I really just started kind of
collecting, but I never called it like collecting.
I just started getting stuff that I liked, stuff that was
like hyped at the time. Space channels were coming out
that time and so about 11 and stuff like that.
And I never really explored the world outside of that, like what

(02:02):
collecting meant. As I went into a little bit
deeper, you would see, oh, theseare considered grails like so as
limited edition stuff and like what that means.
And when they're released, wherethey release the Asia exclusive
Tokyo exclusives. So I, I really like, go deep
into that stuff. And that's what really made like

(02:23):
kind of like my collecting coming out, come out.
But I never really transitioned to collectibles at all.
Like I didn't really know that was a world, that was a culture
that was a thing. I didn't really.
Yeah. I mean, it was a whole world
that I had no idea about. And I think I went into it may

(02:45):
have been a random hot topic or box lunch.
I was looking for specific something, I don't even remember
what, but I just walked in and Isaw like a Toy Story figure.
I was like, oh, that's one of myfavorite movies as a kid.
Let me just pick up this Woody or no, it was a Buzz Lightyear
and let me just pick this up. And I had no idea was I had no

(03:09):
idea. Like it was funny.
I picture like a curtain, like behind the scenes of like this
whole world behind you or like opening the door to Narnia.
I was like this whole world. Like I had no idea what fun days
was. I had no idea what collect like
these massive collections and grills and what attributes you.
I just like I just like it and that's what it is.

(03:29):
So that's that's what really attributed my kind of like the
being my toes into the water of what that was.
And then, you know, I said, I guess my interest be them, like,
you know, if there's one I see like another pic like other
figures in the back, like maybe there's more, maybe that's what
it means. So I got more into it, like kind

(03:50):
of like researching. And so at that point I had no
idea like these mega grills existed.
These one of 24 pieces, one of 12 pieces.
I had no idea. And I was content just going
into hot topic process like, oh,this is cool.
Like well, we know comments now.And I had like five, became
1010, became 20 and kind of likemy nerd researcher side came out

(04:16):
and I just started going into itand like, all right, I need to
know everything about this company.
Because if I'm going to start like putting my money into the
store, just even buying things for my what was a very small
collection at the time. Let me learn more about it.
You know, let me really get really into it and I start

(04:36):
exploring and seeing, you know, what it meant, the history,
where it came from. And also often it genuinely like
sparked the crazy interest. I guess like void that I had at
that time. I stopped collecting sneakers a
lot. It's just something that I
wasn't really into. So kind of how I like that void
of wanting to want to feel that kind of like the the collecting

(05:01):
aspect back. And I think Funko filled that
completely and I I completely fell in love and I started
really getting into it to, you know, my as you see some of them
here, like some of my collectionhere and like having like this,
this really cool collection building it throughout the
years. And then it kind of got to a

(05:25):
certain point where kind of likemy collector investor mind
started to, to, you know, hit that wall where we saw a, a
transition from the company, unfortunately, that, you know,
we're releasing these grails, we're releasing these things.
And it that's kind of started toturn off.

(05:45):
I was still a huge fanboy. I ended up going to the last one
days that Mike was at my first one, which was an incredible and
awesome experience. I, I wasn't planning to go at
all. It kind of just all fell
together. That's not like a theme in my
life. It's just like things happening

(06:06):
at the perfect time. And then it's like, you know, if
this is something that you should be doing, then here you
go. My wife's best friend had moved
out to California to, to work for Jordan Band.
She was like, you guys can stay in my spot or we or we can, or I
can come down to San Diego and visit you guys because she she

(06:27):
lives closer to Lai said, all right, let's make it like a a
couple strip and let's let's just go out there.
So kind of like everything worked out together well and I
got to experience that and I said like, I hate that this is
the last one that Mike's going to be a part of because he was
such an if I never met him in person until then,

(06:49):
unfortunately, because it it's very far in between the the
opportunities that you have. Yeah, of course, to meet him and
and figure like that. But I saw I saw someone said,
damn, if if I would have seen this 10 years ago, eight years
ago, like like a fun days, I would have been just like
fanatic of the year, that type of thing.

(07:11):
Because that's just the energy like brings that kind of like
the the charisma, the I call it the Willy Wonka Eskness weird
back. Yeah, perfect, right.
So it's and and you know, Charlie, like the like the
stories that the story that you that you mentioned is like you
meet this guy, you just like, dude, whatever you want, Like I.

(07:31):
Will. One rule wall, not because like
you're motivating me too, but like I would do this for you
because you're so genuine and loving and caring and all that
stuff. So that's what really kind of
like made me really attached seeing it from afar and see it
in person. I was like, yeah, like if if you
still hit that collector side ofme, I would have probably never

(07:53):
wanted to explore outside of Funko because you guys have the
IPS. I like you have all these
ultimate grills for the collecting, investing side.
And you for the most part, have a really great culture of
collectors that just come together and build a community.
But because of those things thatkind of like transitioned again
to another void, right? It's like you're, you're, you're

(08:15):
seeking for something that's going to fulfill all those needs
to collect their investor side. The things that you say, Hey,
I'm one of X amount of people inthis world and no one's ever
going to have this, which is great.
It's great for you to add as a collector because it's, it's
kind of those goals that you, you may set for yourself.

(08:36):
Some like to be a completionist,some like to get every IP of
something right. It's kind of those goals that
you set for yourself as could like to deceive you from
accomplishment. If if you do also, maybe you
don't, but it was it was a greatexperience at the end of the
day. So going into NYCC, we had all
heard about this like new company and obviously, you know,

(08:58):
Brian's resume speaks for itself, right?
He he was a major part in creating this thing that we know
today that we love today that that let us become collectors
wanted us that want that came out of us to want to be
collectors. So I said, you know, people like

(09:18):
that usually don't miss, right? That was always like our
mindset. Even my collecting buddies when
we answer was like, that was always our mindset going into
it. It's like, let's see.
So he was saying all the things that we had made grievances
with, right? Living in peace counts.
We're going to listen to you guys.
Those things all. That stuff we were bringing up.
Yeah, yeah. And that we ignited the passion

(09:41):
for sure. I had no, I had no kind of like
anything in my mind. Like I wanted to start a page.
Like at that point there was nothing.
It was actually funny how I got this thing here the front.
Of the wire. Oh yeah, yeah.
So it's a story that I tell a few people, but I'm happy to

(10:01):
share with you guys. So the first day of Comic Con,
you know, it was really fun to really exciting the energy
everything had. I've gone some of the figures
that I like you saw they were selling out.
It was and remember this at the time, we we don't know what's
what's going on, like the onlinestuff like.
Yeah, like the. Hype there was real.

(10:23):
Exactly the hype there was exactly.
It was like that V friends level, yeah hype, right?
It was just like it was, they'reright next to each other and it
was like at its peak. So I don't think they had the
panel that first day. I believe I the panel might have
been on Saturday. So I'd gone in.

(10:44):
It was a super long day. I'd gone in or, or whenever it
was, I went to my car and it took like a 20 minute like par
and had to like kind of like, and also like kind of like get
away from everybody for 20 minutes because I feel like it's
sometimes neat. Exactly.
Sometimes you kind of like neat quiet for like 1520 minutes.
So I went back inside and met with a few friends to meet up to

(11:05):
go to the panel. I said wait, let me go to the
booth I want to buy pics. I bought AI think I think it may
have been a Mars attack. So I went in and just bought
one. Don't know why, don't know how I
said if I'm just buying one now,just in case I don't come back

(11:26):
this way or something happens, right.
I'll just trying to plan ahead. So I was joking with my buddies.
I was like, you know, it would be funny if like I told Brian
while he's on stage, open this to see if like we get a chase or
something or or an ultra chase like that.
That would be like an epic moment.
So we get there. We're trying to find where the
best places to sit, you know, kind of like being strategic

(11:49):
with it, like not before we get bad.
Yeah, we were bad with that, butnow we know.
So I ended up sitting, I thoughtin a great place.
I think we were like 4 for OI was in like second seed.
As time moves on, every single person around me got something.
Just like. The person to the front of me

(12:10):
and back and me to the left of me who I came with and the
person across the aisle, I was like, yeah, there is no shot in
the heck that they're giving me something, especially after
everyone around me does. On the very last one, one of the
one of the guys comes out. He has a badge.
He's and he's like trying to, he's trying to give it like, oh,

(12:31):
he's pulling it back. He's having his full show.
Then he goes to the back and said no, that's it.
Like done deal, right. 20 seconds later I hear a roar back
and I, I see him running back down this way.
So he's, he brings out his phoneto like start recording to make
a video out of it. So I call him by name.

(12:51):
I'm like, look, I'm a fan. He's looks at me like this and
he says trade. I said yes.
So I throw the box at him and heputs a badge around me and I
said, all right, this is it. So that so that kind of
experience kind of said, you know, let me just build this

(13:14):
page and let's see where it goes.
I can think, like I said, kind of tying back to what I was
saying before, like, you know, when life is supposed to, you're
supposed to do something in lifeand sometimes it just it it
gives you what you need type of thing, or if it it directs you
away. If I would have gotten that
badge, I don't know if I would have been motivated to do that.

(13:36):
I don't know, but that kind of extra oomph made me kind of like
break want to break out of my shell because throughout the
years I've I accumulated for a pretty substantial, massive
collection that when people lookat it, they're like, what?
I've never, I've never been oncea broadcast.
I've never been once like show off.

(13:57):
I've never been because that wasalways my mindset and that was
kind of like the negative, also part of the community, kind of
the, the spitefulness or sometimes like the like the kind
of like negative energy that sometimes comes out of it.
I I never wanted to put myself out there like that.
I was like, I love my collection.
This is for me and I don't need to show anyone.

(14:18):
That was always the way that I took it and that experience kind
of made me break out of my shellto to kind of like change my
perspective on it's like it's not you're not showing it all.
If you're just like telling other people, Hey, I'm a fan of
this, you're a fan of that. Let's talk.
And I think that helped me breakout of my shell and and really

(14:41):
become a fan of this. And the last, I guess ingredient
was of that was really being community based and really
listening to the fans. And that's what they really
pushed from the start, from the beginning.
And I didn't get on to be a partof fan advisory report until

(15:01):
December. So between all that time, you
know, she missed messages to Krista, I'd be like, hey, I see
this potential issue like you should check this out.
And it was just me being a fan and me wanting this company to,
to grow and be bigger because itwas hitting all of our wants and
needs and grievances that we have with, with Funko collecting

(15:23):
community, right? The bigger this got, the more
stuff we would see, right? That's kind of my head.
What, what, what attributed to me going out of my way to, to
trying to help out in, in that way.
And, you know, building that trust.
Eventually being asked to be a fan Advisory Board was, you

(15:45):
know, an amazing kind of like accomplishment like see my
journey of from where I started or even before I started, like
not even wanting to put my face on camera, not wanting to show
off anything to to be hey, like we, we see how much you care and
love this company with nothing really to gain out of it.

(16:07):
And because of that, we're rewarding that hard effort with
asking you to join be a part of this, which is really humbling,
really amazing. And also being a part of like a
great pool of like different people that I don't think I
would have ever been close to ortalked to or had any type of

(16:29):
conversation with. I think that's the coolest part
to really expanding my community, expanding who I speak
to, why they collected, why theystarted collecting.
It's awesome to see those different perspectives and so.
Yeah, I was going to say something real quick, but like,
it's really cool that like, likethey chose you and you spoke to

(16:49):
them whatever, because like you said, when you started, like the
page, it was really just like a news page and you were just
bringing out news. You didn't have your face on it
or whatever. Exactly.
And everyone they went to, yeah,that's all it was.
But everyone they went to was like content creators that
existed already and like we knewthem, whatever.
So like, I remember like we really liked you and your page.
We didn't even know you. And then when we heard like, oh,

(17:11):
you were going to be part of it,me and Tyler were saying like
people don't even know what he looks like.
I wonder how this is going to go.
But it was like awesome to thinkbecause it was like they knew
how much passion you had and your content was legit so.
Thank you. I, I, I really appreciate that.
It's, it's really humbling here,especially hearing from you
guys. Yeah.
Like I listen to so much of yourcontent, episodes and stuff.
So saying that it, it truly means a lot coming for you both.

(17:36):
And yeah, I mean, it's funny because around that time period,
well, when I first I was like, I'm going to be like the dish
trackers. Yeah.
That's the only thing you're doing.
That's but I'm like. We legitimately were like, OK,
we have to follow this kind of media.
This is going to be. Is it going to be?
Yeah, I was kind of like making a joke about it.
And then it's actually funny because when around this time

(17:58):
that actually before they even asked, I was telling my wife I
was like, should I like put my face on camera?
Like I like, I don't know. I feel like it's, it's not like
the requirement is becoming bad,but like I, I wanted to kind of
like further break out of my spell, right, because I'm always
the one like if I'm going to do something, I'm going to try

(18:19):
something. I'm like, let me just do it
right. Let me, you know, not half step
in, let me just go, you know, gas powder through the floor.
So as we, I was actually contemplating it, they had asked
me is like, Oh, and like send the picture of you with like
that. We can post and I said, all

(18:39):
right, this is this isn't whether I have to do it or not.
I didn't only because I wanted to be the one to like piece my
full like post my face worst. So I ended up saying, you know,
I happily accept. I kind of like ignore the
requirement of sending a pictureon purpose because I wanted to

(19:02):
be the one like, Hey, this is me, you like myself, happy that
you're still around. Then hopefully you'll continue
to stick around type of stuff. So that was kind of like my my
grand unveiling or revealing of who I was.
It's it's funny, I remember immediately when that happened.
I'm like, oh, I wonder if they like made him do that or if this

(19:24):
was just the time he wanted to do it.
No, yeah, it, it, it was, it kind of just happened at the at
the right time because I, I was honestly really contemplating
it. And then I said I was like, all
right, it's either they show me off or I show myself off like
it's it's time. So we're happy you did.
Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. It also like it.
It it helps with creativity because you're just not, hey,

(19:46):
look what I got. Hey, there's an update.
It kind of like helps with getting those creative juices
going and getting to like try out different stuff and not and
not being not having that thought of like, oh, you know, I
can't be on camera or I can't dothings like this, for example,
or it's like. Yeah, I know.
Like. Blur me out or something

(20:10):
Exactly. So, so with that whole board, so
like how how involved are you orlike how much input do they
really take from you guys? And like, do you see like a lot
of stuff that you guys talk about, like them implementing it
and actually like taking like, because they seem like they're
really big about community, obviously.
So that part of it, I rememberedI was one of the big things when

(20:31):
we went to the panel as well. We weren't as lucky to get
anything because we were idiots and sat in like the middle of
the road. Everywhere spot.
Ever. But yeah, everyone around the
same situation. Everyone around the Skinhead
stuff. Yeah, it was.
Weird. Someone next to us got two
things 2. Things.
Yeah, you could. Have bought a pick and you
should have bought a pick. Should have got something right?
I had my pick. Yeah, we just didn't want to
trade it because we were like, it was gold.

(20:52):
At that time, you know, yeah, right.
That's what that's what I did. I was like, I after I got that
bag, just said imagine there's like an ultra in there.
There's like an ultra chase in there.
I'm just like, Oh no. But then he ended up giving it
to somebody else just randomly, like I was finishing off.
He was like, oh, we're here. And they actually opened it.

(21:12):
It was a hero. I see.
So, so yeah. So how how's it go with the
board is something like? It's awesome.
They really do listen to us. Chris does a great job with
people who's involved in terms of, you know, you know, what are
you guys hearing? What are you guys saying?
We have not, not like, you know,like monthly calls or anything,

(21:35):
but we do have calls when we gettogether and our last call,
which happened, I want to say 2 1/2 weeks ago, she, she was
really receptive in terms of like our, you know, what do you
guys think would be great for the community in terms of seeing
like different IPS, right? Like taking notes down and, and

(21:57):
us hearing from like different people contacting us and like,
hey, I would really love to see this.
And, and voices are voicing our opinion, voicing our opinion on
packaging, voicing an opinion onthe awesome feedback that we're
seeing how excited people are after wunderkind things like
that. So, and when it comes to like

(22:19):
things coming down in the futurethat unfortunately I can't talk
too much about them. It's like, what do you guys
think? So that's really, it's really
genuine because you know, we, we're, we've become kind of like
the spokespeople for the, the community in one and for them

(22:39):
seeing what they want, what would do well, how receptive
they are from the extraordinary change.
I feel like when we really thinkabout it, like Jojo's only been
around for less than nine months, right?
Which? Is crazy.
Yeah, and it kind of feels like they've been around for so much
longer, right. But it's it's amazing that a

(23:00):
company's willing to do the transition and you know,
obviously there's financial motivation that comes to it.
But being as receptive as it is and being really creative of
like what people would love, especially such a short amount
of time. It's a great thing to see
because if you know, if if it was a different company or if

(23:23):
it's a different ownership or whoever may be I can only
imagine. I'm not saying this is for what
Jordan was saying kind of at large.
You know, some people may have an ego about it and say no, this
is going to work. This is this is this is this was
the dream, how are we going to move on, etcetera.
And as as amazing as they were, you know, the the number one

(23:46):
kind of drawback to being collector of space at the end of
the day. Yeah, so the if your thought was
there, right, it's you get that out of box and inbox experience.
You get high quality, you get lemonade piece counts, you get
IPS that you didn't think will ever be made.
You get IPS that you love in different ways.

(24:06):
And I think taking all those ideas and doing it in a great
community based experience that people can like do together
instead of like, Oh, my package came in and let me do an
unboxing. Like you really just let's say,
if you're at a con, you get a group of your three buddies and
you turn into the thrill. It's a cool experience.
So I think being as receptive asthey've been has been an awesome

(24:30):
thing to see. And that that's what really
motivates me to want to be superinvolved Advisory Board member
and and being a part of it for the long run.
You know, going off of that, do you think that thorough joy
needed to pivot to the what we now know as the picks in order

(24:52):
to, I mean, I hate to say it survive and you know, I don't
know if you know anything about this or if you could share, but
you know, do you think Brian's upset that he had a pivot?
Obviously, he I feel like he needed to for the company to
stay afloat, but I knew how muchlike he talked so passionately
about like the original, you know, picks.
Now for sure, I personally don'tknow, so I can't speak on that,

(25:17):
but I think at the end of the day, what he wants is to give
the community what they want andneeded right at the end of the
day, that's what it was. Obviously this is a brainchild
of of his and it's it's awesome creativeness and but it was
always with the best intentions at the end of the day, right,
It's you know, how do I appease all the inbox and out of box

(25:38):
collectors that that we used to have for Funko?
How do we appease the grievancesthat they had by we do that by
having limited piece counts. So I think at the end of the day
is it was motivated by making the community happy, right?
And what was going to get the best experience for them at the
end of the day. And I think that from the

(26:00):
outside in and knowing Brian as a person as much as I do know
him, you know, I don't text him.I don't talk to him on on
day-to-day and stuff, but there's knowing the type of
person that he is, the characterthat he has and, and his real
love of collecting and showing, seeing the happiness in people's

(26:21):
faces when they pull a chase or,or just collecting their
favorite stuff. And really being a proponent
for, for doing IPS that another company might not do, might not
want to do because they don't think it'll do well, but really
wanting to do those things. Like, for example, Warrior of
Nun, It's it's an amazing show, but it's a very small property

(26:45):
portion of the collected community, right?
And because there are no collective out there or because
a few similar basis isn't as large, for example, Star Wars,
right? But and willing to do that is
just to, you know, try to speak to collectors from all different
segments. And I think at the end of the
day, that's really the driving force of what it, what it is and

(27:09):
it being a hit, obviously it's, it's, it's, it's taking off on
which greater reaction, maybe the same reaction for what we
had in the beginning. Because when we get one insane
YCC, we're like, Oh my God, whatis it which we're seeing now?
So it's, it's the same. So I think the question is, how

(27:30):
long does that last? And I think with this product, I
think that would last much more long time for, for what it is
and what they're producing. Very well, soon.
I mean, I think the pixels are like an unsung here will
ultimately be. I mean, I think they're so cool
and I love that they kept the frame.
Yeah, OK. They're so cool.

(27:53):
Yeah, it's I think these have quietly become my favorite, to
be completely honest. It's it's necessary diesel, like
you said, keeping that frame excited to it, I think was an
awesome job and the intensity ofthese are from the larger ones
of these. I think it's just really, really

(28:14):
cool. I was actually like moving some
stuff around and I saw like the mini, the mini pops and I was
like versus the the bigger ones.I was like, why don't you think
of these like like it's just a stark it's just a stark
difference. I think they really did a great
job with this and the the amountof different IPS that we would

(28:38):
see in that form. I think it it would be fun hood.
Yeah, no, yeah, I, I and I'm in,like you said something
interesting before, like to me this hype, because it's kind of
back again, obviously with the new lines that are coming out.
I do agree. I think this is going to be a
longer lasting hype, something that will sustain.

(28:59):
Then we're going to get into SDCC, which I'm sure will keep
them going. And then they're Comic Con.
So then they'll kind of be in a better, better run because it's
true. In the beginning near Comic Con,
when they were first announced, like you said, we were all
there. It was crazy and it was like the
biggest thing in the world. And then it did.
It did have its kind of roller coaster up and down throughout
the time. But I, I've said this in a

(29:20):
previous episode and like, I love the fact that they did
shift and maybe maybe make a turn that whether they planned
it or not, they did it and it's,and it's working.
And it was, it was they listen to everybody and they, they're
like, OK, this might make more sense.
We need it to be a little smaller or whatever it might be.
But that small pixel is perfect because it's like, we still kind

(29:41):
of are keeping the traditional like frame thing.
But then we also have the regular pix, which it doesn't
have that. So you kind of could get the
best of both worlds. But it's funny seeing those now
and thinking like, what if like the big picks, Panoramics now
didn't have that like part that guys in the front and it was the
figure, but it was bigger. I feel like that might have
actually gone over a little bit better because it could have

(30:03):
appeased out of box in box, you know, that whole thing.
But but yeah, I'm glad that theyhave different things coming
out. We're having all these different
products now. More ideas are coming out and I
completely agree. Like having the niche one off
ones here and there, like maybe we're not going to get it and
it's not for us, but it's going to be cool to that person who
doesn't have anything and then they're able to get it.

(30:24):
And like that's just like a an awesome thing to to know that
that exists. And Brian's a perfect example of
like just giving back to the community.
And yeah, I mean. Die Hard collected from the.
Beginning, we even saw we even saw that in the in, in this
whole experience from then to now, it's how many times it
without them really needing to, right?
Because a lot of companies make mistakes, right?

(30:47):
Whether it's something that you pose, we're supposed to pose,
whatever it is. Now a lot of different companies
come out and say, hey, we got this wrong.
This is what we're going to do for you, right?
We said this is a price point moving forward.
This is going to be a price point.
We said we're going to it's for better, for worse.
It's it's seen that the want to to appease us as collectors, I

(31:11):
think goes a long way. And I think it, it shows that at
the forefront, the end of the day, it's, it's giving the, the
consumer, which is US collectors, an amazing product,
but also a a long lasting passion that, you know, if, if
you trust us, you believe in us.We're a new company.

(31:31):
And if you're willing to go along with this journey, you're
going to see the, the different ways and the different ways
that, that, that we can provide these, these things to you.
And I was having a conversation with someone, I said, you know,
it's in a roundabout way. I think it was kind of good that
they started off with the Panoramics because I think if

(31:51):
they would have started with these, I just think and knowing
the Funko community, I just think it would have been 5
million posts of Deezer phone call box.
You are right you. Are it it just, it would have
been and we we hear it, obviously we see it a little bit

(32:15):
now right from from those people.
But I think kind of like the thebreak in between that and then
transitioning to this makes it like visually maybe from a
consumer collector standpoint, kind of like all right now it's
it's a little easier to to accept rather than it just being

(32:36):
boom, this is in a box. This is.
Yeah, copy paste. They just.
Yeah. It is funny though, like how
people do get so upset about that and sometimes I just like
to call them like uneducated Funko fans because I mean, let's
be real, Brian's the one who created the pop.
And you know what? Like if he wants to just make a
better version of that, more power to him 'cause quite

(32:59):
frankly, that's exactly what he's now done.
And like, I don't want to go like too hard on this, but it's
just like I look at Brian now and Mike and like I look at
Funko. I mean, I'm rooting for, you
know, Brian and Mike where like me and Mike started this podcast
solely basically because we loveFunko, although we don't like

(33:20):
Funko anymore. But like, it doesn't get me
excited anymore. We're like, this stuff does.
It's just, it's just crazy because there are still so many
of the Funko fans who, like, arejust rejecting both Thrill Joy
and Rocky Moto. And I'm like, yeah, why?
Yeah, that. Yeah, Yeah, the I, I, I think I

(33:42):
saw it at its peak when they revealed all the green, all the
lanterns. Oh yeah, you really saw the
people that are super diehards, which is fine.
I mean, listen, during the day it's not like I'll ever stop
collecting Funko. Same.
It's hard for me to give up my collection.

(34:03):
I might downsize it here and there, but it's a huge part of
my collection and I'm never going to want to stop supporting
them in that case. Like I bought an online box, I'm
waiting for it to come in. I got one.
Same. But that's it's, it goes to show
that even it's even though it's not at a place I'd like it to be

(34:28):
in, I still wanted to be somewhere where I wish it was
type of thing. Because, you know, compensation
builds better brands at the end of day one.
And then two, you can't be honest with your stuff and say,
throw joy stepping into the yardand saying, hey, you know, this
piece right here. We know exactly how many there

(34:49):
are and that they will never come out again.
That goes a long way, right? And.
The bigger, for example, Throw Joy becomes or even Rocky Moto,
having this crazy like behemoth of a brand behind them with
Mini. So being a part of that and that

(35:10):
culture. If if I want ACEO of the
company, if I'm born and it's like, oh, snap, like, all right,
let's let's walk back. Maybe what we were doing in
these ways and let's start pivoting, Let's start changing.
Because if you look at everything that happened, I
never saw anything about this. LE exclusive like 40 P 100 PS

(35:35):
200 PS Yeah, they're more expensive type of thing.
You can only get the fan rewardsand sell a new company.
Came into and came into the scene and said, you know what,
everyone's been complaining about these things.
We're appeasing all of them. What are you guys going to do
about it? Are you guys going to save the
course or are you going to change things for the better?
And we saw at least a little bitof change for Poncho.

(35:59):
It's the exact thing that we wanted.
Probably not, but it steps into that direction.
And for me as a collector, why not?
What's funny, though, one to go off that one thing you said
earlier, which I love about Throw joy is like you mentioned,
like their price points. And you know, there was
obviously that huge debacle withthe first Freddy Krueger mega

(36:19):
pics. But you know, Brian came back
on. So do we're going to do this for
the fans? I mean, I also look at like the
new pics and the pixel. They are so appropriately
priced, if even like they're Oh yeah, dare I say good deal.
Especially knowing that the trash common mass produced pops
are now going to be $15 a piece.I mean, it's crazy.

(36:42):
I I mean I understand how the world works but when I first
started collecting they were 899.
Yeah. It's crazy that a common pop is
going to be the same almost as apixel and some pops are even
more money and Brian doesn't charge you for the limited
edition of it all. Yeah, I'm really against that
with Funko. I don't know if what your

(37:03):
opinion is on that. No, yeah, it's it takes it takes
a lot of the collectibility out of it.
Obviously it it, it takes away you just going into a random hot
top of your box lunch and sayingI just like this for it being
it. It doesn't have to be
illuminated peace. It doesn't have to be anything
in particular. I like to see from Toy Story

(37:24):
with Buzz Lightyear with in a dress type of thing, right?
It's it's this random character that I like and I want to pick
it up. And then you're not really
looking at any thinking or thinking about it being any
limited or any collectibility only just because you you like
it. You know, you're not thinking
about its war for value. You only think about its war for
value to you personally as a person.

(37:47):
But I think charging that, not taking that and then charging
that price, I think it takes a lot out of that.
You're you're at least for me, if I would be still the the box
lunch and hot topic goer solely to to get a new Funko or a new
line, I kind of have to think like, you know, am I going to

(38:12):
buy this whole line of four to five?
And now I'm paying what, $6075 to, to compete a line?
It's of, of things that are probably going to be on sale for
the next Black Friday deal. It's no again, no shade.
It's the same, the same, the same thing with with anything

(38:33):
else, like sneakers, for example.
If I know they're not going to sell out, I'll just wait for a
deal, right? It's it's it's with anything,
right, charging a higher price point for for something that
isn't as collectible and just something for you like it, it
does get expensive. So I I really don't agree with
it, especially from the the massive amount of output that

(38:55):
they have. You know, you go into Target,
you have these Evergreen pods that are Star Wars there,
whether that's because their agreement or whatever it is,
Blue Chewbacca, Darth Vader, arethey have to be on the shelves.
Oh yeah. Regardless, 60.
Five, no matter what. And that's why we have Darth

(39:16):
Vader like this in 500 differentvariations, right?
Because they have to be on the shelves the whole time.
And that's completely understandable.
But I think having that and thennot having the kind of the line
in the sand saying, all right, this is what's considered a

(39:36):
grail in the community. There's no way in heck that we
can reproduce this. I think that's kind of like
where a lot, at least for myself, that's a lot of that's
where a lot of people kind of drew.
The lines are, OK, we can deal with the Commons.
We can deal with the increasing prices.
But now you're eating into like the collector basis of like, I
have this grail nuts. Now we're 50% because you wanted

(40:01):
to remake this because you knew it was going to sell out and
celebrate. Yeah, yeah, there was a lot of
messy stuff that we, we've covered a lot on just different
episodes. But a lot of it comes back to
like it takes away from like what a pure collectible is and
what a collector is, right? Like you, the the true meaning
behind collecting is getting something you love, obviously.

(40:21):
And then over time, if it becomes more valuable and it
becomes more special to you, like that naturally happens.
Like you can't manufacture that by making something more
expensive, quote UN quote, and then saying that that's going to
be it. It just it takes away from that.
And then also like the, the surprise and the happiness of
like, we're in the same boat that me and Charlie were.

(40:42):
Like if something is very limited and we can't get it,
we're cool with that. Like it makes like, it gives you
a rush. Like, oh, I wish I had that, but
I didn't get to get it. Like.
That to us has always been a bigthing.
So like once they started doing their reward thing and that that
just, that doesn't make any sense.
We had a whole episode just going on.
No, I play. Like that, just that just does

(41:03):
not make. Sense I said it was drop NFT in
reverse. But yeah, Oh yeah, it just.
It drives me insane that they kept some of the names too.
It drives me insane that was that.
Was actually. Terrible.
What was it a change? What was it?
A step in some separate direction?
Yes, right. At the end of the day they could
have just said, cool guys, you're still going to buy.

(41:24):
It. Yeah, exactly.
At the end of the day, do I agree with how they did it?
But at least it shows some type of kind of like flexibility when
it comes to that so that, you know, who knows if there's some
flexibility there over time, maybe like a pivot, like throw
joy. All right, that wasn't enough.
Let's go a little bit farther. Let's go a little bit farther.
Let's go a little bit farther. So hopefully we we get kind of

(41:48):
like the the experience that that we're all craving at this
point. But yeah, but I mean, Speaking
of throw Joy, obviously there islike a new wave that just came
out. So kind of wanted to get your
thoughts on like what you think of some of these that they just,
I think just today actually, a lot of stuff was coming out.
What are your thoughts on kind of what they're doing here?

(42:08):
Obviously, I mean, I'm a huge Batman fan, so I'm glad that
they're going into the DC world.Like it's crazy.
It's just, it's just now like we're going to see a lot of
different IPS, I'm sure. I'm sure you don't know a little
bit about that anyways, But me and Charlie were worried that we
didn't want them to go too crazy, too hard.
And it seems like they're kind of doing them in little batches,

(42:30):
which is, I think, more digestible.
But what do you think about it? So yes and no.
In terms of so the exclusive that you saw today, they're
retail exclusives and they're going to be sold at UCC.
I haven't clarified whether these are going to be also
available at the Throwjoy booth.So that's to come.

(42:51):
But from what we have seen, thisisn't it.
There's going to be more than I'm personally very, very
excited for. I'm personally very, very
excited for the stuff in the future that we got sneak peeks
of. That is, I'm very excited.
Like it's nice. It is it is really, really good.

(43:17):
My favorite person. I really think so.
OK, cool. I really think so.
But even for SECC, like the restof the stuff that we saw, it's
it looks really great. It looks really like they put
their time and, and, and attention to detail with these
things and they've I think they created a, a nice roster of, of

(43:41):
things that they're going to be releasing not just now, but on
the pipeline. I'm really excited for them, but
from from the ones that they that were posted, obviously my
favorite is the Voltron chase. I think it's amazing and epic.
I'm not a huge Beavis and butt head and so but you know, the
hero and the chases look really awesome.

(44:03):
But I think at least from the discourse at Otman when they
released the pictures, they werelike, I need a hundred of these.
I need a case of these. I need like it was crazy to try
to get the the chase and the andthe I think it's I think it's
I'm not sure what the other counts for the other ones, but
people are really excited about them.

(44:24):
Obviously Batman is always goingto hit in great, great ways.
You having the Joker now obviously is not from the from
the same yeah universe, but speaking to those fans and
getting to see that, I think it's open awesome.
Animaniacs I think is a huge retro kind of IP that speaks to

(44:48):
a large portion of the fan base.So I really like those.
I think about 5 or 6 people werelike where's where's where's
dot? Where's the third one?
I was like, I don't know, yeah. But the chasers are good.
They're doing a good like so far, like a lot of these and
this picks line since it's been enough basically like I liked

(45:12):
what they're doing to chase. It's because some of the the
panoramics like the original picks, like sometimes the chase
was like, yeah, it was OK. It wasn't the best.
But I feel like since they've been announcing these and we're
seeing like if you listen to anybody who's out there, if you
haven't listened to us, you know, me and Charlie always
preach when it's a completely different figure as a chase.
We're all about that, like amazing.

(45:33):
And they're doing that and with a lot of these.
Yeah, so to that right there, there's a hero.
He man. So he's got sort of feel on
this. And then the faker chase.
Yeah, which that's so cool. It's a little bit.
Different now. It's funny, I I have a question.
So when do you decide if you're keeping yours in the box?

(45:56):
And I know you have some out-of-the-box, yeah.
So I fixed them out-of-the-box to kind of see how I felt about
it. But I think it's cool to have
them out-of-the-box. Yeah, what I think I might do is
have the Blues out-of-the-box for sure.

(46:17):
And then Blues Buddies, which we'll be seeing very, very
you're. Excited for that?
Yeah, I we saw pictures and mockups and building really good.
I think it's going to look awesome side by side with them
probably up there when my toy con blue comes in, hopefully
this week I'll probably have it out of box too.

(46:40):
So I think I'm going to be like a blue out of box collector.
But I think we we. I'm sorry, Go.
I do like that you kind of get that kind of like same vibe with
these though. You kind of get like that out of
box without there being like like that, that plastic here.
So you kind of get that same vibe from these two.
How? Because you know mimics don't

(47:01):
have any yet. Like how easy are they to take
in and put out? Because I know it's got like the
plastic fastened fastener thingslike once you take the tie and
actually put it back in and it looks the same, no?
Yeah, it's it's, it's it's supereasy.
It's it's just those plastic ties and then just make sure
secure and like getting it closeto to the the plastic shell, the

(47:25):
molding, OK, it's making it it'slike super easy.
I do love that they kept the cards.
I I can play. It here I'm happy to bring that
up. I do, obviously.
It hits like my other passion ofcollecting Pokémon.
Which we wanted to talk to you about that too.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I could, I could.
I could have an old episode about Pokémon.

(47:49):
I've become very enthused with it and I've like he it was the
kind of like the weird traditional like people started
coming to me for like advice on like what they should be doing
and how they should be doing if they want to start investing and
like me having all this knowledge.
Just like don't do that. Do this, do this, I guess.
And let me think the best example was last week.

(48:13):
I I to my really great buddies. I said, all right, guys, this is
my play. I'm buying these two cards,
these labs, they're at 3:50. I think they're going to shoot
up in price. I bought 2.
They decided not to listen and then I look online, the cheapest

(48:37):
available is at 475 now I said, did you guys buy it?
They're like no. So it really is like that.
The other life inside like that,keeping the car I think was a
huge an awesome drop, an awesomedecision about them.
So I'm really happy that that. Yeah, I completely agree with.

(48:58):
That yeah, we're we're big card collectors slowly like I changed
this in from like the big figurecollectibles into mostly cards
nowadays like you know, I'll still get some stuff here and
there, but it's been strictly cards for me now like V friends
obviously became huge for both of us.
I'm still doing sports cards. I never really have gotten into

(49:19):
Pokémon specifically. I know we did want to bring that
up because, you know, you know so much about it.
I mean, OG, like when I was young, when it first came out, I
had Pokémon cards and then I always tell the story.
It was the craziest thing ever. My aunt basically, it was like
super, super religious and told my mom that they were made by
the devil and made me throw themaway.
Yeah, and I had the originals like all the whole.

(49:40):
Basic like it was. Crazy in binders, me and my
brother and we had to throw themaway.
But that was like late 90s early2000s, right?
So then now, like my brother is still very, very deep, like he's
between the cards and even Pokémon Go, like he still plays
Pokémon Go and goes to oh, wow, things that they have on.
Yeah. But cards wise, he's very, very

(50:01):
into it. But I just couldn't because like
now there's so many and it gets way too overwhelming.
And then I'm already kind of like even sports cards can get
overwhelming with the amount of lines that keep coming out with
tops and Chrome and all that kind of stuff.
But like me and Charlie try to dabble into it.
And I think you maybe have done a little more Charlie than I
have, but I just couldn't reallydo much.
We did that one box that we opened up on on on a video one

(50:24):
time. And now they're like impossible
to get because by I don't know me and you are pretty close to
each other. So by me like targets and stuff
like you can't find anything are.
Selfish. I could sit down and tell you
what I know about the areas by you.
I'm going to tell you right now,don't ever waste your time.
Yeah, it's. I don't like, I can tell you

(50:45):
right now, I know it's these people know when they restock.
They're told when they restock and they just go and clean
everything out. Yeah, that's what it is.
It's it's it's their hustle. And I'm.
I'm back here to hate on it. You know, people make their
money how they want it. If this thing is what people
want, then go ahead. But there's a there's a light at

(51:08):
the end of the tunnel because the ties are changing.
Yeah, You are at least seeing a little bit of product on the
shelves. It's not getting completely
cleared out and a lot of people are transitioning into Magic
right now and that's going to bethe next kind of card boom that

(51:31):
resellers are going to be going into right now.
They just right now. The Final Fantasy.
I got in a few collectors bundles.
I'm not really huge into magic. I just got like two or three to
throw into my stash. I'm like, whatever, I'll forget
about these forever. I'm not I don't know much about

(51:51):
magic. I've never really gotten into
it. I don't plan to.
I think Pokémon is is as much asI'll go, but I think the the
margins that people saw is getting a lot of people excited
for for the next sets. And I think a lot of attention
is going to go that way. And I'm personally not a huge

(52:12):
fan of the next set that's coming out.
I think it's going to be kind oflike the right place, right
time. That was talking about before
that. You have a set that isn't going
to be as hyped. You have attention going at
least a little bit elsewhere where it's going to open up the
floodgates a little bit in termsof being able to find at least
some separate product on the shelves.

(52:32):
So I think that's coming at least soon ish.
Which is good. I mean, I look at that as a
perspective. I want them for myself.
But like still, I know I talk itout on the pockets, but my son's
like I want Pokémon cards. I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't get
you Pokémon cards. Like I'm not, he's only five
years old. I'm not going to my local shop
and paying like X amount of money for these for him to like

(52:53):
no, no, throw that, but open, yeah.
No, it's, it's, it's at the end of the day, it's a cardboard
gambling, right? It's.
Yes, exactly. Some people may just do it
enjoying me. I was like collecting, but at
the end of the day, unless you're going out and buying a
car that you want, you're just taking a chance and taking a
risk and that don't win the me ahead of of pulling a crazy car

(53:13):
out of it, which is perfectly fine it well, but when you're
paying X amount of money over. Just for that.
Just for the risk, it's it's very difficult.
You know, it's we've, we've traveled from a time where
booster boxes that quote UN quote MSRPS around one at that
time was probably 1:50-ish goingtowards 160 with that, that

(53:36):
price jump to one in the one 60s.
People were like, whoa, what do you guys do?
Because there was a point where stores were selling booster
boxes for a hundred $120.00 because they cannot move them,
they cannot sell. They could not get them out of
the store enough. So they had and they were still
making some money on it, right, Because they're getting

(53:56):
wholesale distribution. Distribution was selling these
for like probably 60-70 bucks, right?
They were still making some typeof profit on, but they were
letting these go for that cheap because nobody wanted them.
So now knowing where that was towhat, you know, people are
charging now, which is a little crazy, but people willing to say

(54:19):
that risk, right? It's like whatever, 120 bought
$120.00 box, I'll just buy 36 packs and I'll just RIP and have
fun and and I'll be done with it, right.
But now when these boxes are 250, it's like, you know, it's,
yeah, it's a huge, it's a, it's a huge, it's.
Crazy. I mean, that's even how like,
you know, as everyone knows, me and Meg's lovey friends, I mean,

(54:42):
tops Chrome boxes for those right now.
I mean, they're going for five to $600.00 when they start off
at 100. Dollars hundred the first time
they dropped dude I. I, I went to, you probably know
bodega cards here. So I once had an event and Gary
Vee was there. I'd gone because I was, I, I

(55:02):
knew it was going. I brought the Funko Popper and
the sign again. I'd I had one before I was able
to get another one to have him sign and stuff and I just wanted
to support him because, you know, Gary Vee, he's he's a
legend at this point. He was like, if you guys can get
a sealed case of this stuff, yeah, this is going to be like

(55:25):
based at Pokémon. And I was like, dude, if only I
could find one. Yeah, that's the thing.
And it was funny because me and Charlie, he's been saying this
whatever. And we were like, yeah, OK,
maybe it's going to get big, whatever.
But like, it's blowing it up fast and the people that have
the money are going after it. So that's keeping it up there.

(55:48):
Like, it's not like, you know, Yeah, right.
And that Breakers have now takenover.
That yeah, yeah, I was about to say that Breakers are really
taking over in that space because there's like, obviously
it's a new hot thing, but it's like, you know, it's it's it's
the same thing that we're talking about Pokémon.
Obviously this this product is alot more limited than a a super
release of of the, let's say theteam markets of the Dustin

(56:10):
rivals that came out. But that's that's always been
like throughout this time periodwhere things are so expensive.
It's like these Breakers are just ripping everything and like
the the older people that have been to this hobby for a while
is like, if you guys can keep sealed product, keep it sealed,
because the amount of stuff that's being broken and ripped

(56:31):
right now is at an alarming extraordinary rate.
Yes, Pokemons time period where the print is much longer now.
Yeah. For for things, but the amount
of just ripping that's happening, if you guys can keep
sealed products, I keep it. And I was like, sold.
All right, I'm going to keep stuff.

(56:52):
I know. Yeah, you should be telling.
You should be telling Chris and Brian that they need to make AV
friends picks because they want the thing to sell out
immediately. That would be probably their
first quickest sell out. Yeah, man, yeah, I I think that
I think it would be a hit because from what I had heard,

(57:14):
and obviously these are rumors, but I think what Funkel wanted
to do was make the the Jack O Lantern like a common or
something, or they wanted to make different characters,
multiple comments and stuff. And he was like, right, because
it it his he's really all about the collectibility,
collectibility exclusivity. You know, it's this is going to

(57:37):
be pumped into the ground. It it's harnesses his brand.
It's what he's worked hard to do.
And having the and having these supporters that know if I'm
going to be buying this right here right now, I want to know
I'm buying this right here rightnow.
And it is if it comes out in a different variant of version of
form, sure, but like this exact one, like I want to know that's
it. And that's the driving force.

(57:57):
Want the NFT world like knowing this is your exact one, like no
one's going to copy this code and say this is yours unless you
give it to somebody else or you sell or trade it, whatever it
is. That's kind of the, the, the
aspect to it. And it, it dilutes it.
It dilutes it especially in the,in the trading card space or

(58:17):
especially in collectible space.It, it dilutes it a lot when
when you're a big proponent of in wanting to invest in these
things or collecting these things because you're exclusive
or what may have you it, it turns people away.
Totally. Yeah, and we mentioned this
quickly, but what what's your I mean, I'm sure you like it, but

(58:41):
like what's your take on Rocky Moto?
I know you went to the New York the event they did that mini so
and everything, but like we are obviously huge fans of it.
We we love it. We love what Mike's doing.
I mean Mike's amazing. So like what's kind of your take
on where they're going with that?
I. Do I do like it?

(59:03):
I like that it's a different space.
It's a different audience, it's speaking to different people.
I don't think this is meant to be like a collectible in the
sense of what we knew, funk or what we looking at.
Throw joy in that lens. I think this is more like have
fun doing this. Open these up, get the ones, get

(59:23):
the set or one that you like type of thing, and just collect
them as you go type of thing. If your completion is complete,
all of them. If you happen to get a chase out
of it, whatever it may be, I I think just the, the brand that's
behind it and the, the sort of like figures and how they look

(59:47):
and how they are and how they present.
I don't think this is meant to be like I'm going to go out and
get get every one of them. It's not something that I would
go out of my way for collecting.Like if Mike wasn't attached to
this I'd be like, cool. Right.
Yeah, yeah. Like I'll, I'll call what it is.
Like if, if, if Mike and Dave weren't attached to it, I'd be

(01:00:08):
like, yeah, that's that's another thing that I'll probably
pass by and never walk into Mini.
So until Rocky Moto, I don't think I've walked into Mini.
So probably more than once. And that was by mistake because
it just, it doesn't speak to me as a collector.
It does. That stuff doesn't speak to me
at all. Now, Rocky Moto, it does speak

(01:00:30):
to me because obviously of what it represents and who it's
coming from, that means a lot tome.
So I'll always support that likeforever, just because of who
they are. So if there is something that I
do like I am a fan of, I'll definitely go out and get it.
I did see the Godzilla ones as probably one that I would go out

(01:00:51):
out of my way for. I was a little worried about
seeing a Godzilla ramen cup. Yeah, I'm I don't think they
they have one right I. Don't think it doesn't, No, no,
it doesn't look like at least it's not official yet, but.
Based off of those, they got thetop, yeah.
Yeah. So I think, I think those are

(01:01:13):
cool. I think that's something that
would add to my collection, get like a full case of and have fun
and through episodes. But I think it's supposed to be,
you know, it's speaking to a different side of.
And I think I've, I've been moreexposed to it being around this
Pop Mart phrase longer than a lot of most folks.

(01:01:35):
In terms of me. I haven't been around forever
with it, right. But in terms of like knowing
what Pop Mart was and knowing what the slip Boo boos were,
were a time where I can walk in and buy some.
Yeah. You definitely told me about
those before anyone cared. Yeah, I, I told my wife when I,
when I first learned about them,I told my wife, like, do you

(01:01:55):
like this? You're like, no, it's ugly.
I said, Are you sure? Listen, I, I, I kind of know
where things are going. I, you know, I, I can like touch
the poles on these things. I think this is going to be
really hard to get later. Do you not want to say no, it's
ugly. Fast forward, she's like, I

(01:02:16):
really want these. I said.
So I said, so this is before they changed everything online.
So I said let me just go to American Dream side.
Back then there wasn't that muchat least information in terms
like when they restocked, when you were allowed to go and
stuff. So I said let me just go.
So I went that they actually hadrestocked that day and I had no

(01:02:38):
idea. I think it was maybe a Thursday.
I think it was a Friday because I was working from home.
So I went and I bought a full case and then they had like an
open box with like 5 of them left that he would just buy a
single of. I said let me get that one open
that one up. That happens to be the secret
and she. Oh wow.
She was there when I pulled Umbreon out of Prismatic.

(01:03:00):
Wow. And the same reaction that I
had, she had like the other likeout of body experience, my soul,
my, my, like, I'm looking at myself like hovering type of
thing. When I pulled out Umbreon like
versus her like pulling this, this secret, I was like, all

(01:03:20):
right. And seeing the culture and the
fervent like craze that goes towards these products, these
blind black products, these Asian influence products, I was
like, this is going to be this isn't for me, Laboux's aren't
for me. It's totally OK, It's totally
fine. There's a specific consumer base

(01:03:43):
for it, but they love it. And as long as you're talking to
to to them and you're able to dothings that maybe encompasses A
wider scope of, of everyone awesome.
So I'm excited to, to see reallycool stuff from them.
I'm excited to, to continue to support them.
I'm excited to see them grow andand become awesome and and see

(01:04:07):
where they not so much pivot, but what they add on to like the
arsenal of things that they do, different products, different
lines. I like knowing Mike as as the
type of person who is I can't I can't think this is it, right?
Like Rocky Royal, that's it. Like this is what we're going to
do. Having these amazing people on

(01:04:29):
board, having AJ, having Fluffy,having these awesome voice
characters, having this whole world.
I can't think that this is just going to be it.
Maybe the other thing that they do is it or maybe a different IP
that they do within Rock and Moto might be it for me.
But yeah, I'm excited to see where they go.
Yeah, I'm excited to see what itis having a proto sign proto.

(01:04:50):
Definitely. Yeah, that's cool.
Definitely is awesome, but I'm definitely I'm definitely
excited to see what I think they're going to be.
Anime con. Yeah, they are, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, they have a lot of stuff they announce for.
That it's kind of crazy. I mean, they're they announced
that they're coming out obviously with more apparel.

(01:05:10):
They have like sweatshirts, T-shirts, which they show that
they which I think this is genius.
They made little bag key chains to put the figures in.
So it kind of is going for that,you know, key chain craze.
Yeah. They had like plushy key chains
like they're they're crushing it.
You don't see, you don't see a lot of purses about the blue

(01:05:33):
hangout from us, Yeah. No, it's I mean, it's just funny
you bring it about your wife. Like, I mean, my wife is always
supporting my collecting habits,but I know she does it for me.
Like once she, like she's on PopMarts like trying to get this
though, it's just kind of great.It's exciting too, to see people
have come into a collecting world that would never be part

(01:05:54):
of it. Yeah.
That's the one thing I love about the Libooboo craze and
just Pop Mart in general. Yeah, she so I've gotten, I've
gotten very blessed and lucky tohave a bunch coming in.
And then I said, all right, well, I know you only want the
secret out of this in the world.We're going to see that.
I'm going to I'm going to sell them to my book club.
I said is she had gone to an event.

(01:06:18):
So like, apparently it's some really exclusive like book club
that you had to like apply for and like reference for.
And there's a whole vetting process as you would like, you
have to read a certain amount ofbooks in a year.
You have to like be committed toreading like all these things.
You have to be put on a wait list.
Wow. This is very, very involved.

(01:06:39):
So she had gotten in. She went to like the first 2
events. On the 3rd event, she has like
her little boot, like her littleboot, like hanging from inside.
They're like, Oh my God, we can never get one.
Yeah, my husband actually can get them.
They're like, I was like, it's exactly what you're saying.
It's like people like being super like passionate about this

(01:07:02):
stuff is really cool to see. Yeah, now it is.
And I think one of the big things too, and it kind of ties
into a lot of the stuff that I started collecting was the blind
box. And the mystery aspect is really
what excites me. Like, I don't know if you did,
but like, I was a massive Funko soda collector.
Like I have maybe like hundreds,almost 1000 sodas.

(01:07:22):
Really. In a storage bin.
Yeah, like insane. And it was because of the whole
thrill find the chase. Like I always, I would always
buy 2 of each. I never would get cases.
I was always just two of each. If I got one of each of them,
that was it. If I got 2 comments, I just kept
it moving. I went to another character type
of thing, but like this that like that's also why I like this

(01:07:42):
new pic style where it's like, you know, you're ripping it
open. It's like you don't know if it's
going to be a chase or not. Like that's exciting to me.
But like blind boxes now, unfortunately, my daughter who's
only 5 and she's now in love with Pop marred and Mini.
So because she knows that they have Disney products and they
have like the Liboo stuff and like just a mystery aspect.
It's fun, but with Rocky Moto, Ikind of get that same kind of

(01:08:06):
gist. Like it's, it's like you said,
it's not like you're collecting something that's going to have
crazy value. Like it's just a fun product.
If you'd like a specific character, you can RIP it open,
see if you could pull like the the Chase version of theirs.
But I do like that the new one that they announced for the
Snoopy for the Peanuts, it's going to be like kind of more of
like a legit blind back where it's only one and you get

(01:08:27):
different like variants that youcan get and it's like 9
different ones with more rarities.
So that's kind of like a cool thing for just having one with a
one to one period. So like I like that they're
opening it up to that. So now maybe maybe that's what
we'll see when the IPS ones are coming out.
That's kind of what it seems like and.
Yeah, I see him. I mean wasn't like the was it

(01:08:49):
about Sailor or the Snoopy one that was translucent?
Yeah, there's two Snoopy ones. There's two stupid translucent,
they're like 1 of 100 and something.
So like they're obviously going to be the more rare ones.
So like, that part is cool. And I mean, Mike, he's been in
the business long enough that heclearly has connections with
plenty of licensors around therethat, you know, he's going to

(01:09:09):
get more IPS and more stuff is going to get attached to his
stuff. So like in that aspect, it's
kind of cool because then like you, like you said, you have
that Asian influence side and then you have regular collectors
maybe and stuff like that. So yeah, and that part of it, I
like it and I, I support them and I support their vision and
like, Mike is so great and what they're doing, their team is
great. So like, it's just hard to not

(01:09:31):
support them even if you're not going to buy it.
Yeah, you're still like, OK, this is cool.
And you know, like I still support her regardless, but.
It's corny as it is, they're just fun.
Like. Yeah.
Like I it's so true and I mean, I've said this on the podcast
before, but like that they have just excited me the most, even
though, you know, throw Joy's a really close second for me.

(01:09:53):
But even too, like my son, who you know, has followed me and my
collecting habits, he is now like, that's what he wants to go
get, which I find interesting. Like he's I want a new Rocky
Moto. I want a new Rocky Moto and I'm
like. That's so cool.
Dude, it's working. Yeah, that's so cool.
Yeah. I mean, that's that's an awesome
point because I, I didn't even think about like how it equates

(01:10:15):
to like Funko sodas. Yeah, Yeah, I didn't.
That was like the one thing thatreally got me, yeah.
Yeah, I I wasn't, I wasn't a huge Funko.
So I would like pick up random ones here and there be awesome.
Like I would go for like maybe two or three.
I went out and like got in the chase for I'm a huge Fantasia
fan sorcerer Mickey. So I got the chase of the of

(01:10:36):
sorcerer Mickey and the Churnbach.
But you're completely right. It's like the the excitement of
like, what the heck are you going to get?
So. Yeah, it's definitely cool.
So last thing we wanted to kind of cover was we'll go back to
Funko, specifically the fun days.

(01:10:57):
Obviously that just happened this weekend.
They had their event in Hollywood, Funko Hollywood this
time, three days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, saw a lot of
people there. We obviously just saw a lot of
stuff and we got a lot of new Freddy's and frannies, which we
were. We were worried that we weren't
going to get frannies. We're like, we need to have
frannies. But early on we didn't get any

(01:11:17):
leaks of it and we did. We got some Freddy's, we got
some frannies. It started off kind of bad.
The first leak was was the lanterns.
We just leave it at that and we knew it was like, wow, this is
not good. And then we started kind of
getting some more stuff that like, I still will say I'm not
like, Oh my God, this is amazingtop to bottom.

(01:11:38):
But there's some stuff in there that was definitely exciting.
It's really cool. And then we got some leaks of
the stuff that's coming to the home box.
But maybe there's more because obviously they're not really all
not yet, but kind of what are your thoughts on some of the
stuff that we we've seen out there, Any of the favorites?
Obviously there's some that are like limited 50 I think is the
lowest that we're seeing in LA right now.

(01:11:59):
But there's a mix of stuff. No, it's obviously you've seen
for Andy in this shape or form is something that everyone's
been kind of like 1 + 1 equals, right?
It's it's. Yeah.
Yeah, it's it's like right there.
You can do so much for it. I was really hoping for Frannie
as Astoka that I think that would have just completely sent

(01:12:22):
everything to the moon. And not saying that the stuff
that they released was wasn't great, but I think that would
have just been, oh snap, alright, she's right type of
thing, right? Because I think she hasn't been
given outside of the NFT, she hasn't really been given the
proper spot in terms of what youcan do, especially at an event

(01:12:44):
like this. It was surprising to see that
the boxes had July 25th on them,the otterboxes, which even.
Noticed that. Yeah.
So it said July 20 do not open before July 25th, 2025.
So that probably meant that thiswas supposed to be for SDCCS.
CC yeah, which is kind of a wee and soon from the beginning.

(01:13:07):
Which I want to talk about all that too a little bit, but.
Not for sure it's and which kindof like, oh, I mean, I wish it
was because I would have been able to attend the event and and
be part of, you know, seeing being my first one was last year
and having Mike there, seeing what it becomes and evolves to
this year. And obviously, you know, having

(01:13:28):
fun experience. I think experience that if you
are or ever been a fan of Funko,I think it's experience that is
everyone should go to at least once, try to go to at least
once, try, try to do it. Or whether maybe down the line,
if you ever bring back an NYCC 1, I think if they're able to do

(01:13:50):
it at a scale that is adequate, I think would be an awesome
experience to do as well. First in the first leagues, I
was like, no, what are you doingjust because like like you said,
it's three days, you have time slots, you have a bunch of time
slots, you have a bunch of days,you have a bunch of people and

(01:14:11):
you're seeing all these piece counts and you're doing the math
in your head you're like, Oh no,what are they doing?
Is this going to be like it's going to be like a mascot
situation where just going to get a Lantern?
And then I was just like, no, this isn't the way to do it.
This is like you're you're trying to have as many people as
you can go to these things. You're having it a month before

(01:14:33):
SDCC, which automatically cuts out a bunch of people that can't
want either forward have the time to or have the energy to go
to out out to the West Coast andsocially short amount of time
you're you're having what's at that time, because we don't at
least I don't know the final numbers at the time.

(01:14:54):
It looks like it's just way morepeople than fun days.
Last year was. So it's like it's going to be
more boxes and then more lanterns and then more this like
what does that mean for everything else?
So that right there I was like, oh, this isn't good, But I do
like some of the stuff that theydid.
I wasn't really a fan of them doing 2 face and non black light

(01:15:15):
and saying that this this is 1 as I'm staring at my my 2 face
here. Yeah, I did.
I did see today that I thought Idid see a Leonardo, right,
Freddy's Leo. Yeah.
And then as a 3000 piece. But then I also saw a picture
that's there's a 500 piece for the online boxes.

(01:15:38):
There's two variants of 3500 piece.
I think the 500 piece has like adarker like outer shell in the
front. So which is cool.
It's a little bit different. I just it's it's.
We can see real on this podcast.Yeah, it.
It spoke, it spoke too much, thegrievances that I personally had

(01:16:01):
before. Yeah, mass producing is doing
too much of one thing. It's diluting.
I think the Lanterns, if you hadthree, four to five, I think
there would have been phenomenonahead.
I think it would have been awesome.
I also think that the in person boxes probably should have
another pop in it, especially ifyou're having this event a month
before SECCI think you should award and reward people that are

(01:16:24):
making that trip out there to get an additional something in
that product. I wish that's something that I
would have seen, could have seen, but I think that kind of
like them deciding to do that release right before kind of
like skewed my kind of lens on all the reveals.

(01:16:49):
It's like, OK, that was cool. OK, that was cool.
Nothing I feel. The same way.
I think my only one in favorite that I would probably maybe go
out of my way for is the dummy glow, the 500 piece.
I think that was an extraordinary job.
I think the I think they could have been a little bit more

(01:17:10):
creative in terms of having these limited piece counts.
Like what was it? It was a Freddie 125 piece.
Was it like captain or something?
Oh, you wanted Captain Freddie? Yeah.
They had a Captain Freddie and then they did the Franny that
way too. And proto.
So they they have, they have onethat's like 125 pieces or

(01:17:31):
something and it's like a glow like this crown.
And I think the rope that he's hanging from or something like
that. I was like, it's cool, but it's
like you're making this the 125.I feel like the 125 is special.
I think the 1:25 should be like something that's like wow.
Right. Yeah, great.
I think they could have done a little bit better in terms of

(01:17:52):
like choosing what is what. I think the Michael Myers is a
cool one. I'm not really a huge fan of the
black live version. Yeah, I I think that would have
been an awesome maybe online oneand they could have done
something really cool with with with the Mike Myers one.

(01:18:13):
It's it nothing really jumped out of me as maybe more or two
of the frannies and that Freddiethat I mentioned that made me
say damn, I formal for not going.
I think outside of that, it wasn't really like, Oh my gosh,
I wish they could have. I, I part of like different like

(01:18:34):
discord and stuff and I'm like, oh, like what letter is the best
This and that? Like I feel like that kind of
takes away kind of the gravitas to it, like kind of like the
charm, the, the, the whole experience.
It's like when, when you're going all in with all this
information, kind of that, that all these things.
I wish that wasn't part of it. I did hear that they use I think

(01:18:55):
like a third party company to tothrow like the whole event so.
Oh, interesting. I'm not, I'm not too sure which
makes sense to me. I'm not too sure to what extent
whether it be. I heard there was a lot of like
things that occurred with like the protos and like people
double dipping and getting more that they were supposed to and

(01:19:17):
all that stuff. So I don't know.
Yeah, I think they on the on thefirst day, they decided to like
do like a black Sharpie over whatever notch you were.
They were supposed to indicate that you had gone something and
that people were just rubbing itoff and getting another one.
And then I think the next day they either the next day or like
later on they caught on, they started like hole punching them

(01:19:40):
to make sure that they weren't getting like going and getting
more. I mean, there's always going to
be people that try to get more, get more out of it and stuff.
But it's also, you know, a company has to kind of like look
for those things and kind of kind of proceed like the
potential issue with these type of things and maybe using a

(01:20:02):
third party company, I don't know, but wasn't super like, Oh
my gosh, I think last year's lineup.
They could have been a little bit better, but at least there
were some They were like, OK, like good job with that.
Good job, really, really good job with that.
And these there were just so much far in between.
I'm like, all right, that was a really good one or that was a

(01:20:25):
really good one. I know a bunch of people have
told me it's like, all right, sothe online boxes got the better
ones. Not like, why'd I even come out
here? I was like, that's funny.
I don't know because I I don't think I don't think the in show
boxes got like a A-Team and T Freddie or no.

(01:20:45):
I'm that one with it. It was like a Dracula that was
only online. The you're completely right.
It looks like it's. Better, which is that's just
such a new a new Funko thing to do.
That's what I'm going to now call the company new Funko
because it just I mean, you tookthe words right in my mouth.
I mean, we're basically I think we joke we're like the same
person at times. It's just kind of like, and I'm

(01:21:09):
happy you I like that is my biggest like regret is I never
got to go to what I will now also call a real fun base.
I'm at least happy Funko put in the experience to differentiate
a little bit because they're they are self aware at least a
bit because I'm gonna I mean, I'll be as played as I can, but

(01:21:31):
I had no FOMO of not being here at all.
It's the first time I've ever felt that way about a Funko
event in my life. It just looked like a who's who
of the influencer crowds being there.
It didn't really feel like an actual community event.
It's a bummer that I'm we're notgoing to get to go to thrill

(01:21:52):
like weren't me and Meg's are going to see a Comic Con, but I
can't wait to hear it from you. Like I have FOMO of not going to
go to thrill joyers or Rocky motors event.
And it's just kind of funny thatFunko didn't want to be
embarrassed. I'm I'm called spade a spade and
that's obviously why they moved this up, which I think is so
lame, though at the same time they didn't want to go up
against the 2 Kings, so they didthis event.

(01:22:17):
I just, I'm still like thinking about it.
It's just, it's so lame. Like I have to say it.
But I would, I would love to know the reason why because
it's, it's kind of like, all right, the decision wasn't ever
that it was going to be on a different date, right?
It was clearly a pivot, right? It was printed on the box
outside of those cardboard boxesthat say letter L letter C
letter whatever it says do not open until this date.

(01:22:39):
I would love to see like the decision making, right?
It's was it, you know, a few to compete or was it like maybe
something is mismanagement, right?
Of of like not bugging a space in time.
You know, who's to say who's to know?
Yeah. Or not not feeling comfortable
with being able to host an eventthat large without your

(01:23:04):
figurehead for the first time. That that could be something
too. Because, you know, there's a lot
of not just time and energy, butit takes a specific type of
person to, you know, be gravitating to the point where
you can captivate a whole crowd of thousand 2000 people for 2
1/2 hours for one or two days. It takes a special person to do

(01:23:26):
those things. And Mike is one of those special
people that can do that, right? It's I think I would love to
know why. All right, I would hope it's not
like, oh, I'm scared of these two.
So I'm not going to do it right.As a collector, as wanting the
most out of it, it's hard not tobe on your list of reasons as

(01:23:48):
well. But I, I always try to look at
everything from like different aspects and points.
You know, it's, it's different leadership, it's different
attentions, it's different allocations of funds or it's
different planning. And could be very simple.
As you know, we didn't book a space and we didn't want to.

(01:24:09):
We didn't want to force the issue.
Which that's another thing and you it's a good point you bring
up about the space. I mean, not only let's say they,
they didn't have time to book itor they made a mistake, but they
also they just had that their facility which cost them
absolutely no money, which couldhave been another reason that
they did that. No, that's.
Which I've never really thought about.
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Took up like a parking lot or

(01:24:30):
something to across the street. Yeah, I can't imagine how how
expensive these events are. I mean, what Carissa has told us
and me what Throjo has in store for this live party.
I'm just like, wow, like this is, I mean, they're, they're
going all out. Obviously this is the first time
I see you see they want to they want to come in and, and really

(01:24:53):
show thrill seekers like an amazing time or just collect
community in general. You don't have to be thrill
seekers. Like if you just want to be in a
collective community space and just having fun and, and getting
to know different people and having fun where you're doing
it, playing games and all that stuff.
The stuff that I'm here, I was like, wow, this has to be
monstrously expensive and on topof the space, on top of the

(01:25:15):
logistics, on top of everything else.
So I can't imagine that it doesn't come into the equation
of like where they should do it or why they should do it.
And I think for better, for worse, for better for worse,
Funko has earned the right for being a company for this long,
having a customer and fanatic, fanatic base for this large and

(01:25:41):
long that do you kind of you're allowed to do that.
And people are going to come to you.
You can have this and announce this two months before and a
month before the biggest convention of the year and say
we're going to have this here atthis day.
And whether you're here or not, you're here or not.

(01:26:02):
And be over there. So yeah, that's.
So true. They're still gonna sell.
We've always said, always say stuff too, even when we don't
like certain things. Whatever.
People are still buying that stuff.
At the end of the day, they're still gonna keep doing it.
They're gonna pump it out. But this this line, like I'm
kind of in the same boat as you guys.
I didn't really have the phone, but there was there was only one

(01:26:24):
pop. So I'm on the other hand, I'm a
die hard horror fan. So like Michael Myers is one of
them and Halloween is one of my favorite movies of all time.
So just seeing that was like, OK, that's sick.
But I hate the black light one and the fact that it's going for
like $2000 and stuff on auctions.
I have no idea why. It makes zero sense to me
because even when the regular black light virgin came out,

(01:26:48):
because they did come out with aregular black light version,
because we all know these bodiesall exist.
They're just putting Freddie andFreddy's heads on them.
But that one was. So even when that came out, I
was like this. It looks ridiculous but that
regular one even even though it's a 3000 piece like whatever
like that one was probably my favorite 1.
And I do agree with you, having Franny was exciting to see.

(01:27:09):
Like a pink Ranger was cool because that's.
Pretty. That's my favorite of the show.
That's and then one Wonder Womanobviously is an iconic 1.
So like those made sense gettinginto the Star Wars room like you
were saying, so good. That would have been just out of
the world if they did something like that.
But the only other thing I will say and I hinted towards before
being a big soda fan, the sodas were pretty cool.
So I liked what they did with those.

(01:27:31):
They obviously kind of went after what they already have in
the NFT world with that fun of me, but they make sodas of them.
So it makes you kind of think, was that already kind of done
for that? Like a lot of this stuff did
kind of seem like it was just extra stuff or whatever it was.
It just wasn't put together likewhat we're so used to an event
for fun days, quote UN quote like to do in the past.

(01:27:54):
And then the at home ones, like there's a couple good ones, but
even that's like the Iron Man one obviously is is sweet, but
like you got a bunch of the Lantern ones.
So like there's going to be people that are going to open a
box and then you get 3 lanterns probably like no, you have a.
Chance, one of my friends got one out there.
He only had one slot and one of my buddies here that wasn't able

(01:28:14):
to go, it's like he was like, just buy a slot and I'll go,
I'll go for you. Whatever.
He got his box and it the the best one was a White Lantern,
500 pieces in that box. And I said he's like, he's like,
I'm gonna lose money on this. This isn't fun.
And he was like making fun of it.

(01:28:34):
He wasn't doing it for the moneyshortly, but it's just kind of
like, yeah. No, but yeah, you still want to.
Get what it's? Worth, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Exactly whatever. Exactly like like some type of
like like feeling of like, oh, like all right, this was cool
even if I didn't get like the the 50 PS or the 1:50 or the 250
or like this was cool. Now I think the the Lancer it

(01:28:55):
the Lancer just looked like it was supposed to be a part of
something else and they rushed this like I don't know if like
their contract IP was ending soon.
They're like, no, like let's getabout exactly before before this
ends. And it it it kind of like kind
of left you what could have beenor it could have been so much

(01:29:18):
more, which wasn't. I really like the episode 1 The
Frannie. That one is.
The Frannies were over. There wasn't many.
We only got like 3 or 4, but they were good at least like the
the majority of them. You're like, all right, that's a
good one. I guess it's hard to like, we've
been wanting frannies so bad, it's hard to mess that up
already. Yeah, that's what they had gone.

(01:29:40):
We've seen so many, but I just at this point.
Yeah, well, it but though it's still like, I mean, now I guess
it was three years ago, the campfun days.
I feel like that was peak of like they had so I'll never
forgotten. We were texting like Oh my God.
This was like. Everyone on that list was like
sick. And it hasn't been that way ever

(01:30:01):
since. That was I think, Brian and
Mike's last like. Yeah, like really Together.
Like, yeah. No, yeah, we and you saw it by
the line up from the pops. It was diverse.
They were strong. They were it, it was it was
highly sought after. They knew what they were doing.
They knew what they were choosing there.

(01:30:25):
For me, there had to be a reasonwhy we saw so many Star Wars.
Like you said on that last one, he was probably the last one
that they're together type of situation go off a bang and they
did a great job with them. And it's they have so much
canvas that they can work with, but it's I don't know if like

(01:30:46):
they just choose not to or they're just, I don't know.
I really don't know because it'sit's, it's just all there.
It's like they have the paint, they have the canvas, they have
the water. I think that's just the passion
and I'm weird. I really, I mean, people have
made fun of me on the pocket. I really romanticize both Bryant
and Mike, like I just do. And I, it's just, it sucks that

(01:31:11):
they're not there anymore. But yeah, like we said, we got
new cool companies out of it. It just, it's so obvious because
even me and Meg's joke, there was a point where we're like,
what is going on with Brian and Mike?
And out of the end of their Funko.
That's weird. It was getting rough for them,
but you can tell it's probably just.
It's Funko in a nutshell. Yeah, yeah.

(01:31:34):
I mean they. It would make a great movie.
Yeah, I mean, they didn't make these companies cuz I mean, I
would assume just because the way they act and the way they
are and and they're what they hold most support is I didn't
make these companies because, all right, let's make millions
of dollars. Let's be super rich and we're
going to rule the world and be #1 collector collectors and

(01:31:57):
collectible producers. Like the passion was, I really
want to make something cool and I think I know what other
collectors would think. They're really cool and let's
build this community and let's see where this goes type of
thing. And I think that soul isn't

(01:32:18):
apparent, especially in an eventlike this where it's just a
bunch of different IPS that don't make sense.
There isn't a theme the. Theme was always so fun that
yeah. I think they really lost a lot
out of it being on theme. Some people love the boxes.

(01:32:40):
I personally don't. I think it could have been a lot
better. I think the ones from last year
look a little better than the ones from this year.
Not having a theme, not having amask on, not having that.
Type of the mascot thing was always a cool thing.
It was but one thing we haven't talked about, which I'm curious
in both of your opinion, Like what did you think of that?

(01:33:01):
Like Grail, like idol thing theymade.
Temple like I'm saying from Indian, I guess they were trying
to go with like an Indiana Jonestype.
Yeah, but they could've called. It vibe, but they well they had
the guy with painted beard who was supposed to look like
Indiana Jones, but they yeah, they had multiple versions.

(01:33:21):
They had one that was like a 70 piece word and then they had the
one of one that one guy got or something and I mean, I don't
know, I I don't want to like hate on me like, well, at least
they didn't do it like they're trying something.
You know, I did something. Is it is it seem forced and like
not genuine? Yeah, a bit, but it's like it's
just kind of where they're at right now.
I just feel like I don't know ifit's management or people or

(01:33:42):
whatever it's running. It's just it's just it's in a
weird funk funk. That's funny where to put it
with them, but it's in a weird it's just like a weird space
that they're in right now that yeah, we could just take the O
away. They're just going to be funk
now and it's just I guess cuz we're seeing so much more
exciting and fresh things with these other companies that are
coming out now that they just seem a little more stale and

(01:34:03):
just kind of like they've been around for so long that they're
just like on autopilot and they're just, you know, doing
what they're doing. And like they do put out stuff
that sometimes were like, oh, that's sick.
But that's amazing. It's just like, it's just kind
of like here and there now And that's.
So it's, I guess, just the way it's going to be.
And at least, I mean, it's this transition of leadership and
everything has been long enough.I think at this point, you're

(01:34:24):
going to know what they're doingas a company.
And it seems like they kind of know what they're doing now.
Yeah. I'm not.
I said I'm going to go pick up aFreddie Grill from Michael's.
No, I'm not. I'm not.
I I I like the at least dawn andcreativity that went into it,

(01:34:47):
comparing it to the lack of creativity that we saw.
I I guess this past year, right?I do like at least the attempt
in the effort. It's different.
It's it at least goes with the theme that they were trying to
build out right. I agree.
I'm not a huge fan of them. If I got one, I'd be like who
like I I probably saw it before I left, and that's just me.

(01:35:10):
Like would have been breaking awesome if this thing was a one
piece on that cardboard that said one of one and it was a
actual Freddy. Even if it looked the same type
of thing, that would have been pretty fantastic.
My fear now is that we're kind of getting that kind of lens

(01:35:34):
that whatever Funko does, no matter what they do, we're
always going to be like, we're like, kind of like that weary
eye of like. It's just where we're at right
now. It's been, it consistently has
been where we what we're gettingand it's like kind of it's going
to be hard for us to change that.
Yeah, and I, and I say all thesethings not because it's, it's,

(01:35:55):
it's like, oh, like this is better or like I'm hating on
them. It's like I think I speak, at
least for me, I think I speak about these things as much as I
do. And I guess with such passion,
because I'm so passionate about phone crow, it's, it's, it's
where I came from as a collector.
It's, it's who I first fell in love with as a collector, right?

(01:36:17):
It's, it's what led the floodgates into, into what I do
and collect today in different shapes and forms.
So if, if I wasn't talking aboutit at all, I think I'd be dealt
with it, right? And I think I speak a bit about
it as much as I do because I still want them to be great and,
and for my passion for that company to still be there.

(01:36:41):
And it's it's still wanting that, right?
I think it's more that I think alot of people can make
misconstrue that, that when you're talking about these
things negatively about them, it's part of it.
You know, some people may just genuinely live like, you know,
I'm done with Funko, that's it, it's over.
I'm done with them. It's terrible.
But I think there's still a large portion that people that

(01:37:02):
are turned off from them is I just want them to be what they
were because I know that's who they can be type of thing.
Because I still want to be a a huge fan again.
Yeah, I'm still a fan, which is not a huge fan.
It was just such a big part of all of our lives honestly, and

(01:37:23):
all of us are like legit collectors from the beginning.
That was a big, I mean, it was the main reason I started a
YouTube channel. Like I had an unboxing channel
and I was literally just openingFunko Pops all the time and like
it. Really.
Like, yeah, I'm in the same boatas you.
I collected stuff in the past, sneakers and things like like
that, but this was like my biggest collection for a long

(01:37:45):
time. It was literally what, every
week I had boxes come to the house.
Like it? Was anything else?
Yeah, so. At that point.
Like we're in the same boat, like we just want back or
something near that, right? It's just crazy too, because
like our podcast really is a document is is a documentary of
our love and roller coaster rideof Funko.

(01:38:07):
It's kind of wild because like if you were to go back and
listen to the episodes like 2 years ago, I don't think anyone
would ever think, me personally,I would ever say anything
negative. I'd praisefully shout for Funko
like hardcore. It's I think it really bothers
me and I'm the same like with you, Alex.
Like I just like I want it to begood.
I feel like I can never not likeFunko, but I also don't want to

(01:38:28):
be one of those collectors who isn't like being like real about
it either, because it's just notgonna like do anything.
And that's like, once again, like a great thing about Thrill
Droid. People were real about it.
Yeah. And now they fixed.
It like exactly, and and I thinkI think we, we have such like
candidate conversations was like, you know, I tell you, I'm

(01:38:48):
like, you know, when when I don't like something, I don't
agree with it. It's like I'm not real joy to
like die or like they can do no wrong.
It's awesome that they hear me out, me personally and our our
group that they hear us out. It's awesome, but everyone has
their messed ups. Everything things are done that

(01:39:09):
you don't exactly agree with andthat's completely OK.
But when they do things, when ithits like the core, like values
of what a collector is that I think it's something that is
it's really hard to just kind oflike either look past or look
away without just completely feeling like all right.
Like I think I think I'm being felt unappreciated as a

(01:39:32):
collector. I'm not being heard.
I'm not being catered to in any way, shape or form.
So, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll vote with my money sort of
thing. Yeah.
Nicely said. Yeah, but I think we're going to
we're going to end it there. Thank you, Alex.
I mean, great talking. I mean, we'll we'll have you on

(01:39:55):
again, I'm sure, because there'sother things that we definitely
want to pick your brain on. No, for sure.
But yeah, this was a great episode.
You gave us a lot of insight, a lot of great stuff on your end.
And it's good to know that like,you know, companies like to
enjoy and stuff, have people like you to kind of like, you
know, really get the pulse of the community and everything,
which is good. I'm glad that they're doing that
kind of thing 'cause, you know, some other companies need to

(01:40:17):
start, you know, maybe doing that.
But. And I want to, I want to thank
you guys too, because you know, the same way that you know,
talking about us and, and for example, myself and the, the
fab, you know, you guys help keep everyone accountable too.
You guys have years of experience as a collectors.

(01:40:37):
You guys have a different eye scope and lens on things.
You're candid. You're not afraid to say the
things that you feel what you'rehappy with, not happy with.
It's it's as an integral part asas being the person that says,
hey, I think you guys should be doing this and seeing the change
you guys are as that integral part.

(01:40:58):
So I really appreciate the work that you guys do, the voices
that you guys have and continuing that.
So, you know, I became a fan recently like from you guys like
career as as podcasters and stuff.
But I've been a fan since and it's really great job that you
guys do. Thank you, thank you means a lot
to us. We really appreciate that for

(01:41:20):
sure, because sometimes I'm like, you know, we're the little
channel who could I feel sometimes because we are real.
But I, I mean, me and Meg's likeit that way and and you know, so
we appreciate that other people do appreciate.
That no for sure for you. Got a fan here.
Thank you. And obviously you got a fan of
us as well. Of course.
Sure. So Charlie, you let everybody

(01:41:40):
know? Kind of, Yeah.
Want to follow everybody and thegood stuff?
So you know, as always, everyone, please follow us at
collect chat on Instagram, at collect under score makes, at
under score Charlie. And then obviously, if you're on
the podcast platforms, please give us a follow there, write us
a review. If you listen on Spotify, we
always have those fun questions that you can answer for each

(01:42:01):
episode. And obviously you can come over
to YouTube if you want to see all of our beautiful faces.
And you, you know, we here, we like to give it a little extra
people who aren't aware, you know, we'll pop up images, which
you don't just get from the podcast on the podcast
platforms. But while you're here, if you
haven't already, we really appreciate if you subscribe to
this channel, like this video, hit that notification bell so

(01:42:23):
you know, when new videos are coming out and obviously
comment, you know, one thing I say always, we never leave a
comment unread. We don't, we reply to
everything. So please throw us down there.
Let us know, you know, what you're thinking.
What did you think of fun days? You know, are you excited for
the new, but throw Joy's coming?Rocky Moto, let us know.
And obviously, I'm going to throw it over to Alex now to let

(01:42:43):
everyone you know where they canfind you.
For sure. Thanks guys.
You can find me at Throw Joy Seeker under score on Instagram
posting updates all the time about Throw Joy, my own personal
collection, my own journey and stuff.
SCCC is coming around the corner.
June 11th, I believe is a whatnot stream for Throw Joy.
So I'm sure you guys want to go on.

(01:43:04):
There's going to be a lot of sneak peeks, a lot of
information that is going to be given gearing up towards SDCC.
So that's awesome too. And if you do comment like and
subscribe and you're following me, I might do a little giveaway
for those lucky fans. So let's, let's see, let's see
those numbers up, guys. Come on.

(01:43:25):
Yeah, make sure everyone did go fall out.
The throws are Seeker, he's the man, his contents awesome.
He'll if you aren't a fan of thrilled already, you will be
after you follow him. So that being said, thank you
for being a part of this episodeuntil the next one.
Collecting is the way later.

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