WEBVTT - Episode 33: Designer Toys 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:13.239 Yo, ho, What is up everybody? How's it going? Is 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:15.440 she young? Boy? You heard that? Boy? You know what 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:19.320 it is. It's nerdificent and I'm your host if you 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.919 wad way and uh, Danny is sitting it out. Yesterday 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.640 she was at the Record Ralph premiere, living that high life, 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:30.680 getting autographs. I was right there, riding the coattails, you know, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.040 in there, just chomping up on the free food. I 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.320 came in. Your boy knows what to do, Act like 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.319 you've been here, you know. But yeah, so she's sitting out. 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.200 But I have two illustrious guests here today, actually good 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.800 friends of mine, not like those strangers we usually have 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:51.120 on uh. Today, I'm sitting with Rope, Calm and Kwong. 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:53.760 How you doing? How's it going? How you feeling? How 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.440 y'all feeling? I mean I'm pretty good. Good. Um. Just 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.280 to be clear, I had McDonald's today and then never 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.040 do that. Oh no, was it like a long time 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.759 since you've had McDonald's. I can't get into that either. 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:12.080 I guess it's a long history. But I actually did 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.160 have McDonald's while watching the movie The Founder, Like I 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.840 felt like that's something that I had to do. Ye 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:20.960 oh yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'm trying to think of other 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.840 foods you can eat while watching certain founder other movies. Yeah, 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.920 like if you're like watching Harold and Kumar, maybe like 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.399 closing out with White Castle. I feel like, if you 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.560 eat it, you know what? That movie made me so 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.000 sad there was on the West Coast. It's like, yeah, 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.800 that's how I felt about Sonics until I realize you 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.399 can go behind the orange curtain final, right, you know 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.160 your boy was in Compton, like, you know, where's the Sonics? 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.320 I keep seeing the commercials. I don't know why I 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:53.040 talked like that, but yeah, but yeah, so let's get 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:58.760 into yeah, yeah, great song is a photographer? You do? 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.840 You do it all? You you design toys, you work 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.160 at stance. You like, what is there anything you don't 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:11.720 do half free time? Yeah? Yeah, I'm pretty busy. And 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.800 we're actually getting ready for a show called dcon Um 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.000 that should be This comes out this weekend. It'll be 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.040 this weekend if you're listening to it. If you're in 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.840 that general l A area, drive down to Anaheim, go 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:24.880 to d com and come meet them in person. If 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.440 you're like I like those voices, let me go see 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.000 them in person. Yeah, it's gonna be pretty great. It's 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:34.760 it's three times the size of what it was last year. Wow. Yeah, 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.560 and they've brought some pretty incredible vendors. So for people 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.480 who don't know what dcon is or Designer Con, uh, 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:43.359 can you explain it to them so they can give 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.600 them like a quick T L d R. Yeah, Um. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.800 Dcon is a it's a great convention that has a 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.239 lot of like different products made by probably some of 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.480 your favorite favorite artists, you know. Um, And it's a 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.640 way to sort of interact with them outside of like 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.680 like a comic con where it's like, you know, jam 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.760 packed your sardines, and their dcons a little bit more breathable, 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.440 a lot more personable. You know. It's a way to 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:09.600 just get to know and like really handle and see 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.280 things like up close and personal and have like everybody 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.040 has essentially their own boots, so it's like a personal gallery. Yeah, 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.919 you know, it's like hundreds of artists they are showing 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:22.360 off all their best stuff. They've they've everybody's worked towards 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.520 this like all year long. So it's pretty incredible. That's 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.280 awesome because on the Comic Con episode, we talked about 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.520 how we feel comic Con has pushed artists to like 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.440 their artists Alley Corner, and really it went from celebrating 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:41.800 art to more celebrating television and media companies and things 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.400 derivative of you know. Yeah, we call it like we 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.240 kind of you know, make fun in our own way. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.200 Just called it like pop culture con at this point 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.400 because it's it's like, it's interesting when I'll look at 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.640 like artists that draw, you know, all the books and stuff, 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:00.840 and they'll sell pages for you know, very affordable amounts, 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.640 and somebody there's somebody selling like a cute version of 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.800 of the character as a print for like twenty bucks. Yeah, 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:10.480 you know, basically like hurting the bottom line of the 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.120 guys that are actually creating, you know, creating the products. Yeah. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.600 So oh man, let's let's I'm gonna turn over to 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.800 my main row com but we go still here, way back. 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.120 We go so far back. I think you were in 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.160 high school. Yeah you know what we u We were 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.760 on a podcast when we first met. Yeah yeah, and 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:32.960 I then I just latched on you. I was like 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.320 this this rapper right here, this is my guy. That's right, 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.320 I know. And then you finally re released those tracks 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.400 on Spotify right, just a couple of weeks ago. That 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:47.040 stuff had been stashed away forever, and um, I I 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.800 looked at it. You used to be very expensive to 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:53.159 put your music up on streaming services, and then, um, now, 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.680 since it's really the only way people are listening to music, 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.360 I found a place that does unlimited albums for twenty 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.840 bucks for the whole years. It's time to do this. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:06.359 It's okay if no one listens, I could, Yeah, I 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.279 could skip an action figure in twenty dollars into uh 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.839 into my music being on lines. Yeah yeah. And you know, 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.559 if you're listening to the podcast on Spotify, how about 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.760 you go ahead and click over and uh go listen 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:20.800 to some of roll comps of music after you're done here. 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:26.320 But that's not all you do years ago. Yeah yeah, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.600 So um so the reason I think I'm here for 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.560 this episode, uh kick started a vinyl toy um back 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.680 in February and it was funded and so um the 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:42.320 toys finally come from the factory maybe a month ago 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.479 or so, and it's gonna debut at Dcon this weekend. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:50.880 So um that'll be at blitz Creek Toys. UM. At 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.159 the end, I'm Convention Center so it's been a ton 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.920 of work. Quong Um does all of the custom work 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.760 on the toys we do for the limited runs, and 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.120 so he's been super busy painting. And I'm not the 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:05.880 only guy who's toys he's doing. So there's Um, there's Mishka, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.200 there's Quangy could probably speak to this. Oh yeah, I'm 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.000 paying up some toys for Blitz Creek Toys of course, 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:16.080 Um Mishka as well, and Real Calm some things for 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:21.520 Ish justin Ishmael's toy brand. So I'm pretty busy. I 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.080 think that's part of the fun thing with the community 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.039 at Deacon or for designer toys in general, is that 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:30.680 community because there's not really that many people out there. 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:32.640 You know, Dcon is a huge show. There's a lot 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.400 of people at that show as vendors, but I think 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.040 as a designer vinyl scene, there's not that many names 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.719 like Um, I mean Designer Con. When it started, it 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.720 was the smallest room. It was like a five dollar 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.880 entry fee, and it's just exploded into this thing that's 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.120 like three full halls. It's probably the same size as 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:53.360 blizz Con now for this year, and we've never seen 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.640 it like that. Well, it's crazy to see how designer 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:58.279 toys have kind of blown up. And I know we're 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.279 talking all around it, and we'll get into the origin 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.919 and deep stuff now, but this is the kind of 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.839 interesting combo and just a little background about y'all. Um, 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.920 but I feel like it kind of in the most 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.760 quote unquote mainstream way, like when people started seeing pop 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:18.520 and got comfortable collecting those, it just went from there, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:20.480 because at least that's how it was for me. Like 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.360 I had a pop and I was like, yeah, but 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.320 this uh this, uh what is it? The I'm gonna 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:30.120 mess it up? The Bunny one? Yeah? Right, so kid 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.960 Robot back, I think around early two thousand's they had 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:38.000 the Dunnies, which were all artists driven designs. It was 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:39.840 kind of it's I think it's a mix between Devil 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.360 and Bunny is how they got that. And then there 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.880 was the blank custom versions which are called money, which 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.640 was kind of like a monkey done type thing. But um, 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.880 those were the ones that really kind of set off 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.480 an artist series of this is kind of the blank template, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:58.360 which fun Copop definitely is um and then using an 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.920 artist angle at each one. The only thing is fun 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:06.080 code is all license driven whereas Kid Roebout, its origins 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:09.000 were all artists driven right fun fact with the with 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:13.400 the duney itself, I believe it was Tristan Eaton. Um. 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.400 He's a graffiti artist and a phenomenal artist. I think 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.320 when he was eighteen he helped co create that toy 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:28.280 um with Paul Paul. We got infull on that. We 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.719 got some notes on about Paul, But the Donny, it's 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:34.800 kind of incredible, you know, just to think of, like, 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:37.520 you know, an eighteen year old like help co creating 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.640 this toy that all these people bought and collected and drove. 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.000 So dope. But let's just go in just for some 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:45.880 of the people whose heads are spinning. Was like, hold on, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.720 y'all are talking all about the deep stuff. I need 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.960 to get the origins, all right, what's a designer toy? Yeah, yeah, 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.720 we we got we got lots. But I'm gonna kick 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.080 it off with this quote, uh that Dan put up top, 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.840 which I'm which I'm sure is to set off the 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.560 tone of the episode because he also highlights it's so 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:07.880 uh so for you to no, no, I'm gonna put 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.720 you on, blast you on, blast you on the blast zone. Now, 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.960 what's the most important quote for the whole show. For 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.400 you to dig Urban Vinyl, you have to dig what 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.600 it's about. Not everyone can relate to Loud because they 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.040 may not live the lifestyle depicted. But now there are 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.280 so many creations and themes that it's not hard to 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.000 find an artist and toy that you would like. But 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.439 remember these are artworks and are usually made in limited runs, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.000 so expect the higher price tag than a figure you 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.839 can pick up at a chain store. But you're buying 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:39.080 a piece of art, so you can feel good about it. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.320 And that's why that actually good job, Dan, That actually 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.320 is a good quote, because I do want to talk 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:48.080 about that before we fully jump in, because art is 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.000 in a weird place right now where it's it's so 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:58.080 easily manufactured in some facets that the value of it 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.040 is lost to some people. Like it's so interesting to see, 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:05.120 especially on Tumbler, a lot of people complaining about just 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.520 how often people are like, oh, that's how much you're 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.439 charging for this commission. That's and it's like that is 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:16.560 so disrespectful to me, you know, to to something any 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:20.600 like as someone who has started who wanted to do 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.160 art before their Nigerian father was like get into computer science, 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.080 and then I made them even more mad by becoming 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.880 a comedian. Like the work that goes into just a 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.400 simple line work, so then to see it jump off 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:36.880 the page and to be on a actual like for 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.360 the sculpture or a toy like that takes a lot 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:44.000 of effort, just even full disclosure project that was back 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.560 I bought the Doom and just seeing the work that 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.000 Quang put and it looks so good, and you can 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.280 tell the difference when you get like a mass printed 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.160 toy and then like I can pick up like I 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.319 just pick up and look at it because the paint 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.280 job is so good and you just don't you're not 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.640 going to get that from anywhere else, but like someone 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.480 who puts the time into hand paint stuff. Yeah, and 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:10.240 I think even how subject how subjective art is in general. 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.640 You can pick up one of Quong's painted toys and 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.280 see the hours that went into getting that finished done 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.880 on the metal, and the different colors that he used 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.080 for the palette. And you can also look at a 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:24.200 toy that might score double triple times that and it 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.920 has like three paint slashes, you know, just just kind 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.319 of as it would seem just kind of messy put up, 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.880 but that has its own intrinsic value in the creator 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:35.920 that put it out in their style and how it 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.880 is so um. I think vinyl toys are just as 0:11:38.920 --> 0:11:42.680 subjective as any other part of the art world. Oh yeah, 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.160 And I think if we want to even go back 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.640 to bunco and like simplify it, it kind of is 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.120 that way where like one license property will fetch so 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.840 much more money versus like something people don't don't care about. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.560 And let's not even get into how available it is. 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:04.440 And yeah, yeah, we'll get into all of that, but 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.320 let's start with bubble heads, because you know, there's a 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.520 lot of you know, question of did to start with 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:11.880 bobble heads? You know, bomble hands are kind of the 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.640 first kind of nick knack patty whack that people were 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.439 posting up because during the seventeenth century, figurines of Buddha 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.319 and other religious figures called temple nodders were produced in Asia, 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.080 and the earliest known Western reference to a bubble head 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.160 is thought to be Nikolai Gogel's short story The Overcoat, 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.480 which was dropped in eighteen forty two. I like to 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:34.319 talk about short stories like their mixtapes uh, in which 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.280 the main character's neck was described like the neck of 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:41.600 plaster cats do uh like the neck of plaster cats 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.880 which wag their heads, which I think is one of 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.719 the most we all know what that's talking about. The thing? 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.640 Yeah yeah, swinging back and forth. By the way, doesn't 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:51.600 it sound like kind of a low blow to Google's 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.480 thing like they saw and they're like, oh, I'm gonna 0:12:54.520 --> 0:13:02.080 describe this real rough. Yeah, oh man hater, yeah, but yeah, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.160 well um. By nineteen sixty, the Major League Baseball had 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.079 gotten in on the action and produced a series of 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.199 paper mache babbo head dolls, one for each team. And 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.520 it's crazy because like till this day, like bad, yeah, 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.720 that's the night. Oh yeah, I got a what's his name? Losorta, 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.160 Tommy Losorta Dodge, and I don't have the heart to 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.680 throw it away, even though it's like I'm like, you 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.200 don't fit in with any of my other toys. It's 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:31.000 like it really genuinely well, I have Death Jaguar and 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.360 all my DBC stuff on a separate thing, and I'll 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:38.920 have like Overwatch something from Desny and Tommy Losorta. Go see, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.240 that's what I love like that stuff sticks around, Yeah, 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:44.240 didn't didn't he just transfer himself into like being a 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:50.320 spokesperson for food or something down there. Tommy Losorda's Trattoria 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:54.559 is a restaurant that he he has a Dodgers Stadium restaurant. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:14:00.440 So I guess maybe that was very specific to that place. Yeah, yeah, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:05.840 very well. But so he was a bubble head, Yeah, 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.360 but I Funco was founded as a bubblehead company by 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.520 Mike Becker in Washington, and in two thousand and five, 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:16.400 Beckers sold Funco to its current CEO, Brian Mariotte, who 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.600 moved its offices to Lynnwood, Washington. I got so hyped 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:20.960 for a second because I thought it was going to 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:25.480 be in California and I was majorly wrong here. Yeah, 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.960 and significantly expanded the company's license product lines. So then, 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.400 you know, so maybe maybe that that that was like, 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:36.600 oh man, I'd like this bubblehead if its head wasn't 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:40.240 moving all the time. But what we do know is 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.680 that designer toys also called art toys or novelty toys 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:47.120 and collectibles created by independent artists and designers, which they 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.160 usually produced within limited editions. Artists use a variety of 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:55.120 materials such as a bs plastic, vinyl, wood, metal, latex 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.920 and resin. Many designer toys are plush toys. Creators often 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:04.160 have backgrounds and graph design, illustration, or self described low 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.200 brow art. Some artists have classical art design training, while 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.680 others are self taught. I think that describes both of you. 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.160 If I'm not correct a little bit. Yeah, I mean 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.560 not the low brow art. I realized the timing in 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:23.040 which I said that we love lowbrow art. It's funny 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.720 because when a designer toys obviously coming from an artist, right, 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.280 and artis has a vision for something they created, they 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.240 want this three D version of in vinyl and um, 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.040 so that's gonna change per artist. So there there's artists 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.360 that know the whole Adobe creative suite and they're like 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.320 putting stuff in vector and really doing it up for 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.280 their sculpture to make. And then sometimes there's a dude 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.160 that has a kin, like a sharpie napkin thing and 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.360 he's like, make this a toy for me. People that 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:54.160 make toys right, and they do it. So it's pretty 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:56.640 fun to see how things get translated, because you could 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.320 be that guy that's just nitpicking and like it has 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.200 to be no the hand isn't not the wrong angle. 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:05.240 That's me by the way it took me what I 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.240 was going to jump off to. I remember when you 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.680 were showing me every step that you took for Death Jaguar, 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.960 which I will take a second to describe what is 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:17.400 Death Jaguar for the people listening, So for for the 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.600 toy that I had put out first of all, in 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:23.160 in the history of of just people making toys, because 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:27.000 another facet of of these artists created designer toys is 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.760 resin toys, which are things that people can make at 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.720 home because they could do a silicone sculpt make something, 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.440 sculpt something out of clay or monster clay, and then 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:39.360 create a sculpt to pour resin into, and then they 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.800 can make their toys that way. Um. A lot of 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.600 collector toys are done that way, but the ones from 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.880 the sixties and seventies were all rotocast and vinyl and 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:52.280 so um that's kind of the thing that everyone collects 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.760 that's vintage and old, and everyone wants a vinyl toy, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:56.920 and when you don't have the means for it, you 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.680 uh often do resident. So I really wanted to do vinyl. 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.800 The startup costs for any toys always ballparked around ten k. 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:09.239 And so at that point, there's so many people that 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:14.000 before Kickstarter and um crowdfunding sources, they would go in, 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.440 they dropped ten k to get a mold. Yeah, they'd 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.720 wait whooever knows how long because Japanese production can take 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.480 three or four plus years because you're waiting in this 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.920 line of very limited factories that can make molds for you, 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.280 and who knows if there's favoritism in that or um 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.520 if things just get mixed up and someone jumps the 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.399 line or however it goes, you could have ten grand 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.359 out and you're waiting four plus five years. We have 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:43.800 a friend that's been waiting three like three plus years 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.919 years just to just to get his molds made, not 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.080 even like a toy back. So I found a manufacturer 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.000 that was pretty quick and did limited numbers, and I 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.119 needed that ten grand. I went to Kickstarter. That's why 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.200 I went there because I wanted vinyl instead of resin 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.600 and so once that is raised, So my toy is 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.440 actually based on the Godzilla character. So there's a Godzilla 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:08.280 robot character called Jet Jaguar that was in God's Deliversus 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:12.200 Megalon and uh, it's it's kind of an uncommon um 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.639 toy to come across. So I did a flip of it, 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.760 like an evil version called death Jaguar, and so that's 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:19.879 what I ended up making through the help of friends 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.600 and fans. Yeah, yeah, you know, guys, I dropped a 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.280 million dollars on it, and that's that's how. So you 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.119 all can thank me. I can definitely thank you for 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.119 open that car. No, but yeah, no, just seeing the 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:35.359 it all come together. It's just you showed me every 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:37.919 step of the way and you had to design it, 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:40.360 and then you kept you would have like samples come 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.720 and you'd send it back and you're like it's almost finalized, 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:47.040 and my dang, this is taking so long and what's funny? 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:53.040 Iss oh man. So so that's so that's on the 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:59.000 short side. Based on Quang's tone there, No, it's laughable 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.520 because with the manufacturing how it is today, which is 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.680 much faster, Chinese factories are able to do a lot 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.679 more um and better than they have in the past. 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.679 So a lot of people are turning that direction. And 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.000 then you know, there's a really great company called Unboxed 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.439 that that produces some of the top stuff right now, 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:19.040 even even Japanese companies are starting to like look to 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:23.520 Unboxed to create things for them, and you know, and 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.200 with the turnaround time so quick, it's insane. It's unbelievable 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.320 to me, somebody who's very familiar with things, like, oh, 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.040 your toys done. It only took a year and a 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:36.640 half because they're always has been this rift and quality 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:39.560 where people are like, they want their vinyl to be Japanese, 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.440 asked me, Japanese made. Um, there's that quality and it's 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.159 still there, but Chinese manufacturing is really catching up to 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.520 it to where you can get a really good quality product. 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:51.200 Like when I when I held mine in my hand, 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:53.399 I was like, this is I don't want any different 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:58.680 like this? That's perfect. We'll get it. Actually, I feel 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.200 like we keep jump into the future because it's so interesting. 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.160 So like this is like one of those like Damon 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.600 Lindelof is directing this episode of the podcast, because we're 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:09.800 jumping in the future and jumping back. But we're gonna 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.320 start off at the origin, Michaelo. First, we gotta hear 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:23.879 a few messages from our sponsors and we're back. I 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.720 hope you like those messages. Who knew was it one? 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:28.879 By us or one from one of the other freaks 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:31.480 over here at how stuff works. I don't know. It's 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.359 randomized too, so everyone has their own flavor. So hopping 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:37.960 the discord and talk about your favorite ads or not. 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.600 I have my favorites. Yeah, okay, I see catch me 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.320 on social media here about those, Yeah, to make sure 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.600 you catch roll com. But yeah, let's kick it off 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:53.840 with Michael law who. You know, this was interesting because 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.600 you know, you and Dan we're kind of talking about 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.280 Michael laugh and you're saying that there's you know, it's 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.080 it's not just as straightforward as it may come off 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.159 from the page of Michael Lou being like it seems 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:09.240 like the godfather of this, right, and I think Kuang 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.399 had mentioned that, um, that was kind of what was 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:13.960 going on on the Chinese scene. But there's also the 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.600 story of Bounty Hunter and how they kick things off 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:19.040 in Japan. Okay, well, I'm gonna jump out of Michael 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:22.399 Loo and then we'll cut into Bounty Hunter when you like, 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.080 let me like, yeah, let's let's see what Mikey is about, 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:31.560 you know, on this, and then we'll jump into so 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.120 a thirty four year old with a ponytail and whispy 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.720 suggestion of a goatee. This another I know who wrote this? 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.080 This is a mad early out the gate roast was 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:47.240 this was this bounty hunter who wrote this? It's so good? 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:51.680 All right? Well describe it again. Yeah, thirty four year 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:54.600 old with a ponytail and a whispy suggestion of a 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.560 goatee Like that's how someone would describe my facial hair. 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.680 And it hurts my allow looks like an artist, and 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:05.480 he seems to think of himself as one. To goodness, 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:11.520 where is this from? It's such a bird? Yeah, I 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:17.560 know it is. This was New York Times, New York 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:23.679 Times with that he Low was one of six children 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:26.440 born to a chicken farmer in Hong Kong's New Territories. 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:29.119