 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here and we are back with Cobra Convergence. We were talking with another Cobra Convergence presenter. This is Ken from Toy Connections. Even though I just introduced Ken from Toy Connections, I will ask Ken to introduce himself and say something about himself and what he does here on YouTube. Well first off, when you abbreviate the HCC 788 and don't go by the full name, I could just selectively read it as helmeted Cobra Commander 788. I think I've just given you an alternate alias and a troll account for myself. If I ever just want to sneak into the comments and I need a lot more free time, but sorry, you wanted me to introduce myself. So on top of that icebreaker, my name is Ken. I'm with the Toy Connections YouTube channel. This will be my second Cobra Convergence. Been a GI Joe fan my entire life. Been a fan of toys my whole life. I've been watching hooded Cobra Commander 788 channel ever since I needed to learn well just just to know stuff about GI Joe want to learn something about pterodrome. When I needed to assemble my flag. I went there so it's cool to be part of Cobra Convergence right now because it feels it's that big community collaborative event that I look forward to because of just the length of how long it takes over the summer it takes basically the entire month of July. As for me, I do a lot of like deep dive and history type of videos for a lot of toy franchises GI Joe and Transformers being one in one a on my channel. Big wrestling fan bit of a mo to guy. Star Wars you name it. I'm probably into it. I have a weekly podcast that I call TKO that Hans Chow named this toy connections online or TKO actually the last time, but he was there it was with Hans. Hans is a good friend. Hans is a good friend and we'll talk about him a little bit more later. Are you listening Hans are you are are you in the comments right now typing and all caps even though this is yeah pre recorded. So, yes. So, well, you said this is your second year. Can you remind everybody what you did last year for Cobra Convergence anybody who hasn't seen that may want to roll back and check it out. Yeah, so one of the patrons of my channel Mark Mark Olson who coincidentally I was just texting minutes before this this this interview started was he had 3D printed a three and three quarter inch gold Cobra throne that I really like it. It's his craftsmanship. So I made a video about it. I made a video just showing Sir Pentor on there Cobra Commander on there, whether or not Destro and Baroness take over whether the Crimson twins take over and I tried putting it in that empty room in the terror drill which I didn't do this last year in the video but I did it recently. And if you take out the base, the throne does fit in that. So that could be Sir Pentor's throne room that Python breaks into if you're trying to reenact the scene but that was that that that throne video is was last year's Cobra Convergence video. So yeah, that was last year you were in another one. Last year because I believe you joined me and a couple others with with Sergeant slaughter slaughterhouse. Yeah, the representing representing the slaughterhouse. You remember about that. I could tell everybody because I was there but I would like for you to recount regale us with with the other Cobra Convergence video that you were in. Yeah, I mean, I've been on Sergeant slaughter slaughterhouse quite a bit so if I recall correctly Steve from Joe Bird was on that one. I hope I'm not mixing two videos together but and we did talk about the GI Joe movie. Yes, from what I recall. And I remember saying that I wasn't a big fan of Cobra law. We did voices like yeah we did. We did a reading and I got to be I got to be Cobra commander that was exciting. Oh that was another one we did on Jay Bartlett's channel because we kicked off. Yeah, with a pre recording on Zazel's Sergeant slaughter slaughterhouse channel than later on so technically I was in three Cobra Convergence videos last year. You were quite the veteran. That was to make up for CC five and CC four. All right, so yeah, you're, you're, you're now a full veteran. It will will let you know what the secret handshake is now. I'll see you later and say by the bell. You have one coming up you will you have one you should it should be available now as people see this for Cobra Convergence seven in 2023. And can you tell us a little bit about about what you've got presenting for us this year. The idea of GI Joe toy line in the year of 1983 was my choice this year for CC seven video. And I like the idea of covering the key toy lines that affected my life in a year by year basis you see some channels have done it. Michael Mercy's done it on on his channel as well. I've got, for example, when I look at the history of LJ and WWF wrestling superstar there's six years of that franchise I've covered four out of the six years, not necessarily in chronological order. I did a history of GI Joe 1982 last year with Chad, who I believe is participating this year on this year CC, and we did that collaboration together. And when I did GI Joe history 1983 I want to do it a lot sooner because there's 12 years worth of GI Joe so it's like, it's hard to cover all the years if what do you call it. If you don't do, I mean it might take me 20 years at this point to cover them is just if I did one in 2022 one in 2023, how am I going to get the whole series done, but shows like the toys that made us they do a great job of covering like a 45 minute episode to give a franchise review. I've watched that episode like 10 times, but I'd love to give like a deep dive recount of each year. Some years are better than others. 83 is one of the more standout stellar years. I've elected them this time to collaborate with Hans Chow. He's got a great voice over, not voice acting literal voice over from a script and everything. He's very good to collaborate with if he sent his lines, not only did they send them very quickly but like, he sent multiple takes with different inflections on each one and typical Hans detail oriented fashion and the couple people I have shown it to just to get just to get a feel for what they think they're like, he's good, bring him back and do more and by the way can do more videos like that so Yeah, and I know if anybody watches it I know it doesn't bug you but like, because at the time in development I wasn't sure if it was going to be my CC seven video even if I'd already been invited to CC seven. So I didn't shout out Cobra convergent in the video, but I will shout it out in the description and in the title but I also thought it was a good way to include Hans and Cobra convergent so I said, let's just let's just run with it let's just roll with it because we need to have Hans and as much as we can get him in I think there we go. I'm all for that. Yes. So 83. Now obviously you're going to share your thoughts on 1983 in your video, and we want everybody to go check that out. But just like an overview of fly by. What are some high level thoughts that you have about it. And then people can go check out your, your video for more information. Well, I mean, a couple months before I actually filmed the video was when I finally got the 83 headquarters. So put it that way like getting that covered in the video was something that I was like okay if I'm going to do this video. I don't want the raw footage of the 83 headquarters right because it's the first like plastic base headquarters. I know the missile command headquarters was made in in 82 but it's a cardboard base rather than a plastic base. Excuse me. Well, while I don't have every vehicle, you know Carson from 3D Joe's is great for sourcing information. You just credit the site. And but I the headquarters was important enough to me that I wanted to get that so as for an overview of the rest of 83, it did a lot to expand the cast you know the adding of the swivel arm just made for better playability as a kid which you all know. Right. You see some of the, some of them right here. Right. In fact, there's flight there's even flight suit scarlet from the sky striker which I do show my has lab sky striker and a couple of clips just because I don't have the original sky striker. But yeah, as as for highlights, I mean it's, what can I say like the first year introduces Gio to the world 83 is to me where is the launch off point, you know, it's a it's a big introduction in 82 and then a big launching take off point in fact, people ask me. You know where transformers and you've seen my channel Brian you know that's a hard choice for me that's like mom or dad. Right. Yeah, you know, I've only got one kid but that's like pick your favorite kid type of thing right and for me as a vintage toy line. I actually think Gio is the better line, vintage line. 82 you mentioned 82 that there were a lot of cost cutting measures and 82 lots of reused parts. It obviously was a huge success but 83 they, they actually introduced a lot that they just couldn't in 1982. You mentioned the full alarm but like more characters more interesting characters, more, you know, variety. That really was, you know, kind of when it sort of came into its own. 82. Yeah, that was the beginning, but it was really throttled back you know just lots of even reused heads like you had Joe's to look exactly like other Joe's. But yeah, 83, 83. They really, they really took off they really hit their stride and the thing about about toys from back then is, you know, if they reused heads, they reuse torso, we didn't mind. Right. Like today, yeah, we see the, you know, whether it's classified or Marvel Legends they'll reuse parts and then they'll put webgear over top of it to make it look a little different different pain apps. But like with Joe's, like one figure look exactly like the other sometimes and they're facing everything. You know, but that was the innocence of toys at the time. You did it just enough to remind you that you were a kid. You weren't that detail oriented. Right. In fact, I released a video recently called the Renaissance era of toys which I consider as today's era and I consider that 80s era as the golden age, because to me a golden age, you're already at the summit. You just want to be there in perpetuity. Renaissance, you're striving for more. And in this artisan era that we live in, I feel it's a Renaissance, but the 80s with 83 arguably, well, I think 85, 86, 87 was more of a peak, but a lot of people think 83 was just as good if not better. To me, that's like the height of that golden period. Right. Because by 8990, Transformers and GI Joe are both going downhill, He-Man's out of the picture, they're paving way for Ninja Turtles. You know, GI Joe's back with the Deak series, Sunbow's gone, but it's not as good a series as we all, you know, maybe some people like it more, but I don't know many people who like it more. So anyway, sorry. But I mean, that 83, though, whether you consider it to be like the pinnacle or the beginning of the ups, it's still like a steep curve. You know, that's, that is when, that's about when GI Joe started to take over the world. The animated series comic book was, had been going for a year by that point. I did want to ask you something you touched on, Transformers, but I wanted to see if you would talk to us about your other toy interests, because I know you have some. So what are some other toy lines that you are passionate about? Well, I've talked about Transformers, GI Joe wrestling and a little bit of Motu, but Star Wars mask, a little bit of Ninja Turtles, what else is around here. I have a couple of visionaries, have a few thundercats, but one thing I'm really into right now, I move my head. What do you see behind me that you wouldn't normally see in those real American hero collections? It looks like a 12 inch. It's the 12 inch action soldier with the combat attack set. And some of the field equipment set pieces are there as well but it's a, it is, it's also got the original fatigue cap not just the combat hat or combat helmet. So it's, it's a complete action soldier with a complete combat attack set and pieces from the field equipment set like that's. Okay, I'll tell you I'm going with this before I go all fan boy is that's where GI Joe started. It's not the Joe's I grew up with. In fact, I don't even think it's a Joe you grew up with I think you're a few years older than me, he didn't grow up with those Josie. Yeah, yeah, that was before my era. It was yeah, it was, it was before you so, but I love studying toy history. And I like, I respect where we came from, right. I'm going to try to point the camera way up there and this answers your question to some degree but it also puts a spin on on your question you see the optimist there. Yeah, that's not optimist. That's the diaclone. You remember the diaclone line of transformers. Yeah, that's the diaclone battle convoy that came before optimists. There's a textbook case there. If you remember Zora and screech from Masters of the Universe. I've got the big Jim Eagle, not complete just the bird. Right. Yeah, but I like to study the time before the golden age. Right, before the big properties got big before the deregulation of television standards. That's kind of what I'm into right now. Right, like I've got a 66 green beret upstairs. Right. That's not because reminds me of Falcon, even though Falcon came after but I'm Canadian I'm up here I'm not a military person Falcon was my introduction to the green beret. So the 66 green beret was like my predecessor right this action soldier. I think in theory Joe Colton was one of the action soldiers. Right, yeah. Yeah, may not be that action. But yeah, connect those two. I think Con he was one of the action soldiers who eventually became a green beret so he could be the green beret. Right. I know he looks like the adventure team commander but the adventure team commander has a different name so anyway we're getting really deep deep diving here hope you don't mind the, the, you know the 15 layers layers deep of nerdyness on on this. But like, I was looking at the 12 inch Joe in the dress marine outfit which is one of the less desirable sets. And a fraction of the price of that, and a fraction of the price of the green beret but why do I like it. 87 gung ho. Absolutely. Right. You know, so I have this like backwards facing approach, as opposed to the forward facing approach of, you know, like, you time stamp your, the peak of your, of your collecting or your, of your memory says your childhood. And most people take that and look forward. I look forward forward forward. Now I want to look back and see where we came from. Now where we started. Right. There's a lot. There's a deep gold mine of history that can be uncovered there. I mean you can go back as far as you know the the 50s, the 40s, the 30s. I had a phase where I was collecting the promotional toys that were in like Dick Tracy radio shows in the 1930s. Products made for kids have been around for a while for a long time as long as there has been an entertainment medium. There has been an entrance entertainment tied to it. So that's fascinating. Now I know that we're we're cobra centric here. Yeah, but there was those early Joe's they didn't necessarily have a bad guy. Did they they had like the soldiers of the world. Yeah, yeah, exactly the the enemy bad guys but yeah, you could because they were from other nations you could make shift them into the villains. But G I Joe was your own head cannon back then, right I tried talking to fans from that era and it's always the same thing it's like those are the real G I Joe's and I'm like, you don't have Cobra. I got to argue like we came first we could stomp on your Joe's and looking at them yeah that that giant action action soldier can stomp on can stomp but to me G I Joe will always be a real American hero that predecessor I look at the same way as I look at the diaclone and micro change toy lines of of transformers like even the Macross Valkyrie that I have which gas is a big fan of that toys like oh my God you got a Macross Valkyrie in the box and I'm like yeah but to me that's that's the pre jet fire I've watched the Mac that one of the old Macross movies I forget the name of it shows how big a fan I am, but I get that because it's the pre jet fire, get the big Jim stuff like I still want a big Jim Tiger as the pre battle cat, but it's expensive, and I haven't come across one yet, but like I just love the history like so yes what else am I into other than the toy lines I'm into, I'm into like the early history era of action figure specifically but you're right there's toys from the 40s 50s 60s that point this action figures or function like action figures but they exist. They kind of filled the same role though in in I guess marketing to kids and tying, giving kids something that tied into something to like their favorite character or something like that. So, where where in your collecting sphere does Star Wars fit in because Star Wars has a niche in that in that history as well. Yeah, so I got into Star Wars a bit later than other people. I sometimes blame the year I was born but technically I was born before return of the Jedi so you know and I just didn't get a chance to grow up with Star Wars with a circle that I was in like by the time I was like a functioning human being in terms of you know being able to just understand stuff it was already like 1986 way past the Star Wars craze I'd hear about it. My introduction to Star Wars was the Muppet babies spoof on it. Right, that's where I learned most of my Star Wars initially until I was about that was a good one though that was a good one though until I was about 13 and somebody's like, we're watching this episode for a new hope right now and I've always called it episode for a new hope but sometimes I get a comment in my videos and live streams that we know that you're not a Gen X or because you call this a new hope you don't just call it Star Wars, Mr Millennial, that's what I get sometimes. So, yeah. Yeah, it is true. It wasn't technically called that at the when it was first introduced that's that's true. That's true but it hasn't been called that for a long time. Well, Transformers wasn't G wasn't G one for the longest time either. Yeah, right. That guy wasn't Joe Colton until until the 1990s so they right, right. Rep cons help. Yeah, all about it sometimes helps you helps you make sure you're on the same page and talking about the same thing. So, yeah, Cobra Convergence coming up. We've talked about your interest we've talked about what you've, what you've got coming up for Cobra Convergence now I know we're recording this fairly well in advance but do you have anything coming up on your channel anything you're talking about or working on in the future that you'd like to kind of drop a hint about to give people a little teaser or maybe an idea of why they should check you out. Yeah, I mean, I just did that Renaissance era of toys video at the time of this recording work technically in the spring even though this will air in the summertime. By the time this comes out I will have aired a history of the Transformers 1986 movie, which I was literally just working on tonight in the hours before this interview. And by the time this really, this is released, I will most likely have dropped my evolution of toys, the green beret video where I talk a little bit about the history of the green beret in the military, just through research and also other people's videos Wikipedia I don't I don't have direct. I don't have a direct line to military service but because I got the 66 green beret I wanted to look at the evolution in the toy line through the years, which is, you know, Lieutenant falcon and then the controversial head sculpt the Joe Colton figure that features basically the action soldier fatigues with the green beret hat which I found out in a hooded Cobra Commander 788 video. That was the case that he was the early release of the green beret with the action soldier fatigues and the green beret hats, and also just talking about just just basically showing all my green beret figures all my renditions the falcon. So guys, if you're if you're watching I forgot to mention Lancer so I'll mention him now Lancer in the call sign longboat line is is a green beret so this is my, this is my addendum mentioned to that. But yeah, that's a video that Gio fans will probably like that's why I'm taking a little extra time to talk about it because I know that Cobra convergence is Gio centric so yeah. I talked about this being kind of the Renaissance of toys and action figures. And you mentioned call sign longbow. We are in kind of an era where there are a lot of independent action figure lines coming out. Is that kind of in the Renaissance that you're referring to, because that is really happening now with some really cool people making some really cool things. Okay, if you if you get a chance to watch it because it just launched on my channel literally hours before like that was the most recent published video on my channel which is literally just hours ago. If you get a chance to watch it I will I exactly talk about that I mentioned that the fan has become the creator so for example, pixel Dan is now making books. Carson the taxes from the 3d Joseph making books and then operation recall I talked about the Renaissance of military figures whether it's six inch whether it's three and three quarter inch I talked about how you know we started a bit of a Renaissance in the early 2000s with Marvel legends because because that scale became really popular later on and that's where it started, but the four horsemen studios later on got their own original IP. And then you got animal warriors with the kingdom you got savage crucible so basically the Renaissance, boom, like the peak of the Renaissance is when the fan becomes the creator, you're in the artisan space now. You strive for more you strive for better. You're never happy. You'll just, well you're happy but you're never you know you don't you don't look at your toys with blissful ignorance anymore. Right, you're always striving for better. So, yeah, and I think we're in an era where you can do better I mean you're trading. Lower production runs and maybe a slightly higher cost per figure for the kind of figures that we could never have gotten. Look, over here the innocence of toys in the past is gone it's all about the detail. Now, right, detail innocence right here, right golden age Renaissance like that's just, it's right around me. Right though someone did ask me a loaded question today does that mean there was a dark ages in between and I'm like, I do think there was but it wasn't dark ages isn't a bad thing. Right it's dark ages like the middle ages kind of kind of thing which I think is that 90s era after our 80s and early 90s toys died off and before the launch of Marvel Legends. I think that was kind of that middle age. And the whole reason that started is because I said we were in a golden age now about a year ago and both Adam from Go Figure and Zazel from Slaughterhouse said no, no you're it's your golden age but it's not everybody else's and I'm like let me let me go through this with a fine tooth comb and I came back I came back with Renaissance. That's, I think that's fair. And nobody will hold you to it. It's, you know, you don't have to strain the metaphor beyond, you know, reason but I think that it makes sense as as you applied it here that dark ages that you mentioned or the medieval period. Obviously there, there are good toys made in every era, but there was that that time when there was a shift to electronics that was really becoming a thing. And then, but it was before we started seeing kind of like you said the resurgence of larger scale figures, more detailed figures. Maybe I'll make a video on it someday but like I think that that middle age period is kind of like when we got sergeant savage GI Joe extreme. You know, there's a few good things that came out of it like Beast Wars came out of it but that's that's from a character and continuity perspective I think the Beast Wars figures look really dated by today standards with the, you know, which is with just their aesthetic. Right, but that's around the time spawn came out because spawn was an outlier at that time we didn't really know what we're looking at when we saw spawn. Right, that's why I think it was created in the middle ages but it's responsible for the Renaissance is kind of how I look at it. Yeah, I remember spawn spawn was like the McFarland toys that was a little bit of a revolution at the time because it still it did straddle that era, when we were still getting, you know, your more standard action figures and that was just something totally different. Right, like even like the playmate Star Trek stuff right like they're not they're affordable because as much as everybody like Star Trek, those aren't the most popular collectible type of figures. Right, and I've been asked as well by people. Hopefully we're not too far off topic here but like, if I consider the golden age from like the start of Star Wars to like the end of GI Joe the reason for that is because Star Wars revolutionized things. GI Joe ended in 94 transformers ended a couple years earlier though generation two was ramping down power Rangers was kind of getting going so there was a change there. He man was long gone even new adventures that he man was long gone but I got asked the question what about that inception of GI Joe from 64 to 78 where you've got me goes world greatest greatest superheroes you've got Hot Wheels is kind of its own thing but you've got Fisher price adventure people and I'm like, here's the thing that was before the deregulation of children's television. So to me, I don't know what I would call that but I consider it something like a Genesis period that that makes sense. You know, Genesis, golden age, middle age Renaissance am I being too metaphorical here, but to me it makes sense. I mean it was where things got started I'm literally things got started there. That's why Genesis. Maybe it's too physical some trends that that carried on to other action figures, like me go carry that forward smaller scale, but they wanted the articulation, they wanted the costumes. So, yeah, this that was the Genesis of what eventually evolved into right into the golden age that that we experienced post Star Wars. Yeah, I can dig it, I can, I can get behind that. It's really really metaphorical and it's like there's nothing official like I can't authorize the these terms but when I talk to someone in a similar mindset they're like yeah that makes sense, you know, right. You know, there are these things like this these these metaphors are useful just for conceptualizing things. So, you know, you don't want to strain the metaphor too much but for just for the purpose of conceptualizing things I think that's not a not a bad idea. There you go and anything before that arrow is kind of like the prehistory period. Yeah, yeah, like like those, the Dick Tracy stuff that I was talking about. Yeah, some of this, some of the string puppet figures because I think there was there's some string puppets Superman type of figures. As well. Yeah. I mean it's interesting because there there is an evolution, but it's not just like a steady curve. There are moments where with what did you call it punctuated equal equilibrium where there's an event like Star Wars, or like GI Joe in 1964 that kind of shifts the entire industry. Yeah, big time like you get to the point where like you get to the 80s you get these really great franchises like Brave Star visionaries cops that sort of take off don't really take off. You know, mask takes off to a mediocre level and it kind of just, you know, like it looks like it's going to get up there and then just, you know what I mean. You know, the Turians, you name it, there's so much out there, right because you were buried under the big three and Star Wars, and when the big three started to fizzle out you got turtles. And then in there you've got this wild card called real ghostbusters, you know what I mean, like, that's why it was so blissful at the time. It was blissful. Even though, like you said, they were kind of under the, the weight of the big three for a kid, then and a collector now. The toy companies were willing to take a chance on something like mask or or sectars or whatever and these things are out there. They're not as big as the big ones but they're still out there and we still have them so that's that's right so yeah, there you go. Well, we're about, we're about at the end of our time and I want to wrap up I want to thank you for being here. Do you have any parting words for the folks who are watching. I want to make sure everybody knows who you are and knows where to find you. And hopefully I didn't go too far off topic here because you'd like me to talk GI Joe you end up in Transformers you want me to talk Transformers you end up in wrestling. Anything we want to talk about so you can just find me on toy connections here toy connections one word on Instagram. I'm also on Twitter. I'm on Facebook. So, yeah, just hopefully you enjoy people enjoy my stuff. I'm going to keep cranking it out. And yeah, can I just keep participating as part of the community, and always just want to be one of the boys, you know, well, thank you for being in and I look forward to seeing what to do in the future. Thanks for having me. All right, thanks. And good night everyone and we'll see you again soon. Cobra.