 Hey, what's going on guys? Patriot Prime here once again with another episode of The Sit Rep. And my guest for this episode is Rudy Zizou from Rudy Zizou's Science Experience and Figure Force. Rudy, how are you now? I'm very good. I don't think I've ever heard somebody say Figure Force with so much conviction. I love it. Yeah, yeah. I try to do everything with conviction. Figure Force. So first off, tell my viewers a little bit about yourself. So I'm Rudy. I have a show called Rudy Zizou's Science Fantasy Experience and as Jason said, I won fifth of Figure Force, a YouTube collective. I've been toy collecting since I guess maybe like five years old. First conscious memories are from then and I've dipped in and out of toy collecting for the years and years, but in the last two, three years I've gone full tilt, I've gone all in. Excellent. Well, how The Sit Rep works is I've got 10 questions for you. I'm going to ask you 10 questions regarding Transformers and then 10 questions regarding you as a YouTuber. So if you're ready, we'll start off. Question number one is what is the appeal of Transformers for you? The appeal to me, the main one, I guess, is the engineering. If I think back to why I enjoy Transformers as a child as well as an adult collector, it's how they work, especially the diaclone and when you look at extensively third party figures the way that the engineering on there, on they work. And a big thing about it is why I like Transformers is their nostalgia. It's what I grew up with. I was born in 78 so I turned 40 last year and my real Gen X, I love arcade machines, BMXs. If you watch Stranger Things, that's the show that I would have wanted my life to be. Oh, you're just five years behind me, I was born in 73. All right, well, number two, sir, so this is going to be right on with you judging by your age, aside from G1, which is always the right answer. What is your favorite Transformers fiction? Whether it be movies, comic books, television shows, what's your favorite? I really like the Japanese continuity. I really like Super Godmaster Force and Victory. Technically it's G1, you know, it was the same time but I didn't see it until 2008, 2009. I didn't really know that that existed. And Super Godmaster Force, I actually like it more now than, say, the first two seasons of Transformers. That's my favorite. Obviously G1 is the go-to and you do get that with Super Godmaster Force. But yeah, there's incredible characters in Japanese continuity and a really different telling and a slightly different anime style. It's that's the kind of fiction that I enjoy now. I'm going to have to break down and just get those. I'm so well-versed in American G1, Marvel Comics. Once it starts going Japanese, I'm done. Same with UK Comics. I'm so mad that IDW canceled their, what do you call them, reprints of the UK series. I think I was five issues in and they stopped. And right before it got good, I know Target 2006 was the next series. Which is awesome is that's one of the best storylines ever. No, without a doubt. I read that in, I think Titan books had these huge books that had reprints of them. But I sold those in anticipation of getting these. So I screwed myself. Okay, number three. Do you have a favorite transformer figure or grail? One that you would never let go of. Say you have to sell your entire collection, what's not going away? Does it have to be a transformer? Can it be a transforming toy? Yeah, I'll let that slide. Yeah, let that slide. I'm going to say. It's my show. I control the rules. I guess I could choose a transformer, but I think it has to be, he's right here because I looked at him today, it is hair fiend, I don't know if guys are going to, I can't let it go. I don't think I can ever let it go. Do you want another? No. So yeah, it's the robots, it's before it became challenge of the go-bots and it's just, it means a hell of a lot to me personally and I, if I had to sell the whole lot, this would be staying forever. If you guys want to check out the review and my nostalgic look back at it, it's a very heartwarming, heartfelt look at a toy and a relationship with a brother. It's, it would never leave the collection ever. I will link that right here. I'll put a little card when this video comes up. We're at 6.36, I'll mark that. All right, where we are now? Number four, what figure is your white whale? This is your most wanted transformers toy. If you found this, you could stop collecting. G1, Super Godmaster Force, Minerva. Trying to think, oh okay, I'm number one. It's one of the headmaster juniors, it was recoloured into, is it Nightbeat? Ah, that's it. But yeah, I was like, it's, that's a huge holy grail. Super rare, it's a cool looking Porsche turning into an ambulance rescue vehicle. I think that'd be the one for me and I've got a soft spot for the train bots for sure, definitely Raiden. So yeah, that's, that's a bit of a grail for me. I guess, you know, a G1 hoist, as boring as it may be, I just, I desperately wanted one as a kid and I just, it was never, it was never there, it was never in the shops. And you can pick, I'm a dime a dozen, as you Americans say. I think hoist, when he was reissued in the commemorative series, that was the one you could always find dirt cheap. Nobody wanted that one. Nobody wanted? Yeah. Shelf warmer. And then obviously, nowhere to be seen over here. There's something about green and day glow orange that works for me. That's a failed military collar at one point, I believe. All right, buddy, last transformer, came top, last transformer question. What is your favourite transformer character? Any fiction? Any media? All right, Rekar. I absolutely love Rekar, Rekar and Nancy, when he gets himself a girlfriend. So you were G1, Rekar, not him? Yeah. Nice. I just love the way he talks, you know, he was voiced by Eric Idle, you know, Monty Python's a big, a big comedy show here in the UK, and I just, he brought that character to life so much. And you know, he talks TV, it's a very unique IP, I guess, for transformers. How often do you hear somebody talk like Bones from Star Trek in a Transformers cartoon? Never. I just think he's amazing. In terms of the toy, the way he's not had much of a reissue. So he's in Reveal the Shield and United where they could ride each other. The G1 toy is a big behemoth of a toy, and then you've got Keith's Fantasy Club, third party figure, which is the most screen accurate version I've ever seen of him. He's just such a joy to watch on screen and to, you know, to have in the collection. And he's got a kick-ass beard and mustache. You don't have many transformers with that. Yeah. That's one of the stuff she's just, it's a thing. That's cool. I wasn't expecting that answer. That's awesome. That is awesome. All right now, we are going to head into our YouTube questions. Number six, what possessed you, a grown-ass man, to do toy reviews on YouTube? So, I'm a relatively, I got a couple. I've got maybe like three. One is funny, one serious, and one is, it might be a little bit tough for people to hear, but if I do the funny one first, last year I got tickets to go to TF Nation, the convention, and nobody was making TFN videos, so I thought, do you know what, I'm going to be brave and I'm going to start a YouTube channel, and I'm going to talk about going to the Transformers Convention in the hope that other people will do them, because I want to watch other people's videos, so I was like, if I do it, more people will do it. It didn't really work out. I didn't get like, I didn't see anybody doing it for like another six weeks. So that was one reason. The other reason was, the other, the medium one, before I get into the real nitty-gritty of it, I'd wanted to start a channel a couple of years ago, but I just didn't have the confidence. I didn't think I'd be able to talk or freestyle in front of a camera, even though you can cut and edit and you can stop whenever you want. I just didn't think I could do it, and I definitely didn't have a big enough collection. I think I would have got to about 10 videos and be like, oh, I'm all out of toys. What can I do now? So I waited a few years, built up my confidence. I got married and had to talk in front of 120 guests. I had to talk about in lectures in front of 180 students. So it built up my competence in speaking, and I thought, you know what? I can do this. I'm going to get inspired by others, and I'm going to become a YouTuber. And the final one, this is the one that's a little bit more tougher, is I've been trying to, my wife and I've been trying to have a baby for five years, and it's been incredibly tough. There has been miscarriages and our first daughter didn't make it and failed IVF bits and pieces. So I thought if I started a YouTube channel, I could worry about that, as opposed to what else was kind of going on in my life when I could put all my expelled energy that I'm worrying about into worrying about a channel as opposed to if and when I will have a child. So yeah, that one's a little bit more important in terms of YouTube, but I wish you the best with that. My wife and I was in the same boat, and we just finally totally gave up. So here on our 40th birthday is right after my 40th birthday is when we found out she was pregnant. So I wish you the best, buddy. I really hope it works for you. Yeah, it will. Excellent, excellent. That's all I'll say. I can probably tell you in three weeks if it's going well. Good deal, good deal. All right, well, you kind of answered this one already, but number seven is what keeps inspiring you to get in front of the camera? I know you've teamed up with some buddies to create the figure force. That's going to stick. That's going to be the way we have to do it now. I'll be your voice over. I'll be your introduction. That'd be awesome because the world comes the figure force. Well, you're hired. Absolutely. I always, when I introduce my figure force videos, I always do the little spiel. And it's based off the GI Joe cartoon. But yeah, I didn't really want to do the voice over guy. I just thought, if I do it once, I'll have to do it every video. But yeah, that's one of my inspirations, just to keep making figure force videos. And I make videos for myself to keep myself inspired. I want to look back in 10 years and say, I had to go at this. But there's new up and coming people that inspire me. It's good to see that there's still fresh new content and YouTubers having a go. And then we're getting older YouTubers from 10 years ago wanting to come back and swear all the time. Did you know who I think? I think he's talking about you. Rock the book on. Yeah, snack on. Enjoy your spicy onion crisps. You know, he's rolling in the floor right now. Yeah, like this. I think Graham's going to, I was talking to Graham the other day and he's like, I'm probably going to have to send him a box every month now. I was like, yeah, yeah, you are. I want Graham on here so bad. We kind of talk back and forth, but it's the same situation. You and I, of course, he's not on Facebook. So I can't hook up with him as fast as I can, some of you other guys. But he was the guy I went to for all my G1 reviews. And back in his early days, he cracked me up so much because he would grab a figure and say, yeah, it's all right. It's a bit shit, but it's all right. And I would just roll. I loved it. It's rubbish, but I love it. It's totally shit, but I like it. What the hell were we talking about? Yeah, I think back when I used one of my biggest inspirations to start the channel was seeing Graham. And I didn't know how to use YouTube correctly. If I think back to 2009, 2010, I didn't log in properly. All I ever did was type in what I wanted. I didn't realize you could subscribe. I just had to try and remember reviewer's names and do it that way. I just felt like an idiot in 2013 when I realized how to work it. Oh, well, we're old. All right, let's go on to number eight. There are thousands of toy reviewers on YouTube. What makes you different from the rest? I like to delve deep into nostalgia and emotion. I like to really tour back through my memories of 1986 and 87, and I like to give that real personal touch. And I basically just, I think that's what I want to see. As you said, there is 100 of reviewers out there already. You won't see me transform a toy because I can't. I always struggle on screens. I'll leave that to the likes of you or yourself or Ben's Collectibles because they're the go-to people for seeing transformation. But I like to bring that real nostalgia and the real personal connection and experience that I had with the toy because they really have given me 30, 35 years of enjoyment. That's why when I do my episodes childhood toys, that's why I went down to the floor. That's why I went on the plush rug because it makes me feel like I'm doing what I did when I was six, seven years old. Yeah, that's great. I've watched a few of those. I really like how you really bring in the whole history of the toy and how it affected you. So that's why a lot of people who don't understand how toy collectors are, they think it's a joke. All these grown-ass men are buying toys for kids. I was like, no, there's more meaning to that, especially when you're collecting the vintage stuff, almost at least half of those vintage toys because I didn't have a lot as a kid, but the ones that I have as a kid, I can tell you each story behind that particular figure. I think my memory is good enough that I can sometimes remember the day, whether it was a Saturday afternoon going to the local toy shop. I can remember key dates of when I got these Pacific toys. That's what I wanna bring to YouTube. Good, that's why it needs some heart because you can definitely tell the people that are paid to do it and they do it because of the money. You do it for fun, you do it for the nostalgia. I do it as a way to appreciate what I have back there. So yeah, that's kinda why I like watching the newer guys. I'm always interested in picking up toys that remind me of a certain point in time as well. You know, I wanted to get a toy to get a representation of a time in my life or of a film I've seen, not necessarily because it's a toy, maybe because it reminds me of that day I went to the cinema or I went on a school trip. Okay, ah, here's a good one. Number nine, what's your thoughts on the Transformers social community, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and do you have any special shout outs? I can't even talk. It's the social networking side is really, really good. You're gonna get your trolls. I think we always get the same in some ways from the sit rep, the same answer. There's always gonna be those kind of the bad guys and girls that just wanna either troll you or in some ways make fun of you or overcorrect your grammar or call you out if Barricade isn't exactly from a MicroMaster but he's there if you know what I mean. And then there's some great Facebook groups is it the Toy Isle that we're part of? The Action Figure Isle. Our group, the Action Figure Isle, all 150 of us, but what I see in that one is great and it's good that a few weeks ago I was saying, yeah, it's really getting traction. It's got like 60 people and then suddenly we're at 150 in that group. Yeah, I'm gonna have to pause Rudy real quick. I've never promoted this yet but I do help run a Facebook group for toy collectors called the Action Figure Isle. It's a brand new group. If you wanna come on in, I'd love to have it just mentioned in the little questions Patriot Prime sent you that you mentioned it or you saw it in this video and join us, we have a blast. I've got a lot of good people on there. So there's my plug. Nice. And then shout out. So, you know, I'd be foolish if I didn't shout out Figure Force and obviously all the members, most no borders dude, Junkie Dave and Zorrider, all of us review toys and all those review transformers. And then I've got a little shout out for a guy I've just been introduced called Mr. Allen in the World of Toys. And he's, I think he's been doing it a few years but he mostly does action figures but he tells a little story and acts out a little play at the end of his videos and I find thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah, it's fun. I love doing that every now and then too but it has to hit me like my Naga hat. That, I worked so, that hit me out of the blue. I said, I've got to do a Sarah McLaughlin style sad thing about this stupid Facebook message I got. So I had a blast doing that one. All right, last question my friend. Do you have any channel goals for yourself? Where can our viewers find you? This is your time to plug you. So my channel is called Rudy's Asus Science Fantasy Experience and then obviously Figure Force. I am on Instagram, I don't always post and we do have a Figure Force Instagram page which they're kind of like growing but you get to see bits and pieces of my life as well as what I do with YouTube. I'm on Facebook, that's about it really just I'm not the biggest poster when it comes to Facebook. I just do it here and here and there. I'm always playing with toys or dusting toys. And you're always watching YouTube videos. I can always cancel a comment from you. Yeah, I'm either watching YouTube or making YouTube or I'm writing PSAs for the end of my videos. Well, just to let you know and my viewers know that I will link a couple of Rudy's videos at the end of this video and a link to his channel in the description so you guys can go check him out. He's got some really cool stuff. Thanks. You're welcome man, that's what I want to do. I want to get people out. I want to talk to people. I think this is the first time you and I have talked to face to face other than Facebook comments. Oh yeah, it seems to have been comments or a quick chat through messenger here and there. But it's nice to see face to face. That is great, especially in the fact you're from the UK, I'm here in West Virginia and today it was just perfect. He had the day off, I had the day off. He shoots me a message that he just saw my Soundwave video and I'm like, what are you doing right now? Let's do a secret. I was literally making gravy. And I was like, give me 15 minutes. And I was like, I need to put a t-shirt on. Just to let you know, gravy is West Virginia champagne. I was not making champagne for my wife. She's not allowed up all at the moment, if that's a hint to anybody. I was making proper gravy. Gravy granules. Yeah, your gravy's probably a little different in my gravy. Yeah, a little bit. Well, Rudy, it was an absolute pleasure getting to talk to you. I'm glad you came on. Oh, you're so enjoyable. I've wanted to do it for weeks. Good deal, good deal. So as I said, you know, I was like, if you don't get anyone, I'll be your backup. And everybody notices shirt, right? I love that stand-bush shirt. Flex that chest out. Let's see it. Let's see it. Awesome shirt. That is too cool. That is too cool. Well, guys, I- Well, if you look at the Transformers Relay Show, you've got to wear something to transform it. Damn straight. Patriot Prime. All right. Well, like I said, I appreciate you stopping by. And guys, I appreciate you watching. If you like what you see, don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe. I try to put out a new sit rep every Friday, if possible, if I can line up my guests. And so far, it's been no problem whatsoever. Once again, we want to thank Rudy from Rudy Zizzo's Science Experience and Figure Force for stopping by. And guys, I'll check. Guys, I'll see you next time. This is Patriot Prime, signing out. Ho-wah! Hey, I really appreciate you guys stopping by my channel. Don't forget to like and don't forget to subscribe. Also, check out some of my other videos that I've done on Generation One Transformers, Modern Era Transformers, and Toy Hacks Reprolabel 6. Once again, this is Patriot Prime. Ho-wah!