He Never Stopped Collecting

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Today, I'm taking you inside a collection I've been dying to see for years. This is a nominee for one of the coolest things I've seen in a basement so far. Grails everywhere. This is toy history right here. And what just might be the world's largest Mr. T collection. I pity the fool has to dust this room. And before I leave, I'm taking a piece of it home. I'm afraid to even ask. I'll never say never. Okay, I am here with Ben. And he allegedly likes retro. Is that maybe an understatement? [00:00:33] Ben: Yeah. I think it'll be abundantly clear how much I like it. Shall we? Let's take a look. Lead the way. Yeah. Dear God. [00:00:52] Speaker 1: Ben, the gremlin standee. Yep. Absolutely a thing of beauty. Would you steal this out of a movie theater? My dad found it at a yard sale a few years ago. A few years ago. Yeah. We're here. We are here. We are here. You're here. Let's do this. All right. So this Star Fox statue. Yeah. That is absolutely incredible. And I just kicked something on the floor that's even cooler potentially. Oh my God. This Tetris backpack. Yeah. This is a nominee for one of the coolest things I've seen in a basement so far. In fact, I think this tour is over. See you later. Yeah. This Star Fox statue right here. Where did you find that? Well, my mom found that one. I like your parents already. [00:01:27] Ben: Yeah. No, my mom found it at a yard sale in 2013. And my mom's like, should I buy this for $50? And I'm like, ah, like, yes, please. It was Slippy trying to get all this. [00:01:39] Speaker 3: Are you okay? [00:01:40] Ben: I know it's worth more than $50, but it's the fact that my mom found it for me. Like, once I let it go, that story goes away. We joke because my parents took me to my first flea market when I was a month old. They always encouraged me to collect the things that I liked growing up. [00:01:59] Speaker 1: So you have been collecting for your entire life. Yeah. Fair enough to say. Yeah. [00:02:02] Speaker 3: Here's a pretender piece. Here's a pretender. And here's a pretender vehicle. And this is Power Master Optimus Pond. What other things do you like? Diner Riders. G.I. Joe. [00:02:19] Speaker 1: This is, for me, like, this is right in my wheelhouse of things. Yeah, now I figure this would be... Yeah. The first thing that my eyes go right to is this Mario Brothers... It's a digital clock. Does this work? [00:02:32] Ben: I don't know. I'll assume no. Who cares? Another mom find. Another mom find. She has a booth in the antique mall, and that was a birthday gift or a Christmas gift. [00:02:45] Speaker 1: Can I give your mom my cell phone number? And by the way, the snooze is the mushroom. [00:02:49] Ben: Look at that. [00:02:50] Speaker ?: Yeah. [00:02:51] Ben: Zeon also made a Street Fighter clock with Ryu punching through a brick wall. [00:02:56] Speaker 1: They made a lot of great knockoff and bootleg Street Fighter merchandise. What are those little figures? Those look like drugstore. Yeah. Those I haven't seen. Yeah. [00:03:06] Ben: What? Mini Fighters. These, yeah, I've not seen. And that's, like, the full cast of the eight characters minus the bosses. That's really cool. We have a Blanca and a Chun-Li watch. Yeah. Those just came... Can we check those out? Yeah, sure. Those came from just antique malls? Oh, this Blanca watch. Yeah. [00:03:24] Speaker 1: I've not seen this. [00:03:25] Ben: Yeah. [00:03:25] Speaker 1: Yeah. I like that design. 1995. This one's really, really janky. [00:03:30] Ben: Yeah. [00:03:30] Speaker 1: Yeah. And the knockoff World Fighter. [00:03:32] Ben: I like them as a set. The play sets are Super Nintendo paddles. You've got Guile's level. You've got Balrog's level. You've got Blanca's level. [00:03:42] Speaker 1: By the way, you just called them paddles, which is something I called them as a kid. Is that just, like, a Northeast thing that we called controllers paddles? Maybe it's a Northeast thing. Where do you think that came from paddles? [00:03:51] Ben: The shower power. It got from the guy who sculpted that. [00:03:54] Speaker 1: I see something else that's really cool. May I? Yeah, sure. This Mario paint glitter set. Yeah. That is so cool. I've never seen this before. Yeah. [00:04:03] Ben: And then it's also got a Zelda Link to the Past promotion. [00:04:05] Speaker 1: Yeah, the Zelda promotion here is really cool. And if you see on the back, it has Zelda and Link Easter egg caddies, I guess, you would call them. The Nasta Link wind up on the card. Yep. Look at that. [00:04:18] Ben: May I? Yep. Gift from my sister from a toy show that I wasn't at, and she knew that would be up my alley. [00:04:24] Speaker 1: It's all about family, if not for family. [00:04:25] Ben: Have you found anything yourself, Ben? [00:04:28] Speaker ?: Are you kidding me? [00:04:29] Speaker 1: There's one. I hate using the word grail, but it really is. I'm a huge Demon Express fan. Oh. I'm looking at the Firebrand plush down here. Yeah. [00:04:38] Ben: It's a Japanese prize item, so you couldn't buy it. You could only win it, or it was a giveaway or something. Wow. And here's a little detail. You got the little guy that pops out. [00:04:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, so this is Gargoyle's Quest. [00:04:52] Ben: Yes. Yes. Yes. Not Demon's Crest. I'm a huge fan of Demon's Crest. Me too. But it... [00:04:56] Speaker 1: Yeah, there's not any merch that I can think of to know for Demon's Crest or Gargoyle's Quest. That Firebrand plush is one of the most incredible things I think I've ever held in a collection video. Just unbelievable. This is something that we definitely have in common. Our love for Battle Beasts. Yep. I love the Battle Beasts, but there's also the merch. There's always new Battle Beasts stuff popping up, but the one thing that I see here that I don't have and I've never held before, it's these licensing cards that they have here. For Series 1? Yep. No, these I got from... These are beautiful. It's like a style guy. [00:05:42] Ben: Yeah, exactly. And the Pantones are great colors. So, yeah, they really pop. [00:05:47] Speaker 1: Those are so beautiful. These are gorgeous. Where's my guy? Where's my guy? Where's my guy? These are so cool. There he is. Oh, there he is. There's Carpy. [00:05:57] Ben: Here's another ancillary thing that I don't think has ever been seen before. [00:06:02] Speaker 1: No, this... I have never seen this before. Yeah. May I? You can try. [00:06:08] Ben: It's designed for a kid. [00:06:11] Speaker 1: So, I know there's one figure that has kind of eluded you over the years. Or not necessarily eluded, but you've kind of been waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger on. Yeah. Very expensive Battle Beast. [00:06:20] Ben: Yeah. Stone Cobra is one that... Stone Cobra. It scared me because people were reproducing them 20 plus years ago. It was valuable enough back then that there was incentive for people to make fakes of it. [00:06:36] Speaker 1: The legendary Stone Cobra. One of the most sought after Battle Beasts ever released. A Japanese exclusive premium that could only be obtained by mailing in both halves of the mythical stone tablet. Only way to acquire one today? Drop some serious coin or know somebody like me. Here he is. [00:06:56] Ben: It's the first time I've held one in person because... There it is. That's a shiny nice one too. [00:07:01] Speaker 1: Yeah. Obviously, these things go for a lot of money, but I would love to work out some kind of trade. While we're here, I know you said you might have some stuff. Yeah. [00:07:09] Ben: Well, I knew you were coming to visit. I made a little box and we'll see if I think we can figure something out. [00:07:14] Speaker 1: To get a grail, sometimes you got to give up a grail or two, but you're not going to believe what Ben was willing to give up to get his. But first, back to the tour. Trash bag bunched. You have some really top shelf figures on the bottom shelf. [00:07:28] Ben: I have all the rare stuff. And then I would argue even rarer are these glow in the dark, unlicensed... Well, they're sort of like relicensed repaints from the 90s. Z-Bots. [00:07:38] Speaker 1: Yeah. People always conflate Z-Bots with Battle Beasts just because they're in that little rubber guy, two inch figure world. And where did you get these displays? You have the KFC kids meal display. And this is like a store display. [00:07:50] Ben: Yeah, a friend of mine got that from a former Gloob executive. And then the Z-Bots KFC display. McDonald's has been collectible for a long time. When it comes to other fast food promotions, KFC is much more difficult to find. What are these down here? Sci-Fi Channel? So Sci-Fi Channel launched in '93, which is about when Z-Bots started. So my guess is that someone at Gloob did some sort of cooperative thing and gave these out. All right, Ben, I'm a huge Rock Lords fan. I noticed. [00:08:21] Speaker 1: You have some exceedingly rare Rock Lords on display, namely these Rock Gnarlys. I have been on the hunt for these Series 2 Rock Gnarlys for a long time. [00:08:33] Ben: So the lion came off of a damaged card. [00:08:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, it sure looks like he just fell right out of a card back. My priority was always the fossil source. I mean, yeah, that's beautiful. [00:08:42] Ben: Yeah. [00:08:43] Speaker 1: I have a Tonka Toy Fair catalog, and that's the only place I've ever seen this before. [00:08:47] Ben: So this is a sealed Starling Gnarly. Oh, it's sealed. But my favorite detail is this rare toy is the $6.99 price. [00:08:55] Speaker 1: Couldn't sell it for $6.99. [00:08:56] Ben: Couldn't sell it for $3. Please buy it for a dollar. It looks like you have a complete set of all the Mighty Macs. This is the complete second series of Shrunkenheads. These have gotten very desirable. These watches, those are pretty rare. They come with little maxes, and they're just miniature recreations of the play sets. The knockoffs over here on the floor. I really love the card art on these. Floor pockets, very cool. [00:09:27] Speaker 1: I can't ignore the elephant in the room. Oh, that? I mean, come on. This Dino Rider's display is absolutely maybe the coolest item down here. How did you get your hands on something like this? [00:09:39] Ben: So someone in Michigan found it in a basement. And they let it go to auction. And I was like, I have to have it. And I bid high on it. [00:09:49] Speaker 1: Ben, it's a beautiful piece. Yeah. It's worth every penny. You have the whole complete set of Willow. This is just like an underappreciated toy line for sure. [00:09:56] Ben: So the non-boxed, non-Sears exclusive ones are my collection from when I was a kid. [00:10:02] Speaker 1: Oh, wow. This is something that you put on my radar. Yes. One of the weirdest promotions I think I've ever seen for a toy line. [00:10:08] Ben: Yeah. Polaroid was involved in the creation of the holographic stickers. Right. So they were like, well, as a reciprocal thing, we can do a promotion of this toy line. This is a costume that has no holographic on it. Without that context, it's like, why? Yeah. Yeah. That's a sealed Tomb of Doom. Oh, that's sealed. Yeah. So this was like 50 bucks back in the day, which is like, you could never get it for that price now. [00:10:28] Speaker 1: You'd be lucky to get the key for 50 bucks. [00:10:30] Ben: Right. [00:10:30] Speaker 1: This is such a nostalgic play set for me. I had this as a kid. It didn't survive, but I do have a boxed version at home. Not sealed. Yeah. But Ben, that is. Yeah. What is that Homer Simpson head back there? [00:10:41] Ben: Well, that's a, that's a, so it's a bootleg Homer mascot head. This was a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law who found it at a flea market. [00:10:59] Speaker 1: Are these like test shots and prototypes? Yeah. So these are my prototype cases. There's one prototype that is just screaming to me. The barnyard commando piece here. [00:11:08] Ben: So Grohman was like the initial thought leader on it at American Greetings. George Delaney successfully got the license for Playmates and was looking for ways to expand the line. See this blue shirt and yellow underneath. This is a Bart Simpson. Oh my God. With the head chopped off. This is toy history right here. You ready for a break? Want to head to the tea room? For a cup of tea? Uh, well. [00:11:43] Speaker 1: Oh my God. I pity the full ass of dust this room. How long have you been collecting Mr. T? So it started with this lunch box. [00:12:00] Ben: Has the original thermos with it. This is the original line art for the lunch box. So I found that at a flea market in August of 2001. And I just decided that moment. I'm like, I think I'm going to start collecting Mr. T stuff now. [00:12:14] Speaker 1: We're just outside of Philly. Kind of where it all started. [00:12:16] Ben: Rocky III, right? I mean, that was the role that made him a star. That's where it goes leaps and bounds and transcends. [00:12:23] Speaker 1: On the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. [00:12:24] Ben: Exactly. [00:12:25] Speaker 1: He calls Rocky out. Hey, Chuck. You know, you've got a big mouth. [00:12:28] Ben: The only time he's ever played a villain. BA or clubber? Oh, BA. So A-Team premiered the year we were born, '83. '83? Yeah. And it ran until like the late '80s? Yeah. And I did watch it as a kid in syndication. That's the crazy thing about Mr. T. He has this intimidating presence. He always says, for adults, the T stands for tough. And for kids, the T stands for tender. Okay. Tough and tender. Tough and tender. [00:13:03] Speaker 1: Ben, there's so much in here. [00:13:09] Ben: Like these little slippers? Those are a great item, and they're very rare. And the sculpting on the head is amazing. This hand puppet is wild. Purple skin. White hands. White hands. My friend found it at a thrift store, and I was like, oh, I need that. This is a pretty rare one. Obviously, a big part of Mr. T's legacy is his appearance in Wrestlemania. Gloob had the master Mr. T license. They were desperately trying to get this on the shelves in time for Wrestlemania. So what they did was they took a B.A. Barakas action figure, threw a wrestling robe on him, and released it as Mr. T Wrestling. The Mr. T Big Wheel. Yep. Come on. It came out of a storage unit in Florida. The Mr. T Mighty car? People are starting to really discover this because it's gotten crazy expensive lately. It has been popping up. Yeah. Everybody's freaking out about that. And I understand. Like if you've never seen that before, it is wild. Okay. This is- This takes it to the next level. [00:14:04] Speaker 1: What? [00:14:04] Ben: This motorcycle chivalry jumbo cycle. This is significantly rarer than a Mighty car. This is the only one I've ever seen in the box like this. This is a promotional shirt for the Family Channel show TNT. But it's this thing called a body puppet. So his mouth opens- Are you kidding me? [00:14:23] Speaker 1: Is there like fabric on the inside? [00:14:25] Ben: Yeah. It says I pity the competition. I love literal garbage. One of Mr. T's earliest promotional campaigns was for TR3 car wax. TR3 goes on easy, stays on hard. Who saves an old bottle of car wax? How much did you spend on that piece of garbage? Uh, 30 bucks. That's fair. Yeah. But my high bid was like probably 10 times that. I've got like store display boxes from the UK. Oh, yeah. There's also Rocky Boppers. Those are cool. Yes. I don't have the Rocky version. I just have the Clever line. [00:15:01] Speaker 1: Wow. Okay. I want the Rocky version. Yeah. Now, you actually might not know this. This guitar here. This is actually the guitar that Survivor used to write the early demo tracks of Eye of the Tiger on. Really? Yeah, yeah. [00:15:17] Speaker 3: That's crazy. Don't listen to it. [00:15:19] Ben: My feelings on Eye of the Tiger. I don't like it, but it's the song that inspires Rocky to beat up Clever line. I know, that's hard for you. Right. Have you ever met Mr. T? As of last year, finally, yes. You did meet him? Yes, at a convention in Texas. It was his first convention in decades. He just doesn't do it. And so I got a photo with him. I was very emotional and as were many adult men in life. I don't know if he is aware of this collection and it's okay if he isn't. I got to say how grateful I was for him and his career and being a good role model. And that's all that matters. So like if I never get to interact with him again, at least I did. You have closure on it. I have closure on it. [00:16:05] Speaker 1: Ben has his closure. But now when it comes to collecting, that loop never closes. Ben's collection was endless. It flowed out of the tea room into his living room where there were so many unique pieces. And all the way in through his kitchen. Toys and collectibles from the 80s everywhere you turned. This little nook over here. Yeah. Oh my god. Then this Star Fox mobile here. [00:16:27] Ben: So this one showed up at a Goodwill on the west coast that was near where my friend was. Then you have all four Food Fighters variants on the card hanging out in a little cluster down here. Craigslist. All four of the color variants. Don't tell me. And all of the carded figures you see here for $150. All right, I'm out. [00:16:47] Speaker 1: I'm going to say it right now. I think this is the best piece in your entire collection that I've seen. Just from my personal collecting point of view. I'm glad you own it. I'm glad too. [00:16:59] Ben: These are the most prized possessions of the non-Mr. T stuff that I own. These are super talented, unrecognized commercial artists. The original card art for Savage Mondo Blitzers. Which I could not believe came up for sale. And then the Mighty Max here. [00:17:14] Speaker 1: Yeah. That is gorgeous. Yeah. Lava Beast. And what is this Transformers work here? [00:17:20] Ben: It's a cover to a book. Wow. So this is a choose your own adventure book that they made in the UK. And then the Starcom over here. Yes. The original right here. Yes. [00:17:30] Speaker 1: There's how it was used. Man, they left out this whole beautiful Martian landscape in the backdrop here. Just to crop it. And there was actually recently some chatter. It's like the Mandela effect. It's actually not crash test dummies. It's just crash dummies. The toy line is crash dummies. The band is crash test dummies. Yes. [00:17:46] Ben: That's original package art. And then the original red crash car art. And the blue cycle art. Super cool. What about this work of art here? That's something my brother-in-law found for me at a flea market. [00:17:57] Speaker 1: If I came across this, I'd shell out some money for that for sure. Speaking of shelling out some money, it was finally time to blow my $1,000 trade credit. What have you kind of handpicked to entice me? [00:18:08] Ben: I followed some comments online. So let's see if we can add it up because it's a valuable thing. Yes. We'll try and make it work. So we'll see what we can get. This is awesome. I found that in a shop a few years ago and I cannot find another sale of one. Wow. There's just no comps for this thing. Yeah. Okay. Now. [00:18:29] Speaker 1: All right. Oh my God. I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. [00:18:31] Ben: Now, now, don't get too excited because this is an empty box. Oh, okay. All right. Wow. So I'm kind of just throwing that in. All right. This is a promotional. Oh, I've seen these before. Yeah. Tomorrow is missing. Promotional Frisbee. [00:18:44] Speaker 1: Promotional Frisbee. [00:18:46] Ben: You may already have one of these. Mario wall trim. I don't have one of these. Okay. I love all the Mario Madness stuff. I found these weird rubber masks of Guile and Blanca. Oh my God. [00:18:58] Speaker 1: Shall we? Yep. Guile versus Blanca. Perfect. This is like an endless box of goodies in here. [00:19:03] Ben: Well, I mean, it's a rare item, so I got to step up. I've got some Street Fighter plushes from Japan. Wow. So these are all made by Banpresto. Wow. [00:19:11] Speaker 1: Chun-Li, Ryu, M. Bison, Zangief. Oh my God. And Balrog. This was a request. This is a definite. I need this to complete my Saber Stone. Yeah. This is a rare piece of plastic right here. Yeah. We talked about Rocky. What is that? [00:19:27] Ben: Rocky Action Aid? Rocky Action Aid. That is cool. This is an animation cell from the Donkey Kong cereal commercial. I have limited wall space. I can't hold everything. [00:19:37] Speaker 1: Wall space is at a premium in our lives. So the market value on the Stone Cobra, I value them around $1,000. Yep. I think that's fair. The thing that I'm definitely the most interested in is the Battletoads backpack. Yes. What did you kind of have a value on this for? [00:19:51] Ben: So it's tough because I can't find comps on that. Yeah. I think $250 to $3 on that. [00:19:58] Speaker 1: And then I definitely want the Saber Stone weapon. Right. I would say $70 is where I'm at. The cell is cool, but I'm at kind of the limits with wall space. I understand. You said you might have some reinforcements. Let's go back in the basement. I'll take the Barnyard Commandos prototype. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're back at the shelf. [00:20:18] Ben: Yeah. What do we have here? What's this? These are licensed Mario glasses with the original tag and the original sticker on it. [00:20:27] Speaker ?: Okay. [00:20:27] Speaker 1: These are pretty cool. Yeah. These are weird. Yeah. I like the weird stuff. Yeah. Asking price on the glasses. I would say another $50. Another $50. Add them up. All right. I think that... Is the Tetris backpack a potential trade item for you? I think that could be on the table. It could be on the table. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Potential. This is a wearable backpack. Okay. Yeah. You look good with it. I do. Can we put a price on this? Um... A hundred? Sold. Okay. I'm working on collecting all the shampoo bottles. [00:20:58] Ben: I think we could make that work. [00:21:00] Speaker 1: Is this full of shampoo? Yes. It's full of shampoo. Can we give it a whiff? It just smells like whole plastic. Yeah. You want to give it a smell? I'm afraid to even ask. The Gargoyle's Quest plush. Yeah. Is that something that you would ever consider? I'll never say never. [00:21:18] Ben: What kind of price tag would you put on it? It's tough. I would say five. So... I think that's realistically where it's at. I... [00:21:29] Speaker 1: Listen, I've never seen another one for sale. [00:21:31] Ben: You know what? Because I've wanted that stone cobra a long time. I think I am going to do the red armor. Are you sure? Yeah. I think I'm going to do it. Are you sure? I don't want to make you do this. Yeah. I think that puts us over the finish line unquestionably. Yeah. I think it's yours now. He's unbelievable. Ben. [00:21:57] Speaker 1: Come here, Ben. Come here, Ben. I don't know if he's okay. Oh my God. Wow. Yeah. Okay. Unbelievable. 500 bucks. Yeah. To change. Yep. 600 bucks. 600 bucks. The Battletoads backpack. 250? Yeah. [00:22:16] Ben: We said 250 on that. So we're at 850. I said 70 on that. So we're at 920. 920. 30. I think we said 50 on that. [00:22:25] Speaker 1: 50? Yeah. That's a deal. All right. Wow. You have traded me a carload of amazing items for one little rubber guy. Mm-hmm. How does it feel? [00:22:36] Ben: Of all the stuff in that pile, I've wanted this far longer. [00:22:39] Speaker 1: And these are things that I never knew I wanted until today. Right. Some things I never knew I wanted like this Mario and Yoshi music center box with the melody of Super Mario Bros. 4. Uh, yeah. I guess the search begins for this keyboard. And some things I've needed for years, like this impossible to find Series 3 Rock Lords weapon. After all these years, my Saber Stone is now finally armed. This Princess shampoo bottle to add to my Nintendo shampoo and bubble bath collection. This Game Boy Tetris backpack, which I did not know existed until I saw it in Ben's basement. And I cannot believe I am holding it now in my own toy room. Unbelievable piece. With the original tag still attached. And the only way to top that backpack is with another backpack. This Battle Toads backpack. Oh my goodness. Released by Rare in 1991. The package is partially torn, so I say we let this baby breathe. As for the Mario glasses, I actually don't have them. Because the very next day I went to another shoot in Pennsylvania and gave them to my buddy Joe, because it was just meant to be. There it is. Mario with the mushroom. Oh, it's fresh dude. Look at that little tag. They're yours now. Dude. No way. Yeah. Yes. Keep them. Definitely check out Joe's video if you haven't seen it yet. And finally, a true grail for me. This Capcom Firebrand plush. There's no date on it, but the tag matches the logo on the Japanese port of Gargoyles Quest 2 on the NES, which was released in 1992. And Demon's Crest is one of my all-time favorite games on any system, so I am beyond thrilled. To have Firebrand in the plush. You know, I've been an admirer from afar on Instagram for many years. You're the collector that we aspire to be. [00:24:28] Ben: It's great to have people who can look at it and appreciate it. My collection is my collection. I don't want my collection to look like anybody else. It certainly doesn't. [00:24:37] Speaker 1: Every collection is unique because it's a reflection of who you are. And every piece you add to it tells a story. A story about who you were and who you'll never stop being. Thanks to Ben for sharing his incredible collection with me. Thank you to his family for helping him collect all these years. And his mom and dad for documenting this moment that I just can't believe exists on film. I think it's a piece of history that every kid from the 80s wishes they had. Thanks mom and dad. And thank you for watching. We'll see you on the next one.