The Point Radio: TOY HUNTER Digs and VAMPIRE ACADEMY Debuts
Transcript
The Point Radio. It's my problem, Jordan Hembrough, the Toy Hunter, is back digging in basements and attics. We'll talk about what some of his cool finds are for the season so far.
Plus, Vampire Academy heads from the book to the big screen. Can the cast make the fans happy? We'll find out when we talk to them. Comment up. Let's get to The Point. This is The Point.
The Point Radio. Get The Point Radio. Season 3 of Toy Hunter is back on the Travel Channel and Jordan Hembrough is out at comic conventions, attics and basements looking for some treasures.
So, the folks having already seen a couple of seasons, I asked Jordan if people treat him differently when they sell him their toys. They do. They do treat me a little differently. You know, it's funny. I'm very, very grateful
for the opportunity Travel Channel has given me. I'm really excited about the third season of Toy Hunter. It's, you know, it's very, very interesting. It's a Catch-22 when it comes to business. I'm more well-known.
Therefore, a lot of people, they try to ask for more money. I don't really mind it. It's kind of cool. But then again, you know, conversely, I'm very, very fortunate because the show has actually opened up new avenues and different opportunities
that I otherwise would not have been afforded if it was not for the show. Jordan's never tried to hide what a toy's value is and what he's willing to pay for it. I asked him if people get upset when sometimes
there's a little bit of a gap in the difference in those two numbers. Well, there is a lot of blowback. I think it's just an instance that people really don't understand the business model and the money that we need to make
and the cost that we actually incur on the road. I'm very, very honest when I try to tell people, look, it's $150, maybe $175. I can pay you $80 or $90 because I need to explain to them that in order to even get to them,
I've got to pay, you know, airfare or gas mileage. I've got to bring it back to my warehouse, which I pay rent on. I've got to pay someone to go through it. So all those little factors included and a lot of people don't realize that.
So overall, how does he manage to organize all of his fines? It's a great question. I actually have a very, very good team working with me. I've got an extremely, extremely knowledgeable office manager named Valerie.
I've got all my friends, actually David from the show helps out, Stevie from the show helps out. And these, you know, these are all people that I know in real life and work with on a day-to-day basis. So we get about 500 emails a day.
So, I mean, here's New York Comic Con. I've been here for four days. I went, you know, check my email this morning. It was like over 2,800 emails in my inbox. It's a lot of sifting through a lot of stuff.
It's very, very time-consuming. I'm very fortunate to have a support system in place. So what do we look for in season three? I can tell you that you are going to see a lot more of the world because we will be going international.
We have England already on the map and we're looking at other countries to go to for conventions and just learning about the culture and the people and more importantly, the passion that we all share for pop culture basically as a worldwide community.
So you can see a lot more of that. You're going to see a lot more celebrities, which when we were asking people, they reacted very, very favorably to a lot of the shows that we had the celebrities on. So you're going to be seeing a lot more of, you know, A-list celebrities
and rock stars and rap stars and everything. And you're going to learn about their, you know, their passions and what they collect as well. So what's the big quest going to be for this season? I don't know yet.
I mean, you know what? The show is constantly in motion. So the show is constantly being made. So, you know, when we, when we, you know, set out in the beginning of the episode or the beginning of the season, it changes all the time.
I can assure you that whatever it is, it's going to be good. One of the many cool things about the show is the addition of the original commercials for certain toys that Jordan finds along the way. I ask him, do we be seeing more of that this year? We are.
You know, that's something that's done on production and I'm not exactly sure what goes on with all the legal stuff with that. I definitely can tell you that that is a favorite that people love showing the old commercials. So I think we will still be incorporating more of that. So far, what's the coolest thing he's found this year?
Let me see. Probably one of the best things I got was I got a really rare Remco McDonald's playset, which is cool. They're worth about 200 bucks in the box. But the one I got was actually a rare exclusive for a department store.
It had all the figures inside and that was a nice surprise that when I opened up, I found that the little slip in everything that had come off and I found out, wow, the figures are all included. So it actually moved it from a $200 place. It's about an $800 place that new episodes of toy hunter every week on the travel channel.
Check your cable listings for that. And if you have some toys you'd like to sell or just want to see past episodes or learn more about Jordan, check it out at Travel Channel.com. It's the very latest in pop culture. This could be a story down the road, but maybe not.
Marvel has recently short up a number of their trademarks on characters like Ant-Man, Venom and Sinister Six. Of course, all those because of upcoming movie projects, but they've also done a copyright trademark registration on Loki, Agent of Asgard, a new title that recently hit from Marvel. So is there a Loki movie down the road?
Well, we'll see about that. But more importantly, there is another Loki comic this time published by the folks at Boom called Loki, Ragnarok and Roll. Could there be a cease and desist on the way? There's more Adult Swim on the way.
Turner has announced that the Adult Swim block, usually that starts at 9 p.m. Eastern will expand to 8 p.m. Eastern to accommodate reruns of King of the Hill and the Cleveland show. That's okay.
Cartoon Network fans won't be coming up short. They'll have more material available on the digital platform, including a new slate of original programming that includes shorts and free gaming opportunities. It all begins at the end of March and you can always get details at CartoonNetwork.com. DC's direct to DVD Justice League War will be the part of a series of films that will all be tied together in one string of continuity.
That according to producer James Tucker, who said that the new film will be the first in a series that will be all in continuity with each other. Next up will be an adaptation of Grant Morrison's Son of Batman followed by Batman Assault on Arkham, set in the world of the Batman Arkham video games. Allegedly, there'll be at least two of these films released every year with Justice League and Batman being the big push.
No word yet on whether the continuity will involve using the same voice actors or bringing new people in each time. The final piece in the puzzle in the story of brick and mortar sales versus online sales for 2013, came out with reports from both Walmart and Amazon. Walmart had warned investors that they expected to be flat or maybe even below profit for the end of the year. And those expectations seem to be pretty much true, although final numbers are not out yet.
Amazon, however, grew 20% in the fourth quarter and had an overall growth of 22% for the full year. David Schwimmer is finally coming back to television. He'll be part of a new ABC comedy pilot called Irreversible, which is based on a hit series from Israel. This is Schwimmer's first starring role back on television since Friends ended in 2004.
The Seattle Seahawks stomp fest, better known as Super Bowl, did a little bit less than the ratings when compared to last year's game, but it's still in the top five all-time Super Bowls as far as ratings go. Comes in at number five on a list that also includes games from 2012, 1987, 2011, and last year's game, which was the most watched ever. Hot Tub Time Machine gets a sequel and we'll get to see it before the end of the year. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 has most of the original players, including the addition of Adam Scott,
and will be in theaters sometime during the Christmas season later this year. The next big young adult fantasy novel headed to the big screen is Vampire Academy. And like with the ones before it, the first hurdle is getting the fanbase to accept the flesh and blood versions of their favorite characters. I talked to actress Sammy Gale, who plays Mia in the film. I think for me with my hair, Mia's character has blond, long ringlets and blue eyes and…
Nor do I have long hair, nor do I have blue eyes. But I think once sort of the poster came out and people saw me as Mia, we've had a pretty positive reaction, so that's been nice, but there was definitely a first. What I really admired most about her was that, you know, underneath this sort of shield that she puts up of being this manipulative, bratty, mean girl, she's really just an insecure girl who's trying to find herself, and I think that's something that's really relatable for all teenagers.
I feel for me, growing up as a teenager, I just think that a lot of us are, you know, a little bit lost in trying to find ourselves, and I like that she can, you know, even though she's mean, I think people can relate to her by seeing that she's just unfortunately insecure, and she'll hopefully overcome that. Actors Lucy Fry told me that the fans have to come into this really being open-minded. I know what it's like for when you read a book and you get a really specific idea in your head of what it's going to be like,
and everyone's idea is going to be different, so there's absolutely no way that it's ever going to match your imagination, and it's so hard to let that go, because once you see the film, you see the character as the actor, and it's always hard at first to make that transition and let the actor kind of take on your character that you've created in your head, so I don't think anyone's going to be happy and that they won't see what they imagine, but you have to just be open-minded and be ready for something new.
Each of the cast members assured me they all have strong feelings about the characters they portray. Actors Zoey Deutsch. I love that she's loyal, and I think it's a really nice message for young teenage girls to send out that friendship means that much. She would do anything for Lissa, and I respect that. And Lucy added…
What I loved about Lissa is, again, we're saying with Lissa and Rose that their friendship comes first in everything. Of course, they have their amazing romances and that that's really exciting and wonderful, but the fact that the friendship is the key to the whole story is a really great message, because when you're a teenager, your friends are what really matter. And Lissa, as a…
Not a human, but as a vampire, she is so sensitive and loving, and I love the way that she takes everything in and lets herself be affected by everything around her, and I think her vulnerability and the way that she is so absorbent of everything is really loving, and I really enjoyed playing that. We've got more with the cast of Vampire Academy coming up, meanwhile it is in theaters right now. The point, the point, here's what's cool.
That'd be a won or lost as the Super Bowl, while this time it's another bargain week in the comic book stores, we'd get you in for pretty much everything on the list here under five bucks, except for one item. Mass Effect Foundation is another one of the one for a dollar books, coming out from Dark Horse, by the way, if you want to catch up to see what the Mass Effect comic book adaptations are like, it's a buck this week. The Joker's Daughters explored in a new Batman series from DC, first issue of that out,
and also a compilation of some of the best Harley Quinn stories of all time too, including some of those early ones by Paul Dini. That's a little more expensive, just under eight bucks for that compilation. Gothtopia continues in Batwing 28, and Detective Comics number 28 this week from DC. And it's our regular ongoing plug for what we consider to be one of the most fun comic books out there. Popeye Classics from IDW, some great work reprinted in a really good package by our good buddy Craig Yell.
Wrath, welcome to Christmas Land, number one gets a second printing this week. And Apocalypse Al, number one, a new JMS project, also from Image. It's the first issue with a couple of different covers too. Manifest Destiny number one is the third printing. Sex Criminals number one has a fifth printing this week.
From Marvel, the new Ms. Marvel series begins, as well as new series for Punisher and Wolverine. All with number one this week and another number one, Loki, Agent of Asgard. It was also debuting from Marvel. And it's the first issue of the revived Gold Key Value Heroes at Dynamite. Turok Dinosaur Hunter begins with the first issue this week.
All these and more in comic stores near you. You can check the comic book locator service on your phone, 1-888-COMIC-BOOK. Check the link for comic stores that's on the front of our website, ComicMix.com. Or you can also go to findacomicshop.com. That does it for right now.
But in the meantime, keep up with Pop Culture 24-7 to get to the point radio.com. You
