The Karate Kid & Cobra Kai - Collectibles - Vol. 01

Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Episode 137:The Karate Kid & Cobra Kai - Collectibles - Vol. 01

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez discuss the toy industry and how it impacts The Karate Kid & Cobra Kai collectibles in the past, present, and future.

Recorded: 02-09-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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https://www.instagram.com/SalvadorLosAngeles/

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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is let's talk Cobra Kai. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:11

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 0:12

All right, so we are back for another episode. Very special episode. I might add. I always say that, but I really mean it this time is I really made a decision and an original episode for us.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:27

Yeah, I like to think that our show goes places other podcasts don't. Yeah, we're nimble. So yeah, we are definitely hitting home here with me on this one.

Jason Connell: 0:36

Yes, we are. Because we are covering something we've talked about. It's come up in episodes. But this is the first time we've devoted an episode to this, I was thinking about it. Because we're gonna be talking about the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai collectibles, Volume One, you, my friend are an expert in this space. You collect toys, you're an expert on toys look behind you. That's all you have to do is look behind you

Sal Rodriguez: 1:01

see all this stuff, see all of it. And you

Jason Connell: 1:04

see it and you're always getting new things, not just toys in general for movies, this, that and the other but in this space in this universe. And I know the landscape is changing. So I was like, well, let's dive into it. Because there's got to be other collectors or other wannabe collectors. And I think it's a great thing to talk about. And before we get too far into it, yeah, I want to plug your other I mean, you're part of just curious media. Let's Talk Cobra Kai. That's a crime. You're on. Let's talk movies all the time. But you also have your own thing, your own channel, your own YouTube channel, and it's Salvador, Los Angeles, if I'm not mistaken. Yes, that's correct. You joined YouTube. This channel anyway, December 7 2009. You got some real history there. 7.1 2000 subscribers. That's a lot. And you have 3.8 million views.

Sal Rodriguez: 2:04

Wow. I hadn't checked that in a while. Honestly, I hadn't checked that. That's impressive. 4 million views. Um, yeah, for

Jason Connell: 2:11

like, views. So I thought, let's validate you more as if you're not already. But you are an expert. And by the way, your channel does lots of things. But you do a lot of toy reviews. And not just Cobra Kai Karate Kid, right? You do a lot of things. But that was probably a big lion's share of what you're doing. People send you things, you look at him and take him out. You're very good, you know, the business. But I really wanted to kind of like, dive into the Karate Kid because that was a different time. That was the 80s. Some collectibles came out then looking at that talking about that, and how we've seen just collectibles and the market shift and pivot as as well as Cobra Kai is coming on the scene. And you know all that, because you'll mention that sometimes it's show me things here and there. But we've never really had a conversation about it.

Sal Rodriguez: 3:01

Sure. Yeah. Because you know, it's one thing as far as like, where are toys and collectibles? And then where is our license in this instance, Cobra Kai? Yeah, where is the license? And where are toy and collectibles in space and time? And then how do they fit together? And how they fit together as fans and hosts of a podcast? Yeah. So yeah, when you approached me about let's talk Cobra Kai, I had already been a Toy reviewer and toy collector on YouTube for a while. So when you came along with let's talk Cobra Kai, I then integrated Cobra Kai merchandise, Cobra, Kai toys and extra fingers into my YouTube channel. Damn, like a champion I mixed look at you. Yeah, I was like, How do I merge these two? And that's what I

Jason Connell: 3:48

Well, that was smart. And also because the Yeah, it kind of came full circle, if you will, whereas I did. success of the show, it has launched new toys, I presume that weren't there before even new versions of the old, right even before you get into the Cobra Kai, because there's a lot of new characters that we know. And I'm sure it's like, oh, well, let's, here's a new version with new technology of Daniel from the Karate Kid. I'm sure these things are happening because it's just different now. But let's start at the top. Let's go back to the Karate Kid little show until now people on YouTube can see. So we'd have to be descriptive for the podcast listeners. You know, and we're not going to get all caught up. This isn't a review. It's a conversation. And by the way, I just wanted to say this one last thing. I was thinking about calling this episode something completely different, which was going to be sales action figure adventures, which is a great title. But this is not that this is the first probably more volumes as this market evolves. And hey, I may even acquire some collectible gi from the Karate Kid a script that Mark came in. So I like those types of collectibles. I really do like certain things things tangible things as well. Not that many. I'm a minimalist in that regard. But if I do, I'll come back and share. But you really have this stage here because this is your wheelhouse. And I'm excited to have this conversation and delve into the world of collectibles. was a toy collector and Toy reviewer on YouTube. That happened kind of by chance. Yeah. And then now here I am with you discussing Cobra Kai. And then now here we are discussing collectibles from Cobra Kai and karate kid. So it has definitely been sort of a full circle. So I think we should probably start back in the 80s. So please, show us and let's talk and again, we won't get too far in the weeds for those listening on like, Hey, here's the elbow does this, but just some broad strokes. Because I do know some toys. I grew up loving my Star Wars figures in my GI Joe figures and played with them incessantly. But beat them senseless and didn't keep them in packages. Because they probably went up value over time.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:04

Well, you can go back in time and see how the toy collectible market has been influenced by various properties. You have to give props to Star Wars. Yeah, I mean, Star Wars was, I would say probably the initiator of collectible toys where it's like, all of a sudden a toy has value over time. Yeah, that was probably unheard of before the whole Star Wars, Kenner phenomenon. Kenner, yeah. And then along the way, then you have various properties and licenses, giving up their images and so forth for various figures and figurines. And in this case, we have the Karate Kid. So in 1984, they released the Karate Kid, and then they released the Karate Kid to a few years later. And then that's when they started initiating toys. So there are various figures from that era. You have Daniel, you have Johnny, you have chosen you have Sato. Wow. And then you have Miyagi, yeah. So you have a few figures in the three and three quarter inch realm or sizing. And with corresponding articulation, meaning that if you're looking at a figure that is three and three quarter inches, you're probably looking at about 12345 points of articulation, two shoulders, two hips and a head. And that's probably about the articulation that you're going to find in that era. Well, that's interesting.

Jason Connell: 7:23

So they waited for the sequel to start doing figures from the original and tacked on figures from the sequel.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:30

Yeah, cuz I don't think that they have figures from the original 84 movie. But then when they came out with Karate Kid to all of a sudden you have chosen and Sato. So the implication is that, yeah, they didn't have figures from the original model. And

Jason Connell: 7:43

forget the movie. Let's not forget that the second movie went into production, what, like 10 days, 14 days after the first movie was in the theater. So they were so close together that we have a hit. Now let's make those figures. I guess it makes sense. So do you have any of those original run figures from at a go to 86? Probably not our I don't know.

Sal Rodriguez: 8:04

No, those are highly regarded sought after a collectible of vintage at this point.

Jason Connell: 8:10

And that's probably a question that you get all the time is what's that worth? Like? If you had that package? Or that set? You're just talking about in the package? Still? ballpark? What's that value? Are we talking about this?

Sal Rodriguez: 8:24

Hundreds or 1000s? Well, you know, the whole thing about in package like if you're a toy collector, or a toy buyer, yeah, in package is the way to go. You want to buy in package, right. But obviously, a lot of toy collectors are not in package aficionados and want to have a good time and play with them. So you're stuck with whatever you get. But as far as like, how much would you pay for those figures in package? Mint Condition from based on the first two movies? You're probably looking at at least a couple of $100. Okay, yeah, at least a few 100. Maybe definitely. 1000s,

Jason Connell: 8:57

not 1000s. But going up, I mean, these are rare. I doubt the runs were that big, the volume wasn't very big. So it's just not a great, priceless thing. So as a collector, do you buy one for package, buy one to play and set the Moto that you do?

Sal Rodriguez: 9:16

There are a lot of toy collectors that buy one play, buy one for play or display and then buy one for vintage resale or whatever. Yeah, you got to have money to do that. You need to buy two figures. I've never been in a position to buy more than the one so for the most part, everything I have is just the one the one off. I don't have one in package and one loose. I either have one loose or one package.

Jason Connell: 9:42

I know what you do. You barely open the package. Take it out.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:47

You can do that. Yeah, I mean, you're gonna lose value. It's gonna lose value as soon as you do that. But yeah, you can you can do that you can you know, slice a little bit open, take the figure out where review do a podcast, come back and put it in or the handbrake.

Jason Connell: 10:01

Ash stains on me Yagis pants?

Sal Rodriguez: 10:04

I don't know. I don't know. Why does Miyagi have? Is this dog

Jason Connell: 10:07

saliva? No, it's never been out of this. So that's interesting to know that I'd love to see what those look like. But what's one of the oldest ones that you have from the original film? When would they have come out and maybe give us a peek?

Sal Rodriguez: 10:22

Okay, so those original figures that came out with the first two movies were made by Remco GM, and then we had a I would call a drought. There wasn't anything going on with the Karate Kid. There wasn't well,

Jason Connell: 10:34

they made the third movie they made The Next Karate Kid. I don't think it helped the toy business.

Sal Rodriguez: 10:40

I don't know if they had any The Next Karate Kid Jaden Smith, or Jackie Chan figures. I don't know if it did and I don't think that they

Jason Connell: 10:49

did. Oh, wait. I've seen online Pat E. Johnson. But there was people from the bad guys from The Next Karate Kid. There was a few figures out there. Michael iron side and Ned really from The Next Karate Kid? Yeah, but they look pretty funky. Almost like wow. Okay. Their garage.

Sal Rodriguez: 11:07

So there were Karate Kid three, or next. Action Figures. Right. Okay, interesting. That's news to me. Okay. So what you had is you had what I would call the first era, the first arrow would be the first four movies at least as far as any properties that might have come out. And then you had a big gap canyon where nothing was going on? Yeah. And then you have Cobra Kai. So now we're here in the era of Cobra Kai action figures, or Karate Kid action figures influenced by Cobra Kai. Got it. And that would be for example, these NECA action figures. Here is Daniel Russo. Yeah, looks good. And this is what's called a retro style or amigo style action figure, which is real cloth clothing.

Jason Connell: 11:50

Okay, how tall are they sell how many inches

Sal Rodriguez: 11:53

these are about seven inches, I believe. See, these are seven inch, fully articulated cloth action figures. And then we have Sensei Kreese as well. So we these were made by NECA. And I did a review on these. Now I'm proud to say, Jason, that this review of these action figures is the number one Karate Kid Cobra Kai action figure review on YouTube, as far as highest views add up to over 700,000 reviews. Wow, I'm sorry. 700,000 views of these particular action figures. Which by the way, it's not that I'm so awesome. It just happened by chance. That happened by chance. You and I got together. We started doing let's talk Cobra Kai, I did a review of these figures. I remember 700,000 views. Yes. And then here we are today. So then the rest

Jason Connell: 12:40

sound. I have something to add to that. Yes. You're right Rodriguez. Ah, nice. This is the I am holding. What am I holding us now? You're holding

Sal Rodriguez: 12:54

up an all Valley trophy from the NECA all Valley Tupac featuring Daniel and Johnny.

Jason Connell: 13:01

You gave this to me when we were still in studio pre pandemic and we were in the first or second season of the show. And you got that pack. I remember you showed me online and then you got the set you just showed everybody talked about and it comes with there was even an all Valley backdrop like a poster or something. The poster the classic poster and you gave me the all Valley trophy and I have moved a few times since then three times and I still have this darn trophy. I put it my trophy case and I brought it out tonight. So there it is. villas can see this a tiny version of the all Valley but so that is one amazing review you have getting close to 800,000 I'm assuming now and climbing to a million great job. I saw that I don't remember seeing Kreese I didn't know he was a part of that was a two pack but Kreese was an add on to that. Is that what it was?

Sal Rodriguez: 13:52

No, what it was was I did the original review featuring Daniel and Johnny to pack by NECA. Yeah. And then later on the crease came about later. So he was a he was added later.

Jason Connell: 14:02

So these came out in SPIRE because Cobra Kai was already a show but this was pre Cobra Kai going to Netflix. This is still it's on YouTube. It's popular. It's the number one show on YouTube. But it's not like YouTube had a lot of shows. But it was getting some traction. That's a new guy. Okay, that's great. So you have post gap. Karate Kid figures, that kid what's the problem means that they're really well made, like the clothes on them isn't going to just fall off. I remember seeing them and they look really great. So what else do you have from that era? Did they make him Miyagi? Around the same time? Because he was

Sal Rodriguez: 14:41

so so yes, I forgotten about that. So NECA the company that made the previous figures that we talked about, also made a Miyagi and Miyagi features his janitorial costume, and his bonsai tree and chopsticks here.

Jason Connell: 14:58

I put in his gutter Fly, fly on there.

Sal Rodriguez: 15:02

There's no fly but he has his chopsticks. He has his bonsai tree, and he has his custodian costume. So this is part of the, I would call this sort of one set, cuz it's made by NECA. And then we have Daniel, Johnny, Kreese and Miyagi, fully articulated cloth, retro style, or amigo style action figures made by NECA.

Jason Connell: 15:26

I love it. And what would something those aren't that old? You know what 2019? I'd say probably came out. Yeah. What is that set out? Roughly? What with all those figures together? Can people still get them? Are they still selling this? Because the popularity has increased since then? Sure. But like, what's the value of that set? If someone wanted to get in the game and acquire those figures? Are they looking at what's instead of back? How much they're gonna sell it back? Sure.

Sal Rodriguez: 15:53

Well, if you're looking at Toy collectibles, you want to consider whether it's in package or out a package. Are you buying the figure loose without a package? Are you buying it in a package, the package is messed up. These are all things that you want to consider if you're buying a toy collectibles. Now in this instance, these two figures came in a two pack. Yeah, that is still available. I believe Daniel and Johnny are still available in their two pack that you can buy for at this point, probably at least 150. Okay, maybe 150 for the Daniel and Johnny neck a two pack. And then you would buy Miyagi on his own and package would probably be about another 40 or 50. And then crease now this one went up in value because of decreased figure by NECA was a Comicon. Convention exclusive I believe 2019 or 2020. So that ups the value. So the crease NECA convention exclusive, probably looking at about 60 or $75, at least. Okay, so for these four figures in their package, you're probably looking at at least about three $400 Yeah,

Jason Connell: 16:55

but you also get the trophy. I just haven't done and you get the trophy. You get an all Valley. That's really cool. I love it. And yeah, they were really neat, very different than when I was playing with figures as a kid.

Sal Rodriguez: 17:09

That's the thing about toy collectibles. Today's you know, those of us as adults can look back and go, You know what, I didn't have this as a kid. This is something new. And it's a whole different thing.

Jason Connell: 17:23

The figures we just went over. I know I'm not there. I'm not holding them, but they look bigger. And you know, reminds me of the GI Joe figures when I was getting the bigger ones like older people had them like my parents. You know, the big tall GI Joe. I was growing up playing with really small Star Wars figures and GI Joe figures, the smaller versions, the plastic ones that there could bend a lot more than the Star Wars figures. And it was fun to do like fight sequences or I played soccer with them or football tackles and things but I didn't grow up with the ginormous figures. These look like a hybrid. They're not like the ones I grew up with. But yeah, they look more realistic, obviously like in their face and things so is that just things shifted? That was the 80s was Kenner and wasn't Kenner that we said yeah, no, I remember I had to Kenner things but like what were those like two and a half three inches? What What would though how would you sum up those figures from our youth?

Sal Rodriguez: 18:22

Well, as far as the action figures of our youth would be three and three quarter inch. Okay dominantly and limited articulation now the three and three quarter inch GI Joe figures started with more articulation did Yes. Yeah. So what you had them later on, as we got older and became adults, the toy industry introduced six inch figures with full articulation, reminiscent of the GI Joe figures of three and three quarter inch. Yeah, so you all of a sudden you had you all of a sudden what happens is then you have an actual figure that wasn't around when we were kids. We have a new phase of action figures that were just not there when we were young. Yeah, it was it appeals to a lot of toy collectors today.

Jason Connell: 19:03

I really enjoyed you know, I was preteen and I fell in love with the GI Joe figures. I love Star Wars more. But the figures you could do more with absolutely more articulation. But it must have been part of Kenner's plan. I mean, the less articulation I'm assuming the cost is less. And they were basically printing money because Star Wars figures blew up. And it was like why improve upon this thing. And then of course Star Wars two like so many things disappeared for a long time, but the lights probably stayed on to some degree, but we don't get into that. That's a whole other discussion. Fascinating though. But okay, let's bring it back to you and your collection. So you got those figures. Post Cobra Kai, what was next? What did you see next? Because those are great, and that's NECA so what are you gonna introduce us to now another company around the same timeline or what? I'm dying to see what you have hidden over there.

Sal Rodriguez: 20:01

Yeah, the way it works Jason in the in the toy collector market is that you have a company that owns a license. Yeah. And then they license their license, they sell their license, okay to creators and to manufacturers and to makers. And what they'll do, I'm saying this for the benefit of anybody who does collect toys because it took me a while to realize this is that let's say for example, the people that own the license to Cobra Kai, yeah, they sell their or they leased their license to a company and they say you can make three and three quarter inch figures. Then they sell their license somebody else and they say you can make six inch figures fully articulated. And then they sell their license somebody else and they say you can make 12 inch figures of Cobra Kai articulated or otherwise. But the point is, is like a given license holder will lease or sell their license to people to make figures of various sizes. So you might see a figure maker like Star Wars even if sighs Yeah, you may see anywhere from three three quarter to six inch to 12 inch down to 18 inch to full life size. Yeah, and these are all different makers, because the way the license works is that different makers are allowed to make different sizes so you wouldn't be interested makers competing against each other.

Jason Connell: 21:19

I want a life size Sato with a button or a string you can pull and we'll hear him say what?

Sal Rodriguez: 21:26

Oh, oh, what a

Jason Connell: 21:30

Miyagi.

Sal Rodriguez: 21:31

Miyagi Where are you Miyagi? Come out, I

Jason Connell: 21:35

will be that figure I gotta tell you. So

Sal Rodriguez: 21:40

then you have the new era of of action figures brought about by Cobra Kai, and the popularity thereof. It will some of the first ones that we had were made by NECA and these were the cloth figures made by NACA, which featured Daniel Johnny Miyagi and Kreese as far as Cobra Kai or Karate Kid action figures this is the number one viewed figure here right here. Yeah made by NECA reviewed by Southern Los Angeles. Then you have the next guy coming

Jason Connell: 22:11

genre

Sal Rodriguez: 22:12

icon hero so icon heroes made modern day Daniel and Johnny action figures and I made a video on these and I think we did voices on these you and I

Jason Connell: 22:23

oh that's not cloth though. Right That looks like plastic.

Sal Rodriguez: 22:26

It's all plastic like these are the all plastic icon heroes these are about five inches or five and a half inches tall I believe fully articulated. I honestly believe these if you're into articulation, these are some of the best radio icon heroes.

Jason Connell: 22:40

Yeah, we did that with short film. Those are like really cool. They can do lots of different things. That likeness is amazing on all these fingers. I have to say I know it's there's wonderful it looks like Johnny and Daniel. The gis might look great. Daniel has the headband on Johnny has the black headband. The logos on the back of the of the gis look fantastic. You have Cobra Kai you have Miyagi Do. Very good. Yes, I've seen these What do you prefer? Do you like these? I know you like the articulation but what do you tend to look at more? What do you appreciate more as a collector of the two sets so far?

Sal Rodriguez: 23:15

Yeah, you know, it's one of these things where it's all about personal preference. On one hand, you have figures that are taller and have real cloth clothing. On the other hand, you have figures that are shorter don't have real cloth clothing, but have more articulation and more posability Yeah, so it's really a matter of preference. I mean, I love them both as a toy collector okay, I really love them both for the properties that they both envelope you know they they are different and because they're different is why I appreciate them both differently. So I would say I will say though if you're if you're a fan of posing if you're a fan of fighting you want to have these figures fighting Yeah, you're probably looking at the icon heroes in fact there's a guy who did a wonderful job of stop motion will you show because the icon here he did it was a great fight sequence absolute of Daniel and Johnny with these particular figures so I would say if you're looking for action figures for all their posability and maneuverability, I will say you're probably you're looking at the icon heroes figures because the other ones probably don't have either the maneuverability the posability and also the sculpt. Yeah, the sculpt that these figures have so I would definitely say these are a win.

Jason Connell: 24:28

And then cost on those that little set there. Those two guys icon Well,

Sal Rodriguez: 24:32

I think you're looking at about each one you're looking at about 25 to $30 for each figure. Yeah. Okay.

Jason Connell: 24:40

And those came out around the same time 2019 2020

Sal Rodriguez: 24:44

I think so. Yeah. Yeah. And then we have after that, we have then Diamond Select so Diamond Select, which makes a lot of different great figures. They're They're one of the exclusive providers of Marvel. Oh, if you're looking for a beautiful Marvel figure you're looking at Diamond Select also called Marvel. I love Marvel available.

Jason Connell: 25:02

I just do I love Marvel's

Sal Rodriguez: 25:04

Marvel Marvel Select. So Diamond Select came out with the Daniel, Johnny, Kreese.

Jason Connell: 25:10

the whole same set. It's a different like you said the license one of these guys. Now I'm trying to spot the different height. Wow, okay,

Sal Rodriguez: 25:17

well, okay the height is a difference if you look at the difference between the Johnny the icon heroes and the Diamond Select so what happens is the license holder in this case, the showrunners I guess will say we will license a six inch figure to icon heroes. We will license a seven inch figure to Diamond Select interesting. So then you have two different makers making your fingers with subtle variants which you have.

Jason Connell: 25:44

I see that Kreese has a tattoo on the arm I didn't see that earlier. But he had a different gi on so yeah, I saw that. Yeah, looking good. Looking pretty buff their Kreese. It took some years off. There that's not

Sal Rodriguez: 25:59

extra buff. This is this is like a 80s Crazy, modern day for these

Jason Connell: 26:05

80's Kreese. Yeah, he's beaten up kids. He's doing it all live in the life

Sal Rodriguez: 26:11

assaulting kids and parking lot. Sure, sometimes. That's the crease. So and then after.

Jason Connell: 26:16

So what's your thoughts on these? What's your thoughts on these diamond ones? Diamond? So like, what's your personal thought compared to the other two? So we have an idea? Not they're gonna put them down. I like the height, the height like the seven inches. Okay,

Sal Rodriguez: 26:30

well, you know, one thing you want to consider when it comes to Toy collecting is you want to consider how new figures fit into the existing display. Yeah, so let's say you have an existing display a five inch figures, all of a sudden you got seven inch figures, they're all sitting down and not really one. Yeah, you gotta like what am I gonna do? Now? It all boils down to a matter of preference, like what is your preference? Do you prefer figures with real cloth clothing? Do you prefer larger figures? Do you prefer smaller figures, figures that have a better likeness, but have maybe not as good articulation or figures that have not as good of a likeness or maybe better articulation? So there's a lot of things to consider as far as building up your reservoir of Cobra Kai and Karate Kid action figures?

Jason Connell: 27:07

Well, it's interesting for you, you're not just a collector, you're a reviewer. So sometimes you don't even know what you're getting. You have an idea in a magazine or on mags, listen to me online. But if you haven't touched it or seen it, it shows up. You're like, oh, I liked the height. But the articulations bad but your review or what if you're just a collector, I'm sure there's a lot of disappointment out there, or excitement because like, Oh, these exceeded my expectations. You know, so it's your kind of a hybrid.

Sal Rodriguez: 27:37

Jason, I'm glad you mentioned that because, you know, I did a review of the icon heroes, Daniel and Johnny, I was very excited to do so. These are the iconic Johnny figures. They're fantastic. But then guess what? Johnny broke his arm.

Jason Connell: 27:52

Oh my gosh,

Sal Rodriguez: 27:54

this is the original Johnny figure that I received from icon heroes. They sent me a sample and his arm broke right away his arm broke. So I put this thing on, and I did the review with sort of an appendage of cyborg appendage. But yeah, that can happen so you have this is how Haley who should look this is how he looked in the review and I added that extra cyborg arm Yeah, so yeah, you have to make do because unfortunately when it comes to plastic, the nature of plastic there will be problems we don't collect silver we don't collect go we don't collect gemstones. If you're collecting plastic there will be problems

Jason Connell: 28:33

and you so you probably have things in your collection that you would not have necessarily got to cover it but you've got it to review.

Sal Rodriguez: 28:41

Yeah, I mean, like like these ones, the icon heroes were sent to me by the company. Yeah, the next ones weren't the Diamond Select figures were sent to me by Diamond Select. So one of the privileges of being a YouTube Toy reviewer with a certain amount of following is you do get sent merchandise to review 7.1 2000

Jason Connell: 29:02

subscribers 3.8 Yeah,

Sal Rodriguez: 29:05

I've got a small follows

Jason Connell: 29:06

Hey, that last one diamonds like does it look like it has logos or the logo does not see them? Their logos on the back? Well, it's faded. Okay, I see it now. I see it now. Now the Diamond Select the ones though.

Sal Rodriguez: 29:20

The Daniel has the bonsai tree and the you can barely see the Kreese. It's not there. Yeah, so wreaths are all black. Yeah, I'd say the last one I

Jason Connell: 29:33

would select is a little lacking just my personal opinion thus far, but I'm not a reviewer. I'm just a guy with a you know, a take on things. So I know you can't say no.

Sal Rodriguez: 29:45

No, no, I'm not gonna argue with you. I'm not gonna argue with you because I do believe when it comes to head to head competition. It's probably going to be between neck and neck on here. And

Jason Connell: 29:55

I look they look fantastic. I have to admit.

Sal Rodriguez: 29:57

Yeah, you're probably looking at like if you're gonna go head to head You're gonna go head to head, the NECA Johnny and the icon heroes Johnny. Not necessarily the Diamond Select Johnny .

Jason Connell: 30:10

Yeah, that one doesn't seem necessary. The other two don't compete with each other because they're so different and like they're different, bigger and has the real cloth like that. So yeah, you have some good choices there and for fans that like collecting to hold on to to grow value or to play with our pose and do fun videos with either one of those, I would say that's probably what you need to do.

Sal Rodriguez: 30:33

I would say so and unless there's unless there's Oh, yeah, please

Jason Connell: 30:36

please please to show it to me. But wait, there's

Sal Rodriguez: 30:38

more. We have the three and three quarter inch Daniel and Johnny fingers made by reaction. Super seven

Jason Connell: 30:45

those like miles school figures.

Sal Rodriguez: 30:49

They have five points of articulation what that means is shoulder can move about hips can move about and head can move back. So that's five points of articulation on on these figures. And these did come also with a mini

Jason Connell: 31:01

is that all Valley? Oh Valley troll My gosh.

Sal Rodriguez: 31:05

Yeah, so those guys came with a mini Valley trophy. And when I did shoot a video recently in Sedona, Arizona, I did use these guys as the stunt men. So when figures had to take a fall these small cringy quarters? Well, because it's like which ones are tougher, which Yeah, which ones are tougher, which could fall from eight feet on a cliff, these guys here. So I made these guys, the stunt men in my last video.

Jason Connell: 31:33

So how much are those guy who makes us again, by the way?

Sal Rodriguez: 31:38

These are made by reaction and super seven, super seven, I think design them and the reaction sells them. I think these are probably some of the more expensive ones. Honestly, you know, you may not think that the most expensive ones are the smaller ones with less articulation, but it's entirely possible to the smaller ones, could be the more expensive ones. And that's what we have here. So I think these are probably worth even more then the taller ones. Here's the next one. And here's the Diamond Select. I think it's entirely possible that right now in space and time, the reaction super seven figures three and three quarter inch with five points of articulation are worth more than larger figures with more ticket well,

Jason Connell: 32:15

how much is the smallest one?

Sal Rodriguez: 32:18

I would say that, uh, Johnny Lawrence in package? Yeah, it's probably worth at least 50 $70. So

Jason Connell: 32:27

100 bucks. 100 140. For the two of them. By the way, they look great. Yeah, I like the colors. I like the differences. If I was a collector or shooting videos, this has its place. The NECA has its place the Diamond Select has its ways that right? Diamond silica silica Now what was the one that I the other one that I loved

Sal Rodriguez: 32:48

neka Diamond Select icon here,

Jason Connell: 32:51

icon heroes neck. And those right there, I think they all have their place. You have the small like old school ones, the great articulation on the middle ones, and you got the big ones. The diamonds select unnecessary, in my opinion, how much of the diamond selects just to get an idea on cost?

Sal Rodriguez: 33:08

Well, the Diamond Select ones came in a special packaging that was that in and of itself was very special. So you had the Diamond Select figures, you had actually a three pack, what you had is you had Kreese in Johnny at the front of the package. And when you open up the package, then you have Daniel in the back. So the packaging was quite significant on the Diamond Select release. So that three pack is probably going to run you at least 100 to $200 I would probably say on eBay for the three pack set by Diamond Select

Jason Connell: 33:39

Skip it. Okay, so. So that's interesting. I'm seeing a lot of the same people again and again and again, which I love. Those are these are our heroes from the Karate Kid. We have yet to discuss or see a new character from Cobra Kai, who was not around in the original trilogy. But wait, hold on.

Sal Rodriguez: 34:02

There's more. But wait, there's more. No, Jason, you brought up two important facts. The first is Diamond Select, has released recently a three pack featuring Johnny Terry Silver and Chosen it is a three pack and we've never received a chosen figure like this. And we've never received Terry silver ever, ever, ever have received a terry silver until now and that is a Diamond Select coming out.

Jason Connell: 34:33

But that's still from the original movies.

Sal Rodriguez: 34:36

It is so Okay, so what happens in years past fast forward to present day playmates, wanted to reintroduce some of their teenage mutant ninja turtle line. And what they did is they playmates then made Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles versus Cobra Kai so you have

Jason Connell: 34:55

a classic showdown. Yeah, you

Sal Rodriguez: 34:58

you have the vs You have the turtles versus Kreese. Turtles versus Johnny, the Turtles versus Daniel, the Turtles versus Miguel. We have a Miguel action figure made by playmates and that I did not have So Miguel

Jason Connell: 35:14

is the breakout the first figure to come that we know I would say so if I'm the Cobra Kai so there's no Robbie Tory's Samantha. Nope, Stingray Stingray will be a hit so let me ask you this now we know Cobra Kai is one more season to go toys haven't manifested yet. Are we? Or could we see those types of figures in the future? Could there be a Sensei Kim could there be you know, is that going to happen? Or is that window closing or? Well it took this long to get these new figures from the original movies or is it just a slow moving market?

Sal Rodriguez: 35:50

I would imagine that the license SIRs would be scrambling to sell their license to various toy makers so I think it's entirely possible okay we will not only see other incarnations of Daniel Johnny Terry Kreese but we will also be seeing Eli new heroes

Jason Connell: 36:10

Hawk Miguel head switch out or a hair Hamas

Sal Rodriguez: 36:14

ad hoc with a with a switching head with them and

Jason Connell: 36:18

they would Stingray.

Sal Rodriguez: 36:21

Robby ? Yeah, it's entirely possible we will be seeing these figures, but they are not out yet.

Jason Connell: 36:27

Well, what I learned today on this podcast is that I would like NECA or icon heroes to roll those out. Now I've heard of MacFarlane because I've seen other figures. Football has really good figures that in their poses and people can use them in different shots and things but I would also love to see and I would think this would be a homerun if you're gonna go classic The Karate Kid have the skeleton Cobra Kai from the Halloween do they have those? Is that anything on the horizon? Or have you ever heard of seeing those

Sal Rodriguez: 37:02

NECA when they released these figures? Yeah, they did release the Johnny Lawrence skeleton costume. So there is this one? Yeah, there is one Johnny Lawrence skeleton costume made by NACA there is out there and I think I might have it in my pile somewhere. He's just not here. You

Jason Connell: 37:20

can just get like five or six of them. And then just be a bunch of couple of guys.

Sal Rodriguez: 37:26

You could do that. Yeah, yeah, there are customizers that do things? That's

Jason Connell: 37:29

Tommy. Bobby. Yeah,

Sal Rodriguez: 37:32

they make him suited to their needs. It's entirely possible. Yeah. So I would say definitely that the walls are the doors are wide open for Cobra Kai and Karate Kid action figures.

Jason Connell: 37:42

And if I could just chime in besides a chi that I'd love to see a Kyler and a Bert and Anthony. But you know, we really need a Darrell the doll, action figure and a fairly Fernandez.

Sal Rodriguez: 37:57

That would be pretty amazing. I'm probably gonna guess it. A Freddie figure would probably be a customizer, a customizer, we'll probably do something like that. I don't know if any of the major makers would make a Freddie action figure. Oh, that would be quite fun.

Jason Connell: 38:09

Or how about just the facade or you know, like Barbies have like Barbies Playhouse I want to South sees, like a big playset.

Sal Rodriguez: 38:19

I like you can open it up.

Jason Connell: 38:21

There's the pool, the old lady, you got the dog, you got the empty pool, although it's full and Cobra Kai. But yeah, you could go so many places with it. But there are some icons that we haven't touched yet. But it really is a slow moving market. It's interesting now that there's all this fanfare you're right, they shouldn't be scrambling, but who owns the license? And do they have to go to the cast? I'm assuming when you're on a hit show, you would have to sign off on that. You own yourself but you don't own the likeness of that character. So I'm assuming that yeah, why not roll out the whole young squad for all these new Cobra Kai fans. And maybe it's coming. You're right, maybe it's coming maybe that by the time this show's over, and spin offs are coming. This might be a steady train that keeps coming. Cobra Kai figures, oh, there's this there's that you know what I mean? Like, it's not going away, even when it goes away. It's not going away the show The Office went away years ago, and it's more popular than ever. So we probably hopefully we'll see more figures on the horizon. Fingers crossed. I think

Sal Rodriguez: 39:24

we absolutely will. Yeah, it just you know, you mentioned the likeness rights. You know, it's a whole thing about I was an actor in an indie film, and I filmed all I signed all my rights away. And there was like, a little moment there where they talked about merchandise. And I was like, I want I want a little piece. What if they made a figure of me? What if they made an action figure me a doll of me? I'd like to have, you know, a little piece of that. And they were like, nope. So when it comes to your own likeness, in how it relates to the film and your character, and then merchandise, right, that's a whole different thing. So like, for example, we're still waiting on a lot of predator merchandise. We have the predators. We have Dutch. Yeah. And that's it.

Jason Connell: 40:05

That's it. We don't have any body venture.

Sal Rodriguez: 40:08

We don't have we don't have Carl Weathers they'll Duke. Yeah, exactly. So what happens is you have these customizers make their own special figures that pay the homage to those characters, but no commercial license has been made available yet for whatever reason. I don't know why of those particular character. So it's not much different when it comes to Cobra Kai. When it comes to Cobra Kai. We have Daniel, we have Johnny, we have now Terry silver, we have now chosen, we have a crease. We have Miyagi. And we have Miguel. And that's it so far. So where's

Jason Connell: 40:38

our first email from the you know, Cobra Kai Karate Kid universe, we need to ally

Sal Rodriguez: 40:44

waiting for Sam or even waiting for Maoli Hello, I'm waiting for Ali. For Sam only for Amanda. I'm waiting for Lucille Lucille we do not have Jason, you brought up a very good point. We do not have any female Cobra Kai or Karate Kid characters in action figure form. As of this.

Jason Connell: 41:02

I want justice. This is ridiculous.

Sal Rodriguez: 41:05

Yeah, it is. It's wrong. It's downright wrong.

Jason Connell: 41:08

Well, this has been a fascinating look behind this world of collectibles that relate to the credit card and Cobra Kai. And this is why I wanted to call it volume one because I do know there will come a time that we'll have to do Volume Two, as new things come out. As I get my classic gi from the original movie or a script or something cool, or something, which is a collectible sale. It's different. But I am fascinated by it. And I have so many more questions. But this is probably a good tapping out point. To know that we can always come back and do this because hey, I even know when we were in studio back in the day. You had the Karate Kid car. The Super Deluxe. Yes. So super deluxe, just another talking point. But was that from the original? Or was that a recreation because the show inspired by Cobra Kai, when that

Sal Rodriguez: 41:57

one comes, they didn't release it originally that came out because a couple years ago,

Jason Connell: 42:00

and that was cool. That was really neat. So you had that old school you know those who don't remember that was the car from the Karate Kid that he chose and the yellow car classic. And that

Sal Rodriguez: 42:14

is the same car used in Greece at all Greece in the movie when they fly away. That's the same vehicle. Well, except for that's a deluxe. Well, I mean, what I mean is it's the same as well.

Jason Connell: 42:26

Well, South thank you for sharing your collectibles and your knowledge and your time. And that was a lot of fun. A lot of fun to explore.

Sal Rodriguez: 42:35

And believe me I'm with you. There will be more.

Jason Connell: 42:38

There'll be more. So thank you so much for listening and please be sure to subscribe to the let's talk Cobra Kai podcast and the let's talk Cobra Kai YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 42:53

And for all you listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts you can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on any let's talk Cobra Kai social media platform.

Jason Connell: 43:03

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Sal Rodriguez: 43:16

No Mercy