Documentary/Biopic Netflix presents The Toys That Made Us

[Primal Slayer]

The Toys That Made Us is an American television series created by Brian Volk-Weiss. The first four episodes of the series began streaming on Netflix on December 22, 2017, and the next four will be released in 2018. The 8-episode documentary series focuses on the history of important toy lines.

Really interesting and cool series. First 4 episodes revolve around Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man, and GI Joe.

 

[Sithborg]

Loved this. The He-man episode was the best, just because of the... weirdness.

4 episodes still have to air, Star Trek, Transformers, Hello Kitty, and Lego. I hope they do more, since I think they have missed a few big ones. And the series has been a little focused on action figures.

 

[SV Fan]

Loved this. The He-man episode was the best, just because of the... weirdness.

I have to agree, I seen all except the Barbie one, the He-man episode by far was the best(due to the group of people behind it being such characters themselves), can't wait for Transformers

 

[Shifty]

Loved this. The He-man episode was the best, just because of the... weirdness.

4 episodes still have to air, Star Trek, Transformers, Hello Kitty, and Lego. I hope they do more, since I think they have missed a few big ones. And the series has been a little focused on action figures.

I suppose it depends what toylines had "drama" or interesting things happy during the lifespan of the line. TMNT seems like a big toy line but maybe it was a simple toy deal compared to what the other four episodes were about. Finished the first four today and it was a bit surprising that the episode with more interesting individuals and scandals are in the Barbie episode.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I felt so bad for the guy who invented GI Joe...he really screwed himself out of millions.

I wasnt expecting so much scandal over the creators of Barbie, that came out of left field.

 

[TheVileOne]

I recall there was a lot of drama with Mattel over Bratz and suing the Bratz creator for copyright infringement.

 

[PhasedPlasma101]

Loved this. The He-man episode was the best, just because of the... weirdness.

4 episodes still have to air, Star Trek, Transformers, Hello Kitty, and Lego. I hope they do more, since I think they have missed a few big ones. And the series has been a little focused on action figures.

That kinda sucks. I have no interest in Hello Kitty or Star Trek as toys. Love Star Trek overall, just don't remember their toys being all that impactful.

I loved loved loved every episode even though I didn't grow up with these toys, late 80s baby, I'm well aware of their cultural impact. It was great to know more.

The Barbie episode was really fascinating; that would make a great movie ala I, Tonya. Bright, black humor with Ruth Handler and the engineer sex addict guy, forget his name.

I was hoping they would do Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 89 Batman and Power Rangers at some point bcause those were my go to toys growing up in the 90s.

Anybody know when the new episodes come out?

 

[Primal Slayer]

Season 2 is here.

 

[TheVileOne]

Season 2 is here.

Here we go.

1. Star Trek
2. Transformers
3. LEGO
4. Hello Kitty

 

[Sithborg]

The Trek one is great.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Season 3 will feature
-My Little Pony
- WWE (Wresting)
- TMNT
- Power Rangers

 

[Sithborg]

Good, good.

Still kind of wish it wasn't so slanted toward boy toys, though.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

This has been a good series. Not super ground breaking in terms of projects about nostalgia and it has maybe too much of that VH1 "I LOVE THE 80's/90's" type flavor but they get pretty deep into their subject matter and present most stuff warts and all. Can't wait for those new episodes.

 

[rogue trooper]

Here's hoping they might get around to doing:

and

 

[Drizzle]

Good, good.

Still kind of wish it wasn't so slanted toward boy toys, though.

It's just because the majority of toy lines out there are geared towards boys. There are many girls toys out there too but Barbie's always kind of dominated that market.

 

[Sawyer]

Just watched the first season and, with the exception of Barbie, I like that the entire season is basically "Well, Kenner was killing it with Star Wars, so we figured we better come up with some ****."

 

[TheVileOne]

Just watched the first season and, with the exception of Barbie, I like that the entire season is basically "Well, Kenner was killing it with Star Wars, so we figured we better come up with some ****."

Star Wars was a game changer for the whole industry.

 

[Sawyer]

It's just because the majority of toy lines out there are geared towards boys. There are many girls toys out there too but Barbie's always kind of dominated that market.

The thing is so 80s-centric, I feel like there's a good deal to explore in girls toys. Cabbage Patch dolls, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake...

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

The thing is so 80s-centric, I feel like there's a good deal to explore in girls toys. Cabbage Patch dolls, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake...

No doubt there's more to explore but you figure they have to reckon with the way the products covered in the first two seasons are just such dominant cultural forces, many of which in some way still have an effect on today, or they were the lines that cracked the formula in some manner. They are the playbook that so many cross promotional franchises still use in some fashion even in the 21st century.

 

[Steyin]

Wonder if they'll do episodes on Ghostbusters or NERF down the road. Would board games count as toys in this scenario?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Wonder if they'll do episodes on Ghostbusters or NERF down the road. Would board games count as toys in this scenario?

I think the board games of the past definitely qualify. But I guess that would be a different way of organizing these shows. You would more have to do a catch all that includes all the big names in some way or maybe concentrate on one of the companies that made the games like Parker Bros. With the way it's done so far they just focus on one discrete franchise per episode.

I think the NERF and GB idea is great too though. The GB toys are ripe for the same kind of breakdown the others have had already and NERF could definitely be handled the way they did LEGO.

 

[Sithborg]

Sesame Street would be a good one. Furby and Tomogatchi would be interesting as well. American Girl dolls would be a great option for more girl toys. I can understand why it is so action figure oriented, but there are some great options. There are even options outside of the 80's boom.

 

[Heretic]

Apparently season 3 will be
Power Rangers
Wrestling
My Little Pony
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I definitely understand why all of those were chosen. Also, they seem to only be going for one female-centric line per season.

I'd say that a few that might be told after season 3 are...
DC and Marvel (After the "headliners" are done, I can see them doing separate episodes for Marvel and DC toys, with each "headlining" a season)
Cabbage Patch Kids
Hot Wheels
Beanie Babies
Nintendo
Dungeons & Dragons/roleplaying games
Sesame Street
Board games

I don't know why, but it feels like Mego has been covered...but there isn't an episode of this show about it. Am I kind of remembering a documentary film or something?

Also, Funko Pop might be in the mix, even though it isn't retro...except that there is a very recent documentary about it. However, I lost interest and stopped watching that film halfway through...these episodes are shorter than that film though.

 

[Sithborg]

I believe Mego was covered quite a bit in the Star Trek episode.

 

[Sawyer]

Is Power Rangers really a big enough toy property to warrant a whole episode?