darkSpyro

Hullo all!

I'd like to make a new YouTube channel or feature on my existing one dedicated to Toys to Life and Skylanders discussion. Going into topics that interest me, talking about figures and merchandise, reviewing individual characters and covering news stories should there be any. I know this isn't the best time to do it when the hobby isn't what it once was, but I'm very much interested in archiving the physical and digital stuff, and revisiting content that's no longer accessible.

Where you come in is the naming of such a channel or feature. I was thinking along the lines of "Johnbonne on Skylands" (as in Floyd on Oz, Floyd on the lam, etc.), or "Your Brain on Skylands", however I'm open to suggestions and if it can cover toys-to-life in general that'd be sweet!

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post; it seemed the most relevant as I want to get more into the collecting side, and I've got quite a lot of ideas for content already! I hope you enjoy whatever it is we come up with!

if that is what you want to do then go for it.

Quote: CountMoneyBone

if that is what you want to do then go for it.

That's very true, and I encourage this of anyone who wants to make content. But I was just looking for suggestions; I'm not very good at committing to choices, so if I see a name that really stands out, I'd absolutely go with it!

I think it would be interesting to see subjective reviews of skylanders in game and also the figures.
You could talk about things you liked and disliked about them, as well as opinions on skylanders you don't even own and if you want them or not.
Another idea is for fun more than anything, but you could see what the skylanders look like with different hats and trinkets, finding which ones look stupid or not, something nobody has done at least on YouTube.
As for the name I don't know what it should be called, it really depends on what the videos would be about, if it's the games or the figures and if they are reviews or playthroughs.
I can't be a personal director but I have just a few ideas that could help you get started.
If you did end up doing it, I'd defiantly watch it.

Thanks for your support! Those seem like really cool ideas but I'm definitely more into the information side than making it funny & nonsensical at times. Reviews will definitely be my priority, next to vlogs that discuss Toys to Life (and perhaps go into hobbies like Warhammer 40k). I guess I could do something like Top 10 Hat & Trinket Combo lists (perhaps a monthly feature?), and get a few giggles that way. But above all else for me this is about preserving as much knowledge as I can, and then later getting info on prototypes and other such things.

The name I'm going for is Fistfantastic Plastic (because "FISTFANTASTIC" is the highest compliment I can give something on my channel), provided of course the toys are made of plastic and not something like resin or silicone. I'm not sure what they're made of, but if it's not plastic I'd better just change the name to "Your Brain on Skylands", eh?

Cheers again for your advice, it's very much appreciated!

I'm pretty sure the toys from all 4 main TTL series are made of special plastics. They just come from 3D printers. (or in the case of Lego, they're just, lego plastic). Even if the toys weren't technically made of plastic, I'm sure you could get away with that name anyway. Just as a general term for toys? Also- did you ever think about covering the TTL games from before TTL was a niche genre? (Anybody remember things like UBFunkies?)

Quote: SoulfulWolf

I'm pretty sure the toys from all 4 main TTL series are made of special plastics. They just come from 3D printers. (or in the case of Lego, they're just, lego plastic). Even if the toys weren't technically made of plastic, I'm sure you could get away with that name anyway. Just as a general term for toys? Also- did you ever think about covering the TTL games from before TTL was a niche genre? (Anybody remember things like UBFunkies?)

Thanks for that, SoulfulWolf! I knew the first stage of making the figures was done in 3D printing, but I didn't know they were massed produced that way! I always imagined them being done in giant factories with huge machines doing them. That's awfully fascinating!

As for your enquiry about TTL in general, yes, I would absolutely love to go into the old toys. UBFunkies, Sick Bricks, Swypeout and many others that I fail to remember the names of came and went in the UK, not getting anywhere near as much attention as in the rest of Europe or especially America. Because of how much attention the main brands hog nowadays, it's hard to find solid information on old toys to life. All I need are the names of some of these old brands and I'll be able to research them as best I can!

Can you or anyone else remember which TTL games there were prior to Skylanders?

Oh, well I don't know for sure if the main line of toys are 3D printed still or not, I just sort of assumed. It might still just be prototypes. But I can assure you they're still plastic! They just, seem like that's the material used, from the feel, texture, smell, and what it looks like when it breaks or melts.

And sadly I don't really know any other TTL games. I barely remember UBFunkies, I think I had like 3 when they first hit market, and they are pretty obscure now. Would the Marvel Playmation series count? (That's more stop motion, but still-)

Transformers: Robots in Disguise had a mobile game that used a similar concept, although not quite "toys to life" and not prior to Skylanders. Every toy from the line had a special badge that, when scanned with a smartphone, would unlock the character in the game. Different sizes and color schemes of the same character would actually unlock separate versions with different details and colors (and stats) to match the actual toy. Even some of the merchandise had scannable badges, but they usually just unlocked currency or random powerups. I know all this due to already being a Transformers collector before I even started with Skylanders.

Quote: SoulfulWolf

I'm pretty sure the toys from all 4 main TTL series are made of special plastics. They just come from 3D printers. (or in the case of Lego, they're just, lego plastic). Even if the toys weren't technically made of plastic, I'm sure you could get away with that name anyway. Just as a general term for toys? Also- did you ever think about covering the TTL games from before TTL was a niche genre? (Anybody remember things like UBFunkies?)

Noooooot quite, they use molds for the mass produced runs. The 3D print is just for the initial "master", then molds are made based on that. Pretty sure they're all plastic of some sort, it's not been explicitly mentioned for any of them, I believe, but it's assumed to be PVC? Lots of figures are made of PVC, so it'd make sense...

As for the/other past TTL games... Other than Funkeys, I'm not sure... There have been a couple of Pokemon "games" that used figures (the V-Trainers, THINKChip), but whether you'd count those...
I think there's also some interesting "real world item with in game effects" in the world of arcade games - Pokemon Ga'ole being the latest in a couple of Pokemon themed ones (Battrio and Tretta being two others - where you'd have the "counters" that you place onto and move around a grid and it translates into actions within the game), and a couple other games where physical cards are used in some way (whether by scanning a barcode, or placing cards with NFC/RFID onto a grid/playing field - for example, Mushiking and Dinosaur King are the scanning/swiping type, Lord of Vermillion is the grid type). Yes, very simplistic application, but they've been around for a little while... For the card related stuff, Sony's Eye of Judgement is a similar one on a home console. Used a camera to read codes on the cards, but a similar sort of thing? Not quite Toys to Life, as the items aren't really "toys"... Mattel's HyperScan is another old cards-to-game console. On a similar note, Harmonix's DropMix seems an interesting use of NFC cards...

Thanks for the additional input, this is really kicking off! The way I see Toys to Life is really just any real world object that's a peripheral to a video game, including - but not limited to - cards and discs, but if there are figures (even if they plug into the game via US, I'll still accept them for discussion on the show.

There were some cheap non-console games based on "How to train your Dragon", TMNT, and Power Rangers that used the TTL concept.

In Japan there was a Kamen Rider game that used it as well.

Oh neat, thanks for those! If I can get my hands on them I'll see what I can make of them!

There's some news on my end: I've just made the first episode of Fistfantastic Plastic, complete with a bit of a bland intro. Worked out a lot nicer than I expected; will be uploading and sharing here tomorrow for opinions, but please do keep the TTL brands coming! This'd not just help me but others interested in them also (if there is anyone..... it's lonely here.... in the Toys to Life isle.... so lonely....)

The first three I mentioned were called "Hero Portal" and apparently also had DC superheroes. The other was called "SummonRide".

If we're going into cards counting as TTL, there have been a bunch of Japanese Arcade games that utilize a card system, or something similar. The first few I can think of are Dragon Ball Heroes, which to my knowledge is still going strong, having just released cards for Goku's Ultra Instinct Form from Super, which was just introduced. Or like, some Beetle King game where you fought beetles using collectible cards on the arcade- machine.

And I think even in America (where I'm situated, as I know DarkSpyro is a European hosted website), I think F-Zero had an arcade cabinet with some sort of functionality like that? F-Zero AX? Something like that? I'm probably remembering it wrong, and you just plugged in your Gamecube memory card to unlock the AX, or AF(?), tracks in Z-Zero GX early. (Though I believe you can unlock all the AX/AF/EX content in GX by just beating everything on the hardest difficulty, and grinding up money for the in-game shop.) [Apologies I can't remember the 2 letters for the arcade counterpart to F-Zero GX.]

Here's the first episode of Fistfantastic Plastic, where I talk about what makes a figure appealing to me, and my favourite figure in the entire genre! This is one of the many discussion/vlog-type episodes I'll be doing, but individual figure reviews and potential in-depth reviews of other TTL games will be done in the style you can see elsewhere on my channel. Feel free to give feedback either in this thread or in the comments section so I can get a better idea of how to improve (though I am aware the editing and better set-up could be done).



I'm still looking for suggestions and ideas, as this is only a pitch. If you want to see more, please let me know what ideas you have or if you've any questions you'd like me to answer in a video!

EDIT: I've been going over the names of brands you've mentioned and while finding information on them isn't too hard, getting physical copies in the UK is difficult. What few things show up on eBay and Amazon to purchase will cost a fortune in import taxes, so I'd rather look at those later in the channel's life.

On the bright side, I have come across a motherload of UBFunkeys for £10, so I may do an unboxing revealing the stuff I've purchased and talk a little about them based on my (currently) limited knowledge of the toy and their packaging as they are brand new in box!

Once again, thanks for your input, it's been real good to see people interested in toys to life outside of Skylanders!

Good stuff Johnny Boy!!

I would suggest an episode noting how molds have been reduced. Skylanders items, Adventure pack molds, and battle packs have all gone away. Now they massively overprice a singular figure, tying the level to that figure. This is great for them reducing mold cost, but punishing for the minimalist targeting those figures in the bonus packs.

Maybe go into how the Wii made it difficult to patch, but with the games pushing over to online systems, it seems they could do more things that are free DLC.

Those're some interesting suggestions, I could certainly give my opinion on those! I'll be away from tomorrow 'til Sunday, so I'll have plenty of time to mull over suggestions, I just won't be able to act upon them 'til I get back!