EP36: Everybody Loves Logan

The Story about how short hairy dude took over the entire Marvel Universe

EP35: A Fondness For Male Sheep

The Story about a Heroic Master with a literal spring in his step

EP34: Disappointing The Phandom

The Story about how Star Wars won over the fandom with a shiny new character...

EP33: Covering The Girl

The Story about a supermodel who killed a bunch of pirates and got a job driving a missile tank for it...

EP32: The Best Of 2022 Part 3 (Third Quarter)

The Story about how update my best of 2022 list.....for the third time.

EP31: A Monstrus Creation

The Story about how I played Primus and created two new Dinobots

EP30: I Wanta Wampa!

The Story about how a little boy found love in a giant snowman from Hoth

EP29: Fear Of Offending Asians

The Story about how a great character was almost shelved out of fear of offending my people....

EP28: The Rainbow Collection

The Story about how adding a little color did wonders for Hal

EP27: Lob Actually

The Story about the MVP of that epic basketball game between Joe and Cobra

EP26: A Classic Revival

The Story about how a little toy line turned into an instant Classic

EP25: What The Puck!?

The Story about a hero shorter, hairier and even more Canadian-er than Wolverine eh

EP24: Duncan Donuts

The Story about how a donut guy had to deal with some rebellious crayons

EP23: Cliff Notes

The Story about how Hasbro made an extra buck by painting Bumblebee red and calling it a day...

EP22: Ex X-Men

The Story of how we Ex-plore the Ex-ploits of two Ex-men

EP21: Looking Back At 2012

The Story about how I looked back at my favorite toys of 2012

EP20: I Did It Myyyyyy Wave

The Story about how a monotonous voice won the hearts of kids everywhere

EP19: The Airborne Identity

The Story about how Hasbro broke my resolve with a single figure...

EP18: Lobster Tales

The Story about where I fill you in on all the cl-awful details...

EP17: Ewok To Remember

The Story about how I talk about Ewoks NOT named Wicket W Warrick

EP16: Springing For A New Toy

The Story about how a war was Sprung over a green and yellow robot....

EP15: A Joe Chris-ening

The Story about a Joe that I could call my very own

EP14: She's In Love With Me And I Feel Pine

The Story about how I almost grew pine trees out of my nose

EP13: I Am Legends

The Story about my Marvel superhero collection grew to six inches....

EP12: The Rise And Fall Of My Marvel Universe

The Story about how my Marvel collection evolved into something bigger...

EP11: Oh DC Can You See?

The Story about How Ryan Reynolds got me to buy even more toys...

EP10: Know Your Joe

The Story of how I learned personal intimate details about those Real American Heroes...

EP09: Dōmo Arigatō, Mister Robo

The Story about how robots NOT called Transformers and some little furry dudes won my childhood heart...

EP08: Childhood Confessions

The Story about my love for small colorful bears, that shoot stuff from their bellies...

EP07: The Others

The Story about how I used small plastic bricks to bring my imagination to life

EP06: The Real Meaning Of Christmas

The Story about how all I wanted for Christmas was a Cosmic Enforcer and Flying Monkey Man...

EP05: He Has A Tendency To Blow His Own Stack

The Story about how I learned that there was more to life than Star Wars...

EP04: Two Dengars Is Too Much

The Story about how my two Dengars had to take on the Cloud Car pilot....

EP03: Transformers...In Three-Dee!

The Story about how I found another excuse to buy more toys...

EP02: My Robot Kicked Your Robot's Butt!

The Story about how I learned about those "Robots in Disguise"...

EP01: Stories From The Toyshelf...Redux

In 2012, after collecting toys for about five years, I decided to start a blog documenting my life as a collector and the stories behind the different toys that I buy. And so Stories From The Toyshelf was born.

The Best Of 2022: Second Quarter Part 2

Quite a lot can happen in three months. You’d be surprised at how many new toys I’ve actually acquired in ninety plus days. Sometimes I even surprise myself. Yes I buy quite a lot of toys. Many would say too much. But it is what it is I guess. In any case it’s that time to go back to my list to see just what new stuff have made their way into the top ten.

The Best Of 2022: Second Quarter Part 1

And just like that, we’re halfway done with 2022! So it’s time once again to look back at some of my favorite purchases from the past three months and revisit and tweak my ever changing top ten list for the year. So let’s get started!

What's In The Box?

When it comes to toy collecting, one of the most basic divisive aspects that splits the community straight down the middle is whether you open your toys or keep them in the box. While there is no right or wrong way to collect, and what you do with what you collect is ultimately your business, there are definite advantages and disadvantages to both sides. And it’s up to you as to what you value most in your collection.

The Best Of 2022: First Quarter

And here we go again! New year means more new toys. We’re just three months in and there already is quite a lot to write about. So let's get the ball rolling with my favorite picks for the first quarter of 2022.

New Blood - 3rd Party Rundown 2022 Part 4

So here we are in the final part of this 3rd Party roundup for 2022. Since the last time I wrote about the scene a lot has changed. Some companies have ceased to exist while others have remained alive and well. And of course we have had a number of new players come in to try and make their own mark in the 3rd party scene. So let’s get to know some more of them shall we?

Alive And Kicking - 3rd Party Rundown 2022 Part 3

The 3rd party Transformers scene is alive and well! Even with all the numerous dead and inactive companies that I wrote about in my two previous posts, there are a whole lot more out there still churning out unofficial Transformers products. How each of these companies outlasted others through the years is varied. But one thing a lot of them have in common is that they are not trying to be everything to everyone. They know who they are and what they’re good at making and have stuck to it. At the end of the day, it’s all about the product. And these companies have basically survived because they continue to regularly produce some damn good toys!

Treading Water - 3rd Party Rundown 2022 Part 2

The Third party Transformers scene is one that is constantly changing. Through the years we have seen many companies just disappear without a trace and other newer ones popping up to take their place. In the previous post, I covered companies that have most likely called it a day and are no longer around. This time, I will go over companies who are sort of stuck in a sort of holding pattern. While we haven’t seen anything really new from most of them, for one reason or another, I’m not quite ready to consider them done.

Dead and Buried - 3rd Party Rundown 2022 Part 1

In one of my favorite toy discussion podcasts, the hosts were so frequently asked by their listeners “where they saw the Transformers 3rd party scene going in the next five years” that it soon became a running joke that they would constantly ask each other. Ironically, almost exactly five years ago, I wrote about all the numerous 3rd party companies that I had first hand experience with regards to their products. It turned out to be quite an extensive piece as one post turned into five. Anyway, here we really are, five years later since those posts and the 3rd party landscape, while still alive and kicking, really has changed quite a bit. A number of the companies I previously wrote about, have gone the way of the dodo bird while others have popped out of the woodwork to take their place.

Wishlist 2022: Everything Else

While the entirety of my toy collection can be basically broken down into three major lines that I am actively collecting, namely Star Wars Black series, Marvel Legends and Transformers, there are still other smaller properties that I find myself dipping my toes into from time to time. While none of them are thankfully on the scale of the aforementioned big three, there are still a good number of “other” toys that I am hoping to see released or at least announced in 2022. So here is my wish list for everything else.

Wishlist 2022: Transformers

When I first started collecting toys as an adult back in 2007, it was all about those Robots in Disguise. As much as I love Star Wars and Marvel Superheroes , it’s the Transformers that easily take the top spot in my collection. So with that firmly established, let's get started on which Transformers characters I am hoping to see in 2022.

Wishlist 2022: Marvel Legends Part 2

With a rich history of comic book based superheroes and an expansive and ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is definitely no shortage of characters that I am still wanting and waiting to add to my Marvel Legends collection. So much so that I felt it would be an unfulfilling exercise to just come up with a wishlist of ten items that covered both sides of my collection. So two lists it is. In the last post I tackled my comic book wishlist, and so now let's get to the cinematic side of characters that I am hoping will be at least announced in the next 12 months.

Wishlist 2022: Marvel Legends Part 1

Of all the lines I currently collect, Marvel Legends is the one I buy the most of every year. And like many collectors, my Legends collection is two fold, one based on the comics that I grew up reading, and the other on the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. And each collection has quite a number of missing characters that I’d like to see in the next 12 months. So while this may seem like a cop out, I decided to make separate lists for each..so let's get going with the first part.

Wishlist 2022: The Black Series

If there is one that is certain in toy collecting, it’s that it never ends. Unless you manage to quit cold turkey, there will always be something “missing” from your collection or something new and shiny you will be tempted to buy. So let’s do something new to kick off 2022. I thought that it would be a fun exercise to make out a wishlist of new toys that I am hoping will be at the very least officially announced in the next 12 months. And come 2023, I can revisit this list and see how many or little items actually came true!

The Best Of 2021: Part 2

And so here we are at the main event, the best of 2021. Aside from the ongoing pandemic, quite a lot happened toy-wise during the last quarter of the year; from a failed Haslab campaign to a number of last minute releases that directly affected the outcome of my top ten list. So let's get started.

The Best Of 2021: Part 1

2021 has officially come and gone. And before we can start looking towards the new year, there is still the unfinished business of looking back at the highlights of the previous one. So let’s get started on the honorable mentions for the last quarter of 2021.

The Worst of 2021

So it’s a given that I get a whole lot of toys every year, some would argue a little too much. And with all the new toys that join the collection in a 12 month span, it’s inevitable that some of my purchases will end up being disappointments. So this time around as a primer for the final list of my favorites from 2021, I thought I’d take a look at the other end of the spectrum and go over the top 10 disappointing toys that I got in the past year.