Thrill of the Hunt: A Collector’s Podcast

27/06/2024

SDCC exclusives revealed. Is there anything you’ll be trying to pick up from these? This might be the first year in a long time that I can pass on everything being offered. - Chris

We've got a first look at Hasbro's impressive lineup of exclusive figures for San Diego Comic-Con 2024, including Darth Maul with his Sith Speeder and a long overdue Marvel Legends Death's Head figure.

22/04/2024

This is some strange news. I get Hasbro licensing out some stuff that maybe is not in their wheelhouse, but a toy company completely outsourcing a toy line to another toy company, that’s just bonkers. I think it’s safe to say that the Lightning Collection is officially dead.

BREAKING NEWS - Hasbro & Playmates Toys team up to produce & distribute products including action figures, blasters, plush, role play, vehicles and accessories in 2025.

⚡ Press Release: https://www.rangerboard.com/index.php?threads/178716/post-6318218

PAWTUCKET, R.I.—April 22, 2024— Hasbro, a leading toy and game company, today announced a global licensing agreement with Playmates Toys, a global toy design, development, marketing and distribution company, to produce and distribute POWER RANGERS product. Playmates is debuting its first POWER RANGERS collection with a kid targeted MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS toy line in 2025.

As part of the agreement, Playmates holds licensing rights to develop additional cross-category POWER RANGERS products, including action figures, blasters, plush, role play, vehicles and accessories. The deal encompasses global distribution across all regions excluding Asia.

“We are honored to work with Hasbro on the reimagination of this iconic franchise’s toy line for long time fans and a new generation of children. Playmates and Hasbro speak the same toy language and share a passion for POWER RANGERS, a multi-generational phenomenon that has stood the test of time,” said Karl Aaronian, Playmates’ SVP of Marketing.

Hasbro will retain all entertainment rights and will continue to drive global strategy and growth for the POWER RANGERS franchise by strategically working with licensees across multiple categories, including publishing, fashion and footwear, promotions and more. Hasbro will also further activate the brand across their direct-to-consumer channel Hasbro Pulse and as part of its presence at major industry events like San Diego Comic Con.

“Playmates’ ability to interpret character-based story telling in highly detailed, innovative, and affordable products has revitalized several iconic brands, they are the perfect fit to fully expand the POWER RANGERS franchise,” said Casey Collins, President of Licensed Consumer Products at Hasbro. “While we’ll continue to provide oversight and direction on future POWER RANGERS product ranges, Playmates will leverage its action figure and accessory design, development and marketing expertise to create an entirely new play and collecting experience for fans of all ages. With two powerhouse companies coming together to support a powerhouse brand, the potential is limitless!”

Celebrating 30 continuous years on the air, POWER RANGERS has become one of the longest-running kids’ live-action series in television history, with more than 900 episodes aired to date. Created by Haim Saban and launched in 1993 with MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS, the series celebrated its 30th year in 2023 with MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: ONCE & ALWAYS, an anniversary special streaming exclusively on Netflix. The most recent season of POWER RANGERS, POWER RANGERS: COSMIC FURY, is currently available exclusively on Netflix.

20/09/2023

Schedule for PulseCon is up.

Is G.I. Joe the big dog at Hasbro now? Used to be Star Wars or Marvel Legends in those last time slots on these events.

25/07/2023

And just like that, it's backed! Next tier is going to be 11,000. Let's free Ezra from the unknown regions!

*Limit of 5 per customer.  Standard shipping and handling to the contiguous United States included for Hasbro Pulse Premium members. Shipping and handling charges will be calculated at the time of checkout for Hasbro non-Pulse Premium Members. Now’s your chance to join the Ghost crew with this o...

22/07/2023

The rumors and speculation were on the money. The next Star Wars TVC HasLab is the Ghost. 8000 backers needed at $499. It launched nearly 7 hours ago and is already over halfway to funding with 4500+ backers. I think it’s a safe bet to say this will fund. Brian is thinking about it. Chris is out. Will you be backing this?

21/07/2023

Here it is everyone! Hope you enjoy our latest episode while your perusing that latest from SDCC.

Join Chris and Brian as we cover our latest acquisitions and speak to the ongoing struggle to collect a line that doesn't see it through. Tune in as we uncover the history of figure lines and properties like Power Rangers and Indiana Jones that never seem to finish what they start.

16/07/2023

It’s been awhile! Be on the lookout for a show dropping soon. Brian & I will be discussing the end of lines. Particularly with the announcement from on Twitter. Lightning Collection, Indiana Jones among others will be discussed. Link to Josh’s video below.

This week on ⚡️the Aliens are in stock on Amazon US, Remastered Black might be sold at SDCC next week and… um well.. let’s chat. #2024 ...

11/07/2023

The waiting is over! You’ve all been very patient as we update Valaverse.com and the time has come for you to get your hands on our re-stock of items. The Action Force re-stock is happening Wednesday, July 12 @ 3:00pm EST. The Valacon exclusives as well as several other items will be available. Our team has worked very hard to revamp the site and make sure your ordering experience is smooth (every finger crossed). We also made a big update to the shop page to make finding all the items much easier. All of our items can now be found on one page and you no longer have to click into each Series section. This should be much more user friendly and make shopping faster. Head over to the link below to check out the new page and get an idea of where all the items are located.

https://valaverse.com/series/

Here is a full list of what will be available on Valaverse.com

Warpath Eclipse (one per customer)
SDS Condor Reissue (one per customer)
SDS Bone Collector Reissue (one per customer)
SDS Kerak Reissue (one per customer)
SDS Desert Trooper
SDS Desert Gear
SDS Special Ops Trooper (one per customer)
SDS Special Ops Gear (one per customer)
Vintage Carded 3.75” Desert Rat figure
Vintage Loose 3.75” Desert Rat figure
Action Force: Mission Files Trade Paperback

Many of these items are a limited quantity and are one per customer. If you have ordered one of these items from Valaverse.com previously, you will not be able to order another one. We want to give as many new customers a chance to get these great items.

We will have our whole team on deck tomorrow for the launch so should any issue arise on the site, there will be no need to send messages as our team will be on top of it. We hope you are excited about this re-stock update and look forward to getting these out to you.

It’s Time For Action!

22/06/2023

It’s refreshing to see a toy company putting the consumer at the forefront of what they do! While almost every major toy company is raising prices, Valaverse is lowering them. Valaverse put down a marker with their Vanguard pricing and they put down another one here.

At this years Joefest aka Valacon, a major announcement was made that Valaverse will be dropping prices on their items starting with Series 4 in October! Th...

08/03/2023

More items that will be available at 1 PM for pre-order. These are Hasbro Pulse exclusives. I’m very conflicted about the fact that Snow Job is not part of a regular wave and is exclusive. 😠

08/03/2023

Good looking wave. Preorders got up at 1pm today. The ones pictured below will be available at all retailers that sell Classifieds.

06/02/2023

A great video by Nerdzoic. This pretty much covers the same things that get us fired up here at Thrill of the Hunt.

You know what really grinds my gears about toy collecting? There are quite a few things if I am being honest and I want to get them off my chest!🔥 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜...

06/02/2023

Finally got all my new Joe’s up. Swapped out Gung-Ho to my preferred version. I still need to add all the new Cobra characters to my Cobra shelf. I’ll probably need a second shelf for them. Also got some of my new Power Rangers up. Now my Dino Charge core team is complete. Still need to add some things to my MMPR display. This isn’t even all my Lightning Collection Power Rangers. I need to figure out how to get Lost Galaxy displayed now that we’ve got 4 of the 6. 

01/02/2023

Time to open this bad boy!

28/01/2023

Got my first Lightning Collection plastic free packaging figure. Dino Charge Blue Ranger completes the core Dino Charge team. Unfortunately, the line is still seeing QC issues out of the Vietnam factory/s. While mine isn’t terrible, the chest is a little bit looser than I would like. It’s not super loose. The bigger issue is I did not receive a right fist as you can see in the pictures. I received two right open hands. Again, not a big deal, but I’m using it to illustrate that QC issues are still happening.

27/01/2023

Sad to see more people at Hasbro are going to lose their jobs. That said, corporate greed was in full effect when Hasbro decided to jack up prices way over what their competitors were for the sake of more profit. That decision doesn’t seem to have served them well. 

Hasbro Inc said on Thursday it would cut about 15% of its global workforce this year and estimated holiday-quarter results well below Wall Street expectations amid weakening demand for its toys and games.

17/01/2023

Great looking wave! Pre-ordered! Bittersweet on the Dino Thunder Black figure.

17/01/2023

I said I wasn’t going to buy MMPR again after completing the team, but these have me reconsidering. These are essentially, the quintessential versions of these characters. I don’t make that statement about Hasbro figures lightly. Decisions, decisions…

25/12/2022

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from us here at Thrill of the Hunt!! We hope whatever holiday you might be celebrating, it is filled with loved ones, and of course toys and collectibles.

24/12/2022

Got lucky at Walmart this morning. Pulled fresh from the case. Not sure why they packed this guy 1 per case. Are you looking for Cosmos?

19/12/2022

Interesting news from the toy industry. We will touch on this news on our next show coming in January. The “kidult” label needs to be dropped. We are adult collectors, thank you very much!

"Kidults" are responsible for one-fourth of all toy sales annually, around $9 billion worth, as they buy everything from Star Wars to Lego products.

11/12/2022

Some good holiday deals from our friends at FigureShield. Perfect for MOC/MIB collectors in your life.

09/12/2022

Join Chris and Brian as we cover our latest acquisitions and learn how G.I Joe is still going after 58 years. Tune in as we uncover the history of a Real American Hero and see where the future lies for this enduring brand.

06/12/2022

Our friends over at Star Wars Action News got to help reveal the new Endor Bunker Playset from The Vintage Collection as part of the ROTJ 40th Anniversary. Check out their post below.

Will you be picking this up?

We have a new Star Wars product reveal on our site! The Endor Bunker Playset--coming with a carded TVC figure: Rebel Commando in Scout Trooper Disguise!

See all the photos and details at https://swactionnews.com/2022/12/06/product-reveal-tvc-endor-bunker-with-rebel-commando-scout-trooper-disguise-figure/

23/11/2022

Looks like some Black Friday deals are going to be coming from Hasbro Pulse. Starts tomorrow at 9 Eastern.

23/11/2022

Get ready for NECA Black Friday! Here's your chance to pick up the hard to find Secret of the Ooze Shredder and Turtle 2 packs. Good luck fellow shell heads!

20/11/2022

Check out the new podcast episode from our friends at Star Wars Action News. You’ll hear Chris’ perspective as one of the special guests.

It's been far too long but a new Star Wars Action News podcast is live now! Join the hosts and special guests as they discuss collecting in a challenging market, exclusives, repaints, and more!

Up now at SWActionNews.com

20/11/2022

Rest in peace Jason David Frank.

15/11/2022

Amazon exclusive Carbonized 2-pack going up tomorrow (11/16/22) at 1pm EST. For the whopping price of $69.99. I thought Carbonized had run it’s course. I guess not. Hard pass for us here at TOTH. Will you be getting these?

10/11/2022

Great deal on "The Maker"
Grab George Lucas in Stormtrooper Disguise for only $18.49

We pay homage to George Lucas and his remarkable accomplishments in film with a likeness of the director himself, clad in the distinctive armor of Imperial stormtrooper. Kids and collectors alike can imagine the biggest battles and missions in the Star Wars saga with figures from Star Wars The Bl...