The first two seasons of the Netflix documentary series, The Toys That Made Us, were previously released on DVD, but now the seasons have arrived in a new deluxe Blu-ray box set, which includes a collectible toy and over an hour of new bonus material.
The show’s catchy theme song does an excellent job of describing what the series is all about, “It’s an 8-part documentary series, about the toys that we all know. Plastic creations, that last for generations, and we still cannot let go. Little molded figures that gave us big dreams, we’ll go back in time and behind-the-scenes. It’s The Toys That Made Us, toys that made us, The Toys That Made Us is here.”
Each season consists of four episodes, with each 45-minute episode taking an in-depth look at the story behind the creation of a different iconic toy line, and how these toys changed the companies that brought them to fruition. The filmmakers make use of fun actor reenactments, archival TV footage, and brand new interviews with authors, toy enthusiasts, and the original toy designers, executives and lawyers who worked on the product lines. The participants recount some fascinating stories surrounding the invention of these toys.
The series opens with one of the biggest toy lines of all time, Kenner’s Star Wars action figures, which ultimately changed the way that toys were created and licensed for feature films. The impact of the Star Wars toys comes up quite often throughout the other episodes of the series as this behemoth both influenced and affected many other toy lines.
The series was originally picked up as a single 8-episode series, but it was later released on Netflix as two separate seasons. There are some slight differences between the two seasons. The second season episodes open up with more of a preview of what’s to come in the episode, where the first season episodes just jump right into the stories. The humor also seems to be amped up a bit in the second season, with the narration becoming a little more sarcastic and filled with more puns. I thoroughly enjoyed this entire series, even the episodes revolving around the toys that I didn’t really have as a kid, like Star Trek, Barbie and Hello Kitty. The stories were really interesting, and the series is presented in a fun, entertaining way. I binged through all 8 episodes in a single day.
The episode breakdown is as follows:
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Season 1 (3:05:58)
- Episode 1 – Star Wars
In 1977, a small Cincinnati toy company called Kenner takes a major risk, agreeing to produce a line of Star Wars toys in just 6 months, after many larger toy companies passed. This gamble led to one of the most profitable toy franchises ever. - Episode 2. – G.I. Joe
Hasbro coined the term “action figure” when coming up with a new line of dolls geared for boys. However, the company had to pivot their war-based toys as the country’s attitude towards war changed over the decades. - Episode 3 – He-Man
In 1979, Mattel didn’t have a boys action figure line, so they set out to come up with their own IP after all the movie franchises they adapted failed. The company found massive success in utilizing a comic book and an animated series to give the toys a backstory. - Episode 4 – Barbie
A look at how a risqué doll from Germany served as inspiration for what would become the most iconic doll for girls, and how Mattel evolved the doll over the decades to keep up with the changing times and attitudes. - Episode 1 – Star Trek
A look at the many challenges faced when trying to create a successful merchandise line for the popular space franchise—from the lazy label-swapped initial products, to a lack of quality control and selection of products, to an inconsistent film franchise. - Episode 2 – Transformers
A look at how Hasbro was able to combine existing Japanese toys with their own new backstory by Marvel Comics in order to launch a massive toy franchise in North America, which eventually became a worldwide phenomenon. - Episode 3 – LEGO
A look at how a small Danish wooden toy company launched a system of interlocking plastic bricks that turned them into a worldwide company, and the various challenges the company faced, particularly when its patent expired. - Episode 4 – Hello Kitty
A look at how the Sanrio company, with its motto of “small gift, big smile”, initially struggled to launch its Kawaii characters in North America, but eventually turned its brand into a global phenomenon.
Season 2 (2:54:45):
The Blu-ray release is packed inside of a large cardboard box which contains a plastic TV displaying the show’s logo, as well as a Digipak folder holding the three Blu-ray discs. Disc 1 contains the 4 episodes of season 1, while disc 2 contains the 4 episodes of season 2, and the third disc contains a wealth of great bonus material.
The Blu-ray is presented with solid video and audio. The picture is a combination of new widescreen interviews along with older 4:3 archival footage. The archival footage looks quite decent, but can be a little blurry at times, though this is expected given the age, and is never really distracting. The stereo audio track is nothing impressive, but more than sufficient for this type of series, and the dialogue is always clear.
The Blu-ray release includes over an hour of bonus material, consisting of additional interview footage and deleted scenes. Show creator Brian Volk-Weiss also talks about the process of making and selling the series.
What’s Included:
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Episodes: (6:00:43)
- All 8 episodes of the first two seasons:
Disc 1 (Season 1): “Star Wars”, “G.I. Joe”, “He-Man”, “Barbie”
Disc 2 (Season 2): “Star Trek”, “Transformers”, “LEGO”, “Hello Kitty” - 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
- Subtitles: English
- Featurettes
- Featurette with Show Creator Brian Volk-Weiss (8:22)
Show creator Brian Volk-Weiss talks about his own toy collection, what inspired him to make the show, how he selected which toys to cover in the series, the opening sequence and theme song, some key/favorite moments from the first two seasons, his favorite toys, the reactions to the show, and more. - Barbie 8O’s Marketing (1:42)
A look at how Mattel got kids to buy more Barbies instead of separate outfits. - More Stories That Made Us: GI Joe The Story of Cobra (1:22)
Brian Volk-Weiss talks about the origins of how Cobra was added to G.I. Joe. - More Stories That Made Us: Selling the Show (1:11)
Brian Volk-Weiss talks about his seven year journey to try to sell the series, and one year of trying to convince Netflix. - Jim Swearingen Extended Interview (7:29)
Jim Swearingen talks about watching The Phantom Menace with a test audience, meeting George Lucas, seeing the Boba Fett character in costume, how Star Wars changed the toy/marketing/licensing business, why he became a toy designer, and more. - Peter Cullen Extended Interview (6:33)
Peter Cullen talks about how his life has been defined by Transformers and being the voice of Optimus Prime, how amazing the toys were, which of the toys he still has, revisiting Hasbro, and more. He does a fun conversation between Optimus and Ironhide. - Todd McFarlane on LEGO (2:54)
Todd McFarlane talks about how every kid had a bucket of LEGO’s growing up, and why the company has endured over the years. - Todd McFarlane on Star Trek (8:09)
Todd McFarlane talks about the toys he remembers playing with as a kid, being disappointed by label-slapped toys as a kid, cheaply detailed toys, Star Trek fandom, and more. - Hideki Yoke/Takara Tour (10:50)
Raw footage of Hideki Yoke taking the camera crew on a tour of the Takara building, demonstrating the equipment they use to create models/mock-ups of the new toys, and showing off some of their classic products. Most of his dialogue is in Japanese.
- Featurette with Show Creator Brian Volk-Weiss (8:22)
- Deleted Scenes
- Star Wars Inflatable Lightsaber (:56)
Folks discuss the Star Wars merchandise approval process, show a photo of a horrible inflatable lightsaber product, and talk about why it didn’t work. - Star Wars The Falcon Mold (1:24)
Australian toy collector Ben Sheehan talks about finding the original wooden pattern used to create the Millennium Falcon toy. - Star Wars Vlix (1:31)
Folks talk about a character named Vlix from the canceled 1986 Droids second series, which was was produced and released only in Brazil. - Star Wars Peg Warmers (1:15)
Author Mark Bellomo talks about about the unpopular Star Wars characters that hung on retailers’ pegs for years. - Star Wars Revenge of the Jedi (1:33)
Former Kenner manger Corky Steiner talks about how one million toys had to be destroyed when the name of the film changed from “Revenge of the Jedi”. - He-Man Wonderbread (2:09)
Folks discuss the various theories about the origins of an early figure known as Wonderbread He-Man, with brown hair and a black belt. - Barbie A Bad Case of Worms (1:42)
Former Mattel CEO Jill Barad talks about being assigned an earlier task of selling/promoting a horrible wall-walking worm product. - Star Trek (1:57)
Folks talk about why Playmates’ line of products for the 2009 Star Trek film failed. - Transformers G2 (:53)
Ryan Yzquierdo talks about how the original Transformers toys were altered for the Generation 2 line.
- Star Wars Inflatable Lightsaber (:56)
Extras: (1:01:57)
Bonus material is found on the third disc. Play All, or select from:
Final Thoughts:
The Toys That Made Us is a highly-entertaining series that provides a fascinating and nostalgic look at the stories behind many of the iconic toys that we grew up with. While the series is available to watch on Netflix, this Blu-ray release also gives fans an hour of new bonus material, plus a plastic TV collectible. This release is highly recommended for those without access to Netflix or fans of the series who wish to own the episodes. It’s also recommended for toy fans, or those who are looking for a fun bit of nostalgia.
