The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that The Toys That Made Us, which premiered on Netflix this past December and took an in-depth look at the histories of Barbie, G.I. Joe, He-Man and Star Wars, will return for a second season. While no premiere date is set, fans of the streaming documentary series know that four first-season episodes still have yet to air: LEGO, Hello Kitty, Star Trek and Transformers.
So what can fans of the series expect from the second season of The Toys That Made Us? I asked this very question of series creator and executive producer Brian Volk-Weiss when I interviewed him in 2017. While plans can always change, here’s what the passionate toy collector had to say:
“The toys I’d like to cover, just off the top of my head, would be, of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, Hot Wheels/Matchbox, Robotech, Power Rangers, Strawberry Shortcake-that’s a very interesting story, so is Cabbage Patch dolls-fascinating story,” Volk-Weiss said. “Like, there are certain toys that might not be as iconic as G.I. Joe and Barbie but they have stories that are just amazing. I have a huge list in my office. Oh, Thundercats and M.A.S.K. Those are two other great toys with great origin stories.”
Volk-Weiss added that he’d love to do a special “The Toys That Should Have Not Been Made” episode, focused on some of toy history’s failures.
“Every now and then we’d see a bunch of toys where it’s like, who would have greenlit that knowing what it takes to design, market, package and distribute a toy, and how many checks and balances there are to get toys on shelves, especially back in the ’70s ’80s and ’90s. There were literally some toys, I don’t care if the kid was jumping up and down screaming that he wanted it, his mom would never buy it. Dune is a great example-why on Earth were there Dune figures? Who were those made for? And a more modern example-and yes I loved the movie-who were Starship Troopers made for?”
So get excited, all you fans of TMNT, My Little Pony and, yes, even Dune.
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