New York?  LA?  New York?  LA?  Back and forth like Taipei vs Hong Kong in a ping pong tournament.  Pros for New York – it’s one of the greatest cities on earth, with a great fan base, some of the greatest restaurants, it’s Fall when the leaves are changing, Central Park strolls, great hangs, meet ups, costumes, a ton of passion, a couple of my favorite restaurants, some good haunts, and some old friends to see.  Pros for Los Angeles – it’s literally blocks from our office, we can roll out the full statement, we have a 20’ x 20’ space, we can create a fully curated TLS store, TLS team members get to sleep in their own beds, we support the home town show, and without the hassle of planes, trains, and automobiles.  I love New York, almost with the same cadence and guttural Frank Sinatra bellows.  I love LA, in the same nasally nonchalant prejudice, and ease Randy Newman howls.  LA is home turf, and the fact TLS HQ is mere blocks away from the Los Angeles Convention Center, it’s hard to say “no”.  Los Angeles Comic Con, formerly Stan Lee’s Comikaze is growing substantially; more vendors, Hot Topic has a big statement, tons of crazy cosplayers, and the warm up for all the great Halloween activities following suit two weeks later.  Ever been to the West Hollywood Halloween Parade?  You’ve never seen anything like it – 2 miles of the best cosplayers on earth, so, hoping/anticipating some of the showoffs from the Weho parade come marching through the halls at LA Comic Con!  

I’m excited we’re participating with the hometown show.  DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles) is home to some of the best restaurants, the best bars, the best rooftops, and swank digs in all of Los Angeles, it's the place to be!  From TLS HQ, to the Arts District, there’s something for everyone.  I couldn't think of a better place to grow a Convention in this great, crazy, and unique city.  Across the street from where our beloved Lakers, and Clippers play, down the street from where our Division Champs Dodgers pepper the bleachers with homeruns, walking distance to where Jared Goff hits Cooper Kupp in the endzone for 6, and the USC Trojans blare the mighty fight song with Tommy Trojan at the helm.  If that’s not enough, you’re within a mile from the world’s best museums, venues, and galleries; MOCA, the Contemporary, Broad, Mark Taper, Hauser and Wirth, Ahmanson, Dorothy Chandler, Grammy museum, Nokia (I’ve seen Tool and Rush here), and the Japanese Heritage Museum.  All this within a mile from the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The NYCC Night King has switched coasts; he’s mutinied, and moonshining as the LACC Night King.  Still with the same foot stamp, but he’s available at our Booth, limited supplies available each day so make sure you swing by to grab one. 

Question, why the NYCC footstamp?  TLS is still a fairly lean, staffed Company, we need to make bets on shows we can give our best and meet our fans per their expectation.  We had every intention of participating with NYCC but as the two shows came into view it was decided we could only commit to one of the two shows if we were going to give it our best.  We have to make the exclusives in with the main batches, so when GOT was manufactured in January we also had to take the risk to manufacture the translucent Black Night King with a NYCC foot stamp at the same time.  When the show opportunities evolved and came into a more focused scope?  C’est la vie.  So, that being said come celebrate with TLS in the sun, with a margarita in hand, and enjoy all this city has to offer!

Also available, a small qty of the TLS 10 year Aggretsuko, not available on the website any more.  The TLS 10 Year Night King and Viserion 2-pack will also be available at the booth!  My Hero Academia Edition One packouts will be available, along with Predators, Hot Wheels, Ghostbuster (sneak peek) Action Vinyls (small qtys available), t-shirts, stickers, and other swag; Aggretsuko masks, TLS crowns, TLS lanyards!  Masks and Crowns are free, just roll through, the only criteria?  You have to wear them!

Our booth is stocked, our happy staff is ready to help, let's have fun and party LA style!  See you at LA Comic Con, we’re booth 717, can’t miss us!  Los Angeles Comic Con ticket purchasing information can be found here https://www.comicconla.com/?cm_sp=Homepage-_-Banner3-_-LACC .  Show dates are Oct 11^th-Oct 13^th!

Where the sun always shines, and the sunsets are like paintings.

PS  Speaking of seeing Tool, I hope you Tool fans get tickets, they should be coming to a town near you.  Here's a shot of myself and Danny Carey hanging out in Mexico, and Justin Chancellor showing me that his watch still works.  

My Hero Academia, for those that don't know it is one of the best Anime, and Manga of its time.  Centered in a world which folks have super powers, surreptitiously a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, affectionately better known as “Deku” is born without super powers but finds a mentor in one of the most recognizable, and famous super hero contemporaries, “All Might”.  All Might shares his “quirk” with Deku, and launches the young boy into a prestigious school where he learns how to develop his newly acquired, and shared “quirk”.   Deku, his friends, and classmates develop and hone their quirks, attend class like any ordinary student, and are eventually dragged into an existential crisis, a plot to destroy all heroes from a league of Villains, ones with dangerous powers.  

If you like X-Men, you’ll love My Hero Academia.  Steeped in the same comic genus, with iconic, relatable, and endearing characters, and villains of the treacherous sort…dangerous, deadly, and larger than life caricatures, and still identifiable; weighed down with hubris, and compassioned with perverse pathos.  Sounds much like Xavier and Magneto, and the students, cronies, and henchmen who follow in suit to battle for supremacy amongst competing ideologies, and clashing worldviews. 

All super heroes have suits, what would a super hero be without their suit!  MHA, or “HeroAca” is no different.  Heroes adorned with mighty stretch suits, eye-popping accessories, and enhancements, like grenade arms, or reptilian treads, or super calves for locomotive like speeds!  MHA is packed with super hero conventions, but unique, clever, refreshing, and renewed; all the great super hero mechanics, and devices that encourage you to participate, to stay tuned, to invest your fanhood for stories, and characters that are meaningful, and reaffirm the spirit of the super hero genre we all love.  If you haven't given it a watch, please do, and the details, love, care, and effort we infixed the MHA Action Vinyls with will come into picture, clear, and appreciated.  We toiled 10 plus months to bring this line to market; securing every detail, making sure MHA would be head of the pack, state of the art for the Action Vinyl pantheon, the hall of heroes and villains out of the nearly 2000 character stable we’ve procured in the last 10 years.  There is no doubt MHA stands a top of the hill as some of the best of the best in the AV stable.  All characters are adorned with crisp and detailed paint, killer sculpt features, and of course, great articulation so collectors can tell their favorite MHA story, or make up a new AV story with your favorite AV character relatives. 

Available NOW in ALL Box Lunch stores, an exclusive packout which includes exclusive deco treatments, and one of the meanest, baddest, deadliest of all villains, STAIN; a character exclusive ONLY to Box Lunch.  Included are rare chase figures 1/24 (Shoto Todoroki Metallic), 1/48 (Katsuki Bakugo GID), 1/96 (Deku “stoked” GID) , and a Club 28 (Stain Metallic)!   The Box Lunch exclusive is very limited in qtys, get them while they last!  One of the best Action Vinyls series to date!

Coming Soon – Hot Topic MHA exclusive with exclusive character “All Might True Form”, plus exclusive paint treatments, and rare chase figures.  Game Stop MHA exclusive character “Endeavor”, also included are exclusive paint treatments, rare chase figures, and a Club 28.  All exclusives come with Exclusive trading cards, don't forget to collect and keep those safe!  With almost 2000 different trading cards in release, TLS is silently creating a roster of very hard to find, and rare character cards.  Don't lose them!

If you don't have a Box Lunch in your area, or surrounding areas, you can pick some of the TLS MHA exclusives online by clicking on this link - https://tinyurl.com/y5bpldn3

More updates in the near future!  Including info on where to get Aggretsuko, Hot Wheels, Los Angeles Comic Con details – Man, we’re busy!

Ever seen one of those 80’s tour videos?  Usually accompanied by a ballad from the hair band of the day; life on the road, truck stops, loading in gear, setting up in big venues, sound checks, load out, backstage exhaustion, back in the van…the wear and tear of the road as you setup to play from city to city.  Journey “Faithfully”, Motley Crue “Home Sweet Home”, you know, the “tour video”!  As a kid I’m thinking, “That doesn’t look so bad.  You mean you play in front of tens of thousands of people, you ride around on a cool bus, and you hang out in truck stops?  Sweet!”  Little did I know they were making millions of dollars doing it too, a sort of “pirate” summer camp for millionaire rock n roll delinquents.  When I had my bands the best we could do was rent a van, beg for taco money, get free beer, and wait around until we played clubs in strange cities in front of no more than a dozen or so folks.  “Hey, this doesn't look that Journey video, what gives?”  It was still fun, the time of my life, packed with amazing memories.  Even got stuck in the salt flats in Utah.  Had an 18 wheeler pull us out, just to pull off the axle, with the chain snapping, a 30’ metal chain whipping around in the air at mach speed.  Could have been a situation right out of a “Final Destination” movie.  “Whap!”  Head be gone.  We still drove the Van, gear and all, with the flimsy wheel rotations like a Tom and Jerry cartoon all the way back to Southern California.  We did stupid things in our 20’s.  Not much has improved.

Setting up at conventions is sort of like the tour video – grips, electricians, union guys, tractor trailers, big road cases, sets go up, the sets are dressed, merch booths are stocked, the crew assumes their positions, the curtain goes up, SHOWTIME, then the show comes down, the nights are late, the trucks move out in the wee hours of the morning, the coffee spots are welcome sanctuaries at 6a, all to start the whole thing over again.  As much as we love to do these shows, it’s a herculean effort.  Marveled at the fact folks can go show to show, some guys we know do 200 shows in a year!  We do 4 professional shows, and ultimately two fan shows, it’s still 6 shows a year, sometimes 8!  We know we have to be more fan facing, we’re really fan’s Brand, not an industry facing Brand.  Fans know us, far more than the sea of ubiquitous toy insiders, and generic Co’s.  We’re proud that we’re a fan’s Brand…nothing matters more at the end of the day than having communion with the folks who are tuned into the message.  We’ll figure out how to get to NYCC, Emerald City, Wondercon, Dragon Con, all the places you guys are at!  It’s hard with the Journey road crew!  I think we have to get back in the van to make it possible.  Always looking for surrogates to tow that rope, if you know someone who wants to be the TLS representative in your town’s Comic Con we’re open ears.

LA Comic Con – we rolled out the Journey road crew on this baby.  We built a small city, cracked open the neon signs, the powered coated shelves, the white carpet, the kiosks…the TLS version of an Apple store.  It's going to be a shopping experience, we’re here to put on a show so we’re puttin’ on tha dang thing!  150%, no hold’s bard.  All who roll by booth 717 will know “Hey!  It’s TLS!”  Crank up your Walkman, start air piano’ing, get those Asics wrestling shoes tied on tight, the big hair, the leather gear, and come forage in our Home Sweet Home!  Be a part of our tour highlights starting tomorrow and ending on Sunday, when the road show packs up and gets on the highway, stopping for that nourishing, and comforting 6a burnt coffee, eggs scrambled to a dry desert’s crisp, and bacon cooked until it resembles bark.

Each day we’ll be releasing 66 Translucent Black Night Kings, 66 Translucent Blue Night King and Viserion 2 packs (TLS 10 Year anniversary Edition), 6 First Look Ghostbuster PDQs, a small assortment of Regular Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Aggretsuko GE PDQs, 6 First look My Hero Academia GE PDQs, A new Alien tee, more tees (Tees, all $12.00), TLS Lanyards ($2.00 or free with purchases over $20.00), TLS stickers, Totes, and all sorts of other goodies, like Hot Wheels!  For the Translucent Blue Night King folks who can't make LACC, we’ll make 50 available on our website starting Monday at Noon PDT. 

Come party with us LA style, bring your shades, your smiles, your favorite ballads, and have a great time at the TLS Show, located at the Los Angeles Convention Center, starting tomorrow at Noon, Ending Sunday!  For details and show times please check this link - https://www.comicconla.com/

See you at Booth 717!

Hello TLS Nation.  The Blog has been silent as of late, outside the mega Bandai x TLS Partnership announcement.  That shook the earth, the rafters, the roots in the teeth.  Wowzas, that’s a big announcement.  I looked back, there was a recap from SDCC 2018 and that was it!  From August!  About 4.5 months had past since we had posted….anything!  I’m kind of aghast by the neglect.  The Blog has been my voice, in an empty room, typewriter, a few polaroids, some loose scribbled notes…my writerly quick quipped haven well under 2000 words per post.   The petri of collected thoughts, steadied, studied, ready to explore the days, the months, events in highlight form.  It’s not as though HUGE news isn't the regular.  It has been, pedal to the metal, fuel injected, wazooo til your hair bleaches blond!   That’s the point, I’ve been busy!  Aliens landing at Target and Hot Topic, a Nick 90’s invasion at Hot Topic, Horror flying off the shelves at retail, WWE landing in Australia, now making it’s way to North America (absolutely crushing it at Big W, Target, and EB Games Oz), Masters of the Universe Wave 2 literally selling 60% of it’s stock in one week at Hot Topic, Game of Thrones releasing in March, Hot Wheels, Naruto, My Hero Academia, One Punch Man, Predators, Aliens GE, Aggretsuko, Fox Animation – the headlines, highlights, updates, and what nots are flying at me, like the speed of light. 

Somehow working 12-14 hour days 6-7 days a week, building this beast of business because we are “all for one, one for all”, and we collectively know this is the best collectible in the market, the most fun, the most bang for your buck!  That’s why we do it, that’s why we obsess over the details, why we dedicate the time.  It’s also why I’ve been off the writer’s block (not to be confused with writer’s block) for the last 4.5 months – bc it’s been nuclear pace here at TLS!  I wish I was Shiva without all the death, only the multiple arms!  I need more arms!   But tonight, enough was enough.  I stared at the last email sent, was closing down the computer, then said F’ that, I’m writing, to you guys, because we are connected on the same journey, with the same passions, the same love for killer, cool, fun, quality, story driven collectibles which bring back the waves of warm feels like cannonballs in the hot tub.  You guys need to know what’s been happening!   We’re all in the band, we’re all on the bus, flipping the bird to mediocrity, joining in full throated song sharing our memories, our love of all things pop culture, our desire to still play, to still use our imaginations, to still tell story, and to back the bands, like the kids did in Berkeley, Los Angeles or DC during the punk days – “this is cool, we back it, people need to get hip to it, everybody needs to join in!”  TLS is like “Bleach” phase right now, ready to hit “Nevermind” (Nirvana reference). 

The highlight reel has broken the tape machine!  Club 28’s being found left and right, gold figures found, crazy chase figures found, more SDDC drops, more retailers added; 7-Eleven – dudes, and dudettes, that’s crazy!  7-Eleven!  I literally get my coffee there every morning, even though I own 3 coffee makers.  The dudes who work there know The Loyal Subjects!  Like, K N O W  TLS!  It blows my mind.  I still haven’t told them I own it, I tell them I just follow the Brand.  I don’t look like a CEO.  I talk like a surfer, wear V-Necks, the same pair of jeans weeks on end (gross), Vans…nothing polished about me, so they would never know that I was anyone other than the dude who gets coffee at 8a every morning.   And, who obviously sounds obsessed with TLS.

Retail is a juggernaut this year.  Finally getting the Distribution and outlets you guys need.  We’re increasing our space at Walmart, Target, Rite Aid, Walgreens opened TLS up to 8k stores!  4 slots in Walgreens this Fall!   Hot Topic, Game Stop, FYE – the TLS staples, all crushing it this year with TLS!  We bleed Hot Topic.  Nerdette is one of our favorite humans on planet earth!  TLS is about to go Vesuvius raining Action Vinyls, like thunderous clouds filled, raining down, a Universe without Borders!  As KISS said, “You want the best, you got the best!”  KISS said a lot but that’s about all I can quote from KISS relating to TLS.  Club 28, rare Easter Eggs, gold figures – these all stay, forever a staple with TLS.  By the way, still hit those shelves!  There are plenty of Club 28’s left unfound, gold figures waiting for homes…go get em!  I heard there are some good sales at Game Stop, going right now!  Hot Topic has bouillon with Aliens and Splat!  Still mega finds there, don’t sleep!

I’m not sure if this was a catch-all update Blog Post, or an apology for ONLY sticking to the cellular brain candy the last 4.5 months; i.e. Instagram, Facebook, etc.  We’re communicating the same message there on the regular but the Blog is a special place, a place where I can drop words like marbles on a trampoline.  Watch them bounce, where they go, nobody knows.  2019 is going to crush.  Yes, it’s been crazy hard work, insanely busy.  I feel like I’ve spent half of last year in other countries, learning how to speak native tongues without any of the artfulness or elegance, just thumbing through beautiful words like a sledgehammer to a watermelon.  But hey, I’ve learned a few phrases in a few languages.  It impresses my mom.  I’ve spent the whole year catching licenses like Ash Ketchum catches Pokemons (no, this isn’t a hint), developing and conceptualizing new products, improving our products, improving our messaging, building bridges with Brands like Bandai, building our Team in Asia….phew, wait, let me catch my breath.  All this activity is like running back to back to back to back to back marathons with a 30 second Gatorade break in between races before the gun fires again.  And it’s been the ride of my life!  Only the best to come.  In short, the experts say that a good Brand needs about 10 blog posts per week, three social media posts per day – well, we ain’t that, nowhere near, but we are always actively engaging in conversation.  I feel like I know most of you, like friends and family, and for that, I’m grateful.  Here’s to the TLS Army, here’s to more Blog Posts (Maybe another one tomorrow), here’s to all the fun hunts, the finds, the exhilaration of finding a Club 28, the satisfaction of turning a friend onto something cool….this is our year guys, let's own it.  TLS is on the cusp of being the fans’ Brand, period.  Let’s do something special together, let's dance like we mean it.

Signing off, not for 4.5 months, but for tonight – JC

PS We’re also nearing the end of construction for our new website.  We plan to launch in April.  It’s going to be content rich, news and stories a go go, with select TLS offerings, including our 10 Year Anniversary products!  Yes, coming this May 24 marks TLS’ 10^th Year in existence and we aim to party!  Bring your dancing shoes!. Into the year 2019 we find ourselves, ready, set, blast off Captain!  Gung Hay Fat Choy!

“Bing, Bang, Boom!  Smack, Splat, Thwack, Crack!  Crumple, Crackle, Thwackle, Thud!”

“Zing, Zang, Boing, Bounce, Splash, Ding, Brack!”

An episode of Batman, or sounds echoing through the giant hull, ricocheting and shaking the seats at Met Life Stadium in the Meadowlands? 

This is my second Wrestlemania event.  The first was New Orleans last year.  Nothing beats Bourbon Street, the Black Cat, some Dixie swing, and a bunch of savages descending on the Big Easy, chopping up legs, lips, and larynx to the tune of Meshhugah’s double kick drum, furiously pounding out thrashing rounds of 16^th notes. “Th Th Th Th Th Th Th Th Thud, crack!”  I’ll have a lil ole that with my beignet, good sir.

From the Big Easy to the Big Apple, Wrestlemania 35!  I’ve been hyped since I saw Cindy Lauper bopping around with Captain Lou Albano, the rubber band man, the Italian Mario, Luigi, “shut-ay-up-a-palease” before you get mouth thwacked from a gorilla chest with a coat’s worth of chest hair!  I couldn’t tell if his cheek was pierced with a rubber band, or if it was glued on…whatever it was, he had that cutting edge body modification down in the early 80’s!  He was a big dude but who wasn’t from those early days?  Life was a bowl of cherries in your belly, rolled up with a figure 4 leg lock, and the dreaded ear yank…”tap tap tap”, I’m done ref!  Nothing like the 80’s, until the 90’s, then the 2000’s…wrestling never gets old, it reinvents itself, with more dares, more dings, more acrobatics, more athleticism.  With all the aerial tricks, and flying acrobatics it’s a surprise these dudes and dudettes walk away from these matches at all.  The Big Apple was ramping up to be an epic show.  My takeaway?  Huge upsets; (Main Event) Becky Lynch taking down Rousey, and Charlotte Flair, both UFC masters (a Galaxian Guardian) taking “L”’s, one from an old timer, another from a fan favorite, the Demon King making a much anticipated appearance, slaying his opponent….real drama, great characters, mind boggling athleticism…this show is as good as any, and it was nearly 9 hours long!   Lest I forget the high wire, trapeze bash in the rafters between Shane McMahon and the Miz – talk about using space, these two teeter tottered, tango’ed, tormented, and tailpsun through the first 30 rows of Met Life, culminating in a 3 story death drop, elbow to the throat double knock out!

This was the first time I had been back to Met Life since the rain bowl where Brett Favre launched his record breaking TD pass to Randy Moss, both Vikings at the time.  I spent the better part of an hr at the Club house sushi bowl chasing Nigiri delights with a deluge of tequila – east meets west.  I was lucky this time; Met Life was dry as a bone, but good to see that ole sushi bar again. 

I get WWE, the whole thing.  Larger than life characters, with super human strength, flying, floating, speeding, racing, thwacking, cracking, and spinning opponents around the ring like the tea cups at Disneyland, “spin, spin, spin, puke, beat down.”  Tap, tap, tap, out, I’m done Ref.  Kind of a live action Avenger’s stage play.  Badassery, and kudos for those flying, leaping, lunging dirvishing whirlers, heroes on foot, villains on the lurk, the stage, 20’ x 20’, contained chaos (except for the Miz and Shane McMahaon – that was chaos on a bumblebee’s wings).  As tight as a live action super hero stage play can get, that’s you my darling ingénue, meaning WWE, you see!

Bravo WWE, thank you for the superb show!  You have to drink it in to know it, and hopefully, the WWE Action Vinyls are a testament to our fanship, and love for this crazy, kooky, heroic brand of super hero misfits and conspirators.  If you’re wondering, check out www.entertainmentearth.com, and www.amazon.com/theloyalsubjects for availability!  They got em!  Sit at home, aim, click, checkout, maybe a Club 28 will show up on your front porch!

See you next year at another Wrestlemania in a town near you!