BLACK FRIDAY! BLACK FRIDAY! BLACK FRIDAY!  This coming WEDNESDAY! WEDNESDAY!  WEDNESDAY!  Read this with the monster truck “dude” guttural voice while Travis Pastrana flips a triple lindy over your head wearing skis, and Grave Digger smashes burnt out cop cars to AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’.  “Heck  Yeah!”, “Oh, Yeah!!!”, “Snap into a Slim Jim!” – all these mantras should play on repeat for each new sentence read in this blog post, or at the very least a looping “gif” of the images conjured by these iconic catch phrases.  TLS wants to be a part of your Super Bowl Halftime Show, and for Toy Collectors that Halftime Show is called “BLACK FRIDAY!”  Let's make this the biggest, baddest one yet!

We’ve (TLS) been working pretty hard the last 7 years, trying to perfect the craft of what we consider to be the most badass 3” Action Figure around.  At least that’s the high aim.  We pour a tremendous amount of love, passion, and effort into our products hoping they meet your standards, even more so, hoping they surpass.  Walking back through the lines in our showroom, picking up Turtles, Power Rangers, Thundercats, Attack on Titan, How To Train Your Dragon, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Master of the Universe it’s hard not to pause, and think “Damn, these figures are absolutely badass.”  I did it yesterday!  Just walking our showroom, I’m reminded the helmets come off the Power Rangers figures in a mechanically sophisticated way, and in Wave 2 we have mini Power Rangers with removable helmets, and brilliant deco details on a surface the size of a pea!  We made Blindbox Zords!  That’s nuts!  I’m reminded the insane sculpt details on Mumm-Ra the Ancient, and Mumm-Ra the Ever Living!  The killer eye deco and animatic like expressions on Mega Man!  The great weapons, and accessories included in the MOTU line, the beautiful and artistic details represented in How To train Your Dragon, and the sophisticated construction displayed by the Dragons.  It’s hard for me not to immediately fall in love with every single figure once again!  I love TLS!  Sounds corny, biased, polyanna but it’s true, I absolutely love our products, and I love what we do!

At times the collector culture misses all the hard worked details and it immediately gets sidelined for “rarity”, and “fomo”, looking for after market gold.  I love the rare stuff too, it’s all important to the Brand but it’s good to stop, smell the roses, and really check out these unique figures, a whole universal platform which we’ve branded Action Vinyls.  It's unique, it’s detailed, it’s artistic, it’s imaginative, and it’s undeniably a barrel of fun!  There’s an opportunity to connect to previous lines, see if you have them in your collection, if not grab them at the Black Friday price or gift them to friends, and take your chance at turning friends, and fam onto TLS this Holiday Season, and sharing your passions!

The deal is simple (Have that monster truck voice looping through your head?)

1. All Legacy Lines (before 2019 are 60% OFF.  We don't have much left, just bits and pieces that were pushed into corners at the warehouse.  First come first serve.  They are brilliant, and undeniably worth a seat in your collection.  Some great exclusives, some great legacy products, all well crafted, and illumining with detail. 
2. All 2019 products are 40% OFF. We had a hell of a Comic Con this year, not much left but if you want to give a friend a very cool gift, here’s your chance!  Or, if you just want to keep one in the package for later, BOOM, backup loaded.
3. Orders over $100.00 (domestic) will receive FREE SHIPPING.
4. Orders over $250.00 (International) will receive $25.00 Shipping.
5. Orders $1,000.00 or more – we’ll email you about the shipping.
6. Sale starts Wednesday, Nov 27^th @ NOON PST, and Ends Cyber Monday at Midnight PST.
7. ONLY at www.theloyalsubjects.com
8. Orders will start prepping After Cyber Monday, and first ships will be that same week's Friday.

TLS might seem like a mass market Brand but we certainly don't behave like one.  Everything you see are Edition sizes born of the lowest numbers from some of the most expensive tooling blocks of the highest order.  A tremendous amount of work goes into every detail; concept, design, sculpt, tool development, product development, pre-production, production, packaging, packout, approvals – it’s a rubicon of biblical proportions.  Everything is RARE!  Better yet, RARE and AFFORDABLE! 

"You’re Killing Me Larry!"  Here’s our elevator pitch, copy and paste, and share with friends! 

"We've been cleaning house!  After organizing our warehouse we found all sorts of TLS GOLD!  ALL Legacy lines are 60% OFF!  What's a legacy line one might ask?  Everything produced before 2019!  Great deals on 8" figures, on 2 packs, and Convention exclusives!"

"All 2019 Items, including TLS 10 Year are 40% OFF!  Sales stars Wed, November 27th, at Noon PST, and ends Cyber Monday at Midnight!  Cash in on TLS Gold!

Let's make this a TLS Holiday!

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost!”  Something I never said, but Ray Parker Jr surely tatoo’ed this emphatic catch phrase into the ribs of pop culture.  In fact, I would deathly be afraid of wondering spirits, vapors, apparitions, creatures, entities, or energy wondering formless with ability to manipulate the physical world.  I clearly remember being a kid, my mother would buy the cardboard cut out Halloween decorations, the ones with the articulated arms and legs, and she would tape them to the atrium/doorway of our home.  One was Dracula, the other Frankenstein, and these cutouts scared the sh*t out of me.  These were cardboard cutouts!  My sister loved them, I hated them, I guess my inability to close within 50 feet of our front door prompted their removal.  My mother’s position, either the cutouts have to go, or we’ll never get our kid back inside.  The floating head at the Haunted Mansion was too much to set eyes on.  I clearly remember my mother, and sister getting in line for the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, I couldn't have been more than 5 years old, and as the story goes I tugged on my Dad’s shirt sleeve, looked up, and promptly asked “Why would mom go in there if she was going to die?”  I hadn’t quite matured the nuances and fun of it all.

When I was 10 my parents went to a viewing party for the midnight unveil for Michael Jackson’s new video epic, directed by John Landis, some Night of the Living Dead saga for a song called “Thriller”.  It was at the Chorak’s place, somewhere in Tustin Hills.  The Chorak’s were a fun, lively bunch, threw great parties, and had a son just a year or two younger then me.  I loved going over there, they had a joie de vie, and we're sort of reckless, the mother (Mrs. Chorak) eventually shot her other husband (another man not named Chorak) in the ass with a gun in a fit of passion/rage, and the two made up in jail, the man still with a hole in his a$$, and not the one you’re thinking of!  Dropping charges, embracing, all-the-while balancing on one butt cheek.  The same night no less.  Side tracking, back to Michael Jackson; everyone waited up to midnight, to watch this epic video production.  Michael Jackson was huge.  Different times, no Game of Thrones, no Breaking Bad… a video release, and the “making of” could bring folks together by the tens of millions to lay witness to synchronized jazz dancing, and werewolf special effects, played to an up-tempo R&B song with the squeal of a church organ, “It's Thriller! Squeeeal!”  People loved it.  The lead up was all hyped too, an hour of interviews, public interviews, interviews with John Landis, and eventually, the debut – “Thriller” in curdling blood spilt font dripping down the screen, then enter Michael Jackson, and his date.  All sorts of scary ensued, the werewolf transformation, cut to the dancing zombies, even the twist at the end.  I thought, man, it would suck to be buried, decay, and be set to rest in crappy grave clothes.  I had a full blown existential moment at age 10, “Thriller”, a Michael Jackson pop song, and good-humored video set me off into Sartre land, knowing I was going to die one day, and decay into the earth.  That was heavy for a 10 year old.

All things said, “Heck yeah, I’m afraid of a ghost.”

I remember seeing Ghostbusters in the movie theater.  A rollercoaster ride of playful terror, suspense, and the final exhale as the Ghostbusters freed Gotham, exalted from the evil clutches of Gozer, the Gozerian, a gender neutral demon dimension hopper, and destroyer of worlds.  The scenes were peppered with sexual innuendo, harassment, ghostly foreplay, and madcap nonsense, under the backdrop of Armageddon.  Quite a flick!  I still put my hands over my eyes for the first ghostly encounter in the basement of the New York City Public Library.  I remember being in the theater, with my dad, sitting to my left, and him jumping, banging his knee into the arm rest, then laughing in relief as the three idiots scramble through the front doors, out on to the steps, and back in to daylight, “Get her Ray!”  I was a fan, even though parts of the movie linked back to those Michael Jackson existential moments; that, I too, will one day decay, dirty, earthen, and passing into the unknown.  What a trip.

Until then, and being still alive in the here and now, TLS has done our best to bring the best characterizations of your favorites; Winston, Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, Dana, Janine, Slimer, Gozer, Zuul, and, of course, the character, and subsequent moment that saw my father jumping from his chair, the “Angry Librarian Ghost”.   Separately, we have a 5” Stay Puft Marhmellow Man, the “Destructor”.  The articulation is better, better range of motion, better construction, tons of great sculpt details, ghost traps, EKG readers, Walkies, Proton packs, a collection of accessories, great collector character cards, rare chase figures, Club 28, and a Gold Slimer! 

The Ghostbuster items are available now at Entertainment Earth, and Amazon, and quickly working their way to Walmart, and Target! 

So, when someone asks you, “Are you afraid of no ghost?”  You can reply, “I know a guy who is!”

Happy Hunting, and Happy Holidays!

PS I have a couple more blog posts to go til the year is up, I’ve been off the Blog for the past three weeks, partially because we are slammed with tradeshow season looming, CNY just about to break, and sharing our insane 2020 calendar with our Distributors, and reps. Sneak peeks ahead, including info on the Fox Animation pack (looks like this one is going to be a hit), a recap of Singapore, and of course my end of year recap, and lookout to 2020!  It’s been a wild ride this year!  Looking back, I’ve written a modest novella via the Blog this year, nearly 90 pages, not bad!  I hope the reads have been fun, I’ll keep it up, and hopefully it’s worth a continued read.  Just now, as I put the last period in the previous sentence, looking down at my desk to rest my eyes, to the left, none other than a Zuul prototype with his head cocked to the side looking up at me.  Strange, indeed.

Seems fitting Predator would be found in Walgreens.  Almost lifted from the script;

“Alien invader hits Main Street USA with terror filled night.  First, the Alien tore through the town’s Walgreens, centered in the main square before making his escape out the Pharmacy's back wall, and into the surrounding forest.  The town is still shook, panicked with fear, unanswered questions, and with the nagging uncertainty, “Will it come back?”  The community is asking, “Is Walgreens still open?”  The local Walgreens manager replied, “Yes, please excuse the mess and construction, you can still purchase the wide variety of Walgreens products, including TLS collectibles.” For this, the community chanted wildly, “For he’s a jolly good fellow!” until reminded there is a murderous Alien terror still lurking in their woods.”

The alien murderous terror, aptly named, the Predator, is of the half pint variety, not the 9’ beast we’ve come to love in movies past.  However, this 3.75” terror represents his/her/its tribe well – complete with a highly technical range of armor, and weaponry, all designed to survive the newly visited planet’s biosphere, and efficiently bag it’s prey to take home for the wall mounts and trophy cases.  Unfortunately, the beast, or beasts will meet with Officer Lt. Mike Harrigan – a cop out of choices, out of patience, and with nothing to lose, willing to take one of these beasts with him to an earthly grave.   The Predator has met his human match, even if death by it’s own sword, or scythe, or blade, or whatever you call that razor-thin flying bow tie.  There are 13 Predators to launch on unsuspecting suburbs, city streets, fashion malls, sparsely populated wooded areas, and Walgreens stores!  There are only a handful of humans to combat these otherworldly beings, looking for a pound of flesh, and the ornament of a skull to match.  Tell your favorite Predator story; be it King Willie, and his magic hoodoo voodoo, Lt. Harrigan and his “nothing to lose” mucho gusto, Leona Cantrell and her street wise, tough as nails Los Angelenos cop grit, and know-how/get-down, or the alien hunter, Peter Keyes, with his “I’ve been chopped in half” hidden function; give him a twist at the waist, and see what color his innards take when exposed to the elements…there are four heroes you can choose to fight off 13 Predators!  Three Predators cloaked with invisibility, only visible when their armored suit’s cloaking mechanism malfunctions, or the beasts are caught in an infrared gaze.  Infrared, a sure way to detect these sleuthing salient serpents!  You too will have the power to detect these croaking, clicking, clucking cloakies, since you’ll see them in the bright and clear, like window dressing, inside a beautifully designed window box, and if you come across one of these clandestine cloaked alien villains, boy, are you in luck, you just uncorked a Club 28! 

Besides the deadly beauties cloaked with invisibility, be prepared to take on a range of City Hunters, Warriors, Guardians, Elders, bloodied, battled, embattled, and ticked off, ready to hide a human, and wear the newly flayed skin as a sarong for the long ride home, back to the planet from whence they came!

This series is detail rich; killer sculpts, killer accessories, Easter Eggs (including a blunderbuss from hunts past), killer colors, killer character cards, Club 28’s, and a whole range of rare chase figures.  Get on to getting’ on, all the way to Walgreens to pick up one of the best Action Vinyls series yet!  All production numbers are limited.

Metal!

Truth be told, I played drums in a metal band, called Lightning Swords of Death, in fact, was its founding member.   The same band wore “corpse paint”, the bat winged, Kiss/King Diamond/Alice Cooper-like black face paint rubbed over the eyes in fingerling patterns.  True to metal we joined the urban cowboy with a mixture of denim and leather, studs in the collar, and patches sewn into the back of the denim, usually sleeveless, jackets.  We played with a Sabbath like sludge, unlike the intricate double kick patterns, and machine gun rattling-off 16^th notes fired in relentless patterns across fret boards, and drum heads usually associated with Death Metal bands.  Persons in the band had avatars; the singer went by “Autarch”, the guitarist “Roskva”, I was plainly Jonathan.  We did our best to wield spells, tell tales, and test ear drums with turned down tuning, washing cymbals, and carnivorous carnival barking which was a blend of helium pitched screams and cries towards the heavens, and low, guttural growls, mish moshing words and sacred phrases blended through the throat chords of a demon bear.

We played shows with Cattle Decapitation, and a host of other metal bands, the band eventually signed to Metal Blade records.   “Autarch” (who had been a friend since I was 19, also a roommate for a few of my younger years) would draw these cryptic logos, in the Death Metal style; a mix of graffiti like encryption, Gallic decorative opulence, and horror like erosive gutters and streams which, if skilled in such logo-craft, would spell out the name of the band in a, “Oh, I can see it now.” moment of realization.   Not much different from staring at the paintings in the mall, where you’d have to cross your eyes, and after a half hour or so a “Pirate Ship” would appear.   Eventually, I pulled the accelerator back into hyper drive, put the drums up on the racks, and started a Collectibles Company.  10 years later, here we are, releasing A Death Metal Red Panda.  The catalyst of pushing my idea for a collectibles Co forward in part on the heels of my departure from Lightning Swords of Death – can the universe be any weirder?  Or more intuitive?   Not only is this particular series in parallels to my own life experience; a creative director for a start up with a horrible boss, and a metal drummer by night blasting ear drums with fist pounding frustrations brought on by the day’s activities at the office…Aggretsuko oddly squares its way into the 10 Year Anniversary products, and we exist for 10 years because my disinterest in pursuing my metal drumming career!  This is like when future Bill and Ted met past Bill and Ted, “Whooooa!”  “Don't forget to say “hi” to the princesses!” 

Needless to say, this might be my favorite TLS 10 Year Anniversary offering for all the listed reasons; life imitating art, and vice versa.  Certainly a personal one, might be why we painstakingly combed through ever detail to tell the story with sincerity.  This little red panda packs a punch – not only is she heroically throwing up horns, she’s doing it while standing on a mound of burnt, smoldering, and flaming skulls, simmering in a pool of blood.  I think my friends from LSOD would be proud.  The "Flaming Skull Base" tooling exists ONLY for the 10 Year Anniversary product.  Aggretsuko boasts 13 points of articulation, a true mechanical wonder for this mighty mite!  She also comes in a commemorative “TLS 10 Year” window box, with a collector card!  Certainly an Action Vinyl for the ages.

We’ve fixed some of the web glitches, we’re doing our best to keep shipping affordable, and we are prepared to start shipping once orders are received.  *Hint – if you purchase two, shipping is a better cost, if you purchase three, it’s a killer deal.  DETAILS:  Available for purchase on www.theloyalsubjects.com tomorrow, Friday the 20th at Noon PDT.  Happy hunting!  Limit THREE per purchase.

Next up – T-Shirts!  Next Wednesday we’ll have some killer TLS styles available to the public; TLS 10 Year Anniversary Logo Tee, Stay Loyal Logo Tee, and the TLS Army Color Camo Logo Tee!  Keep your eyes peeled next Wednesday, and rep TLS loud and proud!

The Loyal Subjects, and hobbyDB team up!  Offering customers access to the TLS archives in the form of a unique database/marketplace that allows collectors and fans the ability to archive items, show off collections, buy, sell, and trade in a trusted space.

Visit https://www.hobbydb.com/marketplaces/theloyalsubjects/catalog_items - once arrived, a header with several options will direct the fan and collector to their needs: Database, Marketplace, Help, Sell  - click a menu item from the top bar, and immerse into 10 years of TLS heaven. 

History:

The Loyal Subjects was conceived in West Hollywood, in a living room of a run down 1929 Hollywood Bungalow (the kind the Doors canonized in the song LA Woman), in one of the original Chaplin developments just west of La Brea Blvd.  The first product was a creative collaboration with Upper Playground, the famed San Francisco street wear Co who was celebrating their 10^th Year in business, and to celebrate they tapped TLS to license, manufacture and collaborate with a stable of artists associated with the UP Brand.  The intent, to create unique products with emblematic calls to UP’s famed Walrus Icon, as an acknowledgment to the Brand’s 10 years existence.  The first TLS collectible was called the “Walrus Rider”, designed by Bay Area artist Alex Pardee.  TLS was born (with the first of many releases), and our fist order of business was to meet the good folks at Upper Playground at their HQ in the Upper Height neighborhood of San Francisco, and have a release party and signing with Alex Pardee.  So we did.   Rapper Aesop Rock showed, and bought a Walrus Rider.  The first of many, what a journey it’s been since.

Eventually the Brand moved from the tiny living room in West Hollywood to an office space on Melrose, once occupied by Agenda, the street wear and action sports tradeshow organization.  From there, TLS added to what would become a fairly expansive product list; Manufacturing quality collectibles based on 2D designs from artists Sam Flores, Gary Baseman, Buff Monster, Joe Ledbetter, Friends With You – each release met with love and acceptance, the Brand, still in it's infancy, was starting to get noticed. 

Eventually, the Brand outgrew the space on Melrose, and moved to Atwater Village, occupying an office, whose former occupants, the Beastie Boys’ operated Grand Royal Records, and recorded every album from Paul’s Boutique on in recording studios adjacent to the office.  The Producer/DJ Diplo (Major Lazer) had taken over the studio portion, TLS had occupied Mike D’s old office space, and Han Cholo was on the bottom floor, adjacent to the TLS warehouse, a 400 sq ft room, no windows but it suited us fine for shipping orders, and storing inventory.   From this space Action Vinyls was born, our proprietary form; a unique mixture of aesthetic and function.  Our first licensed products were G.I. Joe.  Then came Transformers.  Then came updates to the form; elongating limbs, adding multiple articulations, and work shopping the form into a better collectible.  The Product list continued to grow with multiple series featuring Transformers, and additions to the Action Vinyls cannon with the inclusion of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. 

At a certain point we outgrew Atwater, and we moved our offices to Downtown Los Angeles.  A true LA story, along the way we seem to have occupied spaces inhabited by some fairly significant businesses, and famous talent.   Hopefully, some of that magic mojo would rub off on TLS.  This time we took over what was Justin Beiber’s recording studio, and dance rehearsal space.  We knocked out the control booth, took down the noise filters hanging from the ceiling, knocked out a wall, and set up shop.  This is the space we’re in now, however, we've expanded the space by knocking out another adjoining wall and taking over the space that was next door.  Since we've been here the Company has grown exponentially, selling millions of products, with shelf space at the world’s largest retailers.  TLS has released over 40 lines, with up to 4 variations in each Wave, has followed up with multiple waves, and has released hundreds of SDCC exclusives…all totaling up to nearly 2,000 unique skus.   It's been quite a trip from the Walrus Rider to NOW.  10 years later, we’re in a full stride, pounding the TLS message one Action Vinyl at a time.

When contacted by hobbyDB with the quest to build an archive, compiling every product TLS has released in the last 10 years, I literally froze, “It’ll take me a full year to accurately build and compile this list”, especially with the current workload on our plate.  Fear not, the TLS faithful have dutifully been archiving the history of TLS, perhaps more acutely, and responsively than the mother ship.  We have archives for everything TLS related but putting time aside to go one by one was indeed a daunting proposition.  It became clear that the TLS Army had already chronicled the TLS product lineage, in detail.  We decided to move forward with hobbyDB.  A bunch of Brands are jumping on the hobbyDB train, which is a great thing, a great opportunity for fans, onlookers, casual buyers, and completionists to search and satisfy their curiosity, and quests.  

We’re at a new point along the timeline.  Let's see what the next 10 years brings, and how many more skus end up in the archives!  With 51 licenses, and large character offerings ranging from music, anime, super hero, nostalgia, video game, and horror…skies the limit!

Don't forget to visit www.theloyalsubjects.com for exclusive product offerings, and www.theloyalsubjects.com/blog for news and updates relating to all things TLS!

PS.  Last Easter egg; the house, which spawned TLS, was also the bass player’s house for a band Brian Bell, guitar player of Weezer, had a side band with. The bass player was his former ex girlfriend, and at the time my roommate.  Brian frequently showed up, often times storing his gear in the hallway.  Hollywood is a trip.