Podcasts about KB Toys

Let's revisit #Kaybee Toys (KB Toys) and the beloved Kenner Star Wars two-packs of action figures. Many didn't have accessories, and some combos are just strange. Shane makes some phone calls with Strawberry Shortcake. Have you ever seen a graded Darth Vader TIE Fighter ship in acrylic? How about the super hard to find Bespin Luke Skywalker #minifigure from the original #LEGO Cloud City Playset? #strawberryshortcake #darthvader #tiefighter #KBtoys #kenner #minifigurecollection Sometimes, you win; sometimes, you wiff! Check out this week's #actionfigures Wins and Wiffs of the week! Wait till you see this awesome pickup of a vintage toy that is just not easy to find these days. Stay on the #toyhunt folks!

This week on the Time Blaster Toy Cast... we're cracking open the history books for a retrospective on Big Lots! The once closeout king has a fascinating backstory that includes Deloreans, KB & Toy Liquidators and every 1980s & 90s toy line we've ever loved! So settle in cause we're talking BIG LOTS from beginning to end! The Time Blaster Toy Cast is a nostalgic podcast about growing up in the 1980's & 1990's, with a specific focus on action figures, video games, junk food and retro geek stuff. Hosts Keith, Joe & Dave are your weekly tour guides as we travel back in time... when toys were cooler, movies were funnier, times were simpler & life in general was just MORE RAD! Got a question, comment or idea for our show? Want to share a story of your own with us? The Time Blaster Toy line is open 24/7! Leave us a message or shoot over a text message at 734-494-2292 Follow us on Instagram: @timeblastertoys @theretroko @mathew_priest

One of the best stories ever, Listener Kathy told us about an experience she had working at KB Toys!

In Episode 2, our high schoolers gather the clues, head to Hot Topic, and end in KB Toys to find the first of two keys! But this toy store isn't what they're used to; it's not all fun and games this time! But it does result in some unforgettable moments! Mall Madness 99 is a D&D Actual Play that takes place in a mall in New Jersey in 1999 on Black Friday! We follow 4 high schoolers who get trapped at the mall when unexplained things start happening. Luckily, they're not all alone. They receive incredible abilities and are tasked with not only saving the mall, but possibly even the world! The Cast: - Daniel as CJ Milton: https://linktr.ee/danielkhargrove - Kala as Misty Davenport: https://linktr.ee/potionsandpotpourri - Cameron as Roach: https://linktr.ee/streamingrainbow - Taylor as Nick Anderson: https://linktr.ee/soyouwannabeadm - Justin as the Dungeon Master: https://linktr.ee/soyouwannabeadm And remember to give us 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ AND a positive review! This helps us so much! Tell your friends!  --------------------------- We also have an email for questions, comments, and topic ideas Reach out to us at Soyouwannabeadm@gmail.com And CLICK HERE to support our Patreon, join our Discord, follow us on TikTok and Instagram, and see what we're up to! We Have a Twitch NOW!

Everybody loved KB Toys, unfortunately another really fun store that's not longer here. KB was a fixture at virtually every mall, and made all those 80s and 90s trips to the mall that much better! We also spin the wheel for next week! @TheRumbleWheel

"You ain't got two arms Mr. Wonderful so you gotta f***in dance!" Your hosts, Jeff Macanovich and Jaime Cavazos, welcome Steve from the Positively Pro Wrestling Podcast to drink some beers and watch the first half of Clash of the Champions 29. Along the way, the guys get distracted by a vulgar Dusty Rhodes, possibly a new KB Toys manager and Mean Gene's bread hand. The guys enjoyed beers from Goose Island Beer Co., 18th Street Brewery, Burn 'Em Brewing and Revolution Brewing. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning and follow the show @WorkTheArmPod, on Twitter, Instagram and (I guess) Threads. Check out our merch from the mind of Starman here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Shirts by Starman's Podcasting Buddies | TeePublic⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Grab something with the Work The Arm logo here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠T-Shirts by WorkTheArm | TeePublic⁠⁠

This week Nostalgia Junkies invites the store owner of Cruzn' Retro, Ramses Cruz, to sit down and discuss elements of the 90s nostalgia culture. Alex and Cruz talk about favorite toys, video games, and what got them into collecting. Next the boys transition into this week's This or That. Which would you choose: KB Toys or Toys 'R Us, Dunkaroos or Sharkbites, Nickelodeon Magazine or Disney Adventure? Alex and Cruz then get into the meat and potatoes of the episode...The Disney Afternoon Block. They test each other's cartoon theme song knowledge and rank which cartoon truly has the best theme song! Is it Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Mighty Ducks...Disney had a lot of ducks!!! Finally, they round out the episode with Snapple Fact or Fiction. Can you spot the correct Snapple facts? Email us your thoughts and comments: nostalgiajunkiesct@gmail.com STORE: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NostalgiaJunkiesShop  Follow us on our Socials: INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠@nostagiajunkiespodcast⁠ TIKTOK: ⁠⁠@nostalgiajunkies⁠podcast⁠ YOUTUBE: ⁠⁠@nostalgiajunkiespodcast⁠⁠ Subscribe and Review!  Don't forget to check out Cruzn' Retro

Kmart, KB Toys, Mervyns, and Radio Shack are among the iconic stores of the decade that have gone to the wayside. The guys talk about it this week.

Codex Prime takes a stroll down memory lane this week by talking about the stores from their childhood, from KB Toys to Electronics Boutique and others! Victor also reviews the Oscar-winning film The Whale and Carl gets into some wrestling talk. Pinkies up and let's GET IT! Recorded February 27, 2024 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Catch Codex Prime on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other podcast platforms. Email: CodexPrimePodcast@gmail.com SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: www.facebook.com/codexprime Twitter: twitter.com/codexprimecast Instagram: instagram.com/codexprimepodcast/ YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCbDMNJNgnM6y3WB3fA1a1HA SoundCloud: @codex-prime Victor Omoayo - Do the Film Thing Podcast: https://dothefilmthing.podbean.com/ - Do the Film Thing Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dothefilmthing - Email: dothefilmthing@gmail.com Carl Byrd - Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Mixcloud @mrbyrd1027

Text us and say hello!In this episode, Lou and I take you on a nostalgic journey back to the magical world of 90s toy stores.We kick things off by reminiscing about the sheer excitement of stepping into a toy store back in the day. It wasn't just about shopping; it was an adventure. We chat about the giants of the era—Toys "R" Us, KB Toys, FAO Schwarz—and what made each of them special. From Geoffrey the Giraffe welcoming us into Toys "R" Us to the enchanting atmosphere of FAO Schwarz, it's a trip down memory lane you won't want to miss.  Plus, we don't forget the local and independent toy stores either, praising their unique charm and the personal touch they brought to our childhoods.As we move towards the end of the episode, we touch on the decline of brick-and-mortar toy stores and how the rise of online shopping marked the end of an era. Yet, it's not all gloomy; we also talk about the stores that have adapted and survived, keeping the magic alive for new generations.We wrap up the episode by sharing some heartwarming stories from our listeners, who were kind enough to send in their most cherished memories of 90s toy stores. It's a beautiful reminder of how these places weren't just stores; they were where our imaginations were ignited.So, join Lou and me as we explore the aisles of the past, reliving the wonder and excitement of the 90s toy store experience. It's an episode full of laughter, memories, and maybe even a few surprises. Don't forget to hit subscribe and follow us on our social channels to share your own toy store tales. Let's keep the nostalgia alive together on Generation 'S'.Support the Show.We've got merch!Check out the site for some awesome Gen 'S' swag :)

During this episode of our ChangeMakers Podcast, host Jeremy C. Park talks with Zach Montroy, who is a People, Team, and Organizational Strategist and the Founder and CEO of The Intention Collective, which is based in the Nashville, Tennessee area. During the interview, Zach shares some of his personal story and why, after more than 20 years of experience in executive roles, he started focusing his efforts on helping entrepreneurs scale and grow their companies through healthy teams by building brave workplaces.Zach looks back on his first management experience in high school at KB Toys and how he then built his career seeking out mentorship and opportunities to lead by building positive cultures and high-functioning teams. He defines and talks about the importance of building brave workplaces and how they dramatically differ from a toxic culture that could be sabotaging strategy. Zach highlights their work at The Intention Collective and also talks about some of the current workplace trends related to leadership, and how those trends can be positive or negative depending on the culture and leadership. Zach also touches on the importance of purpose and how he and his family give back in the community, as well as help entrepreneurs and organizations create social impact. He wraps up with some of the things learned from his wife and three children, and how his family works to find harmony and happiness among busy schedules, then the lightning round.Visit www.IntentionCollective.co to learn more.

‘Tis the season for toys! First, we're getting an update on where toy retailers stand today with Forbes Senior Contributor Joan Verdon. She's covered Toys R Us since the late 90s, and has the inside scoop on whether this chain is actually making the big comeback the headlines claim.Later, we're zooming in on one toy that's stood the test of time — Hot Wheels – with Bruce Pascal, who has the world's most valuable, historically-complete collection of these tiny cars. And he's recently created his own museum for them. Plus, Bruce shares how he acquired the “holy grail” for Hot Wheels collectors (hint: it's hot pink).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 2004 and toy retailers across America are assessing the post-holiday damage from Walmart's brutal price attack.And with KB Toys mortally wounded, it falls to Toys “R” Us to lead the fight. But when the debts mount and Amazon turns from friend to foe, Toys “R” Us ends up in a desperate battle for survival.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 1999 and the world wide web is the new retail frontier. And both KB Toys and Toys “R” Us hope to use the internet to keep Walmart at bay.But Toys “R” Us's plan for online glory is about to go haywire – giving KB Toys the upper hand and forcing Toys “R” Us into a surprise alliance with Amazon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 1990 and Toys “R” Us rules toy retail. But when big-box retailers Walmart and Costco threaten to intrude on its territory, Toys “R” Us uses toymakers to wage retail war.And as the clash of the giant superstores rages around it, the owner of KB Toys loses faith in its mall-based strategy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet or your attention. Sometimes, it's just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shape what we buy and how we live. Business Wars gives you the unauthorized, real story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors and executives to new heights -- or to ruin. Their latest season, Business Wars: Toys R US vs KB Toys, goes deep into the rivalry between the two top brick-and-mortar toy sellers and an even greater threat: online retailers. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/IFD_BW Follow Business Wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Business Wars ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's the 1950s and in Washington D.C., Charles Lazarus is running a small baby furniture store in the house he was born in.But when a customer comes seeking toys, Lazarus starts on the path towards creating a toy superstore empire called Toys “R” Us and building immense wealth.And he's not the only businessman chasing toy riches. In Massachusetts, a wholesaler called Kaufman Brothers is building a rival toy chain in the nation's shopping malls.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"Thomas Rich? Everybody's going to work at the KB Toys now!" Your hosts, Jeff Macanovich and Jaime Cavazos, welcome (not that) Kevin Smith to have some beers and enjoy the first half of Clash of the Champions 17. The guys enjoyed beers from New Oberpfalz Brewing, 18th Street Brewery, Mad Hatchet Brewing and Samuel Adams. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning and follow the show @WorkTheArmPod, on Twitter, Instagram and (I guess) Threads. Check out our merch from the mind of Starman here: ⁠⁠T-Shirts by Starman's Podcasting Buddies | TeePublic⁠⁠ Grab something with the Work The Arm logo here: ⁠⁠T-Shirts by WorkTheArm | TeePublic⁠⁠

 0:02 - Intro1:25 - Looking Up Everywhere You Go3:40 - Who is Matt Bass?3:57  - A Great Mentor8:26 -  The Importance of Giving Back9:51 -  My Trusty NFPA 25 Handbook10:45 -  YouTube Videos12:28 -  NFPA 25 Inspectors Group14:57 - Open Feedback15:42 -  Hey, There's Bob Caputo!16:23 -  Not to Name Drop but Tracy Demy, Ralph Bliss, Tom Parish17:15 - “Just When I Thought I Was Out…”17:49 - Need a Job in Antarctica?20:22 - A Love of Helping People 21:50 - Make a Group Anywhere23:36 - It's Global24:44 -  Need Photos of a Specific Sprinkler Head Deficiency?25:58 - Sarcasm & Snark: We Love to Roast Each Other26:46 - Our Industry Works Hard and Plays Hard28:24-  Lots of Consolidation in Fire Protection31:19 - The Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders Trying to be one Team32:06 - People Starting Their Small Businesses33:33 - The Age Gap: Younger People Need to Step Up35:09 - The Experienced People Need to Teach the Next Gen the Details36:13 - Learn Everything You Possibly Can37:36 - Quick Response Round!37:50  - Coolest  New Product in Fire Protection38:06 - Flex Heads!39:48 - Favorite “Star Wars” Movie?40:30 - “Return of the Jedi”40:57 - A Bar? Nope, A Toy Store41:44- Favorite Dry Pipe Valve?42:06 - Don't Over-Engineer Every44:17 - Wrapping Up45:07 - Where to Find Matt, aka. Maddie47:45 - Money isn't Everything48:36 - Helping Someone is Worth More Than Dollars48:59 - Until Next Time

"Ricky Morton, Richard Morton, got his job at KB Toys. At the same time, his partner started working at Toys R' Us with Dustin Rhodes. The Toy Store Wars have begun." Your hosts, Jeff Macanovich and Jaime Cavazos, go guest-less to start the "Gold-Plated Era" of WCW with the second half of Clash of the Champions 15: Knocksville, USA. The guys enjoyed beers from New Oberpfalz Brewing, 18th Street Brewery and Breckenridge Brewery. New episodes drop every Tuesday morning and follow the show @WorkTheArmPod, on Twitter, Instagram and (I guess) Threads. Check out our merch from the mind of Starman here: T-Shirts by Starman's Podcasting Buddies | TeePublic Grab something with the Work The Arm logo here: T-Shirts by WorkTheArm | TeePublic

On 141, @chloehotline comes through and we talk about KB Toys (08:00), being an artist in 2023, CDQ vs. Streaming, What's in the bag? (37:00), our YouTube algorithms, what we're listening to and more!  Follow, Subscribe, Like & Share! https://linktr.ee/sywnet Subscribe To The Patreon: www.patreon.com/sywnet Twitch: https://twitch.tv/sywnet Follow The Show Your Work Team! https://twitter.com/sywnet?s=21&t=5EYa6Xk5-zLrkYNjtywXkw DJ Larry: https://twitter.com/djlarry0093?s=21&t=5EYa6Xk5-zLrkYNjtywXkw Nelson: https://twitter.com/whoisoriginel?s=21&t=5EYa6Xk5-zLrkYNjtywXkw Yungin: https://twitter.com/2lsyungin?s=21&t=5EYa6Xk5-zLrkYNjtywXkw Winston: https://twitter.com/kingmurphymedia?s=21&t=5EYa6Xk5-zLrkYNjtywXkw Follow Chloe Hotline! @chloehotline IG: @chloehotline2700

Episode #223 Zach and Jason go to K-Mart, or KB Toys, or Toys R Us, ONCE AGAIN, and buy a bunch of action figures that have military grade warhead chips that allow them to gain sentient thoughts of destruction and warfare.  Thanks for listening! Music: CANNON FILMS, ONE NIGHT IN KOBE CITY (SNATCHER OST), MY LUCKY STARS ENDING OST

Hi. I'm back. Major announcement. Rue The Day. And stuff about an old job I had at the mall. Part 1. All while driving to Ocean City! Ok. Talk soon.

Episode #222 Zach and Jason go to K-Mart, or KB Toys, or Toys R Us, and grab a brand new figure off the shelves for a chat this week.  Thanks for listening! Music: CANNON FILMS, ONE NIGHT IN KOBE CITY (SNATCHER OST), MY LUCKY STARS ENDING OST

Episode 141: Hanging out at the Mall was every kid's dream weekend in the '80s and 90's. Going to the food court, window shopping at KB Toys, trying to figure out what Sam Goody sold, eating pretzels or playing arcade games. There was no better place to hang out than the Mall. Bonus Tip:  What is your favorite dipping sauce for a hot pretzel? Thank you for listening and taking this journey with us. Please follow us on social media for great Top Dad tips, tricks, jokes, and hacks. TopDadpod.comWant to help the show?The best way to help the Top Dad podcast is to share our podcasting gold with your friends and family or consider leaving a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and following us on Spotify.Listen to Top Dad for free wherever you listen to podcasts or go to TopDadpod.com for all our socials and contact information.  

What's up, dudes? Shopping for toys should be one of the JOYS OF CHRISTMAS! That's right! I've got Nicholas Pepin of Pop Culture Roulette and Santa Ambassador Matt Spaulding from  North Pole Radio here to talk all about Kay·Bee Toy & Hobby Shops, known later as KB Toys! It was the toy store in the mall, and we loved it!  When mom and dad went to check out the deals on new appliances at Sears, we checked out the aisles full of action figures and playsets! Fully stocked shelves and NES games behind the counter, Kay·Bee took our fun seriously! And they definitely never treated us like a grinch!It gave us good service, good prices, good selection, and convenient locations in shopping malls across the country. Billed as full-time, year-round toy specialists, they had large selections in all categories. They were fully stocked with an immense variety of toys, dolls, games, hobbies, HO trains, road racing, doll house miniatures, and much, much more! In fact, you could even pick up these items in they're “what Santa forgot” after Christmas sales!As well, they wanted us to be around after the holidays (presumably to buy more toys, of course).G.I.Joes? Check. Garbage Pail Kids? By the register. Puppets in their commercials? Definitely! So call up your crew, head to the mall, and hang out in this episode!Pop Culture Roulette FB: @PopCultureRouletteTwitter: @popcultrouletteIG: @popcultrouletteCheck us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com! Later, dudes!

KB Toys, Toys R Us, K&K Toys, Toyworks, Kiddie City,  YOU KNOW !!!!!!!!

In this final episode of Season 4 we are imbibing a classic, the Sazerac–a drink that some cocktail historians say was the oldest American cocktail. This concoction and other “old-fangled” alcoholic mixtures from 150+ years ago were reborn in the late 2000s, the era of STEPHANIE's scandal.

Remember the pure joy of stepping into a toy store as a kid? The anticipation, the excitement, and the hustle to convince your parents to buy you that one toy you had your heart set on? We are taking you back to those golden days as we reminisce about iconic American retail stores, especially Toys R Us and KB Toys.We start our journey with a nostalgic trip down the memory lane, sharing our cherished childhood memories. The catchy jingles, the memorable trips, and even the art of persuasion we employed as kids to get what we wanted - we cover it all. We also examine the changing landscape of retail stores, the advent of online shopping, and how these factors led to the demise of these childhood havens.Our discussion takes an interesting turn as we delve into some serious issues such as the alleged involvement of Bain Capital in the shutdown of KB Toys and other stores. We shed light on their potential 'bust out scheme' and its implications. As we journey from the past to the present, we also touch upon the future of toy stores and the potential tie-ins with movie theaters and toy companies. So, come on board as we relive our best childhood memories and explore the ever-evolving world of toy stores.

From KB toys manager to Full time toy reseller - With Crispy Toys & Treasures Chris's socials - https://linktr.ee/crispystoys Make sure to write a 5 star review Poppin' off toys Use code "nashvilleflipper" for 10% off https://poppinofftoys.com?ref:ray Linktree - https://linktr.ee/raysolorio

What's up Nation and welcome back to the Tuesday Night Toys Podcast! This is Episode 11 where I go back in time and discuss some fond memories of buying WWE Figures as a kid, including the time I spent $500 at KB Toys when I was only 8 years old! SHARE on Social Media with the Hashtag #TuesdayNightToys Follow Me Elsewhere!

This episode is guaranteed to have so much '90s nostalgia for you! Katie and Heather remind you about all of the things you could do and OH the places you could visit in our '90s malls that you can't go to today! We all turned into animal rescuers as we saved the wind-up, yapping animals from their backs as we walked in to KB Toys. Owe shopped at stores like Wet Seal, Sharper Image, The Limited Too, Delia's, Structure, Rave, 5-7-9 and SO many more! Don't forget about the nostalgic food and drinks we had too like Orbitz, Creme Savers, String Thing, Squeezit, Pepsi Blue, Butterfinger BB's and Baby Bottle Pop! Commercials clips included!Grab your Toys 'R Us Geoffrey Dollars and let's go back to a time when rummaging through the toy aisles could provide hours of titillating entertainment, stores in the mall like Discovery World helped us to discover freeze-dried ice cream for the first time and immediately made us want to become astronauts just so we could eat more, and the food pyramid that emerged in 1992 became our holy grail of dieting.Prepare for your deepest memories to be unlocked! This is a fun one!Life. Was. Good.

Time Blaster Toycast is your one stop for all things 80s, 90s & beyond! Join hosts Keith, Joe, and Dave as they discuss everything vintage and modern action figures, trading cards, collectibles and all things pop culture! On todays episode the boys are discussing their memories of shopping at KB TOY STORES! Come stroll down memory lane with us! Use the hashtag #asktimeblasterpod on Instagram or Twitter to ask us a question! If we read it on the show you will win a very special Time Blaster Pod swag package! To stay up to date with us please make sure to follow us on: Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/YouTube: @timeblastertoys, @theretroko https://www.timeblastertoys.com https://www.theretroko.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/timeblastertoycast/support

Stop assuming that your team has bought into the company mission. This assumption makes too many leaders overlook the critical step of motivating the team and asking for their commitment to the direction of the company. The company mission is a driving force for the organization, and it's important to get everyone on board. This is particularly vital in times of rapid change and transformation. It can make all the the difference between success and failure. I interviewed, Craig Erlich, President and CEO (and investor) of Friendly's Restaurants as well as advisor to the board of BRIX Holdings where he previously served as the President and CEO. We discussed an essential strategy for motivating your team and getting their buy in for the company mission. If you're not familiar with Friendly's, it a restaurant chain founded in 1935 with a long history. Many know it for its burgers and milkshakes. Yum! They have 135 locations. Craig's also held leadership roles with CVS, Jo-Ann's, and KB Toys. He sits on the board of Easter Seals North Texas and has been affiliated with Easter Seals in one way or another for the past 15 years, including as former chairman of the NY board. LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-erlich-0b31117 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-erlich-0b31117) Company Link: https://www.friendlysrestaurants.com/ (https://www.friendlysrestaurants.com/) What You'll Discover in this Episode: The success secret he learned from his first job washing dishes. The one thing every leader must start with to retain and engage their team. His own turnaround-strategy playbook. What makes leading the Friendly's team so special. The advice Craig gives to his leaders to accelerate their results. Why he sometimes takes his family on business trips. A powerful story of when someone was fired, and how it led to a 40% improvement. Why Craig traveled to meet 90% of employees during a Pandemic. The importance of communicating with employees in-person. Resources: Twelve O'Clock High https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_O%27Clock_High (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_O%27Clock_High) The Energy Bus, Jon Gordon https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Bus-Rules-Fuel-Positive/dp/0470100281 Quotes: "Think like a rookie." "Make sure that communication flows both up and down." "Be here now." ----- Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben Fanning https://www.benfanning.com/speaker/ (Speaking and Training inquires) https://my.captivate.fm/followbenonyoutube.com (Subscribe to my Youtube channel) https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/ (LinkedIn) https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/ (Instagram) https://twitter.com/BenFanning1 (Twitter)

Austin is here to talk about the rise and fall of the “toy store in the mall” KB Toys.  While Toys R Us was just a twinkle in its founder's eye, KB toys was creating the modern toy store, moving into malls and developing unique strategies to make it stand out.  But after several business mishaps and a stinky leveraged buyout, KB Toys would find itself struggling to make it through the 2000s.  Does this story have a happy ending?  No!  Does Brenda bring up Mitt Romney an obnoxious number of times?  Absolutely! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join me, Marty McGeek, and my guest, Tona the Tigress, as we take a trip down memory lane and discuss the now defunct KB Toys. Tona shares her memories of some late 90s toys and video games. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-ramos75/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/martin-ramos75/support

Andy Bailen has been a senior executive in retail and CPG businesses for over 30 years. He is currently the Managing Director of 3Pe Consulting, which provides advisory services in business turnarounds, franchise development, general retail & pop-up stores, direct to consumer initiatives, private equity/ M&A, and more. 3Pe Consulting clients have included ASDA, Five Below, Barnes & Noble, The Jim Henson Company, Penguin Books, Propel Equity, Macellum Capital Management, and The Ivy League. Andy's career includes roles as President & CEO of KB Toys, Head of Specialty Retail at Toys "R" Us, EVP of Merchandising & Marketing at Party City, President of Loew-Cornell (a Jarden Corp. business), EVP at Alex Brands (a private equity rollup) and SVP, GMM at Blockbuster. Highlights include conceptualizing and growing the Toys "R" Us pop-up store program from $0 to $200 million in 18 months and leading a highly successful turnaround at Party City Corp. Andy has a demonstrated record of success in multi-billion dollar companies as well as start-up businesses. He is a proven leader with significant experience in P&L management, strategic planning, business development, merchandising, buying, e-commerce, product sourcing & development, marketing, licensing, store operations, finance, and real estate. In addition to his consulting business, Andy serves on the advisory boards at Doughnuttery, The Healthy Animal, and the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University. He also publishes a weekly newsletter about the retail industry, All Things Retail (AllThingsRetail.substack.com/about). Andy's firm, 3Pe Consulting, are experts in the Pop-Up business. Having planned and opened over 1,200 Pop-Up locations, their real-life expertise is unequaled. In fact, they led the creation and growth of the Toys “R” Us Pop-Up Store program, which grew from 0 to over 600 stores and $200 million in sales within 18 months! http://www.3peconsulting.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/andybailen *** Pop-up Bootcamp *** Register: https://mailchi.mp/3peconsulting.com/pop-up-boot-camp-7921 Email: info@3PeConsulting.com // Episode: 007 ...... Your Hosts: - Scott Blair, Co-Founder of Popable - Stephen Brooks, The Pop-Up Retail Expert Find us online: - Podcast Website - Instagram - Facebook ...... Join the pop-up community marketplace: https://popable.com ...... Send us a voice message: https://popablepodcast.com/message --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/popable/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/popable/support

In the video game days of yore, a player would be able to purchase a game from KB Toys or K-Mart and know they were getting a fully functioning and complete title. As the internet entered our homes and our consoles, games that were considered complete were found with game breaking bugs or missing content. And thus the Day 1 Patch was born. And to top it off, game companies felt the need to be sure we were always connected to the internet, even if a game may not look like it requires it. Couch co-op was relgated to party games, and game series that used to offer split screen now require two consoles to play. In this week's NPCs Discuss, we talk Online Only! Check us out on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheNPCsPodcast Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thenpcspodcast Intro & Outro: Run by J+1 Pick up his tracks on Bandcamp today @ https://jplusone.bandcamp.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-npcs-podcast/support

ToyCast is back and better than ever! This is Episode 101, and TFG1Mike welcomes new co-hosts Josh the FloorBurger and A. Das Baron!! This terrific trio talks all about how the Toy Store was a thing in their day, but not today!!! Join them won't you in this all new generation of ToyCast!

On this episode of Collecting Deadman, Stephen takes you back 20 years to 2001 to talk about his memories of the Undertaker feuding with the Two Man Power Trip. Matches and memories of that time come full circle when discussing the best figures that depict Taker's look around this time and figure hunting for them at KB Toys! The newest episode of WWE's Most Wanted Treasures is also discussed in detail and what we learned looking at Kane and Undertaker's storage bins! Since it's the anniversary of the first ever Inferno Match at Unforgiven 1998, that famous match is talked about, memories discussed and the best figures are matched up. Finally, the WWF Aqua Blaster Undertaker Shield is Buried Alive! Follow me on Twitter: @CollectUpDead Follow me on Instagram: @CollectingDeadman Follow my Collection Catalogue at: collectingdeadman.blogspot.com Become a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/collectingdeadman --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/collectingdeadman/support

Orange Julius, Chess King, and KB Toys. Today I'm thinking of all these mainstays of shopping malls from my childhood. Because my travels today are taking me to a totally 80s mall.

How to Successfully Turnaround A Failing Business How do you effectively turnaround a failing business? Many elements including less profits, bad leadership, and a crisis like Coronavirus can lead to a business failure- and it requires a strategic plan, objectives, and goals to complete a successful turnaround effort. In this episode of the Page One Podcast, Luke Peters speaks with Andy Bailen on how to successfully turnaround a failing business. Andy founded 3Pe Consulting in 2009 and is an accomplished retail and consumer products senior C-level executive. He has an outstanding record of achievement in multi-billion-dollar companies as well as start-up businesses. Andy's highly experienced in P&L management, strategic planning, business development, product development, global sourcing, finance, private equity, franchising, etc. Listen in to learn the importance of involving all business stakeholders in the turnaround process for it to be successful. You will also learn the value of having great people working for you as part of your trusted team. Key Takeaways: How a company's leadership perspective can either make and break the turnaround efforts. The importance of talking to business stakeholders during the turnaround process, to help formulate the holistic view of a business existence then and now. The value of a robust balance sheet in a business for support during a crisis. The roles of a business's leadership, teams, and departments in effecting a successful turnaround. How to use OKRs to measure goal effectiveness and teams' performance accountability during the turnaround process. Episode Timeline: [2:10] Andy explains how they work in turnaround, temporary retailing, and franchising development. [3:19] He names some of the big companies they've worked with like Blockbuster, KB Toys, etc. [4:36] How he turned around Party City's bordering bankruptcy situation to a success story. [7:29] How growth for the sake of growth instead of profitable growth ruins businesses. [9:45] He explains how the leadership of a company impacts the turnaround efforts of a business. [12:03] The steps that Andy and his team take into account during the first week of the turnaround process. [15:23] Why cash is the biggest concern for businesses to raise a turnaround flag, and not the other metrics. [17:18] Andy mentions all the KPIs they use, leading with profits and revenue margins. [22:14] Why businesses failed during the pandemic due to lack of sufficient working capital. [24:03] How a business leadership contributes to its failure and what needs to be done to have a successful turnaround. [29:40] Andy explains in detail how they use OKRs to drive for goal effectiveness and teams' performance accountability. [35:29] How not to overwhelm the team with many goals and instead start with the high return goals. [39:55] Andy advises business owners to hire great people and allow them to work. Quotes: “In many cases, I found that leadership of a business just simply won't face the reality that their business is either struggling or even failing.”- Andy [10:14] “Seventy percent of the time or so the companies are truly in trouble in losing money and burning through cash.”- Andy [14:40] “Many times, that senior leadership needs to change over to truly effect the successful turnaround.”- Andy [25:22] “You want to set goals around each element that goes into achieving the high-level goal.”- Andy [33:35] “You get much greater buy-in to the go-forward plan when you go to this turnaround effort collaboratively.”- Andy [34:25] “The one element of OKRs that I've seen people misunderstand from time to time is putting in immeasurable objectives.”- Andy [38:16] “Hire great people and let them do the work.”- Andy [39:55]

It was the night before Christmas and all through the mall, not a creature was stirring not even--shit was that a furby?Join Nikki, Bobby, Mary, Keith, and Ashley as they go back to 1998 and work the overnight shift at KB Toys in Lomond Mall, from the universe of Tales from 2000! Let's find out what happens!BobbyTwitter: https://twitter.com/GmTable YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGm6u0Y6cxive36uwxP7zw  MaryTwitter: https://twitter.com/NerdonWheels15  KeithTwitter: https://twitter.com/keith_bits  AshleyTwitter: https://twitter.com/RainbowRaine  Please check us out on:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beholdertonoone Twitter: https://twitter.com/beholdertonoone Find more episodes on Podbean: https://beholdertonoone.podbean.com/Holy crap! we now have a Youtube and our own website courtesy of Nikki's Husband, Keith!Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCocz92shjgObQuk8_-dqYgA Website: https://beholdertonoone.com/  Intro MusicSailing To Freedom by Rafael KruxLink: https://filmmusic.io/song/5378-sailing-to-freedom- License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Outro MusicSugar Fairies by Rafael KruxLink: https://filmmusic.io/song/5429-sugar-fairies-License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background Music:Wish Background by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4633-wish-background License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

Toys for Tots is underway at Radio City! Mit Romney killed KB Toys?! Good news for the valley as COVID vaccine rollout plans start to take shape with 4 valley locations are chosen. Another monolith has popped up, this time in the Netherlands.    Fri 12/11: Hour 1   Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 68 is here! Come for the first 20 minutes...stay for the final 70Grandma Klif, Uncle Klif and Cousin Klif are contestants on the hit gameshow "Screaming Orgasm or Christmas Surprise"NFL picks for week 13Fan FeedbackGetting Fired from KB Toys for not wearing socksBasil Marceaux's viral Christmas hit from 2010Jedi Fallen Orderand tons more!!

D.G. Chichester (https://twitter.com/dgchichester) talks about his career at Marvel, working with Clive Barker, co-creating the character of Terror, and his thoughts on the Netflix Daredevil series.   Thanks to our sponsors Marcus Theatres (https://www.marcustheatres.com/) and Historic St. Charles, Missouri (https://www.discoverstcharles.com/)!   0:00 SEGMENT 1: D.G. on going to NYU film school, working with Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, hanging out in the Marvel bullpen, answering fan phone calls, and what titles he wished he’d gotten the chance to work on   14:50 SEGMENT 2: D.G. on breaking new ground with Clive Barker    27:03 SEGMENT 3: D.G. on working with artist Bill Sienkiewicz and co-creating the character Terror     35:33 SEGMENT 4: D.G. on bringing Terror Inc. back, casting the Terror movie, and whether he enjoyed the Daredevil Netflix series   46:40 SEGMENT 5: D.G. on Daredevil’s 90’s armor look, artist Scott McDaniel’s ability to get the armor right, and running to KB Toys to buy the action figure when it came out   Amazon Affiliate Link -   http://bit.ly/geektome  Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/3Y0D2iaZl Patreon -   https://www.patreon.com/GeekToMeRadio  Website -   http://geektomeradio.com/  Podcast -   https://geektomeradio001.podomatic.com/  Facebook -   https://www.facebook.com/GeekToMeRadio/  Twitter -   https://twitter.com/geektomeradio  Instagram -   https://www.instagram.com/geektomeradio/

On this weeks episode we tread into some American territory, the Toy Store. From FAO Schwartz to KB Toys, we try to cover it all. Was the 90's the last great push for Toy Stores? Did Toy Stores kill the industry themselves? Is Jeff Baaay-zoooohhh going to rule the world of Toys? Help us figure it out on this weeks episode of Sarcasm Aside.

An awesome conversation with Ellia Kassoff about his journey to revive dead brands. Ellia is currently working on revitalizing Hydrox Cookies, KB Toys, Tart n' Tinys, Astro Pops, Wacky Wafers, Bonkers, and many more. The Back Row: backrowblog.com Back Row Radio: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/back-row-radio/id1513646981

Buckle up because life is a great ride. Today's featured author is American Sign Language Interpreter, half-marathon runner, chocolate lover, and mom of 4, Kelly Brakenhoff. Kelly and I talk about how she got into writing both mystery novels and children's books, where she finds the inspiration to write her books and more!!! *For An Entire Special Edition transcript of this episode, scroll below. Key Things You'll Learn: Why she writes mystery novels and why they're her favorite book genre. Why she started her own publishing company. What inspired her children's book series. The most important thing you must get right about when you publish a children's book.   Kelly's Site: http://kellybrakenhoff.com/ Kelly's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Kelly-Brakenhoff/e/B07PN7K7T7%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share   The opening track is titled "Good Morning World" by EV Sharp (Formerly Known As MagicMusic Productions). Listen and download the full track by clicking on the following link. https://evsharp.bandcamp.com/track/good-morning-world   Resources Mentioned: NaNoWriMo: https://www.nanowrimo.org/   Related Episodes: 33 - "Inspiration, Sci-Fi, & Video Games" with Beth Martin (@bethmart07): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/33-inspiration-sc-fi-video-games-with-beth-martin-bethmart07   92 - "Roya Sands and the Bridge Between Worlds" with Saryon Michael White: http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/92-roya-sands-and-the-bridge-between-worlds-with-saryon-michael-white 120.5 (Local Author Bonus Special) [LABS] - "The Children of Time" with Victory Parsons (@ReadLiftRepeat): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/1205-local-author-bonus-special-labs-the-children-of-time-with-victory-parsons-readliftrepeat   150 - "Princess Monroe and Her Happily Ever After" with Jody Vallee Smith: http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/150-princess-monroe-and-her-happily-ever-after-with-jody-vallee-smith   241 – “Highwayman” with MJ Preston (@MJPreston1): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/241-highwayman-with-mj-preston-mjpreston1   243 – “Fantasy Writing & The Power of Audiobooks For Indie Authors” with Riley Tune (@rileytuneauthor): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/243-fantasy-writing-the-power-of-audiobooks-for-indie-authors-with-riley-tune-rileytuneauthor   Episode Transcript (Courtesy of Kelly)  :) : Dom Brightmon: You are now tuning in to the going North podcast. With your host, bestselling author, professional speaker, and member of the John Maxwell team, Dominique “Dom” Brightman, and every Monday and Thursday we're going to hear the voice of a different author, sharing their gifts, stories, and expertise to help your charge forward in life. Now, let's get on with the show. And today on the Going North podcast, we're bringing some fabulous humans from across the globe. Today is no different. Today is no different because we got another fabulous author from the Creative Edge Crew, baby. That's right. These are some creative folks who have an edge and not Adam Copeland because this fabulous author right here is not only a fabulous mom, but she's also an American Sign Language Interpreter, which is actually a first for this podcast. You we've never had an ASL professional well on his podcast, and her motivation for learning ASL actually began back in high school when she wanted to converse with her Deaf friends and she also, and published her first novel a murder mystery, which is Death by Dissertation, which was published back in April, 2019 as well as Dead Week. In addition to that, a children's picture books series featuring Duke, the Deaf Dog as well. This is a lady of many talents in addition to all that fabulous stuff. She also serves on the Board of Editors for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf publication, VIEWS. Let's give it up for the fabulous KB, not KB Toys herself. Ms. Kelly Brakenhoff, how are you today, ma'am? Kelly Brakenhoff: Hi, I'm great. How are you doing? Dom Brightmon: Doing fabulous, doing fabulous, indeed. We got the fabulous Kind Kelly on the show. I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: You remind me when I was younger, and people would try to make fun of my name. You know, they do the rhyming thing. The worst thing they could come up with was smelly Kelly with a belly full of jelly. I was really hurt though. Dom Brightmon: Or did you even have a belly, at least a huge one? Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, no. I suppose is that if that was the worst they could come up with, that was okay. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, we can always call you a tree. Well that that could be worse. Why did I do that to myself? Never mind, that's bad, but don't worry. It's about the sensational Kelly. Would you mind filling in some cavities or filling an introduction and tell us a bit about who is the one and only Kelly B. herself. Kelly Brakenhoff: I was looking over your website and everything. You really have had a lot of inspirational people on before me, and all of the things that you've gotten to do. I was trying to think of what I could contribute to that body of work there. I was intimidated thinking that I'm just a mom and I wrote some books. But I guess one thing that's interesting is that it took me a really long time to write the books. I am quite a bit older, and I've had this career as an American Sign Language interpreter for a very long time. And like you said, I have four kids. I took a lot of time raising and teaching them how to use the washing machine and the dishwasher while they were growing up, until they could fend for themselves and move out. Once they got older, I got serious. I'd always wanted to be a writer my whole life, and once they started getting old enough, I really buckled down and decided that I wanted to do this badly enough. I was going to do whatever it took. I think it was 2014 when I did my first NaNoWriMo. Dom, have you experienced a NaNoWriMo yourself before? Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, I wrote maybe five words. Kelly Brakenhoff: See, I'm the person where I love that challenge. I'm competitive, like our family. We have these, you know, game nights. Everybody in our family is really competitive. If you set a competition before me, that's the best way to get me to do something. When I read about National Novel Writing Month, I thought, okay, I can write every day for 30 days and I can come up with 50,000 words. I think I can do this. One year I decided to go for it. Well, I ended up with 50,000 words, and then it took me another four years to edit and revise them to make it into my first book, Death by Dissertation. Dom Brightmon: Well, hey, that's frigging awesome. Well, I mean, that's a feat within itself to be able to actually write enough words during that month before it ends, or as it ends, and then it's actually published. It actually takes guts because some folks in the past on this show, they've done NaNoWriMo they've had plenty of books, but they never actually published them for the public to read. That takes guts on your follow through, and it looks like we found a new nickname for you, Competitive Kelly. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, that's right. I mean, definitely it's a great accomplishment to complete NaNoWriMo. Some people do it for their own personal satisfaction, to challenge themselves, but I wanted more. I've always wanted to be an author and I never really saw the path to do that in my life with time and everything. But once I broke it down into the small chunks of like, okay, well I can write 50,000 words and then I can start working on getting them revised. It took me a couple years to get through that whole process and I submitted it around to a bunch of agents and publishing houses. I had a lot of people who asked me to send in my whole manuscript. And I did that for over a year and worked really hard at that. And then, I never could get anybody that was interested in offering me a contract. And I went through this time where I had to decide, do I start something else or do I keep working on this one? And I really believed in this story because of the main character, her name is Cassandra Sato and she moves from Hawai'i to Nebraska for her dream job. Who does that, right? But she always wanted to be a college administrator. She works in a small college in Hawai'i, and she wants to become a president of a university someday. She gets offered the job at this college in Nebraska, but after a couple months they find a student dead on the campus. She has to go and help figure out what happened to the student. Some of the characters in the book are Deaf and use American Sign Language. In the process of writing the book, I realized that one of the things that I wanted to do with this was make people aware of what it's like. You know, with my day job, I work with Deaf people all the time, and I know lots of really cool Deaf people that have really cool jobs and do great things. But your average person doesn't run into very many deaf people. And you might not know very much sign language except for the alphabet and a couple of curse words, and that's it. I thought it'd be really cool to have characters in the book that are Deaf and use sign language. The more I've gotten into it, and the more I've written in the series and everything, I've realized that's my thing. I wanted to make the world more aware of what it's like to be Deaf or to know sign language. A lot of the feedback that I've gotten from reviewers and readers have said that they really appreciated learning about Deaf Culture. The first book is a lot about what it's like to be a college student who's Deaf. If you imagine that you're in your class and the professor is talking, but you're getting all the information through the interpreter and what that's like and how hard and challenging that is. You know, a lot of people don't think about things like that. And the readers have really enjoyed getting a taste of what it's like through the books. That cemented in my head why I'm doing this. Dom Brightmon: Ah, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. And I'm guessing your day to day work with Deaf folks, is that really the main inspiration beyond the novel, the mystery novel. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, definitely. In my day job, most of what I do is on call. Well, not now, but usually what I'm doing is on college campuses. I actually attend the classes with Deaf students and interpret what the teacher and the other students say in class, and then interpret what the student says to the rest of the class so that everybody knows what each other's saying. I've been doing this for over 20 years, and I've done 17 different college majors all the way from freshmen English to PhD candidates. A really, really wide variety of things. I've seen really good professors. I've seen really bad professors. I've had interesting classes and some classes that are make me squeamish or things like that.  It's been a really interesting thing. I noticed college campuses have academic politics. I've worked with faculty members too and sat in on staff meetings and everything. You know, some of that stuff, like how they always say like life is stranger than fiction. I always thought this is a great place to have murder. You've got mayhem. You've got politics, you got all kinds of good stuff here. Some of the quotes in the book, I didn't even make it up. It was things I've overheard. Dom Brightmon: Not just killing walls but killing humans. Kelly Brakenhoff: There's quite a few series that are based in college campuses. I'm not the only one who thinks that it's a ripe setting. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah. Cause definitely a lot of folks in the spring, some professors fighting for tenure, right? Of course, administration, the politics and hell, that's everywhere. Shoot, whenever there's more than one person, there's going to be something happening. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, there's something about college campuses. You know how it's almost like a little town within a town. There's all kinds of plot opportunities there. Dom Brightmon: That's right. It's like a little town. It's like an exhibit Pimp My Ride. It's like, yeah, yeah, man. We put a town inside of your town. It's really called Murder Town. It's a mystery novel where somebody got killed. Yup.. Kelly Brakenhoff: Sorry. I have this visual of a car with a town inside the back. Whatever. Totally taking me off on a tangent now. I'm sorry. I'll come back. Dom Brightmon: Oh no, we're going to go down a rabbit hole, bunny ears and all . . . about that time we had the mushrooms. Let me start. I'm just messing with you don't' worry. But it's all good though. It's all good. Out of all of the types and genres out there of novels and fiction, why mystery? Kelly Brakenhoff: Oh, that's easy. I love mysteries. That's been my favorite genre since I was little. You know, Nancy drew, except I thought Hardy boys were more interesting cause they got to do more cool stuff. They get to dig and camp and all this stuff. And, and as I grew up, I read more mysteries. I love to read thrillers too, but I don't know. Those are the things that I love to read myself so that's what I write. Dom Brightmon: Sweet. Yes, indeed. It's kinda funny. It's like whatever we expose ourselves to the most is what we eventually become. It's like you expose yourself to mystery books and then you love them so much that you eventually get to join a business of immortality and write a few of your own. Kelly Brakenhoff: Definitely. One of the good things that's kept me going here in my extended, self-quarantine, our cable TV company added all the Hallmark Channels to our package. We didn't get them, but now we have the Hallmark Mysteries and Movies channel. I've watched this whole channel, all of these different mystery movies and shows. It's been really nice for me to sit down at night. I feel like I can call it research and then it doesn't seem like I'm wasting time, but it's been really fun. Maybe someday I'll try to sell them my mysteries. Dom Brightmon: Heck yeah. Probably got two books cooking right now as we speak. Kelly Brakenhoff: That'd be great. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Tony, the tiger approved too. That's right. The sponsors didn't pay me, and they are not going to be feeling great. That was Roy. Tony the tiger. I'm about to show him who the real Tiger King is. Let me see. Kelly Brakenhoff: Do you watch that Tiger King show? Dom Brightmon: I've seen photos. I had no idea what the heck it was until maybe yesterday. I'm like, what? In the blue Hill? Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, I kept seeing people talk about it, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Then I saw someone listed all of the things in it, and then I was like, okay. I think I'm okay with not knowing about it. I'm good with that. I think I don't really need to know everything. Dom Brightmon: One of the few times or ignorance truly is bliss. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. There are a few times, and this might be one.. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. But the beautiful thing is that you are versatile and yeah, agile in the literary sense. Cause you also have a children's book as well. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yes, that's right. I do. The children's book I've written is for preschool to second grade age. The kind where your parents still have to read to you or your grandparents or babysitter or somebody has to read you the book out loud and, it's called, Never Mind. it's about Duke, the Deaf Dog. Again, using my professional experience. I've been around a lot of really cool deaf people for a long time, and it's changed how I look at the world. I think I was telling you before how it took me a really long time to get my first couple of mysteries published. But at a certain point, I had to decide if I wanted to get an agent or a publisher or if I wanted to do it myself. And I did a lot of research for about a year before I decided I'm a control freak, I'm going to do it myself. And I hired an editor and a cover designer and went down that path and worked really hard to learn about the publishing industry. And as I was doing that, I had to file with our secretary of state. Set up my own publishing company that I could publish my own books. I filled out the paperwork and sent in the money. And then about two weeks later happened to be on Christmas Eve. I woke up in the morning and I had this revelation where it dawned on me that, well, if I'm going to start my own publishing company and I'm really going to do this, then I can do whatever I want. Like I'm the queen, I can publish whatever books I want. Then my mind started racing from there. It was like flipping a switch. Maybe some deaf people that I know maybe want to write a book and I could publish their book. Or if something inspires me, I could publish that. The next day I had another idea. There's not that many children's books out there that have deaf characters in them. I started doing research on it. The more research I did, I realized that, especially for this age group, there's seriously three or four books. That's all that have deaf characters that aren't those baby signs books. That's popular where people have babies and teach them “milk” and “more.” But there's few books that actually have Deaf characters where a Deaf child could open up the book and see that character is like me. Cause now I'm going to have my own company. I put all these things together. And one of the really cool things about the book is that there's photos inside the book of one of my friends who's an American Sign Language instructor at the university. The book has photos of her signing the 10 vocabulary words in the book. As the kids are reading the story, they can also learn some signs. And I thought, well, a lot of the parents of kids that are deaf, you know, a lot of those parents can hear, and they don't know any signs. This way it would be a good thing for them to start learning sign language at the same time that their kids are learning. Then it took off from there. Dom Brightmon: Like a big old rocket ship, indeed. Competitive and creative. Kelly Brakenhoff: You know how you make one decision and it opens the doors to stuff that you never would have thought about before. Dom Brightmon: Oh heck yeah. Pandora's box on a good way. Kelly Brakenhoff: Right, exactly. Once I crossed that threshold and said, this is what I want to do. It was amazing. All of the people that I was able to contact and all the things that fell into place. The book was published the end of December. Seeing the response of people and how they are excited about it. Parents are excited about it. We have videos online. In the book you also get access to videos on my website where Amy teaches you how to do the signs and then she even reads the whole story in sign language on my website. Kids can practice how to do it and learn some signs. Each thing that we do leads to the next step, you know. If you had told me a year and a half ago that this was going to happen, I don't think I would have even believed it, but one step at a time . . . Dom Brightmon: One step at a time, and then the jump happens. Yes, indeed. Yes indeed. And definitely got to give you kudos to that cause definitely write this out. ‘Cause outside of the baby signs books, there's really nothing out there for Deaf children at all. Even deaf people, period. To be honest. Kelly Brakenhoff: A few movies here and there. There's a few. And you know, they're good. There's not very many. Like I think about my four kids. I don't know if you've heard of them Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. Did you like those when you were a kid? My kids loved those and they each had a little lesson and the illustrations were cute and everything. And I said why don't deaf kids have something like that that they can see themselves in? The cool thing that's at the end of the book, the last section is all the people who worked on the book with me are Deaf. Except for my sister, ‘cause my sister's the illustrator and she's not deaf. But the other people who helped me with the book are all Deaf. And I thought it was really cool that I have their stories at the end. What they do for a living and how they got to be where they are. Deaf children need to see what they can become when they grow up. And I wanted them to see some of the people that I know who are really successful. I wanted deaf kids to be able to see a glimpse of the things they can become. Dom Brightmon: Well, opening up a whole new world for him. That's what I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: A lot to ask from 34 pages, but we're trying, Dom Brightmon: Oh, don't worry. I'm sure those pages are being multiplied as we speak. Kelly Brakenhoff: My sister is working on the second book. She's drawing it right now. You're going to like this. The name of the second book is called Farts Make Noise. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. But they catch them on Facebook. I'm like, God, this is going to be given the keys. They were killed. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, we do have three boys, we had a lot of research at our house. Dom Brightmon: Research by force, I'm assuming. Kelly Brakenhoff: Whether I wanted it or not. Dom Brightmon: Yeah, exactly. There was no choice. Kelly Brakenhoff: There's certain things you learn when you're a parent. Definitely. Dom Brightmon: Beautiful. So for those who are out there, who may be trying to write a children's book, what was the best advice you can give those who want to go the children's book route? Kelly Brakenhoff: Ooh. You really have to do research. Children's books are very different than adult books. I had to join a whole bunch of other groups for children and I feel like I'm scratching the surface. I still have a lot to learn. I'm really lucky. My sister did the illustrating. I know a lot of times when you say, yeah, my sister's doing the illustrating, people think, okay, great. But my sister is actually really good. She's not using crayons and making some sketches. She's a professional artist. That was a big relief for me that I could ask her, and she would come through for me. Whereas if you're a person writing a book and you don't have any art skills, especially for picture books that's hard. The illustrator makes the book. I mean, my story while I like it, and it's great. But the pictures make the book. If you look online and you see the pictures of Duke and the other dogs, they're adorable. They make it much better. And even writing older books like chapter books and young adult books. People think that they're like little adults, but they're not. You have to come at it from a completely different perspective. Dom Brightmon: Right. You're definitely right about the illustration as being everything, the illustrator making the kids book itself. Because if the pictures are bad or they don't match the words then you're in trouble. ‘Cause I remember one time I was reading a kids book and there were these aliens in the book. I forgot what they originally were supposed to be, but I'm like, wait a second, why are they green space aliens? I thought they were supposed to be little insect people. I said, what's going on? Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, yeah. Well, and there's many kinds of art. You know, some of them are anime and some of them are old fashioned. Even my sister, you know, I said, Hey, I want to do this book and I want it to be dogs and you know, what do you think? And she's like looking at me like, you're such an idiot. She didn't say that out loud, but I'm sure in her head she was like, you have no idea what you're talking about. She was like, well . . . what kind of drawings? Like I said, I'm lucky I could put myself in her hands because she did a great job. But honestly, the pictures are what make the book good. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Definitely fabulous right there. And that's the power of trusting a good specialist that knows the difference. That's something I forgot for a split second, but you're right. Because there are different styles of drawings in the illustrations. It's like, you know. If you go the anime style route, you're going to be in trouble trying to reach certain audiences with your work. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, it symbolizes something else, right. Or if you do more of a fantasy type of thing or a science fiction look. People can tell at glance at the pictures, what the meaning is behind it. And even young kids, that's how they get started. If you're watching TV shows, the difference between cartoons and their styles. There's so much thought that goes behind all of those pictures. I took that for granted before I started working with the illustrator. I didn't realize how much thought they put into every single drawing, every single step. Dom Brightmon: Yes indeed. It's true. And I agree with the cartoons and the anime on the TV and everything like that. Seeing how much behind the scenes work is required to put something like that together. You want to respect those that do that more often cause it's like, Oh, I didn't know how much work was required for that. Kelly Brakenhoff: Oh sure. Think about even the Pixar shorts. Those take a whole team of people a year to work on, what, a 15-minute video. We don't respect how much time and skill it takes. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah. Because folks see the finished product, they don't see the work that was involved. Kelly Brakenhoff: I mean, I guess that's how it is with anything, right. You know, when you're see something done very well, it looks effortless, but we all know it's not. Dom Brightmon: Folks finished the book faster than you as a writer and then they want to know when's your next one? I read that in one day. Yeah, we're gonna find a time chamber for you. Shoot. I'll be right back.  What's on the horizon for Kelly? What's next. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, I thought I'd be through my third book in the Cassandra Sato series. I'm working on it right now. I thought with all this time at home, I should be writing thousands of word every day. But the news makes me anxious.  The first week or so it was really hard to get going, but the last couple of weeks I've been moving along pretty good. I'm almost done with the next book. Like I said, my sister's working on the next Duke, the Deaf Dog book. Those should both be coming out later this summer. Dom Brightmon: Wow, two more books out? That's what I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, when we get past all these really difficult times, it'd be great if I had something to show for it. At least a clean house or some organized shelves and maybe a book. That would be nice. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, definitely. I'm in the same boat with you. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. trying to stay away from people and keep other people healthy and not be the person who causes anybody else, any anxiety or stress. Trying to do my, my part in this little corner of the world. Dom Brightmon: Some call it the cozy corner. Kelly Brakenhoff: Right, me and my dogs. They're really confused. They don't understand why I'm home all day. They keep looking at me like, are you ever leaving? Like what are you still doing? Dom Brightmon: It's like, we're going to mess up the furniture. Why are you still here? Come on. Darn it. It's like the human's been here for a long time. What's going on? This is something going on. We don't know about. There was this thing with beer, I don't know, maybe it was a chocolate chip cookie. No, that was probably the beer. Kelly Brakenhoff: Probably one of the first days I was home. I was making a sandwich for lunch and I put the ingredients on the counter, and I made the mistake of walking out of the room. One of our dogs is a German Wirehair Pointer. He's about nose level with the counter. When I came back, my, my bread was gone and I was like, dude. What kind of coworker are you? Dom Brightmon: Who's the real breadwinner now? Kelly Brakenhoff: Clearly hiring in this place is bad.. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Not too bad. The HR office is closed on this one. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. Nobody wants to hear your complaint. Dom Brightmon: Woo. But there's one thing we definitely want to hear and that is the advice you would give to your 25-year-old self. If you were 25 and it occurred in the year of 2020. Kelly Brakenhoff: Wow. 25-year-old self. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride, because it's going to be a lot of fun. There's a lot of ups and downs, but it's going to be a lot of fun. I had my first son, my first child when I was 25. It got better and better after that. Dom Brightmon: It's still hard to believe. Listening to your voice that you're old enough. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. I know I have a young sounding voice. When I lived in a different state from my parents and I was probably about 25. Some telemarketer called the house and he said, Hi, can I talk to your mom? And I said, my mom lives in Nebraska, and I hung up. I know I have a young sounding voice, but my mother does not live with me anymore. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Age could be an advantage too. It's like, yep. Had a child at 25 you get to stay at 25 metaphorically, Kelly Brakenhoff: That's right. I wish my face and my gray hairs and my wrinkles would stay 25 but you know, Hey. Dom Brightmon: You can say gray or some call it silver magic. Kelly Brakenhoff: I know. All the young girls are dying their hair gray and I'm trying to cover mine up. Dom Brightmon: That's the thing. I'm still confused about it. I'm like, why is your hair gray? I thought, y'all don't want to rush that process. Nobody wants to rush that process. Kelly Brakenhoff: You know what's funny though? I think it's stunning if you have the right skin tone and the right style. Some of those girls are really pretty with it. But yeah, people my age are saying no way. Dom Brightmon: Exactly. It's like, stop rubbing it in. No, I'm the original on the natural hair. Well for those who want to keep in magical contact with a competitive, kind, and creative Kelly, what's the best way for folks to reach out to you? Kelly Brakenhoff: I would love if people would check out my website, which is my name, kellybrakenhoff.com or you can see me on Facebook @KellyBrakenhoffauthor. I'm really trying to post funny things on Facebook. Try talking to people and not be too salesy. Especially at this moment, like I said earlier, I'm an extrovert. I'm dying here. I need people to talk to me. Follow me on Facebook and talk to me ‘cause I'm stuck in my house all day long. I'm not built for that. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. I guess the dogs can only woof so much. Kelly Brakenhoff: That's right. They're very cuddly, but you know, I do like to talk to people also. Dom Brightmon: That's right. Fabulous having you on today folks, and also our Facebook page. Give us some likes, some magical hearts. Check out our Amazon page and check out some of the magical books. Those who love mystery, or who wants something with the kids. Any parting words for the folks still listening, Kelly? Kelly Brakenhoff: I'm really hope everybody can, stay healthy and stay safe. Hug your family and your loved ones and take care of each other. Dom Brightmon: How's it going? You're super special, you awesome human. Since you made it to the end of episode, it looks like you really enjoyed yourself. Since you enjoyed this episode, be sure to share with at least three people in your network and tell them what you really liked about this episode. And even shoot myself or the guests an email and let them know what you like most about this interview that way they can stay inspired to keep pushing out great work.

Buckle up because life is a great ride. Today’s featured author is American Sign Language Interpreter, half-marathon runner, chocolate lover, and mom of 4, Kelly Brakenhoff. Kelly and I talk about how she got into writing both mystery novels and children’s books, where she finds the inspiration to write her books and more!!! *For An Entire Special Edition transcript of this episode, scroll below. Key Things You’ll Learn: Why she writes mystery novels and why they’re her favorite book genre. Why she started her own publishing company. What inspired her children’s book series. The most important thing you must get right about when you publish a children’s book.   Kelly’s Site: http://kellybrakenhoff.com/ Kelly’s Books: https://www.amazon.com/Kelly-Brakenhoff/e/B07PN7K7T7%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share   The opening track is titled "Good Morning World" by MagicMusic Productions. Listen and download the full track by clicking on the following link. https://magicmusicx.bandcamp.com/track/good-morning-world Resources Mentioned: NaNoWriMo: https://www.nanowrimo.org/   Related Episodes: 33 - "Inspiration, Sci-Fi, & Video Games" with Beth Martin (@bethmart07): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/33-inspiration-sc-fi-video-games-with-beth-martin-bethmart07   92 - "Roya Sands and the Bridge Between Worlds" with Saryon Michael White: http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/92-roya-sands-and-the-bridge-between-worlds-with-saryon-michael-white 120.5 (Local Author Bonus Special) [LABS] - "The Children of Time" with Victory Parsons (@ReadLiftRepeat): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/1205-local-author-bonus-special-labs-the-children-of-time-with-victory-parsons-readliftrepeat   150 - "Princess Monroe and Her Happily Ever After" with Jody Vallee Smith: http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/150-princess-monroe-and-her-happily-ever-after-with-jody-vallee-smith   241 – “Highwayman” with MJ Preston (@MJPreston1): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/241-highwayman-with-mj-preston-mjpreston1   243 – “Fantasy Writing & The Power of Audiobooks For Indie Authors” with Riley Tune (@rileytuneauthor): http://goingnorth.libsyn.com/243-fantasy-writing-the-power-of-audiobooks-for-indie-authors-with-riley-tune-rileytuneauthor   Episode Transcript (Courtesy of Kelly)  :) : Dom Brightmon: You are now tuning in to the going North podcast. With your host, bestselling author, professional speaker, and member of the John Maxwell team, Dominique “Dom” Brightman, and every Monday and Thursday we're going to hear the voice of a different author, sharing their gifts, stories, and expertise to help your charge forward in life. Now, let's get on with the show. And today on the Going North podcast, we're bringing some fabulous humans from across the globe. Today is no different. Today is no different because we got another fabulous author from the Creative Edge Crew, baby. That's right. These are some creative folks who have an edge and not Adam Copeland because this fabulous author right here is not only a fabulous mom, but she's also an American Sign Language Interpreter, which is actually a first for this podcast. You we’ve never had an ASL professional well on his podcast, and her motivation for learning ASL actually began back in high school when she wanted to converse with her Deaf friends and she also, and published her first novel a murder mystery, which is Death by Dissertation, which was published back in April, 2019 as well as Dead Week. In addition to that, a children's picture books series featuring Duke, the Deaf Dog as well. This is a lady of many talents in addition to all that fabulous stuff. She also serves on the Board of Editors for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf publication, VIEWS. Let's give it up for the fabulous KB, not KB Toys herself. Ms. Kelly Brakenhoff, how are you today, ma'am? Kelly Brakenhoff: Hi, I'm great. How are you doing? Dom Brightmon: Doing fabulous, doing fabulous, indeed. We got the fabulous Kind Kelly on the show. I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: You remind me when I was younger, and people would try to make fun of my name. You know, they do the rhyming thing. The worst thing they could come up with was smelly Kelly with a belly full of jelly. I was really hurt though. Dom Brightmon: Or did you even have a belly, at least a huge one? Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, no. I suppose is that if that was the worst they could come up with, that was okay. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, we can always call you a tree. Well that that could be worse. Why did I do that to myself? Never mind, that's bad, but don't worry. It's about the sensational Kelly. Would you mind filling in some cavities or filling an introduction and tell us a bit about who is the one and only Kelly B. herself. Kelly Brakenhoff: I was looking over your website and everything. You really have had a lot of inspirational people on before me, and all of the things that you've gotten to do. I was trying to think of what I could contribute to that body of work there. I was intimidated thinking that I'm just a mom and I wrote some books. But I guess one thing that's interesting is that it took me a really long time to write the books. I am quite a bit older, and I've had this career as an American Sign Language interpreter for a very long time. And like you said, I have four kids. I took a lot of time raising and teaching them how to use the washing machine and the dishwasher while they were growing up, until they could fend for themselves and move out. Once they got older, I got serious. I'd always wanted to be a writer my whole life, and once they started getting old enough, I really buckled down and decided that I wanted to do this badly enough. I was going to do whatever it took. I think it was 2014 when I did my first NaNoWriMo. Dom, have you experienced a NaNoWriMo yourself before? Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, I wrote maybe five words. Kelly Brakenhoff: See, I'm the person where I love that challenge. I'm competitive, like our family. We have these, you know, game nights. Everybody in our family is really competitive. If you set a competition before me, that's the best way to get me to do something. When I read about National Novel Writing Month, I thought, okay, I can write every day for 30 days and I can come up with 50,000 words. I think I can do this. One year I decided to go for it. Well, I ended up with 50,000 words, and then it took me another four years to edit and revise them to make it into my first book, Death by Dissertation. Dom Brightmon: Well, hey, that's frigging awesome. Well, I mean, that's a feat within itself to be able to actually write enough words during that month before it ends, or as it ends, and then it's actually published. It actually takes guts because some folks in the past on this show, they've done NaNoWriMo they've had plenty of books, but they never actually published them for the public to read. That takes guts on your follow through, and it looks like we found a new nickname for you, Competitive Kelly. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, that's right. I mean, definitely it's a great accomplishment to complete NaNoWriMo. Some people do it for their own personal satisfaction, to challenge themselves, but I wanted more. I've always wanted to be an author and I never really saw the path to do that in my life with time and everything. But once I broke it down into the small chunks of like, okay, well I can write 50,000 words and then I can start working on getting them revised. It took me a couple years to get through that whole process and I submitted it around to a bunch of agents and publishing houses. I had a lot of people who asked me to send in my whole manuscript. And I did that for over a year and worked really hard at that. And then, I never could get anybody that was interested in offering me a contract. And I went through this time where I had to decide, do I start something else or do I keep working on this one? And I really believed in this story because of the main character, her name is Cassandra Sato and she moves from Hawai’i to Nebraska for her dream job. Who does that, right? But she always wanted to be a college administrator. She works in a small college in Hawai’i, and she wants to become a president of a university someday. She gets offered the job at this college in Nebraska, but after a couple months they find a student dead on the campus. She has to go and help figure out what happened to the student. Some of the characters in the book are Deaf and use American Sign Language. In the process of writing the book, I realized that one of the things that I wanted to do with this was make people aware of what it's like. You know, with my day job, I work with Deaf people all the time, and I know lots of really cool Deaf people that have really cool jobs and do great things. But your average person doesn't run into very many deaf people. And you might not know very much sign language except for the alphabet and a couple of curse words, and that's it. I thought it'd be really cool to have characters in the book that are Deaf and use sign language. The more I've gotten into it, and the more I've written in the series and everything, I've realized that’s my thing. I wanted to make the world more aware of what it's like to be Deaf or to know sign language. A lot of the feedback that I've gotten from reviewers and readers have said that they really appreciated learning about Deaf Culture. The first book is a lot about what it's like to be a college student who's Deaf. If you imagine that you're in your class and the professor is talking, but you're getting all the information through the interpreter and what that's like and how hard and challenging that is. You know, a lot of people don't think about things like that. And the readers have really enjoyed getting a taste of what it's like through the books. That cemented in my head why I'm doing this. Dom Brightmon: Ah, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. And I'm guessing your day to day work with Deaf folks, is that really the main inspiration beyond the novel, the mystery novel. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, definitely. In my day job, most of what I do is on call. Well, not now, but usually what I'm doing is on college campuses. I actually attend the classes with Deaf students and interpret what the teacher and the other students say in class, and then interpret what the student says to the rest of the class so that everybody knows what each other's saying. I've been doing this for over 20 years, and I've done 17 different college majors all the way from freshmen English to PhD candidates. A really, really wide variety of things. I've seen really good professors. I've seen really bad professors. I've had interesting classes and some classes that are make me squeamish or things like that.  It's been a really interesting thing. I noticed college campuses have academic politics. I've worked with faculty members too and sat in on staff meetings and everything. You know, some of that stuff, like how they always say like life is stranger than fiction. I always thought this is a great place to have murder. You’ve got mayhem. You’ve got politics, you got all kinds of good stuff here. Some of the quotes in the book, I didn't even make it up. It was things I’ve overheard. Dom Brightmon: Not just killing walls but killing humans. Kelly Brakenhoff: There's quite a few series that are based in college campuses. I'm not the only one who thinks that it’s a ripe setting. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah. Cause definitely a lot of folks in the spring, some professors fighting for tenure, right? Of course, administration, the politics and hell, that's everywhere. Shoot, whenever there's more than one person, there's going to be something happening. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, there's something about college campuses. You know how it's almost like a little town within a town. There's all kinds of plot opportunities there. Dom Brightmon: That's right. It's like a little town. It's like an exhibit Pimp My Ride. It's like, yeah, yeah, man. We put a town inside of your town. It's really called Murder Town. It’s a mystery novel where somebody got killed. Yup.. Kelly Brakenhoff: Sorry. I have this visual of a car with a town inside the back. Whatever. Totally taking me off on a tangent now. I'm sorry. I'll come back. Dom Brightmon: Oh no, we're going to go down a rabbit hole, bunny ears and all . . . about that time we had the mushrooms. Let me start. I’m just messing with you don’t’ worry. But it's all good though. It's all good. Out of all of the types and genres out there of novels and fiction, why mystery? Kelly Brakenhoff: Oh, that's easy. I love mysteries. That's been my favorite genre since I was little. You know, Nancy drew, except I thought Hardy boys were more interesting cause they got to do more cool stuff. They get to dig and camp and all this stuff. And, and as I grew up, I read more mysteries. I love to read thrillers too, but I don't know. Those are the things that I love to read myself so that's what I write. Dom Brightmon: Sweet. Yes, indeed. It's kinda funny. It's like whatever we expose ourselves to the most is what we eventually become. It's like you expose yourself to mystery books and then you love them so much that you eventually get to join a business of immortality and write a few of your own. Kelly Brakenhoff: Definitely. One of the good things that's kept me going here in my extended, self-quarantine, our cable TV company added all the Hallmark Channels to our package. We didn't get them, but now we have the Hallmark Mysteries and Movies channel. I've watched this whole channel, all of these different mystery movies and shows. It's been really nice for me to sit down at night. I feel like I can call it research and then it doesn't seem like I'm wasting time, but it's been really fun. Maybe someday I'll try to sell them my mysteries. Dom Brightmon: Heck yeah. Probably got two books cooking right now as we speak. Kelly Brakenhoff: That'd be great. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Tony, the tiger approved too. That's right. The sponsors didn't pay me, and they are not going to be feeling great. That was Roy. Tony the tiger. I'm about to show him who the real Tiger King is. Let me see. Kelly Brakenhoff: Do you watch that Tiger King show? Dom Brightmon: I've seen photos. I had no idea what the heck it was until maybe yesterday. I'm like, what? In the blue Hill? Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, I kept seeing people talk about it, but I didn't know what they were talking about. Then I saw someone listed all of the things in it, and then I was like, okay. I think I'm okay with not knowing about it. I’m good with that. I think I don't really need to know everything. Dom Brightmon: One of the few times or ignorance truly is bliss. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. There are a few times, and this might be one.. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. But the beautiful thing is that you are versatile and yeah, agile in the literary sense. Cause you also have a children's book as well. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yes, that's right. I do. The children's book I've written is for preschool to second grade age. The kind where your parents still have to read to you or your grandparents or babysitter or somebody has to read you the book out loud and, it's called, Never Mind. it's about Duke, the Deaf Dog. Again, using my professional experience. I’ve been around a lot of really cool deaf people for a long time, and it's changed how I look at the world. I think I was telling you before how it took me a really long time to get my first couple of mysteries published. But at a certain point, I had to decide if I wanted to get an agent or a publisher or if I wanted to do it myself. And I did a lot of research for about a year before I decided I'm a control freak, I'm going to do it myself. And I hired an editor and a cover designer and went down that path and worked really hard to learn about the publishing industry. And as I was doing that, I had to file with our secretary of state. Set up my own publishing company that I could publish my own books. I filled out the paperwork and sent in the money. And then about two weeks later happened to be on Christmas Eve. I woke up in the morning and I had this revelation where it dawned on me that, well, if I'm going to start my own publishing company and I'm really going to do this, then I can do whatever I want. Like I'm the queen, I can publish whatever books I want. Then my mind started racing from there. It was like flipping a switch. Maybe some deaf people that I know maybe want to write a book and I could publish their book. Or if something inspires me, I could publish that. The next day I had another idea. There's not that many children's books out there that have deaf characters in them. I started doing research on it. The more research I did, I realized that, especially for this age group, there's seriously three or four books. That's all that have deaf characters that aren't those baby signs books. That’s popular where people have babies and teach them “milk” and “more.” But there's few books that actually have Deaf characters where a Deaf child could open up the book and see that character is like me. Cause now I'm going to have my own company. I put all these things together. And one of the really cool things about the book is that there's photos inside the book of one of my friends who's an American Sign Language instructor at the university. The book has photos of her signing the 10 vocabulary words in the book. As the kids are reading the story, they can also learn some signs. And I thought, well, a lot of the parents of kids that are deaf, you know, a lot of those parents can hear, and they don't know any signs. This way it would be a good thing for them to start learning sign language at the same time that their kids are learning. Then it took off from there. Dom Brightmon: Like a big old rocket ship, indeed. Competitive and creative. Kelly Brakenhoff: You know how you make one decision and it opens the doors to stuff that you never would have thought about before. Dom Brightmon: Oh heck yeah. Pandora's box on a good way. Kelly Brakenhoff: Right, exactly. Once I crossed that threshold and said, this is what I want to do. It was amazing. All of the people that I was able to contact and all the things that fell into place. The book was published the end of December. Seeing the response of people and how they are excited about it. Parents are excited about it. We have videos online. In the book you also get access to videos on my website where Amy teaches you how to do the signs and then she even reads the whole story in sign language on my website. Kids can practice how to do it and learn some signs. Each thing that we do leads to the next step, you know. If you had told me a year and a half ago that this was going to happen, I don't think I would have even believed it, but one step at a time . . . Dom Brightmon: One step at a time, and then the jump happens. Yes, indeed. Yes indeed. And definitely got to give you kudos to that cause definitely write this out. ‘Cause outside of the baby signs books, there's really nothing out there for Deaf children at all. Even deaf people, period. To be honest. Kelly Brakenhoff: A few movies here and there. There's a few. And you know, they're good. There's not very many. Like I think about my four kids. I don't know if you've heard of them Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. Did you like those when you were a kid? My kids loved those and they each had a little lesson and the illustrations were cute and everything. And I said why don't deaf kids have something like that that they can see themselves in? The cool thing that's at the end of the book, the last section is all the people who worked on the book with me are Deaf. Except for my sister, ‘cause my sister's the illustrator and she's not deaf. But the other people who helped me with the book are all Deaf. And I thought it was really cool that I have their stories at the end. What they do for a living and how they got to be where they are. Deaf children need to see what they can become when they grow up. And I wanted them to see some of the people that I know who are really successful. I wanted deaf kids to be able to see a glimpse of the things they can become. Dom Brightmon: Well, opening up a whole new world for him. That's what I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: A lot to ask from 34 pages, but we're trying, Dom Brightmon: Oh, don't worry. I'm sure those pages are being multiplied as we speak. Kelly Brakenhoff: My sister is working on the second book. She's drawing it right now. You're going to like this. The name of the second book is called Farts Make Noise. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. But they catch them on Facebook. I'm like, God, this is going to be given the keys. They were killed. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, we do have three boys, we had a lot of research at our house. Dom Brightmon: Research by force, I'm assuming. Kelly Brakenhoff: Whether I wanted it or not. Dom Brightmon: Yeah, exactly. There was no choice. Kelly Brakenhoff: There's certain things you learn when you're a parent. Definitely. Dom Brightmon: Beautiful. So for those who are out there, who may be trying to write a children's book, what was the best advice you can give those who want to go the children's book route? Kelly Brakenhoff: Ooh. You really have to do research. Children's books are very different than adult books. I had to join a whole bunch of other groups for children and I feel like I'm scratching the surface. I still have a lot to learn. I'm really lucky. My sister did the illustrating. I know a lot of times when you say, yeah, my sister's doing the illustrating, people think, okay, great. But my sister is actually really good. She's not using crayons and making some sketches. She's a professional artist. That was a big relief for me that I could ask her, and she would come through for me. Whereas if you're a person writing a book and you don't have any art skills, especially for picture books that’s hard. The illustrator makes the book. I mean, my story while I like it, and it's great. But the pictures make the book. If you look online and you see the pictures of Duke and the other dogs, they're adorable. They make it much better. And even writing older books like chapter books and young adult books. People think that they're like little adults, but they're not. You have to come at it from a completely different perspective. Dom Brightmon: Right. You're definitely right about the illustration as being everything, the illustrator making the kids book itself. Because if the pictures are bad or they don't match the words then you're in trouble. ‘Cause I remember one time I was reading a kids book and there were these aliens in the book. I forgot what they originally were supposed to be, but I'm like, wait a second, why are they green space aliens? I thought they were supposed to be little insect people. I said, what's going on? Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah, yeah. Well, and there’s many kinds of art. You know, some of them are anime and some of them are old fashioned. Even my sister, you know, I said, Hey, I want to do this book and I want it to be dogs and you know, what do you think? And she's like looking at me like, you're such an idiot. She didn’t say that out loud, but I'm sure in her head she was like, you have no idea what you're talking about. She was like, well . . . what kind of drawings? Like I said, I'm lucky I could put myself in her hands because she did a great job. But honestly, the pictures are what make the book good. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Definitely fabulous right there. And that's the power of trusting a good specialist that knows the difference. That's something I forgot for a split second, but you're right. Because there are different styles of drawings in the illustrations. It's like, you know. If you go the anime style route, you're going to be in trouble trying to reach certain audiences with your work. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, it symbolizes something else, right. Or if you do more of a fantasy type of thing or a science fiction look. People can tell at glance at the pictures, what the meaning is behind it. And even young kids, that's how they get started. If you're watching TV shows, the difference between cartoons and their styles. There's so much thought that goes behind all of those pictures. I took that for granted before I started working with the illustrator. I didn't realize how much thought they put into every single drawing, every single step. Dom Brightmon: Yes indeed. It's true. And I agree with the cartoons and the anime on the TV and everything like that. Seeing how much behind the scenes work is required to put something like that together. You want to respect those that do that more often cause it's like, Oh, I didn't know how much work was required for that. Kelly Brakenhoff: Oh sure. Think about even the Pixar shorts. Those take a whole team of people a year to work on, what, a 15-minute video. We don't respect how much time and skill it takes. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah. Because folks see the finished product, they don't see the work that was involved. Kelly Brakenhoff: I mean, I guess that's how it is with anything, right. You know, when you're see something done very well, it looks effortless, but we all know it's not. Dom Brightmon: Folks finished the book faster than you as a writer and then they want to know when's your next one? I read that in one day. Yeah, we're gonna find a time chamber for you. Shoot. I'll be right back.  What's on the horizon for Kelly? What's next. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, I thought I’d be through my third book in the Cassandra Sato series. I'm working on it right now. I thought with all this time at home, I should be writing thousands of word every day. But the news makes me anxious.  The first week or so it was really hard to get going, but the last couple of weeks I've been moving along pretty good. I'm almost done with the next book. Like I said, my sister's working on the next Duke, the Deaf Dog book. Those should both be coming out later this summer. Dom Brightmon: Wow, two more books out? That's what I'm talking about. Kelly Brakenhoff: Well, when we get past all these really difficult times, it'd be great if I had something to show for it. At least a clean house or some organized shelves and maybe a book. That would be nice. Dom Brightmon: Oh yeah, definitely. I'm in the same boat with you. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. trying to stay away from people and keep other people healthy and not be the person who causes anybody else, any anxiety or stress. Trying to do my, my part in this little corner of the world. Dom Brightmon: Some call it the cozy corner. Kelly Brakenhoff: Right, me and my dogs. They're really confused. They don't understand why I'm home all day. They keep looking at me like, are you ever leaving? Like what are you still doing? Dom Brightmon: It's like, we're going to mess up the furniture. Why are you still here? Come on. Darn it. It's like the human's been here for a long time. What's going on? This is something going on. We don't know about. There was this thing with beer, I don't know, maybe it was a chocolate chip cookie. No, that was probably the beer. Kelly Brakenhoff: Probably one of the first days I was home. I was making a sandwich for lunch and I put the ingredients on the counter, and I made the mistake of walking out of the room. One of our dogs is a German Wirehair Pointer. He's about nose level with the counter. When I came back, my, my bread was gone and I was like, dude. What kind of coworker are you? Dom Brightmon: Who's the real breadwinner now? Kelly Brakenhoff: Clearly hiring in this place is bad.. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Not too bad. The HR office is closed on this one. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. Nobody wants to hear your complaint. Dom Brightmon: Woo. But there's one thing we definitely want to hear and that is the advice you would give to your 25-year-old self. If you were 25 and it occurred in the year of 2020. Kelly Brakenhoff: Wow. 25-year-old self. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride, because it's going to be a lot of fun. There's a lot of ups and downs, but it's going to be a lot of fun. I had my first son, my first child when I was 25. It got better and better after that. Dom Brightmon: It's still hard to believe. Listening to your voice that you’re old enough. Kelly Brakenhoff: Yeah. I know I have a young sounding voice. When I lived in a different state from my parents and I was probably about 25. Some telemarketer called the house and he said, Hi, can I talk to your mom? And I said, my mom lives in Nebraska, and I hung up. I know I have a young sounding voice, but my mother does not live with me anymore. Dom Brightmon: Yes, indeed. Age could be an advantage too. It's like, yep. Had a child at 25 you get to stay at 25 metaphorically, Kelly Brakenhoff: That's right. I wish my face and my gray hairs and my wrinkles would stay 25 but you know, Hey. Dom Brightmon: You can say gray or some call it silver magic. Kelly Brakenhoff: I know. All the young girls are dying their hair gray and I’m trying to cover mine up. Dom Brightmon: That's the thing. I'm still confused about it. I'm like, why is your hair gray? I thought, y'all don't want to rush that process. Nobody wants to rush that process. Kelly Brakenhoff: You know what's funny though? I think it’s stunning if you have the right skin tone and the right style. Some of those girls are really pretty with it. But yeah, people my age are saying no way. Dom Brightmon: Exactly. It's like, stop rubbing it in. No, I'm the original on the natural hair. Well for those who want to keep in magical contact with a competitive, kind, and creative Kelly, what's the best way for folks to reach out to you? Kelly Brakenhoff: I would love if people would check out my website, which is my name, kellybrakenhoff.com or you can see me on Facebook @KellyBrakenhoffauthor. I'm really trying to post funny things on Facebook. Try talking to people and not be too salesy. Especially at this moment, like I said earlier, I'm an extrovert. I'm dying here. I need people to talk to me. Follow me on Facebook and talk to me ‘cause I'm stuck in my house all day long. I'm not built for that. Dom Brightmon: Yeah. I guess the dogs can only woof so much. Kelly Brakenhoff: That's right. They're very cuddly, but you know, I do like to talk to people also. Dom Brightmon: That's right. Fabulous having you on today folks, and also our Facebook page. Give us some likes, some magical hearts. Check out our Amazon page and check out some of the magical books. Those who love mystery, or who wants something with the kids. Any parting words for the folks still listening, Kelly? Kelly Brakenhoff: I'm really hope everybody can, stay healthy and stay safe. Hug your family and your loved ones and take care of each other. Dom Brightmon: How's it going? You're super special, you awesome human. Since you made it to the end of episode, it looks like you really enjoyed yourself. Since you enjoyed this episode, be sure to share with at least three people in your network and tell them what you really liked about this episode. And even shoot myself or the guests an email and let them know what you like most about this interview that way they can stay inspired to keep pushing out great work.

We are still all about the quarantine life, guys.  Where every day is Wednesday and we are finally diving into the X-Men universe! Would you take the cure? Fair warning, everything Brandy knows about the X-Men comes from years of working at KB Toys. So many love triangles....  Wolverine, Jean Grey, Laser Eyes.... Iceman, Juno, and Sookie.....  and possibly Professor X, Magneto, and Jean Gray......   Why doesn't Storm just electrocute everyone and make the fights quicker?  You have a cool power Storm, use it!  Magneto - the worst Oprah ever. Holy reverse aging Professor X.  Screw you, bad dad.  Find us in all of the places:   Twitter   Facebook  Instagram  Email

A call on sales tax suspension leads to Philip's theory on pulling a KB Toys on China to solve economic problems. OJ Simpson speaks out on Carole Baskin and he says she's guilty! To the phones we go for some weird calls... Are y'all drinking at 3p during Shelter in Place? More specifics surface on the latest cuts from Entercom. Thurs 4/2: Hour 2 Photo by Will Francis (https://unsplash.com/@willfrancis?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/s/photos/radio?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

We talk with our special guest FuncoLand about transitioning to GameStop from...well, FuncoLand!

Ahmed Bharoocha (Dream Corp LLC, Comedy Central) comes by to talk outdoor malls in Santa Barbara, indoor malls in Rhode Island, and doing stand-up for the first time at now-defunct mall comedy club Stitches Komedy Kafe. Plus the rise and fall of the toy store in the mall, KB Toys. Malls!THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY "NATIONAL LAMPOON RADIO HOUR: THE PODCAST!"https://open.spotify.com/show/2eaKyxAEs92zIzDR4sNm0ETHIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY BETTERHELPFor 10% off, visit https://www.betterhelp.com/mallTHIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY STITCH FIX! Save 25% on your first Stitch Fix box by visiting www.stitchfix.com/mallFOLLOW AHMED:https://www.instagram.com/ahmedbharoocha/https://twitter.com/AhmedBharoochaFOLLOW MALL TALK:https://www.instagram.com/malltalkpodhttps://twitter.com/malltalkpodMALL TALK IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST:http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/mall-talkMERCH:https://www.teepublic.com/stores/malltalkpodcastSegment theme songs by @wearenicelegs

We're back! This week we're talking about Chucky & the Child's Play series as well as Bruce Lee. No (real life) murder! Also, remember KB Toys?

KB Toys & Barnes and Noble Prank Calls; Nate and me getting kicked out of Fab 60's class in High School; My bleeding tongue; Sounding Board Theater;   Dr Huxtable calls Klif, and tons more!

Chair of NYC Council's Environmental Protection Committee, Costa Constantinides, invites Alina + Elyssa to his Astoria headquarters for a crash course on the Climate Mobilization Act. Learn the top 3 things everyone should know about this landmark legislation for the Green New Deal. Plus, hear why EVERY school in Astoria will have a hydroponic science lab by 2021, and the unknown impact that KB Toys has had on all of us. 

This week the gang is joined by special guest Emily Shimskey to celebrate Memorial Day by paying tribute to our nation’s fictional Spy Kids division. We get into how kid logic runs rampant through every frame of this movie, how all of these gadgets could also be purchased at a KB Toys, and the how the most horrifying kids show of all time is also a front for horrifying government experiments. Be sure to leave a review on iTunes, like us/Follow us on Instagram/twitter: @filmanother. Send us your requests to notanotherfilmpodcast@gmail.com #chicagopodcast #moviepodcast #comedypodcast #newpodcast #newpodcastalert #independentpodcast #chicago #spring #spy #kids #spykids #2001 #rodriguez #antoniobanderas #carlagugino #butterfingers #floop #floopsfuglies #spygadgets #kidsmovies #nostalgia #kidsshow #podcast #avengers #spymovies #2001movies #memorialday #spiritairlines #summermovies #blockbuster #hollywoodvideo SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-213348613 iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/…/not-another-film-p…/id1370152795… Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/not-another-film-podcast

Remembering The 90's - EMG Episode 48 Well, do you remember? We sure do! Today we take a BuzzFeed quiz to find out if we were true 90's kids. A nice nostalgia trip for everyone with discussion on Bop-It, Rugrats, All That, and KB Toys. These were the hallmarks of this decade; and this decade was where we peaked. Let us know what you miss about the 90's and we'll all live in the past together. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @emgpod Call in comments and questions @ 513.427.EMG5 Email us: emgpod@gmail.com Check out our new website: www.everythingmustgopodcast.com Subscribe and leave a review!

Episode 20 Topics: -Beast Wars 10th Anniversary figures/New Alternators have hit the shelves-EHobby puts up preorder for Ultra Magnus-Universe Railbots up for order on KBToys.com-Solicitation…Continue ReadingTFWIRE Episode 20

  Episode 31: Brock Berry - AdCellerant Brock Berry Mr. Brock Berry is the Co-Founder and CEO of AdCellerant. Under Mr. Berry’s leadership AdCellerant has become a nationally recognized, award winning, digital marketing and adtech company, operating in 300 US cities, 5 countries, managing 10,000’s of local advertising campaigns every year. Under Brock’s leadership AdCellerant has grown from 3 founders to 37 full time team members running in excess of 10,000,000+ in top line revenue growing to almost $15,000,000 in 2018. Brock was recognized as a Gold Medal winner in 2017 by the Globees for his work as CEO at AdCellerant. Mr. Berry specializes in Digital Media, Operations, Sales and Technology. Mr. Berry has over 17 years of professional experience in Management, Sales, Digital Media, Operations and Technology as an operator and entrepreneur. Brock is currently serving as a board member for the Local Media Foundation. Brock was also a Co-Founder of AdTaxi Networks and served as a Board Member for Data Dynamix an email marketing company. Mr. Berry served as the Senior Vice President of AdTaxi Networks responsible for sales and operations on over 3,500 campaigns monthly delivering results for thousands of advertisers. In this position he Brock oversaw sales, operations, marketing, and was responsible for a team of 80 people. In 2013 Brock was named one of Editor and Publisher’s top 25 Under 35 for his work at AdTaxi Networks. In 2018 Brock was recognized by the American Business Awards as the Top CEO in 2017 in the US. In addition to AdTaxi Networks Mr. Berry was Vice President of National Digital Advertising for Digital First Media, the second largest publisher in the United States, Director of Major Accounts at the Denver Post. Mr. Berry held various management positions at the Denver Post and Clarity Media Group along with supporting sales roles at the Herald Times. Mr. Berry has also provided independent consulting focused on workflow optimization, sales force effectiveness, pricing optimization, and mergers and acquisitions. Brock worked with a variety of companies like EToys.com, KBToys.com, ePregnancy, Trulia, Post Media, Tampa Bay Times, FTI Consulting and other media companies. Links to things we talk about: Brock Berry on LinkedIn AdCellerant Click to Review and Rate the Colorado TechCast on iTunes! We value every review we receive, and often read them out on the show. If you take the time to leave one, THANK YOU - You rock! IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, PLEASE: Subscribe to our list Connect with us on Twitter Email Us  

James and I talk about "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bob Einstein's passing, Nintendo Power 1991 calendar and Playstation Classic price drop. After that I interview the former KB Toys employee! At the end of the show James has a special announcement! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

Have you ever been so disturbed by a toy that it actually made you look away? That's what Clive Barker's Tortured Souls figurines did to me when I worked at Suncoast many moons ago. And thanks to McFarlane Toys they're coming back to "torture" us again. At this year's New York Comic Con artist and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane revealed that his toy company is going back to the basics by reviving not only his popular toy-line Movie Maniacs, but also Clive Barker's classic toy series Tortured Souls. While being interviewed by IGN McFarlane outlined his new game plan on how he's going to bring these new toys to the consumer: "We live in a brave new world now where you can go literally from production to the consumer, right? You can cut out all the middle men and we're seeing that with Kickstarters and people doing direct, you know, dot com," McFarlane said. "So what we're gonna do is, when we started McFarlane Toys twenty-plus years ago, we were built on the detailed stuff, doing all these cool monsters and all this sort of wicked stuff. Unfortunately, the stores we were selling to at that point, like Tower Records and Suncoast and Babbage's and KB Toys, and all these other ones, they've all fallen to the wayside." McFarlane continued, "So we end up having to follow the game plan of the Fortune 500 companies and having to do big brands. But we're gonna just start selling more just direct to the consumer." And that's when McFarlane dropped the big news about McFarlane Toys' game plan. "So we're gonna go back to our origins and we're gonna go, hey, for all you people who like Tortured Souls? There's gonna be more. For all you people who like some of the Movie Maniacs? There's gonna be more. But even the new -- the stuff we just created, like Dragons? More. Spawn? More. Twisted Tales? More." The first series of Clive Barker's Tortured Souls was a toy-line consisting of six action figures that were designed by Clive Barker that also included a 32-page novelette that told the stories of all the characters that included: Agonistes Ludicque Mongroid The Scythe-Meister Talisac Venal Anatomica A second series quickly followed with another six figures but minus the backstories for the characters: Szalta Zain Suffering Bob Feverish Moribundi Camille Noire With this announcement let's hope this means that Clive will be apart of the creative process by helping with the designs of the new figures and creating back stories for them. The original series that came out in 2001 are some of the most beautifully, grotesque toy creations that I've ever seen, but the backstories by Barker are what gave them life beyond the plastic that they were made of. While series two contained some very well crafted figures, I didn't care as much for them because they didn't have backstories which made the first series so special. In fact, a film adaption based on the toy-line was going to happen at one point by Universal Pictures, but sadly the project fell into development hell. As always we'll keep you updated as more news comes in, but in the meantime checkout all the figurines in this video provided by Youtube user Actionfigureexpert that shows off all the lavish detail that went into them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s38mBYxmtoE Thanks to IGN and Actionfigureexpert for sharing.

James and I will be talking about Disney TV and cartoons from the '90s. In the "It Came From The '90s Segment" we talk about Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Double Dare back on Nick, Toys "R" Us, KB Toys and Star Trek. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

Welcome, Junior Wizards! This week, with a prompt from @Nitai_Dasa, Jeff and Aaron dive into what makes a great toy and what the cool teens are talking about in Fantasy! Meet Digi O'Neil, a toy maker searching for her first hit product on the market! Bet you didn't know what KB Toys stood for, did you?

Shaun and Tyler discuss their 10 favorite Ninja Turtles action figures of all time. Some of these choices might be surprising! Others will make total sense to anyone who drug their parents through the aisles of KB Toys over and over again in search of the latest Playmates Toys gimmick. The first installment of a special two-part episode!

Steve "Megatron" returns after a brief hiatus to discuss the latest in the Transformers world. From the new KB Toys announcements and possibilities with their relaunch to the new Transformers series. The discussion goes into the new Transformers Prime Wars Trilogy continuation and Masterpiece Beast Wars Megatron. All this and more on the latest episode of "All Things Transformers."

James and I talk about Home Improvement. In the "It Came From The '90s Segment" we talk about KB Toys at PlayCon, Double Dare coming back to Nickelodeon and about Last Man Standing coming back on air. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

In today's installment of Action Features, James & Mike get caught up on some current pop culture happenings... Stuff like the missing Iron Man suit, Boss Fight Studios figure releases, the plan for KB Toys, the box office for Avengers Infinity War, and the announcement of Bill & Ted 3. They then wrap things up with a Top 5 dedicated to a recent film announcement- "The Top Five Things We DON'T Want To See In Rambo V". So get plugged in... Time for Action Features.

Without going into depth Brandon & James discuss their retail memories! We mention Roses, Woolworths, Hills, A&M Toys, Walmart, Bud's Discount City, Target, Toys "R" Us and KB Toys. This is a special Saturday short. We will return to normal schedule next week. MUSIC CREDIT: "Lobby Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

And on the pedestal, these words appear: 'My name is Blockbuster, King of Video Rentals; Look on my Racks, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains.   It's a sad day when a part of your childhood shutters their doors, be it Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, KB Toys or even the indoor playplace Discovery Zone. But Chris and AJ are Open for Business this episode with their fond and not so fond memories of these relics of the past. Do they deserve a place in our memory still or can we erase them just as they have been erased from the building fronts? Follow Out of Memory on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @outofmemorypod Hey, you should email us! Send us your questions, comments and ideas for future episodes to outofmemorypod@gmail.com P.S. The poem paraphrased at the beginning of this description is Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Check the full thing out here! https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias  

James and I have our first special guest on our show! Steven is a very knowledgeable person in the world of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Listen to this fun and informative podcast on the past history of the rangers and favorite moments on the first three seasons. We also dive into the Japanese episodes! In the "It Came From The '90s" segment we briefly talk about KB Toys coming back! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

This Week Christian and Gerard talk about#Changethechannel #MrRogers, #ToysRUs, #JossWhedon talks about #JusticeLeague, #KBToys coming back and much more. Follow Us: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaputoCollectiveProductions/ https://www.facebook.com/collectivepodcasting/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caputocollective/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/caputocollectiv Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/caputocollective Music: "Breaking a Synthetic Heart" By: Three Chain Links https://soundcloud.com/beardmont --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/collectivepodcast/support

Major League Butt Kicking is Back in Town with woman stands in room naked, Street Fighter tv series, KB Toys return?, Funko Pop cereal, Daft Punk and Toy Story 4, zombie raccoons, video recording dreams, Knight Rider comedy reboot, Simpsons donut, movie trailers and much more.

Saddened by the recent announcement that Toys R Us will be shutting its doors forever, Christie and Nicole have decided to take this opportunity to honor the stores and brands of yesteryear that have succumbed to similar unfortunate fates. In loving memory of: Toys R Us Babies R Us Kids R Us KB Toys FAO Schwartz Noodle Kidoodle Discovery Zone Zany Brainy Warner Brothers Store Caldor Bradly’s Aimes Gadzooks Limited Too The Limited Delias Contempo Casuals Rheul Mars Walbaums A&P Genaurdis Borders B. Dalton The Wiz PC Richards CompUSA HH Gregg Circuit City The Sharper Image City Sports Ritz Camera Linens N’ Things Chi Chi’s Bennigan’s Kenny Roger’s The Sizzler Bob Barker as the Host of The Price is Right Additionally, this episode is also dedicated to all the parents that spent their Friday or Saturday nights during the 90’s in a mall with your daughters. Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed. Be sure to like us on Facebook so that you stay up to date with everything and anything Underwhelmed Podcast related- https://www.facebook.com/underwhelmedpodcast/. Christie can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/realchristiewheeler and Nicole can be found at https://www.instagram.com/realnicolekokinos. The official Underwhelmed Podcast Instagram page is- https://www.instagram.com/underwhelmedpodcast. Christie also misses the time when Chris Gunnels was her friend and even thought about emailing us. You’re our friend now, so be sure to email us at info@underwhelmedpodcast.com with your questions and suggestions!

This week on The Toy Thug Show:We start out going over greymiles’ pickups... highlighted by the Marvel Legends Deadpool wave.We move on to movies and discuss the DOPE new Deadpool 2 trailer (is there a theme here?). We also discuss Dark Phoenix and New Mutants (just cancel it already) getting pushed back. We close out the topic talking about Captain Marvel being set in the 90s. Next up is TV... and Rick and Morty STILL not being renewed and the growing controversy over the FX cancellation of the animated Deadpool series (told you there was a theme!). We wrap up the show with the potential return of KB Toys. Ride with us!

This week on The Toy Thug Show:We start out going over greymiles’ pickups... highlighted by the Marvel Legends Deadpool wave.We move on to movies and discuss the DOPE new Deadpool 2 trailer (is there a theme here?). We also discuss Dark Phoenix and New Mutants (just cancel it already) getting pushed back. We close out the topic talking about Captain Marvel being set in the 90s. Next up is TV... and Rick and Morty STILL not being renewed and the growing controversy over the FX cancellation of the animated Deadpool series (told you there was a theme!). We wrap up the show with the potential return of KB Toys. Ride with us!

Hey, when Frankenstein has dry eyes, he uses Clear Eyes! Wow. Here's all our junk-talk! 0:08:51 Farcry 5 0:15:22 Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition 0:25:13 Toys R Us bankruptcy and Kaybee's rise to the occasion 0:36:13 What can we do with our young child's gaming addiction? We don't know either. 0:52:34 Smarter Every Day haptic VR glove 0:57:59 Duke Nukem movie? John Cena as the titular character?! Rampage movie with The Rock?!?!?!?! 0:59:56 E-Sports and toxic online gamers 1:07:43 Fortnite 1:19:55 Monty Python catalogue coming to Netflix "      "! Interested in writing geek-centric articles? Got a fever to let your inner writer out? Email us with an article to be published for thousands of readers to see! CHECK OUT OUR AWESOME TEES! http://www.duelingogres.com/bazaar-dueling-ogres-store/ Stickers, Mugs and more! SMASH ALL THOSE LIKES AND SHARES AND SUBSCRIBES FOREVER! They help us stay alive one more day! Literally, there are larger ogres over us. They're ruthless and terrifying. We cry tears of blood! CALL or TEXT us so we can play/read your question on air @ !! (Intro uses the "" track by Kevin Macleod (). Licensed under . Outtro: , licensed under .) [widget id="text-6"]

Street Fighter TV series is announced, Ataribox info, Wata game grading service announced, KB Toys returning, Daniel Bryan update, and more!   The #CUPodcast has a Patreon! If you'd like to help support us and also be able to watch full videos of the podcast, please click here!   Check out our sponsors:   Dollar Shave Club - $1 for razor with free shipping! Stamps.com - Free Trial with code CUPODCAST   Blue Apron - Save on first order!

This week brings the Play-Doh as we talk about Thayer's Quest, Nethack, Page Habit, PowerSpice Girls, ROM is alive, Debbie Lee Carrington, 4DX with ScreenX, The Tension Experience, Hawking in Westminster, Sandman Slim, Netflix gets a shrubbery, KB Toys returns, That What We Do In The Shadows, Truth Seekers, In Search Of, The Bone Church, Chambers, MaddAddam, God Friended Me and More. So Mmmmmmbop? It's time for a Geek Shock!

In another massive news week we ditch The Puhr Four to talk about KB Toys, March for Our Lives, US China Trade War, Stormy Daniels, and some follow-up from previous episodes! Join Us On the Road to Infinity War Only on Patreon! Subscribe on iTunes! Subscribe on Podbean! Get us on Stitcher!Listen on Spotify! Like The Puhr Report on Facebook! Follow The Puhr Report on Twitter! Follow The Puhr Report on Instagram!

Steve "Megatron" returns with TFG1Mike for a new episode of "All Things Transformers" to discuss Unicron Is Coming To IDW, Toys R Us & KB Toys, Vinyl Soundtracks, & Jeopardy!Check out the store below:Use Promo Code: GETALTERED at checkout for free shipping in the U.S.ATTF Shirt | Ultimus Prime ShirtTo subscribe to the show, click here.Email us: feedback@geekcastradio.comTweet us: @AllThingsTFv3Geeks:Steve "Megatron" PhillipsMike "TFG1" Blanchard

Seth swoops in to join Vangelus for the unbelievable KB Toys update of March 2018.

Where Oh Where Will We Find Our Wonderful Toys? This week on the show Johnny and Brian review the latest Avengers: Infinity War Trailer, Talk about the official word about the Toys r Us closings while giving some ideas of what they would like to see next from a national toy retailer, and then they review the latest season of the Netflix Original series Voltron: Legendary Defender. News Bites Avengers: Infinity War Trailer Toys R Us Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys R Us Stores 5 reasons Toys R Us failed to survive bankruptcy Toys R Us stores may be closing, but name will live on Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 5 Summary Shocked by Prince Lotor coming to their rescue in the fight against the evil witch Haggar, the Paladins struggle with whether or not they can really trust him. Though suspicious, Team Voltron is able to liberate more rebels with the aid of Lotor's intel. Just as things start to look hopeful, Zarkon strikes, resulting in a shocking chain of events. Cast & Crew Executive producer(s) Joaquim Dos Santos Lauren Montgomery Ted Koplar Bob Koplar Yoo Jae Myung Producer(s) Choi Goun Kim Young Hyun Kim Seul Ki Lee Soo...

This week we start off strong with a discussion about how comic books should be in the classroom straight from a PBS article. Then we get our hopes dashed (or raised if you are not the Rock God of Podcasting)  about a new Marvel world coming to Disney, and in the third act of the first half the boys pressure me into the drug infested world of Infinity War trailers. God damn peer pressure. After the break, we talk trailer reactions and how KB Toys isn't calling it a comeback. Then we almost lose Phil to a Sea of Thieves, Paul has seen enough anime to know where this is going, and Charles (that's me) relives his gaming life circa 1995! Check out our awesome new Patreon with all new rewards and interactions. Patreon.com/breakingthepanel and join the awesome community today. Big thanks to Dennis Robinson of Botched Podcast for the opening promotional audio The Post Credit Stingers Hosts: Charles McFall and Paul Klotz Featuring special guest: Phil Keating of Botched Podcast Producer at Large: Mike Woodard Breaking the Panel is brought to you by the Giant Size Team Up Network --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/breakingthepanel/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/breakingthepanel/support

TKO #33 - HOW MUCH FOR A DICK PUNCH? What can I tell you about this one? First, what can I remember?? What can I separate from the real and the imagined? The hallucinations have taken over now, pushing the balance into the absurd... We go BEAST MODE for the first time as we welcome co-host of Stasis Lock, Ty Prime, or Ty Pie, if you're fuckin', OR Ty Ty, if you're his mommy...We hash it out about being ashamed of your collection, the herd mentality and go with him on a car ride to pickup his girl from work. That trip results in our first ever bluetooth version of the 13 Questions. Yes, Officer, it's that same Ginger Boy in my yard...     TKO Podcast #33 - 03-22-18 - Ty Prime Intros What’d you waste your money on this week? NewsX2 toys telatran https://www.facebook.com/DaimChocReports/posts/624525434564554 GT Black nobody gives a fuck devy repaint FANDOM PHOTO BOOTH: Chris gardner Custom Spotlighthttps://www.instagram.com/nerd_alert_cosplay/ Costume by Jason AulicinoCosplayer, toy collector & customizer, X-Men enthusiast, wrestling mark, all purpose nerd.facebook.com/nerdalertcosplay   KO KornerNBK Engineer - P.O.S. KO of Gravity Builderhttps://www.facebook.com/TFDirect/posts/1570734869648938 CATFISH CATCH OF THE WEEK: leguns idw post Bedbugs bargin bin: Fanstoys Quakewave for $89.99 at TFSourcehttps://tfsource.com/fanstoys/FT-03T-quakewave/ Toyworld G2 Thighs and Head ($12.95 for thighs $15.95 for head) Only 5 heads left in stockhttps://www.agabyss.com/toyworld-yellow-constructor-upgrade-thighs.htmlhttps://www.agabyss.com/toyworld-yellow-constructor-g2-upgrade-head.html Asshole of the week: Austin bomber. He ded   Guest (The Thirteen Questions) TY PRIME (stasis lock and sprue power) What's your preferred name/handle?Year born?What's your favorite sammich?Favorite music?What got you (back) into collecting?What scale do you collect?Focus collection or any Non-TF collections?To KO or not to KO?What movie makes you cry?Have you done anything untoward for your toy addiction?Tits, ass, legs, face, other?What’s a weird thing about you? idiosyncrasies, phobias, etc.Go to sex position? TKO Girls Discussion/Listener Questions: Why as a fandom do we tend to get so defensive and offended by others opinions of something we cherish? (Beast wars vs g1) etc. what does this say about us and can people ever stop being snowflakes? Do you guys think Hasbro doesn't like the mp line and wants to end it because it holds them to a standard that they no longer want to commit to? Would you stick your dick in the pooper? -John H If it was 1964 would Tyler pull a "Catch me if you can" style con? -Pinkerton Did tyler kill any animals while working at delta? -Chris W Of all the TKO girls, which causes you to have a spank bank overdraft? -Jason L What do you think of KB Toys return to the spotlight? -Jason L   Shat Outs TF & WTF-Ever - The greatest Transformers and What-The-Fuck-Ever Facebook group EVER!!! LNOW CUSTOMS - An International consortium of Transformers Customizers and Creators. Girls who make bad decisions with their bodies and the father’s and/or uncles that made them that way. Alcohol, Marijuana and Coffee - The lifeblood of this show. TKO on Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UChHOF_mLwd1zqsO2TPxdNmw TKO on Ituneshttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tko-totally-knocked-off-the-podcast/id1271783907?mt=2 TKO on Podbeanhttp://tkothepodcast.podbean.com/ TKO on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/TotallyKnockedOff/ TF & WTF-Ever on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1815039612083253/ LNOW Customs on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/LNOWcustoms/ 3rd Party TF Crashershttps://www.facebook.com/3PTFCrashers/ Hail Hasbro Reviews: By Deluxehttps://www.youtube.com/user/transfan32 SCU - Shattered Cast Uncuthttps://www.youtube.com/user/shatteredcastuncut/feed Blackout & Shouthttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1511286755568977/ Skullface Reviewshttps://www.youtube.com/user/MythsAndHeroes Nerd Rage Radiohttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGKF1ibRkX8KIWw28ZSMcDA Oscarnjboyhttps://www.youtube.com/user/oscarnjboy Derivitiv Filmshttps://www.youtube.com/user/DerivitivKahnEQ2 The Audio Knights Theatrehttps://www.youtube.com/user/AudioKnightsTheatre Stasis Lockhttps://www.facebook.com/beastwars/

This week, we're ALL playing Minecraft together, and we have a new update to last week's Toys R Us story, this time, intertwined with the legacy of KB Toys. We're also talking about Matt Ryan's new role on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, while discussing the impact that AdBlock Plus has on your network speeds. Plus, Eve Beauregard quits cosplay to help the women's revolution in game development! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/genfailcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/genfailcast/support

This week we start off strong with a discussion about how comic books should be in the classroom straight from a PBS article. Then we get our hopes dashed (or raised if you are not the Rock God of Podcasting)  about a new Marvel world coming to Disney, and in the third act of the first half the boys pressure me into the drug infested world of Infinity War trailers. God damn peer pressure. After the break, we talk trailer reactions and how KB Toys isn't calling it a comeback. Then we almost lose Phil to a Sea of Thieves, Paul has seen enough anime to know where this is going, and Charles (that's me) relives his gaming life circa 1995! Check out our awesome new Patreon with all new rewards and interactions. Patreon.com/breakingthepanel and join the awesome community today. Big thanks to Dennis Robinson of Botched Podcast for the opening promotional audio The Post Credit Stingers Hosts: Charles McFall and Paul Klotz Featuring special guest: Phil Keating of Botched Podcast Producer at Large: Mike Woodard Breaking the Panel is brought to you by the Giant Size Team Up Network --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/breakingthepanel/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/breakingthepanel/support

FARTS!! Toys'R'Us closing all stores unless they can raise enough capital to keep 200 stores afloat. KB Toys positioned to fill the void. Some say this is simply signs of our times, as everything... Join us for an interactive Twitch experience. Tons of shenanigans & love 4 streamers, TV, movies, indie games, tech, & geeks! http://twitch.tv/geekyantics 646-801-2149 mail@geekyantics.net

Well would you look at that. You made it through another week, and have a fresh episode of the Tubcast. We talk about a lot of stuff this week. We talked the Shape of Water, KB Toys and we don’t let Jeremy drink a full 2 liter of Cherry Pepsi.  

KB Toys see an opportunity in the demise of Toys R Us. #KBToys #ToysRUs #business #companies #Geoffrey #toys #bankruptcy #holidays #holidayshopping #holidayseason #Christmas #mascots #economy #popupstores #BainCapital #Hallmark

A toy store from the 80's and 90's is planning to relaunch to replace Toys R Us.

On "Altered Geek," Steve goes solo to discuss recent feedback loss, and where Toys R Us Kids will turn to for Christmas shopping. Additionally the re-launch of KB Toy Stores, and what shows would you want to see revived today? All this and more on Altered Geek!Get Altered, Get Geeky with Altered Geek Merchandise! Check out the store hereUse the Hashtag #WhatsGeekyToYou with what you're geeking out to this week and we'll try to feature your topic in a future episode!We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes and please feel free to respond to any and all feedback methods. We will read and reply on the show. Topic suggestions also welcome. So get Altered, Get Geeky with the Altered Geeks.Contact: E-mail | Twitter | Facebook | RSS FeedTo see more from Steve "Megatron" Phillips, stay tuned into "Altered Geek" and watch "Altered Geek" weekly or anytime on-demand on AlteredGeek.com and Blogtalkradio.

Join Kevin, Matt, Brandon, Brian, Chris, and Bart Winkler as they discuss how they feel the Bucks will finish, how the Brewers will do this year before things ...kinda fly off the rails.

I talk about KB Toys and my childhood memories. We also take a call from a former employee of KB Toys. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the90stoday/support

Brought to you part by http://xdi.com 69-year old Toys 'R' Us was once the mecca of kids' gifts. But it was eventually overtaken by Walmart and ultimately Amazon. In its fight to stay relevant, Toys 'R' Us amassed $5 billion in debt. That came from slashing prices, signing major, exclusive licensing deals with toymakers and buying up other toy giants FAO Schwartz and KB Toys over the past decade. This past week Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy. There is a generational moment of inflection occuring. If you don't believe me, ask the giraffe. 

Josh and Emily are trying to start up a new hashtag this week (#firstfavorite) as they return to one of the podcast's original themes: ***nostalgia***. Join them and think back on a world filled with KB Toys, Where's Waldo books, official video game customer service lines, and birthday parties at local arcades. They also come up with yet more potential business ventures for the VGMJB brand, including a radio station! So grab a pepperoni pizza, swig some rootbeer, and tune into KLJM for a relaxing and low-danger kind of Friday.

Krissy, Britney, and Jed are in the mall. The KBtoys is in sight, but there's only two Turbo Men left. Who will get them? Who's out of bubblegum? How crazy will this get? Jake, Josh, Shannon, and Alan are playing the All Outta Bubblegum RPG system and if you listen in, you'll get the answers to all these questions and more!Twitter: @CKTcast, Email: CKTcast@gmail.com.Talk about the show using the hashtag #CKTcast!Jake: @jj_masonJosh: @JNics04Shannon: @shannonmanorAlan: @Alan_Sells