There always seems to be so much going on in the world of pop culture, comics, and toy collecting that I can’t keep up with it all. That’s why I feel Twitter is beneficial in trying to stay abreast of all the developments. If something passes me by, my tweeps are there to let me know about it and vice versa. (@sexyarmpit) One recent example was when Cool and Collected let me know that the premiere of the awesome new show Toy Hunter was filmed in New Jersey.
Toy Hunter takes the same basic concept of many other reality shows of the moment that deal with finding and buying vintage stuff. Instead of raiding storage lockers and junkyards, this toy obsessed guy, Jordan Hembrough, raids collectors attics, sheds, and basements to find items from their collection that he wants to buy in order to resell for profit.
Jordan is very enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about his hobby, which reminds me of myself and most of my blogging friends – you know who you are! As revealed in the first episode, Jordan is Jersey guy and the owner of Hollywood Heroes in Ridgewood, NJ. It was cool to see him mention Toms River, NJ and see other the locations that he dropped in on as well.
It was a real kick to see the Super Powers Batmobile and the Gobot cap guns on my TV screen. I never thought I’d see someone talking about this kind of stuff with the same reverence I have for these collectibles. At first, I did find it weird that the host went into a little description of what Colorforms were. Chances are, whoever is watching the Travel Channels presentation of the first episode of Toy Hunter about vintage collectible toys, they’ll know the concept behind Colorforms. His description did turn out to be beneficial for me though because he explained the history of Colorforms and the company’s early headquarters in New Jersey.
My only complaint is that the ending felt too contrived. The speeder bike pedal car that Jordan bought had a buyer by the end of the episode. Ultimately I think he sold it to a father for $1,000 for his young son to have it. There’s no father that I know personally who has that kind of scratch to drop on a toy that will probably collect dust!
Read a full recap with screen grabs at Cool and Collected:
http://coolandcollected.com/toy-hunter-jersey-shore-episode-recap-and-review/