The Jakks Classic Superstars remain, for people, the best collection of WWE action figures, however, the history of the line and how special it was had been largely lost to time. That’s no longer the case, as a lover of action figures and popular YouTuber Kyle Peterson took it upon himself to create The Complete Guide to Jakks’ Classic Superstars. A gigantic tome of approximately 700 pages, the e-book features photographs and information about one of the most popular lines in figurine history. It even includes a striker and Q&A with the guy on the line, Jeremy Padawer. Why is Kyle qualified for this? Well, it would possibly be the only living user with a new card and a loose deck from across the range. He was kind enough to chat with us about the creation of the eeebook and much more. You can buy the eeebook here or here.
BC: Kyle, why did you do an e-book about the Classic Superstars line?
Kyle Peterson: I’ve been a big fan of the line since its debut in 2004. At that time in my life where I’m transitioning from action figure collecting to In College, finances are tighter than before. They are when you are a full-fledged adult. So that your money doesn’t waste anymore. Jakks Classic Superstars was anything that brought me to my knees the first time I saw them at Toys R Us in 2004. Several years later I started a YouTube channel and made a video about Classic Superstars every Tuesday. All said and done, it will have been five years of Jakks Classic Superstars content. And I like it, that’s my favorite line. I laughed a lot compiling this line. I would like a loose set to accompany my new card game. I started looking and I discovered a guy on Chicapass and I bought the collection from him and I was like, you know what? I think you can easily turn it into a book. I don’t know if there is anyone else in the world who owns a new card and a loose set. So from there I said I’m going to do this. I made a verification page, essentially a first page, and tried to get Jeremy Padawer’s agreement. And really, the rest of the story.
BC: When you reached out to Jeremy about this and, in all honesty, I was there when you introduced him. What did you think of the concept when you saw it?
Kyle Peterson: Yeah, that was one of my main goals. I’ve been a Jeremy fan for years, ever since I knew who Jeremy was. It remains strange that he has never sought to meet a celebrity. But I guess Jeremy was always a celebrity to me. I knew in my heart that Jeremy would be interested, that he would sign something like this, but I just wanted to get his blessing because it’s such a big project. It’s such a vital role. He was meant to be a small part of this, and Jeremy couldn’t have been cooler. He couldn’t have been more wonderful. He was all in from the beginning. I showed him the example page of what he was going to do. He agreed to write the foreword for the e-book without delay and I would also like to do a Q&A for the e-book. He agreed with that too, all he said was just tell me what you need. He sent me a lot of wonderful photographs to use in the ebook, things that he just had to have, like the original concept art and things like that. I couldn’t ask for a more wonderful component.
BC: To be clear, do each and every symbol in the ebook come from your collection?How long did this procedure take?
Kyle Peterson: Ouais, I think maybe there’s 2 or 3 takes that are mine. And then in Jeremy’s interview, there’s a lot of other takes. But yes, there are some figures that don’t belong to me. For example, there is technically an El Egante or the Giant Gonzalez that is rare in Argentina. So there are some shots that I’ve enlisted the help of other creditors for. But yes, 99. 9%, that’s all mine thing. It took time. Maybe not as much as other people think. I mean, you know, it’s a 700-page book and there’s a lot of takes in that book. So each and every one of them was on the card, each and every one of them was loose. But I spent almost seven or eight months, each and every night, taking pictures in the middle of the night around my daily paintings and each and every one of the others. It was kind of my Jack Classic Superstars era, so in total it took me about a year to do it all.
BC: Where do you show the collection? For example, are new pieces on cards in a special position in your collection?Are bulk copies new to cards? Do you need a whole piece?What is the scenario for the installation there?
Kyle Peterson: yes, I called the place Jakks Classic Superstars. Es a secret room in my house and it has a secret door. They gave me the total range, the nine-card deck and then right next to it. In addition, I was gifted two Billy bookshelves and basically the entire series of antique superstars that are compatible with two Billy bookshelves.
BC: What do you think are the numbers that other people rediscover when they read and flip through the book?Obviously, there are a lot of people in this organization that a company like Mattel hasn’t done. Do other people say, “I forgot?” number?
Kyle Peterson: You know, it’s funny, I think a lot of other people Array. One thing that other peopleArray and I think has to do with a lot of things, not just this ebook, however, other people look at things through the lens of 2024. But if we go back to the year 2004, how amazing the line was of toys for the time, I mean, it was avant-garde. It was unlike anything we had ever noticed before. This was actually something special since we had never won legends figures in the past. This was the first time they gave us numbers on Legends on a consistent basis, and for the first time they gave us numbers for many of them. The only thing I think a lot of people read the ebook and look at the line again is how deep the line is and how many deep fighters there are. Guys like Abdula the Butcher, which you don’t get at Mattel, and even some sort of Johnny Rod fame. As if it were a deep cut. It’s very difficult, you know, to accept a possibility in a number. Because let’s be honest, Johnny Rodz is not selling himself as Hulk Hogan or an Ultimate Warrior. But just the other diversifications and stuff. The exclusives, the intensity of the line and how many variants and things there were along the way. I think a lot of casual enthusiasts never understood that and now they can look at everything as a one-stop shop.
BC: What do you say to other people who might say they have a total collection of Jax Classic Superstar because they have your book?
Kyle Peterson: Well, and that’s the good look of the book and one of the reasons I wanted to do it. There are many levels of toys such as. . . the first one that comes to mind is the GI from the 80s. Series of Joe figures that is so close to my heart. I’d love to have this total career, but it’s just not economically possible. I don’t have room for all that, with cars and everything else, and that’s where the guides come in handy. I feel like I have the collection in my hands, even if I don’t. It’s a way of having the collection without having the collection. I think a lot of wrestling enthusiasts are in the same situation. They love the History of the lines. It is a way to have a collection without having to spend money, since it is complicated to locate many of these figures and get them.
BC: You’re now a YouTube star as a toy critic and, dare I say, a toy influencer. What advice would you give to other people who need to start a YouTube channel?By the way, what would you have said 4 years ago, Kyle, about your YouTube channel that you know now?
Kyle Peterson: You know, not much different. I have been very true to myself. I am very original in my videos. It’s not about betting on a character or anything like that. It’s just me, that’s how I am. This is the only way for me to do it. So I think a lot of the things I told myself at the beginning would ring true. At first I didn’t think anyone was really interested. I was just doing it for fun, you know, in Covid times. A friend of mine, David Anderson, convinced me to start creating the channel. I said, oh, what is it, I’ll do it, let’s see what happens. And it actually grew like a snowball. But you know, the first thing, basically, is to do it. Everyone has to start somewhere, and your first video will never be the most productive video of all time. So you just have to start somewhere. And the other thing, you know, is other people say they don’t have time for things, and that applies to each and every aspect of life. Time is my biggest enemy. There is never enough each day. And I tell other people that if they need to do something bad enough, they will find the time. Something else can be removed. But if you want to do something, you can find the time. As with the book, you may only take those late photos at night. Then I discovered time. I took the time for this. You have to locate the time. You have to hustle, do the work and smart things will happen.
You can request a portion of the eBook here or here.
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