Ever since Cabbage Patch Kids came along in 1983, there’s been an annual holiday frenzy around one particular toy – the must-have Christmas toy of the year. But what makes a toy a must-have toy? Josh and Chuck investigate (and kick off the holidays).
AI Summary
# Summary
In this holiday-themed episode, Josh and Chuck explore what makes certain toys become must-have Christmas gifts that send shoppers into a frenzy. They trace the phenomenon back to Cabbage Patch Kids in 1983 and discuss how scarcity marketing, media hype, holiday nostalgia, and limited supply create the perfect storm for toy mania. The guys also dive into how retailers like Amazon and Walmart use paid placement on their "hot toy" lists, examine the psychology behind why people will camp out overnight or even get violent for a toy, and wrap up by calling out toy flippers who buy up must-haves to resell them for profit at inflated prices.
Movies Discussed
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
"Some real classics, including Ron Burgundy's and Anchorman. — Mentioned as a PG-13 movie famous for containing one F-bomb."
Back to School
"Don't tease me with that movie. The great back to school I saw a bit of that recently. — Chuck mentions seeing Back to School recently and references the film starring Rodney Dangerfield."
— Chuck
Barbie
"This one's kind of similar to the Barbie episode, which I have to say is one of my perennial favorites. — Referenced as a previous SYSK episode that inspired action figures and directly led to the creation of G.I. Joe."
— Josh
Batman
"The first thing he worked on was the Tim Burton Batman movies — Josh mentions that his neighbor Rick worked on action figures for Tim Burton's Batman films as his first project at Kenner."
— Josh
Beanie Mania
"There's a HBO documentary a couple years ago, I think called Beating Mania, that really does a good job of shining a light on them. — HBO documentary about Beanie Babies and the suburban Chicago soccer moms who fueled the collecting trend."
— Josh
Ben-Hur
"There were hit movies like The Godfather or like Ben Hur. — Used as a comparison to explain how Jaws created the summer blockbuster concept."
— Josh
Captain Kangaroo
"He went to, what is Captain Kangaroo's name? Bob. Bob Keishon, I think. — Historical TV show that featured Play-Doh on air, helping launch the product."
— Chuck
Christine
"He gave up acting and started directing movies and directed a bunch of good movies. One called Waking the Dead. — Josh discusses Keith Gordon's directorial work, mentioning he directed Christine and other films."
— Josh
Deadwood
"He was featured on the TV show Real People, which I watched a lot as a kid — Xavier Roberts was featured on this TV show to generate press and popularity for the little people dolls."
— Josh
Die große Maus-Show
"I know the name. I've not read Mouse, but I know it's like just a legendary graphic novel — Art Spiegelman, who helped conceptualize Garbage Pail Kids, created the legendary graphic novel Maus."
— Chuck
Drop Dead Gorgeous
"I've seen Drop Dead Gorgeous. I know the rules. — Referenced as a comparison to the documentary rule about not interfering in nature."
— Josh
Edge of Tomorrow
"I heard the other one was pretty good, though. Edge of tomorrow? — Josh mentions this Tom Cruise film positively as alternative to Oblivion."
— Josh
Enola Holmes
"I did watch Anola Holmes on your recommendation — Chuck discusses watching the movie and praises Millie Bobby Brown's performance."
— Chuck
Fargo
"Fargo is the one I can watch over and over and over. — Josh describes Fargo as his favorite Coen Brothers film that he watches repeatedly."
— Josh
Free to Be… You and Me
"I grew up with William wants a doll on free-to-be-you-and-me. — Referenced when discussing how he was exposed to non-traditional toy preferences."
— Chuck
Garbage Pail Kids
"There was a bad movie that is pretty legendarily bad — Referenced as a failed spinoff attempt from the Garbage Pail Kids trading card series parody."
— Josh
GoldenEye
"N64 was great with GoldenEye. — Discussed as a landmark game for Nintendo 64 that made it a must-have gaming system."
— Josh
Harlem Nights
"Have you ever seen the movie Harlem Nights? Eddie Murphy, Red Fox, Richard Pryor. Great cast. — Josh brings up the film to discuss how Eddie Murphy anachronistically uses the word 'Yo' despite the movie being set in the 1920s."
— Josh
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is already out on Audible. — Promotional mention of the Harry Potter audiobook cast edition being released on Audible."
Hogan's Heroes
"I saw Hogan's heroes. I didn't put a lot of stock into it. — Mentioned as a reference to depictions of WWII prison camps being relatively relaxed."
— Chuck
Hot Wheels
"Hot Wheels was a Saturday morning cartoon in the vein of Dune Buggy and Scooby-Doo. — Referenced as a Hannah-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon from 1970 that was created to capitalize on the Hot Wheels toy line."
— Chuck
How to Train Your Dragon
"There's one that's from How to Train Your Dragon, Toothless Dragon. — Referenced as a Hatchimal version based on the movie's popular dragon character."
— Josh
I Love Lucy
"They advertise directly to their parents too. There were ads for the Easy Bake Oven on I Love Lucy — Mentioned as a television program where Easy Bake Oven advertisements were placed in the 1960s."
— Chuck
Independence Day
"My absolute favorite PG-13 golden goal naughty word was the one that got me out of my seat cheering. Like, the President's Speech in Independence Day. — Listener mentions famous presidential speech scene as containing an F-bomb."
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
"America was already like, who cares about Return of the Jedi? We're into Temple of Doom. — Mentioned as a competing film that audiences preferred over Star Wars merchandise in 1985."
— Josh
Jaws
"Before Jaws came along, there wasn't such a thing as the summer blockbuster. — Referenced as the film that established the summer blockbuster concept."
— Josh
Lincoln
"Recent examples of Lincoln and Philomena had two of those naughty words apiece. — Referenced as a Spielberg film that breaks the one F-bomb PG-13 rule with two."
Mad Max: Fury Road
"The car's cool. It looks like Mad Max's car. — Referenced when discussing a diamond-studded Hot Wheels car that resembles a vehicle from Mad Max."
— Chuck
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: What Do You Do with the Mad That You Feel?
"I like Captain Kangaroo more than Mr. Rogers. — Chuck expresses preference for Captain Kangaroo over Mr. Rogers."
— Chuck
Mr. Wise Guy
"Mr. Bill, remember him from Saturday Night Live? Of course. He was made a Play-Doh. — References Saturday Night Live character that had Play-Doh commercials made."
My Octopus Teacher
"You haven't seen the octopus doc yet, no? I did. — Josh and Chuck discuss the documentary and debate the ethics of the filmmaker's actions."
— Josh
No Country for Old Men
"No country for old man I'm kidding I'm kidding. — Chuck jokes about No Country for Old Men as an example of Coen Brothers films."
— Chuck
Oblivion
"The one that got me out of my seat cheering. Like, the President's Speech and Independence Day is from Oblivion. — Listener's favorite F-bomb moment in a PG-13 film where Tom Cruise delivers climactic line."
Philomena
"I notice the rating rule is not ironclad, however, because recent examples of Lincoln and Philomena had two of those naughty words apiece. — Mentioned as a recent PG-13 film containing two F-bombs, discussed by Josh."
Pinwheel
"Yeah. But I like Pinwheel most. I didn't watch that. — Josh mentions preferring this show, though audience member didn't watch it."
— Josh
Raising Arizona
"Raising Arizona is probably the best. — Chuck identifies Raising Arizona as one of the best Coen Brothers films."
— Chuck
Return of the Jedi
"Return of the Jedi had just come out. So they were crazy for anything that had anything to do with Return of the Jedi. — Referenced regarding why Yak Face action figures sold well in Europe but not in America."
— Josh
Rocky IV
"Have you seen the mini doc about the Challenger? No, not yet. It's good? — Josh recommends the Netflix documentary about the Challenger space shuttle disaster."
— Josh
Saturday Night Live
"Remember that Dan Aykroyd SNL skit from years ago with the dangerous Christmas toys — Referenced a classic SNL sketch featuring dangerous toy parodies, including one called 'Bag of Glass'."
— Chuck
Scarface
"I literally had a Scarface doll. A Scarface Al Pacino that I used to have in the office. — Referenced as an example of how action figures were made for older, popular movies for nostalgia."
— Josh
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
"Hot Wheels was a Saturday morning cartoon in the vein of Dune Buggy and Scooby-Doo. — Mentioned as a comparison point for the Hot Wheels cartoon, both produced by Hannah-Barbera."
— Chuck
Seinfeld
"Essentially like Kramer when he accidentally is wearing the Technicolor Dreamcoat and ends up with that big Jemiriqui hat and a cane. — Used as a comparison to describe how Ty Warner dressed when making sales calls in the 1960s."
— Chuck
Sesame Street
"I like Electric Company over Sesame Street, Amen. — Mentioned in comparison of children's television preferences."
— Chuck
Skyfall
"Most recently in Skyfall, when Judy Dench uses that naughty word. — Referenced as a PG-13 Bond film where Judi Dench's character uses an F-word."
Speed Buggy
"Remember Speed Buggy? Yeah, it was like a Dune Buggy that could talk. — Referenced as a similar Saturday morning cartoon from the 1970s with animal-like vehicle characters."
— Chuck
Star Wars
"Star Wars, very famously offered their early bird certificate package. — Discussed as a popular toy and marketing phenomenon where empty boxes were sold before figures were available."
— Josh
Story of G.I. Joe
"G.I. Joe was taken from a 1945 movie called The Story of G.I. Joe. — Mentioned as the origin of the G.I. Joe name, which was used for the toy line created by Hasbro."
— Josh
The Beanie Bubble
"There's a great scene in the movie. There's a movie that's out now, I think an Apple original called The Beanie Bubble. — Referenced as a recent film adaptation about Beanie Babies, starring Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warner."
— Chuck
The Electric Company
"I like Electric Company over Sesame Street, Amen. — Chuck prefers this show over Sesame Street from his childhood."
— Chuck
The Empire Strikes Back
"I think it was Return of the Jedi, Maybe Empire Strikes Back. — Mentioned when discussing which Star Wars film featured the emperor's red-cloaked guards."
— Josh
The Godfather
"Just the same way that there were hit movies like The Godfather or like Ben Hur. — Used as a comparison to explain how Jaws created the summer blockbuster concept."
— Josh
The Great Escape
"You've seen the great escape on those, the war prison camps in World War II. — Referenced when discussing whether POWs were allowed to play Monopoly in WWII prison camps."
— Josh
The Hudsucker Proxy
"All right, let's talk about the Hudsucker proxy for a quick moment, and then we'll take another break. — Josh wants to discuss The Hudsucker Proxy, a Coen Brothers film that references the hula hoop invention."
— Josh
The Jetsons
"That was the Jetsons. No, he had a robot made too, I believe it. — Briefly mentioned when discussing Richie Rich and his robot servants."
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
"Smog from like... Board of the Rings. It's a dragon, I think, had like... Was sitting on a bunch of gold. — Referenced when discussing fictional character wealth rankings, specifically Smaug the dragon."
The Matrix
"No, it's Like his real name's Keanu This is Neyo Oh Yeah, I've heard of him. I thought you're talking about The Matrix. — Chuck initially confuses the rapper Ne-Yo with Neo from The Matrix when Josh mentions a person named Neo."
— Chuck
The Road
"the United States was a version of Cormac McCarthy's The Road — Used metaphorically to describe the post-crash state of the video game industry in North America in 1983."
— Chuck
The Simpsons
"There's a Simpsons. Monopoly. I haven't played it, though. — Mentioned as an example of licensed Monopoly board game versions."
— Chuck
The Walking Dead
"And the Walking Dead. And Nintendo came along and said, we are going to save you — Referenced alongside The Road as a metaphor for the desolate state of the video game industry."
— Chuck
The Wizard
"There's a scene in the Fred Savage movie The Wizard, where it was this kid pulls out a power glove — Referenced as an example of the Power Glove being featured in a film where a character uses it to play Rad Racer."
— Chuck
The Wrestler
"Marissa Tomei, the actor, took hoop fitness classes to lose weight for uh or to get in shape for her movie the wrestler in 2008. — Chuck mentions that Marissa Tomei used hula hoop fitness training to prepare for her role in The Wrestler."
— Chuck
The X-Files
"Let's go watch some X-Files. Let's, actually. Yeah, the movie's coming out soon, right? — Josh references the X-Files TV series and mentions an upcoming movie in the franchise."
— Josh
They Live
"I thought Keith Gordon co-starred and they live. I don't know, maybe. — Chuck uncertainly mentions Keith Gordon possibly appearing in They Live."
— Chuck
Toy Story
"in the movie Toy Story from Pixar, that was one of the characters' name was Etch and had the fastest knobs in the West. — Referenced as an example of Etch A Sketch appearing in popular culture and influencing the toy's relevance."
— Chuck
Twilight
"Carlisle Cullen, number three, Tony Stark, four. Who's number three? Carlisle Cullen from Twilight. — Referenced in a Forbes fictional wealth ranking list where Carlisle Cullen from Twilight was ranked third."
Two-Lane Blacktop
"Yeah, two-lane blacktop too. Challenger? I think it was a Challenger, the car. — Referenced as another car-centric film from the 1970s similar to Vanishing Point."
— Josh
Uncommon Valor
"I've seen Uncommon Valor. That was a good movie. — Referenced as a contrasting example of harsh Vietnam prison camp conditions compared to WWII camps."
— Josh
Vanishing Point
"Have you ever seen Vanishing Point? It was like, one long car chase from Colorado to California. — Mentioned as a 1970s film where the car is essentially the star, featuring an extended car chase."
— Josh
Waking the Dead
"One called Waking the Dead, you should see. — Josh recommends Waking the Dead, a film directed by Keith Gordon."
— Josh
Welcome Back, Kotter
"I had Welcome Back Cotter cards. — Mentioned as trading cards Josh owned as a child, finding it odd he collected them without remembering why."
— Josh
WKRP in Cincinnati
"This was not WKRP in Cincinnati, but it was very much in that rich tradition — Referenced as a comparison to DJs conning people into foolish behavior regarding Cabbage Patch Kids."
— Chuck
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Wonderbug
"Because there was Wonderbug, too. If you took Shaggy and put some racing goggles on them. — Mentioned as a live-action Saturday morning show similar in concept to Speed Buggy."
— Josh
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