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The "Ask Zach" Thread!


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Do you have a specific question for Zach? Curious about his philosophy on life? Are you a new parent with questions about child-rearing? Thinking about growing your own mutton chops? Looking for little known trivia regarding the C.O.P.S. toyline? Do you want to know what type of jerky best pairs with a cabernet sauvignon?

THIS IS THE THREAD FOR YOU!*

[*please note - ALL Minimates or DST product related questions should be properly submitted via DST's "ASK DST" page, this forum is not meant to be a replacement for that functionality. Please be respectful. Zach Oat is not obligated to answer any questions in any timeframe.

Addendum #1: Due to quality of questions received, "Ask Zach" is no longer accepting questions originating from Greece.]

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My question is about Star Wars. I have 2 girls, 8 and 11, who have never seen Star Wars. The youngest LOVES Chewie! She’s not afraid of too much. The oldest is very sensitive, to the point tht the witch in Snow White scares her still. So, obviously, one can’t see it without the other without major fallout for me. My dilemma, should they watch it now with strategic “close your eyes” moments? What moments does the Zach recommend be filtered? Help me Oati Zach Kenobi, you’re my only hope! biggrin.png

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Hey, hey, hey, I started this very same thread a year or so back. It got locked a few minutes later, but I demand royalties! I want my cut dammit!.......Ahem, uh, I've got a question as well though: Zach, what's your current comic pull list? Any favourite books out now?

Please see addendum #1.

Ya think ya can outsmart me with yer fancy words, uh? Well sir, I may not be the brightest bulb, but I know I'm due some darn cash, and I don't need no "addendumses" to tell me so!

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My question is about Star Wars. I have 2 girls, 8 and 11, who have never seen Star Wars. The youngest LOVES Chewie! She’s not afraid of too much. The oldest is very sensitive, to the point tht the witch in Snow White scares her still. So, obviously, one can’t see it without the other without major fallout for me. My dilemma, should they watch it now with strategic “close your eyes” moments? What moments does the Zach recommend be filtered? Help me Oati Zach Kenobi, you’re my only hope! biggrin.png

We try not to expose our daughter and son to gun violence, or even arrow and sword violence if at all possible, so I'm probably the wrong one to ask. Probably when the sandperson attacks Luke, and most of the cantina scene (just a lot of monsters), and the trash compactor scene. I can't think of too much more that's SCARY. If they can recognize the scorched remains of Beru and Lars, or what a pile of Jawa corpses looks like, then maybe those scenes, too.

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Hey, hey, hey, I started this very same thread a year or so back. It got locked a few minutes later, but I demand royalties! I want my cut dammit!.......Ahem, uh, I've got a question as well though: Zach, what's your current comic pull list? Any favourite books out now?

I don't pull weekly books, or buy a lot of singles in general, but I read books in trade. Saga. Chew. Thor. I'll try anything once, through the library if possible.

I also hit a dollar bin last night and got a few vintage books: the original Marvel Universe Handbook with Wolverine, a No-Prize Awards compilation comic and what I believe is the original Ka-Zar #1

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Hey, hey, hey, I started this very same thread a year or so back. It got locked a few minutes later, but I demand royalties! I want my cut dammit!.......Ahem, uh, I've got a question as well though: Zach, what's your current comic pull list? Any favourite books out now?

I don't pull weekly books, or buy a lot of singles in general, but I read books in trade. Saga. Chew. Thor. I'll try anything once, through the library if possible.

I also hit a dollar bin last night and got a few vintage books: the original Marvel Universe Handbook with Wolverine, a No-Prize Awards compilation comic and what I believe is the original Ka-Zar #1

Yeah, trade-waiting is the best choice (more economical, better quality, prettier), but I like collecting the floppies of certain titles. But still, a huge hardcover with 30 issues just can't be beat. It looks great in a bookself.

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pepperoni pizza or meat lovers?

I'll take pepperoni, but after a lifetime of it, I prefer any other meat on a pizza, the more the better. I sometimes help my stepfather make his own soppresata, and put it on a pizza once. It's amazing.

Longtime listener, first time caller. Do you use any beard oil on your chops? If so, what do you recommend? Thanks!

I don't oil my beard often, but when I do, I use Every Man Jack.

Zach, you've probably answered this before but I don't recall ever seeing it, if you could make 'mates for ANY license, what would it be and who would you put in the first wave?

It changes week to week. Ferris Bueller, Big Lebowski, Monty Python. I think this week it's The Three Amigos.

Lucky Day/Carmen

Dusty Bottoms/Invisible Swordsman with Singing Bush

Ned Niederlander/German

El Guapo/Jefe

Edited by DSTZach
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I have been waiting for this thread...

Zach, I'm a huge fan of Toyfare and TTT, So thank you for all your efforts and the laughs you have provided me over the years. I still use lots of dialogue as inside jokes with friends. Truly, Thank you.

My first question, What happened to the TTT Mego collection after they stopped doing the magazine? There were a lot of customs, did they all stay together or did the Robot Chicken guys take them? Was always curious about that.

I always wanted to send you guys a custom Arnim zola Mego, and thought it would be great if he would show up in a strip where his hologram face kept getting interference from Space Lincoln, and at the end of the strip Zola gets shot by John Wilkes Booth.

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I have been waiting for this thread...

Zach, I'm a huge fan of Toyfare and TTT, So thank you for all your efforts and the laughs you have provided me over the years. I still use lots of dialogue as inside jokes with friends. Truly, Thank you.

My first question, What happened to the TTT Mego collection after they stopped doing the magazine? There were a lot of customs, did they all stay together or did the Robot Chicken guys take them? Was always curious about that.

I always wanted to send you guys a custom Arnim zola Mego, and thought it would be great if he would show up in a strip where his hologram face kept getting interference from Space Lincoln, and at the end of the strip Zola gets shot by John Wilkes Booth.

Thank you, I don't know what percentage of the dialogue was my idea over the years, but I think I originally came up with the idea for the Hulk Goes to a KISS concert strip, and I shot it for a long time, or assisted or supervised. The last photographer, Alex Kropinak, now does our Minimates animations.

I am honestly not sure where all of the customs ended up. They moved with the magazine from a warehouse upstate to their digital-only NYC offices, and after that...? Sad, really. And now I work for the company that makes Marvel and Star Trek Megos. It is a strange world.

Fun fact: I made the Boomerang, Hate-Monger and original Nick Fury Megos! We eventually replaced Nick Fury with a quality custom, mine was just a Thor head on an Action Jackson jumpsuit.

Is it true that if you don't "use it" you will "lose it"?

Yes. It is true.

Edited by DSTZach
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Hey, hey, hey, I started this very same thread a year or so back. It got locked a few minutes later, but I demand royalties! I want my cut dammit!.......Ahem, uh, I've got a question as well though: Zach, what's your current comic pull list? Any favourite books out now?

I don't pull weekly books, or buy a lot of singles in general, but I read books in trade. Saga. Chew. Thor. I'll try anything once, through the library if possible.

I also hit a dollar bin last night and got a few vintage books: the original Marvel Universe Handbook with Wolverine, a No-Prize Awards compilation comic and what I believe is the original Ka-Zar #1

Which one? The character actually dates back to the Golden Age, but I don't think he got his first series until the Bronze Age. I think it would have been John Buscema on the art? I know he did some issues. There's also the 80s series, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by many people, primarily Brent Anderson. This was a really, really great series, and is a great find in any cheapie bin.

Okay, question time: who's your all time favorite comics artist?

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My question is about Star Wars. I have 2 girls, 8 and 11, who have never seen Star Wars. The youngest LOVES Chewie! She’s not afraid of too much. The oldest is very sensitive, to the point tht the witch in Snow White scares her still. So, obviously, one can’t see it without the other without major fallout for me. My dilemma, should they watch it now with strategic “close your eyes” moments? What moments does the Zach recommend be filtered? Help me Oati Zach Kenobi, you’re my only hope! biggrin.png

We try not to expose our daughter and son to gun violence, or even arrow and sword violence if at all possible, so I'm probably the wrong one to ask. Probably when the sandperson attacks Luke, and most of the cantina scene (just a lot of monsters), and the trash compactor scene. I can't think of too much more that's SCARY. If they can recognize the scorched remains of Beru and Lars, or what a pile of Jawa corpses looks like, then maybe those scenes, too.

Thanks! Same scenes I was conerned about - including armless-but-not-harmless Walrus Man’s demise. We try to keep their movies as violence free as possible too. But sometimes even Disney movies sneak through some shock stuff I’ve forgotten about (I’m looking at you Atlantis!)
I think we’ll plan a movie night soon with all the fun stuff, and have a Liv and Maddie waiting for any after-movie violence cleansing…
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My question is about Star Wars. I have 2 girls, 8 and 11, who have never seen Star Wars. The youngest LOVES Chewie! She’s not afraid of too much. The oldest is very sensitive, to the point tht the witch in Snow White scares her still. So, obviously, one can’t see it without the other without major fallout for me. My dilemma, should they watch it now with strategic “close your eyes” moments? What moments does the Zach recommend be filtered? Help me Oati Zach Kenobi, you’re my only hope! biggrin.png

We try not to expose our daughter and son to gun violence, or even arrow and sword violence if at all possible, so I'm probably the wrong one to ask. Probably when the sandperson attacks Luke, and most of the cantina scene (just a lot of monsters), and the trash compactor scene. I can't think of too much more that's SCARY. If they can recognize the scorched remains of Beru and Lars, or what a pile of Jawa corpses looks like, then maybe those scenes, too.

Thanks! Same scenes I was conerned about - including armless-but-not-harmless Walrus Man’s demise. We try to keep their movies as violence free as possible too. But sometimes even Disney movies sneak through some shock stuff I’ve forgotten about (I’m looking at you Atlantis!)
I think we’ll plan a movie night soon with all the fun stuff, and have a Liv and Maddie waiting for any after-movie violence cleansing…

For what it's worth, my daughter is the same age and easily scared by movies (she was clinging to me during Paddington, for crying out loud), but had no problem at all with Star Wars. I think the fact that most of the violence isn't lingered over, and that there's not a lot in the way of threatened violence makes a big difference. Of course, we haven't let her see Episode Three yet.

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I grew up reading Toyfare (I got my first issue in 5th grade, I'm now about to be 29) and I just wanted to say it's cool to get to interact with you on a regular basis, and I think it's really cool that you have such a rapport with the community behind these figures. I got my first ones in 2004, and it's been an obsession ever since.

In terms of an actual question, is there any really fringe property you'd love to see get the Minimates treatment? My main "out there" wish would be a set based on the anime/manga Initial D, in vein of Speed Racer with drivers packaged with their respective cars. We don't have the fanbase for it in the states, but, hey it's a neat thought.

Also, how do you feel about the DC Super Hero Girls initiative? As a dad of a two year old girl I'm pretty hyped that someone is finally trying to take the "just for boys" aura away from superheroes and make it an inclusive thing.

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Which one? The character actually dates back to the Golden Age, but I don't think he got his first series until the Bronze Age. I think it would have been John Buscema on the art? I know he did some issues. There's also the 80s series, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by many people, primarily Brent Anderson. This was a really, really great series, and is a great find in any cheapie bin.

Okay, question time: who's your all time favorite comics artist?

The ish I got has a cover by Brent Anderson, from 1981.

I like different artists for different reasons. Favorite may be Jaime Hernandez, but Gilbert is pretty great, too. I like Mignola a lot. Also Art Adams, Steve Skroce, Chris Sprouse, Jeff Smith, Marc Silvestri, Dave Eaglesham, Bill Willingham, John Byrne, J.Scott Campbell, John Romita Sr., J.R. Jr., Sal Buscema...

Hey, Zach,

Who put:

1) the bomp in the bomp-bah-bomp-bah-bop?

2) the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong?

3) the chocolate in my peanut butter?

Dave Thomas.

Thanks! Same scenes I was conerned about - including armless-but-not-harmless Walrus Man’s demise. We try to keep their movies as violence free as possible too. But sometimes even Disney movies sneak through some shock stuff I’ve forgotten about (I’m looking at you Atlantis!)

The only Disney movies my daughter has seen are Frozen and Mary Poppins. We also have concerns about women's roles, like the whole save-the-princess or find-a-true-love thing.

For what it's worth, my daughter is the same age and easily scared by movies (she was clinging to me during Paddington, for crying out loud), but had no problem at all with Star Wars. I think the fact that most of the violence isn't lingered over, and that there's not a lot in the way of threatened violence makes a big difference. Of course, we haven't let her see Episode Three yet.

I took my daughter to a movie a when she was a bit younger (maybe 4 or 5?), and it was Happy Feet 2, and there was a leopard seal attack. She asked to leave.

In terms of an actual question, is there any really fringe property you'd love to see get the Minimates treatment? My main "out there" wish would be a set based on the anime/manga Initial D, in vein of Speed Racer with drivers packaged with their respective cars. We don't have the fanbase for it in the states, but, hey it's a neat thought.

Also, how do you feel about the DC Super Hero Girls initiative? As a dad of a two year old girl I'm pretty hyped that someone is finally trying to take the "just for boys" aura away from superheroes and make it an inclusive thing.

As far as fringe goes, I like fringe comedy, so I'd love Kids in the Hall, which is probably less "fringe" to Canadians, but is still pretty underground here. For kids' shows, I'd love to do Odd Squad, which a few of the KITH appeared on. As far as anime goes, Kinnikuman/Ultimate Muscle is my favorite, but One Piece would be cool, too. Everyone wants DBZ, but it's not my cup of tea.

And anything that makes mainstream superhero comics more friendly for girls -- and also women -- is good with me. I'm fine with making outfits less skimpy, and making traditionally male characters female if there is a cool reason, although new female characters work, too. Curious to see what the content is like, and how the poseable, athletic, stand-able fashion dolls look. I like dolls, they're like big Megos, but I hate that I can never stand them up.

Edited by DSTZach
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