The Crazy, Sad, Crash & Burn Story of Wizard & Toyfare Magazines

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Wizard or Wizard: The Guide to Comics was a magazine about comic books, published monthly from 1991 to 2011. Toyfare Magazine, focusing on action figure collecting, was eventually spun off from Wizard in 1997.
It all started great and then Wizard Entertainment grew and then it all crashed taking Wizard Magazine, Toyfare Magazine a few other magazines and lots of jobs with it.
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22 сен 2021

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Комментарии : 1,4 тыс.

@brianlehmkuhl8162 2 года назад

As a 48 yo male this entire channel plays like a "this is your life" I loved Toy Fair and by 1999 had over 1,000 action figures. The price guide was ALWAYS super inflated.

@thebagonline2113 2 года назад

This is kind of an embarrassing story, but when I was little I didn't have a whole lot of money to buy comics or toys. But one day at my local comic book store, I had noticed one of the dudes throwing away a bunch of comics in the back alleyway. As soon as the dude went back inside, I walked over to the dumpster he had throw them in, and I saw bunch of Toyfare, Wizard, and Action Figure Digest in there, and as a kid this was a jackpot find! I wasted no time and used my bicycle to climb on and hang halfway into the dumbster, with the lid on top of my back I grabbed as many of those magazines as I could. I still have alot of the ones I found to this day! Especially Toyfare Mag, that was my favorite only because of the random action figure comic strips they would do. And the random speech bubbles of the figures. I loved that stuff man. I miss these magazines. 🤘

@RemyJackson 2 года назад

Definitly hit the jackpot with that find. The local comic shops around my area held onto every back issue, so no dumpster finds.

@pfresh 2 года назад

Twisted Toyfare theater!! If you check Amazon, you can find a trade paperback of it! I have a copy, it’s great. A precursor to robot chicken too, if I remember right.

@garrettchristensen8074 2 года назад

You were a smart kid.

@RemyJackson 2 года назад

Comic companies kinda screwed Comic Book Stores over when they first became popular. Newsstands and other businesses that sold comics (such as pharmacies and grocery stores) could send unsold comics back to the distributors to be recycled. But Comic Shops were not allowed to do that, and had to keep them until they sold. Some shops threw them away, often tearing the front covers off. Others kept them, which has made it easier for fans just getting into a line to get older issues without dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars.

@irasimpson1465 2 года назад

That's not an embarrassing story by no means my friend, but quite to the contrary; it's an amazingly awesome one. #facts

@gilbertreyes5132 2 года назад

When I was young and got into some stupid stuff that landed me in county jail, I wrote wizards magazine and they sent me some free issues to read while I got my life back together. Thanks wizard for all the wonderful articles your magazine printed.

@silentbobstash 2 года назад

Man, I loved Wizard. Finding a new issue on the stands was an event.

@bornimusic Год назад

Totally agree

@BuddyLee63 2 года назад

I worked at Wizard in '97. Probably the greatest job a teenage comic geek could ever have. Unfortunately it was about a 50 mile commute (each way) and, I was beginning to be more interested in partying and other things typical teenagers are into, so it didn't last too long. Great memories though.

@mmgreen31 2 года назад

Did you attend the Halloween party at the ‘house’ in New City?

@mekman4 2 года назад

I’m so old. Some of the biggest laughs I ever had was reading Wizard magazine in high school. This is the best stuff. Thank you.

@horrorstew3577 Год назад

Same... Those morts of the month had me crying 😂

@bradleslie2619 2 года назад

I was lucky enough to be working in a comic shop when these mags started publishing. Never missed an issue. Loved Wizard, but Merciful Zeus, do I miss Toyfare.

@franklloyd3264 2 года назад

Me too me too

@A_YouTube_Commenter 2 года назад

😭😭😭😭😭😭

@rkstevenson5448 2 года назад

Man, I miss Wizard magazine. I remember finding out they'd stopped their print editions by going to Barnes & Noble and trying to find the latest issue. Me and a really confused clerk spent 30 minutes trying to figure out why their system wasn't showing Wizard anymore when they had back issues on the shelf.

@shawnc5244 2 года назад

That actually happened with me and Electronic Gaming Monthly.

@ThePhenomf4 2 года назад

@@shawnc5244 that happened with me and toy fare

@Wis_Dom 2 года назад

I had no idea Image Comics helped Wizard take off. But it makes sense. I use to collect Wizard, Comic Buyers Guide, and Previews. I remember a fun section in Wizard that selected who they thought should play characters in hypothetical comic book movies. Patrick Stewart was always Professor X. So when the movie "X-Men" was finally released, my friends and I were like...."they got it RIGHT". lol!

@Gatorade69 2 года назад

You can see that in this clip. 6:22 Also Dolph Lundgren as Colossus is a pretty good choice too.

@davidlawrence8711 2 года назад

Oh man CBG... my shop used to always wrap that around your weekly issues. Somehwere in a box buried in a cupboard is a pre-launch Powers story from Bendis and Oeming before they were even close to big names, spread across a bunch of CBG's.

@Guhndoi 2 года назад

I think it was a mid/late 2000 issue where they did an X-Men 2 casting. They had Alan Cumming for Nightcrawler.

@jeffbrucker7578 2 года назад

I loved these magazines. Think I still many of them boxed up somewhere. I personally feel Toy Galaxy is my new Toyfare. Keep up the great content.

@solidkingcobra 2 года назад

100% agree.

@jeremygreen2883 2 года назад

I was thinking the same exact thing. Toy Galaxy and the Fwoosh.

@zolo120mil 2 года назад

Jeff Brucker…they are able to find. A collector friend of mine found some for me….I probably have 40 sealed Wizard magazines that I bought for $30.

@thetshawkeye1035 2 года назад

I agree with you sir!

@thetshawkeye1035 2 года назад

@@zolo120mil I would buy the ones I don't have

@Dargonhuman 2 года назад

In high school, one of our graduation requirements was to do a "senior project" that was supposed to showcase a talent or passion we had. I chose to make my own comic book and cited several issues of Wizard magazine's "tips from the pros" section for my written research report. This was back in 1999/2000...

@tylerdurden788 2 года назад

Seems way better than my term paper

@finnsterling6514 2 года назад

So don't leave us hangin'--how was it received? What grade did you get on it?

@cooldustin82 2 года назад

I did a research paper on comic book history in high school and cited a bunch of Wizard magazines, and a couple of books. The teacher took points off for obtaining too much information from one reference.

@Dargonhuman 2 года назад

@@finnsterling6514 I passed, though the Senior Project wasn't a "normal curriculum" thing so there wasn't a letter grade, it was more of an assessment of our skills and social acumen.

@Dargonhuman 2 года назад

@@cooldustin82 That's funny but also unfair as Wizard compiled their information from a wide variety of sources and were very comprehensive, especially for an entertainment magazine.

@Sinic818 2 года назад

Wow, never thought that i needed this episode. Reminded me of asking my mom at the grocery store, "Mom, can i get a Wizard?". Gotta hand it to my Mom she knew spending $5 on a magazine would keep me quiet for days.

@somersetmaine 2 года назад

Wizard was good up until the last few years when it got rid of all the fun shit and became like a miserable advertisement Laden crap hole

@bornimusic Год назад

Same!!!

@zagnorch1336 2 года назад

"Wizard... and ToyFare magazine... (set) a high standard for quality of publication, and a low standard for quality of humor... that I lived, laughed, and loved." You and me both, my good man... you and me both.

@jeremygreen2883 2 года назад

These were my internet... Before I had access to the internet. I remember learning about so many new nerd properties through these... Some of which I wouldn't appreciate until much later in life like "Sandman" or "Watchmen". Twisted MEGO Theater was my jam too. I have real find memories of pouring over these magazines for hours on end.

@ryan1976 2 года назад

One thing I loved about Wizard was that they even threw jokes into the fine print regarding contests/submissions.

@Suzakuhelldragon 2 года назад

I collected Wizard as a child and the biggest con I ever went to was wizard world chicago. I got to meet Micheal Turner (RIP) and have several comics signed. I still own those comics and treasure them. Wizard magazine will always hold a special place in my heart and I am so happy to know it meant as much to me as it did everyone else.

@josephschminkey5717 2 года назад

When going to the bookstore was great. Tower Books every Friday night

@joet7136 2 года назад

I miss brick and mortar bookstores, comic book shops, and toy stores. Now all we have are cash loan stores, tobacco shops, and tattoo parlors.

@davidhanson4909 2 года назад

@@joet7136 Don't forget CBD. I miss GOOD brick and mortar stores. My conversation whenever i go to a B&N: "Do you have (anything not currently in the top ten)?" "No, but I can order it for you." Yeah, so can I. From home. Probably cheaper and faster. Tower Records/Books was great. I liked Borders too.

@scottblanco5991 2 года назад

I spent plenty of hours reading them at the cafe in Barnes and Noble. Loved the magazine

@Notathug 2 года назад

I remember back in art school getting your artwork in Wizard magazine was what a lot of my friends/classmates strived for. I got honorable mention in a contest and actually saw my name and art in print. It was quite the high for then.

@midnightblue6668 2 года назад

I absolutely LOVE "Twisted Toyfare Theater" and I think I have all of those collections. (Pulling them back out now for another read!) Such great fun. When I saw Robot Chicken, I thought that these guys had to have had something to do with it. Thanks for confirming my suspicions! =)

@roboverman4545 2 года назад

Hulk in TTT is my favorite. " Rarr. Hulk still need to finish ULK!" ( in the snow 😆😆)

@midnightblue6668 2 года назад

@@roboverman4545 Hulk is fun, no doubt! But it will always be Spider-Man's sarcastic, dare I say "straight man", wit that cracks me up the most. Still love that TTT collection cover with Spidey and Doc Ock on the cover where Spider-Man asks the Doc, "What are you a doctor of, exactly?" Doc Ock's reply..."Gravy!" :)

@spookerd 2 года назад

This was the History of I didn't realize I needed. As a teenager in the 90s who had limited access to comics (closest shop was a 30min drive inland, and my island only had a few places w/ comics mostly DC w/ a spattering of Marvel stuff), Wizard was my way of seeing all the stuff going on in comics I was missing out on. It sits in my hollowed hall of good magazines alongside Nintendo Power, and Entertainment Weekly.

@Gatorade69 2 года назад

Similar. No comic shop in my small town though the book shop would get in a couple issues. There was a comics shop near my grandma's house so when I would go down there she'd spoil me buying me a few comics and I would always grab an issue of Wizard too. I don't know where my issues went however as they're not in my comic collection.

@Scott.Sandifer 2 года назад

Big fan of _Entertainment Weekly_ as well. Read it cover to cover in the early 2000's. The internet killed that one too. Gradually started noticing that all the information found in it had been readily available online for weeks before _EW_ could publish. I do miss magazines. Proof readers, especially.

@mrdrofficer 2 года назад

Same. Small island with no bookstores or conic shops. As such, I love me some NP and EW.

@KomradeKrusher 2 года назад

"Toyfare" actually got me interested into toy collecting again when they had an announcement article for the Masters of the Universe Commerative line. Also loved the "Twisted Mego Theater".

@OneManPowerTrip 2 года назад

I kinda feel Toyfair added to the action figure failure of the 90's/early 00. "Half circle Bob's Fett is gonna be worth thousands!"

@TAKTAK_Toys 2 года назад

I’d agree @King Krusher I think seeing action figures in Toyfare got me back into collecting 👍

@zagnorch1336 2 года назад

...which they had to change to "Twisted ToyFare Theater" due to legal reasons. I also remember that they re-released the TTT comics in collected editions, but the re-releases had all DC characters removed and replaced with Marvel characters, again for legal reasons.

@WayofRamen 2 года назад

Wizard was my daily pooping reading material all throughout college. Big nostalgia feels with this video.

@SecretGalaxyTV 2 года назад

Lol. Thanks. Big fan of your channel.

@stoozdee 2 года назад

This comment is my current pooping material. Thanks to all involved in getting me to this point.

@danielboone8435 2 года назад

fell asleep during the ad

@urbannomad8126 2 года назад

Yep. So many good poops were had while reading these magazines. Also I was addicted to the wizard special comics. Issues 1/2 and so forth.

@traviswilcox3472 2 года назад

I just ran out of TP and had some handy old Wizard & ToyFare mags lying around...yea, I wiped my @ss with them but still a fan.

@dansaikyo6664 2 года назад

I REMEMBER THAT X-MEN CASTING CALL! I was really into making custom action figures for awhile as a kid because of Wizard. I miss that magazine so much. That and classic EGM.

@ta0paipai 2 года назад

The X-men movie casting was one of the few issues I owned. So I read it over and over. Wizard was good for comics, terrible anime coverage though.

@OriginalNeomoon 2 года назад

Man, classic EGM was great

@michelalano 2 года назад

Looking back, I never really understood that the casting call was just writers wish list (I was 10 at the time), and I fully believed that a real X-Men movie was coming soon in the early 90’s. Kind of wild that Patrick Stewart actually got cast as Prof X a few years later.

@Taffer-bx7uc 2 года назад

I remember reading the Toyfare magazines as a teenager. Twisted Mego Theater was always entertaining and funny to read.

@TheACcam 2 года назад

I remember one TTT that had a time travel story set in the past featuring break dancing Professor X with an afro. "The Chuckster only loves two things in life: this hair and dancing!"

@XiaoFury 2 года назад

Wizard had some of the best covers for their magazines. Almost as great as Game Fan in its prime.

@LowellLucasJr. 2 года назад

Amen to that!

@leftymcnally6913 2 года назад

I worked for Lee's Toy Review for a decade. Toyfare was obviously blowing us out of the water every month, but we always got a copy to laugh at the comics. Brilliant stuff

@29thizzle 2 года назад

I loved Wizard comics. I'm 45 years old and remember all of these magazines. I lost my comic book collection in Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that hit New Orleans, LA. Man, I've been following your RU-vid videos and this one earned you a subscriber. Great job, great research and keep up the good work, please.

@glennwelsh9784 2 года назад

The Scrubs "Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong" clip killed me.

@wstine79 2 года назад

I remember getting both magazines at Borders Books on the way home from class. I especially love action figure comics that predate "Robot Chicken."

@KomradeKrusher 2 года назад

I remember those. "Twisted Mego Theater", it really was the blueprint for Robot Chicken.

@clevermcgenericname891 2 года назад

Bruh who d'you think writes Robot Chicken?

@ultravalor7028 2 года назад

@@clevermcgenericname891 whoa really?

@MissAshley42 2 года назад

Drunk Iron Man is still best Iron Man.

@GoatTheGoat 2 года назад

Before the Internet became widely accessible to the masses, Wizard: the Guide to Comics was hands down the best source of Popular Comics news. Too bad they failed to adjust as the Internet slowly ate their lunch.

@Belgand 2 года назад

I feel like a lot of people who were born past the mid-'90s don't always understand how important magazines were in that era. How important they continued to be into the early 2000s. Especially for otherwise niche hobbies and interests. None of this made mainstream news. There was rarely any other way to connect to a larger community, especially if you weren't part of the con scene. Wizard, Dragon, Shadis, Starlog, Fangoria, Nintendo Power, Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC Gamer, Protoculture Addicts, Newtype... You'd read and re-read the same issue for the entire month or two until the next one came out. Even the ads were important.

@zzzxxyy 2 года назад

@@Belgand Don't forget Hero Illustrated and Illustration Magazine.

@VantageInhouseTV 2 года назад

Hi!! I’m Victor Dandridge, Editor-in-Chief of the LAST iteration of Wizard Magazine! Thanks for including it in your breakdown! 🤩🤩

@lokuzt 2 года назад

Twisted ToyFare Theatre is, still, a pillar of my sense of humor

@donaldjohnson1148 2 года назад

YES!! i still re-read the collected trades for those every couple years. Spider-Man could be such a d!ck in some of the stories, so very funny.

@thecoofjackson7471 2 года назад

Same here.

@yargkcirtap8946 2 года назад

The Scream parody with Thor still makes me laugh when I think about it

@seanv3997 2 года назад

Hulk and Spidey watching The Phantom Menace still makes me laugh.

@zagnorch1336 2 года назад

Hear, hear!

@davewhitmore1958 2 года назад

When I couldn't afford comics, I'd still buy Wizard to keep informed of things . . .

@wrockage 2 года назад

me too bud.

@SageShini 2 года назад

Wow, it's not just me. Awesome.

@ElectricEliminator5 2 года назад

It gave you a good idea of what was worth actually buying beforehand

@JOEYFMISFIT 2 года назад

As a kid I hated going to the local grocery store until I realized they carried wizard magazine. Absolute respect to you guy for shouting out The Wizards podcast. My oldest friend is one of the hosts and he puts a lot of time into it. You guys are absolute gems.

@KindaFunnyGames 2 года назад

Thank you for this! - Greg

@thejoshernaut6730 2 года назад

Greg you should really check out more of Dan's videos they're great. Kinda Funny and Toy Galaxy crossover please.

@darkhawk5 2 года назад

Wow, crazy where you run into a best friend! It really is a small world.

@donaldhouf8377 2 года назад

Greg, you also a Toy Fair fan?

@SecretGalaxyTV 2 года назад

You're very welcome!

@bouchonaise124135 2 года назад

@@donaldhouf8377 there is a shot of greg in here with his dad @10:47

@HappyBirthdayRoboto 2 года назад

Guys thanks for making this video, it brought back so many memories. When I was a kid I didn't have many friends at school and one day I bought a copy of what I thought was a comic but when I got it home and opened the polybag I found it was a magazine called Wizard that opened my eyes to the politics of the comicbook world. I had only been aware of Marvel and DC but now I knew of Image and Dark Horse and learned about the opinions of the writers and artists and learned they didn't all like each other! Wizard and Toyfare were a big part of my life for many years.

@jenniferlemke7884 2 года назад

I used to read ToyFare and Wizard cover to cover. I even read the fine print legal disclaimers because they would always sneak in humorous content.

@PolarizedMechs 2 года назад

Good to know I wasn't alone. I loved the little jokes like "Spidey stole my baby!" right in the middle of all the legal folderol.

@garyv83 2 года назад

I remember one disclaimer actually offered a prize for reading through it (it was a disclaimer for a contest, iirc, so it was more like an additional prize if you won one of the prizes being offered). Good times.

@plumlineltd7585 2 года назад

I have so many fond memories of Wizard. When I was on vacation with my family in Florida I made sure to find a comic book store so I could get that months issue. Wizard World Texas was my first con, my 18th birthday present. It was a huge part of my teenage years, bringing new issues to school to show my friends all the cool stuff coming out. I miss it every day.

@sidearmsalpha 2 года назад

I miss Wizard and Toyfare. I still have several issues of Toyfare. The humor and sketches, especially Twisted Mego Theatre, were what made it worth getting. It was so cool to see these guys go on and create Robot Chicken.

@Rebelxstudios 2 года назад

Loved reading Toyfare in the late 90s, and early 2000s. The humor was some of the best.

@jonserkspawn7776 2 года назад

Same It was hilarious. I loved Mego Spiderman's attitude

@keithsmith8543 2 года назад

ABSOLUTE TRUTH!!!!!👊

@Jabroniville 2 года назад

@@jonserkspawn7776 haha, Mego Spider-Man arguably became the basis for 60% of adult cartoon characters after that.

@grapeshot 2 года назад

Yes these Crash and Burn stories can be used to teach valuable lessons. Yes I had to explain to my niece exactly what a typewriter was.

@user-hc9qv9yb9m 2 года назад

A walkie talkie too?

@timcotrell9753 2 года назад

Loved Wizard. I think I had every issue. I remember having a party, everyone drinking, listening to Steve Miller Band, getting drunk on Boone's farm, laying on my living room floor and reading a Wizard while everyone around me was dancing. I remember it being a Dark Horse Star Wars article. Not sure why this memory has stuck with me the last 25 years.

@AccessUnlimited 2 года назад

I loved Wizard and I was in rural Australia! Amazing how far the reach was. I have hundreds of issues in the spare room. Fun to flick through them.

@erikholmysti 2 года назад

When their magazine died, I was sadly charged with another years subscription and had to file a charge back. Got my money back, but it was a sad note on a magazine , both wizard and toyfare, that I simply loved.

@russellharrell2747 2 года назад

Same thing happened to me with my Bantha Tracks/lucasfilm fan club membership in the 80s.

@brianng8350 2 года назад

An clerical error or the company was run by crooks?

@russellharrell2747 2 года назад

@@brianng8350 more like they just didn’t care to keep records, even though in less than a decade a new official fan magazine would start up.

@maris4137 2 года назад

I really like Wizard and Toyfare. Those magazines were an influence to me growing up. I regularly bought Wizard, Toyfare, Inquest, and Anime Insider. I also bought other magazines like Hero Illustrated, Overstreet Fan, Cards Illustrated, Duelist, Scrye, and Tomart's Action Figure Digest. Toy Galaxy discussing cartoons and obscure series from the 80's and 90's reminds me of the articles Toyfare is doing during the mid to late 2000's. Not to mention The Twisted Toyfare Theater is a must read for Marvel Comics, Robot Chicken, and action figure fans. You could say Robot Chicken started at Toyfare since Matthew Senreich, RC's co-creator, is a contributor at Wizard/Toyfare, and Seth Green a known toy collector, were interviewed by Toyfare a few times.

@TerranIV 2 года назад

Thanks for this look back at the beloved (at the time) Wizard magazine! Comics may have been a horrible investment in the 90's, but it was whole lot of fun. While I may have wasted a bunch of money on crossover events and holographic special issues, the sense of being a part of a community was awesome. I'm happy that super-hero movies have become mainstream and beloved. I'm sure someday it will all go the way of cowboys and westerns, but WOW, what a fun ride!!!

@DaveSchuster73 2 года назад

I LOVED LOVED reading Wizard. I would get lost in my own world for hours reading that magazine! I had no idea of the behind-the-scenes problems they were having. Also I was one of those collectors who had to own every variant cover! Thanks for putting this together! 🖖🏼

@thebigchimpanski4783 2 года назад

Wizard was great, I miss it. Seems like a whole other lifetime ago.

@melvinshine9841 2 года назад

I don't know when 6:14 was published, but it's funny they actually called Patrick Stewart playing Professor X right, presumably, years before an X-Men film was even greenlit.

@dawolf856 2 года назад

WHOA ! Michael Dorn as Bishop... not bad ! Michael Being as Cyclops... bad.

@tonyjohnson4127 2 года назад

This one got me right in the feelings. Wizard had a huge impact on me and my ability to not take any of the hobbies I have so seriously that I become "that" guy. It is 100% okay to laugh at the things you love and still love them. It is 100% okay to know that some of the things you love can be and should be "dumb" and silly (This is the part where I mention that I'm a huge wrestling fan too). It was Wizard and Inquest that I had every month, informing me of the upcoming hotness, the in depth behind-the-scenes action in those industries and AND also making me laugh. Hell, this video got me in my feelings so bad that I actually had to leave a comment. Thank you Dan for making this one. I'm gonna go grab the old back issues and take a trip.

@cowpuddles4851 2 года назад

Wizard was such a great read and I still laugh at Toyfare’s TTT episode of Cobra Commander wandering around the Terrordrome late one night. Oh, and Banshee calling Dr. Mindbender a “poofter.” That was funny too.

@flannelogue 2 года назад

Thanks for making me feel really friggin old just by the first opening line. I still have my wizards. What a great blast from the past. So weird they're not around

@MikeKaess 2 года назад

this is the video I've been waiting for you to do since I found your channel back in 2016 and started my secret plan to slowly become your friend. Now that I have it, friendship over.

@SecretGalaxyTV 2 года назад

We had a good run. I'll always remember the times.

@zagnorch1336 2 года назад

It was pretty much the opposite with me; never in a million years did I expect Toy Galaxy to cover the history of Wizard /ToyFare. That having been said, I'll be more than happy to occupy your now-vacated friendship-with-ToyFare slot.

@finnsterling6514 2 года назад

@@SecretGalaxyTV (Psst! You can still buy The Times, in both print and online versions! Don't let yourself look like a sap!)

@Summertimeblues28 2 года назад

When Gareb Shamus ruled the world. I met him way back in ‘92 @ a Con. Nice guy. Great magazine. I miss those days, it was a great time to be a kid. Another awesome video Dan & Greg

@AgentNevets 2 года назад

Man, this brought back the memories! I know the bad...but I can't help but long for the sheer joy and excitement I had opening up a new issue of Wizard.

@Beedo_Sookcool 2 года назад

Never into comics much, but I'd look through my friend Chris' issues of "Wizard". "ToyFare," though -- THAT I got. And I loved it; it was not only informative, but HILARIOUS. Very sad when it went.

@ZeroAnalogy 2 года назад

Just saying hello.

@Beedo_Sookcool 2 года назад

@@ZeroAnalogy Hi!

@DanielS2001 2 года назад

Wizard & Toyfare and Hero Illustrated & Cinescape were my go-to magazines. And I miss them all.

@murmanpoet 2 года назад

YES! I loved Hero Illustrated and I remember Cinescape in the back of every issue had updates for upcoming movies. Cool pre-internet sources. It would be fun to look at those updates in Cinescape to see how many of the movies mentioned never got made.

@brianstiles1701 2 года назад

I miss Wizard, Toyfare, and InQuest so much.

@Thomascanndrum 2 года назад

In 2000 I was 14. At a magazine stand I stared in awe at the most beautiful toy robot I had ever seen gracing the front cover of a magazine. How could such a magnificent toy be possible? Fully articulated fingers and all!!! It was ToyFare featuring the Perfect Grade RX-78. My life was never the same. My Gundam fandom lives on and I eventually bought it.

@Gappasaurus 2 года назад

Oh man, i bought Wizard, Toyfare (and Anime Insider) religiously every month, and sent away for all the “Issue 1/2” comics and “exclusive figures” (AKA crappy repaints) too. I had it bad in the late ‘90s/early ’00s 😅

@cicolasnage5684 2 года назад

Man toyfare and wizardworld was my life in high school and early 20’s. My brother and I made monthly trips to Hastings to get our copies and we would just laugh our asses off at twisted mego (later toyfare) theatre. Got me right in the ol nostalgia feels with that one.

@kryptofred7698 2 года назад

I was exactly the right age for Wizard and I had that first one off issue of Toy Fair! Both magazines were on my pull list for most of the time I spent collecting comics and I’ve always felt like this channel, you guys, are the spiritual successor to them. The same journalism mixed with research mixed with humor that they captured. Especially in the early years. Twisted toy fair theater was one of the best comics ever

@archangel5627 2 года назад

I never thought you guys would cover something like Wizard magazine but I’m really glade that you did. As a preteen and teenager in the 90s, I remember the huge depth and scope that Wizard and Toyfare magazines had. When Wizard was good it was really great. I remember Wizard being the one who really introduced me to all of the brand new comics and characters being created by Image. The Savage Dragon, Wildcats, Spawn, and Youngblood were all very cool and cutting edge at the time.

@AnonYmous-hj1tb 2 года назад

Iron Man filling his armor with piss and vomit is the foundation of my sense of humour.

@zagnorch1336 2 года назад

Spider-Man not giving a steaming crap about anything is the foundation of my sense of humor. That, and the Hulk exploding in a shower of $#!+ and ground beef.

@PolarizedMechs 2 года назад

@@zagnorch1336 I still have the one where Spidey knocked Hulk cold with a baseball bat, thinking it was someone trying to sneak into his tent. He finds Hulk the next morning and asks what happened. Hulk replies, "Hulk not know. Hulk get up to drain lizard, then lights out for Hulk."

@BarronVonSchnoot 2 года назад

I used to submit envelope art to Wizard every month. Never got published. I loved their speculative movie content, I specifically remember reading everything I possibly could about Batman Forever… oh the disappointment. I still have the special “Villains” issue, I keep it with my comic book collection.

@Gatorade69 2 года назад

I always liked how they did that, they had a lot of interaction with their fans it seemed.

@BaiLong45 2 года назад

Lots of feels for this video. For a lot of comic fans who didn't have access to a comic shop, Wizard was the way you got your comic fix. Loved the articles and interviews since there were tons of pics from comics there. Wizard was how I found out about The Watchmen. It was also how I became an Avengers fan. And how I started to go on to comic book message boards. All the negatives, didn't hear about that until recently. For me, Wizard will always have a fond place in my heart.

@davidhanson4909 2 года назад

Wizard gave me my first exposure to stuff beyond superhero titles from the Big Two. Bone, Strangers in Paradise, Love & Rockets, Cerebus (at the time that was a good thing)...books, creators, even companies I had no idea existed.

@JimMahoneyBot 2 года назад

This was a nice walk down memory lane, funny yet sad. I wouldn’t have met my wife without Wizard and Wizard World on AOL so I feel like I owe them a debt of gratitude for creating something that brought people together. (Thankfully we made the right call not naming our son Gareb…)

@batboy9997 2 года назад

My first issue of Wizard was #9 in fifth grade. It had the lineup of the next year's Marvel figures. I still have the whole thing memorized

@xsiafiredex Год назад

I grew up with Wizard:) At my local comic shop, I won an art contest as a 10 year old, and as a prize, I was able to choose ANY comic I wanted FOR FREE, FOR LIFE. I chose Wizard, and I’ll never regret that decision. I loved Wizard, and when I crack those old issues open from time-to-time, dammit, I feel a sense of sheer happiness:)

@WineJ57 2 года назад

Another great documentary about something lost, but not forgotten! Thanks Dan and crew!

@Dorelaxen 2 года назад

When you think that Frank Miller is crazy, then realize that he's even crazier than you think.

@repussified 2 года назад

The fact Miller was able to get his movies off the ground and didn't become persona non grata in Hollywood only shows how little anyone paid attention to comics news.

@pennygadget7328 2 года назад

@@repussified or to other Hollywood productions for that matter. In a just world, RoboCop 2 would've been his first and final foray into film

@derrickmarais 2 года назад

One decade's edgy is another decade's crazy.

@alucard624 2 года назад

@@pennygadget7328 Agreed. Attempted to watch The Spirit twice and both times turned it off not even 10 minutes into the film. How anyone gave that man actual money to make that trash is beyond me.

@Belgand 2 года назад

To be fair, 2001 was pretty close to peak Frank Miller insanity. It seems like he's gotten a lot better since then.

@ob1quixote 2 года назад

It's crazy that _Wizard_ was still basically new when I first found out about it after falling in with a comic store owner in the early '90s. It seemed so definitive all these years I thought it was on the same level as the Diamond monthly catalog.

@davidwilliams5649 2 года назад

I LOVED Wizard & Toyfare! I read every page of those magazines (when I could actually afford to buy them, being poor sucks). Of Course I loved Twisted Toyfare Theater. I thought those were so hilarious. I even read through the price listings, seeing how much the comics I had (and used to have, mom threw away a lot of them) were worth.

@JazGalaxy 2 года назад

The recentness of much of these Wizard activities are astonishing! I remember LOOKING for “whatever happened to Wizard” on the internet in the late 2010s and not being able to find anything live or dead.

@darktoylord 2 года назад

Toyfare and Lee's Action Figure Review were my goto magazines

@white-dragon4424 2 года назад

Yeah, those were my regular purchases for action figure news as well. Being imports, they were hard to get hold of here in England, with only collectors shops stocking them. Thankfully we've got a collectors store in town, so I could get hold of them on order. I found Lee's to be the more sensible and interesting read, with Toyfare filling any gaps in the market that Lee's might have missed.

@prokesuk 2 года назад

@@white-dragon4424 I just commented the same about Lee's. I did not like it when Lee's started doing the comedy bits trying to keep up with Toyfare. Lee's was great without it.

@white-dragon4424 2 года назад

@@prokesuk One of the best things for me was their full coloured visual guides they did on things like G.I. Joe figures. Here we didn't get all of the figures, so it was really interesting to see what we missed out on as well as seeing their card art. Toyfare never had anything like that, but they did have some stuff that Lee's missed out. If you had both together you didn't really need to buy any other mags.

@solidkingcobra 2 года назад

In the back of those mid - late 90's Wizard magazine they had a section where they show a staff member's office with their stuff and explain what the stuff are. I also liked that part of the magazine in humanized the people that work there. The magazine had personality in the middle years. I didn't know about how they fucked their employees at the end. I also volunteered at WizardWorld convention in California. the first time it went really great. That's how I was able to take a picture with Stan Lee, but towards the end, but as the years progressed with each convention it just sucked too it became less and less about comics, but more of weird random corporate crap. I'd still buy a random wizard magazine if I see it on the dollar bin of a comic book/ thrift store though for the nostalgia.

@MrDeedsly 2 года назад

Yep you just describe what almost every con is now. Weird random corporate crap.

@octobersunn 2 года назад

Wizard and Toyfare were my favorite magazines growing up. Wizard is actually what introduced me to Kamen Rider. They had an article about it coming to America and I was so stoked. Then the show happened.

@MerlinTheCommenter 2 года назад

Wizard was such a legendary magazine. Always sold out at my comic shop, so I had to wake up early AF to pick it up from my local news stand. Wizard is responsible for me becoming an early bird.

@collaborativedataaccounts3249 11 месяцев назад

Frank Miller downvoted your comment.

@DestinyFomo 2 года назад

I just started collecting wizard magazine a few months ago. What a time to have been alive lol

@stephanc6138 2 года назад

collecting past magazine is in? kind of odd althou it was an entertaining read during their time.

@MrFox619 2 года назад

It was. It really was🥲

@richardbradshaw2021 2 года назад

I think I have near complete runs of both.

@mechamanblade8465 2 года назад

Yes, it was a great time. A time before the internet and smartphones when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. But seriously, I was at that age when I was old enough to drive and had enough money in my pocket to by the stuff I never got for my Birthday or Christmas. Toyfare was like a Bible to me reminding me of the stuff I grew up with while showing off all the "new" toys coming while providing Robot Chicken like humor.

@gevdarg 2 года назад

Yes. It was. It really was. We were riding the lightning!!

@griff311 2 года назад

It was a great Wednesday when you’d get to the comic book shop and a new Wizard was on the shelf.

@CurseTheCosmos 2 года назад

I have good memories with Wizard Magazine. I was introduced to the incredible work of Junji Ito because of it. But with that being said, I wasn’t surprised when it crashed and burned. I still have some of those final Wizard issues sealed in their polybags. I’m sure there’s irony in that somewhere.

@the7percentsolution 2 года назад

Man I loved those magazines! I even bought a few brand new, still in the plastic wrapping, off eBay not too long ago. It's very nostalgic to go back and read those old articles. And I LOVED Casting Call. Also a big shout out to the short lived "Sci-Fi Invasion!" magazine, another offshoot of Wizard that focused on... sci-fi stuff. In case that wasn't obvious :P

@fununclenerfs 2 года назад

I remember when a Wizard branded website let you add your collection (comics, cards & toys) so I was spent what seemed like weeks documenting my collection until one day I log on to find it stuck behind a paywall...kind of soured me on the Wizard brand after that

@shawnc5244 2 года назад

I remember getting these every month. Especially when I was stationed in Turkey and had to order my comics online since they didnt get them much. And Yes, like a earlier commentor mentioned, these were perfect reading material when going poop.

@OzzieAstaroth 2 года назад

I remember going out to book stores to check for the latest issue of Toyfare, then I finally got a subscription a few years before they stopped printing them. I was only into Toyfare really, and I love that something like Robot Chicken came about as a result of it, and it still continues on today. Reading Twisted Mego/Toyfare Theater was one of the highlights of the magazine for me. I was already into collecting, but that magazine really let me know just how many others were too. It also helped me to collect more since it advertised places you could order things from and showed new and upcoming toys as well.

@tacoenvy 2 года назад

Oh man this one hits hard. I was HUGE into collecting Wizard and Toyfare. I still have some of my old issues from the 90's and early 2000's. Twisted ToyFare Theatre was one of the best damn things about Toyfare, it was hilarious. And Wizard just introduced me to so many amazing comics as a kid in the 90s. When comics were amazing.

@darktetsuya 2 года назад

I like how you included 'the wizard' trailer in this episode... don't get me started on that though (cus I won't be able to stop, haha), this NES die-hard had to go see it in the theater! as for the wizard mag itself, my younger brother was the one that was super into comics and he had a subscription to keep up on the goings-on in comics. I DO however remember reading a lot of inquest, as I was just getting into magic: the gathering at the time so of course I had to read up on all the cards and the newest sets) I thought I remembered a CCG-specific spinoff.

@radleybuttons7830 2 года назад

Twisted Mego Theater ruled.

@tigerbread78 2 года назад

I have most of them in collected form

@BfDelano 2 года назад

I still quote lines from it to this day.

@jesusgarcia1145 2 года назад

That was my favorite thing about the magazine. I miss those.

@natalieshark 2 года назад

When I was a kid I loved Wizard. I read it recently and it has not aged well. My favourite thing was seeing people create custom toys. I also liked the envelopes and the cosplays. Basically, I liked seeing the readers' creativity.

@MissAshley42 2 года назад

The humor of these mags definitely caught my attention as a young teen. I wasn’t too into comics or toys, though, so Inquest wound up being the Wizard Press mag I frequented. I still have the first four or five dozen issues or so! I was enamored with the idea that people could actually make a living writing for publications like these, and that revelation prompted me dabble in journalism in high school. Nothing ever came out of it after high school, but I still credit Inquest with getting me to take writing seriously.

@philsswweightlossdiary2944 2 года назад

It's really weird, when I was at university, from 2004-2007, I saw Wizard and Toyfare all the time in the comic shop I went to. Since then, even though I still go to comic shops, I never even realised it wasn't there any more. I never read either of them so that might be it but I never really wondered why it was gone.

@geardog24 2 года назад

Before Death Battle on RU-vid, I always look forward to the Vs section of my Wizard.

@Pegwarmers 2 года назад

Great episode guys! It's so crazy to think that this is how we got all our news back in the day. I treasure any of the issues I ever picked up.

@Zylthis 2 года назад

I miss the hell out of Wizard and Toyfare. I actually had a letter published in each , I remember being so psyched to see my latter printed on the page. I had a pretty massive collection of both, but sadly, over the years I had to get rid of them over various moves.I did cut out some of my favorite articles to put in a binder though. Thanks for making this episode guys, it was just the right shot of nostalgia.

@mikeoppart 2 года назад

I bought more Issues of Wizard Magazine than I did actual comic books. As I had a limited budget as a kid, I figured I'd get more comic content "bang" for my few bucks.

@KassTheLass 2 года назад

Between this, gaming magazines like GamePro and Nintendo Power, and Shonen Jump on top of my monthly comic books, I had way too much printed media every month.

@MrBoyYankee 2 года назад

Don't forget EGM *Electronic Gaming Monthly.*

@timj3788 2 года назад

I was a GameFan guy myself.

@davidp71 2 года назад

Oh man... what a blast from the past! I was on staff in 1995-1996, and did a whole bunch of illustrations for the magazines. The office culture was a riot! We had a twister mat on the floor of my office, love beads instead of a door, a life-sized Darth Vader wearing a sombrero... I had a blast working there and was genuinely upset when they downsized me. Great memories!