Creator Brian Volk-Weiss on Bringing Back ‘The Toys That Made Us’ For Seasons 4 & 5

We’re getting more episodes of The Toys That Made Us! An announcement was made during San Diego Coic-Con that the popular Netflix docuseries would be returning for two additional seasons. TTTMU fed the appetites of fans who grew up collecting everything from Barbie and He-Man to Hello Kitty and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Each episode brought nostalgic goodness through origin stories told in such a unique and entertaining way. The winning formula of Brian Volk-Weiss and The Nacelle Company led to offshoots like The Movies That Made Us and other programs including Icons Unearthed. 

It’s hard to believe it has been almost five years since Season 3 dropped. And ever since Volk-Weiss has been asked if or when the show was coming back. Fast forward to the recent news that he is doubling down with topics tackled including Ghostbusters, Hot Wheels, Fast Food Toys, Pokemon, Polly Pocket, Super Hero Toys, Nerf, and American Greetings (Strawberry Shortcake, Madballs, My Pet Monster). 

Here Volk-Weiss gives us an early tease of the show’s reemergence and when we can expect more installments to drop. 

Brian Volk-Weiss/Nacelle

First question…what took so long to get more seasons? 

Brian Volk-Weiss: It’s a great question. The TV business, especially the streaming business is in flux now. It has basically been in flux I would argue every three years for the last 10 years. A lot of people don’t know this but The Toys That Made Us is either the first or second Netflix unscripted original greenlight ever. The Movies That Made Us is Netflix’s first spinoff ever of any genre. So we were very lucky we were there when we were there because we were already in business with them. Basically, what happened over time is Netflix’s needs evolved as to the types of shows they were doing. Our needs as a company also evolved as it relates to the shows we make. So, it took a lot of time to figure things out. Unfortunately, that took time. I’m glad it happened the way it did versus not at all. 

Nacelle

What was the reasoning for announcing the seasons together? 

That’s another great question because we are getting asked that a lot. I think part of the reason is it has been a long time since the last time. Seasons 1 and 2 were both greenlit simultaneously. We greenlight eight episodes at a time. It just made a lot more sense to put them out four and four versus eight at a time. We’re following the tradition that has been set. 

Netflix

Are you going to be sticking to the same format? 

The only thing we’re changing is the toys we’re covering. The only complaints we get are about some guys furious at us that we’re not doing Jurassic Park toys. Maybe one day we will because five years ago people were furious Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn’t in the first two seasons. Then it was why not Ghostbusters? Now that we are doing Ghostbusters and did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, people are mad we’re not doing Jurassic Park. We’re not changing anything. 

We’re going to do the deep dive of information, keep the humor and pathos there, and do tons of research like we always do. We’re going to do the same style of interviews. I do listen to the public quite a bit. From what I’m reading, there is not a lot we need to be changing in terms of the structure. 

What went into these topics this time around? 

We have these “rules” we follow. Anything we cover for any documentary in the pop culture space has to follow these three rules. One, it has to be a multigenerational IP. We like to have three or four, two is okay. Two, there is this thing we call the Mt. Rushmore test. There has to be a character from the IP that if it was on Mt. Rushmore, everyone would know what it is. My wife for example doesn’t care about Star Trek. She considers it a weird religion I’m a part of. But if there was a Spock on Mt. Rushmore, she would know who Spock was. 

Three, there has to be a good story we can tell. There have to be twists and turns. With Nerf, for example, a lot of people don’t understand this about Nerf. Nerf has been the number one selling toy every single year for the last 30 years of its existence. Pokemon is the exact opposite of Nerf, but it has made more money than certain IPs that are over 90 years old. It’s this mixture of new and old that we use to keep everyone interested. 

What topics are you most excited to dig into this time around? 

I was very nervous about fast food toys. It is a genre of toy collecting that I have been going for two decades. I love it but it is the first episode we’re doing that is not one IP. This episode covers every single IP and eight or nine different fast-food stores around the world. The reaction we got at Comic-Con made me so excited. The reaction empowered me to do another episode I’ve wanted to do forever, which is the toys that should have not been made. If there is an episode where I’m thinking I can’t believe we’re doing this, it would be fast food toys. 

The story of Polly Pocket is amazing. It was a runner-up for Season 3. I can not tell you how excited I am for this one largely because the story is wonderful. It’s also hot again because of Barbie. Mattel has been talking about donig a movie or TV show for Polly Pocket. After what happened with the Barbie movie,  they have been interested. We don’t let these things dictate what we do, but it has definitely put winds in our sails. 

What is the thought process of doing four-episode seasons? 

It’s what I call the sprinkle theory. Sprinkles taste great on a cookie or cake. You wouldn’t want to eat an entire cookie or cake of sprinkles. Toys is a very similar type of show. Everybody plays with toys or played with toys. But unless you are a nutcake like me who collects toys, I don’t think this is the kind of topic where people want to sit there for six to 12 hours to learn about each toy.

Can we expect a Season 4 soon? What’s the timeline? 

Season 4 will definitely be next year. We’re hopeful Season 5 will be next year as well, but there is a chance it will be in 2026. We’re working hard to have both coming out next year. A lot of variables on these topics. 

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One show that we know is coming soon is another season of Icons Unearthed where you’re focusing on Harry Potter. What can you tell us about this? 

Harry Potter was an incredibly interesting season to make. It’s still pretty recent compared to a lot of what we normally cover. It was this robust, modern story that we had to capture in six hours. On top of that, it’s huge. There are theme parks, the most successful set tour in history, a new TV show in the works, new books, etc. For us to try and boil that down into six episodes was a very difficult thing to do. I would argue more than The Simpsons from Season 2 and that is ongoing. I’m excited because Harry Potter is a really interesting franchise, the movies, because the same cast and 80 percent of the crew were making one of the biggest franchises throughout and there was no gossip…We were interviewing all these people, often who have never been interviewed before, and telling us this jaw-dropping information. I can’t tell you how many times I asked, “Have you ever told anyone that?” Their answer would be no. Then I’d ask why. They respond with, “Because nobody ever asked me.” This one was like scoop, scoop, scoop. It’s crazy stuff. There is some really wild stuff. 

The Toys That Made Us Season 4 and 5, TBA, Netflix 

Icons Unearthed: Harry Potter premiere, August 21, 10/9c, Vice TV