The Power of Social Brand Experience & Collectibles: Superplastic Launches Dopeameme Institute

Personally, I would love it if Toys was our smallest revenue channel, because it would mean we've succeeded as a brand to be able to make the core collector happy with the best stuff, but also make a business out of the other revenue that we have in our platform. This is Right About Now with Ryan Alford, a Radcast Network production.
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We're always getting right. We're always fucking now.
So what's happening? We got Jennifer Van Dyke, Zach Sugarman. We're from Super Plastic.
It's a badass media company, and we're going to talk about storytelling, the future of retail, and just, hey, you're in for a surprise today. What's up, guys? Hey, Ryan.
Welcome. Hey.
What's cooking? So much. So much is cooking.
We are cooking with Crisco right now. Just launched a new location in Vegas.
Yeah, it's cooking. Yeah, man.
You guys got your hands in a lot. And anybody named Super Plastic gets my attention.
No doubt. I got to start there.
Where did the name come from? I wish we had a better story for it. It was really quite a random combination that our founder, Paul Budnitz, created.
He was the founder of Kid Robot. And when he was ready to start a new company, more character and IP driven, he wanted it to be super and somehow he landed on super plastic.
Yeah. And I guess the obscurity sometimes with which names come from, you just never know.
It's just, it just lands certain places. You guys get the name.
What was it called? The something of Disney, the demented Disney, demented Disney. There we go.

Yeah, I know.

I love it because we talked a little pre-episode and we're going to talk about some names, different things like that.

My head gets exactly where the space is.

Sometimes, you know, words are powerful.

Demented Disney.

Yes.

What makes it demented Disney ultimately?

The reality is that we were born of TikTok and we were born of the internet. Our two main characters, Janky and Googiemon, are the ultimate schemers.
Janky's sort of the lovable idiot. Googiemon is the semi-lovable and always interesting murderer.
And it's a combination for the ages that really just locked into the core of what Gen Z on TikTok wanted to see and wanted to be. And we have taken their storylines and their dynamics and grown their character galaxy in a way that has fuckery at the core that's just

who we are i you used the analogy earlier top the the modern day tom and jerry and if you go watch if you remember i remember like watching tom and jerry i mean constant fucking with one another that's all it was. Constant.

And it's funny.

And that's exactly what this is, you know, and no matter what the adventure is. And then they became playable skins in Fortnite.
And the audience really just took to it because they could actually now help create the fuckery. Yes, I love it.
The, I mean, animation, when I think back to the days of animation and the days now, how's it changed? I know that I'm leading the witness a little bit, but I just, I'm curious, you know, it was like a kid growing up and then all the stages though, I know it's changed. But I think for our audience, it'd be interesting to kind of hear just some of the evolution.
For sure. I mean, you know, back in the original days, the stuff we probably watched as kids, a lot of it was hand painted, hand drawn, etc.
So fast forward through into kind of where we sit today. We actually sit at a really interesting moment where animation is undergoing an incredible evolution.

The sort of last couple decades have been dominated by very high-end professional tools,

Maya and those types of things.

And they create beautiful professional level, you know, theatrical level animation that takes a lot of time and a lot of money. And then the emergence of the dominance of video game worlds, and especially massive multiplayer worlds, has started to push a new kind of animation from a different direction.
And that's really based in platforms like Unreal Engine or Unity, things where you can actually world build, not just sort of character sketch, right? And these things are colliding in a really interesting way. Frankly, we're sitting right at the middle of it because we produce a lot of content in Maya and equally have a whole pipeline built on Unreal Engine where we can use our characters in those things.
It gives us a different level of flexibility because the reality is you're publishing content now across so many different types of platforms that sometimes you need a little bit of both, the high end and the sort of medium. But then we're sitting on this precipice of where it's going to go in AI.
That is, I think, really, really exciting as well. Yeah, I definitely want to get down that AI road.
One thing to add on real quick, Ryan, on that. With the tech, too, and to where Jennifer was going, once you make a rig, a 3D rig of an animated character, you can then apply it to all these different places.
So when we're thinking about our IP, while yes, it is predominantly TikTok, YouTube, content, Instagram, we are making things in Unreal for a Fortnite game. We can apply that in other areas as well.
So when people want to consume in different ways now with new animation technology, you got that core rig setup

that then allows you, and especially with AI, to then capitalize on creating a lot more outputs

more frequently and easier and nimbler without having to hand draw everything net new.

So you really can kind of amortize an idea or spread out an idea or a piece of content across

all these channels kind of once you get that core rig setup. Yeah.
It's interesting because I think

about, you know, I was going down the road of

Thank you. out an idea or a piece of content across all these channels kind of once you get that core rig set up yeah it's interesting because i think about you know i was going down the road of like the importing of the writing with with animation and how smart the dialogue has gotten and you know the more in the talking animation shows and then i was just thinking like tom and jerry they didn't say a damn thing it's storytelling right what's their voice sound like uh yeah and i'm like because i'm like damn it's the the writing today is so clever on the best animations including yours and like and and in the story arc and i mean when i talk about writing i think of it a creative guy, like I think through the, you know, what you're seeing and the script combined with the dialogue and all those things.
I mean, maybe talk about that from you guys perspective for how you bring stories to life. It's so true though, the, the layered mess of it all.
I mean, our characters actually garnered 22 million social followers never saying a word and so they were tom and jerry in that way right yeah um and it was really in the development of our tv show with amazon and in the development of our experiential um that we've started to figure out well what do these guys sound like and by the what would they say? And how does that add three more layers to it? And, you know, there is something very precious, too, about the voice of a character that I think we have the flexibility to play with. So, for example, you know, if you think Ren and Stimpy's voices, if you hear something that doesn't sound just like them, you feel, oh, that's authentic, I'm out.
For us, we have a little bit of the flexibility to play with what these characters may sound like. Again, the sort of, are we messing with you or are we being serious? So we've been experimenting with a lot of different types of voice models and different things.
And again, the ability to create these things cheaply and scalably, AI is a natural solution for us in a lot of that. But it just opens up six more levels when you start adding voice.
But you got to be funny then. You got to be extra funny.
Yeah, I know. Different threshold, isn't it? And it's so interesting because i think about a comment you just said jennifer like with the way it feels like stuff is scripted the best stuff today like with the way it draws the audience in is it's kind of like that wink and the nod right like you're in on this you know we all know that we're rusing you a little bit, but you're in on it or, you know, or you're not.
Right. It's kind of that interplay of letting you in.
But are you really in? Isn't it something like that? We believe in that deeply in every platform. Right.
I mean, we just published a TikTok post forgiving that was one of our better performing posts of the whole year and like if you know who our characters are it's edgy funny but you get it if you have no idea who our characters are you might be like what did i just watch right yeah so it is like know. Yeah, exactly.
Zach, being on the strategy end with the company, you know, what's what's what's your role?

Yeah. So really, my role kind of, you know, on the strategy side of things is looking at all the ways, you know, our fans and consumers kind of interact with the brand and then strategically thinking, how can we serve them better? How can we do more of what's working? How can we bring in other partners that are missing to add a new element? How can we tweak things based on what we're seeing with our own fans, but also what's in the marketplace? And that spans across the Demented Disney analogy.
So that's everything from our content and the channels to like product itself. So we're known for our vinyl art toy figures behind me.
You know, what are other ones that are going to resonate? Are there different ways of selling them, you know, live selling on the floor, like a sports cart collectible? Are there different partners from an individual artist or brand that are really going to excite our fans that we want to bring to the table? Are there different things that we haven't done before, such as creating our own Fortnite map game, which we did back in the summer based on the popularity of our character skins as some new way we can engage our fans with our IP? And then from in real life, like with our experiential at Dopamine in Vegas, you know, again, what is going to keep fans happy?

What's going to keep them coming back, talking about it with their friends? How can we take advantage of a physical space strategically, not just for people to interact, have fun to experience my product, but it's a third space venue in Vegas where there are major events going on all the time. So like, for example, like when F1 was there last weekend, you know, we did a deal with a brand partner that's a big sponsor of one of the F1 racing teams to just host, you know, 100 of their kind of VIPs at Area 15 and dopamine and have shut down the space, have them go through it themselves, get them a little swag bag and kind of entertain them there and give them that full wipe up treatment.
So it is across all of those. It's staying on the leading edge of kind of those trends.
So I'm also the chief collector and the core nerd here who grew up collecting kid robot toys, sports cards, comics, everything since the nineties. So I'll participate a lot directly in our fans and discord.
We got a live unboxing video with one of our influencers later in the week that I'll be doing too. So I'm trying to just be the voice of the customer or listen to them, but also look at all the data and the tea leaves and kind of see like what makes sense.
And the beauty about our company and with Jennifer and with Paul and kind of how we've set it up is, you know, I mean, we literally talk about ourselves as a diventa Disney. We say our style is fuckery.
So we want to have fun fun it's okay if it's not for everyone um we want to do strategically what makes the most you know sense for us as a company and for those who get it and those being kind of our fans and those consumers who i yeah i mean you gotta cater to your fans like can't be all things to all people you know that's when you really at all the power of no and it gets it gets tricky i'm'm sure Jennifer is CEO. You're looking at numbers.
There's probably temptations to get outside the box sometimes, but it's like keeping that narrow path, right? It is. There's temptations all around that could really mess the business model.
And at the same time, investors and everybody else demand growth, and we want the IP to touch as many people as possible. So balancing those things is a really interesting opportunity.
But like any audience today, no matter how big it is, it's really composed of segments of smaller audiences. And ours is a perfect plate in that sense, in that our big audience is actually composed of subgroups of people that are really into gaming, into art, into fashion and music, different parts of pop culture, not every part of pop culture, you know, but certain segments, adult comedy and anime fans, even, you know, and that also, when you look at it as a grouping of smaller, you know, segmented audiences that have this beautiful Venn diagram of overlap, then you start to add in geography, gender, age, at the core of it is a Gen Z or young millennial consumer that if you watch our content is equally split gender, male, female.
If you buy our toys, you're probably more likely male, slightly, you know, slightly on the older side of Gen Z. But really what we try to do and what Zach does so brilliantly is help identify who we're speaking to with what angle because our company can also at the same time be so many things.
Smart. First word came to mind.
I get it. I'm eating it.
I'm eating it for lunch, dinner, everything as a marketer, as a brand guy. It's really smart.
Talk to me about bringing personifying animated characters in a way, you know, like you've got social media, you've got all these things. I hope that makes sense, but like you have to sort of make them real and they are real in their own way, but is that a challenge? Is it fun? Is it all of the above? Yes.
Yes and yes.

What's so interesting is if you think about what's happening in the world today,

there are avatars that all of us play in games or on social media or things like that.

There's characters that we all love from different parts of our lives.

We've talked about a few today. This idea of a character

is really strong in our culture and in our world today. But in so many ways, a lot of them are thin

as a cracker in that, you know, like, sure, there's a ton of characters, but what do you really

feel? What are you really a fan of? And what makes that difference? And that's something we spend a

lot of time thinking about, which is like, okay, Janky and Googiemon and their galaxy of characters, Daisy and the little helpers and everything else, people know them. We've achieved that mission, but now the mission is to get people to really know and love them.
And that tracks in a couple of ways for us. Like kind of any good plot, right right you're either ever always developing character or advancing narrative we've developed character with this group and now we're going to advance narrative and that's why things like dopamine institute for pleasure research are so fun because you're physically part of a scheme you're part of an adventure to develop narrative with our characters.
Meanwhile, we're back in the factory developing new characters too, you know, that, that will eventually be ready with audiences to go out for more adventures. But we kind of think of it that way.
Yeah. How do you really become a fan of something? I mean, Zach and I both spent so much time in the sports business.
We love fandom and we just apply it here. Yeah.
And you're doing it. You're doing a good job with it.
Like just reading what, what struck me in, I mean, this wasn't my natural space, like, but researching you guys for this and looking at it, what struck me is the loyalty of the audience, you know, like the core audience and how loyal they are and how vested, you know, people are in this world and in these characters and in the art and all that stuff. Because the collectible, the interplay of the animation with the physical art, with collectibles and all that, there's a ton of like synergy with, with those two things.
And that mindset is really brilliant. I talk to me about like what those art releases are like and what that world, you know, entails.
Yeah. So art releases, so, you know, they, they can vary of course, with everything that we got going on.
But in general, we want to create this hype moment. We want to create a sense of urgency where people are excited and know what's coming.
And then ideally, we're selling out pretty quickly after the drop. right so it starts with kind of teasing what's coming up you know can we play off of some

previous references you know,

can we play off of some previous references, you know, that the artist is known for, maybe we've

already collaborated with them. We do have our own kind of super fam, kind of our own loyalty group.

And so we do give them early access to what that drop is going to be, you know, it's part of them

being so ingrained kind of with our brand and being loyal to it. And then how can we show off

Thank you. to what that drop is going to be.
You know, it's part of them being so ingrained kind of with our brand and being loyal to it.

And then how can we show off the story and the lore

like behind the drop itself?

Like what went into it

and how can we create a larger conversation around it

with maybe kind of, you know,

partners or fans of that artist itself.

And they do ring.

So like we had an amazing drop over the summer with an artist who's not known as like a big time art artist, but he's huge in the tattoo space for professional athletes by a name of Ganga is based out of Los Angeles. And he literally does all the tattoos for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Carlos Alcares, the entire Brazilian soccer national team.
And so we did this awesome toy drop in those three versions based off of one of his iconic characters. And we had a super, super limited run.
Then we had a mid tier and then we had a larger one. We kind of staged the drops to create excitement, right? People that missed out on the first super limited one had a chance for the other ones.
But what we did with Gang and what he did a great job of was we seeded these to lebron to anthony davis to carlos alcares to vinnie jr and rodrigo and we have all these amazing photos of the toy so we use that to help amplify and so that would be one of bringing us into new audiences um we have another one coming up you know with a atlanta-based mural artist called greg mike um it's actually this week, where, you know, he's very much into the core artsy. He has an amazing space in Atlanta.
He's doing stuff at Art Basel this week in Miami. And so with those, it is deeper into that art space.
Can we do a very cool curated wall mural? Can we have, you know, potentially a live art experience with the drop at Art Basel because we know that community is already going to be there doing things?

So we do try and customize these artist product drops to kind of align with what we feel the fans are going to be into and what the artist is known for.

And so when someone like a Greg Mike is going to be at Art Basel, that makes sense.

When someone like Genga is going to be in L.A. and you have the Brazilian soccer team in for a soccer game or LeBron James, let's seed them product and capture a lot of content around it.
And then there's stuff in between. But we do want to bring our artists very close to our fans and then really have it be more of a partnership where they're involved with the drop and pushing it versus just licensing something and selling it.
And then we're manufacturing. That is not what we do at Superplastic at all.
It really is that kind of blend of the IP. And so that comes with how we bring it to market and how we sell it and really talk to and engage with our fans.
So shameless plug for the YouTube channel, because our YouTube channel is blowing up. So you got to be watching this to get the full experience.
If you're listening right now, we love know we love you we love you for making us number one but look you have to watch us on youtube because jennifer was just holding up one of these characters jennifer i want you to hold hold them up again and tell me who that is uh who is okay who is this exactly this is one of the three that we did uh with ganga the artist that uh zach just. And what's interesting is this is actually a perfect illustration of a combination between a series of toy that we do called a choppy.
That's like the sort of eye and mask thing. But also with an astronaut, which was the integration with Ganga's character that he has drawn, which is more of a sort of astronaut type character.
So it was a perfect combination. And as Zach said, we did three different versions of it.
One that we did in extremely limited quantities that sold out immediately. The other two in slightly less limited quantities, but still small.
Those also sold out pretty fast. Yeah.
Yeah, that was going to be where I was getting. like, how rare are we talking about now? How, uh, how's evaluation on these pieces, these going? So, you know, and that's a, that is the ultimate, I think, um, spreadsheet project is, you know, how rare is rare enough.
And to be honest, it is some, you know, magical equation between the size of your audience and quantities that you should make. We have in our history done a lot of different experiments with scarcity.
Zach and I have in the past year really started to change the approach to go more and more rare for these types of toys because they are so valuable when they're in the smaller quantities, both for us in our business, but as well as for buyers in the secondary market, which is a really interesting and thriving opportunity for everybody. Yeah, And it's a really interesting point, Jennifer, because I think about it like as the CEO, is this a brand player revenue play? Right.
Because it's like, hey, I could sell, I might get sell a million of these or am I going to do a hundred of them or a thousand? And that's because the hundred or a thousand is probably brand because it's probably not a ton of revenue, but it elevates the brand value and the character value.

That's an interesting interplay, I'm sure, in the decision process. it's a fantastic question because it it is the core of why we call ourselves an ip or a media

company because that is our that is our asset that our value, and that is our goal is to be larger than kind of any one tool to bring that to fans. And toys and our high-end collectibles are unequivocally a fantastic brand opportunity to connect deeply with a community.
We would argue the same is true for our experiential space in Vegas, for our game on Fortnite, for our social media content, and our longer format stuff. All of those things become very important tools for how we grow and expand the IP that we build and want fans to love.
But yeah, it is unequivocally brand. Yes.
Yeah, I'm sure. But I want our audience, we have a very affluent marketing and business and executives to the startup crowd, but they need to understand this interplay because we've gotten conditioned

in this world of very cheap performance marketing stuff, sell, sell, sell, sell. And that's great.
We all got to make the cash register ring at a certain point, Jennifer. I know you're probably held to some level of your evaluation, I'm sure is monetarily driven.
However, you can't, the high tide raises all ships.

And when you elevate the brand,

you are elevating the IP to a level of evaluation that it would not have without that investment. And that investment pays over time.
Unequivocally. And there's really kind of two components that you know we balance in our business.
The first is really this, how do collectors work, right? What is the way that a core collector base grows a brand? And I learned this when I was in the NFT space at Dapper Labs. The biggest collectors, your most avid collectors, are actually the ones that attract the most, you know, attention and others to your brand.
So it doesn't work where it's like a concentric circle outward. It works where the whales or your biggest collectors, you know, bring in kind of the fringe.
So it's almost like from the furthest out is attracted in by your core collector group.

And so it is incredibly important for us, and Zach articulated this too, to keep that core collector satisfied and happy and intrigued. That's one dynamic in our brand.
And that also has the scarcity and the revenue limitation to it. At the same time, our mass reach and our collection of, you know, targeted segments that make a mass on social media platforms and other larger format vehicles is equally important to us because that also brings new people into the funnel and gives us, if you will, the currency to be able to spread that IP through other channels that will make us revenue, right? Like personally, I would love it if Toys was our smallest revenue channel, because it would mean we've succeeded as a brand to be able to make the core collector happy with the best stuff, but also make a business out of the other revenue that we have in our, you know,

in our platform. Smart, really fucking smart.
I got two smarts out of you, Ryan. I loved it.
Yes. Yeah.
Cause you're playing, this is the Ryan Alford brand playbook. I grew up on the, I've been in this for 20 something years and watched, you know, some of the brand, the innovative brand approaches erode.

And... I've been in this for 20-something years and watched, you know, some of the brand, the innovative brand approaches erode.
And this is a game of chess when a lot of players are playing checkers. And I see that and I value it.
So I want to give you props for that. I appreciate that.
Zach, talk to me, you know, as a collector and as someone that, you know, you're, you're, you're a consumer and working on the brand. Uh, do I, do me and my kids need to get in on this? Well, one will happily send you some so the kids can have some fun.
I mean, the answer is yes. So I, uh, I have a near 13 year old and, uh, my wife definitely enables us and support in a big way.
But yeah, I mean, he got back into collecting toys, also sports cards, comic cards. When there are local card shows in town, I'll buy a table for him and his friends to put up their collections and sell, and then it's a little business for him.
So depending on who your kids are, you could turn them into what's the value of the secondary market. How do you buy low, sell high, what to track, what not to, how to frame things up.
I mean, isn't the number one thing kids want to do when they're later being an influencer? So at least put some business mind behind them so there's not just an influencer. It's like, hey, I'm going to be an influencer, but I have a $30,000 a year side business on eBay and I'm 14.
I'd rather see that on the resume. So that's how I've gotten my kid into it.
We have four boys, 15, 13, 12, and eight. And what I do with the boys, I coach their sports teams.
And then we have these little collectibles that we do together. So this might fit in there a little bit.
I feel like we're brothers from another mother on a different coast. Yeah, I am our coach of soccer and flag football and then do the same.
And we'll have all those things. They're great.
Your older boys will love our content. Your eight-year-old should not watch it.
Yeah. Uh, well, he can grow into it, uh, over time, but, uh, but it's fun being a court collector because I, I, I mean, the passion comes through, um, the working room gauge, like it's very authentic and natural for me.
Cause I literally grow up in San Diego, bringing my box of comics down to the San Diego Comic Con back when you could sell and buy comics. You know, this is in the late 80s, early 90s.
And now it's the most amazing entertainment vehicle extravaganza ever. But like no one buys or sells comics there.
Yet it's called Comic Con. It's really just a pop culture fest.
but then to now and so when we're engaging these people like i understand the nostalgia feel i understand that you know how you want to display like i'm not in my uh family cave which has all the toys and the cards it's over in the garage but like it's fun to have out we have things around the house people love asking questions about it and then you can explain so i'm more of an extroverted collector We have some that are introverted that may not want to talk about it. But behind that door, that's where they get validation because they have all their toys set up.
But that's more of an introverted collector. And maybe they just want you to send them stuff, but they don't want it to be loud and broadcast.
Whereas others like, yeah, here are photos of my collection. We're running something right now called Deck the Halls over the holiday campaign where

we're asking everyone to show off their super plastic collection.

And we're having submissions come in online and then we're sharing them on social and

then rewarding our favorites and other toys.

And like people have the most amazing setups ever with how they display our figures in

their house.

And so it's very cool.

But then because of that, it's like, well, this doesn't just have to be collectibles.

Like these kind of look just amazing in a lobby. Like why don't hotels have this or law firms or consulting agencies?

Like these are great gifts instead of your boring corporate holiday gift.

Why don't we do some custom painted art figures?

And even if they're not a collector, just give them something cool and different.

So it's fun to play on the collector angle, but then, you know, understand that everyone doesn't have to collect it. At the end of the day, it just looks cool too.
And that's okay. If they just want to say it looks cool and have no other connection there, that's fine with us.
Like we'll play with that. I want to talk about Vegas and the future retail, but before we go, before we make that turn, um, talk to me about how your sports background has influenced, like, what you've done here.
You know, what's the influences for both of you, really? Like, I think it's pretty obvious for me, but I think for the audience, you know, what you've done in the past and how that's sort of influencing what you're doing at Super Plastics. Yeah, I'll I'll start.
And then, yeah, you can lay on top. So my background in sports was kind of always around monetizing communities, mostly more in the rights holder side.
So I worked a lot with teams, leagues, rights holders, sponsorship strategy, merchandise sales, ticket sales, media rights. But the core of it was, was really like, okay, what are these fans into? How do we give them more of that? How do we monetize them in an authentic way? So that applies to NBA, that applies to global soccer, that could apply to a Premier League lacrosse team, that could apply to a esports team.
So from big to niche, it was still always around monetizing communities and understanding that people consume differently. They want to be met on different channels.
They want to be told different messages. And how can we personalize that to them? So applying that mentality, just bringing it over into the collectible world, it really is about monetizing our community.
We have our core base of fans. They are really into the vinyl art toys.
We can grow more fans by engaging them with our content, with experience. We can monetize across all those channels individually, but also collectively.
And how do we do that while staying authentic to our brand, which we're not trying to be everything to everyone. And so we're making choices.
So for me, it's a very economic mindset of what resources do we have? What's the best use of them for our end game? We'd always do that in applying into the sports world teams. Applying it in here.
Then there's just the parallel of just fandom. Fandom is very similar.
People love our characters and brand like they would do a sports team. There are live things they can go to now with Vegas.
There are products

that they have in display and collect, and then there's content that they're consuming. So I kind

of look at it in that lens. But I know, Jen, you got some other ones too.
I want to ask one thing

there, Zach. So when you guys monetize, I mean, thinking through the lens that you just said,

and are you guys working with brands that then are paying to come to life within your worlds with these characters? Like, are y'all selling? That's one way. Yeah, we're not a white label, like animation factory, but absolutely.
Like we, I mean, we pursue all brand partnerships to hit across all three of our tent poles being kind of content IP being the first, product being the second, and in real life experience being the third. So yeah, so like, absolutely, there are things we deliver that are viewed as sponsorship that they're paying us.
There are also things we're making together, whether that's product or new IP, where there's a path to revenue for both sides, and everything in between. So we do look at partnerships in a truly partnership way.
But yeah, absolutely, we a lot of eyeballs a lot of fans consumers the table there's value in that um if we're putting additional animation resources and making a new ip and then taking it to market there's a value in that and that's very different than hey we made a toy together here's how many we sold here's a royalty but that also is included in what we do so janky might be drinking a red bull and product placement like do we go that far or something um you know we would want to have a little a little more is that hurting the brand right uh we've done here's an example we did um something with mercedes where uh you know they had an amazing new car release coming out and they wanted to collab collab around a new character and new products. We actually came together and created a new character called a Super Gackle, which is kind of like an animated dog.
But then we made this awesome limited edition wood figure. We had some apparel that was part of a capsule collection.
It was available when they released the car. And then we did a big in real life event in New York, also as tied to it.
We then made a lot of content with Superbacal and kind of pushed that out there. And that was all integrated in one overall partnership.
So it's more around that than just like, the, hey, here's a Red Bull, drink it. We would like to have more fun.
We would want to get a bowl that maybe is red involved you know does it lead to f1 in vegas where maybe they have to drink to kind of stay up awake for 48 hours and go to all the events does it culminate with red bull vips at dopamine like i'm riffing here off the spot but that's how i would kind of think of that partnership oh yeah and i guess i'm almost thinking through the lens of like Roblox, like, you know, within the janky. Virtual goods.
Yeah. Googiemon's world.
These experiences coming to life, the brand experiences in their world, you know? Yeah. So in our Fortnite map game, like we're doing that, we have two partnerships that just closed where we're integrating virtual goods.
So like they, there will be one is a beverage company where if you find it and get it, it makes you graffiti faster. You have power ups in the game.
There may be a billboard or a branded vending machine that's in there that you can just interact with. And so, yeah, we're putting the brands literally in our worlds in those ways.
Absolutely. Cool.
Ryan, you asked if it hurts the brand. I think the the question is whose brand because we're only going to do it in our fun style yeah um and you know and if it works i mean the mercedes example if you look at the content the content is actually a story of turning a standard sort of dashboard bobbing dog into a cool kid and that's because j Janky and Googiemon take him to the stars, you know,

and kind of make him cool.

So it's really a transitional story as well.

By the way,

that was Mercedes's best performing campaign for people under 35 that year.

So, you know, it's balancing the edge with the audience.

They did a glam up of the dog.

People loved it.

Yeah.

Gotta have the story there. Jennifer, talk to me about Vegas.
You know, we've talked, you know, before the episode, you know, retails struggle, you know, with what they need to do to bring people back into the stores and keep people, you know, interested in shopping again. Talk to me about the vision and what you're doing in Vegas.
Yeah. So Vegas is really the start of a whole new level or chapter for Super Plastic.
This idea was incubated about a year ago when we discovered a partner called Area 15 in Las Vegas. And Area 15 is, I think they have 100 acres of property, about 25 acres are developed into sort of a burning man meets mall experiential location.
And it's great because it's just off the strip. And it is literally an oasis of all these types of different experiential venues that you can go spend time in and engage with.
And what it became for us was the perfect way for us literally to take our characters and our worlds that were born of social media and bring them to audiences and fans in real life to continue those narratives. So we've opened what we call the Dopamine Institute for Pleasure Research at Area 15 in Las Vegas, opened a week ago.
It is part incredible retail store with our toys, as well as with our Vegas specific dopamine specific product. But what it is, is also a ticketed experience that where you become part of the action, you become part of Janky and Googiemon's latest scheme, which is to suck your dopamine out and sell it back to you.
That is their next get rich quick scheme. So when you step inside, you are immediately transported to sort of a back alley in Queens, just where we all want to be.
Right. And the, you know, the location is authentic graffiti.
It looks like an off track bedding location. If you remember what those look like, that's sort of where you start.
You go into a room that looks, then you go into a room that looks like the DMV even worse. And you're like, wait, where am I? And all of it is to get you into this scheme of theirs where you are a test subject, that they are putting you through different trials for how you elicit dopamine so that they can, you know, quote, capture it and sell it back to you.
How do you elicit dopamine? Exercise, dancing, telling the truth or lying, being lying being creative so we have different rooms and by the way you go through this experience with a group of friends from start to finish it's kind of all pulsed through and you end up in this really funny story where you have to do certain physical things to engage with it but then you the scam is in the last room, and you end up in the control room where they've been monitoring you the whole time. And in that room, we've integrated a whole bunch of cool stuff where you can actually mess with the groups behind you, and you realize that the groups in front of you were messing with you.
It's truly interactive and story driven. And we've even integrated some AI characters that where you can talk to our characters for as long as you want, all kinds of different stuff to really bring people into the world.
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it sounds fun.
Number one, I'm like, you know, it sounds like a amusement amusement ride meets a storytelling meets, I don't know, animated characters that you love. So it's like.
It's a dimension escape room, except we let you out, even if you get the puzzle done. And when we let you out, it's even better.
When we let you out or when you come in, it goes right into our flagship retail store, which is available to anybody that goes to Area 15. They don't have to get a ticket to dopamine.
So we have kind of all of our amazing vinyl art figures from all of our artist collections there. We have some dopamine exclusive kind of merchandise, apparel, fun Vegas items, some things that tie into a Pleasure Research Institute that have nothing to do with vinyl art toys.
So it's a vibe and a whole experience that'll be there. And it's great.
And we're getting great feedback from, you know, randoms that have known nothing about our brands to those that have been waiting for an open that have gone out since it's been open to those that have been in town for other events in Vegas, both on the experience and on the retail side. Any Easter eggs there with surprises? Lots.
Absolutely. You navigate the experience with an RFID wristband in every room, and you end up finding a whole basket of goodies at the end when you download your wristband.
Pretty sure. That's cool.
Love that. The fun part, too, for us is that Area 15 sees about 3 million people a year walk through their doors.

So the overwhelming majority of the people that are going to come, go through our experience or be in our interactive retail shop are new to us.

They may have heard of us, but they don't know us.

So I think we've achieved that mission again of satisfying the core fans with something really cool and a new adventure, but also really indoctrinating those who, uh, who haven't heard of us yet. Really fun stuff, guys.
Where are we headed? What, uh, you know, it sounds like we're living the, you know, the plan right now with the, with the new Vegas experience and all that. But any future plans we can share? Absolutely.
So Variety Magazine called us the next Marvel, Supreme, and Disney combined. And that's the mission.
Billion-dollar platform for the new generation. We've got the characters in the universe we continue to develop more of them we have the cool factor of the the supreme brand nature and now frankly with the opening of of dopamine and the experiential it's our first step towards disney and those are you know hundred billion dollar companies um so we see no limit to the IP potential and the ability to continue to engage fans and immerse them, you know, into the worlds along the way.
I mean, you know, Disney's a little syrupy for me. So I like Demented Disney much better.
I'm just twisted enough, you know, that this feels... It feels in one of my strategy decks we got it we're embracing it although someone said disney's already pretty demented we bring it to a whole new level maybe but that's exactly it right like this is not your father's you know amusement park and and this is not your father's ip brand i mean and that's the fun of get to create it.
You know, my experience from the sports business was always working with the best IP on the planet. And the best IP on the planet comes with guidelines and guidebooks this thick.
Superplastic doesn't. Superplastic is a world that we get to create, you know, what fans want and what we think is next on the horizon.
And that's the fun of it. Yep, it is.
and you know what fans want and what we think is uh is next on the horizon and that's the fun of it yep it is and you know own your different and you're doing just that yeah for sure hey guys where can everybody learn more about dopamine what you guys are doing different ways to get in touch with you and the brand so the best way way is to go to superplastic.co, C-O.

Products, dopamine.

The other aspects are follow our characters, follow us on social.

We are at Janky and Googiemon on TikTok.

We are at Superplastic on YouTube.

And we do have the character channels at Janky and at Googiemon on Instagram, but at Superplastic on Instagram will get you there too.

Love it.

And then for dopamine specific, we just launched at Dopamine702 on Instagram for all things from that experience.

We'll be pushing a lot of content out there, but you'll see it on all channels.

A lot of fun ways to engage. It's been fun, guys.
Appreciate you coming on. We got to get you, because we want to hear what the boys are into and the fam and get this collective story.
Yeah, I'd like to get it. We'll put it up.
You know, I got a pretty good following. We'll put some, give you guys some love on there too.
For those who are watching us, you can tell they're great Zoom backgrounds. You know, for all those listeners at home, podcasts or otherwise.
I need some sitting. Look, I got my props in here.
I need some sitting right here. You know? I think so.
What's your finishing move on the wrestling belt? Oh, are you kidding me? It's the Stinger Splash. The Stinger Splash.

That's old school.

That's back in the days of wrestling back in the day.

You've got to paint your face.

The black and white to do that. Yeah, exactly.

Yes.

Scorpion Deathlock, if they really want it.

We'll see.

That was my favorite wrestler growing up.

When we do our WWE Blind Box series, I know where to send you some toys.

Yes, for sure.

Hey, guys, you know where to find us.

RyanIsRight.com.

We'll have all the highlight links to Super Plastic.

Dopamine, my favorite word of the year, maybe.

Here's where we close out.

We appreciate you for making us number one.

Go check out the YouTube channel

and give these guys some love.

We'll see you next time

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