Review: Netflix's "The Toys That Made Us" Season 2 Brings More Childhood Fun!

Last December I reviewed the first season (at that time referred to as “season 1, part 1”) of Brian Volk-Weiss’s toy-centric documentary series “The Toys That Made Us.”

Those episodes — which focused on the history of the “Star Wars,” Barbie, He-Man, and G.I. Joe toylines — served as fascinating time capsules of childhood archaelogy (especially for children of the 70s and 80s). 

As iconic as those brands have been in playtime lore, the toy industry is fertile ground for more “adventures in toy telling.”

That brings us to the second season of “The Toys That Made Us” — the latest four episodes debuted on Netflix on May 25. Each episode runs about 45 minutes in length. 

Season 2, Episode 1: Star Trek

While the “Star Trek” franchise might not possess the same mystique as “Star Wars,” I grew up playing with the toys. I had a cool fold-out U.S.S. Enterprise bridge playset (with dolls of Captain Kirk & Co.) made by a company called Mego.

We learn about Mego in this documentary -- and its colorful CEO Martin Abrams (who passed on a “Star Wars” toy license). We get insight into the popular AMT model kits of Star Trek ships (one of my favorite kits to build as a kid — you could customize it with decals from any of the other Constellation-class ships featured in the original series). We also see the myriad of toys completely unrelated to the show that merely had “Star Trek” branding slapped on them.  

Season 2, Episode 2: Transformers

There is “more than meets the eye” when it comes to Hasbro’s “Transformers” line that was introduced in the 1980s. Believe it or not, the Transformers brand actually had its beginnings when Hasbro licensed the G.I. Joe brand to Takara (a Japanese toy company) Takara was trying to find a way to make military toys interesting for a Japanese audience — in bizarre fashion the soldiers “transformed” into the early beginnings of what would become Transformers. 

We learn about Hasbro bringing the transforming robots to the United States and how Marvel helped name and write the iconic backstory for the toys.

There a a number of interesting nuggets here. For example, reason Optimus Prime was killed off in the animated 1986 “Transformers: The Movie” was because Hasbro felt they had to “kill off” the 1984 toy line in order to sell the 1986 line. 

Season 2, Episode 3: LEGO 

From its humble beginnings as a wood toy maker during the Great Depression to its ingenious plastic brick “system,” LEGO has been through a number of changes throughout the years. 

I loved “A LEGO Brickumentary” when it was released in 2014. “The Toys That Made Us” manages to shed new light on the toy brand. We are treated to some interesting details, like the fact that Samsonite (the luggage company) owned the early U.S. rights (which expired in the early 1970s). 

LEGOs “automatic binding bricks” (as they were originally known) became a hit because of the tubes on the bottom side of the pieces.

The company fell on hard times in the early 2000s, and the Danish brand was almost sold to another toy company during that era.  

I owned many of the city sets in the 1980s (including the Fire Station and the Exxon Gas Station) and I had a number of the space sets of that era (including “Alpha-1 Rocket Base”). 

Season 2, Episode 4: Hello Kitty

This is one of my wife’s favorite brands. In fact, we currently have a Hello Kitty ice pack in the freezer. The main question with Hello Kitty is whether or not it is a toy. 

I’m not sure, but I learned a lot about Sanrio’s adorable feline (which, apparently, is not a cat, but actually a little girl). The company employed a term called “kawaii” in selling the brand in the United States (which is some sort of voodoo-like, cuteness quotient Hello Kitty possesses). 

While you might not be all that familiar with some of the brands featured in “The Toys That Made Us,” it is a interesting show to watch. 

For me, the highlights in the second season were the "Star Trek" and "LEGO" episodes (because I played with those toys as a kid, and still enjoy those toys today). 

I hope that Netflix commissions more seasons of “The Toys That Made Us.” (I’d love to see an episode focusing on Playmobil at some point down the road.) 

This clip of Brian Volk-Weiss from the New York Daily News has the show's creator talking about the series, as well as his love for the toys he grew up with in the 1980s:

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