Special Edition Series: FROM THE CAFE TO THE LAUNDRY ROOM
INTERVIEW WITH ROB - FROM MY SIDE OF THE LAUNDRY ROOM
It’s easy to say, that as amazed as I was with the G.I. Joe toy-line from 1982-1994… I am equally amazed at what fans are doing with the line NOW!!! Whether it’s cosplay, YouTube, custom figures and so on. The people that love this line have escalated it to monumental heights!!!
I discovered the YouTube channel My Side Of The Laundry Room with Cobra Convergence 4! Rob, the creator of the channel, was doing a video on the "Animals of Cobra". He was discussing the various animal companions that were packaged with the Cobra characters. I really liked the video, but when I started to dig deeper, I found that he had several years of great material out there! He had a lot of videos that focused on G.I. Joe, which is what I gravitated to first... but he branches out much farther than that!!!
Rob covers all kinds of toys, video games and more from the era many of us Joe fans grew up in - the 80's. While going back and watching other videos, I constantly found myself saying "oh yeah, I forgot about that", "I remember that, it was awesome", or "wow, I never knew that?"
Rob's channel is a veritable time machine for anyone that lived through that crazy/fun 80's decade and wants to revisit it. He has a wealth of videos on YouTube and I don't know if I'm even halfway through yet. I highly recommend anyone to check it out, there is something for everyone!
-----------
SCC: From the content on your YouTube channel, it’s easy to see you and I grew up in the same era of toys! What different toy-lines were you into back in those days?
Rob: Wow, I don’t know if we have enough time to discuss all of the toys I was into when I was a kid. That’s not saying I had a lot because I didn’t. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up, so I had a couple pieces from almost every toy-line but nowhere near a collection of any certain one. Still, I definitely focused on a couple of the “tent pole” toys from the 80s like G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe.
Yeah, but anything that had a cartoon or cool commercial attached to it, I wanted. Silverhawks, Thundercats, Robotech, Voltron, Bravestarr... if you name it, I wanted it, for sure.
SCC: What was your first exposure to G.I. Joe? Were you there from the beginning or did you come into it later? What series did you come on board with?
Rob: I was there from the beginning in 1982, but honestly it started way before that with me. I inherited my father and uncle’s G.I. Joe collection from the 60s. It was only a few and they were pretty busted up. One thing I remember vividly was the rubber wetsuit from the Diver figure was dry-rotted and fused to the Joe figure’s body.
As far as the Real American Hero series, I remember when they first came out and a kid I knew got the MOBAT. I was totally taken aback with it because it actually drove around and I wanted it so bad, but it was pretty pricey for the time. It was a few month later when I finally got my first figure for my birthday that year.
SCC: Which figure did you get?
Rob: My first figure was Short Fuse - the mortar specialist. I loved that figure even though at first I was bummed that he didn’t have a traditional rifle or gun but I soon learned to like his mortar and had fun bombing my other toys… well imaginary bombings.
SCC: Who were some of your other favorite figures/characters in the line?
Rob: Wow, another hard question…
SCC: When were you out of Joes or when did you stop collecting?
Rob: Sadly, I stopped collecting Joes in 1990.
I still bought a few and got them for Christmas throughout Middle School but I was bullied pretty bad about it, so when I entered High School in 89/90 I made a clean break from my childhood… except comic books. I still read comics in High School.
No need to worry though, as soon as I graduated in 94 I started collecting toys again. I started with the new (at the time) McFarlane toys and the rest is history, as they say.
SCC: Many of my friends got rid of their toy collections when they were out. They gave them away or sold them in garage sales. You strike me as someone that, like myself, boxed it up and kept a lot of it! Is this the case?
Rob: There is a lot to unpack with this question (LOL).
Growing up, like I mentioned, we didn’t have a lot of money so we (my parents and I) would sell what was old in order to buy what was new. I did keep a lot but a lot of the “one off” toys I had were sold at yard sales. Those are the toys I wish I still had today.
There was also a lot of donating to the Good Will as well. Every summer I would go away with the cub scouts / boy scouts for a week and when I would return home my collection would be thinner and thinner.
I did get to keep a good amount but nowhere near as much as I wish I could have kept. A good chunk of my Joe figures survived, but none of the vehicles because they took up too much room (in my parents eyes).
SCC: What brought you back into the toy collecting realm and what was the origin for the blog? (Didn’t it start as a blog?)
Rob: I guess my heart never truly left toys but I just had to take a break in High School because the bullying got too bad. It was bad enough that I still read comic books and played Dungeons and Dragons but for some reason toys really set people off, lol.
Yes, it all started with a blog.
I guess I started the My Side of the Laundry Room blog as a way to cope and communicate about the stuff that made me feel good… toys, comics, cartoons, movies and games.
At the time, I started a new job, my kids were very young, and I really did not have any contact with friends or the outside world. I thought it would be a good way to remain positive and keep my sanity intact (LOL).
To this day, I think it was one of the best things I did for myself because I’ve met a lot of great people along the way and it lead me to start my YouTube Channel.
Rob: Because my brain turned to mush (LOL). Just joking but kind of true.
Writing was always a past time I enjoyed but it was always hard for me because I lose focus so easily. At the time, in 2017, there was a lot of stuff going on that made it hard to focus on writing. Life just became hectic and busy, but I still wanted an outlet to talk about the stuff that made me happy and positive. I figured ten minutes in front of the camera was going to be easier than a few hours of writing while getting the same result.
Boy was I wrong. As the channel has grown so have I, which means more editing and planning go into the episodes and they now take as long (or longer) than any blog entry (LOL). I wouldn’t change it though, it’s a great hobby.
I’m trying to return to a more conversational structure and not bog myself down with all the facts and figures (no pun intended). I’m not an expert, I’m just a fan of the era(s) I grew up in. So I’d much rather talk about the feelings and observations then rattle off some numbers and history.
SCC: If you were to describe My Side Of The Laundry Room to someone that had never seen it - how would you explain it and is there a certain point of where you would tell them to start?
Rob: A personal journey of nostalgia that people of my (our) generation can enjoy and share…. Sorry, didn’t mean to make it sound grandiose (LOL).
I want the focus to be on the nostalgia and sentimentality of growing up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It was a great pop cultural crossroads that had influences from many eras before and the influence our parents and grandparents had on our pop culture sensibilities.
Like I mentioned, I don’t claim to be an expert or want to try and teach people anything, I just want to help people remember a simpler time in all of our lives and to entertain that inner kid we all have in us. One of my greatest joys is getting a comment from someone saying “I forgot that I had that. Thanks for helping me remember.”
SCC: There are several different segments on the show. Do you know how many you have and do you have a favorite?
Rob: At the moment I’m switching some things up and making changes, so I don’t know how many I’ll end up with, but at one time I had seven or eight different ones. Some only lasted a couple of episodes, while some have chugged along for years.
Now let me see how many…
Nostalgia Syndrome, the flag ship show. It has gone through so many name changes since I started. It was called LIVE when I first started because it was a weekly companion to my blog, so essentially it was the “live” piece to the written articles.
It Came From…My Side of the Laundry Room, is the show where I look at items in my collection, unbox new additions to the collection, and where I can have general discussions about the channel and news.
Monster Preservation and Research Society is a true labor of love. It is the show -or segment where I talk about all things monstrous. I haven’t done many of them, yet, but I plan on doing many, many more. Each episode I cover one monster or cryptid and one monster from our youth, like from toys, cartoons, and movies. It’s a lot of work to do one and I need to carve out some time before I jump into one. Unfortunately, I haven’t had that time recently.
SentiMENTAL is honestly my oldest segment. That came over from the blog. It is kind of my no frills show where I talk about my personal experiences in the 80s. Everything from Roller Skating to Growing Up in a small town. I tend to “spice” it up with video of me working on a custom toy or painting miniatures, but other than that I see it more as a “podcast” kind of.
Good Games for Bad Gamers is my attempt at a “lets play” video game show. I focus on playing games from the golden age of the NES and Genesis and sadly I’m as horrible now as I was as a kid.
Internauts GO! is a show where I use the internet to help me tell the story (in a manner of speaking). I look at eBay sales of toys, look for kooky decorations, and this year for Halloween, looked at what the most popular costumes were. It's a fun show and I describe it as "us" virtually hanging out at the mall and window shopping.
That’s all for now, but I have a couple more planned and I don’t want to spoil the surprises I have planned… stay tuned!
SCC: You have a lot of G.I. Joe episodes on your channel. Do you have any that stand out to you that you were particularly proud of?
Rob: All of the episodes I have done for the Cobra Convergence over the years are some of my favorites. This year I took a look at some Cobra figures that were released in the early 2000’s that don’t get a lot of love. Last year I looked at Cobra (and Joe) figures that came with animals. I actually did a little skit with my cats that was a lot of fun.
Other than those, I’m a fan of the little series I do called “Weird, Rare, and Awesome” where I take a look at some of the odd (and cool) items with the G.I. Joe name (I also have done Masters of the Universe and Dungeons and Dragons). I find it fascinating and I get a real nostalgic kick looking at school supplies, party decorations and stuff like that.
SCC: Do you actively collect G.I. Joe now? Do you stick to the original or do you venture into the post-1994 figures?
Rob: I do.
At this point I just love G.I. Joe (and all toys) and how collecting them makes me feel. I tend to buy what I can afford, and I don’t get to crazy in hunting them down anymore.
There have been tons of great figures and toys released post-1994, you just need to have an open mind. Some of my favorite versions of popular G.I. Joe figures have been released after 94 because or the articulation, and sculpting technology.
SCC: Do you have a Holy Grail figure? One that you always wanted, but for some reason didn’t have or couldn’t get....
Rob: The second version of Snake Eyes was always my grail figure, the one with the sword and Timber. I always wanted that figure. I remember going to Kmart every week looking for it, then the next wave came out and it seemed like I missed my chance to own it.
Recently a viewer sent me one. He knew how much it meant to me and I’m happy to say he’s become a good friend (the person, not the toy, lol).
I’m still on the look out for a complete one though (LOL).
As far as toys, there are so many that I still would like to have one day.
SCC: I noticed you respond to several of the comments people leave on the videos! Do you feel this bridges the gap between the channel and its followers?
I discovered the YouTube channel My Side Of The Laundry Room with Cobra Convergence 4! Rob, the creator of the channel, was doing a video on the "Animals of Cobra". He was discussing the various animal companions that were packaged with the Cobra characters. I really liked the video, but when I started to dig deeper, I found that he had several years of great material out there! He had a lot of videos that focused on G.I. Joe, which is what I gravitated to first... but he branches out much farther than that!!!
Rob covers all kinds of toys, video games and more from the era many of us Joe fans grew up in - the 80's. While going back and watching other videos, I constantly found myself saying "oh yeah, I forgot about that", "I remember that, it was awesome", or "wow, I never knew that?"
Rob's channel is a veritable time machine for anyone that lived through that crazy/fun 80's decade and wants to revisit it. He has a wealth of videos on YouTube and I don't know if I'm even halfway through yet. I highly recommend anyone to check it out, there is something for everyone!
-----------
SCC: From the content on your YouTube channel, it’s easy to see you and I grew up in the same era of toys! What different toy-lines were you into back in those days?
Rob: Wow, I don’t know if we have enough time to discuss all of the toys I was into when I was a kid. That’s not saying I had a lot because I didn’t. We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up, so I had a couple pieces from almost every toy-line but nowhere near a collection of any certain one. Still, I definitely focused on a couple of the “tent pole” toys from the 80s like G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe.
Yeah, but anything that had a cartoon or cool commercial attached to it, I wanted. Silverhawks, Thundercats, Robotech, Voltron, Bravestarr... if you name it, I wanted it, for sure.
SCC: What was your first exposure to G.I. Joe? Were you there from the beginning or did you come into it later? What series did you come on board with?
Rob: I was there from the beginning in 1982, but honestly it started way before that with me. I inherited my father and uncle’s G.I. Joe collection from the 60s. It was only a few and they were pretty busted up. One thing I remember vividly was the rubber wetsuit from the Diver figure was dry-rotted and fused to the Joe figure’s body.
As far as the Real American Hero series, I remember when they first came out and a kid I knew got the MOBAT. I was totally taken aback with it because it actually drove around and I wanted it so bad, but it was pretty pricey for the time. It was a few month later when I finally got my first figure for my birthday that year.
SCC: Which figure did you get?
Rob: My first figure was Short Fuse - the mortar specialist. I loved that figure even though at first I was bummed that he didn’t have a traditional rifle or gun but I soon learned to like his mortar and had fun bombing my other toys… well imaginary bombings.
SCC: Who were some of your other favorite figures/characters in the line?
Rob: Wow, another hard question…
I think my favorites line up with a lot of other people’s favorites - Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Firefly, Zartan, Cobra Commander, Alpine, Recondo, Airborne, Ripcord…. the list goes on and on.
I think most of the characters that had the biggest impact on me were the ones featured in the Marvel comic books. Even though I didn’t have the toys of them, I could live their adventures on the page and come up with theories and ideas month to month.
The comic was great because it had strong stories and focused on more and different characters than the cartoon. That’s one of the reasons I love G.I. Joe as much as I do because you has three different universes existing at the same time - toys, comics, and cartoon. Each was different but still part of the whole experience.
I think most of the characters that had the biggest impact on me were the ones featured in the Marvel comic books. Even though I didn’t have the toys of them, I could live their adventures on the page and come up with theories and ideas month to month.
The comic was great because it had strong stories and focused on more and different characters than the cartoon. That’s one of the reasons I love G.I. Joe as much as I do because you has three different universes existing at the same time - toys, comics, and cartoon. Each was different but still part of the whole experience.
SCC: When were you out of Joes or when did you stop collecting?
Rob: Sadly, I stopped collecting Joes in 1990.
I still bought a few and got them for Christmas throughout Middle School but I was bullied pretty bad about it, so when I entered High School in 89/90 I made a clean break from my childhood… except comic books. I still read comics in High School.
No need to worry though, as soon as I graduated in 94 I started collecting toys again. I started with the new (at the time) McFarlane toys and the rest is history, as they say.
SCC: Many of my friends got rid of their toy collections when they were out. They gave them away or sold them in garage sales. You strike me as someone that, like myself, boxed it up and kept a lot of it! Is this the case?
Rob: There is a lot to unpack with this question (LOL).
Growing up, like I mentioned, we didn’t have a lot of money so we (my parents and I) would sell what was old in order to buy what was new. I did keep a lot but a lot of the “one off” toys I had were sold at yard sales. Those are the toys I wish I still had today.
There was also a lot of donating to the Good Will as well. Every summer I would go away with the cub scouts / boy scouts for a week and when I would return home my collection would be thinner and thinner.
I did get to keep a good amount but nowhere near as much as I wish I could have kept. A good chunk of my Joe figures survived, but none of the vehicles because they took up too much room (in my parents eyes).
SCC: What brought you back into the toy collecting realm and what was the origin for the blog? (Didn’t it start as a blog?)
Rob: I guess my heart never truly left toys but I just had to take a break in High School because the bullying got too bad. It was bad enough that I still read comic books and played Dungeons and Dragons but for some reason toys really set people off, lol.
Yes, it all started with a blog.
I guess I started the My Side of the Laundry Room blog as a way to cope and communicate about the stuff that made me feel good… toys, comics, cartoons, movies and games.
At the time, I started a new job, my kids were very young, and I really did not have any contact with friends or the outside world. I thought it would be a good way to remain positive and keep my sanity intact (LOL).
To this day, I think it was one of the best things I did for myself because I’ve met a lot of great people along the way and it lead me to start my YouTube Channel.
SCC: How did it become a YouTube channel?
Rob: Because my brain turned to mush (LOL). Just joking but kind of true.
Writing was always a past time I enjoyed but it was always hard for me because I lose focus so easily. At the time, in 2017, there was a lot of stuff going on that made it hard to focus on writing. Life just became hectic and busy, but I still wanted an outlet to talk about the stuff that made me happy and positive. I figured ten minutes in front of the camera was going to be easier than a few hours of writing while getting the same result.
Boy was I wrong. As the channel has grown so have I, which means more editing and planning go into the episodes and they now take as long (or longer) than any blog entry (LOL). I wouldn’t change it though, it’s a great hobby.
I’m trying to return to a more conversational structure and not bog myself down with all the facts and figures (no pun intended). I’m not an expert, I’m just a fan of the era(s) I grew up in. So I’d much rather talk about the feelings and observations then rattle off some numbers and history.
SCC: If you were to describe My Side Of The Laundry Room to someone that had never seen it - how would you explain it and is there a certain point of where you would tell them to start?
Rob: A personal journey of nostalgia that people of my (our) generation can enjoy and share…. Sorry, didn’t mean to make it sound grandiose (LOL).
I want the focus to be on the nostalgia and sentimentality of growing up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It was a great pop cultural crossroads that had influences from many eras before and the influence our parents and grandparents had on our pop culture sensibilities.
Like I mentioned, I don’t claim to be an expert or want to try and teach people anything, I just want to help people remember a simpler time in all of our lives and to entertain that inner kid we all have in us. One of my greatest joys is getting a comment from someone saying “I forgot that I had that. Thanks for helping me remember.”
SCC: There are several different segments on the show. Do you know how many you have and do you have a favorite?
Rob: At the moment I’m switching some things up and making changes, so I don’t know how many I’ll end up with, but at one time I had seven or eight different ones. Some only lasted a couple of episodes, while some have chugged along for years.
Now let me see how many…
Nostalgia Syndrome, the flag ship show. It has gone through so many name changes since I started. It was called LIVE when I first started because it was a weekly companion to my blog, so essentially it was the “live” piece to the written articles.
It Came From…My Side of the Laundry Room, is the show where I look at items in my collection, unbox new additions to the collection, and where I can have general discussions about the channel and news.
Monster Preservation and Research Society is a true labor of love. It is the show -or segment where I talk about all things monstrous. I haven’t done many of them, yet, but I plan on doing many, many more. Each episode I cover one monster or cryptid and one monster from our youth, like from toys, cartoons, and movies. It’s a lot of work to do one and I need to carve out some time before I jump into one. Unfortunately, I haven’t had that time recently.
SentiMENTAL is honestly my oldest segment. That came over from the blog. It is kind of my no frills show where I talk about my personal experiences in the 80s. Everything from Roller Skating to Growing Up in a small town. I tend to “spice” it up with video of me working on a custom toy or painting miniatures, but other than that I see it more as a “podcast” kind of.
Good Games for Bad Gamers is my attempt at a “lets play” video game show. I focus on playing games from the golden age of the NES and Genesis and sadly I’m as horrible now as I was as a kid.
Internauts GO! is a show where I use the internet to help me tell the story (in a manner of speaking). I look at eBay sales of toys, look for kooky decorations, and this year for Halloween, looked at what the most popular costumes were. It's a fun show and I describe it as "us" virtually hanging out at the mall and window shopping.
That’s all for now, but I have a couple more planned and I don’t want to spoil the surprises I have planned… stay tuned!
SCC: You have a lot of G.I. Joe episodes on your channel. Do you have any that stand out to you that you were particularly proud of?
Rob: All of the episodes I have done for the Cobra Convergence over the years are some of my favorites. This year I took a look at some Cobra figures that were released in the early 2000’s that don’t get a lot of love. Last year I looked at Cobra (and Joe) figures that came with animals. I actually did a little skit with my cats that was a lot of fun.
Other than those, I’m a fan of the little series I do called “Weird, Rare, and Awesome” where I take a look at some of the odd (and cool) items with the G.I. Joe name (I also have done Masters of the Universe and Dungeons and Dragons). I find it fascinating and I get a real nostalgic kick looking at school supplies, party decorations and stuff like that.
SCC: Do you actively collect G.I. Joe now? Do you stick to the original or do you venture into the post-1994 figures?
Rob: I do.
At this point I just love G.I. Joe (and all toys) and how collecting them makes me feel. I tend to buy what I can afford, and I don’t get to crazy in hunting them down anymore.
There have been tons of great figures and toys released post-1994, you just need to have an open mind. Some of my favorite versions of popular G.I. Joe figures have been released after 94 because or the articulation, and sculpting technology.
SCC: Do you have a Holy Grail figure? One that you always wanted, but for some reason didn’t have or couldn’t get....
Rob: The second version of Snake Eyes was always my grail figure, the one with the sword and Timber. I always wanted that figure. I remember going to Kmart every week looking for it, then the next wave came out and it seemed like I missed my chance to own it.
Recently a viewer sent me one. He knew how much it meant to me and I’m happy to say he’s become a good friend (the person, not the toy, lol).
I’m still on the look out for a complete one though (LOL).
As far as toys, there are so many that I still would like to have one day.
SCC: I noticed you respond to several of the comments people leave on the videos! Do you feel this bridges the gap between the channel and its followers?
Rob: Yes, I try to answer every single comment. Of course I miss a few, but I believe building a community is one of the best parts of any social networking program or website. No matter if a comment is negative, I still approach it as welcoming. In the case of nostalgia, we all come from different walks of life, but we all share the same childhood when it comes to the toys, cartoons, movies... what have you. I make it a point to say in every episode, "If you got something to say, please leave a comment. I love reading them and I love getting back to everybody", because its something i believe in.
SCC: What do you see in the future in the channel?
Rob: I’ll keep on, keeping on! (LOL)
Honestly, I’m learning new technology (which is something that has made me feel very old) and new tips and tricks every day, so I hope to grow visually and entertain people in different ways.
Also, there is so much stuff that’s not toy or cartoon related from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that I would love to have time to talk about. Movies, television, pop culture, I would love to talk about all of it eventually.
SCC: And because we all want to know… is your collection literally stored on the opposite side of the laundry room? Just so you know… mine is!!!
Rob: Awesome! Glad I’m not they only one!
Yes, that is my own little “Dork Universe” in the laundry room.
When I first was planning a blog I wrote down dozens of different name ideas, but My Side of the Laundry Room always seemed to stick. It was a term around my house for years. I would ask my wife if I could get something and her reply was always “If you keep it on your side of the laundry room”. So it became common place for me to say “My side of the laundry room”.
Sometimes I wish I would have came up with a more simple or catchier name, but I think it fits me and the channel / blog pretty nicely.
Rob: I’ll keep on, keeping on! (LOL)
Honestly, I’m learning new technology (which is something that has made me feel very old) and new tips and tricks every day, so I hope to grow visually and entertain people in different ways.
Also, there is so much stuff that’s not toy or cartoon related from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that I would love to have time to talk about. Movies, television, pop culture, I would love to talk about all of it eventually.
SCC: And because we all want to know… is your collection literally stored on the opposite side of the laundry room? Just so you know… mine is!!!
Rob: Awesome! Glad I’m not they only one!
Yes, that is my own little “Dork Universe” in the laundry room.
When I first was planning a blog I wrote down dozens of different name ideas, but My Side of the Laundry Room always seemed to stick. It was a term around my house for years. I would ask my wife if I could get something and her reply was always “If you keep it on your side of the laundry room”. So it became common place for me to say “My side of the laundry room”.
Sometimes I wish I would have came up with a more simple or catchier name, but I think it fits me and the channel / blog pretty nicely.
---
So that concludes my interview with Rob from My Side Of The Laundry Room!!! I have included two of his videos below. The first one, "The Animals of Cobra", I chose because that was my introduction to his channel. For the second one, since we are coming off of Halloween, there is "10 Supernatural G.I. Joe Figures"!
Extra special thanks to Rob for taking the time to do the interview and also his hard work on the show! He was great to talk to and I had a lot of fun learning the in's and out's of his great channel!!!
Check out Rob's channel, My Side Of The Laundry Room, on YouTube. As I said previously, there is something for everyone! You can also find him at:
- twitter @mysidelaundryrm
- instagram @mysidelaundryroom
- and his blog at https://mysideofthelaundryroom.wordpress.com
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