Greetings, Kaiju United readers! I had the genuine pleasure of interviewing kaiju YouTube channel Thirsty Thursday Toys (TTT) recently about his passion for both action figures and cocktails. Now, given that this is a piece about alcohol, please remember to drink responsibly, and if you are a younger reader, this piece is not for you.
I started out this community outreach piece by examining the man behind TTT, Adam J. Griffin. My first major exposure to TTT, a live-streamed collaboration with fellow KU friend, Kaiju Live: Figures And Collectibles, was the first stop. TTT and Kaiju Live host, AJ Russo, began chatting about figures they enjoyed, the community that has grown about from their shared love of vinyl goodness, and what’s coming up next for both channels. Culminating in a brand-new Kaiju Live-themed drink, the two would eat, drink, and be merry for articulated Godzilla toys!
Figure reviews are common fare amongst kaiju enthusiasts. Typically, it’s a Bandai or X-Plus Garage Kit being reviewed by online content creators. Flashy angles, rotating tables, and even stop-motion animation have been approaches to showcasing the paint jobs and overall sculpt in front of the reviewer. To add mixed, themed liquor to the figure-review recipe is, quite frankly, treading fresh, or should I say, thirsty new ground. I ended up trading email questions and answers with Adam (TTT), listed here below.
Thanks Adam for taking the time to tell us all about Thirsty Thursday Toys!
Q&A:
Jacob (Interviewer) in bold
Adam (Thirsty Thursday Toys) in italics
Hi Adam! Thanks for taking the time to do this with me.
Let’s kick off with some figure talk. What was your first figure in your collection? What is your favorite?
My collection REALLY began with crocodile and dinosaur toys, but my first Godzilla items I had were the Trendmasters figures. The timing could not have been better, as those came out right after I saw my first Godzilla movie (Godzilla vs. Biollante). My first Japanese figure was the 1954 Godzilla from the “Hyper Godzilla” candy toy set – it was sent from a friend in Japan in ’98, and then the rest is history. As far as a “favorite” goes, that’s tough! The SHMA Biollante is a top-notch figure and was a dream of mine since I was a kid, so that will always have a top spot. The Marmit Monster Heaven Gigan is definitely a contender for a top-5 spot. Gorgeous design, and the first “higher end” sofubi figure I bought (and more on that in a bit)!
Promo Photo by Tamashii Nations/Bandai
Sofubi figures (Bright, colorful stylized figures) have seen a resurgence in popularity the past 5 years, with figures from companies like Gigabrain, Marmit, and CCP. Do you think it’s here to stay, or will we return to more of an X-Plus and S.H. MonsterArts world of movie accurate, highly detailed figurines?
I’ve definitely seen that resurgence, and I think it’s here to stay, BUT I think it’ll come in waves. I’ve always been into accuracy and articulation, so SHMA is the perfect toy line for me. There have been a few Marusans/Marmits/Gigabrains (mostly Gigans, I’m realizing, like that Monster Heaven) that have caught my eye and become staples in my collection over the years, but I didn’t really “get into” sofubi until the past 5 years or so. Initially, they seemed like an “older collector’s” game – mostly because those are the people I saw talking about them (and as a high-school/college kid, knew there was no way I could afford them). I assumed there were a few factors in play there – older collectors have more money to spend, more knowledge about the types of figures and where to find them, changing aesthetics… Initially, I couldn’t fathom spending $150 on a single figure, especially one that only had like 4 points of articulation, but I feel like I “get it” now, whatever “it” is.
I’m kicking myself for not picking up some of those Marusans from HobbyLinkJapan back in college (and now I’ve had to hunt them down for 4x the price…). With the popularity of proxy sites like Buyee, the increasing presence of kaiju groups on Facebook, and easier access to share and view collections on things like Instagram, I’m seeing more collectors (and younger collectors) getting into sofubi. Additionally, we have new companies and toylines, some even in the US (Mondo, Last Bastion Studios, etc.), giving us more options. With this increased awareness and access, I think sofubi is here to stay. That doesn’t mean the downfall of X-Plus or MonsterArts – I think those will ALWAYS be around. At least, I hope they will.
What made you decide to combine making mixed alcoholic drinks and reviewing figures? Usually it’s one or the other. Such an interesting combination!
Thanks! For a few years, one of my friends tried convincing me to do YouTube toy reviews because of how many figures I own and my knowledge about them, but I kept setting that idea aside since there are SO MANY toy reviewers out there (not that it needs to be a competition – there’s room for all of us). But if I were to do it, I would want my videos to bring something else to the table instead of just one more person talking about the same figures as everyone else. I don’t have the awesome lighting setups/high-quality camera and editing as others, nor do I think my personality or sense of humor is interesting or clever enough to stand out, but I DO like to mix nonsense drinks at home – usually drinks based on existing media or characters
. For example, we had a Jurassic Park themed party and I made “insects in amber” Jell-O shots with actual edible bugs inside. The first idea for the channel was to simply get pretty drunk and then review a figure, which could be entertaining to the right audience (imagine trying to transform a complex Optimus Prime after a few shots…), but I eventually settled on specific drinks designed to match the figure or character. Of all the hobbies and creative outlets I’ve had, this is my favorite.
Has there been a figure you have yet to match a drink with?
Oh, for sure! I usually try to match colors, but I’ve found that purples and pinks especially are really difficult to match. I’ve been trying to do some bright pink ones for a while, and I can either never get it to work the way I want it to, or the color doesn’t show up well on camera (and there’s only so much color-correcting I can do with iMovie). For some things, I get stuck on making a drink that’s “worthy” of the figure. Sometimes I’ll come up with a drink, but find it too boring/basic/already-been-done, and want to challenge myself to come up with something that I find better, or at least a better match for whatever the figure/character may be. I have a bunch of figures that I’ve been putting off doing for that exact reason. I recently FINALLY came up with a fun novelty party drink for the Mattel Dilophosaurus figures that I’m happy with – I had been putting that off for quite some time.
One MAJOR thing I want to do: mocktails. Non-alcoholic cocktails. I’ve tried and failed multiple times at some mocktail recipes (mine end up being either disgusting or extremely syrupy). That’s a whole different art that I’d like to learn. I know that there are many who watch the channel who don’t drink alcohol, and I really want to support that – I’d love to come up with some clever, tasty, and interesting-looking drinks that still match the figures/characters and allow everyone to partake.
Have you considered non kaiju/movie monster/dinosaur figures, or do you plan on staying in that creature lane?
As far as non-creature things go…yes! I’ve noticed that the audience gravitates more towards the creatures than the human reviews I’ve done, but there are a bunch of other movies and franchises that I’d love to make drinks for. For example, my wife and I are re-watching “Breaking Bad”, and all I can picture is some crystal-blue cocktail… but creatures are the definite go-to.
What’s your go-to drink to enjoy? Just for a casual night out, not for any type of channel material.
If I’m ordering a drink when I’m out and about, I’ll get something that I CAN’T make at home – this usually means it contains ingredients that I don’t usually enjoy (or afford), or ingredients I’ve never heard of. I like trying new things! Also, I’m a sucker for novelty/souvenir drinkware, so if it comes in a special container, I’m all over it, especially if it lights up or is shaped like something. If I’m just making something at home for my own enjoyment, I typically gravitate towards the tropical and overly-sweet – coconut, pineapple, melon, blue curaçao…it usually ends up being teal, haha.
Your drinks seem very tiki-adjacent. Are you into that sort of thing?
LOVE me some tiki drinks! And “adjacent” is definitely the right word there. There’s an art to the tiki drink that I have yet to master – there’s this quality of the ingredients blending in a certain way that I haven’t quite unlocked. Tiki drinks frequently use multiple types of rum, usually more expensive than I typically go for. When designing my drinks, I try to go for ingredients that are easy to source, both in terms of availability and price. I have made a recipe or two that I think have that “it” factor, but I have to figure out how to harness and recreate it (on a budget too).
Do you have bartender experience? Or just a hobbyist?
This started as a hobby, but I’ve been seriously considering bartending (not sure I could do that AND my day job, though). I recently took a course and received my Mixology Permit, which allows me to legally serve alcoholic beverages in my state. There are still a lot of things I need to learn before I’m confident enough to bartend – recipe memorization, measuring pours by counting time rather than the tools I currently use, making multiple drinks at the same time, speed…
I, Jacob, am a total beginner at cocktails, where do I even start?
I have two somewhat opposing answers to this, but in a nutshell: start with what you already enjoy, but also try something completely new!
Alcohol is definitely an acquired taste (and I don’t think it’s something that anyone NEEDS to acquire – why force yourself to eat/drink something you don’t like?) but if you do want to partake, you could start with flavors you enjoy, in tolerable amounts – I started by getting a liqueur of a flavor I always enjoy (peach schnapps), and mixed that with sodas I liked; simple two-ingredient drinks.
You can play around with that – add more things, try different ratios – until you find something that really works. Now, you may waste ingredients in the process, but that’ll happen when testing out any new recipe. But also, try something new, out of your comfort zone! The second bottle I bought was a cinnamon schnapps with gold flecks in it, because I’m a sucker for novelty. Do I like cinnamon? Not particularly, but it sounded interesting and I was curious to try it with things.
If you find yourself out and about (and the prices are good, and you have a designated driver), you could order some basic well drinks (typically a single inexpensive alcohol and a mixer – rum and cola, vodka cranberry, gin and tonic, etc.) of things you want to try, to see what flavors you gravitate towards. Spending $5 to see if you like gin, for example, is definitely more cost effective than buying a full bottle of it. You could also pick up some mini bottles (50ml size) from your local liquor store, for usually only a few bucks each, to test some things out. I used to do that – I’d find a recipe that sounds good, and scale it down so I’m basically making a half-sized drink. This way, you can try out the flavors and get some practice mixing the drinks while still keeping your budget.
Lastly, What are your goals for the channel? What’s down the pipeline for the next while? Have you considered non kaiju/movie monster/dinosaur figures, or do you plan on staying in that creature lane?
Ooh, channel goals! Before I started the channel, I thought about its theoretical longevity. Initially it was going to be called “Kaiju Cocktails”, which is a name I love so much more than “Thirsty Thursday Toys”, BUT I knew I was going to do more than just kaiju, and I wanted something a little more generic in case it expands to many other franchises. I can’t do this forever, but I’d love for this concept to continue, so I imagine a point where I pass the torch on to someone else (or maybe multiple someones?) to add content to the channel in keeping with the drinks-and-reviews theme. IN THE MEANTIME, I’m approaching the 1000-subscriber requirement for getting monetized, and while I know the channel won’t make MUCH, it would be cool to get some revenue from it and eventually have it support itself, because this is EXPENSIVE.
Beyond the cost of the figures and equipment (I’ve been trying to get better lighting and such), you have all the drink ingredients. Sometimes I’ll come up with a recipe and nail it on the first try, but sometimes I’ve gone through entire bottles trying to perfect a recipe for a single video. Another goal is to have some channel-exclusive figures. I don’t have a mascot (yet), but some exclusive color versions of other figures would be really neat. For now, all I have are some cups and coasters with my logo on them – people have been asking for shirts, so I’m trying to figure out the best way to do that without ordering 75 shirts of various sizes that might not sell. People have also been trying to talk me into doing a cocktail recipe book, but I’m holding off on that until I can get some legal advice on the use of character names – I don’t want Toho sending cease-and-desists!
Another goal is to do some events: last year, I hosted a little get-together at G-Fest with some Gigan-50th-anniversary cocktails, and that was a BLAST, so I’d love to keep doing that. I’m working on some Jet Jaguar and Megalon things for this year’s G-Fest. If I could get approval by a convention to do something “official”, or at least have my recipes made for the weekend at the hotel bar, that would be incredible. Those are two more things – attending more conventions and getting my face in more places. Since all you see of me in my videos for these first few years are my hands, I realize that it can be hard to connect with someone who is faceless and doesn’t use their real name.
This community is amazing, and I’ve loved making the connections and friendships over the past few years, and getting my face on camera could only make that even better. I want to keep my video style the same, but the more “other” things I can do (for example, I recently mixed a drink with Kaiju Live in one of their auction shows), the better! I’m totally open to collaborations – last year, I did a bit of a crossover with one of my favorite cocktail channels, The Martini Shot (he does movie reviews and cocktails based on the movie he’s reviewing) for some Jurassic-themed drinks, and that was awesome.
I hope to collaborate with more people in this community this year! Thank you so much for doing this with me, KU!
Thank you Adam (Thirsty Thursday Toys) for being this week’s Community Feature!
