RHAP: We Know Survivor - Todd Herzog Talks Survivor 48 Ep 4

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

This week, Rob and Sophie Clarke discuss Survivor 48 episode 2!

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joined by of course the great winner of Survivor China, Todd Herzog. Todd, how are you? Hello. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I'm doing great. Thank you. I'm super excited to be back on our podcast because it's been years. Yeah. We had the talking with T-Bird that we did a while back, but we haven't gotten to talk Survivor like this in a minute. So I'm really excited to get to hear what you're thinking about everything that's going on. But tell me about what's everything that's going on behind you, Todd.

This is incredible. This is, so I, for those of you who do not know, I make custom Funko Pops, like little toys, bobble heads for a living. So my workshop, my office is a bunch of tiny little things and paints and brushes and wood pieces. It's just a little toy shop. Yeah, I have my Todd made Rob Bob or Pop figure here. My kids, they love these that they want this. And I said, said no you can't have it. This is part of this is a dad's But yeah, they are like can we go we buy this pop a pop figure on online

I mean they're now they're buying all they're wasting all the money on Amazon that they're buying like these like like oh I need this this Pokemon exactly Yes, I mean like, this Pokemon. Exactly. Yes. I mean, like that's, that's how it started for me as I'm elected some because I'm that kind of a person. I collect this guy from FNAF.

Do you know FNAF Todd? Five Nights at Freddy's. Yes. Why do we need the fricking monsters from FNAF pop figure? Because they need all of them. You can't have an incomplete collection, you know, I get it. Yeah So yeah, you do incredible Figures I see them, you know pop up all the time. No pun intended and

Todd have you been making pop figures about Survivor 48 yet? Yeah, okay, so for 48 I have made Kevin so far. He ordered one and then we have Shaheen ordered one and Justin has ordered some. Yeah, now do you ever get like a bunch of them and then play with them like, hey, what are you doing? I don't wanna tell you what I do in my free time. I mean. Because then I would have fun

if I had like a whole collection of like. I do have fun with them. I don't think I play Barbies with them, but I do have a good time. Why do you have to still call it play Barbies with them? Can it be I'm playing survivor, Todd? Playing survivor and voting someone out, making my own little tribes

Yeah, I actually don't own any survivor ones myself, which is crazy really So you don't keep any that you've made for yourself. I do but I make not survivor people. Yeah myself Yeah, you ever been tempted to make somebody okay, because you're such a big Fan of the show and student of the game Is it is it all like a little bit that you've seen how the sausage is made that you don't have a favorite one that somebody, okay, because you're such a big fan of the show and student of the game. Yes. Is it like a little bit that you've seen how the sausage is made that you don't have a favorite one that you would want to keep? I mean, I don't, I have a Jeff Probst pop that I made for myself.

Yeah. So there's that. And then like, so I have all the hosts, like I have Phil from Amazing Race and I have JLP from Australian Spiver. Yeah. Like that's fun for me, but I don't, a lot of these people are my friends and I guess it's not weird to have your friend as a pop,

but I also don't wanna make a pop of somebody and be like, this is for me. Yeah, I guess so. That would, people would get creeped out if it was like, I made it all of you and I'm keeping it at my house. I didn't think it would be that one. Yeah, it would be a little weird.

Yeah. But I mean, like, I guess if I was really found someone new that I was like super obsessed with, but even still I'd probably just message them and say hello. So instead I make myself really weird ones. Like I made that angler fish that was recently found, like that I made into a pop for myself. What angler fish that was recently found? that I made into a pop for myself What anglerfish that was recently found the one that swam to the surface? I don't even know about this

This is like a news event Yes, it was like a huge. You know those fish that have they like the crazy jaws and the light. You know about fish It was all over the place. Yeah, I didn't know about this. Are you like it's just because in the news Are you interested in fish? No, I'm not interested in fish. It was just in the news and it was really sad story. And it was like, they never go to the surface. Like they live in the bottom part of the ocean. And she went to the light and then she died and it was really heartbreaking. So I made that fish for myself. Yeah. What was it about that story that captivated you that made you want to fish for myself. Yeah, what was it about that story that captivated you that made you want to

have that moment so you could forget it? The fact that my husband just handed it to me. Yeah. See? Okay. Wow. I made it. Yeah. But so the fact that I thought that these fish were actually gigantic, but they're like this big. Yeah. I thought it was fascinating and I thought it would make a cool pop and it did. It is a cool pop. Yeah, definitely. It looks like something that could be on FNAF. I mean, yeah, you're not wrong. You're not wrong there.

Put it with Freddy Fazbear. It was like so tiny and cute, but this is terrifying at the same time. I'm a weirdo, Rob, like I like weird things. I love to know this about you. Okay, Todd, well let's talk a little bit about Survivor and where we're at in this game. This was a very exciting episode here. Just as far as like the new era goes,

I know you played in, not only did you play old school, but Survivor China was even like, hey, this is like, this is an old school season of we're bringing back, it was season 15 and they're like, okay, you know what? Things are getting too crazy around here. We're doing back to two tribes of eight, that's it. It was very back to basics. It was very old school Survivor.

And I mean, as a diehard survivor fan, I was stoked. I was super excited to know that it was just the 16 people, two tribes to start off. And I was ready for twists and whatnot because that's survivor. But like compared to now, like it was a game of how well can you play this game

with these people. Now it involves so much luck, it's crazy. Yeah, so how do you feel just generally with the new era? You know, I still really enjoy it. Like I have a good time, I try my best not to pick out all of the things that I don't like because then I find myself just sitting around being like, oh, and it's like, I don't wanna talk to people

who just sit there and bitch about things all the time. So why would I? That's like me, I got to roll with the punches. Like, OK, we've said like we said the things that we're like, we don't love, but at some point we just got to move on. Exactly. I watch it for the entertainment value and these people still play hard and they play they play really hard because they have no choice because there's twists left and right.

They have to figure out if the votes are going to be split. They don't know what's coming next. So they're still playing the game. It's just harder sometimes. Yeah. Okay. So what did you make about this five person tribal council we saw this week? Oh my gosh. Okay. First of all, I have to say it was an excellent game move. Like it was great. Camilla and Kyle were so convincing, obviously, that they were like, oh yeah, one of us has gotta go. And the other three had no idea that it actually worked. However, I really enjoyed Thomas.

I thought it was hilarious. He brought this wit to the show that I feel like we needed, and now it's gone, which makes me sad. But I have to give them mad props on that move because it was genius. It worked perfectly Yeah, it was really incredible. That's the You know spycraft that it took from Camilla and Kyle to be able to Execute on this in a swap where I feel like that's I can't remember a time that we've really ever seen two people Pull off that move swap and still be

working together and get one over on the majority. It was it was so good and you if you say otherwise you're crazy because that took a lot of work. The fact that these three guys didn't even question enough that there could be something else going on is proof that it was great. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Would this have worked if James and Aaron would have pulled this off on PG? Listen, James can't. James can't lie like that. He can't. He's got no poker face. Should they have said, hey, we're actually, we're both on the bottom. No. No. The answer to that. No. But it was really incredible. And I don't know how you felt, but I was really going to this travel council.

I'm like, I have no idea who's going to go home here because I felt like that all these people have gotten a lot as far as the story goes. And I felt like I didn't really see a world where any of them weren't getting out of this. No, I agree. And and in a really rare case, it wasn't I wasn't rooting for someone specific to go home because I really enjoy all five of them. I am really sad about Thomas though, because just that, it's weird, because not many people get, I don't love a lot of sarcasm like that unless it's done right and he did it right.

I feel like that Thomas has been really celebrated by a lot of the Survivor fans in terms of this. He's doing something that we love. It feels like that there was something that was like a throwback about him. Could you put your finger on what it was about Thomas? Uh, I mean, I feel like the sarcasm and the humor that he has, he delivers in a way that it sounds like it could be serious, but it is not serious, at least from him, but his face doesn't change. And then he doesn't say, Oh, I'm joking.

He just leaves it. And so you either get it or you don't. Yeah, I feel like that it's also there's something about him. And I feel like that you had this too, where that he talks about like, okay, I'm gonna throw away the clue, or I'm going to basically, like I'm gonna tell everybody that Camilla is lying. And it's not from a place of meanness. It's not like that I'm an evil person,

and this is how I am. It's like, hey, it's Survivor, what do you want from me? I'm trying to win here. I understand exactly what you're talking about now. So he was playing the slightly villainous role without being the actual villain. And that is something that has been missing from the new era.

When we do have a villain, they're pretty villain. You don't have like the humorist guy that you want to root for, but you also are like, oh my gosh, you shouldn't be doing that. And that was Thomas. Yeah, I'm willing to, you know, do whatever it takes to win because I'm here on Survivor. I didn't come out here not to do these things,

but isn't necessarily like who I am as a person. Like I didn't come out here to be mean to people. Exactly. And yeah, no, that has been missing. Like I miss a good villain and I miss a good like semi villain. Like we need that, you know? Yeah. How do you think the fallout is going to be in this tribe after they get back? Where, you know, I feel like that we've almost never seen this scenario either in the pre-merge, where now you have two and two,

and if this group goes back to a travel council, I don't see how this isn't a deadlock unless somebody finds the idol. No, I agree with you. I think, I mean, obviously Joe and Shaheem are not gonna be happy about the situation, but I feel like they almost have no choice but to look at him and be like, yeah, you got us.

Yeah. Good job. You got us. But I think what's really going to be interesting is when they show up at the next challenge and everybody's like, wait, what? Because Thomas will be gone. Yeah. And I'm really interested to see how this goes, even if they don't go to tribal council, when they go to the merge. Now, when they tell people of like, hey, don't trust these two, don't trust Kyle and Camilla. They totally, they lied to us, they screwed it over. Like, do you see any world where these four people could potentially work together after this?

Or is this just basically like a line has been drawn in the sand between the purple tribe and the orange tribe. And you know, the rest of the post-merge game is gonna be about these two sides. The problem is, is the Purple Tribe is kind of eating at themselves. Yeah. You know, like, Bianca was on the bottom

and she's lost her number one, so she is 100% going to be a free agent, because I can't imagine she's just gonna jump on board with everybody else. And then you have Eva, who looks like she's just gonna jump on board with everybody else. And then you have Eva who, it looks like she's found her new best friend to like take care of her right now. And then Star, who is a wild card.

So I don't know if it's gonna be purple against orange. I feel like purple might fall apart. Well, Todd, do you think that Eva could be the person who heals the rift between purple and well, hear me out. Hear me out, Todd. You know, that between between like who are her two friends? Joe and now David. David is allies with Kyle and Camilla and then Joe is allies with Shaheen.

And could she be the person who sort of like like, hey like, let's... Or you mean brings it together, actually? Maybe. Like... Okay, possibly. Because she's gonna pick between Joe and David, she's gonna go against one of those guys? I don't know if she's gonna go against them, but I can,

I feel like the rest of her tribe is gonna go against her. Maybe she'll be like, okay, you know what, Kyle is cool, I don't know about Camilla. Yeah, she doesn't like girls. It's a joke. Just joking. It's just joking, everybody. J.K. Eva is great.

Actually, I really like her too. This is a good cast. Yeah, it really is. They did a really good job with everybody because, you know, Todd, I do feel like that they do a very good job of finding all of these new people to come and play the show. I mean not to disparage any of the old casts but I feel like that there were you know a lot of people who were really great players and then a lot of people who were

kind of just there. Is that is that fair to say? I think it's completely fair to say. I mean it was a whole lot of recruiting back in the day. You know, we went through a good chunk of seasons where it was like a whole bunch of people who literally had watched maybe one season of Survivor on DVD. And that's it. So they get into the jungle and they're like, what am I doing?

And like, now you're putting a bunch of fans together. And even though some of them aren't like die hard, die hard fans, you put them together, they're playing a lot harder. Yeah. Even the people that we say like aren't like die hard, die hard fans, you put them together, they're playing a lot harder. Yeah, even the people that we say like, aren't the die hard, die hard, they've seen at least 15 seasons of Survivor. Yes, and they're still playing hard.

There's not really a whole lot of people that you see just kind of floating around in the background in the past few seasons. Like last season was probably one of my favorites in years. I mean, this is a recent phenomenon too, because what year was it that you went to go play on the show? 2007. 2007.

I think that it's like, go back to like 2015. And I think if you found somebody who like, like, hey, I rewatched two seasons before they'd be like, oh my God, you rewatched a season before you came out here? That, it was so extremely rare. I mean, if you think back through the super fan history, it was you and then it was Brian from Guatemala and then it was me and then Cochran.

Yeah, I think there's a few others like along the way. But I appreciate that. You know, the shout out there. I feel like that Mitchell was like the first person that they put on the show who was like that. His claim to fame was that he loved the show. Like it wasn't necessarily that he was and he was a funny guy, but he wasn't an athlete.

He wasn't like there for any other reasons, I think, other than he was like the obsessed fan from the first season. And he loved, yeah. Yeah. You're right. And he struggled so much that I feel like that it was a minute before they said, let's go back to that.

Yes, absolutely. Because they were afraid, because a lot of super fans watch the show and say they can do that, and then they get out there and they can't. Yeah, and all this to say that, you know, they have so many people out here now that like know what they're doing,

and I think they really do try to cast the show that like any of these people could be like the main character of the show, if things broke right, where I think that in the old days, I do think that they used to find people who were like, that they knew who the first boots were gonna be when they cast them. Yes, I agree.

I mean, it's one of those things where it's like, you're gonna be there for one episode where we're gonna get seven minutes of great confessionals and that's it. Yeah. And it just happened. Sometimes it didn't work in their favor though, cause I honestly feel like Courtney was expected to be the first boot of China.

Yeah, well, I think they feel like that. Okay. And then if it for some reason, it doesn't go that way, this person is going to give us incredible television as far as long as they're there. Exactly. And we those those moments are wonderful. I love those when that happens, you know? Yeah, so that's gonna be very interesting to watch how that one tribe works out

now that Thomas is gone. Who are some other people that you've really had your eye on this season? Well, so I really actually like Camilla quite a bit. I started out, so my family, we all watch weekly, and we do a pool, and my money's on Camilla. And it's like $10 a person. $10 a person, how many people are in it?

It's a Mormon family, so it's big. Yeah. How many people are in there? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight or nine maybe, nine or 10. So you get two people? Yeah. Okay.

So, and then, so yeah, you pick your person. We watched the first episode, then we pick our person and put our money on it, and once you're out, you're out. Yeah. The person, me and Wenz. I did that with my family this season. That it's only the four of us, and I just, I'm trying so hard to get my kids

to care about this show, Todd. I'm trying so hard to get my kids to care about this show Todd I'm really trying to force it on to them. Like it's like hey, this is our this is in our family We watched Survivor on Wednesday. Okay, everyone they're all like talking like hey, come on. We're watching the show Hey, was that a good idol play? What do you think? So I said, okay, we're doing a draft and I'm gonna give money to whoever wins the draft That's and are they at all into it because of it. I guess they're the let're doing a draft and I'm gonna give money to whoever wins the draft. Are they at all into it because of it? A little bit more, it's working a little bit, Todd. It's amazing what a prize pot can do.

I said, I'm gonna give $20 to whoever has the winner. I would 100% be focused for an entire season if someone had to give me $20. Get them into it, yeah. I have to say, I'm doing the worst. I had Justin and Thomas. That's pretty rough. Yeah, and I'm like, I know everything.

I watched all the bios. I watched all the previews. I'm like, okay, this guy is good. This guy is good. And look at me. I lost half my team. So you guys have, who else is on your team then? I think I'd have to go back and look, I want to say maybe Cedric and maybe one other person.

I have a feeling you might not win Rob. Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. But honestly, like that, I'm not trying to win this draft. I'd be excited for one of them. I got to keep them invested the whole season. Yes, absolutely agree on that. So yeah, I feel like the reason why I like Camilla, well, first of all, we do the snake draft. I was last pick. And so I originally did wanna pick Thomas.

I'm glad I was last Saturday night because I got Camilla. And I feel like she is a little sneaky thing. And I kind of like that about her. I love that about her. I think she's so good. And I think that I love that she is loves the chaos. And I love that she's up for telling these lies to people. And she's really here to play hard.

And I think that a lot of times, we've had these people that we say, oh, they're just under the radar. Nobody's worried about them. But I think that she maybe has people thinking that, but she's so not just under the radar. She's not just like skating by because nobody's worried about her.

She's planting the seeds and like making things happen. I like that. Yeah, so I think that she's going to be somebody who's a big part of the game moving forward. As long as like this doesn't really just blow up in her face where Joe and Shaheen are like, Hey, you are a liar. Like I feel like there'd be more mad at her than Kyle. Oh, that's a good question. Cause I didn't know or didn't think about like what if they were mad at her instead of Kyle, because Kyle played both moves. I feel like her even giving the extra vote to him was like her saying here. I'm helping you

Yeah, well her giving the extra vote to him really did protect against the scenario where if Thomas had the vote steal or As long as he didn't play the the vote steal in the right way they were gonna be okay either way because it was going to be a 3-3 vote between the two of them if, you know, that Kyle played the extra vote.

That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. Did he play it though? I think he did, yeah. Because we didn't, we saw him pull it out, but we didn't see... I've heard that the word is that Kyle did play Camilla's extra vote even though we didn't see it on the show. Okay.

Interesting. I don't know. I'm ready, especially with the previews that we're seeing for this next episode where Jeff is crying. Yes. Like what's going on here? Yeah, what do you think? Who's dying? Who's out there dying? Did Jeff cry at all during China? All the time. Yeah. He did cry, no. No. Definitely not. Yeah, so yeah, it seems like they're really like,

you know, hyping up something very emotional happening in this episode. It doesn't seem like it's even at tribal council. No, it looks like, it seems like it's during a challenge. So I'm wondering if it's like, you know, one of those like sappy moments where it's like, I can do this, everybody underestimate me. It's like a siree one of those like sappy moments where it's like, I can do this, everybody underestimated me. It's like a surrey walks across the balance beam type thing.

Yeah, I'm wondering if that's the case because they like to do that now a lot, which is fine. I should grow a little bit of a heart, but like that's not me normally. Not like you got this, but we'll be supportive. Todd, this is something that, you know, I've talked about with the new era where back when you played

and when I played the game, that the show was about like, okay, one person is going to win a million dollars here. That's what Survivor is all about. And while that is still a part of Survivor, and I think that's still like the attraction to Survivor, I think that what Survivor is trying to do in the new era is that all these people are going through a journey, are going on, are gonna get an experience here.

And how many of these people are going to have, you know, some other win that comes out of this experience because of Survivor? I mean, you're 100% right. We get the music, we get the photo montage in the background, and it works. It's very good at being like, oh my gosh, did you see that?

They have the hardest life. And then you cheer for them a little bit more. And I don't hate it and I don't hate it. I don't hate it. I just find it to be like, what? Okay, so these people, if you look hard enough, you can find sorrow in anybody's life story. But like, are they really gonna put their heart and soul

into it to win a million dollars or because they wanna be a better person? Like, like you said, this is a game for money. Yeah. And so that's a big part of it. But I think that they're also looking for the ways in which somebody got a win out of this experience that didn't necessarily come from the winning. For only one of these 18 people is going to get that story. But for everybody else, what is the story that they're getting out of this? That's true.

I mean, and it's great. Like Mitch with, you know, for an example where he talks about how he never saw anybody on TV who sounded like him. And I agree, we've never really seen this before. And who doesn't love Mitch? Yeah. He's so lovable.

His inspiration was Christie from Survivor the Amazon. Yes, that's freaking awesome too. Christie is a good person, I like her. Yeah, have you ever done a pop figure of Christie? No, I have not. Oh. Actually. Surprisingly.

Are there any people that you get tired of making up, like, oh, another Boston Rob, all right, here we go again. I make so many Robs and Suri is, I think, number one, and Parvati and Sandra. So Sandra, Rob, Parvati, Tony, and Jeff. I make Jeff all the time too. Those are the big dogs. You put them in different costumes,

or would you say uniforms? What would you call them? Clothes? I try, I try to mix it up. But like it's usually up to the person who's ordering unless they like, they'll say, I want this, like this season, this look. And then I'll try to make it off of that. But if they just say, you go for it, then I'll go for it.

And I'll usually try to switch it up a bit. Like instead of putting them in the jungle, I'll put them at travel council, you know, something like that. You put them in the traders ever? Yes, actually. I made so many siree trader pops that I can't even count. How many like seriously? So many of her. What about Carolyn? Do you make Carolins?

Mm hmm. But to say, oh, too many tattoos. That's a lot of extra work for me. Here's the thing is, if she's a traitor, she's wearing her robe. I don't have to do the tattoos. Can I, can I talk you into traders, Carolyn, instead of survivor Carolyn? Yeah, she's completely covered. But the good thing about the new era too, is theirs, they have a whole wardrobe. And some of those are long sleeves. So if I don't want to do tattoos, I can just put their sweater on.

Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty good. I have a million more questions about the pop figures, but let me, let me stick to survivor and we'll come back. I'll come back to it. I got to show you one. Jess, will you grab the Amazon one right there? I'm giving this away tomorrow. Okay. I do like these drawings for my pop shop. I made this and I'm obsessed with it. Okay, let me see. All right. So this is what this is the Survivor the Amazon logo. Is that like 3D of the snake is coming out? Yes, it's a full on Funko Pop that I sculpted and created. Wow. Isn't that fun?

Yeah, and so Todd is holding up a logo. Now, Todd, explain to me, because I'm such a novice at this. Okay, I thought a Funko Pop was like a person, but this is a logo. Oh, it's because I wanted to try something different. Yes. Is Funko the brand? Is it the material? So it's the eyes, the big eyes. Yes. So like the snake has the big eyes. The snake has the big eyes. The snake is the figure.

See? Yeah. And I just turned it into the whole logo. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's incredible. Do you feel like that the logos in the new era are not hitting as hard as the old school logos? I sure do.

I sure do. Nobody's asking you for a Survivor 43 Funko logo? Listen, okay, 43 was the best of them with the octopus. Yeah. 42 was that stupid maze. That is ugly. It is ugly. And it has nothing to do with the season whatsoever.

At all, it is literally just a maze. 50, I can't even talk about 50's logo. Yeah. Yeah. It really bugs me. Cause this is, you know, I look at the details in the logos just because that's what I've always liked. Should they have let the fans vote on the logos? Yeah. Or even design it. You know, like that's what I say. Like

I just. Yeah, it really bugs me. It really looks. Or Good Logo? It's got the tiki's and whatnot. But come on, guys. It's a lot of copy and paste type situation going on. Todd, I want to ask you about the tribe that Bianca is on. And Bianca is in this really interesting situation where now she's lost her vote, but she's there with these other two pairs. How are you feeling about how that might shake out? I'm very excited to see this because Jeff said to her,

this could be bad. And she said, or it could be good because there's always a divide somewhere. And her goal was instantly to go look for a crack. She went to say and was like, I want to work with you in Cedric. And she was like, you might want to get to know him. And she's like, found my crack.

Like that's great. You know, like, hello. That was awesome. That was great, but it'd be great if she had a vote though. I don't know what she's going to do if if she like she could know where the crack is but I don't know I'm not sure how that helps her. You know it doesn't. No you're 100% right unless unless like she creates drama with the other people to make them all want to go for someone else and, nobody knows that she doesn't have a vote.

Yeah. They can assume it, but they don't know it. She could also pretend that she might have an extra vote. Just put the fear of God into people to make their votes go all over the place. Yeah. Well, there is an interesting scenario where if there's a tie between the two pairs that then she could end up being ineligible to be voted for in the tie break. And then hopefully one of those two ends up

flipping if there's a two-two split between them. The only problem is it seems like that Mitch and Cedric have like hit it off pretty well. And it seems like that Cedric is going to vote with Mitch. And oh no, Todd, I'm blanking on the other. Who? No, not not say this is so embarrassing for me. Is it charity? Not it's not charity. Who is it? Who is it?

And she's gotten like it's Chris. Oh, Chris, Chris. Chris. a, it's Chrissy. Oh, Chrissy. Chrissy. Chrissy. Okay, it's a weird choice. That's an embarrassing moment for me. I'm here with Todd Herzog and I'm forgetting the names of the players. I just called Say Sigh.

Yeah. Although it is spelled the same. I don't know if you were a fan of the Ninja Turtles at all. But Rafael's weapon was spelled, I believe, the same way and that was pronounced psi. The psi. Yes. And that was the worst weapon of any of the Ninja Turtles.

Like Michael Andrews got nunchucks, Donatello's got a staff and Lena has swords. And Rafael has like a big fork. Like, what is he? That's... A big fork. What is that thing's a big fork what is that thing the worst weapon it is a really stupid weapon but my mom actually told me my mother told me the best way to remember her name yeah cuz it was sad Cedric yeah

she's like they're sad and say it's very confusing and said yeah that's but I still forget. So thanks mom for the time. Have you ever made the Ninja Turtles as a pop figure? No, but I did make a little kid who had an entire bedroom that was themed at Ninja Turtles. And so I made some tiny little Ninja Turtle ones to go on his shelf.

Okay. Cause sometimes you make one of like, people send you a picture. Huh? Yeah. I'll make anything, like anyone, anything you could possibly imagine. So yeah. Okay.

The crazier the better because I get to try new things. Okay, really? So any anybody is there ever a person where you're like, not that person. I'm not doing that. I haven't not yet. I mean, I'm not going to make Trump. Okay, well, that's a bit I feel that's a bit but I feel you doing that. I haven't not yet. I mean, I'm not going to make Trump. Well, that's a fair. I feel that's a bit.

But I feel you could probably I don't need to go to Todd if I want a Trump pop figure. It's like I could feel like I could get that other places. Probably. I just that's just a personal thing. But I mean, I think people are also like would not come to me to ask me. That's another sort of, you know,. They were like, okay, Todd, spend all day making Trump for me. Oh, no, because do you know what would happen is I would post it or someone would post it

and then they would, I'd have all these people coming to me and wanting more and I just not gonna do that. Right, right. I'm not gonna put myself through that. Yeah. So, but there's that, but like, other than that, no, like I'll try anything. And So, but there's that, but like, other than that, now, like, I'll try anything. And if it's not gonna work,

then I'll say like, that's not gonna work. The biggest thing is, is like, when people will be like, can you give, make them hugging? And it's like, no, you can't because their heads are so big. So they'll be like, no, you can't, they can't hug. What can they do? Can they like, it's like, I want Rob and Amber, can you make them hold hands?

They can be like reaching to each other and possibly holding hands. That's it. So yes, yeah. That's it, no holding. Pretty much, because the heads are huge and they'll get in the way, so. Yeah, could they give each other a piggyback ride?

Not looking right. One side would be all the way back. You know? It would be tough to do. It would be stupid. So unless someone was really hunched over and the other was riding him like a horse, then that could be done. Todd, I want to ask you about the very exciting

episode we had the previous week where Justin went home. And of course, there was a lot of controversy about how it all went down. Did you have any thoughts on the Justin Tribal Council? Oh, I mean, of course I had thoughts because like, I was really, I was like, Justin, why aren't you fighting? Why aren't you doing something right now? I can't imagine being in that situation and not saying anything. So unless we didn't see it, which is what I would like to pretend happened,

or he just really was fine with it, I don't know. I would have fought, but she was going home. And then she fought and she won. Because Cedric obviously can be easily persuaded. Yeah, I think it was a very bad spot for Justin because I think like he brought a knife or maybe a pizza roller to a gunfight where Cedric was never going to relinquish in that spot. No. But like, I don't think you should. If you're having an open discussion about it right there

and you're trying to convince somebody exactly why they should stay or keep you, you fight for it, unless you're over it. Unless you wanna like, you're like, this is fine. I'm fine with it. But if that's not the case, you're about to go home and you're about to have a big regret. You're gonna think about that for the rest of your life.

Like I should have fought harder. That's all I can say there. I would have, if I didn't fight my hardest, I would rather fight my hardest and still go home than just like roll over. Yeah. So, yeah. What about-

I feel like he had two of. Yeah, I asked him when I spoke to him, he said he did fight more than they showed. Okay, that makes me feel a little better because I feel like, I don't know how you couldn't as a person. Maybe that's just me and my argumentative side, I don't know.

But like, I just, yeah. I wouldn't want to be, you know, heads up in a tie against you. We would go to death. We would be there all night. Because we, I feel like you, you and I are pretty both convincing, but I feel like you're more well-spoken than I am. See, I would feel like that you are not gonna give up. I think, I feel like at some point I'm gonna get frustrated like, all right, you know what, forget it, forget it. Possibly, but I don't know. Let's not get in that position. Okay, we'll work it out before it comes to that. But what about Mary and Say

and their relationship moving forward? What do you think about this? Have you seen this before on Survivor where these two former rivals can come together? No, I mean, sure you can pretend. And why would they not? Why would they say no in that scenario as well? I like how they actually did.

They got to camp and they're like, "'Yeah, we're gonna do this.'" And then they ended up being like, "'Okay, maybe we actually are gonna do this.'" I love Mary. I think she's hilarious. I don't know exactly what it is about her. Something about her facial expressions or something,

but I'm drawn to her. I like her a lot. So I'm glad that that happened. But you be good girls now. Like that's what it felt like. And it just was weird to me. When Cedric was like, all right, I'll stay on one condition. You two got to get along.

Get along. We're fighting. Like, okay, dad, like it's just weird, but it was great TV. Do you think those two will work together once we get to the merge? Would you? If I was them? Sure, why not?

I feel like that it's almost like that it's water under the bridge with them, where I feel like that say is almost like, I can't believe that I considered working with those three idiots, Cedric, Kevin, and Justin, instead of you. Like, I was a fool, Mary. considered working with those three idiots, Cedric, Kevin, and Justin instead of you. Like I was a fool, Mary. I think okay, I think Say is way too much of a firecracker to fully commit to. I would 100% tell her I would work with her

because that's what you would have to do in that scenario and I would pretend to but I would definitely not put all of my cards in her basket. Yeah, well, it's interesting. Mary seems like that she has some other things going on in this other tribe that has David on it, and so that she's making some allies there, and say potentially might have Bianca

as somebody that she could work with. So it is gonna be a very fluid situation when we get to the merge and we'll see if they reconnect. Can you tell me a little bit about, what do you think about this story with David and that he has to win the money so that his girlfriend doesn't break up with him? Okay, if I were her, I would be really bugged.

I would be so pissed, okay? Like everybody in the world now knows of this woman as like a gold digger. But she was with him for like at some point for a reason, even if he is living in her trailer in his dad's yard. I see nothing wrong with that if that is a living situation that you have for you right now. You could be under a bridge, okay?

That is your situation at the moment. But to say that you have a girlfriend that will only be with you if you win the million dollars, otherwise she's out, and then say like, oh yeah, no, she's already out because I'm broke. It's like, this is embarrassing, David. This is embarrassing. I don't think I've ever heard a story like this before

in 48 seasons of Survivor. Because most people wouldn't share that information on TV. It's just embarrassing. Like, I would never say that. I would, because you're not gonna have someone there for you when you get home. They're gonna be off with another millionaire somewhere, probably.

Yeah. I don't know. another millionaire somewhere, probably. Yeah. I don't know. I just like, that's embarrassing. I don't know this woman though. I don't know how she is as a person. Maybe it's love, Rob. Maybe it's like. Maybe, I don't know. Um, but it's a weird story because then he also said that she dumped him this week.

I know. And I don't know if he knows exactly what's going on. I think he really hopes that that's... Maybe he's told himself this is the story. Well, I know he's also was not one of the bigger fans of the show, and I just wonder, was this all like a Hail Mary if she's like, hey, David, I'm breaking up with you

because we can't keep living like this. He's like, hold on, wait a second. I've got to go. I mean, if that was the Hail Mary and that was shot in the dark, then good on him. He found a solution, but there's also like, you can also go and door dash or something, you know, find some extra cash. Like, yeah, but you can't get a million dollars on DoorDash that quick.

No, you definitely can't. Not in 26 days. And you know what? Starting off like episode one to episode three or four or whatever one now, I thought he had no shot, but now I'm like, wait a second, is he starting to get like this edit of people rooting for him? Okay. It's coming together. Okay, it's coming together

Yeah, it is it actually is which is crazy. Mm-hmm. So we'll see and we'll know yeah Well know sooner enough whether or not she's with them. I know you have Camilla in the draft. Do you have a winner pick Todd? Oh my goodness, um a winner pick I I A winner pick. I... I would say Shaheen or Joe or Camilla or now even David. Okay. Those would be my four. Maybe even Mitch. I don't know. I'm really bad at this, Rob. Like I've gotten like maybe two in my life, right? In your life. You picked them at the start of the season?

Yeah, I got Jenna. Oh, okay. I got Jenna shockingly. How did you know Jenna Moraska? Because everybody was under underestimating her and I was like, I'm gonna pick her. That's true. We did. That's my bad. We did underestimate her. I was more worried about Heidi. No, that's fair. That's fair. So yeah, I, I weirdly got chose Jenna, right. And, and then Rachel, I said, well, okay. So those two in my life kind of bookended it. Like he did one as a child and then the most recent season. I know. But then like I picked Hannah for one,

a couple and she, she quit the show on like day one Oh from survivor 45 Yes. Yeah, so like that's how good my radar has been the past 20 years of it. Yeah, do you know? You know how you supposed to know they're gonna quit, you know, exactly. Hey Todd Jenna Maresca tried to quit on like day 32 32 why she said she our tonsils were hurting her, okay? Come on Jenna, you've got seven days left. I think Heidi was trying to like be to her, say to her like, hell yeah, you two need to go home. Like I think it was Heidi was like trying to convince her

to leave so that they would cancel travel council. But do you know what's really interesting though with Jenna is like, it's all that very cause like, I mean, I know you heard this and I'm not just blowing smoke up your ass, but like the game was yours and then she won that and brought Matt, you know, and it's like, what are you going to do? Duh. Like who are you going to be in the two? Like I guess we'll pick her.

If it was a final three, we all know what would have happened though. They didn't invent that yet, Todd. I know. And I'm sorry. And I know you've heard that your whole life and you're like, thanks again for reminding me. Have you made Jenna as a pop figure? I have.

What about Matt? I have, yeah. Do you have him with the machete? No, I have him with like a fishing pole and a piranha from that challenge that you guys did. He didn't catch that anglerfish, right? No. He could have.

This poor anglerfish. She was buchess. What about Butch? Have you made Butch? I have, yeah. Wow. And it wasn't for him? Somebody bought Butch?

No, someone bought Butch, yeah. Wow. What was Butch doing? Do you remember? No, someone bought Butch, yeah. What was Butch doing? Do you remember? No, it was a long time ago. He had a hat on though.

Did he have a banner? Did he have a belief in yourself? Or did he have a bunch of firewood? No, I think it was like a bunch of wood, honestly. I think he was sitting at camp, it was muddy. It's weird because I've made some super obscure people. Can you share who is the most obscure person you've made? I mean, Butch is pretty obscure.

That's pretty obscure. But he was at least Final Four, believe it or not. Was, he was. Who, I'm trying to think, like, Rob's back neck. Yeah. Look, he's an icon. He is. He was in a movie commercial. I remember that much.

I remember seeing him being like, that's Rob with two bees. Yeah. Who else? When I went to go play time that he was like, you know, the face of like survivor Thailand and he brought it. I bet you had him with the skateboard. But like he was like Rob with two B's was like a big persona. He was, but he did not do well. You know, I don't know.

I've made some really, really random ones. A lot of them, though, I shouldn't say random. Like a lot of the contestants have, you know, their own. And some of them were not on the show for super long, which is fine, it happens. There's no judgment. There's no judgment. Do you feel like that are you making more classic people or more people from the new era?

Oh my gosh, it's all over the board. Yeah. And it comes in waves. Like I've made in my, so I made one Cheyenne pop probably three years ago. Yeah. And last week I made two that people ordered. Two Cheyenne pops out of nowhere.

What's the Cheyenne Renaissance coming from? Is she gonna be on Survivor 50? But I also made a Brian Heidich and I never made Brian last week. So like it's like, Island is all of a sudden coming back. It's interesting. Did you ever meet Brian Heidich?

Oh yeah. Yeah, like one of these like hearts of reality. Yeah. I met him just once. Yeah. He was a really nice guy. Yeah. Like he was super good. I didn't recognize him. Um, I was a child basically when he was on, but then he called me over. He's like Todd. And I was like, hi. He was like Brian. And I was like, oh, hi. Hi, Brian. I met him one time. I met him at the Survivor All-Stars finale. And then I interviewed him one time.

And it was a weird interview. I can only imagine. He's a little bit weird, but he's nice. I mean, he was nice to me. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people, they have pretty hardcore thoughts on Brian, but he was always nice to me, or he was nice to me that time I met him.

So I have nothing bad to say about him. Yeah. I mean, if he wasn't so crazy, he probably would have been on Survivor All-Stars. Oh, really? That could have been interesting. Yeah. Well, I think about it, because I think he probably would have gone like Survivor All-Stars. Probably. Oh, really? That could have been interesting. Yeah. Well, I think about it. I think he probably would have gone like, I don't know if they

would have cut Boston Robb. Like, I kind of feel like that Boston Robb was like sort of like a borderline to get on the show. I know they really liked him. So I don't know who they who they would have bumped. Maybe like a like a big Tom or one of the Africa guys. But at that point, Rob was only Marquesas and he was what, 10th place?

Like, so yeah, that makes sense to me. Yeah. How crazy is that? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's wild. He was just like, after his season, he was acting like, he said,

I think he said he wanted like a million dollars to go play Survivor All-Stars. Who said that? Cyanidek. He's so weird. I don't know. And I've talked to his wife a couple of times too. No, but is he still married? He has a different wife than from when he was on the show?

I think so. Not to talk to out of school about. Yeah, I'm not positive, but I think so. She was super sweet. Yeah. But yeah, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I've made clay as well. Yeah. All right. He I know. Yeah.

We love play. He was very nice outside of the show. I know that people like didn't didn't always love him on the show, but he was like a super nice guy the couple of times I met him. Yeah, because I remember I hated him on the show, but he was like a super nice guy. The couple of times I met him. Yeah. Cause I remember I hated him on the show, but he was a nice guy in person. Like he was really nice. I mean, for the most part, like the cast of Thailand, you know, I've met like Tanya, everybody knows Tanya. We all love Tanya. She's the nicest. Um, and

then like Jed and I've spoken to Rob and that's pretty much it like that's I Can't even remember if there's anybody else that I'm missing that I've met you know mm-hmm Helen I've not met Helen. Yeah, okay. I like Helen. Yeah, I don't think I've met Helen. Yeah, yeah So on dear, I know it'd be fun. Yeah, interviewed Gondia a couple of times and she was very fun. I bet that's fun. Yeah. I mean, it's weird. Like I have all these times like where like I met a bunch of these people like in the

real time and then I had like a, you know, a little bit of a break when I didn't meet anybody and I didn't meet you until after you had already won that I remember that I, I remember that I had a really great conversation with you at the Survivor 10-year anniversary party. Yeah, right before Heroes and Villains, right? Yes, yes. Right when it was about to air. Yes, and you were super kind, and I always remember that.

I was so excited to be there because hello super fan all of these like class Oh my gosh, that was a wonderful night. That was a crazy night and there was only a few people I was super stoked to me. I was like Mostly excited to meet you and sue Hawk like I couldn't wait to meet sue. Yeah How is Sue? She was wonderful. Yeah, I loved her. She was so good She was like Twitter today. Like did you was sue mean and really was wonderful. I loved her. She was so good. Somebody asked me on Twitter today, like, did you, was Sue mean in real life? Like, no.

I loved every second of spending time with Sue Hawk. Yeah, she was so sweet. Like, because I hadn't met others because, because I was that guy who went to the fan events when before I was on the show. So like I was waiting in line to meet people. So I'd met people beforehand. And then after it was weird, it was like a double, you was waiting in line to meet people. So I had met people beforehand and then after, it was weird, it was like a double, you know. But it was, so yes.

But it was still like me being that super fan at meeting my favorite people in the world. So yeah, that was a great moment. Yeah. It was a really fun night that they brought everybody together for the 10 year anniversary of survivor, believe it or not. And can you believe we're at the 25th anniversary of survivor and they're definitely not going to do a party like that again.

No, never again, please. That's way too much money for it. Well, it got too crazy. It was crazy. Yeah, it was absolutely. It was an open bar. Like everybody got up. It was absolutely, it was an open bar. And everybody got up, it was crazy. Yeah, it might've been a mistake in hindsight. It was fun though, I mean, I met Rafe there too. That was the only time I ever. Yes, I met Rafe there also, yeah. And I watch his show now, Wheel of Time, which is. Wheel of Time.

Really, I'm like, good job, Rafe. This is incredible, you know? Yeah, now were good job, Rafe. This is incredible. Yeah. Now, were you friendly with Rafe when you first came off the show because you both had played so close together? So we had only exchanged a few messages, but they were very kind

because he was the first gay Mormon. And then he said something to me like, you're the gay Mormon who did it and I was like, mm-hmm tried Like I didn't what do you say to that? I don't know like Thanks. Yeah, but he's nice. I really like rave. Yeah it's definitely You know, it's interesting now that because the survivors I feel like that play nowadays with

That like I feel like that play nowadays with, I feel like that they are very, you know, they know each other very well, the people that played on the seasons before and after. And Survivor, I've made this analogy many times, but it is a little bit like high school. If you really do get to know the people that are in the grade ahead of you, and the grade that comes after you,

like you know these people very well. And then the people that are like five grades away from you, you may never meet. Yes, 100%. Like I know this new era, they all talk with each other and they all hang out with each other and they all love each other. But looking back, that was like what we did.

I hung out with people from Fiji and from Micronesia all the way through Heroes of the Villains. It was like exactly what you're saying right now. Yeah and it's actually they may even like spend more time with each other because there's so many this is like the watch party era where that was like back in the old days you just go to like all these like charity events that would happen like every single year and people would show up for them. Now I thought that the charity events don't really happen that much,

but there's a watch party in cities across America every single week. Every single week, and there's like four of them every week in different parts of the country, which is wild. I mean, granted, all those parts of the country are not where I am, so I don't go to these watch parties. Are you still in Utah?

Yeah. Little Utah, we had one We had one watch party that Leslie niece put together. Yes went back in the day or recently Like three season three or four seasons ago. I don't know yeah, so like it seems recent because that was the last thing that I went to but Yeah, yeah, there's a bunch of us here too. Yeah. Who are the survivors that you keep up with? Um, well, Courtney, she was like my love. I, you know, always and forever Sandra, Courtney, and then it's random.

Like I talk to a lot of them because of the pops that I make. Yeah. But other than that. I talk to a lot of them because of the pops that I make. But other than that. Do you talk to a person if you're making the pop figure of them of like, hey, just so you know, like I'm working on Francesca today. No, like they'll order. And the order of them is like,

hey, can I get another me? Or like Liz from 46. I love Liz. She's ordered a bunch of her castmates, Pops, and started talking with her a lot. But then we've got to be able to chat quite a bit. And I loved her on 46 and I like her as a human being. So she's just a fun person. Does anybody ever ask for an order and it's like, hey, a fun person. Does anybody ever like ask for an order?

And it's like, hey, Todd, like, can you make me but like, like, make my muscles bigger? Yes. Like, can you like, not look old. Can you? Yeah. Can you bring the gut in a little bit like. And I said to him, like, sure, if that's what you would like. OK. Yeah, like I had one person who like, sure, if that's what you would like. Okay.

Yeah, like I had one person who was like bald, completely bald. Yeah. And they were like, can you add a little bit more hair? And I'm like, what do you mean add a little bit more? There's none. And by the time I shipped it, it was a full head of hair. And did Russell get mad at you then? Russell gets mad for anything.

Oh, okay. Russell does not have his own pop. Oh, not yet. No, I mean, no. But I'm sure you've made Russell, right? I've made lots of Russells, yeah. But anytime- That would be a good figure to have, like, hey!

Yeah, and he's got his foot down. Give me the idol! Freaking Russell. He's a funny dude. How about the rest of the seasons in the new era? Have you had any strong opinions from these last couple seasons or any players that you've really liked? That I've really liked?

I mean, there's a good handful of people that I thought were really good players. For different reasons as well, though. I mean, Charlie, I thought, played a really good game, you know, he was fun to watch. Carolyn was probably the best TV ever. Jam Jam is hilarious. So I really enjoyed him and his sarcasm. 41, not my favorite. 43, I don't know. Like when it's not on anymore, I haven't, like I don't think about it so much.

Do you hate that they just call it the numbers though? I hate it, Rob. I hate it. Because they all start to blend together when it's just a number and I forget what's what. And then I have to think of the logo, okay? And that's what helps me remember because I picture the buff on them

and that's how my brain works. Yeah, Jeff's talked about how that it's hard because if they run out of good ideas for the themes, and look, I don't disagree. It's hard to come up with some of these good theme names, but- I 100% agree with that. But look at Australian Survivor. good theme names, but I 100% agree with that.

Look at Australian survivor. Those they're on blood versus our brain versus Braun too. They just put that on there. Yeah. It helps. It just makes it easier. Yeah. And then sometimes they call it different things of Titans versus rebels. And what are they champions versus challengers? They come up. It's the same thing every time. Yeah. And it's stupid, but at least gives a title. Yes. Now, you keep up with all the Australian Survivor? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I think I have one episode. I'm very far behind on this season. I'm sure at some point I'll catch up with it. And do you like the Australian Survivor game more at this point? Yes. I love it. It's so good. I don't know what it is about it, but these people play so hard. Yeah.

Australians, I have learned. First of all, there's just huge survivor fans. So the fact that they're getting to play the game of survivor for way less money, but for way longer, doesn't make a whole lot of sense because they get out there and they play their asses off and it's so fun to watch. It's intense also. Yes.

It is so intense. I'd be dead if I was out there. These challenges where they're like throwing people around in the mud and beating. It's like, come on. Yeah. But I love it. Yeah. It's like, come on. Yeah. But I love it. It's great TV. You have been interested in a Australian survivor

versus the world, if they reach out to you? 100%. Yeah. Because I think it would be fun. I think it would be so much fun because I also talk to a lot of Australian survivors, which is crazy. Yeah.

But like, I think like Dirty Harry is probably one of my favorite survivor players of all time. And I would love to play the game of Survivor with him. Have you made a lot of Australian survivor pop figures? Yes. Yeah. There's your typical like King George and Shoney are like the most popular, of course. I mean, as expected, but I've made quite a few of them. Yeah.

What about David, the golden god? Yeah, I've made quite a few of David as well, at least especially when his was airing. None since he's on Deal or No Deal Island. Not one Deal or No Deal Island from him. What's his name? We've made a few Deal or No Deal Island pops, but. Beyond like Boston, Robin Parvati? Neither of them. It was like Miranda.

So Miranda from Deal or No Deal Pop. Pop figure. Wow. And Dixon has ordered one. Dixon, that's a good one. Now you've made all the hosts. Have you made Joe Manganiello? Not yet, but it'll happen, I'm sure. Yeah, take it from me, Todd.

That's a, they get like a tall pop figure. Is he super tall then? I didn't even realize, yeah, apparently. Really? Yeah. All right. Yeah, okay. Really? Yeah. All right. Yeah, okay. Let me ask you, this is something I wanted to

run past you, okay? So there was a conversation that Thomas had with Jeff at the start of the season, and Mike Bloom chronicled this in an article he did on Parade.com, and he talked about this a little bit online. And when Thomas was on the mat at the start of the season, he was asked by Jeff the question about, what was it that made you wanna go

from being a fan to being a player? And Thomas said, so I, like a lot of people, found Survivor in the pandemic. And my husband kind of bullied me that I'd never seen an episode in 2022. He was like, you love pop culture. You're very gay. You should know what this is.

So I started watching and Jeff said, whoa, whoa, hold on. What does being gay have to do with it? And Thomas explained, oh, Survivor is huge with the gays. It's like part of the culture. Yeah. So he was ashamed that I never seen an episode. So of course I'm a completionist and I went from episode one and then I watched 42 seasons and then somewhere along the journey. I can do this. Like a very confident version of me. So I applied and here we are, the dream come true. But Todd, I wanted to ask you about your thoughts about that survivor is part of gay culture. Okay, it's when he said that I was laughing so hard because it is true. And I don't know when

exactly it happened. Yeah, but it happened. It's 100% real. So if you go to any LRG, which is a live reality game or online reality game, you're going to find like probably 80 to 90% of the cast is from the LGBT community, right? And I don't know exactly what it is. I'm thinking, okay, a lot of gays, they love like the Real Housewives, right? Right? And they don't watch Survivor. But the ones that don't love the Real Housewives or like RuPaul's Drag Race, we need the same fix, but we need a little bit of adventure. And so I'm guessing that Survivor did that for us.

So I had heard this story when I was in New York, and they had a big premiere for Survivor 48. I got to go story when I was in New York, and they had a big premiere for Survivor 40, and I got to go there, and I was at, there was a bar function like after the premiere event, and I was there, and this story came up. I think Mike had retold this story about how he couldn't believe that this wasn't in the episode because it was such a memorable moment to him.

And I asked Thomas about this a little bit. And I asked him, my first question was, do you feel like at all because of Richard Hatch being in the first season, that that was such a reason that he was presented and there were not a lot of real gay people on television in the year 2000. Do you think that that was a reason why Survivor struck such a chord with a gay audience?

Do I think that? No, because I, no. Because like, okay, I was 15 and I was not rooting for Richard Hatch back in the day. Like, so to me that had nothing to do with it. I don't know, I just got sucked in. I got sucked into the drama, the gameplay, the manipulation, all of that kind of stuff.

And maybe it's because gays are just naturally born with a lot of those tools, and this was a way for us to use that. Yeah. I don't know. I think it's really interesting because I know from doing the podcast and like getting you know familiar with the audience that I do feel like that there is like a

You know disproportionate amount of people in the you know survivor. You know fandom community Who are I'm hoping I'm not gonna put my foot in my mouth or queer people? Who are people who are fans of'm hoping I'm not gonna put my foot in my mouth, are queer people who are fans of these shows. I don't think that you're putting your foot in your mouth. I mean, it doesn't offend me. If it does to any of the others, then they can suck it. I'm just kidding. But honestly, I don't know exactly why, but it's true.

There is a huge gay follow, And it's always been that way. Yeah. One of my other theories might be that what's appealing to these social strategy shows is that, and this is me not as a gay person, okay? So this is again, hopefully this is not the last episode of Rob is a Podcast. But I would think that you probably need to be

very perceptive to your surroundings as a gay person and that that is like a skillset that really translates to these shows like Survivor and Big Brother. I mean, yeah, that makes sense as well. in Big Brother? I mean, yeah, that makes sense as well. I feel like, no, I really don't. Yes, you are aware to your surroundings. I'm trying to think of the exact reason as to why,

but every viewing party that I've ever gone to, it's like a few families and a bunch of gays Mm-hmm, just everywhere and I don't know why but Thomas is the one who actually made me realize it by saying that on on The show and I was like, what is the what is this? Yeah Yeah, it's a you know, it really is I can't believe that Jeff never heard this before Does Jeff not go to these things ever? I don't know, I mean maybe he's never been invited to a lot of these watch parties.

He's just talking to people on the streets. It is interesting though, because if you look at casting now too, there's so much, it's not just your one gay person per season. It's nice to see that like you don't, they're not gonna just make it so that only one gay person is available per season.

There can be multiple and that's fine. Like I remember back in China, I was afraid our twist was going to be like gays against straights because this was back when they were doing the Cook Island stuff, you know? And I was like, that's what it's gonna be. I guarantee it. And I was like, this is gonna be a nightmare.

But thankfully it was not. Could you imagine how terrible, that would be horrible. Gays would win, just saying. Yeah, I mean, but like, if you were on a tribe that was all gay, I kind of feel like, because I know back from when we did a lot of the panels in 2000 talking about the representation of black people on Survivor, a lot of the people that we talked to said, hey, you know what was a great season?

Cook Islands. Because you know what? There was five black people on that season. And I think that a lot of white people were like, that's a very racist idea to have like, and a lot of the black survivor players, they're like, no, I love that idea. Back in the day, I just remember thinking like, this is, this is crazy. This is a wild twist, because it's, it seemed as if they were pitting the races against each other. But looking back at it now, it was a really awesome first step into making it is what

it is today. Because now it's like, let's cast everybody and not have a limit. And it allows us to see these personalities that we never would have gotten before because they're not typecast anymore. Do you know what I mean? Which I love, I think it's great. Like, and I hate when people will complain to me and they're like, I hate that it has to be this 50%

or whatever, I'm like, why? Like, why do you hate that? What is this about you? What's wrong with you that you hate this? You know? I don't know. It's just a mess. Yeah.

Todd, what about Big Brother? Do you make a lot of Big Brother pop figures? I make, I make handfuls of them, yes. So it depends on whether or not, like, someone is a super standout of the season. on whether or not someone is a super standout of the season. I'm trying to think who I've made the most of. Like I've made Rachel and Brendan and of course, Suri because she-

That's true. Did that spike the Suri pop figure sales when she was at Big Brother? Yes. Oh, and Jag. I've made a couple of Jag. Oh, okay. Yeah, who else? It's always very Ren... Oh, Janelle, obviously Janelle. You can't not have Janelle as a pop here.

Are there a lot of other pop culture figures that you like, characters from other things that you make a lot of? Or those things are available in the store, and I don't need to go to Todd for that one. So what's interesting is like they'll release the collection right you were talking about like Five Nights at Freddy's your kids have all of these but I guarantee you there's one missing mm-hmm there's one they didn't make yeah and those people will come to me to make that yeah so

I'll make random people from shows that Were missing a main character in their pop line and who knows why it wasn't made I don't know, but I'm happy to make them but like I Also get a lot of like really super random Like the woman from Frasier. I like someone wanted her from Frasier, like someone wanted her. The woman from Frasier? Yeah. Daphne?

I don't remember her name though. She had the slick back hair with the bun. Okay, I think that's Daphne. Not Roz. It is Roz. Roz? Somebody wanted a Roz pop figure from Frasier? Yeah.

Or like- I guess we could have somebody who would want from Frasier? Yeah. Or like, uh... I guess if somebody would want a Frasier pop figure. I... You would be shocked at what people would be like. Tell me. It's so bizarre. Well, I'm looking around my desk to see who I'm working on currently. Okay, Todd, can I ask another question?

Okay. Yeah. Right. Has anybody ever said, uh, can you make this person naked? Has anybody ever... Yes. Yeah. Right. Has anybody ever said, can you make this person naked? Has anybody ever? Yes. Yeah. And what do you say? That's like, no, I'm not doing that. I can place things in areas to cover certain bits.

Okay. But there's a limit. You know, like I'm not making like you're cutting. You'll only do like tasteful nudity. Yes. So like the blur, you know the blur? Yes. Okay. I. Okay. Yes. I'll make the blur on the pot. Like I've done sugar. Yeah. Where it's like lost her top and it's just a blur right here. Yeah. So yeah. I see I would like what if I wanted like the whole heroes versus villains set like Yeah, how much would that cost if I say like I want I want the whole heroes or I want play heroes versus villains

So normally I would do like a breakdown of like the hat will cost this much the glasses will cost this much blah blah But if you were to order 20, I would say like I'll do them for $85 each. Okay It can have the hat it can can have the torch, it can have you know what I mean. For $1,700 I could get the whole Heroes vs Villains set. The whole set. That's not the box set. I'll even make a tribal council for you. Wow. Okay. That's pretty good. Yeah. I try honestly I try to stay like within a reasonable price range Yeah, because like a lot of survivor fans are young and like, yeah They want their they want their pops. So like I do my best

But I'm not charging $15. Sorry. Yeah, okay Todd speaking of 15, let me go back to Survivor China and ask you, if you don't mind answering, are there people from Survivor China that you think belong on Survivor 50 when they make that decision? So I will not be surprised if we see Amanda. And I would be okay with that because she has kind of like stepped out of the survivor world completely

for a long time. And she's, you know, finalist twice, yet to win, played three times. People love her. She played three times in a very small period of time. She played 15, 16, 20. And then it seemed like a lot in the time, but when we sort of take a step back from Survivor history,

that was a very small amount of time. What is there, like three years total in between all of that and out of 25 years of the show? Well, and we had just gotten back from China and she left three weeks later to go play 16. This is back when the filming wasn't back to back. You know, so like she was gone all while China was airing. So like it's pretty impressive what she did.

So I think it would be really fun to see her play. From my season, as far as 50 goes, I think that would be a really great representation. Yeah, that would be exciting. And I feel like that nobody's even seen her since like 2011. Nobody. Yeah. She's gone. Who knows?

Who knows, she'd be such a wild card. I know, it would be awesome. Has she even watched an episode since then? Who knows? I don't know. Nobody's been able to talk to her. I, her numbers change, she's moved away. It's like know. Nobody's been able to talk to her. Her number's changed, she's moved away. It's like, hello, I would love to talk to you.

One time she was on the podcast and I got, it was like a coup that I got her to do the podcast and I was very excited. It must've been like maybe like 2011, 2012. I got her to be on the podcast and she was like, she was like doing something that day. And then she was like, I must have texted me or called me and said like, Hey, I didn't watch the episode. Like, okay. And then she's like, and also I'm going to be in the car. So I interviewed her about the episode of Survivor.

It must have been like Redemption Island or something. She had not watched the episode. But we did it. You made it work. We made it work. We made it happen. And that's what we love about Amanda is you make it work. You made it work.

It was exciting. Yes, I'm sure it was. Actually, to be completely honest, like PG, I think that PG would be super awesome to see play again just because I really wanted her to do well in Cambodia. And like I hated her

in China, but I love her in real life. That kind of stuff. So she would be fun, like, because she's incredible as a person. Had some bad luck with the tribe swap also. Yeah, poor thing. But she's got a lot going on in her life now and she's doing well. We love to see that. Todd, is there anything else on your mind in terms of talking about Survivor? Oh my gosh. Well, I did say that I would tell. Okay, so you know how I said I'm giving away

that Amazon Pop? So I host these weekly drawings every Tuesday to give away some fun Survivor pops. And I've got this like little chat group through Facebook who are filled with Survivor fans where I do like drawings and prizes stuff I told them I would say hello to all of the TPS Friends. So hello all of them. What the Todd's pop sockets TPS Hop shop pop shop. Okay, yeah so I gets on the back of your phone You like listen, I'm also I'm old. Okay, I'm doing the best I can. I couldn't remember Chrissy before, and this is like my ninth Survivor podcast of the week.

It is all good. But no, it's Todd's Pop Shop. So we, I host like little challenges, and it's just a bunch of Survivor fans who, they love the show. Yes, okay. So they're all together. I made a place basically

where they can all come and be friends. Yes. And it's fun Well, that's so important to connect people in the survivor community I always believe that you know people are looking for Connection around these shows and getting to be able to talk to other people who love this stuff. Can how do people join? uh Todd's pop shop They just message me Hit me up on Facebook and say I want in cheer chat

No, let's chat. Mm-hmm. What if I just love Todd and I don't care about a pop shop What if I don't care about pop figures? That's totally fine. Yeah, what if I keep up with Todd? Say hi Facebook Facebook or Instagram. Mm-hmm. How do you know when it's a raffle? Facebook or Instagram. How do people win? It's a raffle? Yeah, so I do like little raffle drawings, but then in the chat that I have I'll host little challenges. Yeah, so

scavenger hunts or puzzles that I make or like things that they have to solve and Fit together and I mean we're talking like we get pretty pretty serious up in there. Yeah, it's crazy. And then they also will host their own. So I'll put time slots for every Tuesday where they can claim a time slot and in the chat host their own challenge. All right, a couple more questions Todd. Yes. John Robert. Does anybody keep up with him? I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Yeah The last I heard from him, he had twins. Oh, congratulations to Jean Robert. I remember like in the early days of Rob's applied case, I feel like he used to be kind of active on Twitter. Yeah, he used to be active on quite a bit of social media. And then I think like once he became a dad, I

think he kind of stopped. That, that happens. I can imagine. Yeah. Todd, has anybody in the new era impressed you with their final tribal council performance? Because I feel like that we always say, Todd had the best final tribal council. Stop, you're too nice. Marianne obviously had a wonderful final tribal council, because I did not think she was going to win

And then she she did a great job. I also I thought Sam did a really good job Yeah, I see I went into the finale confident that Rachel was going to win He was like he's like hey like I'm not going home without a fight When he was done talking I was like did he just steal the million dollars did he do it? Yeah, cuz he may have um So yeah, I have to give him mad props because that was a really good final tribal council I Think those are the ones that set out the most to be honest. Yeah

Yeah Todd any any other like I feel like I don't know. Todd, any other, like I feel like I don't wanna let you go because I guess we can get you back, but I feel like I'm gonna think of good things to ask you after we get done. You probably will, and I'll probably think of good things to say when we're done because like yeah, I mean

Other than making toys for yeah, I like anybody Tell you that you look like Adam Scott. Yes. Yes Yes, yes, I did that. Yeah, I feel like you know when we could just like put this like Hair that I've got like I just put this like screenshot this and put this in the severance podcast feed and be like, Hey, huge interview coming up. Adam Scott. No, I've gotten that for quite a long time. Isn't he a survivor fan too? I wonder if he's in the, uh, the, the audience at one of the, I want to say it's the survivor redemption Island finale. I think you can spot him in the audience. Yeah, you're right. And so I wonder if he has ever thought that. Did I look like Todd?

I'm sure he would say Todd looks like me. Maybe. Which is fair. But probably when he watched Survivor China, I don't think he was famous. Well, and let's be honest, like that was 17 years ago. I was a tiny little twink back then. Come on. But maybe he was too.

Maybe, I guess. a tiny little twink back then. Come on. But maybe he was too. Maybe, I guess. But I mean, that's a possibility. I don't know, Rob, what's new with you? What's going on? Yeah, just, I mean, for me, it's usually, you know, pretty much same old, same old. I'm like, you know, sitting in this room doing a bunch of podcasts.

Who's your favorite final travel from the new era? From the new era. I would say, yeah, Mary Ann had a good one. Jam Jam, I think, was very good in the Final Tribal Council also. That he said something that always sticks with me. That he said, he told the jury, and nobody has like flipped somebody around

the way that you were able to do like with Jean Robert. But Jam Jam said that he's like, I could tell when you were lying because I would ask you about your love and your passion and you would speak and your eyes would light up and I would look at your eyes. And then when you lie, you didn't have that sparkle in your eye. And he was able to like that that was, he was, he was really good in the final travel. Cause D had that like moment where she is like, uh, like, and hold on everybody. Guess what?

I duped Austin because he told me and I knew, uh, and that was like a really like, uh, you know, checkmate moment that she had in that final travel council. Um, I think those were the ones that were the real standouts. you know, checkmate moment that she had in that final tribal council. I think those were the ones that were the real standouts. Standouts that hit you. I get that. So like, okay, from season six. But I wish they would bring back the old tribal council format.

People don't talk about it enough. Do you think that might be one of the things that we get a vote on? I don't think so. What do you think of the votes? What do you think of the voting? What do you think of the voting? I think the idea is wonderful. Yeah, the idea.

But I feel like it's it's set up in a way to like, please, come on. I feel like that. Oh, I look. Final Four Fire Making. I'll I'll concede that one. But I feel like a lot of the stuff that they're voting on, it's not really stuff that you were really like, like, it's not like,

like, I want to have a say if there's a tribe swap like, like, I want to have a say if there's a tribe swap. It's like, I want to have a say if there's 26 days or 39 days, you know, like, should we go back to the old final trial, but council format? Like, you know, there's there's things that should we have two tribes or three tribes? Like, I think that there are things that people really would like to see change, but I don't think that those things are going to be on the ballot. No, they won't be because the questions are pretty basic and like almost in a way of like, duh, you know, like we're going to see, should there be a loved ones visit or no? Like, obviously if they can manage to get that deal with Fiji, it's going to be a yes,

but then they're going to put it as a question. And we know what the answer will be. Like, so that's what I'm getting the feeling. Even though the color, the buffs, I was like, these are the options that you're giving us like, come on now. But the old tribal council format is something that I will really argue for, because I feel like that and your season was such a great example. And, you know, Cochran was another one that did a great job at the final tribal council, where it's like you get somebody up there

and it's like, hey, I'm mad. Absolutely. And then it's like, okay, well now how do I how do I answer this person's question as opposed to like, we've all been talking. And not only that, but I feel like it also had the open part, because you could they would ask a question, and then we would give our opening and closing and like people could ask questions. It was just better. It was so much better. And so it was, it's something that I thought was really great of like, how do I like score this point with like, you know, how do I get this person's vote that I screwed over so badly? Now am I going to be able to flip them around with my answer? And how does a person what are they going to say?

They're going to really go off. So I think that with the they had really big juries of like 10 people. And so it was getting like a little long in the tooth to do it. But they've been pretty consistent that it's been eight people always in the new era. And I think that they've even kind of gone back to it a little bit, like in these last couple of seasons, it's like, it's still technically the open forum, but it's like, okay, now Q has a question. Like now, you know, now Kevin has a question.

Now I don't know why I'm stuck on 46, but they, but they did do like each person has a, you know, a question these last couple of travel councils. And I, I like that it's slowly going back. And I honestly, I don't know why I didn't think of it. The fact that they did have these huge juries and that's why they probably were like, let's go. But I please go back, please go back to it because it is so much better. We need that. And it can make or break someone's game right there. In the end, it can change the whole thing. Yeah.

I think also because of it being the final three, there would be like, you know, there's always like one or two people that are getting all the questions. And then like, there was always like a zero vote person that nobody's getting any sort of questions, you know. I think- Go back to that format, but make it,

make it be that it has to be a question that each person can answer. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then you'll get the response from everybody. Yeah. I think China's one of the only seasons where everybody in the final three got a vote. Yeah. I mean, it's very rare. Didn't Kenzie, this last one, who was third? I think it was Liz. No, I'm sorry. Ben and Ben got no votes. Oh yeah. He got no, I never mind. Ignore what I was just trying to come up. It doesn't happen to I'm sure it has happened where, you know, it's the three different people have gotten

votes but I think out of like however many final three, I feel like it's only like three or four times that, you know, Bob's fact checker back me up on this, but I feel like it's only like three or four times that, you know, Rob's fact checker back me up on this. But I feel like it's only a very, it's a very small percentage of the time that the third person even gets a vote. And do you know what people, people will ask me like, oh, do you wish you got more votes? And I'm like, no, like, are you kidding me?

First of all, it made our final that much juicier. Second of all, all I needed was four. Thank you. That's it. Like I don't care if I got everybody's vote. I didn't need to be unanimous. The end. Was four, two, one?

Yeah. Yeah. And that was good TV. Come on now. Hey, you won by two. A lot of people only win by one. Yes. Yeah. Exactly.

Okay. And unanimous votes are boring. Like nobody wants that. Yeah. Overrated. It's so boring. Mm-hmm Nothing, Todd besides Survivor the Wheel of Time. Do you watch anything else? Yeah, I watch everything. I love Yeah, well, I'm making pops. I watch TV. Yeah, I see everything but a white lotus. I'm obsessed. Yeah, I love my lotus I watch yellow jackets. That's really

good. Did you see the Yellow Jackets Survivor commercial? Yes, it's incredible. I love it. Like it's, it was, I mean, it's pretty cheesy, but it's awesome at the same time. I think it's great publicity right there. Like these girls are crazy. Do you watch Yellow Jackets? I don't. Rob, it is good. Yeah. Okay. It is. It is crazy. Yeah. But it's. Do you watch White Lotus? Yes. Yes. I podcast the White Lotus. Oh, I love to say I love to talk like Todd. You're not a Buddhist.

No, no, no. I freak. Todd, don't go. Don't go in the temple. It's so good. And it was the greatest episode last night, too. Yes. Yes, it was good. It was so good. It's so good. And it was the greatest episode last night too. Yes, yes, it was good. It was so good. It was so good.

I love, Mike White is a genius. It is just so wonderful. How many Mike White pop figures have you made? I've made a good him, I've made him a pop. Oh. Yeah, that was like- Of himself? Yes.

It was like a highlight of my year when I did. Cause then I, so Angelina actually bought it for him and then sent me a picture of him holding it. And I was like, Ned, I love you. So yeah, it was one of those times. Yeah, that's a nice one. Yeah, I love Mike Wyatt and I love White Lotus and I just give him mad praise.

Yeah, all right. Well, Todd, thank you for making time to talk with us. I'm sure I want to speak for the listeners and the viewers to say that we really, it's great to hear from you. And it's great to hear that the TPS is doing so well. Thank you. Honestly, I've had a wonderful time. It's so good to be back on your podcast.

Everybody loves you, Rob. And I love you, too. So thank you for on your podcast. Everybody loves you, Rob, and I love you too. So thank you for having me. Yeah, we'll love you too, Todd. And of course, people check out the Todd's Pop Shop on Facebook. Anything else you want people to check out? You can check out my Instagram, Todd's Pop Shop,

or Facebook. Maybe if you're not buying, just look at them. Just look, it's fun. I've made over 5,000 of them, and there's so many to look at. It's fun. Okay, all right. And everybody else, we're gonna be back on Wednesday night

with Stephen Fishback to talk about episode... I'm sorry, actually, no, I'm sorry. Stephen is out this week. He's on spring break, Todd. You believe this guy? He's gotta be partying it up. Yeah, yeah, but somehow can you believe, are you surprised that Steven hasn't retired from podcasting? I'm not surprised because it's

Steve. He's a lifer. He's a lifer. And he loves this stuff. Yeah, he's in it. He gave out two fishies last week. What do you think of that? I think okay, because it was between Camilla and Kyle, right? He gave them both a fishy. I think that okay, because it was between Camilla and Kyle, right? Yes, he gave them both a fishy. I think that's pretty impressive. Although I do think it was probably more deserving for Camilla. I thought so too. And I said, I don't like that you give out two fishies. He's like, well, he doesn't like to have to, you know, make a tough call.

He just wants to say, here, you get a fishy, you get a fishy. Like, well, to me, you're devaluing the fishy when you give out two. Yes, and I'm sorry, but Camilla's the one who had the brains behind the whole operation. I said, if it's 51.49, give it to the person that won. Don't just give out. You know what I call it?

I call it a participation fishy. Yes. It's just a fish. Yeah, okay. And not even a cool one like an angler. No. Yeah. Hello. This is the coolest. That's the cool fishy award. But he's not going to be here on Wednesday. Omer is going to fill in for Stephen and I'm going to give out the fishy

and I'm going to get it right this week, Todd. Oh, that's I have no doubt in my mind that you will get it right. I'll give that three. And, oh, don't do that. You'll really be devaluing the fishy. Wee, fishy machine says brr. Okay, all right, thank you so much for joining us. We love to read what we have to say in the comments.

Take care of a good one, bye.