The 3W Podcast

The 3W Podcast: Amanda Whittaker - Part 2

• Kasie Yokley

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Batteries found, Ferblets chirping and the timer on Perfection primed — this conversation with Amanda Whittaker from Hasbro is a full-on joy sprint through toys, games and the little moments that reset a busy home. We dive into why robotic pets like DJ Furby and Nanimal feel fresh yet familiar, how Monopoly evolves without losing its soul, and the surprising power of fast, low-friction games to pull kids off screens and back to the table.

We explore Monopoly’s modern toolkit — bundles, expansion packs and Monopoly Deal for quick sessions — plus licensed editions that make fandoms feel at home on the board. The energy ramps up with Perfection and Operation (yes, we still scream when the pieces pop), and we trade DIY game hacks: writing challenges on Jenga blocks, custom Guess Who boards for birthdays and Etsy-inspired upgrades that turn party nights into keepsakes. Connect 4 Frenzy earns a nod for high-speed chaos, while app banking keeps Monopoly relevant in a tap-first world.

Beyond the box, we follow the screen-to-shelf pipeline: Nerf parties that take over trampoline parks, a live Monopoly experience in New York, and Peppa Pig’s evolving family driving new toys and real-life adventures. Collectors and kids meet in the Transformers aisle, Baby Alive taps nurturing play at accessible price points, and the old-school toy catalog still wins hearts you can circle and dog-ear. We also get real about parenting bandwidth and why the harmless “6-7” meme is a reminder to protect small joy when the calendar gets loud.

If you need a practical plan for Q4 sanity, start here: pick a game that fits your window, grab snacks and let play do the rest. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a brain break and leave a review telling us your family’s go-to game — and the one you finally finished.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey everybody, welcome back to the 3W Podcast. This is part two with my girlfriend Amanda from Hasbro. Actually, she has a real name, Amanda Whitaker. I'll go with girlfriend Amanda. That's okay. I like girlfriend Amanda better with Hasbro. So I hope you joined part one because it was a hot mess of all things toys. But, and I jump around, y'all already know this. But um, we are jumping all in to toys and games like legit furblets. Which I'm just gonna give a shout out before I forget. Yes. We just unboxed these here. We did not do uh Ryan's World on boards. No, we didn't. So it was nothing formal because we were just we were like, do we even have batteries? Are these gonna work? These are real fast in real life. So we're asking the tough questions. Do we have batteries? Do we have batteries? And you had batteries, and we had batteries. I don't know how Ferblet works, but she she comes already ready to eat. But sometimes we heard it. She was talking when we took her out. She has a lot to say. Um law, of course, hula. She has a she's like a pineapple. Oh, obviously she's a pineapple. See, she's got a little pineapple, so do you use it? Oh, I was like giving her a swoop. I was giving her talk to her and all of the phone. Once you kind of wake her up though, she doesn't go back to sleep easily. But she does clip on that. I know she clips on, so she's like a clip. And her little, like yes, so she's collectible. You can get a four-pack at Walmart, you can get them individual. These are the Ferblettes that are Ferblettes, the babies, the babies. Um Mama Furby, I like to call her, but the Furby we all know and love. Yes. And then there's even now DJ Furby, which is a longer rainbow. DJ Furby is a big deal this year. Big deal. Huge deal at Walmart. Does she like spin tracks? Is this why she's a teacher? And she gets to know you and your vibe, and you can want to party with her, and like this whole robotic pet thing is a little out of my comfort zone. But she's everyone is a huge fan of the game. What was that one thing? When we were little, like a yeah, I was a Tamagotchi girl. Is that what? Yeah. So Tamagotchi was like my age, but now we have to feed it. You'd feed it, and she yells at you when she goes to sleep. The good news is Hasbro also has a new one called a Nanimal that's very similar. So great. You can obviously get at Walmart. Yes. Um, shameless plugs, always. Always. Always. Um, we're in Walmart's backyard. Let's do it, right? And it's it is how I'm paid. So that's part of it is like this Nanimal, this robotic pet trend. So think about like what Laboooboo did in social media. Furby and mammals are way cooler, I promise. Obviously. And obviously, it's stuck around a little bit. Because we try to be more classic versus trends. Exactly. Yes. And like vintage. Right. Yeah, classic. Yeah. So new twist on a classic toy. Super cute. Yes. Okay. Also, I'm just gonna throw us under the bus because y'all all know I'm pretty authentic like that. Today, the day of the recording, is National Monopoly Day. Yes. So how fun is that? Happy Monopoly Day today. People who to all those who celebrate are playing Monopoly right now, that are playing deal, that are doing all the things Monopoly. There is actually a day, November 19th. For those who want to save it for next year as well, put it on your calendars. Yeah, huge. Buy your monopoly. Yes. Alright. So do we have some fun monopolies out? We do. There's always fun monopolies. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the classic. There's bundles that also include expansion packs. If you really want to get aggressive with your like real estate mobile. That exists. Right. So there's multiple expansion packs. You can also play it in a faster-paced card version, some Monopoly deal. I've seen that super popular on the go with card games. Okay. But then you've also got like twists on Monopoly, right? So like we partner with our, if you saw episode one, um, episode two, we will explain how Monopoly as an owned brand also partners with like licenses like Wicked or Stitch, like our Disney partners, like we're able to bring some of those like beloved names onto Monopoly and have that same experience. So I love that. More to come every year. So being a Wicked fan. Yes. Have you seen the Wicked Oppoly Wicked Oppoly? Is that what we call it? Or Wicked Monopoly? It would be Monopoly. It'd be Wicked Monopoly. Wicked Monopoly. We'll stay true to this one. So who would be the man in the top hat? Is it Glenda? Right. Glenda, yeah. Who's it? Elsa Bell. And all the characters and the way in which she goes around Oz. Okay. Yes. That's fun. And Stitch. Have you seen the Stitch?

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. It's okay. Stitch item. I love Stitch. Listen, kids love Stitch. It's just super popular. Yeah. I don't understand some of those. The the movie, as the movies, as my kids age, the boys that are younger weren't as popular when my kids were little. Right. My kids, um, Stitch kind of came out towards the tail end. Yes. So, but now Stitch came out in real life. Exactly. Right. Yes. So I I don't know. Bluey's another one that we don't we don't understand. So we partnered with Bluey on a few other games like Shoes and Ladders. Bluey is doing great. Um, people love it. You can't put Bluey on anything that doesn't do well. Um but that's a property that like was brand new. My kids were very little. So we were like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Yeah, we were Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Um so yeah. Yeah, we were Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cars. But that's the fun thing about this, is like as the titles and the characters and the like what you see on screen evolves, like we're able as a toy company to adapt and mold and like license or create. Which is fun. I like the partnering. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so we have but speaking of the new. Speaking of new, what is old as new? Now we have old. What is old as new? Yes, what's that from? You're calling me old. Huh? You think I think you're calling me old. I'm older than new. So perfection is um, I brought this in for Casey to play because you know we all I grew up with this. We grew up with this game, and I joke that it is probably part of why we're all very high strung and high energy and bouncing all over the place because we grew up playing games that were time-bound and specific, and this is why I'm a recovering perfectionist. Um, but yeah, so I'm gonna set this up. So if you are not as most of you know, you set a timer. If you haven't, then you'll get to see how we're gonna do this. I gotta win Barbie. E B red. Barbie Scooch. Oh, I don't remember multiple colors. Right? No, this is like this is like an amped up one. Yeah, you be red. You play it first. And try to get all the pieces. Okay, we'll play it. I like that. And we'll just try to get the right pieces and it'll be quick. And you have to get them all in the right shapes and before the buzzer expands. And we scream. And we scream every time. Which is why we're always in a hurry. Yes. Road rage is real. Road rage is real, thank you. Yes. So if we start this we have take it 60 seconds. Okay. And it came with it. Continue to stop. Turn timer. And real life. Come on. Do you think I got to play all the time? That's my tag down and secondary. And then we have to all experience how this makes the dream work. That's what I meant to say. I just feel like I and then that's how we did it. So two people makes it fun. Um, but yeah, these are the fun games right now at Walmart. But like, I mean, that's clearly game that fun down, family game night. See how fast you can do it. Try to do it in less than 60 seconds. You can set the timer up if you want. It would be funny. But if you don't, then your heart rate goes up and everyone gets to enjoy the exciting part of how this goes. Just like Operation. Just like Operation the Buzz, and like we're all too jittery and too caffeinated, probably to play that today. Um, but Operation Jinga Perfection. Jingos things that like uh allow you to focus for a minute off of, like I said, off the screens, off the TV. Go back to it, watch your dancing with a star and jingle. Is did you ever do this? Did you take your Jenga's back in the old school days? And um, and by old school I mean the last 20 years. Yeah. Um write on them. Oh, little messages, um, challenges. Ooh, like like fighting words.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, maybe, maybe, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yes, challenges. Yeah. Now I'm caught up with you. Um poor decision challenges. Poor decisions. Oh, like this. You could play with Truth of Daredinga. It is kind of cool though, and that's like a total sidebar. But when I was looking on Etsy the other day for something completely unrelated, how many people are doing things with our games, which I'm highly like a fan of? Like, guess who people are making their own little characters out of? I saw someone was making like a someone's birthday, and like there was a whole group of people, or like a 20-year reunion. Oh, that's so creative. That's awesome. Right? So that's one that we've kind of jumped on that trend. Also, like adding stickers and different textiles into like play-doh creations. I'm seeing people do on Etsy. But Jenga, they're like coloring the blocks or like putting names in different like ways. Yes. I'm expecting like a gender reveal or something to come out of one of our games at some point. Oh, that's fantastic. There's so many things that people are able to do with just like the core. Yes. That I I'm like super blown away by how creative the world is. I love that. We're giving you a base tour and then go nuts. And you're never too old for it. I'm never too old for it. I totally think you are. It's like our earlier, um, while we were like reviewing our notes. I have such a good guess who story, or it's good to me. Because kids are always on screens. I love a story. Always on screens. We're always in a hurry. Always. Never not in a hurry. And it was a year ago last summer, we were at like a throwback restaurant that has a ton of games, and my kids grabbed guess who. I love that. And one of them was real hangry because we had just picked him up from camp, so he was like on the edge of the city. The other one was just annoying because because that's what kid does. Yeah. And so they got this out and they actually played, and then the food came, and the little one was like fine. And I was like, I literally ordered it in the car on the way home. Something they can do together. Yes. And Battleship has that same effect. Try it with Battleship too. Like, I'm shocked how many people like will focus on Battleship, and it's that one-to-one, like where you actually have to think and strategize and think for someone else, and it just takes them out of their mind for a second of like what else is crazy and brings them back to just like something fun. It was a brain break. Yes, it was a brain break. That's a great way to put it. And most of these games are easily playable. Some of them are in a minute. Yeah. Um, Connect 4 Frenzy is a fun one. I'm not good at it. So Connect 4 Frenzy, I joke, is like a play on quarters. So what about like popping? Yes, popping the disc to land and still trying to get a four in a row up down diagonal, four corners, okay, but you're doing it with your partner at the same time, popping the disc into the hole. So, like, Connect 4 Frenzy is a hot one, but it's just it's a quick gameplay. You can make it a drinking game, you can make it a fun family game. You make your own experience. But I love that, like whether you've got 10 minutes or an hour from an Apple A or more, um, there's something for everyone. Half of my family loves Monopoly. I like Monopoly because I grew up with it. Like the OG. The OG Monopoly. Thank you. Everybody wants part play. Obviously. Right. But then once you have kids, kind of change agents, I think, is part of it. Really low. Yeah, it's really low. I'm like, fine, give me the orange. I don't even know. Like, how do you play it in a more fast-paced like world that we live in? Um, Monopoly app banking is one that actually incorporates your phone. Like, you can actually like keep up with your calculator, like add kind of like the like the paper money and how like paper money paper money all the time. But like that's the cool part about like how these games are evolving, and they all come from a story of like, all right, what is the pain point of the actual like game player or the shopper? Like, what are we trying to do to make sure that like there's a good game for everyone at an affordable price that they can then make their own and make their own memories of it? Have you ever finished a game on Monopoly? My son loves it. You've literally had to do it once. And like literally finished it. But I mean, I'm talking this was years ago, and I've never done it since. And I find the little shortcut. Like, but then it got to where, like, bless his heart, he actually has a friend who will play it with him. Um as long as like the high school isn't listening to this, like they will play it in the library, so at least it's like legit. But this is what they're doing when they're supposed to be studying sell the cell or bell the bell bell. Um thank you for that. Because now my son has someone that will play Monopoly with him. Because Lord knows nobody in our house is gonna play it with him because he does. He takes it very seriously. And I love this. But our youngest second born. It's a secondborn, it's a second-born kid. And it's like personal. I'm like, what is it? Yeah, give me that. Let's go. Yahtzee, the math. Like, give me a strategy, yeah. Puzzle. Our family loves a puzzle. But like Monopoly is my son. Yeah. And I know you can see the difference in child. There would be an interesting strategy to be like, I know what games resonate with like what uh personality types. Like that could be a fun little like I need very few rules, which is probably why perfection is so great for me. I'm like the shade and the whole in this amount of time. Once we're on set two, I've already zoned out. I'm like the above. Yeah, so I'm like, oh my gosh. And I love Monopoly. I'm like, just put me on free parking or just put me in jail. I'm fine. I have a jail for a minute. We're parents, we need a break. But I love their love for it. And then they started getting upset with each other, and then we got name calling, and I'm like, I love this. I know. You like the family bonding a lot of kids when it comes out of these family bonding moments. Yes. Like, who's gonna be the banker? And I'm like, I'm gonna be the banker. I got to all of y'all. Yeah, and then you decide who gets the money. Yeah, sorry. I forgot. Sorry, because we're already sad. My dad got distracted. I know that. Okay, what do your kids love? Nerf. Nerf blasters. Yes. So being a boy mom of two, obviously, I have so many nerf bullets, which are a lot softer to step on than another connector person that I I wish on some people sometimes. I mean, it's a good one to wish on, right? But having to clean up clean up the different darts and the different sizes, and like I know boy moms, like and I was the same way. We had buckets. Bucket of one bucket was all of like the blasters, one bucket was all of the darts, and then we had all the accessories and all the things, and the mask, yeah, and the wars that went on up in the playoffs. Um but it's so fun because that's just who nerf is, right? It's that like safe, fun, um back to the imaginative play of like everyone has a story or an experience with a Nerf battle. And I didn't grow up with Nerf in any shape or form because I'm an only child. And so we didn't battle it. We didn't know. Our parents didn't play with us. They did not play with that one. They did not play with us. Yes, I got a little sister to go play with. That's what I got. Yes. So I got a playroom with all the things, and um, I had this game, which I love, but I mean because they can still play to collaborator. I had tons of play-doh, but I mean I and I was buried and uh understanding. So they make sense together. And I had a grocery store. Oh, yes, you know, and this was back in the day when you had to checks okay, and I would scream check okay on aisle nine because that's how old I am. And my mom would have been Mall Madness too. Were you ever a Mall Madness girl? I was not a Mall Madness. That was when you ask me before like what is it like to walk in our like home office? Like you can see these old games that I was like, oh my gosh, I forgot, or like the designer plates, or like the different things that like you kind of like evoke a memory. I have a lot of godhood the Mall Madness, Pretty Princess, like some of these that were like popular when we were kids are like trying to make it come back. Yeah, you're like, oh, I really want to do that, or like I'm playing nostalgia a lot. And when Toy Story came back out, or and there's another one coming next year, and you have done. No, but the Toy Story 5 is coming. Yes, Toy Story 5 is coming. Yes, but I remember when Toy Story came out, uh was it in the 90s? It had to be. Or was it in the 2000s? I don't know. But it put like Mr. Potato Head back on the scene again. And I love my tater, right? And I had Mr. and Mrs. Potato or Chase had Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and I'm almost like, oh my god, you don't even know. Like I grew up with Mr. and Mrs. And these toys that are just generational, right? And like I had that, so my kid does, and then hopefully their kid does, and like when you can pass those experiences down and like you look at it and go, oh, this is a little different, and this is fun, and like the years have changed, or the message has changed a little bit, but at the end of the day, the potato butt. Yes, the potato butt has not changed, and I like the consistency of that. But like that's the fun part is like, okay, like maybe it has evolved a little bit, but the core game is still there. It's still there. Okay, back to Nerf. Nerf Nerf is still there. Nerf is Nerf is still there. The core of Nerf is still there. Like I said, I did a real Nerf experience that it's like Nerf as a brand is still like alive and well. Insane. Insane. Do you so does Nerf have its like own innovation warehouse? Because you would almost need like an indoor paintball sponge-filled room to like test a battle. Like we have funny stories of when we bring our Walmart merchants in for like what we call previews of like the next couple years lines, right? And we're talking about innovation or like how this loads in and all the different like darts that it holds and things. It is really funny. I've actually been a part of where like one has kind of gone a little wrong and like popped one of our like sweet DMMs in the face, like in the middle of a meeting. So, like we have to try this stuff out. We have the you know bullseyes, and we have all these rooms, and we think we've got it all like we're gonna show you how great this is, and then they're still gonna shoot them at you, right? Because we can buy as parents. Everybody was okay, nobody was hard in the making up. But like it's just it's and everyone laughs. Yeah. And I think that's part of it, is like you can sometimes take yourself too seriously. And as a brand, there are times where we take ourselves too seriously in the work world, and even in just like the world in which we live in. But like that moment had got everyone like for a moment, we're like, Are you okay? Making sure obviously she's not injured, and then we all died laughing. Right. And let's not do that. Thankfully, phone is probably gonna do paradigm damage. Like a baby, like a baby guy. Um speaking of holiday babies. But I think that's like the fun of getting out, getting in these like meetings, getting our like merchants to play. I love our games merchants because when we have meetings, they always don't play a game with us. Like even when we have crazy things going on, sometimes we'll just stop and like actually do business. Yeah, but also part of the selling process for us is playing the game. The game when we launch a new card game, when we launch a new like strategy game, how else do you explain the rest of someone? It's just easy to go through it and be like, and then let's play. And it's so funny. It took me a minute when I got moved into halfway. That was a brain shift. That was a brain shift to be like, I'm sorry, but what you want me to go play a game? Like, I got things to do. I gotta email themselves. Right, I really need to. And y'all are laughing and cutting up, building play-doh, and like you'll find play-doh creations all around our office, and like it took me a good hot minute to realize that's my job. Right, I can't. And so that's tough. Like sitting in very like strategic long-term meetings, and I look over and like we're rolling play-doh balls, and like we're lining up play-doh Barbies, and we got a Furby going off over here, and someone comes in with a nerf, and you're like, I'm supposed to take this seriously. And then that's when you don't have your numbers, say them again. I dare you, I dare you to have your JVP target. Like, I think that's the fun of like we have a unique position to where we're We can say that and we can have funny like potato head puns and we've got a language of its own in this toy community that I think is just something super spectacular and special. Um, but it does take a minute to get adjusted to because I mean my previous worlds were very like serious and this is not a laughing matter, and yeah, we're not curing cancer, but I mean it's pretty serious. Right. Where it's like you get in those modes and real quickly you can be snapped out of it. And if you walk through our offices, like the fun and the joy and like Mr. Monopoly on the wall, like take a second and go play Scrabble. Like it's just a good way to like remind yourself that the world is not that serious, right? There are serious things going on, like it's worth 10 minutes to like refocus, change your domain, take a second, yes, take a walk, and then come back and get things done. But I mean, you all are so innovative and classic classic brands too. And I'm going back to Nerf again because I'm not a bit while you were talking about all day. But I'm like, you've had birthday. I mean, there are birthday parties that have come out of the nerf brand. Correct. Um how fun is that? And like I didn't come off of it. Yeah. We went to a jump place and they had a nerf party. Yeah. If you're in New York City, you can go through a live Monopoly, like a human monopoly room. Like it's a whole experience. Peppa Pig World, like it's a theme park in Dallas. So, like, if you think about Let's just jump to Peppa, because Peppa's got a heck of a year. She had a year. Peppa got an even brought Peppa. Peppa had she's besties with Kylie Kelsey now. She was here in the Bentville Film Festival, also something like we proudly support. Like, there are just so many great things going on with Peppa, but that's an example of like, think about what you see on screen.

unknown:

A kid.

SPEAKER_01:

Peppa just started as a cartoon. Peppa's a cartoon. Peppa is a property on your screens that is been around for 20 years. But think about like how she's evolved herself. And like that's what we try to do is take that screen-to-shelf experience, bring toys and lifelike accessories and like moments. So, like when Peppa announced she's having a big sister, of course, the family of five now had to get a bigger car. So we had a Peppa car, now we have a Peppa van, right? So Peppa's she's just growing up. And so what's cool as a toy maker that gives more opportunity to make more toys, more experiences at home. And then if you love Peppa that much, go to the Peppa Peppa car in Dallas. I mean, and all of that is like part of the full British I mean, I think it helps. I think you go to the front of the line. I think that's actually the fast path. Excuse me. I don't even know how to talk British. Um I do like that she says mummy pig. My little southern accent cannot do it. No. I cannot do it justice. Do not put me in the front of the line. Do it. But do it. Do it, do it, do it. No chances. Um, but those are the things like with Monopoly and Peppa and these like owned brands that to your point are classic and nostalgic, but like relevant today. Yes. Like, how cool is that? It is so cool. Or Transformers. Uh so single only child female or married love, Transformers.

SPEAKER_00:

So like yes. Female only child growing up didn't have G.I.

SPEAKER_01:

Joe did not have Transformers or Spider-Man action figures. We did not have that. We were a girl house. Right. So then fast forward to Only Boy Mom. Yeah. And Transformers comes out. It's like Transformers rollout. Yes. I'm like those movies that are fantastic. And then a new one came out over the summer last year. Yeah. That was my right when I started. Yes. So cute. Um I'm sure you would love to be called cute. I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. So tough. How's that? But it tells the like origin of the Transformers, and I inevitably do cry in most Transformer movies because who doesn't love Bumblebee? I mean, I'm like, oh. I just love that Transformers make one cry. I'm a super softie. I love animal movies. So like I guess I can clean up. Robot animals and like adult, like actually boys in sports, like sports movies to make me all emotional now. I get it. Yeah. So yeah. Don't even watch greater. No. I mean, no, that jewels in his crown, but just done. Done. Done. Done. Done. Dun done. Transformers. Transformers. I'm like, oh my god, Bobby don't hurt him. It's so great. And anyways, I love one, but you all have all these crazy new figures. What do we call it? Action figures that transform themselves, right? And the category and like out of one. And like we've been able to create a whole line out of that. So like the nice thing about Transformers is it appeals to both like the original Transformers and the nostalgia. So we have a line there. But then also with this new generation of fellows lovers. And so and a girl transformer. Of course. Obviously. Why did that take so long? But like and new stuff coming next year. And so I think there's a line. What I do like is being able to see a line of content coming. And then you know when the content starts coming, any theatrical, any new thing you see on we're gonna have merch. We're gonna have merch. And we're gonna have opportunities to buy more things you love at Walmart. I do. Which obviously we need. Yes. Um, being spawned out of, and I think there are G.I. Joe Joe movies out, right? There's real ones out. But I think ones coming out or should be a continuation of the last Transformers like real movie with the the robot animals. Sure. Fresh beast. So we're gonna go with that. Okay. Because you don't have a young one. No. This is where this is where And there are so many brands within the Hasbro portfolio that like if I kept every date and every like item, I think I would say I was like, oh right, Scrabble.

SPEAKER_00:

Right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And then I think that's part of it, is like there's thousands and thousands of items within our catalog. And so, like, sure. At any given point in next year, there is gonna be a new toy, a new action figure coming out, a new game launched, and it's it's just a constant stream of new so baby dolls. Again, baby alive, baby alive. Did you have baby alive? Okay, I didn't have baby alive. No, I mean I don't think I was a big baby. Hasn't she been around for a long time? She's been around a long time. Um and the baby doll category as a whole, like has just evolved a lot, and the things that they need to be doing and feeding and all that. Like, there's American girl doll, and that's a whole nother level of experience, but then like these dolls are like super sweet and nostalgic and affordable, and like for the girls that need to have that nurturing doll, like it's an option for that too. I know if I was a baby doll person. I just remember. I had a cabbage patch. Oh, yeah. We were cabbage patch kids. Yeah, it was cabbage patch kids. Talk about A was crazy. Yeah, you had to be born and have your buttons. Hopefully, everyone survives. Thank goodness. We had this whole like philosophical discussion on Black Friday because like Cabbage Patch was like the first time I think the world saw like the crazy It was like the beginning of the Black Friday. It's been a big break. Yes, and I feel like an elbow. But oh, I feel like there was like a big break between like cabbage patch and tamagotchi we talked about. Like there are things that have been iconic in the gaming and dolls and and toy catalog categories. But what's funny is we were talking about the toy catalog? I mean, since you mentioned that, some things that have stuck around the test of time is the catalog shopping, the Walmart took a catalog. Um, and if you notice, we do have our Barbie play-doh and Peppa baby Evie. She's on there. Um, but what I was gonna say is like the the idea of Black Friday has just evolved. I think I kind of do. I can't decide. I'll tell you like the crazy one-day run out to the stores and get it just doesn't exist anymore. It does train these shoppers for like we've got deals that launched last Thursday night if you're a Walmart Plus member. Yes. And then there's more coming next. On the 25th. On the 25th, and then that Monday night if you're a plus member. Like, love what Walmart's doing to like expand the season and really like not have that crazy accessibility. But then it's like you kind of play this game of like, all right, some deals drop here. Do I wait? Do I not? Do I chance it? Do I wait? I mean, there's been a lot going on in the world right now. Do I wait until December? Do I don't wait? And then there's always the debate of like, does Christmas start November 1st or the day after Thanksgiving and every household's different? It's sooner now. So I think in general Friday, I think is like almost just this transition from like Thanksgiving's done, we're now a hundred percent holiday, and that's all it really means. It's like this pivotal moment in the season, because then more deals are gonna drop. Yes, and then you have Monday, and then you get ready for the holiday. So, in all that craziness, like we've trained shoppers to shop differently. I love that we still have a physical catalog and you can circle. I do too, and they can circle literally go through and market up like what a great childhood. I get those in the mail, and I'm sad that I don't have kids that age to circle. And I'm the mom that because I'm in this category now that was like, look, look, like this is so fun. And they're like, I'm 16, what am I gonna do with this? Like, but I do and I then I just take pictures of it because it's that's grand. Yeah, I thought it's like, look, like 47 times you can find a half-road item. Um, and it becomes a words walled. 47 times. I made that number off. I don't think it's that off. I actually think it is like 45. I know you've counted 100% it's 45. Yeah, but north of 40. North of 40 will go greater than 40. But like that's fun, and then you can get online and you can still search for what you need. And like Walmart does do a good job of like the toy shop and the way that you can like do I want to shop by age or by style or by brand. Like, there's so many different ways you can shop at the end of the day. Like, which I love it. That we want to bring joy into each house. So I love it for the case. In a way, you want to get your joy home and the old school chaos. I didn't participate in the chaos because I didn't have kids that I had to go get things. Yeah. I but I just miss watching it. Watching people watching. It's like airports, yeah. Like the line wrapped around. And now with like pickup and delivery, I don't think people are in physically in stores. No, it's different events. I am not even the one who wants to go grocery shop every day. Say I just want to click and order and have a shit. And it's more budget friendly. Like, I'm not gonna go crazy when it's already like, thank you, already auto-populated. However, get in stores and go see what's out there. Like, there's so much more in stores. I was blown away. I was walking stores and I'm like, I think I need this. I need this, right? I need this, right? And you start, and then when you're false. When you work in your street, so are you. I know, I love it. And I know better, right? And I should like, I know what that is, and I know what's going on here, and I'm still a sucker for it. And so I do hope this holiday season, like, even if it's like getting out, going enjoying a new game, going and finding a new toy, get your furblet. If you're in New York City, y'all. I'm sorry, the word furblet. Furblet. I have to say these things with a straight face, Casey. I can't. Like, I can't take Furblet seriously. I love it. Listen, Hula, also you have to say with a straight face. No. Hula has had a time. She made Times Square. That's huge. That's huge because of the square. You haven't made Times Square. I've never been on a Times Square billboard. Hula has made a Times Square billboard, and the Grinch tries to grab her and put her on a little pedestal. And he's so cute. And I like the Grinch. And I love that the Grinch is Walter Goggles. And the whole Hoonouvel campaign is a genius. The toying game category is like thriving because of this Hunooville. Um, and I'm just glad that she's a part of it. I mean, how did she get that? That's because she's cute and cheery and uh the yellow really pops on the blue. I don't know. Is it Walmart gold? I don't think Yeah. Oh, is she the same color as the Spark? Possibly. We may have just figured that out. We just had a total like a moment. Like a Walmart spark. Just she's real cute. Then Hula was gonna be. Who knew Hula? Who knew hula was now the Walmart spark pineapple gold for the holidays? So does Hula have friends? Hula has so many friends. Sweetie. Um she's got a purple friend, she has a blue friend, she's a whole pack. You can get a four-pack for 20 bucks. You said four-pack, yeah. There's a four package. So she has 20 bucks at one. She already plays with her posse. Like, girl, she's got a posse. So you can keep one on your backpack, you can give one to your friend. Definitely put her in the back. Stopping stuffer, obviously. On her work bag. Ashley may need one. Everyone needs one. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Give them out as teacher gifts. Well, obviously. They bring the school off. I know. Play them in the game. I know. Sorry, high school teachers in Benton Bell that are now getting furblets is they're like thinking. Oh, you get screwed. You get screwed. And you deal with them in their worst case like scenarios and all the like emotions and stress. The attitudes and they look homeless. And they love six seven. And they are. Talk about six seven. Why are we? Our boys are gonna kill us if we talk about six seven. I've been on this rant. I love it. I love it. I love it. But talk about a trend that just ran and let's keep it going. I think seven's fantastic. You want to know my rant on six seven? Ironically. I need to hear this. Because if I actually hear it one more time, I'm gonna lose it. CBS this morning just picked it up and I did not get credit for it, which is real sad. Okay, credits, Casey Oakley. So many things have horrible meanings. Yes. Like there's just secret journey and trash. And like there's nothing innocent. No, and it's so innocent. And it means nothing. That's what I love about it. I love it. Because I'm like one of my children's teachers, I will not say which child or what school, his teacher said, please don't say 6'7. Because if I hear anybody saying 6'7 anymore, you will write a 670-page essay on Brain Rise. I'm like, get the fun out of it. I'm sure if I was a teacher, I might do something. No, you wouldn't. And here's why. Because the second this child is assigned this, because I'm like, if you say it and you get assigned this, I will be able to do it. I'll support school. And because I would like to ask the teacher just one question if you would like to explain 6'7 or 6'9, you take your pick. Because that's all that they also could be talking about. Right? We're gonna have a real talk now. We're gonna have like teenage mom dumb that we're in. No, I agree. And I love the innocence of it. And that's why I said it doesn't. What I find funny is my kids are old enough that we're not doing the constant six. Oh, it's hilarious. Basketball games when like someone scores 67 points. Whoever has 6'7 on the football team, like God love them right now. Like, lucky you. I don't know how you got it, but like you're gonna. It's a football game. He's like, Oh my guy. But what I find funny is what they call like clip forming. So like last night I asked an innocent question. Hey, does the game start at six or seven? I love it. Which is a fair and they die, but they die, and literally I got a side eye of like that's because we as adults are making it not cool. And I we just murdered it. But he looked at me and he was like, for the record, it starts at seven. It's all he responded with. And I was like, This is how I love you. The side eye, I love it. Side eye is real. And if I were to walk around and be like, oh, six, seven, they would just ignore me and walk away. Uh-huh. But in that moment, when it was genuinely like innocent, yeah. Fair question. Fair question, the face was like, Because he knows I know it's and I know it's a thing. Yeah, I even though the only reason I'm on TikTok. Yeah. Is so that I'm in touch with also the trends of my job. That is my job to see my content in the real world, but also because I have teenagers. Yes. And I need to know is this an innocent thing or is this a dirty thing? Right. Is this something I want to say or that I need to like shut down? Like, are we gonna post about this? Are we gonna follow this trend? Yes. We have to be in the know as parents. I love six. I love six. Now you're you're making me a six seven fan. I'm not sure. Because it's also only here for a minute. It's only here for a minute, and it's an innocent kid thing that, like, if that's what they're gonna do. Right. So this is our plea to parents and teachers. Like, don't shut down. Don't shut it down. Because trust me, there's so many worse things I can be saying. Explain 6'9. You just don't. Because that's a whole another conversation. You don't want to do that. That's a whole that's a sad day. You know, my turning point, and I will give uh VHS credit only because I was at the homecoming parade. Oh, yeah. And they were the buses were dropping kids, the little kids off to watch. I loved it. And this one teacher or principal or somebody whoever knew, of course, new to the district, but I don't know. She's running up and down, getting the kids all hyped, doing six seven. And I was like, They were losing it and having fun. They were just being kids, and I was like, okay, I don't know why. I understand why. And our high school six seven can say six seven to a younger kid. And it's okay. And it's less awkward than like suck. Yeah. Like, because they don't necessarily want to talk to each other. But it's not risk anymore. Trying to think of an old word. Remove from that where it's like, okay, you kind of get like charismatic. But this is something to your point that it's just like a moment of joy. I just yes. That's it. Much like Casper. Much like Hasbro games. That the innocence of child play, the innocence of the language, the like joy that can come from those family moments. It's like I'm here for it. I'm all here for it. And my job allows me to create these moments of joy. So now I have this idea of like, how do we pull 6'7? We need that a new game with 6'7, that we've got to move on to ASAP. I'm on it. I mean it's out. You'll be my tester. He's got Thanksgiving socks that are 6'7. Well, he hasn't seen them yet. Okay, got it. And then his elf is bringing him Santa 6'7 socks. I'm riding it. And I'm like, you're supporting. I just can't wait until he's fine. But his parents, and like this is like a little sidebar, but I think we do have to decide like what battles are gonna fight. Right. Right? And so like if this is the thing that like life is hard. Life is hard. And if this is like the this is not what I'm gonna get mad about. This is some joy. Yes. It's the like non-stop. It makes me laugh every time. And then on like jumbotrons and on screens and on TV, and when you see it, like you're just gonna You smile! You smile. You smile. And there's nothing wrong with making making people smile. It should be stupid. And we would be like, I don't get it. I'm like, I know. It's fine. Who cares? Nobody knows. You don't need to get it. You don't need to get it. It's so fun. If we understood everything, I think we would be like crowded, like crouched down in a whole like. Like, just don't talk to me. Yeah. We don't need to understand anything. Love it. I'm here for it. I hope it stays around forever. I know the new one is 4-1, and I'm like, that's not really sticking as well. That's not as fun. Because you know, when you've got the 6-7 and the 4-1, I mean I will say it just like you did. Yeah. Because it started six or seven. I'm like, I don't know. I probably go six to seven days a week. And I'm they're like, I'm like, I'm not that fast. Yeah, I don't get there. But these witty, clever kids do. And I just don't know that four one's gonna like stick, but I don't think it's it's okay. It's a good compliment. It has a side, it has side hustles. We didn't go up two numbers, so I'm happy. Let's go and stay there. I love that. Between four and six, seven. I think we figured out a lot of the world's problems. We're gonna sell some games. We're gonna be better parents. And yes, and you just want tigers. I know, go tiger! I'm sorry to all of you podcast world, all 25 of you out there. Because we are tiger moms. Yes, roll tigs. I that's weird to say, by the way. Again, we don't have to understand everything. We don't have to understand everything. We just embrace it. Our roll tigs and our black and gold, six seven.

SPEAKER_00:

And Tigers by Six Seven.

SPEAKER_01:

That was good. That was good in fast. That's a really good segue. Stopping point, Tigers by Six Seven, because we actually are in the playoffs right now. Yes. And we're gonna win state. I'm manifesting this for real. Absolutely. I'm not a second place person. We're gonna win. Would Kellen get a ring? I think I mean wouldn't they all? I don't know. I don't have a football player. That's fair. Let's go with baseball. But they got multiple teams. Yeah, they have rings. I mean, there's rings for everything now. You know this. You're a baseball mom. I know. There's rings for everything. So yeah, there'd be rings. That'd be so cool to have state rings. Shout out to the JV team. Um, I don't know if your two or point out of the city.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know, but I'm like, you're part of the football.

SPEAKER_01:

Or is it a football organization? Um, the freshman did not. But we haven't won in a few years. So, like, this is the year. I know. So you know what? I think let's go find out. Yes, let's go find out. I think it's a great time to go find out is a good time to go find out. What happens when the football boys win state? Yeah. Rings for all. Rings for all. Yeah. Everyone gets a ring. Yes, everyone gets a ring. All the things. Okay, ring for it. Owen. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Good luck to Eva. She's starting cheer. Cheer season starts up soon. Starts soon. Right. Good luck to all the moms. Just battling out Q4 and sports and work and life. Just but it's okay. It's okay. Go grab a game. Take a moment of joy. A Hasbro game. And go grab a Hasbro game at Walmart and have a game. And enjoy your holiday season. Thank you. Thank you, Casey. This was way more fun, part two. It was way more fun than part one. We laughed a lot in the case. I hope everyone enjoyed the six seven. Good luck, good luck all of y'all. Don't forget to stop at Walmart and get your Hershey snacks and your Hasbro games for Family Game Night because it's gonna be really fun. Fill the stockings with both. Oh solid. I know, right? Always eternal marketer. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Okay. See y'all. Keep inspiring a culture of giving.

unknown:

Bye.