The Toys That Made Us Season 4 - What We Know So Far
Brian Volk-Weiss is fascinated with toys. Thus, he began producing a series about them for Netflix called The Toys That Made Us, which documents previously unrecorded or unexplored histories of some of the most iconic toy brands. Volk-Weiss explained in an interview with Forbes that the first property to inspire him to undertake the project was Transformers. Specifically, Volk-Weiss recounted visiting a Borders bookstore sometime around the year 2010 and failing to find any historical documentation of the Transformers franchise. He decided, therefore, to make one himself.
The Toys That Made Us included a Transformers episode in its second season, which aired in 2018. Other toy properties explored during the 12 episodes of the series' initial three seasons include Star Wars, Star Trek, Power Rangers and My Little Pony. Volk-Weiss' series was enough of a success that he created a spinoff, also for Netflix, titled The Movies That Made Us. In a fashion similar to its predecessor, the series documents the production of classic films. The Toys That Made Us hasn't been successful enough, however, for Netflix to confirm a fourth season. However, season 4 isn't an impossibility either. Here's what we know so about a potential forthcoming season of The Toys That Made Us.
When will The Toys That Made Us season 4 be released?
Since Netflix hasn't yet renewed The Toys That Made Us for a fourth season, it's unlikely that one will be released until the end of 2021 at the very earliest. That said, Netflix could always opt to return to The Toys That Made Us at an even later date, granted a surge of interest in the series for one reason or another.
Volk-Weiss discussed the prospect of a season 4 in an interview with Inverse in late 2019. "We need everyone to watch and watch again. That's what Netflix cares about, as many eyes as possible. To get season 4, we need everybody to watch all 12 episodes at least once," Volk-Weiss said. Based on this statement, not enough people had watched the series' third season at that point in time for Netflix to justify producing new episodes. However, according to Volk-Weiss, a resurgence in fan interest, whenever that might occur, could be enough for the series to continue, be it this year or years from now.
Which toys will be featured in The Toys That Made Us season 4?
In his 2019 interview with Inverse, Volk-Weiss listed off some specific toys he wanted to feature at that time in The Toys That Made Us season 4. "Season 4 would include Matchbox, Cabbage Patch Kids, Smurfs, [and] NERF," Volk-Weiss said. He also added that he was interested in episodes about Dungeons & Dragons, toys that come packaged in fast-food kids meals, and why Japanese pop culture is so prevalent worldwide. For the latter topic, toys Volk-Weiss could explore might include Gundam or Pokémon.
Separately, in an interview with Digital Spy, Volk-Weiss stated that the series' fourth season might include Hot Wheels and superhero toys. Given that superheroes are becoming increasingly prevalent in popular culture, an episode about toy versions of the Marvel and DC heroes dominating the popular film industry could be a way to drum up interest in the series should it return for another season.
Which creators will be featured in The Toys That Made Us season 4?
One name Volk-Weiss mentioned in his interview with Digital Spy as a frequent contributor to some of the toy brands he covers is Marty Abrams. Abrams is the owner of MEGO, a company that was founded in 1954 and rebooted in 2018 to release DC superhero and Star Trek action figures. If season 4 does indeed cover superhero toys, then Abrams will most likely be one of the creators featured in that episode.
If season 4 of the series profiles Matchbox, then the self-taught company founder Jack Odell will most likely be the focus of that episode. NERF, meanwhile, was founded by an inventor named Reyn Guyer, whose early attempts at creating new games that utilized foam balls ultimately led to their flagship foam dart-shooting guns. Behind almost every popular toy brand is at least one suitably compelling human story, giving The Toys That Made Us season 4 a fair amount of leeway to pick and choose its subjects should the series eventually be renewed.