Welcome back to Up Your Nerd Cred, and welcome to Season 2.

This week, we’re talking about toys-not just the ones we played with, but the ones that quietly taught us who we were allowed to be. From Saturday morning cartoons doubling as toy ads, to dolls and action figures that gave some of us freedom and others a box, this episode is about imagination, identity, and why nostalgia hits harder than people want to admit.

Joining us this week is the absolutely fabulous London Villamayor, official cosplayer for The Uncanny Experience, longtime Power Rangers fan, She-Ra devotee, Barbie icon, and true mistress of shapeshifting. We get into what it means to grow up loving toys that didn’t always love you back-and how reclaiming them as adults can be powerful as hell.

In the B-segment, we dig into:

-He-Man, She-Ra, and the aggressively gay leather vibes of 80s fantasy

-Power Rangers, tokenization, and how kids learned to sort each other into boxes

-Why Barbie worked differently than most “boy toys”-and still does

-How imagination, not branding, is what actually sticks with us

-Why representation in toys isn’t “extra,” it’s foundational

Guest

London Villamayor

Official Cosplayer-The Uncanny Experience

All socials-@LondonHeartsU (L-O-N-D-O-N-H-E-A-R-T-S + the letter U)

Hosts

CC (Casual Nerd Host)-@ciracdavis

AM Diaz (Expert Nerd Host)-@AMDiazArt or @amds_art

Support the Pod

We now have a Patreon. If you like what we’re building and want to support the show (or just want bonus nonsense), check the link in the show notes.

Where to Listen

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you enjoyed the episode, rate, review, and subscribe-it helps a lot.

Episode Hashtags

#UpYourNerdCred #Podcast #NerdCulture #PopCulture #Toys #80sKids #90sKids #SaturdayMorningCartoons #Nostalgia #RepresentationMatters #BlackGirlMagic #TransJoy #LGBTQ #QueerNerds #Cosplay #TheUncannyExperience #HeMan #SheRa #MastersOfTheUniverse #PrincessOfPower #PowerRangers #MightyMorphinPowerRangers #SuperSentai #MyLittlePony #Barbie #Mattel #Hasbro #KenyaDoll #Dolls #ActionFigures #ToyCollectors #Fandom #GeekTok #NerdTok