Did you grow up thinking cartoons were just something you watched before going outside—only to realize later they were also 22-minute toy ads wrapped in surprisingly strong moral messaging?

This week on Up Your Nerd Cred, CiCi and AM Diaz dive into the cartoon blocks that shaped Gen X and Millennial nerd culture, from the Hanna-Barbera–dominated Saturdays of the 70s and early 80s to the crowded, competitive cartoon ecosystems of the 90s—and finally to the slow decline of Saturday morning cartoons in the early 2000s.

We explore:

• How Saturday morning cartoon blocks were structured across ABC, CBS, Fox Kids, Kids’ WB, and cable
• Why opportunity cost mattered when you could only watch one network at a time
• How deregulation helped turn cartoons into toy-driven storytelling machines
• The difference between Disney’s family-friendly blocks, Fox Kids’ action-heavy lineup, and Kids’ WB’s Looney-Tunes-coded chaos
• Why shows like X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, and Power Rangers hit differently depending on where you watched them
• How reruns, VCRs, and eventually the internet reshaped how kids consumed media

We also talk about:

• Hanna-Barbera’s massive cultural influence—and why it eventually faded
• Why cartoon morals were sometimes subtle… and sometimes aggressively obvious
• How shows like G.I. Joe, He-Man, She-Ra, and Care Bears shaped how entire generations think about justice, power, and protecting others
• Why nostalgia for these cartoons still hits so hard—and why it keeps getting rebooted

If you grew up with cereal bowls, bunny-ear antennas, and strong opinions about which channel you watched on Saturday mornings, this episode is absolutely for you.

📸 Instagram: @UpYourNerdCredPod
🎙️ CiCi: @ciracdavis
🎨 AM Diaz: @AMDiazArt

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#UpYourNerdCred, #SaturdayMorningCartoons, #90sNostalgia, #80sNostalgia, #CartoonHistory, #NerdCulture, #GeekCulture, #ToyCommercials, #HannaBarbera, #FoxKids, #KidsWB, #BatmanTAS, #XMenAnimatedSeries, #Animaniacs, #PowerRangers, #GIJoe, #SheRa, #CareBears, #MillennialNostalgia, #GenXNostalgia, #PopCultureHistory, #ComicBookCulture, #AnimationHistory, #CartoonNetwork, #Nickelodeon

Did you ever wonder why you still remember cereal mascots, toy commercials, and Saturday morning cartoons with unsettling clarity?

In this episode of Up Your Nerd Cred, we break down how entire generations—especially Gen X and Millennials—were deliberately marketed to as children, and how those strategies didn’t just sell toys. They shaped nostalgia, spending habits, and fandom itself.

We introduce the concept of “toyetic” media, explore how 1980s deregulation transformed cartoons into sales engines, and examine the psychological tactics—eye contact, scarcity, completionism—that made marketing to children extraordinarily effective. From cereal aisles to toy aisles to long-term IP control, this episode looks at how marketing, psychology, and media converged in ways we’re still reckoning with today.

Joining the discussion is Anscia Terelle, marketing strategist and community-builder, to talk about ethical marketing, storytelling, representation, and why legacy marketing institutions left enormous amounts of money on the table by focusing too narrowly on a single demographic for far too long.

• Instagram: @upyournerdcredpod
• Cici: @ciracdavis
• Anscia Terrelle :@ansciaterelle

The following sources informed the research and discussion in this episode:

• Lundy, Jonathan (2021). Toying with Identity: Adult Toy Collectors, Material Fandom, and Generational Media Audiences. Drexel University Dissertation
  https://researchdiscovery.drexel.edu/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Toying-with-Identity/991016053429804721/filesAndLinks?index=0
• Hastings Communications & Entertainment Law Journal — Children, Advertising, and Regulation
  https://repository.uclawsf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1450&context=hastings_comm_ent_law_journal
• American Psychological Association — Advertising to Children
  https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/advertising-children.pdf
• History.com — How 1980s Deregulation Turned Cartoons into Toy Ads
  https://www.history.com/articles/80s-cartoons-toy-ads-deregulation
• Cornell Food & Brand Lab (2014) — Eye Contact, Trust, and Cereal Mascots
  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2419182
  

  #UpYourNerdCred, #MarketingPsychology, #Toyetic, #MediaStudies, #NostalgiaMarketing, #80sCartoons, #90sKids, #MillennialCulture, #GenX, #PopCultureAnalysis, #AdvertisingHistory, #FandomCulture, #MediaLiteracy, #RepresentationMatters, #MarketingNerds

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

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)

CC (Casual Nerd Host)-@ciracdavis

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

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.

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

#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

If timelines keep breaking, and universes keep rebooting, eventually someone has to live with the consequences.

In the thrilling conclusion of our Flash trilogy, CiCi and AM tackle the fallout of Flashpoint, the collapse of the New 52, and the long road back to legacy through DC Rebirth. This is the episode where Wally West’s disappearance actually matters, where memory becomes a superpower, and where DC finally has to confront what happens when you erase generational heroes.

Whether your Flash is Jay, Barry, Wally, Bart, or Ace — this episode makes the case that legacy isn’t optional. It’s the engine.

• Barry Allen’s return and why it destabilizes the DC timeline (again)
• Flashpoint and the catastrophic butterfly effect
• Why the New 52 erased legacy heroes — and why that failed
• Wally West being written out of existence
• Trauma, memory, and identity in DC Rebirth
• The Speed Force as connection, not just power
• Sanctuary and why Heroes in Crisis remains controversial
• Wally West’s return — and why it works emotionally
• Bart Allen, Young Justice, and generational restoration
• Ace West and what it means to inherit a stabilized Flash legacy

Up Your Nerd Cred is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Instagram: @UpYourNerdCredPod
CiCi: @ciracdavis
AM: @AMDiazArt

Support the pod on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/c/UpYourNerdCredPod

#UpYourNerdCred, #TheFlash, #DCComics, #Flashpoint, #DCRebirth, #New52, #WallyWest, #BarryAllen, #JayGarrick, #BartAllen, #AceWest, #SpeedForce, #ComicsPodcast, #NerdPodcast, #ComicBookLore, #SuperheroLegacy, #Multiverse, #TimelineChaos, #DCMultiverse

The Flash isn’t just one guy in red spandex—it’s a whole family, and DC continuity has been putting them through a cosmic blender since the Silver Age. In this episode, we break down how Crisis on Infinite Earths reshaped DC’s multiverse, why Wally West had to grow from “Kid Flash” into the Flash, and how the Speed Force became the backbone of modern Flash mythology.

Then we get into the most chaotic redhead time-disaster in the family tree: Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash II)— the grandson-from-the-future who makes “no impulse control” look like a mission statement. We talk Titans, Young Justice, Infinite Crisis fallout, the Rogues going off-script, and why the Flash legacy always comes with trauma and heart.

Also: holiday banter, pop culture tangents, and the universal truth that if you can convince a Flash to sit still, you can convince anybody to do anything.

• Crisis on Infinite Earths— why DC tried to “streamline” the multiverse
• Wally West’s imposter syndrome arc (and why many of us grew up with him as The Flash)
• The Speed Force— what it is, why it matters, and why it’s kinda sentient (allegedly)
• Bart Allen/Impulse— hyper-aging, chaos energy, and becoming Kid Flash
• Young Justice → Teen Titans → crisis-level consequences

Content notes: Strong language and adult humor.

• Instagram: @upyournerdcredpod
• CiCi: @ciracdavis
• AM: @AMDiazArt

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UpYourNerdCredPod

#UPYOURNERDCRED, #COMICSPODCAST, #DCOMICS, #THEFLASH, #FLASHFAMILY, #WALLYWEST, #KIDFLASH, #BARTALLEN, #IMPULSE, #SPEEDFORCE, #CRISISONINFINITEEARTHS, #INFINITECRISIS, #FINALCRISIS, #TEENTITANS, #YOUNGJUSTICE, #JUSTICELEAGUE, #DCMULTIVERSE, #COMICBOOKLORE, #GEEKPODCAST, #NERDCULTURE, #COMICBOOKHISTORY, #SUPERHEROES, #POPCULTURE

Did you know there are FIVE different Flashes? Because CiCi sure didn’t — and AM absolutely did. 😭

In Part 1 of this expert-level two-parter, we start at the very beginning with Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash who got super-speed via the most 1940s origin imaginable (hard water vapors???), and then jump to Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash who helped revive superhero comics… and also helped kick off DC’s whole “wait, what timeline are we on?” problem.

We talk:

• Why Jay Garrick matters (and why DC didn’t actually let him disappear)
• The Justice Society vs the Justice League vibes
• Barry Allen’s “science era” origin (lightning + chemicals = speed, apparently)
• The Flash rogues being a whole community (with a moral code??)
• How the Flash family is basically built for legacy… and continuity chaos

And yes: we tease the mystery redheaded child, but you have to come back for Part 2 for that.

Follow us:
Follow us on Instagram @UpYourNerdCredPod.
CiCi is @ciracdavis and AM is @amdiazart.
We’re on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UpYourNerdCredPod

What actually happens when superheroes, gods, villains, and reality-warpers run headfirst into real-world law?
Today we’re diving into the wonderfully messy chaos of superhero legal theory and asking the question absolutely no insurance adjuster is prepared for:

Is Thor falling on your car… an Act of God?
(And if Wonder Woman does it in her civilian form, does that make it better or worse?)

In this episode, CiCi breaks down the surprisingly relatable 1L-level legal concepts hiding inside Marvel and DC storylines: torts, state actors, qualified immunity, contracts under duress (looking at you, Mephisto), superheroes testifying in costume, the Rule Against Perpetuities vs immortals (!!), and why Franklin Richards is a property lawyer’s actual nightmare.

This is a casual-but-deep legal nerd-out, filled with comics lore, real doctrine, accessible explanations, and the kind of storytelling that makes even the driest law school topics fun. If you’ve ever wondered how the legal system would deal with Batman on payroll, Spider-Man on the witness stand, or a gamma bomb accident that doubles as a workplace safety violation… buckle up.

And if you love this kind of approachable, delightfully chaotic breakdown of nerd culture + real-world systems, consider supporting the show on Patreon so we can keep making more episodes like this!

✨ Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UpYourNerdCredPod
✨ Follow us on Instagram: @UpYourNerdCredPod
✨ Follow CiCi: @ciracdavis
✨ Follow AM: @AMDiazArt
✨ Like, comment, subscribe, and tell a friend who loves comics + chaos.
✨ Send us your burning nerd questions — we might shout you out in a future episode!

This episode breaks down why Zan and Jayna — the Wonder Twins — are some of DC’s most underrated heavy hitters. Despite debuting in Super Friends (1977), their powers were far stronger than the show ever portrayed. We explore how Hanna-Barbera limitations, comedic framing, and shifting comic eras prevented them from ever securing their place in the modern DC pantheon.

• The Wonder Twins’ TV-origin and transition into comics
• Their role replacing Marvin, Wendy, and Wonder Dog
• How their SEA-coded design emerged in the 70s push for diversity
• Why they struggled during DC’s Bronze → Dark Age shift
• Their appearances in Extreme Justice, Young Justice, and the 2019 revival
• Why they deserve a live-action revival with accurate SEA casting

📌 Spotify • Apple Podcasts • YouTube
📸 Instagram — @UpYourNerdCredPod
💸 Patreon — Support the show & unlock perks
https://patreon.com/UpYourNerdCredPod

Welcome back! This week CiCi dives into the tale of two Doctors Strange- Marvel’s Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (sometimes), and DC’s Hugo Strange, Batman’s underappreciated OG mad scientist villain.

We’re talking nature vs nurture, Golden Age chaos, Comics Code Authority shenanigans, and why one Strange sits atop a cinematic empire… while the other keeps getting yeeted off cliffs.

Instagram: @upyournerdcredpod
CiCi: @ciracdavis
AM Diaz: @amdiaz_art

We’re now on Patreon! Support the show, get perks, and help us grow:
👉 patreon.com/upyournerdcredpod

This week’s episode of Up Your Nerd Cred continues our Marvels duology with a focused deep dive into Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan.

We cover:
• Why Monica Rambeau keeps getting renamed and how her trajectory has been shaped by racism, sexism, and editorial decisions.
• The differences between Monica’s comics history and her MCU portrayal in WandaVision and The Marvels.
• Kamala Khan’s evolution from Inhuman to mutant, from solo hero to Champion, and why she’s the heart of Gen Z superhero storytelling.
• How corporate synergy, MCU needs, and shifting comics priorities impact Kamala’s identity.
• The importance of representation and cultural specificity in superhero stories.
• Why Kamala’s joyful, earnest fandom is the opposite of toxic geek culture.

Listeners who missed Part 1 should check out Episode 21 for the Carol Danvers foundation.

Available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms. Follow @UpYourNerdCredPod on Instagram.