by Peter Gould
When I returned to New Wave Toys earlier this year, I expected to spend most of my time getting delayed products out the door, rebuilding customer confidence, and figuring out where the company should go next. What I didn't expect was to inherit a product that immediately left me scratching my head.
That product was a miniature Trump Fortune Teller.
To understand how we got here, you have to know a little about New Wave's founder, Shilo Prychak.
I knew Shilo for over 20 years, and I always admired his uncanny ability to key in on objects that defined a particular time and place. Usually these were things from his own past – arcade machines, boomboxes, a change machine – but sometimes they were just things that made him laugh – a worn out stool, a fake wad of chewed up gum.
When we started New Wave together, he had an incredibly consistent point of view about what he wanted to make. His ideas were never driven by market research or pure nostalgia. Those things mattered, but first and foremost he chose things with personality – things that were iconic, memorable, sometimes rebellious, and unmistakably cool in their day.
Most importantly, he trusted his own instincts. If he believed something deserved to be made, he made it and damn anyone who would tell him otherwise.
Several years ago, Characters Unlimited – the company behind the original Zoltar fortune teller machines – introduced a full-size Trump fortune teller to their line-up. Shilo thought the idea was hilarious. The machine itself wasn't political commentary – he simply thought Trump's outsized personality was perfectly suited to the fortune teller format. Shilo immediately decided New Wave had to make one. Having already recreated Zoltar in one-sixth scale, a miniature Trump version felt like a natural addition to the Animatronic line.
Even then, Shilo understood the product might be polarizing. His solution was to create a separate brand called Patriot Toys and release it under that name instead of New Wave Toys. The goal wasn't to fool anyone exactly – it was simply to keep New Wave from becoming a political brand. Whether that would have worked is another question entirely. Anyone familiar with our products would have recognized it as a New Wave creation almost immediately, and I suspect the connection would have become obvious before long.
Production on the new fortune teller was ultimately completed in late 2025. The drop was delayed when last minute changes needed to be made, but before the project could move any further, Shilo passed away.
So when I returned to the company in January, this uncanny little fortune teller was sitting there waiting for me alongside everything else that had been left unfinished.
I had no idea it existed until that moment and I'll be honest – my first reaction was that we shouldn't sell it. Releasing a political product into the middle of a company reset didn't seem like the right move. But of course, it was too late for that – they were already produced.
For months I looked for another path. I talked with distributors that specialized in political merchandise, gift companies, truck stop chains, novelty wholesalers, and even closeout buyers. Despite a lot of conversations, nothing ever came together.
Then I had a conversation with Olaf Stanton, the founder of Characters Unlimited. We were talking about the potential brand impact that might come from New Wave releasing the Trump Fortune Teller.
Olaf laughed and said, "I didn't know Shilo that well, but it seems to me he'd probably say, 'Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.'"
I couldn't help but laugh – he was right. Shilo would absolutely feel that way.
In that moment, I realized I had been worrying about the wrong thing. The issue wasn't whether I would have chosen to make this product. That decision had already been made. The real question was whether it deserved to become part of New Wave's story.
Once I looked at it that way, everything else became a little clearer. This product exists because Shilo believed it was worth making. Hiding it behind another company or pretending it came from somewhere else suddenly felt less honest than simply telling the story.
So that's what we've decided to do.
We're presenting the Trump Fortune Teller for what it is: an unusual collectible from a unique chapter in New Wave's history. It doesn't represent a new direction for the company, and it certainly isn't intended as political commentary. It's a product conceived by Shilo, completed after his passing, and finally being made available to collectors who can decide for themselves whether it's something they want on their shelf.
– Peter
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