Looking for an easy watch this Memorial Day weekend? Look no further than Netflix's The Toys That Made Us, the nostalgia-heavy history show that revisits some of the most iconic toy franchises in existence. We offered you a clip from the new episodes earlier this month, but now, Season 2 (or Part 2, really) is here in its entirety for your streaming pleasure. And if you missed the first go-round, you're in luck! You can still stream the series' revisits of Star WarsBarbieHe-Man and G.I. Joe before moving onto the new episodes.

Season 2 focuses on some equally heavy hitters: Star TrekTransformersLEGO, and Hello Kitty. Don't expect a fully exhaustive, serious documentary-style history of each franchise, but rather a decent walkthrough of the toys' history, the major players in the story, and the successes and failures throughout their run. The Toys That Made Us is aimed more at casual fans than serious collectors, though just about everyone should find something fascinating here. For those who simply want a dose of nostalgia, this is a great way to do just that. Creative folks who need a little boost for their own career pursuits will find inspiration in these stories, and businesspeople looking for interesting angles in outwitting the competition can, surprisingly, find some insight here.

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Image via Netflix

Do any of these toy franchises speak to you more than others? Is there a toyline they haven't covered yet that you'd love to learn about? Let us know in the comments! I'll get into some of the specifics of what you can find on each episode below, but if you'd rather just dive straight into it, fire up your favorite streaming device and head to Netflix now!

Rating: ★★★ Good

If you're looking for other content this Memorial Day weekend, be sure to see what's new to Netflix this coming June and keep track of the titles that are leaving the platform soon.

Star Trek

This look at the beleaguered history of Star Trek toys starts with Rod Roddenberry remarking on his father's path to pitching the "action space Western" Star Trek, which was put into development by Lucille Ball and her production company. (Thanks, Lucy!) Unfortunately, the cost proved too much for Ball, who had to sell off her production company and the toy license along with it. That meant the toy rights went to Paramount, becoming just the first of many, many different companies to have a hand in the toy creations over the years.

Speaking with collectors, automotive designers, and VFX experts, the history of the Star Trek toys is laid alongside the props and models used on the show itself in an interesting parallel, like the introduction of a shuttlecraft (which was designed at 3/4 scale) as not just a toy but a solution to "broken" teleporters on the show itself. It's a fascinating look at the tumultuous history of the property on the big and small screens, and on toy shelves at the same time.

Iconic toys like the USS Enterprise are feature here, as is the crowning jewel of the worst Star Trek toys, the "Star Trek Helmet" with a rotating light on top and Spock's name emblazoned across its forehead. There are also super interesting business anecdotes, like Mego picking the license up in advance for a guarantee of $5,000 ... and made $50 million off the deal, for starters. However, the CEO Martin Abrams soon passed on the Star Wars toy deal, a property that would obviously go on to see great success and put a massive dent in Star Trek's bottom line to the tune of $100 million. Add to that Mego's bankruptcy and some sketchy dealings which led to multiple counts of fraud and other legal violations, and the company (and its assets) were up for grabs.

Star Trek toys over the years include tie-ins for Star Trek: The Next Generation and more recent series. Highlighted is Art Asylum (later, Diamond Select), featuring much more carefully crafted toys that came with swappable parts to grant customizable options. Now, with Star Trek: Discovery, McFarlane Toys and Eaglemoss are set to weather the ion storm of Star Trek fans.

Transformers

This is one twisting, turning history that crossed oceans and cultures, morphing and combining various toylines that eventually evolved into what we'd come to know as Transformers. What started as a burgeoning toy industry in post-war Japan, turning discarded tin cans from American military camps into clockwork robots, became a billion-dollar franchise over the course of 50 years or so.

Interestingly enough, those clockwork robots kickstarted a robot manga craze, which fueled interest in Japanese robot stories over in the States. The demand led to Takara toy company stepping in to make G.I. Joe toys and, bizarrely, ultimately led to the "henshin" toy transformations that would launch an all-new line of transforming toys.

From Microman, to Diaclone, to Transformers and Go Bots, this is a crazy course through history that spotlights the important additions made by Jim Shooter, EIC of Marvel Comics; Denny O'Neil, who came up with the name Optimus Prime; and Bob Budiansky, who came up with 20-odd Transformers toys, co-opting the Japanese toys for an American rebranding setup at Hasbro. (High Beams was just one name that didn't make the cut for ... reasons.)

Despite Hasbro's poor decisions that came later, like "Micro Masters" and "Action Masters" and "Sharkticons", Optimus Prime and Peter Cullen--who tells a deeply personal story from his history as the Autobot leader--are the saviors of the franchise. Beast Wars and Michael Bay's live-action feature film franchise get their time to shine too, and the whole thing closes with a touching tribute to Hideaki Yoke.

LEGO

From furniture-building, to wooden block toys made during the Great Depression, to plastic "automatic binding bricks" and the "LEGO System", this episode takes a deep dive into what's currently the biggest toy company on the planet. The Danish creation took some interesting turns over the years, like a Samsonite executive buying up the U.S. rights to the toy while on a business trip, or LEGO's decision to not make war-related toys (and what ultimately made them change their minds). What really sets this one apart is LEGO's commitment to both their hometown working staff and furthering education for kids around the world.

It's also pretty fascinating to see how LEGO failed so spectacularly from time to time--see "Jack Stone", Galidor, "Scala", "Boneheads"--only to be rejuvenated by the likes of Christian Faber's LEGO Bionicle and, later Ninjago, when traditional revenue streams like movie licensing deals cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, LEGO continues its "Mindstorm" initiative to encourage computer programming and robotics learning through competition, and the new LEGO House construction aims to give fans a chance to revisit the company's history and legacy while stepping into a life-sized LEGO creation.

Hello Kitty

Prepare yourself for maximum kawaii! While introducing Papa Tsuji, aka Shintaro Tsuji, CEO of Sanrio--whose motto is "Small gift, big smile" and who quit his job as a bureaucrat to launch his company which originally started by selling items like slippers, flip-flops, and tea cups--we get a look at the rising and falling popularity of the company's most iconic character along with a lot of other critters. This episode is packed to the whiskers with cuteness.

If you want to know about Hello Kitty's life history, family, blood type, how she got her name and more, this episode is a great place to start. The cute character exists at an interesting crossroads of culture, fashion, and social mores, and Hell Kitty's popularity is directly tied to it. For example, her stock suffered during times of recession or more conservative values, only to skyrocket during acceptance of kawaii for adults and the Harajuku fashion wave. The trend continues today with newcomers like Gudetama and Aggretsuko make an appearance towards the episode's end.