I still picture the Welcome to Hell / Jump Off A Building lineup when I think of Toy Machine, and that is probably what is killing them.
It's hard for us nostalgic 90s geezers to imagine brands like Toy Machine, Zero, and even Girl ever being irrelevant, but people get older and tastes change as new generation who care more about the present than the past takes control with their buying dollars. Why would a 15 year old care anything about Ed Templeton (or Billy Marks or Harmony or anybody who hasn't been relevant for years). I imagine someone who started skating 3 or 4 years ago sees Leo as the past, if they know who he is at all.
Provost is amazing but I associate him much more with Emerica and Volcom than Toy Machine. Maybe it's just the overall irrelevancy of board brands entirely these days.
It seems like the weight of Toy Machine is almost entirely on Dan Lu and Axel's shoulders and good luck with that.