G&C Podcast - Episode 202: Tales from Black Friday!

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, on this episode of Gaming and Collecting, me and Alex are talking about our recent Black Friday escapades and kind of going over some of the craziness we saw, some of the things we managed to score, and just other fun stuff. Trying something a little bit different this time, guys, but anyways, on with the episode.

[00:00:37] Sup.

[00:00:38] How you been?

[00:00:42] Thanksgiving! Oh wait, it already happened! Thanksgiving happened! It's Black Friday!

[00:00:48] Woo woo woo!

[00:00:50] Well, at the time this comes out, it'll be the week after Black Friday, but that's, besides the point, it's been a week or so since we last recorded.

[00:01:01] Yes, we recorded the two, well, the episode that you're gonna hear next, or that you heard before this, is not the last one we recorded.

[00:01:09] Last one we recorded was the 200th episode special.

[00:01:14] Yeah.

[00:01:14] Ew, so this is 201?

[00:01:18] 202.

[00:01:19] This is 202? Oh!

[00:01:20] Yeah.

[00:01:24] We've been, uh, we've been, uh, going, doing this for almost four years.

[00:01:31] Gross!

[00:01:34] Yeah, but, uh, it's been a week or so, we're coming off of Thanksgiving. I was in a coma for half of yesterday, after the food.

[00:01:43] Yeah, well, we were originally gonna record at seven and I called Bill, one, because I wanted to work out, uh, but two, also, I was already getting sleepy and I was like, if we record at seven, I'm not gonna make it.

[00:01:53] Yeah.

[00:01:54] Because I'm still recovering from the food coma from yesterday.

[00:01:57] Yeah.

[00:01:58] Oh, boy. That was a, that was an interesting day, though. It was one of the, weather's been pretty crappy up here lately. Like we've been had like nothing but rain lately and which is, which is fine. I mean, we had like no rain for like a good while there.

[00:02:10] Yeah. But, um, yeah, it was kind of.

[00:02:12] It was kind of bad to drive in though. I think driving, the drive was like two hours for us to get home. And then we got there and we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with our family.

[00:02:21] And then we drove back and the drive back was not as fun.

[00:02:24] No, because we got stuck by the drunk driver like the entire way.

[00:02:28] Yeah. Like, and we just couldn't get around him. Um, cause it was kind of scary to try and get, eventually we did, um, when we had to switch lanes. But yeah, it was a little, it was a little scary on the way home.

[00:02:39] So we got, we were only ahead of him for literally out of the two hour drive. There was only like a reef, like five minute, like respite that we had where we were ahead of him. And then we got caught in the slow lane traffic and he got ahead of us again. But thankfully by that point he was gone. So.

[00:02:57] Yeah. And where we were going. So it was fine.

[00:03:02] Yeah. That was, that was bizarre though. Like I remember at one point, like that, like freaky, there was that freaky point where he started like, just like swerving uncontrollably all over the highway.

[00:03:12] Yeah. And like, he was just being very erratic. There was no pattern to it or anything. Like it was just like, what the fuck is he going to do next?

[00:03:20] Yeah. Well, basically he would just break randomly, like slam the brakes all the, like no point. And then like, he would like get up if like he, he caught somebody in the fat cause he would not get out of the fast lane. He was just staying there.

[00:03:34] Um, but he would get mad when people passed him.

[00:03:37] Yeah. Like he would start swerving to try and keep people from passing him. Um, and then he'd get up on people's butts, like that were in the fast lane and he'd just ride them until they either.

[00:03:47] And basically until they just couldn't take it anymore. And they'd get out of his way.

[00:03:51] Yeah. Bizarre the entire way. Like at first I thought it might just be like a guy texting or something, but no, this guy was so erratic. Like he had to have been drinking.

[00:04:02] Yeah. Yeah. So that was a fun ride home. Um, and then,

[00:04:06] no, it was definitely. And it was like, by the time we both got home, we were like, all right, bye. See ya. Just like went in our house and went, uh, you went to, you fell asleep on the couch. I almost did. I was watching.

[00:04:18] Uh, a little bit. I was finishing. I have like two more episodes and I'm done with the show and then I can add it to my list. Cause I'm going to fucking lit. There's no contest in our, uh, anime episode, but I I'm making a contest and I'm going to watch the most.

[00:04:31] So I'm making it a contest. Fuck you guys.

[00:04:37] I like how we have like a set like format for that, but we still like, there's like no real rules to how you calculate what, what you consider it an entry in your list.

[00:04:46] I'm going by my anime list, but I'm going by what it considers an entry. So.

[00:04:52] Yeah. Like I'm counting all the individual, like OVAs and like, uh, yeah. And like the specials, like, yeah. Like as like season one, season two, season three, because that's a good chunk. Like that's like a normal, like a series length. So I'm going by the seasons. I think we did that last year too.

[00:05:10] Yeah, we did. I don't know. I'm counting like, uh, cause I use any list and like any list counts everything. Like a lot of things are separate. Like, like say the, the, my happy marriage OVA that just came out. Yeah. Um, that technically comes up as a separate entry. So I count.

[00:05:26] Yeah. Mal does too. I counted that separate too. Yeah. Cause there's like a couple of shows. Like I was watching, uh, I watched fungo stray dogs a long time while ago. And I originally thought that the OVA was just an episode,

[00:05:39] but it was just, it was the same thing of, I think of my happy marriage where it was just like a little, here you go before the next season, you know?

[00:05:50] Yeah. What was that? It was called the ginger ale. What do you drink? A Canada dry ginger ale. How many calories?

[00:05:59] What are the bags? Uh, 210 calories. Oh my God. Any nutritional information you want to give?

[00:06:08] It's better than most sodas, but not really good for you either.

[00:06:12] You know what? I'll take it. You gave me the calories. So that is something.

[00:06:16] And Bill, do you want to hear what I'm drinking?

[00:06:18] What are you drinking?

[00:06:19] I am drinking a Gatorade zero sugar glacier cherry.

[00:06:26] It's not my favorite flavor, but I felt like changing it up from the usual lemon nugget.

[00:06:31] Turn that music off right now.

[00:06:34] So I got a glacial cherry. As you can see, there's zero sugar. Wait, where are the, where are the bags? Oh, okay.

[00:06:40] There's 10 calories per bottle. There's, uh, 591 milliliters in a serving size bottle.

[00:06:50] 0% fat, 12% sodium. Do you know what sodium is, Bill?

[00:06:59] Uh, what else? Zero sugar, zero carbs, zero protein, and 80 grams, milligrams of potassium.

[00:07:07] Uh, what else? What else is in here?

[00:07:09] I've forgotten what you're even drinking at this point.

[00:07:12] I'm drinking a Gatorade zero, Bill. A Gatorade zero glazier cherry.

[00:07:17] What else?

[00:07:20] Do you want to know, uh, the comments number? You can give them a comment.

[00:07:26] Gatorade dot com.

[00:07:28] I'm good.

[00:07:29] Did you like my bags?

[00:07:32] No.

[00:07:33] I don't care. You take that stupid bar down. I wish I could have a bar.

[00:07:38] Oh, boy.

[00:07:40] But, uh, yeah.

[00:07:40] I'm in a bar that says shut the fuck up, Bill.

[00:07:43] I don't know.

[00:07:44] Why do I get one? How do I get a bar?

[00:07:49] You don't.

[00:07:50] What? No!

[00:07:54] You get your own StreamYard account and start paying for it.

[00:07:57] Wait, if I actually do get one, does that give me privileges?

[00:08:01] I don't think so.

[00:08:02] See?

[00:08:04] Fuck you.

[00:08:07] You know what? Just for that, you get bricks.

[00:08:13] Good.

[00:08:14] Um, yeah.

[00:08:15] Just kidding.

[00:08:16] Look at my house. It's so fancy.

[00:08:18] So fancy.

[00:08:19] It's so, what?

[00:08:20] Oh, now you're drowning.

[00:08:22] No.

[00:08:23] It's the going.

[00:08:23] Oh, you can't see it because of the chair.

[00:08:26] Uh, actually.

[00:08:27] See?

[00:08:28] I have my Christmas tree up behind me.

[00:08:31] Oh, yeah.

[00:08:31] Because it's officially past Thanksgiving, so now it's officially accepted.

[00:08:35] I won't lie.

[00:08:36] I decorated the day before Thanksgiving because I had it off.

[00:08:39] I had nothing to do that day, so I decorated.

[00:08:42] Yeah, but at least it's so, it's so, well, you waited at least outside until after Thanksgiving.

[00:08:46] So at least it's so acceptable.

[00:08:47] I did outside today, and I looked across the street, and my neighborhood started decorating

[00:08:51] for Christmas, and I said, that is my opening that I can decorate for Christmas outside.

[00:08:55] So I did it.

[00:08:56] And it looks fabulous.

[00:09:00] Nice.

[00:09:01] Fabulous.

[00:09:03] So, Bill, on a scale of one to ten, what would you rate the likelihood of you letting

[00:09:12] me say more facts next year?

[00:09:16] Ten.

[00:09:17] Yes.

[00:09:18] I agree.

[00:09:19] Ten.

[00:09:19] Ten.

[00:09:20] I'm going to say it's going to not change at all.

[00:09:23] So, ten.

[00:09:24] Ten.

[00:09:25] I think it's happening because it's in our contract.

[00:09:30] I can say no, but she'll still do it.

[00:09:33] Like, it's not like...

[00:09:34] Yes.

[00:09:35] Yes, yes, yes.

[00:09:36] They're my facts.

[00:09:38] Everyone loves my facts.

[00:09:39] I'm sure they do.

[00:09:41] They do.

[00:09:44] They're back in that.

[00:09:49] My brain was not functioning to work.

[00:09:51] You were so stressed out during that podcast that you killed your stress ball.

[00:09:55] I did.

[00:09:56] But don't worry.

[00:09:57] I still love this guy.

[00:10:00] Yeah.

[00:10:00] Yeah, break that one, too.

[00:10:02] No, this one I've had for, like, two years and it's still going strong.

[00:10:05] I'm not breaking this one.

[00:10:08] Lovely.

[00:10:09] Could you hear that?

[00:10:13] Anyways, so...

[00:10:14] Wait, could you hear it?

[00:10:15] Not really, but...

[00:10:17] Damn it.

[00:10:19] I know.

[00:10:19] I am really sad.

[00:10:20] I miss my ducky stress ball.

[00:10:22] It was so nice and squishy.

[00:10:23] It's not squishy, too, but it's a different squish.

[00:10:26] Like, the other one was, like, a solid squish.

[00:10:28] You know, like, a very...

[00:10:29] Like, this one's just, like...

[00:10:31] Like, you can see it.

[00:10:34] I still have that cat stress ball that you gave me.

[00:10:37] Where is it?

[00:10:39] It's sitting somewhere in my living room.

[00:10:41] Go grab it.

[00:10:42] Go grab it.

[00:10:42] We can both have cat stress balls.

[00:10:44] This one's also a cat.

[00:10:45] Look at it.

[00:10:46] I'm not going up to stay.

[00:10:47] Look at it.

[00:10:48] Lovely.

[00:10:49] Look at it.

[00:10:51] Um...

[00:10:51] Yeah, so today, though, is...

[00:10:55] Don't do that.

[00:10:56] It kissed the camera.

[00:10:56] It kissed the camera.

[00:10:58] It knocks you, man.

[00:10:59] It's like...

[00:11:06] Anyways, so...

[00:11:07] Today was Black Friday.

[00:11:10] And...

[00:11:10] Yes.

[00:11:10] Black Friday...

[00:11:12] Wait.

[00:11:12] What are you thankful for, Bill?

[00:11:16] No, we didn't die on the way home yesterday.

[00:11:18] No.

[00:11:19] Do an actual one.

[00:11:20] It's our closest to Thanksgiving podcast that it will be.

[00:11:25] What are you thankful for, Bill?

[00:11:28] That we didn't die on the way home yesterday.

[00:11:31] Good answer.

[00:11:34] Ugh.

[00:11:37] Yeah.

[00:11:40] Um...

[00:11:40] Also, we didn't...

[00:11:41] They're thankful that we didn't die today.

[00:11:42] Because people on Black Friday are fucking insane.

[00:11:45] Yeah, they were.

[00:11:47] They were.

[00:11:48] Um...

[00:11:49] But it's Black Friday, guys.

[00:11:51] And we...

[00:11:52] Decided to venture out of our houses.

[00:11:55] And we regretted every second.

[00:11:57] So, it's always funny.

[00:11:59] Because Black Friday is like a week-long thing now.

[00:12:02] And you'd think that...

[00:12:03] Well, it's like a month long.

[00:12:04] Like, it's like almost like multiple weeks.

[00:12:07] It gets longer and longer every year.

[00:12:09] I swear.

[00:12:10] But like...

[00:12:10] It's like this like longer drawn-out thing.

[00:12:13] But...

[00:12:13] You'd swear to God.

[00:12:15] People are still just as insane on the actual day.

[00:12:18] Than they are...

[00:12:19] It's not as bad as it used to be in the past, though.

[00:12:23] It's still pretty bad, though.

[00:12:25] Like, you don't see people fighting.

[00:12:26] Like, fist fighting.

[00:12:27] We also didn't go to Walmart.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:31] But I don't think Walmart has been that bad.

[00:12:34] Like, as it used to be.

[00:12:35] Like, where people would camp outside.

[00:12:37] Like, no one does that anymore.

[00:12:39] Like, no one camps outside stores anymore.

[00:12:41] For Black Friday deals.

[00:12:43] It's mostly online these days.

[00:12:45] Which...

[00:12:45] Yeah.

[00:12:46] Contributes a lot to the lack of craziness.

[00:12:50] But you'll never stop the people from going out.

[00:12:52] Because there are still people who would prefer to get it immediately.

[00:12:55] As opposed to later.

[00:12:56] Oh, yeah.

[00:12:57] Definitely.

[00:12:59] But I've noticed over the years, though.

[00:13:01] Like, the best places to go Black Friday shopping are, like, the niche places.

[00:13:05] Because you're gonna...

[00:13:07] There's gonna be people there.

[00:13:08] But for the most part, it's gonna be just a small niche.

[00:13:11] Rather than a hoard.

[00:13:13] Yeah.

[00:13:13] Um...

[00:13:14] And also, you don't need, like, five TVs every year.

[00:13:17] Um...

[00:13:17] Yeah.

[00:13:18] I don't know why people do.

[00:13:19] But some people do.

[00:13:21] Because everyone needs that brand new TV every year.

[00:13:23] I don't know.

[00:13:24] It's just, like, the phones.

[00:13:26] Like, no one needs a new phone every year.

[00:13:28] Your phone's fine.

[00:13:29] Until Apple eventually, or whatever company brand phone, makes it so that your phone can't function anymore.

[00:13:35] Just because they want you to buy the new one.

[00:13:37] Yep.

[00:13:38] Apple.

[00:13:39] How the fucking area?

[00:13:41] That's what's happening to my watch right now.

[00:13:43] My watch is getting to that point where it just, like, doesn't cooperate anymore.

[00:13:47] Which sucks!

[00:13:48] Yeah.

[00:13:50] Yep.

[00:13:52] But, um...

[00:13:52] Yeah, so we...

[00:13:53] We decided to go today.

[00:13:54] We were gonna hit up some smaller stores.

[00:13:57] Just to...

[00:13:57] Just to get out of the house.

[00:13:58] Mostly to walk off Thanksgiving.

[00:14:00] Because...

[00:14:00] Yes.

[00:14:01] I exercised this morning, and I still could probably use some more exercise today.

[00:14:04] Yeah, I'm gonna exercise after we record.

[00:14:07] I'm gonna go on the, um, rower.

[00:14:09] But we planned to target...

[00:14:12] At least we were planning...

[00:14:13] We picked a couple stores we wanted to go to.

[00:14:15] We wanted to go to, um...

[00:14:18] Probably one of the first stores I ever...

[00:14:20] Actually, the first store I ever bought figures from.

[00:14:22] Um, which...

[00:14:23] When I bought figures the first time, it was definitely more niche than it is now.

[00:14:27] Uh, we put...

[00:14:28] We went there.

[00:14:29] And then we went to a mall.

[00:14:31] Um, which had another figure store.

[00:14:32] But also, like, gaming store as well.

[00:14:34] A Newbert Comics and a Barnes & Noble.

[00:14:37] And then lastly, we hit up another niche store.

[00:14:40] Um, that's actually pretty close to us.

[00:14:43] That I hadn't gone to, but Bill had gone to.

[00:14:45] So, we only went to four stores.

[00:14:47] Because we were kind of...

[00:14:48] After going to the stores and the mall.

[00:14:50] We were kind of peopled out.

[00:14:53] Oh, we went to five stores.

[00:14:54] I'm lying.

[00:14:55] Then we also got cannolis.

[00:14:57] Oh, right.

[00:14:57] Yeah.

[00:14:59] The least...

[00:14:59] The least hectic place we went today.

[00:15:01] Yes, the most wonderful place.

[00:15:03] We'll talk about those at the end.

[00:15:04] Well, actually, the first place wasn't hectic at all.

[00:15:06] And we'll actually start with that.

[00:15:08] Yeah.

[00:15:09] So...

[00:15:10] We started off our journey today by not dying on the highway.

[00:15:14] There was definitely some questionable people on the highway.

[00:15:17] Um...

[00:15:17] Yeah.

[00:15:18] And we went to this, like, collective...

[00:15:21] Comics and collectibles store that's, like, it's...

[00:15:26] The appeal of going there before was because they had a really massive, like, figure selection,

[00:15:30] like, right out front.

[00:15:31] Yeah.

[00:15:33] Um...

[00:15:33] But the story is...

[00:15:34] They would probably be bringing in new stuff.

[00:15:36] Like, they used to always post on their Facebook page, like, oh, new arrivals, new things, new items.

[00:15:41] And it was always cool because sometimes, like, I would see them and I'd be like...

[00:15:44] Like, I got one of my favorite JoJo's figures, um...

[00:15:48] Of, uh...

[00:15:49] John...

[00:15:50] No, not John.

[00:15:50] Joseph Joestar.

[00:15:52] Um...

[00:15:53] When he was, like, the main Joestar lead.

[00:15:54] And it's, like, a bust of him.

[00:15:56] Uh...

[00:15:57] It's wicked cool.

[00:15:58] Like, it's probably my coolest figure that I own.

[00:16:00] And I remember seeing them post it and then going, I'm going to buy that.

[00:16:04] And I went to the store and be like, give me.

[00:16:07] And I bought it.

[00:16:08] Which was really nice.

[00:16:10] But they kind of, like, stopped posting.

[00:16:13] And...

[00:16:14] It's just...

[00:16:15] I don't...

[00:16:15] I guess we'll describe how it went today.

[00:16:18] And it kind of sums up how the store is going.

[00:16:20] Yeah.

[00:16:21] We kind of popped in and I noticed right away that, um...

[00:16:25] So I kind of took note of the fact that, like...

[00:16:28] The anime Weep stuff is slowly becoming more of a niche again.

[00:16:33] Like, I think the bubble, like, has kind of popped for that kind of collecting.

[00:16:37] And it's kind of where...

[00:16:38] It's going back to kind of where it was before Pandemic.

[00:16:41] Where it was a very niche hobby again.

[00:16:42] Well, unless it's, like, a specialty store that's specializing in anime centers.

[00:16:48] Like, the one we went to at the mall.

[00:16:50] Like, unless it's that...

[00:16:51] If it's just a generalized, like, collectible store.

[00:16:54] They're pulling away from the anime stuff.

[00:16:57] Yeah.

[00:16:58] And that store's primary...

[00:16:59] So that store has...

[00:17:01] We're not going to name it by name.

[00:17:02] Just because I don't want to...

[00:17:03] Yeah.

[00:17:05] But, um...

[00:17:06] Yeah, they, um...

[00:17:08] They...

[00:17:09] Their primary thing is they're a comic shop.

[00:17:12] Um...

[00:17:12] But they have a lot of just kind of junk.

[00:17:14] Like, all over the store.

[00:17:16] Yeah.

[00:17:17] It's definitely...

[00:17:18] When a store is, like, not upkept...

[00:17:22] And it's already...

[00:17:23] It's also in, like, a basement.

[00:17:24] So you, like, go down on a lower level.

[00:17:26] And that's how you get there.

[00:17:28] And when it's dark, it's unkept, and it's in a basement.

[00:17:32] And it's kind of stinky.

[00:17:34] Uh...

[00:17:34] Your likelihood of wanting to buy stuff goes out the door pretty quickly.

[00:17:39] Yeah.

[00:17:40] Like, we kind of went through the figure selection.

[00:17:42] And it doesn't look like they've updated the figures in a while.

[00:17:45] Like, it's mostly stuff that...

[00:17:46] Honestly, it was most of the figures that we had seen that had been there the last time with not really anything new.

[00:17:53] Yeah.

[00:17:53] It was, like, we kind of went through...

[00:17:55] I think it was more of the same ones.

[00:17:58] Yeah.

[00:17:58] No, and they kind of shifted stuff around, too.

[00:18:01] Like, they pushed the anime stuff farther back.

[00:18:04] But also, it was kind of of no rhyme or reason to where anything was.

[00:18:09] Yeah.

[00:18:10] Like, it was just kind of, like...

[00:18:11] It really felt like they'd kind of just given up.

[00:18:15] Yeah, which is kind of sad.

[00:18:16] Because, like, you never want to see a store that.

[00:18:18] But, like...

[00:18:19] Because even, like, we came in, and the guy's like,

[00:18:21] Oh, yeah, I didn't put any signs out.

[00:18:23] But we have Black Friday deals.

[00:18:25] And it was just kind of...

[00:18:26] You were automatically and just, like, locked in.

[00:18:29] I'm like, okay, they don't really give a shit.

[00:18:31] No.

[00:18:31] And, like, even, like...

[00:18:33] So, we'll get into it later.

[00:18:34] But I'm kind of getting back into, like, collecting comics again.

[00:18:37] Yeah.

[00:18:38] And I found a shelf that had a whole bunch of stuff that I was curious to look at.

[00:18:41] And it was, like, shoved in a corner and not really easy to look through.

[00:18:45] And I was kind of like, eh.

[00:18:47] Not feeling it today.

[00:18:48] So, we ended up just kind of...

[00:18:49] We did the rounds of the store.

[00:18:51] And then we kind of just left.

[00:18:52] Mostly because it smelled like mildew in there pretty bad.

[00:18:55] Mildew and B.O.

[00:18:56] Um...

[00:18:57] And B.O.

[00:18:58] It was mixable.

[00:18:59] Yeah.

[00:19:00] And it was just kind of sad.

[00:19:01] Because they actually have a lot of really cool stuff.

[00:19:04] They just don't display it well.

[00:19:05] And you're like...

[00:19:06] Like, you wouldn't even know it's there.

[00:19:08] It's just sad.

[00:19:10] Like, if they just put a little...

[00:19:11] Because that whole back section has a lot of interesting, like, one-off stuff that, like,

[00:19:17] you wouldn't necessarily see anywhere.

[00:19:19] But it's just so dark and dank.

[00:19:21] You're just like, okay, I want to get out of here.

[00:19:24] Yeah.

[00:19:25] Like, there was an entire section of, like, long boxes.

[00:19:27] Probably full of some pretty interesting, like, unique, like, old comics.

[00:19:31] But, like, it was such...

[00:19:33] It's such a weird, like, area that it's, like, hard to even look through.

[00:19:36] It's so dark and just not pleasant.

[00:19:38] But I was kind of like, yeah, this isn't even really worth, like, sifting through.

[00:19:43] Yeah.

[00:19:44] And I know it was always kind of dark.

[00:19:45] But at least, like...

[00:19:47] I don't know.

[00:19:48] It seemed like they cared a little bit more.

[00:19:50] And it just seemed like that they didn't really care anymore about the store.

[00:19:53] And it just...

[00:19:54] I don't know.

[00:19:54] The experience just kind of went, like...

[00:19:57] Like, it just...

[00:19:58] I don't know.

[00:19:58] You know it's bad when you pull into the parking lot and there's not a soul around.

[00:20:03] And then you go down.

[00:20:03] And we were there for, like, maybe, like, 10 minutes.

[00:20:06] And, like, I think one other person showed up and they left immediately.

[00:20:09] Yeah.

[00:20:10] They were, like, in and out right away.

[00:20:12] And we were, like, okay.

[00:20:13] Like, we were talking on the way home.

[00:20:16] And I was just like, I definitely wouldn't want to go there alone.

[00:20:19] Like, I don't know if I would feel...

[00:20:20] It's not in the greatest area of Connecticut either.

[00:20:24] Which, like, it's not really...

[00:20:25] We've never had issues.

[00:20:26] But definitely there, I was like, okay, this place kind of sucks.

[00:20:30] So that might have been our last trip there, in all honesty.

[00:20:33] Might not be going back there.

[00:20:36] Yeah.

[00:20:36] I mean, I might go...

[00:20:39] I might go by myself to check out those comics again.

[00:20:42] Just, like...

[00:20:43] Because I don't want to have...

[00:20:44] Like, I might have to go forensically in there.

[00:20:46] I don't want to have to put you through that.

[00:20:49] So...

[00:20:49] Yeah.

[00:20:51] Yeah.

[00:20:52] Because I...

[00:20:52] The start of...

[00:20:54] I was going to say, realistically, if I was going to go through, I'd probably have to get down and, like, kind of equally go through that entire selection.

[00:21:00] They had to find anything I was looking for.

[00:21:02] But it was just such a...

[00:21:03] I didn't want to waste...

[00:21:05] Because you were pretty much over it by that point.

[00:21:07] I'm like, yeah, I'm not going to...

[00:21:08] It was stinky.

[00:21:09] Make you go sit through this.

[00:21:10] Because it would have been an ordeal.

[00:21:12] Yeah.

[00:21:14] But we cut our losses and we said, you know what?

[00:21:17] On to the next one.

[00:21:19] And we went to the mall!

[00:21:22] Yeah.

[00:21:22] So there's, like, a couple malls in our area that are still somewhat living.

[00:21:26] There's also one that's decrepit as hell, but we don't...

[00:21:29] We don't agree.

[00:21:30] The mall we went to today is pretty lively.

[00:21:32] Yeah.

[00:21:32] There's two that are fairly still alive.

[00:21:34] And then there's one that's pretty decrepit in our area.

[00:21:37] But this one, it's kind of like our regular stop.

[00:21:40] Mostly because it has a couple specific stores that are worth going to.

[00:21:44] Yeah.

[00:21:46] But yeah, we went...

[00:21:47] So we went over to this mall and classic...

[00:21:50] You know, the classic first thing I do whenever I go to this mall is I go use the bathroom.

[00:21:54] Bill had to take a poop.

[00:21:57] Bill pooped.

[00:21:57] Bill pooped in the mall.

[00:21:59] He pooped in the sink.

[00:22:01] They blasted over the intercom.

[00:22:06] Anyways.

[00:22:09] I love messing with you.

[00:22:11] It's my favorite activity.

[00:22:13] Did you know?

[00:22:16] Anyways.

[00:22:16] So we ended up going in there and there was, like, a radio DJ, like, set up and there was, like...

[00:22:22] It was...

[00:22:23] So it was, like, a radio station was set up in the mall and they were blasting music.

[00:22:27] But when we first came in, they were, like, having some sort of, like, contest or something.

[00:22:32] Like, where there was a crowd and we were both were, like, what the fuck?

[00:22:34] I just want to go home.

[00:22:36] Yeah, I'm like, there's two more people.

[00:22:37] Our introverted selves were just like, ah, this was a mistake.

[00:22:42] I wouldn't say I'm introverted, but I was kind of, like...

[00:22:45] I was like, I don't want to be with that.

[00:22:46] I am.

[00:22:47] I am introverted.

[00:22:51] I just don't have patience for, like, big crowds like that.

[00:22:54] Because I'm always like, eh.

[00:22:55] Like, when you're at a place with a specific, like, purpose and there's some other event going on, it's kind of like you're...

[00:23:03] It's like if, say, you go to, like, a convention, but then there's a separate convention that's going on and it's, like, more obnoxious than your convention and you're just like, I don't want to be near that.

[00:23:11] They're like, eh.

[00:23:14] That stupid Tuttenstein.

[00:23:17] No.

[00:23:17] To be fair, like, there was, like, six people at that, I swear.

[00:23:20] I'm kidding.

[00:23:32] I'm kidding.

[00:23:33] No.

[00:23:34] No.

[00:23:34] And I was like, oh my god, I love Tuttenstein.

[00:23:36] Oh.

[00:23:37] What was the actual...

[00:23:38] It was...

[00:23:39] What was the actual thing that was happening at the same time?

[00:23:43] It was just some, like, Egyptian pyramid thing.

[00:23:46] Yeah.

[00:23:46] Like, National Geographics Convention.

[00:23:49] Anyways, back to the story.

[00:23:52] Yeah, so we...

[00:23:53] Of our day.

[00:23:54] We ended up going to Barnes & Noble, which is...

[00:23:57] Barnes & Nobles are fun because there's, like, just a shit ton of them around us.

[00:24:01] Yeah.

[00:24:01] But then, like, in other places, they're like...

[00:24:04] Bookstores are interesting like that.

[00:24:07] But yeah, we went into there and we went to the manga section and Alex literally, like...

[00:24:12] I think, like, four...

[00:24:14] It was...

[00:24:14] Yeah, I got four books.

[00:24:16] So the first book, we both got the same one.

[00:24:18] We both got Dragon Ball...

[00:24:21] Dragon Ball Super Volume 22.

[00:24:24] This isn't supposed to be out yet.

[00:24:26] Yeah, it wasn't supposed to be...

[00:24:27] I don't think any of these were supposed to be out yet, maybe.

[00:24:30] Um...

[00:24:31] But then, that was all Bill got.

[00:24:32] And then I got...

[00:24:34] Welcome to Demon's School of Rumor.

[00:24:36] Volume 11.

[00:24:38] Look at him.

[00:24:38] Look at his grandpa!

[00:24:40] Look at grandma's sexual feet.

[00:24:42] Why are they looking like that?

[00:24:44] Anyways, grandpa's my favorite character.

[00:24:47] Along with Rumor.

[00:24:48] But I got the newest one!

[00:24:49] Yay!

[00:24:50] And that also wasn't supposed to be out yet.

[00:24:51] You would have completely missed that if I hadn't pointed it out.

[00:24:55] Oh, yeah.

[00:24:56] Well, yeah.

[00:24:56] So Bill pointed that out and I was like, shit, I gotta go back and look at some of the other ones.

[00:25:00] Because then I got Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 24.

[00:25:04] Which also, I believe, was not supposed to be out yet.

[00:25:08] Barnes & Noble, don't give a fuck.

[00:25:10] There's a dead fingy on the back.

[00:25:11] And then I got a surprise one.

[00:25:13] Because those were all, like, ones that I was collecting.

[00:25:15] But then I was, like, looking at the JoJo stuff.

[00:25:17] And I was like, what the fuck is this?

[00:25:19] And then they did, like, this JoJo's spinoff with Whole Horse.

[00:25:25] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

[00:25:26] Shining Diamond Demonic Heartbreak.

[00:25:29] Which happens to...

[00:25:30] It revolves around the main character, Josuke.

[00:25:36] The Joestar.

[00:25:37] Josuke Joestar.

[00:25:38] And then, um...

[00:25:40] Whole Horse, which was from Part 3.

[00:25:41] He was a character from Part 3.

[00:25:43] So he's in Part 4.

[00:25:45] Because Whole Horse is great.

[00:25:46] You just love to make fun of him.

[00:25:49] But yeah.

[00:25:50] So, like, this was, like, an unexpected one.

[00:25:53] But...

[00:25:54] Yeah, I got this one.

[00:25:55] So...

[00:25:56] And this is Volume 1.

[00:25:57] So there might be more than one.

[00:26:00] Maybe one or two.

[00:26:01] But...

[00:26:02] Yeah.

[00:26:02] So, unexpected.

[00:26:03] But I grabbed it.

[00:26:05] Now I can put them on the shelf.

[00:26:08] Yeah.

[00:26:09] What room?

[00:26:10] You have no room on that shelf.

[00:26:11] Shut up!

[00:26:12] I'll make room!

[00:26:14] You need to buy...

[00:26:15] Actually...

[00:26:15] Well, no.

[00:26:16] I can probably extend my bookends a little farther.

[00:26:19] And, um...

[00:26:20] Have it...

[00:26:21] Kind of go slightly over the edge.

[00:26:23] And I can fit a couple more before I have to bring out a new bookshelf.

[00:26:27] You're just gonna turn your guest room into your manga reading room?

[00:26:31] Well, I am planning on renovating that room.

[00:26:33] Because I'd like to make it more of a, like...

[00:26:36] Like, it's a guest room.

[00:26:37] But it's also, like, a usable space for me.

[00:26:40] Because I'm gonna be painting the walls.

[00:26:42] But I want to turn, like, the bed sideways.

[00:26:44] And make it almost like a daybed couch situation.

[00:26:48] Uh, I have plans for that room.

[00:26:50] Okay?

[00:26:50] Because I'd like to make it, like, a reading nook slash work...

[00:26:55] Like, a usable room, basically.

[00:26:57] I want it to be more usable.

[00:26:58] But it's a work in progress for now.

[00:27:03] Yeah.

[00:27:04] Yeah.

[00:27:04] Yeah, Bars and Noble's always fun.

[00:27:06] Although the line was...

[00:27:07] That was probably the craziest line we had all day.

[00:27:10] Yeah, that line took a little bit.

[00:27:12] And it's always funny when you see, like, people, like...

[00:27:14] Just stay in the line.

[00:27:15] And then they're just like, whatever.

[00:27:16] Fuck it.

[00:27:17] And they get out.

[00:27:17] And I was like, okay with these people in front of us.

[00:27:20] Because they kept holding up the line.

[00:27:21] I was like, thank God.

[00:27:22] Yeah, the distracted people who don't pay attention when the line moves.

[00:27:25] And then they're like, oh, shit.

[00:27:26] We're like...

[00:27:27] Ah, pay attention.

[00:27:28] But...

[00:27:28] Oh, and then we both were good souls.

[00:27:30] And we bought books to donate for kids.

[00:27:33] Yeah, Bars and Noble does this thing, like, every Christmas season.

[00:27:36] Where they'll...

[00:27:37] You'll buy something.

[00:27:38] And then they'll be like, would you like to donate a book to charity?

[00:27:40] And it's like, sure.

[00:27:41] Like, I always say yes.

[00:27:42] I think last year, because I made so many trips during my manga collecting phase to Bars and Noble,

[00:27:47] I ended up donating, like, I think, like, 12 books.

[00:27:50] Hmm.

[00:27:51] I think I had literally given them every book they had to offer.

[00:27:54] So, there's that.

[00:27:56] Nice.

[00:27:57] But, yeah.

[00:27:58] So, we went to Bars and Noble.

[00:27:59] And then we doubled back over to...

[00:28:04] There's a Newbery Comics in that mall.

[00:28:06] And Newbery Comics is, like, kind of like a local chain to this area of comic shops.

[00:28:09] But they're, like, pop culture stores at this point.

[00:28:11] Like, they have CDs, records, a whole bunch of junk, a lot of pop figures.

[00:28:16] Because stores still think pop figures are...

[00:28:18] Do pop figures still sell?

[00:28:19] I have no idea anymore.

[00:28:20] I don't know.

[00:28:21] I mean, I guess, like, people are still buying them.

[00:28:24] So, I'm guessing.

[00:28:25] They still make a bunch of them.

[00:28:26] I have one right here.

[00:28:28] But, I mean...

[00:28:29] I mean, some are cool.

[00:28:31] Some of them are, like, too much, though.

[00:28:33] Like, I'm like, you don't need a pop figure in every single different shade of blue of the same character.

[00:28:37] Like, I think we're good.

[00:28:39] I mean, they were cool to collect until we discovered anime figures, which are just more interesting.

[00:28:44] Like, just figurines in general are more interesting than pop figures.

[00:28:47] Pop figures are very...

[00:28:49] Meh.

[00:28:50] They were cute for a little bit.

[00:28:51] I think they're everyone's, like, intro step into, like, collecting.

[00:28:55] Like, figuring.

[00:28:56] They're a start of it, that's for sure.

[00:28:58] You either continue the journey, or you stop and you get rid of your pop figures.

[00:29:04] Yeah, they get thrown in a landfill.

[00:29:06] There's probably hundreds of them in landfills.

[00:29:08] Oh, yeah, they're probably in the ocean.

[00:29:10] Honestly, we should make coral reefs out of leftover pop figures.

[00:29:14] I think they float.

[00:29:14] I think they float, though.

[00:29:16] That's the problem.

[00:29:16] They could probably weigh them down with something.

[00:29:18] You never know.

[00:29:20] Right, Poopy?

[00:29:22] I think Miss Pooh is sitting in her bed.

[00:29:24] In her bed to the left.

[00:29:27] Yeah.

[00:29:28] Or the right.

[00:29:29] Is it...

[00:29:30] Wait, which hand is this, Bill?

[00:29:32] Which side is this?

[00:29:33] My hand, dog.

[00:29:34] That's your right hand, but it's on the left of the screen.

[00:29:38] Okay, so am I flipped?

[00:29:40] Like, is the thingy here?

[00:29:42] Is the word thingy here?

[00:29:44] No.

[00:29:46] Where is it?

[00:29:49] Is it over here?

[00:29:51] Yes.

[00:29:51] Am I on this side of the screen or am I on this side of the screen?

[00:29:55] You're on the left side of the screen.

[00:29:58] Oh, so it's flipped.

[00:29:59] Because you're on the right side for me.

[00:30:03] Either way.

[00:30:04] My screen is...

[00:30:04] Oh, wait.

[00:30:04] You're on the left side for me.

[00:30:07] I don't know.

[00:30:08] I'm confused.

[00:30:09] But anyways...

[00:30:10] Anyways, guys, thanks so much for watching the Gaming and Collecting Podcast.

[00:30:17] Yeah.

[00:30:19] Anyways...

[00:30:21] Enough of that.

[00:30:22] No one buys your fake shit.

[00:30:29] She's so full of shit sometimes.

[00:30:32] I hate you.

[00:30:34] Yeah.

[00:30:35] Okay.

[00:30:37] Will you stop?

[00:30:38] 100% extra revenue.

[00:30:48] What revenue?

[00:30:49] What revenue?

[00:30:51] What do you mean?

[00:30:53] All right, just start paying me 20 bucks an hour, please.

[00:30:58] Yeah, okay.

[00:31:00] It immediately hits the remove button.

[00:31:04] That's so rude.

[00:31:06] If anything...

[00:31:07] I've never commented on my Bucky Scrunchie.

[00:31:10] He liked my Bucky Scrunchie because Bucky's will take over the world.

[00:31:14] One day, there will be a Bucky's on every street corner and it will be a good world.

[00:31:18] That would be so excessive.

[00:31:21] That would be so excessive.

[00:31:24] I want Bucky's in New England.

[00:31:27] Give me Bucky's.

[00:31:28] We got canes.

[00:31:29] I want Bucky's.

[00:31:31] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:31:32] But yeah, our next stop was we actually had went over to...

[00:31:36] So we went to Newbury.

[00:31:38] We were talking about pop figures and stuff.

[00:31:40] And Newbury was probably the most crowded store we went in during this trip.

[00:31:46] Yeah, it was very poppin'en.

[00:31:49] And most of the finds that I got at Barnes & Noble, I could have also gotten at Newbury.

[00:31:54] But I got them at Barnes & Noble.

[00:31:56] So there was stuff I would have bought there.

[00:31:58] There was one thing I almost bought, but then I was like, I don't want to sit in the line for one more book.

[00:32:02] Plus, I also spent a hell of a lot of money on the books that I just bought.

[00:32:06] It was...

[00:32:07] Oh yeah, it was Sandlin.

[00:32:08] I was thinking about getting Sandlin.

[00:32:09] But I can probably get that online or something.

[00:32:12] You can.

[00:32:13] That's so in print now because of the anime that it's pretty easy to find.

[00:32:16] And it's a one-shot too, so...

[00:32:18] Yeah.

[00:32:20] But yeah, I looked around.

[00:32:21] I'm at that point of manga collecting right now where most of my series are...

[00:32:25] I'm caught up on pretty much everything.

[00:32:26] This is just a light month for me, like for the most part.

[00:32:29] Yeah.

[00:32:30] So I didn't really see much.

[00:32:33] I did...

[00:32:34] Because of my comic collecting though, I was looking through the comics.

[00:32:36] And I did find a few things.

[00:32:38] Like, I found this copy...

[00:32:40] I found these two...

[00:32:41] Oh, I'm a big DC guy.

[00:32:42] So I found this copy of DC Universe Rebirth Deluxe.

[00:32:46] Nice.

[00:32:47] In clearance.

[00:32:48] Always fun.

[00:32:49] And then I got Doomsday Clock.

[00:32:51] A very controversial book in DC lore.

[00:32:55] But I've been...

[00:32:57] Basically, I'm tired of pulling out the single issues that I had.

[00:33:00] And I wanted just a full easy read.

[00:33:02] Yeah.

[00:33:04] You're not...

[00:33:05] A very controversial book, but...

[00:33:07] Yeah, because the single issues...

[00:33:08] How many pages are they usually?

[00:33:10] Well, this was a special case.

[00:33:13] I'd have to do the math, but they're...

[00:33:16] They're generally maybe...

[00:33:17] They're about like maybe like a couple minutes worth of content, depending on how fast you read.

[00:33:21] Well, I guess like how many pages though?

[00:33:24] Like 10?

[00:33:25] No, it's more than 10.

[00:33:26] It's like 20 something, I think.

[00:33:29] Oh, okay.

[00:33:30] They're...

[00:33:30] I'd have to grab one and look.

[00:33:33] Grab one!

[00:33:34] Right now!

[00:33:35] We can play the music.

[00:33:36] Do-do-do-do-do!

[00:33:36] If you want a little context...

[00:33:39] This full volume here was 12 separate issues put together.

[00:33:45] Jesus!

[00:33:46] That would be like dividing this by 12.

[00:33:49] Basically.

[00:33:50] Sort of.

[00:33:51] These are basically the same thickness.

[00:33:54] And this one's so much better because it's JoJo's.

[00:33:58] Well, it's a little bit different.

[00:34:00] Like in...

[00:34:00] The way manga works usually is...

[00:34:04] They'll...

[00:34:05] Because mangas are like released via the magazines all the time.

[00:34:09] Yeah.

[00:34:09] In chapters.

[00:34:11] So essentially, each...

[00:34:13] Imagine each chapter is like a single issue.

[00:34:15] Oh, I guess that doesn't make sense.

[00:34:16] Okay.

[00:34:17] I get it.

[00:34:18] A manga volume is say a collection of those chapters in the same sense of how like a graphic trade is.

[00:34:23] It makes sense now.

[00:34:27] Yeah.

[00:34:27] I grabbed those though.

[00:34:29] Mostly just because they were there.

[00:34:31] Also, fun fact.

[00:34:32] They censored...

[00:34:33] They censored Dr. Manhattan on the back of this volume.

[00:34:36] Because in the...

[00:34:37] Actually...

[00:34:37] I'm not going to show it for obvious reasons.

[00:34:39] But in the book, he's straight up naked.

[00:34:41] And they actually show everything.

[00:34:43] Eww!

[00:34:44] No, that's a very...

[00:34:45] Dr. Manhattan's a very old character.

[00:34:47] He's from like Watchmen.

[00:34:48] But that's always been a thing.

[00:34:52] Yeah.

[00:34:53] So we went there.

[00:34:54] I got really lucky in the line too.

[00:34:56] Because I literally...

[00:34:57] The second I walked up, they just happened to be like open.

[00:35:00] So I just went right in and checked out.

[00:35:03] And I was out in a minute.

[00:35:04] Also, like the fucking anti-theft like alarm went off like 12 times while we were in there.

[00:35:10] And I just don't think the employees...

[00:35:11] People just kept leaving.

[00:35:12] Yeah.

[00:35:12] I don't think the employees gave a fuck.

[00:35:14] To be perfectly honest today.

[00:35:15] Well, I think there was...

[00:35:16] At one point, there was one girl who was like giving a fuck.

[00:35:18] And then the other one was just like, just whatever.

[00:35:20] Just let him leave.

[00:35:21] Like she was just like, I'm so fucking done.

[00:35:24] Like I feel so bad for them.

[00:35:25] They legally can't even like really stop them.

[00:35:28] Because it's like...

[00:35:29] No.

[00:35:29] If you...

[00:35:31] If you're an employee and you try to like apprehend a thief and you injure them, they can sue you and most likely win.

[00:35:39] Like it's like a...

[00:35:41] Yeah, I know it's fucked up.

[00:35:42] But it's just one of those things where it's like they don't even...

[00:35:44] Even if they get caught, basically all they can do is file a report and just deal with it.

[00:35:49] Serves you right.

[00:35:50] I don't know where it went.

[00:35:52] Good.

[00:35:53] Oh, I found it.

[00:35:56] Pooh looked over like...

[00:35:58] Oh, what's my hair doing?

[00:36:03] You're having struggles.

[00:36:04] I am.

[00:36:05] I'm on the bus and I can't get off.

[00:36:07] Yeah.

[00:36:08] After that though, then we went up to the...

[00:36:10] We went up to the other figure store.

[00:36:12] The one in the mall, which...

[00:36:13] I will say this figure store is a lot nicer.

[00:36:17] This is like a store that's strictly like anime figures.

[00:36:20] Like they have some...

[00:36:22] And weird cards.

[00:36:24] Manga.

[00:36:25] A little bit of manga.

[00:36:26] Not a lot.

[00:36:26] They don't really sell the manga anymore.

[00:36:28] I think they're just trying to get rid of what they have at this point.

[00:36:31] Yeah.

[00:36:31] It's mostly niche stuff though.

[00:36:33] So I...

[00:36:33] This store is very fascinating to me because like you can tell they get a lot of...

[00:36:38] Not to be mean, but they get a lot of more smelly people in there at times.

[00:36:44] Oh yeah.

[00:36:44] They are constantly blasting that air conditioner.

[00:36:48] That air conditioner is on 20 voice.

[00:36:51] Yeah.

[00:36:52] They are constant...

[00:36:53] Like this store you go in and you can smell the...

[00:36:57] They also do have like tape...

[00:36:59] They do a lot of card tournaments in there.

[00:37:01] So like they do have people sitting in there for long periods of time.

[00:37:05] Yeah.

[00:37:05] You can also tell they clean that store frequently because it has that very clean chemically smell to it whenever you go in there.

[00:37:12] Yeah.

[00:37:13] And like this store always has a lot of really cool figures.

[00:37:16] Like they have a lot of the really big and intricate ones.

[00:37:20] Which I would buy, but they're like $300 sometimes, which is really expensive.

[00:37:24] I don't have a budget for.

[00:37:25] That $200 Komi figure that I saw for a while that somebody did eventually buy.

[00:37:30] Yeah.

[00:37:31] No, but they always have new stuff, cool stuff.

[00:37:35] Like they're always bringing stuff in and their stuff moves so quick.

[00:37:38] They definitely have stuff that sits there because there's always series that do.

[00:37:43] But they always have new stuff.

[00:37:45] We haven't bought...

[00:37:46] I haven't bought in a while.

[00:37:47] But it's more just been like I'm at the point in figures where you are in games where I just have so many...

[00:37:52] It has to be something that I really, really, really love.

[00:37:54] Like I want a Hoshina figure, but I want an Android one so I can get his face laughing.

[00:37:59] I just want him laughing.

[00:38:00] I want him laughing at Kafka.

[00:38:02] That's all I want.

[00:38:03] You need to get a Hoshina figure and a Kafka figure and you can just make him point and laugh at Kafka.

[00:38:07] Yeah, that is my plan.

[00:38:09] I want that so badly.

[00:38:12] Also, I want the grandpa from Welcome to Demon's School of Rumor.

[00:38:16] I'd like a figure of him.

[00:38:18] And a Mary.

[00:38:19] See, I love going into...

[00:38:20] Like we both didn't buy anything here mostly just because we're kind of like...

[00:38:23] We're not going to buy something for the sake of buying something.

[00:38:26] It was just kind of...

[00:38:26] Oh, yeah.

[00:38:28] Nothing really caught our eyes.

[00:38:30] I did find it really amusing though.

[00:38:32] Like you look through like certain sections and like it's like hilarious because like you'll see a lot of like figures and you'll be like...

[00:38:37] Ah, yes, degeneracy.

[00:38:39] And then you'll see like the real degeneracy with like some of the figures where it's like...

[00:38:42] It's like who's buying this and like why?

[00:38:45] Someone is.

[00:38:46] And they aren't even as bad as they make some of them.

[00:38:49] Well, yeah.

[00:38:50] This store thankfully doesn't sell the nude ones like the very sexual ones.

[00:38:55] Yeah.

[00:38:55] The last store used to have one.

[00:38:58] So we bought it eventually.

[00:39:00] But I feel like in America...

[00:39:01] Boobity boobities.

[00:39:02] I feel like in America it's not as like...

[00:39:07] There's no way...

[00:39:08] Like when I was in Japan...

[00:39:10] Because I did go to some bigger store so I never bought anything which like I have so many...

[00:39:14] I want to go back just to buy figures.

[00:39:17] But I never did then because I wasn't interested in it at the time.

[00:39:21] But I remember going into some stores and wandering into the section.

[00:39:24] I was like, oh, why is this section corded off?

[00:39:27] Why do you have to go through like a separate room?

[00:39:29] And that's where the porn was.

[00:39:31] The warning figures where I was like...

[00:39:33] Oh my!

[00:39:35] You walked in and saw boobity boobity boobity.

[00:39:37] Well, because it was the same with like manga.

[00:39:39] Like manga stores as well.

[00:39:40] Like you'd walk in and you'd be like, oh, what's this section?

[00:39:43] Oh, the hentai section.

[00:39:44] This is the hentai slash doujin section.

[00:39:48] Though it was funny looking at some of the doujins.

[00:39:50] Just being like, oh my god.

[00:39:52] Like some of these ships are just hilarious.

[00:39:55] You pull up the doujin and you're like, hey, I know this author.

[00:39:58] They wrote my favorite series.

[00:40:00] No, yeah.

[00:40:00] That too was the cool part as well.

[00:40:02] But also like...

[00:40:03] I don't know.

[00:40:04] Some of the...

[00:40:04] Like one of my favorite ones.

[00:40:06] Like I saw this one.

[00:40:07] That was...

[00:40:08] It was like Sasuke and Naruto.

[00:40:11] And it was just like...

[00:40:14] It was like looking at the cover.

[00:40:15] I was like, what the fuck?

[00:40:17] Like...

[00:40:18] Just like the cover alone.

[00:40:20] I still always laugh because like one of my favorites...

[00:40:22] That's canon though.

[00:40:23] They've kissed.

[00:40:24] So it's canon.

[00:40:24] They've kissed multiple times.

[00:40:26] Uh-huh.

[00:40:28] No, but that...

[00:40:29] That aside, like...

[00:40:31] I always laugh because like my favorite...

[00:40:33] One of my favorite manga...

[00:40:35] A manga I enjoy is the Don't Talk With Me, Miss Nagatoro.

[00:40:38] And that's by an author named Nanashi who...

[00:40:41] Don't look up what Nanashi did before Nagatoro.

[00:40:44] That's all I can say.

[00:40:46] You will be...

[00:40:47] Wow.

[00:40:47] Wow.

[00:40:48] It goes beyond hentai, Alex.

[00:40:52] He's got some of the most infamous...

[00:40:56] But yeah, that's...

[00:40:57] Or they do.

[00:40:58] I have no idea what gender the writer is.

[00:41:00] But yeah.

[00:41:03] Anyways, moving back to the figure store.

[00:41:07] We kind of went around there.

[00:41:09] And then we decided not to waste money on things we didn't really want.

[00:41:15] Then we kind of went through the rest of the mall.

[00:41:18] There's a box lunch in that store.

[00:41:20] But like box lunch...

[00:41:21] Box lunch fell off.

[00:41:23] They don't carry anime anymore.

[00:41:25] It's just a Disney store.

[00:41:27] Yeah.

[00:41:28] It's like progressively more and more Disney and baseball for some reason.

[00:41:31] They have all these like baseball jerseys and stuff.

[00:41:33] Well, it's just...

[00:41:34] It's Disney themed baseball jerseys.

[00:41:36] But yeah, I feel like it's the same thing as like some of the other stores.

[00:41:41] Like where they were very much doing their niche in like anime for a bit.

[00:41:45] And now anime, it's...

[00:41:47] They've done the same thing.

[00:41:48] It's like...

[00:41:48] They should really change...

[00:41:50] They should really just change the name to that store.

[00:41:52] Because like...

[00:41:52] Let's be real.

[00:41:53] Disney lunch or something.

[00:41:55] Well, it's funny because...

[00:41:56] Yeah, and we didn't even look at Hot Topic either.

[00:41:58] We also just completely bypassed it.

[00:42:01] We didn't even talk about it.

[00:42:02] Well, it's funny with Hot...

[00:42:04] Well, what's funny about Hot Topic is like...

[00:42:06] Hot Topic owns Box Lunch.

[00:42:09] Box Lunch.

[00:42:09] But Box Lunch...

[00:42:12] Bubba!

[00:42:13] Bubba!

[00:42:14] Bubba!

[00:42:15] We were behind Bubba on the highway.

[00:42:17] Yeah, there was a truck that had a sticker on the back that literally just said Bubba.

[00:42:20] So we were making Bubba jokes.

[00:42:24] No, but...

[00:42:26] Yeah, it's weird.

[00:42:27] Box Lunch is like the less edgy Hot Topic.

[00:42:30] But like it's mostly just Disney.

[00:42:31] Meanwhile, Hot Topic is like 80% anime shit now.

[00:42:35] Yeah.

[00:42:36] Like the early 2000s emo and metal stuff is like...

[00:42:39] For the most part, it's just Sailor Moon, My Hero Academia, and Demon Slayer.

[00:42:44] And that's really about it.

[00:42:45] There's really no other...

[00:42:47] There's like maybe five or six other small pieces of other stuff.

[00:42:50] But it's majority just My Hero, Demon Slayer, and Sailor Moon.

[00:42:54] Which like if you're not a big fan of...

[00:42:56] My family's been there lately.

[00:42:57] Yeah, but like it's only like they're one of the ones that comes in.

[00:43:00] But for the most part, they always have those other ones.

[00:43:03] Which if you're not a huge fan, you're like, eh, whatever.

[00:43:05] I don't really want to go to Hot Topic.

[00:43:07] And Hot Topics, I swear to God, every Hot Topic is like a thousand degrees for some reason.

[00:43:12] Yeah, they never have the heat right in them.

[00:43:14] The AC never works, basically.

[00:43:16] The AC never works and it's too hot.

[00:43:19] Yeah.

[00:43:20] But yeah, we went through there.

[00:43:21] I didn't go to the video game store just because it was really...

[00:43:24] Like literally we walked around and I was like, let's take a look and just see how crowded it is.

[00:43:27] And maybe I'll decide.

[00:43:28] And then we walked by and like literally like a horde of people went in.

[00:43:30] And I was like, yeah, I'm good.

[00:43:32] I don't need games that bad.

[00:43:33] And then we just walked through the rest of the mall just to get our steps in.

[00:43:36] And then we were like, are you good?

[00:43:37] And I was like, I am good.

[00:43:39] Let's leave.

[00:43:40] We had to dodge the solicitors who like try to sell you shit that you don't want.

[00:43:44] You see, the thing is though, is like you're the one who falls for it.

[00:43:48] And I'm the one, like you got the stupid shoes, the shoe polishing kit.

[00:43:54] Because I'm too nice and I don't like to say no.

[00:43:56] I used to be nice, but now I literally just say, fuck off.

[00:43:59] Leave me alone.

[00:44:01] I don't care.

[00:44:02] Cause they won't, if you give them an inch, they'll go a mile and you'll be stuck there.

[00:44:07] So you just say, go away.

[00:44:09] I don't want what you're selling.

[00:44:13] I just speak.

[00:44:17] Or you just, I just start speaking in a made up language.

[00:44:20] You just see how far I can go with it.

[00:44:25] Anyways.

[00:44:26] Don't even do a language.

[00:44:27] Just make noises like that.

[00:44:28] Just go.

[00:44:29] That's that's that might be offensive.

[00:44:30] So I don't do that.

[00:44:32] Um, anyways.

[00:44:33] Oh, I wasn't trying to be, I was just making up random sounds.

[00:44:38] It's to be weird.

[00:44:40] You never know.

[00:44:41] Um, so after that, then we went on like one final journey.

[00:44:45] We were, we were getting out of the busy area and we were heading back closer to home.

[00:44:49] And we, uh, stopped by, uh, there there's like, so I discovered it recently.

[00:44:54] There's like this like hobby shop, like nearby, um, where we live, where it's like huge.

[00:45:00] It is.

[00:45:00] Humongous.

[00:45:01] Well, it's in like a big, like, so the main part of the store is a dollar general.

[00:45:05] Mm-hmm.

[00:45:06] And like.

[00:45:07] Plaza.

[00:45:08] It's in a plaza.

[00:45:09] So the main portion of the plaza is a dollar general.

[00:45:12] And then this is on the other side.

[00:45:13] Yeah.

[00:45:14] And it's like a big, like big department store kind of size thing.

[00:45:18] Yeah.

[00:45:18] Um, but it's like this, like, it's a, it's a basically a collectibles.

[00:45:23] Uh, it's the name of the store.

[00:45:24] It's like collectibles games.

[00:45:26] And, uh, I won't give the actual name of the store, but it's, it's mostly gaming and comics.

[00:45:31] That's their main gimmick.

[00:45:32] It's a pop culture store.

[00:45:33] But more like tabletop gaming.

[00:45:35] Yeah.

[00:45:35] Not, not video games.

[00:45:36] I, I, because when I first went there, I was thinking it was like video games.

[00:45:39] I was a little disappointed, but then I saw like, it is a comic central in there.

[00:45:44] Um, cause they're, they're like a legit comic shop.

[00:45:46] They get the comics in and everything.

[00:45:48] They have a ton of like old comics for sale.

[00:45:50] Yep.

[00:45:51] Um, first time I took Alex though.

[00:45:53] And, uh, we discovered their anime section is actually pretty fucking big.

[00:45:57] Yeah.

[00:45:58] No, they had like quite a few.

[00:45:59] There was definitely something that I was like, Ooh, maybe I'll come back for it.

[00:46:02] But nothing.

[00:46:02] I was like, Oh, I need to get this right freaking now.

[00:46:05] Yeah.

[00:46:06] Yeah.

[00:46:06] And it was interesting.

[00:46:07] Cause like that, that store, they have legit so much shit that like a lot of those times

[00:46:12] they just have bins all around the store that you have to like dig through to find stuff

[00:46:16] because like, but the difference with this one is that it's open.

[00:46:19] It's not stinky and it's very like a bright lit environment that you don't mind as much looking

[00:46:25] through the bins and stuff.

[00:46:27] Then the employees are making an attempt.

[00:46:29] They're making an attempt to be organized.

[00:46:31] It's just taking a bit.

[00:46:32] They also have multiple employees in different sections.

[00:46:35] Like there's the guy at the front who handles most of the, like the main transactions of

[00:46:39] collectibles and stuff.

[00:46:40] Yeah.

[00:46:40] And then there's another employee towards the back who is like the gaming guy and he

[00:46:44] handles that.

[00:46:44] So they don't have, you don't have a lot of like confusion.

[00:46:47] And then there's another guy that wanders the store in case you need help basically from

[00:46:51] what I noticed.

[00:46:53] And it's pretty, it's well, it's well set up.

[00:46:57] It's very open.

[00:46:58] The employees there are very friendly and it's very interesting too.

[00:47:02] Cause it's such a weird eclectic amount of stuff.

[00:47:04] Like there's just like pop culture stuff.

[00:47:06] Like you can buy like movie posters.

[00:47:08] There's a shit ton of pop figures.

[00:47:10] Yep.

[00:47:12] Comics.

[00:47:13] There was a lot.

[00:47:13] It was almost too overwhelming though.

[00:47:15] The pop figure.

[00:47:15] I walked through it.

[00:47:16] I was like, this is a lot.

[00:47:17] Nevermind.

[00:47:18] Especially if you, especially if you're looking for just a specific one.

[00:47:22] Yeah.

[00:47:23] They had, they had a freaking entire thing full of NASCAR diecast, which was kind of

[00:47:27] cool.

[00:47:28] Yeah.

[00:47:29] No, they definitely had a good mix of things.

[00:47:32] And the employees were, the employees are, are very friendly.

[00:47:35] And like, like when you, if you're in like.

[00:47:38] Everyone's going to see me yawning.

[00:47:39] I'm so sorry.

[00:47:40] Sorry if you see my double chin yawn.

[00:47:42] I'm fat.

[00:47:44] Yeah.

[00:47:45] I'm OB.

[00:47:46] You're not.

[00:47:47] Anyways.

[00:47:49] So.

[00:47:52] While we were there, I kind of, we, we made the route.

[00:47:54] Uh, uh, the, the, we browse through the anime stuff.

[00:47:57] Nothing really today, but like, it was good to at least see what they had.

[00:48:00] Yeah.

[00:48:01] I, I did want to look through the, uh, the comics though.

[00:48:04] Cause they have a very large selection of like out of print, uh, uh, comic, uh, trade,

[00:48:11] trade paperback collections.

[00:48:13] Um, and I've been trying to collect a lot of older ones that are long out of print now

[00:48:16] just to, uh, add to my collection.

[00:48:18] Cause I'd like to read them at some point.

[00:48:20] Yes.

[00:48:20] So I got a ton of stuff.

[00:48:22] Like they had a bunch of stuff I was looking for.

[00:48:24] Like I picked up the rest of the new 52 Batman run, like all the, uh, Scott Snyder,

[00:48:31] uh, Greg Capullo stuff, which was really cool.

[00:48:33] A whole bunch of volumes there.

[00:48:37] Um, I grabbed that.

[00:48:39] It's one of the, it's like one of the best runs from the new 52.

[00:48:42] Cause the new 52 wasn't particularly good all around, but that being said, I also got the

[00:48:48] three, these really nice deluxe edition is of the flash rebirth era, which is cool.

[00:48:54] And the last one I got was something I saw that I was kind of interested in.

[00:48:58] This is an older book, but they reprinted it recently.

[00:49:02] It's the, uh, the new teen Titans, uh, the Judas contract.

[00:49:05] This is like from the eighties.

[00:49:07] Like this is a very old book.

[00:49:08] Yeah.

[00:49:08] That hair on star fire.

[00:49:10] She looks like the eighties.

[00:49:11] Oh, she still has that hair nowadays.

[00:49:13] So, um, yeah, but just no, but all right.

[00:49:17] You're talking about the hair.

[00:49:19] Look at fricking night wings, disco costume.

[00:49:22] He had going on at the time pointing at her boobs.

[00:49:26] Yeah.

[00:49:28] Look at, look at fucking night wings, disco suit.

[00:49:30] That is something.

[00:49:32] I mean, all of them are like, wow.

[00:49:34] Like that was, those were books.

[00:49:36] I mean, for the most part, most of them are kind of the same as what they have now.

[00:49:40] Um, except he's about to do the hustle.

[00:49:44] I mean, he doesn't have any power.

[00:49:46] So like all he can do is hustle.

[00:49:48] You know what always bothered me though, about like the teen Titans show?

[00:49:52] Like the show was classic, but like it had like the, the, I can't point because the things

[00:49:59] reversed.

[00:50:00] It had the main, like for like great Raven beast boy, uh, cyborg starfire and a Robin slash

[00:50:06] night wing.

[00:50:06] But like the most prominent Titan is Donna and they never put Donna in it.

[00:50:12] No, no.

[00:50:14] She's wonder girl.

[00:50:15] Oh, she's basically been like the, the main Titan in like every team since the thing started,

[00:50:21] but like they didn't put her, they didn't put her in the show.

[00:50:23] And I was sad.

[00:50:25] Huh?

[00:50:25] Granted that poor character has like one of the worst, like DC can't decide what her backstory

[00:50:31] is.

[00:50:31] And every time they try to make it better, they just fuck up her character even more.

[00:50:35] Oh God.

[00:50:36] Um, yeah, it's sad, but, uh, yeah.

[00:50:40] So we went there and then we headed off to get cannolis cause Alex wanted cannolis.

[00:50:43] Yeah.

[00:50:44] I, you know, sometimes you crave an annoli and I wanted a cannoli and that was the first

[00:50:51] time Bill had gone to this place and, uh, Bill agreed it's run by a nice little Italian

[00:50:56] lady and she's wonderful.

[00:50:58] And it's, they're delicious cannolis and they have delicious.

[00:51:01] Delicious pizza and other delicious food.

[00:51:03] It's a great time.

[00:51:05] Go!

[00:51:06] Shop off the side of this, basically up the street from this, uh, comic place, which was

[00:51:11] kind of funny.

[00:51:12] Yeah.

[00:51:12] And one of our breakfast spots too.

[00:51:14] Hmm.

[00:51:17] That shit out of the way.

[00:51:18] Um, yeah, we went in, got a couple of cannolis.

[00:51:21] I got this ricotta cannoli and this, uh, uh, cookie dough one.

[00:51:25] They were very good.

[00:51:27] Nice.

[00:51:27] Nice, nice.

[00:51:28] I also got a ricotta and a peanut butter.

[00:51:31] You got the chocolate ricotta though.

[00:51:33] I just got the plain one.

[00:51:34] If you're going to go ricotta, you got to get that chocolate dip.

[00:51:38] I'm so tired of chocolate though.

[00:51:40] At this point.

[00:51:41] Oh yeah.

[00:51:41] I don't blame you.

[00:51:43] Um, yeah.

[00:51:45] Other than that though, it was pretty successful black Friday.

[00:51:47] We didn't really deal with any of the nonsense.

[00:51:49] We got some decent deals here and there.

[00:51:51] It's definitely like, I think the craziness of black Friday has definitely decreased since

[00:51:56] COVID.

[00:51:57] Like no one camps outside anymore.

[00:52:00] There's no fist fights anymore.

[00:52:02] Even like they're still crowded in those big stores, but like no one's doing the crazy

[00:52:07] shit they used to do for black Friday.

[00:52:10] At least around here.

[00:52:11] I don't.

[00:52:12] Well, also because it's also because a lot of those big box stores, people came to realize

[00:52:17] real quickly that they were lying and most of the items that they were marking down for

[00:52:22] black Friday, they were intentionally marking more expensive like weeks prior to make it look

[00:52:27] like a markdown.

[00:52:28] And there's like evidence of that.

[00:52:30] And it, like it just kind of sucks.

[00:52:31] So I think more people are less likely suckered into the black Friday, but going to those niche

[00:52:36] stores, like, I mean, when they just say it's 20% off on all this stuff, go for it.

[00:52:40] You know, you're getting a good deal.

[00:52:42] So.

[00:52:43] Yeah.

[00:52:44] That and like most people shop online nowadays.

[00:52:46] It's good anyways, because people just don't like to go out.

[00:52:48] Yeah.

[00:52:48] But you have to be careful on Amazon too, because sometimes Amazon does the same thing where

[00:52:52] the price is like, that's why I always say, if you're looking at something for black Friday,

[00:52:56] put it in your Amazon cart because Amazon will alert you when the price changes.

[00:53:00] So if the price goes up, it's going to tell you.

[00:53:03] And then if it drops down for black Friday, it's going to let you know.

[00:53:06] So pro tip of surviving black Friday.

[00:53:10] Yeah.

[00:53:11] Yeah.

[00:53:12] Beans.

[00:53:14] Baked beans.

[00:53:14] Beans.

[00:53:15] Bill ate baked beans yesterday.

[00:53:17] That's all he ate.

[00:53:18] Just some beans.

[00:53:19] Oh, I can tell you I did.

[00:53:22] I did not.

[00:53:23] I have a whole can of cranberry sauce in my fridge.

[00:53:27] Cranberry sauce in its perfect form.

[00:53:30] The shape of a dog food can.

[00:53:31] Yes.

[00:53:32] Like, you're not supposed to like mush it or anything.

[00:53:35] Like, you just kind of eat it as the can.

[00:53:37] Eat it raw.

[00:53:39] Consume it from the can.

[00:53:41] Consume cranberry sauce.

[00:53:42] Don't even like dump it out.

[00:53:44] Just like take your spoon.

[00:53:45] Take your knife.

[00:53:45] No, you have to dump it out because you got to dump it out and it has to keep the shape.

[00:53:49] Because it's the best part.

[00:53:50] We'll keep the shape in the can.

[00:53:52] There's just something really funny about like shaking it out.

[00:53:54] It just kind of flops.

[00:53:56] Oh, I also played a lot of Stardew Valley yesterday.

[00:53:59] You sure did.

[00:54:00] Alex is addicted to that game.

[00:54:03] That was funny.

[00:54:04] I played like a lot of it.

[00:54:06] And then I discovered that there's another bundle set.

[00:54:08] Like, I unlocked my museum and there's another one hidden in the now decrepit Joja Cola.

[00:54:13] Not Joja Cola.

[00:54:15] Joja.

[00:54:15] Fart Mart.

[00:54:16] Fart.

[00:54:17] Fart Mart.

[00:54:18] And guess what two of the fucking items involved?

[00:54:21] Fishing.

[00:54:22] Fucking hate fishing.

[00:54:25] No tuna for you.

[00:54:27] No, I guess not.

[00:54:27] I'm just going to wait and see if I can get some caviar from the traveling cart or maybe the trash cans.

[00:54:35] Can someone please throw away some caviar, please?

[00:54:39] I'm begging you.

[00:54:42] Lovely.

[00:54:44] Anyways, but yeah.

[00:54:46] So we...

[00:54:47] We survived Black Friday.

[00:54:49] Yeah, we did.

[00:54:49] We did pretty good.

[00:54:50] And now we're back to...

[00:54:51] Now it's officially in the Christmas countdown.

[00:54:53] So now I'm not allowed to buy any manga for the rest of the month.

[00:54:57] Nope.

[00:54:58] She's been manga embargoed.

[00:55:03] So yeah.

[00:55:05] It's fine.

[00:55:05] You get more manga later.

[00:55:08] Yep.

[00:55:11] That being said though, guys.

[00:55:13] Once again, thank you for joining us on the Gaming Collecting Podcast.

[00:55:17] The Gaming Collecting Podcast can be found on all the major podcasting platforms.

[00:55:21] Particularly Apple Podcast and Spotify.

[00:55:24] Also be sure to check us out on the SuperPod Network.

[00:55:28] That is superpodnetwork.com.

[00:55:30] It is a really awesome site where you can find all sorts of different podcasts, videos, blogs, all sorts of fun stuff.

[00:55:42] Are you going to let me do my thing or are you going to interrupt me?

[00:55:49] That being said, be also sure to check out the other shows there like SuperPod Saga, SuperGhost Radio, Retro Rehab, Tommy's Video Game Ride Along, A Novel Console, Bar Silence, Find Time, The Elder Trolls Gaming Podcast, Remember 64, Gaming Together, Friday Night Gamecast.

[00:56:06] Our three shows over on GNC Podcast Studios, Gaming and Collecting, The 3DO Experience, Geek Addicts, and The Retro Wildlands.

[00:56:15] That's very nice of you.

[00:56:17] Press V to cancel and the pre-order bonus.

[00:56:21] And with that, everybody, once again, thank you for joining us and we will see you all later.

[00:56:26] No, you won't.

[00:56:27] You won't see me.

[00:56:29] I'm not going to be here.

[00:56:31] I'm starting my own podcast called Collecting and Gaming Podcast.

[00:56:36] Looking back on the games that I fucked at my brother.

[00:56:42] I'm starting it.

[00:56:44] It's going to be mine.

[00:56:45] Who wants to be my co-host?

[00:56:47] Anyone?

[00:56:49] No.

[00:56:49] Anyone?

[00:56:50] Nobody does.

[00:56:51] As long as you don't discrobus or kirky, you're welcome.

[00:56:56] And on that, guys, once again.

[00:56:59] No.

[00:57:01] No.

[00:57:01] No.