Welcome back to the regular edition of West Week Ever. Thanks to everyone who joined me in celebrating 10 yrs with West Decade Ever. It was a good time for introspection to figure out what I want to do next. I’ve got a new feature that I’m just about to pull the trigger on, but it’s gonna be polarizing for longtime readers. Might increase my female readership, though…
One thing I’ve been thinking about is Will’s World of Wonder. I don’t quit things, but maybe it’s time for it to go. It was created to fund the wedding, and it did that. I can still sell via Amazon and eBay, but maybe I don’t need a storefront. It hasn’t been “received by the community” the way I’d like. I mean, it’s been successful, but it’s not gangbusters or anything. Then, before I have a pity party, I have to remind myself that nobody asked me to do this. It’s not like I necessarily saw a need. I wanted to do it and I forced it on you. Some folks went along with it, but most kinda kept on moving. I just got invited to open a wholesaler account with Entertainment Earth, but I know where my bread is buttered. I’ve never really done all that well with “new” stuff, as people are more interested in the vintage items I find. If it’s new, I sell it on Amazon. If you want a new case assortment of something, there’s Nerd Rage Toys. You don’t come to me for that. Plus, Dinosaur Toy Vault‘s coming back. So, I guess, in the words of Pippin, “I’ve gotta find my corner of the sky”. Do I keep selling? Do I stick to vintage? Do you all even care? These are all the things rolling around in my head.
Oh, and everyone called me a hater for saying Pacific Rim was gonna flop, but I was just using the evidence. People tend to forget that I know what I’m talking about, and I’m not just talking out of my ass. Read the tagline of this site, y’all! Anyway, it was marketed to geeks and no one outside that realm really cared about it. Still, nobody came to me Monday to say, “You were right, Will”, so I’m gonna pat myself on the back. To all y’all who doubted me, here’s my victory Cat Daddy:
Comic stuff usually gets its own post, but this is gonna be short and to the point: if you love the Adam West Batman, you MUST read Batman ’66. The first issue was released this week, and it’s a pitch perfect addition to the ’60s Batman mythos. It’s so spot-on that I can even hear where the music cues come in. I really haven’t understood the recent push for 60s Batman merchandise, as it’s not an anniversary year or anything. Most folks think they’ll finally announce the long-awaited DVDs this weekend at San Diego Comic Con. The show has been wrapped up in legal red tape for decades, as Warner Bros owns the characters yet Fox owns the show, but the rumor is that a deal might’ve been reached. Anyway, I was a huge fan of that show as a kid, and this comic fits perfectly in that universe.
How did I just discover Regular Show?! I’m kinda anti modern cartoons, so I shit on most Cartoon Network shows that come around these days. After all, the cool kids LOVE Adventure Time and I LOATHE it, so why would Regular Show be any different? I ended up watching a Regular Weekend marathon over the weekend, and fell in love with this show. I love every character, from Mordecai to Rigby to Pops to Benson. Plus, I love cartoons where they’re allowed to mention death. Back in my day, there was a limit to showing blood, but now a show can say “Yeah, that guy’s totally dead.”
So, I’ve been trying to find fun ways to get in shape without having to go to the boring gym. With that in mind, I decided to join my friend Jeff at his soccer practice this week. Most of the players are African, so that was an experience. I know people joke that Africans are fast, but MY GOD ARE AFRICANS FAST!!! I got the ball and turned my back. I didn’t even hear anything more than the sound of a leaf on the wind, and a large dark man swept in and stole the ball from me. OUT OF NOWHERE! Anyway, I think I disappointed my African brothers that day…
Here’s an update on something. Remember back when I had to return the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier because it was missing parts? Well, I went to Walmart a few weeks back, and look what I saw:
THAT’S THE SAME HELICARRIER!!!! THEY JUST PUT IT BACK ON THE SHELF!!!! I know because I shook it and everything inside rattled around the way I left it. Otherwise, the parts would’ve been in place with their twisty ties. Walmart has a reputation for this kind of thing, but I’d never seen it happen to something of mine – mainly because I don’t ever return anything. Let this be a lesson: keep your receipts!
One of them had an eventful Saturday night, while the other had a final Saturday night. One pissed off newsstand owners left and right, while the other was too busy extreme cartin’. Only one, however, could have the West Week Ever.
Really, was there any question? Those other 3 couldn’t win. There’d be rioting amongst my 12 readers! Plus the complete first and second seasons of Regular Show were released on DVD this week. Hell, if I had better connections, this would’ve been a sponsored post. I thought about giving it to the Twinkie, but that’s The Robot’s Pajamas’ turf. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve got #SDCC news you need to catch up on, so I’ll cut it off here. See ya next week!
RE: Stores
If you enjoy doing it, and are making a few bucks, then keep doing it. If you want to have a store that everyone loves and it grows and all that, you’re going to have to pour a LOT of money and time into it. Nerd Rage spends a lot of money on store stock and advertising and all that. Plus like you said, there’s the new stuff. I got into new stuff for awhile and quit. It’s a pain in the ass to make such a small profit margin, and if you’re not trying to be a big store, then don’t bother. (Although sometimes it was nice ordering a case of something I wanted and then selling extras)
I’ve always looked at the Vault as A. a place where I could get rid of what I wanted on my terms as opposed to eBay. B. a place to sell things I find at rummage sales.
In a way it became a fun hobby on it’s own. At it’s peak I only sold… maybe 2 items a week. It wasn’t some huge success and I was really happy with the way it was. It just became too much to handle during school.
This comeback is going to be something different. I’ve deleted all the old items. I’ll slowly add stuff, but I think when I’m opening I’ll have MAYBE 30 items max. Hopefully I’ll sell stuff cuz I’m broke.
And then at some point, I’m probably going to have to close it down again. School is right around the corner!
See, I’m not even sure I want to grow it. I just wanna blow out everything that’s there. I’ve never wanted to be a Nerd Rage, as I don’t really feel like competing with Amazon and Target. Sales are AMAZING during the holiday season, but slower at other times. I think I’m still happy with the pace of sales, but like I said, I don’t get the love from folks. It’s a quaint little shop, but folks are bending over backwards to fellate other sites out there, and I want some of that toy-buying bj action. Meanwhile, I do SO much better over on Amazon, but I can really only move new stuff there, so it’s really a toss up.
Bah. Pacific Rim was brilliant and epic and yes James and I saw it *twice*. *IN THEATRES*. *TWICE*.
Epic.
We are fucking cancelling the fucking apocalypse all the fuck up in here.
(And, just to put it out there, Pacific Rim did just fine. It made like $45 million opening weekend, which is pretty good in this lousy movie market. Yes, it came behind Despicable Me 2, but that’s pretty much because kids’ movies do really well when it’s really hot out and parents are depositing their kids in the mall to go see movies so they can relax in the food court and be child-free for 90 minutes. Plus, James has a pretty reasonable theory that Pacific Rim is going to kill in the international market, which is what it was really made to do in the first place.)
Also, Pacific Rim is epic. Epic.
*sigh* Pacific Rim will do just fine internationally, and it will find a new audience on Blu Ray. My problem, again, was the US marketing that purported it was the best thing since sliced bread. It was Scott Pilgrim all over again. Personally, that’s polarizing enough to keep me away from it, which is why I still haven’t seen Titanic. Still, personal feelings aside, I knew it wasn’t marketed as a #1 movie. It didn’t cast its net wide enough.
I gotta check out Regular Show. I was avoiding it for the same reason as you, I hate Adventure Time.
Re: Getting Love
It might be due to some of the products you have or don’t have. Only time I ever got a lot of interest was when I had higher end vintage Transformers, some of my better G.I. Joes, or Starcom stuff. People only get riled up about certain things.