WHY SO SERIOUS? Cult Brands And You!!

Hey, bub, I keep telling you, don't call me Wolvie!

Snicked. Let's fucking go! Ding, ding, ding,

this is an interruption. Actually, it isn't.

This is the beginning. Or is it the end? No,

it's the beginning. No, the world knows this

is the beginning of the show. Beginning of the

end. I'm gonna REM you. Yes, we're gonna talk

about Deadpool and Wolverine. Mm -hmm. Let's

fucking go. That's what she said. Never gets

old. Yeah, this this is entertaining. As if I

expected anything different out of these two.

Yeah, absolutely. And they both look like they're

having a blast. Well, yeah, no, absolutely. And

you always point out some of the stuff to me,

but you pointed out way back when, when they

first did the first teaser of this, where you're

like, here, watch this. And I'm like, okay, watch

it. Hey, Hugh, you want to come back? Okay, Ryan.

Like, hello. Of course they're going to have

fun. They've been poking fun at each other for

years. And now that Deadpool is actually in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe, holy shit. And so

is Wolverine. Mm -hmm. Yep. And to a lesser degree,

some of the X -Men, even though they're going

to wipe out most of them. And then, yeah, this

trailer had a ton. Yep. Yeah, it had everything.

It had everything, but it also had nothing, which

was great, because... You had a bunch of angsty

stuff, and you had a bunch of stuff telling that...

This Wolverine is from a universe where he failed

his team. There's all kinds of callbacks to different

films with this. The poster with Wolverine's

glove with Deadpool next to him touching the

claws is a callback to Logan with the girl holding

his hand. um, like Liefeld's, uh, feet or something

store that's behind them in part of the trailers

because Rob Liefeld can't, he can't draw feet.

He can't draw feet, but also I think it was him

who created the character in 1991. Well, yeah,

but I mean, that's, that was also a jab at him

too, but yep. And then sadly they show that,

uh, you know, giant man is, dead and they're

using his corpse yep as a house which i guess

is from a comic um you get wolverine in the bar

where he's being told not to come back there

uh and it's it's funny because then you get uh

Um, where Wolverine's trying to extend his claws

and then Deadpool's like, it's, you know, Oh,

it happens to Wolfies after 40. Uh, because in

Logan, he was having a hard time getting the

claws out. That's right. As well. So like there's,

there's little jabs like all over the place.

Blind Al, you know, had plenty of. drug jokes,

which was funny. And then you see Deadpool in

Age of Ultron timeline. And then the Fox logo

smashed in the ground. You see Professor Xavier's

sister, Cassandra Nova in the trailer. Also bald.

Yeah, you see all this stuff, but you don't actually,

and this is what I think is so great about this.

You see teasing of the characters, but you don't

see any plot. Exactly, yes. You see all the teasing

that they're doing for you and to you, but it

doesn't give anything away at the same time,

which is the way trailers should be. Get you

interested, get you excited to get your ass in

the seat to go see the movie. Without basically

telling you what the movie is. And then they're

saying, too, that, you know, each universe of

the multiverse has a hero that when they're removed,

a Nexus event happens and it basically self -destructs.

Yep. And yeah, so like Wolverine disappearing

and. Deadpool disappearing and other characters

kind of play a big part of that. Yeah. Absolutely.

So, yeah, I don't know. There's there's so much

going on in this and yet nothing at the same

time that I'm interested to see how this plays

out. Yeah, I am, too, which. We will be doing

a Deadpool double feature over on Studio 2009

later this summer where we watch the first two

films because I've never seen them. I just have

not had time. They haven't been tops on my radar

to watch them. I love Ryan as the character from

what I've seen him in other advertisements and

other skits and things. So, you know, but we'll

do that and then we'll eventually do this movie

once it hits theaters. I'm definitely going to

get this version of Wolverine in this movie,

like the figure, because he's in his suit. And

then he just kind of fits the look. Yeah, absolutely.

So, yeah, I'm definitely down. What'll be interesting

is if they survive it. I'm kind of wondering

which version of Wolverine this is. Because obviously

it's from Fox, but it could be a different version

of the Fox universe. Like, for instance, it could

be the same one that goes into Logan. It could

be a different one where all the X -Men are dead

completely. It could be... Because, I mean, we

even saw in Days of Future Past, they changed

the timeline in that, too. Yep. So, I mean, there's

so much different time meddling. It could be

a different alternate Wolverine that had a similar

starting point as what we're used to from the

Fox universe. And then a totally different direction

that they took it. Yeah, I could be completely

wrong here, folks, but I really want it to be

the main because it's it's Hugh. I want it to

be and I know it's always been Hugh for the movies,

but I want it to be the main original 2000. X

-Men film version of the character. That's what

I want. I can see that. I don't think it's going

to be. Probably not. I think it's going to be

because I think that's the way that they're going

to, because I know Hugh's big thing about playing

the character. He didn't want to detract from

Logan. Right. And I feel like Logan was the natural

progression of the original. Oh, okay. But I

could be wrong, too, because even that didn't

really quite feel like it fit. Yeah. So, yeah,

I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I think my

main sticking point is because in 24 years? Yeah,

24 years, we've never had another live -action

Wolverine. Unless Hugh can't do it anymore. Well,

it's going to be... I think this is probably

going to be his last one fine whatever fine,

but my point is, in 24 years, this isn't James

Bond. You're not having a different person play

the character every other movie every two or

three years. This isn't like that. This isn't

Batman, where you have various Batmans doing

one film, two film, three film, seven film, whatever

film. This is fucking Wolverine and Hugh Jackman.

For 24 years. So, I mean, it's quite a, quite

a stellar run. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it fits

the role really well. And then he does, he always

looks, it plays it well. Uh, uh, definitely a

career maker out of it. Cause I mean, the dudes,

he's got the longest running record playing in

the same character. Yep. As far as live action

films. Oh yeah. Absolutely. And then like on

top of it, like he's just I don't know, like

I like this will be like kind of like how Toby

is my definitive Spider -Man. Like this is my

definitive Wolverine and Deadpool. And like,

I mean, Ryan's the only one that's ever played

a live action Deadpool, too. And I think that

we're going to get different ones in this one

as well as Wolverines. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

So either way, I'm excited for it. Looking forward

to more. I'm sure there'll probably be another

trailer at some point dropped. Oh, yeah. I mean,

this is the end of April, almost May. The movie's

not coming out until July 26th. I'm sure they're

going to do more trailers between then and now.

After all, it is Disney. Well, even then, I feel

like Ryan has a lot of say. Oh, of course he

does. Look at everything he said in this. Like,

I mean, come on, man. So, all right, folks, now

it's time to get to the seriousness of this episode

of Altered Geek because, oh, boy. Yeah, just

tune in. Let's fucking go. Hey, this is Josh

Keaton, and you are listening to the Geekcast

Radio Network. Hi, this is Adam Mastroianni,

and you're listening to Altered Geek. You're

tuned in to Steve Megatron on Altered Geek. Hello

and welcome to Altered Geek. I'm your host, Steve

Megatron, and joining me on this adventure into

geekdom is TFG1 Mike. Hello. Hello. It seems

like we weren't here that long ago. Well, it

was a week for the people. It wasn't a week for

us, but it was a week for the people. No. No.

Yeah. It's quick for them, not for us. No, it's

quick for us. It's not quick for them. Yeah.

You got that backwards. So, yes, we're going

to discuss cult brands. Mm -hmm. So what are

some that you would consider to be a cult brand?

Let me throw you under the bus like that. No,

no, no. It's not that you're throwing me under

the bus. I have to figure out how I'm going to

word this because I need to apologize in advance

to Mr. Michael Powers, who isn't here to defend

this and give his opinion. That's all right.

Apple. My boss loves Apple. And there are certain

applications that will not run on an Apple. I

grew up with Apple. I was in kindergarten, 85.

The year you were born, I was in first grade.

And we had Apple IIc's and Apple IIe's and Apple

II whatever's. So I grew up with Apple. But Apple

in the 80s is nothing like Apple in 2024. No.

Apple in 2024 is like, bang, zoom, Alice to the

moon. Holy crap. I was in the Apple ecosystem

for the longest time. Back in 2008, 2009, 2010,

I had an iPhone 3GS. Interesting. Yeah, I loved

it. Look, I'm not going to, but it's going to

go back and forth. I loved it because at the

time I had, I still have iTunes, but I was big

on iTunes and was like this, that, and the other

thing. I built up, I still have this whole music

collection, all these podcasts and movies. I

still have all my iTunes movies and TV shows

I've had since 2006 kind of thing. So I like

Apple products. I just don't like the way Apple

locks you into having their products or their

services. That's what I don't like. They make

it extremely hard for you to get out of the core

of Apple. They just do. And I can see that. And...

2012, 2011, 2012, 2013, somewhere around there.

I had to go back to it. Actually, no. You know

what it was? I sold my iPhone 3GS because I needed

the money at the time. I didn't care about it

anymore. And by that time, at the time, we had

a Skype phone number. Nobody ever freaking calls

me. And I'm saying this as a general thing. I'm

not pointing anybody out directly, but like...

I don't get phone calls from family members.

Okay, my dad, maybe, but, like, you know what

I mean? Like, my dad and my mom, fine, whatever,

at the time before my mom passed in 2015. But,

like, nobody called me anymore. Nobody was needing

my cell phone number. Like, unless it was an

emergency and you were in the middle of nowhere,

you weren't calling me. You were DMing me on

Twitter or messaging me on Facebook or whatever.

Like, nobody in 2011 -2012 was making a hell

of a lot of phone calls. And for the podcast

network, we needed a voicemail line so people

could call in and leave their feedback if they

wanted to have their voice on the air. At the

time before Microsoft bought them, and I'm sure

the service, I think the services are all still

there on Skype, but it is what it is, Skype had,

hey. You can get a Skype voicemail number, or

you can get a Skype phone number, and with that

comes free voicemail and this, that, and the

other thing. I think I paid anywhere from $60

to $90 per year for the phone number and the

calling package, the U .S. and Canada calling.

So there were two services. I paid for the phone

number itself, which was, let's say, $60 a year

and then $30 for the unlimited US and Canada

phone service thing. Some of our early interviews

that we did back then, 2010 -2011, a lot of the

Stan Bush interviews originally were over the

phone. He would pull off to the side of the road

in a couple of the early Stan Bush interviews

and he would call into the phone number and we

would record it through there. So yeah, by that

time I was out of Apple, I hadn't, I haven't

had an Apple computer myself since 1991. The

only Apple computer I ever had as a personal

computer in my home was when I was 11 years old.

I had the Apple IIgs. That's the only time I

had ever, I've always had PCs. Ever since they

switched to being a Mac computer in the 90s,

everything is, like, backwards. Like, all the

key commands are backwards. Oh, the escape key

is over here. Oh, the quit key is on the left

side. I'm like, no, don't do that. Whatever.

So I ended up getting out of Apple and going

into basically just either having Skype or just

having a dumb cell phone until about... I think

2017 when I met Karen is when I got a Samsung

Galaxy S9, and I've been on Android ever since,

and I will never leave Android because I like

it better than Apple. For the win. Yeah. Well,

I'm not... I currently have a Google Pixel 6

Pro, but that's beside the point. The point is

Android for the win, at least for our personal

opinions. If you have different opinions... Comment

on the episode, geekcastradio .com. This is Altered

Geek, episode 431. Why so serious? Other cultish

brands? Disney? A little bit? I would argue Disney,

for sure, just because how big of a conglomerate

they've become. You got Disney, you got Disney

and all their parks entail. You got whatever

all that entails. You got Disney, the media side,

which has Fox and Marvel and Star Wars and all

that. What were you going to say? Well, I would

say, for instance, let's define what a cult brand

is. Cult brands are business -to -consumer companies

with customers so passionate that they view their

association with the brand as part of their personal

identity. This connection can last for decades

or even for a lifetime. Cult brand customers

also feel a strong affinity with one another

as well as the brand. This results in some of

the strongest customer communities. both online

and offline. And I would agree that's true. Yes,

Disney is a big, a big, big proponent of that.

Although you can see, too, when a business runs

kind of a foul of that, they can also tarnish

that cult behavior. Yeah, it's crazy. It is just

crazy how they suck you in and it takes a lot,

like, you know, I don't think Marvel and DC specifically,

okay, oh, there you go. I think they used to

be. Well, like, since Disney owns Marvel. It's

more Disney than Marvel specifically now. And

Warner Brothers has always owned DC, to my knowledge,

if I'm incorrect on that. Well, except for way

back when. Yes, but like the DC comics that we

know, the DC films that we know. Yes, those are

all. Yeah, it's always been under Warner Brothers.

But my point is, is that. I don't have in comic

books. I don't have specific stalker -ish brand

loyalty to DC or Marvel. No. When I say that,

I mean just attach myself. No. I have loyalty

to the characters I love from each of those companies.

You will never hear me on the pullback in the

last 11 years that we've been doing that podcast.

You will never in any of those episodes hear

me ever say I prefer as a company DC over Marvel

or Marvel over DC. Because for me, it isn't about

the damn companies. It's about the characters

that the company's making. And the content. Yeah,

that's what I care about. And if it's content

that I don't want to read or I don't want to

watch, then I just won't watch it. Like, it's

that simple. We can do a whole other Altered

Geek Cast Radio, whatever episode you want to

do. We can do a whole thing on why I don't get

people hate -watching stuff. That's just dumb

to me. Why would you waste your time to quote

-unquote hate -watch something? Yeah. That's

not something I would do either. Like you're

supposed to enjoy your time. Oh my God. Like,

and I'm not going to watch something just so

I could do a podcast about it. If I am interested

in it. Yes. I will do a podcast about like, you

know, I don't know, but yeah. Yeah. But I mean,

so for instance, some of the, the other cult

brands, uh, what, what kind of prompted this

was we were driving. to the airport, uh, to go

on a business trip. And we were looking over

at Bucky's and I don't know if you're familiar

with them. I've heard the name, but what the

hell are, what is Bucky? So Bucky's is a, uh,

more or less, more or less a gas station, like

a glorified gas station. Oh, so it's like Shell

or Thor. Okay, okay. Oh, no, no, no. This is

more than that. Oh, no. It's a Texas -based and

Texas supersized gas and convenience store chain

that offers much more than a place to fuel up

and grab a bag of chips. Its devoted fans make

regular pilgrimages. Sometimes driving hundreds

of miles to stock up on beaver nuggets and brisket

and merch with its buck tooth mascot smiling

face. Even its restrooms are award winning. So

it's Bucky's is B -U -C dash E -E apostrophe

S. And their mascot is a beaver. And they. uh

they open up like these massive gas stations

all over the country they put one here um in

johnstown colorado which is like 30 like 20 or

30 minutes from where i live it's 118 gas pumps

which is like unheard of at a gas station uh

the other thing that people go there for is i

mean people will stop and take with the inflatable

they'll take photos with it they'll um they'll

uh go inside there's they have one it's it's

regularly named one of the cleanest uh uh places

overall to stop for gas in the country they have

the cleanest bathrooms um or at least that's

what they they tout um i've not used their bathroom,

but that's more so just I wouldn't need to go.

Unless it's an emergency, I do not use any bathrooms

in any stores. Unless I absolutely have to go

and I didn't go before I left home. I don't care

if it's a gas station. I don't care if it's a

gas station with a mini mall inside of it. I

ain't using your public restroom. They have about

the same cult following as Walt Disney World.

Which is insane when you think about it. Yeah.

They... They have food that's for sale on the

inside, for one. Like, they have their brisket,

they have, you know, different roasted nuts.

Nuts! Nuts! Get your nuts! We got all kinds of

nuts! Brazil nuts! Walnuts! Get your hands off

my nuts! They have different deli sandwiches,

they have... A massive selection of food and

merch. All the merch is Bucky's themed. A lot

of the food is Bucky's themed, which is how I

think that they get away with like they don't

sell Coke or Pepsi. They have like Bucky Cola.

Oh, God, no. So like it's all branded towards

them. But I think they do that on purpose because

one, it builds the cult following and two, they

don't have to pay the licensing fee to Coke or

Pepsi. Right. And so the only one that I noticed

that they broke that mold for was Arizona iced

tea and Dr. Pepper. Everything else is Bucky's

flavored. Because like I got a cola while I was

there and I was like, it tastes like Coke. I

mean, it's fine. But I mean, it was just funny,

like the amount of people like we got in there

around 1030, 11 o 'clock on Easter. And we barely

found a parking spot. And the complex is huge.

And then when we were leaving, they had a line

that was out almost to the expressway to get

in there. That's how cultish this place was.

It's almost like when you go to an In -N -Out

burger or a Chick -fil -A where people will line

up for days, it seems like, to get food. And

it's not like I get it, but it's not one of those

things that I just have to have. Well, Chick

-fil -A, I don't care for the owners of that

establishment. I don't, whatever, whatever, whatever,

whatever. In -N -Out, all I will say about In

-N -Out is that it is your basic burger place

that offers some specialty menu items. And that's

for me personally, because I've had In -N -Out.

I went out to California in December of 2016.

Oh, God, that was... Oh, God, math hurts. Eight

years ago? Yeah, eight years ago. Oh, God. Oh,

boy. First time ever being in California, and

I told my buddy Doug at the time, I said... First

thing I want to do is I need to try In -N -Out

just because I want. I knew it was a basic burger,

but here's the thing, folks. I am a basic burger

bastard. I am. You give me a bun, two patties,

cheese, some bacon, some ketchup, lettuce, tomato.

I'm fine. I'm happy. I don't need everything

else on my burger. I just need something simple

that I like to eat kind of thing. And it's all

right. It's not like, you know, whatever. I'm

not going to sit there and wait for seven hours

for it. But I see what you're saying. But Bucky,

I people talk about Bucky's. I'm like, what the

Bucky's? I don't know what the like. What is

this, the Winter Soldier store? No, it's it's.

Oh, boy. Yeah. So, I mean, it's it's almost like

how, you know, like many Cooper people like Volkswagen,

Ikea, Southwest Airlines, Lennox. early Davidson,

Oprah, Star Trek, Star Wars. Like these are all

on the list. Like these are, uh, vans, uh, shoes.

Yep. And it seems to be like one of those things

that everybody has on the same list. Uh, I thought

it was funny Star Trek, but I, I can honestly

see that. And then I wouldn't say Star Trek and

Star Wars are cult brands. Well, they're cult

followings, and anything with a cult brand or

following that has been going on, people just

get pretty rabid about. I would argue is... Okay.

Yeah, but most of those people who are arguing

to their deaths by lightsaber or phaser are childish

morons who can't approach it intellectually at

all. No, and I get that, but that is... the definition

of a cult brand, like people that just can't

fathom that somebody dislikes it. And like, don't

get me wrong. Like I, I like a lot of these different

brands to some degree. Like some of them I don't,

like I don't get the appeal of Ikea because it's

all half, like it's, it's all, it's like a giant

shop, a warehouse of stuff you have to put together

yourself and it's all crap. And modular crap.

So like when you get done building the modular

crap, you could have just bought a quality piece

of furniture in the first place. Or in my case,

I waited until something came available in a

Facebook marketplace or at one of the Habitat

for Humanity rehome stores. Yep. Those are good.

I bought for my display, for my geek display.

And mind you, it's not exactly the design I was

going for. But it's close enough where you're

happy. It's close enough. The only thing I would

change is maybe the doors on it eventually. But

I don't like the structure or sound. I bought

a display that I thought was one that I was going

to enjoy. And it was brand new. It was from Home

Depot. It was a kit. and I went to go get it

out of the package, and it felt cheap and super

flimsy and light, and they didn't even give me

real glass. It was plexiglass, and it was all

scratched, and I was like, all right, screw this

noise. I want something with real glass. I want

something that's solid wood, and so Habitat for

Humanity went there, got one, painted it, made

it look nice, bought new glass for some of it,

and it's pretty stinking solid. So, I mean, it's

those things, like those type of cult brands.

And I get why some people like Apple. Like back

in the day, it was your media productivity. And

it still is for a lot of people. It still is,

but a lot of it's moved to PC because it's gotten

cheaper. Well, the thing about Apple, and the

reason why I'm saying this is because I know

I watch this person more than you do, but I watch

Marques Brownlee, a .k .a. MKBHD. And he does

a fairly good job of being equal on both Apple

and Android sides because he's in both worlds.

But some of the productivity and creativity that

Apple things have, Windows just doesn't. It doesn't

mean Windows can't have it. You can play games

on Windows, and you can do productivity things

on Windows. You can do a lot of productivity

things and fun videography and things and audio

and whatever on Apple, but you can't really do

a lot of whole whatever else on Apple, like gaming

on Apple, whatever. But I understand that. That's

fine. I don't know. It's just... I don't know.

It's just crazy. Yeah, so, like, I've kind of

been looking around now, like, what is a cult

brand? You know, like, Starbucks, Peloton, you

know. Starbucks in itself, like, they create

their own buzz around things with holiday cups.

Those coffee brands do it with stickers. Stupid

holiday cups. Oh, God, I remember that year.

Oh, God. Remember that movie that that they were

I forget. It was Paul Rudd and like Stifler in

it. And they were trying to sell energy drinks

and they were, you know, and he's like. they're

like would you like a venti he's like no i want

a large he's like and then he's like you know

and in this language it means this and this language

means this and that's not actually a large he's

like it's just a made -up word he's like you

know your other sizes are actually a thing he's

like so great now you're stupid in three languages

or something it was like i was like i mean he's

not a lion but he's right Just briefly tying

this into media, you mentioned IKEA a few moments

ago, and my first thought is there is an episode

of The Suite Life on Deck, which is the sequel

to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the Disney

Channel, and yes, I know, folks, I'm talking

about a Disney show, whatever, where Phil Lewis

as Mr. Mosby and the boys go to Sweden, and they

go to an IKEA -type ripoff place, and... He needs,

like you're saying, they want you to build this

stuff yourself. He needs a replacement this.

Oh, you need a replacement screw. Which screw

do you need? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Get

out of the hole list. Name of the screw he needed

was a Yerka Fossa. Yerka Fossa is essentially

jerk face. Jerk face! Hey, I'm doing the best

I can. No, no, that's the name of the screw I

need. Jerk face! One, you're a kafasa. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. We no longer make that screw. Epic

fail. Yeah. But yeah, some of these brands, man.

And like I said with Apple, I'm not trying to

tie it back, but like some of these brands do

things that. Just sometimes we like them and

then we just want to get rid of them and they

make it hard to get out of it. And it's like,

really? Wow. Yeah. I mean, and, and like a lot

of brands are very cultish, like in, in, and

you almost have to be like to stand out. Well,

yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You have to lock people

in and you have to keep them coming back for

more. And lately, I understand this. But let's

just say, to cover both sides of the spectrum,

Apple and Samsung. And again, I want to apologize

to Mr. Michael Powers, a .k .a. at BoothNinja81

on X, if he's still using X. I don't know if

he is or not. But iPhone 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro Max,

and 15 Pro Max. There's no innovation. There's

only refinement and a new number every year.

Same thing with Samsung. Samsung, I'm not leaving

them off the hook either. Between the S22 Ultra,

23 Ultra, and 24 Ultra, there might be... Okay,

I think the S24 Ultra currently right now, which

is the newest one, has... more AI than the other

two versions, but they still look the same. Look,

I don't mind a candy bar phone. That's fine.

Whatever. But I... The greatest thing that Samsung

did between the S20 and the S21 Ultra is... On

the S21 Ultra, they had the sidebar camera things

like they do now, except it was enclosed in a

little bit of a hump bump thing where it looked

more uniform. Now, the cameras are just hanging

out on the back of the phone like just somebody

with his junk out or something. Like, I won't,

until Samsung changes their design. on the Ultra

model of the phone, and it's even with the regular

Samsung Galaxy S whatever, or the S Plus or whatever,

the mid -range one, I forget what it is. Until

they change that design language on that phone,

I will never own another Samsung. I probably

won't own, the next Google phone I might end

up getting is the Google Pixel Fold 2, whenever

the hell we get that, if we're getting that anytime

soon, I don't know. But when I jumped from the

S9 to the Google Pixel 6 Pro, it was simply because

when Google, and I know you can speak to this

because you had a 3XL a few years ago. Steve

had a Google 3XL. And you had that 3XL because

you liked the larger format, you liked the way

it was and whatever else, and you're not an Apple

person. But when Google went from the... old

Pixel design to the 6 and above design with this

Tron -like camera bar looking thing on the back

of the phone. I love it. I think it's great.

I wish Google would go back to the all glass

back. That's the only reason why I did not upgrade

to the Pixel 7 Pro or the current Pixel 8 Pro

is because In the 7 and 8, they've made the back

camera bar and stuff like a silver, I don't think

it's titanium, I don't remember what it is off

the top of my head, but it's not total glass.

And the coolest thing for me, and it's very rare

that I even have this out of a phone case, but

when I have my Pixel 6 Pro out of a phone case,

it has this two -tone black and gray kind of

thing where it's very sleek. And I like sleek

things. It's like Rekar says in that old movie

from 1986. That's what I like about the Pixel

6 Pro. And until Google or until Samsung does

something different with their designs that I'm

actually going to like again, until this phone

breaks, I won't be upgrading anytime soon. Yeah,

I mean, I have a Pixel 6a. Yeah. And it's about

the same size as my 3A XL. Yeah. But, I mean,

I may or, I don't know what I'll get after this.

I mean, but I just got this like two years ago.

See, I've had this since Karen passed away in

2021. December of 21, when it first launched.

I have one of the first. six pros that launched

originally. And outside of one issue this year

that I've somehow miraculously fixed, I still

love this phone. I love the way the cameras work.

Again, I'm okay with being on Android's side

because I like Android. I like what it does.

I'm okay in being in Google. Everything for me

is Google -based. The only thing I have that's

Apple -based anymore is iTunes. And unless I

absolutely have to have. For me, using iTunes

is like, oh, I have to, because it's not on Spotify

or anywhere else, I have to import a CD that

I've owned for the last 20 years of my life because

it's nowhere to be found. Again, folks, physical

media matters sometimes. And they'll be like,

oh, well, you haven't logged in or changed your

password for a year and a half. Okay. What is

it? I forgot it. I didn't forget it, but let's

just say, oh, you must jump through all these

hoops to whatever, whatever. But yeah, I mean,

eh, I don't know. There's a difference in being

a brand cultist and a brand loyalist. Because

I see the advantages of, and you do too, I know

you do, you see the advantages of both sides.

Again, let's just take Apple and Android. There

are advantages to each, but People have to decide

what they want out of their technology. And if

you want to be in Apple's ecosystem, more power

to you. If you like that, if you like the way

that their phones take pictures or their tablets

take pictures or whatever, great. Same thing

with the Android side. What else? What else you

got? Well, I mean, I would almost argue like

any of the franchises that have toys. I mean,

look at Transformers fans. Look at Power Ranger

fans. Because I've been collecting some of the

Lightning Collection, I see the pain of this

brand that people are just ticked. I mean, I

knew that they were a brand, but I was more like

Star Trek Transformers and didn't really pay

any attention to it. But honestly, they get hosed

worse than we do. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I'm

trying to think. Okay, so outside of the Funko

Pop Power Rangers that I have, I have not had

a Power Rangers action figure since 1995. And

there's a picture. It's on my Facebook somewhere.

Maybe it's in whatever cloud. I forget. There

is a picture of me where I am 15 years old. I

am looking down at the Falcon Zord from the movie.

Actually, the Zord from the movie. And I'm looking

at this thing because I loved it so, so much.

But again, like I mentioned on the podcast, I

probably mentioned it on here. I know I've mentioned

it. I talk about it on ToyCast all the time.

In 2011, I just had this need to purge the toy

collection at the time. And I didn't have any

interest in getting back the toy collection until

about... 2016, 2017, when I started collecting

Funko. And some of these like Power Rangers,

Transformers, Star Wars, Star Trek. Transformers

I kind of give a pass to, not because I'm a Transformers

fan, but because in 40 years, how many different

things has Transformers done in 40 years? So

many things. True. That's the only reason why

I give them a pass, because they give us various

things at various stages. Yes, they always go

back to G1 for anniversaries and for other things

and everything else, fire, whatever. They do

try and jump around, whereas I feel like Hasbro

kind of screwed the pooch with Power Rangers.

The Lightning Collection was great, but the remasters

were even better. And then once they kind of...

stop like i feel like the last year they've been

kind of fizzling out anyway like the whole brand

like i feel like once once and always in cosmic

fury we're done they were like all right pack

up the shop i don't even remember like i remember

we did i don't know if i don't think it was an

alternate geek it was i might have been power

what was the end of it was the end of uh I want

to say it was the end of 2023 they did all those,

and then they were still announcing some of these,

like the remasters and the Master Morpher. And

then all of a sudden they're like, that's it,

we're out of stock, we're done. Yeah, I don't

know. It's just, it's frustrating. Because, like,

it's just so frustrating. I understand and I

respect for collectors and for the brands to

have exclusively. We've talked about NFTs before,

and yes, folks, I'm moving in my chair. All right,

so you want to talk about a niche thing, and

we've talked about this before, how we don't

like the process of the NFTs. NFT anything. I

still don't like the process of the potentiality

of getting something. I want to go get it. So

I went out a couple of months ago and I had saved

up some money after paying bills and everything

else. I'd saved up some cash and I went and I

got the Funko Pop Transformers Grail Gold Optimus

Prime NFT. I love this thing. It is cool as hell.

It is the only Gold Optimus Prime I ever need.

But NFTs are another one of those things where...

Toy collecting, I personally do not think, from

toy companies, should be a gamble. No. I understand

the addiction of gambling and all this and all

that and everything else, because I grew up with

my family playing cards and this, that, and everything

else. I've seen all the poker movies and all

the blackjack movies in the world. Whatever,

fine, whatever. But toy collecting should not

be a gamble. You should not have to... I'm sure

you've said this before. What's your current

employment? What do you mean? Where do you work

currently? For a car wash. Okay. So that's fairly

hard work, right? For the most part. I do marketing,

so yeah. Okay, you're doing marketing, but I'm

saying like, okay, all right, fine. Take someone

who's a construction worker, EMT, a policeman,

a fireman, a doctor, whatever, not necessarily

a doctor, but my point is... Any job, really.

Hell, fast food workers work their asses off

for crap pay. But you're a hardworking person

that wants to be able to spend their money on

something they know they are going to get. You

don't want to spend... I don't want to spend

my money on something I know I only have the

potential to get. I don't like the whole... Toy

collecting should be a gamble thing. From toy

companies directly. I understand the NFT thing

and all that and fine, whatever, whatever. But

if you're going to have an exclusive on your

website and you're going to tell people it's,

let's just say it's limited to 2 ,000, you need

to then put as a company on your website blockages

in place. So these scalpers don't come in with

bots and buy six of the same thing because if

they, let's say five, 2 ,000 items, 1 ,995 items

left. So that's only 1 ,995 real people potentially

that could get that item. And then you're never

going to make it again because you want to make

it limited. This is why most of the time I don't

like limited things. I would rather Hasbro do

mass. market everything and make well and that's

the problem is hasbro didn't right and they they

purposely created the shortage and the thing

is is the figures no one wanted they overproduced

in the ones that everything all the products

that they wanted like people wanted they underproduced

yep so who who created the issue for themselves

the company yes It reminds me of a very old clip

from a very old friend of mine. A friend of ours,

actually. A good old ender. Years and years ago,

2009 -2010, when he was on Radio Free Cybertron,

he did a mattycollector .com rant, and I will

probably put that in here somewhere. The basis

of his rant is, We give you money, you give us

stuff! This is Radio Free Cybertron. Thank God

Hasbro isn't Mattel. Ender, the floor is yours.

Mattel's Masters of the Universe has gotten to

be the most malignant, moronic, mishandled line

in history. Not since a Hasbro creative meeting

when one executive blurted out, let's kill the

red truck guy, has a franchise been handled worse.

The Masters of the Universe classics are an amazing

line. They use modern toy -making techniques

to bring out the best of a vintage figure, retaining

its charm and essence while consistently exceeding

modern quality standards and delivering fan -driven

fun for the adult collector at a price that,

while higher than average, is altogether reasonable.

Sadly, the He -Man genius falcon reaches its

apex at this conceptual stage and then careens

out of the sky with the aerodynamic grace of

a quadriplegic hippo with an inner ear infection,

plummets through a sky of inept customer service,

plows straight and through a swamp of incompetent

planning, and rests broken and ruptured in a

bedrock of useless management. MattyScalper .com's

inability to even handle its monthly server load,

much less the demand for its product, has settled

into a comfortable pattern of letting itself

be milked by scalpers at a rate of 10 figures

in order while the real customers wait in error

screens. Meanwhile, scalpers, who are, by the

way, the most worthless scum on earth, have already

posted their overpriced rip -off auctions on

the well -oiled servers of eBay. touting items'

rarity due to a false scarcity they themselves

have created with the foolish help of Mattel.

Nothing endears fans to a brand like having legal

tender slapped out of their hands as they attempt

to exchange it for your product. The band -aid

of a club was offered, seemingly a reasonable

fix. You commit to buying the figures, and they

guarantee you one. Simple enough. Until the line

branches out into non -club figures and the cycle

begins again as Battle Cat is snapped up by the

scalping horde and He -Man fans get shackled

with Wondar, a not -remake of a never -was exclusive.

Now, underestimating demand for a fan line or

miscalibrating your limits is not an unreasonable

error. They have to make a profit and have to

hedge their bets. However, one might think that

after one and a half to two f***s, years might

be enough time to calibrate well enough that

your servers don't crash every full moon and

your product lasts more than half an hour. Mattel,

get your together. Fire everyone on this project

who is not a designer and sell us our toys. We

give you money. You give us stuff! That's the

basis of his whole... I remember that. It doesn't

matter if it's Masters of the Universe. It doesn't

matter if it's MattyCollector .com. It doesn't

matter if it's Hasbro. Like, that's the point.

If we're paying... And it's not just toy collecting,

folks. It could be anything. It doesn't have

to be toy collecting. It doesn't have to be something...

And I'm going to say this, and I don't actually...

It doesn't have to be something as so stupid

as toy collecting. Even though toy collecting

is not stupid. Okay? I'm just saying, like...

If you're paying... Okay, this is going to be...

Oh, God. It's Mike's rant. I'm going to roll

the knife, folks, because holy crap. You pull

into a drive -thru. I want a number one with

a Coke, no ice. Let's just say it's McDonald's.

Number one with a Coke. Big Mac with a Coke,

fine, whatever. You got three cars in front of

you. Okay? You put in your order. They took your

order. Yeah, you haven't given them your money

yet, but there's three people in front of you

who are trying to give them their money to get...

The potentiality to buy a Big Mac, give me a...

No, just... Companies, please, do something about

your websites. Put securities in place where...

Or just actually produce the things people want.

That, too. And then you won't have half of your

product line on clearance. Mm -hmm. Oh, where

was... It was some... Somebody said... I know

you've said this all the time recently, but...

It was probably... You said something to me.

You were in a toy store the other day. You were

in, I don't know, Walmart. I go to Walmart a

lot. Okay, but I'm saying you were in a store,

like, last week or two weeks ago or whatever

else, and they still have the same shit in the

store that they had a year ago. Oh, yeah. Yep.

Oh, God, that hurts my head, makes my eye twitch

and just makes me not want to believe. Oh, they

still have the yellow Zeo Power Ranger. Because

they can't seem to get rid of it, and they finally

decided to clearance it for $17, and it was like

$25 before that. My God. So an $8 discount, really?

That's it? Yeah. Oh, Walmart's funny, too. Like,

I swear Hasbro's got to be telling them don't

discount it. Mm -hmm. Because when I've gone

in and they've put some of the figures in clearance,

for example, the Beast Wars reissues, they'll

be in the clearance aisle. They'll have a clearance

sticker for the same price that they were on

retail for. Oh, my God. Oh, I watch them like

a hawk. I know you do. But I think it's stupid.

And I know it might sound, we are complaining,

folks, but the whole point of this episode is

don't be a cult. I mean, you can be a cult if

you want to be a cult with OCCULT, whatever.

Fine with your supernatural whatevers. But toy

companies, stop trying to be David Koresh, please.

We're not drinking the Kool -Aid. I'm not drinking

the Kool -Aid anymore. Nope. Nope. Not going

to do it. So I think that about wraps this episode

up. Cool. So, basically, my name is FunEmployed,

and I'm here with my partner at Random Hat Studio,

a .k .a. Emily, and we stream on WhatNot every

Wednesday at 6 .30 p .m. Pacific. We look for

family, friends, rehoming great collectibles

to people that are willing to partake, and we

give a portion of our funds every week to a specific

charity, and looking to pay it forward back to

the community that made everything that we do

so wholesome. We are Two Mikes, Two Furious,

a podcast where we watch every episode of Transformers

Animated and discuss from two different points

of view. I'm Mike Seibert, and I've never watched

Transformers Animated before, and guiding me

on this journey is author Michael Andrews. Hello.

Yes. Long time Transformers Animated fan. Serial

rewatcher. Seen it plenty of times. So if you've

never watched Transformers Animated but always

wanted a reason to, now's your chance. Likewise,

if you've binged the series several times, it's

a great reason to watch through again with us.

Because regardless, if you're a seasoned vet

or a newbie, there's something for every fan.

Because I ask questions. Why is Prowl such a

dick? So that he can be not a dick later, I think

is the answer. Subscribe to Two Mics Too Furious

on your favorite podcast app so you never miss

an episode. Are we coming off furious enough?

I feel like we're not living up to the... Are

we supposed to be like... More angry, more fired

up. We're really in a good mood. We really enjoy

talking to each other. You are receiving this

transmission from The Rod Pod. Upload pending.

Stand by for soundtrack transfer. I am Maggie.

And I am John. And we are trapped, hurtling through

space in a ship shaped like Rodimus' head. The

ship, for reasons we haven't been able to determine,

contains the entire run of the IDW Transformers

Phase 2 comic. Which chronicle the events following

the end of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.

So we figure we may as well read them all in

order and report our findings to you. Stand by.

Stand by. Upload complete. Now. The Rod Pod.

Look for us at marriedwcomics .libson .com, at

iTunes, at Stitcher, or wherever good podcasts

can be found. So, uh, till all are one. Till

all are one. Till all are one. Next time, I have

no idea what we're doing, but we'll figure it

out between then and now, or now and then, or

whenever the hell it is. Yep. So... Thank you,

as always, for listening to Altered Geek. You

can, of course, get a hold of us in the following

ways. You can comment on this episode post on

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course, interact with us on Twitter at SCP21

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So until next time, get altered, get geeky with

the Altered Geeks. Why so serious?