WHY SO SERIOUS? Cult Brands And You!!

Hey, bub, I keep telling ya. Don't call me Wobby!

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 R .E .M. you. Yes, we're gonna talk

about Deadpool and Wolverine. That's fucking

go. That's what she said. It never gets old.

Oh, yeah, this this is entertaining. Mm hmm.

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 would point you always point out put

out some of the stuff to me But you pointed out

when 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 gonna 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 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 Ames -D stuff and you had

a bunch of stuff telling that. you know this

wolverine is from a universe that he they don't

yeah where he failed his team and uh there's

all kinds of callbacks to different films with

this like the the poster with um wolverine's

glove with deadpool next to him like touching

the the claws is a call back to logan yep with

the girl holding his hand like live fields Feet

or something store that's behind them and part

of the trailers because Rob life field 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 Mm -hmm. Well, yeah, but I mean that's

there was also a jab at him too, but yep and

then sadly they show that You know giant man

is dead and they're using his corpse as a house,

which I guess is from a comic. You get Wolverine

in the bar where he's being told not to come

back there. And it's funny because then you get

Where Wolverine's trying to extend his claws

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

happens to Wolfies after 40 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 owl,

you know had plenty of like 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 this is what I think is so 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 gonna get this version

of Wolverine from 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. 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. Because we even saw in Days of Future

Past, they changed the timeline in that too.

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 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,

OK. 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. I Yeah, I think

my main sticking point is because in 24 years.

Yeah 24 years We've never had another live -action

Wolverine. We will unless Hugh can't do it anymore.

Well, it's gonna 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 Batman's doing

one film two film three film seven film whatever

film this is fucking Wolverine and Hugh Jackman

For 24 years So I mean there's quite a quite

a stellar run yeah Absolutely, I mean it fits

the role really well and then He does looks it

plays it well Definitely a career maker I said

because I mean the dudes yeah, 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 in Deadpool and like

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

a live -action Deadpool 2 and I think that we're

gonna 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, but This is the end of

April almost May the movie's not coming out till

July 26 I'm sure they're gonna do more trailers

between then and now after all it is Disney Well,

even then like I feel like Ryan has a lot of

say. Oh Of course he does Look at everything

he said in this like come on, man So alright

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

geek cast radio network. Hi. This is Adam Mastriani,

and you're listening to altered geek You are

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. Oh, it was

a week for the people It wasn't a week for us,

but it was a week for the people. No No It yeah,

it's it's quick for them. Yeah, 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 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 right. Apple. My

boss loves Apple. and I There's certain applications

that will not run on an apple. Mm -hmm. I Grew

up with Apple I had in See I was in kindergarten

85 for that was the year you were born I was

in first grade and we had Apple to seize and

Apple to ease and Apple to 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. I look I'm not

gonna but it's gonna go back for the I loved

it because at the time I had I still have iTunes

but I was big on iTunes and It was like this

that the other thing I built up I still have

all this whole music collection all these podcasts

and movie like 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 a - 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. Like, 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, 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. Yep. 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 and nothing.

I think I paid anywhere from 60 to $90 per year

for the phone number and the, the, the calling

package, the U S and Canada call. So there were

two services I paid for the phone number itself,

which was, let's say 60 bucks a year and then

$30 for the unlimited US and Canada phone service

thing so Some of our early interviews that we

did back then 2010 2011 Some of them were 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 and 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 2GS. 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 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 all true geek episode 431 Why so serious?

other cultish brands Disney Little bit I would

I would argue Disney for sure just because How

big of a conglomerate they've become Well, you

got me you got Disney and all the older parks

entail do you got whatever all that entails you

got Disney the media side which has Fox and Marvel

and Star Wars and and and all that Where is that?

Well, I would say, for instance, let's define

what a Colt brand is. Colt 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.

Colt brand customers also feel 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 in 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, it's 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, like, just attach myself, like, 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 is

making. That's what I 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 want to watch it. Like, it's

that simple. We can do a whole other Altered

Geekcast video, 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. You're supposed

to enjoy your town. Oh my god. And I'm not going

to watch something just so I could do a podcast

about it. If I am interested in it, I will do

a podcast about it. I don't know. For instance,

some of the other cult brands, what kind of prompted

this was we were driving to the airport 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, what is Bucky's? So Bucky's is a more or

less a gas station, like a glorified gas station.

Oh, so it's like Shell or Thor, okay, 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 bucktooth mascot smiling face. Even its restrooms

are award -winning. They open up like these massive

gas stations all over the country they put one

here in Johnstown, Colorado, which is like 30

like 20 or 30 minutes from where I live It's

a hundred and eighteen gas pumps Which is like

unheard of at a gas station 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 They'll Go inside there's they

have one it's it's regularly named one of the

cleanest Places overall to stop for gas in the

country they have the cleanest bathrooms Or at

least that's what they they tout I've not used

to their gas station or 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 using your public

restroom They have about the same cult following

as like a Walt Disney world Which is insane when

you think about it. Yeah They 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 it. 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 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

10 30 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

like that's that's how cultish this place was

like It's almost to the almost like like when

you go to like an in -and -out burger or a Chick

-fil -a Where people will line up for like days

it seems like to get food and it's like it's

not like I get it But it's not one of those things

that like I just have to have Well chick -fil

-a I I don't care for the owners of that establishment.

I don't whatever whatever whatever whatever In

-and -out all as I will say about in -and -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 it in and 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. Ah, 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 and 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. It's all right.

It's not like, you know, whatever I'm not gonna

sit there and wait for seven hours for it But

I see what you're saying, but Bucky like I people

talking 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 or like Davidson, Oprah, Star

Trek, Star Wars. Like these are all on the list.

Like these are vans, shoes. Yep. And it seems

to be like one of those things that everybody

has on the same list. I thought it was funny

Star Trek, but 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 like people just get pretty rabid about

I would 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's that is the definition

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

fathom that somebody dislikes it. Don't get me

wrong, I like a lot of these different brands

to some degree. Some of them I don't. I don't

get the appeal of IKEA because it's like a giant

shop, a warehouse of stuff you have to put together

yourself and it's all crap. 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. Those are good. I

bought for my display for my for my geek display

and mind you it's not Exactly the design I was

going for but close enough where you're happy

It's close enough. Like the only thing I would

change is maybe the doors on it eventually, but

I don't Like the structure is sound like I bought

a display that I thought was one that I was gonna

enjoy and it was Brand new it was from Home Depot.

It was like 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 like 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, aka MKBHD. And

he does a fairly good job of being equal on both

Apple and Android sites because he's in both

worlds. But some of the productivity and creativity

that Apple things have, Windows just doesn't.

Doesn't mean Windows can't have it. Like, you

can play games on Windows and you can do productivity

things on Windows. You can do a lot of productivity

things and fund 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 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 and

Those coffee brands do it with stickers don't

put a holiday cups. Oh god. I remember that year

Remember that movie that that they were I forget

it was Paul Rudd and mm -hmm like Stiffler 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. And then he's like, you know,

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 out of line, 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 rip -off

place, and... He needs like you're saying they

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? Go down the whole list. Name of the

screw you need was a Yerka Fossa Yerka Fossa

is essentially jerkface. Jerkface! Hey, I'm doing

the best I can! No, no, that's the name of the

screw I need! Jerkface! One yorka fossa yeah,

yeah, yeah, we no longer make that screw But

yeah, some of these brands man and like I said

with Apple I'm gonna try to type I did 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.

It's like, really? Wow. Yeah, I mean, and like

a lot of brands are very cultish, like 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, aka 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 side, 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 the regular Samsung s Galaxy s whatever

or the 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 number of 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 six 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 really

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 Rekgar 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. It's about the

same size as my 3a XL. Yeah, but I mean I Mayor

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

but I just got this Like two years ago. Yeah,

I've had this since Karen passed away in 2021

December of 21 when it when it first law 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. I love

the way like again I'm okay with being on Android

side because I like Android. I like what it does

I'm okay in being in Google like 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... See, like, for me using iTunes

is like, oh, I have to, because I don't have,

it's not on Spotify or anywhere else, I have

to import a CD that I've owned for like 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 like 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 world I want.

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 both,

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 an 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 with the Android side. What else?

What else you got? Well, I I mean I would I would

almost argue like any of the franchises that

have toys I mean, look at Transformers fans,

look at Power Rangers fans. Because I'm in, you

know, I've been collecting some of the lightning

collection. I see. The pain of this brand that

people are just ticked. And like, I mean, I knew

that they were, you know, a brand, but I was

like I was more like Star Trek Transformers and

didn't really pay any attention to it. But honestly,

they're they get hosed worse than we do. Oh,

yeah. Oh, yeah. And I'm trying to think. OK,

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 I or maybe it's

in whatever cloud I forget. There is a picture

of me where I am 15 years old. Am looking down

at the Falcon Zord from the movie Action for

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 have

mentioned it on here I know I've mentioned 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 till about 2016

2017 when I started collecting fun go 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?

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 with Power Rangers like we got it 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 were done. They were like, alright pack

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

we did I don't know if I know there was an altered

geek It was I might have in power. It was the

end of it was the end of I want to say it was

the end of 2023 they did all those and then like

they were like 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 Alright,

so you won't 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 Koi

collecting I personally do not think from toy

companies Should be a gamble No, I understand

the the addiction of gambling and all this and

all that and everything else because I grew up

with my family playing cards and this I didn't

think 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 like 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? 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 hard

-working 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 gonna 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

gonna make it again because you wanna 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

if they wanted Like people wanted they underproduced.

Yep. So who who created the issue for themselves?

the company yes Reminds me of a very old clip

from a very old friend of mine friend of ours

actually a good old ender years and years ago

20 2009 2010 when he was on Radio Free Cybertron

He did a matty collector dot -com rant and I

will probably put that in here somewhere the

basis of his rant is You we give you money. You

give us stuff. This is radio free Thank God Hasbro

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

Mattel's Masters of the Universe has gotten to

be like the most malignant, moronic, mishandled

line in history. Not since 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 one DAR, 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... Years might be

enough time to calibrate well enough that your

servers don't crash every full moon and your

product will last more than half a hour It's

hell get your together fire everyone on this

project who is not a designer and sell us a toys

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

basis of his whole, right? 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, it doesn't

ma - Like, that's the point. If we're pay - 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 gonna

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 m -

okay, this is gonna be - oh god, I'm gonna -

It's Mike's rant. I'm gonna roll the knife, folks,

cuz 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, those, you know, their money to get,

like 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, what, it was some, somebody said, I know

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

I, 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, 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 gonna be telling

them don't discount it. Mm -hmm. Um, because

when I've gone in and they've put some of the

figures in clearance, for example, the 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, I, I watched them like a hawk. I know

you do, but, 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 gonna do it so I think

that about wraps this episode up cool So basically

my name is fun employed and I'm here with my

partner at random hat studio aka 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. 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. Subscribe to Two

Mikes Two Furious on your favorite podcast app

so you never miss an episode. 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's 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. 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 ahold

of us in the following ways. You can comment

on this episode to post on geekcastradio .com

or on Facebook. You can, of course, interact

with us on Twitter at scp21 for myself or at

Altered Geek or at TFG1Mike. Until next time,

get altered, get geeky with the Altered Geeks.

Why so serious?