Comic retailer, game retailer, Magic player, movie and book lover, person who takes everything 5% too seriously. Too weird for the normies. Too normal for the weirdos. Always the wrong guy. Let's fucking go.
200 followers 165 following 829 posts
view profile on Bluesky
Also! You will learn the name Roscoe Conkling. One of the most important politicians in American history that is largely unknown. But also committed one of the most audacious acts of political self-destruction in American history. A fascinating story, to say the least.
Seriously, the story of Garfield amazing. His shooting lead to Alexander Bell inventing the metal detector. He was the last President to not live in a White House under constant security surveillance thanks to Guiteau's actions. Can't wait to see this.
I just randomly did a search and discovered this release date! November 6th! If this series is even 1/10th as good as the true story and book, it might be the best thing I see this year. variety.com/2025/tv/news...
Mirrodin is almost as bad as Urza's Saga, though. But I always hated the fact that they made all these cool, expensive artifacts... and were like "Also, every color gets four one or two cc artifact removal spells that makes those cards unplayable"
Exactly. Was when the block structure really took off as a cohesive design framework. A TON of great cards including Standard playable multi-color dragons. So much of what makes Magic great can be traced to that set. One person argued Apocalypse is better, but you don't get there without Invasion.
FWIW my second pick was Innistrad. Dang near a perfect set from top to bottom. And I love seeing Lorwyn here. I loved that block even if Eventide was kinda a splat.
I said Invasion, which came in 20th, so hey maybe I wasn't the only one! Saga at #1 is a case of Best being conflated with Most Kick Ass or something, I think. We love all those cards in Vintage Cube, but combo winter was absolutely miserable if you were there. Still, lots of great sets here.
I don't have a fully formed thought here - but something about this rhymes with what Adlard did on Walking Dead and Ottley did on Invincible, I think? The good news is I don't a shop that isn't stocking at least a modest amount of manga at this point. We'll be here if US comics figure it out!
Listen to Kurt Busiek here, people. Anyone can punch planets in comics. The point is about when knowing that punching the planet is the correct thing to do versus when a hug is the correct thing.
A legend. How he did Maverick and didn't punch everyone in sight is a testament to his excellence.
A general-but-not-universal rule of Superman stories: If the climax is a fistfight, you probably did something wrong. Maybe the climax happens during a fistfight, but it should almost certainly be something more than the fistfight.
The thing I don't understand is why people like Bob even bother to interact with rando anonymous accounts at all. They're just squirrels with keyboards, ignore them!
I'm old. Which means I am scheduled for four shots this week. 😄 I hate needles, but I hate suffering from preventable infections even more. Glad to see you're helping spread the word!
I am not being even a little sarcastic when I say that trophying the creatureless cube last year at CubeCon was a highlight of the year. Thank you for putting the work into such a cube :)
Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑
My life improved when I decided to just love things I love. Doesn't matter if the things are "good" or "bad" - I enjoy them. And I'll tell others why I enjoy them. But have no expectations for other people loving them.
It was 20+ years ago I went to a Tom Thumb in Plano around 10pm on a Saturday night and was behind Shawn Bradley in the checkout line. Yep, not a typical experience :D
This video still doesn't have a million views. So here you go. A song that is both delightful and thoughtful, it's been bouncing in my brain for weeks. You should give it a listen! www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKf1...
If we're just going to toss the Constitution in the trash can, can we go ahead and do the good parts of that action? Banning political advertising altogether would be a great move.
I'm old enough to remember when alcohol was banned at DCI events. This cracks me up 😄
Also, anyone might challenge me on this front? They will be happy to discuss it after the credit card clears.
At the depths of my life, a professional told me to my face that my emotional strife was my own fault. No help. No ideas on improving things. Just that my failures were my own doing. Therapy is a fucking scam to anyone with more than two brain cells.
The thing I don't get about therapists and therapy is how does someone choose to make their profession and their livelihood based on listening to people express the absolute worst of their lives out loud. That sounds like a fucking sociopath.
This is a move that is so outside of how the Packers normally work, I'm stunned. As a Dallas resident, I've said they should have traded Micah as early as last offseason. He's a mental midget. I'm stunned GB is the team that went after him.
FWIW, the list of underlying conditions is extensive. The fact that I smoked 25 years ago was good enough for my doc and insurance in the early rounds when I was trying to protect my elderly mother I lived with. www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/cl...
That was the other set that came to my mind. Innistrad was one of the all time greats for sure.
Yeah I thought about that. I leaned to Invasion because it was such a ground breaking moment from the past. The whole block was incredible.
Old man answer - Invasion. Legends gave us a bunch of multi color cards, but they all sucked. Invasion gave us a glorious multi color experience that played great and paved the way for so much more in the future. Multicolor playable dragons! Kicker! Absorb, Undermine, Urza's Rage! Etc!
It doesn't help that the Confederacy never truly lost the Civil War.
Saviors is the worst set ever, but still has some playables. Pithing Needle, Sakashima, Twincast, Kami of the Crescent Moon, Oboro, etc. It's sin was a bad overall design at a stage in the game's life where They Should Have Known Better.
Depends on how many whiskeys are in my bloodstream that moment.
To be fair, I wasn't following you until now, and this post has gotten a lot of traction. Would be curious what a new informal poll would reveal from all the new followers in a month :) (But I do love the website, it's great!)
I actually had to buy a modest restock of Aetherdrift one time. Murders of Karlov Manor, however, I still have cases on hand from the first shipment. Woooo boy was that set a stinker.
@shivambhatt.bsky.social brought up that exact point in the replies. We agreed that Prophecy and Saviors are a photo finish at the wire for last place. :)
I'm just a random idiot in "real" life. But when I held up traffic for twenty seconds to make sure a squirrel didn't get run over... Well, Superman and I have something in common.
Barbarian was the solid rookie season. Weapons is the breakout star season. Brilliant on several levels, and the best use of stair steps ever. I'm a horror hound, and this has been an absolutely glorious year for horror and we're not even to September yet!
They broke the cable TV format for something worse overall, and yet they manage to still carry along the worst parts of it, like this crap. And every major sports league can look at boxing for what happens when you gatekeep access to your sport.
My plan is to build a bunch of sets of the first storyline just for that holiday purpose. GMTA and all that! As for warehousing, you're correct, but I figure I can absorb that cost given the mind boggling sales on Absolute so far :)
I basically ordered as much as I felt my budget could absorb. Not a small number. But it is finding new readers every week... SOMEHOW. And I know I have some people that are buying every non-ratio cover of every issue and printing just cause they love the series.
I disagree, I'm a Saviors of Kamigawa hater. But if you want to agree that it's a dead heat at the wire, I can accept that 😆
This was clearly voted on by people who started playing the game yesterday. The correct answer is Saviors of Kamigawa, to this day. The set of underpowered cards whose core collective theme was to... just not play Magic while you're playing Magic.
H.U.D. Heads Up Display
Monday running fuel Hope you're living right, kids! youtu.be/WtVI0Soduzk?...
This reminds me of when I see sandwich shops advertise "sliced fresh" Look, I love them, I eat them, they're delicious, but there is nothing fresh about salted, cured deli meats. Not even a little. Arguably the greatest processed foods of all time, but not fresh!
Boy this would really depend on the writer. It is arguable that a potato chip is less processed than cheese, right? 😄 But Cheetos are right out. That would be to the fae what Slim Whitman was to the Martians.
Today's S7nday Running Song youtu.be/k9rqVWXICtw?...
IIRC, you were also on board with a very small tax on stock transactions. That with a stock buyback tax would be excellent.
When you started posting this, I was thinking "What is he even talking about?" But... you're making a persuasive argument. Credit where it is due.
This is my only real issue with the release cadence. Standard legal play boosters from Foundations, Tarkir, FF, and now EoE are nowhere to be found to stock my shelves. And trying to raise preorder numbers to compensate doesn't help because orders just get allocated.
"This song is for someone, but I hope it isn't you." Oh, it is. But it is ok. Thanks to Thom and the crew for outting this into the world. Keep on Keeping on. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgCe...
The story of James A Garfield is fucking wild. From his birth to his presidency and eventual death, it is unreal. Destiny of the Republic doesn't just tell the story - It's so well written it had me in tears even when I knew the outcome. One of the best things I have ever read.
Oh wait, I haven't posted this week? WELL LET'S CHANGE THAT. Happy Fits is great, but this song is perfect. Give it four minutes of your time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKf1...
I was already inclined to like this flick (Love the first to death), but it managed to exceed my expectations. Not going to win oscars or anything, but was a real blast and really satisfying.
It's gonna be an "I need whiskey before Noon" kind of Friday, isn't it?
No one cares but here's my song of the night. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgCe...
Many of our greatest historical figures come from this, and I will always jump at any chance to share a pic of John Brown.
I sold out, but maybe one of my other retailer friends can help?
I just caught the Flower Mound city line on this article. That's down the street and man do I hate how correct it is.
I'm not a faithful person, yet I find your thoughts and insights interesting and appreciate you sharing them. Also, your Scryfall random posts make me smile. :)
Precisely on all counts. I can recall the thing that hooked me - the death of Kole in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12. I assumed this must have been a huge character and a huge deal and dug in. She wasn't, and it wasn't, but it was too late for me by the time I figured that out. 😄
At this point the only reason I'm here is because of this guy. Don't have a better reason.
I keep seeing "kindness is the new punk" Obviously coming from people who don't know what punk is. Punk has always been kind first. Punches, spikes, etc was from assholes. Fuck the assholes.
One of my favorite things today is hearing ads for Peacemaker season two on a local radio station. I was immediately enthralled by The Suicide Squad. I yelled at anyone within earshot that Peacemaker season one was fantastic. It's ridiculous and amazing and found an audience.
I say this as someone who played on PTs, and have been selling the game since 2003. I enjoyed that, but I enjoy it now as well, just differently. I saw this coming when I went to the 2013 Modern Masters Grand Prix. Magic was becoming a lifestyle more than a competitive sport.
Unpopular opinion - we had 20 years of Magic being a try hard competitive environment and catered to that and the player base, outside of the 2009 sudden expansion, was stagnant and the game was unprofitable to sell sealed product only. Getting away from a competitive focus was paramount.
Superman The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 by @martinmorazzo.bsky.social and W. Maxwell Prince is fantastic. The perfect book to hand someone who saw the movie and wants to read more. I loved it and can't wait to read more. (Also, reordered a pile and more than doubled my order for #2)
When New 52 came out, I made a post lamenting the fact that a controversial but unremarkable Catwoman comic was getting 10x the attention over the excellent Batwoman comic that was coming out at the same time. And we're seeing that same dynamic today elsewhere. Some things never change, I guess.
I know why. But I will never not be taken aback by how the most average insist that they are the most exceptional.
But if that is not your thing, my other recommendation is Destiny of the Republic. The story of James A Garfield and his brief presidency is incredible. Netflix has a series coming out this year based on this book. He might have been the next Lincoln.
This might be the best book I have ever read. The story of the Comanche tribe and Quanah Parker, who had a town in Texas named for him, is astonishing.
I feel you. This is probably the most frustrating team I have ever watched. Corbin is basically the epitome to me. He's been WAY above anything we could have hoped for... and the other side of the ball just didn't keep up.
This is so frustrating. Ending (or reducing) the deminimis exemption is overall a good thing, as problematic companies like Shein and Temu have been crushing US companies as a result with it. But this haphazard back and forth is not how you do it.
What do I think of Nobody 2? I'll just say it is basically the same as Bob. I had a blast, it was a ton of fun, and if you think the trailers are even a tiny bit interesting, make a night of it. You'll be glad you did.
This reminds me of when I worked UPS preload (early morning truck loading) 35 years ago. They would bring on 30 new hires on Monday. If more than five of them had not quit the job by Friday, it was considered a successful group. I sucked at the job day one but was stubborn. Still am.
I apologize, but every time I see the phrase this song pops into my head and I have to share it so I'm not the only one. (Very NSFW but great song about dealing badly with a breakup.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBtx...
I'll go with 8. In taking a minute to think on this I came up with exactly one big PTQ memory, but several memories of the road trips.
Watched Superman again today. I love so much about it. But the moment when Pa says parents give you the tools to go out and make fools of yourselves? A meteor to the chest. I wouldn't be the fool I am without my mom.
"If you can make the right decision when no one is looking, that is character." www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgCe...
The Busey Trooper Asshole?
My standard response to bad puns -
I've not watched Avatar, but I'm pretty well versed in Zen and... well, thank you for connecting what I have only known as a meme to that philosophy that I appreciate.
I actually used the mute function in Gmail. Guy e-mailed a while back "YOU SHOULD STOCK MY STUFF JUST COMMIT TO 100 UNITS SIGHT UNSEEN." Long story short, I told him no. Today he e-mails again, "Well if you don't want to diversify your product, that's on you." Dude, you have not been in my stores.
This is fantastic. Gunn gets it.
*throws pizzas on the floor*
I wasn't with you BUT I want you to know your posts inspired me to do this to myself in managing my workflow in my business for the last couple weeks. Pick a thing, pick a time, and shut everything else out for a specified length of time and see what I get done. It's been FANTASTIC. Thanks.
The upshot tonight is I made new Internet friend. And I mean that sincerely. A comment in a group lead to an interaction of quality and finally having my hands on a meme I've wanted to express my emotion when the news is of the worst people experiencing consequences.
Yes, I've posted this before. But the fact that this video sits at 108k views is a crime. So. I'm going to keep posting it at least once a week till it hits a million. This song is a delightfully perfect pop song that I've found more meaning in. Worth a few minutes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKf1...
I discovered Bob from the Pixels review, which is still a blast. But "Really That Good : Transformers" was The Moment. I was a "Yeah but what about Fearless Girl being corporate art?!" lecturer. Bob did an incredible job laying out that, well, maybe that isn't inherently bad? Great stuff.
#FOREVERPHYSICAL
Haven't even listened yet - but I will tonight! Ryan's insights into Magic, Cube, and design are always fascinating. If you do Magic Cube, give this a listen!
Some context for you - prospect.org/economy/2025...
Always a great read. I think Magic generally knocked it out of the park in 2025 both as a player and a retailer. Aetherdrift gets the most flack, but it sold better than any Winter set sold in the before COVID times and I sold out of my initial order in a reasonable time.
Take two. Enjoy yourself :)
Since @mcuban.bsky.social .social is active today and talking about the information environment, I'll again repost this with the suggestion of what he could do with his pocket change to help. @ryanlcooper.com has also repeatedly talked about quality news being cheap to finance.
Well then, you keep on living your life and ignore this thread. :)
If you like movies, READ THIS THREAD.
Not new, but hit me in the head tonight. I love this song. "I didn't know I was broken till I wanted to v=change." www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5os...
That is a very fair point. I agree with you.
It's called "A Bar" There's lots of them! You can enjoy a drink! Maybe watch a sport! Just go out there and talk! (....pssst you might also accidentally have sex. Which is kinda cool too.)