SDCC 2015: Dawn of the First Day

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Today is the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year. No, no, not Christmas, not Halloween, not even Thanksgiving. Instead, it’s the San Diego Comic Con held in southern California. The San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) is the mecca of all things geeky, nerdy, and pop culture. It’s a melting pot, culminating with many fandoms, cosplays, and enough merchandise to make Santa cringe.

Here’s why everyone wants to be at this sacramental event of all things geeky.

1.The Celebrities

Benedict Cumberbatch, Elijah Wood, Markiplier, Bill Murray, and so many other wonderful performers will be at this year’s SDCC. They will be there for panels, Q&A sessions, autograph and photograph opportunities, and to promote future, wondrous content.

2.The Sneak Peeks

Speaking of which, we have received a new “Doctor Who” trailer in which the Doctor rocks out on a fender guitar, Missy and Clara return, there are new locations underwater and in some strange world, the Zygrons and Daleks are back, and there’s a young woman who asks the Doctor (or ‘old man’ as she calls him) what took him so long; could this possibly be the Doctor’s daughter? She looks much different, but she does have the time lord gene. Regardless, this only just a snippet of what SDCC will show us.

So far we’ve only seen a picture of the upcoming “Sherlock” special, but there will be panels regarding other shows such as “Supergirl”, ”Orphan Black”, “Ash vs Evil Dead”, and so many others.   

3. The Vendors

The Oatmeal, Karen Hallion, recognize these names? These are some iconic Internet artists who have spoken the truth to us through fanart and original work. They will be at SDCC in their respective booths alongside Thinkgeek, Cyanide & Happiness, and other wonderful exhibitors. The only downside to this is making sure you don’t drain your bank account and your wallet.


4. The Cosplays

Cosplaying is an art form that anyone can participate in. There have been tons of outfits that have inspired fans, motivated people to enter the world of cosplay, and artistic versions of beloved characters. In the past, we have seen beautiful almost immaculate cosplays. Here’s hoping we see many more for this year’s SDCC.



5. Exclusive Merchandise

Every year, SDCC unleashes unique merchandise that can only be found at the con or online at a higher price (depending where you go).  So far there’s the limited edition Snoopy flying ace figure, World of Warcraft plushies and figures, Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as action figures, and much more.

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So tell me, what would you do at San Diego Comic Con?

Gamestop + ThinkGeek = GameGeek!

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Remember how most of you probably dreaded Hot Topic buying Thinkgeek? Well your dread can easily be put to rest.  Gamestop has managed to purchase Thinkgeek at a $20 common stock share, as opposed to Hot Topic’s $17.50 offer.

Gamestop is a video game store that has been around for years and has been noted as a gamer’s paradise. To merge with Thinkgeek will mean that the store will be able to broaden its collectibles merchandise. This means that we’ll be seeing more Thinkgeek toys and games in Gamestop stores.  The merge could also enforce Gamestop to start selling retro video game consoles because of Thinkgeek’s nostalgic items they sell.

Thank you for reading today’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to comment, share, and critique.

So tell me, what are you excited to see from this new business venture?

Hottopic + Thinkgeek = HotGeek?

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Thinkgeek and Hot Topic are two popular stores that sell pop culture items. Thinkgeek, up until this point in time, has only existed on the Internet, but all is about to change. Just recently Hot Topic purchased Thinkgeek.

Hot Topic used to be the central for all goth and punk related apparel in the 90s; a store that made my Catholic parents cringe. For me it was a paradise to try something new in my life from wearing belts laden with skulls, chokers, and wristbands adorned with band logos. Needless to say they weren’t too thrilled about this venture in my life, but what do you do when you’re a teen? You rebel against society and throw the horns and middle finger to the man. Then later on you realize that the man is your boss who pays you to do a service and you need said money to live and buy more chokers.

As the years rolled on Hot Topic slowly changed, starting off by selling anime, Justin Bieber, and Nyan Cat merchandise. Not too long after, Disney crept its way through the doors and soon the store sold all things geeky. Of course there’s nothing wrong with geeky (I’m a geek myself) and naturally, the store changed to fit the times. From its evolution, Hot Topic has lost its gothic and punk roots thus upsetting people everywhere who grew up with store.  It also doesn’t help that Hot Topic has thousands of rumors on Google of stealing other people’s artwork to incorporate into their own merchandise.

Thinkgeek is a site that also radiates geek from its merchandise to its tag line. Over the years it has gained quite a reputation as being the go-to online store for all things geek. It has served as the ultimate proprietor of unique gifts for the pop culture population from Firefly to Star Trek and has definitely helped me for birthdays and Christmas.

People have complained that both stores are going to ruin based on how expensive everything is from mere key chains to t shirts. Shipping prices have escalated, jumping from five dollars to seven and even with discounts that still doesn’t help. Some have even noticed the quality of the items are declining, making them wonder what exactly are they spending so much money on.

Now that these giant geeky stores are merging, who knows what will happen?  Maybe we will finally have a Thinkgeek store or Hot Topic will start selling unicorn meat and Lord of the Rings’ weapon replicas. Maybe we’ll finally have reduced prices or witness the return of the 90s goth and punk paradise. Either way, this merge could be a bright future or distasteful disaster for both outlets.

Thank you for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, comment, and critique.

So tell me, what do you think of Hot Topic buying Thinkgeek?