Ep. 139: Wolfe Den's Halloween Fest 2026

Bye. Bye. Hey, y'all. It's me, Tara Strong, a.k.a. Miss Minutes for Bama Geeks. I hope you're ready to watch, and if you don't, I will have to prune you. Stay on your sacred timeline. And a happy Sunday. Happy two weeks until... Yeah, golly, he's less than two weeks down until Halloween. That's right. You see, we've got a special guest down there. Special spooky guest down on the corner there. Yeah. Hope you're doing well tonight. We're the Bama Geeks. Minus one. Kevin is on vacation in Europe with some family. So hope he's having a great time. and uh of course we're here as always myself and uh jess and beau and we're joined tonight by our wonderful friends from gaston collector con we've got derek and we've got wolf so how are you guys doing tonight we're good how are y'all oh man just uh this cold snap came out of nowhere freezing long sleeve shirts cold nights coffee long sleeve shirts yeah It'll be back in the mid-eighties next week. That's right. Yeah. I'm going to take it. I'm going to enjoy it for what I can tonight. Yeah. And so Wolf joined, is joined there by Jason. Yeah. Got Jason on the stream with us tonight. You know, Jason, we just finished watching your, your Crystal Lake series tonight. Oh, look at that. Oh, nice. Did y'all like it? We did. We did. Yeah, I did. It's very interesting. And, you know, not to be getting into spoiler territory, but a lot of things that make you go, oh, okay, or hmm, interesting. Yeah, I'm halfway through it. It's pretty good so far. Yeah. Yeah. Linda Cardellini is a wonderful Pamela Voorhees. Yeah. Yeah. She's doing a great job. Yeah. Yeah. We're thoroughly, thoroughly enjoying it. Yeah. And we've got a comment here already. Yeah, from Skylar. Happy Halloween month. Hey, buddy. Hey. And, oh, I'm sorry. No, go ahead, honey. There you go. And Margie. Yeah. Great series. We have been enjoying it. We, we finished it actually this afternoon, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, yeah. So absolutely. It's, it's, it's fun. It provides a lot of context to Pamela and Jason. And that's as far as I'm going to go with it. Yep. Definitely. Highly recommend. It's on Peacock. If you, if you're looking for it. Some quick housekeeping before we start talking about the Halloween Fest. Make sure you head to BamaGeeks.com. That's where you can find out everything about the show. You can find us at Bama Geeks all over social media. And if you're on Facebook, just search for the Bama Geeks front porch. That's where you'll find us. And as always, thank you to our top supporters. uh that have been with us for so many years jamie mike and darnay and jack we appreciate you guys for uh always supporting the uh the podcast we appreciate that thank you it's all right we're going to talk about something coming up this saturday which we're all looking forward to certainly hoping that we can make it up there uh i'm gonna tell you what wolf why don't you guys talk about it There you go. Right there. There it is. Wolf Den's Halloween Fest in Gadsden. Yes, sir. Tell us all about this thing, man. Okay, great. Yeah, it's Wolfton's Halloween Fest. It's on this coming Saturday, October the twenty-fourth. It's at the venue at Coosa Landon, which is the same place that we hold all our gas and collector con events at. We're in the main hall there. We're not using the side rooms this time, but we got a good variety of vendors. It is a collectible show, so that's one of the things that's kind of... making sure people understand too, it's going to have a Halloween twist, but it is a collectible show. So it's, we've got toys, comics, video games, art, um, Pokemon, a few sports dealers. We've got one die cast dealer. Uh, we, we got a good variety. So, uh, Kind of the same as our Gadsden Collector Con. One of the things that we've wanted to add was a costume contest. Yeah. We're moving the holidays now to Christmas now. Oh, has it got Buddy the Elf? Yeah. Always trying to put Christmas before Halloween. But yeah, we're doing a costume contest with prizes. We've got kid categories and adult categories. We're going to have a trick or treating time at three o'clock. Uh, so all the vendors know that, uh, that we're doing that. Uh, we also are going to do after the costume contest, there'll be a, like a costume parade. We'll all, everybody line up and walk through the vendor hall there. Um, I think it's gonna be a lot of fun. And you know, I think one of the things about it is that hope we hope that it can, you know, also add to our guests and collector con event. Uh, one of the things that we don't have a lot of is cause play. So we're doing this costume contest. We've made some connections with some people that can maybe help us with a cosplay contest in the future. So we're just looking forward to it. We think it's going to be a fun event, a good family-friendly event. So we just appreciate any support and anybody coming out and checking it out for us. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, unfortunately, Jess and I cannot make it up to the show you guys had in July. How did that one go? it was still a good turnout. Like it was the same amount that we've had the last few times. So we were very happy with that. Uh, the storm Friday probably scared some people off. Oh yeah. Yeah. Saturday they had a big giant water slide downtown. So people were directed at that, but overall it was a good turnout. Um, we're tweaking some things because we like to see everybody come in at once like that morning rush. Yeah. How we did it. It wasn't exactly the rush, but it was still the numbers. So we were, like I said, still happy. Just this time going forward, we, we just tweaking some stuff, but it was, it was a great show. Ron Simmons was awesome. He was really cool. yeah he's always a he's he's got uh anytime i've ever seen interviews and stuff with him he never disappoints yeah he's got he loves doing what he does he loves making those appearances and and interacting with fans and always people always have good interactions with him from what i've heard yeah he got a lot of compliments that everybody said he was just so nice and that's literally his voice. That's his voice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just mention his voice. Once the, uh, the agent got to do, uh, made him do a video for us to post. Oh, it was like, I don't know. I lit up just hearing the voice, him talking and it's like, Oh, this is fantastic. So, uh, getting to spend some time with him that Saturday or both days was, it was awesome. He was generally a nice guy. Really super nice. Yeah. Well, and keeping along that theme, I mean, you've got guests coming this Saturday as well. Yes. Yes. We got some, I feel like we got some really good guests. Like I feel like we, um, accomplished what we wanted to with these, with this first Halloween fest. Um, so you want me to go ahead and announce those? Yeah, man. Yeah. So for Halloween, we'll just say this first, we've got, uh, Tom, uh, Gary, which is, uh, played smalls in the sand. Like he was supposed to be at our July show. Um, but because of the show called dugout dads, uh, which airs on, or which is on YouTube, um, apparently it got some picked up by some, you know, bigger organization and they made them come to San Diego, San Diego comic con and then do some more filming down there. So that was during the time of our con. So they had to go, he had to go take care of that. Um, so we just got them rescheduled for October. You know, we, we thought that would just, even though he's not Halloween related, um, we just thought that'd be a good guess. People want to meet him. I've caught some slack about it. It's like when, on social media, they're like, he's not, why is he at a Halloween fest? But, but I, my thing is this Halloween is, is not just horror, you know what I mean? Uh, I think, I don't even think I've ever dressed up when I was a kid, anything horror related, you know, it was either superheroes or, or something else, you know? So, I see kids all the time at schools dressing up like the Sandlot characters. So to me, Halloween's more than horror. It's just, it's everything, you know, that's why I feel like it fits so well with the collectible world because it's everything. Yeah. And, um, So I'm excited to have him and I hope everybody else is too. Derek tries to add on to that and give me a lot of slack because of that too, just because people commented on social media. But he's a good guest. And then our next two guests are horror related. And we've got Derek Mears, which is, um, he played Jason in the Friday, the thirteenth, the two thousand nine version, which I think is the best Jason. Uh, I know Kane Hodder gets, you know, he's, he's Jason Kane Hodder's been Jason four times. Uh, and everybody knows him as that role. But, uh, To me, Derek is the ultimate Jason. His presence, he's big, he moves smooth, he runs through there. He's just cool. And he also played Swamp Thing in the HBO film or show. And to add to that, I think they've confirmed they're coming out with a Swamp Thing movie. So I'm hoping, hopefully Derek gets that role too. He also was in Predators as the classic Predator. A big guy. He's six, six. And everything we've heard about him, his agent and people that's met him said he's one of the nicest guys you could possibly meet. So we're really looking forward to that. And then our next guest is Brad Laurie, which played Michael Myers and Halloween resurrection. So to me, that was like, we've got two of the main killers of Halloween, Jason and Michael Myers. So to me, that's, That's amazing, you know, because that's one thing about horror. It's like a lot of guests, a lot of people like love to collect, you know, just like everything else, do cast pieces. And, you know, it doesn't matter. But for us here in Gadsden, I feel like, you know, if you just had a small row in a horror film, that's not going to work. You know, we needed a killer. We needed the main guys, you know. So I think we got that. We're super happy about it. Yeah, I really liked the reboot for Friday the Thirteenth that he's in. Yeah, it's a good movie. Yeah. I met Daniel Panabaker, who was in that. She came to Dragon Con one year. It was just delightful because I was there to see her when she was on The Flash. They're like, oh, yeah, she was Friday the Thirteenth as well, the reboot. Yeah. Is that the main girl of the show? She, I'm trying to remember back. I mean, she's in it quite a bit. um i can't remember if she was the main one or not but i i know she's in it okay well for me watching supernatural that one's fun seeing jared padalecki taking on jason and not not working out as well as it would if it would been he'd been a winchester oh that's great uh do you have any uh comic guests or artists this time yeah we we have uh william russell is his name uh he's done think over a hundred and ninety comic covers I think they're coming out with a comic called a psycho I think is that right there do you know I'm not sure yeah he's he's got amazing work I've taught him a few times he seems like a really nice guy so very cool okay very nice and also william does a lot of um not everything he draws you know he draws comics i mean superhero stuff all the time but he does a lot of uh horror type stuff that's why we kind of i kind of reached out to him because i thought he was very fitting for a halloween fest okay one of these sketch covers is done by him that i got when i met him at chattanooga so yeah was it the absolute batman no it was a batman who laughs oh okay nice okay Nice. So are they going to be on the, the, the guests and everything will be on the stage like usual. Yeah. The three, uh, the three celebrities will be on the stage and then we will be on the floor. Um, you know, common, I think the comic artists, they, they like to be on the floor where people have to walk by and, and, you know, because, you know, unfortunately not everybody knows a comic artist by their name always, but once you get to, you know, firsthand, see their work and you know, it's, it catches the eye and that's, that's the best way for them. Yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely. Mm hmm. So you said you're not going to you're just going to be using the main room there at the venue at Kusa Landing, correct? Yes, sir. So just the main room. So is the layout kind of what we're going to kind of like what you've had at previous gas and collector cons? Go ahead there. Yeah, I guess I do the layout, so, you know, it's a little bit smaller booths in the middle, but just so we could kind of make it more affordable so there and fit more booths in there. But yeah, basically same layout, but the corner where you always see Kip in, you know, the vintage toys, that'd be kind of the area. that like different activities will be going on. So that's kind of an open area for us right now. Okay. And Wolf's got some plans for that area. It should be fun. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We can mention, there's only one thing we're not supposed to mention, but... Uh, we do have a, that's going to be where the costume contest takes place over there in that corner. We've got, uh, we've got a guy that actually went, I went to school with, but he, uh, he dresses up like Jason. Uh, and he went to, uh, Salem and spent a few years there as a, like a street performer. Um, so he's got a whole like stage with a backdrop and people can come get their picture taken with them. And I think it's cool. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. That'll be really good. Yeah. And then, like I said, we got the costume contest area over there. And then we also have, well, the other thing I can't mention. So it's just going to be fun. You have to come to find out. That's right. You got to come to find out. That's right. Yes. You want to know what it is? Show up. How many vendors do y'all have lined up for this? I know you said it'd be a little smaller than the normal collector con, but. Do you know, Wolf? I don't know the number. I just did the layout. It's going to be... It's close to... Now, not necessarily vendor-wise because people get more than one table. It's still about ninety spots, right, Derek? That's good. It's still... It's still a great number. Like we said, there, we just, we, the, the wall, we left those the same size, but we kept the inside a little bit. We made them a little bit smaller so we could fit more in there. And since we were, this is a first, first time event, we want to make it smaller and just fit into the, the main hall there, but there'll be plenty to look at plenty of vendors. And I think we're still the same thing. I think we did a good job of getting a good variety of, Like I said, there's a few. The only thing I wish we had got a little bit more, we didn't get a lot of people that focus on Halloween or horror. We've got a few, but not... I was hoping a few people would reach out that really focused on that. That's hard to find, honestly. Yeah. Like I said, we've got a few. And I know some of the other vendors will bring some of the stuff they've got Halloween related. And, you know, I'll focus on a lot of the horror toys and stuff like that. But, yeah, I was hoping, you know, just, you know, because I know they're out there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you got some today, so you just got to clean them up. Oh, yeah. That's true. We had someone bring in some. not necessarily older but older a little bit older not not odo not vintage but older toys today that were really good weathered there you go well they got a they're still still packaged and all but wherever they were i guess i don't know what it is but it was yeah all over my hands so uh margie wants to know is there a list of vendors Well, we, so on our social media on Wolfton's Halloween Fest on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, we try our best, you know, not all vendors care as much as some to get posted on social media. But we, we've been sharing or, you know, doing a vendor feature. So you can go through there and look at them. And then we'll come up with the map, what, this week, early this week. And a list, like a list of vendors and then a map. Okay. Yes. Yeah, and I think I believe in the description of this of this live streaming video right now, you can go down and click and go to the there's a Facebook link that will take you to the Halloween Fest Facebook page as well. Yeah, there is. Yeah. So we know we've talked to you guys about this on previous episodes for Gaston Collector Con, but what was the inspiration behind wanting to start Halloween Fest? you don't even watch horror movies yeah so Derek he he is kind of right I don't watch a lot of horror movies it's not my it's not really my thing but I used to when I was younger I'm just going to tell the story when I was younger I used to watch it and I did like Jason he was that was probably one of my favorites and As I got a little bit older, you know, I guess, I don't know. Some things started bothering me a little bit more. And then I watched this movie called the strangers. Yeah. And that movie kind of did it for me. It was, uh, If you haven't seen it, these killers show up at this house and basically terrorize this family. And one of the comments, they asked why you chose us, and they simply said because you were home. And then at the very end, and spoiler alert, so if you don't want to know this, they walk down the house and just walk down the road in broad daylight in the morning. Just, you know... And I was like, oh, crap. I said, I'm done with this. I was like, I don't know why. I was just like, it got too real. There it's got an autograph. Yeah, that's... Background, yeah. It is. That's one thing about that movie. It's so good. It's unsettling. That's, yeah. Yes. Very unsettling feeling, yeah. There's a few movies similar to that, but... the what is the last house on the left and yeah some other movies like that but the the good guys kind of prevail at the end and take care of the killer so those i don't mind but that movie i was like no i can't i can't do this uh but that kind of that point somehow it just started i don't know bother me uh i didn't like the way it made me feel but i don't know i've always been a big um If you guys don't know, one of the main things I used to do was sell sports memorabilia. That was my big thing because I like getting autographs. I mean, if you tell me, it doesn't matter, a musician or a celebrity or something. I used to just love going to get autographs, meeting people. I like the whole – I don't know. I like to learn about people, and then you get to get their autographs and meet them and see how they act. I don't know. I just always enjoyed that. So something about – something about horror there's there's just like with sports like with an al i do a lot of alabama stuff but you know there's many helmets to get signed there's footballs there's pictures there's cards it's just like there's such a broad range of stuff you can get signed and in the horror world it's kind of the same thing if if the movie's good there's toys there's masks there's yeah you know photos and post movie posters And I know that sounds weird, but it's just one of those things I like. I just I like it where there's such a, you know, just a broad range to get. And something about it just started like. I was like, oh, I like this. I want to do a sign-in with this person because I can do this. And I don't know, the more I thought about it, it just kind of got in my head. And as we started doing these cons, I just thought that there's some things about Halloween that I felt like could, that we could, with our con being successful, that it could help, I don't know, jump some other things. Just like I said, the costume contest. I feel like in Alabama, like people will dress up for Halloween. Yeah. And they'll come out and celebrate and have a good time. but they may not do that in January. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. So it just, just a few things like that. It just, I got excited about it and wanted to do it. And me and Derek have fought, you know, for a while, but here we are. So there you are. And, you know, October is pretty busy when it comes to festivals. Everybody likes to do festivals and things of that nature in October and kind of tie it around Halloween. So it seems like there's always, you know, there's city fall festivals. You know, the churches do their thing. So it's always like that's just kind of like the month to plan some kind of an event to bring people in. Oh, definitely. Yes. And you can tie, you know, and the kids, they can dress up in costumes. You're going to have the trick-or-treating things set up. And the good thing with you guys, you being indoor, you can prepare for that Alabama weather where it might be scorching or freezing or raining. Very true. Very true. Yeah. doesn't matter the weather. Exactly. Yeah. And that's one of the things, I mean, I know I'm going to get on another spiel right here, but like, you know, that's what we want people to know that this is a family friendly event. Yeah. There may be some horror things here and there, and there may be, you know, some things you would consider scary, but like nothing bad, you know? And it's, it's, it's just like with our con after our conventions end, it's like, i want people to know like man this is where you should have brought your kid like your kid would just love this like i compared like even after the uh july show i i got on a little rant and i was like you know i still remember as a kid going through toys r us and just being like oh my goodness like you know just loved it and i think now like going through a convention if i was a kid man i just it'd be amazing and the one thing about our conventions are we're super affordable we're kids twelve and under are free like a family can come to our convention and just have a good time and not spend it you know most of the money they're going to spend is just on whatever they buy and it's not about you know they're not breaking the bank just trying to get in the door you know yeah right so Yeah, I just, I don't know. I just really wish parents knew, like, you could make your kids super happy. Do I just come into Wolf Den's Halloween Fest or Gaston Collector Con? yeah i agree and that's and again too because it's it's like you said y'all y'all really uh take into consideration you know the the prices for events like this and you want them to like said draw the families and bring the kids so they can have a good time because you know y'all your vendors have such a variety of things you've got toys you've got video games you've got you know the pokemon so it's yeah there that's that you talked about variety y'all definitely always have that variety that's there sir so just about anything you're interested in you can you there is something there for you yeah and you know too i think parents that are not into this kind of stuff they they hear the word collectibles or you know and or collectors and they think everything is super expensive and that's right it's not the case like we know there's super expensive Pokemon cards, but we've got binders full of dollar cards or, you know, that look amazing, that kids will love and even adults love. Just like with toys, like there's not every toy that is sold at a convention is made for a collector to put on their wall. You know, it's, it's for kids, you know, and they're cheap. And, um, that, that was one of the things when I was in Glencoe, my first, first stop as my store, uh, people would walk in and be like, don't touch anything. This is, this stuff is, and I'm like, no, you can, you can touch it. Like, okay. Like, you know, the stuff that is expensive, we have where you can't touch, you know, it's like, Just don't get fooled by the word collectibles. It's for everybody. I can tell everybody it's like any hobby. You can spend as much or little as you want to. You can spend a whole lot of money and enjoy it. You can spend a little money and enjoy it. It's... It's just that shared fellowship. That's what those events like you put on is for. It's good to get a lot of people, even if you don't like the same thing, it's still a good hive mind of, hey, I like this thing like this. And it's just, it's a good melding of a community. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love walking through the vendor aisles and just especially the folks with vintage toys. There's usually something that always triggers a childhood memory for me. Yep. I love seeing all that stuff and just seeing what I had forgotten. And at this age, I had forgotten a lot. Well, that's also like, it's fun running now. It's like seeing stuff now. And I'm like, I remember when that was like on the clearance rack at Suncoast when they were shutting down. And now I'm like, crap, I wish I'd bought that then. Not price-wise, I just wish I had it then because I was like, oh man, you know. Yeah. There's a lot of things that, you know, you can go back and reclaim, you know, that you once had, which you have a chance to get again. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, we also like to think that the booths are pretty affordable. Obviously, the next con will be a little more, but it's a little different. But for, like, first-time vendors like you guys never vended, you know, it's pretty affordable. You can be in the green very easy. I mean, there's a lot of – we've had a lot of first-time vendors, and now that's what they do every weekend, so – That's awesome. Good feeling to hear that from people. Yeah, I hope in my retired life, that's what I can do on the weekends. Get ready during the week and all. That's a few years away still. Yeah, we all four came and vended at your January show. Kevin and his wife were there at the July show. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to do it this time with everything going on. I just didn't have time to gather up a whole bunch of materials and everything to bring up there. But January for sure. We definitely want to jump in on that because – The way I've been going through my storage buildings the last few weeks, Jess and I, we found a lot of things. We're ready just to offload. So come by. No Funkos. No Funkos. Come on, Derek. I have found more for you. There are still some Funkos, but the Funkos we have now are the ones that we still want to keep. Well, some of them. I've got like four sitting over next to Jess on the floor right now where I've been working this weekend. It's about like four different ones. You know, not many. No, not many. But, you know, it was... You... You know, it's like you said, we enjoyed it. It was fun to be, you know, vending because we've always, I made the comment, we've always been on the other side of the table. So it was very interesting to be a vendor. And, you know, even the interactions that you get with the people that come and visit your table. And, you know, as I was sitting there the first time we did this, I kept thinking I should have done this or I could have brought this or I could have done this. So trying to keep that in mind for, you know, future events and everything. Yeah. You can always learn from the last show. Oh, yeah. That's what we've done every show. Yeah. I was like, I could have sat here and made bracelets and just sold a couple of bracelets. Or I asked somebody, hey, I can personalize you one. What do you want me to make for you? So that's been in the back of my mind. It doesn't take her long to do it. I think I've still got... Yeah. Yeah. I got to clear off some of my junk off my desk. Yeah. I made these Bama Geeks bracelets. So yeah, it was fun. We that kind of inspired I took I made bracelets for some of our friends that we go to Dragon Con with. So it was kind of special to our group, to our group of friends. And one night we sat there at the table of, and we were just making bracelets like for everybody in our group and everything. And I had only brought, you know, so much, but we had people coming up the table going, Oh, can I make one? Oh, are you selling these? I was like, Hmm, let's see. Let me see what I can come, come my way from this on. Yeah. One of our lawyer friends was like, you need to go ahead and set up an LLC and just start making money right here. Yeah. And that's kind of the thing. You never know when you have a good, you know, a variety of stuff, you never know what you'll find. And just like bracelets and it's just fun. People, you know, somebody might show up and be like, I'm just here for, maybe I'm just here for my kid and find something they really want, you know? Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned you mentioned having a costume contest and everything this Saturday. Do you have any vendors who may have like props or costumes or stuff that they make, you know, cosplay guests or our vendors rather? So with our vendors, we in our application, we just put, you know, we We encourage you guys to either dress up or wear something fun, but it's not required. Nobody has really told me what they're doing, you know, based off of what their outfit is going to be or costume. But we hope it's just we just hope people just, you know, I want the vendors to have fun, too. You know, I want to, you know, take advantage of something different. You know, they may not get to do that, you know. just a regular show, but here we want them to, you know, just have a little fun, be different this time. Okay. I really need to get into my, I found my three D printer the other day that I've still never taken out of the box. I've had it for, I don't know how many years I need to learn how to do that stuff. And, you know, maybe, maybe in January we can do some, you know, cosplay props or something, print those out and come. Yes. Yeah. Now, now we do have, um, uh, our, one of our vendors, which was at the, he's been, how many forge a mat and forge a masters or magic? What's it go? Uh, they do a lot of, uh, I guess what you would consider props like big swords and shields. And, uh, Oh, cool. Um, I know, uh, really good work. Yeah. Yes. Uh, and he's there, they're vending again. So they, uh, there's no telling what they'll bring. They did say they showed me at the July show, some big wings, uh, like crazy. It was massive. And they were like, Hey, I'm bringing this for the Halloween fest. Like I, they didn't think they should do it for the July show, but they were like, we're bringing it for, uh, I was like, okay, that sounds awesome. So, wow. Okay. Nice. reminds me of our friend roberto down in uh east alabama he was condor man one year for for a dragon con had those massive wings he was trying to maneuver around yes see that's the i've been to dragon con a few times and it's just amazing when you see all those people dressed up walking around you know the thing i don't like about You know, I mean, Dragon Con is just how it's in all these different areas downtown where, you know, that's what I love about our event. It's just in one location. It's simple. You're not trying to go find a park, you know, ten miles down the road and walk in some crazy neighborhood. But I do love the fact that Dragon Con just, man, they're just they're dressed up everywhere. And it's just, oh, yeah, it's a sight to see, you know. Yeah. And and even though me and Derek's not really. We're out of our element when it comes to cosplay. We talk about it every time, like, hey, we need to get this going, but it's just something that we're not really familiar with, and we don't really have friends that's into it, so it's hard for us. We thought the costume contest could be a little kickoff to kind of getting us in the right direction. And like we said, the people that's leading the costume contest, she's big into cosplay. So we're hoping that she'll help us with future events. say something neat you know it can be just as simple as what uh what bo and uh a couple of our friends did at dragon con this year with the dad the oh yeah the grill dads yeah we we just basically like i picked up like a twenty buck uh grill from walmart and we had on some like traditional dad shirts with hats and glasses and then it turned into like a a fest because we we took like some of the ribbons like people put on their badges but then we just wrote on them first it was like dad jokes and then we were like we got a grill so we started having hot dog hamburger and like you wouldn't be surprised like how popular that went through like we had like i want to say two hundred blank ribbons they were gone in like thirty to forty minutes that's awesome it just proves anything's possible it doesn't matter what the ribbon is it's a ribbon and they want it but I mean you can take something simple like I said of being cliche dad and having fun with costume like it's the cool thing about cosplay it's kind of like it's the big grown up version of Halloween you can be something you are and be crazy with it or you can be something you are and still have a good time And the Maddox family will be there in costume, speaking of costumes. If I'm not mistaken, that's Nancy Maddox and John Maddox? Yes. And Marshall. I'm sorry? And Marshall. And Marshall, okay. Yeah, they're in the, I recognize the name from our Alabama Toy Mercs Facebook group. Okay. Yeah, so welcome in. Thanks for joining us. Yeah. They're, they're a great family and they help, they help Derek and I with, with all our conventions and with, um, help us at the store. Um, that John, John basically just got, we've, we've taken a, one of our comic shops had shut down and so it picked up our, our sales and comics pull boxes have picked up and, and John has stepped into that role to help, help us out to take over comics. So yeah, they're, they're a good family. Awesome. Well, I definitely have several boxes of comics back there. I need to, I need to offload because I don't, I haven't read them in years and they're just, they're sitting back there under my daughter's bed. You know, she's off in college now, so nothing's, her room has basically become a storage room, unfortunately. In the shift of things right now, more stuff has gone to that room. Yeah, so all the stuff that we're putting in her room, she may be in college, but she's also getting married next summer. So, you know, while we're vending there in January, come by and help me pay for my daughter's wedding. That's right. Because she's not being cheap with this. Weddings ain't cheap, y'all. Weddings are not cheap. If you've got young daughters, just, yeah, think about that now. Hey, there's got one coming soon. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm getting pressured more and more. We're thinking it's going to be twenty twenty seven. We just I guess we kind of got to get a move on it. Come back for me, too. I think we should just have it at the con, like in the. That's a July con. And then. Yeah, sure. Why not? Have it a big. Absolutely hate that. I was about to say, I understand. It supports the hobbies, but there are limits. What you ought to do is just on your application, also turning into a wedding registry. And so, so each vendor has to give you at least one gift. Yeah. Even more, just the collectibles and bridal show. There you go. Yeah, this room we've got toys and this room we've got bridal show over here. You know, that's an intact market. Talk about variety of things. Yeah. Oh, me. Well, it seems like this weekend is going to be a good time to have it because a little bit later in October, because I remember when Jess and I, we went over to Pickens County to go look at the face in the courthouse window over there. That's part of the Thirteen Alabama Ghosts. We went over there and that was on October the second one year. not even thinking not even cluing in that that's the you know the first weekend in october is usually the first big time that towns get together and do festivals and so we we showed up and it's carolton right yeah carolton yeah we showed up over there and like oh we're just gonna go see the courthouse and we stumbled right into the middle of a town fair yeah Every city and municipality likes to have it that first weekend in October. Yeah. If you want to see the video of that, we actually got a really good video. It's on our YouTube channel. When we get done here, guys, go search for that. Um, but yeah, uh, it was great because they actually had the courthouse open and we're giving tours up there all about it. I'm like, oh, this is perfect. So we took the camera and got some good footage, uh, an interview of, of like the, was it the daughter or the granddaughter of the gentleman whose face is in the window? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Really? I think it's a granddaughter. Yes. Um, yeah, really, really cool. But yeah, it seems like the first of October is when a lot of people, a lot of towns have those events. So, um, a week before Halloween just seems like a good time to have it. We hope so. I tell you, there's, there's just, there's all, all kinds of stuff going on in October. I mean, you know what, like you said, festivals and, um, I've joined a lot of, um, like vendor Facebook groups or, you know, event Facebook groups and, It's wild. I think October, November, December is just packed with festivals and events like that. Yeah. Yes. It's crazy. It's college football. That's the tough part of it. I was going to say, I know that's always the toughest thing with Alabama is that in October, of course, you're falling into football territory. Yes. But, you know, we've all got these little devices now that we can pretty much just watch that football game just about anywhere we're at these days. Yeah. That was a concern. It's always been a concern with us, with our conventions and events. But again, in Alabama, there's no other time to do a Halloween event except for October. It ain't going to work in November, September. It's got to be October. Which I told Derek, I said, our Saturdays at the store this month have been really good. And We know there's been card shows and stuff going on in October. I mean, you know, I'm sure some of them's not as good, but it seems like they still get a large crowd. So we're hoping for the best. Yeah, I am too. I'm hoping y'all get a really good turnout on this. Yeah. A friend of mine got married. This one was a television reporter. She got married on the third Saturday in October. And we all in this state knows, we all know what that day is. Fortunately, it didn't turn out well for Alabama this past weekend, but that's always the Alabama-Tennessee game. And I was a television reporter at the time. And my weekend job was to go travel from Columbus, Georgia to Tuscaloosa to cover the Alabama games. And she got fighting mad at me because I was going to go cover the Alabama Tennessee game instead of going to her wedding. And I told her, I'm like, you know what you signed up for when you chose that date. And I'm going to the game. Sorry. Yep. Yep. We, uh, I got married in November. uh, on a Saturday and it was Alabama LSU. Uh, so we, I know it's part of, and then my wife always, our, our, our kids birthdays in September and October. So it's always like, do we want to fight that Saturday? You know, let's don't do that. Jess and I got married ten days before Christmas, so we have yet to take an anniversary trip that's right around our anniversary. It's impossible. We do say that quite often. What were we thinking? But there was a reason why that we got married when we did. But at the same time, I'm like, we decided to get married in December. What were we thinking? Right before Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we had to take our honeymoon in February, March? March, yeah. Yeah, the year after, we had to wait a little bit. The good thing about December, it's cooler. Yeah. It is, yeah. I've seen some weddings where everybody's sweating to death, so... You just never, you never know in Alabama, we could, we could be wearing t-shirts and shorts at on Christmas day and fighting tornadoes. My daughter's getting married in June next year outdoors. And I was like, when she told me that my face just kind of dropped. And she's like, what's wrong with that? And I'm like, honey, you've lived here all your life. You know what that weather's going to be like. But thankfully, thankfully there is an indoor option. It's a, I think, I think the reception is going to be mainly indoors and all, but yeah, but the wedding itself is going to be outdoors unless there's bad weather, then they can just move it all into the, to the building, which is nice. It's good to have that option. But for her sake, I hope the weather's nice. Yeah, mine's our anniversary is on the January con. So I always get a little flack for that because I make her run it. I mean, she runs it. Happy anniversary. Go to work. Yeah. Well, for, you know, for the last couple of years being involved with y'all, it's like the July con falls around his birthday. So, you know, it's like, happy birthday, Brock. Let's go to the con. Yeah. That's what I like. Yeah. That's a great gift for me. Hey, you got, you got million dollar man on your birthday. That's right. Yeah. So one of the ones you'd been wanting to meet. So there you go. Yeah, and I just got his LJN figure that WWE's been doing the re-releases of those. It just came in the mail earlier this week. Nice. Yeah, I wish those would have been out when we had them. Yeah, that would have been really cool to get him to sign one of those. I found my Mean Gene Okerlund one from when I was a kid. We were down cleaning out storage buildings, what, about three weeks ago? And I found it. Now, I had it in a Ziploc bag. I'm like, oh, this is great. He's perfectly protected. But when I opened up the bag, he was as oily and slick and sticky as... I don't know what happened with that thing, but it's been in storage, outdoor storage for the better part of twenty years. But the paint and everything on it is still perfect. But man, I'm going to have to get some degreaser or something on him. Don't come in the sink. It's hard to get those figures once they get that sticky and it's tough. Yeah, it's not new to us. I can only imagine probably what people haul in there and have y'all go through. We keep taking it, though. Yeah, you do. I know you have... Did I see something? Y'all have opened up a little booth somewhere else recently. I know, Derek, you have yours in Leeds area, the antique mall there. You have your shop in Gadsden. I saw y'all opened up another little spot somewhere else recently. Together. Yeah, together. Yeah. That was my idea. But yeah, it's been really good. That's good. We just kind of have our overflow there. And then I put my dollar comics in there and they, they do really well. That's good. That's what I was going to ask. I guess this has kind of turned into like overflow situation. Yeah. I mean, we both have way too much of everything. So, but even being close, I figured being down the road, we'd be able to go like three or four times a week, but, I'm maybe once a week, you know, I'll restock comics and yeah. You video games, but yeah, it's, it's really good. I mean, like I say, if you have extra stuff, a booth is great. It's just great passive income and you know, they handle all the sales tags, all that good stuff. Yeah. We've done good our first month and I'm, I don't know how well we'll stun this second month. Yeah. Well, good. yeah it's over in rainbow city uh collecting treasures okay okay and your your first spot is where uh my other one is uh at the bama flea mall yeah i got uh in leeds alabama yeah and uh i got three cases and then a big booth and then at this one we have a big room together okay i guess it was like a storage room we just got the whole room now It was funny because when they were getting ready to open. I was talking to Derek. I was like, hey, tell him I want a booth. And he's like, no, I ain't telling him that. And I was like, yeah, tell him. And he's like, just come by here. So I met him there. And him and Kylie would not show me. He already peeked out his booth. He already peeked out his spot. And I was like, where's yours at? And he would not tell me. We walked around. I'm like, well, tell me, show me. And he's like, I ain't telling you where mine's at. You just pick out what you want. And finally we come to this little room. And it really wasn't, he wasn't going to rent this room at first. And he goes, yeah, I could. I could do this. And Derek's like, yeah, we could, we could do this one together. And I was like, what are you not telling me now we're doing this together. So it's been cool. As soon as, as soon as the Halloween fest is over, I can, I can concentrate a little bit better on it, but I've just, we, we kind of got after the first month or I did. And then we've got some stuff that's got to go in there. And I just, I'm like, I'm too busy right now. So yeah, we need shelves in there on the walls. Yeah. So Margie Fulmer, me and my adult daughter and her friend and my teenage son will be there in costume. Awesome. Very nice. What are you guys dressing up as? So we know to look for you. And then friend of the podcast, Mike, may drop by Leeds. I'm looking for an S-E-N-S. Super Nintendo. I don't know that I have one, but I know there's other dealers that do. I do mostly games and uh some cards and comics there so yeah games very well i said before i met you i'd went to the bamboo flea mall and i'd see your your your booth after i found out it was your booth it was the one i spent the most time i can't remember if i bought anything or not but i remember i spent a lot of time like i was like oh i like this i like this i like this you know so i can i can speak to your your quality your presentation it's it's it's very well done i appreciate there's another guy there that honestly his looks better i just come in there with like i get some random just rare games you never see so yeah that's what that's what i tell everybody in there it's stuff like that's good for you know if you you can either you know find something you know hey that's cool but then you know if there's something particular you it's especially in retro gaming collecting i guess it's good to see something you don't see everywhere And in that place, I'll say I'll take my expensive games. Rainbow City, I'm not selling hundred-dollar games. It's all five-dollar games, dollar comics. But in Leeds, yeah, people coming south of, or I guess north of Birmingham, they buy the hundred-dollar games. Oh, that's good. I want to say it's close to the front of the building, right? Yes, I have three as you walk around the counter. Yeah, right, as you walk in on the right. Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay. Yeah. definitely need to go check that out i'm trying to build up my retro game collection i found my original xbox in storage but i think it's one of the units that prone to have a capacitor go out so it won't power on up so i've got to crack it open and replace that capacitor at some point yeah i got a lot of good xbox like original titles in there right now so okay Yeah, he got really happy when he came across one of those boxes when we were out there. That's when you found me on your Nintendo. Was that right? My original NES from a kid. Still works. Not as well as I want it to. You know, I need to replace the pins in it. But yeah, I found that, found my Xbox, my original Xbox. So yeah. in my killer instinct super nintendo oh yeah no but i think i have primal rage for the xxiii kind of somewhat yeah but no i don't think i have killer instinct okay i know that by the black cartridge didn't i get killer instinct recently or is that you've had it before at the shop yeah Maybe think where you're talking killer instinct. I still have the CD that came with it originally. Oh, the soundtrack. I still have the CD. Yeah. I really need to find a, find a Sega Saturn. I sold it at a pawn shop when I was in the air force. And I regret that because I love that system so much. One of the better ports of the original resident evil is on the Sega Saturn version. A lot of people, if you want to hear you collect and that's next to the PlayStation that they, a lot of people say it might be better than the PlayStation one. Hmm. Yeah, I don't know why I opted for the Sega Saturn instead of the PlayStation. I've never owned a PlayStation just because I went that route. Yeah, he's never owned a PlayStation guy. Yeah, I was poor growing up. So PS One, you know, it was cheap, honestly. Sega Saturn, you couldn't find those. Oh, yeah. Even back then. They're really hard to find now. Yeah. those like i said there were so many of those discs based around that time like you had the saturn the three do the cdi this it was yeah then the dreamcast came out i absolutely like to i love the dreamcast it's fortunately sega put it out too quickly right after the saturn and We could talk video games all day with me. Especially that late nineties, early two thousand era. That is Bo's sweet spot wheelhouse right there. We're trying to figure out for our giveaways. We've got to figure that out this week. But I have a horror game. trying to tell wolf you know that's there you go it is let's see if i one second okay yeah while he's looking for that yeah we're doing giveaways um there's adult giveaways and kid giveaways uh every hour there'll be uh giveaways announced um so if you if anybody's watching this that is interesting that make sure you're following us on social media because we will we're going to post the like the time certain things will be given away so that you know if it's something really interesting you know what to do during that time yeah this is one of the best horror games on the gamecube Oh, yes. One hundred percent agree. Game. It's complete in box. Oh, nice. Yeah, I think it's that. Yeah, that'd be a great giveaway. Not everybody's got a GameCube. You might have the first Wii. Yeah, I say it'll play on the Wii as well if you don't have a GameCube. Yeah. So that's a fantastic game. Great title. What game was that? Eternal Darkness. Eternal Darkness. it uh it the screen shakes when your character gets scared it's it's it was way ahead of its time sounds too scary for me one of the first games i bought when the xbox three sixty came out was condemned yeah yeah that was a fantastic horror game condemned two and then condemned yeah those were great the uh the one that i really still love to this day and play play quite a bit uh uh alien um oh um oh golly what was the was the one come out here in the last ten years or so yeah uh i forget i forget the the subtitle for it front front something front i don't know I never played any of the alien games. I'll admit that. Isolation. That's it. Alien Isolation. That game still gives me the heebie-jeebies because you've got to be so quiet moving around that ship because that alien hears you. you've got a duck which was funny because the early days that was when the xbox was still rocking the connect and like the connect would also pick up like if you made too much noise while you were playing the game yeah cue the alien to where you were at yeah Well, it's like one of the NBA two K games at one point with the connect or maybe with the connect, but if you like started, started using bad language at your, you know, at your game, if you were losing or whatever, it would give you a warning. Like it would like give you a penalty. I was in them old school call of duty lobbies. There was a lot. Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh, man, I haven't played a Call of Duty game in forever. They do a lot of fun stuff for the Halloween. But, yeah, I haven't played in years now, it seems like. Do you still do that, Bo? I do the zombie mode. That's what we're talking about. I've played more horror games in the last twenty years than I've probably watched horror movies. I don't know. I enjoy that aspect of survival horror. I do stuff from Resident Evil to Dead Space and stuff like that. I love Dead Space. My favorite game ever is Parasite Eve II on PS One. My favorite game. Love that game. Very cool. Well, I know we're coming up on an hour here for just kind of a recap. What are the hours this weekend? Where is it being held? It's Gadsden, Alabama at the venue at Coosa Landon. It starts at ten a.m., which ten a.m. to eleven a.m. is the VIP time, which just means it's fifteen dollars to get in there that time. Kids twelve and under still free during that time. um but you know it gives you gets you in our hourly uh get the deals be first in line if you need to be uh and then starting at eleven a.m after that after eleven a.m it's uh ten dollars to get in kids twelve and under free um and people gotta understand mostly that the only reason we're charging that much is because the celebrities are very expensive so celebrities are celebrities are expensive and and also we do a i mean you know we're we put a lot of money into advertising to Facebook ads and radio. And we, well, we tried radio this time, um, yard sign, you know, we do a lot. There's, it's not like we're just sitting here making a ton of money and trying to retire. Yeah. Well, like I said, there's, there are a few factors in there that, that, you know, still, but it's still an affordable price for a lot of the, for a lot of events. Yeah. Compared to a lot of events out there. Yeah. Yeah. And again, I just, again, I, I love, I know Tom girl, uh, Gary is not a, uh, not a horror person, but it's just amazing. Like we got smiles from the satellite guys. Like that's cool. It's, it's still a good guest to, to draw people in. Yeah. And free parking too. Hey, you don't have to pay for parking. So there, there you go. Uh, we got free parking. We got, we still got, uh, two food trucks and a coffee truck out there. Really, you can come. You think about a family of four with two kids. It's twenty bucks to get in. That's it. The rest of it, just spend on what you want. The answer to your question earlier, Brock, about costumes, Scarecrow, and Supernatural. Very cool. Looking forward to that. We'll definitely look out for y'all. supernatural could fight Jason. There you go. Yeah. I was going to say it's perfect. Well, fantastic. Well, uh, is there anything else you guys want to touch on before we, uh, before we call it a night? You want to talk about anything about the new, the next con there? Yeah, we just, uh, which we'll talk more about that and we'll get with you guys before then. But yeah, the next show, next card show be December fifth. It's just cards and memorabilia. And then our next Gadsden Collector Con will be the sixteenth and seventeenth of January. It will be a Saturday and Sunday, so a new thing we're trying with Friday set up. Okay. Yep. Good. All right. And we're planning on vending at that one. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be contacting y'all soon. And I made a flyer tonight. Nothing fancy, but we just need to make an announcement flyer with our first guest. So if you're a fan of Five Nights at Freddy's, then you're not going to want to miss the next guest. Oh, okay. Okay. Very cool. All right. Well, like I said, down in the description, we've got a link to Wolfden's Halloween Fest Facebook page. Where else can they find you guys for this weekend? Well, you can find me and Derek post a lot or share stuff. Wolfden Collectibles on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Wolfden's Halloween Fest is on obviously the same Facebook, Instagram, and Tik TOK. We would love for you to come check out the store. If you come to the, the Halloween fest, come check out Wolf Den's Halloween. Come check out Wolf Den's collectibles. I answered the phone the other day and said, Wolf Den's Halloween fest. My store is literally three minutes down the road from the convention. Yeah. So we're going to open the store, I think at two. Um, so come, come check out the store. I've got a great case of Pokemon cards right there at the front. There's got his case. Um, and a lot to do. And I mean, I, I, again, I, I want to come to guest and enjoy yourself. Uh, knock little falls has a, um, kind of a, like a hard train that, that night starting at six o'clock. Um, There's a trade night if you're into cards, a store that's hobbies and collectibles, which is just a couple down from me. They're doing a trade night that night from five to eight. So there's a lot of things to do after the convention. I want to say your friend, Joe Crowe. Also, we mentioned there's Spartan Wrestling that night as well. Oh, there's Spartan Wrestling going on that night? I believe so. Edson's hopping that weekend. Yeah, yeah. Get some Top of the River. That's right. Go eat Top of the River. Go have some dinner after the con, after you get finished. Choose another spot to go to, whether you want to do wrestling or one of the other events that's around. yeah yes and make sure you come for the halloween fest yes that's right yes and stay in gaston when i would say this hotels you might not spend the night in gaston because uh talladega races are going on that weekend never would have thought it'd been hard to get a hotel in gaston but it was a little difficult He waited until the last minute, so they're very expensive. It wouldn't matter. They've got those dates booked. They've got them priced marked up for every year. They know what they're doing. I'm not even going to be able to attend the first one. I'll be in Nashville. this weekend so yeah yeah oh okay yeah so what i need is everybody to make the halloween fest the best event ever make videos saying derek you missed it he's just gonna send me ai photos of thousands of people Like I will, I will kind of touch on this real quick. We, you know, these things that you try out and you never know what it's going to be like until you try it out. So our friend Gary with Alabama Theater is one of his stories he likes to tell. with their holiday film series is that the push to add Die Hard to the film series. Because there's the debate, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? And I say, yes, it is. But everybody was like, oh, this isn't going to do anything. We're not going to make much off of this. And the first year that they showed it, they did not sell as many tickets for for that as they did the Christmas vacations and the Home Alone and Elf. But he told you that, he did say that At the end of the night, the bar sales for that movie surpassed every other movie in the film series. They made bank as far as the bar for that night. So they've kept it in the rotation and now it's becoming a sellout or close to a sellout every year. Like last December, the holiday film series, every movie sold out for the first time ever. Yeah. Really? Yeah. So they told Gary that they'll never argue with him about, you know, about adding that movie to the, to the rotation because. And the lady behind us had about half the bar in her. She was obnoxious. Yeah. It's kind of interesting year last year. Yeah. But Mike said, uh, made his pizza and pasta and pour him. Oh yeah. Okay. It's very good restaurant. Yeah. Oh, pizza and pasta. Yeah. And a lot of these restaurants are, I mean, literally, my business is on Broad Street. There is several right there on Broad Street and right off of Broad Street. You don't have to go far. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely noticed that when we were up there that time. So it's a great, it's a great main street area up there. Yeah, absolutely. And Wolf's got a fantastic store. Wolf Den Collectibles is amazing. We've been up there and spent a little bit of money in there with them. So planning on doing that again very soon. Thank you. Yeah, man. So, well, we appreciate you guys joining us. Love to hear. Always love having you on. Always love to hear about everything that's happening, both with Gadsden Collective Con and now Halloween Fest. We're looking forward to that. And I'm really hoping that Jess and I can maybe get up there this weekend. It all depends on what schedule my son is on. Mm-hmm. But we brought him up there last time. He had a great time up there. So we'll definitely see what we can swing for this Saturday. Well, Spirit Halloween is literally almost right next to the convention, so just bring them, go into Spirit, get a costume, and show up. Yeah. You can grab you a costume. Yeah. Yeah. I've already spent all my money at Spirit that I need to this year. I went in and got a He-Man sword, one of the foam ones. Yeah. They do have good stuff. They do. They do. Yeah. But you've heard where you can find everybody online for us. You just go to BamaGeeks.com. We're also on our social media channels at Bama Geeks. If you forget where these guys are, just go to our social media because we're sharing their stuff as well. And also, if you're on Facebook and want to join our private Facebook group, we are the Bama Geeks Front Porch. Just search for that. We'll let you in there. Ask to join and You know, give us some good Southern jokes and wit and witticisms. Let's have some fun. And, of course, as always, we always like to thank Jamie and Mike and Darnay and Jack. They have been with us now for five years as paid supporters through our Patreon. We appreciate you guys. You can either join our Patreon. Links are everywhere below. If you're on YouTube, want to hit that join button. You get the same perks and benefits, bonus episodes, and whatever else we can cook up. So never obligated to do it, but always appreciated. But, yeah, Derek and Will, thank you guys again so much for being on with us. We enjoyed having you on as always. Thank you. Yeah, thank you guys. And just hope this weekend is a massive success. That's right. Massive, yes. Massive. We want to report back to Derek. Massive success. So for Kevin, who's on vacation again, and for Bo and Jess and Derek and Wolf, I'm Brock. We're the Bama Geeks. Thank you guys so much for being with us. Oh, Jason. Yeah, and Jason again. Y'all have a great night. We'll see you next time. See you.