The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

Moderators: Scott Sebring, Ben Bentley

Post Reply
User avatar
Keith Mayo
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:52 am

The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by Keith Mayo »

I live in a very small town in Alabama. Because of this my only choices for toy purchases are Walmart, FYE and GameStop. To say their selections are miniscule would be an understatement. For this reason (and others I won't get into) I'm forced to avail myself to Evilbay, Amazon and a handful of online stores to feed my toy collecting habit. Sure, I miss the "thrill of the hunt" but there are a few advantages:

1. I don't waste gas driving all over the place looking for what I want.
2. I don't have to deal with clueless store clerks ("What's a MEGO?).
3. I avoid (for the most part) the impulse buys that pop up when spying a new toy for the first time.
4. In most cases, competition amongst online retailers keeps prices lower.

The number one silver lining to the dark cloud of habituating a world void of toy stores is waiting on the mailman. Yep, I find that when I sit on the porch anticipating the arrival of the little white USPS vehicle it takes me back to the 1960's when I would look forward to harvesting the crop from the seeds of cereal box tops and ads cut out from comic books that were mailed in. The thrill of getting that plain brown paper wrapped box has returned. It used to take so dang long for those premium trinkets to arrive that when they did show up I'd forgotten what I had sent off for so it was like Christmas every time the Postman showed up. That same situation occurs sometimes nowadays when I get on a roll and order too many things at once. I find a box on my porch when returning from a doctor's appointment and can't for the life of me remember what should be therein contained.

So in many ways, my current habit of collecting toys is a lot like when I was a kid with a crewcut and PF Flyers to go along with my Batman t-shirt. I wait with anticipation for the semi uniformed federal employee to bring me my goodies. One great thing that is much different these days is having friends all over the world that I buy/sell/trade with and discuss our obession with toys on the internet. Unlike the days of waiting on the new issue of toy themed magazines/newspapers to arrive and blindly sending money orders to strangers in hopes they'd deliver on what their Toyfare ad promised, relationships are created and in some cases develope into lifelong freindships. I have internet toy collecting buddies from as far away as Australia and some I've known for over 20 years - especially those that I've met in person.

Here in this group I've gotten to know a small handful of folks through correspondance and buy/sell/trading. The top of that list is occupied by Scott Sebring. He has been very helpful in my acclimation to this group with PMs aimed at smoothing my rough edges (former USMC Drill Instructor and retired state prison officer) and been the lubricant in my easing into the group. We've also mailed items back and forth from his stomping grounds on the Left Coast to my habitat here in L.A. (Lower Alabama).

I'm coming up on my one year anniversary since joining this group and I'm very happy to be here.
Attachments
39115514_2390183451008333_7821534315333812224_n.jpg
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
User avatar
AndyFish
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:42 am

Re: The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by AndyFish »

My wife and I used to live in New York City-- upper East Side-- you want something at 3 in the morning you could probably find it. Within a two mile walking radius was every possible store you could want (except a Wal*Mart which never set up in city limits-- no worries didn't like it anyway). We were in a very quiet neighborhood, had a doorman, a restaurant right next door that knew us by name and one of our neighbors was Sting from the band The Police.

Yesterday we were driving back from a nearby local farmstand and after the heavy rain had just stopped everything was so lush and green. We remarked how beautiful everything was and peaceful. We wouldn't move back to a city ever again (Okay, Tokyo maybe). So there's a big benefit to being in a "wasteland" that isn't overpopulated and over developed.

As for online shopping-- that's my go to. I'm with you 100% on bad store clerks and wasted gas and time. I'm not about the thrill of the hunt and there's very little that I actually am chasing anyway.

As for Scott- he's a real gentleman. It was nice getting to chat with him in San Diego this year, even if I was starving and exhausted at that point.
Jthree
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:27 pm

Re: The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by Jthree »

Keith, I live in a town of around 30,000, with only a Wall Mart and a Menards in the immediate area. It's two hours to the nearest Target and Barnes and Noble and Best Buy. We're four hours from a Sams Club and I have little access to things, so just how big is the town you're in.

--jthree
User avatar
Keith Mayo
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:52 am

Re: The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by Keith Mayo »

Jthree, our population is 6048 (not counting feral cats & dogs).
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
Jthree
Posts: 0
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:27 pm

Re: The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by Jthree »

Keith, I still think you're doing better than where I'm at in western North Dakota.

--jthree
Blue Meanie
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:08 pm

Re: The Upside To Living In A Target Wasteland

Post by Blue Meanie »

Great post Keith. Thanks for bringing back those fond memories of anticipating the arrival of the cereal box premium we would send away for. Those six-eight weeks delivery time were like an eternity.
Post Reply