Full Carts

Devin and Andy visit a big Game Stop in Manhattan and offer their thoughts. Does every gamer reach a point when they can’t keep up with game technology? What is the meaning of the popularity of Funko Pop? What is the ideal show for a tiny TV? What would you add to this library of Mini Brand books? Why does this review of a Game Stop say so little about actual games?

Music by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy break down their visit to PARTEA, a store in the East Village with arcade crane claw games, toy vending machines, mystery boxes, as well as bubble tea and chicken sandwiches. Is this place selling stuffies, entertainment, food, or lessons in handling frustration? How high-concept can a store get and still be a store? What’s the ideal crane game inventory? Would Partea be better off going all-Gashapon?

Music by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy gather & scatter some thoughts on the antique/vintage store shopping experience after a visit to Yesterday’s News in Brooklyn, New York. Does having things lead to satisfaction, or to just wanting more of those things? Are pop culture objects from the 90s the hot new vintage? Why are bottles and cups and flasks full not just of liquid, but of meaning? How is a vintage store like a party?

Select videos referenced in the episode linked below. Sure, you could find them easily, but it’s fun to have them all here:

Pizza Hut Relief Pitcher commercial

Michael Jackson goes shopping in Vegas

Pricemaster yard sale 

Wassup? 

I’m Picking Out a Thermos for You from The Jerk

You have chosen…wisely from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Barnes Dance in action in Washington D.C.

Music by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

How much pickles would a bookstore sell if a bookstore could sell pickles? Devin and Andy visit and review Sweet Pickle Books, a used bookstore on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that also stocks pickles. Can a store cater to your cultural touchstones too precisely? Are used books inherently countercultural? How does merch fit into the bookstore experience? What psychology is at work on the Pay What You Wish shelf? Are the pickles good?? How do they compare to The Pickle Guys around the corner? 

Music by⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy visit the closeout store Lot-Less, but they have a Lot-MORE to say about it! Are odd store layouts in old spaces charming or disorienting? When can addictiveness be pitched as a positive thing? Are Bonne Maman jam and Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter really discount store staples?? How important is lighting to a store experience? What’s the ideal subject for a novelty sock?

(Note: Andy's two visits to Lot-Less were two weeks apart, which he probably should have mentioned in the episode.)

Songs riffed on: Unskinny Bop-Poison, I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day-The Pogues

Music by⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy visit a few cannabis shops in New York City, both legal and unlicensed. What’s shopping like in this new & evolving market? 

Is stoner culture a lure or deterrent to smoking? Were Midwestern elementary schools in the early 80’s right to make sure 10 year olds lived in fear of angel dust? Are legal dispensaries fun? Does store security make you feel exasperated, or secure? Why are we still seeing one-hitters that disguise marijuana as cigarettes? What kind of relationships do people have with their local budtender?

Music by⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy discuss and rate their visit to Hershey's Chocolate World in NYC, after a stop at the Krispy Kreme Flagship. How is a donut like cole slaw? How important are those fun-size bars Hershey hands out at the door? Can you tell if the employee vibe is genuine? Can fractals be explained by the point-of-purchase line at Hershey's, and vice-versa? Are these the most reasonable prices in Times Square? What's the real meaning of the debate over Twizzlers? Is Fruit-Stripe gum quick to lose flavor...by design? Is Reese's Puffs the best cereal...in the universe??

Music by⁠⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠⁠, art by⁠⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy discuss and rate their visit to the LEGO Store in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, one of around 100 LEGO stores in the US. Does the store do justice to the brand?

When you step barefoot on a LEGO now, are you really stepping into a tradition, a community? Are we at Peak Lego? Is it okay to call them "Legos"? Were did all the hat and hair pieces in the minifig bins go? LEGO appreciation-wise, are you better off in the store, or with a cup of Ralph's Coffee, a LEGO character encyclopedia, and a view of St. Patrick's Cathedral?

a LEGO set discussed: Bro Thor LEGO

LEGO sets that should have been discussed: Rockefeller, NES, Nova's Room

Music by⁠ ⁠Jed Becker⁠⁠, art by⁠ ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy discuss and rate their visit to the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller Center. Is going to Ace’s Pizza like visiting The Oracle? What would John D. Rockefeller make of the disappearance of public seating in the center bearing his name? Should candy cigarettes be more realistic-looking? What can we divine from the curious balance of TV show merch at the NBC store? What if you could actually slide down the big Mario flagpole? Would you trust your device to the Donkey Kong charging barrel? Should it be The Legend of Link? How would an Atari flagship look? What’s the ideal Nintendo plushie?

Music by ⁠Jed Becker⁠, art by ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]

Devin and Andy discuss and rate their time browsing the online marketplace Temu. Is this whole site a dream? If so, who or what is doing the dreaming? Amazon? The web itself? The year 1987? An old comic book prize page that got mixed up with some infomercial DNA?

Are you more in the market for tiny spy cameras, or tiny spy camera detectors? Does this site contain the absolute zenith of melon-slicing gadgetry? Are you one jawline enhancer purchase away from becoming a GigaChad? Should grandparents convey love for their grandchildren via emotional poems on footballs? What's more fun than realistic miniatures of familiar items?

Referenced: 

Music by ⁠Jed Becker⁠, art by ⁠Margaret Flatley⁠, production assistance by Skye MacLeod. Contact [email protected]