Latest / Ultimate Rewinds Podcast / Staying Minty Fresh with Gem Mint Collectibles Ep #25

Transcript

Staying Minty Fresh with Gem Mint Collectibles Ep #25 · Ultimate Rewinds Podcast

0:07
So, I got to welcome this guest here
0:08
today, the man himself, Genman
0:10
Collectibles. Welcome to the channel,
0:12
man. I appreciate you coming on.
0:13
>> Of course. What's going on, Lawrence?
0:15
>> No, no, just chilling. I'm super stoked
0:17
to have you on here because I got a
0:18
bunch of questions for you. But, uh, I
0:21
want to know, and I've watched your
0:22
channel since the beginning, but when
0:24
did you get into like comics? What was
0:26
the medium, I should say, that got you
0:27
into comics? Cuz I know like me, you're
0:29
into old school arcades, you're into
0:31
comics, you're into omnibus, you're into
0:33
cars. So what was back in the day? What
0:35
was that one thing that got you into
0:37
this?
0:39
>> Right here, man. So I was born in ' 84.
0:41
So in 1992, I was 8 years old. I had
0:45
seen superheroes before. I didn't think
0:47
much of them. I remember seeing the
0:49
Spider-Man cartoon where he was swinging
0:51
in the webs, but I remember thinking as
0:54
even a kid, like where are the webs
0:56
attached to? like the buildings are
0:57
below him. So, I like I had seen
0:59
superheroes, but for whatever reason,
1:01
man, when I saw the JustCo92 Marvel
1:04
masterpieces, it's actually similar to I
1:07
see a real going around right now of
1:08
Todd McFarland talking about Alex Ross
1:11
and King uh Kingdom Come and how he was
1:14
like, "Yeah, I drew characters and it
1:15
was fun, but this is like what they
1:16
would really look like in real life."
1:18
So, something about Just Go's paintings
1:21
looking realistic and iconic and
1:23
legendary just made them feel real to
1:25
me. And uh I immediately I was hooked
1:27
and I started collecting the the 1992
1:30
Marvel masterpieces which were huge. And
1:33
uh those cards led me to the comic shop
1:36
because on the back of the cards it
1:37
would tell you like their first cover
1:39
appearance or their first appearance. So
1:41
I remember like loving the characters so
1:43
much and being like, "Oh man, I want to
1:45
see more. I want to know more about
1:46
them." And then I went to the comic shop
1:49
to start looking for the characters from
1:50
the cards.
1:51
>> Besides the cards, like where did you go
1:53
from there? You went to got you went to
1:54
get comics. When did your love for
1:56
Omnibus start? Was that more as an
1:57
adult?
1:58
>> Yeah, the Omnibus was way later. So, I I
2:01
got into the comic shop 8 years old in
2:03
the early 90s and I would go in there
2:05
looking for those key issues, but they
2:07
were like surprisingly to me expensive.
2:10
So, I started to settle for like what
2:11
was on the rack at the time, which was
2:13
early Spawn, uh Spider-Man, X-Men,
2:16
things like that. And uh I would collect
2:19
whatever single issues and trade
2:20
paperbacks. But like the omnibus stuff,
2:23
you're talking about 2014 or 2015 or so.
2:28
That was after I had already started the
2:29
Instagram page. So, I already had lived
2:32
my whole life pretty much like as a kid
2:34
growing up in the '9s, man. It was comic
2:37
books, trading cards, video games, uh,
2:40
music. And then, you know, as you get
2:42
older in life, you kind of find other
2:44
interests and maybe you don't read comic
2:45
books every day or whatever. But then as
2:48
an adult, I kind of found, you know,
2:49
found myself getting back into it really
2:51
when I got like a like a regular job and
2:54
learned about what eBay was and I
2:55
started hunting down these things that I
2:57
had as a kid. That's what really brought
2:59
me back into the comics. And then after
3:02
a couple years, that's when I found the
3:03
omnibus uh format. I just kind of
3:05
stumbled upon it, going to the local
3:08
comic shop every week because I had
3:09
gotten back into it by then.
3:13
>> As we're kids, and that's what this
3:14
podcast is about. It's about everything
3:15
nostalgia, everything we grew up with
3:16
and how we got into it. But when would
3:19
you say, you know, you're a kid, you
3:20
gave me your age when you first got into
3:21
the Marvel cars, but when would you say
3:23
you got back into it as an adult? Like
3:24
what was that age range?
3:26
>> That had to be when I got back. So, as a
3:29
kid, I was into it. Then I as a
3:30
teenager, I kind of fell out of it. I
3:32
started following other interests. And
3:34
when I was, it must have been like 20
3:38
ah man 2012 maybe, maybe a little bit
3:40
earlier. I was working at the power
3:42
company and I had I had like a sit-down
3:44
desk job and that's when I uh decided to
3:48
download e or go on eBay, set up an eBay
3:50
account and I bought Mortal Kombat
3:52
Trilogy for the PlayStation 1 for
3:55
whatever reason. That was like one of
3:56
the things that I wanted to buy back and
3:59
it was somewhere between 2008 2012. I I
4:01
I feel like the MCU had already kicked
4:03
off. When did that happen? 2008, right?
4:05
>> Yeah. Iron Man.
4:06
>> So I don't think I caught Iron Man in
4:08
the theaters. I think maybe it was like
4:11
Thor I caught in the theaters or
4:13
something and then I kind of went back
4:14
and I was like, "Oh man, these are way
4:16
better than the Fox Sony movies that I
4:18
remember as a kid." Like it felt more uh
4:21
accurate to the source material, you
4:22
know, the early MCU.
4:25
>> And to me, the early MCU was the was the
4:27
best Marvel outside of Infinity War,
4:29
Endgame. Like that was when it was like
4:31
I see I'm just an origin story guy. Like
4:33
to me even comics like I want to read
4:35
about something like the character how
4:37
he develops that's part of the character
4:38
himself like Batman like Spider-Man
4:40
obviously I wasn't around when those
4:41
those characters are founded but reading
4:44
the origin of all these characters I
4:46
feel like that's where everybody kind of
4:47
jumps on board and was like I can relate
4:49
to that character.
4:51
>> Yeah I like that too. Like I I I was
4:53
always kind of OCD like that. If I like
4:55
something I got to know everything about
4:56
it. I got to start at the beginning.
4:58
Look at the omnibus stuff. I thought it
5:00
was so cool that my first omnibus
5:02
Amazing Spider-Man volume 1 collected
5:04
AF-15 ASM 1 through 30 something and the
5:08
first annual. It blew my mind. I was
5:10
like, man, all these key issues. That's
5:12
what I was collecting at the time. All
5:13
these keys that I'm collecting, all
5:15
these stories are in this one hardcover
5:17
book and I just kind of fell in love
5:19
with it, man. The ASM and then uh the
5:21
Infinity Gauntlet. It blew my mind like
5:23
wow, it has all the tie-ins. Like think
5:26
about it back in the day. Like you're
5:28
trying to get the Infinity Gauntlet 1
5:29
through six, but then you want the
5:30
Silver Server issues. You want the
5:32
Thanos Quest stuff. You want all the
5:33
little Marvel tie-ins at the time and it
5:35
had it all gift wrapped in this book. It
5:37
just blew my mind. And I just I think I
5:39
got lucky, man. I've talked about this
5:41
before. I just happened to start
5:43
collecting Omnis when they were kind of
5:45
new to the market. I got into the
5:47
Sideshow statues that it had been out.
5:50
Bowen had been out, but it didn't really
5:52
hit the peak of popularity yet. kind of
5:54
got in right before that and um I think
5:57
I just got a little bit lucky when it
5:58
comes to like YouTube and just when I
6:01
started getting back into collecting.
6:03
>> So the statue thing, you brought it up.
6:05
So like obviously you're you kind of
6:08
went from comics to omnibus as far as
6:10
like reading, but when did the the the
6:13
statue stuff come about? Like cuz that's
6:15
an expensive hobby. I even tried to get
6:16
into it myself and there's a lot of
6:18
things that I want and I I settled on
6:20
like three or four big ones and that was
6:21
it. I noticed you have the Spider-Man
6:23
verse Venom Mckette behind you.
6:26
>> So, let me say something. That's the one
6:27
I got from you.
6:28
>> Oh. Oh, you bought it from me.
6:30
>> Yeah. Off Facebook Marketplace.
6:32
>> Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. There you
6:34
go. Damn. So, that's my old piece right
6:36
there.
6:36
>> It is.
6:37
>> I got into statues almost around the
6:39
same exact time I got into the Omnis
6:41
right before that. So, I I I'm working.
6:44
I find out about eBay. So, I buy the
6:46
Mortal Kombat trilogy. I buy the 92
6:49
Marvel masterpieces. And then I'm like,
6:50
"Oh, snap. Remember when I was a kid and
6:53
these cards got me into the shop, but I
6:55
couldn't afford New Mutants 87. I can
6:57
afford it now. I have adult money." So,
6:59
I started buying comic books off eBay
7:02
and I started Then, this is so crazy.
7:04
CGC is kind of fresh at the time. Then
7:07
I'm like, "Wait a minute. If I send this
7:08
to CGC and they grade it, it's worth
7:10
this much more than when I bought it
7:12
raw." So then I started slabbing books
7:14
and buying and selling. And then during
7:17
that time when I was like man I had this
7:20
time at this time I had been in the
7:21
buying and selling for like a year or
7:23
so. I had sold all my slabs. I bought a
7:25
AF-15. I got an X-Men one. I started
7:28
going after blue chip keys. And uh I
7:31
stumbled upon the omnibus at the local
7:34
comic shop. And my boy that was
7:37
collecting keys as well. He kind of had
7:39
some viral pictures online about a 181
7:42
horde. He collected Hulk 181s. And I
7:45
remember he posted a picture of the
7:46
sideshow Mckette. Uh you can't really
7:49
see it, but I got the gray one right
7:50
here uh with the statue with the book
7:53
and I was like, "Yo, that's awesome."
7:54
Like I was like displaying figures next
7:56
to my slabs. And when I saw that, shout
7:59
out to - the one that if I think about
8:01
it was the one that really made me get
8:03
into statues. And that was the first one
8:04
that I ever pre-ordered off of Sideshow
8:07
site. This is like 20 like early
8:09
February like 2017. and it's become a
8:12
thing because a lot of your your content
8:13
is based on a lot of these statues and
8:15
that's what I want to get into next.
8:23
You've been doing content for for quite
8:25
a while now. What inspired you to kind
8:27
of start your old channel and kind of go
8:30
from there? Because you've you've
8:31
covered a lot and we'll get into what
8:32
you've done on your channel, but what
8:33
what made you make that decision?
8:36
>> So, I think a lot of it was u man I had
8:38
this killer commute to work, man. And I
8:40
had took this job that was like I was in
8:42
West Palm Beach in South Florida and I
8:44
took a job in Miami and it was like a
8:47
3-hour commute on a good day. And I had
8:50
just, you know, I'd been already into
8:51
comics and everything. I had just got
8:53
into Omnibus and statues. So I was doing
8:56
these long drives and I would search
8:58
YouTube and I would see these other
9:00
collectors that had cool [ __ ] Like I'll
9:03
never forget the omnibus collector had
9:05
like a call wall of books and then they
9:07
had a live show called Omni Bros Live
9:09
and I would watch this stuff as I'm
9:11
driving to and from work and then I
9:13
would also watch the statue stuff. So
9:15
there was this channel called Cartel
9:16
from Hell and he was a cool dude. He was
9:18
like a dude like me. He wasn't nerdy,
9:20
like not that there's anything wrong
9:22
with that, but I related to him and he
9:24
was kind of flashy with it. Like he
9:25
he'll he'll shoot he his setup would
9:27
look like this lights and stuff and I I
9:30
remember watching his content and I just
9:32
really digging it. And I'm the type of
9:33
person that's like if I like something,
9:34
remember I said I go all in on it. But I
9:37
also have this like uh what's the the
9:40
phrase I'm looking for? My toxic trait
9:41
is that if I like something enough, I
9:43
think that I can do it. So, I was like,
9:45
I could do this, but I'm not going to do
9:47
just Omnibus or I'm not going to do just
9:49
statues cuz these guys all kind of stay
9:51
in one lane. I'm going to do a channel
9:52
and I'm going to do everything cuz I
9:54
like this, that, and the third, you
9:56
know? So, that kind of wasn't really a
9:58
thing at the time. It was very like one
10:01
lane niche channels that I kind of
10:04
wanted to make a variety channel because
10:06
I legitimately like to do all those
10:08
things, collect all those things or
10:09
whatever it was.
10:11
So, it's funny you say that because
10:12
that's what I'm trying to do on my
10:14
channel. It's not just comics. I do
10:15
arcade stuff. I do um some garbage
10:17
pills. I do some other nostalgia things.
10:20
Obviously, now have the podcast on the
10:21
channel, but I got to ask you this just
10:23
from a personal thing. Like, how does
10:25
that affect your channel? Because I feel
10:26
like there are some comic stuff. I get
10:28
some good views on comic stuff, but then
10:30
when I do something else, it almost like
10:32
>> it really shrinks down the number of
10:33
people who are watching those type of
10:35
videos. So, spreading your content out
10:37
multiple things, how does you think
10:38
affects your channel? I think it's a
10:40
gift and a curse. I don't think my
10:41
channel would have grown as big as it
10:43
has without hitting those different
10:45
categories. But at the same time, I do
10:47
think it's a detriment if I drop if I
10:50
drop a new Comic Book Day video, but
10:53
most of these people subscribe because
10:54
of a Berserk statue. They're not going
10:56
to watch it. They might not get
10:58
recommended the next Berserk video, even
11:00
if they're subscribed. So, I think it
11:02
was a gift and a curse, but for me, it
11:04
was worth it at the end of the day.
11:06
Plus, it gave me an opportunity to do
11:08
more videos because I was just dipping
11:10
my hands into so many things still to
11:12
this day that I wasn't like um held down
11:15
by just one topic. You know,
11:18
>> I think you have to be multifaceted now,
11:20
especially on YouTube because if you
11:21
just get stuck, especially in the comic
11:23
book, you know, field of YouTube,
11:25
there's not a lot of views out there.
11:27
So, you kind of have to bring other
11:28
things. And that's just my opinion.
11:29
There are plenty of people just do
11:30
comics and get crazy views like comics
11:33
explained, stuff like that. But like I
11:34
just feel like
11:35
>> yeah if you if you have other things
11:38
that are are kind of related to the way
11:40
you grew up and and I'll phrase it like
11:41
that because that's I think what this is
11:42
to everybody. But I think it really
11:44
helps but it also is a detriment. You
11:46
said it best.
11:49
>> Did you remember your first piece of
11:52
edited content?
11:53
>> The first video that that is on my
11:54
channel is the first video that I
11:56
dropped and it was just a phone at the
11:59
corner of my desk cuz my desk had like a
12:00
lip around it, the brown desk. So, it
12:03
was just there. And then, you know,
12:04
based on comments and stuff, eventually
12:06
I got lights. And then eventually I got
12:09
a Blue Yeti mic and a tripod. And I kind
12:11
of just started building onto it. And a
12:14
lot of my first videos were just click
12:16
record, one take, whatever it was. If it
12:18
wasn't, as long as I didn't mess up too
12:20
bad, I'll just upload it like that. So,
12:22
then I ended up buying this this MacBook
12:24
Pro that I use to this day to edit my
12:26
videos. Uh, and then I would start
12:28
editing and just cleaning it up and just
12:30
getting better and better. So, I don't
12:31
really remember the very first video,
12:34
but cuz I I gradually started adding
12:36
equipment. So, I definitely don't think
12:38
you need all that to begin with. You
12:39
know, that's kind of like a common trope
12:41
you hear creators say, but you don't
12:43
need all the fancy stuff. You don't need
12:44
to spend a lot of money. If you have a
12:46
cell phone, bro, buy cell phone
12:49
attachment equipment, like a little
12:50
stand or a tripod. Even the even the
12:53
cell phone mic is good enough unless
12:55
you're in like a far, you know, filming
12:56
far away or what have you. But, you can
12:58
always kind of add as needed. That's
13:00
that's kind of how I did it. As I needed
13:01
stuff, I started adding to it. Oh, damn,
13:03
I need a turntable. Oh, damn, I need
13:05
whatever editing software or little, you
13:08
know, little there's little tips and
13:09
tricks that you kind of learn along the
13:11
way as well when you're when you're
13:12
doing this stuff. I do remember the
13:13
first thumbnail that I made in
13:15
Photoshop, though, because I was doing
13:18
everything in my Instagram stories.
13:20
Like, I would take a screenshot of the
13:21
video. I would act like I'm gonna make a
13:24
story on Instagram to add the text and
13:26
then I would screenshot that image and
13:28
that would be the thumbnail. And then
13:30
eventually I was like, "All right, man.
13:31
Let me just get Photoshop." Like I I did
13:32
photo I did graphic design in high
13:35
school. Like I knew how to do it. Uh and
13:37
it all came back to me and I was like,
13:38
"Man, so I never forget when I started
13:40
cranking out those uh videos with with
13:42
the new Photoshop thumbnails."
13:44
>> I mean, I think I don't think a lot of
13:46
people understand how much work goes
13:48
into these things right now. I mean, I
13:50
put a ton of work into especially the
13:51
editing process. How much would you say
13:54
like time do you allocate to like
13:57
filming a video, editing a video,
14:00
getting it out?
14:01
>> Yeah. I mean, it's got to be 40 hours a
14:03
week at least. I could do more. I used
14:05
to do more. I used to be really hungry,
14:06
man. And like that was like the driving
14:08
factor to make sure that videos were
14:10
dropping every day at the same time.
14:12
Like my big thing and and what I found
14:14
out later, what what kind of helped me
14:16
was like when I was doing that commute
14:18
and I was watching these dudes videos, I
14:20
would be caught up and I would be like,
14:21
"That's it. Where's the new videos,
14:23
man?" And I was like, "Man, when I start
14:24
a channel, I'm going to drop something
14:26
every single day so that people who
14:27
watch my stuff will always have a new
14:29
video every day when they turn on,
14:31
whether they're going to work or
14:32
whatever." And later on, years later, a
14:34
big channel that kind of uh reached out
14:36
to me and kind of gave me some good
14:38
advice. They were like, "You're already
14:39
doing a lot of this stuff that you're
14:41
supposed to be doing without even
14:42
knowing it." Like daily content at that
14:44
time. Feeding the algorithm, feeding the
14:47
machine, that was like so important. It
14:49
might still be. I don't really know. I
14:50
kind of a little bit I'm a little bit
14:51
more relaxed with it these days, but I
14:53
used to just be so hungry just to put
14:55
out videos, man.
14:57
>> What about one video? If you're going to
14:58
put out one video from start to finish,
15:00
how long would it take you? You think?
15:01
>> It really depends, man. Because look, if
15:03
it's a weekly comic book video, that
15:05
takes me days of reading. If it's a
15:07
statue, I do the whole B-roll thingy.
15:09
You see my statue reviews. I do the
15:11
assembly. That takes all damn day.
15:13
>> Uh probably a good a good video is
15:15
probably like a six hour day for me.
15:18
>> That's a lot of work, man. Think about
15:20
that, guys. If you like went to work,
15:22
came home, and then added six hours.
15:25
>> To be fair, back then though, I I wasn't
15:27
putting as much hours into it because I
15:29
wasn't I wasn't putting as much into the
15:30
videos. You like the editing and all
15:32
that stuff. So that's now, but back then
15:34
also man, I was I was doing a lot of
15:37
working from home, working from video,
15:39
doing videos at the same time. Like I
15:40
was just making it happen because, you
15:41
know, we were in the pandemic era for a
15:43
good how many years of this thing.
15:46
>> But um I was also in a unique
15:48
opportunity. I was able to crank out a
15:49
lot of videos while having a a 9 to5 at
15:52
the same time.
15:53
>> That that's the dream, man. I'm not
15:55
going to lie to you. I do it sometimes,
15:56
too. I'll I'll do a thumbnail on my my
15:58
regular job as well. So, like just to
16:00
try to get ahead with some of this
16:01
stuff.
16:04
So, you you mentioned a few people that
16:05
you watched on YouTube. Like, do you
16:07
have any other influences that you had,
16:09
you know, before you started a channel,
16:11
at least while you're starting your
16:12
channel or or progressing that you you
16:14
always went back to and say, I like how
16:15
he does stuff, stuff like that.
16:17
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, definitely all the guys
16:19
that are like the Omni Bros, right? So,
16:21
you had the Omnibus Collector, uh,
16:24
Nearman Condition, I he was part of that
16:26
crew, too. Then you had like Gabes9s
16:28
comics who also goes by Ninja Comics.
16:31
Then you had uh the Omni Dog. So you had
16:33
like the Omnibus guys. Then in the
16:35
statue world you had Rad Titan which was
16:37
the one that I gravitated to first. No,
16:39
I'm sorry. Cartel from Hell who I
16:41
gravitated towards first. And then I
16:43
found Rad Titan. They were these two
16:44
guys out of the UK. They're still like
16:47
the oldest statue channel out there. And
16:49
at this time I was doing videos with Teo
16:51
from Lords of the Long Box. And he was
16:54
like, "Oh, you like statues, Jim. You
16:56
got to check out these guys do like
16:57
10-hour live streams called Immortalized
16:59
in Stone. And that was the time where
17:02
Google Hangouts were a big thing on
17:03
YouTube. And yeah, there was these these
17:06
um statue collectors that would all
17:07
group up. It would be like 10 screens on
17:10
the bottom just talking about statues
17:12
for like hours into the middle of the
17:14
night. And I ended up joining on those
17:15
shows only for a few of them. And then
17:17
unfortunately, uh Lou, the the main guy,
17:20
he passed away. So did TBO, too. Rest in
17:23
peace to both of them. You've you've
17:24
definitely have evolved over time. Like
17:27
like I said before, weekly books, you
17:29
did the weekly books video. I remember
17:31
you used to do CGC spotlights of some of
17:32
the keys you had. You did arcade oneups
17:34
which I was into for a really long time.
17:36
I have some arcades in this room.
17:37
>> Obviously the statue reviews, Omnibus
17:39
reviews, but my favorite videos were
17:42
your ComicCon walkthroughs you used to
17:44
do because that San Diego Comic-Con one
17:46
that you had and the New York even the
17:48
New York Comic- Con one that you had
17:49
were two of my favorites to date.
17:50
between the music, between, you know,
17:52
you talking about what you were showing
17:55
the audience. How has that changed for
17:57
you over the years from when you started
17:58
till now?
17:59
>> Yeah. Well, first of all, thanks, man.
18:00
And and and adding music to the
18:02
background was one of the big things
18:03
that I wanted to do. And I also did it
18:06
in the old house a lot to hide the echo.
18:08
So, that was kind of like an editor
18:09
trick of mine. I'm like, put some let me
18:10
put some white noise music behind this
18:12
thing. But, yeah, the uh the Comic Con
18:14
videos were huge. I mean, the S the
18:16
first San Diego Comic- Con video I did
18:18
was a really big video. I think it's
18:19
still one of the highest performing ones
18:21
on the channel. And it changed over the
18:23
years because really because Sideshow,
18:26
who I love, but Sideshow stopped going
18:29
to the big conventions. They kind of do
18:31
their own thing now, Sideshow Con. So,
18:33
the reason that I went to New York or
18:35
San Diego Comic- Con, New York Comic-
18:37
Con was really to see the new statue
18:38
reveals to do the tour of the booths.
18:41
So, like I'm going to New York Comic-Con
18:43
this uh what next weekend. And um I
18:46
don't the Sideshow's not going to be
18:47
there. I don't know if Iron Studios is
18:49
not going to be there. I don't know if
18:50
any statue representation is going to be
18:52
there. So, I don't really have a plan
18:53
for this year New York Comic- Con
18:55
besides maybe doing like a tour, you
18:58
know, maybe we'll do a tour to see all
19:00
the different booths, artist alley in
19:01
the basement. Maybe we'll do cosplay of
19:04
video or whatever we see on the floor,
19:06
you know. So, that's the only thing like
19:08
the statue hobby. And this is like a
19:10
podcast about content, right? Think
19:12
about like what you said about Arcade
19:13
OneUp, man. there was dedicated channels
19:16
to covering Arcade OneUp news, which is
19:19
completely dead now. Like there's no
19:21
Arcade OneUp content creators that are
19:23
doing it at a at a, you know, big level.
19:26
>> And uh it's scary to think that that can
19:28
happen to your hobby and like if you do
19:30
content on that too, right? Like all of
19:31
a sudden, statues, statues used to be
19:34
like the most performing stuff on the
19:36
channel, but now you'll see an omnibus
19:38
video outperform it or even like a
19:40
weekly comic review outperform it. It
19:42
just depends, I guess, what people are
19:44
into at the time.
19:45
>> It's funny you mentioned Arcade RU
19:47
because you're right. Um, there is no
19:48
dedicated channels for arcade ups. A lot
19:50
of the people who were collecting those
19:51
things, including myself, went over to
19:52
like real arcades, I hate to say it, or
19:54
like mods of like larger scale arcade.
19:57
So, that's where I think a lot of the
19:59
content is coming in that space. And I
20:00
watch a lot of it still because I'm
20:02
still into it. But, uh, 100%. And that's
20:04
why I think you personally and what I'm
20:07
trying to do here like bringing
20:08
everything else that you're into kind of
20:10
helps in that way because as you said it
20:12
>> if you lose like that one thing like
20:15
even with 2020 with co and people who do
20:17
you know collect vintage comics and
20:20
collect vintage comics whether for
20:22
investment or whether nostalgia it's
20:24
taken a big hit. You've seen a lot of
20:25
comic YouTubers go away stuff like that.
20:27
So 100%.
20:29
>> Yeah. And and and and that's also think
20:30
about this, another hobby or whatever
20:32
that that I got into early on. I just
20:34
happened to see the Street Fighter 2 cab
20:36
and I was like, "Oh, this is cool as
20:37
hell. I'm a I grew up in that era." So,
20:39
I was the target demo for RKU up and I
20:42
happened to just make content on it. I
20:43
think I did a review for like every cab
20:45
they put out except for like a couple of
20:47
the other ones later in the year. I
20:49
think I had like 15 of them at one time.
20:51
Um but I might have had more that I got
20:54
rid of some and you know this and that.
20:56
But yeah, that was one of those things I
20:57
got into it. I I legitimately liked it.
20:59
And that's the thing with me, like a lot
21:01
of times people will be like, "Jim, you
21:02
should do, you know, videos on figures."
21:04
It's like, "Yeah, but I don't really
21:05
collect figures. It would be fake."
21:07
Like, if I really got into it, that
21:08
would be another story. Or Pokemon cards
21:10
or whatever. But that's just not
21:12
something that I'm really into, you
21:13
know?
21:13
>> Do you have a favorite piece of content
21:15
that you've put out that you absolutely
21:16
love this video? Like, I remember it.
21:18
It's my favorite,
21:19
>> man. No. I always think that the most
21:21
recent video I dropped is the best video
21:23
that I've ever done. And then in like
21:24
three weeks, if I watch it, I'll be
21:26
like, "This is terrible." like how did I
21:28
ever even publish this video? It's the
21:30
worst thing I've ever seen. Uh I used to
21:32
I used to look back at the older videos
21:33
cuz you kind of, you know, alluded to
21:35
that earlier. Like what do I what do I
21:37
think when I watch the old videos or
21:39
whatever, especially if it's not edited.
21:40
It there was a time where it was cringe,
21:42
but now it's almost I look at it kind of
21:45
like I don't know with rosecolored
21:47
lenses they say. Like I kind of look at
21:49
it and I appreciate it. Like man, look
21:50
at this guy. 30-year-old gem.
21:59
So, I'm going to switch gears a little
22:00
bit. I want to ask you about um your
22:02
experience with Tom because Tom is a big
22:05
comic player and not not so much what
22:06
you guys did together, but the hot list
22:08
that you guys put together. I don't know
22:09
if you know, I put up the same hot list
22:11
every week. Uh doing it for about about
22:14
four or five years, but I wanted to ask
22:15
you um not so much about about Tom, but
22:18
collaboration like obviously you guys
22:20
did that for a long time. Is there is
22:22
that something you would do? Again, I'm
22:23
not saying with Tom, but with other
22:24
people. Is that something you would be
22:26
open to? And if so, who would out there
22:28
in in the not just comic books? Anything
22:30
would you want to do something with?
22:32
>> Yeah. First of all, I would do stuff
22:33
with Tom again. First, that's still my
22:34
friend to this day, even when I go
22:36
through hard times, man. This is one of
22:37
the guys that's hit me up on the
22:39
regular. How's it going? Any progress,
22:41
any news? Like, he really is a good
22:42
dude, man. And I remember your videos
22:44
from back in the day. And I like that
22:46
because we would get so much heat from
22:48
this list that we don't even create.
22:49
First of all, it's key collector list.
22:51
We just kind of analyze and break it
22:52
down. And we would always say like,
22:54
"Bro, anybody can make this list. We're
22:56
not putting the top 10 books that we
22:57
have in our closet so that you buy them
22:59
from us." But I was like, "Anyone could
23:02
people could make this video before us."
23:04
And when I remember seeing your videos
23:05
back there, I was like, "See, like,
23:07
anybody could do it." Like, but Tom had
23:09
a very uh he was very big on production
23:12
value, making sure it looked good,
23:14
sounded good, edited good. Uh he'll do a
23:17
100 takes. He was worse back then. He's
23:19
actually way better now. He would do a
23:20
100 takes and I would be like, "Yo, just
23:23
I'll do a I'll read do a take and I'll
23:25
just say I'll jump in mid-sentence. He
23:27
got to do the whole paragraph over." You
23:28
know what I'm saying? Like I I was like,
23:29
"Yo, this guy half the time I was
23:31
annoyed with the guy. Like, come on
23:32
already." No, but he's a good guy. But I
23:35
always liked collaboration because I
23:36
always felt like high tides raise all
23:39
ships, man. I I always looked at it
23:41
like, bro, if I can get five people that
23:42
watch his [ __ ] to watch mine, we are in
23:45
there.
23:45
>> You know, it's funny. One last thing I
23:47
mentioned about Tom, I I I love his
23:49
channel. I think he does a great job.
23:50
And you're right, production value for
23:51
me, like that's how I learned how to do
23:53
a lot of this stuff is watching the two
23:54
of you guys, especially um Tom when it
23:56
comes to, you know, the editing and the
23:59
way he speaks and the sound of
24:00
everything. But it's funny you mentioned
24:02
that because when you and him decided to
24:04
kind of end that that collab, I actually
24:07
messaged him and say, "Listen, if you
24:08
ever want somebody to come on to like
24:10
just do an episode with there because I
24:12
think it'd be funny if the two guys who
24:13
actually cover this list to kind of do
24:14
it together on his channel." I'm like,
24:16
"Just hit me up." But I I don't know if
24:18
he was fond of that idea or not.
24:20
>> He he actually is not an easy guy to get
24:21
a hold of, man. Like he he's not really
24:23
on there like how we are on there. Like
24:25
on Instagram and stuff like he's a very
24:27
good delegator. Like he'll dele like he
24:29
don't edit none of that [ __ ] Like he
24:31
doesn't edit, you know? He's he's a good
24:33
delegator. Good. He's he's got a good
24:34
business sense to him. But um yeah, I
24:37
think it's easier with the crew that
24:38
he's working with because they're all
24:39
local. So now they just do it all in
24:40
person. They don't have to worry about
24:42
over the phone and all that. And like
24:43
like how we were talking backstage like
24:45
we would have to be on a phone call
24:48
>> on like Facebook Messenger and then like
24:50
I'm filming me and he's filming him and
24:52
then we got to transfer the audio and
24:54
the video and all that.
24:56
>> I I figured that's how you guys did it.
24:58
And it is a lot of work because I've
24:59
tried to do that with other people I've
25:00
had and it's just sending the video out.
25:03
It's it's a lot and it's they're large
25:05
files so that's another you know thing
25:08
you have to get over.
25:09
I used to send him I used to send him
25:12
these 4K files that were like 60 gigs
25:15
and his editor Zoro would be like, "Yo,
25:16
Jim, you're killing me with these big
25:18
ass files."
25:20
>> And uh I ended up So then I and and my
25:22
my camera because he's doing all his
25:24
takes a million times. We're recording
25:26
for like two hours and my 4K camera
25:29
overheats and would turn off and I like
25:31
damn Tom taking all these damn takes. My
25:33
camera overheated. Uh, but then I ended
25:35
up just doing 1080p and didn't I stopped
25:37
sending them the 4K footage, but for
25:39
some reason I was sending him 4K videos
25:41
for like a year. It's crazy, man.
25:43
>> It looked good. That's all that's all
25:44
that matters. I know it's tough to edit
25:46
though. The space is alone is Yeah. I
25:48
had to get like extra hard drive, [ __ ]
25:49
like that. So
25:54
So how has content creation changed over
25:57
the time you've been doing it in a good
25:58
way and in a bad way? Give us give us
26:00
one of these. Do you think it's
26:01
something that's been really good over
26:02
time that's happened and something
26:04
that's been bad?
26:05
>> Huh? Well, YouTube and I don't know how
26:08
this might be more entertaining for you
26:10
than the viewers, but I think YouTube
26:11
has been getting a lot smarter lately
26:13
with like the way it it does ad
26:15
placements and just I don't know, the
26:17
inner workings of YouTube Studio are way
26:19
better. I think the way that they handle
26:22
live videos and shorts and they kind of
26:24
separate everything now. It seems like
26:25
it's a little bit more fluid to whereas
26:27
you don't feel like doing a live stream
26:29
is going to necessarily hurt your
26:31
pre-recorded videos or your or your
26:33
shorts. And I think that shorts really
26:35
gives an opportunity for people to blow
26:37
up. But what I have noticed with that is
26:39
that if you blow up off shorts, you tend
26:42
to only be able to be successful with
26:44
shorts. Like it doesn't really translate
26:46
to pre-recorded videos. But I do like
26:49
the whole chop up your video to put them
26:51
out as shorts. That seems to be a pretty
26:53
good balance that's been working. And
26:54
kind of like if you really dug this
26:56
clip, you could watch the whole video.
26:58
Um, so that those are good things. What
27:01
are bad things about YouTube? I don't
27:03
know that it's so much uh YouTube,
27:07
but it does seem like one of those
27:08
things, at least for me, like if you're
27:09
not constantly putting stuff out, you're
27:11
you're just going to be forgotten. And I
27:13
feel like, you know, I feel like there's
27:14
you're battling for so much people's
27:16
attention and time that if you disappear
27:18
for a few months and then put out a
27:19
video, how many of those repeat viewers
27:22
are going to get recommended that video?
27:24
I think the algorithm over time has has
27:26
been worse because I feel like there's
27:28
so much more of a priority for YouTube
27:30
to introduce your videos to people that
27:32
are not subscribed and they don't even
27:34
show it to the people that are
27:35
subscribed. It's like, bro, just show it
27:37
to the people that liked it enough to
27:39
subscribe to the channel. But they do
27:40
this algorithm thing where like, well,
27:42
they didn't really watch the last two
27:43
videos. It's like, yeah, [ __ ]
27:45
because they subscribed because of
27:47
Berserk and they didn't like the comic
27:49
book videos, but still recommend it cuz
27:51
there will be another Berserk video
27:52
soon. But it goes it goes based off of
27:55
the uh you know what, the click-through
27:58
rate and all that kind all those uh
28:00
statistics like how many people clicked
28:03
on this thumbnail that we that we showed
28:05
it to, and that's going to determine how
28:06
many more we show it to. Uh it's the
28:08
whole thing. And and and the other thing
28:10
is YouTube doesn't tell you any of this.
28:11
You really just kind of figure it out on
28:13
your own.
28:15
>> That is the worst part of it. I'm not
28:16
going to lie to you. So over your time,
28:18
what has been your biggest challenge?
28:20
Like what is the toughest thing, you
28:22
know, having a YouTube channel for you,
28:24
>> man? The toughest thing
28:27
What is the toughest thing? I think I
28:29
think we're fortunate that we're in this
28:31
hobby that they're always dropping new
28:33
things. So it's so it's not like a lack
28:35
of new content. There's always new
28:36
comics coming out, always new collected
28:38
editions, new statues, new movies, new
28:40
whatever. Uh, I think a lot of it is
28:42
keeping your passion alive for it,
28:44
keeping your hunger for it. Making sure
28:46
that if you're doing it full-time, that
28:49
it doesn't feel like a job and you still
28:51
actually enjoy it. Because I'm going to
28:53
tell you right now, anything that you
28:54
love, if if it becomes your job, you're
28:56
not going to love it as much as you used
28:57
to love it. You know what I mean? Your
28:58
hobby and your escapism is now your job.
29:00
So, there's a that's the balance. The
29:02
balance is like making sure it doesn't
29:05
it doesn't turn into something that you
29:07
dislike anymore when it was something
29:08
that you once loved.
29:10
>> How about like burnout? You ever get
29:11
burnout or like lack of motivation to do
29:14
this stuff?
29:15
>> Yeah, I think so. But not not to the
29:17
point where I've missed a couple of days
29:19
or whatever. But like I kind of work at
29:20
my own pace. Like I said, I'm not really
29:22
hungry like I used to be. I don't drop
29:23
videos every day. If I don't have if I
29:25
don't have it in me that day and I just
29:26
want to chill, I'll just take a day off,
29:28
you know, and come back again the next
29:30
day and, you know, make try to make sure
29:32
that I'm I am, you know, giving myself
29:34
that time off because you don't really
29:35
have a schedule like if you're just
29:36
constantly, you know,
29:39
>> how about like ideas like I talked about
29:41
before how like you you've done a lot of
29:44
things on your channel like I mentioned
29:45
them all before even like I said before
29:47
the CGC spotlight which to me I loved
29:49
you standing there talking about a book
29:50
you have and giving me all the
29:52
information not just about like the book
29:54
itself, but the interior, the story, the
29:55
whatever, like
29:56
>> right
29:57
>> any how do you come up with certain
29:58
ideas and do you keep like pushing
30:00
yourself to come up with new stuff?
30:02
>> You know who the who the best is with
30:03
that and I didn't give them a shout out
30:04
is Mint Hunter Comics. James,
30:07
>> I talked to him the other day. I'm like,
30:08
are you using the AI tool in uh in
30:11
YouTube to come up with these ideas?
30:12
He's like, I'm not. He's like, I tried
30:14
it once and it it was the worst
30:15
performing video. But uh I used to be
30:17
better at that, man. And I haven't done
30:19
a creative video like that in a while.
30:21
Well, may maybe like the whole, you
30:24
know, uh, recently with selling the
30:26
house and there was a lot of videos that
30:27
I made out of that whole situation. But
30:29
as far as like top 10 statues I
30:32
regretted selling, like those kind of
30:34
like things, I haven't been as creative
30:35
as back in the day. The ideas used to
30:37
just come to me back in the day, like,
30:38
oh, let's just do a video on this, I
30:40
guess. You know, not being scared to do
30:41
anything or to do something different.
30:43
Uh, not scared to try new things. If I
30:45
got an idea, like back in the day, I
30:46
would just do it. And a lot of them uh,
30:48
ended up being pretty good videos. If
30:50
you had to give one piece of advice to
30:52
other content creators, especially in
30:54
our niche, you know, comic book,
30:55
superhero, nostalgia, what would it be?
30:59
>> What advice would I give to a a you a
31:01
comic book YouTuber or content creator?
31:04
>> Yeah.
31:04
>> You know what it is? You know what it's
31:05
like? It's like um asking somebody who's
31:08
in shape, you know, like how, you know,
31:10
what should I do at the gym? It's kind
31:12
of like, well, what are your goals? Do
31:14
you want to be a bodybuilder? Cuz then
31:15
this is what you got to do. Do you want
31:16
to just lose weight? So, it's like what
31:18
are your goals with YouTube? Do you want
31:20
to make YouTube your full-time gig and
31:22
do YouTube videos every single day? Then
31:24
my advice would would be to make a whole
31:27
[ __ ] ton of videos, make multiple videos
31:29
every day that you can stack up and drop
31:30
them every day and, you know, feed the
31:32
algorithm and go off of uh relevant
31:36
subject matter that's going on right now
31:38
in the world and just be relentless and
31:39
just and just drop on them. But if you
31:41
want to just do stuff for the love of
31:43
it, as a hobby, for fun, then just do
31:45
that and just have fun with it and don't
31:48
worry about the algorithm or or any of
31:49
the uh analytics. So, it just depends on
31:52
what your goals are. I think
31:53
>> if you'd like to become a sponsor here
31:54
on the Mighty Rewind podcast, make sure
31:56
you reach out at the mighty rewind
31:58
podcast atgmail.com.