March 25, 2026

Sleezy Vibes With Danielle Perkins

Show Notes
Transcript

Danielle Perkins makes another appearance on Vibing With Sleezy. We take it old school and discuss working at a video store, McDonald's Beanie Baby Craze, Fast Food Toys, Video Games, and more!

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Hey, what's up everybody?

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Welcome to Vibin' with Sleazy the podcast.

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This is season seven, episode seven.

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I want to thank everybody for listening, tuning in, and downloading.

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It's been a fun season so far.

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I've had some cool guests and done some cool solo episodes.

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So by the time this episode comes out, you'll be in the heart of March Madness.

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I did a March Madness episode, so hopefully everybody's brackets are looking good in the college basketball picture.

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Um, today I have a special guest for this episode.

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Uh, she has been on the show before.

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Uh, her name is Danielle Perkins.

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How are you doing?

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What's up?

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So uh Danielle and I go way back.

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I've had her on the show before.

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Uh, thought this episode I was gonna try something different, get a little creative, and kind of go the nostalgia route.

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Um, Danielle used to uh, you know, me and Danielle have actually talked about this in the past, how we've talked about past things and things that aren't around anymore.

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We actually got a bite to eat today and actually talked about things that aren't around.

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Um so the thing that I wanted to uh really discuss was that Danielle used to work at a video store.

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And for some people listening, they might not even know what renting a video uh in in real life is is like.

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So I thought we kind of break down, it's not gonna be the whole episode, but I thought we discussed kind of how uh working at a video store was and what the process was, and then just some memories that we both have from those kind of stores.

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So uh, Danielle, so back in the day, how long did you work at a video rental store?

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For about two years, I worked part-time uh on top of a regular, you know, nine to five job.

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So work like the night shift, the weekend shifts, stuff like that, close the store.

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What did the night shift consist of?

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How late would you be there at the video store?

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Well, I think we closed around like midnight, and then sometimes I'd have to do inventory, so I was there till like probably one in the morning.

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So then I would have to go home and then try to go to bed and then get up for like my regular job.

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So did that for just a little while.

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So what was the process of the store?

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So, like, yeah, everyone gets it.

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You rent a video and you bring it back and it's due time, but um, what did you feel like you a lot of your days were like or nights?

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Well, especially on the weekends, I would have people that would come in and they would like, you know, they would ask for recommendations.

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And one of the cool perks of the job was when new videos would come in, if we would get all the inventory, you know, scanned and put together and and everything processed in enough time, we could take home the new ones before people can rent it, us watch it, and then we can give recommendations to like the customers.

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So that's cool.

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Yeah, that's really cool.

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Yeah, so and of course, I was the only one in the store that was like a horror buff.

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So, you know, my manager, this is so funny.

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My manager was in the um one in one time when we were working, we were real busy on the weekend and stuff, and and some people were asking for some horror recommendations.

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And do you remember the movie Human Centipede?

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Yeah, oh yeah, it's a fucked up.

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Yeah, it's very fucked up.

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Okay, like I mean, that's some wild shit, right?

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Well, I started recommending that movie.

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He was getting so mad, he's like, you can't recommend that.

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I'm like, no, it's good horror.

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You can't, he was getting so mad, but I'm like, hey, you gotta watch it.

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You can't recommend, you know, anything like that.

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I was the only person in the store that liked horror movies.

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And y'all had a copy of Human Centipede, I'm guessing.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Which which that's what that's what was interesting about your video store.

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You worked at it was called Family Video, correct?

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Yeah.

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And so what's funny about your store was like I remember when I go in there, it was always like very well organized and clean.

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It had your course your videos, and then you know, back in the day you used to be able to rent video games.

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Um, and you also had like a porn section in the back, right?

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Yeah, so yeah.

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So like how so how big was the porn room?

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Story.

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So obviously, there's no family videos around, so I'm like not slashing their name or any means, you know, working there, but we did have a back room.

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We had to check those in as well.

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But the funny thing, okay, so you go to the very back and there's the bathrooms, and you pass the bathrooms and you go to this back room, but there's like saloon doors that like creak that you can hear all the way at the front working.

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So we always hear when people come in and out of there, yeah, and like this creak, you know, you know, somebody's going back in the porn.

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So it's either the regulars quotes, or it's sometimes it's kind of cute when it's like a young couple and you're like, oh, okay, yeah, I see what's happening.

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You know, whatever to each of them.

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But yeah, we we had the back room too.

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Yeah, I thought that was always interesting when I'd go in there, and I was gonna ask you, like, so with all the different titles that your host store had in it, how many DVDs do you think was in that building?

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Oh man, I have no idea.

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I mean, we Would you think 10,000?

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Over and under maybe.

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I mean, we always had all the new stuff in, and the cool part about it is what what I loved.

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Like, you know, especially when you're a kid and you I mean, around our age where it's like that was something fun to do.

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Yeah.

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Because that's what you got.

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You got DVDs, you know, you didn't really rent anything on a TV or anything like that.

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So it was that was the fun part on a Friday or Saturday, and then like you order pizza and you do your thing, and you hang out with your friends, or do you know, that was the cool thing, right?

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But there's certain days where you would purchase I'm sorry, rent like a new video, and you can get like a older one for like five days, like something like 10, 15, 20 years old that you haven't watched in forever for free.

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That's a good deal.

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Yeah, at that point.

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So and then you all had the uh rewind machines, right?

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Like, would you like if somebody didn't rewind a tape, you know, they had to rewind that, correct?

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Or was it a DVD at that point?

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No, it was DVD.

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It wasn't that far back.

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Well, did you have to rewind or you didn't have to rewind on DVD?

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So that but did you have to like clean them and do those things?

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Like, did they have a yeah?

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They're well, we didn't like check every single one, but I mean we did have machines where like the older movies, like if it skipped or something, we had a process where we would put it through the machine and everything, and like it would clean, we've got um like uh games too for like and you can rent an you know an Xbox or whatever, but you can rent games too, and that was a big pull, especially for kids, because there wasn't a lot of places where you can rent them, you could buy them, but not to rent them, and that was a big deal.

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Yeah, y'all had some good titles.

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I remember renting some games.

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That's mainly why I used your store because when I came back from college, I only believed it was only around for a few years left, but I uh I remember it always being there, and it was always uh there in the heart of J Town.

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I remember growing up, I used to go to the video store all the time.

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What was really cool, that's how I got into James Bond.

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I remember going to Blockbuster Fern Creek on Bardstown Road, and I would just literally rent every James Bond in order.

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And then I got to a point where I'd be renting multiple and multiple, but um I just remember going to that store.

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I remember Hollywood Video, and they had great games, and I remember you could play games in the store, and Hollywood Video actually was in the dentist's office that's in front of the fitness center there on Hurstbourne and Taylorsville, and then I uh my favorite was though uh Red Giraffe.

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So if anybody remembers Red Giraffe, it was a really cool video store.

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Uh talking about horror, that's actually where I saw Hellraiser for the first time.

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I actually saw that character on the cover because when you're in a video store, you get to see the cover, the back cover, because most of the time you got to get the shit up front and you'd be looking.

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So I remember at Red Giraffe, what I liked.

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Um, they had uh so many different games.

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And at the time I went to Red Giraffe was when I was really young, they had Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo.

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So that when you looking back now, I can literally picture it all in my head.

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But talking about nostalgia, it's like you're going way back uh with that.

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And I remember talking about Sega.

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I had a Sega as a kid, I was always a Sega kid, like Nintendo, but and I've had a Super Nintendo before, but with Sega, I used to just love playing it.

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And uh Comcast or Spectrum, whatever you want to call it, at the time they were owned by Insight BB, if you remember that being a little resident.

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And Insight BB had the Sega Channel, and the Sega Channel was literally a cartridge that would go in to your Sega Genesis, and it had cords that ran into the wall, but it had like antenna or like a signal, and you could get the top 100 Sega games at that time, and they had multiple categories, and so I had the Sega channel for a long time, and I think it was the best investment because you could try games, you might not want to play them.

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You might play a game where you're like, damn, I really want to own that because it's like Sega Channel might be rotating games, so like there would be a rotation, you get new, and then you could also like play classics.

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So Sega Channel was dope, a big part of my childhood.

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I remember that, but yeah, video stores definitely saved me when I like wanted to play a game or catch a movie.

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But you're right, it was definitely the weekend place to go.

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I mean, it was always fun to go with your significant other to go grab something or to go with a group of friends to grab it.

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I think to be honest, the last time though I had the last movie that I rented for like an actual, I think actual like BHS video was Anaconda uh with Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube and uh Angelina Jolie's dad and all that.

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I used to love that movie.

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And I remember I had a birthday party one year and had friends over, and I think that's the movie I picked was like Anaconda, because it was just really cool at that time.

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But yeah, those being able to grab a VHS was wild, but I just remember those VHS machines, you could put it in and rewind the tape, and it wasn't.

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Yeah, I'm sure those too.

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The one I worked at though, that was definitely past the VHS time.

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But the the cool thing is we had a kid section, obviously, you like cartoon, you know, stuff like that.

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Usually those were free if you rent like something uh like you know, for us or whatever, you get a free client.

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Who made the call on what aired during the store?

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Like what because you always had a video plant.

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That's right.

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Um, it was between us, yeah.

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Yeah, we would we would choose, but we had to obviously make sure it wasn't anything like two, like the human centipede on the yeah, that would be a no-go.

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Yeah, that would that would not have gone well.

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I don't know if y'all would have been open the next day.

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But that might be a little over the edge.

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Because once if you've seen it, yeah, it's it's fucked up.

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Yeah, there's some there's some stitching going on.

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Oh god.

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Oh god, yeah, it's but uh but the cool thing that I loved is because I was a collector of movies at the time, I still love movies, but now I feel like I'm more I don't want to collect it, like everything's digital now, right?

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But there was something nice and tangible.

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They used to do once they go through so many months of like new movies, they had to get rid of them, right?

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So they did massive movie sales, like like five dollars, seven fifty, or like you know, ten, twelve dollars, or even selling games, and like you could stock up on like barely used you know, movies.

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That was always a cool feature.

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They would clean them and like you know, make sure, you know.

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I mean, there's the label would say you could rent this for five days or buy for$19.99 or$10.99.

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But I mean, if you look at them, you could look at the back of them and make sure they're cool, and then plus, like I said, they had the machines up there, and there I want to say there was like a week guarantee or something, just like make sure it runs, right?

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I mean there's always a gamble, but I mean they're they were cheap prices.

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And what you noticed is that so the tr the the big transition was when video stores went out of business, which you know, again, there might be your random ones across the country that just stay open for that nostalgia feel.

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And yeah, you know, one of my favorite movies all the time was Be Kind Rewind with uh Jack Black and Most Deaf, and that was a great movie, just fighting for a video store, fighting to keep it survive.

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But playing into the tapes, yeah, yeah.

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Planning the tapes, they still have VHS tapes, yeah.

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They still have VHS, they still do like a rental, I think, process.

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I thought they were gonna close, but I think they're still open.

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Well, their live music does really well.

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Yeah, I think I think a lot of people support on that.

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Yeah, something there, but Wild and Woolly video was huge here in Little.

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That was a big local spot on Bargetown Road.

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You could that's where I actually rented uh Clockwork Orange for the first time, like the most controversial movie I've seen.

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It's like it was cool because I remember me and some friends before Wild and Woolly closed.

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I remember we were talking about that movie, and we're like, that would be a place that would have it.

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I remember they had a copy, but um, I still have somewhere in storage in one of my containers, collector containers, I still have my Wild and Woolly card.

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I remember it was laminated white little card with the woolly mammoth guy on it.

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Yeah, for sure.

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I still had my red giraffe card.

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I was like, I would frame that seriously.

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And the reason I found my red the reason I brought up Red Giraffe um before I talk about like the transition period was that I had a Bret Hall Sega Genesis hockey game, and when I was selling uh stuff that I had like a few years back, I was flipping some things and got rid of my Sega because I was just over it.

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And um it had a bread it had a red giraffe sticker on the Bret Hall video game, and so I thought that was so cool because the stickers stayed perfect and it was even on the cover too, and so I was like, that was so cool.

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And I remember the stickers they gave out, and at that time, what I used to do, I was super obsessed with NHL and hockey as a kid, so I would go to Wendy's there in Fern Creek.

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All we they had were sponsored by NHL, so they had like NHL Happy Meal for one year, and I remember I got all the toys, they gave you stickers of like all the teams, and so on, I believe what I did, like you were talking about, I bought that Brad Hall hockey game from Red Giraffe, and I had put some of my hockey stickers on the case.

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So when I ended up selling it to this guy, uh he asked me about it, and I told him, and so we kind of talked about, you know, we actually that was probably the last time I've actually talked about Red Giraffe.

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But but the big transition now, if you notice, it's like these game exchanges, these half-price books, majority of those stores, if you look at their actual entertainment stock, which is like movies and video games, a lot of this shit is from video stores because they closed down and that product had to go somewhere, yeah, and a lot of people take it in.

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So it's like over the years, I have literally bought stuff, grabbed stuff where you'll occasionally find a blockbuster sticker or some random like that.

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I really still have boxes at my house that are just sitting there in storage that are still DVDs.

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I've taken some in to those places, the half-priced books and stuff, but they I mean, I gave them tons and they really don't give you much.

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And it's not their fault, it's just they don't go for it.

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Well, they have mass inventory now.

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Talking about half-price books, if you're in the little area, a little tip don't go to the hearse form one.

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Uh the hearse form one actually just goes to their direct warehouse.

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Uh, the one that actually goes to the store is the Westport Road one, so they actually pay you more money there.

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And um, yeah, and the other thing about half price, yeah, they're looking for rare finds, different things.

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Now, I will say this: I've dug through half-price books.

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I literally like some Detroit Lions football player had a biography, and he I didn't even know the player.

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And I'm looking through, and half price sometimes will do this.

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They'll put a sticker that says, or it's like a sticker from the bookstore originally sold from where it says signed.

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So you know it's an autograph copy.

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And so I've noticed that on certain things they'll pay.

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But I will give half price credits.

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It's probably the only place that you can sell uh you know anything you kind of want.

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It's almost like a pawn shop because they'll buy toys, they'll buy loose stuff, they'll buy maps, and you know, different things like that.

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And that's something recently that I kind of got into.

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Um, I'm always excuse me, flipping things, and on eBay, I listed a bunch of maps.

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I wrote all these state tourism sites and they sent me all these free maps, and I was like, I wonder if I can do anything with this.

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And I think I was telling you this other day, I flipped a map to some guy in South Dakota for 12 bucks and flipped an Arizona map the other day.

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So definitely more money than what Hap Price would have paid me.

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But it's interesting the stuff like just Hat Price in general, those stores or any of that.

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It's just interesting what is still wanted.

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Like when you go into a game exchange, you can still buy GameCube games, you can still buy a PS1.

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I mean, I'm doing I'm working security next week at the Lil Barcade Expo, and it's like the reason that's such a hit is because people are coming to play classic games.

00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.839
Shit, they don't have, should they have played since they're a kid.

00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:54.160
You see so many adults out there acting like they're a kid again because they're getting that feel of like, oh, I'm getting to cue up this system that I haven't played in 20 years.

00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.119
So it's really cool to see.

00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:57.359
The nostalgia that we hold on to.

00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:06.079
Like we don't get it during the time years pass, and then we come circle where you know everything in in the world's kind of you know shitty right now.

00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:11.519
And so we kind of circle back at the things that we kind of like need the happiness with at some point, you know.

00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.319
Oh, we do.

00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:19.680
I mean, people people's businesses are a lot of them that are smaller shops or local or some random idea.

00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.240
It's it is a lot of times all that nostalgia feel.

00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:28.160
Like, yeah, like there's a guy uh in Murfresboro, Tennessee, he's got a sports card shop called Grand Slam Collectibles.

00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:36.799
He just he had a store for years and then he sold two cards and made all this money, and now he's got this huge thing, a huge store.

00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:52.480
But it's like he has his dad come in, he has uh friends come in, he does these special events to give back to the community, and it's all because number one, he can do it, but number two, it's because he's still banking on what he remembers as a child.

00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:58.319
And when you hear the interviews, you he talks about what he still looks for and what he still collects.

00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:04.079
And he's one of those sports card stores where a lot of people look at it and go, Oh, that's junk.

00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:14.799
But a lot of people nowadays are collecting these packs, like packs that were out 20 years ago or were five times the value, it's because they sat on them and they never opened them.

00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:27.200
And so this dude, he keeps stuff from like the 70s, 80s, 90s, and so I think what it does, it brings a lot of people in, especially middle-aged adults that are like, I haven't ripped a pack of baseball in forever.

00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.400
And then they see and they're like, Holy shit, that's the pack I saw when I was a kid.

00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:33.440
Oh, yeah.

00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:48.559
So you did work at McDonald's, uh, which was uh really uh not too you know 10-minute drive from the the video store, but when you worked at McDonald's, uh you were there your first job, you were there during the Beanie Baby craze.

00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.119
So my gosh, it was nuts.

00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:57.839
So with that going on, the there was people you said that would just dump the food and just buy the beanie baby.

00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:03.839
Which is, I mean, I mean, me personally, I don't eat McDonald's.

00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.720
Like, I might every once in a while go for a breakfast sandwich there, which is not any better.

00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:12.960
But I really try to stay away from that stuff, um, for the most part.

00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:23.359
But yeah, I mean, people would come through because I don't know, I can't remember if it was cheaper to buy out, or they just thought it was easier to buy a happy meal and it just comes in the happy meal.

00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:30.000
Like, but it was like they would buy ten at a time and just throw the food out and just keep the because the baby beanie babies weren't sold a la carte, were they?

00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:30.960
You had they were.

00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:41.200
Oh, they were people would just buy it that way, and I don't know if they just didn't realize you could buy it separate, or now did you all know which beanie baby you had when they came in?

00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:46.799
Or was I trying to remember it like or Yeah, and it was weird because I it was so long ago.

00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.400
Oh my god, it was so long ago.

00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:55.200
But trying to think back, I want to say that you had to release them in a certain order, and so it's not like you could just come in.

00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:56.160
Do you have this one?

00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:56.960
Do you have this one?

00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.559
No, we couldn't do it that way.

00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:01.039
And people would line out out the door.

00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:01.680
Oh, yeah.

00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.559
I remember one time when they switched one, people were cheering.

00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:05.599
It was ridiculous.

00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:07.279
It was shit you would see in like a movie.

00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.680
Oh, like in a stupid, stupid movie.

00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:10.720
And I'm not gonna lie.

00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.799
I mean, I I was into it.

00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.319
Like, I remember collecting, I remember my mom and I would go get them, and yeah.

00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:19.519
I was into it too.

00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:22.079
I mean, obviously, you know, working that we got the first selection.

00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:24.240
And it got competitive, it got very competitive.

00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:34.079
People, people would talk, and what what's interesting McDonald's did, which I thought was a super cool move, however, it's very, very sad now how much the values decrease.

00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:40.000
So, you know, a big thing in the 90s, which it again, I love all the stuff.

00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.119
I we had the best years in the night, best childhood.

00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:49.359
I I I will say that over anybody's, but I will say this though there was a tons of mass production.

00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:55.759
And what I mean by that is tons of beanie babies, tons of sports cars, tons of toys.

00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.519
So nowadays the shit has value because it's hard to find.

00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.960
It's got age, but a lot of that stuff is still around because there was so many.

00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:12.079
And like me, who actually took care of this stuff, a lot of my stuff is in perfect condition from 30 years later because I took care of it.

00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:13.200
Some people didn't.

00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.759
So there's people that still spend money and replace.

00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.799
I'm not saying stuff from the 90s don't have value because it does.

00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:19.759
I flip stuff.

00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:32.240
But the thing about the beanie babies, what is sad, they did the international beanie babies and they did them in a special packaging where it had a flat back, had like a Canada Beanie Baby America one, an Irish one.

00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:33.599
I remember all that.

00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.599
So I had those.

00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:49.119
And the problem with those was the plastic that McDonald's used being number one by food, being in people's storage, people smoke cigarettes in their house, especially back in the day when cigarettes smoke, it gets yellow, it gets funky.

00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:50.480
That has no value.

00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:52.799
And that actually damages the beanie baby.

00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.519
But then the And they don't want you to open it.

00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:56.720
And they don't want you to open it.

00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.359
So if you have that thing, it's no value.

00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:04.319
So nowadays, you're only getting about$5 per beanie baby in that package.

00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.480
And I've seen them at Goodwill, I've seen them places.

00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:12.000
So what's funny, I'm watching Pawn Stars the other day, and of course, yeah, the show's scripted, blah, blah, blah.

00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:16.720
But they still buy a flip, they still are knowledgeable, and they bring a toy expert in.

00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.240
And this guy thought, and again, this is a very dated episode.

00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:26.480
So this this pawn stars episode is kind of before eBay was just super extreme.

00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.799
So this is like probably my college day.

00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.240
So like 2009-2010.

00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:36.240
This guy brings in the four the set of the international beanie babies he got, these little mini set from McDonald's.

00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:41.519
They talk about it, they do a whole little uh segment on it, and then they bring the toy expert in.

00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:50.480
And then when the toy expert comes in, the situation with the toy expert is he basically tells the guy it was mass-produced, the pot, like it's not has no value.

00:23:50.640 --> 00:24:01.440
Like I I think, and again, don't quote me, I don't know exactly what Rick quoted him, but it might have been the guy could have got 20 bucks, uh, and you know, and maybe Rick sells them for double that.

00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.839
But I just it's just crazy how that stuff took the decline.

00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:08.000
Yeah, it's the consumer mindset though, right?

00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:12.960
It's like we want what we can't have, so if there's less, then that's what we want, right?

00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.160
It's an adrenaline, though.

00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:19.599
It's an adrenaline rush, like exactly because like with sports cards, I have a big collection of sports cars.

00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:24.720
However, I don't have tons, I just have one crate, they're very organized.

00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:32.799
Me, I do buy like one pack a month just just to have that rush, that feel, and that's the reason why.

00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:38.319
When like I don't collect certain things, but I collect other things.

00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:43.279
But the thing about it is I haven't really bought anything materialistic in a long time.

00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:48.880
And I remember WWE, which I love wrestling, they put out a Muhammad Ali toy.

00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:53.599
I believe it was a year ago or two years ago, and it was a Target exclusive.

00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:54.319
That's cool.

00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:59.359
So I'm bored at my old job, had tons of time to kill when I'd be working on projects.

00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:02.720
I be in the area, I'd stop at Target for five minutes.

00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:07.039
So I walk through the Target toy store and I look, and it was almost like fate.

00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:13.759
Here is here is the toy section, and they're all empty, and there's just Muhammad Ali hanging there, just one.

00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:16.640
And I literally am like, yep, I gotta buy it.

00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.160
So I bought it for uh 20 bucks and might have been like 18 bucks or something.

00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:22.640
I don't know.

00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:28.960
Bought the thing, brought it home, kept it for a couple years, and then here recently I just flipped that thing for 50 plus dollars.

00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:40.480
So it just number one, some things do go up in value, but number two, I'm gonna be honest with you, when I found that Ali, it wasn't that like I gotta have it, or I needed it, or even truly wanted it.

00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.240
It just was like I found it.

00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:43.920
It was that rush of getting it.

00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:44.720
It was so cool.

00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:45.519
Absolutely.

00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:46.640
Well, it's meaningful.

00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:48.319
I mean, I've done that before, too.

00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:59.200
Like, you know, those meaningful, like I went, I wanted to get one of the old school Nintendo's, like the real deal Nintendo's, but they were hard to find, there was no guarantee, and they were expensive, they still are.

00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.160
But they did that little remake or whatever.

00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:04.400
Um, it's like halfway.

00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:05.440
It's one of those, yeah.

00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:09.200
It's one of these systems where it's basically not just, but they they build it in.

00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:15.680
But it's kind of cool to still, I mean, it's not the same, but it is kind of the same.

00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:16.559
It's the same game.

00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:17.440
And that got really good.

00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:20.000
Yeah, malls did that a lot.

00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:26.480
There's like little those little kiosk malls, they'll have those people that'll sell those video game systems.

00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.079
And what it is, again, that's why these stores are still popular.

00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.599
Like game exchange, is people are wanting to play the old stuff.

00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:41.680
Like the room that's most packed at Game Expo or the little arcade expo all the time, and the thing that I see majority of people play is duck hunt.

00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.400
People are still obsessed with playing duck hunt.

00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:51.920
I used to love that, and it's funny to watch really, really small kids play it because you're just like, oh, you have no idea.

00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:55.039
Like and they love it, you know what I mean?

00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:01.359
Like you shoot all the ducks, and then what's funny, the little dog grabs the duck and it races up.

00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:04.079
It taunts you, it taunts you and does all that.

00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:11.920
And I'll be honest, I have been very lucky, like with the arcade expo, I get there usually an hour before we open.

00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.240
So I like I know where my stand is.

00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:20.000
I've done it 10 years, so I just kind of go look around and play some games before we open, open.

00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:27.599
And I'll go into Duck Hunt Room and play while nobody's looking, and I'm realizing, holy shit, I'm really bad.

00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:33.519
And it's like, uh, and I play it, but then like I could pick up the Dreamcast, play football, basketball.

00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:39.440
It just shows the games that you have like true interest in, you're good at, and games you weren't that good at.

00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.480
And I thought picking up the duck hunt gun would just be a breeze.

00:27:42.559 --> 00:28:06.720
And then you go into the tournament room, and I get breaks throughout during the expo, and I was walking through, and I remember peeking my head into the duck hunt room and the tournament that was going on, and you're literally seeing people use this equipment that's from the early 90s, late 80s, and they're sniping these ducks like rapid fire, and they're getting perfect scores, and guys are talking shit to each other, and it just shows.

00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:13.359
I feel like if you put the time and energy into anything like over time, you can become a master shooter at that shit.

00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:18.319
I used to love the um Sonic Knuckles Hog on uh Sega.

00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:19.839
I guess that was Sega too.

00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:26.880
I used to love that Sonic and uh Tails and Knuckles, like Sonic and Knuckles is probably one of my favorite games all time.

00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:33.119
It it is so good, and it was almost like kind of more futuristic uh Sonic.

00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:51.759
Sonic, the funny thing about that is is like that was such a rivalry, and you know, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails was basically battling Mario and Luigi, but I don't think I think what happened was you had people that were Nintendo kids or you were a Sega kid or you had both.

00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:56.079
And and if you had both, you're either your parents were rich or you're just spoiled rotten.

00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:57.359
And and it was funny.

00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:08.640
It's like I look back and I've had friends ask me and people I've talked to about games, and they go, like a guy at Game Exchange, when you're just waiting, and and he'll ask, like, you know, what did you used to play and stuff?

00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:12.319
And I'm like, I was a Sega family, we were Sega.

00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:22.480
Not that we were against Nintendo, but it's hilarious because I remember my childhood neighbor to the left of me was a Super Nintendo family, so I played there at there at his house.

00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:27.599
He played Sega at mine, but we just never switched it up, and it was funny.

00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:43.759
And the reason I got a Super Nintendo, I was in college and I was dog sitting, and I had a dog sit for this couple, and they didn't have video game systems sub Super Nintendo, and so I asked them if I could play it, and they're like, Yeah, just go to input two or whatever, and you can play whatever you want.

00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:49.759
So I played it all weekend while I'm watching this fucking dog, and next thing you know, I was like, How much of these on eBay?

00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:58.319
And you know, and because even though it's rare and it's like out of date, not rare, but it's like to find one in great shape, there's still so many.

00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:00.880
So I just was able to buy one for like a hundred bucks.

00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:09.759
And and the game that I'll be honest, if you're talking about favorite games, my favorite video game of all time, um, going way back is Paperboy.

00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:12.480
Uh Paperboy is I remember that.

00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:13.519
Yeah, it was the best.

00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:22.559
You have a bicycle and you drive and you throw the papers, and if you you if you threw a paper to a subscriber, you got a point.

00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.400
Yeah, and it would like knock that house down.

00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.680
But there was people that weren't subscribed and you would throw it through their window.

00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:32.880
I'm telling you, oh my god.

00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:42.400
I'm telling you, and it's like you could throw like the houses that aren't subscribed, you basically are mad at them, so you throw a fucking paper through their window or anything.

00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:51.039
But what's funny when you didn't deliver a paper, because every every level was Monday, then the next day was Tuesday, and you delivered seven days a week.

00:30:51.200 --> 00:31:02.400
So when you would miss a subscriber because something's running at you, or a car is trying to hit you, or there's a skateboard, or all these distractions, if you didn't hit that house, they unsubscribe.

00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.319
So now you've lost a subscriber.

00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:08.000
So if you lost all your subscribers, even though you're still playing, you're done.

00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:08.799
That's quite hard to do.

00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:14.640
If you gain this, if you gain the subscribers, then you keep getting more people and you get more points when you're throwing it.

00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.119
Because what you're trying to do is throw it on the front door.

00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:28.960
And if you honest, there was a mailbox, and you would think throwing it in a mailbox on that old school video game system would be hard, but it literally would just land in there and it'd be like and you have points.

00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:43.759
But what was also a challenge of that game was funny, you're driving and you go two blocks, and then next thing you know, you're crossing the road, and there's literally motorcyclists that they look all the same.

00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:49.519
They got this spiky, crazy hair, and they're on those long motorcycles that have the long rails, and they're just riding.

00:31:49.599 --> 00:32:13.599
It's like and you got to cross with your little bicycle, and then you get to the fucking final, you get to the final thing, and it's like a fucking uh bike park, and you go over ramps, and there's like doors, and there's like electric, a laser thing, and you're just riding through your dodge in the water, and then you hit the finish line, and your player throws his hands up, both arms up, like he's celebrating, and there's a crowd.

00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:14.720
That's what's hilarious.

00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:27.440
There's a crowd at the end of your newspaper ride and your bonus lane celebrating you, and then you get all these points, and then next thing you know, it's like say that was Monday, the screen goes Tuesday, and then you're back on the bicycle delivering again.

00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:40.799
They have uh video games now that like picks up hookers and oh yeah, kills people and runs them over, and and like GPA people and like well you couldn't do that shit on paper, boy.

00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:41.440
That would be insane.

00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:52.799
But if somebody asked me like what your what your favorite like you know game is, it depends on my life because I've never really been like hardcore video games, dabbled, right?

00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:55.119
Like Nintendo when I was younger and then the Sega.

00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:00.000
But when I got into my adult years, I picked up an Xbox at one point.

00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:09.920
Yeah, let me tell you, doing like those like Buffy games where it's like you don't shoot and kill things, but it's like strategic and drinking wine and getting super drunk and playing those games.

00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:11.279
Yeah, they're fun.

00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:14.000
That was kind of like life for a little while.

00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:18.799
Yeah, I mean, I I have gotten, I think over time I've played every system.

00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:26.480
I've tried to um, like for example, I was a Sega kid, I've got to play some of the old ones, but I've had a PS4.

00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.519
I've done, you know, the one I haven't had yet is a PS5.

00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:32.160
Um, I've done Xbox before as well.

00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:35.119
Um, but I get with me, I'm kind of funny.

00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:40.720
Like I'll get burnt out, or I want to move on, or like I'll play it, or I'll feel like I'm playing too much.

00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:48.559
What I want to do is probably my next move was get the PS5, get a few games, and I mainly just play sports or like wrestling games.

00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:52.240
But do you get the live stuff where you play with other people?

00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:54.960
I do that, like where I will play people.

00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:00.160
It is funny how quick people will quit, like if they're losing or something like that, so it gets frustrating.

00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:11.199
But if you did there was some friends that can actually play, like I remember having some friends, and that was always cool, like texting your friend and being like, Hey, let's play NBA 2K, and we're playing each other and we could talk.

00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:15.679
I've never never been big on like the microphone route, but like it was fun.

00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.280
Some of them even you could even talk through the TV back in the day.

00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:27.599
But uh, what was really cool about a lot of games was like uh talking about back to the Sega, and they had it on Nintendo as well.

00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:31.920
It's like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, uh, two very sleeper games.

00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:51.599
Jeopardy, what was so fascinating about that was the questions, yeah, they were outdated, but the thing was you beep in, you had daily doubles, you competed, and your computer person, to make it a little bit fair, they weren't gonna make the computer person answer everything or you get your ass kicked.

00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:53.199
Because some of the questions are hard.

00:34:53.519 --> 00:35:04.719
But if you're playing and say you beep in and you missed it, and the computer takes a chance, if they don't know, or the game wants to give you a break and I let them answer, they just put triple X.

00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:09.760
Like it literally just says three X's, and it'd be like boop, boop, boop, and they missed, and then they move on to the next question.

00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:24.000
But what was cool it's like you had to type it out, you felt like it was real with the Jeopardy one, and Alex Trebek was literally on the game, as he voiced the game, and then with Wheel of Fortune, what was cool?

00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:34.079
Wheel of Fortune was exactly like the TV show, and you could buy and bid and do all that shit, but what was crazy was like Wheel of Jeopardy.

00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:36.000
I knew I was playing a game.

00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:44.880
Wheel of Fortune is one of those things where you would get lost in your mind, and for a minute there you're thinking, Holy fuck, I just want to trip to Hawaii, like because I've been hustled.

00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:52.239
And then and then it's like, and then my I remember my favorite joke my parents would always say is when I was growing up, because I would play these games a lot.

00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.440

Sleezy Vibes With Danielle Perkins

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