I'm a new Turbografx collector. Welcome Me !

[bob]

Actually, that Murray 3000 was how I found out that K-Mart wasn't cool.  I rode the bike to school the day after I got it and other kids noticed that I had a new bike, and someone asked where I got it.  So I just told him, "K-Mart".  Like so f*cking what?  "Your family shops at K-Mart?!?  You're poor!"  Etc. etc.  I had no idea that K-Mart had a bad rap.  What the f*ck was wrong with K-Mart?  They had a luncheonette and everything.

Do kids go through that shit today with WalMart and Target?  Costco?

k-mart is pretty r@re and HTF now.  at least in my neck of the woods.  so maybe its "cool" to shop there now. 
regardless of the perception of being poor, walmart sells junk for bikes.  just think of the careless, with zero knowledge of the product chain of custody.  nobody that actually cares about it is involved in the end-to-end distribution of the bike.

[csgx1]

I had a similar experience and reaction in middle school.  Back when Super Mario 3 NES was initially released (late '80s) it was sold out at all the major local stores.  I ended up finding a copy at K-Mart.  A lot of my friends/classmates wanted to buy the game too and asked me where I found it.  I told them at K-Mart and they had more copies if they wanted the game now.  I basically received the same kind of negative response:  "You and your family must be really cheap and poor to shop at K-Mart." 

Back then I couldn't understand how buying a $55 NES game at K-Mart gave an impression that my family was poor.   

[HailingTheThings]

I had a similar experience and reaction in middle school.  Back when Super Mario 3 NES was initially released (late '80s) it was sold out at all the major local stores.  I ended up finding a copy at K-Mart.  A lot of my friends/classmates wanted to buy the game too and asked me where I found it.  I told them at K-Mart and they had more copies if they wanted the game now.  I basically received the same kind of negative response:  "You and your family must be really cheap and poor to shop at K-Mart." 

Back then I couldn't understand how buying a $55 NES game at K-Mart gave an impression that my family was poor.

People are A**holes, yo. I have fond memories of getting a bunch of HeMan figures at Kmart on clearance when I was very little. One of them being Grizzlor. Yay.

[martinine]

Ha! I bought my Mario 3 at Roses. Roses makes K-Mart look like a Christie's auction. I didn't care at all what anyone thought about where I shopped as long as I could play that new hotness!

[lukester]

I'm still amazed that both k-mart and Sears are 10 minutes from my house.

[TheClash603]

You guys were poor.

My dad got my games from the Fingerhut catalog, like anyone with class.

[esteban]

You guys were poor.

My dad got my games from the Fingerhut catalog, like anyone with class.

I know, right?

My dad gave me three copies of SMB1 when I asked for SMB3.

[bob]

You guys were poor.

My dad got my games from the Fingerhut catalog, like anyone with class.

I know, right?

My dad gave me three copies of SMB1 when I asked for SMB3.

what a perfect response.   

Clash, great fingerhut reference.  my family was a frequent order placer with fingerfut.  they shipped everything in huge boxes that could survive the apocalypse.  some weird cardboard that never broke down.  we used those boxes for YEARS to store our christmas decorations.

[TheClash603]

You guys were poor.

My dad got my games from the Fingerhut catalog, like anyone with class.

I know, right?

My dad gave me three copies of SMB1 when I asked for SMB3.

what a perfect response.   

Clash, great fingerhut reference.  my family was a frequent order placer with fingerfut.  they shipped everything in huge boxes that could survive the apocalypse.  some weird cardboard that never broke down.  we used those boxes for YEARS to store our christmas decorations.

My family never had much money growing up so Fingerhut was the supplier if most of my Christmas gifts.  I assume that by the following Christmas my parents paid off the past Christmas' gifts which they were charged 50% over retail...  I guess it beats credit card debt?

I don't recall the indestructible boxes, but as a child from the era with styrofoam McNugget packages, I don't doubt it!

[seieienbu]

Ha! I bought my Mario 3 at Roses. Roses makes K-Mart look like a Christie's auction. I didn't care at all what anyone thought about where I shopped as long as I could play that new hotness!

I went to a Roses while visiting relatives in North Carolina sometime around 2006.  They had new in box Sega Saturns and a few sports games.  That memory always stood out to me.  They had been using shelf space for 10 years and would possibly never sell.  I kinda of wish that I'd bought one of the Saturns but oh well, already had one.

[_joshuaTurbo]

I am new the community as well, welcome !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome JillKoy!!

[NightWolve]

Edit: I REALLY wanted a Mongoose when I was a kid.  Got a Murray from K-Mart instead. 

Ah yeah, those, hah! They were 2nd place for me, always wanted those blue diamond backs as they were called. Also had to settle for K-Mart brands in the end...

Speaking of fringes of society stuff:

I'm quite the Macross fan and all. I have the DRYL Perfect Edition CAV laserdisc. I was mail ordering Macross model kits from photocopied catalogs that said, "Check your local TV listings soon for "Robotech", the English version of Macross!!!" hand written in the margins. I had Kawamori draw me an SD VT-1D, which sits framed on my dresser. Etc etc...

I remember a long time ago there was this skinny dude with a beard that would always be able to get you out of print Japanese model kits, Macross and stuff. This was before email. Like, 1987 or something. Between mailing him a letter ("Can you get a Max Type movie version VF1J 1/110th scale?), getting a reply letter ("Yeah, sure, when I go to Japan next spring."), sending him a payment (checks sometimes took months to clear in the 80s), and then him sending the kit it would sometimes take nine months or more. It sounds crazy now (Hobby Link Japan can have this kit on my door in 5 days flat now) but I can't emphasize enough that this guy was a f*cking hero back in the day because it was him or nothing. Its fully possible that that Urashiman kit sat on his living room table for a month before he mailed it to me without me knowing, but I will never forgot the fun I had as a kid finally getting my package from guys like him and other shops and stuff. This shit taught me patience.

While the guys Zeta's criticizing were outdoors hiking through the wilderness, he was indoors at home meticulously working on the latest addition to his Japanese model kit collection.

If Zeta didn't know anyone still doing scouting type stuff, it's probably because he already filled his social circle's role of resident "weirdo". I don't doubt that he may very well have gotten to hang around people with far fewer hang ups than him, but I can't imagine joining in with his  buddies, after a long day of shooting beer bottles in the woods, head banging to Maiden while getting high. Going by his posting history here, I can only envision him waving his figure at them for having Eddie tattoos and making such poor life choices, while counting down the days until the proliferation of the internet. So he could finally take breaks from modeling to criticize the life choices of people he's never even met.

I don't think that Zeta was molested during his clandestine meetings with that skinny bearded gentleman. I'm sure he was a great guy and all that, but Zeta simply *must* have heard by now that it isn't cool to be old enough to drive yourself to the meet up with your out-of-print Japanese model kit importer.

But I actually think that Zeta's hobbies are cool, or at least I find them interesting, even if they're not for me. I have other nerdy/geeky/weirdo stuff that I spend my limited free time on. But just like many older scout enthusiasts, my free time is limited because I have a relatively normal and fulfilled life outside of my non-mainstream hobbies.

Everyone active on this forum is a "weirdo". If you're socially well-adjusted, you know exactly how it sounds to a regular adult, if you explain exactly what the PC Engine is and the kinds of discussions which take place here. You don't have to shove it in people's faces, but you shouldn't feel insecure about your passions in life.

Wow, that came from BT ? Hahaha! *FEEL THE BERN!!*

[GoldenWheels]

Nobody else got their games at Service Merchandise huh? Maybe that's a regional thing. I was always impressed that the games were sold next to jewelry.

[wildfruit]

You guys were poor.

My dad got my games from the Fingerhut catalog, like anyone with class.

I know, right?

My dad gave me three copies of SMB1 when I asked for SMB3.

Lold HARD at this

[SignOfZeta]

I think most of that anti-Kmart stuff had to do with it being the 80/90s. $150 Polo shirts are nowhere near as popular as they are now, in fact compared to my preppy ass most kids look...homeless, pretty much, nowadays, so I doubt there is as much fashion shaming.

For anything but clothes, tools, bikes, and electronics though I don't really get the Kmart stigma. I got most of my Transformers and King Vitamin and whatnot from them and they come from the same factory as the ones they sold at Hudsons so it's a pretty stupid line of thought, IMO.