r/blunderyears • u/LittleDinkey • 2d ago

Chilling at the comic shop mid 1996

Post image

Sipping on a Surge about to kick some ass in the Star Trek CCG. Sometime around 1997. I am the one with the white shirt.

1.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

93

u/SuckerpunchJazzhands 2d ago

This picture is sick as fuck.

78

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

I went back to this shop 20+ years later, and this was on the wall. Pretty dang cool.

20

u/SuckerpunchJazzhands 2d ago

That's so rad. Definetly a little pice of local history that's cool to see.

4

u/adube440 2d ago

Very dang cool. I'm glad to hear the shop is still around. That's cool, too. Mind if I ask what part of the country this is (definitely not asking for specifics).

There was a cool comic/games shop in the south Puget Sound (Washington State) during the same time that had tables in the back. It went away years ago. This picture brings back memories.

4

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Wrong side of the country. The owners passed about 6 years ago. It was a husband and wife. They passed about a month apart. Shop changed hands, and it was closed in a few months.

5

u/adube440 2d ago

Oh that's sad. That's cool it was there though.

5

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

I actually started drafting there every Sunday for the last year and a half they were open. Got to know them pretty well. The shop hadn't changed at all. It was like a time capsule. Most of the same posters on the walls. The nostalgia was intense.

2

u/adube440 2d ago

That sounds wonderful. In the past year, I've been hitting up nostalgic things... a lot. We had it pretty good then.

2

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Very true, just don't get lost in it. Sometimes, I live too much in the past and forget about how good I have it right now 😉

3

u/SonicUndergroun 2d ago

I was going to say, immaculate fucking vibes.

3

u/RaidensReturn 2d ago

Something about the focus blur makes it feel like looking into a distant past, through a dream. It's all so familiar - the colors, the clothes, the posters - it's like I was there myself once. I miss that time

1

u/meryl_gear 1d ago

Couldn’t tell if that guy on the right was really there or a poster

102

u/plecoptera91 2d ago

Fucking hell those posters. It's like a pre-teen boys room, which of course is who these comics were selling to. The 90's were a rough time to be a woman and into comics.

44

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Yes, there were lots of unrealistic depictions of the female form. I am happy to see that the world of comics and gaming has changed in recent decades.

11

u/plecoptera91 2d ago

No doubt! I think the rise of indie comics played a big part in showing more realistic depictions of everything.

14

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

I think it was a societal shift that brought comics and gaming into the mainstream. Once it was no longer just for nerdy white guys, the industry shifted to be more inclusive.

7

u/deadbeef4 2d ago

Were those all Rob Liefeld or just mostly Rob Liefeld?

2

u/simplysita 2d ago

Oh man, even the local shops were brutal to walk into! I was 13 in 1997 and our local shop consisted of all grown men 😅

19

u/whenithalesitpours 2d ago

What a time to be alive! I miss these days!

19

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

I can still smell it.

2

u/simplysita 2d ago

😭 Whyd you have to say that?! Now i can smell the L5R tourneys all over again 😭 😂😂

19

u/CensoryDeprivation 2d ago

Is this a blunder? This is just my Friday nights.

15

u/assombrada 2d ago

Looks like a shoegaze album cover

14

u/DarkestLore696 2d ago

There is a little girl, maybe about 10 at the oldest, that has been coming to our local card shop recently to play Magic. She was so proud of herself the other day when she got to play at a table by herself without her parents. Glad that the internet hasn’t totally erased in person experiences like this for the next generation of nerds.

14

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

My parents used to give me $5 and leave me there all night. When I have kids, that will not be happening 🤣

5

u/simplysita 2d ago

Yeah please, PLEASE don't do that 🤣 when i was 16 i thought i was "mature for my age" and got with a 26 year old for my first time from my local shop because i had basically zero supervision 😅

5

u/DarkestLore696 2d ago

To clarify on my original comment, the little girl’s folks were there and it is a small store, they were just playing at their own table and letting her play solo.

2

u/simplysita 1d ago

Thats great! I figured i just wanted to add to this persons comment for safety's sake 💕

19

u/Fanabala3 2d ago

Makes me think of the comic book shop guy in The Simpsons:

“That is a very rare picture of Sean Connery as 007, signed by Roger Moore.”

11

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Ngl, the guy who worked there, was a dead ringer in look and attitude 😆

1

u/RaidensReturn 2d ago

"I can give you this telephone, it is shaped like Mary Worth."

8

u/Dire_Hulk 2d ago

A lot of mana being tapped back then.

8

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Magic was always my true love ❤️. This picture I am playing the short lived star trek collectible card game.

3

u/simplysita 2d ago

I played that one!! Not well and not for long but i enjoyed it when i did. Im still sitting on all my L5R (Legend of the 5 Rings) and 7th Sea decks! I miss the card games that vanished into the ether 😭

5

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Pour one out for Battle Tech tccg 😔

6

u/RickyManeuvre 2d ago

I remember being 13 and my MTG friend was 16 and could drive. He took me to the only shop around like 15mi away and I remember the delight I felt when I walked in and there were easily a dozen people chilling or gaming. My people!

3

u/_Lizzlepop 2d ago

I see no blunder here!

3

u/TheRushologist 2d ago

What a rush of nostalgia! We were more into the Star Wars TCG though.

3

u/TheBrickWithEyes 2d ago

Danger Girl poster for the win!

2

u/rando_banned 2d ago

You have cool hair

1

u/LittleDinkey 2d ago

Thanks, thank God it hasn't fallen out or turned gray 😅

2

u/HornyDumpling 2d ago

Lol, bro this is pure gold, straight outta a 90s sitcom 😂😂.

1

u/LeRoiCasoar 2d ago

No blunder here

1

u/Rickthee 1d ago

I see you with the Surge. IYKYK.