October 7th, 2009 by Adam_May
3-C’s — Cutting Costs & Collecting
As the nights grow colder, cut your costs to save for collecting. (I promise something a little more fun next.)
1. Cut the heat and grab a sheet (or a blanket)! I admit to being a little coldblooded, but as the temperature outside falls, I open the windows. It’s a standing rule in my house — there’s no such thing as a throw blanket. So if you’re cold and can’t figure out what to do, nature will sort it out for you (i.e. Darwin Award). (At least in my house you can hide inside one of the Clone Command Bunkers.)
2. Join the club! Before social networking became the raison d’être, collecting and trading groups (a shout out to my locals at Atlanta Star Wars Collectors Club and my first Intermess venture, TradeFederation.net) were out there slogging through the stores and scalpers to find stuff and help others both nearby and in toy-starved states. Store reports, online finds, and the odd coupon can add up to a network of toy triangulation.
3. Cellular soul. You DO NOT, repeat DO NOT need a "landline". Big-minutes cell phone plans (2000 or more) are usually cheaper than paying for both a landline and cellphone. If you absolutely need to use a "regular phone" at home, dock it: Get an Xlink BT. It treats your home phone(s) as if they were Bluetooth headsets for your cell.
4. Get naked. "Naked" DSL service (that is, DSL without a phone line) is now available almost anywhere. Cable modem service doesn’t require cable TV either; there’s satellite, or you can go "old school nouveau" with an amplified antenna and digital converter box. Dropping the basics you don’t use so much can save hundreds in monthly bills.
5. We all know the rest of the stuff. Conserve fuel. Use public transportation (or carpool). Triangulate areas so that you know when to hunt for figures. Try to make every trip out count. Hit the grocery store on the way. Use COUPONS, especially on double coupon days. (I do.) Enlist friends and family members, and make sure to give them IMAGES and/or at the very least the figures’ I.D. NUMBER (e.g. BD66; CW13) to help them help you.
And if it’s the last thing I ever do…
P.S. If you have tricks or tips, well, feel free to share with the class.
P.P.S. Some cool online stores, such as EntertainmentEarth.com and Hasbro’s own HasbroToyShop.com, will get figures before the big box stores, so, as my Mama told me, you better shop around (rest her soul).
Posted in Daily Blog, Tips | 2 Comments »
September 17th, 2009 by Adam_May
First off, who in the world thought I would ever be sharing press pages with the supremely fabulous Donatella Versace? Well, I am, and here’s why…
Taken from the October 2009 issue of Out magazine (with love to Michael and Lawrence) as written by Mark Simpson:
Adam May is not attending Comic-Con this year. “I’ve only been to Comic-Con once,” he tells me on the line from his home in Atlanta. “I have a panic attack just looking at photos! It’s sensory overload for me.”
Adam May who describes himself as “Atlanta’s answer to the wrong question” has the distinction of being the first openly gay Star Wars action figure. Many are called; few are chosen.
Adam’s plastic obsession began the first time he saw Princess Leia. “Carrie Fisher with those buns on her head – she really was my first gay experience.” Star Wars helped Adam grow up, in a manner of speaking: he had a speech impediment as a child, and by repeating Luke Skywalker’s lines over and over he helped himself “talk it out.”
[Redacted overlaying segment of copy directly unrelated to subject, see OUT Magazine, October 2009 — Featuring the Fabulous Donatella Versace Cover. Page 51 is the best place to start.]
Other gays mostly recoil in horror though when they discover Adam’s plastic habit. “They typically assume I’m some strange man-child. I joke that the ’80s jingle—‘I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid!’—wasn’t just a jingle. It was an oath!.”
“I’ve reached the point where I don’t care what anyone thinks about my toy [obsession]. That said, I do try to keep my gay friends away from the Three Story Toy Box. I have a collection of about 10,000 action figures* — with all of the accoutrements that go with them (space ships, play sets, lightsabres). The stairwell in my house has a wall that is 2 1/2 stories of shelving, acrylic risers and every Star Wars figure that Hasbro has made.”
Including the one they made of Adam himself after he won a competition to have a Star Wars action figure based on him. He chose the name Stormy Sevenspire–an anagram for Steven P Morrissey. “I had hired a make-up artist to paint me up as I wanted to be in action figure likeness. I made sure the hair was just the right kind of quiff.”
*The 10,000 number is a rough number, and it does include myriad toy lines, but hundreds of Stormtroopers can’t be wrong. I’m a toy junkie.
Posted in Daily Blog, Gossip, Personality Crisis, Plugs, Prototypes, Toys | 2 Comments »
September 17th, 2009 by Adam_May
On Tuesday, I had to attend an Atlanta City Council meeting to speak out against a brutal, thuggish attack by the Atlanta Police’s "Red Dog" Squad against a local gay bar. While listening to one of the owners of the bar speak, he mentioned that he was just a bit of a sci-fi nerd, and that Carrie Fisher had called to check on him. I had to walk away, or I’d have lost it.
In honor of Her Truly Royal Majesty…
Posted in Daily Blog, Personality Crisis, Plugs, Tips | No Comments »
August 24th, 2009 by Adam_May
Thanks to one of my home crowd heroes here in Atlanta on the ASWCC (Atlanta Star Wars Collectors Club), there’s a deal to be had. How good is this deal? Try a Turbo Tank for pennies less than $65 shipped!
Atlanta’s Darth Pharaoh writes:
"Target.com has a deal online only. 10 off Hasbro purchase of 30 or more, 20 off 60 or more and 30 off 90 or more. Plus use the code 4MMHDHBE during checkout and get another 10% off plus free shipping. I just ordered the Turbo Tank and the total with tax was 64.79. A really good deal I just couldn’t pass up."
Note: This is NOT a paid or sponsored post.
Posted in Daily Blog, Deals, Plugs, Tips, Toys | 3 Comments »
