Welcome to part 2 of our new series Behind the Counter, showcasing the great comic and nerd culture shops around Australia.
For this installment we bring you – Gifts for the Geek!
Run by self confessed geeks Darren & Jason, Gifts for the Geek has been in operation since 2007 in Geelong Victoria.
Supportive of their community, and well known and beloved faces at conventions all around Australia, Darren & Jason have an infectious love for all things Geek and we’re very happy they are part of our series.
Take it away Darren!
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Welcome to our new series, Behind the Counter. We here at Nerd Culture Podcast are unashamed comic fans (except Crystal, but hopefully she’ll come around!), and I thought it would be good to spotlight the many varied comic retailers available to us. Especially in Melbourne, where we really are spoiled for choice. These guys and girls work hard to help feed our hobbies and deserve some recognition and thanks.
So, to start us off I thought we’d start with fans of the show, All Star Comics Melbourne. Mitch and Troy have been hugely supportive of Nerd Culture Podcast and we cannot thank them enough.
For me, the great things about All Star are the warm welcome I receive from proprietors Mitch & Troy whenever I emerge from the cool little elevator, and their obvious passion for what they’re doing. I also really like the open layout of the store. There is plenty of room to browse and everything is in a logical and easy to find place. There are also great personal touches, like All Star themed fan art adorning the wall behind the counter. But that’s enough from me, without further ado, take it away Mitch:
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During our honeymoon I realised that I would need to purchase the final batch of comics for our coverage of DC’s new 52 for when we got back and, being in New Zealand I obviously couldn’t make it to my local store!
So we scoured Auckland for a comic store and was directed to Heroes for Sale at 277 Karangahape Road (or K Road as the locals call it).
Upon entering we were immediately impressed by the layout. Clean and easy on the eye, as well as well spaced, with a place for everything. Not only did they have single issue comics and trades (including an impressive selection of local comic creator works), but they also had a great range of action figures/collectables, board games and role playing supplements as well. The staff, who we later learned were the owners, were obviously very busy sorting that weeks standing orders but still took the time to greet us warmly and offer assistance. I expressed my desire to purchase all of that weeks batch of DC’s new 52. They took my name and offered to call me if they could accommodate me. Sure enough not long after they called with the news that I could indeed purchase all of the titles. I really appreciated this because, although this wasn’t stated, I definitely got the feeling that some strings were pulled in order to fulfill this order and that they may have missed out on getting their own copies in order to ensure I had mine. Excellent customer service.
When I returned to the store I had a great chat with the one of the owners, Stu (who with his wife Sue have been running the store together for 17 years), on various topics ranging from the state of the comics industry, the results from the new 52 event, and the Nerd Culture website/podcast. Interestingly enough, Stu said that DC’s target audience of 13-22 year olds in his area couldn’t afford single issues and it was actually older people like 18-25 that have been drawn in by the new 52 event, as well as the spate of superhero themed movies out recently. He also stated that Justice League was his favourite title up to that point, but he also liked Animal Man. He also gave me the address of a comic store in Wellington (but unfortunately our experience there was the complete opposite of this one). I could have stayed and chatted with Stu for a bit longer but I could see that he was starting to get quite busy so I said my goodbyes and left.
So, if you are in Auckland and in need of a comic fix then head to Heroes for Sale. I cannot praise them enough, you can’t go wrong. And tell ’em Nerd Culture Podcast sent ya!
For further info check out their website – http://www.heroes4sale.co.nz/
Some photos of the store:
