The Alimond Show

Ian Wallace - Uniting Fans and Promoting Positive Change through Pop Culture

Alimond Studio

What if you could transform the pain of past bullying into a thriving, positive community? Join us as we chat with Ian Wallace, the visionary behind Amalga Mania and the director of public relations for the Hope Dealers Project in West Virginia. From the humble beginnings of an online group to a global community, Ian shares the heartfelt origins and core values that drive Amalga Mania's success. You'll hear about the creation of a safe, inclusive space where pop culture enthusiasts can connect and celebrate their passions without fear of bullying.

Ever wondered how comic books and figurines can impact personal growth? Ian takes us back to his childhood in New Haven, Connecticut, revealing how these interests became a lifeline and a way to connect with like-minded individuals around the world. Highlighting the significance of embracing one's uniqueness, Ian shares insights from his various podcasts, including "The Amalga-Files", which delves into historical and contemporary mysteries. This conversation underscores the importance of every individual's voice and contributions within a community.

We also explore Ian's dedication to community outreach and the hurdles of starting a successful venture. He opens up about overcoming past mistakes, the dedication required to build Amalga Mania, and his love for old-school hip hop, R&B, and comic books. Finally, get the inside scoop on Amalga Mania’s exciting fandom-driven giveaways on social media and how you can join the fun. This episode is a celebration of passion, generosity, and the connections that make our shared interests truly special.

Speaker 1:

My name is Ian Wallace. I am the founder of Amalgamania, your place for character carnage. I'm also currently the director of public relations for the Hope Dealers Project in West Virginia as well.

Speaker 2:

Very nice, thank you. Can you tell me the backstory on the name? I can't even say it Amalgamania. Yes, amalgamania yes.

Speaker 1:

Amalgamania Okay, it was honestly a play on words. It's an amalgamation of things that fans, people of pop culture, are crazy about. So we just took the two and kind of put them together and it made a lot of sense and turned into what it turned into. So it's a little play on words.

Speaker 2:

That's cool. I love that.

Speaker 1:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Can you give us a little bit of a background about yourself and how you got started in your industry and what's led you here?

Speaker 1:

Wow, that story. Where do I start? I guess from the beginning, right? Well, Amalgamania didn't come into its inception until about 2016, 2017. And it came into inception as a result of me being a part of another pop culture group who I don't want to name them, but I was a member of that group and I wasn't treated very nicely. Oh yeah, you know, social media was just starting. I mean 2016, 2017, social media was just starting to really bud and kind of come into its own and it just, you know, was a really robust place for people to kind of talk and have these views.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, in this group, they were just again, like I said, not really nice. They they didn't allow for new ideas. They were. They trolled me a lot about certain things. They trolled me a lot about certain things and I realized that this was a big part of what being a nerd or being someone who was into pop culture was like. As a kid, you had people who would pick on you because you're different or because you like different things, and I didn't like that. I didn't like the feeling, I didn't like the fact that there were people doing that. So I created a space where you could come and enjoy those things without worrying about that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I created a space where you could come and enjoy those things without worrying about that. Yeah, and it started out with 10 people maybe I think it started out online with like 10 people and maybe a few loyal foregoers from other groups that would come by, and now it's almost 50,000 people across the world. We have viewers in London. We have viewers in London. We have viewers in Antigua. We have viewers all over the place People who are like-minded, who like the same things, who are very much into pop culture and fandoms and things of that nature. It turned into this great place where people can come and be themselves and enjoy these fandoms without that kind of pressure or worrying about being looked at any different than what they really are yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I'm really sorry, first of all, to hear that yeah, yeah it was a bad experience I'm so sorry, um. Did you take anything away from those bad experiences that you implement into your own work, culture and stuff that you're just like? Absolutely not like? I'm gonna give people the best experience that was.

Speaker 1:

that was what made me press on with creating Amalgamania and pushing it to where it is now just the um, you know, having somewhere where you could belong, and then having somewhere where you can come and be yourself without having to worry about what the rest of the world thinks about that, and, um, there's a lot of people who feel the same way. So it kind of I guess the biggest thing I took away from that would be you know, leave things better than how you found them. Yeah, you know what I mean. Try to be a better influence in the world than what you're introduced to half of the time, because it goes a very, very long way. You never know who it is that you're interacting with, not really until you get the chance to know them. Yeah, initially you got to kind of have that little bit of humility. I think that's what I took away mostly, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And now talk to me about the podcast that you have and the types of marketing and videos that you're doing for your business, like with unboxing and all that cool stuff?

Speaker 1:

Oh man, okay. So all right, there's two podcasts that are active right now and a third that we're planning on creating with the Hope Dealers Project called Hope in Action. I'll talk about all three of them. Amalgam Show and Tell is pretty much a podcast or an unboxing show where we unbox stuff and talk about it. What kind of stuff? All kinds of stuff. Anything that is pop culture related, anything that is pop culture adjacent t-shirts, hats, action figures, model kits, stamp collections, whatever it is. That is your thing that you are into. We kind of open them up, talk about them or showcase them and talk about them, why people are into them, why people aren't into them. Thank you, and yeah, so that's pretty much how that goes. We unbox things, we talk about them to different manufacturers, the different reasons why people are into those fandoms, and that's Amalgam Show and Tell. We do giveaways as well. We give away action figures, we give away T-shirts, we give away all kinds of stuff. I actually bought you guys a little something.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, let me see.

Speaker 1:

Well, actually, and I was going to invite you guys, if you didn't mind. I was hoping that we'd be able to share this portion of your show on our show as well at some point, and I was going to invite you to open up an action figure for yourself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that would be for what that's for you?

Speaker 1:

No way, what that's for you?

Speaker 1:

yeah and uh, but work for myself to open up kind of while we are here doing it, and then, um, are you sure? Oh, I'm positive. And this is for the ladies of alamon studio. This is from our bath and beauty um products line, um, acid kitty, that's a subsidiary of amalgamania, and we 3d printed you a dragon to guard your little tray there for you. So this is so nice, and we also have some giveaway stuff that we're going to do towards the end of the show. I got a little giveaway I want to do for just the viewers and um audience of alamont that's brilliant.

Speaker 2:

See, when I ask about marketing stuff, this is stuff. So, business owners, if you're listening, this is some cool stuff to get people interested and excited about your project, your products, services. Doing little giveaways like this, taking opportunities, that is great. Talk to me more about that.

Speaker 1:

and, like all of this stuff, well, we have okay, we have the Amalgam Market, which is a place where you can come and purchase action figures, t-shirts, pretty much anything pop culture adjacent or related. Yeah, because we know that there's. It's a little hard to kind of find these things specifically, especially when you're looking for things specifically, so we kind of lumped all those very specific things into one place and you can find all that stuff there. We recently purchased and acquired equipment to be able to create T-shirts and an apparel line. We're actually coming out with an apparel line called the Lost Tribe. It's pretty much just for people who, uh, are fans of stuff that came out during Gen X and like that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1:

So it's just going to be quotes and different characters from that time period. So, that's going to be coming out very soon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Um, and the 3d printing, um stuff we're going to be doing, um, action figure accessories, merchandise you can find only and exclusively at the amalgam market. Uh, we love doing it. It comes, all the stuff comes out so amazing. And and then, um, like I said, it's uh, it's a journey for everyone. We all love it. We all love doing it and coming together and making this stuff happen. And then, of course, uh, the business side of it. We just didn't expect for it to be this big, but it's amazing and we're enjoying it?

Speaker 2:

no, yeah, that is so cool. Do you have, like I guess, a 3D printing machine?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, Two of them, two different ones. Wow, we have an acrylic one and one that does regular plastic filament, so we can do action figure accessories, different props for dioramas, things of that nature.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Pretty much all your pop culture needs.

Speaker 2:

Should I open this?

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's for you. You're supposed to open it. Oh my gosh, it's like being a kid on Christmas no.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh. So when you mean pop culture, you just mean like all kinds of like iconic figurines, movies.

Speaker 1:

Anything from movies to anime, to cartoons, to comic books. All of it, we do absolutely all of it, and we love all of it.

Speaker 2:

I don't think I've ever heard of Tigra.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, she's an Avenger? Probably not one of the more popular Avengers.

Speaker 2:

Very cool. No, she looks fierce Very cool. Oh my God.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, awesome character, you guys. You'll love it If you ever get a chance to see some of the media. Oh yeah, she's amazing.

Speaker 2:

I don't even know how to open this, like I feel horrible here come on, I'll Whoa this is so like cool. This is different. I like it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's like being a kid on.

Speaker 2:

Christmas once a month for me 3D printing.

Speaker 1:

There we go. You can take her out, play with her if you want. Oh, my gosh Kind of get an idea of what it's like, and she's yours. You should take her home, pose her, put her up wherever you want her to be in your house.

Speaker 2:

This is so nice, this is so cool.

Speaker 1:

What on?

Speaker 2:

earth I love. I have some cats, so this is like perfect. She will be their shrine. Oh you can change her head.

Speaker 1:

You can. You can do the fierce face, you can do the regular face. It's one of the things I love about these things they come with. Sorry about, sorry about the plastic crunching, but they're very articulate. You can kind of pose them however you want, outside of the fact that they look just like the actual characters from the media.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God.

Speaker 1:

This is Quick Kick from the GI Joe Classified lines, probably one of my favorite action figure lines. I just like the accessories and stuff that it comes with, but he looks just like he did on the cartoon. Anyone who grew up in the 80s who knows anything about GI Joe knows what he looks like and it's amazing that they can replicate them looking like that.

Speaker 2:

When did it go to the movies to see this? Oh no, that was Toy Soldiers.

Speaker 1:

I'm so sorry. Yeah, no, no, GI Joe was a cartoon that came out. I mean, I guess it was an action figure line that was produced in the 50s and 60s, like way back in the day.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then it became a popular cartoon in like the late 70s, early 80s.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And it kind of ran for years and years and years and it was definitely one of the things I love to do coming home from school. It's like you hurry up and got through school just so you can come home and watch cartoons.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, now hurry up and got through school, just so you can come home and watch cartoons. Yeah, yeah, absolutely so. Yeah, now that they make the action figures and they have different medias, the movies, yes, and it's like, yeah, it's all over the place. It's a lot more um popular now than it was back then. So the media has gotten so much, uh, more robust and so many more people are into it than what they used to be.

Speaker 2:

So okay, very cool, and I feel like online also helps connect people with similar tastes together so they can keep up.

Speaker 1:

You would have never thought so many people were into it. Growing up where I grew up and knowing the few people who were into comic books, it was like one in every 50, maybe 40 people would be into this kind of stuff. And then you find out that there's millions of them all over the world. You wouldn't have known that, had it not been for online social media and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

So talk to me a little bit about that with your background, like how did comics, pop culture figurines come into play in your life and why you went this direction? Okay, that's a.

Speaker 1:

Bit of a touchy subject for me, oh sorry no it's okay, it's good. I grew up in New Haven, connecticut, a little more inner city, a little rougher of an area. There wasn't a whole lot of great outlets, especially for certain ethnicities In my particular area where I grew up at, like I said't a whole lot.

Speaker 1:

You know that you could do for fun or I mean if there was things to do for fun, but it just wasn't as uh accessible as another place yeah so um one of my greatest escapes um to kind of get away from things, to get away from reality, get away from just everything that was going on where I was from yeah was reading comic books.

Speaker 1:

Um, it was, uh, I get to go on these stories and the adventures. They really are the new mythology. It's like it's the new way of kind of telling these different stories of gods and monsters and heroes and villains and everything in between, and it was a great escape and it was a great outlet. So I grafted to it, you know, and I didn't even realize uh big of a part of my life. It was until I became older and realized, like what it did for me, yeah, I'm having that media, being able to uh share it with other people who were like mine. I mean, there's a few kids from my neighborhood you know that that, like this kind of stuff, you get to trade your uh collectible cards or your comics with them and stuff and I'm sure you got the interest of people who didn't even know about this.

Speaker 2:

They're like wait, this is kind of cool, oh my.

Speaker 1:

God Like yeah, what is that? Who's that guy? What does he look like? Oh my goodness, yeah, and that was always fun introducing people into it and, you know, finding out what they like, Because you can always find yourself in these different medias.

Speaker 2:

There's always something that rings. What do you hope? That I guess, as far as, like your legacy or impact, that this content, videos and services that you do will do for other people.

Speaker 1:

The main thing is understand you have a voice, understand that your voice matters, that although the world is so big and we do feel like very small cogs in a large machine, sometimes even those small cogs matter in order for the machine to work the way it's supposed to.

Speaker 1:

Even those little itty-bitty parts matter, and I think that's a very relevant thing I like to have in our message. And what we do is just you matter as an individual, and the best way I've come across to communicate that to the world is to just do what I do. You know, be able to speak about things, interact with people. We have guests on the show. We go places, speak about things, interact with people. We have guests on the show. We go places. We we have, like I said, we have followers in London and all over the world who I never would have met these people had it not been for this media. So you know, when you think your voice doesn't matter, when you think that you're just so small that you're insignificant, that's probably not the way you should look at it.

Speaker 1:

You should try to consider yourself to be significant in whatever area you find yourself in.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and if you're different, that's totally okay. It's just like people just don't get it. But that's why you make your own little world and then the people who want to be part of that world will be part of it.

Speaker 1:

And we have a really big world yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean back to that subject about like, just being different and feeling different, like that is totally okay and everybody can. They don't like it, that's fine. But you stick to the path and the people that you feel like you mesh well with and have the same likes and tastes, and I think that's I like that there's variety in the world for that oh yeah. You've opened the door for another. I guess type of industry, oh yeah, thank you. I think that's pretty cool.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate that yeah absolutely, and tell me the name of your other two podcasts. You told me the third one, what it's going to be called. Okay, yes, I'm that. Yeah, absolutely, and tell me the name of your other two podcasts.

Speaker 1:

You told me the third one, what it's going to be called Okay, yes, I'm sorry. And then there's the Amalgaphiles, which is our on location. Well, we do that podcast on location. We also do it remotely as well. We like to go to different places, we like to prove different theories, explore different things Just that overall feeling of not accepting just things as they are and wanting to know a little more, wanting to ask questions, wanting to explore and research things and we created a medium where we can do that, where there are unanswered questions or topics that we really feel like as a community, we should speak about or put out there. We've done life after death. We've done systemic racism. We've done, uh, the Lizzie Borden trial from back when Lizzie Borden was on trial for killing her parents. We did the uh, lisa Liam disappearance Wow, anything that raises a question, anything that's interesting. We like to kind of pick at it a little more.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, no, I like the different genres there.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, Amalgam Files is all over Very cool.

Speaker 2:

No, that's so cool. I like watching videos like that on YouTube sometimes oh yeah, it's very interesting. I just go down this rabbit hole at 2 am and say how did I get here, yeah, or why am I even here?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that sounds like Amalgam Files. That's pretty much what we do, but yeah, it's been an interesting ride. My co-hosts are amazing. We've been to some really cool places as a result of the podcast. We've been to California to reintroduce the Lisa Liam disappearance. We've been to Las Vegas?

Speaker 2:

I've actually not heard of that. It's very interesting.

Speaker 1:

As a matter of fact, I will tag you in the podcast that we did. Once you see it, you'll be very enamored.

Speaker 2:

You're going to love it.

Speaker 1:

It's a very interesting thing. And then the third podcast we're going to be doing and now that I have become the director of public relations for the Hope Dealers Project, we are going to be doing a podcast called Hope in Action called Hope in Action, where basically we're going to be talking about self-care, different struggles people have with addiction, with finding help for addiction, why those resources aren't as readily accessible as they should be. It's a community project with the Hope Dealer Project in West Virginia. They are amazing people Anyone struggling with addiction or with anything like that or re-entry from prison. You should give these people a call. They have resources. They know how to help you get started, help you to start over. Tara Mason, terry Bullock amazing the whole team is just amazing people and I love working with them.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, they asked me to help produce, co-write and shoot their podcast effort, which is going to be called Hope in Action. Congratulations so this is going to be our first effort doing something like this. I mean, we've done it for ourselves, obviously, but it's a little bit different when someone's like hey, yeah, and asking you to do it Exactly.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so we're looking forward to it and it's going to be such an amazing journey. I will be co-hosting sometimes on the show, as well as writing and executive producing it.

Speaker 2:

Very cool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, looking forward to that.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. And now how do people apply or get to be guests on the show?

Speaker 1:

Well, mostly it's word of mouth and we like to be a little more selective with who we allow on the show, just because of the different mediums and different things that are on there. But it's usually just if we find you interesting or if there's something about you that we want. We will just ask If there's a collaboration effort or something, or if you feel like something you're doing might mesh well with what we're doing. By all means, you can contact us on any of the social media platforms that we're on. There's direct messaging, we have emails, all of that stuff. So any kind of way at all that you feel like you would like to be on the show, you're more than welcome. Anyone's more than welcome.

Speaker 2:

Okay, very, very cool. Where do you see yourself as a person and with your business in the next five years?

Speaker 1:

Well walking in my purpose, which is to help people, I've realized that in the last, I would say, about 10 years, I don't I feel more alive when I'm doing things with and for people than if I'm doing them for myself. You know, I've won and lost small fortunes. I've lived a very, very amazing life to be in my 40s now. I've seen a lot, I've done a lot and I have not felt so alive, more so in the last, I would say, 10, 11 years, realizing that what I'm supposed to be doing is helping people, so I can see myself doing something in that field. I'm not sure I am going back to school for my psychology degree.

Speaker 2:

Very cool yes.

Speaker 1:

At some point. I am hoping to write programs and even help with the resources that the Hope Dealer Project is starting to come together and put together. There's going to be resource houses for halfway houses for drug addicts, for reentry from prison, things of that nature, and I'm hoping to write programs and even hopefully run those houses. So just having that influence and being able to help people redirect and put their lives in a different direction is just where I want to be.

Speaker 1:

So that's the direction I'm headed in, so hopefully that just where I want to be so that's the direction I'm headed in, so hopefully that's where I'll be in the next five years.

Speaker 2:

What inspired you to want to help the community out in that way?

Speaker 1:

Oh well, that's a double edged sword. I spent a lot of time hurting it. I did, I growing up not realizing what I was doing in order to kind of make ends meet and feed myself. Um, I didn't realize the damage that I was doing. I was just looking out for me, which again comes around full circle to wanting to help other people and, um, doing that, I realized that there was a responsibility, Um, and not all people, not for all people. You know, not everybody has this responsibility, but I know I did, yeah, and I felt like I benefited from it from one way and I feel like there's no reason why that same, those same communities and those same people shouldn't benefit from me in another.

Speaker 2:

Yeah so it's.

Speaker 1:

It's pretty much that's the motivation behind it. It's just to kind of give of myself what I feel like I've taken.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, that's great. I love that you're giving back and not just like providing a resource for yourself, but for others to also help them in their journeys. I think that's great. What has been one of the most challenging things for you starting your own business? That? I'm sure there's a lot, but you could share with our listeners and how you kind of overcome them.

Speaker 1:

See okay.

Speaker 1:

If I'm being 1000% transparent and realistic, there are many, many small pitfalls to starting your own business and doing something kind of like what I'm doing, and I think the biggest takeaway for me from that, or the biggest thing I learned in that, is that you are only going to get out of it what you put into it. You can have many things in this world, you know, however you want to have them, but something like this, if you're not going to put all of you into it, or enough of you into it for it to matter, it's going to you're going to find you're going to find that it's going to be very hard to continue forward With me. I kind of just poured myself into it and then I got to kind of see myself in it and the benefit from doing that kind of pushed me forward. So it was never a question of if this is something I want to do or if this gets too difficult will I be able to continue doing it. It was just what do you got next, what's coming?

Speaker 2:

next. I love that.

Speaker 1:

No, that's a great attitude to have and and I, because I kind of knew that it was I mean after a while, if you hit those first couple of brick walls, you just know like okay running through those brick walls you do until you get to where you need to go, and it becomes a comfortable thing after a while. It doesn't sound like it, but it really does now. No, but it does the feeling of breaking through, of that freedom of getting through an obstacle or hurtling over one.

Speaker 2:

You were able to do that.

Speaker 1:

There's nothing. I mean there's nothing you can give me. You know that matches that or that is tantamount to that. So that's what I think. I feel like I chase that a lot. I feel like I chase just that. Being able to accomplish the next thing, go to the next thing. It's addictive, it really is.

Speaker 2:

I love that Good addictive stuff.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 2:

Anyway, have you had any memorable episodes that are your favorite? Maybe unboxing a super rare collectible thing, super rare collectible thing.

Speaker 1:

Unfortunately for me, our audience and my son, who is my co-host, it gets it just Okay. They are very, very giving and there's been so many amazing things. We've opened up Milestone. Very rare things on the show, some things we even had to keep boxed because they're so rare.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure that's how I felt opening this.

Speaker 1:

No, no no, no, no, You're fine, You're fine. But yeah, there has been and it's mostly because of the people that kind of give us stuff. I mean, we go shopping for our own things, but there's people love what we do and they'll send us stuff. We just want to see you open this up here, you know and it's amazing.

Speaker 1:

So I don't think there's just one thing, I feel like there's just so many of them. I mean, you can go back and watch the shows we did. A Voltron one time stands like a good I don't know, two feet Is that a Pokemon. No, Voltron was a Mecha robot kind of guy. Okay, okay, the defender of the universe, my bad.

Speaker 1:

No, it's fine. There was five lions and they kind of all come together to form Voltron any time that there's trouble. I mean, the lions themselves were formidable by themselves, but together like this super robot that can defeat anything, cool. So yeah, that concept and idea. We built him on the show one time. Just too many to name, there's too many. I can start to think of them. And they're just flooding.

Speaker 2:

Flooding through Okay.

Speaker 1:

But yeah, we've opened up some amazing things and unboxed them and my collection is just crazy. The things that I've collected over this time is amazing.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure I bet you have a nice little collection, oh yeah, these are not to be touched.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, we got our wall. We got our wall of fame where we pretty much hang anything. That's really really rare.

Speaker 2:

And now it sounds like you're doing everything that you love, but outside of your podcast, your unboxing your figurines. What types of hobbies do you like when you just need to put a pause or a hold on something?

Speaker 1:

I'm a huge music guy. I love old school hip hop and 90s hip hop. I love R&B. I think music is probably the next to my fandoms, is probably the other biggest influence in my life, so that would probably be my go-to. If not music, then I read a lot um comic books, uh, novels, um studying, whatever what I love. I love to read um, but those are pretty much my go-to.

Speaker 1:

Anything in nature, you get me in nature, oh yeah, you get me by a nice uh body of water, you get me in the, in the you know and in nature, and I find myself to be uh, very at peace and at you know, at my center.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, very nice, I like that. Since I have you here for our audience listening, did I touch on, hopefully, everything that you wanted to talk about? If not, if you have maybe an event coming up or something, something new that's going on, do you want to share that with us?

Speaker 1:

I do on. Do you want to share that with us? I do, okay, the 28th of september we're having a recovery fest for the hope dealer project at the war memorial park in martinsburg, west virginia. Um, if you're able to come, come check it out. There's going to be vendors. There's going to be um recovery resources for, like, if you are struggling with things, you want to talk to some people. Um, there's gonna be face painting. There's going to be a poetry contest. There's going to be people just kind of mingling and meandering and whatever else we do. We're in groups and it's going to be great. It's going to be great. So, if at all you're available, please, september 28th, come on down for that.

Speaker 1:

Our Horror Watch Party for Amalgamania is coming in October, nice, and it's a yearly thing we do. Anyone can join, anyone who has the internet can join. A bunch of us kind of get to go. Well, last year it was just me, but this year it's going to be a bunch of us getting together and we're going to stream horror movies all together, kind of between the 28th and the 31st of October we're going to bob for apples. We're going to give candy to little kids that come by. How fun. Yeah, it's going to be amazing. We're going to do the whole Halloween thing and then we're going to watch horror movies together. That'll be October 27th through the 31st, so every single night we'll be streaming horror movies. We'll be talking about them afterwards. So for everyone who's into horror movies, but talking about them afterwards. So for everyone who's into horror movies but you don't want to watch them by yourself, you want to do this.

Speaker 2:

What if we love watching them by ourselves? No, if you do, then you're good you can do that too.

Speaker 1:

No, but it's a great time. We usually have a really good time doing it. So that'll be this, like I said, this October coming, and that's all I have for events. Our podcasts are once a month. You can catch them anywhere that our podcast stuffs are available. I believe they're iTunes. I'm sorry, apple. We have them on Apple. We have them on Google. Anywhere we have our. All streaming services yeah anywhere you can find a podcast. We're there.

Speaker 2:

Okay, cool, I'm going to ask you one more question and then you can do your giveaway.

Speaker 1:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, of course, all right. So if you could leave our audience with one message, maybe a mantra that you like to live your life by, just as inspiration, what message or mantra would you like to leave with our audience?

Speaker 1:

Okay, you can take a sec to think about that, wow yeah, okay, you can take a sec to think about that life and this is something I've heard before and it just really rings true life is way far too precious a thing to ever take seriously. Be able to laugh at yourself, be able to enjoy, be able to stop and smell roses um, you never know. And so that, I think, is the biggest thing live your life to the absolute fullest that's a good one, so good thank you all right, so now talk to us about this giveaway okay, for only the audience here.

Speaker 1:

Alamon, this is only for your audience and the people who respond to your podcast.

Speaker 2:

Wow, how special.

Speaker 1:

We have a couple of action figures we're going to be giving away.

Speaker 2:

Okay, some iconic ones, yes.

Speaker 1:

Oh, very iconic. And we also have a book that we're going to be giving away with a nice little bookmark. This is the Batman Court of Owls Amazing, amazing story. Anybody who's ever picked up a DC comic knows how dope this story is. And it's actually in the book form. It doesn't have pictures or anything like that, so it's an actual book for people who want to read it. You can go get the comic version Amazing story. This is the DC Multiverse Todd McFarlane's Joker action figure Wow. And the DC Icons Harley Quinn action figure. And we bought you a 9.8 graded. What is this? Justice League number eight, signed by Jim Lee.

Speaker 2:

Whoa is Jim Lee the writer.

Speaker 1:

No, he's an artist. My bad A very very famous artist from the 90s era of comic books, and all you have to do in order to be able to get this stuff is just what's the best way that you communicate with your audience.

Speaker 2:

Either Instagram.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Instagram.

Speaker 2:

YouTube comments would be great, okay.

Speaker 1:

Drop a comment about what your favorite fandom is. That's it, and then we will mail this stuff out to you. Oh, comment about what your favorite fandom is that's it, and then we will mail this stuff out to you.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1:

Simple as that. Yep, that's so kind of you. No, it's what we do. It's quite literally what we do.

Speaker 2:

And be sure to follow them too.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, please do Like I said. You'll be able to find us anywhere where social media, all that stuff.

Speaker 2:

Drop the name again.

Speaker 1:

Amalgamania, your place for character carnage. We also brought some t-shirts as well that we printed up for you guys. Again, just let us know what your favorite fandom is, and we're going to send them out to you.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so yeah, so nice. Thank you so much for coming on to our podcast, thank you. Making the drive from West Virginia to be over here and then giving gifts to our audience Like what did we do right today or any day.

Speaker 1:

You're here, thank you. Sometimes that's enough.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much and thank you for my Tigra here. If you want to hold her, oh yeah. For the audience. I put her head there because I didn't know if she was like beheading herself or like that's another thing I love about these things you can make them do whatever you want.