An Interview with Amber. ;)

In honor of FCBD I was very fortunate to be able to do an online interview with Amber of Kokomo Toys

You collect it, it might be here! 😉

HI and thank you for doing this…feel free to take your time, I understand being busy. 😉

Hi Michelle, I apologize for the major delay. We’ve been busy and I’ve been busy catching up after being sick a few days. Yuk!

What impetus made you decide on an action figure toy store?

We worked in the manufacturing world for many years and we decided it wasn’t for us. We wanted to do something more worthwhile with our time and we had some business savvy so we chose what we liked doing the most, which was toys 🙂 But I promise it’s actual work, haha

Was your decision based on location, or something else?

Partially, there was nothing like this around us.  We were online only initially but wanted to be more of a community spot. Somewhere people could talk & enjoy toys. Mingle and mix and be if you will. We opened close to home originally, but the move to downtown seemed only natural as that’s where toys store’s used to always be. We wanted something more nostalgic than the mall or an office space.

Was this your first choice (as a business)? 

It was the only choice!

Are you a geek yourself? or How would you describe yourself?
Probably more than most of the customers that visit the shop lol. We spend half of our time either talking about or quoting movies/TV shows/cartoons and the other half playing with their toys 😉 I work a lot, and I do mean A LOT, so we try to have fun 🙂

Are there any perks to owning your own business? Like what?
Being the boss is awesome because you make all the rules and answer to no one!! But that also makes it extremely more difficult because your success or failure is dependent on you and your choices. So you have to own up all your decisions. And the boss doesn’t believe you when you call in sick.

Do you participate in any way with your local community? How? Here’s your chance to give a shout out to your community projects. 😉
I try to participate in any way I can, although my free time is very limited. I do, however, sit on the local visitors bureau and try to help bring new people to our city. We also donate toys to a local charity telethon auction every year called “We Care”.  As well as donate items & recyclables to different local charities like the Kokomo Rescue Mission, Jackson Street Commons (housing for homeless veterans) & the Domestic Violence Shelter.

Do you feel it’s easier or harder being a female entrepreneur? What advice would you give you a young female entrepreneur or anyone looking to start a business? What advice would you give someone to stay the course, and not give up?
It’s always a little more difficult being a woman in a predominantly male field of work. It’s a little frustrating when people approach your male customer instead of realizing you, the chick behind the counter is actually the owner. But it’s usually a pleasant surprise for them 🙂 Always stay the course, but realize you will need thick skin to do so. Don’t take it too personally that they don’t recognize you as the owner, then drop some nerd knowledge on them 😉

and from one of my readers: What do you collect? Do you go to comic conventions?
I have collected and uncollected many things over the years. I had a very large He-Man/She-Ra collection. But right now I’m really into the Ashley Wood Art that 3A has been putting out. I like to collect things I like and not necessarily a complete line of anything. So I have some different pieces from him, mostly the panda suits O.o

I do not get out of the shop much to get anywhere. I rarely make conventions, as I HATE lines, but I’ll hit a toy show every now and then.

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these. 😉

Thanks, Michelle!!

We’ll be celebrating “Geek Street” all summer! We will try to have some fun stuff going on so stay tuned! You can follow us on FB & Instagram (plus Geek Street has it’s own FB page now).

And tada, my second online interview has been completed. And I really want to thank Amber for her time! That is the reason for online interviews, we don’t have to get together which for the majority of my friends is highly difficult to do. 😉 And I waited a bit on this before posting as I wanted it for the FCBD weekend!! And Bonus, it’s the opening day of Marvel’s Civil War! 😀 So what a great day to post this interview! 😉   and as for the FCBD angle;there’s a comic book store right next door to Kokomo Toys. 😉 

 

***Want to be interviewed, I’m looking for artists, cosplayers, and hobbiers. My friend, Brad makes proton packs and I’d love to do an interview with him, I have a lot of artist friends and I’d love to interview one of you too. As for the cosplayers, I have a lot of you I want to interview. Message me on FB if you’d like to be interviewed. It’s by email, and I’ll send you the list of questions. 😉

FCBD aka Free Comic Book Day

Is this Saturday!! 😀

and here is the site to find the comic book store near you!

This is the Fifteenth year of FCBD! wooHOO!

late…my opinion of FCBD

Okay so free comic book day is over. I know, it’s sad. However most people think that it’s just about getting free comics.

Guess what? I don’t think so.

How many of you went to a comic book store? Have you ever been to one before? And if you’re a nerd like me, how many did you go to? LOL Okay I only went to one this year. But in the past I have gone to my local and then to another one in another city. Why? Why not! :p

So for those that have never been before, and this was your first time, how was it? Did you have fun? Did you know this book store existed?   To me that is the reason for FCBD! You found a book store! and bonus, you got free comic books.

It’s also a way to meet new people, which I did! WooHOO! Hi Christy and Kyle!  And for those of us that do cosplay, it’s another fun day! No, I didn’t this year. But GenCon is right around the corner. 😉 hee hee

It’s also a way for these locally run businesses to get new customers in their doors. I am definitely a customer now at the store I went to. I found those lovely Harley Quinn statues there. Photo below of Happy Hubs! And the owner has messaged me about some new stuff that she is ordering for me. WooHOOO! I did inform her, if she could let me know when the new Wonder Woman or Harley Quinn stuff is available we’d be her customers. And she did. 😀 So new clientele!

In my opinion Free Comic Book Day or FCBD is the day to get out and find a new book store, encourage kids to read, and/or adults, and to find other like minded people. It’s also a great way to shop locally with independent bookstores. Not everything is available on the net. IKR! lol

 Start of the Day, and yes, I themed my outfit! lol 

Some of the posters on the Wall at Aw Yeah Comics
107 N. High Street
Muncie, IN 47305

 Some of the jewelry and not just for the girlies either.

Photo I texted hubs-he was at work. And nope he didn’t have her. *Yoink!*

A mini Wonder Woman statue for me! 😀

And this is why you marry a fellow geek! We buckle in our precious purchases! LOL 😀

My Free Comic Books!
Yes, the Stargate one is an older book but I didn’t have it!!

And see, Happy Hubs! With all the Harley stuff I bought him!
I’ll be doing a post with photos of his Harley collection-per his request! 😉

Special FCBD IOTD

IOTD

Happy Monday! let’s get this party started [_]>

What do I want? Caffeine!

When do I want it? NOW! LOL [_]> yes, the smartass is strong in this one today!

so let’s recap the weekend:

May the Fourth be with you; and it was also free comic book day! I ran some errands, picked up an outfit I ordered online for Hubs at Hot Topic. For the upcoming May 18th Star Trek “Into Darkness” movie. I’ll be in uniform at the 16 IMAX in Hamilton with my Klingon brethren of the ship; IKS pongHa’lu’. Sorry no, not a Klingon. I’m just lucky enough to serve on a Klingon ship! 😀
I’m also working on putting my uniform together. 🙂 OH yes, I am a nerd! DUH! LOL snorts

So I went to a new comic book store in Indy, I’d heard good reviews on it, well those reviewers must’ve been dudes! You know, I really really thought the whole gender stereotype about which gender reads comics was dead! OOPS! I was apparently wrong. OMG! I didn’t tag the store in my Facebook feed, because honestly I’m not giving this store any advertising.

Then I went to Keystone at the Crossing, love ❤ Brighton. I had bought a hair clip um, maybe five years ago. It was my favorite! And it broke. 😦 But they exchanged it for me, no problems. And I got cookies and coffee too! LOL 😀
After that it was Castleton Square to pick up hubs cool outfit. And *wave* hi to a friend that was behind the mall. LOL Gotta love social media. Virtual waves. 🙂 After that it was time to fuel up the car, and me. Starbucks!! Woot! Yes, I know I have an issue with caffeine. If I don’t get it, it’ll be an issue. 😛
Drove back home, stopped by Walgreen’s to grab a few items, and say HI to some friends. And then I waited till Hubs could take me to the local comic book store. I can never find it. Course it doesn’t help that he takes a different route every time. The name of the store is Temporal Comics and Sci-Fi, so he teases me, it changes location every time. LOL And no, I’m not directionally challenged. I know that Ft Wayne is up/North, Indy is down/South, NY is East, and LA is West. LOL Drives me bonkers when ppl here in North Central Indiana say they are going up to Indy this weekend. NO no no, you’re going DOWN! oi! LOL 😛
Anywho got my free comic, and a rubber bracelet thingie too! And bonus, he’s ordering a special order for me too!! Awesome!
So the organization thingie that Hubs had planned for me to do on Saturday, nope didn’t happen! oops!

Cinco de Maio; And the awesome outfit I got Hubs, didn’t fit. OMG! He’s lost a ton of weight, but the shirt was cut to small… so I ended up going to my ‘local’ Hot Topic in Muncie. And woohoo! It’s like cheers there for moi. I walk in, and they say hi Michelle! sweet!! 🙂
Oh back up, I got to the mall to early, forgot it was Sunday, and that they didn’t open till Noon. So I was in, walking with the mall walkers, cracking a few of them up. And then found a nice place to sit, read my digital book, and cheer on the walkers. I had done five laps. I was good. LOL 😛 So back to the story, I was able to return his outfit, and they refunded the money with no issues. And then…I started browsing, yeah, that’s dangerous in Hot Topic, it was buy one, get one half off. So I um…yeah. I’m the proud owner of the new Wonder Woman mini messenger bag, as well as getting a Tardis keychain for one of Hub’s friends. She loves the Eleventh Doctor. So that should make her a happy camper!
After that, my local comic book store was closed-boo! So I went to go get my nails done. I have to have them pretty for the movie. And natch, I needed my hair cut as well. Decided to keep it long, and try something different. Texted my stylist to see if she could fit me in Sunday for a color enhancement- aka- color my grays. Yeah, I’m not going gray gracefully. 😛
Then went to Starbucks…what? It was right there, fueled up the car, and drove back to Marion. Where I went to Walgreen’s again, and for the make up girlies, forget Mac’s Paintpots, time to switch to Maybelline’s Tattoo eyeshadows, you can wear alone, or add your shadow over it and watch the color pop! Not to mention that the price difference is very noticeable and this week at Walgreen’s, it’s buy one, get one half off! If you’re a rewards member, and why aren’t you? You earn 2,500 points on each one. So I got 5,000 points on my card, and saved about $20 for my eyeshadow primer. Or if it’s a lazy morning, the color looks good on it’s on. I’m wearing Bronze this morning, and it looks great by itself. 🙂
My stylist got a hold of me, and while she quit the salon she worked at, she was an independent renting a booth. She wasn’t getting enough time there. And so she decided to barter with me, for the color enhancement. I’ll be doing some flyers for her, and bought her Chinese take out. She colored my hair back to it’s beautiful brunette. And then after all of that, I decided to be socialable on facebook. And my flygirlie friends had me spewing my soda three times with the pix and comments that they made. I needed that belly laugh! Heaven help if we ever get in the same room together. LOL
And no, that organizing thing, dang. Still didn’t happen! lol oops!

And now to today; Revenge of the Sixth! LOL 😛
It’s Kavan Smith’s birthday, aka Major Lorne of Stargate Atlantis. And I’ll be posting some pix later on the photoblog to celebrate with my flygirlies!! 😀
And now, it’s time to go find some more caff, and look at my schedule for the day, and see what’s what.

OH Hubs just texted me, I have till Friday to do some of that organizing thing he wants me to do. wooooooo! oh yay, be still my heart. 😀 We have a contractor coming out to look at the Water Heater, and natch it’s in my closet. Oh well, I can go back through the clothes again and get rid of some more stuff. After losing the weight, a lot doesn’t fit me anymore. So time to get rid of it. But but it’s purple and sparkly….LOL 😛

I hope ya’ll have an awesome day! It’s another beautiful day in North Central Indiana, I have blue skies, little cloud cover, and it’s 66 degrees Fahrenheit.
Laters!