OBX21 Too Much Shopping

 There was so many pictures we grabbed while out regular-shopping on vacation, that they spilled over into two batches. Enjoy the fun comments.

If I could have time in a bottle... Okay how about we spell it "Thyme" and put it in a jar? Close enough? Now which jar has "Vacation" in it? Can I have that in a bottle, too?

It just struck me a mega-evil to not only eat these poor defenseless dragon eggs, but that they chew like gum, to prolong the evilness. Mwa-ha-ha! Chew chew chew... Mwa-Ha!

How do you think these actors feel about this? Yes, you were in a movie, but that movie is now being sold a the dollar store for only 1$. This particular one is in a double-feature set, so it's technically not even a full dollar. I think personally, I'd still be happy people are seeing my work, no matter where it's sold or for how much. Hey, what did it cost for you to read my blog?

At the gaming store, I spotted a My Little Pony roleplaying game box set. Can I make a Minty character with a magic camera? I want to take a picture of the dragon!

Due to the covid pandemic mess shutting down all sorts of conventions, they were given convention-exclusive Magic: The Gathering card packs to sell. At $15 per pack, you can really feel like you are at a convention spending tons of money. My friends each bought one pack.

The store's t-shirts were very cool looking. However, there have been a couple of other OBX comic shops in the past where we buy the cool shirt, and those have gone out-of-business. Was it a t-shirt curse? We did not buy the shirts, just in case.

The convention-exclusive pack had random cards from multiple sets. The extra-special card in the pack is known as a "playtest" card which is printed to look like a plain white paper print-out stuck over a regular card. When the company is testing cards, they print out simple mock-ups to be placed in sleeves, so they can experiment if cards are good or not. Normally players never get to see these cards.

We had a big conversation about Naan Bread so when I saw some in the store I grabbed a picture to send to them. This is just what we were talking about! Does anybody else do that?

Always funny to see the knock-off brand names in the stores. Because they have to be recognizable to the thing they are trying to rip off, it's a delicate balance of knowing, sure... Dr. Perky must be the same as Dr. Pepper. If they had their own unique name and label color, nobody would know what it's supposed to be. That makes more sense and less sense at the same time. Are they not confident they can sell it without the obvious comparison? 

They sell the little cups and ping pong balls right in the alcohol aisle. Back in my day, you tried to flip quarters into shot glasses. Anybody remember that? I don't drink at all, but I still remember that's what they did instead of ping pong balls in cups.

The cutest little puppy was just walking around in the grocery store. No collar or tag or anything. Somebody was giving it commands, and it seemed to be tagging along with them, but still odd and fun to see the dog seeming to be just living it's own life.

We did stop in to see the Candy Kingdom again, it was such a fun place, but nobody really wanted any candy. I convinced them to stop in so I could at least get some pictures of lame tourist stuff. So far we had stayed away from the lame tourist gift shops.

This is a total vacation type of store. Too-huge and silly, a victim of it's own hype, kids will surely have fond memories of the crazy big candy store they visited while on vacation.

I got pictures last time of the My Little Pony rip-off merch. Still funny to me.

Ever wonder what Peppa Pig looks like on the inside? Like, candy, of course!

I think I got a picture of this mermaid key chain last time I was here, too. The little gem on her belly button will totally blind you if you look right at it! If this one has still been here after a couple of years, at least the battery is still blindingly good.

Rip-off Pokemon Squirtle plushies. You can pretend they are "shiny" versions.

Not only do they get to outrageously sell you a lollypop with a WORM in it, but they get to charge you an extra outrageous price! To eat a worm, you'd think they would actually GIVE you the $5 to eat it? Don't want a worm? There's cricket ones, too.

UGH! Again. How is it 2021 and they still sell candy cigarettes? All of the anti-smoking campaigns, and they still don't see this? Not to mention, the store is buying them. Shouldn't at least THEY know better? Am I being too sensitive here? Sometimes I think I might be, but c'mon already with the candy cigarettes.

Um, where are we again? It's funny to see non-local sports teams in a vacation spot. Go New Jersey Devils! Do they even have ice hockey in North Carolina?

Super awesome marble carved hammerhead shark sculpture for only $300. Hey, rich people need souvenirs, too.

"Misty" Ooohh so close! I don't think I'll ever see one that says "Minty". Sometimes having a unique name is cool, until you look for a lame souvenir with your name on it.

Giant candy wrapper bench photo op spot outside, so your kids can remember the crazy big candy store more. They won't remember that this is where all the cavities in their teeth came from, but they'll look back fondly on the fun picture on the candy wrapper bench!