MintyStop

 Welcome to MintyStop. Enjoy some pictures and stories.

A friend of mine used to work at this GameStop for a long time, but it's suddenly going away. We were able to game-stop in on the last night and grab pictures for them.

Sign the paper! Zoom in and read what people had to say about their favorite game store. I could write a blog post about games being downloaded these days versus buying copies in the store, but that's not what I typically do here, so I'll leave that to someone else.

Here's a neat idea. Game controllers that you can switch covers on. Seems like a cool idea, but also... Do you really look at your controller a lot? I guess if there's a few people in the house, and you need to mark them somehow. I could also mention poor Soundwave, who transformed into a tape player, and tape players don't really exist anymore.

I kinda wanted to buy something, but couldn't figure out what would make a nice memento. So we just wound up getting pictures.

They were still technically in business, so I didn't want to break any rules and wander around in the back room. Employees only!

They did let me go behind the counter to get some employee-view style pics for my friend. Did you want to buy the scratch protection replacement plan with your game today?

Awwww yeah. You know your steak is going to be good if it arrives on the sizzling griddle. This is from a local pub near my friend's house. A hidden little gem of a place.

My friend's sister went to highschool with Patti Andrzejewski! She had the yearbook to prove it! You might know her better as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist Pat Benatar. C'mon, hit me with your best shot!

The snow was blowing across the highway sideways. Kinda cool. Get it? Cool?

I know it's May already so the snow is gone. Hey, maybe I'm in Australia? Okay yeah these are old pictures from the Winter. Look at all this snow!

Check out the little streaks on the front of the car from driving through the salty-snowy roads. It's a good thing we got the weather coating when we bought the car so many years ago!

Who knows how much damage this salt could have done over the years? Sure the roads are clear to drive on, but nobody thinks about the salt corrosion on their own cars. Where's the hose at? I gotta wash this off!

The Walmart was moving around stuff in the store, and the new area had these ancient figures covered in a thick layer of dust! I wonder where they were hiding this whole time? The back of the package said 2017 and it's now 2025.

Squishmallow cereal with marshmallows. Perfect. Something tells me this should be ALL marshmallows, but I guess you can't have that, really.

Speaking of Squishmallows... Lego sets! Whoops! I mean, brick compatible with major brands... sets! Earlier in the year, Lego included Squishmallow-style plushies into a few Lego sets, and did not say "Squishmallow." So, what happened? Does anybody care that each of them is kinda ripping off the other one here?

Ah, Glenn. You know, a lot of people flat-out dropped The Walking Dead when his character um... "was written-off the show." You could write essays about the usefulness of shock value versus audience attachment to the show, or whatever. I stuck with the series until the end, but we sure did miss Glenn.

This cute little collection helps illustrate why I'm a fan of the "Music Video' art. You should be able to clearly identify the costumes to the Britney Spears songs. Can anybody have a big snake on their shoulders and you not think about that moment?

Hahaha! It's me! The Minty version of um... Dog dental treats! Woof, your breath is minty!

The name on that POP! Figure should be "Alistair Cookie" from the recurring bit Monsterpiece Theater. the host of the real Masterpiece Theater, Alistair Cooke, was a huge fan of this parody take on him. It's just magical watching Cookie Monster trying to act all British and serious. It had been decades since I've seen it, but it instantly gave me a huge smile to see this.

A funny picture I really can't add anything to. Have you ever been to a rodeo before? Me, neither! I can't wait to go, and say this!

Did they run out of stickers? Why are some of these not on sale? The second season of Squid Game was fine, but the first season was 100% AMAZING perfection.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the Sandcrawler? What a cool thing. Like a little mobile fortress, full of little wizard droid scavengers. How much art and creativity in such a small portion of the Star Wars movie.

This might wind up being a long story, but remember that one Looney Tunes cartoon with the barking dog and the un-fazzed kitten who would cuddle on the dog's back? At the end, the kitten wanders into the mixer and the dog thinks the mom made a cookie out of it? Well, that piece of toast reminded me of that. It's the Hello Kitty version of that bit. I looked it up it's called "Feed the Kitty."

Why would a guy with one arm need two lightsabers? It's really one double-bladed lightsaber like Darth Maul had. That guy knows they have robot arms in Star Wars, right? I've never played the game he's from, so I don't know why. Also the woman with the floppy purple lightsaber from The Acolyte.

I think I already got a picture of Mr. Belding, but that other character, from the She Hulk series, her full name is "Madisynn, with two Ns and one Y, but it's not where you thi-ink!"

Cute characters from Genshin Impact. The stories are too long and complicated to explain, but both The Raiden Shogun and Qiqi are cool.

"Fun"? Really? I was literally stunned when I saw this. Do I vomit? Scream? Laugh hysterically? I suppose it's better than butchering a real frog, at least, but I still don't know what I think about this.

There was a moment in the Star Wars: The Acolytle TV series when this gerbil alien shows up, and the character awkwardly asks is "Is he... or they,.. with us?" thus awkwardly putting some gender-politics into the Star Wars that they never cleared up in the show. Mystery solved! The action figure clearly says both "he" and "his!"

Is this too much? Nah. I don't think so. Have a fun time drinking a beverage.

Did you know that Lego "got" the Pokemon license, and will be making sets for it next year? They have some high standards to live up to, as Mega Bloks was making some pretty great sets already.

I was about to say "all six main characters!" from Saved By The Bell! But Mr. Belding totally counts as the 7th. Where's his Little People figure? He'd be the first to say he's not bothered by it, it's the kids who are important. What a great guy he always was.