Comic Book Men 511“Insta-Ming”
In Insta-Ming, a modern classic featuring the first appearance of a popular character enters the Stash, Ming gets a selfie stick to raise his online profile while documenting events at the shop and Walt checks out some bootleg toys from an 80’ blockbuster film.
A customer brings in a copy of Batman Adventures #12 from 1993 featuring the first comic book appearance of Harley Quinn. Quinn’s significance and her many incarnations are discussed including the fact that she’s currently the hottest selling character at DC. Some Gotham City style bargaining begins between Walt and the customer until they both decide to walk away from any potential deal.
Ming begins to use his selfie stick to capture life behind the scenes at the Stash in an attempt to gain more followers on Instagram. Walt and Mike are less than impressed with Ming as he takes pics of them while they’re working.
The classic horror magazine, Fangoria makes an appearance at the Stash when a customer brings in his collection for sale. During the podcast segment, Kevin reminisces about Fangoria calling it the ‘porn of horror’ of its time. However, with the advent of the internet, magazines like Fangoria have ceased to be the go to spot for this kind of content. At the height of its success, Fangoria was the place to get the latest in horror movie information and news.
A set of Flash Gordon toys from the late 70’s is brought in for sale and as Walt recounts the animated series they’re based on it becomes clear that the figures bear an uncanny resemblance to some of the crew at the Stash. While the Flash Gordon figures were interesting, the items that garnered the most interest were some made in Mexico bootleg figures from the Neverending Story (1984).
Ming’s selfie stick adventure comes to an end when his photos interrupt a potential deal for the bootleg toys. Bryan takes matters into his own hands and snaps the selfie stick in two, much to Ming’s dismay. Despite his protests Ming later reveals that his pictures achieved the goal of increasing his followers.
