Goodbye Tokyopop!!
So I went to the Tokyopop Garage Sale today to see what I could pick up. Luckily, I had the foresight to get there about 30-45 minutes before the opening time and be in the first group of people that they let upstairs at 10am. Unluckily, it didn't occur to me to skip the gym this morning and go at 6:30am, cuz then I would have been in the super early group that got all the good stuff.... Oh well...
And even though I say all the good stuff was gone, I still made off with 35 different piece for a total of $82!! I felt like a kid in a candy store. When I saw something that I like, I picked it up. Unlike other people, I was focused solely on manga, so I wasn't distracted by posters and figurines. At one point, after I had unloaded a large amount into my bag, I had stopped to think, "Maybe I should exercise some self-control." Then I thought, "NAH!" I ended up finding pieces from 3 of the 5 series that I had set out to find. Managed to find an out of print copy of Full Metal Panic Novel Volume 2 (score!). I thought it was funny when people were standing debating if they should buy something or not. I wanted to tell them, "Just buy it! You can afford another $2!"
Breakdown of Loot:
11 volumes of Gakuen Alice
1 volume of Aria
2 FMP novels
1 Twelve Kingdoms novel
3 DN Angel volumes
3 Lagoon Engine Volumes
3 NG Life volumes
8 +Anima volumes
3 volumes of various BL
Does that add up to 35?
Now I have to work on completing these series that I bought...probably not DN Angel or Lagoon Engine. I have all of DN Angel in Japanese, and Lagoon Engine is just meh to me.
I had been hesitating whether I should buy Gakuen Alice or not because its a long series to collect from scratch, and if I could only find a few volumes, it might not be worth the hunt to locate the rest. But then I found a box with a bunch of volumes in it, and after I picked through it and found that most of the series was there, I decided to buy it. Later, I found someone had posted a video of what she saw at the sale, and I was curious if she had been in my group to go up or not. But then I saw the Gakuen Alice box and saw that it had been raided by me, and I knew she had gotten up there after me. XD
When I was leaving (actually I think I was among the first, if not the first...actually I think I was second) to leave from the 10am group. I chatted with the guy working there for a bit, and found out that he had been Tokyopop for a while. So then I had to thank him being a part of the company that basically made up half of my life and got a high-five. Once I got downstairs, I swear everyone in line waiting to go up was staring at me and my gigantic bag full of manga... Awkward....
It's sorta crazy to think that its coming to an end. But the North American anime/manga bubble has definitely popped and there have to be some casualties. Never thought it would claim Tokyopop though. This company has been there from almost the start of my anime/manga craze, and it'll be a bit weird now that it's gone. Just think, 10 years from now we'll look on our bookselves and say, "Hey... Remember when Tokyopop was still around?"
Thanks for all the good time Tokyopop!
And even though I say all the good stuff was gone, I still made off with 35 different piece for a total of $82!! I felt like a kid in a candy store. When I saw something that I like, I picked it up. Unlike other people, I was focused solely on manga, so I wasn't distracted by posters and figurines. At one point, after I had unloaded a large amount into my bag, I had stopped to think, "Maybe I should exercise some self-control." Then I thought, "NAH!" I ended up finding pieces from 3 of the 5 series that I had set out to find. Managed to find an out of print copy of Full Metal Panic Novel Volume 2 (score!). I thought it was funny when people were standing debating if they should buy something or not. I wanted to tell them, "Just buy it! You can afford another $2!"
Breakdown of Loot:
11 volumes of Gakuen Alice
1 volume of Aria
2 FMP novels
1 Twelve Kingdoms novel
3 DN Angel volumes
3 Lagoon Engine Volumes
3 NG Life volumes
8 +Anima volumes
3 volumes of various BL
Does that add up to 35?
Now I have to work on completing these series that I bought...probably not DN Angel or Lagoon Engine. I have all of DN Angel in Japanese, and Lagoon Engine is just meh to me.
I had been hesitating whether I should buy Gakuen Alice or not because its a long series to collect from scratch, and if I could only find a few volumes, it might not be worth the hunt to locate the rest. But then I found a box with a bunch of volumes in it, and after I picked through it and found that most of the series was there, I decided to buy it. Later, I found someone had posted a video of what she saw at the sale, and I was curious if she had been in my group to go up or not. But then I saw the Gakuen Alice box and saw that it had been raided by me, and I knew she had gotten up there after me. XD
When I was leaving (actually I think I was among the first, if not the first...actually I think I was second) to leave from the 10am group. I chatted with the guy working there for a bit, and found out that he had been Tokyopop for a while. So then I had to thank him being a part of the company that basically made up half of my life and got a high-five. Once I got downstairs, I swear everyone in line waiting to go up was staring at me and my gigantic bag full of manga... Awkward....
It's sorta crazy to think that its coming to an end. But the North American anime/manga bubble has definitely popped and there have to be some casualties. Never thought it would claim Tokyopop though. This company has been there from almost the start of my anime/manga craze, and it'll be a bit weird now that it's gone. Just think, 10 years from now we'll look on our bookselves and say, "Hey... Remember when Tokyopop was still around?"
Thanks for all the good time Tokyopop!