Comic Book Men - Fourth Season

What was the most beneficial super power

for anyone who works at the stash?

- Be able to read minds. - Read minds?

Yeah. Let's say, for instance,

some guy comes in with an action figure...

- Okay. - Looking to sell it.

- Right. - The negotiation is over.

Yeah, but that might not be the price that you'll get.

So what? I don't have to do-si-do anymore with the dude.

Don't you like that little bit of back and forth?

No. I'd much rather be done with it.

What about you? What would be the best power to have?

Invisibility.

Nobody would ever steal from here again.

So now, I'm paying you just to stand at the front door

and be invisible for eight hours a day?

He performs the same task as a fake security camera.

What about you? You got one?

I can't think of one that I would waste.

I can stay here.

Hello, and welcome to another episode

of Comic Book Men, the only show

that thought itself worthy enough to lift Mjolnir,

but only got real Thor.

I'm Kevin Smith.

- Bryan Johnson. - Walt Flanagan.

- Mike Zapcic. - Ming Chen.

I'm hungry for food, and I'm hungry for answers, man.

What happened at the store this week?

The other day a guy brought in a couple of items...

something that I remember from my childhood.

- Hey, how you doing? - What's cracking?

- What's going on, now? - What's up, man?

Got a question for you.

Are you guys into any of that John Kaiju stuff?

What do you mean, like Godzilla?

- Godzilla, stuff like that. - We're into that.

- What do you got? - Ready? Ready?

- Oh. - Boom, check it.

- Ultraman, right? - You got it.

I'm a big Ultraman fan. It's kind of cult here

in the U.S., wouldn't you agree though?

Right, right. Well, yeah. I was raised on it,

- my man, I was raised on it. - Oh, yeah?

I have never seen Asian people before,

until I started watching Ultraman.

So there you go, my man. There you go.

Goes around in a big circle, right?

Was it a big surprise to you when you found out

they all couldn't turn into Ultramen?

Yeah, it was, you know.

I was a fan of Ultraman.

He was a protector of the asians.

I was a big fan. I don't recall

watching any episode where he just declared,

"I'm only gonna protect Asian people."

Okay, well, I didn't see that part, but I mean...

that part I made up in my head and heart.

"Ha ha ha ha, let those white people die, Ultraman."

Where'd you get these at?

A friend of mine was teaching

conversational English in Japan.

He knew I was an Ultraman geek, so he kind of,

sort of worked around the law to get them to me,

because they were not allowed to be released

- out of the country. - Really?

You're looking at some contraband.

So there you go.

Are you sure that there wasn't something packed

- inside the Ultraman? - No, no, no.

Come on, man.

I don't know how much I believe that.

I can't imagine that

there was some sort of ban on, you know...

like midnight express.

He has, like, a bunch of Ultramans around his waist.

Guns trained on him.

All right, what are you wanting for them?

Like, a hunny apiece.

- A hundred apiece. - Oh, oh, a hunny apiece?

A hunny apiece.

Oh, so your looking to get 200 for these?

See, I really don't know that much about the pricing of them,

but I do have someone in the store today

who actually, probably does.

Would you mind if I brought him over?

- Sure, why not. - Hey, Robert?

- Yeah. - Can you come here for one sec?

Sure thing, Walt.

More than just a pop culturalist, Rob Bruce,

who we turn to for a lot of deeper looks

to some of the products that come through the doors...

also world renowned as the kaiju expert.

Yeah, he's, like, the collector.

He just goes around collecting titles.

Sound battlers, wow.

This was actually produced

as a show called Ultraman towards the future.

- In Australia. - Right.

This was distributed in the U.S.

This was the last time that actually Ultraman

was on the U.S. soil.

- Mm-hmm. - So he's come in today.

He wants to sell them. He's looking to get a hunny each.

- What's a hunny? - A hundred, c-note, Benjamin...

is that a fair price

would that I'd be paying for these today?

Well, I... you know, if they were boxed...

but the thing is, the reason they didn't come in boxes,

my buddy had to smuggle these bad boys through.

- Contraband, he's saying. - Contraband.

I don't understand that.

I think he just could've mailed them and not worried about it.

How about 1990... 93, 94?

I've got a pretty big collection,

and a lot of it I bought in the '90s,

and I wasn't smuggling it out ofapan.

It's about to get heated up in here.

Well, my stuff is smuggled.

Getting back to $100 apiece...

I don't see that.

So, Robert, what is the retail on these two pieces?

Probably $65 apiece,

which means if I was going to buy them,

I'd buy them for 25 bucks apiece.

Wow.

- But that's me. - Kicked me in the nuts.

Didn't even lift your leg.

Oh, my lord.

- That's him. - That's him.

- Yeah. - We talking to you.

I mean, I'd be more interested in this guy

than the Australia one.

The narrow... what are... what are... what are you looking at?

The other thing to concern yourself with...

oh, man, he's back.

It's bandai. It's not x-plus.

Now, if they were x-plus figures, they'd be hot.

40?

60.

- 45. - 55.

I'm gonna... I'm gonna stay at 45.

- Ten bucks? - Ten bucks is ten bucks.

It's the difference between making

a profit and breaking even.

Keeping the lights on and having them turned off.

I think you better watch out. You're about to have

your lights turned out, it looks like.

Okay, all right, all right, I'll go 50.

And, you know it, just... 50 as long as he don't-

he walked out in one piece?

- Yes. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- 50 and no punch. - Is that good?

50 and no punching?

He just saved you.

50 and no punching.

- We good? - We're good, 50.

You owe us, rob.

I think I do.

Kevin, as promised, I'm here.

Brought something special to show you guys.

- Oh. - Oh, my God.

I don't mean this in an... in a bad way,

but at times, I find myself challenged by,

like, hanging out with you guys.

But I think, like, if I had myself

to talk to and hang out with,

like, go to ball games, go out to dinner with...

I think I'd be really, really happy.

Like, you're driving down the street.

You see a comic book shop, and you're like,

"ooh, let's stop there," and he's like...

"should we stop?" And, you know, like, my clone

- goes, "why'd you even ask?" - Right.

We're not together all the time,

but we spend as much time together as humanly possible.

So you guys don't bang is what you're saying?

Well, that's...

- that's good to hear. - Well, I mean, come on.

I mean, we have so much in common.

Eventually it's gonna cross our minds.

Maybe he'd turn... he'd turn you.

If anybody could turn me, it's me.

Winter soldier.

- That's a one. - Put plus one on there.

Earth 1. - Put down plus three.

- Hey, guys. - Kevin.

- How's it going? - How you doing?

As promised, I'm here.

Brought something special to show you guys.

So one of the coolest things that we've been doing lately

is hitting the con circuit.

And the coolest part's meeting

some of the big creators that we'd buy our...

naturally, man, you're rubbing elbows.

You're right there with them.

And one of the guys that we've been kind of

making friends with is Kevin eastman,

co-creator of the teenage mutant Ninja Turtles.

Heroes on the half shell, man. Heavens.