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Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. Fiona lives with her family in Essex. Her latest book, Some of Us are Liars, is out now.We had great fun chatting with Fiona, hearing about the highs and lows of being a journalist (including her favourite celeb encounters), and also about how that experience has helped her as a fiction author. We also talk about what draws her to writing dark fiction and why every author needs tenacity to keep going in publishing.Links:Buy Fiona's books nowFollow Fiona on BlueskySupport us on Patreon and get great benefits!: https://www.patreon.com/ukpageonePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on FacebookFollow us on InstagramFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Collector***Written by: Em S. Lyn and Narrated by: Megan McDuffee***Foreclosure***Written by: Christian Wallis and Narrated by: Alicia Atkins***Support the show at patreon.com/creepypod***Sound design by: Pacific Obadiah***Title music by: Alex Aldea
In the evolving spectrum of human consciousness, shame lies at the lowest rung. According to Dr. David R. Hawkins in his renowned Map of Consciousness, shame calibrates at a vibrational frequency of 20—a level so corrosive to the psyche that it is often described as “near-death” for the soul.
This week on Wrist Check Pod, we sit down with Rome—a true multi-hyphenate collector whose love for sneakers, art, and horology reveals the depth of what it means to have the collector's gene. From rare kicks to modern and vintage watches, Rome walks us through his journey and philosophy as a collector. We also share a first-ever live unboxing on the pod of a very special timepiece he just received. Tune in for stories, strategy, and pure collector energy.Powered by @getbezel Shop 20,000+ watches at getbezel.com, and Download the Bezel app at download.getbezel.comSUBSCRIBE to get the latest Wrist Check Pod content Follow us on instagram
Welcome back to another episode of "The 151 Collective". Zack Mo and Collector review our weeks in collecting, talk pokemon market, revisit the weekly "Pokemon Highlight", and of course revisit our weekly rankings
Thanks once again to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment for shipping me a review Blu-ray copy of THE WOMAN IN THE YARD!This has been a good way to catch up on movies I missed in the theaters. The teaser for this movie sucked me in right away because it's simple: a family living at a farm house, with no neighbors as far as the eye can see and almost as far as the foot can walk...but then they see a creepy veiled woman, dressed in all black, sitting at the end of the driveway.There's the thinnest veneer of civility in our daily lives. All it takes to send us into paranoid or hostile spirals is one uninvited person approaching our space. Shit, we really are just animals, aren't we? Now imagine this person carries herself with the kind of calm yet firm demeanor reserved only for folks who know they can back up what they say. They can overpower you at any time and the only reason this movie doesn't end in five minutes is strictly due to the fact that they're not just here to rob or pillage or fight. There's something deeper going on.This Woman (Okwui Okpokwasali) is here for Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler). She's the matriarch of a young family: young teen Taylor (Peyton Jackson) and elementary-aged Annie (Estella Kahiha). Ramona's husband has just died in a car accident; the movie starts with her getting around on crutches.Taylor's trying to be the man of the house with the limited resources a 14-year-old has: no groceries, no license, no electricity. Bills pile up; Ramona lies in bed, rotting in her own mind. It's within this scenario the Woman arrives, revealing she knows more about Ramona and her family than any stranger ever should.The movie plays out like a wind-up toy, setting up all the necessary pieces and letting the tension play out, watching Ramona and the kids try to figure a method of escape or deterrence. As the Woman grows closer, almost at the pace of shadows cast by a gliding Sun, secrets are revealed and Ramona's state of mind continues to warp, influenced by the Woman's otherworldly presence. Collet-Serra crafts genre set pieces that work as metaphors for Ramona's deteriorating mental illness, though leave me focused more so on how this works within the movie's world rather than how Ramona's mind is reflected within these scares.I've always appreciated Deadwyler's gusto in pursuing a wide variety of projects (this to I SAW THE TV GLOW to THE PIANO LESSON, TILL and the upcoming siege thriller 40 ACRES carves a wide swath). She plays so much internal strife within her eyes and expressions; there's a woman who's fighting not only to survive, but also stave off this nagging reminder that she never wanted this kind of life. This isn't the plan she had for herself. It's hard not to wallow in self-pity. Deadwyler carries all of this in a way that never feels maudlin, always relatable.The movie doesn't overstay its welcome, coming in at a breezy 88 minutes. Some sci-fi elements threaten to overstuff the story and I wish they'd been developed more throughout the movie rather than explained within the climax. Regardless, the movie, much like most of Collet-Serra's filmography sits at a comfortable 5-6 out of 10, perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon.The Blu-ray release? I can't understand why I'd pick up a "Collector's Edition" without so much as a commentary. The two featurettes into the making of the movie and design of the Woman are nice, but in 2025, falls below the standard for home video ownership.Streaming's already made Blu-rays rarer and more expensive; this sparse set of bonus features wouldn't make me feel any better about dropping $20 for the disc. It shouldn't entice you to do the same.---Please rate, review and subscribe to The Movies wherever you listen to podcasts!Follow The Movies on Instagram and Letterboxd
The main event is finally here. And it's the pinnacle of one of the greatest Star Wars collectors weekends ever. In May of 2024, 200 collectors traveled to Kennesaw, Georgia for Rogue Fun, a multi-day Star Wars trip centering on collecting and connecting. And on Saturday, May the Fourth, the Georgia Alliance hosted a 7-hour ballroom event, featuring dinner, room sales and five incredible Star Wars-themed panel presentations. The panels covered the history of Star Wars and the Sears holiday catalogs, two legendary action figure customizers, the artist who introduced Boba Fett to the world in 1978, and Steve Sansweet and the authors of two of the most iconic books about collectibles. And the presentations ended with a wildly funny and insightful chat with two former Kenner creatives who worked on the Kenner line and helped design some of the most beloved Star Wars figures and playsets. The evening concluded with every collector's dream: an epic room sales event in the ballroom. From Kenner to Hasbro, and from prototypes and production pieces, the event had enough Star Wars items for sale to fill an entire store! Join host David Quinn for an in-depth look at day three of the memorable Rogue Fun weekend. Featuring live moments and stories from Star Wars fans and collectors Rich Alot, Howard Bollinger, Lewis Brown, John Celestri, Tim Effler, Matt Fox, Jerry Hancock, Josie Harmon, Paul Harrison, Don Henderson, Erik Janniche, Bruce Lieberman, Jonathan McElwain, Doug Meyer, Maggie Moore, Shawn Moynihan, Narayan S. Naik, Steven J. Sansweet, Barry Scott, Ryan Shaw, Jason Smith, Tim Theall, Mike Tricomi, Vinny Tricomi, Jason Wasulko, Shannon Wasulko, Gary Ray Weaver, Glen Williams and many more! This is the magic of the Star Wars collecting community at its peak. And this is Star Wars: Prototypes and Production! To Listen to the Episode on the Prototype Archives Site: https://www.prototypearchives.com/podcast Links to the Episode on Various Podcast Platforms: APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-wars-prototypes-and-production/id1448205460 YOUTUBE MUSIC/PODCASTS: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7UruGWpd8qKrObL8-DSLekomB8GuB1VT SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/744L0XQhmpXn2AZeaxUhOZ CASTBOX: https://castbox.fm/channel/Star-Wars%3A-Prototypes-and-Production-id1904296?utm_source=website&utm_medium=dlink&utm_campaign=web_share&utm_content=Star%20Wars%3A%20Prototypes%20and%20Production-CastBox_FM STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/show/1054209 PANDORA: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/star-wars-prototypes-and-production/PC:1001054209 PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/u4ywr-80960/ AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c98fb265-c233-43d9-ae3b-1102bfb03e45/star-wars-prototypes-and-production PLAYERFM: https://player.fm/series/2473540 SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/david-quinn-908355451/tracks PODVINE: https://podvine.com/podcast/star-wars-prototypes-and-production iHEART: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-star-wars-prototypes-and-p-31050806/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-wars-prototypes-and-production/id1448205460
This week on The Sassenach Files podcast, we are chatting about all of the deleted scenes and Outlander Untolds found exclusively on the Collector's Edition Blu-ray released by Sony and Starz. Come along for the ride as Chelsea discusses her favorite scenes that were left on the cutting room floor, as well as some fantastic book scenes that were brought to life in season seven's bonus features. The Outlander Untolds for this season were directed by the amazing Caitriona Balfe, and she did not disappoint!
The Ryan Express was rolling along in June of 1975 as Nolan Ryan had just thrown the 4th no-hitter of his career while pitching for the California Angels. The flame throwing righty was doing things nobody had ever seen before, and would continue to do until his bionic arm finally gave out while with the Rangers in 1993. 27 seasons, 5,714 strikeouts, and 7 no-hitters later, Ryan finally was put out to pasture where he continued to be a success in whatever he did… and people noticed. One such person was Leo Ullman who two years after Ryan threw the final pitch of his Hall-of-Fame career purchased 11 Nolan Ryan baseball cards at a $1 a piece… and so began the largest collection of Nolan Ryan memorabilia that has been assembled. Saddles, cleats, bats, balls, if it had Nolan Ryan's name attached to it, Ullman purchased it, eventually amassing close to 15,000 different items in a collection that now resides at Stockton University in New Jersey. Ullman wanted the entire collection to stay input, so instead of it going to the Hall of Fame where they might have picked over the items in the collection, he kept it intact at the campus in Galloway Township. A lawyer by trade, Ullman is also an author, having written a book about his collection titled, ‘Nolan Ryan, The Largest And Most Unique Collection Of All Things Nolan Ryan, The Greatest Power Pitcher Of All Time.” But that's not the only book Mr. Ullman wrote. ‘796 Days: Hiding as a child in occupied Amsterdam during WWII and then coming to America' is the story of Leo as a 3-year old when he was taken in by a couple and hidden in their attic for over 2 1/2 years during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. The Dutch resistance put his parents in a different house and it wasn't until the war was over that young Leo was reunited with his birthparents… who survived without knowing if their little Leo had as well. Leo comes on the Past Our Prime podcast and tells us the similarities between his life's story and that of Anne Frank's. He would later go on to become a Director and Chairman of the Anne Frank Center USA and tells us that his war-parents brought him to stay with them knowing they could be executed if the Jewish boy was found for one reason… “It was the right thing to do.” His parents would emigrate to the States and settle in Brooklyn and 8-year old Leo would fall in love with Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers. A few years later the team would break Leo's heart and leave for Los Angeles, but Leo's love for baseball never waned. At some point, his allegiance turned to the Mets and years later, when Mets owner Steve Cohen heard of Leo's story, he invited him to throw out the first pitch at a game… Leo recalls how, much like a former Mets pitcher by the name of Nolan Ryan, he bounced the pitch in the dirt much to his chagrin. But he refused to let his time in that attic define him. Instead, he joyfully tells us how he spent time with the Mets in a fantasy camp years ago and still keeps in touch with his fellow Mets buddies… At age 86, Leo has gone from the nightmare of the Holocaust to a Mets Dream Week… and in between, put together the largest collection of Nolan Ryan collectibles of all-time. It's been quite the life for Leo and he tells us all about it on the Past Our Prime podcast… Give us a listen and drop us a review wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Continuing our Tweety June, where we dive into previously underlooked Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, we cover 3 from the early 50s, right around when Freleng and Foster got the formula down. Two of these are on the soon-to-be-released Looney Tunes' Collector's Vault that Warner Archive is putting out. Two of these were among Jordan's favorites from his years watching the Golden Collections. And one of these is something we've been meaning to cover for a while.Links:Jonathan's GoFundMeSupport us on PatreonFollow us on TwitterFollow us on BlueskyFollow us on Instagram
One of us has held off watching The Sun Makers for 48 years. And, now, wishes he still had!
It's Cryptic Out There plunges into the bone-chilling world of Ed Kemper, the “Co-Ed Killer,” in a bloody episode. We trace his descent from a scarred childhood to the gruesome murders that terrorized 1970s California. We unravel Kemper's twisted intellect, his savage crimes, and the cold, articulate confessions that echo like whispers from a nightmare. This episode peers into the void of a killer who wore a human mask, leaving you to confront the terror of what lurks within. CRYPTIC HOTLINE: (615) 447-8258Email: itscrypticoutthere@gmail.com Instagram: @itscrypticoutthereFacebook: It's Cryptic Out There
One of us has held off watching The Sun Makers for 48 years. And, now, wishes he still had! The post Doctor Who Adversaries – The Collector first appeared on NEOZAZ.
We review Superman (1978) on movie podcast The Collector's Cut. Superman: The Movie is directed Richard Donner and stars Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mildfuzztv twitter: https://twitter.com/ScreamsMidnight all links: https://linktr.ee/mildfuzz Audio version: https://the-collectors-cut.pinecast.co/
What happens when a lifelong NBA collector opens up space for the W?In this Collector Conversation, Carter (@mcbasketballpc) shares his journey from Grizzlies fandom and Mike Conley collecting to building one of the most thoughtful WNBA collections around.We talk about:What NBA collectors miss when they ignore the WHow Carter built a foundational Mike Conley PCThe importance of rarity and card catalogs in WNBAWhy Asia Wilson's cards are still undervaluedWhat newcomers need to know when collecting beyond Caitlin ClarkThis episode is for anyone thinking about expanding their collecting lens—and doing it with intention, joy, and long-term thinking.Get exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast Patreon[Distributed on Sunday] Sign up for the Stacking Slabs Weekly Rip Newsletter using this linkCheck out Card Ladder the official data partner of Stacking SlabsFollow Stacking Slabs: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | TiktokFollow Carter: | Instagram
Send us a textThe Scotchy Bourbon Boys reunite with Whiskey after a long hiatus to taste and review the exceptional William Heaven Hill 15-Year bourbon, a limited release that outshines even some Pappy Van Winkle expressions. • Whiskey returns to the podcast after a long break from their "10-minute tastings" that often lasted 30+ minutes• Catching up on recent bourbon experiences with Whiskey sharing his favorites including Weller 12, George T. Stagg, and Larceny Weeded Rye• Discussion of Ohio's improving bourbon lottery system making allocated bottles more accessible• Detailed examination of William Heaven Hill 15-Year, a limited release comprised of just 34 barrels aged 15 years• Tasting notes including vanilla bean, brown sugar, light leather, subtle cherry and perfect amount of char• Comparison to Pappy Van Winkle 15-Year with both hosts preferring the William Heaven Hill• Impressive 18.5/19 score on their Old Louisville Whiskey Company Barrel Bottle Breakdown scale• Insights on secondary market prices with this bottle now fetching $1,200-1,500 despite $279 retail priceCheck out www.scotchiebourbonboys.com for all things Scotchy Bourbon Boys. Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X, plus listen wherever you get your podcasts. Remember to like, subscribe, comment, and leave good feedback!A reunion fifteen years in the making—well, at least it feels that way. When Whiskey returns to the Scotchy Bourbon Boys studio, the atmosphere crackles with the familiar energy that made their "10-minute tastings" (that routinely stretched to 30) so beloved by listeners.Tonight's star attraction isn't just the reunion, but a bottle that commands hushed reverence in bourbon circles: William Heaven Hill 15-Year, the ninth edition of Heaven Hill's limited release masterpiece. Composed of merely 34 barrels pulled from the fourth floor of Rick House LL at Shenley and bottled at a perfect 109 proof, this isn't just another premium bourbon—it's a time capsule of exceptional craftsmanship.The hosts dive deep into what makes this expression special, parsing through its complex nose of brown sugar, subtle cherry, and vanilla bean notes. While many 15-year bourbons fall victim to over-oaking, this one strikes a perfect harmony—delivering rich flavor without the woodiness that can overwhelm aged spirits. The mouthfeel earns particular praise for coating every corner of the palate despite not being barrel proof.What follows is a masterclass in bourbon appreciation as they meticulously evaluate each aspect through their Old Louisville Whiskey Company Barrel Bottle Breakdown scale. The verdict? An astonishing 18.5 out of 19 possible points—a score rarely given even to the most heralded bottles. Perhaps most telling is their direct comparison to Pappy Van Winkle 15-Year, with both hosts preferring this Heaven Hill offering despite its (relatively) more attainable secondary market price of $1,200-1,500.Whether you're a seasoned bourbon collector or simply appreciate the artistry behind exceptional spirits, this episode captures the magic that happens when passionate enthusiasts encounter something truly special in their glass. Pour yourself something worthy and join the celebration—the Boys are back in town. Add for SOFL voice over Whiskey ThiefSupport the showhttps://www.scotchybourbonboys.com The Scotchy bourbon Boys are #3 in Feedspots Top 60 whiskey podcasts in the world https://podcast.feedspot.com/whiskey_podcasts/
T3BE73 If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs, find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for the appropriate T3BE posting. Or best of all, become a patron at patreon.com/law and play there! Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.
Collector extraordinaire Dan Lanigan îs here to chat about collectible preservation, having to curate down acquisitions, and his new show Cinema Relics Investigations.More about DanDan Lanigan has spent more than half his life in the pursuit of rare cinematic antiquities and has amassed one of the most significant private collections of props, costumes, and set pieces in the world. His private collection includes such iconic pieces as Deckard's Gun from Blade Runner, John Belushi's costume from The Blues Brothers, the Idol from Raiders of The Lost Ark, and one of the original Ghostbusters' Proton Packs. Previously as host, creator, and executive producer of Prop Culture on Disney+ Dan seeks to share his love of film history by highlighting the stories behind these objects and the artists and craftsmen who brought them to life. Now, find Dan on YouTube with his own series called, Cinema Relics Investigations. In addition to his work on Prop Culture, Dan is also an accomplished producer and director who has produced series such as CNBC's West Texas Investors Club, Reelz' Race To The Scene, USA's The Moment, and A&E's Rooster & Butch in addition to writing and directing his first feature, Izzy Lyon: The Unspun Truth.Find us atwww.werewatchingwhat.com instagram.com/werewatchingwhattiktok.com/@werewatchingwhatTHEDHK can be found at instagram.com/thedhk , twitter.com/thedhk, and facebook.com/thedhkmovies
An old man's spirit remains to keep watch over his wife while she grieves—and The Collector learns that there might be more to his third eye than he initially thought.Ghost Maps follows an unnamed narrator as he chronicles true accounts of the supernatural across Southeast Asia. ►GHOST MAPS CREDITS:Kyle Ong - DirectorWayne Rée - WriterJoline Lim - Art Director►SUPPORT & FIND US HERE:HANTU InstagramHANTU YouTubeHANTU TikTokHANTU FacebookHANTU TwitterHANTU WebsiteHANTU Patreon►MUSIC CREDITS:Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.comMyuu: https://www.youtube.com/user/myuujiArtlist: https://artlist.io/ ►EQUIPMENTS:Ghost Maps is recorded on Audio-Technica Mics.►THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS ON PATREON: Stanley SantosAustin ChongLinda HadenNeoVegasAssassinMai Jake Lee YJSofeaCeph, the Ghost WriterSlajaSajkaNicolez PhuaAndika BramantioMedidi StephensMiranda Pruett Abby WintkerDyah Candra Hapsari SubagyoAdnan SalimPhani ShankarTom JohariR.YAayush GuptaNikoHeather TanKai LinJulie HolochwostMonica DuboisLexiHanni LaurenChristopher SmallwoodAshley ChanØyvind Husebø Kismet Sith Socheata ►ABOUT HANTU:#trueghoststory #ghoststory #ghoststories #horrorstory #horrorstories #southeastsia #singapore #ghostmaps #deadair #podcast #wearehantu #hantu #hantusg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to another episode of the show. If you have gathered recipes for years, hosted holiday parties and meals, preserved family traditions, or become the go-to source for meals in your family, then you may want to turn your recipes into something more: a cookbook. In this episode, I'm sharing 7 tips to help you move from recipe keeper to cookbook writer, everything from why calling yourself a writer matters to how your kitchen and keyboard habits create momentum for your project. If you're sitting on a goldmine of recipes, this episode will give you some food for thought to help you start your cookbook. Things We Mention In This Episode: Registration opens Monday, June 16, 2025, for Cookbook Camp, a laid-back summertime experience to help you shape your concept, choose your publishing path, and start building the habits that lead to a finished book.
Al and Kev talk about the Wholesome Direct Timings 00:00:00: Theme Tune 00:00:30: Intro 00:01:53: Feedback 00:03:18: What Have We Been Up To 00:30:35: Snacko 1.0 00:32:46: Wholesome Direct 01:04:25: Outro Links Snacko 1.0 Wholesome Direct Wholesome Games Contact Al on Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@TheScotBot Email Us: https://harvestseason.club/contact/ Transcript (0:00:30) Al: Hello farmers, and welcome to another episode of the harvest season. (0:00:34) Al: My name is Al. (0:00:36) Kev: I’m Kevin. We’re back baby. This is the first episode back, right? (0:00:38) Al: They said they said we couldn’t do it, Kevin. (0:00:41) Al: They said we couldn’t do it. (0:00:43) Al: We said we couldn’t go on a break and come back because no one goes on a break (0:00:46) Kev: The they being you, I think primarily. (0:00:48) Al: and then comes back. (0:00:52) Al: No, everyone. (0:00:53) Al: Nobody believed in me. (0:00:57) Al: But here we are. (0:00:58) Al: back and here we are here today to talk (0:01:00) Al: about so many Cottagecore games like so many that I think some might just be that’s a game (0:01:03) Kev: Oh, a lot like they double. (0:01:06) Kev: It in the last five minutes. (0:01:13) Al: moving on we’ll see we’ll see we are we are here today to talk about the Wholesome Direct (0:01:14) Kev: Yeah, probably a lot of them we’re talking about the wholesome direct everyone (0:01:23) Al: specifically and a bunch of stuff in that not everything because it was an hour long and (0:01:30) Al: talked about everything in an hour long presentation we would probably be here all day and it’s already (0:01:37) Al: half eight at night that’s that’s also that’s also true so we’re going to talk about that we (0:01:37) Kev: and we don’t have enough to talk about it (0:01:40) Kev: ‘cause we don’t care about all of them. (0:01:46) Al: do have one piece of news that I want to cover before that and before that we’re going to talk (0:01:53) Al: about what we’ve been up to but first of all Kevin we’ve got feedback this is being sent in by Katie (0:01:56) Kev: Oh! (0:02:00) Al: of the show I have been listening to the podcast for some time now and it’s a highlight of my week (0:02:02) Kev: Uh-oh. (0:02:06) Al: not last two weeks so sorry I really enjoy hearing your honest and sometimes brutal opinions on games (0:02:06) Kev: When did we ruin it for her? (0:02:14) Al: and I especially enjoy how positive and how much energy Kev has on his solo episodes keep up the (0:02:21) Al: amazing work. There we go Kevin. You got a shout out. (0:02:23) Kev: Okay, I’m going, I’m trying to refrain from, you know, being sarcastic or whatever, putting myself down. But thank you very much. Sincerely, that means a lot. I have a lot of practice talking to myself. I think that’s what it is in my head space. Now, I just put a mic in front of it. (0:02:38) Al: I feel like the brutal opinions on games has to be talking about Shugadu Island, right? (0:02:54) Kev: Oh, I feel like there’s a number of episodes we could point to, including the ones we like. (0:02:58) Al: That is the particularly bad one. Well anyway, thank you Katie for the feedback. If you too (0:03:00) Kev: Yeah. (0:03:05) Al: want to send feedback you can do it on the website harvestseason.club (0:03:08) Al: There’s a feedback from there. Come send us more and you’ll get a mention on the podcast. (0:03:12) Kev: Yeah, all right. (0:03:15) Kev: You’d like right now, yay. (0:03:16) Kev: Thank you, Katie. (0:03:17) Kev: I very much appreciate it. (0:03:19) Al: Next Kevin, what have you been up to? (0:03:22) Kev: Boy, what do I– (0:03:23) Kev: Well, my internet has been out for a week, (0:03:27) Kev: so let’s start with that. (0:03:28) Al: That’s unfortunate. (0:03:29) Kev: Yep, it’s been a headache. (0:03:33) Kev: But here I am using not working internet. (0:03:40) Kev: But that’s kind of– (0:03:42) Kev: affected a lot of my gameplay, because so I didn’t realize just how many of my games are like online only. (0:03:48) Kev: Or have to connect to servers or whatever, like Zendless on Zero has a 2.0 update. I haven’t played that. Marvel Snap, (0:03:55) Kev: I don’t get that many games in this week. My phone’s dying, so it can’t– for whatever reason Snap just crashes on it now. (0:04:01) Kev: So I have to pretty much play on PC these days. (0:04:05) Kev: But Unite is gone, so on and so forth. (0:04:09) Kev: The one game I have been playing though (0:04:12) Kev: Unicorn Overlord, are you familiar with that, Al? (0:04:14) Al: I am. I’m a photo. (0:04:16) Kev: Okay, oh man, it’s… (0:04:20) Kev: So I picked it up on sale, it was like 30 USD, which is pretty cheap for a game of this size. (0:04:24) Kev: Um, it’s for people unfamiliar, it’s a strategy, real-time game. (0:04:32) Kev: I like Fire Emblem, but real-time. (0:04:34) Kev: And Good Heavens, this game does all the things I like in that game. (0:04:40) Kev: Um, okay. (0:04:42) Kev: So, have you ever played a Fire Emblem, Al? (0:04:44) Al: No. (0:04:44) Kev: Okay, but I assume you’re familiar with the concept of super-trust, right? (0:04:47) Al: Yeah. (0:04:48) Al: Yeah. (0:04:48) Kev: Yeah, okay. So, like I said, that’s correct. (0:04:51) Al: They’ve all got swords, that’s what I’m aware of. (0:04:54) Kev: And Unicorn Overlord also has swords. (0:04:56) Kev: Actually, Unicorn Overlord has a lot of Fire Emblem stuff. (0:05:00) Kev: It’s very much like an homage/love letter to a lot of strategy games, Fire Emblem included. (0:05:06) Kev: So, it has a lot of the elements borrowed from that. (0:05:10) Kev: that are like likely it feels (0:05:12) Kev: less like trying to knock them off and more become the wash / love letter anyway (0:05:19) Kev: so unlike Fire Emblem which is grid based this is not grid based it’s real (0:05:24) Kev: time you just send your units point A to point B and they’ll travel as close to (0:05:29) Kev: straight line as they can also they in Fire Emblem each character is a single (0:05:36) Kev: unit in this game you assemble teams of up to five characters in one unit with (0:05:42) Kev: front row and a back row so all of a sudden the complexity is through the (0:05:46) Kev: roof and it’s really enjoyable in my opinion right you got tanks in front (0:05:50) Kev: archers in the back so on and so forth and each character you can load them out (0:05:58) Kev: with different equipment skills and stuff and Fire Emblem is like every (0:06:02) Kev: character gets like two or three items that do almost just that’s basically but (0:06:07) Kev: in this one you can you can change their move sets so there’s (0:06:12) Kev: it like layers and layers and layers of complexity which is (0:06:15) Kev: really, really good. Yeah, I really, really like this game. (0:06:20) Kev: I’m at 60 hours so far. Yeah, good. No internet. So just (0:06:26) Kev: crushing it. But it is. It’s the arts really nice. Very, very (0:06:31) Kev: pretty. But but oh, great, great stuff. Um, yeah, that’s that’s (0:06:38) Kev: kind of the big thing I’ve been up to. (0:06:42) Kev: All right, Al, what about you? (0:06:44) Kev: Tell me– tell the poor pleb about the switch, too. (0:06:46) Al: The Switch 2, what? What are you talking about? Yes, yes, I’ve got the Switch 2 and I’ve been (0:06:52) Al: playing Mario Kart World. I haven’t had a huge amount of time on it yet. As we are talking, (0:06:58) Al: I have been… I was away. I was not at home when the Switch 2 came out on Thursday, and (0:07:06) Al: it was delivered to my home. I didn’t get back till Saturday evening, and so that’s (0:07:11) Al: about 24 hours ago as of now. So, yeah, I’ve not had a huge amount of time. (0:07:16) Al: Especially as obviously I had to set it up, and you know, I have kids and a life, and (0:07:20) Al: I can’t just always play the game. But I have put in a couple hours into it, both myself (0:07:27) Al: and me and my son playing it together, and it’s fun. I enjoy it. What I will say is that (0:07:35) Al: I love a lot of the… It’s a lot more reactive in terms of like, your character does a lot (0:07:44) Al: more while playing, which makes it feel (0:07:46) Al: a lot more real, right? Like there are more reactions to things. And, uh, so it’s really (0:07:54) Al: hard to explain, but there’s just lots of little things that they do that make it feel real. Um, (0:08:00) Al: the animations are all more detailed. Uh, when you, when you hit a car, you don’t now just like (0:08:07) Al: stop in the same way that you do when hit by, uh, uh, you know, a weapon you like get knocked to (0:08:15) Al: the side and you can actually (0:08:17) Al: there was one today where I was like hit it in such a way that I actually just ended up going up on two wheels (0:08:24) Al: and continuing to move. (0:08:26) Kev: What? (0:08:28) Al: Yeah, exactly. So there’s just lots of little things like that. (0:08:30) Al: It’s you don’t, whereas in Mario Kart 8, if you hit a vehicle, no matter how you hit it, (0:08:37) Al: you would just, you would just stop. (0:08:37) Kev: You do the somersault, you know, or whatever, yeah, uh-huh, yeah. (0:08:38) Al: Yeah, exactly. You’d just do the standard. (0:08:40) Al: I’ve been hit by something I have now stopped, whereas that’s not necessary. (0:08:44) Al: If you hit it, like, straight on, you will slow down. (0:08:46) Al: And, you know, spin off to the side. (0:08:49) Al: But if you hit it in certain ways, you can actually just keep going. (0:08:52) Al: It just depends on exactly how you hit it, which makes it a lot more fun, I think. (0:08:59) Al: And, you know, different weapons do different things depending (0:09:03) Al: on where they hit you and how they hit you and stuff like that. (0:09:06) Al: Which it is, it is, it’s really interesting. (0:09:06) Kev: Really, that’s fascinating. (0:09:10) Al: And it just, yeah, just the animations, like, you feel like the character moves (0:09:16) Al: the vehicle. It doesn’t just feel like you are one car, one model, stuff like that. (0:09:20) Kev: Wow, that’s the power of the Switch 2. (0:09:26) Al: Or is it the power of, like, 10 years of developing the next Mario Kart game? (0:09:31) Kev: No, no, this wasn’t possible on the Switch 1. (0:09:34) Kev: Impossible, absolutely. (0:09:38) Al: And I also like how, so one of the things about this game is obviously you’re just choosing (0:09:44) Al: a car rather than like choosing the body. (0:09:46) Al: The wheels and what’s it called, parachute. (0:09:49) Kev: Right. (0:09:53) Al: I quite like that because there’s less for you to have to think about. (0:09:57) Al: But what I do like is that each of the carts looks slightly different depending on the character. (0:10:04) Kev: Wow, that’s impressive. (0:10:06) Al: It’s not just like the base cart, the Mario cart, that if you’re Mario it’s red with the M on it. (0:10:10) Al: If you’re Luigi it’s green with the L on it. (0:10:14) Al: if you’re the cow, it’s grey with the cow. (0:10:16) Al: They put a lot of attention to detail in this game, a lot of effort. (0:10:18) Kev: - That’s all. (0:10:28) Kev: Wow, that’s impressive genuinely, like wow, that’s attention to detail. (0:10:38) Al: It’s really fun. Some things are going to take some getting used to like the controls are (0:10:44) Al: are obviously slightly different. (0:10:46) Al: The thing that’s knocking me off a lot is in eight and before, if you wanted to hold (0:10:54) Al: like a shell or banana behind you, you would have to hold down the fire button. Whereas now (0:10:58) Kev: Mm-hmm. Yeah. (0:11:02) Al: that happens by default. So as soon as you have it in the priority slot, it is behind you. (0:11:06) Kev: Okay, huh, I think. Okay. Sure, sure. I feel like at least one (0:11:09) Al: And then if you press it and hold it, it will just fire it. So I have spent a lot of time (0:11:17) Al: things because I was trying to have them behind me. But that’s just how you get used to it. (0:11:21) Al: And eventually you’ll stop doing that. But yeah. (0:11:25) Kev: other Mario Kart did that. But it’s not as common at the very (0:11:30) Al: possibly. Well, that’s the thing. Like, do I remember how things before 8 actually worked? (0:11:30) Kev: least, or regardless, it’s been what 10 years with our hard part (0:11:34) Kev: eight. (0:11:36) Kev: That’s how - that’s how video game historians - yeah, yeah. Now that’s fair. That’s how (0:11:39) Al: No, I do not. I’m not an idea. I don’t go back and play old Mario Kart all the time, right? (0:11:46) Al: That’s not my life. (0:11:50) Kev: video game historians chronicle things in the BMK8 era or the AMK8 era. But that’s (0:12:00) Kev: good stuff. Okay, how does - how does the free driving world… (0:12:04) Al: I haven’t done any of that yet. I’ve just been playing Grand Prix. I will say… (0:12:08) Kev: Mmm. Well, I mean, but you - you have between the phrases now, right? Like, that’s - you feel a (0:12:14) Al: So yeah, so I think no, is how I’ll say it. It is not like what I think Free Run will be at all. (0:12:15) Kev: taste of it. (0:12:26) Al: You’re not really driving between the courses. How it is, is yes you are driving, like you start (0:12:32) Al: Start on the finish line of the previous course. (0:12:35) Al: And then the first lap is to the starting line of the next course. (0:12:42) Al: And then this, and then you’ve got the second and third laps are on the course. (0:12:46) Al: It depends on what course it is. (0:12:47) Al: Like some of them are shorter, like baby park, and you actually have like then (0:12:51) Al: multiple laps around it, or a lot of them aren’t just like a single loop that you (0:12:56) Al: do a certain number of times. (0:12:57) Al: A lot of them are like the ones where you, you just have one long course that (0:13:01) Al: you do different sections of. (0:13:03) Al: It just depends on what it is. (0:13:05) Al: I am, I don’t really like it. (0:13:09) Al: I personally would just prefer the standard you’ve got your three courses (0:13:13) Al: and you do your three laps or however many laps. (0:13:16) Kev: » Sure, sure. (0:13:16) Al: Um, the driving between it just feels kind of tacked on and it almost feels (0:13:22) Al: like they wanted the open world thing. (0:13:24) Al: And sure, fine. (0:13:25) Al: I don’t, I I’ve not tried it yet, but I, I can imagine it’d be interesting. (0:13:30) Al: Um, but the all you must drive between the courses, the bit that is (0:13:35) Al: between the courses feels pretty either feels pretty generic and boring, or just (0:13:40) Al: feels like the previous course that you just finished and you’re like, I don’t (0:13:44) Al: understand why I’m still doing this course when I’m on the next course. (0:13:49) Al: And it doesn’t, the other, the other thing that I found a bit weird was it (0:13:52) Al: doesn’t start straight away. (0:13:55) Al: Like once you hit the finish line, you go into like, Oh, here’s the rankings. (0:13:59) Al: And then you have to start it again. (0:14:01) Al: And then because you’re starting again, you’re starting on the finish (0:14:04) Al: and it just feels like that’s a weird jarring thing. (0:14:08) Al: It’s like, Oh, you finished that race. (0:14:10) Al: Now let’s start the next race on this point. (0:14:13) Al: Like where you just finished, like it just, it feels like an idea that someone (0:14:17) Al: had, and then they went, yeah, let’s do that. (0:14:20) Al: But they never really did anything with it. (0:14:22) Al: And it almost would have felt more realistic or more interesting. (0:14:28) Al: If it just, the race hadn’t stopped at any point, or maybe if it, if you have. (0:14:35) Al: You have to wait for everyone else to get there, like, if you just like stayed in (0:14:40) Al: position at that point, and waited for everyone to catch up, but the fact that (0:14:41) Kev: Yeah, in that way, kind of– (0:14:46) Al: it goes like, Oh, now we’re going to like cut to this other screen, like they do in (0:14:50) Al: previous Mario carts, where you show the rankings, it almost defeats the purpose (0:14:54) Al: of then, then driving between the two courses. (0:14:57) Kev: Yeah, that’s so weird to me because, yeah, that doesn’t from the way it was described, like, that would have been, you know, what I would have thought, right? Like, you there, you know, you hit the finish line and then you just keep driving and maybe ranking is on the side or something. (0:14:57) Al: It’s like, well, what happened, what happened in that time? (0:15:00) Al: Because now I’m back on the finish line. (0:15:16) Al: 100% why I expected. And I guess the reason they don’t do that is they want everyone to catch up (0:15:19) Kev: That’s wild. (0:15:21) Al: so that you’re all starting at the same time for the next race. Sure, fine. But I feel like you (0:15:25) Kev: But, okay. (0:15:27) Kev: Yeah, but what’s the point? Like, that’s baffling to me. (0:15:28) Al: could have done that transition better, right? I don’t– I understand why they want something (0:15:34) Kev: Um… (0:15:37) Al: like this. It feels like it’s another mode, and I feel like they should have kept Grand Prix (0:15:41) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:15:44) Al: as it was. And then this was like (0:15:45) Kev: Yeah. (0:15:47) Al: a new type of tour. A grand tour instead of a grand prix. I’m not saying this is bad, (0:15:48) Kev: Yeah, that’s what they should have done. Absolutely. Yeah, exactly. There you go. (0:15:56) Al: I’m saying I don’t like that this is instead of what we had before. (0:16:00) Kev: Right, right. I get that. Yeah, from what you’re describing, it doesn’t… (0:16:05) Kev: Yeah, it sounds like they fumbled that execution just a little bit. (0:16:09) Kev: And if you’re not here completely removing the standard Grand Prix for that, like, that’s a problem. That’s rough. (0:16:14) Al: Exactly. (0:16:16) Al: Exactly. (0:16:17) Al: Exactly. (0:16:17) Kev: Well, we’ll see. Like, I mean, I… I mean, I personally think we’re going to get DLCs that are just going to be standard Grand Prix-type modes. (0:16:19) Al: We will see. (0:16:30) Al: Interesting. I can’t see them not doing DLC for this. For two reasons, one, they did two sets of DLC for the previous game, and two… (0:16:31) Kev: Because… (0:16:35) Kev: Right, exactly, right? (0:16:40) Kev: Mm-hmm. And DLC for the remastered version of the game, that DLC. Yeah. (0:16:46) Al: Well, yeah, that was the second one. But anyway, secondly, it doesn’t feel like there’s enough races, because you have, like, eight. (0:16:56) Al: And it doesn’t feel like (0:17:00) Al: enough to me. I’m not regretting buying the game, especially because I got it in (0:17:01) Kev: Not anymore (0:17:05) Kev: Yeah (0:17:06) Al: the bundle, right? But I totally get why people are like, Oh, that feels like a lot (0:17:10) Al: of money for eight, eight grand prix. Especially when like, the preview, like, I don’t, I’m (0:17:18) Al: not expecting it necessarily will be free DLC. And obviously people complain about that, (0:17:23) Al: right? They’re like, Oh, you’re charging us $80 and then you’re also charging us more (0:17:24) Kev: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sure. Yeah, yeah, that’s what I suspect too. (0:17:27) Al: courses. But I can (0:17:30) Al: see the DLC being reasonably cheap, and it’s just like $10 or whatever, right? (0:17:36) Al: But it just, yeah, eight just feels, eight isn’t even as many as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had. Eight (0:17:42) Al: Deluxe had 10. And so eight had eight, of course. Mario Kart 8 had eight courses, and then they (0:17:44) Kev: Yeah, yeah (0:17:48) Kev: Yeah (0:17:51) Al: added on eight grumpries, sorry, and then they added on two, I think, for DLC initially. And then that (0:17:56) Kev: - DLC, that’s correct. (0:17:57) Kev: - Yeah. (0:17:57) Al: That was all bundled together as Mario Kart 8 delivered. (0:18:00) Al: So Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had 10 and then they doubled in the other DLC, yeah. (0:18:00) Kev: - And then they doubled the number. (0:18:05) Al: So it just feels a little bit meh that we’re not even, we’ve not even got as many races as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. (0:18:12) Kev: Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair, right? Like it’s, I think the pain point is just this, the way you’ve described how they fumbled their new Grand Prix version, right? Because like I could, I could live with eight cups or whatever, if it was the standard Grand Prix that, you know, you could just do ad nauseam like, you know, other Mario karts and it’d be fine. (0:18:12) Al: And then this is more expensive. (0:18:15) Al: None of that, none of that feels good. (0:18:43) Kev: But if you’re replacing that and given something that feels a little worse or a little awkward, yeah, it’s going to be rough. (0:18:51) Al: And let me get and let me point out the courses are really good. (0:18:55) Kev: Sure. Yeah. Are there any, any new ones you’re fond of that you’ve seen so far? (0:18:57) Al: And like. (0:19:02) Al: The the one I particularly like, obviously, I’ve not done them all. (0:19:06) Al: And I’ve not done them all yet, but the one that I’m particularly (0:19:10) Al: enjoying is the Donkey Kong one, I can’t remember what it’s called. (0:19:12) Kev: hmm is uh I don’t know which one because there’s obviously been a handful or if it’s a new one but uh okay (0:19:18) Al: Yeah, let me check. (0:19:20) Al: I think it’s a new one. (0:19:21) Al: And that I think is really fun. (0:19:25) Kev: oh yeah they saw they showed that one in the trailer first yeah that one looked cool (0:19:32) Al: You’re essentially it’s one of the ones that’s not like laps. (0:19:35) Al: It’s one specific course and you end at the end. (0:19:39) Al: And what I really like it is you’re essentially going through a Donkey Kong level, right? (0:19:44) Al: Like you’re going up this course and then at the end at the top is a robotic Donkey (0:19:46) Kev: Really? That’s cool. (0:19:51) Al: Kong, throwing barrels down at you. (0:19:53) Kev: Oh, that’s so cool. (0:19:55) Al: So I really like that and there’s like lots of stuff to avoid and there’s bouncy pads (0:20:01) Al: and stuff like that. (0:20:03) Kev: That’s so cool (0:20:06) Kev: And I can’t wait to check that out (0:20:08) Kev: But I mean, obviously we’re nitpicking but still Mario Kart, right? Like it’s still the overall good (0:20:12) Al: Yeah, I don’t regret it. I obviously want the bundle, but if I paid full price for this, (0:20:18) Al: I still wouldn’t be regretting it. It is still really good fun and it’s still going to sell (0:20:20) Kev: Yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely. And cow is playable. Yep. Wait, really? That’s hilarious. That’s incredible. (0:20:22) Al: like bonkers. But yeah, I mean, and Caro is one of the best characters to actually play (0:20:30) Al: as. It’s one of the meta characters. It is, yeah. So yeah, I’m enjoying it. I get why (0:20:37) Kev: Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, sure. Mm-hmm. Well, that’ll be– that’s awesome. (0:20:42) Al: people might be frustrated with it and I haven’t tried everything in it yet, so I guess (0:20:47) Al: we’ll see. (0:20:50) Kev: Can’t wait to hear more people. I haven’t heard much about it, (0:20:54) Kev: but I’m obviously interested in the free roam mode or whatever. But good stuff. (0:21:04) Kev: How was vacation world not– how was touching grass? (0:21:07) Al: Yeah, I wasn’t really on holiday. I was still working. In fact, I was working more than (0:21:12) Kev: Oh, were you? (0:21:13) Al: I normally do. I was just doing it in a different place. But I didn’t have my kids, so it was (0:21:15) Kev: Oh, that was me this week, too. (0:21:21) Al: relaxing in some way. No, I had fun. It was a little bit frustrating on the Thursday at (0:21:21) Kev: Mm-hmm. (0:21:27) Al: the end to be like, “Everyone’s getting their Switch too, and mine’s at home. I just can’t (0:21:30) Al: get it.” But it was only two days. It was only two days, yeah. But it wasn’t even (0:21:30) Kev: mmm your squid word and patrick and sponger outside (0:21:37) Al: like it feels worse than the people who just weren’t getting it, I feel, right? Because (0:21:42) Kev: yeah yeah yeah yeah (0:21:42) Al: you’re like, “Oh yeah, that’s annoying, and I don’t have it, and I feel like I’m missing (0:21:46) Al: out.” But I was like, “I have paid money, and I have had one delivered to me. It’s just (0:21:51) Kev: I shouldn’t be missing out (0:21:52) Al: I am not where it is.” (0:21:55) Kev: oh there yeah I can see that that’s funny yeah obviously I haven’t gotten my (0:22:00) Kev: i’ll probably have or well not mine i’m getting one for calvin next week is a little late birthday (0:22:05) Kev: present um so i’ll be able to join the ranks of people driving his cow and talking about it (0:22:16) Kev: 24 racers that’s insane (0:22:16) Al: um it is and it does it does mean that you like especially the there’s a lot of kind of I think (0:22:24) Al: they might need to do some rebalancing in terms of how things work especially like the rubber (0:22:28) Al: banding and stuff like that because like if you don’t if you if you don’t get up to first place (0:22:30) Kev: Oh, yeah (0:22:33) Al: quickly you’re probably not going to stay there uh um the the middle just feels absolutely insane (0:22:36) Kev: Oh, that’s good. Oh, that’s good stuff. I (0:22:41) Al: just now. So, yeah. (0:22:43) Kev: Can’t you know back in back in the old days there are eight racers (0:22:55) Kev: It’s crazy to think like there are some chunks with that many characters (0:22:59) Al: You have to have two whole pages to view everyone. (0:23:00) Kev: in a race (0:23:03) Kev: The rankings, oh my goodness. Oh, that’s incredible. Oh (0:23:10) Kev: Good time (0:23:12) Al: The other thing I’ve tried out on my Switch 2 is Pokemon Violet, and let me tell you, (0:23:18) Al: obviously if you didn’t like the game before, you’re not going to like the game suddenly (0:23:20) Kev: Right, it doesn’t fix a lot of the core design issues, but yeah. (0:23:21) Al: now that it’s running at a decent speed. (0:23:24) Al: Exactly, it’s still the same game, but my word is incredible. (0:23:29) Al: If you like the game, it is an incredible upgrade, just so good. (0:23:36) Kev: - Mm-hmm, but yeah, yeah, I’ll sit. (0:23:41) Al: It drives me insane whenever I see anyone talking about this and people will reply and (0:23:45) Al: be like, “Oh, it’s $500 to get the game how it should have been.” (0:23:49) Al: I don’t shut up. (0:23:50) Al: I don’t care. (0:23:51) Al: It doesn’t matter. (0:23:52) Al: Yeah, you don’t like it. (0:23:53) Al: Don’t play it. (0:23:54) Al: Don’t buy this. (0:23:55) Al: Shut up, right? (0:23:56) Al: Let me enjoy the fact that this game now runs incredibly. (0:23:59) Al: And you know what I’m most excited for with this is how well I think the new game’s going (0:24:05) Al: to run. (0:24:06) Al: Because there’s no way it will run worse than this, right? (0:24:10) Kev: Well, well. (0:24:10) Al: Because well, no, no, no, let me, let me, let me. (0:24:13) Al: So my point is, right, like it is a clearly a much more small and focused world, right? (0:24:19) Al: And one of the big issues of this game was the fact that the world is like all loaded (0:24:23) Al: at once. (0:24:24) Kev: Oh, oh you’re talking about ZA. I thought you meant yeah. Okay. Oh no. Yeah. Yes (0:24:25) Al: Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, I’m not even thinking about that. (0:24:29) Al: just now. Not even thinking about that just now. (0:24:30) Kev: Yeah, ZA is gonna be great. Yeah. Sure sure sure. Yeah, that’s fine (0:24:34) Al: And so if this game runs this well, like surely that game will run just as well. And (0:24:40) Al: it’s going to be so good. And I think it looks, it looks better, right? Like a lot of the (0:24:45) Al: thing about this game is that it just looks bland and meh. And yeah, the character models (0:24:46) Kev: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. (0:24:51) Al: don’t look amazing in the new game, but I don’t really care about that, right? Like everything (0:24:55) Al: else in my opinion looks a lot nicer, kind of like the, you know, the (0:24:59) Al: bright colours in the night. I think the night time in particular is going to look really good in that game, especially on (0:25:04) Kev: I agree. Yeah, that is nice, right? Because, like, okay, obviously, we all know I’m unknown, (0:25:12) Kev: Scarlet Violet, Disparage or Dissenter, whatever you want to call it, right? I’m critical. (0:25:16) Al: For fair reasons, I’ve like, I’ve not, I’ve never, I’ve never said that your reasons are not the totally fair reasons. (0:25:18) Kev: Just a little bit critical. Like you said, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, like, you know, there’s a lot of design choices. (0:25:30) Kev: Design Choices. (0:25:32) Kev: I don’t like other people who I like. (0:25:34) Kev: It’s not fixing those issues, but like I think just how poorly it ran. (0:25:44) Kev: You know that like I’m an Nintendo fan. (0:25:46) Kev: I’m a Pokemon fan. (0:25:48) Kev: I don’t care about technical stuff, generally speaking, right? (0:25:52) Kev: But like it was just so bad that even even someone like me, it felt embarrassing. (0:25:58) Kev: Like it was rough. (0:26:00) Kev: So it’s nice to have at least that improved. (0:26:01) Al: No one, no one defends it. Right? Like with, with other, with other games, like Legends, (0:26:08) Al: like some of us are like, actually, I like how it looks, right? Like I, you know, I don’t, (0:26:10) Kev: Yeah (0:26:12) Al: I think that a lot of that is down to taste, but with, with the performance issues in this (0:26:14) Kev: Sure (0:26:17) Al: game, it was just embarrassing. Nobody justified it. And if anybody even tried to, you’d be (0:26:19) Kev: It would nope, yeah, yeah (0:26:22) Al: like, come on, like let’s be real here. You can like the game and still admit how terrible (0:26:28) Al: the performances. Whereas now, it’s just… (0:26:29) Kev: Yep (0:26:33) Kev: Yeah, it’s crazy I’ve seen clips online it’s wild the difference (0:26:38) Kev: I genuinely did. (0:26:42) Kev: I did not think it would upgrade that much. (0:26:44) Al: Yeah. And that’s handheld as well, not even docked. In handheld, it feels incredible. (0:26:47) Kev: That’s crazy. (0:26:52) Kev: Important question. (0:26:55) Kev: Have you tried the raids? (0:26:57) Kev: Because that was the… (0:26:57) Al: I have not. Yeah, I’m not convinced it’s going to make a massive difference to raids, because (0:26:59) Kev: Okay, ‘cause that’s… (0:27:00) Kev: I mean, it’s great the world runs right now, (0:27:02) Kev: but the raids, like… (0:27:05) Kev: Oh. (0:27:08) Al: I think a lot of the issue with raids was the internet communication. But I don’t tend (0:27:12) Kev: Yeah, probably, but I was curious it’s like (0:27:17) Al: to do raids a huge amount. I do them when there’s a seven star out, if possible. If (0:27:20) Kev: Yeah (0:27:21) Al: possible I do them as a solo build, so I don’t have to deal with other people. (0:27:23) Kev: Mm-hmm, I yeah. No, that’s fair (0:27:28) Kev: But yeah, that’s uh (0:27:30) Kev: Because if raids were good like I genuinely might be tempted (0:27:35) Kev: Consider another playthrough to give it a second chance on switch do but anyways, not that I’ll have one for a while, but (0:27:42) Al: Well, we’ll see, we’ll see. (0:27:42) Kev: Anyways, that’s good stuff (0:27:46) Kev: that (0:27:47) Kev: that’s nice and (0:27:49) Kev: Yeah, good on you Pokemon team for putting the effort to make that happen (0:27:54) Al: Yeah, I clearly, like, I wonder whether they’d been working on this before the game came (0:28:00) Al: out or whether this is in reaction to the game coming out and being terrible. Because (0:28:04) Kev: Yeah. (0:28:05) Al: they did tell us, like, oh, we hear you and we understand. And the question is, was that (0:28:11) Al: the point where they go, oh, we can’t just, like, let this go. Like, this is something (0:28:16) Al: we actually need to deal with. And then, obviously, they’ve gone, like, decision made. Do we try (0:28:21) Al: Try it our best to make it work as well on the switch, or do we just… (0:28:24) Kev: Mm-hmm (0:28:24) Al: take all of the nonsense that we’re going to get for the next two and a half years, (0:28:28) Al: and then throw it all on the switch too, and hope that we gain back the positives for that. (0:28:35) Al: I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, right? That is a decent… That timeline works, (0:28:38) Kev: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. (0:28:43) Al: that’s more than two years. I could absolutely see that they hadn’t even considered this (0:28:45) Kev: Mm hmm. (0:28:48) Al: until the reception was so bad, and then they’ve gone, “You know what? We do need to deal with (0:28:52) Kev: Yeah, also (0:28:52) Al: this and they had a small team dealing (0:28:54) Al: with that for the last couple of years. (0:28:56) Kev: Sure, I’ll I’ll you know, I’ll say that they probably (0:29:02) Kev: Whenever they found out switch to upgrades we’re gonna have which I imagined was relatively early, you know, I (0:29:08) Kev: Imagine they were planning one for scarlet violent (0:29:10) Kev: I don’t see a version where they weren’t gonna do that (0:29:12) Kev: What I don’t think is I don’t think they were gonna put in the effort they did for this because that I think was reactionary (0:29:20) Kev: Because I think they wanted to (0:29:22) Kev: You know try to clean up their act if you know if it had come out (0:29:27) Kev: Not as good or you know if the original game might come out better (0:29:32) Kev: I don’t think it would have been this huge of a jump because they probably just (0:29:32) Al: Well, yeah, yeah. I mean, because it wouldn’t be better. I don’t know. Yeah. I do feel like (0:29:37) Kev: You know, then yeah. Well, yeah. Well, that’s true, but they wouldn’t put the effort, you know what I mean (0:29:43) Al: I do think a lot of this is like, we need to make sure people actually buy our next (0:29:47) Al: game. Let’s show them that we can actually make a good game or a smooth enough. Okay. (0:29:47) Kev: Yeah, yeah (0:29:52) Kev: Yeah (0:29:53) Al: A well performing game. And, and I think that’s probably has done a lot to improve people’s (0:29:59) Kev: Yeah (0:30:00) Al: view on things, right? (0:30:02) Kev: Yeah (0:30:02) Al: People who were, you were probably worried about the next game, right? (0:30:05) Kev: Yeah, well hey, you know like I make all the jokes about you know, we could the you know, then Gen 10 could fail (0:30:12) Kev: or you know or whatever, you know, but (0:30:15) Kev: But maybe this is actually a sign that they’re actually trying to (0:30:19) Kev: They’re gonna try to double down or you know (0:30:23) Kev: put in the effort to make sure it really comes out. (0:30:25) Kev: Um yeah but okay good stuff that’s that’s really nice to know the power of the switch too. (0:30:33) Al: it’s good fun. All right, we have one piece of news I want to talk about before we just (0:30:40) Al: go through the wholesome direct stuff that we want to talk about. Snacko, Snacko decided (0:30:42) Kev: All right, what is it? (0:30:43) Kev: What is it? (0:30:46) Kev: That’s the cat game. (0:30:46) Al: that just after we released our last episode two weeks ago, they decided they were going (0:30:54) Al: going to release their 1.0, just shadow drop it. (0:30:56) Kev: That’s correct. That’s how this works in this gig, podcast world. Things happen as soon as (0:31:07) Kev: you take a break. That’s good. (0:31:08) Al: And I’m not even joking. This was a legitimate shadow drop. Like I saw the Steam news about (0:31:16) Al: Snacko 1.0 and I’m like, hold up, wait a minute. Did I miss something? And then I looked through (0:31:19) Kev: Tempting you. (0:31:21) Al: everything and nope, I did not miss anything. This was just surprise. Here you go. Here’s (0:31:27) Al: the new, here’s 1.0. So there we go. Snacko 1.0. It’s probably finally time for me to (0:31:35) Kev: Probably. I’m just looking at it, it looks nice. Yeah, that’s a, they’re little like pixely, (0:31:45) Kev: 2D, 3D thing, it looks nice, and the cat’s very cute. Yeah, good for you, Snaggo. You made it to (0:31:52) Kev: 1.0, like, that’s always a genuine cause for celebration, assuming it’s a real 1.0, (0:31:58) Kev: and not one of those 1.0s, yeah, it’s kind of 1.0, but not really, because we still have a whole (0:32:02) Kev: a whole bunch of other stuff that didn’t make it in yet. (0:32:04) Al: Yeah, I think they’ve got more updates coming, but it feels like it looks like it’s extra stuff. (0:32:09) Al: But having said that, I haven’t played through it, so I don’t know. (0:32:11) Kev: Yeah. (0:32:12) Kev: Sure, sure, yeah, yeah, I know. (0:32:14) Kev: But I’m just saying, we all know those games out there (0:32:17) Kev: that at 1.0 really should not have been at 1.0. (0:32:18) Al: Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep, we do, we do. (0:32:23) Kev: But– but– yeah. (0:32:24) Al: It doesn’t feel, from what I know about the game and the developers, (0:32:28) Al: it doesn’t feel like something they would do. (0:32:30) Al: I don’t feel like they would just go, “Here we go.” (0:32:30) Kev: Yeah, from what– yeah, like, I also agree. (0:32:34) Kev: - Yeah, I agree. (0:32:35) Kev: Very cute game, always has been cute, still cute. (0:32:40) Kev: I might be interested in, oh, there’s a demo. (0:32:42) Kev: I might, I’ll download that demo at the very least. (0:32:44) Kev: Good for you, Snacko. (0:32:46) Al: All right, let’s talk about the Wholesome Direct then. (0:32:49) Kev: Okay, okay. (0:32:51) Kev: Before we get into, because obviously we got our list, (0:32:54) Kev: I want to comment on the presentation, (0:32:56) Kev: ‘cause man, an hour straight of wholesome and cozy, (0:33:03) Kev: Oh, it’s a little it’s. (0:33:05) Kev: A little much and you know, obviously that’s the nature of the beast, but you know, I’m just look, I don’t know how big wholesome games their operation is right and and and they’re they’re trying right like they highlight so many streamers or you know, content creators or whatever and oh good for you, you know, little spotlight on these guys, but you know, maybe, maybe just just put a little more into that, right? (0:33:06) Al: - Yeah. (0:33:32) Kev: Every, I can’t just, I’m not. (0:33:35) Kev: I’m not blaming any one streamer because they, but they all just happened to have the same, you know, just palette color palette swap backgrounds of a shelf with plushies and some plants. (0:33:46) Al: Yeah, yeah, I definitely found that as well. The other thing that I found was like everybody (0:33:50) Al: talks in this calm voice. Yeah, exactly. It’s like cosy games, right? First of all, it’s (0:33:54) Kev: - ASMR? (0:33:55) Kev: - Yup. (0:34:00) Al: not cosy games. It’s wholesome direct, right? The whole point was it’s like we want a place (0:34:03) Kev: - Yeah, huh? (0:34:05) Al: to show a bunch of games that are not just shooting zombies, right? And that is a totally (0:34:10) Kev: Yeah, yeah. (0:34:11) Al: fair thing and that’s why I like it and it doesn’t that doesn’t (0:34:14) Kev: Yeah. (0:34:16) Al: have to mean calm and quiet and trying to send you to sleep which is I definitely felt like it was I don’t know whether it’s always been like this and I’m just getting annoyed with it or whether it’s getting more like this but yeah I was absolutely the same every streamer was the exact same voice and background and I also think that there was a little bit weird and like having a different streamer to introduce every single game felt a bit weird (0:34:33) Kev: » Yeah. (0:34:46) Al: in the every time there was a streamer on they were like here’s my name here’s my channel here’s what I do and it was all the same as well it’s like oh we do everything cozy and you’re like oh my word like yes you are just the exact same as all the other ones we’ve just seen like I don’t it was yeah I agree I’m glad you felt the same because it was just too much for me (0:34:52) Kev: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And again, and yeah, and again, I’m not blaming any individual (0:35:09) Kev: streamer because I’m sure they got their prompt and they do their thing and that’s why. But (0:35:13) Kev: when, you know, the wholesome gang people, when they were putting, cutting, pasting all (0:35:16) Kev: this together, somebody should have said, you know what, this might be a little much. (0:35:20) Al: You get, it’s the same, it’s the same with everything, right? Like it’s when, when you (0:35:23) Kev: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. (0:35:24) Al: watch a Nintendo direct and you have the two hosts who make the same terrible jokes after (0:35:30) Al: every single game, you get annoyed about that. And when you have the Xbox showcase and like (0:35:35) Al: half of them are shooting zombies in the face, it’s the same thing again. It’s just like, (0:35:38) Kev: - Mm-hmm. (0:35:39) Al: why are all these games the same? And, and why is the presentation so long? And so like, (0:35:46) Al: I think maybe we need to spread these things out a little bit more in the year, right? Like (0:35:51) Al: June, for releasing game information, do we really need to? (0:35:55) Kev: Yeah, yeah (0:35:59) Kev: Yeah, I agree or or you know what I’m trying to look up a year (0:36:06) Al: It’s 2025. (0:36:08) Kev: Yeah, not our year I’m I’m trying to look to the the highest (0:36:13) Kev: The high bar of video game presentations at 2014. That’s what it was the Nintendo (0:36:20) Kev: 2014 e3 presentation. That’s the one where we had a (0:36:25) Kev: and Reggie fighting (0:36:27) Kev: With their DBZ fight with the amiibo humor that that one (0:36:27) Al: Mm hmm. Yeah. (0:36:32) Kev: Obviously not every company is gonna be able to produce goofy bits like that or whatever (0:36:36) Kev: But you know that the point is they tried right? They they put a little a little effort into the presentation (0:36:44) Kev: And so, you know, it’d be nice right? What’s crazy to me is some of these bits were like the streamers introducing game (0:36:49) Kev: Didn’t even mention the game (0:36:51) Kev: They just said he was a world premiere (0:36:52) Al: yeah yeah well there is that I i don’t know I also think like the live ones are really (0:36:55) Kev: But anyways, I digress (0:36:59) Al: annoying as well right did you watch the friday’s summer game fest it was just really it was really (0:37:01) Kev: Mm-hmm (0:37:03) Kev: No, I haven’t watched any other I’ve just seen the the bids oh (0:37:08) Al: awkward I didn’t like it and like there’s something about jeff keeley that like i’m not saying he (0:37:10) Kev: Yeah (0:37:14) Al: doesn’t like games i’m sure he does i’m sure he does like games but the way he presents himself (0:37:20) Al: is corporate students. (0:37:21) Kev: Uh-huh, yep, that’s correct. (0:37:22) Al: And I can’t take him seriously and it’s like when there was a point where he was like oh (0:37:29) Al: something some game was shown and he was like wow looks great and he moved on to the next thing (0:37:34) Kev: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s kind of underlying the point, right? You want to get somebody (0:37:35) Al: and I’m like you did not sound sincere there, what are you on about? (0:37:43) Kev: who’s sincere about the presentation or whatever is being presented, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. (0:37:46) Al: Which Reggie did well. That was his thing. Like, he was a corporate guy and we all knew that, (0:37:52) Al: and we all knew that he would probably sell us if he could. But you also got that he cared, (0:37:55) Kev: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. (0:37:58) Al: and I don’t know whether that was real or not, but you definitely believed that he cared. (0:38:04) Kev: I mean, I think he cared, but maybe that’s just part of the whole thing he did. I don’t (0:38:09) Kev: know, but he, like the important thing is he made us believe he cared, right? He could (0:38:13) Kev: talk about his games. Like it sounded like someone who played the game or knew of the (0:38:17) Kev: game to whatever degree. And yeah, you’re right. Like that’s what we need. We just need (0:38:23) Kev: people who know, who care, who are sincere. Like they’ll, even if it’s, you know, just (0:38:29) Kev: some of a blurb, you can feel that, right? So the point to one. (0:38:34) Kev: Well, long story short, wild. I forget what the new one is. Wildflowers people call me. (0:38:40) Kev: I’ll do the blurb for your next one. I’ll do it. All right. Let’s get into it. (0:38:42) Al: Alright, let’s talk about some games then. I don’t know if you’ve got anything else that (0:38:49) Al: you want to talk about other than the stuff that’s in this list, because I think, but (0:38:52) Kev: OK, there’s– here, let me see if I can find a– (0:38:53) Al: I think this is all the Cottagecore related stuff in my list. Let’s go, let’s go with (0:39:01) Kev: just go to– I’ll be looking up another list. (0:39:04) Al: it. So we started off with Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar. No new real information, but (0:39:10) Al: There was a new trailer with some. (0:39:12) Al: Uh, bits and pieces and, uh, I’m going to be honest. (0:39:15) Al: I’m really excited about this game. (0:39:16) Al: I think I’m, I’ve, I never played the original obviously. (0:39:19) Al: Um, and it does things a bit differently. (0:39:20) Kev: Yeah, it looks it looks good. I’ll say that. It looks like it has that, you know, Nintendo (0:39:21) Al: Um, so I’m excited to play it. (0:39:32) Kev: C.Lo quality story of seasons quality that they do. It looks good. I’ll say that. Yeah. (0:39:32) Al: Next one that I wanted to talk about was gourdlets together. So it’s a new gourdlets game. It’s (0:39:44) Al: a multiplayer gourdlets game. Which I feel like is a fun thing to add into a gourdlets (0:39:50) Al: game. I guess the question is, does this feel like it should have been a separate game or (0:39:55) Al: should it have been an update to gourdlets? I don’t know, but it is what it is. I guess (0:39:57) Kev: another mode. I don’t either. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s true. Well, I could have seen that even (0:40:02) Al: it’s cheap. It feels a bit selfish to ask for anything more. (0:40:16) Kev: more paid DLC by that point with the difference. But yeah, I guess so. I don’t know. It’s not (0:40:22) Kev: appealing to me, like, I don’t know, I’m just not feeling it, but it’s cool. (0:40:27) Kev: It’s cool to see them, you know, wanting to do this. (0:40:30) Al: Yeah, it also feels, I think it feels much, it looks like it’s much more character-based (0:40:36) Al: rather than obviously the girdlets was design-based, like management style, whereas this, I think, (0:40:43) Al: looks like you’re controlling a character because it’s the multiplayer aspect. So I’m (0:40:49) Al: thinking that might vibe with me more than the previous one. (0:40:52) Kev: Yeah. No, I can see that. That’s fair. (0:40:56) Al: we got something that you’ll be interested in, Luma Island, the (0:41:00) Kev: Well, you know what I do like pirates you’re right about that (0:41:06) Al: Well you played. Did you not play Luma Island? Am I misremembering? (0:41:06) Kev: It looks I didn’t play them island. No, that wasn’t me (0:41:10) Al: Oh, I know Johnny did, but I thought you had done as well. Oh well. (0:41:13) Kev: No, I don’t think no that was me but I do like pirates (0:41:15) Al: Well the Luma Island pirate update is coming out on the 20th of June. So we had, (0:41:19) Al: we already knew about the pirate update, but now we know that it’s coming out next week. (0:41:26) Kev: you go. It’s pretty looking, I guess. I like pirates, I don’t know. Okay, like, you know, (0:41:32) Al: We got a new trailer for tales of the shire as well. (0:41:38) Kev: in the past week, I actually watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And like, dang, man, (0:41:44) Kev: what a what a legacy you have to live up to. Okay, first off, did we have a date? Because (0:41:54) Kev: We finally got a date. (0:41:55) Al: We did. We did have a date when when they delayed it from March, they gave us a date of that point. So yeah, this is this is still what we were expecting. (0:41:56) Kev: I’m kidding. Okay. Okay. Well, that’s soon. It looks kind of like where it was at. I don’t (0:42:07) Kev: know what to say. I’m pretty sure the game is clear what it’s going to be. And as I watched (0:42:16) Kev: The Lord of the Rings and looking at this trailer, I’m thinking, “I don’t know if this (0:42:21) Kev: is the one for me. I’m not the one who wants to live in a hobbit. I want to hang out with (0:42:26) Kev: you.” That’s what I want to do in Middle Earth. (0:42:28) Al: Yeah. I’m a bit the same. I just, I don’t know what it is about this game that’s not (0:42:36) Al: grabbing me because A Lord of the Rings, Shire based culture game should be something that (0:42:42) Al: I would love, but I just, I don’t know. There’s just, it’s not grabbed me in anything other (0:42:48) Al: than the concept since it was announced. (0:42:48) Kev: yeah yeah that’s the hard part right is the concept gonna be better than the game maybe (0:42:57) Kev: uh that’s that’s you know that’s tough it like I said it’s when you put the lord of the rings (0:43:03) Kev: name on the box you have made things so much harder for yourself because that’s a lot of (0:43:08) Kev: expectations on now um but we’ll see maybe when it comes on it’s actually incredible I don’t know (0:43:16) Kev: Gandalf looked very kawaii, I’ll give him that. (0:43:18) Kev: They give us little ubu Gandalf. (0:43:21) Al: “I think it’s the character models that really confuse me. It’s not that I hate how they look, (0:43:27) Kev: Yeah, they do feel a little weird. (0:43:28) Al: I just… I don’t know. It’s so hard to explain.” (0:43:33) Kev: Yeah, no, I know exactly what you mean. (0:43:35) Kev: It’s something– it’s just a little je ne sais quoi. (0:43:40) Kev: I agree. (0:43:42) Al: Not normally used in a positive frame, not a negative frame, but fair enough. (0:43:42) Kev: But yeah. (0:43:49) Kev: But we’ll see. (0:43:50) Kev: It’s coming out soon. (0:43:51) Kev: And maybe it’ll surprise us still. (0:43:56) Al: Next, we had a new game, Linked Banner of the Spark. Build a bright new world alongside (0:44:01) Kev: oh my goodness this game (0:44:05) Al: a band of rescued robot buddies in this colourful action RPG, battle waves of enemies in solo (0:44:10) Al: or co-op, then return home and use your parts to craft a thriving town, assemble your crew, (0:44:15) Al: and grow stronger with each new adventure. I mean, this is basically like robot cult (0:44:19) Al: of the lamb, right? Go out and get stuff, and then save some creatures, and then come (0:44:24) Al: back and build a town. (0:44:27) Al: Kotlin did it really well, so if it implements it well, I think this could be really good. (0:44:32) Kev: It looks so good to me. (0:44:34) Kev: Like, oh man, ‘cause I’ve never called credit (0:44:40) Kev: within the trailer show. (0:44:41) Kev: There’s still like some gardening (0:44:42) Kev: or something like that, I think. (0:44:43) Al: There’s definitely farming, I’m seeing a farming plot. (0:44:43) Kev: But either, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. (0:44:47) Al: It doesn’t look like it’s a big thing, it looks like it’s relatively small, but it is (0:44:53) Kev: But like, it does it great. (0:44:56) Kev: ‘Cause you have that and you have, you know, (0:44:57) Kev: you’re throwing robots in there. (0:44:58) Kev: Well, you know, that can be a different number of ways, (0:45:01) Kev: but the robot portion of it. (0:45:02) Kev: It looks sick, like you have a lot of knife hands like there’s some that look kind of threatening or genuinely actiony. (0:45:09) Kev: Um, there’s robot fish. That’s kind of fun. Um, I’m excited about this one. This one is high up on my list. It looks great. Um, the gameplay looks like what I want to the world’s colorful. I can’t wait. I’m so excited for this one. (0:45:26) Al: Yeah, I agree. Looks really fun. (0:45:28) Kev: All right, what’s next that’s not linked and thusly not as high on my list. (0:45:32) Kev: Oh well that blew up in my face because I forgot no this one is high up on my list too. (0:45:32) Al: Milano Milano’s odd collection or job collection. (0:45:43) Al: This one is, I think, PlayStation style is what they’re going. (0:45:48) Al: They’re calling it PlayStation one style. (0:45:48) Kev: Is (0:45:53) Al: It’s. (0:45:55) Kev: You okay, you g
Welcome to The Top Shelf Cookie Sniper Hockey Show! In this episode, we're joined by the one and only Neil – the Irish Flyers Collector. We dive into his incredible hockey card collection, get his spicy takes on the NHL Playoffs, and hear all about his brand-new venture that's turning heads in the hobby. You don't want to miss this one—let's drop the puck and get into it!
Thomas Dutronc l'annonçait sur RTL en mars dernier : il a entrepris un énorme travail sur les archives musicales de sa maman, disparue le 11 juin 2024. Première étape : vendredi 13 juin sortira en streaming et en magasins un énorme coffret dédié aux années 1960 de la chanteuse. "Françoise Hardy Blues : l'intégrale des années Vogue". À l'intérieur, 10 albums, un DVD des passages télé de la chanteuse, un livret de 24 pages avec de nombreuses photos, et beaucoup de bonus inédits... Ecoutez La star du jour avec Anthony Martin du 11 juin 2025.Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
FIONA CUMMINS chats to Paul Burke about SOME OF US ARE LIARS, Saul Anguish, Essex inspiration, Sisters, celebrity and being the best writer you can be. SOME OF US ARE LIARS When Jen Miller entrusts her youngest child to the care of her beloved sisters, she has no idea of the devastating tragedy that is about to unfold.To celebrate her sister's wedding, global superstar Winter Kellaway throws the party of the decade at her luxurious beachside estate. The decorations are flawless. The champagne is on ice. The guests have arrived. But one misstep will have heartbreaking consequences that will rock this close-knit family to their core.With her life in pieces, how can Jen ever begin to forgive?Saul Anguish, a brilliant but tormented young detective, is called in to investigate and uncovers a long-buried and shocking family secret. As the trail takes a dramatic turn, they must now all face the truth that you can never truly leave the past behind . . .Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. Fiona lives with her family in Essex.Recommendations The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris, Nikki Smith, Stephen King, CL Taylor - It's Always the Husband.Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2025. His first book An Encyclopedia of Spy Fiction will be out 2026.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 20242024 Slaughterfest,
Ever wonder what it is like to run a space museum? Jason and Rich sit down for a conversation with Chris Orwoll, the former President & CEO of the Kansas Cosmosphere and former Executive Director, New Mexico Museum of Space History, to explore his amazing career. From a decorated Naval submariner to the curator of some of the most fascinating pieces of space history, Chris' journey takes us through some of his favorite memories, artifacts, and exhibits as he also discusses practical advice on how collectors can work with museums to share their collections with the world.
Sneaker History Podcast - Sneakers, Sneaker Culture and the Business of Footwear
In this episode of the Sneaker History Podcast, host Mike Guillory talks with sneaker photographer Steven Antoine, also known as @CultivatingCool. They discuss the intersection of sneaker culture and photography, exploring Steven's journey into the world of sneaker photography, the importance of community, and the evolving landscape of social media. The conversation highlights the balance between passion and professionalism, the significance of sharing knowledge within the sneaker community, and the creative processes behind sneaker photography. Steven emphasizes the value of personal expression and the use of technology to enhance creativity in his work. In this conversation, Mike Guillory and Steven Antoine explore the intersection of content creation, sneaker culture, and personal growth through fitness. They discuss the cinematic quality of video production, the impact of social media platforms on viewer preferences, and the importance of evergreen content. The duo also delves into consumer expectations within sneaker culture, the concept of personal grails, and the supportive nature of the CrossFit community, emphasizing the need for a more inviting sneaker culture. In this engaging conversation, Steven Antoine and Mike Guillory explore the themes of nostalgia and collecting, particularly in the realms of sneakers, comics, and cards. They discuss the thrill of hunting for limited releases, the complexities of grading collectibles, and the balance between passion and responsibility in their hobbies. The dialogue also touches on the creative challenges faced in content creation, especially in photography, and concludes with a light-hearted discussion on redefining perceptions of brown shoes. In this conversation, Mike Guillory and Steven Antoine explore various aspects of sneaker culture, including the evolution of sneaker design, the rise of independent sneaker brands, the challenges of content creation, and the importance of personal expression through sneakers. They also discuss the significance of supporting small businesses within the sneaker community and the broader implications of sneaker culture in today's market.SUPPORT THE SHOW:Donate Through Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/sneakerhistoryBuy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/nickengvallEarly Access, Exclusive Videos, and Content On Patreon: https://patreon.com/sneakerhistorySubscribe on Substack: https://substack.com/@sneakerhistoryJoin our Discord Community: https://discord.gg/xJFyWmWgzaIf you are interested in advertising to our audience, contact us: podcast@sneakerhistory.comChapters00:00 Introduction to Sneaker Culture and Photography02:56 The Journey of a Sneaker Photographer06:01 Creating Evergreen Content in Sneaker Photography09:12 The Importance of Community and Sharing Knowledge11:55 Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Social Media15:04 Balancing Passion and Professionalism in Creative Work18:04 The Art of Sneaker Photography and Personal Expression21:01 Using Technology to Enhance Creativity23:59 Final Thoughts on Sneaker Photography and Community26:24 Cinematic Influences in Content Creation28:01 The Quality vs. Quantity Debate in Social Media30:01 The Importance of Evergreen Content32:01 Consumer Expectations and Sneaker Culture35:56 Personal Grails and the Meaning of Sneakers39:57 The CrossFit Community and Personal Growth48:43 Nostalgia and Collecting: A Journey Through Time51:35 Sneaker Culture: The Hunt for Limited Releases54:52 The Value of Grading: Comics and Cards58:35 The Collector's Mindset: Balancing Passion and...
Keith Martin is a 40-year veteran of the collector car world. As founder of Sports Car Market magazine, he's written for The New York Times, Automobile, and Road & Track, emceed major concours, hosted the popular show “What's My Car Worth”, and earned the Lee Iacocca and Edward Herrmann Awards, served on boards for The LeMay Museum and Oregon Ballet Theatre, and he's passionate about driving his cars. Keith shares insights on auctions, classic car maintenance, and the joy of the hobby across generations. Discover what makes him call the automotive community home and don't miss his special announcement exclusively for fans of Sports Car Market Magazine! Connect with Keith here:https://www.facebook.com/sportscarmarkethttps://www.sportscarmarket.com/joinhttps://www.facebook.com/sportscarSpecial offer: https://www.sportscarmarket.com/test-driveConnect with Red Line Oil: www.redline.com Connect with Mecum Auctions: www.Mecum.com Connect with JP Emerson: www.jpemerson.comFor more podcasts on cars, check out Ford Mustang: The Early Years Podcast at www.TheMustangPodcast.com, on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcastsFor more information about sponsorship or advertising on The JP Emerson Show or podcast launch services, contact Doug Sandler at doug@turnkeypodcast.com or visit www.turnkeypodcast.com
Rip-offs and cash-ins month continues and this week is the turn of Saw-alike, The Collector. Do we give it a pass or is it cancelled? Find out now or be dead, like Bela Lugosi. Do your bit: Sign up to our Patreon for (almost) unedited and raw video versions of every new episode Rate and review us wherever you're listening Email us with your thoughts, questions, and FT slash fiction Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky and TikTok Check out Red Scare Industries
Driving Jaguar’s potent F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition SUV – one of just60 as the last of the line Jaguar V8’s – Jaguar will navigate a new futurefrom January 1, all electric and reconfigured into an upper luxury range,the Jaguar leaper badge gone, a whole new beginning after 90 years whichthe company admits will lose up to 85 percent of its current customer base.The 5-litre supercharged F-Pace SVR 575 Ultimate Edition a stunning SUVand one that will become a collector’s item in time – super powerful, superluxurious and the test car I’m driving in Sorrento yellow, super special –hard to fault in performance, features, comfort, dynamics and price -$182,000 far cheaper than a Range Rover Sport P530 and far more exciting– the 5.0-litre V8 with 700Nm of torque and 8-speed automatic with steeringwheel shift paddles inspiring. A full gamut of active driver assist systems,not intrusive, although the speed limit alert can become an annoyance. Butfabulous brakes which you need when you have a 2133kg steed with 0 to100km/hour acceleration of just 4 seconds. This Jaguar F-Pace SVR 575Ultimate Edition the final act in what has been a wonderful 90 years ofJaguar grace and pace. I’m David BerthonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Send us a textIn this episode...--> The summer gaming reveal season is upon us, with PlayStation swooping in at the last second with a new State of Play livestream and introducing us to titles like Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement, Nioh 3, and Marvel Tokou: Fighting Souls--> Nintendo has reportedly begun shipping Switch 2 branded 'Out of Stock' signs to retailers before the console has even gone on sale--> Someone donated a Concord commemorative plaque to Goodwill — and now it's going for over $3,000. --> The Witcher 3 devs debated for so long over how naked Geralt should be in the RPG's opening bathtub scene that it became one of the longest email threads in the company's history--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Collector's CornerFind more from The Gamersician at thegamersician.bio!We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub- Connect with CafeBTW at linktr.ee/cafebtw- Get creative with Pixel Pond production company at pixelpondllc.com- Visit Absolutely the Best Podcast: A Work in Progress at linktr.ee/absolutelythebest**Use this link to get a $20 credit when you upgrade to a paid podcast hosting plan on Buzzsprout! buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1884378Hosts: wrytersview, donniegretro, thegamersicianOpening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli TakanenPatron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretroClosing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli TakanenSupport the show
In this episode, author Shelby McFadden takes us on a journey through the haunted threads that weave together her writing, ancestry, and everyday life. We talk about the real ghost stories that inspired her latest book, her writing routine as a mother, and how her connection to ancestral magic and tarot informs both her creativity and her healing. Shelby opens up about the mental health challenges that come with being a sensitive storyteller and how writing has become both her anchor and outlet. Whether you're drawn to the paranormal, the creative process, or the honest balancing act of motherhood and magic—this episode is for you. We cover: What inspired her latest book Her writing routine and creative rituals The role of motherhood and its affect on being an author Ancestry and inherited magic How tarot influences her intuition and process Mental health and the emotional cost of sensitivity Finding grounding as both a writer and a mother And of course Real ghost stories and how to protect yourself from dark spirits. Grab a cup of tea (or something stronger) and settle in for ghost stories, deep truths, and the sacred art of telling them. Find Shelby Here: https://www.shelbynmcfadden.com/grove-hollow-book-series https://www.instagram.com/shelbynicoleauthor/ Your Host Michelle Schultz: https://michelleschultzstudio.com Join my Collector's Circle https://mailchi.mp/b3302e4faa83/vip-list Sponsor: Soma Lumin https://www.somalumin.com Use code MICHELLE to get 20% off Aura Painting and Photography - Shop Here: https://www.michelleschultzstudio.com/products/aura-portraits-the-official-painting-and-photo-package?_pos=2&_psq=aura&_ss=e&_v=1.0
#516 Collector's Edition - Side B - Stargrove Entertainment Inc. - VNL9014 - 2017 - Canada by Jim Reeves
Jesse (@goat_wr_collector) returns to Smashing BIN to break down the moment he completed one of the most challenging wide receiver projects in the hobby—a full gold Prizm run of Julio Jones playing years. We talk through the psychology of chasing impossible cards, why wide receiver collectors are having more fun than anyone, and how smashing BIN isn't just about impulse—it's about obsession, memory, and meaning.This episode covers:Why 2015 and 2016 Prizm Golds are among the toughestThe wide receiver collector movement and why it's no longer tabooThe story behind smashing BIN on a Julio Jones grailCollecting AJ Brown through Titans roots and Eagles gloryJerry Rice game-used autos and Hopkins rookie 1/1sJesse's passion and perspective make this episode a must-listen for anyone who's ever hit BIN on a card that meant more than money.Start your 7 day free trial of Stacking Slabs Patreon Today[Distributed on Sunday] Sign up for the Stacking Slabs Weekly Rip Newsletter using this linkFollow Jesse: | InstagramFollow Stacking Slabs: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tiktok
This episode Bryan, Carl, & Dwayne are going to discuss the figures we have not gotten in the Vintage Collection line for the Prequel movies. Bryan and Dwayne talk about what they say at ICCC and whether or not you should go.
In this episode of the SeerNova Podcast, we're joined by Jeofrey Cotton, the founder of Keyngdom Comics, who shares his journey from comic collector and seller to a self-published writer, letterer, and designer. Jeofrey opens up about how hands-on experience in the comic book aftermarket—cleaning, pressing, and submitting—prepared him to build a full indie brand from the ground up.We talk about his publishing plans, multiple upcoming titles, and his future goal to pitch completed projects to national distributors like Lunar and Penguin. Whether you're an aspiring creator, indie publisher, or just love behind-the-scenes comic book talk—this episode has something for you!
Welcome back to another episode of "The 151 Collective". Zack Mo and Collector review our weeks in collecting, talk pokemon market, revisit the weekly "Pokemon Highlight", and of course revisit our weekly rankings
Cutting Through the Matrix with Alan Watt Podcast (.xml Format)
--{ "The Mind Masters"}-- Why YOUR SUPPORT is necessary -- and VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! - Movie, The Net - What are common themes in the movies, The Net, Echelon Conspiracy, Enemy of the State, Eagle Eye and Terminator? - Social Media, Data Collection - What is Palantir and Who is Peter Thiel? - International Socialism (Run, Financed and Owned by International Bankers) - Government as Collector for Debts - Scientifically Designed Society - "The Soviet Story" documentary, George Bernard Shaw - Government-Run Childcare, Extended "Family" of Social Workers - Inoculations to Dumb Down Populations - Socialized Medicine, Cutbacks, Priority Operations, Healthcare Rationing - Bertrand Russell, Creation of Hedonism and Narcissism, Devaluation of Others - Psychological Studies Continuously Done on Public - Loss of Non-verbal Communication and Interaction - De-industrialization of Britain - Lima Declaration, GATT, Transfer of Manufacturing to Developing Nations - Interdependence, Organic Society, Totalitarianism - Worldwide Scientific Dictatorship - Google / Microsoft Tracking System - Social Approval and Disapproval.
As collectors, we have all heard the arguments about snagging toys that kids want. But do they? What kid nowadays wants action figures? We explore what market we think toy companies are pursuing. What do YOU think? Let us know in the comments below!
Time to meet Milton Hogben and the mysterious blood cabal, Dr. Maynard Ouzo and the alien cloth from the alien in the closet, Randy Matthewson as the world's loneliest church congregant, and, finally, Billy Gruff and The Collector's crystal -- which caused a full blown whiteout and 3 weeks of missing time. This episode features Travis McElroy from The Adventure Zone. Support the show on Patreon. Buy some merch at the Contention General Store. Follow along on Bluesky. Find other listeners on Discord and Reddit. Soundtrack by WAAAVV. Wolf the Dog played "Little Acts" by A People Person.
This week, the gals jump on 35 to head down to a Midwest metropolis. Topics include an architect's worst nightmare, a fallopian flag, and some super sadistic Polaroid evidence. Pick up a bottle or two from Amigoni Urban Winery, do not enter that dancing contest, and tune in for Kansas City Crimes. For a full list of show sponsors, visit https://wineandcrimepodcast.com/sponsors. To advertise on Wine & Crime, please email ad-sales@libsyn.com or go to advertising.libsyn.com/winecrime.
The wonderful thing about doing Collector's Corner is even after we've had a special guest on the show, we still haven't seen the entire collection. This means that we have the opportunity to revisit and see even MORE! Such is the case with Ryan Smiga! His collection is so vast that we could easily do an entire series on all that he has collected from the 80s and 90s. For this episode, we wrap up what Nick merch he has amassed. This collection will bring back all the nostalgia feels for anyone that loved Nickelodeon back during the orange years! Give Ryan a follow at https://www.instagram.com/smigalodeon/ Check out the Germ Busters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=job1V_dqYxQ Unlock Bonus Content on Patreon Shop at our Splat Attack Merch Store Email Us: SplatAttack2021@gmail.com YouTube: Splat Attack! Podcast Instagram: @SplatAttackPodcast Please leave us a review in your podcast app! #splatattack #splatattackpodcast #podcast #vidcast #nostalgia #90snostalgia #nickelodeon #90snickelodeon #nicktoons #collectors
Best Of 2GG: Brooke the Penny Collector by Two Girls and a Guy
Leighton Sheldon sits down with Tony, The Southern Collector!They discuss how Tony figured out that low grade eye appeal was the way to go when collecting vintage cards plus much more!Southern CollectorYouTube & Instagram@southerncollector14Leighton is always buying collections! Reach out for a free appraisal any time at Just Collect.
Welcome to MrMaple Podcasts, your go-to destination for all things horticulture. Our playlist is a collection of podcasts that showcase various plants and interview renowned horticulturists. We aim to educate and inspire our listeners about the beauty of plants and the knowledge needed to cultivate them. Our podcasts cover a wide range of topics, from Japanese Maples, Conifers, Ginkgos, and Azaleas to interviews with experts in the field. Tune in every Sunday at 8PM eastern for a new episode and join us on this journey to discover the wonders of horticulture.
Mike Gleckler hails from Carmichael California. A lifelong VW enthusuest. He first got into Volkswagens at the age of 15. His Instagram handle is @vintage_volkswagens has over 3800 posts and 44.6K followers. Check out his IG for some cool vintage Volkswagne content. On this episode we talk about his bus collection. His 1967 Deluxe Bus and the story behind it. Also his 1954 Barndoor era Single cab pick up. His 1967 HighRoof "Clinomobil". He has an afinnity for Highroofs by the way he ownes 2 of them. And his 1965 Highroof his dad cruises. We also discuss his instagram page and how its helped him connect with other VW enthusiests around the world. www.letstlakdubs.com www.vwtrendsmagazine.com www.rosswulf.com use Code LTD10 for a discount Buy Icon Pistons here
Michael (@roundtree13_cards) returns to the show for a deep conversation around the 1/1. We explore what collecting 1/1s means in today's hobby, how intentionality shapes his pursuit, and why every 1/1 doesn't carry the same weight.Michael shares the evolution of his collecting approach, how he's moved away from impulse buys, and why he now seeks cards that fit his bigger picture. We talk about the emotional pull of cards, the importance of narrative, and the constant refinement that comes with time in the hobby.This one is for anyone who's ever wondered what makes a card truly worth holding onto.Get exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast Patreon[Distributed on Sunday] Sign up for the Stacking Slabs Weekly Rip Newsletter using this linkCheck out Card Ladder the official data partner of Stacking SlabsFollow Stacking Slabs: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | TiktokFollow Michael: | Instagram
What if you could retain the doors you manage even when your owners decide to sell? What would that mean for you and your property management business? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Lior from Blanket to talk about how property managers can retain doors while also helping investors grow and add more to their portfolios. You'll Learn [02:59] Property Managers Can Become Asset Managers [11:13] Valuable Lessons Learned from Tough Situations [25:40] How to Move into More of an Asset Manager Role [37:25] Reducing Client and Retaining Clients [47:51] Helping Your Investors Grow Their Portfolios Quotables “You have to be very robotic, very technical, and that is one of the most important skills that really allows me to face difficult, you know, decisions in life, especially in business, without taking them personally.” “When you are rational and you're not driven by emotions, that actually allows you to be a lot more, you know, empathetic and kind and caring.” “There are no failures in life. There are only challenges, and every challenge is an opportunity for success.” ”Why be so focused on the failure if you can be focused on the lesson that you're going to learn, even before you even know it?” Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive Transcript [00:00:00] Lior: The combination of these two, this is what allows you to be that ultimate asset manager to your clients. That can help your clients, optimize their portfolio and generate more cash flow, but on the other hand, help them make more money by expanding their portfolio, buying more properties, and growing it. [00:00:18] Jason: Welcome everybody to the DoorGrow Show. I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow. We are the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. [00:00:31] Jason: For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses, helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profit, simplify operations, and build and replace teams. [00:00:52] Jason: We are like Bar Rescue for property managers. In fact, we have cleaned up and rebranded over 300 businesses and we run the leading property management mastermind with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. At DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world, and that property management is the ultimate high-trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. [00:01:17] Jason: At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the bs, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. All right, so today I'm hanging out with Lior. [00:01:37] Jason: How do you say your last name? Abramovich? [00:01:42] Jason: Abramovich. [00:01:43] Jason: Abramovich. Man. I butchered that one. All right. So with Blanket, he's repping it on a t-shirt, if you're seeing the video version of this. And so, Lior, we've had several calls, hanging out and you're just a really cool guy and we've really enjoyed hanging out. [00:02:01] Jason: Yeah. We've really enjoyed hanging out. He's given me a heart shape with his hand for those listening. But I haven't had you on the podcast yet, have I? [00:02:09] Lior: True. This is the first time. [00:02:11] Jason: Yeah. That's so odd to me. Usually people start by doing the podcast with me and so we're doing the reverse. [00:02:17] Jason: And you're a sponsor at DoorGrow Live, our conference coming up. Thank you. And we're really excited to have you there. One of our vendors said it's the only conference he still attends now. That's it. He's like, "it's the one I get the most value from learning, and the other ones just aren't worth the, you know, paying to go be a vendor there." [00:02:36] Jason: And I'm like, okay, cool. So hopefully you get some benefit from doing that as well. So I'm excited Lior to expose people to Blanket because I think it's very complimentary to our vision and what we do at DoorGrow in helping grow property managers. And I would call it like a client retention platform, but maybe you describe it differently. [00:02:57] Jason: But before we get into that, why don't we give some background on you and why don't you tell everybody how you kind of got into entrepreneurism, then got into property management and give us some backstory. We need the origin story of Lior. [00:03:11] Lior: Will do. I'll try to make it exciting and interesting. [00:03:13] Jason: Okay. [00:03:14] Lior: I started from real estate. I didn't start from the tech side or from, you know, the startup world. I started as an investor. I bought my first rental property in Atlanta, Georgia when I was about 18 years old. So started quite early with a lot of inspiration from my mom, which is my role model in life for pretty much everything. [00:03:33] Lior: And at that point in time, I actually was doing that investment from Israel, thousands of miles away. This is where I was born and raised. I actually moved here to the States just about a year, yeah, exactly a year ago. Moved to Miami, Florida. After just, you know, living on the line, flying back and forth almost every month for multiple years, but in that first stage of like my, you know, real estate, I would say career, at that point I also started my active duty service in the Israeli Navy. [00:04:05] Lior: So I'm a graduate of the Israeli Naval Academy, then served for almost nine years as a naval commander commanding hundreds of soldiers, officers, and combat soldiers in quite intense and interesting situations I would say. That's a whole topic that we can talk about for hours in another podcast. [00:04:25] Lior: Yeah. Episode. [00:04:26] Jason: Interesting. I didn't know that about you. [00:04:28] Lior: Yeah. That was quite an intense nine years and definitely shaped me as a person and as an entrepreneur as well. Most of what I know, most of what I do, most of what I act upon is pretty much majority, you know, of what I learned and implemented in myself as a person in my qualities, in my values, in my worldviews through that time in the Navy. [00:04:52] Lior: And, you know, before that, before like that step of buying that first rental property, it's not like it came from out of nowhere. You know, probably I started as most of our listeners today by reading the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki when I was about 13 years old. Again, my mom gave me that as a birthday gift at 13 years old. [00:05:14] Lior: And to me it was fascinating, this whole concept that you can, you know, like make money from like a property that you actually took money from the bank to pay for it, and it pays for itself and it makes some extra money. So this whole like very, you know, conceptualized plan was very interesting to me. [00:05:35] Lior: And I said like, this is something I would like to do at some capacity in my life. Especially because the fact that I was born for a family of immigrants, my entire family came from Ukraine to Israel. So we didn't have, you know, very good financial you know, let's say position in life as most immigrants do. [00:05:54] Lior: And my grandparents don't have, you know, today also a pension plan that, or that's how we call it in Israel. And here we call it 401k. So they don't have that. And to me, real estate was always a way to take care of my loved ones, to take care of my grandparents, to be able to at least give them one rental property that can enable them stable, and I would say secure financial retirement, and just really retire with dignity, retire safely. And that was like the big why behind everything I'm doing. So. Quick, you know, fast forward nine years in the Navy, kept doing real estate throughout that time. Helped a lot of my fellow naval officers to buy properties in the United States. [00:06:38] Lior: Okay. And then started working for a big investment firm in the United States that was doing build to rent before build to rent was a thing. You know, today, you know, people are talking about build to rent is with this cool name, but back then we just called it new construction you know, for investors. [00:06:52] Lior: So we were one of the largest operators in the Southeast. We were one of the largest operators, specifically in Georgia and Alabama. And I started there as their head of acquisitions quickly promoted to vice president of business development, overseeing our entire operation from due diligence, meaning land acquisition development, and then, you know, disposition and sales and marketing. [00:07:14] Lior: So, really had the opportunity to experience every part of the value chain of real estate investments from start to finish, seeing all the good, seeing all the bad, I had, you know, contractors that went bankrupt in the middle of a 300 property community. And I had very good stories as well. But that whole period of time of me working there for almost three years was the best school I ever got to really, you know, operate as an operator and manage an operation of hundreds of millions of dollars because in that time alone, I personally oversaw about $200 million worth of acquisitions and worked directly with over a thousand individual investors, mainly mom and pop investors, like most of you know, the clients of most of our listeners today. And the unique thing about it, and this is where Blanket sort of like starts to form up as an idea, the unique thing about my position in that company was that it had a very interesting model where. [00:08:16] Lior: All the clients that we sold properties to, which were clients, by the way, all over the world. We worked with buyers from Israel, Canada, Russia, China, Australia, like everywhere. You know, that was one of our, you know, major, I would say efficiencies, which we were working with a lot of foreign investors and we are one of the biggest drivers of that. [00:08:38] Lior: So we've seen pretty much everything in every one of those clients that we actually sell the property to we kept managing the relationship with them instead of the property manager. So think of that company as like an investor relations arm, right? Where you refer that client after we sell a property to a property manager partner that we worked with and we worked with a lot of folks and then that property manager is not talking with that owner. [00:09:05] Lior: No headaches, no nothing. We are managing that owner. So every time the owner has a question, he sends that to us and if we need, we escalate that to the property manager. If the property manager wants to convey something, he escalates that. So like he gives it to us and we pass it on to the owner. But the whole notion was that we will be their asset manager and this whole thing enabled me to see all the things that work and all the things that don't work when it comes to owner relationships and how property managers manage their owner relationships, especially with the things that are missing, which is what owners expect and what property managers don't provide, which leads in many cases to churn. [00:09:48] Lior: And that churn problem that today is pretty much the same as it has been 10 years ago, which is almost 25 to 30% annually. That's the average in the industry today in terms of how many properties we're losing today as property managers. So in that aspect, like you think to yourself, okay, what's causing that? [00:10:09] Lior: And that was the question that always led me to ask all my property management partners. Why are you losing so many clients? Like, we know we're doing an awesome job as your asset manager and you know, but like why is this a big problem in your business today? Yeah, and a lot of it was always due to owner sales or to owner experience, which we were solving a lot for because we were taking care of those owners. [00:10:33] Lior: So every time they wanted to sell a property, they told us and we were able to sell it inside the other, you know, the network of property owners and clients. And also when they... [00:10:43] Jason: if somebody wanted to sell property that was a client, you would be able to turn around and sell to one of your other clients so that you continued to keep the property, which is exactly awesome, which is a no brainer. [00:10:55] Jason: And I'm sure a lot of property managers like say that would be the ideal. That'd be great if I can do the sales, get those commissions, and still be able to keep the property in my portfolio. That would be really great. Exactly. Blanket helps do this, right? [00:11:11] Lior: Yeah. We'll get to Blanket in a second. [00:11:13] Jason: I have a question before we continue. You mentioned being in the military and being in the Navy and being Navy commander. I didn't know this about you. So what do you feel like that did to change you? How do you feel like you would be different if you hadn't have gone through that? [00:11:30] Lior: It will be pretty much everything that I know and everything that I do. [00:11:33] Lior: But if I were to pick a few, I would say main things that were changed in how I view the world and how I operate, number one is being more rational than emotional, pretty much about everything. My mom even jokes all the time. She says, I'm like a robot, like you know, I'm not driven by emotions at all. [00:11:54] Lior: And that is one of the things that you have to sort of develop yourself into, when you're dealing with life threatening, you know, situations, you have to be rational. You have to be very robotic, very technical, and that is one of the most important skills that really allows me to face difficult, you know, decisions in life, especially in business, without taking them personally. [00:12:16] Lior: And, you know, it's business. [00:12:17] Jason: I love, I love that idea. One of my favorite books lately is this book by a guy named Jerr, this philosopher, and it's called, The Wall Speaks and it's all about building a masculine frame. And it's being less emotional, displaying less emotion, and how that earns you respect and how that makes people around you, especially women, feel safer and everything else. [00:12:40] Jason: And this is something that just, if you are in very challenging situations. Like war, you know, military, whatever, like you learn this naturally. It's just, it hardwires it into you and. Yeah, exactly. Over emotionality is going to make a lot more sense. It's much more rational. So yeah, I think that's a great principle. [00:13:03] Lior: I would say even more than that, because probably, you know. The first thing that comes to mind when you hear that is like, oh, I don't want to be, you know, a cold person or a very, you know, apethetic person, like someone who doesn't, you know, acknowledge other people's feelings, et cetera. Sure. I say on the contrary, when you are very rational and you're not clouded by emotions, you are emotionally available to express emotion, to express care, to express, you know, concern about the other person in front of you, because you're not all centered in what you are feeling right now because something is, you know, bothering you and you're like all into that. [00:13:42] Lior: Instead, you are able to look at the other person in front of you and think how they're feeling. Think what, you know, what can help them feel better. So like when you are rational and you're not driven by emotions, that actually allows you to be a lot more, you know, empathetic and kind and caring. [00:14:00] Lior: Because you're not centered on what you're feeling and what you're experiencing, then you can really be thinking about the other person. [00:14:07] Jason: Yeah. I love that. I think in order to reach that space, like it talks about in the wall speaks, we have to get out of this mode of trying to please everybody and trying to please others. [00:14:17] Jason: And so when we're so concerned about how everyone feels about us and we're too concerned about emotion, then we're trying to please everybody. So I love this idea this first point of rationale over emotion. This is super important in business. [00:14:31] Jason: And I love the idea that it actually enables you to be a better leader, to be able to take in and take into account other people's emotions and to see things from their perspective, because that's a more rational viewpoint than getting overly, you know, steeped in your own emotion and which blinds you to what others are feeling and what others are experiencing. [00:14:53] Jason: So you said that's number one. So I'm guessing there's a number two. [00:14:55] Lior: There are, there are a lot. There are a lot more, but we'll keep to the I would say to the big ones. Yeah. The second thing is this very strong belief. I would say almost religious belief that there are no failures in life. [00:15:12] Lior: There are only challenges, and every challenge is an opportunity for success. Love it. That whole perspective. Well, it takes time to really live by it, but once you live by it, you don't have stress, you don't have, you don't worry about stuff. On the contrary you're getting excited about things that don't work. [00:15:33] Lior: You're getting excited about, you know, things that you would normally call failures because you're excited about what's on the other end of that. What's the lesson to be learned and what's the improvement that you're going to bring? So instead of. Being concerned about this thing right now, that it's not working. [00:15:50] Lior: You are excited, positively about what is going to happen after that because it's going to make you better. It's going to make your business better. So like this whole notion of understanding that at the end of every problem, challenge, failure, that some people might call, on the other side of that, there's always a good side. [00:16:13] Lior: Like think of it as like a coin, right? Like that's how I try to see, you know, failures in life. On one side you see the failure, you know, as some people would call it. But on the other side is the lesson, and every failure has that lesson. So why be so focused on the failure if you can be focused on the lesson that you're going to learn, even before you even know it? But you know there will be something there. You know you will be better. You know your business will be better. So let's get excited about that. [00:16:40] Jason: Yeah, I love this idea so much. I often say I either win or I learn. [00:16:46] Lior: Exactly. [00:16:47] Jason: There's the only way you lose is if you quit or you give up. That's it. Like, so I either win or I learn. And I love this idea that, you know, after every struggle or failure or uncomfortable emotional experience or challenging, you know, thing in life, if we don't learn from it, then yeah, it's just trauma. It's just a problem. But if you learn from it, it becomes the bricks by which you build your character, by which you build a whole new life and a whole new self image. And if you learn from it, you're destined to not repeat it as well, which is nice. So you learn the lesson. Exactly. [00:17:23] Jason: And I think, you know, God and the universe keeps giving us the same lessons over and over again, maybe in stronger and stronger fashion until we finally learn the lesson. And I think going along with these two points, which relates heavily is being open and willing to take feedback from others, you know? [00:17:42] Jason: And so one of the things that I've, realized is that feedback a lot of people think is painful, and it can be really uncomfortable, but I've noticed that when I go to my mentors and I'm open and vulnerable to getting feedback. Sometimes, you know, it can cut pretty deeply, but it's good medicine and that's where I have the most growth and learning. [00:18:00] Jason: And so I've learned to actually love and enjoy the discomfort of feedback. And so I seek it now. Then I collapsing time on my learning. Yeah, and I'm experiencing the discomfort in that and, but I know that there's benefits to that because now I can see something that I was blind to or I'm experiencing something that I didn't realize. The reason I hire these mentors is because they're at a vantage point in some sort of area that they're ahead of me. And so being willing to get feedback takes somebody that's willing to be really rational and it takes somebody that's willing to see that there's no failure. You are not bad, sick, and wrong because somebody pointed out something that you're doing that's bad, sick, and wrong. Like that means now you have an opportunity to change or improve, which is good news. [00:18:43] Jason: It's like the best news ever. Yeah. Love this [00:18:46] Lior: 100%. [00:18:47] Jason: That's why we get along, Lior. You and I have just been through enough shit to learn some lessons, so. Hell yeah. So cool. Do you have a third one for us? [00:18:55] Lior: Yeah, let's do a quick one. Leading by example. Okay. Is number one. And I'll actually give a quick story here just to explain how powerful that is. [00:19:06] Lior: And I think that's also really important for, you know, all of our listeners for property managers. Because in my first assignment in the Navy as a commander, I was assigned as a chief engineer, meaning I was in charge of the mechanics department. These are all the folks that are working the hardest. Like, think of them as like your maintenance, you know, contractors. [00:19:26] Lior: These are the folks who are going in fixing plumbing, fixing AC systems and like heating systems, like getting really dirty, you know, and like crawling underneath engines filled with like gasoline and stuff. It's like the hardest job in, you're doing the worst, [00:19:44] Jason: worst job. It's like Mike Rowe's show Dirty Jobs. [00:19:48] Lior: Yeah. I don't want to be too explicit and vivid. But you're dealing with like pipes of like things that you know Sure. We use for other things stuff and who knows. [00:19:56] Jason: Yeah. Okay. [00:19:57] Lior: Exactly. It's bad. It's bad. Yeah. So anyways, so on when I was first assigned as the chief engineer, so the chief engineer in the ship is like the second to the commander. [00:20:07] Lior: Like if the, something happens to the commander of the ship. I'm taking command. So, you know, you have your respect and your sort of like, honor just with the title, you know? Yeah. It comes with it and you can walk around like, you know, like a peacock. Very proud of yourself and, you know, I'm like, I'm the boss. [00:20:25] Lior: I'm the big man or whatever. [00:20:27] Jason: Yeah. [00:20:27] Lior: Or you can do some other things. And for example, what I did on the first day of me getting, you know, onboard the ship and, you know, getting the role and getting command of the ship. So the first thing that I did was like every day we have like an hour at the end of the day that we're cleaning the entire ship. [00:20:46] Lior: And part of cleaning the ship is also for the mechanics department. Is getting below the engines that run the ship and cleaning all the oil residue that builds up there. So you have to literally, you know, take a lot of like cloths and sheets and just like, dive into the oil and just push it out. [00:21:04] Lior: Wow. So like you get out black, like completely black. And normally the ones who are doing it are the youngest, you know, mechanics and the youngest soldiers on the ship because it's like, you know, it's a newbie. Don't have seniority. [00:21:16] Jason: And they're new and you give them the worst job. They get the shit job. [00:21:19] Lior: Exactly. So what I did, I went and got beneath the engines myself. Yeah. And it, it became a show. All the soldiers came to watch. Oh man, the chief got beneath the engines. He's crazy. What is he doing? It was a shock, but nobody forgot that. Like my soldiers up until today, were like best friends or like my little brothers, they remember this until today, this little thing that I never done after that again, by the way, I did it once. [00:21:48] Lior: Yeah. But they never forget it. And that sets so many examples in terms of what I expect from them in terms of ownership, you know, and values and teamwork and not being afraid to take on, you know, jobs that, that are like beneath me or whatever. That was such a powerful message without me even saying a word. [00:22:08] Lior: Yeah. So think of yourself as a property manager. Like what things you can do like that, that you need to do only once maybe in your life, you know, and show your employees that you're not afraid to get dirty and do the hard work and really show them that nobody should be feeling that something is beneath them or like it's not, you know, to their level or whatever. [00:22:31] Lior: Like if you are doing that, like who am I to, you know, raise any objections of doing something? Like I'm not the company owner and if the company owner is doing that, I better do that. Right? So [00:22:44] Jason: yeah, that's a great story. Great example. I. You know, it's a great display of leadership. There's a really good book kind of about this principle called The Motive by Patrick Lencioni. [00:22:54] Jason: And in he talks about how there's two types of CEOs and there's the CEOs that think because of their position, everybody owes them everything. They're king, they deserve everything. And they end up having organizations that have a lack of ownership, a lack of accountability, and a lot of problems. [00:23:10] Jason: Because they think they're superior to everybody else. And then there's the CEOs that have the right motive and they understand that they have the worst job in the company because their job is to do anything that's not working and to step in anywhere that there's a problem and they need to be willing to, like you talked about, get dirty and start, like help out at the bottom if that's what the business needs to get clarity or to fix things or to figure it out. [00:23:38] Jason: And so being able to display that is a powerful thing. Like it reminds me the other day, I'm training some setters right now to do some cold calls for us, do some outreach to property managers. because we're like. The best kept secret in property management. Not all our people have heard of DoorGrow still, and so we're having them do some outreach and they're like, oh, it's really hard. [00:23:56] Jason: I don't know how to deal with gatekeepers and all this. And you like the subtext says, Jason, you don't understand. This is difficult. So I'm like, cool, let me do it right now. And I picked up the phone and they were watching me on Zoom and I'm cold calling and doing it. And the second call I got first was a voicemail. [00:24:11] Jason: I'm like, here's how to leave a voicemail to get them to call you back. And then the second call was a receptionist. And I connected with her. I made her laugh. I got info from her about the business owners, what their challenges are. Oh, there's two business owners. Okay, cool. And I got all this information about how many doors they have, everything about the business because I was nice to the receptionist and treated her like a person. [00:24:34] Jason: And and she was helping me out. She wouldn't give me their cell phone numbers, but I got everything else I needed so we could call back. And I'm like, cool. Did you see how that went? And they were like, well, it's really cool. So yeah, when we're willing to step in and show them how to do something, it can break some of their preconceived ideas, their perceptions, and so yeah, they see a leader and they're like, oh, well the leader can do this and the leader can do this well. Be cause if everybody underneath you is like, yeah, but he's never done this hard stuff, or he hasn't done this, and they're like. There's always that story. Well, he did that worst job, like he was pushing, they're like, what? Yeah, first day? I mean, it speaks volumes of character and it, yeah, it makes your leadership much easier. [00:25:19] Jason: That's kind of the equivalent of people say, if you get thrown in prison, go fight the biggest guy there, or something like this. Right? And that was the most challenging thing that nobody thought you would do, and you went and did it. And so, yeah, you earned respect. And you know, leadership has to be born out of respect. [00:25:35] Jason: So these are great principles. This was valuable in the podcast alone. So let's move on to getting into Blanket. And I think this is a game changer. I think every property management business owner should be using Blanket every single one. It's an absolute no brainer. It helps them retain their clients, well retain the properties. [00:25:58] Jason: So basically keeping their portfolio, even if the owners are leaving and it gives them access to a network of investors. And there's just so many benefits. So I'll let you tell everybody about it because you probably know a little bit more than I do, so. [00:26:12] Lior: Sure. Thanks. Sure thing. I'll actually do I normally have, you know, the whole spiel and the features and what we provide and whatever, but I think if we already started on such a inspiring, I would say, note to the, to this episode. [00:26:25] Lior: I'll start with the why. With why we're doing what we're doing, because I think it's important and we, and I think we're not doing a good job maybe at explaining the why enough in pretty much everywhere we go about, yeah. [00:26:36] Jason: People don't buy what you do. Simon Sinek says they buy why you do it. [00:26:39] Jason: So, exactly. Let's into the why behind Blanket. Why does Blanket exist? Yeah. [00:26:44] Lior: So the overarching premise is that. Today there is a very big, I would say, failure or gap in the market in our single family rental market. When you look at other asset classes, when you look at commercial, when you look at, you know, multifamily, industrial office, any investors in those asset classes have an investment manager, a professional investment manager. [00:27:13] Lior: That provides them, you know, quarterly, you know, reports provides them with strategy sessions about their next capital, you know, allocation about their disposition. Yes, they have someone to guide them in a very professional way to their goals and to and to match their needs. The only asset class, the only asset class that does not have the function of an investment manager is single family. [00:27:40] Lior: Yeah. And that's especially the asset class that needs it the most because 99% of all single family rental owners are mom and pop investors. Institutional players own, roughly, depending on which source you're reading, but roughly between one to 2% of all the single family rental properties across the country. [00:28:02] Lior: The most is owned by mom and pop investors. The people who need that guidance the most. And they don't have that, which is why they're making mistakes, which is why they have maybe sometimes, and I bet all the listeners can agree some unrealistic expectations of what a property manager should do. And that creates a big gap that the only one losing or not the only one, but like the two people that are losing from the situation is that mom and pop owner and us, the property manager, because we then lose a lot of clients. [00:28:36] Lior: And it's sort of like this identity crisis where we as property managers are perceived as service providers, as rent collectors, as toilet fixers, but we are held accountable as if we're the investment managers. Like, you know, why am I losing so much money on this property? [00:28:57] Lior: It's all you. It's all about you. You didn't, you know, collect the rent. You didn't rent it on time. Yeah. Why it's vacant. Like with all due respect, you are the one who bought this property. You know, you bought it in this problematic area. You bought a very old property that never replaced the roof, never replaced the ac, and it is a very bad shape in a very bad neighborhood. [00:29:17] Lior: Like there is a limit to what I can do for you at the end of the day. But the problem is that we as property managers, we're stuck in this middle where we are held accountable. As if we're their investment manager, but we're perceived as just a service provider, which is the most difficult position to be at. [00:29:34] Lior: Now, how does that connect to our why? When I started doing real estate again, remember that like my personal why my grandparents, right? I wanted to build a real estate portfolio that will allow me to give them at least one property from which they can live off. To act as their pension. Sort of like plan. [00:29:53] Lior: And as, as more as I grew up in this industry as an operator, as sort of like a property manager without all the headaches of operation, you know, just acting as the owner relationship manager. I understood that if there was a platform, you know, back then when I was just dreaming about it, if there was a platform that will empower the property managers to become investment managers for their clients. I know that my parents and my loved ones can be in good hands because if those property managers that manage my grandparents' homes can tell them what to do based on, you know, what's happening with the property, when should they renovate, maybe, when should they sell, when maybe when should they refinance and cash out? [00:30:40] Lior: Or maybe when should they buy another property or any other question that is sort of like surrounding the investment life cycle or the investment journey, right? I know that their sort of like goal of retiring financially safe can be handled because there is no one else who will take care of that. The agent who maybe, you know, sold them that property, he has no vested interest in the long term. [00:31:05] Lior: He's doing a transaction and he's done. Out. The lender, same thing. He got the origination fees, he secured the loan, he's out the window and they're out. Nobody besides the property manager has a long-term vested interest in the wellbeing of the property owner. So for us, this is what motivates our entire team. We understand that if we'll be able to empower our partners, our property managers into investment managers, we will take care of our loved ones. [00:31:36] Lior: We will make sure that they will be in good hands and this is the why, because there is a gap that only property managers can fill. And this is that the gap of a missing investment manager for the investors that are the least experienced, that need the guidance the most, this is what we wake up for, this is what we work for. [00:32:00] Lior: This is everything that, you know, leads in every decision making intersection or like point in our company's life cycle. Yeah, I love it. [00:32:08] Jason: This is why we come to leaders. This is why people come to a property manager. They're looking for leadership, they're looking for guidance. And when you're at that peak of customer satisfaction, customer service, that's where you are an advice giver, where you're giving advice, not just like the title of this episode is from Rent Collector to Asset Manager, and the idea is: [00:32:32] Jason: if you can go from just being somebody that keeps the rent coming to helping them manage the asset, you are already head and shoulders above other management companies. So if you can present yourself as an asset manager, and I've had a podcast episode with a client who's very good at doing this, he is able to assess their property. [00:32:51] Jason: We have this really cool tool called the ROI calculator. He'll help show them whether it's performing properly, what the long-term benefits are. What the tax benefits are, and so he can help them assess the property and they already just view him as an expert instead of wanting to work with any other management company. [00:33:08] Jason: So a lot of you feel like you're competing with other management companies because you're doing cold lead marketing stuff that probably doesn't work very well. And if you're doing that, reach out to DoorGrow, we'll help you fix that problem. But there's plenty of business out there. There's no scarcity. [00:33:20] Jason: But if you do feel like you're competing with other companies, one way to set yourself head and shoulders above the rest is to no longer be a property manager that just collects rent and coordinates maintenance, but to be an asset or portfolio manager for this investor. So, how does Blanket help with this? [00:33:37] Lior: I think we nailed it. We are right on point. And I love, [00:33:40] Jason: I love it. I mean, everyone needs to realize this is the motivator. This is the reason. Because property managers, if you want to have an easier time closing deals, you want to retain clients, keep clients trusting you, and if clients trust you as an asset manager, they're way more hands off. [00:33:56] Jason: They don't try to manage the manager, they stop trying to micromanage you because they look at you as the advice giver and as the advisor instead of thinking, this is just somebody that works for me that I now need to manage and make sure they're not stealing from me and they do it my way. [00:34:11] Lior: Exactly. [00:34:11] Lior: So we are really tackling this mission from two angles and the understanding here is that. As you said, if you are acting as a trusted advisor, if you're acting as an asset manager and your clients appreciate you as one, you will have less churn and you will grow a lot faster. So when we're thinking about these two, you know, functions of your business, on the one hand churn and on the other hand, growth, these two things always go together in property management. [00:34:47] Lior: Why? Because if we're looking at the average, [00:34:49] Jason: and let's explain churn real quick for, because some people, this is a new term for them, they're like, what does this mean? Churning? So churn means you're losing business, you're losing clients, they're churning out. So this is the rate at which you're losing clients every year. [00:35:03] Lior: Exactly. Exactly. It's how many doors you lost technically, again, no matter what the reason, but like you lost the door, you know that's churn. So in property management there is a very unique and frustrating thing is that you'll always have churn. You can never lower to zero. Why? Because life happens. You might have a client that's super, super happy with what you're providing. [00:35:27] Lior: He loves you. He loves the relationship, he loves the service. He's getting everything from you, but suddenly life happens and he needs the money, he needs to sell that property, unfortunately. It has nothing to do with your performance, it's just his life. So that property is going to be sold and you're going to lose that, so you'll have churn. [00:35:46] Lior: So in property management there always be churn and it's something we have to accept. So that means if you can't, you know, really lower churn to zero, that means you always have to have a growth strategy to offset the doors that you're still going to lose. Yeah. So growth and churn, and. Or the opposite of churn, which is retention. [00:36:10] Lior: Okay. Growth and retention and property management have to work together always at all times. On the one hand, if we're like, imagine a bucket of water and your task is to keep in full and you have a hole at the bottom so it's leaking. Okay? Yeah. So you always have to work on closing that leak. [00:36:31] Lior: But you always have to keep pouring more water to keep it at the same level. That's pretty much the secret. That's how Blanket is built. We have two packages, one called Retain and the other called Grow. Very simple not too complicated on that front. And each one has various features and various products to help you achieve that goal. [00:36:53] Lior: So, for example. And by the way the combination of these two, this is what allows you to be that ultimate asset manager to your clients, right? That can help your clients, first of all, optimize their portfolio and generate more cash flow, and forget about a lot of headaches that come with property investing, but on the other hand, help them make more money by expanding their portfolio, buying more properties, and growing it. [00:37:20] Lior: So the combination of these two packages, that's what helps you allow, you know, what helps you be an ultimate asset manager. Now, what do each one of those packages do? So the Retain package gives your clients a branded investor dashboard. So it has your logo, it has your face, nobody knows who Blanket is, and that investor dashboard gives your clients real time performance metrics. [00:37:42] Lior: It allows them to see how their properties are really doing. Through an integration with their property management software and through pulling a lot of data from title companies, public county records, and national data providers that allow them to really see every property related transaction in real time from their mortgage payments, their property taxes, their insurance, their HOA and everything that you're tracking as well in your property management software. [00:38:07] Lior: So that way they can see exactly what's their net cash flow every month. They can see their property's value and how much it appreciated this month. And they can also see how much equity they have in their homes so that whenever it's time for them to take the next step, they can quickly press on the cash out button and refinance and extract the equity that they have in those proceeds and buy another property with that. [00:38:30] Lior: So that's part of the retained package that is owner facing. All the rest of the features are property manager facing, meaning your team is going to use them. But one thing I forgot to mention on that front, on the sort of like investor dashboard that your clients are getting, we also are doing what we call white labeled email communications. [00:38:52] Lior: So remember that story of me handling owner communications for property managers? This is where it comes from, and the understanding that your clients are used to a very bad, sort of like foundation of communication, which is I'm either getting an email about me having to pay for something I need to fix right now, and you're asking, you know, my money, or I'm getting an email with the owner statement, with that accounting view that I can't really understand and I'm getting just more confused instead of actually getting value from it. [00:39:24] Lior: Plus, it never shows me the full picture because it only shows me, you know the fees that you're charging, maintenance and like the rent, I don't see exactly how my property is doing. So it's really not a value. So like this is the foundation of the relationship. So if you are not providing your clients with additional positive touch points, how can they appreciate what you're doing for them? [00:39:45] Lior: because that's what they get. It's like, it's very the energetic I would say, you know, frequency of, from all these emails and touch points, getting them is negative. Like that's what they get. So what we're also doing, we're doing white labeled email communications as well. Again, it's your logo, it's your profile, it's your name that sends them, for example, a monthly report or update on how much their property is appreciated in value. [00:40:08] Lior: It sends them, you know, some like tips on how to utilize the platform and how to really be on top of things and always be in control of how your properties are really doing. A lot of these things that are just, yeah, just like, it's automated. You don't have to do anything. So like, it just gives them more transparency and feeling of, I'm in control, right? [00:40:28] Lior: Like I'm in control. I know how things are doing, like, and if there's something I need to do, [00:40:32] Jason: which reduces their anxiety. The number one reason owners are constantly calling you, being interruptive, trying to micromanage you, is because they are anxious. Exactly. If you can reduce their anxiety. By increasing their awareness and their trust in you, it's a no brainer. [00:40:47] Jason: It's going to lower your operational costs dramatically. [00:40:51] Lior: Exactly. So that's on the owner facing side of things. In the retain package, the team facing sort of like tools, they provide you two main things. There are two products within the retain package that your team is going to use. One is our portfolio manager. [00:41:06] Lior: Think of it as like an asset management dashboard. And the other one is our AI risk manager. So this one, you know, think of it as like your churn, you know, mitigator, and each one of them provides you two aspects of the same owner. The asset management dashboard shows you the health of every owner's property. [00:41:29] Lior: The churn manager or the risk manager shows you the risk of every property of churning. So the asset management dashboard will show you. Right. [00:41:39] Jason: So the risk of them that like how likely they are to maybe start paying attention to maybe selling it, things like that. [00:41:45] Lior: Just leaving, yeah. The risk of them leaving. [00:41:47] Lior: So, okay, let's maybe start with that because that's really, you know, one of the coolest products that we have. So the AI Churn Manager technically shows you the churn risk of every owner. Okay. Pretty much the risk of every owner from leaving you with ai, which takes in a lot of data. A lot of data from the communications with that owner to the property performance of that owner, everything that goes into whatever is related to that owner is taken into account and then it shows you the risk, but it also shows you the client value of that owner, meaning how much revenue this owner is generating your company. [00:42:25] Lior: Because we're integrated into a property management software, we know that revenue per unit of every property, so we can tell you how much every owner is worth for you. So the combination of these two elements of the churn risk and the client's value can really give you the ability to prioritize on whole, on who you are going to focus on first, and then you can really focus on the ones who are at high risk and high value. [00:42:50] Lior: And now what are you going to do next? Next, what that AI Retention Manager does for you is it also tells you exactly what to do to retain this owner. For example, let's say you have an owner that has a property that's currently undergoing a renovation, and he also has a mortgage in place, so he's losing money every month. [00:43:10] Lior: He's stressed. He might be thinking to himself, you know, why did I get into this whole thing? You know, I'm just losing money. I'm taking money outta my pocket every month. It's painful. So the AI will notice that and tell you something like, Hey, Jason, because A, B, C, D, what he should do is send this owner a link to his performance, which is one of like the features we have in that investor dashboard is like the forward looking performance of this property, right? [00:43:35] Lior: Send him a link to his performance so he can see that he should hold onto this property and not sell it right, because he's going to make a lot of money and waive two months of management fees. And again, those fees wouldn't cover for the losses, right? But it would show the owner how committed you are to his financial wellbeing. [00:43:54] Lior: So those are the things that the AI can tell you to do based on the retention policy that you will set in the beginning by answering questions that the AI will ask you to understand how you're thinking, what's your approach to retention. And lastly, when you'll see that recommendation, it will also draft you an email or a phone call script with your tone of voice. [00:44:15] Lior: So all you have to do is like literally hit send or just call them and read the script. So that's what the ai retention manager does for you. Okay, cool. And the asset management, you know, dashboard, which is that portfolio manager, that shows you just the overall performance of all your properties. And it can show you, for example, which properties are underperforming, meaning which properties are in negative cash flow position, so that you can reach out to these owners and tell them something like, Hey Jason, I see that this property is really not doing well. [00:44:42] Lior: We tried this, we tried that. We tried this. Why not think of 10 31, exchanging this property. Let's change it to a better property, one that wouldn't have all these headaches that we're going through. Two, it will be able to yield higher cashflow for you because we'll be able to charge a higher rent, you know, property in a better condition, so less expenses, and three, maybe even this will be a property in a better location, so more appreciation, potential, right? So like three wins for you, Mr. Owner, and to me, two wins because I'm getting the commissions maybe from both sides, right? Plus I'm getting a new door that might have a higher revenue per unit. [00:45:21] Lior: Or maybe there's enough faculty or which just more operational [00:45:24] Jason: cost. Yeah, just easier to deal with. So like it's a winner. Also, maybe you could convert all the shitty properties in your portfolio and the easier properties to deal with. [00:45:34] Lior: And that's the thing I always tell to all of our clients, think of this as like your blueprint to building the portfolio of your dreams. [00:45:42] Lior: Because it shows you which properties are underperforming. It shows you which properties have a high maintenance income ratio. So you can see which owners are really spending a lot of money on maintenance compared to how much money they're making in rent. And by the way, if, for example, if you have a maintenance division or you're charging markups on renovation, those properties are an additional revenue stream that you cannot reach out to all those owners and tell them. [00:46:05] Lior: Hey, Jason, like we're spending a lot of money on maintenance in the past couple of years. Let's think about, you know, reinvesting some of that cash flow and, you know, improving the property's condition, which is, you know, revenue for your company as well. So that what that, you know, asset management dashboard allows you to do is to see which properties are performing well, which properties are performing, you know, bad. [00:46:25] Lior: And for those that are performing well, you'll see things like, you know, which owners have a lot of equity trapped in their home? So that maybe when interest rates go down a little, you can reach out to them and say, Jason, like, look at this. Remember you said you want to build, you know, to grow your portfolio? [00:46:40] Lior: Interest rates have gone down right now and you have like $300,000 in equity. Let's step into that equity refinance, take the proceeds and buy another property in our area, which we have access to a lot of off market inventory here, which leads us to the grow package now. So that's the retain [00:46:57] Jason: package that grow package. [00:46:58] Jason: I'll run through it quickly. I want all of my clients listening to this to be using Blanket like I want they all should be. This just is an absolute no brainer. [00:47:08] Lior: Yeah. We definitely, by the way, it's not like I want to also give a shout out to all of our clients and all the folks that were with us from the start. [00:47:15] Lior: It's not like we are, you know, so smart and we had the solution for everything. This is a lot of hard work and sweat. By listening to all of our client's feedback and what they need the solutions to their like day-to-day problems and needs that they always experience and just never have the opportunity to really do it at scale. [00:47:33] Lior: Right? So, yeah. Back to the growth package. So that was the retained package, just as a summary. Two owner facing, you know, propositions, which is the investor dashboard and the branded owner communications, and two propositions for your team, which is the asset management dashboard and the AI retention manager. [00:47:51] Lior: On the growth package, you also have two owner facing tools. One is the investment property marketplace, which is also white labeled with your logo. And this marketplace technically shows all your clients because it's closed only to your clients or anybody you invite to it. And we'll cover that in a second. But your clients who are in that marketplace see all the properties, all the off market properties that are for sale in your area. [00:48:16] Lior: So that way whenever they decide to buy another property, that will be a property that you're going to manage for them. So the marketplace. Acts as like this, you know, main tool for number one, capturing owners who want to sell. Remember what we started, we, you know, we want to capture the owners who are selling so we can at least, you know, get that commission or better get that commission and sell it to one of our other clients and retain the management of that unit. [00:48:41] Lior: But it also allows your clients to buy more properties. Now you're probably asking, you know, okay, where do those properties come from? So we source inventory on a national level from the largest wholesalers, turnkey providers, home builders for sale by owner feeds, anything that's off market, we are pretty much sourcing it across the country [00:49:03] Jason: Is Blanket using investors that they can list their properties in this as well? [00:49:09] Lior: So your clients, whenever they list their property, they will be at the top. They are what we call the exclusive properties category. So they are at the top. [00:49:17] Lior: We are pushing them always front face and center. They're the first ones for all your other clients to see, to increase the chances of them buying that from your clients and retaining the management of the unit. So all those properties that we have are all off market and. Yeah. Then this allows you not only to give it to your clients, but you can also invite anybody you want to it. [00:49:37] Lior: So maybe you have a list of leads that you bought in the past, you know, some cold leads or whatever. Or maybe you have friends and family that are interested in buying a property and working with you, or maybe you're going to like a BiggerPockets, you know, meetup or conference with investors or whatever. [00:49:51] Lior: They're always on the hunt for off market properties. So what you can do, you can invite them to the marketplace as a prospect. So like as a visitor, and once you invite them. And they log in, it appears as a prospect lead that you can then call them and say, Hey, Jason just saw you logged into our marketplace. [00:50:07] Lior: Hope that you liked it. By the way, if you have other properties in our area, I would love to send you some, you know, special friend, you know, discount for our property management services. And now you have a different conversation that is based on, you know, what your brand can offer them. So that's the marketplace. [00:50:24] Lior: And as you can see, the marketplace, technically what it does, it generates you leads, buyer leads, seller leads, prospect leads, et cetera. And what we provide is also sort of like a CRM feature that allows you just to keep track of all those leads, engage with them, or integrate with your existing CRM. [00:50:40] Lior: So folks might be using different systems we can integrate and push all those leads to your system. And lastly, the last feature that is also used by your team, by your BDM, or by yourself if you're starting out, is what we call our referral management system. So this system takes in all the agents in your area and pulls in information about them from the MLS and many other sources, and shows you, for every agent in your market, how many transactions they sold in the past two years, how many years in business, what's the average price of the properties they're selling, their contact details, their website, everything you need to actually start increasing or expanding your referral network that you have already in Blanket. [00:51:21] Lior: So what you do then. You could start reaching out to them, sending them emails from the Blanket system. And whenever they respond, you get on a call, you offer them, you know, to partner up and pay them referral fees for any client they're sending. And then you are giving them also a user in the system. And that's one of the interesting things. Today, agents are struggling, especially buyer's agents, which are normally, you know, the younger ones in every brokerage because the listing agents are normally the brokers and the most experienced ones. [00:51:48] Lior: So like buyers agents are having a hard time today with interest rates and with everything that's happening. So you can position yourself as their exclusive off market inventory partner, which they can leverage to be winning with their potential clients. So that way whenever you invite them as a partner, you're giving them access to off market inventory that they can't find anywhere else. [00:52:13] Lior: And that way whenever they bring on clients, they're sending them through the system and with a click of a button directly to you, you get those leads. They get paid through the system with that referral fee that you've set and agreed to with them, whether it's $500, 250, whatever. And the cool thing about it is that it has also automated updates to the agent every time one of the referrals inquired about a property they want to buy or to sell, assuming you promise them, you know, to return that lead back to them when it's selling. So that way you are making them happy. Those referrals are happy and you are able to really grow, you know, your referral network with everything within your ecosystem. [00:52:51] Lior: And be that center of the ecosystem, be that asset manager. Nice. So that's the goal package as well. [00:52:57] Jason: That's super awesome. So cool. This Blanket sounds like an awesome tool. You've shown it to me. I think it's really a brilliant idea. I think every property manager should be using it. It's a no-brainer. [00:53:08] Jason: How do people get started with you? How do people get in touch? [00:53:12] Lior: So you can either visit our website: Blankethomes.com and just schedule a quick, you know, 15 minute discovery call. You know, just listen to what we can offer so we wouldn't waste your time. And just understand if it's the right thing for you. [00:53:26] Lior: And then you can either just, you know, send me a LinkedIn message, send me a dm, pretty much on every social media platform. I'm not really responding very fast. And we could just get on a call. And I also invite anybody that wants you to just, you know, even if they're not interested in Blanket, right? [00:53:41] Lior: Like if you're thinking to yourself maybe it's too much for me. Maybe it's too expensive, I don't have the bandwidth right now, but you want to brainstorm about, you know, how to be more investor, you know, investment manager mindset as like guided property manager, how to be more of an asset manager. [00:53:56] Lior: This is my passion, this is what I've been doing my entire life. Like, if you want to just brainstorm, shoot me a message. Like I can talk about this for hours, so, you know, I'll be happy to help anybody that needs that. Even if you're not a Blanket client, again, you don't have to be a partner of ours to really just, you know, get inspired and, you know, learn from other people's mistakes. [00:54:14] Lior: And we've done quite a few. [00:54:16] Jason: Awesome Lior, thanks for being a guest here on the DoorGrow Show podcast appreciate you hanging out with us. So, if you are watching this and you felt stuck or stagnant and want to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us at DoorGrow, also join our free Facebook community. [00:54:33] Jason: It's just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. And if you've found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. We'd really appreciate it. Until next time, remember, the slowest path to growth is to do it alone, so let's grow together. Bye everyone.
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Today, we're talking about awe and wonder and all the incredible benefits that these simple and accessible emotions can have in terms of learning and child development. And I have the perfect guest here to talk about it — Deborah Farmer Kris, a child development expert, longtime educator, and author of the wonderful new book Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive. In this conversation, we talk about how and why awe is such a powerful tool for emotional regulation, learning, and resilience for our kids. Deborah shares some of the neuroscience behind wonder and walks us through how simple moments of awe, like listening to music, walking outside, or witnessing a small act of kindness, can lower stress, spark curiosity, and build deeper connections for our kids. She also offered strategies for cultivating awe with your child, even during the most challenging seasons of parenting. This episode is a beautiful reminder that we don't have to add one more thing to our to-do lists to make a meaningful shift. Sometimes, it's about slowing down, noticing what's already here, and inviting our kids into that sense of wonder with us. And I think what I love about this so much is that awe is something that's available to all of us, and experiencing it, even for little moments, not only feels wonderful (pun intended), but it has very real, positive benefits. About Deborah Deborah Farmer Kris is a child development expert and the author of "Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive,” the I See You board book series, and the All the Time picture book series. Her bylines include CNN, PBS KIDS, NPR's Mindshift, The Washington Post, the Boston Globe Magazine, and Oprah Daily. Deborah is currently an expert advisor for the PBS KIDS show, “Carl the Collector,” and spent 20+ years as a K-12 educator. Mostly, she loves sharing nuggets of practical wisdom that can make the parenting journey a little easier. You'll learn: How the powerful emotion of awe builds resilience and supports well-being Why curiosity and wonder spark internal motivation and deeper learning How to tap into nature, art, music, and kindness as everyday sources of awe for children Why experiencing awe can lower stress, improve memory, and support emotional regulation How parents can nurture awe by modeling curiosity and slowing down with their kids Ideas for creating small, shared moments of wonder strengthen connection and support family wellness Resources: Deborah Farmer Kris' website Parenthood 365 Raising Awe-Seekers: How the Science of Wonder Helps Our Kids Thrive by Deborah Farmer Kris Raising Awe-Seekers Podcast Deborah on Instagram Deborah on LinkedIn You Wonder All the Time by Deborah Farmer Kris You Are Growing All the Time by Deborah Farmer Kris I Love You All the Time by Deborah Farmer Kirs You Have Feelings All the Time by Deborah Farmer Kris Dr. Dacher Kelter Dr. Michele Borba Mindshift (KQED / PBS) Pub Choir Robert Waldinger Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness by Jamil Zaki The Happiness Study at Harvard Challenge Success I Love N.Y.E. (Badly Drawn Boy song) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Get 27% off Helix Sleep plus free bedding bundle: go to https://www.helixsleep.com/official Get 25% off Fitbod or try the app for free for seven days: go to https://www.fitbod.me/official Get 4 months of ExpressVPN for free: go to https://www.expressvpn.com/official Get additional episodes and bonus content with early access (try now with 7 DAYS FREE): go to https://www.OFFICIAL.men Three close man friends gather around to talk about what the difference between hoarding and preservation is. This is the Official Podcast. Every Sunday. Links Below. THE OFFICIAL NETWORK CHANNEL (SUBSCRIBE NOW): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcHYe-Qw7qUN5gFWMdj9nNw Episode 439: Recorded 13/05/25 --- Get additional episodes and bonus content with early access: go to https://www.OFFICIAL.men or https://www.PATREON.com/THEOFFICIALPODCAST --- Audio Platforms (Spotify, Apple, Amazon & Castbox): https://linktr.ee/theofficialpodcast Other Shows: https://linktr.ee/theofficialnetwork --- Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:52 Nintendo Can Break Your Switch 2 At Will 15:22 Prime Video is Banning People for Taking Screenshots (Piracy) 34:13 Hording vs. Archiving 46:47 Nintendo vs. Palworld 1:00:38 Things We Like Corner 1:26:03 Wrap --- Hosts: Jackson: https://twitter.com/zealotonpc Andrew: https://twitter.com/huggbeestv Kaya: https://twitter.com/kayaorsan --- Additional Links: Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcHYe-Qw7qUN5gFWMdj9nNw SubReddit: https://reddit.com/r/theofficialpodcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theofficialpodcast Intro by: https://www.youtube.com/c/Derpmii Music by: https://soundcloud.com/inst1nctive & https://linktr.ee/zayaLT Art by: https://www.instagram.com/nook_eilyk/ & https://www.instagram.com/vaux.z Edited by: https://linktr.ee/zayaLT Designer: http://www.jr-design-co.com/ Produced by Jackson Clarke for The Official Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices