[MUSIC PLAYING] JEFF AYERS: When I found this
place I found a community. We want to provide a place
where people can connect. My name is Jeff Ayers. I'm the General
Manager of Forbidden Planet in New York City. I've worked here
since 1995, which was 14 years into its existence,
because Forbidden Planet New York City opened in April 1981. Business started
in the UK, starting getting successful
over there, so they decided to come over here. There was nothing like this
in New York City, especially
on this kind of scale. My mom took me here to kind of
get into a habitual reading, and it worked. Then I started carrying around
a pile of comics everywhere I went. I was like, man, I
love Forbidden Planet, so I'd love to work there. So I harassed them
for a number of years, then I got out of high school
and I'm like, when do I start? And that's how I got the job. We are 40 feet away from the
original location, 21 Broadway. We're currently
across the street. I can go there and get
a coffee from
where I used to shop and work as a kid. The growth of the store and
the geek industry and geek everything, I've seen millions
of different iterations, variations. Obviously, we're
on a high of almost everybody is into this stuff. You used to be Forbidden
Planet curious. Now almost everybody
walks in through the door, there's something here for them. It was an oasis. It wasn't cool to be into this. And that oasis not
only just provided comfort, but like a lot of like
really cool fun experiences,
too. And I think it's
still does, too. Now even it's just
not in the shadows. This place, this culture,
this is like the original art the original owners like
commissioned for this store. And it just says people like
us shop at Forbidden Planet. And like that was so much
more of a rallying cry when it was in the
background, when it wasn't right at the
foreground of culture in media. The original Spider-Man
movie with Tobey Maguire, I remember that blowing
up for everybody. It was on the cover
of
Time magazine, when things like this weren't. I mean, I grew up a
huge Star Wars fan, but also, I grew
up like a DC fan. So it was like, I didn't
really get into Marvel until I worked at Forbidden Planet. And that opened my world to
a lot of different things. A lot of streaming got
people into a ton of shows and everything like that. And the TV shows, Marvel
ones in particular, are exposing people to
characters that would never be in one of the major movies
without like a little bit of a spring
board. And I do find that
that's refreshing, and that they're getting to know
these characters a bit better. I mean, Loki though, a huge
character in all those movies, but that storytelling
is a different dynamic. You know you get a lot
more personable on a much smaller scale. It's easier to connect with. At least empathize. Characters like Sylvie, kind
of a throwaway character in almost all comics. Eight hours of
content, you're going to explore those characters
and a lot more depth. Gives thes
e characters and
these stories new life. And it's cool that we
sell the original stuff that you can actually see
the path, the dynamics, how they got there. You can modernize things,
but at the end of the day, these things come from
silly comic books. I think it would be
really interesting if any of those
characters walked in here. I feel like Morpheus would
actually come in here and it's like, this
place is pretty cool. My favorite comic book
is The Invisibles. That's like a hand guide
to misch
ief and mayhem on a dimensional level. And I think that Loki
would be like, oh, yes, I know all about this,
I know all about this, oh, yes, oh, yes. So, yeah, that would
definitely be something you want to put in his hands. My favorite thing
is people, period. So I've met some of
my favorite people that ever lived
working at the store. Those are the kind of
things that kind of keep me coming up to work every day. Those are the kind
of things that I might meet somebody that like
lasting lifelong
connection. There are some of
our customers who have been shopping
here since day one, that I see them every week. 28 years I've been working here. I'm going to know
them pretty well. The people, the places,
and the moments. That's an experience,
and something I'll always associate with
that artist, this place, those things, you know? And I think that this kind of
media and this kind of culture, it has a long lasting
impressions on people. We still find value in books
and toys and collectibles a
nd tangible things
that make you happy.
Comments
Some lets just call them nerd paradise shops that primarily focuses on the nerd culture sometimes don't last mainly because not enough interest but becoming more mainstream has done some good making it easier for those who were part of the culture more things easier. But it also made it easier for people to ruin or hijacked it for themselves. Just imagine when you think Nerd Fashion were people take how you probably dressed normally jazzed it up to make it admittedly look cool and everyone starts wearing it