gotta catch 'em all

i wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. to catch them is my real test to train them is my cause. 🎮📺🎮📺 gabriel lucas cohen-chang. manager at gamestop.

[andersonjones]

Important question.

You're being chased through the woods by a monster. Which fictional character are you choosing to protect you?

There are no wrong answers. Except choosing Shaggy. Because he'd leave you behind and you'd both know it.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Woah, hold up. Did we watch the same Scooby movies? Because the man literally snuck into the bad guy's ritual cave even though he was scared shitless, stole the evil spell book, fought an army of possessed college kids, and saved the entire gang before they got sacrificed. Somewhere in the world right now, Matthew Lillard is crying into a pillow and he doesn't even know why.

[juliarose]

So, good news. I was scrolling and wasn’t really paying attention so I almost missed it, but I suddenly thought, wait was that Jack the Reaper? I scrolled back and sure enough, someone posted that they spotted Spirit Halloween signs going up already. It’s just the we’re hiring ones so far, but I also saw a comment saying they’re planning to start opening stores August 22nd. Plus apparently some places already have Summerween stuff, and now I really want to get a watermelon just to carve it like a pumpkin. It’s the little things, really.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Bro, speedrunning spooky season is the best news I’ve heard all week. I keep seeing Summerween ads for Wayfair too, and honestly? I'm shocked you haven't already decked out your room with it yet. I’m 100% on board with carving watermelons, by the way, that’s such a good idea! We could do like… little ghost faces or tiny pumpkins on them. Or one big scary watermelon king. I’m invested now.

[juliarose]

Okay unhinged karaoke stories from the bar, you know aside from the many off-key performances of course, lol. So there was this one time a girl walks in looking very inconspicuous, dressed in black from head to toe, hood up and wearing sunglasses despite it being after dark and all that. She orders a drink at the bar and is just sitting there, watching this one couple at a table nearby and I'm thinking... something is going on here, for sure. Next thing, she gets up to sing and it's Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood. Turns out, the couple she was eyeing when she first got there was her now ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend and she starts to reveal herself as she's singing and just the look on their faces when they realized they were caught. Priceless. I may or may not have added her one drink to their bill and they were so embarrassed and in a hurry to pay so they could book it out of there, they didn't notice. Then the poor girl sat and ordered a few more rounds herself, so naturally I told her it was all on the house and took it out of my pay. She deserved something good that night.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Dude, that’s legendary!! Like straight-up movie level revenge, I’m actually deceased. That’s the most iconic thing I’ve heard in months. If I were the ex-boyfriend, I think I would have just disintegrated right there on the spot. How was the rest of the night after that? Did anyone besides you even see what was really happening or did they just enjoy the show?

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Comfort - who is your go to comfort character?

DUDE. This one’s so hard!!! I can’t pick just one, that’s illegal!! But if I had to choose my ultimate go-to comfort character… it’s probably Spider-Man. But also… Geralt of Rivia is up there. And Pikachu. And Steve Rogers. And—bro. I literally can’t pick one. My comfort characters have comfort characters.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Striking - what’s your favorite color?

Blue! But like, not just any blue — that deep, sick electric blue, you know? The one that looks like the ultimate final boss aura or the color of those legendary rare skins in every game. It’s clean, it’s cool, it’s OP.

[juliarose]

Oof, well do you want something from the actual bar, which could be a tad more on the gritty side. Or something that might be a little more humorous in terms of the karaoke part of the place? Because as sad as it is, even a fun place like a karaoke bar can still have the creeps with grabby hands. It's maybe not as often as a dive bar and Mercedes is great at holding to her word when she bans those assholes, but yeah, still happens.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Oof, yeah I figured that kinda stuff still slips through sometimes. Glad Mercedes doesn’t play about that though — respect. But okay, we can just stick to the karaoke part. No need to make you drag up stuff that you'd probably rather forget ever happened.

[juliarose]

Okay, that makes way more sense because I was really sitting here trying to picture someone forcing full size marbles into that and it was not computing. Still weird though, like who looks at a something like that and thinks “yeah, this is a great place to store tiny beads.” And yeah, I guess that checks out with the whole retail chaos thing. Priorities and all that. Still kind of wild to me though that people just hand stuff over without double checking it first. Though I guess some people probably do it on purpose too, try to slip something past you and see if they can get away with it.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Okay, but real talk — you have to have some absolutely unhinged customer stories I've never heard before. Like, what’s the craziest thing someone’s done or said at the bar?

[juliarose]

Ah, well guess that sucks for them then, but also I'm shocked that they don't want you to check them as you get them? Especially since you said you've had one with the game completely not even in it, unless it's not that big of a monetary loss. And how does one fit marbles into a game boy cartridge? Were they extra tiny ones or am I misunderstanding what you mean by the cartridge?

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Yeah, I should’ve been clearer—that was me being a little sleep-deprived at work lol. It wasn’t like full-size marbles jammed into a Game Boy cartridge. It was one of those empty cartridge shells someone clearly turned into a tiny storage container, and it had a bunch of those super small glass beads in it. Like the kind you’d use for crafts or those old school marble-run sets. Either way it was just weird. And as for checking stuff—we do check, just not always in the same order people think we do. Consoles get priority because they’re higher value, we always plug those in and check right away. Games can come in in stacks, and if it’s busy, stuff can slip through intake before anyone actually opens every case. It’s not ideal, but it’s retail reality.

[thatschuesterguy]

Congratulations on your fantastic find! Stumbling upon a hidden treasure like that is such a thrill! What did you ultimately decide to do with the cash? I hope you treated yourself to something fun and exciting!

[gabrielcohen-chang]

I actually let the employee working decide what to do with it while I pretended to have an inventory emergency in the back room. If I was working the shift by myself, it'd probably be a different story.

[ambersrose]

Wait, so... did you keep it? Because, like, sucks for them and everything, but in my humble opinion, they clearly didn't care enough to remember it anyway, so it's fair game! And, if you didn't, I'll take it! A 50 might not be much, but every little bit counts when it comes to growing my fund for eventually moving away to be an actress full time!

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Honestly, I actually let the employee working that shift decide what to do with it while I pretended to have an “inventory emergency.” But don’t worry—I’ll make sure to hit you up next time I stumble across some surprise cash in a game case.

[maeveflynnabrams]

See, I just want to know why Nintendogs? I'd at least use a less popular/fun game.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Can't say I'd do any differently. Pretty sure I used Pokemon for a short period. But that game didn't leave my DS once I got it so I figured it was pretty safe.

[felicityharrington]

That is too exciting!! Your lucky day, Gabe! What did you do with your unexpected mini fortune?! I hope you spoiled yourself if you weren't able to track down the owner.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

This time anyway. But I didn't keep it, it didn't feel right so instead I went into the back room to do inventory and turned a blind eye to whatever my employee decided to do with it. But dude came in to trade his games for cash, so he didn't leave any contact info with the transaction and we didn't check the cases until way later. Ironically, I'm pretty sure he got less than $50 for the games, so... sucks for him?

[juliarose]

Okay, at the risk of sounding like I've gone soft, was this by any chance some child that traded games and you're really about to keep their stashed $50 that they were probably saving for something they've been really wanting and saving up for? Assuming only due to the game, I mean not that adults don't full on play Nintendogs, it's a millennial-born game of course. But still, I'll be shocked if you didn't try to contact them to return the money.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Honestly, I don’t have a way to track who owned it once it’s traded in unless they're a pro member and buy something—otherwise, it’s basically anonymous if they're coming in for cash. And unfortunately games aren't always checked right away, just the consoles. Anything can happen with the game cases. Once we ended up taking in an empty case because nobody checked to see that the disk was missing. I've also found a Game Boy cartridge full of marbles once, so the universe clearly thinks my job is a joke or something.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

I just had someone trade in a bunch of games, and just gotta say... if you're going to hide your secret stash of cash inside a game case, remember which one it is before you trade it in? Found a 50 in a copy of Nintendogs today. I've found a lot of things in game cases, but never money. That was new.

[oliverjcnes]

Well, even without a full cast of characters, this weekend has been such a blast. Honestly, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it was a lot sooner than the next milestone anniversary of the release. And no, I have not tried that game yet, but now you’ve definitely got my attention. Sounds like the perfect way to keep the adventures going, we've definitely got to plan a game night soon.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

Totally agree—this weekend was already epic, and I’m with you, I’d do it again in a heartbeat too. And yes, game night is absolutely happening. There’s a ton of options, too—everything from the big strategy board games to simpler card-based ones, or even a tabletop RPG if we want to get really nerdy. Make our own LOTR inspired D&D campaign?

[oliverjcnes]

Haha, I like it, you embracing whatever hobbit energy is left is perfect. Gimli would be legendary too, honestly. I’m kind of hoping we get a full fellowship going by the time we all decide. Imagine the chaos if we actually coordinate a full lineup. Could be a fun mini cosplay party just walking in.

[gabrielcohen-chang]

A full Fellowship cosplay would be absolutely amazing, and honestly now I'm really hoping we can pull it off. Having the whole crew represented would make the whole movie experience next-level. Speaking of next level, have you tried the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game? I scored a copy of it recently and feel like LOTR game night could be the perfect follow-up.

[oliverjcnes]

Perfect! I just knew you'd be in. And no worries on the drive, I think there's a decent amount of people already planning to go. Actually have been checking to see if Stardust would be playing them, support local, but I can get behind wanting to see them in IMAX or something, still. Honestly, part of me wanted to give Legolas a try, but not sure I can pull off those long, luxurious blond locks. So, likely going for either Merry or Pippin, they're more my vibe. How about you?

[gabrielcohen-chang]

IMAX Middle-earth would go kind of hard, I’m not gonna lie—but yeah, if Stardust has it, I’m all for keeping it local. Also, Merry or Pippin is absolutely your lane. Pure chaotic hobbit energy. As for me… I’m thinking either Gimli or I’ll just commit to being whichever hobbit you don’t pick. Gotta keep the duo intact, and I feel like that’s very on-brand for me.