Our owner tells you why Heroes & Dragons
is the place to be this summer.

by CHRIS FOSS

You may have noticed big changes recently in the back-issue and collectible toy departments. There’s a lot goin’ on, so without further ado, heeere’s Johnny--!

John Travolta, that is, to tell you the back issues are "multiplying," as he sang in Grease. (After such a stupid reference, I wouldn’t blame you if you quit reading right now.) But, seriously, we ARE committed to adding one copy of each and every comic we have in stock (about 1/2 million or so) to our growing back-issue section.

Our new back-issue manager, Scott Simmons (alias the E-Mail Kid), is a recent graduate of USC (so he’s well-edjercated) and has already developed some neat new customer-service-oriented programs to help you get the back issues you want.

First, and incredibly obvious, is getting the selection in the store out for sale so you can search for those missing jewels (oh, all right--how about gems?) at your leisure.

Second, and not as obvious, is his want-list system. This is taking up most of Scott’s time, but he has lots of that. So fill out one of those little form things at the front counter--or a dozen; Scott loves ‘em--being sure to put in all the appropriate info so Scott can spend lots of time looking for your books! Think of him as a puppet with strings, and the more want-list forms you fill out, the more you get to play with him, control his life, ruin his chances for a date ... . Ahem. As his boss, I make it a point to let him off at least one day a month (to wash clothes). If you haven’t met Scott, he’s the one with the glasses, a beard, and big smile, usually mumbling, "I know I saw that book somewhere." He’s even more eloquent on-line than in person, so be my guest--send him lots of e-mail, especially those want lists. As a matter of fact, you can even attach large files to your e-mail, as he just got a spiffy new computer with a warehouse-sized hard drive!

I was having so much fun telling y’all about back issues, I almost forgot about the toy news. You may have noticed those really cool-looking new black fixtures in the back of the store. Come on, admit it; you’ve seen ‘em. Those are known around here as "Chris’s giant erector set." As a former engineer, I really love those things. You can arrange and rearrange them in so many different ways, I’m never sure when I’ll discover the PERFECT arrangement. However I arrange them, they hold a LOT more toys than the old plastic shelves. Yay! This means more toys are coming soon ... .

Actually, every few days you should notice new toys showing up here. The only thing slowing me down is getting it all processed. (Where’s Scott?)

You can even fill out one of those little white want-list thingees for toys! Just give it to--guess who. You win. SCOTT. Of course, he just gives the toy requests back to me, which makes me do the work and keeps me from the all-important task of rearranging the store ... .

Oh, well, that’s it for this issue. Stay tuned to this BAT--I mean, read my column next month for really good ways to get on Brett’s good side and stuff about Gus (Augustus, actually) and gaming.