/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

One of my LCS got shut down a few years back. Owner was arrested for putting cameras in the women's washroom. There are a few others in the area, but they're just the "Oh god this place has holes in the floor and unstable stairs and they're too poor to replace them" kind of sketchy. The anime stores are generally run by jerks treating it as their private anime club and they get angry when they have to stop watching/playing games to check out customers. I don't really care, since I never go. Everything's much, much cheaper online.

Oh there's a decent comic shop in the area, but they rely on animal attractions and sports merch to keep the money flowing. They have an alligator (or crocodile, can't remember which) and an albino kangaroo. Kids drag their parents in to see those, and then end up leaving with overpriced TFs and action figures.

>>6844096
Is it really legal to keep animals like that in a shop? Especially the kangaroo, I'd think they'd need more a lot more space than a comic shop could provide.

J-town is just full of shit like that - theres a pretty huge weeb base in the area aside from actual Japanese people, so all the stores are very well-maintained.

>>6844105
It's a pretty big shop, but I've honestly considered the same thing. They have their permits, but I know permits restrictions tend to be pretty lax...Considering the public kangaroo enclosure is completely clean (no shit whatsoever), my guess is that it only spends some time in there and more time in a larger area where there's no constant stream of strangers to stress it out.

>>6844096
I feel like I should relocate...

>>6844074
>It kind of really makes me wonder how establishments like this even manage to stay afloat.
well obviously the bulk of the complaints are over exaggerated.

Simply put, what's horribly unfair to young, relatively pampered kids is standard working conditions for others.

On that blog, at one point they bitch that Franklin didn't arrange rides for his volunteers to go to events. Of course he wouldn't. Why would he?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's some violations and some bad stuff, but likely no more than any other place of business.

>>6844136
Oh hey did you also see that bit about him leaving a volunteer who was driving a truck to Cali and back with him in the desert for 17 hours?

Oh, and that he packed the truck wrong, leaving too much weight on one of the axles and the volunteer driver was charged 2,000 that he refuses to reimburse.

Totally just over exaggerated whiners, obvs.

>>6844162
sorry fined **, not charged.

>>6844136
I do know from experience that he does sort of just ditch his volunteers at his booth when at events though. I agree, some of the complaints do seem a bit minor, but there are some pretty bad issues in there as well.
The guy really isn't pleasant from what I've personally experienced and from what I've heard from friends collectively before this tumblr was brought to light.

>>6844074

How the hell does he get away with paying employees $2.09 an hour?! Even waiters have a higher minimum than that. Minimum wage is $7.65, he can seriously get fined and forced to pay the missing wages if they report him.

Happened at a comic shop I worked at in the 90's- owner paid us "salary" which was under minimum wage, since he thought that exempted him. Someone got pissed about it, reported him to the Workforce Commission and the owner had to pay us all the missing wages to make up the difference (going back years for some employees), and give us all raises so we were at minimum wage.

Is everyone who works for this guy just beta as fuck and super non-confrontational? Or are they just too stupid to know basic employment regulations?

I'm from that area too and this shit just came out of nowhere.

I'm confused as to the extent Ooples and Anime Odyssey are related, and if Anime Odyssey is gonna be a shitshow.

Also, if half this shit is true, why the fuck hasn't he been sued? The people complaining should grow some balls and ruin this man rather than whine on Tumblr.

>>6844286
I think farther back it says they've spoken to lawyers but none of them want to take the case?

And the guy who runs Ooples in the person in charge of Anime Odyssey. The paypal money even says it goes to Ooples Apparel

>>6844326
Well that's funny, then, because AO's facebook is saying Ooples is merely a sponsor and is NOT running it

>>6844344

Franklin is running Anime Odyssey. At San Japan last year, he was bothering my friend at her artist's alley table, trying to get her to buy space at AO and he was all up front about how he was running the convention etc.

re: the tumblr: holy shitsnacks, he expects people who volunteer for his con to PAY for their volunteer badges?! That's not how that shit works.

I can not stop laughing. This is like the nerd equiv of Amy's Baking Company. This shits needs to be constantly put on the front page.

I cannot believe people are actually donating to this idiot. Some little butthurt faggot that thinks because he disagrees with a few poor practices he's gods gift to "otaku" and is now begging for handouts to open his pure and clean real nerd hangout. This sounds all too much like the Cons that get started because I'm a fan dammit, a real fan and clearly I must know how to run a successful business because I love Naruto so much.

I'm also pretty inclined to believe he's making a lot of this up, considering when anyone questions him he backs his claims up with "second hand accounts" and uses the "freedom of speech" defense.

we used to have this awesome little shop that imported a whole bunch of great shit from asia and another competitor ratted them out for tax evasion or something because they were butthurt faggots. they have run-of-the-mill stuff, basically the exact same as OPs picture. lots of comic book stuff and western figures. wish i had somewhere i could pre-order figs and shit.

>>6844927
>wish i had somewhere i could pre-order figs and shit
amiami.com
It's cheaper and faster than ordering from a local store.

>>6844914
have you read shoeofallcosmos.tumblr.com ? its not just one butthurt guy. multiple stories from multiple people.

and those who've shopped there know its really that bad. you can't make this shit up as it is that bad.

>>6844929
i obviously know that anon

>>6844914
As someone who's been to this place multiple times, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if a good amount of it is true, though I'm not donating to this guy's store fund.

this is the face of a guy who would never lie, I totally want to donate money to him, he looks like a smart business minded individual.

>>6844937

>This is a true story from Nick, and although it is very probable that the credit card fraud came from Ooples, it is not proven.

> I also heard about the non-profit rumor.

>She allegedly bankrolled Franklin’s entire anime store pipe dream and never realized he was emotionally and financially ruining her

sure, she is feeding us totally first hand information with lots of sources and proof.

>>6845158

If he's serious about starting his own store, he will look into getting a small business loan. You know, like a real business does.Or, he'll sell off his personal collection of nerd stuff and sink his own money into his dream.

Yep, there's one in a mall not too far from here. It's funny because about 1/4 of the store is ALL Hello Kitty. the other 3/4s is all anime. So it's the turn of the "normalfags" to be avoided by the rest of us looking at all the other stuff. They have a lot of OSTs, figs, plushies, backpacks, snacks... And they play k-pop all day, erry day. It also helps that the guy who helps out is this cute, shy weakness to all of us with yellow fever. When I went last I saw the Zodiac Gate keys for Fairy Tail, so I'll be getting that on sunday after I get my paycheck.

>>6845251
he is. he's mentioned several times that they have a business loan in the works with a bank.

>>6845398
I don't believe him. Do you know how hard it is to get a business loan as a first time business? He looks like he's in his early twenties at best, is spending all of his free time trolling the internet and is the stereotypical gay con kid. If he walked into my bank and asked for a loan I would laugh at him.

Of course if his mommy or daddy are the ones that are actually doing all the business work it might make sense. I don't see how so many con kid parents are so willing to financially back their kids dumb ass ideas.

>>6845427
Sounds about right, he looks barely 18-19 in that pic to me, I doubt he has any business skill period, he hardly looks professional.
>>Stereotypical gay con kid
Explain this stereotype, I am legit curious

>>6845453
sure thing,
The stereotypical gay con kid usually:

>is atheist, usually being unable to explain what atheism is
>loves alternative culture and hates anything viewed as mainstream
>wears a shit ton of rainbows
>likes to talk about yaoi and/or Yuri
>often tries to whore themselves out to "perform" yaoi and/or Yuri
>sjw syndrome
>speaks as though their opinion is fact, especially on the topic of anything lgbtqabbqwtfabc
>often, but not always a furry/into bsdm/leather & leashes and feels the need to parade around in the garb on the con floor

Andre, you might want to see a doctor about your prolonged hate boner, generally when they last more than 4 hours you need medical attention

Not in my area, but anyway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBXkHg4ac94

>>6845791

Aww, he didn't even last a week. Little guy couldn't handle people accusing him of being full of shit.

>>6845480
Sounds like any underage weeb. Sorry, it's just that.

>>6845865

What's unfortunate is that he's not full of shit about Franklin's insane manipulative borderline sociopathic behavior. Franklin has been a boil on the ass of the local anime community since he first showed up in town. First, he started an anime club and tried to steal the name of an existing club; when the older club (around since the early 90's) got pissed at him, he tried to weasel out of it, refused to take responsibility, threw blame on random people, deleted threads on his club meetup page, banned people who questioned him, etc. He solicited donations at his anime club, and somehow, the local idiot weebs ponied up enough cash that he was able to drop $1500 on manga at a convention. (Witnessed him buying it myself, he claimed it was for the club, but it was later sold in his store.) Supposedly the club donations were supposed to fund his first convention attempt, which was to be called EpiKon, but which never happened. (And where did the money go after that...?) Other plans for the club donation money that never materialized: a maid cafe, a butler cafe, a cosplay studio, a comic publishing company, a video game studio. None of these things actually happened and when confronted about the money, Franklin did his usual obfuscation, manipulation and lying. He now lies that the anime club he ran (A.C.E.S.) isn't his anime club and it's a separate organization that sometimes meets at his store- much like how he is now lying that Anime Odyssey is a separate organization and he's not in charge. So, reading all this delicious dramu about his store being run the same way he ran his anime club is unsurprising to say the least.

I don't understand how such a physically repulsive and genuinely creepy person can have such a hold over so many of the local fans. He comes off as either slightly mentally retarded or sleazy or both when you talk to him in person.

I see drama is still allowed on /cgl/, just so long as the lulcow in question is male.

>bias mods

>>6845480
What's sjw?

>>6846021

Social Justice Warrior

I hope someone screencaps this whole thread, it has been high entertainment.

>>6846021
social justice warrior.

Andre already had to turn off the Ask page. The army didn't arrive like he was hoping. Still have no sympathy for Franklin as the guy is gayaids to the anime scene.

>Buy 40k worth of manga from DMG
>can't pay them fully for it
>can't afford to ship it back to them

I hope that manages to kill two birds with one stone

>>6846326

Knowing that DMP are shady as fuck also just makes this whole thing all the more lulz-worthy. I'm sure Franklin thought he was getting one over on them, when it's obvious they took him to the cleaners. HILARIOUS.

Also, he says he's the "exclusive distributor of DMP manga"? Not hardly. That stuff is still listed in the Diamond Previews catalog every month. Weird definition of the word "exclusive".

>>6846289
I'm pretty sure the only one in this situation with gayaids is Andre. He runs a website called gatorAIDS, it totes itself as a "furry friendly gaming community"

also he's a brony

There's Toys n Joys here in Hawaii which is full of overpriced bootlegs and their webstore is apparently a scam and won't actually send you anything. They basically just take all the shit in this store and move it into the dealer's room during the anime convention here.

I LIVE IN SAN ANTONIO AND OOPLES SUCKS, THE STAFF ARE RUDE AND FUCKING IDIOTS.

My boyfriend and I went in there one time looking for whatever it was we were looking for at the time, and the first thing the guy said was "Have you tried the internet?" He said it in such a rude way, it was like we were cavemen who didn't know what the internet was. Fucker.

>>6846602
It might be because a lot of their staff have no idea what animu is what and pretty much everything is really overpriced, fake, or both.

There is an anime store in Aurora Colorado that I went to a few times when I lived in the area. The guy running it was renting out the space from the video store it was located in. All the DVDs were bootlegs and merch overpriced as fuck. Some reports were filed against him for trying to get girls to change into cosplay in his back room which had a camera in it. Don't know if its still there or not.

>>6845158
...I can't tell if this is male or female.

>>6846766
he's male, but he's also ~gay~ and chub so he does look like a lot of the fat otaku lesbians

>>6847443
I thought he had a girlfriend he treated like crap?

In Wisconsin, there's a place called the Lost World of Wonders, but it's half manga, anime, CDs, etc and half Western comics. Also, there's a place called Anime Fan Zone but it also sells at conventions.

>>6844105
It is in certain states. In my state there is a gas station that has a tiger.

>>6844108
SF J-town?
i know that feel. i used to work at kinokuniya a while back, and it became really embarrassing when weeaboos come in...

>>6848760
I love Lost World being half and half. Means I can pick up comics and a Yotsuba in the same trip, then stop next door at Science and Surplus!

I'm dearly hoping someone actually goes to Anime Odyssey and reports back to us how it goes.

captcha: iclearw syphilis

>>6848816
There's a nice comic shop called Sarge's in Connecticut that's also like that, it's awesome. They even have Japanese manga and laserdiscs. But they've been in dealer rooms at a lot of conventions up here so the manga selection has shrunk a bit.

>>6851960
I'm tempted to, but really don't want to spend the money on it.

>>6852357

Same reason I don't want to go. I don't want to inadvertently give Franklin any money.

Meanwhile, the ooplestruth tumblr continue to amuse, since it posted all the "rebuttals" that the Ooples people posted and then deleted from Facebook. Delicious dramu is delicious.

>>6851960
>>6852357

Someone needs to go to document the cosplay contest at the very least. It's being run by a moron and they're offering a fairly large cash prize. Potential for massive butthurt is huge.

>>6852495
Damn, they deleted that long, guilty looking as fuck thing? I knew I should have screen capped it.

>>6852588
I expect a lot of butthurt, especially from this landwhale entering that's always talking down to others about their costumes when her costume quality is shit. I was tempted to go for one day just to laugh at her costumes, honestly.

>>6844096
>Putting camera in the women's washroom

Sounds like a good idea at first until you realize that your average female anime fan isn't very attractive small kshowspa

>>6852678
I accidentally typed the captcha into the post.

>>6852653

Someone else capped it, it's up on that ooplestruth site: http://www.ooplestruth.org/?p=329

>>6852588

I also expect there to be MASSIVE BUTTHURT over the cosplay contest, since they're what, offering $1000 in cash for the winner? Dear god, that's going to be a trainwreck of epic proportions.

>>6852858
yes, and it's a first year con so I'm betting the winner won't actually ever see the cash. I'm pretty sure they just saw Ikkicon do it and thought they needed to do it too, forgetting that Ikkicon is in it's 7th? year and gets nearly 9000 attendees.

>>6853004
>Ikkicon
>nearly 9000 attendees

Where? If you saw 9000 attendees then you have double vision. It would have been balls packed if 9000 had shown up.

>>6853227
i think that anon meant 900~ people passed through the con at some point?

I can barely understand what's going oh here but it sounds...?interesting?

What's this ooplesapparel tumblr got to do with the incompetent franklin kid?

>>6844112
How tall is it? If it's small enough to be kept in a shop, I'd wager that it's actually a Wallaby. Kangaroos are pretty huge - hitting a full grown one with a car will do as much damage as hitting a full grown deer.

I'm from Baltimore and we used to have Pandora's Box in one of the malls here.
It was cool. I could buy horrible anime bootlegs on VHS while they were still coming out in Japan (mind you this is before scanslation was big)
I loved that place. We would go there and buy pocky and shit all the time.
Of course, it went out years ago in the mall but they apparently still have a store near the University. I see their booth at Otakon every year.
Damn, those are some good memories.

Now I live in Cinci and am about to move to WV. My LCS caries some anime shit (to be honest, I'm not really into much animu/mango nowawdays) but the one in Morgantown is a real nice split. I walked in the door to check the place out and buy my weekly singles and they had a fucking Detective Conan movie playing. It was some cool shit. Nice to be able to talk manga and comics in the same place since they tend to be a little mutually exclusive.

My LCS here in Cinci is Arcadian Comics. They are FUCKING FANTASTIC. If you live in OH/KY you need to go to this place. It is the best LCS I have ever frequented. The owner is a boss and it's just a great place.

>>6853377
Pandora's Cube*, fuck me.

>>6853330

Franklin is the incompetent owner of Ooples, so the various tumblrs were created to showcase his idiocy and scammy nature to the world.

>>6853377
>>6853381
It's definetly still exist as mostly a video game store with some anime and anime merchandise near walking distance of the University of Maryland.

I bought a Naota plush doll there.

>>6853227
they aren't all there at once anon, maybe it was closer to 7 or 8, my point was that they have an established and fairly large base so throwing 1k at cosplayers doesn't seem unreasonable.

a 1st year con that has done hardly any marketing trying to give a cash prize that big, sounds like AM year 1.

Atlanta has a couple in and outside the metro area. Pica Pica is the more well known one, I believe. Sells figures, anime shit, Japanese goods and candies, etc. They also sell young bamboo (I think?) plants and teapots, so its kinda neat. They've got DVDs and CDs behind the counter and faggot jewelry in a display counter. The location I know of is at Discover Mills Mall. Employees there are your usual Retail employee, they don't want to be there but put up with it with a smile.
Lenox mall has or had some Anime store but I don't go to Lenox to look for anime shit (though I'm sure most weaboos don't have the money to shop at Lenox) so I can't remember.
Lydia's Artbox use to sell art and school supplies with cute japanese characters and stuff on them, which they still do, but I guess competition from Pica Pica stepped up since their anime section expanded tenfold. The employees are SUPER nice though, since I think it's family run
Character World,Box, Dream, Shithole, etc are all run by this Asian couple that are seemingly very racist and hate white people the most (supposedly). When they opened (and subsequently closed recently) a Character World at Northlake mall, shit seemed legit. Average anime stuff on the shelves, an Ichigo Hugpillow, One Piece and DBZ figures and Naruto rings, etc. The Husband was nice and polite when I greeted him when they were moving shit in, and his Wife found out I was a business owner, so she treated me kindly whenever I walked in to just buy some candy, Calpico or a pen. Turns out, she shit on all the non-asian employees constantly, even tried to call in employees that either quit or were fired on days they thought would be busy (pft). They refused to send the last paycheck to a friend of mine who worked there, who quit after being fed up with the Wife's abuses.
From what I know, Character Box/World has booths at AWA and Momocon and I knew folks who use to work at Borders that had permission from the company to sell overstock at AWA