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AIPT Comics Podcast Episode 375: Show & Tell – The stories behind our favorite nerd stuff 🎒✨
Apr 19, 2026
Ever wonder what comic fans keep on their shelves and why it matters? In this special episode, the AIPT Comics Podcast hosts dig into their favorite pieces of nerdy memorabilia, from comics and collectibles to the unexpected items with the best stories behind them. Whether you’re a longtime listener or just discovering us, this is a fun, personal tour through fandom, collecting, and the moments that stick with you.
Listen to the entire episode of the AIPT Comics podcast on all platforms, or stream it on AIPTcomics.com!
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aipt-comics/id1448147137?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ab2sz1nzOkna9YPvCjRr6
Apple Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/50c22666-f69a-4419-a25a-2bf5b3ce0de4/aipt-comics?
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0:13
to celebrate episode 375. We wanted to
0:15
show off some of our most prized
0:18
uh geek gear, geek stuff, geek statues,
0:20
geek whatever. And um before the show,
0:23
we were kind of going through some of
0:24
our stuff and it's endless. I mean,
0:26
there's too many things. So,
0:28
>> I think I could show every piece of art
0:29
and toy that is just surrounding me
0:31
right now.
0:32
>> I wanted to pick a couple things with
0:35
story behind it more than anything. Uh,
0:37
and that's why it made it special for
0:38
me. But did you want to go first with
0:40
your first thing? We'll go back and
0:41
forth.
0:41
>> Yeah, I can go first. Um, yeah, I feel
0:44
like first is probably like one of the
0:48
most special things. Um, I'm going to
0:50
turn my laptop so y'all can see. Uh over
0:54
the past few years I have worked on
0:58
collaging different skateboard decks
1:01
with art from comics. Um
1:03
>> is that Mod Podge?
1:05
>> It is Mod Podge on real skateboard decks
1:09
and uh I kind of Yeah. From the top is
1:13
like my oldest one and then going newer
1:15
and newer. The last one is my favorite
1:18
because there's a lot of KCON era art
1:21
and it's also like the start of the
1:23
Ultimate Universe as well. So, I made
1:26
this probably like year and a half, two
1:29
years ago. Um, but yeah, they were
1:32
really fun. I, you know, have so many
1:34
comics. I made sure to only cut up
1:36
comics that I had double copies of. So,
1:39
when I got vintage comics, I would wait
1:41
until I had a second one of it before I
1:43
sliced it up before anyone gets too
1:45
angry at me. Um, but yeah, I feel like
1:48
it shows my love of comics and it like
1:51
looks great on my wall.
1:52
>> Like a decade ago, I did a Mod Podge
1:54
tabletop of of all the comics that were
1:57
like slightly damaged so I could just
1:59
cut them up anyway.
2:00
>> Totally.
2:01
>> That's pretty cool.
2:02
>> Are you a skater?
2:04
>> Uh, I'm a poser. I'm a selfidentified. I
2:07
mean, I already knew that.
2:09
>> No, I just like love the aesthetic of
2:12
skateboards on walls and it was like a
2:14
surprisingly I like had one randomly and
2:17
I was like this would make like for like
2:19
a great collage project. Uh
2:22
>> yeah, so you know, maybe one day I'll
2:24
learn so it seems more legit, but as of
2:26
now it's just art. I wanted to start
2:29
with uh this sick Mike Mola Batman blue
2:33
and yellow variant of the black uh the
2:35
Batman black and white statue series.
2:38
>> Is that a battle ring? That's a
2:39
>> It is a batarang on a wire.
2:43
>> I think what I love about this is the
2:45
nons superhero pose. The lack of
2:47
shoulders makes him almost seem like not
2:50
superheroic.
2:51
>> Totally.
2:52
>> And it just has a vibe that only Mola
2:54
could could bring. And I just I love
2:56
also that it's in color and it's blue. I
2:58
mean, blue Batman's best Batman, right?
3:01
>> The shadowing is looks like so much like
3:04
a comic panel brought to life. That's
3:06
very cool.
3:08
>> Exactly. Yeah. Uh I'm going to go I'm
3:11
going to go I'm going to go one more
3:11
time really quick because it's so so
3:13
simple.
3:13
>> Please.
3:14
>> I have this chi this is from China.
3:17
>> It's a Batman sort of. And when I went
3:21
to China like 8 years ago or whatever, I
3:23
randomly came across these little cat
3:25
figurines that are like they're almost
3:28
like Funko Pops.
3:29
>> Yeah.
3:30
>> But there in China there is no like
3:31
copyright really. So there's Spider-Man,
3:35
there's Thor. I've got them all around
3:36
the house. And I wanted to show this one
3:37
off cuz I love that it is Batman but
3:39
isn't Batman. And
3:41
>> totally it's Batman.
3:42
>> And these little dudes have so much
3:43
swagger. So anyway,
3:46
>> nice. Okay, I'll do a twofer, too. Um,
3:49
you know, I have a lot of collectible
3:52
toys, but my new thing that I'm really
3:54
into is uh busts, particularly the
3:58
Diamond Select, like X-Men busts. They
4:01
have them from like a few different
4:02
series. Like I do have this, um, Frank
4:06
Quietly like new X-Men Scott, which is
4:10
cool, but this one
4:11
>> is just like so [ __ ] huge. Um, it's
4:15
Ultimate Colossus. Uh, which I also love
4:18
because he's he's gay in that universe
4:21
and very famously gets into like a
4:24
confrontation with like a homophobic
4:25
nightcrawler in it.
4:28
>> Um, got this from a collectible shop in
4:30
Tacoma, Washington. Um, I don't know. I
4:33
just think it's like so big and iconic
4:34
and looks great.
4:36
>> That space is really neat. Yeah.
4:37
>> Yes. And then another little thing I
4:40
have on my desk is um
4:43
>> Oh wow.
4:44
>> Al Kaplan created Circuit Breaker. Um
4:47
the first transmasculine hero at DC and
4:51
Al or Allan is Seattlebased and goes to
4:55
like every Emerald City Comic-Con. And
4:58
the first year that Circuit Breaker
5:00
debuted, I feel like it was 2023 maybe,
5:04
um, they created these standing desks of
5:07
Circuit Breaker saying yehaw. I just
5:10
think it's gorgeous.
5:11
>> Yeah, that's like I've never seen
5:13
anything like that where it's like a
5:14
thin piece of plastic but with the comic
5:15
art on it,
5:16
>> right? Yeah. Usually that's for like
5:17
anime characters. I was like, I need
5:20
that.
5:20
>> Um, okay. What's next for you, buddy?
5:23
>> I don't want to I can't do this one next
5:24
because it's Batman again. So, I'm going
5:26
to go
5:27
Uh, this is a Hasbro STCC exclusive from
5:32
like 10 years ago. And he has
5:38
>> he has like six things he says.
5:40
>> Oh.
5:41
>> Um, yeah. I don't know. Could you hear
5:42
that?
5:43
>> Do it again.
5:47
>> I don't know. Maybe not. He lights up,
5:49
too.
5:49
>> Does he glow? He lights up, too.
5:51
>> His whole head lights up. Anyway, uh
5:53
they they have since made a Galactus
5:55
that's double the height and uh but this
5:58
one at the time was really hard to find,
6:00
so I had to like pay kind of a lot for
6:02
it. But in my mind, he's the perfect
6:04
size. And also the fact that he says
6:07
stuff makes him better than the Haslab
6:09
Galactis. But yeah, I I think uh he's
6:12
also the perfect purple for me.
6:15
>> He the perfect purple menacing.
6:17
>> Wait, can you even see him right now? Is
6:19
it's like he's invisible?
6:20
>> No, he's he's not green screened. I
6:21
promise.
6:23
>> Well, yeah, he's a he's a prized
6:24
possession for sure.
6:27
Um, I don't have a lot of superhero
6:31
plushy stuff. This actually might be my
6:33
only one, but I I do love my dupe. This
6:38
came out recently. It was like This is
6:41
from
6:42
I don't know. Yeah, 2024. But I really
6:46
like this guy because um I went to I go
6:49
to Emerald City Comic-Con. I have for
6:51
the past five years. And I found this.
6:54
There was a shop on the exhibition floor
6:56
selling this like three months before
6:58
they actually debuted on the market.
7:02
>> And it was like $15 and they were like,
7:05
"Yeah, they accidentally like sent us
7:06
these early." So, we're selling them at
7:09
a discounted price. So, I just like like
7:11
that I got early access to this. And Dup
7:13
is just my guy. Love him.
7:16
>> He's so good.
7:17
>> It's like also a character like I don't
7:18
want to overdo it. like it. Although
7:21
he's not been around much in like a
7:23
couple years, so he can come back now.
7:25
>> Yeah, he had that one like he had like a
7:27
detective miniseries with him and Logan
7:30
doing like detective work. I'm like,
7:32
>> right,
7:32
>> I agree. When he's used reservedly, he
7:35
is at his best.
7:37
I um I wanted to
7:39
>> Yeah, I wanted to just show I mean
7:41
everyone knows about this but um
7:44
>> this is the um
7:46
>> Batman Year 1 uh special extra-L large
7:49
edition I believe this one in Eisner for
7:51
design.
7:52
>> Wow.
7:52
>> It is probably the biggest comic book
7:55
graphic novel thing I own. I I have like
7:58
Chris Wear's thing. I have Tashion books
8:00
but it's not that thick.
8:03
>> But it's also almost impossible to read.
8:06
Is Yeah. Is the like distressed brown on
8:10
it per? Yeah. It's supposed to look like
8:11
it's like
8:13
>> it's the actual pages uh scans before
8:16
color. And this is of course you know
8:18
Frank Miller and
8:20
>> um it's uh it's impressive. David Mush
8:24
Mashell's uh Batman Year One. And
8:28
>> it's it's just it's it's interesting how
8:31
at a different sized comics uh just hit
8:33
different.
8:35
>> Yeah, I'll continue that trend.
8:39
>> This is my my Tashion Silver.
8:44
>> I know. I keep it in the box cuz the box
8:45
is like just as beautiful as the book.
8:47
I'm like, how am I supposed to display
8:49
this book? Um, you know, I like this
8:52
because not only is it just like one of
8:54
the coolest collectibles I'll ever hold,
8:56
but it's also the first like major thing
8:59
I got as like an AIP contributor. Like
9:02
the first thing that like a major thing
9:04
a PR company reached out to me about.
9:06
So, I love that. Um, I wish you could
9:09
all feel it. It's like the smoothest
9:10
feeling ever. I mean, talk about
9:13
unreadable. Like simply unable to. But
9:17
the inner blue art is
9:21
>> so beautiful. And then
9:23
>> the pages are reconstructed like on like
9:26
the thin comic book paper and it has
9:29
>> and the ads are
9:31
>> ads. Every ad is in it in like such a
9:35
sick way.
9:36
>> Oh, I'm tired of being skinny. Do you
9:38
think I could try calling that?
9:39
>> Oh my god. Ompic like in the 70s. Um, so
9:44
yeah. I mean, at some point I'm going to
9:46
need to find a way to like display this
9:48
on my wall using like some I don't
9:51
[ __ ] know. I'm like this is going to
9:52
take a whole wall down. But very cool.
9:55
>> That's awesome. I wanted to just
9:57
highlight one more thing. I have a ton
9:59
of comic book art. I have not enough
10:01
space to put it, but
10:02
>> Oh, yeah. You have so much original
10:03
work. I have uh this Joe Conez
10:06
Spider-Man page and uh it's it's not the
10:10
like flashiest like full page spread or
10:12
anything, but Quonz is amazing. And
10:15
above me I also have like Adam Gorum,
10:17
I've got David Marquez,
10:20
um Aaron Cter. Uh, and I think not only
10:24
does buying the art, original art, help
10:27
the artist, but uh, it's just it's so
10:30
pretty and and and and framing it in a
10:32
nice frame really adds something to
10:36
the fact that you're a collector of, uh,
10:39
comic books. They aren't just throwaway.
10:41
It's art. Agreed. I know. I'm sometimes
10:45
I think about all the money I've spent
10:47
on like little things and I'm like, "Oh,
10:49
if I could like resell like 80 of the
10:52
little things I've bought to spend like
10:54
two grand on a piece of interior art."
10:58
Um, okay. The last thing I'll show is
11:00
special because part of it is from this
11:02
guy David on camera right here. Um,
11:05
>> what?
11:06
>> It's a It's hard to see. It's another
11:09
Why is it
11:09
>> like too bright?
11:10
>> Oh, there we go. You can kind of see it.
11:12
It's another piece from Al Kaplan. This
11:15
is uh Angel, a sexy sexy Warren
11:19
Worththington. Um, wow, the light is
11:22
like really [ __ ] me up. Um it is from
11:25
Al Kaplan and the Gorgonists
11:29
uh Xrated series which is where they uh
11:34
take iconic X-Men characters and then
11:38
they rate them on uh RuPaul Drag Race's
11:43
system of CU N which stands for
11:46
charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent.
11:50
uh just the most like brilliant mix of
11:54
uh gayness and X-Men. And uh Dave for my
11:58
birthday last year was kind enough to
12:00
get me the original angel art uh that Al
12:05
drew in this uh Zen. So
12:09
I love it a lot.
12:10
>> I know you love him, too. So it was like
12:12
the perfect gift.
12:13
>> I know. Big sexy angel wings. Um yeah.
12:17
Wow. We could probably go on forever,
12:19
but I feel like that was a great great
12:21
display of our collections.
12:23
>> Yes. Uh it's a good smattering and you
12:25
know 375 episodes is not a short order.
12:28
It takes years. So,
12:31
>> and you've been on since episode one,
12:33
right?
12:33
>> Yeah. So, when we get to episode 750,
12:36
we'll do this again.
12:38
>> Perfect.
12:47
Come on.