First Look: Christmas Tips, The Retro Room Belfast, Top 5 Arcade Games & Labubus Explained

It’s a festive-packed episode of First Look Gnomes as we dive into everything from Christmas prep to retro gaming nostalgia.

This week we share practical Christmas tips for parents, explore The Retro Room in Belfast for a blast of classic gaming fun, and count down our Top 5 Arcade Games of all time — from pixel legends to button-mashing chaos.

We also take a first look at Labubus, the collectible craze popping up everywhere, and ask the important questions: what are they, why are people obsessed, and should parents be worried?

If you love Christmas planning, retro arcades, classic video games, toy trends, and funny, relatable parenting conversations, this episode is for you.

Perfect listening for dads, parents, gamers, and anyone who loves a nostalgic first look at what’s trending right now.

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Don't forget to email Firstlookgnomes@outlook.com with your feedback

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Chapters

• 0:00 Festive Banter And Adverts
• 2:30 Dad-Life At Christmas
• 4:50 Gift Tips For Partners
• 8:20 Socks, Booze, And Present Pitfalls
• 11:30 The Hidden Present Trick
• 14:40 Getting Into The Christmas Mood
• 18:50 Toddler Talk And Big Emotions
• 24:00 Retro Arcade Adventure
• 31:20 Nostalgia Versus Modern Games

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:04

On the 12th episode before Christmas, our podcast gave to me 12 snacks are crunching, 11 dads are baiting, 10 pints are brewing, 9 gnomes exploring, 8 pints of pouring, 7 gnomes of waffling, 6 tips for a dad, 5 recording failed, 4 tired parents, 3 four puffs, 2 browsers crashing, and a toddler peed in his party.

SPEAKER_00: 0:42

So you've taken the feedback from the last episode of Must Try Harder. And you had trying harder. That is that was fantastic. I'd say that's the best Merry Christmas. I'd say that was the best intro of the season, Wallyams. Of the season? It's episode 12. Yeah, that was the best one. That was the best one. You've you've saved the best till Christmas. Merry Christmas, Wallyams! Merry Christmas. Oh. And how have you been? How's your run up to Christmas been?

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

Um it's been a festive. I saw the uh the Coca-Cola advert for the first time. Oh, very nice. Yes. Oh, the days are gone. Oh, the days are coming. Which uh I suppose technically is quite late December. But uh yeah, I saw that for the first time. Very nice, get you in the mood. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:36

The Christmas adverts this year, I've seen a few of them. It's funny.

SPEAKER_01: 1:39

Oh, the John is it John Lewis? I think the John Lewis one that got to me. Did he like Cookie the Fields? I think yeah, I think there's the one there's like a little boy toddler who's like running to his dad and things, and then suddenly he's older and he's like a teenager and doesn't want anything to do with his dad and things, and yeah, got me in the fields a bit.

SPEAKER_00: 2:00

Got in the fields.

SPEAKER_01: 2:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 2:02

Well that's good. That's that's nice. They it's funny with the Christmas adverts now because like I don't know about you, but we don't actually watch that much normal TV. We watch, you know, Netflix and stuff. So you don't see as many adverts, I guess, really. So yeah, I haven't I don't feel like I've seen as many Christmas adverts this year as I normally would have. But yeah, the John Lewis one was pretty good. It's always nice to see the Coke advert, isn't it? It's still, even after all these years, it's still nice to see it.

SPEAKER_01: 2:29

Oh lo did a coke, tips for dads, tips for dads. Get your tips out for it.

SPEAKER_00: 2:38

Well, I don't know how you feel about Christmas, one's but there's there's so much to juggle. As a dad, right? The tips. You've got a lot to juggle, haven't you? Roll around me He's in the mood, ladies and gentlemen, he's in the mood. As a dad, one imams, tell me this, right? I know get the violins out, but you know, as a dad, you've got to look after, you've got to look after your wife, you've got to look after your kid, you've got family to navigate. It's hard work. Christmas is hard work. I know it's hard work for moms as well. I'm not saying it's not, but it's I think it's hard, it's hard for dads. So I've got we've got some tips for dads. Now, this may be too late, but I have one. This is a tip I started doing about three years ago. And it's helped me. It's helped me a couple of times because when it actually comes to getting towards closer to Christmas, I can never think of what to get the wife. Um luckily I started a ritual throughout the year. If whenever I see my wife or she mentions something that she likes, I instantly put it into my notes. So set up a note, my tip for husbands, set up a note in your phone. And whenever, even if it's February and she's like, Oh, I really like that cardigan, note it. Find a way in which take a picture and remind yourself, and just start creating a list because then by the time you get to Christmas, you'll be like, What the hell am I gonna get her? You've got a prepare list, and like last Christmas, I hadn't put anything into the list since July. But well, Miss Hodgkiss, I I do make a little list. Do you? Oh, very good. You to be fair though, you are one of those good husbands. But I bet there's a lot of husbands who don't, and then come December, they're like, What the heck am I gonna get her? And if they'd written down what she'd said she wanted in April, they'd be good. So that's the tip. If there's any women listening to this as well, do the same for your husbands. We have feelings too, you know. Us dads need a bit of attention occasionally. We may mention Shrill that.

SPEAKER_01: 4:30

I'm in I'm in the dad, I'm in the dad era now with I'd just say a bottle of rum or bottle of whiskey.

SPEAKER_00: 4:35

Booze is the great gift. You can't go wrong. If someone gets you a good bottle of rum or a good bottle of rum.

SPEAKER_01: 4:40

I like a nice, fresh, new pair of socks. Get away. A pair of socks. I do. Do you not like putting on a new nice pair of socks?

SPEAKER_00: 4:48

I don't want socks for Christmas. Socks for Christmas is the shittiest present. Or non. Like, oh, socks. What a load. No, don't fall into that trap. You can still have dad toys and booze and nice things. I I don't have a pair of dad socks socks that don't cut off my circulation that aren't too tight. That's the socks I like. I don't like socks that leave a mark. Stockings. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Compression stockings, the help of lip flow. That's what I like. You said I sense you have a pair of favourite socks.

SPEAKER_01: 5:24

What did you get in your Christmas stocking this year? Great.

SPEAKER_00: 5:29

Well, I tell you, what a pleasant that will be for some lucky lady this year. Uh um so you have a fair okay, so socks.

SPEAKER_01: 5:39

So I just imagine you naked in a pair of Christmas stockings.

SPEAKER_00: 5:44

It's it's happened. It's happened. I mean, I'm I mean, I'm not technically naked because I'm wearing said stockings, but uh yeah, it's it's it's a look, it's a vibe, as they as we used to say, Williams, it's a vibe. So um yes, anyway, on to more tips. That's right. So tips. More tips. Yeah, don't buy your husband socks, even if they say they like socks, don't buy them socks. That's a terrible present. Um, this is one that happened to me when I was a kid, right? So I think brain's at the age now where we we may try this. We haven't tried it, but I remember when I was a kid, I wanted a Game Boy. Like a lot of kids, I wanted a Game Boy. And for the Christmas I wanted a Game Boy, I got a Scalectrix. And the Scalectrics was a big scale electrics, and Scalectrics were, you know, you knew the Scalectrics was a was a big present. You're like, okay, oh, got a scale electrics, and you open all your presents and there's no Game Boy. But you'd ask for the Game Boy and you wanted the Game Boy, but at the same time, you got a Scale Electrics, so that's okay. Game Boys are sold out, etc. etc. You don't you're not too disappointed because you've still got a load of other stuff and you're not an ungrateful little prick. But then later in the day, you got a scale electrics, but then you go about your day, you set up the scale electrics, you're playing with scale electrics having time of your life, and then later on, there's like, oh, hang on, there's still a present here behind the tree. There's one present. Where does this come from? Okay, where is it? Oh, it's for Craig. Okay, here you go, yeah. And of course, it's the Game Boy, isn't it? It's the Game Boy, so you've got Scale Electrics and a Game Boy, the hinge present behind the tree. Yes, but I'm like, I remember that. That's like one of my fond, you know, those Christmas memories. You know, I suppose it again it's it's bad because it's quite materialistic. Like, oh did you have a nice Christmas, Christmas with memory with a grandma, or something like no, no, Game Boy, a Japanese-made technical toy where I could play Tetris as long as there was a as long as there was a light. But still, like I remember it, and I remember being just bowled over thinking I can't believe this is the best thing ever. So if you wanna if you want to kind of make a memory, I'm saying maybe try the forgotten present trick. And then Williams, as you said earlier, you're not in the mood. I have one for that. So people when they're trying to get in the mood, people like, oh yeah, let's watch a Christmas film.

SPEAKER_01: 7:57

When did I say not in the mood? What?

SPEAKER_00: 7:59

Earlier on, I said, like, are you in are you looking forward to Christmas? You're not really in the mood yet.

SPEAKER_01: 8:03

Oh, right, sorry.

SPEAKER_00: 8:04

And I said maybe there might be a tip for dad for that. Right, right. So, not in the mood. So, what if you're trying to get in the mood, what's the not in the spirit, not in the Christmas spirit. Not in the Christmas spirit. So there's a couple of things people tend to do. They will whack on Magic Christmas, or they'll put on a Christmas film, or they'll, I don't know, cook something that they only have this time of episode. I don't think I've been whammed, yeah. Yeah, wham. You see, a lot of people listen to music, but they listen to the the pop music, so they listen to wham and stuff like that. If you really want to get in the Christmas mood, don't listen to wham. Listen to Church of England Christmas carols. Guaranteed to be. Church of England Christmas carols are guaranteed to put you in the Christmas mood. Yeah, a Wayne Manger, Silent Night, Oh Holy Night, they're the bangers, but wham, put the poges. You want to listen to Oh Holy Night. If you're in the Christmas mood after listening to I'll go on Spotify and listening to the Church of England Christmas choir sing Christmas carols, like little town of Bethlehem, and you're not taken back to the magic of Christmas, then I'll tell you this, you're dead inside.

SPEAKER_02: 9:09

Something wrong with you.

SPEAKER_00: 9:10

Something wrong with you. So forget listening to Whamstrong get you in the mood. Go straight for the Church of England Christmas carols. Guaranteed. Guaranteed to get you in the mood. What a tip. That's my tips. What a tip.

SPEAKER_01: 9:22

I've got a little little tip. Not Christmas related, but you got a little tip. What is this tip, Williams? Oh dear. No, the well, it's not really a tip, I suppose it's yeah, it is a tip. Don't take your toddler's words literally. So you know that that is that that that an age and my my toddler's uh two and three quarters now, I think. And uh Logan's you know he's he's very well spoken for his age and he's but he's you know developed a bit of a humour and a bit of a sarcastic tone, I would say, which he gets from his mother. And uh and we did bedtime this week, and I I did bedtime less so than the than the wifey wife. And and Logan Logan just turned to me and he said lovely to see you, Daddo. But he meant he meant he meant it. He meant it like he it was lovely to see you, but I just took it as uh yeah, lovely to see you.

SPEAKER_00: 10:27

Yeah, thanks for coming to me, Dad.

SPEAKER_01: 10:29

Yeah, nice to see you. But so yeah, so don't don't take things literally, but yeah, he well, he he he literally meant lovely to see you.

SPEAKER_00: 10:38

So that was yeah, that's sweet though, that he wanted to he was happy to see you.

SPEAKER_01: 10:41

He meant he meant lovely to see me. So it's when I say lovely, I don't mean it.

SPEAKER_00: 10:45

He did so yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 10:46

But also he said it was lovely, he wants to give me a little kiss, and he went too beardy. Too beardy. Too beardy, too beardy. And there's other thing that we uh we got from him today, so which is a great thing. So when you're kids, you know, you have that you have your best friends, don't you? Your best friends. Whereas he's got he's got an okay friend. He's got an okay friend, which I think is a great one. A great term. So uh you know you've got your best friends, and then like you, Mr. Hodgkers, you're my okay friend.

SPEAKER_00: 11:18

So you know, we've got my okay friend too.

SPEAKER_01: 11:24

I was recently the best man at your wedding, just to remind you that. So okay friend.

SPEAKER_00: 11:29

But outrageous.

SPEAKER_01: 11:33

Not at all, I jest. I jest.

SPEAKER_00: 11:35

I should bloody hope so. Good tips. Yeah, it is hard sometimes with toddlers to kind of to put it into perspective and be like not just like that, then being sarcastic, but sometimes they will say, like, I hate you, daddy, and you're like, do they do they actually hate me? Oh no, my child hates me, what have I done wrong? It's like, no, they don't really hate you, they're just they're just angry or something. So it's a good tip, that is, don't take it too serious, don't take it too little.

SPEAKER_01: 12:02

And he's um he's learning his emotions a lot for the moment as well. And um big emotions, and emotions alongside his words, so you know quite often says, I'm sad, and then two seconds later, I'm happy now.

SPEAKER_00: 12:17

If only life was that simple, right?

SPEAKER_01: 12:19

Yeah, I'm sad, I'm happy now.

SPEAKER_00: 12:21

Step out of the sad box into the happy box, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 12:24

It's literally it'll change within a second. I'm sad.

SPEAKER_00: 12:27

You know what though? You know what? Answer me this, right? If you're sad, if you're feeling sad, right? And you step into the pub, so you're happy box, instantly just happy, right? Have you ever walked into a pub and not just been happy? Because you're like, I'm going to the pub now.

SPEAKER_01: 12:48

Walked into a pub with Church of England songs going.

SPEAKER_00: 12:52

Yeah, that's the ha that is literally the happiest you could ever be. Other than obviously, you know, go I'm assuming in this scenario you're I'm talking about happiness outside of being with children and all that kind of stuff, like going to the pub with maybe just you and the missus, go meet some friends or family. I don't think I've ever gone to the pub sad. I don't think that's uh oh, you've never gone to the pub in a pissed-off mood or sad and gone to the pub to cheer yourself up.

SPEAKER_01: 13:19

No, I never have actually.

SPEAKER_00: 13:21

Oh, you're well to be fair, I don't really remember you in bad moods. You're you are quite just you are quite mellow at all times. You're not you're not one of these volatile personalities which is like down or happy and the extremes. You're always just generally pretty chill and happy. You're a happy chap.

SPEAKER_01: 13:36

Yeah. Yeah. I think it'd be quite dangerous if I went to a pub's dad.

SPEAKER_00: 13:40

Would you would you would you be one of those who drinks and goes into the yeah? My kid doesn't my kid's always sarcastic with me. You know, he just says, like, glad to see you, Dad. He said I'm too beady. I love this beard, and he said I'm too beady. Well, thank goodness you are a happy, happy chap, both outside and inside of the pub. Thank you, okay, friend. You're very welcome, okay, friend. Here we go. So in the last episode, I talked about my little trip to uh Newcastle County Down. And I went on a bit of a tirade and a bit of a rant about arcades and the tickets, the bloody tickets. And I was I was kind of shaking the angry fist at arcades, amazing. All these tickets, not not, it wasn't like that in my day. So recently, a friend of a friend has opened up a retro arcade in Belfast called the Retro Room Vintage 80s arcade. And we paid it a visit. So I took the wife and the child, and I was like, we're gonna go and check this retro arcade out. It is so it's a really good idea. So it's they say, they say about themselves. We're an 80s and 90s retro arcade, classic consoles and tabletop games open every Friday and Saturday, 11am till 10 p.m. And on Sunday, 12 pm till 8 p.m. No book and required, just come down. So you pay seven pounds and you go in and you can play all the arcade machines. So there's no like coins you put in, you just pay entry, and it's all free, free play. And they've got all the old school arcade machines that you would expect, but then they also have the like SNES and Genesis and Mega Drive and Sega Dreamcast um and Sega Saturn. Sorry, they don't have a Tel eye, they didn't have a Dreamcast, they're a Sega Saturn, and then have like guitar hero on like a big screen, and excuse me, and then there's ball games and stuff you can play as well. So I was like, Yeah, let's go and have a go with this. So I was playing, I took Brain because I was like, I want to show Brain what an old school arcade was like to see what he thought because he'd recently been to new to the new arcades, let's go and take it to an old arcade, and we were playing Time Crisis, and we were playing the Turtles arcade game and track and field and Street Fighter and all these awesome games. And at the end of it, I said to Brain, Sir, I said, Right, you've got all the money in the world, you can either build yourself a modern arcade or a retro arcade. What will you do? He said, retro arcade's much better. He really preferred the retro arcade, which I thought was pretty cool. So yeah, we went and tried this out, and there was one thing that's definitely I definitely clicked that the power of nostalgia. You remember things being like, Oh, it's the best, it's the best. Obviously, I play a lot of video games, modern video games, so the actual quality of the games is so much worse. You remember it because it was so cool, and at the time it was so good, but now you're playing track and field and stuff, you're like, it's not a good game compared to what you can play at home, like compared to playing Mario Kart or even Minecraft and stuff, and the experiences you can have at home now.

SPEAKER_01: 16:48

The graphics, you know, when you went up a console to you know from 8-bit to 16-bit or whatever it was, it's like wow, the quality is so good. And then you look back now, mmm, no.

SPEAKER_00: 17:01

No, it was some of them, so some of the art styles, so especially on the Super Nintendo, we were playing recently Super Mario World 2, which is Yoshi's Island, and like the art style of that is still really cool. Like, you know, that's a 16-bit game. So I think there's certain art styles that are just timeless. Um in the arcade, some of the games that you're playing just they're very simple games, which is nice, like pick them and playable, it's nice, and you've got these big cabinets and stuff, which is pretty cool. But like the actual I think we've been we're so spoiled now with what you can play at home. Like, we've talked in the past about playing VR and obviously, like you know, Nintendo Switch, the things you can do, and just in your hand, it's quite incredible how it's how it's gone. But there was still such a function.

SPEAKER_01: 17:42

Things you can play with just in your hand, did you say?

SPEAKER_00: 17:45

The consoles, Wadhim's. Don't get me into trouble. But um, it with it's still fun standing at the arcade machine. So there's there was Leslie and me and Brain, and we're playing the Turtles game, and it's like you can pick so the actual machine, the actual cabinet has the four turtles on. So you stand stand by your colour. So if you're blue, Leonardo, orange, Michelangelo, etc., and the three of us are stood there just whacking the button as hard as we can. And then Brain, we went on the Street Fighter arcade machine, and I I can remember what the moves were. So if I if I'm Ken, I can remember all of the special moves. So I'm getting there like, yes, muscle memory, and I'm beating Brain. And Brain's just like, I'm like, no, I can't, I can't beat Braden. So Brain's brain's tactic is exactly what you'd expect. Button bashing, like you wouldn't believe, just smacking their buttons like you wouldn't believe. And that's the fun of the arcade machine, yeah. Just button bashing. So you know, he won, he won and beat me, and he was so happy. He was like, Yes, yeah, jumping around. I was like, that's why arcades are fun. It's not it's not the fact that it's just an arcade, it's the socialization of playing the games together and standing up rather than sitting down while you're playing them and moving from machine to machine. There was something really cool about it. So, yeah, the the retro room in Belfast. We they do kind of corporate out. So we're actually I'm I'm actually going again with a group of people from the office that I used to work at. Um, so we're gonna go have some fun there. The only downside, so there's no beer, and like, oh and not even like even like a vending machine for cracking. It was quite a downside. I was like, it's open till 10 o'clock. So I'm like, oh, they should definitely get try and get a license if they can, but I imagine it's quite expensive, or at least like open your own. And yeah, so no food and no beer, but I'd still say it was like a good, I'd give it a four out of ten, of four out of ten, four out of five. So, or I'd give it an eight, eight somethings, eight Pac-Mans out of ten Pac-Mans. And I thought this would lead us in, Wanimster, to something that I wanted to test your brain on. Oh gosh, Bitfint, Bitfint has done a top V I T V I N T. So like as in eight bit and then vintage. So Bitfint has done a top one hundred arcade games. Do you think And you're gonna list all one hundred? No, no, I'm gonna ask you if you're reckoning. Know what games would be the top five. Arcade games.

SPEAKER_01: 20:04

What do you mean to find an arcade game?

SPEAKER_00: 20:06

An arcade machine, like the old school 70s, 80s, 90s. You go to an arcade, and these are the the games that are like, yeah, they're the most popular games of all time. What do you reckon would be in the top five?

SPEAKER_01: 20:17

Eighties and seventies or eighties and nineties?

SPEAKER_00: 20:19

70s, 80s, 90s. Like this is kind of taking all arcades. So you got your Pac-Man. Yeah. Number one, Williams. There you go. Straight in the Pac-Man is number one. Second on the list. So this is ranked. So Pac-Man is as ranked number one of all time. Then Donkey Kong, then Space Invaders, then Gallagher, and number five, Street Fighter 2. Street Fighter 2. If I was making the list, I'd have the Simpsons Arcade game as number one.

SPEAKER_01: 20:47

I was going to say Simpsons Arcade was it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:49

And the Tel Teenage Moon Ninja Tales game at number two. But you know, it's that's alright. It's it's it's all very it's all very subjective. Yeah, visit retroomebelfast.com. Go and check it out. The guy who owns it is lovely. And yeah, it's just I hope I hope um it's really cool that you've got that on your doorstep to go and see. I'm sure there are other retro arcades around, especially at Christmas if you're looking for something to do for a bit of fun. Find a local retro arcade.

SPEAKER_01: 21:16

I remember Fond Memories, Christmas in the 90s, PlayStation 1. Or the PlayStation is it used as it used to be known. And uh and yeah, Family Time playing um Tekken 2. Oh, what a game. And yeah, sort of me and my sister and mum and dad playing Tekken. And I don't know, I don't know what possessed my mum, but she just turned into just like you said, that the button bashing. And then literally you couldn't even defend it. She was just going crazy, button bashing, and just uh yeah, KO. Kicking everyone's ass. Yeah. Incredible. She would just go, ah button bashing like crazy, and yeah, Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_00: 22:05

Sometimes it's the way to do it. Yeah, yeah, it's um it's it's good fun. Like again, it's again, why is it good? Why do you remember it? Because the socializing thing, playing with your parents and stuff. Well, if you if we talk ever if we ever talk about our kind of favorite memories of uni stuff, it's the so it's using video games as a social tool, sitting there killing time, just playing together. We were we introduced uh so we were when we're in Newcastle Gaunty Down a few weeks back. We I took the switch with us and we were all playing Mario Kart together, and it's still just brilliant fun. Still brilliant fun. And you never forget so so the manly man hadn't played for ages, was still brilliant. Just picked it up, but just like there you go, it's like riding a bike. So video games should be a social thing, either way. Commu playing games together is just fun, especially at Christmas. Get the games out, play some games, have fun. It's great.

SPEAKER_01: 22:56

Have fun, be there board games or PlayStation.

SPEAKER_00: 23:00

Board games are great, yeah. All games, all even just old school charades. Love it. What about you, William? So, what's your first look?

SPEAKER_01: 23:08

My first look, so loosely related to Christmas based on gifts. Um, but it's my niece's birthday recently. Happy birthday. One of her gifts, um not from us, from uh parents, I believe. But she got this she's got this toy, and apparently it's been a bit of a craze. I don't understand it. Um, or do I? I don't know. Um, but she got a laboo-boo. Oh, yeah. Have you heard of these labo-boos?

SPEAKER_00: 23:40

Yes, I've heard of laboo-boos, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 23:43

Now, listeners, if you've not seen one of these little guys, imagine a mischievous looking Sprite, evil gnome, evil fairy, evil evil little thing. Big ears, big teeth, eyes that look like they've had too much coffee or not slept since 2020 or something. But so they come from wrong group, but they come from Hong Kong, I believe, or somewhere over that way. And it's like a designer toy, and it but they're famous for that they're blind it's a blind box collectible, I suppose that's what they call it, they yeah. Um so you buy them, but you don't really know which one you've got, but it's a collection of them a bit like the crays back in back in our younger days where like beanie babies were like all the things, I guess. Yes. But yeah, they become like a huge collectible, they look really weird. But yeah, you you can buy one, but you don't know which one you're gonna get. There's like different colours, I think, in different styles. But yeah, people if you collect them, you spend a fortune and you might get the same one over and over again, I suppose, technically. But yeah. I I have my first look at La Boo-Boo.

SPEAKER_00: 25:05

It's a weird thing, isn't it? Because it's a bit like so you remember like when you collected football stickers and even kinda surprise, like the surprise elements, so you don't know what you're getting. Like you buy a pack of six football stickers and you're hoping that you've got new ones, and then they do these things there uh Tog no, not Tugs. Pogs Pogs, yeah. Pogs fan kind of thing. Same and over again. Exactly. But there's an element of the surprise, it's like addiction, it's like gambling. It's like the the tapping into that gambling thing early with kids, like I don't know, or the anticipation. But like if you remember, think about it. Like we had bogglins. Do you remember boglins are like a gremlin that you put in your hand? Yeah, and there was Furbies, and I remember my sister was carriage. Trolls, trolls, yeah. There's like there's always been like there's always been the hot thing. Even teletuppies, like they were massive for a bit, weren't they? So it's now these laboo-boos. It's just funny that it's laboo-boos, but it's the surprise element, which is just I'm like, oh, that's don't exploit kids like that. I know it's happened forever, but I I don't like it. I'm like labou, I'm I don't mind well, I've got no problem with the idea of kids wanting to collect something.

SPEAKER_01: 26:16

I think so with my niece, she's got she's got a B boo, and I think that's it now. I think it's but I don't know if it becomes like once more and it collects them, then it's a different thing.

SPEAKER_00: 26:29

But well, do you remember like Pokemon? Do you remember like South Park did that piss take episode of Pokemon cards and things? Gotta gotta catch them all. It's like Mark, oh you've gotta catch them all. What do you mean? You mean you've got a f boogie pair of single one?

SPEAKER_01: 26:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 26:44

See exploitation.

SPEAKER_01: 26:46

Tazzo's, I had tazzos with Walker's Crisps, I don't know. Yeah, but there was certain crisps when you get like a tazzo in there. But you just end up buying more crisps just for the tazzos and stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 26:57

Just for the tazzos, yeah. Yeah, the Tazos are great because you can't. I've got a box bunny already. I wanted Daffy Duck, for goodness sake. Right, more crisps. So you're getting fat kids who are addictive.

SPEAKER_01: 27:09

I've still got I've still got the folder in the attic or cupboard somewhere. The full I've got the full collection of Tazos, and I'm pretty sure when I was younger, I thought, when I'm when I'm older it's gonna be worth a fortune, that is. Yeah, well, there might be. Taz. Yeah, I'm sure it's a good eBay. Now I'd be like eBay full collection. Full collection, full collection, pristine folder isn't a folder.

SPEAKER_00: 27:30

Complete seven£2,000,£5,000,£10,000. Walker's Tazzo's collectors album, complete£70 to£70, very good condition, plus the extra world tazzos.£100£100 or best offer. Yeah, all best offer.£100,£100. I mean, it's up for sale for£100, but no one's bought it. So okay, so okay, there's another one here.£28.77. Same thing.

SPEAKER_01: 28:03

Yeah, it's about until it's uh okay.

SPEAKER_00: 28:06

£17.22. Um£11.87. Okay, we're going down a bit, Walems. I think I just clicked up. Yeah, the£11.87. That's just full of it.

SPEAKER_01: 28:15

Who wants to buy I don't know?

SPEAKER_00: 28:18

Well, so okay, you say that, right? So about 18 months ago, I purchased off of eBay a box of pogs and chuppa chops and all the things. It was like six six quid, but it was like a box of a thousand ones. And I was talking about these green chuppa chops, kinnies they were called, and I used to be obsessed with them because they smell like watermelon. And yeah, I was like, right, I'm buying some. And on a drunken, in a drunken perch, it was a proper drunken purchase. This random shoe box full of pogs arrived. And I was like, Oh, this is amazing. And they've been in a box and a box within a box somewhere ever since. Never looked at them, never played with them.

SPEAKER_01: 28:57

But at their at their peak as well, there was like things like pogs. There was like a you get your special edition ones, and there's like a a shiny platinum limited edition Hawaiian dancer pog or something. Yeah. And they would be worth like£10,000 in 1997 or something. Whereas now the value's a pound.

SPEAKER_00: 29:19

But yeah, there's there's no value in them at all. It's just but it was it was so so strong at the time. But again, it's like feeling of nostalgia now. You're like, oh, do you remember this? Because at the time it meant everything to you.

unknown: 29:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 29:33

So you know, the laboooboo for your n for your niece is gonna be a similar kind of thing. She's gonna remember getting that laboo boo.

SPEAKER_01: 29:39

I remember those labo boos, yeah. Do you remember the laboo-boos? My uncle talked about them on a podcast.

SPEAKER_00: 29:46

Basically, yeah, slagged them off, said they're addictive.

SPEAKER_01: 29:49

Yeah, and he's still doing this podcast now at the 70 years old. But yeah, the boobies, maybe maybe you'll find one under your Christmas tree. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00: 29:59

We've had a postcard, Williams, from our friend the know it all known. Oh, and it's very timely, so he sends it over. It is, yeah. Um, he says, Greetings from the North Pole. We so if you remember, last time we heard from him, he was in he was in um It's close to the South Pole anyway, yeah. It's close to the South Pole, so he was it was close to the um it was in New Zealand with Felicity, and it was going quite well. So let's see what he says. He says, Greetings from the North Pole. We decided to travel here as Felicity, so that must be that's a good sign. Felicity had never been she had never been above the equator. So in for a penny, in for a pound. With Christmas approaching, we wanted to try something authentic, as that's what all the kids are into these days. I can't all I hear is authentic this, authentic that. True. So we came all the way here to try one thing we both wanted to do. We wanted to ride a real sleigh. Not a thing in Park's sleigh, not a tourist photo booth, a proper jingle all the way, hold on to your hat, hope we don't die sleigh. I wish we hadn't bothered. The sleigh took off like a catapult. I was screaming while Felicity was whooping. The reindeer looked traumatized. I held on for dear life, no pun intended, but it was no use. I was thrown off and not so cold as I collided with a tree. I woke up 20 minutes later with a sore head and an even sore bottom. The idea of authenticity sounds romantic, but it's not at all. God loving. Speaking of romance, things are going very well. Felicity keeps saying she hasn't had this much fun in years. I keep saying I haven't survived this many disasters with anyone else before. We've spent the evening sipping hot cocoa, watching the northern lights, and pretending we understand the meaning of constellations. We don't. Anyway, Christmas is nearly here, and I hope yours is filled with warmth, laughter, and a f and far few and far fewer sleigh-based injuries than mine. All our love, the know at all gnome, and felicity. There we go. So he sounds like he's doing well. He's doing well.

SPEAKER_01: 32:10

Sounds like he's not returning then. He's not returning then.

SPEAKER_00: 32:14

Not anytime soon by the sound of it. It sounds like he's having a while over time.

SPEAKER_01: 32:17

Because according to listener feedback, it's gone down here since he's uh he's gone.

SPEAKER_00: 32:21

Since he's left, yeah. Well, well, I mean, the thing is, if he comes back, is he gonna move it means Felicity's gonna have to move in with him. So it might be a bit of a good thing. I don't know if I've got I don't know if I've got room for two gnomes at the end of my garden. But we'll see. I'm just glad he's having a good time, to be honest. I'm glad he's having a good time. And because it was rough, like the first the first few the first few trips and the first few locations it it it didn't go well. So it didn't go well, did it?

SPEAKER_01: 32:50

Listen back to previous episodes to uh find out yeah, the adventure the no one or gnome.

SPEAKER_00: 32:55

But yeah, I think it I I like his wisdom in that one because he was no all name, he was always about wisdom. So I like it. The the idea of authenticity sounds romantic, but it's not at all. And it is true, authentic this, authentic that. So yeah, good on him. Good on him.

SPEAKER_01: 33:11

Lovely to hear from him. Lovely to hear from him. What kind of music do you owls listen to? Not a Scooby Doo, Williams. Rap music.

SPEAKER_00: 33:20

Rap music with a W.

SPEAKER_01: 33:23

Yeah. Oh dear. I hope um I hope my uh my wife is okay. She's uh she's barely touched the uh 184 birds I gave her over the twelve days of Christmas.

unknown: 33:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 33:45

And uh sorry.

SPEAKER_00: 33:48

You you say oh dear a lot on this podcast. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear we call this the oh dear podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 33:56

It's just you know when you can you can you Hey, oh dear! It's Christmas, reindeer, oh dear, oh dear. Um what's I say? No, just saying. Well, you know, when you realise that a podcast is getting worse and worse, you just you just keep going. You just keep going. I think this has been a very good episode, I don't talk about uh to end the uh the podcast for 2025, potentially, I don't know if there's gonna be another one. Maybe there'll be another one for what it is, who knows? Oh, we should do a year special. What do you get if you put an iPad under a real Christmas tree?

SPEAKER_00: 34:40

Pine needle pad? A pine apple. A pineapple. I should have tried to guess I was too close from actual guests there. You were, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 34:54

Sorry. Merry Christmas, everyone.

SPEAKER_00: 34:56

Merry Christmas, everybody!

SPEAKER_01: 34:58

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 34:59

We may see you in a week for a surprise episode. We may do make a m or maybe you can do a make a best of best of 2024. Maybe a very short episode. Well that well, maybe 2025's not being really good, so just just rehash some of the stuff from 2024.

SPEAKER_01: 35:23

Uh make it a good one.

SPEAKER_00: 35:25

We'll try harder next year, promise.

SPEAKER_01: 35:28

Yeah. Hey.com.