Hastings and Free Comic Book Day

Over the weekend we had two Geek holidays, Free Comic Book Day, and May the Fourth (Be with You). I didn’t have much free time Saturday, there was a Cub Scout bake sale that suddenly got rearranged. I thought it ended at 1, and instead it started at one. So, I only had two hours to drive across Spokane to find.

It was my first Free Comic Book day, and I have to admit the desire to get them all sort of got into me. There were well over 50 comics for grabs at various stores. Hastings was a good choice since they let people grab ten comics at a time.

There were also other sales going on to celebrate the day.

I realized today that I hadn’t introduced the idea of a Chain geek store. We all know places like a comic book shop, a bookstore like Barnes and Noble, or a Gamestop can be chains of a larger enterprise. What is amazing to me is how much Hastings seems to be geek centric. Other places sometimes have the same things, but not quite the same feel.

First off this is a rental store, you can rent a game, or movie for a week. There is a section for all sorts of things within the store. The selection itself is more geared toward the geeky, or non mainstream reader. It celebrates geeky things like Free Comic book day.

Hastings is not just a store, but a rental shop. As Blockbuster, and other companies disappear, finding a rental becomes hard. Yet, every game and movie for sale here can also be rented. In fact, they have a selection for handheld games for the Nintendo DS, or Playstation Vita.

They do not rent systems whole. This is likely because no one would return a system without damaging it somehow. Also, the cost of renting out systems is greater than that of games. Still, there is a large variety to work with, and enjoy.

Along with videogames,

and movies, there are books,

comic books,

boardgames, toys,

skateboards,

and more,

you find that things tend to be aimed at geeks in general. There are more edgier or non mainstream books, along with sections larger chain would not have. There is a section for lamps for geeks in the store. One of them is the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

There is also a more open access to things. For example, there was a ten comic book limit for free comic book day, as opposed to 2-3 at other stores.

This was the reason why i hit Hastings first. Even though one of the stores I went to was sold out, I ended up with a larger selection than if I had gone to the other three stores.

In other words, Hastings is a store you should check out.

Hastings is a rental store that aims at geeks. They have sections for all sorts of things, but tend toward the slightly edgier subjects. There is also a more open geek feel at the store.

If you liked these photographs, make sure to check out my collection from the trip here. It’s true, I wanted to show off my haul from Saturday. On the other hand, I think Hastings really is a store that should be on every geeks radar. As just a videogame guy I enjoy the place.