Armageddon 2015: Talking manning a stand with Retrospace's Rochelle Scoones

Armageddon 2015: Talking manning a stand with Retrospace's Rochelle Scoones

Retrospace is a science fiction collectables store, both online (www.retrospace.co.nz) and a physical shop at 22 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna in Auckland. Retrospace has had a stand at many of the Armageddon shows, and will be at the Auckland event this weekend. Retrospace is owned and run by Rochelle Scoones.

What’s the best part of being at Armageddon?

The best part is being in amongst the larger sci-fi pop culture community and meeting fellow fans. I enjoy catching up with our customers and friends, especially those from outside of Auckland who I don’t get to see the rest of the year. It’s always nice to meet new customers as well. At each Armageddon there will always be some people who are attending for the first time and haven’t been to our shop in Takapuna, so it’s neat to see their delight when they discover us.

What’s the one item that you always sell really well – and why do you think that is?

Sonic Screwdrivers are strong sellers year after year. They’re great cosplay items. Pop one out of its packet, press the button to make the lights and sounds - and away you go. Everyone wants to be the Doctor, and cosplay’s such a huge part of Armageddon. I’m expecting Doctor Who fans to show up wearing ‘sonic sunglasses’ this year (but I should add that we don’t have these for sale… yet!)

What does Armageddon mean to you?

Armageddon, and especially the Auckland show, is the biggest event on Retrospace’s calendar. We’ve exhibited at all five Armageddon shows this year, but Auckland will be by far the largest, both in terms of the size of our stand and the number of people expected to attend. We’ll go all out to make this special, with a wide range of products on sale. Unlike the Armageddon shows we’ve exhibited at in other cities, Auckland is home ground for us, so we can bring in fresh stock each day from our shop if we sell out of items at the show. It also means a lot of work both before and during the trading days, and I’m hugely grateful to our awesome band of helpers. Come and see us at stand #94!

What’s been your favourite moment at all of the Armageddons you have attended?

Hard to narrow it down to one as there has been so many. One highlight was having guest Seth Green (Robot Chicken) playing with the loose Star Wars figures on our stand. I’m a big Doctor Who fan so it was awesome to have classic series actors John Levene (Sergeant Benton) and Terry Molloy (Davros) signing on our stand. At one show Terry Molloy sat in the bottom half of a Dalek and put on his Davros voice. My hair stood on end! Another special moment was getting Armageddon guest artist Dean Rankine to draw me a personal tattoo commission, which I’ve now had immortalised in ink!

What’s the one thing at Armageddon this year that you have that you think is the coolest item?

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one thing, but we’ve just got in the Star Wars - The Force Awakens Pop Vinyl Figures, which are much-anticipated items. I’m also arranging to have a display of the highly-detailed Hot Toys 12” figures including Iron Man, the Hulk, Batman, Terminator and others. Many of these are limited editions and sure to sell fast.

What’s been your favourite costume from the event?

Definitely the Catbus (from the Miyazaki film My Neighbor Totoro), a huge costume ‘worn’ by a few people. There was room for others to get ‘on’ or ‘off’ the bus as it wove through the crowd. So cool!

What do you want to see at this year’s 20th Anniversary Armageddon?

I like to see everybody having as much fun as possible. That’s what Armageddon’s all about. I’m hoping to get along to one or two of the guest talks if possible, particularly those with the Supernatural guests as I’m currently marathoning the series as time allows. I rarely manage to get away from our stand for long as we’re usually so busy, but I suppose that’s a good thing!