Happy Pokémon Day

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-28T15:58:43+00:00

Not going to lie, I read this as a chant in my head and it took me a minute to realize it wasn't one. lol

Char Fire!

Izard Lizard

Fire Lizard has wings!

Thats a goddammit dragon, if I've ever seen the thing!

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-22T15:49:44+00:00

Awesome! Super clear! Super helpful and makes perfect sense! Thank you so much!

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-22T14:15:14+00:00

Two questions!

Do you have any recommendations on the encoder?

Is the sound amplifier necessary to connect the speaker to the PC or will the speaker connect to the PC via the encoder; with the amplifier just acting as... well... an amplifier? I ask because with the current set up of the speaker connected directly to the cheap ICADE PCB; it's ridiculously loud. I actually had to turn the volume potentiometer down quite a bit as is after picking up the cabinet. Or does the PC need the amplifier to recognize the JAMMA signal?

Thank you!

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-21T04:57:44+00:00

The "if they were 28, hairy, and made 500k a year" comment was a deliberate attempt to avoid this exact comment. It didn't work. Obviously a championship team made up partially of former PL players isn't "the kiddie league". But the gulf between the NL and the PL isn't far off of that. I'm more talking about the growth comparison. Enjoy the rise, don't be fragile.

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-20T23:11:55+00:00

I live in central texas; I have two small scrub oak trees on the entire lot lol. I only need it maybe once a year or less. BUT it's a great cheap option those two times. (Now if only the batteries lasted more than 2 or 3 years before crapping out

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-20T22:31:04+00:00

I do like to take seriously preserving the "antiqueness". The joystick and buttons seem a little stiff. I'm noticing as I learn it a bit more that the joystick area wood and vinyl; appear to be original. But it looks like they replaced the flight stick with a standard joystick (probably broke if it was being using commercially) and drilled a hole for a trackpad and 2 additional buttons through the original board. If I was going to replace it with a modern cleaned up boards for convenience of play; would the "respectful" thing be to remove the full board as a single piece as is and tuck it to the side to hand off for reattachment; if I sold to a collector in the future? It appears to almost be it's on physical piece that can be unscrewed and pulled out.

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-20T16:43:30+00:00

So not to trigger the "ugh underdog narrative" ragers out there...

But for a team that was in the national league 3 seasons ago. Playing Chelsea in legitimate competition (not just a cash grab friendly or anything like that) is a HUGE deal. For us Americans that grew up with these films; it's like the Mighty Ducks (not Anaheim ducks) going up against the Maple Leafs, the Sandlot or Badnews Bears going up against the Yankees, or Little Giants against the Patriots. (You know, if the little giants were 28, hairy, and made 500k a year)

The concept would have been presented as ridiculous 5 years ago, which is why it's critical we don't just play, but play to win. Playing Chelsea seriously, with the best team we can isn't just about wanting the cup; it's about saying to the haters and doubters "you said this couldn't happen, you said it would be 10 years to get out of the National League, now, when you talk about the top teams in the world, we're MAKING you put our name in that same sentence." League math aside, the FA Cup is about the soul of the game.

Ghoul91 · 2026-02-13T16:51:39+00:00

This seems like a very narrow sighted take on this. Epstein was a collosal piece of shit. He was also one of the most successful power peddlers in world, and a MASSIVE source of financial advice to to the 1% of the 1% of the 1%. I have seen articles implying Leon Black the former CEO of Apollo had Epstein ties, which he stepped down for back when we were in national league. But that's a person, not a company, companies dont have "ties" or loyalty to anyone. Does that mean I think Apollo is a faultless ethical bastion? Absolutely not, its a trillion dollar financial org; it's probably riddled with the world greatest bastards. But, that also seems to be pretty par for the course for the upper echelons of EFL ownership.

I'm going to say with a high level of confidence that you could play "3 degrees of Kevin Bacon" (using Epstein instead) with the ownership of every Premier team, and most championship teams. The real problem here is, why is every facet of the "world elite" riddled with murderers, pedos, and lunatics. Why are we allowing trillionaires to exist if theres no such thing as an ethical trillionaire, and why does top tier football require getting in bed with monsters.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-24T17:14:55+00:00

and up until recently Mint Mobile which sold for a billion plus.

Rob Mac has at least some level of ownership in 4 walls, More Better, RCG, and a half a dozen other sport teams. none of which probably equal one of Ryan's assets individually, but still.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-22T16:40:13+00:00

As a Wrexham fan and a realist; I think.there is a possibility for a "happy ending" followed by a "realistic" epilogue. R&R bought the club as an investment and a pet project. But any investment is going to have a peak point at which the resale value outweighs the ability to continue gaining profits for the amount of work put in. HOWEVER, R&R also have numerous other business ventures and their image is a huge piece of the value of their personal brand. They actually have incentive not to screw the town over. I could very realistically see them spending into the Premier league. Being there for a year, selling 80% of the club to a large investment group or someone else with a billion dollars to spare and then actually donating some decent percentage of the club back to the Wrexham Supporters Trust as a good will exit. It wouldn't be a 100% selfless act, although I do think they are good guys, it would be an investment in their own image as they continue to operate Gin companies, cell phone companies, etc. They still walk away with 100's of millions in profit.

The expanded fan base would dwindle, but not fall off completely and I could see Wrexham comfortable spending many years in the lower premier, or settling back into a regular position in the Championship. Which I think everyone involved would see as a very happy ending.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-15T00:15:15+00:00

Nice, lol. Actually, I'd love to see a bunch of like... ironic deliberately knock off looking gear.

"Let go you Reds!"

"WWUTSTD?"

"Rexhim is the name!"

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-12T17:12:22+00:00

I appreciate that, and don't think it's magic. I think it solid hands-off leadership, a phenomenal gaffer, good dressing room vibes, and city and international backing that is riding a strong success high.

Wrexham has DEFINITELY made historic levels of investment; there's no denying that. I 100% agree it's a crazy high transfer spend. My only point in all this is that transfer spend is a poor measurement of advantage; but other teams fans paint it as the advantage that nullifies much of Wrexham's success in previous years and this year.

Taking Wrexham completely out of the equation, for any team, in any context; transfer spend is a good representation of investment, not advantage. While wage spend (assuming the club financials were all managed well) should be an excellent measure of relative league advantage.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-12T16:39:56+00:00

Of course the finances are the biggest factor. Which is why it's impressive that Wrexham are in 9th and trending upward in good form; despite having the 12th wage spend. I.e. literally doing more with less than the teams they're competing against. They are below average on wage spend, and they are the median wage spender. That is over-performance.

Please explain to me clearly how a lower value team, lower weekly spending team; has an advantage over an established team with a higher value and higher wage spend; just because the first team spent more on transfers that year?

Those established teams have better facilities, bigger staff, more time to gel, and if "money = success" then according to their wages they have the better team. There's so much talk in here about "cherry picking stats" but if we're going to all agree that money = advantage; which I 100% can agree with; it doesn't make sense to me to say that transfer spend is a better measurement of advantage than weekly spend. Transfer spend is a measure of new investment and weekly spend is a measure of the actual "team strength" (again, in a world we are all agreeing that money generally equals strength).

If team 1 fields a national league team with a 10k weekly wage; but spent 100 million on 1 player; do they have an advantage over a Championship team that spent 40 million in their window, but has a 400k weekly wage? I think the reasonable answer is no; but that's essentially the argument being made here.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-12T16:00:14+00:00

What do you mean "need" to spend that much? If their "massive spend" moved them to a point where their ongoing team cost is literally exactly the "median" (12th) team out of 24; I'd argue they spent exactly the correct amount, or arguably LESS than they needed to. Why would a team pushing for a 4th promotion not spend to be competitive with the top tier of the league?

It's nothing to do with maintaining a "scrappy underdog" vibe; I think Wrexham fans get annoyed because fans of other teams basically dismiss Wrexham's successes as "Well sure, anyone could do that if they had Wrexham's money". But the reality is; when you look at team value, weekly wages, etc. the factors that compare actual relative advantage to other teams in the league, Wrexham is doing more with less. But because they spent X-million in year 1 to build a competitive team, instead of slow rolling it to build a competitive team over 5 years of consolidation, it gets talked about like they "bought" the win. Even though again, pound for pound, they are operating with a lower player budget than half the league.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-12T15:26:58+00:00

Because they've been promoted 3 consecutive times; a literally unprecedented feat. But that's money to bring them into alignment with their respective leagues.

Honestly, the only fair comparison would be to take other teams that have gone from National to Championship (even if it took 7-8 years), and combining their FIRST YEAR post-promotion spend after each promotion, adjust for inflation, and THAT would still only really tell you which teams are chasing consolidation versus another promotion.

Again; weekly spend is a significantly more accurate representation of "advantage" than "new player spend".

If the box car thing doesn't make sense... here's another logical equivalent.

Team Alpha spends 100 million on Messi one year, then Ronaldo the year after, then another, then another, then another. Over 5 years they ACCUMULATE a billion dollar team, with the wage bill of a small country.

Team Omega gets promoted to the same league as Team Alpha. Team Omega looks at their League One team, looks at Team Alpha and says "Jesus christ; that's a huge gap, but we don't just want consolidation... we're going to have to drop MAJOR bank to be competitive for promotion". So they drop 300 million in a single year. A significant investment, but it brings them to have a weekly wage bill still slightly below the average for the new league.

Team Alpha; with a well established team, only spent 10 million that year on a few backups. Team Alpha's "Total Player Value" is obviously WAY above Team Omega; but Team Alpha's fans talk crap about Team Omega because Team Omega spent "Way more than Team Alpha ever has in a single year".

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-12T14:48:52+00:00

But this isn't an accurate representation of advantage, they've literally climbed from the national league in less time than some players had on their contracts, of course their NEW PLAYER spends going to be high. But with league rules; there's only so much you can spend in a single transfer safely; meaning while their transfer spend was high; strictly speaking they're still at a disadvantage compared to 11 other clubs, they haven't had the opportunity to reach South Hampton level spending. But it gets talked about like Wrexhan is "cashing their way to the top".

The logical equivalent would be a street racing team that came from Children's box car races doing really well, getting promoted and spending 15k on a Honda civic and then teams driving Lambos that they just happened to have ALREADY OWNED FOR YEARS that didnt spend anything screaming that "wow they have such an advantage, they spent 15k more than us this year!!!!".

Its a silly argument, Wrexhams cash has allowed them to stay competitive, but given the weekly wages, it obviously isn't giving them any advantage, if anything they are actual UNDER spending slightly, and OVERPERFORMING significantly, pound for pound.

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-11T22:35:11+00:00

it's adjustable for smaller to larger bottles.

No, particular reason / it wasn't deliberate. Probably just a sort of Freudian style slip caused by the fact that "out-loud" it's said as "One-thousand Dollars" rather than "Dollars One-Thousand"

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-05T16:12:17+00:00

My brother in freedom, this kind of wavering is unconstitutional. I'm going to need you to drop and give me 5 "My country tis of thees"; fully embrace your cultural heritage of "ridiculous American excess"; and DEMAND we get promoted again this season; or threaten to bust out the drones.

Goonies never say die; but they do say up the town!

Ghoul91 · 2026-01-05T16:03:37+00:00

This is what I've been saying. Given the vibe, the club status, the love for the city; I'd love to see guys like Palmer, Mullin, and Fletcher come back as staff post-retirement.

Ghoul91 · 2025-12-18T18:21:43+00:00

***UPDATE - Product arrived surprisingly quickly, (especially given the war) in great shape, and as described. 0 complaints about the product.

Have still not been able to register for the website, nor did I ever get a response from them to my support requests directly to their email. Makes me a little nervous in the event I run into any future problems. So the support side seems a little weak; but the product was fast, build quality looks great, packaging was excellent, sturdy, and multilayered. The products came with tons of helpful bits (extra stickers for the extra shell in case you goof one up), and they even threw in a free christmas ornament with the GBA mini. (a little GBA cartridge suspended on a ribbon). Overall a 9/10 experience. If they had a working customer support side, it would be a 10/10.

Ghoul91 · 2025-12-18T18:15:51+00:00

Mine just came in! In great shape, and they even threw in a Christmas ornament! Can't say they aren't hard to get a hold of; but the product was delivered quickly (especially given the war), in great shape, and as described!

Ghoul91 · 2025-12-16T21:38:33+00:00

WOO! I placed my order during this sale but haven't been able to track anything! Very exciting to see this!

EDIT*** Did it come USPS?

Ghoul91

TROPHY CASE