Episode 156 - Hanging out with Wes and Cullen from Nodus

Published on Wed, 20 Oct 2021 23:59:00 -0700

Synopsis

This podcast episode celebrates the 3-year anniversary of the 40 and 20 podcast. The hosts welcome back Wes and Colin from the watch brand Notice to discuss the brand's evolution over the past year, new releases, challenges with manufacturing delays, and their philosophy on creating products that inspire people to pursue their passions. They also discuss other topics like watching the shows "Squid Game" and "You" on Netflix, playing the remastered Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game, and reminiscing about products from the late 90s/early 2000s video game era.

Transcript

Speaker
Everett (host) Hello, fellow watch lovers, nerds, enthusiasts, or however you identify. You're listening to 40 and 20, the Watch Clicker podcast with your host, Andrew. I'm a good friend, Everett. Here, we talk about watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Everett, happy three year birthday.
Andrew (host) Three yearversary. We made it. Three yearversary? That's the one. This is our episode where we celebrate three years having been doing this crazy thing.
Everett (host) Yeah. 156. That's a lot of beers y'all have heard open.
Andrew (host) I try to think of it like in context of like, time spent preparing, time actually behind the microphone, time in Audacity doing post-production, like all those numbers feel a lot different than 156 episodes.
Everett (host) Let me figure, let's say we'll get to an average of, there's some we haven't put a lot of effort into, some we've recorded three times. I think we can probably average it out to eight to 10 hours an episode.
Andrew (host) Yeah.
Everett (host) That sounds right. In the way of man hours of research and actual recording and post-production.
Andrew (host) So that's like 1,550 hours.
Everett (host) We're not even close to the 10,000 hour mark of being experts. And maybe that's our problem.
Andrew (host) We only do this for 20 years.
Everett (host) We'll be experts. So cheers to a three year anniversary.
Andrew (host) Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for doing this with me. It's been really fun. Thanks for doing it with me. And we're done after this though, right? This is the last episode.
Everett (host) This is it. Surprise. We hit our goal. Our wife said we couldn't make it last for three years and we did. So it's been real.
Andrew (host) Yeah, no, I'm doing well, man. I'm, uh, I'm, uh, I'm kind of tired. I made this sort of last minute decision to buy airfare to New York for wind up next weekend. And that's been, um, It's kind of making me a little anxious. Like it's not really my style to like last minute plan a trip. I've got crazy stupid flights. Um, I don't have like a place to stay. That's not true. I do have a place to stay, but it was like bought the airfare and then found a couch to sleep on type of deal. So, uh, that's made me a little anxious and it makes this week feel a little like cramped and high, uh, high gravity.
Everett (host) Make sense. I couldn't make it work for work. Otherwise we would just really, really dive into the city that never sleeps thing and just be up for the weekend. But yeah, I couldn't make it work. So it'll be a miss for me this year.
Andrew (host) That's all right. I'm going, man. I'm doing it. I'm going to do it real. So how are you doing?
Everett (host) Good. We're, you know, we have surprise four day weekend for our school district. So I'm a little bit tired after having had, I forgot it was a four day weekend. So I got up this morning, like Mark was ready to go to school. I was putting him out the door to come to my house. Yeah. Yeah. And Sam came down the stairs like, what are you doing? I was like, what are you doing? He doesn't have school today. I was like, Oh, all right, bud. Take your shoes off. Go play with Legos. Yeah, it was good to go. So I'm just a little, I had an unexpected loss of day of weekend. So it's just whatever.
Andrew (host) Yeah.
Everett (host) Yeah. Other than that, I'm good.
Andrew (host) Good. Yeah. Well, can we get this thing started? Yeah. Let's get this thing started because we've got some fun guests. Uh, so, so let me do the math here. Uh, 80 episodes ago, we last had Wes and Colin from notice on. So 80. So, so that's a full year, a year and a half. It's been a year and a half. Wes and Cullen. Welcome back. Welcome back.
Wes It's good to be back. And congratulations on three years. That's, uh, I mean, especially to have a conversation with the same person week in and week out.
Everett (host) Cullen and I are really good friends, but I would not be able to do this with him for that long. I think he's offering a, I think he's offering to sell.
Colin This is what I'm hearing. Hey Wes, remember our three year anniversary for notice? Cause I don't.
Wes Yeah. I remember one, one, two, three, and four. I think we turned five soon. Geez.
Colin Time flies. Time flies.
Wes Yeah. No, but, but seriously, congrats on, on three years. Kudos for, for all the work you guys have done.
Andrew (host) Yeah, no, I think it's like one of those things. Like I've also brushed my teeth for almost 40, years worth of days in a row, right? Like we just keep doing it. I'm not sure that we're doing anything. You brush your teeth every day. Mostly. You know, uh, no, we really appreciate it. You know, you, we, we actually, I think personally, both of us, uh, cut our teeth on your watches. I think your notice watches among some other brands, obviously, uh, were like the things that made us excited about even doing this thing. So, Uh, thank you for that, uh, to the, you know, not small part you guys have played in the formation of this thing.
Everett (host) Absolutely. And, um, and for dropping cool releases all the time. So we have something to keep talking about.
Wes We're trying, we're doing what we can. Um, last time we spoke, you guys were not officially a part of watch clicker. So congrats on that too. I don't think I ever got a chance to, uh, to say that out loud.
Andrew (host) Yeah, that's right. You know, we had Cameron on the show. Uh, I want to say it was like episode 102. So we were, uh, fairly newly minted. Uh, the merger was fairly newly minted at that point, but yeah, that's right. We were, we were pre-merger when we had, in fact, I don't even think the merger had been, uh, the, the seed had been planted at that point. I don't think so. So yeah, pretty cool. Uh, that's been, you know, it's, it's been so long. It feels like Andrew just gave me a jaw drop. Look like, can that possibly be true? Cause it feels like we've been the watch clicker podcast for forever, but yeah, only a little bit under half of our life as a podcast.
Wes Yeah. I mean, we were just talking about this on the, uh, the previous episode or not episode previous podcast an hour ago with, uh, watches and whiskey about how COVID was just like a huge time warp. Now we don't know when, what happened or what happened, where, why, or how. So it's, it's been a pretty interesting 18 months to say the least.
Everett (host) That's what happens when you don't ever have to get dressed. When you live in pajamas, days just blend into, into weekends and weekends blend into work days and nothing makes sense.
Andrew (host) Yeah. You know, Wes, I think the last time we had you on the show, you were marooned. Yeah. You were marooned back home on a lovely balcony. I may add, not that anyone saw that, but us, but, uh, you're stateside now. It's good to be home. Yeah. And you've been home for quite a while. Yeah. Yeah.
Wes But yeah, that was a, that was a very interesting trip. Cause I was, um, I, I went to Europe first and then COVID wasn't there yet. I don't think, but as soon as I left Scotland, COVID just blew up over there. And then I went to KL Hong Kong and Singapore for a, for a notice tour down there and COVID wasn't there. I mean, it was there, but it was under control. And then when I left to, Or when I tried to leave is when COVID started blowing up. So I got stuck in Macau where my parents lived.
Colin There's a pattern there, don't you think? Yeah.
Everett (host) I even mentioned that I think even at the time. Yeah. Just leaving, leaving breadcrumbs behind.
Andrew (host) You know, uh, I remember, I think it was just a little bit before we met last time, but you guys talking about going to Windup, you guys had planned to go to the San Francisco windup, the 2020 San Francisco windup. And I remember you guys were one of the very few brands that was sort of actively talking about, here's how we're going to do this. We're going to do this thing that is uncertain. We don't know what this looks like and here's our plan for how to do it. And of course, uh, as it would go, windup would be canceled, you know, pretty, pretty close to the event. Um, and that didn't happen, but. Um, you know, here we are now, 18, 19 months later, and I'm going to wind up in New York. And I, what I still don't see, I still don't see brands talking, you know, New York has some different laws regarding COVID. So where we are, um, masks are very much mandatory in Oregon, right? Oregon land of the hippie. Uh, masks are very much mandatory if you're indoors. And more than being mandatory, I think that custom just dictates that if you're around people, you're wearing a mask by and large. Going to New York where Chelsea Market, I don't think masks are required as of today. And I don't know what that's going to look like. I'm obviously going to be in a mask the entire time just because that's my personal predilection. You know, here we are 18 months later, sort of reengaging. And I still don't see the type of thought going in and maybe, maybe that's unfair, right? Because certainly people are thinking about this and people are going in and we're more used to it too. We sort of know how it's going to go. We know what good behaviors are, but I still, you know, that's a concern, right? I'm going to go to New York and I'm going to shove myself in a room with a whole bunch of people who I don't know and who I'm not able to verify their habits or their courtesies or just even their ability to not be an idiot. Um, and the plan seems loose.
Wes Um, I believe I spoke to Blake about this actually, but I believe that there is a vaccine requirement. I'm not sure if there's a mask requirement, but I think there's a vaccine requirement.
Andrew (host) One dose, one dose. Okay. One dose vaccine requirement and no burn off. I don't think so. You can theoretically get vaccinated a single dose the day before. So,
Wes Well, yeah, I'm fully vaccinated and that's some peace of mind But Cullen and I chose not to go partially because it's you know, we don't know that's a big part of why we don't really know What's what the status is with kovat? We don't know what the requirements are gonna be You know on top of that we are pretty busy with the sector. So I think we just figured at this point It's like this might be the one wind-up that we miss That being said we are super excited for San Francisco because we can only assume that If New York is going on, then next year, San Francisco, and hopefully the one in Chicago in the summer will happen as well.
Colin Yeah. Also like being behind the booth, you're there three for three days for the entire day. So you're just sucking in all that good air. Uh, I don't, I personally, if, if I was behind the booth, I did not want to be wearing a mask because that's, then I, like, I already look unapproachable as it is. So if you put a mask on me, you can't see that I'm smiling. And then it just, the tears and, and, and, you know, people just want to run away. So for me personally, like I would like to be able to not wear a mask, but if I don't do that, I probably, I won't feel comfortable being in there for three days straight with God knows how many people. So, uh, definitely on my part as well, like it's, uh, pass on that one for, for this time. Hopefully it's SF will be a bit better, but honestly, who knows? Yeah.
Everett (host) Pit Viper sunglasses might correct that unapproachability with a mask on. Yeah. Just some like pink glazed Pit Vipers that could do it.
Colin That will turn the unapproachability into just unapproachable.
Andrew (host) Colin, I will say you're, you are the mean cop for sure. You're, you're the bad cop. Wes is the good cop. You're the bad cop. You think so? Although I don't think that, I do think so. Yeah. Yeah. You, you have the more serious, like the more, intimidating glare.
Colin I mean, it's called, it's called an RBF. Yeah.
Wes It's a medical condition. Last week, um, last week we threw a party, a cocktail party outdoors, um, for a bunch of notice insiders. And, um, a couple of people flew in from Chicago and he, he came up to me and he's like, we, we'd never met before, but he said to me, I'm really glad to finally meet you in person. But what I was really looking forward to is, is seeing Cullen because You keep him in a cave chained up to his workbench for years on end and he never gets to see anyone on any podcast.
Colin Wes, we, so we recorded a video of this event and then I actually caught that dialogue on the video. It's really funny. Oh, you did. Oh, perfect. It's a running joke. You got to put that in the, it's a running joke that I think, yeah, it's a running joke that Wes started saying that he, he keeps me locked up in the, in the cave. Cause like I personally, I'm not as social as Wes or like as front facing because I just prefer to be in the background. I like doing my own work. I like being quiet and stuff like that.
Andrew (host) So, uh, and someone has to do some work, right?
Colin Cause yes, unfortunately. Uh, but so Wes is always talking to people and I'm, I'm usually the one, like, I don't go on social media as much. Uh, so that's why you don't know what the joke is. I know the joke. I hear it.
Everett (host) Strangers pass you in the street.
Colin Oh, he's loose! I love talking to people when they're there. I just try to smile as much as possible. Otherwise, I might scare them away.
Andrew (host) Well, you guys have been busy, right? Notwithstanding COVID and numerous delays out of Um, the manufacturing hubs of the watch industry, you know, which we've talked about in other contexts, quite a bit, right. Um, in this last year, you know, how production is, there's just lots of stuff. There's, there's. Energy rationing that's happening in China, which is causing manufacturing delays. There's lots of stuff. You guys seem to have really hit a very nice rhythm in terms of your ability to continue to bring products to market. Um, have products on the website. I can tell by Colin's sort of half sigh, um, that there's some frustration there, but how have you guys been able to make it through this last year and a half? Um, continuing to, like I said, to, to have SKUs on your website and product available and new product.
Everett (host) You're not just maintaining what's already there. You're, you're still dropping new stuff.
Wes This energy thing kind of came out of nowhere. So. A lot of what we're doing now, like the, I think the dives are right around the corner, right? The sector dives where we're going to bring that in in a couple of weeks. Yes. But those are delayed because of the energy crisis and the sector pilots. We don't even have those listed on the website yet. People don't know what colors or what the changes are from the old version to this version. Also because of the energy crisis going on there. Um, but for, for context, for anyone listening who isn't aware of what's going on, South China is where all the factories are. And, um, basically they're trying to limit the amount of energy that's being used, uh, because it's for the most part, it's dirty energy, um, all coal powered. So they, they kind of want to go towards the green energy. So in the South of China, there is a little bit more hydro power, but it doesn't have the infrastructure that they need for factories that make every anything from these watches to iPhones to the microprocessors that are that's used in cars and computers and things like that So what they're doing is they're doing rolling blackouts by region So it's not it's not even on a factory by factory basis or industry basis they're just this part of China is going to be black and then this parts can be black and then that parts can be black and they're just rolling that across the entire country Which I mean here in California, we've seen that before from from the wildfires But you would think that a country like China, which is literally the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, it's the last thing we'd expect to see. Um, but I think one of the reasons we are able to kind of push through this is because of our relationships with our suppliers. Uh, you know, obviously there's nothing you can do when the government comes in and shuts you down, but, um, our relationships pretty good with the people that we work with over there, um, to a point where they're, they're able to, at least give us information and give us a good idea of when to expect all these things to go back to normal so that we can manage expectations on our end. And that's all thanks to Cullen. I don't do any of that stuff.
Everett (host) And these are scheduled rolling blackouts, right? It's not just like Tuesday morning you wake up and, okay, they can plan around that. They just don't know how long it's going to last.
Wes Yeah. Yeah. And Cullen can correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the sense that it is, It's not like they get a lot of warning. It's like a couple of days before, and then it's shut down for quite a few days. And I said this on the previous podcast too, but the issue with this is that it's, I mean, ever since COVID is that when it comes to production, it's like stop and go and stop and go and stop and go. And we learned really early on, we never want to enter manufacturing right before Chinese New Year, specifically because of this stop and go, like the stop and go really screws things up in terms of the quality and the consistency of the finishing. Um, so the stop and go thing is really killing us now. Um, but, but luckily it's not like a month off like it is during Chinese New Year. It's just, it's a few days, um, you know, maybe up to a week off before the workers can come back and do what they do.
Andrew (host) It seems like you guys sort of, um, load up your summer and fall in terms of release dates, right? So you're releasing watches late summer, early to late fall. Uh, is that, is that in part because of, uh, Chinese new year, that sort of big, you know, I, I know Chinese new year is itself not that long, but the start and stop seems to cause as much as like a two month delay there at the first, at the beginning of the year. Are you, is that sort of affecting your, the way you guys release and manufacture watches?
Colin Uh, for sure. I mean, we just don't want to have something big. be interrupted by China's New Year, because workers start filtering out two weeks before it happens. And they start coming back in like, they come in in waves. And then a lot of times the workers don't even come back, they find other jobs. It's like the perfect time to go do something else. And then so then a lot of factories, once the holidays over and then work resumes, they don't have a lot of the same labor for the workforce that they had before the Chinese New Year. So they got to scramble to find people, they got to find people, they got to train people, like all that stuff. And that's why there's so much inconsistency and quality control issues surrounding Chinese New Year. So we just want to avoid all that. And we try to start production like probably a few weeks or a month after Chinese New Year is over. That way we know that the factory at least has a workforce. We know that there's consistent, there's consistency involved. Um, and that's why you see a lot of releases in summer and then latter half of the year.
Andrew (host) Yeah, no, it makes a ton of sense.
Everett (host) And then you use that Delta for all of your, your R and D, your design, your, you kind of have your, your year phased out pretty clean in that way, right?
Colin We tried planning in 2020 and then we saw how that went. so yeah 2020 went weird and then 2021 even this year was kind of weird um so hopefully 2022 we can stick to some sort of plan west uh especially traveling uh notice tours going to the south going to the midwest like like every year there's more and more places we got to go to that's a good problem to have yeah pacific northwest to oregon yeah
Everett (host) Yeah, he could skip us.
Andrew (host) We'd like to see you, but you know, we hear a lot of brands talking about making their way to Oregon, but the only one we've ever seen here has been Vero. So, and based here. Wellsboro. Oh yeah, Wellsboro too now. So, uh, well, let's talk about, let's talk about you guys 2021. Cause it's been, it's been a big one. You know, Andrew mentioned drop in new stuff and certainly new colorways, um, and, and iterations on existing stuff. Right. So I know restock of the duality, uh, earlier this year, Contrail three came out. I think that was your first release of the year if I'm, if I'm not mistaken.
Wes Contrail two 39. So it's the Contrail two.
Andrew (host) Yeah.
Wes But then it's the 39, which is the fixed bezel version. The three is in the works. I think you'll like that one a lot.
Andrew (host) Contrail two retrospect three. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, the, the sector sport with the, the light blue in the, in the salmon dial, what are we calling that color? Salmon. Salmon. Okay. Yep. We've got, uh, the sector, the sector fields, which just dropped here in the last two weeks. And then as you said, sector pilots coming. Yeah.
Wes So sector dive comes up first. That'll be, I think, end of end of next week or the week after that. Um, something like that. And then the pilot will come after that. And then the Avalon 2 will come after that. So Avalon 2 will close out the, uh, the year.
Andrew (host) And the Avalon 2 is that that's a redesign, right? Pretty much everything about it.
Colin It's different. Everything's different. Yeah.
Everett (host) Yeah. That's how you guys roll though. You, you, you make a whole new watch and just keep it the same name and keep it familiar.
Andrew (host) Like your iteration designs are, they look the same and wind up being a significantly improved watch. That's been our experience. Like with the Contra, with the Contra 2, that watch comes out and it turns out to be a totally different watch. And I think everybody I've spoken with agrees. You took a watch that was really good and made it into a watch that's really great.
Wes Well, our job is easy. We literally just have to go on our comment section or DMs or on podcasts like this and listen to what people say. And then the instruction manual is all spelled out for us. We just do what people ask us to do.
Colin Well, we throw out half of it. And then.
Everett (host) Well, yeah, you have to, because some people are saying, Oh, it's too thick. And other people are saying it's too thin. I mean, how do you balance that when you're looking at these iterative designs? I mean, do you, do you like, do you just tally them out? Like, well, these, 100 people said it needs to be a little bit shorter lug-to-lug I mean we'll so we'll throw out the 20 people who said it needs a longer lug-to-lug I mean, how do you how do you incorporate that into? Into your design ideas because the loudest isn't necessarily the rightest and it seems like all your iterations are improvements So you're you're getting it you're doing it right in in whatever way you're listening to feedback I'm just curious how you how you filter that feedback to actually like to do a good job as opposed to over correct
Wes Well, actually a good example would be this, uh, this watch I have in my wrist, which is the sector field Malibu. And, um, the, the, when we first launched the sector field, it only came in no date. So a lot of people are complaining about how there's no date. So then we decide to add a date at four 30. We took, took that same date window from the original sector dive. Uh, whereas at four 30, but it's kind of oriented upright, the numbers themselves. Um, so we did that on the second one and then people were like, Why'd you put the date at 430? So this time we just did both date and no date. So it's kind of, um, kind of an experiment for us to see what the reception is going to be and what the backlash will be this time. Uh, and then also the other thing people were asking for is to thin it out a little bit. Um, people had some, some color requests, so we, we take it all into account. And, uh, like Colin said, throw out pretty much half of it, the stuff that we can't really achieve or, um, you know, if we just, have too many colors or something, then we'll, we'll narrow it down. But we, we do try to listen to everyone at least and hear what they have to say.
Andrew (host) Yeah.
Everett (host) How do you pare down color? You guys do so many colors. I can't believe what kind of weird color requests are you getting that you're actually pairing colors out?
Wes Oh man. I mean, to be honest, a lot of the, when it comes to colors, a lot of the suggestions are actually really, really cool. Like I think, I think red is probably the new blue. So we have the red field, we have a red dive coming up. The Avalon 2 will have a red version. So I think we just try it, at least prototype it. And we ended up falling in love with it. So we do just try to have it in hand before we really make a decision. But a lot of the time, it's just whatever feels right. Once we get all the four, five, six prototypes, then whichever one kind of feels the best or closest to what we're trying to achieve with that run, then we'll run with that one.
Everett (host) Matt Gray.
Andrew (host) Matt Gray. That's what Andrew wants in every watch.
Everett (host) Every watch. Black or gray right now for me. Yeah. Red is the new blue. That's a hot take. And I will contest that. But if you're right, I don't know, I'll send you a beer.
Andrew (host) Well, so let's talk a little bit about your guys lineup because I think, um, you know, your lineup has been, I think more or less set since you came out with the last sets of sector. I think it was sector sport was the last one that came out. Um, so, and, and since then your, your lineup has been, I don't want to say stationary because you've done flagships, a lot of, a lot of neat things within that. Um, But now going on, I believe over a year of that, um, how do you guys feel about where your lineup is? I mean, you've got a, you've got a sort of entry level set of four very different watches, uh, with the sector series. And I think that just that would be a lot. Um, but in addition to that, you've got, you know, your sort of pro let's say pro with finger quotes, diver in the Avalon. You've got the dual crown diver and the duality. You've got a, just a wonderful dive style pilot watch and the contrail. Um, how do you guys feel about the state of your lineup and, and are you thinking right now about new things? And I know you are, but, but do you think that where you're at right now is good for a period of time or, or do you see immediate needs to expand that?
Wes Well, I think there are definitely styles that need to be made. You know, obviously, we've been talking about the sector dress for a while. And we still do want to do other like new fresh models. We do have a new model coming out next year, which we can talk about a little bit later. But I think the reason you're seeing us start to slow down a little bit is because during 2020, Colin and I sat down and we realized We spent the first, I don't know, back then it was three years up until that point, three and a half years. The first three years of notice focusing so hard on the supply chain and trying to build the best watch possible as far as quality goes. And I think to a degree, at least within the realm of possibility, I think we've achieved that. And I'd be like, I wouldn't be nervous putting our watches next to a much higher end watch, quote unquote. That actually came at a huge cost for us, focusing so hard on trying to create such a great watch. And I think the biggest cost for us was that we didn't spend any time doing real marketing and trying to spread the word of notice and tell the brand story, really trying to convince people why we exist and what's important about us. Why should they have a notice in their collection? We really should have spent more time doing that now in hindsight. But I think moving forward, I think that's probably why we focus less on trying to design and create new models. People already know what we can do. They kind of know the models, they know the identity of the watch and of the brand. I think we just need to spread the word a little bit better moving forward. So we haven't stopped trying to create, but we've just turned our attention a little bit for the time being. we're still going to have new watches coming out probably every year, but we're not going to do it like it was in 2018, where it was three new models. And then 2019 was like another three or four new models. You know what I mean? We're just going to slow down a little bit.
Everett (host) Was any of that just kind of a convenient by-product of the manufacturing halt that occurred over the last year and a half? Or was that, was that kind of already in the works to have, you've got your flagship catalog now, I mean, you've got nine, eight watches.
Colin Damn.
Everett (host) Is that many? Nine?
Wes Something like that.
Everett (host) Yeah. Yeah. You've got a, you've got a deep catalog and there's plenty of brands out there who are, you know, four, four watches deep in their catalog and, and they're holding steady there. I mean, they, they might change the brace a little bit. They might make a couple of tweaks, but I mean, you guys have a deep catalog. You're coming out with new colors all the time. Was that, was that kind of just a, like a good thing that came from COVID was that you had this manufacturing issue that you had to really sit down and look at your business model. Or was your goal to really just continue this breakneck pace of dropping new cool shit, three, four models a year, every year until, I mean, until Cullen's fingers fell off.
Wes I think it was always the plan to, to slow down and focus a little bit more on trying to tell the brand story and grow the business. But COVID definitely sped it up. We probably would have, I mean, like Colin was saying, we had so many plans for 2020 and pretty much all of them went out the window. And what took place instead of what we were going to do, like go on all those tours and drop a sector dress and all that. I think a lot of introspection happened. We were just thinking about what we really want to do with, with notice and what our actual goals are beyond just like creating an awesome watch, release it, create an awesome watch, release it. We, we just, we had to slow down and think a little bit more long-term. I wouldn't say the manufacturing really hurt us like to the point where we couldn't follow through with a lot of the ideas that we had, but it slowed us down just enough where we thought about it a little bit more internally and figured out what do we actually want to do with, uh, with this brand. And, um, yeah, and I think we can't really achieve everything we want to achieve yet until we grow the brand a little bit more and, um, just stop focusing so much on creating the best watches ever. You know what I mean?
Colin And also like, it's like nine or how many models we have, eight, whatever, eight different meats. You just got to let them marinate. And then we got to digest.
Wes Yeah, yeah, exactly. Let them, let them sit for a little bit.
Everett (host) Yeah.
Colin Empty our stomachs, sit on the toilet, whatever. And then those meats.
Wes You've got the weirdest analogies, man.
Colin I just think about food. Cause I haven't eaten. I've been, I've been eating mush for the past five days because Anyways, I got my wisdom teeth taken out, so I can't eat. I'm just dreaming about steaks.
Everett (host) Oh, man. You're looking really slim for having just had your wisdom teeth taken out. I gained 55 pounds just in my face when I had mine removed.
Colin Luckily, today, the day with podcast, this is day five. Today is when the swelling actually went down a bit, but man, I look like a freaking chipmunk the past two days. Pain's still there. I'm high on drugs right now, so I feel great.
Andrew (host) That's why he's so friendly. Well, despite Colin's colorful descriptions for what you're doing with your product lines, Wes, you talked about something, and I want to sort of pull at that a little bit, not specifically just from you, Wes, but Colin as well. You've talked about sort of Um, what do we want this brand to be? And we need to refocus on the brand and sort of, um, get our names out there and communicate with people about who we are and what we are. Uh, do you think that you, uh, you guys have gained some clarity in that regard? And if so, what are, what is the, what is the message at this point for, for what notices and why I should have a notice? I do have a notice.
Wes Yeah, I think that, that is also, yeah, I think that is the first step to this entire exercise is, is me and Cullen actually understanding and, um, and kind of embracing what we were trying to achieve in the first place, because it's easy. Like we got super busy pretty much as soon as we launched our first watch and we didn't really have a chance to hang out as friends and talk about our dreams and our goals and with notice and in life. And when, when we sold out of everything for the first time back in, uh, I dunno, some, sometime last year, it was the first time we had nothing to sell. It was a very good time for us to just sit with ourselves in our own solace and just like think a little bit. So we, uh, the, the biggest question we had for each other was what, what was really the inspiration, you know, like, obviously we loved watches, we loved Design. We love tinkering with things, but what was the reason we started notice? And like, what, what was a real inspiration for us? And. For us, what, what it was really about in the beginning is like with all of our hobbies, it was chasing our passions, right? When we picked up guitar for the first time, we never put it down again. You know, when we first started learning how to cook as, as children, now we, now that that's all we do. We are cooking all the time. We love drinking beer. We love crafting cocktails. We love going to the gym, like all these things that are. kind of esoteric and hard for the layman to really understand on a masterful level. Cullen and I just dived deep into these hobbies and that's what it really came down to.
Andrew (host) You did say, so not to interrupt you because you're flowing and I appreciate it, but I'm not sure how esoteric drinking beer is or how difficult for the layman to understand.
Wes Well, the act of drinking is easy.
Everett (host) He's drinking a vanilla porter right now.
Wes The act of drinking is definitely very easy to do. But you know what I mean though to explain to someone What's an IPA versus a red ale versus an amber like go into the history of all these things like that's what really makes This stuff interesting and that's what makes us as people not not saying us me and Cullen but people in general That's what make people interesting, right? It's like it's the things that they're so deeply passionate about that. They can just go on a on a long tangent without taking a breath, you know sort of like what I'm doing right now, but We wanted our wearers to embody that. We wanted them to understand why we started this and they themselves kind of be just unafraid of chasing those passions, even if it doesn't make you money or if everyone laughs at you for doing that. If it's something that makes you happy, then that's probably the right decision to just chase it.
Andrew (host) Yeah. Well, I love that. And, and, and certainly that's, I think it's great life advice. I heard recently that if you, if you don't know what you should do when you grow up, uh, look at the people, you know, who are the most happy, uh, and figure out what they're doing and figure out a way to make that what you're doing, right. Um, or, or, or whatever. And, and I think that from what I can tell you guys are doing that. What does that mean for, for your watches? What does that mean for Notice as a brand and the watch that I'm likely to receive from Notice?
Wes Well, I think a part of it isn't actually about the watches. Obviously we do design our watches around certain concepts, right? Like we want the Avalon to be the watch that you take onto those crazy adventures when you're, I don't know, rock climbing or going surfing or something. We want you to wear the sector sport when you're going to a nicer event, like, or if you go into like a cocktail party or something like that, we want those watches to be there for these things that you do in life. Um, but we also want to try to focus on other projects. Not not to say we're gonna stop selling watches where we're probably just only gonna sell watches but we want to have like a vlog series that Or maybe not vlog might not be the right word, but like a series of videos that features people that I think kids call it tick-tock Tick-tock is a is its own monster and we can talk about that later but the the idea that we had and we actually filmed our first one already we're in the final stages of putting the just the final touches on it. But we want to basically feature people that have taken that leap and just tried to create a life that they love. Right. So the first guy, his name is Adam. He's a craft cocktail mixologist slash bar manager. And he used to be a psychology professor. So great paying job, steady income, health benefits and all that. But he quit that. The timing actually was horrendous because he quit before COVID was even on U.S. soil. So he quit and then didn't get any yeah but um but he he took that leap and ended up running this bar in Culver City which is actually where we ended up hosting the event last week as well but we basically detailed his life it's not a super long video it's gonna probably be under five minutes but we have a lot of ideas for other people that do something like that like we have a a guy that ended up becoming head chef of Kispaka which is this insanely great italian restaurant Uh, here in LA, we, uh, there's no shortage of standup comedians and musicians here that are doing the same thing. Just taking a leap, taking a huge risk, trying to pursue their passions and just create a life that they actually love instead of selling their soul to the man.
Andrew (host) And how does that, and how does that affect, how does that affect you guys then? What you're doing, what your brand, your brand, your customers, how does that affect them? Because I think it sounds great, but in a business sense, how was that becoming part of your brand?
Wes I think just having a reason. So this is why we spent so much time early on focusing on creating just the best watch we can, because the reason for doing something like this is a little bit hard to explain. But if you think about it from, like, I can recontextualize it in the context of Rolex, for example, right? Why does Rolex sponsor like equestrian sports and swimming? Why does Tag Heuer sponsor F1? They do that because, I mean, it's obviously a marketing thing, right? But they want these activities, these sports to be associated with their brand. That's not really something that we could even access, even if we had the capital to sponsor like F1 or something, but that's not even good enough for us. Like that's not specific enough for us. We want our message to really be, distilled down to create a life that you love. And we hope that you wear a notice watch while you do that. Right. We, we want our watches and what they're capable of and what they're designed to do. We want that it's in itself to be an inspiration for the people that buy our watches to be unafraid to, to do that, to chase their passions.
Everett (host) So if you, if you don't have the capital to sponsor F1 and that's fine, there are dudes who, who mod lawnmowers and they race riding lawnmowers. Yeah. And those guys are happy. You could probably probably, I mean, they'd probably put notice stickers on their lawnmowers for free. Um, but, um, so in that you guys, I mean, you're more than a, than, than hobbyists diving into that. And I think that's one of the things that separates you from a lot of brands that have blown up in the last, or not just blown up, but I mean, in the explosion of brands that have come to fruition in the last three to five years, a lot of hobbyist people who had the capital, who had the access to capital to be able to make a brand work. And I think you're kind of, you're, you're hitting the mental part on how you were able to transition from hobbyists. But I want to hear more about how, how you guys really made that jump from watch enthusiasts to a very, very viable, I mean, pillar in the micro brand world. Cause it's super saturated. It's extremely competitive and you guys have absolutely made it work. What was, what's the secret sauce there that you guys were able to find early on and stick to and you're, you're, you're clearly evolving throughout. And I think being nimble is a part of that, but what's, what's been your secret sauce in that being primarily enthusiasts besides Colin smile?
Andrew (host) Cause we've already talked about that. Yeah, clearly.
Wes his, uh, his fingers.
Colin No, I like, I like the term Andrew, uh, sauce. Cause again, going back to marinades and meats and food, um, I mean, I think, I think Wes definitely played the biggest role in all that, which was connecting people together. Um, and then just as to just being ourselves, I guess, like we're, uh, We're not trying to be pretentious. You know, we're not trying to have like an air of, I don't know, snobby snobbiness around us. Like we just, we're just like everyone else. You just want to chill and have a drink and talk watches. And I think that helped us a lot. Would you say Wes? And then.
Wes Yeah, I think so. You know, I think the more saturated it is, like the more competition there is, the more authentic you have to be. Yes. I think it speaks volumes when you're just, true to yourself.
Colin And like we own all these other brands that people would probably deem as competitors to us, but we don't see it like that. Um, we own all, all the brands and we, we love them just as much. So maybe that has a part to play in it. I'm, I'm not sure.
Wes Yeah. I think just to, to distill it down to like one or two sentences, I think is just, we were authentic from the very beginning. Um, you know, sometimes to our detriment. Sometimes I, I think I would say some things that rub a lot of people the wrong way. Um, but end of the day, like that's just, that's who we are. So the, the people that, that like to wear our watches, I think can see that. And the ones that don't doesn't, you know, it doesn't really matter too much. So it's really just being like really leaning into who we are and what, why we started doing this and the things that we like.
Colin And then what we're doing now is just trying to capture that and what, into our message, right, of what we were talking about earlier. So, like, how do you capture that essence and, like, you know, pour it onto someone when they go onto a website or when they first hear about us? How do they know immediately what we're about? So, that's what we're working on right now.
Wes Yeah, I think, yeah, on the surface... What I'm hearing is a little... Sorry, go ahead.
Andrew (host) What I'm hearing a little bit is that in order to be a successful watch brand, you have to be insanely cool. Because I think that's kind of where you guys are coming from.
Everett (host) I'm hearing we're cool. People like us. That's all I heard. No, they didn't ever say once. They kind of alluded to it that they also make really good shit because they circled back. Yeah. If you if you hear what they said, they make really good shit.
Andrew (host) You know, you, Wes, you talked about a little bit and I think you're sort of trying to downgrade it a little bit. I think a huge part reason for you guys success is that you're making you know, 500 to $800 watches that are really sort of part by part superior to a lot of the other products. You know, we see, we see a lot of micro brand watches and a lot of them are very good. Um, and, but I don't know that that always matters, but consistently part for part, your guys's watches are always just a little bit more thoughtful. Right? You know, looking at the clasp of my Sektor diver, um, which is the original release. So we know it's been improved since then, you know, that, that the bracelet's phenomenal, right? That H-link bracelet is, is just wonderful. Uh, the watch in and of itself, isn't anything really crazy, right? You've got those Bombay lugs on Sektor series, which I think are great. Um, everything's just a little bit different. But when you get to the clasp, the clasp from the outside is the clasp, okay, this is a two button clasp, but then you open it up and you realize this is a totally designed part. Uh, looking at the inside of that clasp, which is the old clasp, um, which has been improved upon. Uh, but looking inside that clasp, you can tell you designed every part, even the part that, that doesn't need to be designed, right? This, the whole thing. So I know that you're, you're sort of, um, trying to put the attention away from that a little bit, but I think that you can't, you, I think that for me as a consumer, I can't separate the two. That, that is what you guys do, right? You make just the best shit at the best shape, right? You guys get it. You get what I'm saying, but you, every, every part of the watch is careful, carefully put together.
Wes Yeah. I think on the surface, a watch company should sell watches. Right. But I think we've learned over the past few years that that doesn't have to be the case. Case in point being Rolex. They don't actually sell any watches. Everyone knows that, but they sell seven a year, but for us, obviously selling watches is a part of our business model. I would argue it's probably the main part of our business model, but end of the day, a watch is an emotional purchase. So yeah, we strive to create the best parts and the best designs and the best lume application, best class and all that stuff. And it's, it is very important, but the very fact that it's an emotional purchase means that there's a lot more value that we can deliver after that, you know, whether it's in the content that we produce or just our, our warranty process, or the fact that we have a warranty at all that we honor, um, you know, the, the things that are. Surrounding the watch everything around the watch that's noticed that notices touch that's equally important. And I think we. really didn't pay enough attention to that kind of stuff early on. You know, like we, our content game has been on and off. We haven't done any vlogs yet. We haven't, we haven't done a lot of the things that we wanted to do, but just didn't have the time to do. Um, but you know, now, like you're alluding a lot of the legwork has been done already. We did a lot of the R and D for this new extension class that we're going to be putting out end of the year. So a lot of the hard work has been done when it comes to the watch itself, but now we have to kind of focus on the hard work as it, as it pertains to actually telling the story about how we do these things, why we do these things.
Andrew (host) What's that's great. What do you guys got next? I know you said maybe earlier, there's some stuff that you you'd be comfortable talking about. What, what do you guys have next night? We know that, uh, we know that the sector dives are coming. We know that the new sector pilot is coming. Um, what else is in the, what else is in the, in the, uh, hopper in terms of watches, shoot pipeline, shoot lower intestine.
Everett (host) If we're staying with the food metaphor, Avalon two.
Colin Uh, so that'll debut with that new class we were talking about. So it has the on the fly adjustment, uh, which is like super important. If you ever wore, if you wear metal braces a lot, it's, uh, yeah, your wrist swells, you gotta, you gotta, change the size on the fly, otherwise it just gets uncomfortable.
Everett (host) And taking it off to adjust sucks.
Colin Well, yes. And then with the Avalon 2, we also are going to debut a new case material that we never used before. It's not new to the watch industry, but it is bronze. So we are excited about that as well. Let's see.
Andrew (host) I think the Avalon's a perfect sort of form factor for a bronze watch.
Colin The bronze one has some magic sauce on it. I'm wearing it right now actually. So we'll send you guys one.
Andrew (host) It's like my camera sucks, but it's a potato, but that looks fantastic.
Everett (host) Yeah. I never would've guessed that was bronze until it got right into the camera.
Wes Yeah. Then going into 2022, um, We do have a new model. I mean, kind of, it's like, it's kind of a new model. It's a new model inspired by an old model. Um, but it's very different. And I can't say too much about it because it's not, um, well, it's not done yet. We don't actually know what it looks like yet. Um, but it will be small. It'll be the smallest watch we've ever made. Uh, 10, 10 and a half millimeters thin, um, cool materials as well as crystal.
Colin Uh, yeah.
Andrew (host) Well, there's only one model we haven't talked about tonight, and I'm not going to say the word because I think it'll make you mad. But am I going down the right path here?
Wes No, but I can see why you would think that. And it's... I'll say that this watch won't be called that watch, but it's what that watch should have been. And I'll send you pictures privately, I think, in our WhatsApp. And I think you'll know exactly what I mean.
Everett (host) Yeah. I'm getting shivery.
Andrew (host) I know, this is exciting. This is exciting. Well, great you guys. I'm so excited for what you guys are doing. I'm so excited to see what you guys do. I'm excited for this vlog, this V-log to come out and see what you guys do with that medium. Andrew, anything else you want to ask these guys before we move on?
Everett (host) What's going on with the sector dress?
Wes Yeah, so that, I mean. It's it's in the works. It's in the works.
Colin It's hard. I'm intrigued, man.
Everett (host) Yeah. Well, I can imagine trying to because my my my expectation based off of the sector series is that you're trying to build a dress wash watch off of that case platform. That's hard because that's that's a hard dress watch platform to work from for a truly traditional dress watch. And I know I know your guys's commitment to a little bit edgy, but staying within the parameters of this is the type of watch that we're designing and we're not going to make a 32 millimeter pilots watch because pilots watches don't come in 32 millimeters. So I, I appreciate, I think, I mean, I don't fully appreciate cause I'm not doing the work on it, but I appreciate the challenge that that presents.
Wes Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. But I mean, if you or literally anyone listening to this podcast right now has any suggestions or cool ideas for us, then email or dm or something just but let let us know what you're thinking it'll help us a lot you guys before we move on to other things anything you want to add nah this was fun i mean i always love catching up with you guys um i know everett we're we're chatting a little bit more regularly now but it's good to be in like a in a podcast setting with you guys hopefully we can do one in person when when the world opens up again i need another excuse to drive up to seattle so it'd be fun to stop by we will
Everett (host) We're we're a really good pit stop on the way to Seattle We've got we've got guest beds both of us. Mm-hmm.
Andrew (host) We live on the same street literally across the street from one another so Makes makes just a ton of sense to make this year halfway.
Everett (host) Yeah, it's not halfway So that's the only real kicker and making it a halfway point, but yeah, I mean it's tough It's like from hell.
Andrew (host) Yeah, it's two-thirds the way. Yeah two-thirds. Oh
Wes Yeah, I did that drive last year and it was really not that bad because of how beautiful that drive is so Yeah, yeah, it gets a little weird in a few places, but yeah, it's a it's a great try.
Andrew (host) Yeah well moving on to other things other things Andrew What do you got?
Everett (host) So I talked about this a little bit last week, but this is my full-blown Other thing for the week.
Andrew (host) This isn't the unboxing. This is the review.
Everett (host) This is it so I bought the remastered Tony Hawk.
Colin No, this is my other things. He stole it from me.
Everett (host) Dude, no, we can share this other thing. It's so good. Right. So I grew up playing this game. I have I have like vivid memories of playing this game before school, like peeking out the window, waiting for the bus, like to see it coming down the street. And I saw it pause, slam the TV off and sprint for the bus. I remember this. And I've been playing it with my six year old and he's a little younger than I was when it came out, but he's playing it and loving it. And today West came over my, my eight year old. So, so the boys are on my couch playing Tony Hawk pro skater one at the warehouse, which is the level. It's the original level. It's it's level one of Tony Hawk. It's it's it's the, it's the debut of Tony Hawk. and they're playing it. And I was just, I was watching them and looking at the screen and I was like, this is amazing. Just marveling at the full circle, the strange full circle. Cause whoever would have thought that Tony Hawk pro skater would have been revived. I'm glad they did it and there's no reason not to revive it, but I'm kind of excited at the prospect of revival, like OG games.
Andrew (host) You know, we came from that generation where I think probably graphics and game mechanics, you know, the, the intersection between the two, um, really, you know, hit their apex and, you know, whereas graphics have come a long way. I think game mechanics in many ways have regressed, you know, that sort of late nineties, early two thousands period game mechanics really had.
Everett (host) uh a golden era there and obviously they've improved in subtle ways but yeah i think it makes a ton of sense that games from that era would now have a second opportunity with modern graphics engines and yeah and and the soundtrack is the same i think it was like 40 bucks it might even be less it might be like 30 bucks for the xbox one this is maybe the best video game purchase i've ever made it's both games and it's exactly the way you remember it even with So because of the way graphics have progressed so gradually, the graphics as I see them now are as good as I remember them when the game released. Because when the game released, you're like, oh, this is cutting edge. I'm sure if you looked at the original graphics, you'd be like, what the?
Colin I like that.
Everett (host) That was awesome. That's a cube, but that's not a head, but it's exactly as you remember it. And you play a couple of rounds and suddenly like the rust is gone. and you're just as good as you remember yourself being. Dude, it's so good.
Wes Is this remastering thing a new phenomenon? Because Colin and I were talking about how there really aren't that many new games coming out. They're all kind of like just remastering. Like GTA is another example, or the Halo series. They're all just being remastered and relaunched.
Everett (host) It's easier, I think, probably. You don't have to reinvent a wheel. You just have to redo the, you just have to rewrite it.
Andrew (host) You know, Wes, I think it does have something to do with the relative lack of improvement in mechanics, right? You know, a lot of people will say in many ways game mechanics have regressed, right? Because of the focus on graphical gameplay, the game mechanics wind up taking a hit. So I think it's got something to do with that, actually. What we're seeing, you know, the mechanics in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 in particular, I think even more so than 1, were just so intuitive and you could really, you know, even going back a little bit further, right? Street Fighter 2, that game came out and that is still today, maybe, maybe the turbo, uh, Street Fighter 2 turbo. Um, but that is still today the model for just about every fighting game that's ever, ever come out. Right? We, you had that moment in time where everything just sort of came together. And I think what we're seeing now is these companies sort of you know, reissuing. We just did our The Issues with Reissues, you know, episode. But reissue watches, I think, are sort of the same thing. Recognizing that, hey, there was a moment when watches were as good as they were ever going to get. And it makes sense for us to go back to that. I think maybe a similar thing, obviously not exactly the same. A similar thing is happening with video games where we're seeing that era is when we really hit peak game mechanics.
Everett (host) But there's also a really good marketing strategy here. I mean, the people who have kids of early video game age are the people who grew up on video games. The people who grew up on video games, like the people in charge at EA and Activision grew up on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1. So there's a nostalgia as well. They might've been a little older, but there's something there. There's that nostalgic grab where it's like, I'm playing Tony Hawk 1 with my six year old, right? Like I grew up on this game and now he is. Yeah. There's something there too, in the reissuing of games.
Andrew (host) Well, that's great. I'm into it.
Everett (host) I need to get a copy. Yeah. Check it out. If you have, I mean, it's on PS5 and Xbox One. Is there, I don't know, is there an Xbox after Xbox One? Heck if I know. Is there an Xbox Two now? I don't know. I'm not cool enough to know. I'm just cool enough to have one and play Tony Hawk one on it.
Andrew (host) Well, so I've got another thing. My other thing's a show and this is a show I think sort of like Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, right? Where people were talking about this a few weeks ago. Um, and it took me a little while to get there, but I started, uh, just this last weekend I started watching squid game, which is this Korean, uh, show that's been ported to Netflix. And, um, it, you know, when you, when you're sort of watching the trailers or kind of trying to figure out what it is or even reading about it, um, I think it's like so many television shows where it's a little hard to get a feel for, for what, what it's going to be. Uh, so I started, I watched the first episode and it was instantly like, Oh man, this is really special. This is a really, uh, dynamic and fun, um, and fluid thing they've got going on. So I think I'm now five episodes into squid game and I am like, as I record with you guys like sort of hoping we can wrap this up so I can go home and watch the next episode of Squid Game because it is so stinking good. It's not true. I want to hang out with you guys all night, but it's like that show that I'm like looking forward to going home and kicking off my shoes and cracking a beer and starting the next episode. I don't want to say too much about it because I think that there's a lot. Each show sort of develops the storyline in a way that you maybe wouldn't have expected based on episode one. And the tile keeps changing. Yes, that's true. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. I don't know. Have you watched it?
Everett (host) No, Sam watched some of it and she didn't like it, which means I can't watch it when I'm with her and The kids have been home, so I can't watch it with them. Cause I understand I should not watch it with children present.
Andrew (host) You probably shouldn't. Yeah. And then it's not worthy, right? Sam didn't like it. I think Sam probably didn't like it for maybe some of the reasons. We don't like a lot of the same shit.
Everett (host) Like we, we have very few shows that we can watch.
Andrew (host) Have you guys watched it at all? Wes, Cullen?
Wes Yeah. Yeah. I'm on episode, uh, episode four now. I finished it.
Andrew (host) Okay. So we're, we're right about the same place and Cullen, you finished it. And does it stay as good? Uh,
Colin There are one, two episodes that are pretty slow, but it's definitely necessary to tell the story. Last episode goes a bit slow, but I don't want to divulge too much, but I think I finished most of it in like one day. It was that addicting.
Everett (host) It's what happens when you're shackled to a bench. Yes.
Andrew (host) So, so, so are you able to watch television, uh, Colm, when you're like, uh, doing QC on watches or is that something you can watch?
Everett (host) I can't watch.
Colin Not subtitled television. I definitely can't watch, but I can, I listen to a lot of music and, uh, podcasts. I need background noise, otherwise I go insane. Um, but yeah, Squid Game, you, you, is it Squid Game or Squid Games?
Everett (host) I guess the Netflix title has it as Squid Game. Got it.
Andrew (host) Yeah. It's just one game. It's just although it's multiple games. So just basic premise, if you're sitting at home, these are folks, folks in Korean society who for whatever reason have fallen on primarily financially difficult times and get recruited to do this thing. They don't really know what it is. And if you know anything about the show, you can surmise that shit gets weird really quick. And that's it. I think that's all I would tell you about it.
Everett (host) I'll read the Netflix synopsis. Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes. Yeah.
Andrew (host) Yeah. That was more eloquent than the way I said it.
Everett (host) I know. That's kind of how I speak, just very eloquently.
Andrew (host) So Squid Game, check it out. Gentlemen, Wes, Colin, does one of you have another thing?
Wes Yeah, well, mine was Squid Game, but I was debating between that one and... You serped the list. And this is, yeah, this wasn't coordinated for all the listeners. There's definitely more than two other things. But I'm rotating between Squid Game and another show on Netflix as well called You. Have you guys seen that?
Everett (host) It just usurped Squid Game for the most viewed in like So Squid Game for the last three weeks has been the number one watch show. Yeah. It was the number one show in a day. And you just.
Colin I'm on episode four. Catch up, bro.
Wes OK. Yeah. Well, you you is basically about a guy who's very obsessive and but. He's a fucking psychopath. Yeah.
Everett (host) He's a creepster.
Wes And he becomes obsessed with with women that he crosses paths with, ends up collecting a bunch of crap and, uh, and stalking them. And, uh, a lot of really wacky shit happens after that.
Everett (host) This season is ridiculous. Like it's unusual behavior.
Wes Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing.
Andrew (host) Um, I felt like last season maybe took a little bit of a step back in terms of, I think it's getting worse to be honest, but it's just so ridiculous.
Wes Like episode one, it was like episode one could have been an entire, like uh season right like so much happened in episode one though that's what i'm saying it's like it's like everything packed into to one episode so it's like how where do they go from here and i'm slowly finding that out because i'm also about episode four on that one so i'm rotating between the two you know it's it's a little bit you know it's a young series but it feels a little bit like uh oh what's the the name of the show where everybody goes to hell the good place it's a little bit like the good place where the the
Andrew (host) you watch one season and you're like, well, how the hell could they do another season? And then they just take the same formula and sort of tweak it and make a totally compelling new story with the same elements. It's really good. I've really enjoyed it so far.
Colin I guess I can talk about Tony Hawk. I mean, I grew up with it as well. Like I remember playing one and two, uh, vaguely I was really young with one and two, but then three and four I beat as like a child. So I have all these memories of one and two. Um, and I've only, okay. I don't remember this. I don't remember the game being so short cause I feel I've already like beat the both one and two and I played it for like, like all achievements and everything, you know, every level has a goal.
Everett (host) Yeah.
Colin Yeah.
Everett (host) There's only like seven.
Colin It's, it's fast. It's like four hours of gameplay. Honestly.
Everett (host) Yeah. Per skater.
Colin Oh, we got to do with each skater. Okay. I couldn't even figure out how to choose a skater. It just made me, made me Tony Hawk. And then I just, I was just Tony Hawk.
Everett (host) Oh, you just push, you push Y. I'm on a switch, so I don't know.
Colin I don't know how to do it.
Everett (host) I don't know what button Y is on a switch.
Colin It's probably triangle. That's PlayStation. The game is freaking sick. I love these types of games. Uh, there was definitely a heyday for these extreme, well, I want to say extreme, but these, these types of sports games in the early 2000s, you had Tony Hawk, you had, uh, was it 1080 or like you got all these.
Everett (host) Yeah. Oh God, dude. I played the shit out of them.
Colin And then you had the, the, the, the wave runner, uh, 64, like all these like cool sports games that just, you don't find anymore. But then now you see like, um, that, that one extreme, that biking game. Fuck, what's it called? Uh, do you remember what it's called? Excitebike? No, not Excitebike, which is a great game.
Everett (host) It's not that. I know what you're talking about, but I can't, I can't place it right now.
Colin But I feel like these things are all making a comeback. It's just interesting seeing the, uh, the, the trends and, and, and the cycles of things.
Everett (host) I want to see some, like, what was that boxing game on 64? Where you fight like the monster announcer at the end.
Colin It wasn't Mike Tyson's super knockout, was it?
Everett (host) Not Mike Tyson. No, no, no. It was the competitor to it. It was something like, uh, oh gosh, I don't know. The guy who's always, who asked, I can't remember his name for some reason right now, but the announcer, Bruce Buffer. Yeah. Bruce Buffer at the end of the game turns into like the Hulk and like bursts out of his suit and you fight him at the conclusion of the game. And you fight all these like pseudo monster boxers who are like people, but monsters.
Andrew (host) That's great too, because Bruce Buffer is one of those people. He's like suspiciously yoked underneath his tuxedo jacket, right? Well, well, fantastic. So, so we've talked about all of the changes in notice in the last year. We've talked about the brand direction that you guys are going to go. We've talked about Tony Hawk twice. We've talked about Squid Game, fantastic, fantastic Squid Game. We've talked about, Wes, what was your other thing I've already forgotten? Oh yeah, we've talked about you. Anything else, Andrew, that you think we need to add before we wrap for the day?
Everett (host) Last thing, it's called Ready to Rumble Boxing. I hope they ever do a remake of that.
Andrew (host) It seems like it's in that prime timeline for peak game mechanics, as I've clearly laid out the case for tonight.
Everett (host) It certainly is. And the photo tile, the shopping photo tile I found for it is from a website called DK Oldies.
Andrew (host) Ready to rumble. That was one of the Dreamcast boxing games. Dreamcast.
Everett (host) I played that on the Dreamcast. It's on Dreamcast. Yeah. I think Afro Thunder. Yeah, Afro Thunder. He's on the cover. He had like 90 inch wings.
Andrew (host) Man, who had a Dreamcast? I did.
Colin I had a Dreamcast one too.
Andrew (host) I think I'm, I think I'm older than you guys though. So like I had a dream cast that I like went to the store and purchased with my own money. I did as well. Cause I think I'm the old, I'm the grandpa of the group.
Everett (host) You are, but I also bought one. It had the most ergonomic controller of all time. Really? It's a good controller.
Colin I don't remember.
Andrew (host) It's a good controller. Yeah.
Colin Yeah.
Everett (host) Look it up.
Andrew (host) It's a little blocky. It's kind of H shaped. Yeah. A little blocky, but they had these great little modules that you stuck in the controller and it has second display.
Colin Are you guys telling me that the N64 controller is not the best ergonomically designed controller of all time?
Andrew (host) Yes. You know, huge fan of the N64, but I don't, I don't get the long lasting appeal to that controller.
Everett (host) The grip, the grip change that required to use a D-pad versus the stick made no sense. You need three hands for it. Exactly. That's the problem. You need a third left hand is what you need. Or a second left hand is what you need.
Andrew (host) Yeah. Gents, anything else you want to add before we go?
Wes Uh, no, just keep in touch. We're, we're going to get the notice tours back on the road as soon as we can. Um, probably early 2022. And, uh, if we're coming, well, there are, and we want to see you.
Andrew (host) There are four, four watch people in Eugene. So this is a must, uh, a must stop location for you guys. We know them too. So we can, we can get you the hookup. We could probably force them to come. Well, you guys, this has been really great. We appreciate you coming back, uh, and joining us for this three year anniversary show. Uh, you guys are always welcome and we're so, uh, honored that you'd spend your evenings with us.
Wes Yeah. Thank you guys. Hopefully we'll come back for your fourth birthday too.
Colin Oh, that's, that's so sweet.
Everett (host) That'd be awesome. You're invited. So yeah, you're invited in advance.
Andrew (host) Andrew, last words.
Everett (host) Am I going to die? Maybe. Put me on the spot like that. I'm out of things.
Andrew (host) Hey, thanks you guys for joining us for this. third anniversary episode of 40 and 20, the watch clicker podcast. Check us out on Instagram at 40 and 20 at watch clicker. You can also check out notice that notice it's where they post all their new releases and all the good stuff. Uh, and you can check them out on their website, which will be in the show notes, but honestly just Google it. Yeah. If you want to check us out on our website, watch clicker.com that's where we post weekly reviews and articles and every single episode of this podcast. If you want to support us, you can do so at patreon.com slash 40 and 20. Honestly, guys, it's so nice that so many of you decided to support us, but we do need that money for things like mics and mixing boards and hosting fees. So if you'd like to do so, we'd appreciate it. And don't forget to tune back in next Thursday for another hour of watches, food, drinks, life, and other things we like. Bye-bye.