Welcome to Mando's Books, Games, and Music

The second most wretched hive of scum and villainy in the galaxy

Mando's is a web page to keep track of various nerdy hobbies. Here at Mando's, our interests are loosely grouped into the following categories:

1. Comics
2. Tabletop and card games
3. Video games
4. Crafts
5. Toys and memorabilia
6. Music

Marvel

Marvel is the legendry publishing house responsible for iconic characters like Spider-man and the Hulk.

Star Wars

A number of publishers have put out Star Wars material since the 1970s, including big names in the comic industry such as Marvel, Dark Horse, and IDW. Some of the most exciting Star Wars collectiblles are indeed single issue comic books, where first appearances of important legacy characters are most prized.

Comic strips/"Funnies"

The three/four-panel comic strip format is an ancestor of modern comics, and while these still consistently appear in newspapers today, a few classics from history - listed below - represent some of Mando's personal favorites:

• Calvin & Hobbes
• Dilbert
• Peanuts
• Bloom County
• Penny Arcade

Manga

A Japanese literary tradition that originates in Japan's Edo period, the Manga is the original "graphic novel". In Japan, almost any genre of writing can be found with an illustrated version. Serialized Manga's are especially popular and influential. In the US, the influence of Manga is most felt by those who grew up watching cartoons based on Manga. For us at Mando's, the quintessential example is DragonBall.

Magic: The Gathering

The premier collectible card game, MTG has been around since the early 1990's. New sets are released multiple times a year, with new cards, new functions, and sometimes even entirely new rules. The value of the cards fluctuates wildly, as the creativity of the player community continuously iterates the possible deck combinations, and competitive players seek to purchase the most effective cards to counter one another's strategies. Following MTG is basically like our version of following sports! We have a separate page on this site for analysing the latest trends, and we follow the results of various competetive events on the popular result aggregator https://mtgtop8.com/.

Pokemon: The Card Game

Based on the popular video game series, the collectible card game about these adorable battling pet monsters is a relatively simpler game compared to heavy hitters like MTG, making it a great entry point for novices and especially younger players. Pokemon TCG has a more limited set of interactions and is lighter on the math - if a new player can do simple addition and subtraction (and occasionally multiplying by 2 or 3), this game should be within their capability.

X-Wings Miniatures

This is a turn-based tactical miniatures game in which players construct a squad of between two and twelve small ships based on Star Wars films, games, and books. The players take turns navigating around a large rectangular field, avoiding things like asteroids and booby traps while trying to outmaneuver one another in order to destroy each other's ships. The ships, pilots, and capabilities are heavily steeped in Star Wars lore, but the game mechanics are nonetheless well balanced, making this game extremely engaging for fans of Star Wars and tactical tabletop games alike.

Video games

Crafts

Toys and memorabilia

Music

We're broadly interested in both musical recordings and musical instruments, and our page features articles on instrument use and repair for both common and rare musical instruments.

Recordings

• CDs
• Vinyl
• Cassettes

Instruments

• Cordophones
• Wind instruments
• Percussion
• Electronic instruments

If you have any comments or questions, send us an Email!