#Projecthawkins & #FUNKOSONLOCATION

Alright, let’s see if explaining it this way will work... 

I’ve tried writing this a hundred times, trying to fit as many relevant details in as possible, but it was just so much to read on the receiving end. Basically, I’m just cutting it down to the bare essentials.  

So I’m an 80’s baby, and the 80’s and 90’s times were just different. I grew up in the best time possible (in my opinion) for kids to grow up in. We had the best toys and video games. Best bikes. Best movies. Best music. Eventually we got a Blockbuster. Shit was crazy awesome. Growing up in the 80s/90s builds a lot of character in so many ways, it’s hard to explain.  

Growing up I had an older brother. We've been best friends since I was born. We always had the same interests when we were little, which was usually video games, dinosaurs, dangerous outdoor activities (like building our own sketchy bike ramps), karate, music and of course, movies. My mom actually gets all the credit for the movie category. She had the best taste in movies – Alien, Commando, Top Gun, The Terminator – sci-fi central, but also lots of fantastic dramas and comedies in that collection too. I remember watching George Carlin and Eddie Murphy stand ups with my dad when I was really little too.  Basically I grew up watching what would become 'The Greats' and icons to the 80's era. We were definitely one of those families that always watched movies. Music was also a big thing in my household growing up. Dad always had on classic rock or country, and mom’s variety was basically everything except hair bands. 

My brother always handed me down all kinds of cool shit, but for the most part we mostly just shared everything. But even with sharing, I always had my own stuff too. Mini collections of all kinds of stuffs. I had Popples collections, Lisa Frank stationary & sticker collections, rock & mineral collections – but never any Barbies or super girly shit. The things I collected were very particular to me. I only collected what I liked, sometimes not the most popular stuff, but I didn’t care. I just liked collecting things I liked and took really good care of those things. But, man, I can really throat punch myself for not hanging onto all my Lisa Frank stuff throughout the decades. That shit was my absolute jam. We’re talking like shoe boxes full of just different Lisa Frank envelopes and stationary. Probably my most serious collection. I never used it, just collected it. Ugh – super sad memory, as I wish I still had it.

But while some collections were short lived, and some I honestly have no idea what happened too, I always wanted an amazing toy collection. I never had a lot of ‘toys’ really, just wasn't that into them. I guess I was just too into playing outside or playing video games. Like I said, the times were different. But one day, I always dreamed of having a sick toy collection, never thought it would actually happen though.  

Through the teenage years, cars and racing had my full attention. Must have started with those damn Scholastic Book Fair Lamborghini & Porsche posters back in elementary school. But really it started with collecting Hot Wheels cars after seeing exotics in Dupont Registry. Where I lived growing up, no one had a super car or really anything close. Super Street magazine inspired me to really get more in depth with cars and racing. Engine swaps, motorcycles, turbos, speed...that was life for quite some time for me. Dumped a lot of my early 20s money into ‘big girl toys’ like my cars and motorcycles and dirt bikes. I literally didn’t care about anything else at the time, plus my Hot Wheels collection was legit too by then. 

But responsibilities set in, ya know. That 2nd time losing your license for unlaw speed really stings. It was just getting too expensive of a hobby for me by that point, plus it was also really dangerous and getting me into trouble. So, I started taking photos of cars racing instead. Been frequenting Bradenton Motorsports Park since I was probably in middle school, but in my late 20s and early 30s it was all I really looked forward too. Worked lots of race events there, collected hundreds of thousands of photos from over the years. It was a place where I watched my photography skills grow, and it was also a place that made me want to do photography full-time. Eventually, I got into family photography and have been doing it ever since. Which brings me to next adventure. 

My brother kept telling me about this show I needed to watch before we all went to Halloween Horror Nights (in 2016) called Stranger Things, because if I didn’t watch it I wouldn’t understand the haunted houses (good point). So my husband and I started watching it one night and I ended up literally binging that same night. I WAS HOOKED. Had every 80’s reference, music and other easter eggs I used to obsess over. Then HHN came around and the Stranger Things house was insane. The 2.3hr wait in line was worth the 3 minute walk-thru. 

Fast forward to a month later from HHN, and my brother’s like, “Hey want to go up to Georgia for the weekend to go see the Stranger Things film spots?” I mean how the fuck could I say no – this is literally mine and my brother’s favorite thing now. Of course the first thing I thought of was the amount of photos I was going to take while visiting. We drove up on November 6. Didn’t know it at the time, but it was National Stranger Things Day (and also the day Will Byers goes missing). We stopped at the school, the boys’ houses, the lab and then headed to our hotel, which was unbeknownst to me at the time, right next to Gwinnett Place Mall – aka Starcourt Mall - which just happened to be a new filming location for season 3 and they were actually filming! Didn’t get to see any live filming, but got to see most of the interior mall set, got yelled at for trying to take photos even though there was a huge sign that said NO PHOTOS or else, blah blah blah. Anyways, we stayed there for 2 nights and the last day we were leaving was when they filmed the scene where the helicopters land in the parking lot at the mall in the rain. We had left that area earlier before that scene had started filming, and heard they were filming at the arcade, so we went there, saw tons of filming stuff and staff, no cast members everyone was frantically packing up and running around because a huge storm was about to come through. We ended up driving a lap or 2, saw Steve's BMW, then headed home. We almost died on the way home too. The storm was so bad, it spawned a tornado that went right across the interstate about 2 miles ahead of us...at night....in the dark....trees everywhere – absolutely terrifying.  

Upon getting back home and organizing my photos, that’s when I found out about Funko Pops, and now I had to have ALL of them. In comes the newest obsession – COLLECT ALL THE STRANGER THINGS FUNKO POPS. Some time had gone by and I had snagged some, but they weren’t really available unless you got them on Ebay for like 5x their worth. It was a costly decision, but I started buying.  

I looked at those photos from the trip nearly everyday, already had some printed and up on my office wall. Then trip #2 was in the works. This time, I had my grandmother’s old Polaroid 660 that I was bringing with me. She used to take pictures of us with it all the time. I wanted to get at least one shot of each place with this camera specifically, but I had no idea if it even worked. I grabbed a pack of regular white framed color film and took a chance. If it worked, awesome. If it didn’t, oh well.  

Up until that trip I had found way more filming spots. I would sit at home, on google maps, literally looking up and down the streets in and around the surrounding areas of Atlanta for months. I’m not kidding you, I was extremely dedicated to finding the spots no one had been to yet. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I was the first one to find the Byers House, the pool and town hall from season 3.The 2nd trip up was a laundry list of locations, also including some spots from Cobra Kai, My Cousin Vinny & The Walking Dead. I was fully prepped with my DSLR again for traditional shots, but I couldn’t wait to get those super 80s looking Polaroids if the camera works properly. I started to call this whole photo taking journey 'Project Hawkins', considering this was only the second time we were going up, but already knew we would be frequenting these spots for years to come.  

Hawkins Middle School was the first spot that I was able to throw that pack of film in and hit that shutter on the Polaroid. I took 2 back to back shots. Same spot, same angle, like 3 seconds in between each other. If you want to know how they turned out, check out #projecthawkins. Meanwhile, the photo collection of film spots was added to with abundance. I swear, I probably took a photo of every angle of the school property while walking around, but also the same for each other location. I love photographs, especially printed photos. I’ve always been the picture-taker-er. Now with having digital cameras with tons of memory, it’s easy, but with the Polaroids, I get one shot of my favorite angle from only one focal point and that’s it. Cool to think how far documentation possibilities have come.  

During the drive home in the backseat during trip 2, I had plenty of time to recap while scrolling thru my newest shots, and then an idea pops in – I'm bringing some Funko Pops with me next time. But then it hit me, I was going to have to take them out of the boxes. Now, some toy collectors take everything out of the box, some collect them in the box. I’m the kind of collector at this point that never took them out of the box. I sat there and thought about it the whole ride home. If I take them out of the boxes, the monetary value goes down and they risk being dinged up, scratched or ruined. But if I leave them in the boxes, I’ll never be able to take the photos I want to take for an on-going project that’s already been going on for 2+ years.  

It was worth the risk. Trip 3 was the birth of #funkosonlocaton and one of the most mapped out assault plans I’ve created on how to execute this project as efficiently and effectively as possible within the allotted amount of time and weather permitting. I brought every ST Funko I had on this trip, probably 30 or so. Took them all out of their boxes super carefully, placed them all in a big rubbermaid in my trunk and headed to Georgia. Get to location 1, it starts to rain 5 min into being there. Location 2, I forget the list of shots to-do in the car. Location 3 – forget to bring certain pops with me. Location 4, forgot to take certain shots. I mean, I got done what I wanted to get done, but sometimes it’s just not as easy as it sounds. More than half the time, I’m actually just trying to get the damn Pop to stand up for more than 2 seconds before it falls over and I have to reset again and again. Gets pretty frustrating. Some of these places you can’t even park or get out, just a quick drive by, stop, snap picture, drive off. For those places I have to have the Pops in my lap ready to go. 

Fast forwarding to current times.  

In a nutshell, I’ve been back and forth up to the film locations at least 6 or 7 more times. I’ve added countless photos to my collection, including shots for both #projects, and of course a TON more Funko Pops. I think I’m like 9 Stanger Things Funko Pops away from the complete set, but those 9 would probably cost me close to a couple thousand dollars, and honestly, I just don’t want them that bad. I’ve also started collecting props from the show, like Joyce’s phone, Nancy’s Trapper Keeper, almost every camera used from each season. My brother even got me the Heath Kit Ham Shack radio to add in last Christmas. My collection basically takes up a huge section of my room, so much so, that most is just sitting, piled on top of each other and in rubbermaids. Basically I just need a whole room to dedicate to this collection that has snowballed in the best of ways. I’ve also started collecting other Pops too, some Necas and mainly anything retro. My Hot Wheels collection is probably a few thousand by this point also. Old habits never really die.

Regardless, I’ve created the most amazing toy collection, created amazing memories, documented those memories in a series of photographs and made multiple HUGE scrapbooks to showcase it all so far. Not to mention, this small business called I Love Nerdy Shit. These trips really brought back my hardcore, inner nerd. I don’t care, I nerd the fuck out about Stranger Things. Ask anyone who knows me. I’ve gotten so nerdy about ST over the last few years that I’ve even started writing a book about it, filled with easter eggs, film spots, general trivia and even a trivia game for each of the 4 seasons. Once season 5 comes around, which is the last season, I’m sure I’ll wrap the project shortly after. I mean, I definitely have to get the new Pops once they come out and bring them to the new spots too, right?  

Insane how all of this started because of one TV show.  

Stranger Things has inspired me to just be more of myself. To enjoy the things that I want to enjoy, do the things I want to do, collect the things I want to collect, no matter what. It’s inspired me to try to inspire you too. Be nerdy. Don’t do what everyone else is doing just because. That shit has no substance. No long-term. But passion – passion is long term. Passion drives you. Passion comes from within. Follow your passion, you really never know where it can lead you.