Mailbag: Giant Bomb Mailbag: Leave the Giant Gummy Worm; Take the Toblerone

Why? Because I love it!

@rallo said:

I kept expecting a trombone to show up. Alas, I read toblerone a bit too hastily.

I read "I kept expecting a tombstone to show up."

Make it happen, internet.

@Microshock: If you see the amount of boxes that they already have in that office (and more incoming), I think their depression is justified...

If you're sent a load of candy you don't want at Christmas, the worst case scenario is you have a few less presents to buy for someone in your extended circle of family and friends. Maybe someone you know gets a double gift. I don't comprehend their lack of appreciation. Fine, if it seemed to be a random garage clear-out, but this is a load of sweets and it's Christmas. $60 chocolate, ffs.

They're not as dismissive and snarky as the volume of comments here would suggest, but it's still in slightly bad taste. I liked your mailbag, Jeremy.

West Coast Alex!

@TheLegendOfMart said:

Good lord Alex is one of them cringeworthy guys that tries to make jokes about everything and everyone else just politely laughs just to humour him.

Yep, that's why they pay him a salary: politeness.

Man people mail in better stuff :P

Great job Jeremy.

At this point in time I'd love for someone to ship them a box cutter, a liquor cabinet, some nice shelving, some hooks for hanging pictures, and some multi-purpose cleaner to wipe off that white board.

Alex!!

So I went to the CandyWarehouse website to price this stuff. Holy hell. Very generous Jeremy...

Worlds Largest Gummyworm (2)- $29.50 each

Worlds Largest Gummy Bear - $29.50

Dinosaur Egg - $19.90

Toblerone - $9.90

Captain America Pez - $29.50

Wolverine Pez - $29.50

Guittard - $59.50

Rock Candy - $9

Giant Lolipop - $29.90

---------

Total is 275.70

Oh jeez, that's too much candy.

@Lazyaza said:

@Phatmac said:

Who's the balding guy in the thumbnail? Alex? How come I've never seen him on the site?

You clearly haven't watched many of gb's older videos or checked the name on the many articles and reviews he's been doing over the last few years. He's been with GB as long as all the other guys just about and was part of the original Gamespot team as well.

He is also technically the first guest ever on the Giant Bombcast. Which is why the first month or so of podcasts on the site, including Arrow Pointing Down, are some of the best. Also Alex is the greatest reviewer of bad video games ever.

@ThePilgrums said:

I don't know why anyone can blame them for not being overjoyed over candy they're not going to eat. I mean... what's the expected reaction here? They did say not to send them junk food anymore. It's the sender's own fault for not paying attention.

Do most people not realize that the reason this guy sent the large gummy candies was because he knew they hated them? GiantBomb has recieved both giant gummy worms and giant gummy bears and they hated both. This isn't some coincidence.

Oh how quickly the bizarro community hate shifts its fickle attention.

I miss the time when Giant Bomb wasn't full of sycophants.

Maybe I have no shame, but I would destroy some large gummy candy.

I'd eat everything.

@charlie_victor_bravo said:

@rallo said:

I kept expecting a trombone to show up. Alas, I read toblerone a bit too hastily.

I read "I kept expecting a tombstone to show up."

Make it happen, internet.

Weird, I totally read tombstone too.

Some of the comments in here man. Sending an expensive package doesn't mean it's a good package. The crew has always showed a lot of appreciate for gifts that seem thought out, ones that have taken work, time, seem special or personalized.

This? It's just candy. And not even all that special of candy, besides being a monstrous amount of it. Who the hell would want to eat that much gummy anything?

Some of the comments in this thread seem so puffed up and entitled to this level of appreciation for the gifts sent in that it's ridiculous. Watching the unboxing before this it was literally just... stuff. Like, more stuff to clutter the office and get organized, more boxes, more things that they can't/won't use. To the people who are saying you don't want to send anything in now: It's probably for the best if this is what dissuaded you.

Like, it's real cool that you found those floppy disks, but what are they actually going to do with them? I mean, it seems like they've only really started hitting a stride recently with getting videos moving and content pumping and it all being generally entertaining since getting the move taken care of. I think it'd be cooler if everyone laid off all the extraneous crap for awhile and just let them get things squared away.

As a Type 1 Diabetic, I approve highly of this mailbag.

wolverine is PEZ'd!

@Daiphyer said:

Is it just me or has Alex lost a ton of hair since the last time we saw him on video?

No one told you then I guess didn't they.....?

@xxizzypop said:

Sending an expensive package doesn't mean it's a good package. The crew has always showed a lot of appreciate for gifts that seem thought out, ones that have taken work, time, seem special or personalized.

This? It's just candy. And not even all that special of candy, besides being a monstrous amount of it. Who the hell would want to eat that much gummy anything?

Some of the comments in this thread seem so puffed up and entitled to this level of appreciation for the gifts sent in that it's ridiculous.

In past mailbags the crew has unboxed $10 worth of candy and shown more appreciation. I strongly disagree that 'comments in this thread seem so puffed up and entitled,' it's merely a defence of Jeremy and showing any interest in the package. Personally I find it ridiculous that, for not liking the crew acting like assholes, I am called entitled.

Fuck yeah Alex.

Woo Alex!

@EnduranceFun: They've shown appreciation for stuff that's generally been cool though, and they've also been doing the mailbags since it seems like the birth of the site. Through the users they've tasted virtually every bit of sweet and salty junk food of the world, so sending a bunch of mostly novelty sized candy seems kind of eh. And the user who brought it up earlier put it best: when they are nonchalantly calling out what is going to be inside of the box, you might want to rethink what you send.

And that aside, Ryan did seem to try and get everyone hyped about the Pez, they thanked the user multiple times and said they'll make sure it gets eaten and put out for people who enjoy it.

But now we're getting into this weird territory where I'm defending people on the internet for things I have nothing to do with so.

@xxizzypop: I can see your point. Just seemed a little rude and below GB's usual standards for conduct.

@EnduranceFun said:

In past mailbags the crew has unboxed $10 worth of candy and shown more appreciation. I strongly disagree that 'comments in this thread seem so puffed up and entitled,' it's merely a defence of Jeremy and showing any interest in the package. Personally I find it ridiculous that, for not liking the crew acting like assholes, I am called entitled.

Quoted for truth. What the fuck has 'entitlement' got to do with anything, either in the video or the comments? Jesus christ, people, learn some new vocab.

"If you put your mind to it, you can smoke anything." Ryan Davis December 2012.

It's kind of sad to see a video where they feel they have to do it because the effort was made on the sender, while being completely uninterested.

Unfortunately this has been happening for a handful of recent mailbag videos.

@guilherme said:

@Microshock: If you see the amount of boxes that they already have in that office (and more incoming), I think their depression is justified...

No one is justified at being "depressed" over too many free care packages from fans. That's literally the worst excuse I've heard for being unappreciative of free goods.

I'm expecting the next mailbag to be just boxes and boxes full of gummy vitamins.

@Sticky_Pennies said:

As a Type 1 Diabetic, I approve highly of this mailbag.

*High fives*

Type 1 Giant Bombers (Alexis!) represent!

Reading through this comment section makes me realize how fucking weird comments sections are. I can't put my finger on why exactly, but it is kind of disturbing, this one more than others.

Maybe its something to do with the shared collective discussion on how excited or not excited someone should be after opening a box, and how close it is to Christmas?

I enjoyed this but at the same time, mailbags need to stop. As nice a gesture it is, It's getting to the point now where people are just wasting their money. I doubt that the GB crew will even touch this and that even goes for some of the other stuff they get with old games and the like. It will just sit somewhere, go unused and collect dust. If you want to send someone your old shit you no longer want, I'm sure Ashens would gladly take it and he would actually cover it more than likely.

maybe just show the more interesting or personalized stuff and don't do mailbags because you feel like you have to do them (mostly if it's going to make everyone upset and cause potential clusterfucks like these comments, not that they're particularly bad/uninteresting/etc. i thought it was just fine for video content. probably more of an excuse to get alex on camera.)

it really doesn't sound like they were being that hard on him though. it's not like they're gonna pretend they never saw it before, but they were gracious enough all the same.

also: everybody chill. :)

Alex's lifeless stare saps my own will to live.

Said it before, saying it again:

These guys aren't your friends. Stop treating them better than the people who are your friends.

Definitely a generous gesture, both this and the huge box of games from earlier this month, but why? Spend that energy and time and money on people who would genuinely appreciate it (never mind pretend to appreciate it, never mind barely even do that and barely even recognize who sent it).

The reverence gamers show for people running gaming websites -- treating them like celebrities, buying them gifts more expensive than anything they give their own family and friends -- is so baffling. They aren't superstars and they certainly aren't the embodiment of this false notion of community that many of you have built up in your head. They're just people who do a job well, and you're just a $50 membership fee to them.

I just don't get why you'd post this video on a gift you get if you aren't gonna look grateful. This video just makes them look like wankers with no personality, it just isn't something that needs to be posted. They could have simply sent a thanx email to the person who went to the effort to send them something that he thought they'd like and cost him time and money to do. I do this every Christmas to people who get me shit I don't want......

I just don't get why they did this video, it has just turned me off Giantbomb even more than the lackluster content they have these days. I'm sick of Alex, he is a nob, always has been and shouldn't be anywhere near this site IMO. I never though he'd turn Giantbomb into a big version of his ungrateful self.

Tbh whoever is in charge of posting this shite, I wouldn't bother, this video has made you look like right tossers. If you don't like something you go, simply don't post it. To whoever sent it, I feel sorry for you, I'd have been happy to get any of this stuff.

Note for future readers: this comment section is god awful. Do yourself a favor and avoid reading any of it.

Don't thank me, just pay it forward...

Wait, is Alex going to be on the GOTY podcasts?

@smitty86 said:

Note for future readers: this comment section is god awful. Do yourself a favor and avoid reading any of it.

Don't thank me, just pay it forward...

You're right. Most of the people commenting right now are being buttholes. Haha. To the haters: If people want to send them stuff, it's their prerogative so just shut up if you don't like it.

@wewantsthering said:

@smitty86 said:

Note for future readers: this comment section is god awful. Do yourself a favor and avoid reading any of it.

Don't thank me, just pay it forward...

You're right. Most of the people commenting right now are being buttholes. Haha. To the haters: If people want to send them stuff, it's their prerogative so just shut up if you don't like it.

God damnit, I should have listened....

It seems there is a story behind all this giant candy shenanigans. Where is the perpetrator?

I think that was about $150 worth of giant ass candy...I've seen those worms before and they're about $30 a piece. Crazy.

Man, never noticed before how much Alex can look like Steve Buscemi. As a Steve Buscemi fan, this is not an insult.

Oh, and to those complaining about GB's lack of appreciation, you might consider that they're all pretty tired at this point from all of the GOTY productions and last minute pre-holiday wrap ups.

On one hand I feel bad that they were so dismissive of this very expensive gift. On the other hand, the guy sent them a bunch of giant candy. What exactly did people expect the reaction would be? At some point junk food just won't excite these guys anymore. Like most gifts, it's not how much money you spend but how much effort you put into it. $300 worth of candy is nice, but I would much prefer something hand made specifically with me in mind. Yea you could spend a ton of money on gifts, but if they aren't something the person wants then it doesn't matter how expensive it is. What most people want when getting gifts is knowing the person thought a lot about what they would want and got them something special and unique. There was no in joke here like some of the crazy mailbags. The guy didn't even take the time to package them himself and write a letter. He might as well just sent them cash.

The joke of "send fat men sweets" or "I'm going to send my junk to strangers" is probably wearing somewhat thin for the bomb crew and this is just proof!

edit/ 300th comment. nice.

Remember when they were opening boxes of candy in a basement? Not that big basement, but that smaller one. It was so dark in there. Ahh, good times.