For fans of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, it’s nothing short of a dream to buy an exclusive hoodie or poster from none other than Rick himself — or rather, “… the world’s biggest Rick that’s actually a truck, but also a store!”
On June 24, fans had the chance to fulfill that dream as the “Don’t Even Trip Road Trip” made one of several stops at Black Cat Comics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
One such fan, Jake Kiser, came to the event with his younger brother and sister. He said they arrived before noon, and there were hundreds of people there even though the event didn’t begin until 1 p.m. The three of them had to wait in line for hours just to get a numbered ticket.
After receiving the ticket, Kiser said they had to wait another hour for their number to be called, which allowed them to stand in line again at the Rickmobile to buy merchandise that can’t be purchased anywhere else.
Those products included special Funko Pop figures, Rick and Morty Monopoly, a “Gwendolyn Pool Float,” t-shirts, hoodies and other merchandise from the show.
Rich Evans, the manager at Black Cat Comics, described why Adult Swim had chosen their store for one of their stops. Adult Swim conducted research based on their merchandise and comic book sales. Based on the results, they reached out to Black Cat Comics in Salt Lake and asked if they would be willing to host their Salt Lake stop.
Their intention with each stop on the trip was to hit a large city that was also a hub of Rick and Morty fans.
Evans found himself extremely surprised at the turnout. He didn’t doubt there were fans of the show in Salt Lake, but he did not expect people to camp out the night before in anticipation for the event.
“When I showed up this morning at a quarter to nine,” Evans said, “There were probably 30 to 40 people waiting for the Rickmobile to show up.”
Commenting on Adult Swim’s motives in such a tour, Evans said, “Rick and Morty has become such a huge pop culture phenomenon that Adult Swim didn’t want to miss the opportunity to cash in. They also want to keep the show fresh on everyone’s minds since the new season is starting soon.”
Dan Harmon, one of the show’s creators, reassured fans that though there is not a premiere date scheduled, the writing on the new season is completed, and they are merely waiting on the animators to complete their work.
Harmon tweeted, “We took too long writing. Totes regrets.”