SPECIAL EPISODE: A Journey into the Time Capsule with Rugg Ruggiero (COMM '27)

In this special episode, Andrew "Rugg" Ruggiero (COMM '27) takes us into his home away from home: The Time Capsule, a second-hand store located in Cranston, Rhode Island.   

The Time Capsule specializes in selling a wide variety of comic, music, and video game related memorabilia. Over the years the store has developed a following of local collectors, who are always looking for something new in stock. Even if you aren’t looking for anything in particular, The Time Capsule has a way of making sure you don’t leave empty handed.  

Special thanks to the owners and customers who made this project possible!  ,  

Rugg is a film/video production student and Communications Media major at Fitchburg State University.  He produced, recorded, and edited this episode.

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Episode Transcript can be found here.

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Transcript

This transcript was created with the assistance of AI robots; there may be mistakes and inaccuracies.

[ City street sounds, some wind and passing traffic car parking, a car door closes, and a horn signals it is locked. ]

ANDREW "RUGG" RUGGIERO:   In the city of Cranston, Rhode Island, there sits a small local thrift store that store specialized in selling music, comics, and video games. And it is named The Time Capsule.

 [ City street sounds continue.]

Located across from a local grocery store and next to a tiny pizza joint, The Time Capsule sits on a busy street ready to welcome the many people in the area.

 In the already small state of Rhode Island. The time Capsule manages to stand out among local collectors to form a community within a community.

 [ City street sounds are replaced by the sounds of being inside the store. Wind and traffic replaced by the sounds of an instore speaker blasting the Rolling Stones. ]

 When you first walk inside, you're greeted to the sounds of a nearly 20-year-old in-store radio and the smell of old comic book pages. This room houses the comic books and the action figures, which attract all sorts of collectors.

Like the gentleman I got to speak with, James.

 CUSTOMER 1:   I was here just browsing, you know – uh, around like this time of year there's usually some good sales.  So I was just checking out on the selection of Marvel Legends action figures that they have. You know, I'm trying to put together a fantastic four or a Avengers display.

RUGG:  Did you have like anyone specific in mind that you wanted to get, maybe when you were here?

CUSTOMER 1:  I already have the Hulk and the Iron and an Ironman figure, so I think just going off of that, I think Thor's the next step.  Because there's a bunch of different Captain Americas to pick from. Like, I don't know which one I want to get. Well, like a textured collar or not textured or brighter colors compared to darker colors or a broken shield or a full shield.

You know, I think it just comes down to little things like that, like accessories and stuff.

[ store PA plays a different tune, slower more swing; shoppers’s voices heard above the din ]

RUGG:  As you move across the store, you end up in the music room, which has a sea of vinyl records and CDs to sift through. This room usually has two types of customers. New listeners starting their collection, and longtime music fans were willing to give recommendations. This is the room where I typically spend most of my time.

[ store PA tune ramps up its swing as it hits the funky bridge ]

RUGG:  Following the music room is the video game room here. You could find anything from any generation of gaming control, manuals and of course the games themselves.

 While I was in the game room, I got to speak with John who was expanding his game collection.

CUSTOMER 2:  Uh, I was actually looking to maybe pick up like one of the original Halo games that came out for Xbox or maybe like Luigi's Mansion for Game Cube.  Really just anything of that kind of nature. Because you know, of course you can maybe like get it on the computer or something like that, but it's always nice to have a little piece of memorabilia, especially if you already have the console

 RUGG:   And Halo and Luigi's Mansion – are those games that you grew up with or is that something you've been looking to get into playing for the first time?

CUSTOMER 2:   So Halo, actually I've never played, but since I have the classic Xbox, I thought I'd give it a swing. You know, I actually got it from a friend's parents a very long time ago, and we've just had it since.  And we've kept it well. It's always been in good shape.

 And Luigi's Mansion, I actually played on the 3DS when I was a little bit younger.  So I thought, why not try the original version?  'Cause I heard it's, it's like there's differences for the original and they got like, I guess regional differences and stuff like that. And I thought that was pretty interesting.

 So, I've been looking for it, and I thought this would be a good place to start. 

[ change in background music and background sounds, Rugg has moved through the store again ]

RUGG:  What makes The Time Capsule so special to you?

CUSTOMER 1:  Um, I wanna say the people here really make it, you know, like help cater to you.  

CUSTOMER 2:  Well. Time capsule. The staff are friendly for one. But I think it's just something about going into a store and picking something up from someone who might be interested in that sort of thing.

Really.  Uh, it's really nice

CUSTOMER 1:  Here, they have multiples of the same figure. It's just they spread them out so wide, and they have shelves dedicated Marvel, DC. Star Wars, GI Joe, stuff like that.

Like it’s just, if you're going here to find action figures for a collection, I would say this is the place to be because there's no better spot or selection this big of a variety for you to pick from.

CUSTOMER 2:   Uh, on eBay, you can get a lot of great stuff obviously, and you can go to maybe like GameStop and find like a small selection of like older stuff.  But you know, you want -- it helps when someone's impassioned about something.

RUGG:  The time capsule has been and always will be a very special place to me. Every time I go in, there's always a collector or two talking about what they're going after next, and there's something new in stock that I might have the luck of finding.

[ general store sounds ]

 In fact, during my recording, I found an album that I've been looking for – for the longest time.

With a jacket barely held together by electrical tape, I got my hands on a copy of Van Halen I.

[ the opening riff from Van Halen’s album plays over the speakers, taking us out of The Time Capsule and into own dreams of finding treasure, fade out ]

[ Perseverantia Network theme fades in ]

 ZOE:   You are listening to Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State Podcast Network.

[ Perseverantia Network theme fades out ]