By Dan King

Whitehall’s Main Street has a new business – and “geeks” of all stripes will be delighted by it.
The purple and black awning has been erected, and the Freakopolis Geekery will host its grand opening this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 13 and 14, from 10 a.m. until night time each day.
“One of the things this town has been lacking is something new and exciting,” said Troy Rollins, the owner. “We want to be a reason for people to visit town.”
Offering comics, board games, trade paperbacks, Funko Pop! and gift items, the Geekery promises to be a destination for all those interested in the comic world. And throughout this weekend, the store will be offering 20 percent off.
“Our hope is we find people who are interested in this kind of stuff,” Rollins added. “I’m most excited about seeing a lot of ‘closet geeks’ who have no place to share that interest. It gives them a pop-cultural center.”
Rollins, who has lived in Whitehall for about 10 years, working remotely as a software worker, decided to open this business and be more connected with the town.
“It was sort of time for me to do something I wanted to do,” he said. “I started an animation company – Freakopolis Network – and hired my sons and some like-minded people.”
The Freakopolis Network, not to be confused with the Freakopolis Geekery, is an animation company, focusing on 3-D cartoons. The geekery, in addition to selling comics and board games, will also serve as a studio for the network.
The network is working on its first animation project. The project, titled “The Ultimate Z-Sports Tournament,” will be a cartoon that pits residents of Freakopolis in a battle against Freakopolis’ undead residents on an island for 30 days. Rollins said the cartoon will be made available to the public sometime this fall.
Rollins said the geekery and network are currently a “shot in the dark,” but he hopes to grow both with time.
“Hopefully we can bring some gaming tournaments and in-store gaming,” he said. “There’s a lot of teenagers who don’t have things to do in town and don’t have a way to get out of town – so hopefully this is something new and exciting.”
Freakopolis Geekery is located at 120 Main St. It can be reached at 518-294-5551, found on Facebook at The Freakopolis Geekery, on Twitter @Freakopolis, or you can check out the website www.freakopolis.net.