The Popper King: a Buffalo poppers store, and the company at its address that bought Rush

Who they say they are, and what the record says

The Popper King is an online poppers store in Buffalo, New York, at thepopperking.com. It sells the brands most American buyers know, Rush, Jungle Juice, Locker Room and Amsterdam among them, in 10, 15 and 30 ml bottles, and ships to the United States and Canada; in March 2026 it announced that “the popper king is preparing to expand its service to mexico”.[1][2] The history of the products, and of the federal bans on butyl and other alkyl nitrites, is told in this site's deep dive on poppers. This page is about the store, and about the company at its address that bought the best-known poppers brand in America in January 2026.

The earliest archived home page, from May 2020, called the store America's number one “supplier of real iso butyl nitrite poppers”.[3] It offered “real pwd double scorpio and sub zero brand products new and sealed straight from the manufacturer”, gave a post office box as its address, “p o box 721 buffalo ny 14225”, and listed a toll-free number, 1-800-316-6330, that the store still uses in 2026.[3][1] By 2021 the contact block gave a street address instead, “528 elmwood ave 3 buffalo ny 14222”.[4] The capture index shows the site archived most months since.[5]

Figure 1. May 2020, the earliest archived home page. The store calls itself a supplier of isobutyl nitrite poppers, by name. [3]

The site named no company. Its order FAQ did, once, in answer to a question about bank statements: “your e check transaction will appear as sub zero distributing llc on your bank statement”, and “sub zero distributing is our state registered business name”.[6] New York's corporation records show Sub-Zero Distributing LLC filed in Erie County on 2020-01-16, with its process address at 912 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo.[7] The same FAQ described the store as a reseller: “as a retail distributor we stand by the quality and reputation of the products we sell but we do not manufacture them”.[6] It pointed foreign buyers to two sister sites, “customers in canada please visit our canada store www torontopoppers com”, and in 2021, “uk customers click here to shop www popperpalace com”.[6][4]

Figure 2. The store's own answer to who it is, May 2020: its registered business name is Sub Zero Distributing LLC, the name on its buyers' bank statements. [6]

By 2023 the store gave a third address, and it is the one that matters. The header of its pages read “912 elmwood ave buffalo ny 14222 1 800 316 6330 info thepopperking com”, and the footer “company information 912 elmwood ave buffalo ny 14222 united states toll free 1 800 316 6330”.[8] That May its blog announced a sister shop for the pup-play community, headed “pup juice 912 elmwood ave buffalo ny 14222”, reachable at “info pupjuice com 1 800 316 6330”, the store's own number, where “you can find a variety of accessories lubes and poppers”.[8] New York's register shows Pup Juice Gear LLC filed three weeks later, on 2023-06-07, at the same process address.[7] The same page lists an earlier post inviting buyers in person: “we welcome you to stop on by our local store in the heart of the elmwood village of buffalo ny located on the corner of elmwood avenue and west utica street”.[8]

Figure 3. Seven years in one column, drawn for this page from the New York corporation record, the USPTO file and the store's archived pages. [9]

Figure 4. May 2023: the store's own header gives 912 Elmwood Ave as its address, and its new sister shop, Pup Juice, gives the same. [8]

The trademark. On 2026-04-15 a company applied to register the store's name, and the USPTO registered it on 2026-10-06 as number 8,484,985. The owner is “tpk global brands llc owner address 912 elmwood ave buffalo new york”, the services are “on line retail store services featuring cleaning preparations”, and the claimed date of “first use sep 25 2019”.[9] A second application, for the name under a crown, was published for opposition in September.[10] New York shows TPK Global Brands LLC filed on 2026-03-18, process address 912 Elmwood Ave.[7] The specimen it gave the USPTO is a screenshot of the store's own Rush product page, filed as a “website showing the mark the popper king used in connection with online retail store services featuring cleaning preparations”.[11] The application is signed by a person who gives his position as the company's owner.

Figure 5. October 6, 2026: the store's name, registered to the company at 912 Elmwood Ave, for selling cleaning preparations online. [9]

The address. New York lists fifteen active companies with their process address at 912 Elmwood Ave. Six of them are named on this page: Sub-Zero Distributing LLC (2020), Pup Juice Gear LLC (2023), King of Pleasure LLC (2024), PWD International Inc. (filed 2026-01-01), PWD Distributing LLC (2026-03-11) and TPK Global Brands LLC (2026-03-18). The others include a barber shop and an architecture practice, so the address alone proves nothing, and for King of Pleasure LLC and PWD Distributing LLC nothing beyond the address was found.[7] For the rest, the documents below do the work.

Figure 6. What ties each name at 912 Elmwood Ave to the store, and which ties are only an address. [7]

The company that bought Rush

The Pac-West dossier ends with the Rush marks recorded in April 2026 to PWD International Inc., 912 Elmwood Ave, and the line that no document then read connected that corporation to this store. The assignment itself is now read. The USPTO's history of the 1979 Rush registration records an assignment of the entire interest, recorded on 2026-02-01: “assignor name pac west distributing nv llc execution date jan 05 2026”, and “assignee name pwd international inc legal entity type corporation state or country where organized new york address 912 elmwood ave buffalo new york 14222”.[12] The cover sheet lists thirteen registrations, from Rush, Super Rush and Rush Original to Locker Room, Iron Horse, Hard Ware, Gold Rush, Power-Pak Pellet, PWD and Never Fake It.[13]

Figure 7. The recordal that moved Rush to Buffalo: thirteen registrations, assigned with their goodwill on January 5, 2026. [13]

Filed with it is the contract, an Asset Purchase Agreement dated January 5, 2026. Pac-West Distributing NV LLC, giving its place of business as San Antonio, Texas, sells PWD International all of its owned intellectual property, its trade and business name and goodwill, and the archival records of former owners, for a purchase price of $1,000,000: $100,000 on signing and $900,000 in 36 monthly instalments of $25,000, secured by the assets and a promissory note.[13] Exhibit B transfers 38 domain names, neverfakeit.com among them. The agreement is signed for Pac-West by Trent Taylor, the man the federal courts list with the company, who also recorded it.[13][12] These pages are scans; the figures reproduce them, and the words above are ours.

Figure 8. The price, from the agreement filed with the USPTO: $1,000,000, mostly on a three-year note. [13]

Figure 9. The websites went with the marks, neverfakeit.com among them. [13]

One signature on both. The person who signs the agreement and the note for PWD International Inc. is the same person who signs TPK Global Brands LLC's application for The Popper King as its owner, and its application for AMSTERDAM as its managing member.[13][11][14] That, with the shared address, is the tie. No document read says how the companies are owned, or whether the store and the new owner of Rush are one business. They share an address, a signatory, and from 2026 a story about authentic Rush.

What they sell, and what the labels say

The brands. The store sells other companies' bottles: in 2020 Double Scorpio, Rush, Jungle Juice, Amsterdam, Locker Room and Sub Zero, and in 2026 Rush, Blue Boy, Jungle Juice, Amsterdam, Locker Room, Everest and new lines.[3][1] The FDA's 2021 consumer warning said poppers are “labeled with names like rush super rush jungle juice locker room sub zero iron horse”, and every one of those names is on the store's shelves.[15] Whether the Sub Zero brand has anything to do with Sub-Zero Distributing LLC was not found in any record.

Isobutyl nitrite, in its own words. In 2020 and 2021 the store said what the bottles held. Its customers could buy “authentic pwd brand isobutyl nitrite poppers”, and a notice at the foot of every page read “all of our products contain highly pure isobutyl nitrite and are not controlled by the fda”.[3] Its popper FAQ explained that “popper is a street name given to a chemical class made up of different types of nitrites”, and that “isobutyl nitrite is a clean and equally effective ingredient used in all the poppers we sell”.[16] The compound has its own page on this site, isobutyl nitrite.

What they are for. The same FAQ gave two answers. Poppers “are intended to be used as specialty cleaning products or liquid incence”, it said, and then, “when used as a recreational drug poppers are inhaled for an instant high”, with a description of their effect during sex. It added that “poppers are very safe when used for their intended purposes”.[16] The home page closed on a promise of “all the happiness these little bottles have inside”.[3]

From poppers to solvent cleaners. By 2025 the age gate called the stock “cleaning solvents commonly referred to as” poppers and asked buyers to agree “to not purchase any products we sell for recreational inhalation”.[17] In October 2026 the home page is “the premier site to buy specialty solvent cleaners online in the united states mexico and canada”, its focus “on delivering consistent well packaged products designed for lawful labeled cleaning use”, and the footer says “the popper king is a brand name used for identification purposes only and does not describe the intended use of the products offered on this website”.[1] The product pages in the USPTO specimens still call Rush a popper, beside a line that poppers are for cleaning only.[11]

Figure 10. The proof of use the company gave the USPTO for cleaning preparations: a page selling Rush as a popper. [11]

Figure 11. October 2026, the latest capture: the same number as in 2020, and a name that is now a registered trademark. [1]

Amsterdam. Two days after the store's name, TPK Global Brands applied to register AMSTERDAM, for cleaning preparations, claiming use since January 2020; its specimen is the store's Amsterdam 30 ml page, filed as the mark “amsterdam used on cleaning preparations offered for sale”.[14] Amsterdam is a poppers brand older than the store, and one that Pac-West's own site called fake in 2016 when a bottle bore Rush or PWD marks (see the Pac-West dossier). The application was published for opposition on 2026-09-29.

Figure 12. April 2026: the same company claims AMSTERDAM, a brand Pac-West's site called fake in 2016. [14]

PWD, before and after the purchase

The store sold Pac-West's bottles from its first page: “authentic pwd brand isobutyl nitrite poppers”.[3] In September 2025, four months before PWD International bought the marks, its blog ran a post opening “when it comes to cleaning solutions trusted by enthusiasts for decades pwd brand poppers stand out”, and promising that “our online store offers authentic pwd poppers shipped discreetly and securely”.[17]

Figure 13. September 2025, four months before the purchase: a post on PWD brand poppers behind a click-through that calls the same bottles cleaning solvents. [17]

After the purchase the posts multiplied. On 2026-03-20 the blog took up the Rush bottles labelled as nail polish remover, the wording used by AFAB Industrial Services, the Bensalem bottler that Pac-West fought in court for a decade (see the AFAB dossier). Of those bottles it said “they are not part of the official pwd brand lineup”, and “it is not a verified pwd product”.[18] In May, a guide to spotting fakes said that “some authentic pwd distributed rush products have historically used distinctive red caps”, and that “buyers should understand that similarly named products are not always part of the authentic pwd rush lineup”.[19] None of the posts says that the store's trademark owner and the new owner of PWD share an address and a signatory. One of the May posts still carries a drafting note in its text: “faq boosts seo massively”.[20]

Figure 14. May 2026, after the purchase: a guide to authentic Rush, behind a click-through saying the store's name does not describe what it sells. [19]

What buyers report

Few. Searches of the Reddit archive for popper king and thepopperking in r/askgaybros, r/gaybros, r/poppers and r/Buffalo on 2026-10-12 returned one thread. In October 2025 a buyer wrote that “popper king is seriously hyping this pup xxx stuff”, a Pup Juice bottle, which he found “almost twice the price than all the other 30ml brands” on the site; nobody answered.[21] The California Law Review named the store in 2024 as an example of the sites buyers are left with: “consumers are forced to buy them off popper dedicated websites that lack the guarantees that major online retailers provide”.[22] The store's own guarantee in 2020 was a refund “if your order does not arrive within 6 business days following the date of your paid invoice we will refund the full amount”.[3] In 2020 it took payment by e-check only, billed under the Sub Zero name.[6]

Lab results

None. The store said for years that every bottle contained highly pure isobutyl nitrite and published no analysis of any of them, in any capture read from 2020 to 2026.[3][1] As a reseller it does not make the bottles, by its own account, and says so.[6] What is in a bottle bought from it has not been published.

Regulatory and legal

The bans. The store's 2020 notice said its products “are not sold for human consumption and are in accordance with cpsa”, citing among others sections 2057a and 2057b of title 15.[3] Section 2057a provides that “butyl nitrite shall be considered a banned hazardous product”, and its definition “includes n-butyl nitrite, isobutyl nitrite, secondary butyl nitrite, tertiary butyl nitrite, and mixtures containing these chemicals”.[23] Section 2057b says the same of the rest of the family, “volatile alkyl nitrite shall be considered a banned hazardous product”, and allows only commercial uses, defined as “any commercial purpose other than for the production of consumer products containing volatile alkyl nitrites that may be used for inhaling or otherwise introducing volatile alkyl nitrites into the human body for euphoric or physical effects”.[24] The store's own 2020 FAQ described poppers being inhaled for a high. No court or agency has ruled on the store's products, and this page does not.

In 2026 its blog puts the law to buyers this way: “in many regions specialty solvent cleaner products are sold legally when marketed and labeled appropriately for lawful commercial or industrial purposes”, and “customers are responsible for understanding their own local laws before placing an order”.[25] Its Rush guide is shorter: “rush is typically sold as a solvent cleaner regulations vary so always follow local laws”.[20]

March 2025. After the FDA searched the Austin bottler Double Scorpio, NBC News reached the store. A representative of The Popper King, “which is based in buffalo new york and brands its website as the” premier site to buy poppers online, “said the business had not been contacted by the fda”.[26] The store's own post on the shutdown, RIP Double Scorpio, closed on the worry that “many fear the crackdown could drive users toward less regulated and potentially more dangerous alternatives”.[27] No warning letter, seizure or case naming the store, Sub-Zero Distributing LLC, TPK Global Brands LLC or PWD International Inc. was found in the records read.

Age. In 2026 entering the site requires a click: “by entering this website you confirm that you are at least 21 years of age”.[1] No check beyond the click was found.

Still open

• Who owns the companies. New York's register gives no owners or officers for any of the companies at 912 Elmwood Ave. The trademark and assignment papers show one person signing for TPK Global Brands LLC and PWD International Inc.; how the companies are held is not in them.
• The new Rush. Whether PWD International now makes, bottles or licenses Rush, and through which company, was not found.
• The sister stores. The Canadian and British sites the store named in 2020 and 2021 were not read beyond the store's own links to them.
• What is in the bottles. No analysis of a bottle sold by the store has been published.

If you have bought from The Popper King, rate it below or comment on the thread at the foot of this page.

Changes

• 2026-10-12: first published.

References

1. thepopperking.com home page, archived 2026-10-05 — Wayback Machine
2. "The Popper King expands to Mexico", thepopperking.com blog, 2026-03-18, archived 2026-04-13 — Wayback Machine
3. thepopperking.com home page, archived 2020-05-06 — Wayback Machine
4. thepopperking.com home page, archived 2021-05-18 — Wayback Machine
5. Wayback Machine capture index for thepopperking.com — Internet Archive
6. thepopperking.com order FAQ, archived 2020-05-08 — Wayback Machine
7. New York Department of State, active corporations with process address 912 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, read 2026-10-11 — New York State, data.ny.gov
8. "Introducing a new site: Pup Juice", thepopperking.com blog, 2023-05-14, archived 2023-05-15 — Wayback Machine
9. USPTO TSDR status: THE POPPER KING, serial 99765538, registration 8484985 (2026), read 2026-10-11 — US Patent and Trademark Office
10. USPTO TSDR status: THE POPPER KING (crown design), serial 99765659, read 2026-10-11 — US Patent and Trademark Office
11. THE POPPER KING, trademark application of 2026-04-15 (serial 99765538), with specimen — US Patent and Trademark Office
12. USPTO TSDR assignment history: RUSH, registration 1112095, read 2026-10-12 — US Patent and Trademark Office
13. Trademark assignment, reel 9152 frame 0576 (recorded 2026-02-01): cover sheet, Asset Purchase Agreement of 2026-01-05 and exhibits, scanned — US Patent and Trademark Office, Assignment Center
14. AMSTERDAM, trademark application of 2026-04-17 (serial 99771356), with specimen — US Patent and Trademark Office
15. Ingesting or Inhaling Nitrite "Poppers" Can Cause Severe Injury or Death — US Food and Drug Administration, consumer update, 2021-07-15
16. thepopperking.com popper FAQ, archived 2020-05-07 — Wayback Machine
17. "PWD brand poppers: trusted quality, classic strength", thepopperking.com blog, 2025-09-17, archived 2025-12-06 — Wayback Machine
18. "Rush vs. Rush Nail Polish Remover", thepopperking.com blog, 2026-03-20, archived 2026-04-13 — Wayback Machine
19. "How to spot authentic Rush", thepopperking.com blog, 2026-05-08, archived 2026-06-16 — Wayback Machine
20. "Buy Rush online", thepopperking.com blog, 2026-05-06, archived 2026-05-10 — Wayback Machine
21. Pup XXX-Rated vs. English Gold? (2025-10-26) — r/askgaybros — anecdotal report, not evidence
22. Sex, Drugs, Innovation, Law: Regulating the Legality of 'Poppers' — Lawrence Myung and William P. Kasper, California Law Review vol. 112, August 2024
23. 15 U.S. Code § 2057a. Banning of butyl nitrite — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
24. 15 U.S. Code § 2057b. Banning of isopropal nitrite and other nitrites — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
25. "Is Rush legal online", thepopperking.com blog, 2026-05-11, archived 2026-06-16 — Wayback Machine
26. FDA reportedly raids manufacturer of poppers, an increasingly popular party drug — NBC News, 2025-03-14
27. "RIP Double Scorpio", thepopperking.com blog, 2025-06-21, archived 2026-03-05 — Wayback Machine