I knew I wanted comics to be part of it; animation is nice but massively expensive. Video games are fun and I have been working on one with a known programmer in the mix, but we're far out from seeing anything playable. Live-action is certainly...a possibility.
But comics...it's always been my go-to for media properties.
My first comic, as far as I can remember, was Marvel's Star Wars move adaption in the giant Treasury-Sized Edition. Later, I had a subscription to Star Wars, followed by Gi Joe and Transformers...when I discovered an issue of X-Men (#192, featuring the Magus versus Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Rogue) at a local store, I was completely hooked on superheroes.
Beyond the stories inside, the ads inside comics were fantastic to pour over. Endless ads for stores like Heroes World, old comics stores, fan clubs, toy mailaways...who else out there was obsessed with the Star Wars Survival Kit, the Star Wars Display Arena, the COPS poster mailed to kids on Hasbro's mailing list, or even the original Robo Force fan club kit?
The six-to-eight weeks every offer seemed to take was like forever for my brother and I - but the practice worked. It kept you thinking about GoBots (Creepy) or Gi Joe (Sgt. Slaughter, among other things) during the dry times. When I was put into the driver's seat of the Ideal properties, I wanted to help other people recapture that feeling.
For Mordles, a fan club was easy. There had never been one before! There were no expected benefits, and it really amused me to have a club certificate issued by COMMANDER ZOGG of the Mordles. We also made the decision to not have Club Mordle be based around exclusive toys to keep the price reasonable, even as printed matter has increased in price to ridiculous levels.
When it came to Robo Force, I didn't want to offer something unless it felt right. Fans at the big cons I've attended over the last two years - C2E2, NYCC, NJCC, SRGM - asked "when are you doing a Robo Force club?" I didn't want people to think we were automatically going to make a club for every property. Robo Force had to be special...so I kept thinking about it.
Now, I want to show you what I've come up with.
Club Zeton is BIG, compared to the intimacy of Club Mordle.
With Club Mordle, it doesn't matter if only five people join up - the club will exist.
The price is low, but its more about the cheesy fun of the old fan clubs - bringing back that feeling I mentioned earlier. You also get some benefits, such as the exclusive club purchasing window (some editions barely survived the club purchases!) and the Vision Mordle program to keep things exciting throughout the year.
Club Zeton, on the other hand....well, here's a list of the benefits:
- A club membership packet including a membership card and certificate.
- Ultimate Maxx Zero - Imperious Edition! Will not be available outside of the club membership. Full details next week.
- Mystery Maxx Modules! More mysterious details on these mysterious items next week!
- Lenticular stickers - two sets of them - to replicate the original "Maxx Steele" chest lights and "Maxx" logo for your modern Robo Force figures!
- Unpainted Editions offered at a discounted price!
- Ability to order any Ultimate Edition with or without the detail lines! This service will not be available to the general public.
- Guaranteed Access to Robo Force products offered by Toyfinity.com, as well as any convention exclusives offered at shows by Toyfinity directly.
- voting on the order in which you want to see the classic characters produced as Ultimate Editions!
- and, perhaps the most incredible benefit of all, a TEST SHOT of an upcoming figure from the Zetonian properties (Zeroids, S.T.A.R. Team, and Robo Force)! Did the factory mangle the most important part of the figure? Are the pins somehow off-center? You can feel just like an independent toy company owner. Whatever comes out of the steel tooling, you'll receive!
The exact figure will remain a mystery until it arrives in your mailboxes later in 2015; for now, I can only tell you it is part of the Zetonian storyline.
A final note: the club will last for SIX Robo Force releases, taking us through the remainder of 2015 and into 2016.
I know, it all sounds fantastic. You want to know how the price.
The cost for Club Zeton is $75.00.
Now, there is a caveat on this club which does not exist with Club Mordle.
I need a specific number of club members to move things forward.
We need one-hundred club memberships to make this happen.
That's the magic number of memberships that allows me to put everything listed above into immediate motion.
The Club Zeton membership goes on sale starting tomorrow, February 1st, and runs through
Monday, February 16th.
Check back next week for more details on specific aspects of the club.
Thank you for all of your support so far, and I look forward to taking the next steps on this journey together as part of CLUB ZETON!
