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beccaelizabethI been thinking about the kind of merchandise that usually gets sold to go with TV shows.
Seems like it boils down to pictures, pictures, pictures and pictures on things - shirts and mugs, usually.
But there are some more interesting things.
With Highlander you could buy replica swords.
Which sounds good, but the official swords were not of the best quality, and not terribly accurate.
If you're going to sell prop replicas, they *must* be accurate.
Because really, the only people likely to buy them are the exact people most likely to be able to pin down exactly when and where they were used, screencap from the DVDs, and compare in minute detail. In fact they are the people most likely to have tried making them themselves already.
So prop replicas must also be of higher quality than a fan could make at home.
Although, for some shows, that contradicts the 'accuracy' principle. I think the key point is the replica has to look as good in your hands as the prop does on TV.
Trouble is that is likely to be expensive.
Actual props sell for huge amounts of money on ebay. Making them in the first place can cost ridiculous amounts, especially if whateveritis glows or something.
Wardrobe items sell for almost as much as prop weapons.
Tie in clothing ranges, also of the good. But see 'accuracy' and 'quality' points above. A coat advertised as 'Duncan MacLeod's' that actually has a whacking great HIGHLANDER logo across the back, or falls apart in a stiff breeze, is not going to impress anybody.
Jewellry, again, better if its accurate. Buying a Buffy necklace, vaguely interesting, but buying the exact necklace Buffy wore in episode x season y, much more likely to grab me. (Except for how they're usually crosses. Not christian, don't do crosses.)
Symbols are nifty, but less so if they aren't used in the show. Like, Buffy's B and Angel's wings are very pretty, but not meaningful within the context of the show, only within the context of the merchandise, and therefore fandom. Any symbol, once recogniseable, can indicate your allegiance. But if the symbol is like the Watcher symbol from Highlander, then it becomes much more important. It has a meaning within the story. I have a Watcher tattoo on my left wrist, because I spent years of my life learning all about Immortals. But I don't have a Buffy B, despite ongoing study, because it doesn't mean anything in the story.
I might get Angel wings. They're pretty.
I've seen a lot of fan made temporary tattoos. Not so many officially made though.
Sculptures, decorative boxes, random shiny things, all very nice, but a fan can only fit so many per shelf.
Where are all the fandom consumables? Save Angel made chocolate bars. Wouldn't Angel chocolate be nifty? Or not-quite Band Candy.
And why are all these things so U rated? Not the weapons, I guess. The adult=violence side of the market pretty well covered. But it seems to be up to the fans to fill the adult=naked side.
Not that I'm saying nude photos of celebrities should be, like, required or anything. But when they exist, they seem to sell well. Why aren't they right there next to the dressed sort?
Or are they and I've just been shopping in the wrong places?
I saw one condom sales site offering custom designed foils, so you could put your business name and logo on the outside. Or put them in kind of a matchbook. Or wrap them like lollipops, on a stick. Now, granted, there aren't many fandoms where that would be an obvious tie in, prop appearing in the show kind of thing. But imagine Queer as Folk condoms! Or 'Ripper' brand. Which, only a good name in opposites land, without a fandom connection. 'Spike' brand?
I once saw a range of dildos named after Star Trek & Next Gen characters. But again we're back to accuracy. If I'm going to pay extra for a 'Angel' stake, it had better be exactly like one used in the series.
Which can be done. I mean they make full body casts for some of these makeup things. And you can buy kits to use at home.
Talk about something fans can't make for themselves.
Well, unless conventions get, like, seriously out of hand.
/silly
Buffy, Angel, and Stargate seem to have extensive (and expensive) prop auctions, selling off pretty much everything they ever used. Pretty cool.
But there's a site selling Buffy prop replicas where the replicas don't look anything like the originals, which in fact appear to have been bought cheap from ranges still available elsewhere anyways. And the swords available from the Highlander store... some of them are just embarrassing. Nothing like the series, and not even trying.
Cool stuff should be like the sonic screwdriver new Doctor Who toys you can buy, which look right and also make a glowy and work as a pen and UV lamp. Accurate, better than fans can make themselves, and actually to do with the story.
Seems like it boils down to pictures, pictures, pictures and pictures on things - shirts and mugs, usually.
But there are some more interesting things.
With Highlander you could buy replica swords.
Which sounds good, but the official swords were not of the best quality, and not terribly accurate.
If you're going to sell prop replicas, they *must* be accurate.
Because really, the only people likely to buy them are the exact people most likely to be able to pin down exactly when and where they were used, screencap from the DVDs, and compare in minute detail. In fact they are the people most likely to have tried making them themselves already.
So prop replicas must also be of higher quality than a fan could make at home.
Although, for some shows, that contradicts the 'accuracy' principle. I think the key point is the replica has to look as good in your hands as the prop does on TV.
Trouble is that is likely to be expensive.
Actual props sell for huge amounts of money on ebay. Making them in the first place can cost ridiculous amounts, especially if whateveritis glows or something.
Wardrobe items sell for almost as much as prop weapons.
Tie in clothing ranges, also of the good. But see 'accuracy' and 'quality' points above. A coat advertised as 'Duncan MacLeod's' that actually has a whacking great HIGHLANDER logo across the back, or falls apart in a stiff breeze, is not going to impress anybody.
Jewellry, again, better if its accurate. Buying a Buffy necklace, vaguely interesting, but buying the exact necklace Buffy wore in episode x season y, much more likely to grab me. (Except for how they're usually crosses. Not christian, don't do crosses.)
Symbols are nifty, but less so if they aren't used in the show. Like, Buffy's B and Angel's wings are very pretty, but not meaningful within the context of the show, only within the context of the merchandise, and therefore fandom. Any symbol, once recogniseable, can indicate your allegiance. But if the symbol is like the Watcher symbol from Highlander, then it becomes much more important. It has a meaning within the story. I have a Watcher tattoo on my left wrist, because I spent years of my life learning all about Immortals. But I don't have a Buffy B, despite ongoing study, because it doesn't mean anything in the story.
I might get Angel wings. They're pretty.
I've seen a lot of fan made temporary tattoos. Not so many officially made though.
Sculptures, decorative boxes, random shiny things, all very nice, but a fan can only fit so many per shelf.
Where are all the fandom consumables? Save Angel made chocolate bars. Wouldn't Angel chocolate be nifty? Or not-quite Band Candy.
And why are all these things so U rated? Not the weapons, I guess. The adult=violence side of the market pretty well covered. But it seems to be up to the fans to fill the adult=naked side.
Not that I'm saying nude photos of celebrities should be, like, required or anything. But when they exist, they seem to sell well. Why aren't they right there next to the dressed sort?
Or are they and I've just been shopping in the wrong places?
I saw one condom sales site offering custom designed foils, so you could put your business name and logo on the outside. Or put them in kind of a matchbook. Or wrap them like lollipops, on a stick. Now, granted, there aren't many fandoms where that would be an obvious tie in, prop appearing in the show kind of thing. But imagine Queer as Folk condoms! Or 'Ripper' brand. Which, only a good name in opposites land, without a fandom connection. 'Spike' brand?
I once saw a range of dildos named after Star Trek & Next Gen characters. But again we're back to accuracy. If I'm going to pay extra for a 'Angel' stake, it had better be exactly like one used in the series.
Which can be done. I mean they make full body casts for some of these makeup things. And you can buy kits to use at home.
Talk about something fans can't make for themselves.
Well, unless conventions get, like, seriously out of hand.
/silly
Buffy, Angel, and Stargate seem to have extensive (and expensive) prop auctions, selling off pretty much everything they ever used. Pretty cool.
But there's a site selling Buffy prop replicas where the replicas don't look anything like the originals, which in fact appear to have been bought cheap from ranges still available elsewhere anyways. And the swords available from the Highlander store... some of them are just embarrassing. Nothing like the series, and not even trying.
Cool stuff should be like the sonic screwdriver new Doctor Who toys you can buy, which look right and also make a glowy and work as a pen and UV lamp. Accurate, better than fans can make themselves, and actually to do with the story.