I present myself at age 10, on Christmas Day, being utterly inscrutable with my new Punch/Counterpunch and Race Car Patrol. Why was I lining the Micromasters up along the top of Punch’s box? The world may never know.
Tag: Fan Culture
Oct 28
Fandom on the Other Side
For an American, knowledge of the Transformers fandom outside of the United States in the ’90s was fairly limited; not so surprising when one considers how limited the information about the line itself outside the US was, mind you, but the twin barriers of language and fledgling global inter-connectivity made foreign communications rather dicey all …
Oct 09
On Retirement
There’s a really good blog post over on TFSource that takes an in-depth look at giving up toy collecting from several different perspectives. The article struck home with me, being a former collector myself, so I thought I’d share my story here. Like most people who grew up with the brand, I had a pretty …
Oct 07
This Fondness For Rearranging Robots.
Fandom. The word refers to a subculture characterized by fans of a certain thing, be it something as relatively broad as video games, to a certain animated series from Japan. A fandom grants you a safe haven to express yourself, even if your family or friends don’t share your passion or interest and also gives …
Aug 19
“Wreck And Rule” And Maccadams Tees Now Available Online
Have you seen the sweet “Wreck And Rule” and Maccadams tees in this summer’s convention pics but couldn’t make it to a con to pick one up? Now you can finally get them online! The woman behind the tees, Aimee (@ladyofwreck on Twitter and co-host of the Underbase podcast), has opened an Etsy shop to …
Aug 10
We Have A Tumblr Now!
Okay, I try to keep the horn-tooting to a minimum, but since we’re just warming things up here I’d like to let everyone know that we now have a little annex over on Tumblr, iaconunderground.tumblr.com. In addition to links to our new posts, I (and whatever other staffers get involved) will be reblogging other fun …
Aug 05
The BotCon Experience
It’s 1999 and I’m standing on the sidewalk outside a hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. The sun is beating down from a cloudless sky and I’ve just embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my life thus far. My dad had chaperoned me as far as St. Paul, but now he’s dropped me off …
Aug 02
How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Third Party Transformers
“Third Party” Transformers – Transformers-inspired toys made in relatively small runs by fans with pretty clear disregard for copyright law – are a pretty contentious business in the community. A lot of fans draw a line between the add-on sets like iGear’s IDW-style Kup heads that require you to own an official toy and standalone …
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