WOW! September 1996. The 24th issue of Card Connect was finally done and ready to mail. It was hard to believe that I had been able to push out 24 monthly issues of this fanzine. From its humble beginning as a one-page sheet made available for free at Joe's Comics just north of the intersection of Broadway and Main Streets here in Santa Maria, California, The zine had grown into a booklet form, this issue being of some 38 pages and a two-page centerfold.

What was unique about Issue 2-12 was that it CC had become international in scope with contributions from readers in Canada and a reader in Singapore. Also this issue represented a wealth of contribution of articles and comics from various readers throughout the United States. While I did edit for continuity and clarity I tried to maintain the author's/artist's work as intact as possible.

This issue also represented my response to a situation that had risen during the prior months that needed addressing: the collector frenzy over short-packed action figures. During the past couple of years I had gotten into collecting some action figures and eventually discovered that there was a weekly event that took place at the local Toys R Us, Target, and KBs. That event was the unpacking of the newly arrived cartons of action figures. While a participant I was also an observer learning just what was going on and what the excitement was all about: SHORT PACKS! These were figures, mostly Star Wars Kenner products, that were packed only one or two to a case of figures. This made for an initial demand on the secondary market and in the major toy stores in the Los Angeles area for the short-packed figure. At the time the habit of collectors was to buy two of the same figures: one to open to display/play with and one to keep intact on its backing card. It was a challenge to be able to get away from work to be able to get to the stores in time to find that rare figure!

Well apparently the situation had gotten so unruly at a couple of stores that I started to hear about the possibility of discontinuing selling certain product lines, notably Star Wars, at the stores. The clerks were fed up with the constant interruption in their routines in order to deal with the short-pack collectors. An assistant manager at one store was disgusted that the kids had little chance of being able to find that Yoda or Bobba Fett figure to play with. Things appeared to be approaching a point in which product would no longer be available or would be available on a very limited basis thereby thwarting the collectors.

So then I begun this issue with an introductory page on the problem and ended with a page on a "Code of Conduct" that I hoped would help get the collectors, who were all on my mailing list, to consider their behavior. At the least get them to mull it over!

This issue was really serendipitious in that I used materials from all kinds of sources to add interesting content, including a brief intro into the final war on British soil in the 1700s. Of course, the comic artists were my favorite contributors and I was delighted to be able to provide a venue for Eric Stettmeier, of Santa Maria, Stacy Pasley, of Virginia, and Billy Dominick, a young and very imaginative artist from Tennessee, to provide cover on some of the pages of the zine. While Eric's and Stacy's submissions were reproduced intact, I did edit and add content to Billy's interesting looking story, by creating the Mystical Penguin Comics logo of a radiant penguin with an infinity symbol on its chest as well as the credits art and box.

In this issue was the introduction to the Loose Confederation of Card Collectors via a newsletter that I included for their membership which were also on the mailing list. This organization was organized until around 2006 when it just succumbed to the pressures of just too much other stuff getting in the way and possibly diminished interest in card collecting. This hobby of collecting non-sports trading cards has really taken a hit in the years since the heydays of the 1990s when it seemed to be very popular. With the loss of manufacturers and stores that sold such cards or the nonstocking of such cards the hobby now sits at just a few manufacturers hosting runs that appear to see a more popular market in Europe than in the States.

I was delighted to receive from Jeremy Goh in Singapore more photos of the latest cool action figures that were coming out of Japan. This issue was no exception and featured some great pics of a model kit. Be sure to check out the link to see more of this now rare and expensive kit available on eBay UK.

Being an avid B(abylon)5 fan, I enjoyed putting together something on this fantastic universe. By this issue I had developed a character I called TxTech (for TexasTech) who wrote about his various experiences in the B5 universe. While loosely based on some of the episodes it was somewhat mutated into a TxTech version!

It was also important to include B5 product info as well as fan club tidbits. Unfortunately, the fan clubs are gone with skeletons resting at various spots on the net with links to no where, perhaps the Shadows have snagged them all away!??

Please keep in mind that all the products listed or shown for sale are no longer available though some may be found in the secondary market on eBay. Many of the stores listed are no longer in existence. Those that I could find with links are linked to at the page where they are listed. Just too much water under the bridge washing away the past!.

To add some current relevancy to the various pages I have placed RELEVANT LINKS at the bottom of the page, where applicable, to enhance your reading visit. These links are provided for your use and enjoyment as I have no connection to them and cannot assume responsibility on their use. I think they are all rather cool and will help enhance the reading.

Jerry Copeland, editor
Split/Image Online

Page created October 16, 2012
© 2012 Jerry Copeland

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