Merchandising

After pulling out Mike Allred's "Red Rocket 7" last week I then pulled out some newer stuff from Mike called "The Vault of Michael Allred".

It's a four book series that has almost every cover, sketch, toy design, and interview Mike has ever done. It's a staggering piece of work. Every page can take you ten minutes to look at it and absorb all that's on it. It's a lot of stuff.

I've always liked Mike's work. But, I've also liked the fact that everything he does always looks so fun! He does weird merchandising that looks like, to me, ideas that he simply does so he can have that item himself.

He's done board games, old style balsa wood airplanes, statues, yo-yos, figures, music CDs, and trading card sets among a host of other things. And I have a bunch of it here in the house. I dug back into some boxes last night and pulled out the two decks of Madman Bubblegum cards I have (gum not included). It's just an amazing set of art. Mike, who created the character of Madman, only did the box art for each set and a put-it-together puzzle on the back of each card. The entire rest of the set is done by guest artists. Every big name in comic books contributed a card. From the big name guys to the small press publishers, from legends in the field to people working in animation, Mike got them all. And they all drew his character as they see him. it's just a wonderful set.

So, it got me thinking.

I want some of these things in my house. I want some fun stuff for OilCan Drive. I want to make the comic book and music CD I am working on now. But I also want to make buttons, paper cut out toys, a script book based on the script I wrote for an OilCan Drive movie, tumbler glasses, and, yes, a trading card set.

I want these things, not because I think they will sell and make me a ton of money, but because I just want them in my house. The big question is, can I afford to do them? Can I print enough and sell enough to make it worth my while? I don't know...but, I'd like to find out. These ideas just keep kicking around in my head and they won't leave me alone.

But, maybe I should get the comic book and CD out into the world first. Then I can decide which project to tackle next.