Damn if that name hadn’t already been taken for a blog we would so steal it! Anyhoo, our ongoing study of the state of Thunderbirds fandom was picked up by a site which asked When is a fandom dead? and the comments waxed philosophical.

I would personally define a fandom as being “dead” when one fan can no longer get on their computer and be able to find another fan to connect with and share their love for the work with. I’d say even if things are slow on all the sites, if there is any LJ community or message board where someone can get on and say “I was watching some old episodes and feeling nostalgic today…” and start some kind of discussion, then that fandom isn’t dead. I find the essence of fandom to be communication between fans of the same thing, not necessarily all the creating of fanfic and art and stuff that will usually die down once the canon is done.

Indeed! And the Thunderbirds fans aren’t dead. They exist as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Thunderbirds fans! It would be as dreary as if there were no Beat. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Speaking of “fans” some crazy wack job claims to have spoiled Harry Potter #7.

The mystery surrounding the end to fictional boy wizard Harry Potter’s saga deepened on Wednesday with a computer hacker posting what he said were key plot details and a publisher warned the details could be fake.

The hacker, who goes by the name “Gabriel,” claims to have taken a digital copy of author J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” by breaking into a computer at London-based Bloomsbury Publishing.


Computer experts say the hack is unlikely but we say .. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DON’T READ THESE SPOILERS! We are keeping a wide berth from ANYTHING that might possibly ruin our enjoyment of DEATHLY HALLOWS on the day it arrives, and not a day sooner. That’s how we roll, and we like it that way.

Wait here’s one more: Unhappy ‘Transformer’ Fans Threatened Michael Bay’s Life:

Movie mogul Michael Bay received death threats from Transformers fans when he was announced as the film’s director. The blockbuster movie maker was not a popular choice to take charge of the first Transformers film and fans of the toys and animated TV series made sure he knew how they felt.

Bay says, “I did get a lot of flak from fans on the internet. They’d be like, ‘Michael Bay wrecked my childhood. Michael Bay, you suck. We’re gonna protest this at your office.’ Some did – they protested at my old office, apparently. But it was the death threats that really freaked me out.”


Come on now, kids, they’re only toys!

1 COMMENT

  1. Not to wax philosophical myself, but can one wax other things? Could you “wax nostalgic” for instance? Or perhaps could somebody “wax insignificant” maybe? Today when I hear the term wax I immediately think of Brazilians. And then, well, pretty much my train of thought is off in another direction altogether. Hmmmm, “train of thought.” Could one have a “train of” something else, like a “train of presupposition” or a “train of inattention?”

  2. Heidi, did you see the Thunderbirds swag at the licensing fair? There wasn’t a lot but they did have a big poster on the side of the booth. Matt’s got my camera with the pictures I took, but I’ll send them to you if you didn’t see them. Apparently they’re due for a licensed & merchandised comeback!

  3. Just toys? and i suppose the Thunderbirds are just puppets?
    you can never go home again, your mother has turned your bedroom into a workroom.
    and yes, megatron is silly as a handgun. where did Optimus’ trailer disappear to when he transformed? and a camaro named Bumblebee? Shoulda been a VW. or replace him with a female 280z and call it Fairlady.
    sorry, was innoculated with a phonograph needle.

  4. Ah, but it WASN’T just toys. It was also a cartoon. I missed it when it was on on Saturday mornings; My sister and I leaned more towards Peewee Herman. However, I am reliably informed that for a large number of young men of my generation, the animated Transformers film was the first time a movie made them cry. Some of them still get sniffly when you bring it up.

    So, biiig nostalgia and emotional investment in those characters and plotlines. Still no excuse for death threats, though, ever. And I’m generally of the opinion that you should watch something before you start hating it, in order to hate it properly.

    Weirdly enough, I’m looking forward to this flick. I know next to nothing about Transformers, never watched it, and I never used to be much of an action fan. But for some reason, seeing the trailers of big machines turning into other big machines and blowing stuff up made me bounce up and down in my seat.