Author Philip Reed sent us the information on his current action figure book that is wrapping up on Kickstarter in a little over a week. Philip describes the project as “Scattered thoughts on the action figure marketing of the eighties.” His new book Each Sold Separately, Action Figure Marketing of the 80s is a 48-page hardcover book talks about comics, catalogs, and more. If the campaign hits it’s $3000 stretch goal, then the book expands to 64 pages!
Check out the description of the project below:
Welcome, children of the eighties! Each Sold Separately is a 48-page hardcover book collecting my own scattered thoughts on the action figure marketing of the eighties. Inside this book are sections discussing pack-in catalogs, how the cardbacks were used to promote other toys, commercials, and more! Growing up in the eighties I was bombarded by toy promotions, and I simply cannot state how much I still enjoy and respect all of the forms of marketing toymakers used when I was a kid.
Sample pages.
Format
Each Sold Separately is 9-inches by 6-inches tall. A full-color book that was designed from the start as a hardcover, this is the first in (hopefully) a new series of books of the same physical format.
I love books, and there’s just no way I couldn’t plan for these thoughts on action figure marketing to appear as anything but a hardcover that I’ll be proud to add to my shelves. Hardcover (and nice paper) increases the printing and shipping costs, but I believe that added costs are worth it to get a great book.
Sample pages.
Book Status
At this time all 48-pages and the cover of Each Sold Separately are finished and in the proofing stage. Once the proofers finish going over the book everything will be completed and ready for print. The printer has not been selected; I’m looking at both Taylor Printing (printer for Transforming Collections and Transforming Expectations) and a printer in China and will make a final decision on where to print the book once this project closes.
Printing at Taylor (in Dallas) costs more, but Taylor has a faster turn and I know what to expect when working with them. I’ve set the reward levels for this project at a point I believe allows the book to be slightly profitable through either printer and I would prefer to use Taylor. What would keep me from going with Taylor? Well, getting fewer than 250 backers for the project will almost guarantee I use someone other than Taylor.
NOTE: Delivery dates are based on printing outside of the U.S., and with the book effectively ready for print it should be possible to meet the listed shipping date.
Sample pages.
What’s Inside?
To give you an idea of what’s in Each Sold Separately here’s a list of the book’s contents by section head:
Title Page (one page) – Exactly what it sounds like!
Welcome, Children of the Eighties (two pages) – Introduction.
Holiday Catalogs Bring Fun! (two pages) – Celebrating the Christmas catalogs of the eighties.
Those Wonderful Pack-In Catalogs! (six pages) – Those booklets/flyers packed inside toys that tempted us with even more toys.
Free Comic Book Included (six pages) – Mini-comics that told us stories all about our newest toy.
Story Books For All Ages! (four pages) – Even kids can read books, right?
Action Figure Cardbacks Sell Toys! (eight pages) – Using the back of the packaging to show us even more toys.
Advertise Where the Kids Are! (four pages) – Toy ads inside comic books.
Clip & Save. Then Mail-Away! (four pages) – Was there anything as awesome as receiving a new toy in the mail?
“T.V. We talk T.V. You talk some T.V.?” (four pages) – Toy commercials of the eighties! Man, those kids had some amazing backyards.
Program-Length Commercials (six pages) – It’s not a commercial if they never actually show us the toys, right?
We’ll Be Right Back? (one page) – Closing remarks. Hey, it had to end.
Sample pages.
Transforming Collections, Transforming Expectations, and Each Sold Separately
For those who have asked how to get my two earlier books, Transforming Collections and Transforming Expectations, I’m offering a limited number of bundle packs. All three hardcover books for $85 plus shipping! For more about Transforming Collections (80-pages) and Transforming Expectations (112-pages) — each 8″ x 8″ — see the Transforming Expectations Kickstarter page. All three books will ship together.
Stretch Goal!
If we hit $3,000 the book expands to 64-pages. And with ten of the sixteen new pages finished (as of this writing), and pieces falling into place for the next six, the book will be wrapped up and ready for print when the project closes. Thanks, guys, for the fast support of the project.
