Two personal fandoms of mine are colliding
right now and in the most particular way.
And both are being saturated with Bandwagon fandom ™ drama.
The two fandoms I am talking about are Star
Wars and the Seattle Seahawks.
In a social media group I am part of and
monitor the backlash against so called football bandwagon fandoms has been
ongoing but since the Seattle victory in last year’s Super bowl the accusations
of anyone claiming to be a number 12 faces a two front barrage. One against the term/title of #12 (a whole
nother story) and the accusation that they must be a new fan. Criteria like knowing Shaun Alexander or that
Warren Moon played for the Hawks are levied as minimum knowledge, which in
itself might show how the accusers are themselves bandwagon fans that just
happened to jump on the trolley a few years early to get good seats.
Not sure of the year, but maybe the
Christmas when I was in third grade was the best year I had for hitting the mother
lode from Santa – I do think that was the year the other shoe dropped for me on
that subject so maybe that was why the loot seemed so much more
satisfying. Not that I am poo-poo’ing
any gift, I just mean as far as setting the bar high, “Santa” as well as all my
relatives all hit a home run. I got Seahawks
loot like caps, and a Seahawk alarm clock (that old clangity clang kind of one)
and some other football propaganda. I
was also a fan of Terry Bradshaw (and Lynn Swan and Franco Harris for that
matter) so got a repo-autographed football from Bradshaw. The crown jewel was the mutha’freakin Millennium
Falcon!!! Yeah still have that in an
undisclosed basement – by far my most favorite toy in all my years of
toydom.
I had other Star Wars stuff before that and
remember clearly the day I was surprised with the Death Star playset and my
first figures (thanks Dad – I think he was trying to get on my good side…well
that would do it). However, that year
with the Seahawks SWAG and the ship that made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs was
when these two fandoms first collided.
Just like the dark years of the Hawks –
pretty much every year until their first Super bowl appearance in 2006 Star
Wars had a dark period. Although I don’t
quite recognize it as such, since due to the constant moving and living overseas
I was more out of touch for both football as well as Star Wars until the mid
90s. However, some claim the post RTOJ
era until Timothy Zahn led the fandom out of the dark in 1992 was the dark
period of Star Wars.
Let me explain the last part before the first
part – because that makes sense in Gallo-land the world of Gallologic. Star Wars had a Marvel Comics adaption that
ran 1977 – 1986 when issue #108 ended it all. (side note as of this month they ARE BACK - check out Star Wars #1) It was not until Dark Horse revived the fanchise in 1991. But many agree it was Timothy Zahn’s Heir to
the Empire published in the summer of 1992 that awaked the Star Wars
beast. It was for me at least. By the mid 90s George Lucas (GL) was working
on the special editions for the original three movies, A New Hope was
released on January 31, 1997, followed by The Empire Strikes Back on
February 21, 1997, and Return of the Jedi on March 14, 1997. After the success of the re-release, 20 years
after the original run of Star Wars, the prequels were fast tracked. From the prequels, conventions were stood up,
new toys, new tie-ins (Taco Bell Cup Toppers anyone?), and eventually a Cartoon
Series.
So the Hawks had some good years but
COMEON… since 1976 only nine division championships, two Super bowl appearances
(only one victorious) and all of this except the two AFC West championships
were 2004 and later. The exceptions
being 1988 and 1999 when the Hawks took the AFC championship advancing no
further. After moving to the NFC they
held the West title seven times. So for
years it took what I would call gimmicks (Brian Bosworth anyone?) or trying to
cherry pick a rookie QB that they could develop only to suffer with years of
watching mediocre talent that created apologists of the entire fandom (rick
freakin mirer) . So finally we get some
good years and there is this overbearing cloud of most Hawks fans are bandwagon
fans. Where were you when Alexander was
grinding out the yardage? Or who is Tez? – crap I went all the way to the HOF
for Tez and followed up this year by making a return trip to see Walter Jones
get the bronze bust. Sorry I make no
apologies for missing out on Largent’s induction I was a little busy keeping
our country free of evil doers…
So I don’t feel any need to justify my 12th
man flag nor my cap that just came in the mail today celebrating the Seahawks
position as NFC Champs, however it is ironic and funny I find myself on the
other side of the debate concerning my other fandom.
To be a Star Wars nerd back in the 80s was
sometimes dangerous, and it elicited strange looks in the 90s then after the
prequels it could incite an argument depending on your opinions of the
prequels, GL, Jar Jar ect… Even today there are too many actual hard core fans
that shoot from the hip when it comes to hating the special editions or the
prequels. IF not for the special
editions the transition from the prequels to the original three or original
trilogy (OT) would be far more jarring than it already is. Filmmaking had come along way from 1977 to
1999. Sure there were some boring parts
but for those that waited 16 years we actually wanted some explanation. Crap, in our imaginations the clone wars, the
origin of Boba Fett and the role of the Jedi order had already played out in
thousands of variations. Each fan boy
(and girl) was a treasure trove of ideas of what the SW universe would look
like sound like and be populated with well beyond anything the prequels could
have covered. So in a way we are lucky
each movie was not eight hours long and full of exposition in order to explain
everything we wanted to know. In any
case no matter how awesome or disappointing I was there. I was there in the years (years I may add that we had zero
internet) that we might be lucky to hear the phrase “Star Wars” said in public
and not mean President Reagan’s missile defense shield. I was there and spent enough to finance a
small country when the shelves bristled with new waves of action figures,
comics, books, and tie-ins. IF not for
me and fans like me Star Wars may never have made a comeback. I get no residuals, no kickbacks if the new
trilogy and the stand-alone/spin-off movies make a crap load, my name is not in
the credits, so where is my love? I have
to fight for a place in line along with all the other newcomers, or the ones
who shunned Star Wars in the dark years.
I have to try to out bid for items on eBay with those whose only
interest in the franchise (or fanchise for the matter) is grabbing as many
exclusives from SDCC or other events as possible to resell after December 2015
when the brand explodes and make some big payoffs.
So as it turns out I am not the Sherriff of
the Star Wars fandom (if only I was….) and anyone calling me out about my
Seahawks fandom is equally as unofficial in keeping fandom in check. So what is the point of it all?
I have no freaking idea, just know that
between the Super bowl in February and the SW convention in April and new
release in December I am at the epicenter of the current demographic for
marketing. All that means is I need to
win the lotto quick.
