The Official Star Wars Fan Club
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Official Star Wars Fan Club |
| Dates: | |
| Founder(s): | |
| Leadership: | Craig Miller, then Ira Friedman, then Maureen Garrett, then... |
| Country based in: | |
| Focus: | Star Wars |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Official Star Wars Fan Club was for profit and not run by fans.
It was the originator of the Star Wars Letters.
This fan club appears to have much overlap with The Lucasfilm Fan Club.
In 1979, Craig Miller (the then-president) told fans the club was "not being run to make money" but instead was a service to fans "who cared enough." He stated that they were going to do a better job listening to what fans wanted, and that they were going to market themselves to not just children, but also adults.
Starting with Miller, and later, Maureen Garrett, this fan club was highly involved in the controversial and far-reaching Open Letters to Star Wars Zine Publishers (1981).
Black Falcon Ltd.
In 1979, Craig Miller sent out a flyer to fans announcing that Black Falcon Ltd. was newly reorganized umbrella for the Official Star Wars Fan Club:
...the last few months have found us busily restructuring our entire club organization, trying new things, in an all-out effort to serve the fans better.
The Official Star Wars Fan Club is not being run to make money -- it's being run as a service to those fans of Star Wars who care enough and are interested enough to join. The money being taken in through membership fees will be going back otu as member benefits.
We're going to do everything possible to make this fan club work. We want it to be a forum of communication for Star Wars fans of all ages - not just for children; not just for adults.
In addition to a year's subscription to "Bantha Tracks", members receive a special kit containing items available exclusively for members. These items include a full-color Ralph McQuarrie poster, a tee-shirt transfer, a decal, a patch, color photos, and more.
[...]
Membership in the Official Star Wars Fan Club includes eligibility both to compete in club sponsored contests, such as the Empire Strikes Back/Win-A-Trip-To-London Cartoon Contest held recently, and to make use of the club's members- only mail order service. This service will allow members to purchase special items not otherwise available,, including cast-and-crew patches, tee-shirt transfers, photographs, and posters.
To join, send your name, address, and a check or money order for $5.00 ($6.00 in Canada) to the Official Star Wars Fan Club; P.O. Box 8905; Universal City, CA 91608.
An example of Black Falcon Ltd.'s interest in fanworks was the gathering of zines for Lucasfilm's personal files. This was optimistically mentioned in the June 1979 issue of Falcon's Flight: From that zine's editorial:
I might also mention the fact that Black Falcon, Ltd., a subsidiary company of Lucasfilm, ordered four copies of FF#2 and has a sort of unspoken request for future issues as they appear. I understand that one of those copies is for Mr. Lucas' personal file. I think I speak for all my contributors when I say that we are pleased with and honored by his interest. After all, it's a bit like having God take personal notice of one's flower garden. From all of us, Mr. Lucas, thank you.
For more on this club's "personal interest," see the controversial and far-reaching Open Letters to Star Wars Zine Publishers (1981).
Some Direct or Indirect Publications
Fan Reactions
A fan in 1997 expressed his displeasure about this club, citing over-priced goods, a catalog posing as a zine, poor customer service, and its general failure as a service to Star Wars fandom. See Sarlaac Pit: The Reason Sorry Products Were Made.
In 2003, a fan who lived in the UK wrote: "When will they start putting in articles and features, which are actually about things that happen in the UK? And what about some original letters as well please instead of copies from Star Wars Insider! It really is a dark time for Star Wars fandom in the UK." [1]
Further Reading/Meta
- T-R-U-E-F-A-N makes for Blue Fans: The Official Fan Club's Outrageous Fees (1999)
- an article in Starlog #25
References
- ^ from Delta Source #12