Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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A long time ago, in a small photography studio in Cincinnati, OH….
Kim Simmons was hired by photographer Roy Frankenfield to assist in photographing Kenner Star Wars toys. Kim would then go on to not only take over as the main photographer for Kenner (and later Hasbro), but also end up buying the studio from Frankenfield – and in the process gaining the rights to all of those original photos shot by Frankenfield.
Those early photos that were taken by Roy for Kenner Star Wars packaging, cross-sells, and catalogs were actually rescued by Kim from trash cans in the studio’s basement. While some were destroyed by water, the bulk would be retrieved and put away for posterity and eventually historical significance as the Star Wars phenomenon went on to take over the world.
Some 40+ years later those photos would end up in a book released in 2019 titled Kenner Star Wars Photography 1977-1979. This would launch the series of books that have now spanned four volumes and featured photos covering Star Wars toys for 23 years (1977-2000).
And now, 4 years (and 4 books) later, we are releasing the Deluxe Edition of the original Volume 1 that kicked things off. With rare and unseen photos, interviews with original Kenner employees, and anecdotes and facts from the original Kenner Star Wars beginnings, Volume 1 – written by Ben Sheehan – was the first of its kind to feature the original images that so many grew up with all those years ago when Star Wars was new and took the world by storm in the late 70s.
This Deluxe Edition has taken that iconic book and expanded and revised it to include 30 additional pages filled with more photos and info not released in the original publishing (including exclusive photos never before printed anywhere else).
Currently unavailable, Volume 1 has been the most sought after of all of Kim’s books and has been completely sold out for the past 2 years. A limited run of re-published copies were made for the 2020 Volume 2 Kickstarter Campaign, but those were quickly bought up by fans.
This version of Volume 1 will give fans and collectors a chance to not only own the original book, but enjoy the expanded contents. Also, for the first time ever, Volume 1 will be printed as a hardcover, completing the set of all four volumes as a hardbound collection.
These books are not available outside of Kickstarter and you won’t find them at your local book store or online retailer. Cutting out the middle-man and using Kickstarter to get these books directly into the hands of fans and collectors allows us to keep the quality extremely high and the contents robust and complete.
By printing them through a local Ohio company called Springdot, Kim is able to go down to the printers himself to check the quality and color of the images to ensure that the final books are just as he wants. This attention to detail is what makes these books so amazing and why they are in such high demand among fans.
In addition to the book we are offering contributors exclusive rewards including exclusive items such as a bookmark, custom patch, signed & numbered 8×10 prints, previous Volume bundles, an exclusive diorama poster (shot exclusively by Kim Simmons for this campaign), a mini booklet featuring the dioramas and photography Kim has done specifically for all of the Kickstarter campaigns (including this one), exclusive prints including the unreleased Boba Fett Rocket-Firing 12″ Packaging Box as well as a John Ham Original 12 Art Print, and special Stretch Goal rewards including a minted metal coin, and by popular demand – a slipcover made specifically to house all four volumes of Kenner Star Wars Photography!
As of February 10th, this project has raised $49,000 of their $85,000 goal. This project has 52 days left to raise the $85,000 or it will not be funded. For a pledge of $199, you will get one deluxe edition. For a pledge of $249, you will get one signed deluxe edition. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manwhoshotskywalker/kenner-star-wars-photography-vol-1-1977-1979-deluxe-edition?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
