Welcome to the �All-New, All-Different� Raving Toy Maniac website. Well, �All-New� may not be the right word, since a lot of the stuff here has been around for a while, and clearly everything isn�t new... And as far as �All-Different� goes, it wouldn�t make much sense to have the site be that different, since it would drive away all the regulars... Hmmmm...
Okay, welcome the Raving Toy Maniac website anyway! There are some things that are new, and some that are different, despite the previous claims that related to �all�. Yes, it�s still here despite the rumors, and still healthy despite the fact that the site has been largely unguided for the last nine months or so. And now it is poised to get back to where it was before, with your complicity of course!
An apology first, then introductions. We are very sorry that we couldn�t say anything about taking over here before now, but we had some reasons which we�ll share right now. We have been talking with Cimetric over the past several months about buying the site and had only reached an equitable deal recently (in the last month). Well, like any time people make deals of this caliber there are things that need to be done to protect both parties� interests to ensure a smooth transfer. When Cimetric asked if we minded them taking down the store (the store was never part of our agreement) we agreed, but since we had not formalized our agreement it would have been inappropriate to announce it from a legal standpoint. We had to have something out there to re-assure people that the store coming down didn�t mean the site would follow, so the cryptic message promising further information (which was slow in coming due the process of getting the paperwork in order and accommodating a few vacations!). Now that we have a formal contract, we can spill the beans!
Introductions!! We are the new owners of RTM, though we prefer to think of it as being the stewards of the site. Neither of us is new to toys, the internet or RTM. We�ll start with the more well-known of us, and that would be Bobbi Boyd, a long time member of the online action figure community. Bobbi�s curriculum vitae covers years of being in the community as a fan, starting in usenet. She moved to the status of a professional in the online world when she started writing the About.com Action Figure Collecting site, which she has maintained (and will continue to maintain for the near future at least) for over four years, which includes covering the New York Toy Fair this past February. Bobbi is well-known and respected by the online community, and will have a vital role in adding more female-friendly content as well as more general toy information and content to RTM.
The lesser known of the pair is Rob Rooney (who also happens to be the other half of Bobbi�s marriage), who has also been involved in the online community for many years. Rob has written some articles for Bobbi�s site as well as some content in the Famous Covers archive here on RTM. Rob also helped Bobbi cover Toy Fair this year, and will have an active role in RTM in the coming months.
The action figure community is very important to the two of us, since it was this community that brought us together. We started out sharing toys, and now we share our lives together, and we couldn�t bear to see RTM go quietly into the night. We decided to contact Cimetric and eventually we reached an agreement to transfer RTM to our care. We wouldn�t have made the investment of our time and money if we didn�t believe this site was important, or that the community around it was something special.
Being able to manage RTM is like a dream come true, but is also scary as hell. The biggest fear we have is not living up to what the fans expect from the site. We are going to try our best to keep the things that RTM does best the same. We plan on getting the news going again, keeping the Buzz around and the same as it is, starting some new archives and updating old ones and adding new features. We will have the chat back up at some point in the near future, and are going to try and get the custom listserv running again. We are considering web e-mail , and yes, we will be covering Toy Fair next February as well as San Diego and probably WizardWorld. All we ask is that you be patient with us, expect us to make mistakes and know that we will do the very best we can.
The Buzz is back up, so when you get a chance please take a look at it and some slight additions to the posting guidelines, and an explanation of why we did them on the buzz itself.
Now some thanks are in order. First and foremost, we need to thank the heart of RTM - you. The fans and users of this site are among the best anywhere, and the life that still pulses in the site is a tribute to you. RTM has kept a faithful community even through EGM taking a lesser role, Jeff Cope leaving and rumors of closing. And you know what? You�re still here, and believe it that there aren�t many sites that could go for this long with slim news features and still be this healthy. RTM has the best online toy community, and we hope to help it thrive.
Your faith in the site is humbling, but we ask you give a little more as we work to get the site back up to speed. You�ll be seeing the place touched up over the coming months, and we hope we can get it back to where it belongs - at the top. We�ll try to keep you up to date as time goes on as to what is in the pipeline as things move along. It�s going to take some time and work, but we�ll be here if you will!
More thanks goes out to some of the volunteers who have tirelessly helped the site in the past and continue to work to make this the great place it is. Marvelous Mike Fichera is best known for his work on the outstanding Spider-Man archive, but Mike has also done many things to help keep the site going behind the scenes for years, and has consented to keep helping out. Wrasslin� Jim McCaslin is the mechanic for the site, and Scotty�s got nothing on him. He has helped with programming the Buzz and the off-white pages for years, and he�ll be helping to kick the tires and check the oil.
Before we go, we have a word from two people who need no introduction, but are getting one anyway. They are Eric. G. Myers and Jason Geyer, who started the whole thing years ago. They have graciously accepted our request to bug them for advice about the site. We know we�ll never fill their shoes (and we hear they are a little stinky), but any kind of change at RTM like this wouldn�t be right without some words from them.
So face front true believers - RTM is back!!
And the best is yet to come!
Rob & Bobbi
A NEW ERA
Since the events of September 11, 2001, there has been a lot of talk about entering a new era. Although the transition of RTM pales in comparison, it too is embarking on a new voyage. This revival of RTM begins a whole new chapter in the site's long history and I am excited to see what changes will result.
In looking to our future, I believe it is good to remember our history. Although obscured by time and circumstance, RTM's beginnings were quite meager compared to the position it finds itself in today. Way back in 1994,
I began the site as a companion to the rec.toys.misc Usenet newsgroup. The RTM acronym comes from this relationship. But it wasn't until Jason Geyer and I got together by a happy accident of geography and shared interest that we really began to create what you see today.
Armed with a copy of Photoshop and an idea, we weren't quite sure what we would eventually develop. To me, that has always been one of our strengths: To allow ourselves to experiment. Many of our early experiments have been lost to the ages or relegated to some long forgotten back-up disk. But the spirit lives on.
It is that spirit that has allowed me to work with some of the finest people in the toy-collecting community. Drawn by a mutual desire to inform, entertain and help fellow members of the community, many people have contributed to the evolution of RTM. I feel they need to be recognized as
we make this transition and begin again.
I hope this list is exhaustive. If I leave someone off, it is certainly not for lack of respect for their contributions, but merely a consequence of a failing memory and the passage of time.
In alphabetical order:
- Scott Carroll - Developer of the Mego Museum
- Jeff Cope - Editor emeritus
- Mike Fichera - Maintainer of the Spiderman Archives and Pinch Hitter on many other projects
- John Gersten - Humorist and observer of our absurd world
- Jason Geyer - Co-conspirator
- Ken Goach - Keeper of the Custom Corner
- Scott Gordon - Developer of the Star Trek News page
- Ray H. - Speedlines author
- John Hays - Beginner's Guide to Action Figure Collecting
- Andy Jones - Editor ad-interim/Graphic Design
- Kevin Lentz - Originator of the 3 3/4" Archives
- Meg Mannion - Graphic Design
- Randy Matthews - Inspiration and Developer of the Action Figure Archives
- Jim McCaslin - Programming guru and all around moral support
- Jeremy Packer - Graphic Design
- Adam Pawlus - Adam's Star Wars Newsletter
- Jon Plante - Graphic Design and interpretive humor
Many of these people remain involved with RTM and its mission. But they are merely a small part of the community at large. At the heart of RTM, there has always been a community. It stands as a reflection of the people who create and use it. And I call upon you as members of that community to consider contributing to this renewed mission. Would you like to collaborate? Do you have an idea for a feature, article or regular column? Then volunteer to help build this project in your image as well.
And finally, I welcome Rob and Bobbi to our family. They face a challenge of epic proportions, but they are well-suited to the task. I have pledged them my support and I ask that you do the same. I have known them both for a long time and am overjoyed that they are the new keepers of the flame. I share their vision for RTM's direction and will help them in whatever ways I can. I hope you will find them as worthy of your respect as I do.
I have tried to quit RTM more times than I can count now. But somehow, I still find myself immersed in this wonderfully eclectic project begun so many years ago. I could no more quit being myself than I could leave behind this community. Therefore, I remain a member of this community as ever. One of you. One of us.
Here is to the future. Let's build it together.
EGM
Founder, Advisor, Editor Emeritus
9/28/01
It's been awhile since I have had much to do with any ongoing duties at RTM, but even when I couldn't be directly involved I've always taken an interest in the ups and downs of the site and through it all have felt the apprehension of a parent who sent his kid off the world hoping that he/she
would succeed and make it through all the bad times along with the good. Well, I think I can stop worrying. I can't imagine RTM ending up in better hands than Bobbi and Rob. They've been watching RTM for just as long as I have, and I'm confident that they'll steer this site to new heights.
So sit back and enjoy the ride; I know I will!
-Jason Geyer
