Comments on: FunFare For Shamus [Updated]

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:01:31 +0000

Hey Russ, How about a Q&A with Larsen on Savage Dragon #150!

By: Shaun

Shaun — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:44:13 +0000

“Shamus never bought Toy Wishes, he stole it, ruined it, and still owes people money from it.”

Has anyone noticed that “Shamus” seems an all too apt name for this guy?

By: Billy

Billy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:57:43 +0000

Shamus never bought Toy Wishes, he stole it, ruined it, and still owes people money from it.

By: Kiel Phegley

Kiel Phegley — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:30:11 +0000

I’m not 100% on this, but I believe that FunFare is just a rechristened version of the big toy magazine that Shamus acquired a few years ago called Toy Wishes. It comes out quarterly and features the hot toys for whatever season we’re in. Shamus bought it out from former Wizard Ent publisher Jim Silver who brought it into the Wizard publishing line around 2005, I think. In any event, the magazine has always been very successful outside the hardcore toy collector circles (If I recall, it had a great ad situation as many of the toy company’s trusted it to get word out on their product around the holidays).

Now, beyond that I honestly don’t know too much about the mag’s business plans or the general shape of the Wizard company right now, and despite being a former Wizard employee who was himself dropped from the company in the rolling layoffs of the past few years, I don’t hold a grudge against those guys or have a chip on my shoulder. Still, take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:14:06 +0000

I don’t know if it is being reported, but they have fired ALL of their designers, with most of the design work to be outsourced now.

And from what I hear, toyfare is to be canceled soon… or should I say replaced by funfare.

By: Russ Burlingame

Russ Burlingame — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:07:46 +0000

Shaun – You said it. For some odd reason, that paragraph of my story disappeared (I swear I wrote something roughly dealing with what you said). My thought on the matter is that he’s likely going for what he perceives to be “safe money” of young kids and their parents. But given that he can’t get WIZARD into video shops anymore, who’s to say he’ll be able to land this puppy in Toys R Us?

By: Shaun

Shaun — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:02:24 +0000

It’s hardly the only reason why it’s surprising… Mass layoffs/firings, many of their cons biting the dust, the nightmarish customer service of Wizard’s Amazon stores, and just how the general economy and changing technology has hammered the print media industry.

Maybe it’ll be cool little magazine and find its audience. Or it might be the final nail in Wizard’s coffin. Given the state of things, I don’t see this reversing their fortunes.