Wither the Merchandise?

I've been pondering the future of enjoyable collectible stuff for fans.

You know what I'm talking about.  The plastic collectibles, plushies, bobbleheads, etc. 

I've been wondering what the economic future of these is, to be frank.  Little useless trinkets may be fun and collectible, but in a touch economy, I figure they're going to get less and less attention (and as I expect it to be years for the economy to recover, this could be awhile).  There's far more payoff in a rare video, a neat book, etc. than something that presents no other use than ownership.

So I wonder if the collectibles are going to take a hit in the geekonomy and the fannish economy.

This is a casual speculation, but these collectibles form the basis of some specialty stories, they're big at conventions, etc.  This would in turn affect the social experience of fans as stores close, change focus, etc.

Just some idle, geekonomic speculation.

- Steven Savage

  • http://www.lastres0rt.com Rachel – Last Res0rt

    Trinketry will remain in demand so long as conventions and other physical touch-points for fandom exist.
    Logic: Trinketry is by nature designed for a quick, easy, cheap sale i.e. for a physical sale where the difficulty of a sale is low and people are already predisposed to buying, vs. online where only expensive ($10+) sales work because they’re the only ones able to clear the “hump” of online commerce.
    It is much easier to make a $2 button and sell it at a con than it is to make that same image a $3.50 button available via Zazzle and sell THAT online, even if the cost to you as a producer is lower and less inherently risky.
    So it may be that paraphernalia becomes rarer and limited to boutiques and conventions. Even with that said, as people become further-flung they’ll insist on coming closer together — and maybe personalized / autographed paraphernalia is a way to counter that by adding additional value to the item. It may become a smaller part of fandom, sure, but I don’t see it going away.
    (Also, Neopets did SOMETHING right when they made all their merchandise come with rare item codes to tie back into their online experience. Whether this can be integrated into all merchandise is another issue, but it’s a solution at least.)