# Polar Lights History



## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Click on this link to see pics from Wonderfest 2000.


http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/greater/1446/

--Hawg


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

*Some Answers to Some of the Historical Questions*

*Pardon the Hamster* --

Honestly, I have no recall of how this phrase came to be THE catchphrase for the clubhouse.

*Beanies* --

Were what the newbies were assigned to wear for what (they were told) was of a finite duration. However, if I recall correctly it was always a vague, indiscriminate number of days/weeks/months that the newbie had to "wear" one.

*Fez's* -- 

After a while, the newbie was honored with a fez, in which he could now parade about the clubhouse as a full-fledged member. 
Beanie's and fez's were issued to any newbie upon their arrival by any full-fledged member (as I recall?)

*Why Big Frankie was never repopped* --

As I recall, this was purely a cost issue(?) However, I don't remember if we were forbidden from bringing up the topic, as we were with The Guillotine.

*The Bellringer naming problem* --

This was a "rights issue?" But I don't recall all the particulars, and probably never knew what they were, anyway.

*The Godzilla Go-cart naming problem (or was it King's Thronester) --*

Another "right's issue." At the time, a couple of Godzilla movies were being readied for release.

*The G word* --

This was a "rule" we came up with, for the most part just so that we could have a set of rules. After all, what good was a clubhouse without rules? It applied to The Guillotine model kit, of which there were numerous requests for its re-issue. The requests became tiresome after a while, so we gave the issue "martyr-like" status by saying that requesting the kit wasn't something that could even be whispered.

*Barry Yoner Day (it's origins, mainly) --*

It's funny, that the origins of "Barry Yoner Day" seem to have taken a life of their own. I have read several scenarios over the years as to how "Barry Yoner Day" came to be. Captain Krik had one of the best lines about Barry Yoner Day when he said, "Ahhh! Barry Yoner Day. Where the beer is warm and the women are cold...or something like that." That's good stuff.

Steven Coffey asked the question only last year:
"I am just a newbe here so just what the heck is Barry Yoner Day? "

But the actual happenstance of what it is and how it came to be was as simple as this: I had far too much time on my hands (working at UNC) to dabble and post here. During a particularly slow day, I thought it would be a good idea (i.e., "fun") to dedicate a "day" to one of our members. I thought it would be interesting if the member was not a regular poster, but more of an occasional poster. Barry, who is an excellent modeler, was a solid citizen of the clubhouse. But Barry was not a frequent poster, which I thought would be the perfect candidate for a day in his honor. After all, half of the posts would be from members who were joining in on the festivities (regardless of whether they knew what it was all about) and others would be confused as to who he was and why all the hoopla. For me, I thought it would be a ratings bonanza! I must say that over the years, Barry has been a very good sport about it all. 

*Tinky Winky* --

I have no recall of this phrase, but I do know that I did it this morning.

*Yama's Hawg* --

This was to be my take-off on the number of posts that PL received daily from various model "experts" of just which kits PL should offer, why they should offer it and how successful it would be. (It was rather amazing the number of clubhouse members who were experts on which kits would sell, and what wouldn't). I decided to draw up a set of "plans" for a model kit, make it look like a 1st grader had drawn it up, send it in to Polar Lights and announce my expertise as to why Polar Lights should issue this kit (as surely it would become an all-time best seller). Little did I know that Lisa decided to surprise me, and make the thing into a "real" model kit. The "kit" was presented to me (and to a lot of other people) at Wonderfest. The build-up itself was done by Hooty. That was the highlight for me. As good as it gets.

*The Prince of Styrene story --*

This is a wonderfully touching story and one that bears retelling. However, I can't go into it without feeling a bit...overwhelmed...(excuse me please, I think I've got something in my eye).

*The college presentation (where was that, Lisa?) --*

This was pretty cool. We should call it, "Lisa Goes to Notre Dame." The Grand Experiment could have become a great technological success, except that it didn't seem to work that great. Kinda like waiting for a rocket to blast off that never makes it off the launching pad. Regardless, the hoopla of it all was worth it.

*The online chat with Tom Lowe --*

This was another Grand Experiment (technologically-speaking) but this one worked much better, and if I recall correctly, this and the Notre Dame visit were both at about the same time. Mr. Lowe comes out of his office and actually fields questions from his minions. Kind of like getting to see The Wizard while in Oz.

*The Star Trek announcement* --

Hmmm, I don't remember this one. Probably because I'm not a Trekkie. Did this have something to do with Shatner and Nimoy appearing together for Priceline.com?

*The Junk Food Exchange* --

Famous and not-so-famous junk food from around the country was to be brought from the hinterlands to Wonderfest. This originated from a thread about regional snack foods and the fact that there were some who had never heard of Little Debbie and others who knew not of what a Lance Nekot was. Everyone attending Wonderfest was to bring some kinda foodstuff that may (or may not be) unique to your area. I had all sorts of good folks bringing me root beers from around the country as Da Hawg used to be a great connoisseur of said beverage.

*The great post purge --*

As I recall, the Hankster notified the board that he had too many electronic files taking up too much space and while he realized the great historical significance of these files, alas there was no more room for them. Into the dumpster they went.

*Anything you can think of that really should be noted and explained for newbies --*

Not right now. Man, I'm tired. (And I've still got three events to judge at Barry Yoner Day.)

--Hawg


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

This is good stuff. Anyone who wishes to add details or more stuff, please do so.

Thanks, Yama.

By the way, one of my WF stories concerns my first WF. Not knowing who all these people with strange names were, I was lucky enough to run into Yama in the elevator on my way to my room. His picture had been included in a recent post so I knew what he looked like. I had scratchbuilt a crown for Lisa (it was Yama's idea) and he insisted on seeing it right away. Anyway, I made a really good impression by forgetting my room number and leading him around the third floor of the hotel until we tried a door that worked.

Jim


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## dreamer (Jan 1, 1970)

There was also a special announcement when PL reversed themselves on the decision not to repop the Gullotine, and the offer of a limited number of Guillotines numbered and signed by Tom Lowe - an offer that was open exclussively on the PL board to BB members.


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## MonsterModelMan (Dec 20, 2000)

We should also explain the Dremel Salute...thanks to Mark and his NanoGauger!

MMM


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Would 'This is correct.' and all its associated phrases rank as a historical question?


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

*Here are a few things I remember....*

*Pardon the Hamster* --

Mark Dean told a story once.....I think he said he got his hamster and stuck its head in the Guillotine to play. When his mom saw what he was doing, he said he had to "pardon the hamster" and stop doing that to his little pet. I guess people still remembered the gay community's fondness for hamsters, so that particular choice of words in that phrase made everyone laugh.

*Beanies* --

I seem to remember the magic number being 30. Newbies wore these for posts 1-29.

*Fez's* -- 

These were automatically bestowed by HobbyTalk to anyone with more than 30 posts. Hankster was probably the one who came up with the Beanies and Fezes. Now we're given certain epithets according to our post counts.


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## dreamer (Jan 1, 1970)

I don't recall who came up with the beanie idea, but the gif we used for it was stored on Silverback's webspace.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

This am correct.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Cro-Magnon Man said:


> Would 'This is correct.' and all its associated phrases rank as a historical question?


The correct phrase is "this am correct" and is in reference to a particularly strange poster who hadn't quite mastered the use of the english language.

I am not sure if this is related to the Tiny incident, or if it was one of his various screen names he tried to troll with.

Tiny was either a troll, or a lune, or a combination of both.
He came on the board one day claiming that he saw Big Frankie kits at TRU (and at some rediculously low price)
Anyone remember the details of what he actually claimed?
I know he had several excuses for not buying one, or not being able to find any information about it anywhere.
I think this happened on a weekend also, because it took quite some time to get the thread shut down.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

yamahog said:


> *The Bellringer naming problem* --
> 
> This was a "rights issue?" But I don't recall all the particulars, and probably never knew what they were, anyway.


This caused a huge uproar.
Apparently PL changed the name of the Hunchback kit to avoid any possible problems with Disney because they owned the rights to the cartoon movie of the same name.
Disney never said anything to PL.
PL's legal team decided to err on the side of caution with this.
The aurora purists were up in arms.
The disney bashers were up in arms.
If I remember correctly the thread jumped to like 9 pages in one day (you have to remember this place was busy back then, it wasn't unusual to have 2 whole pages of threads with new posts in a day)
That thread turned ugly and got locked.
Which caused another one to start. Which also didn't take long to turn ugly. Then the topic was kind of banned. And discussion moved to the modeling forum where it quickly died down because only a few of us posted regularly down there.



> *The Godzilla Go-cart naming problem (or was it King's Thronester) --*
> 
> Another "right's issue." At the time, a couple of Godzilla movies were being readied for release.


PL didn't have the rights to the Godzilla name.
So they didn't use it on the box and just called the kit the Go-Kart.
TOHO couldn't do anything about the kit itself because it fell under the parody exemption.
Later, PL voluntarily pulled the kit when they negotiated with TOHO to produce godzilla, ghidrah, and rodan (and subsequently the big godzilla)
There were rumors that TOHO made PL do it. But everything I heard from anyone actually in-the-know was that PL did that all on their own. Kind of a show of good faith.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Here we have a SOON TO BE _FLINGING MONKEY:_










Hmmm..... Verrrrry Inter-esting!











- GJS


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Yama "Tinky Winky" (actually spelled Tnke Wnke, if I remember), was a particulalry annoying fella who got a rep for being ... um, a particularly annoying fella ... around here. Can't recall if we chased him away or what. But he stopped being annoying eventually and is still hanging around under a differnet name, acting like a normal poster now.


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

That is correct.

Huzz


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Dave Hussey said:


> That is correct.
> 
> Huzz


That _AM_ correct.

- GJS


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

This is actually turning out to be fun to do.

Stuff I still need:


Info on Gwen 
Info on Susi
Info on Lori
Info from Dave M
Info from Chris W
Info and timeline from Lisa!

Which notable names from PLBB history should be included? 


What makes Buc's coffee such a potent brew?

Do we really want to include LAPCO? 



Why are there gaps in the rules? What happened to numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8? Inquiring minds have posted their desire to know.



Otherwise, thanks for the vote of confidence Chris and the rest of you jeept those cards and letters coming.

Jim


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

The original phrase was "This is correct", but the amusing English was taken a step further on the Board by other members, and became 'This am correct', a parody of the original bad grammar.

I've been thinking that I should withdraw my question as to whether it ranks as one of the Board's happy memories, however, as at the time it seemed that it was intended to cause something more like pain than amusement. Terrible events were in the news and America was at war, and someone came on the board and, as far as I can remember, mocked the situation and America itself, and boasted about other things, such as sharp business practices. The thing is, if you look around the other forums, I think that you can spot who it was.


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Cro-

Not really sure I understand your post. I believe the original post/reply was "this am correct." The responses and followups (to whoever was the originator of this malaprop) were classic. I'm thinking it was Tiny/Monsterluver (whose posts were always a great read).

As I recall, he'd rail on about Polar Lights' business practices:

"This is for why the ploar Ligts arent wnating to reissue for the kits! There not selling the modles becaue they wanted aurora to fale. You cant show wher their are any other companys who wold try this!!! If they wer wanted to help modelors , they wuld nevr have said so!!! And then goten the rites from Disny! Ha! This am correct!"


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Lisa's brownies & Buc's brew:










- GJS


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

And then there was the "nipple" thread. A classic if ever there was one.


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Zorro,
Refresh my memory on this one. Like a lot of the classic threads, I remember later discussion about them, but have forgotten their origins. Did it have to do with the nipple(s) on the Batman or Superman kits? Oh, and by the way, what was the name of Superboy's dragon? Lucille?


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Yama - Lucille, always and forever. I cannot recall what the original post was about, but it quickly morphed to a discussion about what would have happened if Joel Schumacher had designed the Aurora Superboy kit, Gladiator armor, the movie "Gods and Monsters", sexual orientation in general and nipples in particular, and so on. It went on for about 7 pages with one particular member feeling defensive, and everybody else - including yourself, Bwain, John P., and Markenstein delivering lightning fast zingers and one-liners that would have made Groucho Marx smile. It wasn't vicious or mean-spirited - it was just _very very funny._


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

That's right! "Joel Schumacher." Now it's all coming back to me. ("Not that there's anything wrong with that!")

Thanks Buddy.


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Another thing we did here very early on (this would have been early 1999) was a "Question of the Day" (which was posted only once a week). Anyhoos, questions like this were posed:

Which of the following was married to Hollywood legend, actress Rita Hayworth?

a. Ali Khan
b. Muhammed Ali
c. Kukla, Fran and Ollie

The "Question of the Day" was a short-lived feature here. (Perhaps, not short-lived enough.)


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

Just for fun, I pulled a list of BB members who joined before the start of 1999. These would be the earliest PL BB members.

_[name, join date, posts to date]_
A Taylor, 12-31-1969, 2,305 
Chris W, 12-31-1969, 2,614 
Cinorjer, 12-31-1969 , 98 
Dave Hussey, 11-20-1998, 2,852 
Dave Metzner, 12-31-1969, 1,103 
DinoMike, 12-31-1969, 282 
DoctorG, 12-31-1969, 210 
Dreamer, 12-31-1969, 2,489 
Larry Samuels, 10-21-1998, 50 
Modelcitizen, 12-30-1998, 5 
mrdean, 08-11-1998, 413 
otto, 12-31-1969, 50 
Roy Kirchoff, 12-31-1969, 182
Steve CultTVMan Iverson, 12-31-1969, 3,018 
yamahog, 11-19-1998, 526


Now I'm a little curious how so many people joined on 12/31/1969. Did we even have the internet then?


Other than that, anyone think of names that should be added? BTW, Lisa's didn't pop-up, nor did CDub or JG/PD.
Jim


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## yamahog (Nov 19, 1998)

Y'know, I hear he never recovered from their divorce.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

I feel your pain, Kukla!










But, Ollie's well that ends well... Aint she _Fran_tastic?

- GJS


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

Arronax said:


> Now I'm a little curious how so many people joined on 12/31/1969. Did we even have the internet then?


If I remember right there was some kind of board crash, this is the date Hankster entered as a default when he pieced some records back togather.

Tnke Wnke is now Babaganoosh.

Didn't Monsterluver/Tiny also post as Drew?

Remember Captain Don/Princess Alice, who had a thing going on the boards but turned out to be the same person?

The nipples thread started when we were talking about the costume in the movie, we wondered how come Alicia Silverstones' costume didn't have them molded on but the men did.

I assume that anyone who quit posting before "The Great Purge" no longer shows up on the member list.


Hey look what I found


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Actually, I think the nipple thread _started_ when someone asked exactly _what_ Superboy was reaching for. That went into the whole Lucille thing, which went to the Schumacher thing, which went to the Gladiator thing, which went to every _other_ thing.


And I remember Princess Alice posting a photo of herself in a little teddy negligee. Looked pretty good for a _guy_.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

What a tease!









- GJS


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

I honestly don't _get _what all the fuss is over Superboy and his nipples!



















- GJS


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Here's MM5's rendition of the classic Lucille kit:












Ain't it purty?

- GJS
http://www.modelman5.com/aurorasuperboypics.htm


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

Zorro,

You're probably right about the nipple thread, I think I was remembering where it ended up.

I remember the picture that Princess Alice posted, but I thought it was determined they were the same poster when they were banned? 

The mind is the first thing to go.


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## Larry Samuels (Oct 21, 1998)

Arronax
Thanks for that listing of when I joined (so long ago). I don't contribute much now (only when I've got something to say, just like Mr Ed), but it's nice to see the history!

I thought it'd be nice to keep track of the "gimcracks" PL handed out, both at Wonderfest, and in personal mail - keychains, magnetic boxes, posters, Yama's Hog - that sort of thing. In 50 years, they'll be collectors items! -) So maybe I'll take some picts of mine and put them up somewhere ....

Larry Samuels


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## dreamer (Jan 1, 1970)

The nipples thread started when Yama pointed out that Lucille (not yet named such) was a perfect representation of a miniature golf attraction, and someone took offense that we "nimrods" would criticize a classic kit. As to where it went, well...let's just note that Lisa had said "I'll be away for the weekend and the BB will be without a moderator, _so you boys be good_."


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Jerry Gustafson/Product Development (JG/PD) wasn't on the PL team when the board started up.

CDub was Yama's nickname for me - he tended to bestow them on folks back then.

Short history - I was acquiring Aurora kits when I saw PL's "The Mummy's Chariot" at a toy show and flipped - snarfed it right up. When I bought the repop of "The Bride of Frankenstein" I decided to contact the company to see if they were going to need art for new kits. Dave Metzner called me back, said they were indeed working on new designs and asked to me to send samples. I did, they commissioned me to do the Wolf Man, and it went on from there.
The first year at Wonderfest I was basically a fan but enjoyed jumping in to help. I did the "Big Franky holding a model kit of Lisa being chased by the Creature on a forklift" print as a lark and passed them out to attending board members. The next year Lisa and Dave campaigned to have me there as an official member of the PL team, and it was an honor and a blast!

I was already doing work for PL when I joined the board.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Re: Lucille - whenever discussions got out of hand or tempers flared, invariably someone would bring up "Lucille" to change the subject and defuse the situation.

Hey Larry - good to see you posting! BOy howdy, this is getting like a class reunion or something - we should all get together and sing the PL song...


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Just Plain Al said:


> Zorro,
> 
> You're probably right about the nipple thread, I think I was remembering where it ended up.
> 
> ...


 
Al - you are absolutely right. The photo was a fake and Don/Alice were one and the same. The funny thing was, a couple of BB members started getting all gushy when they saw that photo. It was the Polar Lights version of "The Crying Game". *


*And in my case, the hair was first to go. My mind soon followed though.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Anyone notice an echo in this room?

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/archi...p/t-107341.html
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=69532

- GJS


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

Just Plain Al said:


> Zorro,
> 
> You're probably right about the nipple thread, I think I was remembering where it ended up.


 'Think maybe Nikki would remember? Maybe we should consult an expert on the subject?









- GJS


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

The Batman said:


> Anyone notice an echo in this room?
> 
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/archi...p/t-107341.html
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=69532
> ...


These were great! Not a lot of stuff that hadn't been said this time around but there were some real gems.

These were great! Not a lot of stuff that hadn't been said this time around but there were some real gems.

What echo?

Jim


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

- GJS


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## DinoMike (Jan 1, 1970)

Now THIS is why the PL board must exist for eternity! Too much psychotic history here....


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

This is why we have to gather this information now before the glue fumes really take their toll.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Arronax said:


> BTW, Lisa's didn't pop-up, nor did CDub or JG/PD.
> Jim


That is because Lisa was removed from the board when she was removed from PL.
She wasn't even allowed to post here, or join under another name. (hence the reason for the clubhouse at the time)
Piece of trivia.
The only remaining posts by Lisa from when she was working at PL are still contained in the Guillotine Numbers So Far thread.


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## Da Queen (Mar 11, 2005)

Oops! I posted the following up in the other thead. Here you go...it's a backstory of our origins. More as it comes to mind and I wade through what's been posted.



What a wonderful thread this is! And Aaronax...You Rock, Dude! Thanks for undertaking this project. Let's not let our cultural history die out. OK, I'll start digging through some stuff and see what I can find. 

Does anyone remember my Wolfie in Dockers model? That's the one where I got his arms glued on backwards?? After corrective surgery by Dr. Metzner, Wolfie moved into Big Daddy Dave's for rehabilitation. I'm told he now has regained all most all his range of motion.

I do remember how all that started and where the first seeds of the board lie....I had just stepped into the job as CS Manager and it was mostly JL related work. But there was this grumpy old man ;-) around the corner from my office who did nothing all day but sniff glue and put these couple of wierd models together and take them apart, over and over and over...and he was getting paid for this! So, I asked around (there were only a handful of us working there at the time) and learned that this was Polar Lights, the newest product line for PM. 

Well, since I knew squat about models but had to be able to communicate with y'all, I went over and started talking to Dave about this idea I had; What if I built a model and asked the guys that visited our website to teach me how to do this. It was a way to open up the communication line and show our interest in them. Would Dave help? He agreed and we were off and running. At the time, PL only had a few kits on the market. The BB was in it's infancy, having just rolled out of AOL as a server. There were maybe 2 posts a day and mostly the kind you'd find in any customer service dept...nothing like what we grew into...a real community / family. Back then, our site was so insignificant, that Tom Lowe was cruising and posting on AOL collector boards for feedback. 

I also remember the deciding factor that led us to call Hank for help in setting up our own system. One morning, back in the days of dial up, AOL kicked me off for the umpteenth time. It was the last straw! I called AOL to see what the deal was and they wouldn't give me any assistance because I wasn't Tom Lowe, owner of the account. They would only assist if Tom called them. Thinking back, I should have just grabbed Dave and had him pretend to be Tom...but, alas...Tom was in China. When he returned, I asked him if we could call my buddy Hank, a webmaster, and see what he would suggest because this AOL thing just wasn't going to cut it. 

And now you know the rest of the story...

Hugs and Love,
Lisa

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

*Misty memories...*

Lisa,

Was the web site that had the spider web wallpaper on AOL? I remember seeing pics of the early kits like The Bride of Phrankenstign that later ended up in the dealer catalog.

I also remember a period when we had to watch the Playing Mantis mascot intro page animation every time we hit the site. It was a bit of a drag in the dialup days to have to wait for it to load, so I was glad when it was eliminated. Didn't a few board members help debug the site at one time?


 My small contribution which I was very proud of at the time was that I talked you into offering the Polar Lights Dealer Catalog for sale in the E-Store. To this day, they are still a bit hard to come by. I can only imagine how difficult it would be if they'd never been offered for sale there. The catalog was where one could find pics of the Godzilla with Babies kit that was subsequently dropped from the schedule due to its calculated high cost of production.


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## Da Queen (Mar 11, 2005)

The spider motif was the first one Hank did for us and it was very cutting edge for it's day, Phrank. And by the way...thanks for all you have contributed to this community over the years! You've always been a wonderful member of the family.

Hugs and Love,
Lisa


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## DoctorG (Jan 1, 1970)

Ah, great memories! I loved being a part of the creation process in providing some of the original Aurora kits from my collection for use in making the box art repros. It's neat to see how the whole thing took off and these classic models were resurrected in such a tour de force! PL may be gone, but the memories and most importantly, the friendships, will always remain...


Dr. G. (wishing there was an internet in 1969!)


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## Dave Metzner (Jan 1, 1970)

I'd forgotten Nikki........NOW I remember! 

Dave


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## pagni (Mar 20, 1999)

Doesnt all this stuff seem like ages ago ?


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## Prince of Styrene II (Feb 28, 2000)

yamahog said:


> *Pardon the Hamster* --
> 
> Honestly, I have no recall of how this phrase came to be THE catchphrase for the clubhouse.


It was a story of days of yore of one of our members who, once his Guillotine had been built, "walked" his little sister's hamster over to it & tried to lay it on the plank &... well... you know. His father opted a strong suggestion to "Pardon the hamster" from his execution.



yamahog said:


> *Yama's Hawg* --
> 
> This was to be my take-off on the number of posts that PL received daily from various model "experts" of just which kits PL should offer, why they should offer it and how successful it would be. (It was rather amazing the number of clubhouse members who were experts on which kits would sell, and what wouldn't). I decided to draw up a set of "plans" for a model kit, make it look like a 1st grader had drawn it up, send it in to Polar Lights and announce my expertise as to why Polar Lights should issue this kit (as surely it would become an all-time best seller). Little did I know that Lisa decided to surprise me, and make the thing into a "real" model kit. The "kit" was presented to me (and to a lot of other people) at Wonderfest. The build-up itself was done by Hooty. That was the highlight for me. As good as it gets.


I still have my kit (signed by da' hawg!), & several pictures of that WF where we presented the kit to you. Also, I ended up with the drawing you did, Hawg. I'll take some shots so everyone can see it.




yamahog said:


> *The Prince of Styrene story --*
> 
> This is a wonderfully touching story and one that bears retelling. However, I can't go into it without feeling a bit...overwhelmed...(excuse me please, I think I've got something in my eye).


Yea, that's kind of a long one. The Cliff Notes version is that I'm Lisa's son, who she gave up to adoption now more than 36 years ago when she knew she couldn't care for me. Now about six years ago, we've found each other & all is reunited! The fun part is the great model connection we have- she worked for PL & I've been building since I was 7! I have pictures of the "Great Reunion" that I wouldn't mind posting if it's okay with the Queen.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I'm proud and pleased to remember my single contribution to the hobby - I kept suggesting PL repop the old Aurora triangular stand and sell it singley or in 5-packs. I loved that stand, and I still think it's the most graceful model stand ever. Well, Lisa said she checked with marketing (or whoever), and they said it wouldn't be cost effective to just make stands.

So I said, well, how about, when you repop a vehicle kit like the Batplane or the Spindrift, which had that stand with it, you repop the stand in the kit! And Lisa said something like "John, you're an extremely intelligent, extremely handsome genius!" (Those may not have been her exact words...)

Hence, when the Batplane and Spidrift came out, they had the classic Aurora stand in the box! And hence, I bought five of each kit right away, just to get the damn stand, many of which now proudly support many of my SF vehicle kits. And hence, my wife asking why in the hell I bought five Spindrifts and five Batplanes.


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## Da Queen (Mar 11, 2005)

It's part of the history of this community, Sweetiepie. Mike Warshaw helped engineer it and the whole gang got to look in that night. Ya know what? I can't think of any other group of people I would rather have shared that special moment with. sniff.

Someone mentioned the "field trip" we all took to the graduate marketing class at Notre Dame? That was a hoot! The idea was this...the Inc article had come out and I got a call to come speak to this high falutin' marketing class about "branding." Now, what I knew about branding, you could put on the head of a pin, but I did know about the guys who loved PL and why...it actually ran deeper than styrene and still does. (Blood runs thicker than a trowel full of putty, right Dave?) So, I go to the class and the plan is ND would set up a giant screen and I would log on to the net and these students would ask questions of the BB gang, who, having dutifully come on the field trip with signed parent notes and their requisite PB & J sack lunches, were waiting patiently in cyberspace for my signal. Well, long story short...the first question I posted to them from the students bought such a barrage of rapid fire replies that we slammed down the Notre Dame server in about 2 minutes flat! It was a sight to behold. The students and prof were stunned! It was that moment that all 55 of them, sitting there in that tiered ampitheatre realized the power of the net as a means of commication with a customer base. They cheered, hollered and clapped. I gave out Guillotine kits. Everyone was happy.

Guys. You made my job at PM best job I ever had or ever will have. Secret be known...once we got rolling, it ceased to be a "job."

Hugs and Love,
Lisa


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## Prince of Styrene II (Feb 28, 2000)

Da Queen said:


> the first question I posted to them from the students bought such a barrage of rapid fire replies that we slammed down the Notre Dame server in about 2 minutes flat! It was a sight to behold. The students and prof were stunned!


And we had no clue! All of us were just sitting there, patiently waiting. It was funny- we were waiting for a response from you, but we were posting small comments, kind of like whispering in class, but not wanting to be caught.



Da Queen said:


> Guys. You made my job at PM best job I ever had or ever will have. Secret be known...once we got rolling, it ceased to be a "job."


Awww.... <sniff> Gee. Now I'm all wishy washy. :hat:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

> It was that moment that all 55 of them, sitting there in that tiered ampitheatre realized the power of the net as a means of commication with a customer base.


That's apparently a lesson that RC2 never figured out.

*grumblegrumblebrumble...*


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

*Quick update*

Quick update.

I have pages and pages of stuff I cut and pasted from the two threads. I still see holes but I need to organize what I have until I can get specific.

In the meantime, some more questions:

What was the story on the Mach 5 windshields?
Whatever happened to Gwen,Susi and Jerry G?

This is fun.

Jim


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Arronax said:


> What was the story on the Mach 5 windshields?


If I remember correctly, some of the windshields in the early runs of the Mach V were not 100% clear. They looked fogged up. All we had to do to get replacements was to contact the 1-800-MANTIS-8 customer service number to get replacements. I'd bought 2 of them that PL had no problem replacing free of charge.


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## Capt. Krik (May 26, 2001)

phrankenstign said:


> If I remember correctly, some of the windshields in the early runs of the Mach V were not 100% clear. They looked fogged up. All we had to do to get replacements was to contact the 1-800-MANTIS-8 customer service number to get replacements. I'd bought 2 of them that PL had no problem replacing free of charge.


I believe Phrank has it. If I recall the early run on the kits had a windshield that had a frosted look. Polar Lights replaced the part for anyone who called. Just like the early Jupiter 2 kits that had the upside down hatch on one of the bulkheads.

Silly me, I just buffed the windshield then coated it with Future. Could've just made a call.


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