Anybody else starting to feel Indiana Jones is being dilluted?

[Little Indy]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Indiana Jones stuff. Over the years I have picked up a few items to add to my collection. When I would see items in antique stores or collectible stores I would snatch them up. Finding these items however was also part of the joy. It was a little reward for digging through tons of Incredible Hulk back issues, or looking for something else and finding Indy.
I have always been one to "stay out of the light" to use a phrase from Raiders. I typically enjoy things that aren't the latest fad. Indy has always been in the shadow of Star Wars. People who know me know that I like Indy first then Star Wars. Everybody else I know feels the opposite, and I liked that fact. Indy was kind of left on his own and has stood up well.

Anyway of course with the new movie we are seeing a deluge of Indy merchandising, and I am slightly turned off by it. Action figures I can see, comic books are almost a given, limited edition busts, posters, pix from the movies, LEGOs ok. Trading cards getting close to overdoing it but still cool. Candy bars and M&Ms and Dr. Pepper, alright Indyfans need their energy. I hear Burger King has a deal now, cereal is expected, and I just saw pic of a pop-tart box with Indy on it! I'll probably end up buying as much of it as I can, but man it seems like part of what attracted me to being an Indy fan is being taken away. Anybody else feel that way? End of rant.

[metalinvader]

I know what you mean.
I've said this before,Indy merchandise is LONG over due.Even though I have the sets,I get a thrill seeing the Indy legos on the shelves and to think...It isn't even May yet...Some of it still seems a bit like overkill..The pop-tarts,As amazing as the idea is,Is a bit overkill...But I know damn well that I will buy them.

Some of the cash ins I'm welcoming with open arms..Toys,Books,Posters,Cards, I will GLADLY accept,No questions asked.Though,there is just splinter of fear in my mind that this could also turn into the Episode 1 merchandise flop of '99.I think LFL have learned from that,I mean,We havn't seen Indy bubble bath...YET!:p

[DoomsdayFAN]

Not at all. Its all part of marketing. Ask yourself this: If they did none of that stuff, and the only way they would hype up the new movie was through trailers, would you be as excited? I didnt think so.:hat:

Its all part of marketing. And it works.

[ReggieSnake]

Yeah, I get what you mean; whenever I tell someone how long it is till May 22 they usally good at me funny and say "Indy who? Oh...that Han Solo guy..." And, to admit it, I kind of liked being the fan of something a little less popular, though I am very excited about Indy's return to merchendising and the silver screen.

Though it's inevitable that Indy will be popular again, and merchendise very accessible, in the end we're the fans that count-we waited and we'll still be here when it all winds back down again.

Don't get me wrong though, this new film will pick up a lot of new "Indy fans for life." I introduce\re-introduce Indy to friends all the time and they love it, for the most part.

I'm a big fan of Tolkien's work as well, it made me slightly ill to see his masterpiece degraded down to Orlando Bloom fever among the girls of the so called fan-base.:sick: (I loved the LOTR movies by the way, regardless of their faults, this is just an example of an expanded fan base due to the popularity of a subject rather than the subject itself) I think it can all be summed up by this FoxTrot strip (12\19\03):;)

http://www.mixedreviews.net/maindishes/2003/returnoftheking/FoxTrot_1219_panel.gifhttp://www.mixedreviews.net/maindishes/2003/returnoftheking/FoxTrot_1220_panel.gif

[metalinvader]

@Reggiesnake...

That reminds me of something I heard back when the first LOTR movie came out.It went something along the lines of...A way to distinguish a real Tolkien fan is to ask them who Tom Bombadil is...

Now,How many of those Teenie booping,Bloom lovers would go.."Tom who?":p

So,When KOTCS comes out ask one of these teenie booping,Shia fans who Sophia Hapgood is... :p

For the record:Nothing against Shia....As I do like Mutt,So far..

[Little Indy]

Not at all. Its all part of marketing. Ask yourself this: If they did none of that stuff, and the only way they would hype up the new movie was through trailers, would you be as excited? I didnt think so.:hat:

Its all part of marketing. And it works.

Are you kidding?! Heck yes I would be as excited. What is better, the first bite of a donut, or the last bite of the whole dozen?

And another thing. I just saw a commercial for Family Guy tied in with Star Wars. I hope Indy doesn't go there.

[ReggieSnake]

@Reggiesnake...

That reminds me of something I heard back when the first LOTR movie came out.It went something along the lines of...A way to distinguish a real Tolkien fan is to ask them who Tom Bombadil is...

Now,How many of those Teenie booping,Bloom lovers would go.."Tom who?":p

So,When KOTCS comes out ask one of these teenie booping,Shia fans who Sophia Hapgood is... :p

For the record:Nothing against Shia....As I do like Mutt,So far..

Nice!:hat: just for you, I think I will, right in front of our downtown theater at midnight of May 22nd and see what kind of response I get!;)

Unfortunately a dearth of the old Indy strips has never allowed me to read them, so I, embarrassingly enough, had to look up the reference to Sophia Hapgood:o The name was familiar, was that good enough?:rolleyes:

[DoomsdayFAN]

To Little Indy:

What I mean is, they have to market it like that. If they dont, then alot of the casual viewers would just pass it up.

To the hardcore fan, its overkill.

To the casual adience, it probably barley even scrates the surface.

There are these girls at my work who dont even know who Indiana Jones is. I was talking to my friend about how Im this huge Indy fan, and these girls walked by and were like: "Indiana who?" and I was like: "Have you never heard of Indiana Jones!?" and they're like: "Nope". So I went on to explain it to them. Finally when I told them about Harrison Ford, they were like: "Oh yeah, that cowboy movie." :dead:

[metalinvader]

Nice!:hat: just for you, I think I will, right in front of our downtown theater at midnight of May 22nd and see what kind of response I get!;)

Unfortunately a dearth of the old Indy strips has never allowed me to read them, so I, embarrassingly enough, had to look up the reference to Sophia Hapgood:o The name was familiar, was that good enough?:rolleyes:

Heh,Good enough indeed.

Sophia Hapgood was in the Fate of Atlantis and Infernal Machine video games.As well as the FOA comic adaption.If you havn't played Fate of Atlantis do yourself a favor and buy one on ebay,Because you are really missing out on an incredible Indiana Jones experience!

[ResidentAlien]

Heh,Good enough indeed.

Sophia Hapgood was in the Fate of Atlantis and Infernal Machine video games.As well as the FOA comic adaption.If you havn't played Fate of Atlantis do yourself a favor and buy one on ebay,Because you are really missing out on an incredible Indiana Jones experience!


Let me chime in and say get the Talkie version. The original game is brilliant and all, but the game doesn't work nearly as well without the excellent voice-acting.

[Little Indy]

To Little Indy:

What I mean is, they have to market it like that. If they dont, then alot of the casual viewers would just pass it up.

To the hardcore fan, its overkill.

To the casual adience, it probably barley even scrates the surface.

There are these girls at my work who dont even know who Indiana Jones is. I was talking to my friend about how Im this huge Indy fan, and these girls walked by and were like: "Indiana who?" and I was like: "Have you never heard of Indiana Jones!?" and they're like: "Nope". So I went on to explain it to them. Finally when I told them about Harrison Ford, they were like: "Oh yeah, that cowboy movie." :dead:


OOOOHHHHH got it! Sorry didn't quite get what you meant. But totally agree. The average Joe on the street probably doesn't even know a fourth one is coming out yet. HA HA cowboy movie, that's funny

[DoomsdayFAN]

I almost fell over when they thought it was a cowboy movie.:rolleyes:

[ResidentAlien]

I've really never been in a situation where people weren't familiar with Indy... Everyone I know knows Indy.

I was with a friend a few weeks ago in downtown Baltimore. We got to the theater early (we were going to see Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky...) and so we took a few walks around the block. And those walks erupted into an Indy debate. No my friend is one of the exceptions... he knows Indy but hasn't seen any of the films in many years. He's familiar, sure, but not really very familiar with them. But the debate was about the better sequel and he argued violently that not only was Last Crusade better than TOD, but that it was the best in the series. That's the most outrageous, claim I've heard from anyone I know pretty much... though my mother thinks the same thing. ;)

Anyway, yeah we were arguing this in this real slummy block in Baltimore and I started to notice as we got further from the theater, the stores started having bullet-proof glass around the counters and stuff... and here we were screaming at each other about Indiana Jones. I'm surprised we didn't get mugged. Haha.

I do think though that come the new film there's going to be a whole lot of new "fans" who aren't at all familiar with the prior films. Eh, so be it. I really don't consider Indiana Jones to be "out of the mainstream" as it is. Movies that are "out of the mainstream" don't have multiple video games based on them. They don't have lots of merchandising and they aren't on the AFI lists and what have you. And they certainly aren't involved in any way with Spielberg or Lucas. No, nearly all their films are very mainstream. Shia will draw an even more mainstream fanbase, sure, but eh... not surprising and I won't be losing sleep over it.

[DoomsdayFAN]

They were just a couple od preppy chicks. Definate "Blondes". Everyone else I talk to at work about Indiana Jones knows who he is. But still, alot of people are familiar with the Indy movies other than "I've seen it before. A long time ago."

[Indy's Fist]

All I want is TOD score on CD & maybe LC expanded score on CD

[DoomsdayFAN]

ebay......

[IndySeven]

I really don't think that Indiana Jones is dilluted, and here's why:

Toys: There hasn't been a widely available Indiana Jones toyline since 1984. Of course, the Disney line came in 2001 and lasted through today, but the line wasn't that huge and was only available at Disney Theme Parks and Disney Outlet Stores (here in Florida). A new, large Indy toyline would be a great way to welcome Indy back to the big screen.

Food Promos, Other Promos, Etc: These are necessary because these items will introduce a whole new generation to Indy. I was born a couple of years after LC, and found out about Indy by way of the movies being shown on TV, books, etc. But a lot of younger kids don't know anything about Indy, Sure, they might know about the guy with the fedora in some ancient temple in South America running from a huge boulder, but other than that, they know nothing about Indy. Promos like these will introduce a new generation of kids to Indy.

So, all the Indy promos are necessary.

:hat:

[deckard24]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Indiana Jones stuff. Over the years I have picked up a few items to add to my collection. When I would see items in antique stores or collectible stores I would snatch them up. Finding these items however was also part of the joy. It was a little reward for digging through tons of Incredible Hulk back issues, or looking for something else and finding Indy.
I have always been one to "stay out of the light" to use a phrase from Raiders. I typically enjoy things that aren't the latest fad. Indy has always been in the shadow of Star Wars. People who know me know that I like Indy first then Star Wars. Everybody else I know feels the opposite, and I liked that fact. Indy was kind of left on his own and has stood up well.

Anyway of course with the new movie we are seeing a deluge of Indy merchandising, and I am slightly turned off by it. Action figures I can see, comic books are almost a given, limited edition busts, posters, pix from the movies, LEGOs ok. Trading cards getting close to overdoing it but still cool. Candy bars and M&Ms and Dr. Pepper, alright Indyfans need their energy. I hear Burger King has a deal now, cereal is expected, and I just saw pic of a pop-tart box with Indy on it! I'll probably end up buying as much of it as I can, but man it seems like part of what attracted me to being an Indy fan is being taken away. Anybody else feel that way? End of rant.
I agree with you absolutely! As much as I'm excited for KotCS, I'm becoming more and more wishing at times it wasn't happening!

[herr gruber]

Bring on the merchandise. Over here, there has never been much Indy merchandise at all except the crisp packet (potato chips). Action figures and such are difficult to track down. I'm looking forward to the Kellogg's cereal box which I will display at home. The only original merchandise I have is a Polydor Temple Of Doom LP. two Marvel comics from '84 and a couple of novelisations. Impressive, eh? :( :( :(

[ReggieSnake]

All I want is TOD score on CD & maybe LC expanded score on CD

Me too...

Heh,Good enough indeed.

Sophia Hapgood was in the Fate of Atlantis and Infernal Machine video games.As well as the FOA comic adaption.If you havn't played Fate of Atlantis do yourself a favor and buy one on ebay,Because you are really missing out on an incredible Indiana Jones experience!
Let me chime in and say get the Talkie version. The original game is brilliant and all, but the game doesn't work nearly as well without the excellent voice-acting.
Thanks! I'll have to check that out, hopefully I can find an affordable copy on ebay sometime.

[Lambonius]

Me too...



Thanks! I'll have to check that out, hopefully I can find an affordable copy on ebay sometime.


And if you can't, it's pretty easy to find a copy less than legitimately online, even the talkie version, if you know where to look...;)

[No Ticket]

Hey, I was a little kid when the last one came out, but...

Don't you think marketing was just as intense on the last one as this one? The only reason it seems like Indy hasn't been getting attention is because they had nothing in particular to be marketing for quite some time until now. I remember YIJC being on Pizza Hut cups. So I mean, who cares? As quickly as it comes it will probably go. Enjoy it while it lasts. Indiana Jones is finally getting attention again.

[Benudo]

I have a couple of those cups.

I think there's merit to both sides of this discussion. For me, there's something attractive about the idea of being able to collect nearly everything available about a fan interest (though I'm not a huge Indy collector). That stopped being possible with Indiana Jones a long time ago (as impressive as many fans' collections may be). Maybe it was possible with Lord of the Rings before the movies, but that stopped being possible very quickly, too. For this to be true for any fan interest, it has to be pretty niche, and heaven knows there are plenty out there.

And, let's face it, even if Indiana Jones is to Star Wars what Canada is to the United States, these movies are still some of the biggest, most iconic films of all time. There's bound to be merchandising.

I guess my biggest point of sympathy with the original post here is that if you see something unique online or in an antiques store, it's a neat find. If you get in off the shelf at Wal-Mart -- one of millions out there -- well, you can enjoy it, because you do have it. But there's a difference between having something vs. collecting.

If there's any way in which I wish the Indiana Jones brand was diluted, it's that I wish a lot more films were made instead of waiting almost 20 years for the next one.