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Thoughts On The End Of "Hyperspace"
May. 6th, 2010 07:19 pmYesterday came the announcement that Hyperspace, what they're calling the fourth incarnation* of the Official Star Wars Fan Club, is being shuttered. Members as of 5/4/10 will get a final fan club kit with long-expired coupons sometime in 2015 and will enjoy perks shared by 30,000 other fans at Celebration V. The blogs will remain up and running. But the yearly $14.95 dues will be no more.
Hyperspace was conceived in 2003 as a way to provide exclusive news and video to eager fans dying to get news from the set of ROTS. For its time, it was a good idea even though a lot of people complained about having to pay for the cost of exclusive online content and a magazine subscription.
But some things have changed since then. First of all, ROTS came out and that left no more SW movies. Sure, there was Clone Wars but a lot of it was kept under wraps right up until it came out. And what could you show? Some bored animator in front of his Mac with the screen blurred? Not as sexy as catching Hayden Christensen in costume. The live action show is still at least two years away. I guess. Maybe.
There was no YouTube in 2003 but there is now...any "exclusive" video would be up on YouTube within minutes where everybody can see it for free.
It also seemed to me that over time the fan club became an afterthought to Lucasfilm staff, as though there was no real passion for it, or there wasn't really any time or enough staff to give it enough attention and come up with innovative ideas. People seemed to have lost interest and I know a lot of long-time fans who have cancelled their membership years ago. I only kept mine to get into the breakfasts at Comic Con and for Celebration "perks."
Finally, it may very well be that the very concept of a fan club is outmoded. Fan clubs were traditionally there for the most diehard of the diehards, where you got your extra fixes via newsletters. In return for your loyalty, you got exclusive goodies. Now the internet provides more SW than you could ever possibly want from a zillion different outlets. Most of us who are the diehards of the diehards go to starwars.com all of the time anyway. Most of us go to Celebration regardless. Mere participation and consuming stuff defines the fan now, not membership in a small club.
Maybe Lucasfilm will reinvent the fan club at some point and introduce a new version that makes sense for the current age. Or maybe not and this is really the end forever.
*The incarnations of the Official Star Wars Fan Club:
1. The Official Star Wars Fan Club 1978-1987
2. The Official Lucasfilm Fan Club 1988ish-1994
3. The Official Star Wars Fan Club v 2.0 1994-2003
4. Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club 2003-2010
Hyperspace was conceived in 2003 as a way to provide exclusive news and video to eager fans dying to get news from the set of ROTS. For its time, it was a good idea even though a lot of people complained about having to pay for the cost of exclusive online content and a magazine subscription.
But some things have changed since then. First of all, ROTS came out and that left no more SW movies. Sure, there was Clone Wars but a lot of it was kept under wraps right up until it came out. And what could you show? Some bored animator in front of his Mac with the screen blurred? Not as sexy as catching Hayden Christensen in costume. The live action show is still at least two years away. I guess. Maybe.
There was no YouTube in 2003 but there is now...any "exclusive" video would be up on YouTube within minutes where everybody can see it for free.
It also seemed to me that over time the fan club became an afterthought to Lucasfilm staff, as though there was no real passion for it, or there wasn't really any time or enough staff to give it enough attention and come up with innovative ideas. People seemed to have lost interest and I know a lot of long-time fans who have cancelled their membership years ago. I only kept mine to get into the breakfasts at Comic Con and for Celebration "perks."
Finally, it may very well be that the very concept of a fan club is outmoded. Fan clubs were traditionally there for the most diehard of the diehards, where you got your extra fixes via newsletters. In return for your loyalty, you got exclusive goodies. Now the internet provides more SW than you could ever possibly want from a zillion different outlets. Most of us who are the diehards of the diehards go to starwars.com all of the time anyway. Most of us go to Celebration regardless. Mere participation and consuming stuff defines the fan now, not membership in a small club.
Maybe Lucasfilm will reinvent the fan club at some point and introduce a new version that makes sense for the current age. Or maybe not and this is really the end forever.
*The incarnations of the Official Star Wars Fan Club:
1. The Official Star Wars Fan Club 1978-1987
2. The Official Lucasfilm Fan Club 1988ish-1994
3. The Official Star Wars Fan Club v 2.0 1994-2003
4. Hyperspace: The Official Star Wars Fan Club 2003-2010
