MST3K.COM

[MonsterX]

I think the site is a vast improvement, and there’s a lot of room for growth.

With MST amazingly still going strong as a cult phenomenon and continuing to reach new fans thanks to DVD sales, continued commercial activity by its former cast and a huge internet fan base. With the 20th anniversary approaching, the big San Diego Comic-Con reunion and the turnover of MST DVD distribution to the very excellent Shout! Factory there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for the continued growth of the MST3K brand name.

Now what follows is just some quick brainstorming I did in regards to website improvements.

Ideas for the website –

*Polls! I cannot stress this one enough. Polls can provide fun user content while at the same time serving as a way to collect data on what the fans want.

*Links! To classic fan run MST3K sites. Get involved in the MST community!

*Consider doing videos in a more Youtube type format to reach a maximum audience.

*Gradual redesign of the sites art direction to a “classic” MST art style as opposed to the current cartoon one, as people do not associate the cartoony style with the show. In its current implementation I don’t think that the official MST3K site looks like the official MST3K site, which is bad.

*Shorts for viewing, because everyone likes shorts and plus they’re a great introduction for people who’ve never seen the show before.

*More information on the show! Mst3k.com could and should be a one stop shop for all things MST. There should be a detailed show history, episode guide, cast bios, online scripts for different episodes, cast interviews and much more.

Also, the internet is all about social interaction. How can this be incorporated into a commercial website? Maybe a list of every episode with a way for mst3k.com users to rate them on a scale of 1-10, plus comment on them/discuss/add their own reviews via a blog type comment system. (This could be incorporated into the “Episode Guide idea”) Maybe they could allow fans to submit articles, art and what not, and then feature the best stuff on the site.

*An “official” mst3k forum could be incorporated into the site. (coughwerethebiggestandbestmstdisscussionboardonthewebcough)

*Satellite News is the place to go for all news MST related. At the very least there should be an RSS feed from them there on the (redesigned) main page, linking back to their site.

*Cross MST3K cast member project promotion? A little good will goes a long way.

And now, merchandising! Big bold and brassy. MST as an intellectual property is a potential goldmine. Aside for the Rhino DVD’s there’s very little BBI controlled merchandise available to MST’s huge fan base. This should be capitalized on.

Ideas are -

*Models/figures of the bots and the sol. Build-em yourself bots? Tom Servo lamp? Tom servo gum ball machine? Plushies of the bots? A cuddly Killer Shrew? Maybe make a deal with a major cult toy manufacture like McFarland and license a limited edition MST toy line? It should all be strictly quality controlled as MST fans are a sharp bunch and it would be unwise to try to sell them a substandard product. (Internet fanbois can be quick to turn against you if they feel they’re being cheated/looked down on.)

*Better tee shirts, like the classic grey planet logo on a black shirt, and stuff like that. Black shirts with logo and classic quotes. Ok, I like black shirts, but I guess you could have white ones or whatever also. You weirdo. Basically, a merchandising focus on the legacy stuff as opposed to the cartoony planet logo + bots being sold now. What licensed products of other cult shows sell well with low manufacturing costs?

*Posters, not just of MST related subjects but maybe vintage reproductions of the cheesy movies they riffed on.

*Mst3k coffee mugs (with classic logo and a fun quote, collect all 10!)

These are just some random ideas. The point I’m trying to make is that’s there’s a lot of different things that could be done in order to connect with the shows fans in a commercially profitable way.

P.S. Hire me please.

[Captain Hygiene]

I love the idea of poster reproductions. That kind of thing would also make a much easier way to provide interesting alternative prizes for the contests here.

[Tor Johnson]

I had the idea of having MST action figures way back when I first became a fan. Not just of the MST cast but of the crazy characters from the movies. Tor (Lobo), Torgo, Trumpy, Ortega, Krankor, Eye Creatures would all be good. They shouldn't have too much trouble getting them made. I know action figures of Gamera and Godzilla characters would be harder to do. One of Barugon would be cool. "With battering ram tongue action"

I also always wished they would make lounge pants. Thats what I wear around the house and to go for bed. there are so many ways they could go with this. Ones for individual episodes with riffs on them. Or just with the Mads, Mike/Joel & TB would be great too.

Monster X makes a lot of good points. Polls would be a great way for them to collect data from us. I agree, I don't like the cartoon style of the bots now. More black shirts would be great.

[Crowjunkie™]

I saw the Star Trek gifs from this post, and had to add a few.





And finally my last one. It is vulgar, so I made a link instead of posting the image.

[CBG]

Vulgar indeed...

The Picard and Chunk cracks me up.

[Jazzman99]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but is the "Scrapbook" available anywhere on DVD? Is there any reason they couldn't sell that?

[CBG]

I know of no reason other than oversight.
The Scrapbook (in my opinion) is one of the finest
products Best Brains has ever done. Could it have
been slicker? Could it have included more? Probably
on both counts; considering today's technology and
the history that's been made since.
But the Scrapbook is touching on so many levels
for any MSTie. It gives me chills to this day, and
I still get vaclempt every time I watch it.

RELEASE THE SCRAPBOOK, JIM!

[Broadsword]

Aug 20, 2008 7:43:14 GMT -5 Jazzman99 said:

Maybe I'm missing something here, but is the "Scrapbook" available anywhere on DVD? Is there any reason they couldn't sell that?

I bought a copy of the Scrapbook a few months ago from Cheepnis. May not be the same quality as an official release but until that happens it's the next best thing.

[samtaco]

From the MST3K.com newsletter:

Happy Turkey Day, MSTies! This weekend, the Best Brains staff is going to be really busy! Gypsy Jim will drop the endless business negotiations in favor of his favorite recreation - flipping through Apple.com. Tim, aka The Embezzler, will attempt to fleece his relatives with a little poker (using our new MST Classic Playing Cards), and Barbbb, the Betty Crocker of Best Brains, will roll out pie crust to some of her favorites eps, including old VHS versions of San Francisco International and Space Travellers. Over at mst3k.com, we’re selling that nifty autographed version of the 20th Anniversary Volume from Shout! Factory, the new “Push the Button” shirt, and we just added the Classic MST3K Playing Cards. More host segments and other items are coming soon, possibly including some early KTMA footage! Have a great Turkey Day!

[ds_36]

Dec 1, 2008 22:14:58 GMT -5 samtaco said:

...possibly including some early KTMA footage! Have a great Turkey Day!

Ok so I'm one of the people obsessed with finding those 3 missing KTMAs, and I realize that this isn't definite at this point (and rather unlikely that anything but the host segments will be released). But I have to say it's absolutely amazing how much BBI's opinion towards the KTMAs has changed this year. Fairly recently Mallon obviously had no intention of releasing anything from "the dark ages," Even fairly recently people were insisting that there was no way the pilot would ever be released. Then suddenly back in June Mallon reveals his interest in releasing them, followed by the showing of the pilot 2 months ago and now this. Seriously what happened to make them change their minds? Fans have been bugging them about this for nearly 20 years!

Anyway I'll go back to my happy dance ;D and uhh crossing my fingers that this really happens.

[Trumpy's Magic Snout]

Maybe they weren't quite aware as to how much fans wanted to see them until the new ventures opened up some communication channels either via the web or by meeting people at shows. Maybe they just got sick of people asking them! Ha! Then again with the 20th Anniversary maybe they decided to go back and look and were shocked that they're not actually that bad for what they are.

[ds_36]

Apparently despite that newsletter announcing the KTMA host segments BBI still hates th episodes and doesn't want to release them. From B. Ward of Shout! Factory's board (12/8/2008 10:35 AM):

B. said:

As for the pilot, it doesn't look like that's ever going to happen. There are folks from within the series and Best Brains that would prefer the first season be "lost", when it comes to its release on DVD. While it would be great to see the gang doing legit "First Thought Theater," they feel the more polished, scripted seasons are better representations of MST3K. Believe me, we tried for the 20th Anniversary collection.

I know the likelihood of the three episodes being released was low, but I'm really surprised about the pilot considering that it was shown in its entirety. I don't know perhaps what he's referring to happened earlier and no one's spoken to them since, although that seems unlikely since there's already another DVD set coming out.

[Queen Shadowrama]

Dec 16, 2008 23:41:31 GMT -5 ds_36 said:

Apparently despite that newsletter announcing the KTMA host segments BBI still hates th episodes and doesn't want to release them. From B. Ward of Shout! Factory's board (12/8/2008 10:35 AM):

B. said:

As for the pilot, it doesn't look like that's ever going to happen. There are folks from within the series and Best Brains that would prefer the first season be "lost", when it comes to its release on DVD. While it would be great to see the gang doing legit "First Thought Theater," they feel the more polished, scripted seasons are better representations of MST3K. Believe me, we tried for the 20th Anniversary collection.

I know the likelihood of the three episodes being released was low, but I'm really surprised about the pilot considering that it was shown in its entirety. I don't know perhaps what he's referring to happened earlier and no one's spoken to them since, although that seems unlikely since there's already another DVD set coming out.

Now I'm getting frustrated. How could MST3K.com say that we might get KTMA content (thus getting the fans hopes up) and then later backtrack like this? If you don't think it's going to happen, don't say anything! Geez!

Y'know what? No. I'm gonna go with the idea that this Shout! Factory representative doesn't have all the info. Joel released the pilot (presumably with Jim's blessing) and really the only people that stand to lose any credibility by releasing potentially crummy content are the people who were there at the start of the show - namely Joel, Jim, Trace, Josh, and (possibly) Kevin. Since Josh and Trace were present when Joel showed the pilot, I think we can safely say that they're okay with people seeing it. Jim went ahead and hinted at the possibility of the missing KTMA's coming out in some form, so obviously he's fine.

So for the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to continue to hope that the missing three will emerge one day.

[Crowfan]

I have to agree with Queen Shadowrama on this. I wish if they thought there would be problems, they really shouldn't have said anything until it was a done deal.

[brandonakaxerxes]

I think what Shot Factory iss aying is no chance of any KTMA bits being realeased on DVD. Jim probably has no problem with putting clips of the KTMA era on the main site.