Email from Val Staples

Thought I'd pass along these emails before I log off the internet.....I'm not sure what to make of the link up with He-Man.org and exactly why Val would be interested in that kinda thing....

"JVS3" said:

That sneakpeak should really put the Lair on the map in a big way and
I think that's awesome! :-)
All the pop culture sites are running the news and sourcing you guys.

But, and I apologize for stepping out of turn here and offering my
unsolicited opinion, you gotta tell Manny to nuke that voicefile on
the main page. :-D
Or at least make it optional to play. Like a burst in the corner
that you click on that says "Click here to hear a message from Lion-O himself!"
That embedded stuff is SUPER annoying when it's forced on a
user. It's loud, and they have to hear it again, and again, and again...

I've got nothing but love for Manny, and know he's a super nice
guy. So I hope he knows it's not personal when I make that suggestion. :-)

"Neil" said:

Thanks! however we didn't really do much as it was a forum member who leaked the pics and info. However that said we totally wasn't expecting the happenings of today....we were prepared for all this kicking off at New York Toyfair next month!

Nah your definately not out of turn as it's your opinion. However I didn't realise it was still on autoplay?? When I load the front page on Firefox it doesn't autoplay so I didn't know..... I don't think it matters anyway since v3.0 of the site is just around the corner, so those bugs will be nuked anyway very very soon.

"JVS3" said:

You are going to be at Toy Fair?

I hope your site development is easier than the Org.
It's painful how much we have to do. :-D

BTW, I wanted to talk to you guys about doing a Ring link across the top.

Some guys do this who start up multiple sites, trying to do all the properties and make money. But I think for guys like us, where we specialize in just one site, we could get together with all the best sites, and be in one link ring to put at the top or bottom of the page to help play off each other's web traffic.

My initial reaction is somewhat cynical, when it comes to Val. Has he noticed we are getting heaps of traffic and wanting to use us to further He-Man.org? Though I guess in turn it would be a great opportunity for us based on the traffic He-Man.org gets....

I haven't replied to his second email about the link up yet ;) Thought I'd get the teams thoughts first.

"blackiecats, post: 31954" said:

Thought I'd pass along these emails before I log off the internet.....I'm not sure what to make of the link up with He-Man.org and exactly why Val would be interested in that kinda thing....

My initial reaction is somewhat cynical, when it comes to Val. Has he noticed we are getting heaps of traffic and wanting to use us to further He-Man.org? Though I guess in turn it would be a great opportunity for us based on the traffic He-Man.org gets....

I haven't replied to his second email about the link up yet ;) Thought I'd get the teams thoughts first.

I look at it as a mutual thing...yes, we get tons of traffic but in the end he-man.org takes the cake in that area. Both sites would benefit greatly...just look at what happened when other websites were linking back to us...imagine the traffic we would get if we link up with he-man.org.

I'd say lets go for :thumbsup:

Chris here...

My take on this is that Val is trying to make use of all the traffic we've been getting in the past couple of days (Val Staples is for Val Staples! ;) ), and to be fair to him I'd probably do the same thing! :D

I'd be tempted to look into this as an idea, simply because I think we'd stand to gain a lot more than we would lose by having any sort of affiliation with the most high-profile and successful 1980s-property-based site on the Internet. :)

I wouldn't want the link to ruin the look of our lovely new front page, LOL! ;) But yes, I do think this is an idea worth considering - and, it's very flattering that Val should ask us, I think it should give all the team an indication of where we stand not just on the ThunderCats side of things but in terms of 1980s cartoon sites in general! Val Staples is looking at us as an equal to He-Man.Org, and that's a big deal! :thumbsup:

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 32079" said:

Chris here...

My take on this is that Val is trying to make use of all the traffic we've been getting in the past couple of days (Val Staples is for Val Staples! ;) ), and to be fair to him I'd probably do the same thing! :D

He's definately an opportunist ;)

and yes I was taken aback by his emails, they came out of nowhere (but then so did the ThunderCats reveals!)

I think this is something we should go for, but I guess it has to be placed with the ads not to spoil the front page. I think we should go for it as we have a lot more to gain (and nothing to lose)

I have a feeling Adam Tyner has spoken to him about our relaunch ;)

Chris here...

Just wondering if anything further ever came of this? :) Even though knowing Val as I do I think he's looking out for his own ends, nevertheless I think this could have benefits for this site. Anyway, no worries, just wondered if anything else ever came of it? :)

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 33877" said:

Chris here...

Just wondering if anything further ever came of this? :) Even though knowing Val as I do I think he's looking out for his own ends, nevertheless I think this could have benefits for this site. Anyway, no worries, just wondered if anything else ever came of it? :)

Take care... :)

I was waiting on a yay or nay from the whole team, but not meaning to sound rude, but if the rest of the team don't reply I'll just take that as being they have no strong opinions on the matter.

So we can go for it :)
Merged Post:
Update:

I contacted Val, and it seems they have in mind exactly what we were concerned about with this....

"Neil" said:

Hey there,

Apologies for the late response, things have been a bit hectic! The team all
agree that we'd love to team up with He-Man.org and place mutual banners on each others sites. Though everyone's main concern was the placement of the banner....we'd like to place our banner on the right side of our front page
(likely in the current space of the Groupon Ads)

I'm assuming you have been in contact with a Transformers and GIJoe site
too? Also is Emiliano gonna whip up the banner?

Anyway we are definately on board, so you can sign us up for this webring!

Neil

"JVS3" said:

We were thinking something identical to a network strip across the top of everyone' site,
like the ones across the top of Hiss Tank:
http://www.hisstank.com/

"Neil" said:

See I think this is what everyone assumed it would be. There was concern of cluttering the page with ad banners. I don't mean to be rude (so please don't be insulted by this!!) but one of the major stipulations of the front page redesign last year was not to have so many ads everywhere like He-Man.org (it was actually an heavily debated issue at the time, with some folk not minding banners and ads, while others strongly against any on the page at all!)

I'll get back to the team with your example of the banner and see what they say. I will be back in touch asap!

Neil

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 33887" said:

I contacted Val, and it seems they have in mind exactly what we were concerned about with this....

Urgh, yeah, I wouldn't want a strip like that across the top of our site - I'd be happy to place a He-Man.Org link in a prominent place near the top of the right-hand-side where a lot of the front page ads are, but for myself I wouldn't be keen on a strip like Val's suggesting. :(

I wouldn't even want to do it for Angie's site, and the difference between her and Val is that I actually like her! ;)

What do the rest of you guys think, don't let me influence you if you think it would be a good thing. :)

Take care... :)

Yeah be cool for everyone to vote on this one. We can then make a solid decision on what the majority think.

In the meantime I'd like MannyF's take on it since he designed the front page and it's his work we'd be potentially ruining! ;) I'll cast my vote based on what Manny has to say.

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 33904" said:

Yeah be cool for everyone to vote on this one. We can then make a solid decision on what the majority think.

In the meantime I'd like MannyF's take on it since he designed the front page and it's his work we'd be potentially ruining! ;) I'll cast my vote based on what Manny has to say.

I definitely agree with all your comments here - with no disrespect meant to the others, at the very least I'd like to hear from MannyF, MannyC, Nick and Mark as they're the most active members of the team, but of course as always I'm after as many opinions from within the team as possible! :)

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 33905" said:

Chris here...



I definitely agree with all your comments here - with no disrespect meant to the others, at the very least I'd like to hear from MannyF, MannyC, Nick and Mark as they're the most active members of the team, but of course as always I'm after as many opinions from within the team as possible! :)

Take care... :)

I'd also like Kyle's take as it's in his court being the sites resident artist....could you possibly get his opinion via txt message? :)

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 33909" said:

I'd also like Kyle's take as it's in his court being the sites resident artist....could you possibly get his opinion via txt message? :)

Yep, I can certainly ask him - truthfully this is something I'd like everyone's opinion on, but know how busy Kyle and Matt both are. :) Anyway, yep, leave it with me and I'll get in touch with Kyle and ask his view! :)

Take care... :)

This sounds like a great venture...more traffic is better

Chris here...

Just wondering if any of the rest of the team have had any thoughts about this? I'm being a total hypocrite pushing on this point because I must confess that I haven't yet contacted Kyle about it - but, I just wondered if any of the rest of the team had any strong opinions? :)

I must admit from a technical (design) standpoint I have no idea how we'd even go about adding the strip at the top - I could do it in a regular HTML/CSS site no problem, just not so experienced with WordPress. :(

I'm also asking myself how the strip itself would work given that at the moment it's only He-Man.Org we'd be talking about linking to - surely for such a thing to work there would need to be mutual consensus amongst a handful of sites to cross-promote each other (for example, He-Man.Org, ThunderCats Lair, a G.I. Joe site, a Transformers site, etc.), if the sites couldn't all agree to work together, then surely the whole thing would fall through? :confused:

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 34748" said:

I'm also asking myself how the strip itself would work given that at the moment it's only He-Man.Org we'd be talking about linking to - surely for such a thing to work there would need to be mutual consensus amongst a handful of sites to cross-promote each other (for example, He-Man.Org, ThunderCats Lair, a G.I. Joe site, a Transformers site, etc.), if the sites couldn't all agree to work together, then surely the whole thing would fall through? :confused:

Take care... :)

It's not just He-Man.org. I believe other sites are interested.

I am concerned about the banner though....I really don't think it will look good at the top of page and will look an eyesore! :(

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 34750" said:

It's not just He-Man.org. I believe other sites are interested.

Are they sites we'd want to endorse though? Likewise, are they sites that would want to endorse us? My biggest practical concern (aside from the aesthetic issues you mention) is the fact that unless you have a round-table discussion between the various parties concerned, there's a risk that you're siphoning traffic away from your site to somewhere that you don't want it to go. :(

At the end of the day we've always been in charge of who we link to on this site, whereas I think this idea would see us surrendering that jurisdiction - if, say, a M.A.S.K. site or BraveStarr site wanted to become part of this webring, how would a decision be reached as to whether they could or couldn't become part of it? What would happen if three sites who were already part of the webring wanted to accept the new member and two didn't, does it have to be unanimous, is it a majority vote, is one person in charge? :confused:

I realise I'm making heavy weather of this, but I just see it having the potential to cause complications. A lot of websites would jump at the chance to grab some of He-Man.Org's traffic, but with the amount of exposure we've had + the fact that ThunderCats is the hot property at the moment means we don't really have to think like that. I do think there are benefits to be had from this idea but I do also have concerns too. :(

"blackiecats, post: 34750" said:

I am concerned about the banner though....I really don't think it will look good at the top of page and will look an eyesore! :(

Yeah, I have similar worries, although I'd be prepared to cast those aside if I was 100% sold on the idea and didn't have the reservations I mentioned above... :(

Take care... :)

Val sent this to me:

Emil and I are planning to pitch some design work to Warner Bros for Thundercats.

Could we get your help with compiling character/vehicle info, as well as getting good cartoon/toy photo reference? :)

Please lemme know, and please do a reply all if you would so Emiliano is included.

Thank you!!! :-)
...Val...

I'm not sure if this was intended just for me (it was sent to me via my personal email address) or if he is referencing material on the site, but I felt like this should be intended for Chris or Neil. I'm probably going to reply back and tell him to contact you guys, if that is okay.

"Manny, post: 35564" said:

Val sent this to me:

I'm not sure if this was intended just for me (it was sent to me via my personal email address) or if he is referencing material on the site, but I felt like this should be intended for Chris or Neil. I'm probably going to reply back and tell him to contact you guys, if that is okay.

Val has my contact info and if he'd done a little research he'd have known to contact Chris (cartoon) or MannyC/Myself about Toys. It comes across to me as lazy on his part. I'm also not sure I'd be up for helping them get 'paid' work....what would be in it for us? Not a good start in asking for help Mr Staples....:rolleyes:

Chris here...

"Manny, post: 35564" said:

Val sent this to me:



I'm not sure if this was intended just for me (it was sent to me via my personal email address) or if he is referencing material on the site, but I felt like this should be intended for Chris or Neil. I'm probably going to reply back and tell him to contact you guys, if that is okay.

Yep, that's fine by me - thanks for letting us know, Manny! :)

"blackiecats, post: 35571" said:

Val has my contact info and if he'd done a little research he'd have known to contact Chris (cartoon) or MannyC/Myself about Toys. It comes across to me as lazy on his part. I'm also not sure I'd be up for helping them get 'paid' work....what would be in it for us? Not a good start in asking for help Mr Staples....:rolleyes:

I agree with everything you're saying here, Neil - to be honest if I was going to pitch to Warner Bros to do with ThunderCats I'd want someone from this team to be doing it rather than helping Val & Emiliano instead! ;)

Certainly if he'd like to use any of the material that's on this site he'd be more than welcome and I can certainly send some good quality screenshots (from the 1980s cartoon) over to him without too much hassle as I have a bunch of them archived! :)

However, if he's wanting me/us to actually compile whole fresh material for him (such as freshly-written character bios, etc.) then I'd want something in it for me or (preferably) this website, as with the greatest of respect to him Val has never done any favours for me (even when I've asked him). ;) Not quite sure how I could say "no" mind you, but still... :)

Also, just as a side note - I did actually receive an e-mail from Val a couple of hours ago! He's asked me where I've gotten to and wants to check that I'm OK as I haven't posted on He-Man.Org for a long time - basically because last time I was there it was stinking up the place with some of the rude ****s who were posting there! ;) Still, I was quite shocked to actually receive an e-mail from him - guess maybe he's leading up to asking me about this...? ;)

EDIT: Just an additional thought - rather than say a flat "no" to Val, is there any way we could use this situation to our advantage? For example, is there any way that Val and/or Emiliano could help us, contacts they may have that we could use for this site, even getting Emiliano to do some illustration work for us, something like that? Like Mr. Staples, I too am an opportunist!! ;)

Take care... :)

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

I agree with everything you're saying here, Neil - to be honest if I was going to pitch to Warner Bros to do with ThunderCats I'd want someone from this team to be doing it rather than helping Val & Emiliano instead! ;)

I don't begrudge anyone showing initiative and getting an opportunity for work. However I have a small insight of the inner workings of Val. The blunt and straight to the point verdict is he uses people. At the same time he likes to take all the credit.

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

Certainly if he'd like to use any of the material that's on this site he'd be more than welcome and I can certainly send some good quality screenshots (from the 1980s cartoon) over to him without too much hassle as I have a bunch of them archived! :)

It's your call, but I wouldn't do him any favours. His game is starting to fit into place. I've been thinking about it on and off over the course of the evening and now I'm wondering if a potential pitch has been in his mind since day one of linking to this site in that webring.....we are the no.1 site for ThunderCats and it would bode well for us to be on board to promote a ThunderCats comic....

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

as with the greatest of respect to him Val has never done any favours for me (even when I've asked him). ;)

I agree. Not that I think moderating should be seen as a privelage or make you better than anyone else....but I always think that you should have been asked to be a mod on He-man.org in front of me. You were a long time upstanding member and were overlooked. I've never liked that fact :mad:

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

Not quite sure how I could say "no" mind you, but still... :)

I would. Just simply say "Sorry I'm too busy with other stuff now" (which isn't a lie anyway. Especially since you sing live in public more often, than most pop stars! :D

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

Also, just as a side note - I did actually receive an e-mail from Val a couple of hours ago! He's asked me where I've gotten to and wants to check that I'm OK as I haven't posted on He-Man.Org for a long time - basically because last time I was there it was stinking up the place with some of the rude ****s who were posting there! ;) Still, I was quite shocked to actually receive an e-mail from him - guess maybe he's leading up to asking me about this...? ;)

Ah so the guy has done some research at last? ;) It's just a precursor to the next act of asking your help ;) His first email to me came across that way.

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

EDIT: Just an additional thought - rather than say a flat "no" to Val, is there any way we could use this situation to our advantage? For example, is there any way that Val and/or Emiliano could help us, contacts they may have that we could use for this site,

To be honest I'm not sure Val really has anything I want....the only thing he can help with is traffic to be honest. More folks visiting is cool, but I'm happy with things right now and bending over backwards for Val isn't worth what we'd 'possibly' get in return....maybe it's worth humouring him though to see exactly what he plans to put on the table......

"He-Fan, post: 35585" said:

even getting Emiliano to do some illustration work for us, something like that? Like Mr. Staples, I too am an opportunist!! ;)

I'm happy with Kyle's art. I'm not sure what Emiliano could contribute to anyway?

I'm sorry if I sound bitter toward Val. I've just grown accustomed to how he works from various sources and he's not the best person to work with. That's why I'm always very skeptical and paranoid when it comes to him ;) In closing he hasn't bothered to contact me again (maybe because I didn't jump when he proposed the webring?)

Chris here...

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

I don't begrudge anyone showing initiative and getting an opportunity for work. However I have a small insight of the inner workings of Val. The blunt and straight to the point verdict is he uses people. At the same time he likes to take all the credit.

Well, to be honest, this is what He-Man.Org is built on. He & Emiliano take all the credit for it and use it for kudos but in actual fact the people submitting content to it are the fans - hell, with all the "We need your money" drives that Val & Emiliano have done, the fans have even paid for it too! :p

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

It's your call, but I wouldn't do him any favours. His game is starting to fit into place. I've been thinking about it on and off over the course of the evening and now I'm wondering if a potential pitch has been in his mind since day one of linking to this site in that webring.....we are the no.1 site for ThunderCats and it would bode well for us to be on board to promote a ThunderCats comic....

Agreed! :)

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

I agree. Not that I think moderating should be seen as a privelage or make you better than anyone else....but I always think that you should have been asked to be a mod on He-man.org in front of me. You were a long time upstanding member and were overlooked. I've never liked that fact :mad:

I think the reason I was never asked was because Val & I have never gotten on too well for whatever reason - I think he detects in me someone who sees him more for what he is, and whilst he's probably come to think that of you too, perhaps with me it was more obvious? I know I'd only been posting on He-Man.Org for a few days before I had my first run-in with him, back when he was "just" a Mod (and Adam & Matt were the Admins).

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

I would. Just simply say "Sorry I'm too busy with other stuff now" (which isn't a lie anyway. Especially since you sing live in public more often, than most pop stars! :D

LOL, yeah, true! :D

To be honest, if he really does want me to write something or create new material for him & Emiliano from scratch, I really don't have the time or inclination - I've too much that needs doing for this site, my "ThunderCats time" is all taken up here! ;)

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

Ah so the guy has done some research at last? ;) It's just a precursor to the next act of asking your help ;) His first email to me came across that way.



To be honest I'm not sure Val really has anything I want....the only thing he can help with is traffic to be honest. More folks visiting is cool, but I'm happy with things right now and bending over backwards for Val isn't worth what we'd 'possibly' get in return....maybe it's worth humouring him though to see exactly what he plans to put on the table......



I'm happy with Kyle's art. I'm not sure what Emiliano could contribute to anyway?

Oh don't get me wrong, I would always want to use Kyle 101 times out of 100 - my only thought re: Emiliano was purely knowing how much Kyle has on his plate, if we ever needed anything doing and Kyle just had too much on. I actually think Kyle is a superior artist to Emiliano as well (and will have a better career)! ;)

"blackiecats, post: 35592" said:

I'm sorry if I sound bitter toward Val. I've just grown accustomed to how he works from various sources and he's not the best person to work with. That's why I'm always very skeptical and paranoid when it comes to him ;) In closing he hasn't bothered to contact me again (maybe because I didn't jump when he proposed the webring?)

LOL, yeah, Val is basically an asshole! ;) All I'd ever be interested in regarding Val is what I could use him for, even if it did involve some sort of pro quid pro situation, but yeah, I'd never be inclined to do him a favour out of the goodness of my heart! ;)

Take care... :)
Merged Post:
Chris here...

Just an update on this - I've struck up a dialogue with Val on this subject and have asked him what sort of reference material he's looking for. I've told him that my spare time is very limited but if he can LMK what he's after, if I have it already sitting on my hard drive I'll e-mail it over to him. :)

I've thought long and hard about this over the past few days, and even though I have no loyalty to Val & Emiliano, I feel there may be a benefit to this site if they were the ones who got the new comic license - because in that way, we would have an already open channel of communication with the creators of the new comic, which could have benefit to us. Either way, for the sake of just exchanging some e-mails, I felt it was worth exploring, I can always BS my way out of it if it gets too much by saying I'm suddenly busy! ;)

I did suggest to Val that if he wanted I could look over anything he were to submit to WB to see if there was anything that leapt out at me that could be improved from a "ThunderCats authenticity" POV - again, in the interests of him owing me a favour! ;) He was very appreciative of this but said he'd probably want me to sign an NDA - this is something I'd be wary of doing without reading the small print and fully understanding what I was signing, so if I'm not 100% happy he'll have to pass on that offer of help, I really don't want to have a brilliant idea for a ThunderCats story and end up signing away my ownership of it! :D

Anyway, just thought I'd keep you guys in the loop! :)

Take care... :)