Mark Bellomo Thundercats figure book?

So I'm guessing most people on this forum probably know who Mark Bellomo is. He's an action figure guru that has put together the most comprehensive toy price guides for the 80s lines of G.I. Joe and Transformers (American releases). I've flipped through these books and its such a treasure trove and a service to those awesome toy lines that he did this. He recently released his new book

"Totally Tubular 80s Toys" - http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Tubular-Toys-Mark-Bellomo/dp/1440212821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294897781&sr=8-1"" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Tubular-Toys-Mark-Bellomo/dp/1440212821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294897781&sr=8-1

It is a little different in that it is not a price guide, and it isn't comprehensive (most toy lines get 2-3 pages of photos, but almost any 80s toy line you can think of has some entry in this book) that does have a short insert on Thundercats (including a short credit to this website for something that I can't remember exactly what it was).

Anyways, while I know we have Bernie'sPiano's book on Thundercats as a whole coming out soon, wouldn't you guys love a price guide/photo album book to have on Thundercats in the same vein as the G.I. Joe and Transformers ones he put out? I know the line wasn't nearly as big as either of the other two he did books on, and I would think Masters of the Universe would be next on his list if he were to do another price guide book on an 80s property. But, would there be fan support for such a book? Would fans here go out and buy it?

I absolutely would. Do any mods or anyone here have contact with Mr. Bellomo to see if he would ever consider putting out a Thundercats guide? I would be very interested to know if he would consider it or not.

"Grune_The_Destroyer, post: 31540" said:

So I'm guessing most people on this forum probably know who Mark Bellomo is. He's an action figure guru that has put together the most comprehensive toy price guides for the 80s lines of G.I. Joe and Transformers (American releases). I've flipped through these books and its such a treasure trove and a service to those awesome toy lines that he did this. He recently released his new book

"Totally Tubular 80s Toys" - http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Tubular-Toys-Mark-Bellomo/dp/1440212821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294897781&sr=8-1

It is a little different in that it is not a price guide, and it isn't comprehensive (most toy lines get 2-3 pages of photos, but almost any 80s toy line you can think of has some entry in this book) that does have a short insert on Thundercats (including a short credit to this website for something that I can't remember exactly what it was).

Anyways, while I know we have Bernie'sPiano's book on Thundercats as a whole coming out soon, wouldn't you guys love a price guide/photo album book to have on Thundercats in the same vein as the G.I. Joe and Transformers ones he put out? I know the line wasn't nearly as big as either of the other two he did books on, and I would think Masters of the Universe would be next on his list if he were to do another price guide book on an 80s property. But, would there be fan support for such a book? Would fans here go out and buy it?

I absolutely would. Do any mods or anyone here have contact with Mr. Bellomo to see if he would ever consider putting out a Thundercats guide? I would be very interested to know if he would consider it or not.

I had that idea when the site first started but being that it is very expensive to publish the book balckiecats and I came up with the online toy guide as an alternative to a book. You can essentially take the entire toy guide and make an entire book out of it but the problem would be if there is enough demand out there for something like that. My best guess is probably not since it is available for free online.

I'd like to see a complete Thundercats toy guide in book format but unless someone is willing to put up the capital to get it done Im afraid it will only be available in online format. Thats ok because we know the content is out there for everyone to see and it doesnt cost a dime :)

"Grune_The_Destroyer, post: 31540" said:

that does have a short insert on Thundercats (including a short credit to this website for something that I can't remember exactly what it was).

I'd be interested to know more on this :)

I'll try to have a look at the book over the next couple of days to see what it was that he attributed to this page, but I want to say either the announcement of the new series or the new toyline.

Also, Manny while you are correct that this site is a one stop shop for most all of the figures, it still isn't a tangible book I can pick up and read and flip through the beautiful photos. Something about a website doesn't quite have the same feeling of gratification as one of Bellomo's price/toy guide books (no offense meant).

Interview in the link below from Nov 2010 says he is trying to fund his website, www.markbellomo.com, to be a one stop shop database for almost every single action figure line you can think of up and running by March 2011: Megos, Joes, Transformers, Thundercats, Star Wars, MOTU, etc. He wants it to be a free archive with photos similar to his books.

http://generalsjoes.com/2010/11/05/generalsjoes-conversation-with-mark-bellomo/"" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://generalsjoes.com/2010/11/05/generalsjoes-conversation-with-mark-bellomo/

Since Thundercats by comparison is quite a bit smaller of a collection to MOTU, Transformers, and Joe, I doubt it would take 256 pages to cover the entire toyline (the minimum he says needed to charge $24.99 to a buyer). So perhaps the page count and cost could be somewhat reduced. Or if he's got to get to that page count, maybe he could do a Thundercats/Silverhawks/Tigersharks combo book: "Rankin Bass 80s toys" or something like that to draw in more fans.

I'd at least like to know if he would even consider doing a book on it if anyone knows how to contact him.

"Grune_The_Destroyer, post: 31540" said:

But, would there be fan support for such a book? Would fans here go out and buy it?

I would surely buy it. And I am sure there are hundreds of TCats fans who would do too.

"Grune_The_Destroyer, post: 31569" said:

it still isn't a tangible book I can pick up and read and flip through the beautiful photos.

Totally agree. There is no stopping the digital medium, especially with its ease of use and cost effectiveness. But I still prefer gazing photos through a gorgeous printed hardcover book.

If not Mark Bellomo or any other publisher, how about self publishing? I would easily pay up to $50-$100 for a hardcover edition of a ThunderCats Action Figure Guide even if it's just 100-150 pages. Maybe Manny C and blackiecats will consider it, if there is enough fan support on this forum. Of course getting rights and licensing fees would be the major hurdle here.

http://www.lulu.com
http://www.blurb.com/

Pricing
https://support.lulu.com/View.jsp?procId=49bbc167ce33751cc301faf089b32b5f&locale=en_US
http://www.blurb.com/create/book/pricing


http://www.thundercatslair.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2578
Here is the original thread discussing this topic from 2008

"Grune_The_Destroyer, post: 31569" said:

I'd at least like to know if he would even consider doing a book on it if anyone knows how to contact him.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Bellomo/746576317
He is on Facebook.

http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/c/completistPublications
Duncan Jenkins and Gus Lopez worked on the book "Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles'. I would love to see ThunderCats get a similar treatment. They recently released another book titled "Guide to Star Wars Prototypes".

I had been thinking about a book like this also and even priced it out, i am friends with the graphics guy (Mattias) who helped with Gus's book. Thought it could have other toys and collectibles for Thundercats and not just the figures or the ljn line.

Its a dream but we'll see how much the costs are, i think if independant collectors worked on it and pre-sold them with a completed mock up then it could be affordable. Wouldnt want to sit on a pile of books :)

"Spideristic, post: 31576" said:

If not Mark Bellomo or any other publisher, how about self publishing? I would easily pay up to $50-$100 for a hardcover edition of a ThunderCats Action Figure Guide even if it's just 100-150 pages.

$50 is pretty steep, and I can't see many copies selling for $100. Somewhere in the $20-$50 price range I think is the limit you could expect to sell any sort of significant number of these. Also I don't know what sort of copyright discussions would need to take place, but that would probably need to be considered.

Also, if its not Bellomo and it is a fan made book, The photos would need to be taken by someone who really knows how to operate a DSLR (if not a professional). I agree with Manny in that it would be costly, and they would have to print quite a few and sell quite a few in order to make money at the $20-$50 price range. Now probably isn't the time to put a book out, but I'm thinking if the series is a hit, and the fan base starts growing significantly, that this absolutely should be revisited.

I'll also message Mark and see if I get a response from him on Facebook.

Hi Guys

Spoke with the guys involved with Gus's book, it was 40k to have 3000-5000 copies made not including other costs involved. Maybe that is high for TC collectors in terms of how many to print. I asked a relative who does graphic design and has printer contacts, with 50 pages printed on each side it's about .65 cents a page or $6500 for 100 books.

Probably a cheap way of doing it, I know there is an international gijoe guide with a coil bound that seems ok but could still cost a decent amount to print. Printing is not cheap I guess.

Dang, so about $65 per book just for the printing (not factoring in any royalties that would have to be paid to whoever owns LJN and/or WB). Bellomo I know uses his own figs for his photos, but wondering if he does the photography himself? If so that's a way he can save money. There has to be a way to do this cheaper. The G.I. Joe books are about $25 and I'm sure they are making money on it (proof being that Bellomo is talking of doing a 3rd edition of the Joe book in a couple of years).

There has to be a way to do it cheaper and still turn out great.