Erfworld Merchandise Ideas

[Scientivore]

I don't think that I've mentioned this here yet. COMIXTALK has an interesting article, Abandoning Micropayments by Joel Fagin, that discusses some of the tools, techniques and benefits of selling a downloadable collection of larger, higher-quality pages.

Oddly, that article doesn't mention Goblins. I think that The Book One Package was the first webcomic collection that I ever bought, back in May 2006. Between the low price, easy gratification -- downloading 86.3 MB isn't literally instant but it was close enough -- and a bunch of extras (including a nine-page bonus comic), it was much easier for me to pull the trigger on that purchase than on print collections...even Amazon-discounted ones.

I have an agenda. I'd been assuming that I'd prefer a print collection. I just realized that I might rather have bigger, higher-quality source material for my remixes. Someone else might rather have a bigger, higher-quality copy than the web version to keep for re-reading at a lower price than a print collection. You might rather like the economics of the distribution model. I don't know but I figured that I'd throw the idea out there since it's still not very common.

[Hell Puppi]

Plushie dragon/ gwiffon, ftw.

[SteveMB]

...who would pay good money for a "Charlie's Archons" T-Shirt?

Expand that last shot from page 69 to be full-body, on a nice light blue shirt. It'd be genius.

Or maybe even, put them in the pose, small on the front and give full panels to the three attacks on the back.

Yes, I think it's just begging for a T-Shirt.

Posted here from another thread, and seconded.

[Chocowatte]

I really really would love one of those dwagon plushies... especially if it was munching on the head of a gwiffin (so just the body stuck out). Maybe have the gwiffin body pullable... on a retracting cord... and as the cord rolled back 2 things would happen:

1. The dwagon would vibrate (you've maybe seen children's pullable toys that do this "wiggle")
2. It would make Dwagon munching sounds (oh the humanity!)

Mmmm... toasty.

On a personal note... my 2 Erfworld shirts arrived today: "Plot!" and "Universal Goblin Solidarity" (Go Gobwins!).
Muhahahahaha! More black shirts for kitty-hair sacrifice!

Erm... *cough* You can find yours at the Erfworld Virtual Con Booth - http://saratrice.com/erfshirts/

Enjoy!

Sincerely, Chocowatte

[Morchaint]

I have to stick my oar.. or is it two cents?... anyway. I think shirts that say boop would be VERY funny. buttons of boopness. :D

[Baru]

I would like to see ...

... a copy of Parson's tabletop game.

[Justyn]

I've got one: a collectable/trading card game.

[continuumc]

I'm pretty much just going to state my support for some ideas that have already been stated.


I think all of these would be awesome...
-"I'm a tool!" shirt with picture.
-Erfworld game. I was actually thinking while reading the comic "man..this game would be awesome.."
-know your elves shirt.
-various "boop" quotes merchandise.

[targetpractice]

i would buy a t-shirt for me and all my freinds (if i had the money) if it had the when life gives you crap/make crap golems or in the second comic when lord manpower the temporary gets hit with the arrow and all he says before he dies is "i taste key lime pie" with him with the arrow in his head below the qoute.
i just think that would be cool aahh... nerdgasm

[Occasional Sage]

Also, I foresee a hilarious t-shirt.... Perhaps the front reading "Erfworld wocks!" with a couple of fuzzy, hooded faces peering over the top; the back would then Read "!skcow" followed by the backs of the fuzzy bodies seen from the front, and finally "E".

Hopefully that will make almost as much sense to you as it does in my head.

Yeah. Erfworld plus Star Wars reference equals I would buy it.

[martingale]

How about an Erfworld TV series?

I know - it sounds pretty far-fetched.

But check this out:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,1907799.story

Due to the Hollywood writers strike, television executives are becoming desperate for material. See "TV Shows See Strike As a Second Chance" p. B1 The New York Times.

You've got some good material here - maybe you could get one of the networks to buy in and give you a production budget. I don't want to exaggerate your chances - even with the strike it's still probably a 1 in 100 kind of thing, if even that. But the payoff could be huge.

[KitsuK]

Ah, merchandise. Assuming I acquire any money reasonably soon (Mayhap that's what I'll tell my buddy to get me for Christmas,) I want a Dwagon. Everyone said it, I know. Okay, off to original ideas...

Hmm, okay, off humour for a second, referring back to page 32, http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html and we're talking about panel six here-I like quotes that are unexpected or thoughtful, too, and... "There is no "Good" or "Evil" here, smart guy. That is a myth. That's propaganda."

Something in that quote's been pulling at my thoughts for the past few days. It showed a depth that wasn't really there in the plushies and such, up until the commentary post-Misty. I like quotes that make me think. A design of that panel with the quote somewhere would be awesome.

[Unicorn Latte]

(Sorry if this has come up before, but there's so many old posts to read through!)

I deeply need an Erfworld tabletop strategy game. The comic has me dying to play a hex-based, turn-based strategy game, and everything like that is WW2 or other such dreck. Since there's an RPG for OoTS, it makes sense....

[Justyn]

Adding along with the Erfworld plushies: Dwagon-blimp plushies. They would be rather easy to make...

[Justyn]

Here are a couple ideas:

Compile the Hamstard strips.

Rather than making one big rulebook that compiles all the rules of Erfworld, at least initialy, release different parts of the rule system online as, for instance, PDF files. (Examples: Combat Mechanics, Magic System, Encyclopedia of Creatures and Races, List of Characters, et cetera.)

[Gathers Scrolls]

I think stickers would be a good piece of swag. Possibly postcards, also, or just mini-posters.
As far as copyright issues for gwiffons . . . I don't think gwiffon items are that similar to Peeps. Peeps have a blobbish, half-melted hershey's-kiss appearance. Gwiffons are much thinner, and the animal's body's edges are squared-off and not very rounded.
Instead of the soap, maybe there could be gwiffon pencil-toppers or erasers that smell like marshmallow?
And I second [third? tenth?] the motion to have an actual board-game!

[Stallogarro]

Seriously, I'm just waiting for the appearance of a "Erfworld Fangame Design". After all, in the [new strip] threads a lot of people are seriously calculating different stats and powers of units and characters.

And completely off the wall merchandise-wise but still: I think Erfworld would be a kick-boob animated TV-series, in a short-epidode format like the ones in Liquid Television...

[Syraider]

is cool this xD

[Jarelk]

I fully support the idea of an Erfworld Hex-based Turn-based tabletop game or computer game.

I also like the idea of Cloth Golem/Dwagon plushies.

[surrealize]

I'd totally go for a Jetstone radish shirt like the one Webinar wears.

If someone's not familiar with the comic, then it just looks like you're wearing a shirt with a big radish on it, which is random enough to be cool in my book.

[Occasional Sage]

I mentioned this in another thread, but for the sake of having everything in one place:

When a dead-gump version of Erfworld is made, I can and would happily pay for a special, limited-edition version similar to the books printed by Subterranean Press if not actually from them. Signed is cool, nicer binding (leather?) would be great, and any "extras" like concept sketches or storyboards or such included at the end of the book would totally rock my socks.

[Kilbia]

PLUSH GWIFFONS WILL BE TRICKY TO DO WITHOUT GETTING IN TROUBLE.

Sorry; I just wanted to make sure that sentence wasn't lost. This past Easter I was poking around my local Target and I saw plush Peeps for sale. So unless they make sure the Gwiffons aren't too much like Peeps, that one may not be feasible.

Though of course it means anyone who wanted plush Gwiffons can just wait till next Easter and they'll almost assuredly be selling plush Peeps again.

[Occasional Sage]

*snip* until we have the Erfworld book out. And at this rate, that's early 2009. *snip*

[forced casualness]

So, um, is there maybe a preorder list? I'd be very interested in knowing something about the format, estimated price, signing policy (can we ship them to you and have it returned cod?), etc.

[/forced casualness]

Rob, Jamie, this news (even as inexact as it it) makes my booping day.

EDIT:

When a dead-gump version of Erfworld is made, I can and would happily pay for a special, limited-edition version similar to the books printed by Subterranean Press if not actually from them. Signed is cool, nicer binding (leather?) would be great, and any "extras" like concept sketches or storyboards or such included at the end of the book would totally rock my socks.

I'm too attached to this idea to let it go. Anybody else interested?

[SteveMB]

PLUSH GWIFFONS WILL BE TRICKY TO DO WITHOUT GETTING IN TROUBLE.

Sorry; I just wanted to make sure that sentence wasn't lost. This past Easter I was poking around my local Target and I saw plush Peeps for sale. So unless they make sure the Gwiffons aren't too much like Peeps, that one may not be feasible.

Though of course it means anyone who wanted plush Gwiffons can just wait till next Easter and they'll almost assuredly be selling plush Peeps again.

Unless somebody has a trademark on the basic "peep" form (which I rather doubt, considering how many variations of it I see), that's not an issue (as long as you don't duplicate any one particular design which might be narrowly trademarked).

[OverWilliam]

I would so buy a Cloth Golem plushie.

[Justyn]

Some of this stuff has been said already.

• Hardback, or even leather bound, version of the dead-gump collection.
  
• Compile the Hamstard strips into a book.
  
• I've said this once, and I will say it again: rulebooks for the workings of Erfworld. Things like the world mechanics, a compendium of different creatures of Erfworld (Men, Marbits, Dwagons), a book on the magic system.
  
• Also, I would think that Erfworld would adapt very well to a miniature wargame, ala Warhammer (40k or fantasy).
  
• I saw an idea for an artbook (character designs, places, old sketches, et cetera), I think that this is a good idea.
  
• Things like keychains with the characters on them, plushies, stuff like that.
  
• If there are things that you only sell at conventions, set it up so that we who cannot for various reasons attend the cons, can buy them online; but make it so that the ones that are at the cons are different than the ones sold online.

[dr pepper]

Hamstard stress toy.

[Richbin]

A few collectible souvenirs
Bogroll orly basters... and pigeon pie molds.
Wanda's walking staff.
Eyemancer books that do a sound and can text to each other.
At the very least a skin for IM chat that could do the same.

[hiigaran]

I would buy a shirt that says Erfworld on the front, and then has one of the panels from this comic running across the back. The the art of Erfworld is very powerful and I would love to see art heavy shirts. Furthermore I don't think oots style one liner shirts are quite in keeping with the sophisticated style of the comic. It would also be nice to see any shirts with simply a character name and one of their more iconic pictures on the back.

[Anderic]

well i agree, that anything w/ the slogan "When life gives you crap, make crap golems." would be a good sell.

something Super easy and cheap would be to market 3-d glasses. you could possibly even sell them with small boxes of an off brand lucky charms.

One thing that really drew me to Erf world, (no pun intended) was that the world was based on a turn based video game, similar to the fire emblem games.
I don't know about the rest of the ppl out there but i wouldn't mind an Erf World Video game... but i know this is an expensive item and not necessarily a realistic possibility.

um refridgerator magnets are always cool too, maybe one with Webinar saying "This isn't Water" that might be funny.