The Internet can be a scary place before you become familiar with it. Learning to navigate through sites can be difficult and frustrating. So many sites are extremely competitive and offer very little on content. One of the first sites I visited was The BBBCLUB. This site was interactive; it offered content, humor and an honest approach to collecting.
The BBBClub was the first site that published articles by Ms. Janie. It has been a pleasure working with this site and watching it grows! When I initially accessed the site in January of 97, the site had a little over 14,000 hits, I viewed that as a heavy hitting site and continued to come back for more. Due to hard work and the constant effort of trying to stay current, the BBBCLUB now has received over 1017742 hits!
Mr. Jones and I worked together for six months before we actually met. After meeting Mr. Jones I quickly realized that not only was I working with a man of integrity, I was also working with VERY colorful person. Mr. Jones at times reminds me of Red Skelton, always joking, comical and difficult all rolled into one! He was just the right person to bring the Ms. Janie name to life. He should be viewed and credited for the Ms. Janie name and for what it stands for.
Mr. Jones has a special knack with words, he could turn a grey day on the net into something comical. He is very opinionated but offers good advice. (In other words) He always has an explanation for everything! He and his wife (Sandy) are the nicest two people you could ever meet. Their children are actively involved with the site and offer a kid's viewpoint. Their talents far exceed those of most kids net related.
1. When was the BBBCLUB started and why?
It all started one summers day in 1996. I'd been coding for a
few years by then and it weemed like a fun thing to do for my
kids and their neighborhood friends. Most of them hadn't really
seen the internet, much less an actual __Coder/Webmaster__!!!<Holy
FTP, Batman!> They thought it was magic just to see their names
on the internet.......and simply being in the presence of one
who's "Hands had been touched by the Virtual Gods" left
them in awe......PLUS, they all listened really well for a few
days. I figgered I was on to something here........what with being
a parent and all. As the summer passed, more friends came by,
we added their names as well as a few cool little HTML code thingies,
and now the page filled up an entire 14" monitor SCREEN!
At that time, my daughter Heather had ONE Beanie named Tabasco, as well as one of them thar Dalmatian dogs (later identified as a TY PLUSH critter bought at a yard sale for $3 sith a 1987 tush tag). Now that I had a clue that there WAS such a thing as a Beanie Baby, I started seeing more of these danged little critters laying around in heaps of "Kid Trash"…….I think I threw INCH out the window at least 4 times while cleaning out their room……..HEY! What did I know????
By September, we'd made a few more purchases of these danged TY thingies, but as usual, "Dad" was clueless, what with being a 60's/70's kind of guy. Around that time, my lovely wife, the formidable Mrs. Jones (see: PitBull w/Lipstick), joined in with the kids on these so-called Beanie Hunts. Before I knew it, we had more Beanies laying around the house than cobwebs and dead mice caught in glue traps. As October rolled around, it was time for "Good Old Dad" to join in the family fun………and we were off on weekend junkets buying Beanies. I couldn't understand it at the time…….spending money on these little bean critters, all the time thinking how much BAIT they'd buy for a true fishing expedition. In spite of my usual male ego, I went along…………..heck, it was worth a little peace and quiet to keep the troops calmed down, and I have to admit….Beanies really didn't take up a lot of space.
By mid October, our weekend Beanie excursions were a regular family past time……..but I had a limit of one per kid per trip. After all…..they were everywhere, and the stores couldn't get rid of them at the time. By the end of October, we had a dozen or two of the little critters, and I could see things were taking a serious turn. At that point, even "I" was looking at them seriously, especially since I'd gotten my own Beanie…….it was named Graciea, Goorsoobiea…no….it was Garcia……and it fit right in with all the Grateful Dead albums I had. (For the younger crowd, back in the Stone Age, music came on pieces vinyl plastic imprinted with etchings that, when played on another obsolete piece of equipment called a "Turntable", emitted sounds closely approaching that of todays CD players…. Except for the constant hissing, popping and skipping of the needle as it danced across the top of the scarred vinyl plates). I was sold. Beanies were happening, and I was part of the "In" crowd.
On November 1st, the BBBClub had grown to several screens in size, and it had been submitted to the major search engines a few weeks before. You could type in "Beanie Babies", and see FIVE actual results: TY, BeanieMom, LemonLainey, Kim & Kevin, and the BBBClub. Our shingle was hung up for the public to find. We were one of the few, the selected, the Beanie Addicted!!!!!! The Beanie Baby Buddies Club was "Happenin", as my kids put it. Little did we know where this was going to lead……..
2. What were some of the items featured on your site from day of conception and how has it changed?
The very first item we had up was our Members Table (then considered slightly cooler than the BIC pen). Each and every person that joined our club got a special spot on the table, along with a link to their Email address if they wished to have it included. For the life of me, I can't remember what else we had going………….oh, we "horked" a few Beanie pix along the way from some of the other sites before lawsuits became the order of the day, but mostly things were oriented to writing to anybody else that liked Beanies and wanted to Email someone about them.
By December of 1996, we'd actually had members from the rest
of the US, and I started taking the whole thing a little more
seriously. It was never a case of putting up an entire site immediately…..we
just sort of grew into things as interest grew. On December 25th,
1996, after checking the Email box, we realized we were part of
a phenomenon that we hadn't even imagined existed. Half of America
had gotten both Computers with Net access as well as Beanie Babies
for Christmas, and we were on our way. It was time to start hammering
out some serious HTML code.
3. In your opinion, how has collecting Beanies differed in
the past year?
Oi vey………how to answer this one without offending anyone. I'm not sure if I can. The days of our family junkets are long over. If you want to keep up with current releases, you need to be part of a network of Beanie Hunters with cell phones that can let you know when and where shipments arrive, and you have to get to those destinations quick. Two hours can make the difference between a Great Day and a Goose Egg. Most of the Beanie Collecting Community has already purchased the current line, and are looking for those New Releases and Hard to Finds. One of the most surprising things I've seen is the fact that recently RETIRED Beanies still line the shelves…………something that you never would have seen a few years ago. I can't even begin to answer that one…….although I will say that Gobbles the Turkey is probably the most complex, attractive, and difficult to manufacture Beanie ever made. If you want a Beanie that will live for a long time and can be brought out seasonally as a festive decoration for the holidays, this is the one upon which I'd place my money. Then again, I bought an Edsel (See:Cars/design/failure)
I can't speak for the entire country, but as I talk to the local store clerks and sales people, they keep wondering when this Beanie phenomenon is going to die. The collectible shops are used to fads that come and go quickly…..usually measured in months. This is a fad that just won't die in their eyes…..even if things have slowed down considerably from the initial onslaught of early 1997. Beanies still sell, they are still a draw, and without them, many stores wouldn't have been able to stay afloat or at least enjoy the profit margins that have kept their business equitable. The moe expensive collectibles like Hummels, Franklin Mint editions, etc, will always exist, but they have not historically provided the rapid cash flow of TY products.
The Secondary Market has made major purchasing inroads, the
likes of which have never been seen before in a collectible market
at these levels of volume. TY Bears, in particular, have become
a rarity in the local stores, if not virtually impossible to fine
outside of the secondary market. I support the good old US of
A , capitalism, and the basic laws of supply and demand, but when
the kids are removed from the $5-6 market for their favorite collectible,
I don't see how this can benefit anyone in the long run. Personally,
I'd like to be a Beanie collector for years to come…….but
I have not, and never shall, spend more that $6 for a Beanie Baby.
My sincere apologies to any that are offended by this comment.
The most wonderful thing about our country is our ability to live
side by side despite our differences of opinion or beliefs.
4. How did Ms. Janie get to be part of the BBBCLUB?
Janie Daniels. Sheesh. (See Keywords: driven, sleepless, relentless, , ultra-intelligent, resourceful, honest, friend, mother, trustworthy. Janie was one of the first folks to join the BBBClub in 1/97. She'd just gotten one of these computer thingies hooked up to the internet…which she often confused with a hairnet. The first Emails I received from Janie usually consisted of things like "HELLO. ARE YOU THERE? I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING. IS THIS THING ON From there on, the phrase "Uphill Battle" ought to ring a bell. Janie is one of the few people I've met on the net I can rely upon, as honest as the day is long, as driven as they come, but……well…sadly lacking in technical expertise in the early days. Originally, she was looking for newspaper articles to save for her kids scrapbook. Like the fool that I am, I asked her to try an write up a few of her comments in the form of an article…….what the heck….she was of voting age, had an interest, and could spell 9 out of ten words correctly if'n they weren't over 6 letters!<Grin> That, my friends, was all it took. Janie embarked on a career of writing about Beanie related items as fast as she could. I STILL have a number of her first articles….used them to cover the holes in the bathroom wallpaper. They're still there, albeit a tad faded. And yet Janie never stopped growing…….if she didn't know how to do something, we worked together till she got it right. To this day, I will __NEVER FORGET__ her saving some data to a floppy disk……and she was concerned that the little silver door kept moving…so she super-glued it shut just to make sure the data didn't get corrupted. Dear god……she couldn't understand why I spent $20 on the fone bill laffing with her on the other end over a floppy disk and super glue!!!! Since then, Janie has become a master of hardware installation, software installation and debugging and the updated internet article, providing more personal posts and information than anyone I can think of in the Beanie world! It's been my pleasure to HOST most of her articles on the BBBClub for the past two years, and we have worked together on a daily basis ever since. We've both had to deal with a number of unscrupulous individuals over the years (You KNOW who you are), but we have always been able to work together honestly and truthfully. (Oh god…if I keep this dribble up, I think my Guinea Pigs are going to break into tears…). Our families have become the closest of friends, we never have the time to see each other often enough, and have learned to rely upon and trust each other implicitly.
5. What are the most visited section on your page?
Although traffic visitation rates vary depending on the current relelase of TY news, the main draws on the BBBC site are Janie's Articles, the Monthly Contest, Mrs. Jones Library, the Wishlist, Cool Things To Do, Beanie Vital Statistics and the Game Zone. Many have accused me of making the site hard to navigate…. and it's quite true. I don't implement the latest in HTML technology……….but there's a reason or two for this. First, reading is FUNdamental…….don't look for a picture to click on….read and find what you want. Second, as a kids site, research is one of the primary tools of intelligence. Like my old friend Albert Einstein once said, "You don't need to know it, you just need toknow where to find it". What a great guy….I sure do miss him and his wit. Third….I hate Frames…….the bane of the net. Again, though….nobody said I was right…..those are just my opinions and the way I prefer to run things.
6. What is your opinion of counters, forms and guestbooks?
OK…one at a time…..Counters: If you're a commercial site, your clients NEED to see the kind of traffic that flows through your site to determine if it's worth their advertising dollars. The problem with that is…..I can find more ways to cheat on a counter than Carter has Little Liver Pills. Never count on a counter. The BBBC site has a counter that just bounced over one million hits…..but it's about the 4th one I've installed, no two have agreed, and I can't see the point unless it's for commrcial purposes or an ego trip. The only reason I keep one up is because "JANIE TOLD ME TO!" (hehehehehe) Since I don't run a single commercial ad these days, it's unimportant whether 2 or 2,000 people stop by per day. The info is there…use it as you see fit! <Grin>
Forums: They have their uses…..but just like newsgroups, they get over run with spam and people selling. The whole idea of the net was information exchange, and in the beginning, that's what folks did in our Forum. Now, it's just another place to post your latest Infomercial. The other problem encountered with Forums is arguments/wars items that don't deserve our consideration. My advice: never contribute to an on-going fight of any kind. Let it die down, and get back to exchanging information, not using it as a used car sales lot.
Guestbooks: Nice, great idea for kids sites, but they really don't provide a valuable resource.
7. How active is your family involved with the BBBCLUB?
Mrs. Jones works with me daily. We have well over 150+ pages loaded all over the place….the logistics of keeping track are beyond belief……….especially for someone like me that has a hard time opening a jar of mayonaise (as she reminds me daily: "the mind is a terrible thing to baste".). I may do the code, but Sandy keeps track of what's working, what isn't and what needs updating. Things have evolved FAR beyond my kids ability to keep up with the Club…..it was one thing when we had a few messages a day for them, but there's far too much information flowing for them to even begin t keep up with it. We have encouraged them to work on sites of their own on other topics of interest…….Creatures (Norns), Titanic movies, Bead art, etc. Places like Xpage are a wonderful place for kids to put their minds to work in a way the youth of today can utilize, without having to know 300 lbs of HTML code.
8. Due to high traffic, how do you handle request for links?
Golly Gee, Batman…….I don't want to sound like a
miserable old geezer….but we must get 20 requests a day for
links, and there's only so much a Bat-Coder can do!!!! I DO try
to keep in touch with some of the folks that have been friends
of established sites over the years….but there's FAR too
many for any person to keep updated without making it a full time
job. We can't link to everyone, and don't expect everyone to link
to us….but on the bright side, we DO carry a link to a site
that has over 3,000+ Beanie sites in it's library. I do my best
to help out where I can, but it's rough re-inventing the wheel
on a daily basis.
9. What is your opinion of the Internet? Is it as effective
as the experts clams and how has it grown in the last two years
since your site was first posted?
In my humble opinion, when we started our site, it was the ending of the elder days, and the beginning of the younger days. When I started out here in the earlier 90's…a 14.4 modem was the connector de jour….and a 28.8 was reserved for those folks with Mucho Dinero. The internet was up and coming, but most of us did our on-line work via local Bulletin Boards and an old thing called FIDO-NET. When you hit the net, it was truly a place for information exchange. Grey backgrounds, black text, and sites were rated on information content, not graphic layout or dancing monkeys. We looked for DOS/Win-3.1 device drivers for our old (then state of the art) 486 systems. Everything loaded for internet use involved a configuation from the underworld, and connection reliability was queasy at best.
Today, everything is auto-install, plug and play, and run towards the fun. As graphically pretty as things are now, most content is oriented towards sales instead of free information exchange. Although I may long for the old "Grey days" of the net, I wouldn't go back for anything. Connectivity options, resources, reliability and information are at an all time high. The main limitation, as I see it, is throughput. Phone line modems just don't cut it, especially with the graphic/multi-media nature of the net. Once we all get set up with Cable Modems and the lightening speed at which they can transfer information, the net will truely blossom into it's full potential. I may be one fo the first ones to sound a __GEEZER ALERT__ for the old days, but this is the most exciting time in our existance to experience to explosion of technology beyond our wildest dreams. It's good to be alive today.
10. What is the motivation that constantly encourages you to
operate the BBBCLUB?
Well, it sure isn't the PROFIT motive!!! J If anything, it's just to keep a pulse on the upcoming technological advances of our age, and I am the first to say I am falling behind faster than I care to admit Even so, it's a challenge to keep up with the newest form of communication in the world, and besides, it beats the pants off of watching reruns of Gilligan's Island and Hogan's Heroes. On top of that, I don't expect Beanies to be around forever, and I have a number of personal agenda's I'd like to persue in the areas of marine conservation, fishing, and aquatic sciences. The day you stop learning, the day you stop trying, is the day you have died….you just ain't quit breathing yet.
I realize that this interview was a little lengthy, but Ms. Janie's Collectors Studio will offer LOTS of content. Sorry folks, I can't resist, if you want a description of Mr. Jones, look up windbag in the dictionary.
I'm hoping all of my featured sites for the month will offer the same humor and inside information. This part of my website is not for selling or promoting products, it's about the people who collect these products. It's important to be professional but at the same time not to lose site of the fun, excitement and challenge collecting any product can bring.
I would like to thank Randy and his family for this interview and allowing me to share our working experiences. I'm sure you will agree, when I say Mr. Jones is truly a colorful character! Something ALL of us could use a little more of in our everyday lives in dealing with the Internet and collectibles.
