# Things that you wouldn't think would gather a huge fan following **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282 "2011-02-22T21:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/41 "2011-02-23T15:04:31Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > But answering the title question: Boba Fett. That stumps me completely. I actually a thread about this awhile back: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587572&highlight=Fett](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587572&highlight=Fett) Anyway, it seems that his legendary status has a lot to do with the fact that early on the only way to get his action figure was to send in a certain number of proofs of purchase. This generated a certain amount of cache for his character. Interestingly enough, he was first seen in the now infamous Holiday Special. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/42 "2011-02-23T15:09:15Z")
Re: Boba Fett – in 1979, there was [an advance promotion](http://theswca.com/images-speci/mailaways/fett.html) that Kenner Toys was putting on featuring the Boba Fett action figure. If you bought four Star Wars action figures, you could mail in the proofs-of-purchase and receive the Boba Fett action figure that was then unavailable in stores. Keep in mind that this was a year in advance of _The Empire Strikes Back_’s release, so there was the anticipation of the movie itself buoying the limited release of the action figure. I really think it was the early rarity of the Boba Fett figure, and this popular mail-in promotion, that cemented Boba Fett as something of a legend. I think Boba Fett’s rep was much more made as a toy than as a film character. EDIT: joebuck, you might enjoy [this site](http://theswca.com/images-speci/mailaways/index.html). I vaguely recall that Bossk was also a mail-in action figure, but I forgot about Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nuub. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/43 "2011-02-23T15:10:25Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I used to moderate a pop music forum and there were some intense, detailed and very in depth discussions about things that non-hardcore fans would never ever consider, things like which order singles are released from an album, release dates, obscure mixes, analysis of every shot in a music video, endless chart position talk etc. For music that is supposed to be one of the lightest, least pretentious genres, there are a surprising amount of people that will treat it like Very Serious Business indeed, and yes I am one of them. Before I found out that this fandom existed I thought I was the only one (aside from people who actually, you know, work for record companies and get paid to care) obsessing over all this stuff. I don’t want to hijack things, but is this forum still around, or something with similar discussions/information? Private Message me if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/44 "2011-02-23T15:13:57Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > - A&E’s Hoarders TV show. I enjoy watching it, but it boggles my mind that it’s become a huge cult hit and the most popular show on A&E. With so many reality shows to choose from, it’s fascinating that one about these incredibly strange, dysfunctional people would strike such a cord. Oh, I can totally see that. It appeals at multiple levels: 1. People seeking help. Hoarding is really a major social problem that has gone under the collective radar for generations. I’ve heard of people like this for years, but never knew a word for them. People watch to see how they might help the hoarders around them. (For the naysayers out there, I do know people like this.) 2. People who see elements of hoarding in themselves. Every time I watch that show, I think of something I have–some tucked away box or a subset of books or whatever–that I will probably never want or need and can dispose of. Less charitably, a cluttered person can see it and say to themselves: “I may be bad, but Lord, I’m not that bad.” 3. This all builds on the trainwreck mentality that made Jerry Springer a rich man and has kept \*Cops \*on the air for 20+ years. Yeah, \*Hoarders \*is not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![tellmenolies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tellmenolies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellmenolies)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/45 "2011-02-23T15:33:47Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > You can add my best friend to your Frasier cult. She rarely watches TV, and owns no DVDs except for the complete Frasier series. She just pops a Frasier into the DVD player every night before bed. > > Things that have a bigger fan following than I would expect: > > - A&E’s Hoarders TV show. I enjoy watching it, but it boggles my mind that it’s become a huge cult hit and the most popular show on A&E. With so many reality shows to choose from, it’s fascinating that one about these incredibly strange, dysfunctional people would strike such a cord. > > - Modern Broadway musicals. I remember how surprised I was to learn that the relatively recent version of The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway had a huge devoted fan base. There are other musicals that have a similar cult following. > > My personal cult is the Colbert Nation, but that’s neither a small fan base nor very surprising. **Raises hand** I’m guilty of Frasier and Hoarders. Frasier was just intellectually funny and Hoarder just amazes me how some people live. I once seen the inside of a cheerleader’s (pro sports!) car that reminded me of Hoarders. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/46 "2011-02-23T15:46:28Z")
Video games. Okay, I guess I can see the games with more complex storylines having fanfic (like Mass Effect), but…Sonic? Really? I mean, I’ve known of said fanfic since 2003, but it still baffles me. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/47 "2011-02-23T15:57:29Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Video games. Okay, I guess I can see the games with more complex storylines having fanfic (like Mass Effect), but…Sonic? Really? > > I mean, I’ve known of said fanfic since 2003, but it still baffles me. There’s Solitaire fanfic. I think it’s a joke (never actually read it), but it exists. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/48 "2011-02-23T16:00:09Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > I found it very weird and bemusing when the guy who couldn’t sing from the American Idol auditions had enough of a fan base to get a CD released. Was his last name Hung? > > So weird. Why listen to someone who can’t sing when there are so many fabulous singers in the world, most of them without recording contracts. He made a Christmas CD - Which I have because I collect Christmas CD’s from unlikely recording artists. \*\* “Hung for the Holidays”\*\* :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/49 "2011-02-23T16:00:42Z")
There is also a surprisingly large amount of [Minesweeper fanfic](http://www.fanfiction.net/game/Minesweeper/), although I think it is all meant to be tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/50 "2011-02-23T16:06:35Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > _Tries to imagine the sort of people who would write fan-fiction about Sarah Palin, Barack Obama or Dr. Ron Paul…_ I was briefly picturing Obama/Paul slash fiction, but then this happened: > [@joebuck20](#): > > Well, you have to check this out then: > > [ComicsAlliance - Comic book culture, news, humor and commentary.](http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/20/steampunk-palin-comic/) Thank you, **joebuck20**. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. > [@madmonk28](#): > > He had a cool outfit and didn’t he have some wrist mounted weaponry? That’s kind of cool to a 10 year old. Didn’t Boba Fett’s initial fanbase consist of ten-year-old boys? I know I thought he was The Shit. When he flew over to the skiff in Jedi, I remember getting all excited. Here was the epic Luke Skywalker/Boba Fett fight I’d been waiting three years for. And then he went down like a punk. That cured it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/51 "2011-02-23T16:08:52Z")
I love musicals. I love Jane Lynch. I do not get the whole glee thing. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/52 "2011-02-23T16:12:37Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Video games. Okay, I guess I can see the games with more complex storylines having fanfic (like Mass Effect), but…Sonic? Really? > > I mean, I’ve known of said fanfic since 2003, but it still baffles me. but Mass Effect doesn’t have its own cartoon series to create characters and plots and whatnot ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/53 "2011-02-24T02:16:00Z")
No, but it does have a series of novels. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/54 "2011-02-25T14:27:32Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I love musicals. I love Jane Lynch. > > I do not get the whole glee thing. I just saw a rerun of The New Adventures of Old Christine were Lynch plyed a teacher who is exactly like her glee role. I can see why she was cast. She is damn good! ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/55 "2011-02-25T19:56:44Z")
You can count me in as another Fraiser fan. I think its the disdain shown by some characters for their over the top pretention that cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/56 "2011-02-25T20:21:28Z")
The _Anne of Green Gables_ books by L. M. Montgomery. Yeah, it’s a reasonably readable young-adult fiction series, and I read them all myself in my tweens, but they’re not especially any more interesting than, say, the _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_ stories by Kate Douglas Wiggin or E. Nesbit’s books. And ZOMG is that Anne-girl ever one sickening, saccharine, self-absorbed twat, especially as an adult. How I used to long for Gilbert to boot her ass out the door and settle down in well-deserved whimsy-free peace with the housekeeper Susan, who’s the only woman who ever did a hand’s turn of real work around that house. Yet those books, translated into dozens of languages, have made Prince Edward Island a global tourist destination and Japanese women with dyed “Anne-style” red pigtails flock there to stage their weddings. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/57 "2011-02-25T23:31:58Z")
Another one: A little background first: I like to read samples of bestsellers from given eras. Usually, when I’m on vacation, I check out the new paperback section of say an airport bookstore and get a few mass market paperbacks. I do this because I want to stay current with what’s hot in fiction. After reading Harry Potter, I was very impressed with the story, plot, writing, characterization, etc. etc. Overall, I was very impressed with what Ms. Rowling accomplished. Fast forward a few years: So then I read Twilight. It was absolute dreck that I thought was written by a high school student, and not the well-educated British ones either. It was full of grammar mistakes, bad plot, repetition, and poor writing that I was amazed it managed to get off the slush pile. If course, you know how that turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/58 "2011-02-26T01:07:21Z")
Back in the mid to late 90s there was a small but thriving fan community for the so-bad-it’s-good USA Network TV show “Swamp Thing.” I know, because I was part of it. We all knew the show was terrible, but there was something so fiendishly over the top about Mark Lindsay Chapman’s Dr. Arcane that just really did something for us. We wrote fanfic (I never did, oddly, but a couple of friends wrote some very good stuff), traded tapes, and generally obsessed about the show. One thing that was cool about it was that all of the folks who were regularly involved were literate, well spoken, decidedly non-“fangirlish” and actually wrote some pretty insightful stuff about that silly show. 😃 Sadly, one of the two main fanfic writers (who I actually got to meet when we took a trip to England in '97) died of cancer in around '99. The group kind of fell apart after that. Wow, I just checked: her [Swamp Thing fan page](http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~ishtar/) is still up. I think her family maintains it as a kind of memorial, since it was so important to her. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/59 "2011-02-26T03:17:49Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > I can’t understand why anyone watches or plays Pokémon past the age of 13. Yet a lot of the adult friends of my girlfriend (who is strongly entrenched in the anime culture) are big fans of it. It’s obviously targeted toward young children. Aimed at kids or not, the games are quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Zoinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zoinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoinks)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282/60 "2011-02-26T03:30:59Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Video games. Okay, I guess I can see the games with more complex storylines having fanfic (like Mass Effect), but…Sonic? Really? > > I mean, I’ve known of said fanfic since 2003, but it still baffles me. Well, think back to the 80s, when video games cost serious money and the only way to consistently get new games was to trade them with your friends. Back then, kids would play the living hell out of a game because it was basically 1/4 of their entire gaming library. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of that obsession translated into fanfics. Plus there are the comics and the tv show, as stated previously. > [@Maiira](#): > > No, but it does have a series of novels. Which were utter shite. Okay, number 2 sucked slightly less, but god did it still suck. I remember getting the first one because I figured, hey, the lead writer wrote a pretty decent plot, so he probably can do an okay novel. I wasn’t stupid, I didn’t expect One Hundred Years of Solitude, my highest hope was for something on the level of a Shadowrun or Dragonlance novel, though I prepared myself for a crappier David Eddings. How naive I was. Apparently that game writer guy is decent at plotting but when it comes to the actual task of putting down words one after another (i.e., 90% of writing), well, he falls far short. Sometimes I think his bookie was after his gambling debts and he cranked out the novels over one weekend with a case of tequila, but that’s just wishful thinking. I’ve actually been going around telling people that if they’re absolutely curious then they should just pirate the novels lest the publishers think there’s a demand for such crap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-you-wouldnt-think-would-gather-a-huge-fan-following/572282.md?page=4)