As a toy collector, there are certain things you should do: dust your collection regularly, meticulously arrange displays into fight scenes with individual matchups decided alphabetically (or maybe that's just me), and even store accessories in plastic bags organized by line, year, and manufacturer. But the one thing you absolutely must do is donate to Toys for Tots every year. Most of us are able to buy action figures any time we please, yet there are lots of kids out there who don't have that luxury, and you can help give them a happier holiday season by donating a toy. And as if that little smile somewhere out in the world wasn't motivation enough, the "Joes for Tots" contest is here to give you a chance at winning prizes for donating! The subject of today's interview is the contest's organizer, Paul (you might know him from Toy Bender, Poe Ghostal, or The Robot's Pajamas), and he's stepped in to take a few questions regarding this awesome event.
Paul in bed with his girlfriend of 32 years. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."
Articulated Discussion: In case someone hasn't been paying attention, could you describe the "Joes for Tots" contest?
Paul: “Joes for Tots” is a contest where if you donate a toy (or cash) to Toys For Tots, you can win all kinds of great prizes. Basically, the contest exists to both raise awareness for Toys For Tots and to encourage donations to the charity.
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AD: So explain how the idea for "Joes for Tots" first popped into your head?
Paul: In 2007 I was lamenting the fact that the G.I. Joe 25th anniversary seemed to be missing out on targeting kids entirely. I thought there should have been more effort to reach kids. I was also frustrated by the fact that the pegs were empty of Joes in my area and I really wanted to buy extras to seed Toys for Tots with Joes so someday there might be a chance that there’d be a new generation of toy collectors. This in turn led me to think that perhaps there was a way to get others to buy Joes to give to kids, so the contest was born. Of course, it would be dumb to demand that only Joes be donated. Think about all the girls that would be missing out! So any toy is valid to enter.
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AD: It must be a lot of work to run this contest (with all the various banner creations, twitter updates, prize seeking, etc.), so what is it that has motivated you to continue the contest into its second year?
Paul: While it is a lot of work, it’s very rewarding. There’s really nothing like the feeling of seeing the pictures of toys dropped off at the boxes and knowing that they will make some kid out there a little happier. As long as I get the support of the great sponsors, bloggers/site owners, and I get enough pictures of donations, I’ll keep doing it.
I also want to mention that 99% of the banners were created by the most excellent Larry Joe who has helped me out a lot with various projects in the past. Without his help, the contest would have no visual style at all.
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AD: Can you give us any numbers or rough estimates on how many people donated toys via the contest last year? I would imagine this contest inspires a lot of individuals to donate to Toys for Tots who wouldn't otherwise.
Paul: Since last year was the first year I had very low expectations and I would have been happy to see just a few items donated. I was surprised to get a very awesome response. Unfortunately I can't remember how many entries I got, but I think it was close to a hundred.
What was really cool is that a fellow by the name of Sean Hayes was crazy inspired by Joes For Tots and he organized a toy drive with his work and he got a comic store by the name of Comic Evolution to match his donations. They ended up donating about $10,000 worth of toys. In a strange yet neat twist of fate, Sean won the grand prize pack based on the a random number draw.
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AD: What's the funniest picture you received last year, and how can I top it this year? Nudity?
Paul: We didn’t get too many funny pictures last year, except for the one I got of my wife wearing a Santa hat and flipping me off when we went to donate our purchases (not for the contest), but someone sent one in where they are donating their toys with a Tusken Raider. While I do encourage sending in pictures featuring nudity (the female variety), so far everyone has kept it clean. So I guess if you want to top last year, you can be a nude Tuskan Raider.
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AD: If you could keep one of the many awesome prizes, which one would it be?
Paul: While all the prizes rock pretty hard, last year it was the G.I. Joe sets, the Cobra cold weather and desert assault packs, from Brian’s Toys tied with the Bespin Luke from Sideshow. This year I’m pretty fond of the Sideshow Cobra Commander, though the gift certificates from Big Bad Toy Store and 80s Tees would be pretty sweet for my sad, sad bank account. As you can tell I have a hard time deciding.
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So, as a faithful reader of Articulated Discussion, you now have two specific challenges. First, donate a toy to Toys for Tots this year, whether you enter this contest or not. Second, donate to Toys for Tots this year, and take a funny photo of yourself doing it, then send it in as a contest entry.
For all the details on entering, a list of the prizes, and the rules of the contest, you can find the original announcement here. For some interesting updates, you can follow Joes for Tots on Twitter, and then check out Paul at his newest home, The Robot's Pajamas.
And be sure to offer a big thanks to Paul in the comments for taking some time to answer our questions and organize this nifty event.
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