Let's Do This
I've been thinking about this website project for awhile now. I joined the 3A Legion in 2014 and instantly fell in love with the design and aesthetic of Ashley Wood's creations.
As my collection grew, I always thought it was a bit frustrating to find information about specific toys and particularly, the stories. I missed out on the old days of the 3A forums, and message boards were never really my thing. Maybe we can retell some of those stories on this site. So this website is my attempt to do a fan project for the 3A community, and of course, for myself. I'll add content in my spare time as this is a hobby project, but I'd like to see if there are others who would like to contribute. I am delighted at the response I've gotten from some of the best 3A toy photographers online... I'm always looking for more!
What This Site is NOT
This site will not be the place to get breaking news or have lively discussions -- social media does a fine job of that already. I'm hoping this site will become a supplemental resource that can help thread together the stories and connections through the 3A worlds. I'd like to leverage quality photos taken by fans and even some of my own. I will also highlight some of the great 3A toy photographers from around the world.
Isn't All This Info Online Already?
Yes, and the official ThreeA web site was quite good (sadly it is no more, as of this update). I'm sure Ash and his team would love to do more online and expand, but as I've seen over the years and even heard from him firsthand (i.e. at SDCC): he and his team have limited time, resources and people. I've invested countless hours on this site and still have tons of content gaps to fill, toys to add, etc. It takes lots of time and resources to create a highly functional website.
I'm trying hard to make it abundantly clear that this site is not affiliated with ThreeA (3A), Underverse, or Ashley Wood. Of course I would love their blessing and support, but I certainly do not have those expectations. A fan site for fans, by fans.
That's me having the time of my life at the USVENTURE, San Diego, CA 2017 - Photo by Steven Bowman
Gradual Improvements
My background is in web user experience and graphic design and although I'm not a skilled programmer, I decided to take this on as a way to learn and bolster my skillset. I want to make sure we give everyone credit for photos, story content or other information. The old ThreeA Wiki was a great inspiration for this project and I hope to collect and expand on what it started. I'll also continue to investigate how I can open up this project to more contributors as I go along.
Behind the Scenes Tech
In case you are curious... This site was built using a responsive bootstrap theme called SELL. It's powered by Jekyll, which means it's a static website with no database. That means it should always be fast and reliable. For now, this site is hosted on Amazon Web Services (S3), unless it becomes too expensive due to web traffic or whatever. If that happens, I will figure something else out and find a way to keep this content online.
