Studs Up

As I mentioned last week, Paul and Ian – the creators of the new (as in, released a week ago) No. 1 Fan football toy – had been in touch about their new release and even sent me a couple of samples look over (one United version and one Chelsea). Quite honestly, my gut reaction upon seeing them for the first time was “Hahaha what the ****?”. But after an afternoon mucking around with it, I’m sold. It’s a well built, very well thought out, fun little product.

Its creation is a familiar tale; Paul was looking for a unique football gift for a mate and couldn’t find anything interesting beyond the usual club-shop merch.

So he decided to invent one. “Necessity is the mother of invention”, etc etc etc.

The result? A singing, dancing, 23cm tall football fan holding a scarf. If it sounds novel it’s because it’s meant to, and a visit to the No. 1 Fan website probably gives you a good idea of just how much thought and effort has gone into a seemingly simple product (a lot). The quality of the graphics and production values of the website is shockingly high, usually my first indicator of people who know what they’re doing, and they go one further by having a whole video trailer for the thing. A video trailer… for a football toy…

They’ve acquired official licenses for the first four clubs (predictably, the Big Four) and stuck them in the official club shops, and are working on the rest of the league as well. I’ve just been really impressed by Paul and Ian’s dedication to their idea, it’s simplicity, and their attention to detail in building it.

The toy itself is large (23cm) and feels well constructed. While not heavy, it certainly has a reasonable weight to it. The kit feels like a kit, the jeans feel like denim and the scarf is soft. Again, small details to execution that I don’t think will go unnoticed. The guy even has a triple chin and a beer gut. He doesn’t appear to be drunk off his arse, but I’ll forgive that for now.

What got me really giddy is the series of club-specific chants and songs that the toy belts out, and dances to. I managed to occupy myself for a good hour or two in the afternoon finding different ways to annoy friends and family by silently sneaking the toy next to them and blasting them with a song. Other times, I simply stood there in front of people with it on the palm of my hand, singing and dancing, until I was told to go away or face dire consequences. This is what happens when you put something like this in the hands of someone who draws cartoons for a living.

Most people I know have the same gifting dilemma Paul did and end up just giving their mates the new club kit season after season as a birthday present. Just like football itself, the No. 1 fan does a good job of straddling the line between a toy adults and children alike can enjoy. No small feat, but just reward for the time, effort and presumably money that Paul and Ian have put into bringing their vision to life.

Photos of the little guy in action, as well as posed next to a bottle of Tobasco for some reason, below. You can check out more about the history and other stuff at the No. 1 Fan site.