Some of you have been asking and maybe others are wondering where did all the reviews go primarily on the new releases. As a Fossil fan & collector I’m honored that other fans have reached out asking where these went. Truly honored! With that in mind I wanted to officially post a response because there has a been a shift in the type & frequency of content published on our site.
Read MoreEvery February 10, I like to take some time to give an update on how things are going here in the home of the Underground Fossil Collectors Club. A time of reflection, updates and maybe even some ideas for the future. Just to preface - 11 years ago I started this website as a shout out to other collectors of Fossil stuff to build a community. Stuff is the official term that encompasses advertising, catalogs, limited editions, men’s watches, ladies watches and packaging all from Fossil. Over the years we’ve uncovered a lot of amazing collections.
Read MoreGreetings Fossil Fans. We’re emerging out of quarantine here and as such have emerged another copy of the Fossil Times….this time it’s the 2nd quarter edition of the 1998 Fossil Times.
Read MoreWe’re winding down 1997 with a timely throwback to the last Fossil Times of 1997 Volume 4 Issue 4 and yes, we are still waiting on Issue 2 to magically appear. Bathroom monkeys get on it!
Read MoreCollaborations are no doubt something you’ve seen with Fossil lately – all these collaborations in 2019 with Crosley, Pride, etc and way back in 1997 Fossil collaborated or teamed up with T.K. Toys of Japan to come up with some limited-edition pieces that came with tin toys.
Read MoreHowdy Fossil Fans!
Today is a red letter date in the history of Fossil collectors - after 21 years the official Fossil Collectors Club has relaunched from Fossil. Yes, you read that right, it’s 2019 and Fossil is relaunching the Fossil Collectors Club. How did this happen? Cue the flashback….
I’ve been collecting Fossil watches since 1996. I would find watches on eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, resale shops and always find a little flyer or brochure in the tins talking about the Fossil Collectors Club. The short lived Collectors Club ended in 1998 and there was NOTHING online about it and zero community around it. In those dark years I would collect & gather any materials I possibly could find from Fossil including newsletters, brochures, catalogs, web archives and anything else.
Sometime in 2009, I decided I had enough Fossil content and frustration with the lack of community that I had enough to start the site www.fossilcollectorsclub.com
The site was launched with the hopes of bringing Fossil collectors together AND re-igniting the Fossil Collectors Club from Fossil HQ themselves vs. just a passionate Fossil fan from Cleveland. I had the URL, Facebook group, Flickr page setup and probably a few other sites all linking back into this site to bring people together who collect (not buy & resell) these fine timepieces & collectibles. I’ve had some communication & one awesome trip to Fossil headquarters over the years to discuss history & various product lines, but no mention of ever re-launching the Fossil Collectors Club came up until just a few weeks ago.
And that brings us to modern day….
Starting today (March 25, 2019) the www.fossilcollectorsclub.com will be redirecting over to Fossil’s official Collectors Club page and eventually be owned by Fossil altogether. On this page you’ll have the ability to read about Fossil’s new Collectors Club, the Archival Series of Limited Editions and signup! Please signup!
For the fans I’ve acquired over the years, our little fan site will always be located here:
http://www.undergroundfossilcollectors.club
In the coming weeks & months, you’ll see some changes in this site’s identity and branding. I’m super excited and can’t say now how this fan site fits into the Fossil ecosphere, but please remember this is all still coming from one passionate fan from Cleveland and not Fossil. The overall identify and future main URL is currently in the works, but I’ve been assured that we have a home in the future now that the Collectors Club is back in action!
So here’s to a new generation of Fossil Collectors Club starting in 2019! I’m very proud of the community we’ve built here & on Facebook. Now a little blurb about the OFFICIAL FOSSIL COLLECTORS CLUB that was recently announced at Baselworld:
A tribute to more than three decades of design, this curation of limited editions celebrates Fossil's innovative spirit. Rediscover our beloved past styles with the reissues of the Archival Series, or explore our collaborative exclusives with the Curator Series. Welcome to the only club where Fossil fanatics can continue collecting one-of-a-kind accessories for years to come.
More to come obviously stay tuned to Fossil, Fossil Collectors Club and this site for the latest!
Here’s to the new www.fossilcollectorsclub.com
And then it was 1997. Welcome to our ongoing series of bringing back to life Fossil Times from the Collector’s Club era. Up for your consideration today is Volume 4, Issue 1. The newsletters from 1997 & 1998 were the first ones in a different size at 10.5 inches wide and 16.5 inches tall (ie..very hard to scan in)
Let’s start with missing socks. Remember those from last time? In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine a major company (or any company) announcing that they received a sock and have a hard time identifying the sender! 22 years later did anyone ever claim that sock and what was the reward?
The highlight of this newsletter and the reason why this site was created was for the collectors. On Page 3 we find an article called, “C’mon in Collectors” and wow it really made me long for the retail days where you had to go to the stores to get your goods and talk with salespeople. I had a good relationship with the salespeople at 2 of my local Fossil stores and they would call me when the good stuff came in! Like my own personal Cheers Bar minus the drinks. Those Fossil stores in the 90’s were magical and I can attest that they were designed to keep us coming back for more.
Further inside in the newsletter we learn about the international presence of the Fossil Collectors Club – 1500 members internationally! Suspicions confirmed that the retro-American style was loved internationally just as much as here in the good old USA. Little known fact that has been forgotten was Fossil Collectors had their own inbox direct to Fossil HQ: COLLECT.FOSSIL@FOSL.COM
Other points of interest are always Star Wars watches (how many did they make?), information on the 1997 Collector’s Club option and always a highlight for Collector of the Quarter – where are you Matthew Martin?
Enjoy the first issue of Fossil Times from 1997 – it was a good year!
Fossil Blue. Fossil Blue. Fossil Blue. Say it a few more times and you'll be instantly transported back to the late 90's where everyone (yes everyone) had a Fossil Blue. Going through our historical documents, the Fossil Times we've traced the beginnings of Fossil Blue. Welcome to Volume 3 Issue 3 of the Fossil Times released sometime in the spring of 1996. Apologies up front for the quality of this issue -- it's bad and our bathroom monkeys aren't happy with it's quality, but the price is right (free).
Only a few things to highlight in this issue besides the launch of Fossil Blue. The Fossil General Store is something I don't remember and curious who might know anything more about it. I suppose there's a few of you on this site who have their own Fossil General Stores in their homes including the webmaster! Betty Boop made her appearance in this issue as well as a mention of a very hard to find hand painted dial series LE-9408 & LE-9409 - interesting to note that students painted the dials, sounds more like child labor, but the results were amazing and if you find one of these complete with the display card, you have a rarity. Again rarity doesn't mean big bucks, but enjoy and display with pride.
Before we show you the goods, let's talk about the jacket. The Fossil Letter Jacket Model Search - only 2 of these jackets were made. Who's got one and how did you impact the world as the 1996 Mr. or Ms. Fossil Letter Jacket Model Search Winner?
Onto the show! Oh and whatever happened to Jorg & Reiner?
Continuing our journey through the Fossil Times newsletters, we're pleased to release the 2nd newsletter from the 1996 Fossil Collector's Club. The volume and series numbers are ALL over the place, but our bathroom monkeys have been tabulating the data and we are presenting what we believe should be Volume 3 Issue 2. Also note that individual page scans are going to be fairly rough for the next few newsletters -- the only remnant we have from 1996 are full scan PDFs and yes there is some content cutoff (our bathroom monkeys are really upset!) 22 years later this is the best we can do.
Only two things really strike our fancy with this newsletter and first is the Collector's Breakfast. What a great idea....and we'd like to know when the last one was. November 23, 1996 was the fourth annual -- were there more? It'd be great if Fossil chose to do this again, but how many of us would attend? 35 year anniversary in 2019 coming up....wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Second thing of interest is the FAQs. Occasionally we still see limited editions and even standard releases with no numbering or sample numbering like DE-5XXX. Funny to see a corporation admit that samples made it out in the marketplace and if you're thinking that this makes your watch super valuable, you're wrong. However if you would like to buy a certain Defender numbered DE-5XXX I am open to offers and I enjoy real estate, steak dinners and Fossil gift cards.
Please enjoy the second newsletter and as always what happened to Virginia and Kim Johnson?
Greetings Fossil fans! Whelp…here it is 22 years later we are publishing the first of five 1996 Fossil Times newsletters. This newsletter came out in late 1995 and was hyping the 1996 kit, which is still one of our favorites. Be sure to rush to America Online and check out the Fossil Store with aol keyword “Fossil”. Let us know how that works for you.
This newsletter compared to others really shows the fans and we like that. Can’t help when I read the articles to wonder where is Larry Clark, Frank Monforte, Tim Duensing and the others featured in this newsletter? We get emails all the time from collectors young & old, but never this old! Come on guys reach out (and do you still have the Fossil bicycle)?
Not much else to note in this article besides some limited editions and a few Texas themed ones that are rare…probably because no one has heard of these guys or because the quantities were fairly limited compared to other releases. Byron Nelson has a limited edition pocket watch from Fossil – who knew?
Last thing of note is the FAQ around the warranty. Known even back then in 1996 was the famous Fossil 11-year warranty. A question of ours has been answered around why some of the older watches (like Defender & Limited Editions) didn’t have the standard warranty and we even see this in recent years with the limited warranty on the Fossil Swiss line. It’s sad now that the 11-year warranty is no more, but I can attest that Fossil does their best to repair the older watches, you just have to pay and that can be a hard pill to swallow, but we're fans and fans pay the bills.
Until next time!
Powered by Squarespace.
