Yoo Hoo, Fidonet Disney EchoEARS!
David Mehrmann asked what the National Fantasy Fan Club for Disneyana
Enthusiasts was.  Since the contact information has already been posted,
I'll simply repeat it here for those of you who missed it and answer
David's questions.  For more information, please contact the NFFC
directly.
 RK> Try converting German money into US, and joining the NFFC via snail
 RK> mail:
 RK>
 RK> $20 US Funds per year for individuals and families
 RK>
 RK> National Fantasy Fan Club for Disneyana Enthusiasts (NFFC)
 RK> P. O. Box 19212
 RK> Irvine CA   92623-9212  USA
 RK>
 RK> You can also get a kit from the club on how to form your own local
 RK> chapter.
The US voice telephone number for more information is (714) 731-4705.
For those of you who can WWW browse, their URL is http://www.nffc.org.
Since David is writing from Germany he may want to write first to see
if there would be any extra costs for foreign postage for the monthly
club newsletter from California to Germany.
Since David indicated he is on EntertainMUCK with my husband Rich,
David can contact the player Kitsune who is an officer in the national
NFFC and who can provide further information.
The suffix -ana on English words means "of", so in this case Disneyana
means "of Disney" and the term really means the collecting of any
Disney-related memorabilia.  In David's case since he is such a big TLK
fan Disneyana would mean anything Disney itself or its commercial
licensees manufactured to promote or merchandise the film "The Lion
King" (or the upcoming TLK Broadway play).  It can be about anything
Disney from anything having to do with Walt, fast food toy collections,
videos, fine art figurines, stuff dating back to 1928 or earlier,
stuff relating to "Hercules", anything Disney.  Usually fan art/fan
creativity is not Disneyana, it must be created within Disney or
licensed by Disney.
The NFFC is a Disney fan club made up of collectors and Disney fans,
but mostly collectors.  It is non-profit/non-commercial but dues
are not tax deductible in the US.  The address given will provide you
with more information and a membership form.  For your dues money
you get a membership card and 12 monthly issues of FantasyLine Express,
the club's newsletter.  This newsletter has _a lot_ of great Disney
news, news about collectibles, and _free_ classified ads for members
for buy/sell/trade/want-to-buy, etc.  In January the NFFC sponsors a
mini-convention that features speakers from Disney Feature Animation,
Imagineering, Archives, Theme Parks and other parts of Disney
combined with a big Disney collectors trading floor where you can
buy Disney memorabilia or get it appraised or sold.  In July,
coinciding with the birthday of Disneyland, the NFFC sponsors a much
longer, one-week long, convention.  Both conventions are in the
Hyatt Regency Alicante hotel in Anaheim, California and members can
attend at lower member rates.  The July 1997 issue of FantasyLine
Express, due out the first week of July, will likely have a list
of who this year's featured speakers and guests are.  They also
have a Disneyana auction and a banquet.  If you are big into being
a Disney fan or collector of anything Disney, I heartily encourage
you to join this club.
The NFFC has local chapters throughout the US, one on Prodigy, and
one in Australia.  You have to join the National NFFC first before
you can join a local chapter.  Local chapters have their own dues
and their own newsletters and meeting schedules.  The club will be
glad to send you a list of where there are local chapters or new
chapters-in-formation.  If there is no local chapter near you,
a kit is available to show you how to form one.  With all due
respect to David and his being a TLK fan, the club would probably
encourage that a local chapter be general Disney fanship in nature
and not just surrounding a particular movie or character, although
you'd have to ask about that.  The kit describes how the local
chapters would work with the National main office, how to assess
dues, elect officers, get organized, recruit members, press
release samples, etc.
This is a fun, really friendly and very Disney club!  We have a
lot of fun at our chapter (Louiseyana Disneyana in New Orleans
Louisiana) which celebrates its fifth year this year.
Since we are not permitting open buy/sell/trade/want-to-buy/
"clasified ad"-type posts on this Echo, and if other
collectible-related Fidonet conferences are unavailable on your
BBS or your sysop won't carry them, for $20/year the NFFC has a
few thousand members with worldwide readership of the newsletter
with _free_ classified ads for members.  Your message would go
to dedicated Disney memorabilia buyers, 12 monthly issues, free
classifieds, just $20/year dues.  A good value, IMHO. :-)
So contact the NFFC and be a part of others who share the Disney
magic!
--Carol Koster, Co-Moderator, Disney Fidonet Echo
--- April V1.0+
(1:3828/1.3)
---------------