Updated below.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Here's a neat set of pretty much all of the promo pinback pins (mostly Simpsons related) given out at the Bongo Comics booth at the San Diego Comic Con since the company was formed in 1993 (mostly to publish Simpsons Comics)



The pins are mostly from the 1990's, with most issued between 1993 and 2001. The last four were released in 2005, after a several year hiatus, and that could be the end of it. There was a single Simpsons pin in both 2009 and 2010 at Comic Con and 2 in 2011, but all were part of a larger 4 pin (2009-10) or 8 pin (2011) Fox Fanfare Animation set and were distributed in the fulfillment room (in exchange for tickets given out at the panels for each show) and not at the Bongo booth, so I didn't show them in this group.

Referring to picture:
Top Row: 1993: Group, Itchy, Scratchy, Bongo

2nd Row: 1994: Krusty, Group, Lisa

3rd Row: 1995 Zongo Comics, Bart, Homer

4th Row: 1996 Roswell, Radioactive Man (purple), Maggie, Bart, Marge

5th Row: 1997 Roswell, Sgt. Abe Simpson, Apu, Homer the Stonecutter

6th Row: 1998 Fleener Comics, Hopster's Tracks, Roswell, Moe

7th Row: 1999 Futurama, Comic Book Guy, Bart

8th Row: 2001 Radioactive Man (black)2000 Krusty, Bart, Bender

Last 2 Rows: 2005 Library of Wisdom 4 pin set with Bart, Ralph Wiggum, Homer, Comic Book Guy

I am missing one pin from 1995 (3rd Row from the top), that's why the gap between Zongo and Bart in that row.

There have been a couple non-Simpsons pins given out at the Bongo Booth thes past 2 years. In 2010 there was one promoting the then upcoming Spongebob Squarepants comic book series, published by Bongo. For 2011, there one for the upcoming Sergio Aragones humor book Bongo will publish. Both are square pins, and the same size.

While the vast majority of the comic Bongo has put out so far have been Simpsons and Futurama related, they have published other comics like two "Roswell" mini series and a "Heroes Anonymous" mini series (both from Simpson Comics creative director Bill Morrison) plus "Hopster's Tracks" by the great Stephanie Gladden, and several comics from their "independent" Zongo line including Gary Panter's "Jimbo" and the "Fleener" series from artist Mary Fleener. The character pins you might not recognize in the picture are most likely the three from Roswell, the Hopsters Tracks, and the Fleener (little guy on surfboard). Anyway, Bongo's a great fit for Spongebob and Sergio, and those comics will probably be published for a long time to come. The regular Simpsons monthly comic is coming up on 200 issues and even Futurama is about to hit 60 issues, that despite being a bi-monthly. It was even being published during those years while the show was cancelled, and helped keep interest in the series alive during the time no new shows were being made.

Instead of the pins, the giveaways the past few years at the Bongo booth have been various character hand-fans, basically a laminated or high gloss cardstock paper head on a stick, and on the reverse side the words "I'm a Homer Fan", "I'm a Bart Fan", etc, depending on the character depicted on the fan, and below that, a list of the various Simpson books currently in print. They've had a different one of those for the last 6 years or so, so taken together, the fans also make a nice collection. Hopefully Bongo will release more of them, but I'm still holding out hope for more pins, and of course, promo cards would be the very best thing possible, since it could mean a new Simpsons card set is coming.

For two of very few years Bongo didn't have fans or pins, they had book markers that paid homage to Harvey Comics. They are really nice items, and the closest thing to cards Bongo has given out at Comic Con besides the Krusty the Clown Wacky Packages-type 3 sticker set from 1997, which was a really sweet giveaway year considering they gave away a nice series of pins that year, too.)

Here they are

KRUSTY 1997 PACKY WACK SET (reverse side of sticker shown at right. These are standard card sized, but are stickers)



If anyone wants to see the 2009 through 2011 Simpsons Fox fanfare pins, the bookmarks I mentioned, or maybe even the character fans, let me know and I'll post more pictures.

Finally, thanks to Bongo for all of these great items over the years. They've set up in San Diego from the very beginning of Bongo Comics and I've been lucky enough to stop by and say hi to them for 16 years in a row. Their staff at Comic Con is always friendly and often includes artists who work on the actual comics. They also make a fair number of Matt Groening signed comics, books, and posters available at very reasonable prices. Sometimes you can even get sketches there from the likes Bill Morrison and even Matt Groening if you are very lucky.

Bongo Comics is still going strong, 18 years later, a huge achievement for any comics company not named Marvel or DC. Just wanted to show off the amazing items (particularly the pins) they've given fans over the years. I've never seen them all together like this anywhere else, except at my house!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Very nice.
Nice read, too.

I have a set or two of the Subway Sandwich Simpsons action figures {like McDonald's Happy Meal Toys} that came out in the mid 1990s, buried in a storage bin somewhere.

Here are the 2 Simpsons Pins from the 2011 Comic Con, "Pro-Nedna" and "No-Nedna". These weren't issued at the Bongo booth like my others, but rather as a prize for people attending the Simpsons Panel. All the shows pictured on the card had Comic Con panels and a ticket was issued at each which could be walked over to the hotel next door and exchanged for pins. The colorful backer card they are on wasn't issued with every pin. Mine came along with the Napoleon Dynamite pin (and a T-Shirt) which was great, especially since I didn't actually attend the Napoleon Dynamite panel, instead having luckily found a ticket dropped (or discarded) by someone who did. Once I knew what the other pins were, I set about getting them all, and was fortunate to attend the American Dad and Cleveland Show panels so I picked up those at the Con. The others I bought aftermarket, and they are not expensive, but some of these panels were in much smaller rooms than others, so there is a chance the pins were made in different quantities. Still no "Bob's Burgers" pin in my set, but that'll come later.



Fox issued the backer card in 2009 & 2010 too, but there were only 4 pins in each set, making it easier to complete them. The backer cards were again issued only with a certain pin, I believe it came along with the Family Guy pin from both years.



Here also are the bookmarks I mentioned in the original post. These were given out only at the Bongo Booth as far as I know. The two similar ones to the right were issued in successive years (2001 & 2002). They are essentially the same but with a different color for the reissue. They pay nifty homage to Harvey Comics (Richie Rich, Casper, etc.) of the 1950's & 1960's as a band similar to this (but with the Harvey stable of cartoon and comic stars of course) appeared on the right side of each Harvey Comic, making them instantly recognizable to readers of that era.

The 3 bookmark set shown was the Bongo Comics 10th anniversary set, given one at a time, so you had to return to their booth throughout the show to complete the set. It's been like that with pretty much all of Bongo's multiple item freebies, which I think is a big part of why you don't see a lot of complete sets of the pins, bookmarks, or Krusty Wacky Pack parody stickers for sale or trade . There probably aren't a lot of complete sets of the character-head hand fans out there, either, since there have been 6 of those so far, but distributed at a rate of only one per convention.



Thanks to anyone who views the pics or reads this. I loved collecting them, and wanted to share them with Card Talkers, promo collectors, Simpsons fans, etc.

Bongo Comics has been really great to their readers over the years (nearly two decades) with the often beautifully designed promotional items they've made available to us. The comics have been pretty good, too. Make Mine Bongo!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,

Great article, and those pins are outstanding. I've read most of Bongo's Futurama comics, and I really like them, but I was not aware of the pins. Great collection!

I'm just seeing this now. That's a great review of Bongo items. I think I have a few of those pins. I remember those Krusty Wacky stickers so I must have gone to the 1997 SDCC unless they were still giving them out the following year as well. Those are hard to find now.

Unfortunately, Bongo has ceased to be. Whether "Simpsons" and related comics will return to print now that it is part of the Disney empire remains to be seen, but I hope so.

Looking at the above, I found out I'm also missing a pin from 1994, same size as the others but featuring Bartman and Radioactive Man.

I did the Bob's Burgers pin to finish the backing card set from 2011. There were a few more sets of pins, although different in style than the above issued in 2012 and 2013 from the Fox booth. I'll pictures of those at some point, let's say within the next 10 years of so!

Earlier today, I looked through a group of pins I have from shows and other giveaways. I have that "Planet Express" pin and there should be a couple of others in my desk somewhere. I have seen guides to trading cards and Cracker Jack prizes. There should be one for San Diego Comic-Con promos (cards, stickers, pins, posters, etc.).

Thanks again for posting that stuff.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:
Unfortunately, Bongo has ceased to be. Whether "Simpsons" and related comics will return to print now that it is part of the Disney empire remains to be seen, but I hope so.

Looking at the above, I found out I'm also missing a pin from 1994, same size as the others but featuring Bartman and Radioactive Man.

I did the Bob's Burgers pin to finish the backing card set from 2011. There were a few more sets of pins, although different in style than the above issued in 2012 and 2013 from the Fox booth. I'll pictures of those at some point, let's say within the next 10 years of so!