The professional fan: How EarthBound led to a marriage and a career

In the video game merchandise community, Fangamer is that rare success story, expanding from Young's apartment to a 2,400 sq. foot office space within five years. From one employee to nine. They ship an average of 60 orders a day, collaborate with million dollar partners and manage 25-50% growth year after year. But first, there was a generic fan site. The sort you'd find in the backwaters of Angelfire or Lycos, back when America Online was a service and not a punch line.

"I specifically remember the summer of 1996," says Young. "[It] was just the best summer because I had EarthBound and Chrono Trigger. I played those non-stop." Young says he was sociable in school, that he had no trouble finding friends. There just wasn't anyone who really liked the things he liked.

The following winter a 14-year-old Young purchased a copy of "HTML for Dummies" and began work on his first website, an online coterie of his favorite things. Emoticons. Video game fan art. Audio recordings from The Simpsons, which Young collected by squatting in front of the family television and holding a microphone up to the speakers.

"Standard Geocities material," Young says.

I first 'met' [Camille] when she submitted some fan art to Eartbound.net," says Young. "I was probably 15 at the time."

While I interview Young, Camille tidies up around the apartment kitchen. She's slim with a darling face and sharp bangs, wearing glasses that make her look like a "nerd" in the same way glasses made a "nerd" of Rachel Leigh Cook in She's All That. She smiles at practically everything Young says.

"[As kids], Steve convinced me to send in a Mr. Saturn that I cobbled together with Bryce 3D and Photoshop," says Camille. "After Reid put it up on the site, I checked it every day. The internet was still a mystery to me and I felt pretty special to have something I made online."

The two spoke regularly about EarthBound and art and seemingly trivial but super-important teenage stuff. "I'm sure everyone got tired of being kicked off the computer every night so I could talk to him," she laughs. Particularly Steve.

After a couple years, they decided to meet. "My mom was pretty nervous about it," says Young, "and we were kids at the time so we had our moms call each other on CallWave or some ancient dial up Internet voice thing. So they talked to each other and said, 'OK, you don't sound like a pedophile trucker so I guess we can give it a shot!'"

Young met Steve and Camille Campos in Phoenix, accompanied by supervising family members. Camille gave Young a Starman DX she had sculpted out of clay.

Camille remembers seeing Young again at the first convention: Visiting a stuffed old steer named Old Ben, riding a pig elevator in the Young family's barn, driving around town blasting pop punk music. "We had so much fun just hanging out and makingEarthBound jokes," she says, "and everyone got them!"

Young and Camille began dating shortly after.

"I went to Purdue in Indiana and she was at a local college in [Tucson, Arizona] and I would drive down every summer 18-1900 miles," says Young. "A lot of my family and friends didn't expect it to work out, and it was hard to explain that I met my girlfriend on the Internet. It was always a little awkward depending on who I was talking to."

He had two lives. Normal student by day, mega EarthBound fan and loyal boyfriend by night. Young says he'd spend an average of five hours each evening working on the site and talking with Camille and other community members.

TThe couple dated long distance for three and a half years. On December 30, 2004 they were married in the Hotel Congress in Tucson, Arizona. Both families were in attendance, delighted to see the relationship take shape in the real world -- a surprise to many of them who, at the time, were unfamiliar with the ways of digital romance.

Giovanni was there, unexpectedly. Like any mysterious benefactor, he entered the ceremony in a cape and a fedora.

The next day, the Youngs went on a gift card spending spree across Arizona.

A reception was held in Indiana, and members of the site were invited. Friends from California to Canada arrived. For a wedding gift, they brought a limited edition Mother 1+2 poster, its back signed by many members of the Starmen.net community, wishing the couple a bright future. Preferably one involving their favorite fan site.

"[The reception was held] in the middle of an ice storm," says Young, "and in spite of this awful weather we had probably a dozen people from the site show up. The roads were bad and they still made it out there. It was pretty heartwarming."

Young pops up from the crowded PAX floor, and holds out the stranger's bag that had been lost amongst the rush of feet. The middle-aged man smiles and takes the bag, digs a hand inside, and recovers his wallet. Young collects money from the man's hand, and, without a moment of hesitation, fills the dangling fingers with a Mega Man mug. Another sale, another happy customer.

Fangamer now sells products inspired by many games, not just EarthBound. The Mega Man mug (officially called the E-Mug, as not to infringe on the Mega Man rights) is popular, as is the Legend of Zelda inspired pack of playing cards. Most of the items are bric-a-brac, stuff fans can keep around the house to remind them of the affection they have for a game or character.

The company is doing better than ever, he tells me, but they haven't forgotten their roots. Young presses a Mother 3 Handbook into my hands. "This is the hardbound edition," he says.

"PAX generates as much money as one month's worth of orders condensed into five very tiring days," says Young. "Obviously there are a lot of expenses involved - flights, hotels, shipping, booth, etc. - but it's totally worthwhile for the chance to meet our friends, fans, partners and even our competitors, all of whom are awesome."

Fangamer now has legitimate licensing deals, and legal agreements - though mostly with indie shops. On the website,Retro City Rampage shirts and Spelunky toys are for sale.

"We've been quietly branching out [distribution]," Young says. "We're now handling distribution for SEIBEI and I'm talking with one of my favorite non-gaming-related bands about handling their merchandise. All of the dozens of other partnerships we're working on are related to gaming in some way, like Zac Gorman's store and the fulfillment for the 2 Player Productions/Double Fine Kickstarter."

"WE'RE NOT WORKING TO GET THESE BIG CONTRACTS ..."

The company has been working with 2PP for years. The two have helped each other grow. I ask for details regarding any future projects. Young mentions 2PP's Minecraft documentary. He laughs, "We've got 2,000 creeper wind-up toys in the office waiting to ship out."

"We're not working to get these big contracts," says Young. "Double Fine just happened and we were like, 'OK, we can do this,' but we weren't actively pursuing this. If something comes along we're up for it."

As Ryan Alyea puts it: "Fangamer's competitive edge is respect. Respect for the games we represent, respect for the partners we work with and respect for our ultimate bosses: The customer."

Rather than dwell on Nintendo, Young now focuses on empowering the customers, broadly, and the EarthBound community, specifically. The people who gave him everything.

Members of Starmen.net compete to design new shirts and buttons, their creative output from a decade ago now monetized. It's tempting to look at this cynically, like Fangamer is the HuffPo of fan sites, but the community seems more earnestly involved. Eager to impress one another.

"EarthBound is a neat filter in that way," says Young. "The type of people who love the game generally enjoy each other's company. Since we all grew up talking to each other on the computer, it's been that much easier to stay in contact."

Camille and Reid Young aren't the only couple involved. "There are plenty of other couples," says Alyea. "Steve, our mailroom guy, and his girlfriend. Liz, an old podcast host, and Matt both met on the site."

The office keeps growing. Whenever Young needs to hire more employees, he turns to Starmen.net, recruiting friends, further blurring the line between his online friends and his offline friends. It's like Young has recreated that first convention. The group of guys getting the EarthBound in-jokes. The playful energy. The young couple in love.

Outside the PAX convention hall, I spot a young boy with an EarthBound-inspired poster. On his bedroom wall, it will serve as a reminder: There are people out there just like him.