1-800-WHA-DAFK

When I was a kid, we had a ton of Fan Clubs and character related phone numbers you could dial. Parents used to shell out $20 a call it seems, just so their kids could hear tapes of TV characters, or join a fan club that would get you no closer to your favorite actor than you are right now.

I don't really miss them.

But what happens to the numbers when the character is no longer popular? Well.... here's a few.


Wally Bear
1-800-449-2559
1-800-HI-WALLY

The number first debuted with an unauthorized NES game, titles "Wally and the No Gang". Kids playing the game would be told in every level about the dangers of drugs, and were encouraged to dial the number, and have Wally himself talk to them (via a pre-recorded message) about being straight edge.

Fate: The number stayed in service until 2008. It became the subject of an Angry video Game Nerd video, but just as Wally was having himself a comeback, the number went dormant.

Princess and the Goblin's Princess Irene Hotline
1-800-99-47363
1-800-99-IRENE
256 S. Robertson BLVD.
Beverly Hills, CA
90211

The pitch what that along with this children's VHS, you got a "magic phone card" or a form to send away for one. With the prepaid phone card, you you "for free" call movie characters Irene, Great Great Grandmother Irene or Curdie, and they would give you safety instructions and a way to call your family.

Fate: The number is now defunct, while the building is being used as the home for the BEVERLY HILLS RESEARCH CENTER for the PROALUS Penile growth system.
Their website is http://www.viarexlabs.com/proalus/contact.asp

Sailor Moon Fan Club:
1-800-378-LUNA
1-800-378-5862
Sailor Moon Fan Club
Po Box 1379
Hollywood CA 90078

For a $35 membership and way too much in shipping, you could become a "Junior Sailor Scout" and receive in the mail a clear bag (either a sack or mini backpack) containing a small, random assortment of the following:
1. A paper doll
2. A piece of paper congratulating you and droning about the environment
3. A handful of trading cards with incorrect information on them
4. A certificate
5. A cardboard tag with a badly drawn Sailor Moon on it
6. A set of stick on earrings
7. A tiny notebook
8. A ruler
9. A pen that has enough ink for maybe 3 uses
10. Pencils
11. Sticky notes

Fate:
Both the number and the P.O. Box became defunct in 1999, around the time that the three movies were released in the United States, DiC lost the bidding war for the post-R seasons and Cloverway began sending out Sailormoon S.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Club
1-800-667-7321 (Main number from the VHS)
1-800-300-6993 (Credit Card ordering number)
P.O. Box 222
Hollywood, Ca. 90078

For $17.95 (and a few VHS slips from the Green Ranger arc) you could become a Junior Power Ranger ~ a few years ahead of Turbo's Justin, only the Pre-Bieber Brat got a Zord and super powers for his membership, while you just got a cardboard box. ($18.90 for California residents, $21.95 for Canada) Send a check or money order, no cash.

But inside that box was a random assortment of the following:
1. A "Power Lunch" sack (sometimes with a Fruit Roll-Up)
2. A 30 minute VHS tape featuring clips from the show and all six Power Rangers talking about being a part of D.A.R.E. to be drug free, junk food and their lives as Power Rangers, along with a trailer for V.R. Troopers
3. A congratulations letter, stressing that you should now live up to the high standards of MMPR living and reminding you to watch VR Troopers (I forgot how annoying they were plugging that failure of a show)
4. A certificate, proclaiming you an official Junior Ranger... because all Rangers have them, right? It has printed signatures of the cast, not really signed by them.
5. A form to share with a friend to get them to send $17.95 plus shipping
6. Ads telling you to buy more fan club stuff
7. Photos of the Power Rangers with printed signatures
8. A Power Rangers poster
9. A VR Troopers mini poster/ad
10. Iron-on Logos
11. MMPR Power Dollars to buy more stuff (Usually you'd get ONE. Only redeemable for the Fan Club.)
12. Logo Stickers
13. Logo Tattoos
14. ID Card with D.A.R.E. tips on the back (or on a second card)
15. Shoelaces
16. Window Clings
17. Morphin Times Newsletter (which could also be ordered seperately for free)
18. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers magazine (Sold by itself quarterly or as a subscription until late 1995. Was replaced with the Zeo magazine after the fan club folded, but that publication only lasted a few months.)
19. Local Fox Station ad
20. D.A.R.E. Power Rangers autographed card

For extra cash and a copy of your photo, you could also get your head Photoshopped onto a stock photo of a Power Ranger body. There were alternate boxes where you'd get the same stuff as before, but with an alternate VHS cover, and later a VHS tape of Tommy's Training, but that tape was also released in stores as a stand alone.

Fate: The P.O. Box is listed on the BBB as "MMPR Business", but it is currently being used as Twerp Creative Web Consulting: http://www.thumbtack.com/ca/los-angeles/web-developers/wed-development-graphic-design-creative-consulting

The main phone number was used by HSBC's harassing collection agency. But after a number of complaints from the FCC involving workers at the agency violating telecommunication regulations and even harassing people who had never had a credit card with said bank, the number was recently dropped.

Many of the numbers we had as kids are now being used by telemarketers and collection agencies. But more often than not, the numbers end up as adult sex lines.

I can't recommend calling them now.