The REAL. BIG. Blog

I don’t know if any of you were watching the” Shaq Vs.,” show that aired on ABC.  For those of you who didn’t, it is Shaq Vs. top athletes at their own sport. This video is the final episode which included, 14-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion swimmer Michael Phelps. This looked like a great show, I’m sorry I missed it!

Enjoy the clip!

You may think of yourself as something of an art novice – most of us are. We may know what we like and what we don’t and what we like this year may be quite different than what we like next year. That’s probably why many of us don’t have much “art” on our walls. For one thing, art can be expensive, and for another, putting that nail and hanger in the wall feels too much like a commitment. If you live in a rental place or a dorm room you’re not going to risk your deposit, and so you live in an art vacuum.

Fathead solved the whole wall damage issue way back when we created moveable, reusable Real.Big. wall graphics. We reinvented the traditional sports poster by making it so much bigger and so much better – and people have loved it ever since. We took that same concept and created Fathead Tradeables, the 5” x 7” collectable vinyl graphics that you can stick (and unstick) pretty much anywhere. Fathead Jr. bridged the gap by making Fathead big enough to wow you and small enough to go places our Real.Big. product never could. With Fathead custom we put you in control and let you print darn near anything you wanted.

For the home decorator, however, for the person looking for fine art to transform a room, for someone whose idea of decorating is somewhat more traditional than putting up a life-size pro athlete, we had come up short. Mind you, we plan on being the number one brand in sports and entertainment graphics for a good long time, but this is our nod to the gift giver who’s buying that much-requested superstar for Johnny or Jennifer, and just happens to find a little something for herself.

That’s what SM/ART Squares are all about. At eighteen by eighteen inches they’re big enough to show off the art and still be easy to put up. Since they’re all the same size it’s really easy to mix and match them and create truly exquisite and unique compositions. SM/ART Squares include magnificent works from Old Masters like Monet, Van Gogh and Caravaggio, Contemporary Artists like Liu Ye and Mel Ramos, Modern Masters such as Edward Hopper and Wassily Kandinsky, as well as works of Decorative Art from such sensational photographers as Christopher Beane and William Wegman.  You can select a wide variety of works to express your personality.

If you get tired of the arrangement, move the SM/ART Squares around. If you’re ready to move just take them down, stick them to the backing (don’t forget to keep it) and take them with you – you won’t have any holes to fill or repaint. When you’re ready to expand your collection or decorate another room, just order some more; at $19.99 each they’re a truly great value in art. We’ll be adding many more works of art in the future, so there will be plenty more to choose from.

We’re really excited about SM/ART Squares. Personally, I think of them as nothing less than a revolution in the human relationship to art. That’s just one person’s opinion though, so we want to hear your thoughts and answer your questions. Let us know what you think.

Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, baseball ejections are hilarious to just about any one!

My personal favorite of all time is the one with Phillip Wellman, Manager (Mississippi Braves) on June 1, 2007.

Enjoy!

Here at Fathead we’ve had lots of requests for Nickelodeon^® products like Dora the Explorer^® (coming soon!), iCarly^® and especially SpongeBob. Well SpongeBob SquarePants^®  , his friend Patrick, and more from the crew of the much-loved show are now ready to take their place on your child’s bedroom wall (or any room where a large, square, under-water, yellow cartoon character seems appropriate – I can think of dozens of places). These SpongeBob Fatheads are so true to the show you can practically smell the Krabby Patties. We got to talking about the SpongeBob artwork and the show the other day here at Fathead Central and I was astonished at the breadth of knowledge among my colleagues, especially in comparison to my utter lack of exposure. I’ve since watched a couple of SpongeBob YouTube videos pertaining to SpongeBob SquarePants and the Krusty Krab, specifically the training videos. I have to say, these SpongeBob episodes are monstrously funny and remind me of the Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes of my youth to which I was utterly addicted (and yes, I actually saw the original airings).

Now that I’ve been turned on to SpongeBob, and can actually recognize and name Mr. Krabbs, Squidward, Plankton, Gary, Sandy, Patrick and the big sponge himself, I feel like I’ve missed out on something huge and need the kind of guidance only the true fan can provide. Since Fathead is all about bringing fans together with their passions, I’d like to hear what you love about SpongeBob and some of your favorite episodes. Post away.

In our quest to cover every wall we continue to look around corners for something that will help you make your kids happy. We don’t want to leave someone out of the Fathead Revolution just because they’re not into sports. In the past few weeks we’ve introduced everything from cartoon animals like jungle animals, farm animals, sea creatures and baby dinosaurs to awesome photographs of horses and lions. There are even these realistic looking dinosaurs like an 8ft Apatosaurus and a T-Rex that will have you running for cover. OK, not exactly the perfect thing for little kids but your Jr. Paleontologist is going to love it.

If Pirates, Princess Castles or Outer Space are more in line with your child’s playful imagination then we’ve done our part to provide the type of experience you’re looking for. Remember, Fatheads are moveable and reusable, and while we don’t recommend moving them every day, you can use them to create a special adventure with your child as you decide what fantasy scenes you want to create.

We have thousands of reviews on our site and it’s amazing how many of them talk about how Fathead is what brings the room together and “gives a room personality”.

Here are a couple of examples:

“We put the Lightning McQueen graphic in my 2 year old grandson’s room to match his new car bed! He loved it! It jumps off the wall at him and it really pulled the whole room together. We even put one of the graphics on the bed!! It was easy to put up and will be even easier to take down when we move!!!” – By Nana from Tucson, AZ

“My son loves Spiderman - and we are re-doing his bedroom. This is a perfect addition to his room.
We also have a Steeler room with a giant helmet, and a Ben Roethlesberger Fathead. They MAKE the room. Everyone comments on it. They are easy to apply and does not mess up the wall. - And they stay up - we’ve never had a problem with it at all! We also bought a Hannah Montana for our daughter. These bring a room to life - so much better than a poster - these are life-sized and give a room personality!” - By Sheila from Southeastern Ohio

We want to hear from you about how you decorate with Fathead so we can share your ideas with Fathead Nation. We’re waiting to hear from you!

To pretty much everyone on the planet outside the US and maybe Canada, football is a 90 minute game (called a match) that involves a lot of running, kicking, heading and no hands (unless you’re the goal keeper and you’re inside the box). Football is played on a pitch, which looks a lot like a field. When Fathead introduced players from Manchester United and FCBarcelona to its ever-expanding roster last week, there was some debate about what to call the new category. Well, actually, the debate took place mostly in my mind because when it comes to the world’s game there aren’t exactly a lot of aficionados around here. I settled on International Soccer because to most Americans that’s pretty clear and leaves little room for confusion over the phrase “pass the football” which in this case does not involve a tight spiral.

In case you don’t follow International Soccer, Manchester United and FCBarcelona faced off in this year’s UEFA Champions League final match which FCBarcelona won. These seemed like two really good clubs to start with since we had our pick of some well-known players like Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry of Barca and Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo of Man U. And yes, we know that Ronaldo is most likely off to Real Madrid but he’s had such a great career at Manchester United that we felt like everyone should have a chance to get him in his Red Devils jersey. We have a couple more clubs waiting on the sidelines that we’re finalizing now. We’re also planning on having the club crests which you might call the team logos.

Since Fathead is just getting into the world of International Soccer it seems like a good time to hear from all you fans out there about which clubs and footballers you’d love to see as a giant wall graphic. Give us a shout and let us know what you think. And, if you have any opinions about what to call the sport, you can share that too.

We added a new category to the vast collection of Fathead products the other day and we call it USA. We needed a way to group under a common banner products as diverse as US Military Insignia and Vehicles, the American Flag, President Obama and our two latest bits of Americana – Harley-Davidson and Made in Detroit. Then it occurred to me – Fathead doesn’t just have a category called USA – we are USA! What I mean is, Fathead is located in, designed in and manufactured right here in the good ‘ol US of A – in Michigan as a matter of fact. I bet most people don’t know that about us, but now you do. If you think that’s as cool as we do, give us a shout back.

We’re a pretty deeply engaged bunch of folks here at Fathead by which I mean we don’t just live with our products at work, we go home to them. Which we think is perfectly normal. In fact, we wonder what it would be like not to. Which brings up a point – you. Do you go home to your Fathead? If not, why not?

Well, it occurs to us that maybe you just haven’t found the right Fathead for your home. That’s why we’ve been busting our butts here the last few months creating more and more product for you. Seriously, have you checked out the huge new lineup of MLB players, team logos and classic logos? What about all the new NHL stuff – no excuses now, every team’s being represented. And MLS too – every team. And the NBA? Well, if you were waiting for that 80’s look Cavs logo, Brandon Roy, or Ray Allen to complete your Boston Three Party, look no more. Only you should, because in addition to all that, there are about 100 other new images.

Which brings me back to the Fathead home. Not everyone’s a sports nut. We’ve known that for a long time. That’s why we offer Disney, Marvel, DC, and other great entertainment products. But lately, we’re thinking maybe you just want something you can use to decorate – like animals and general sports graphics. We’ve got Dolphins and Frogs, Turtles and Snow Leopards. Just want some sports themed graphics like a collection of player silhouettes or sports balls? We’ve got it. Maybe we haven’t always made the point strongly enough but Fathead is an awesome home decorating solution.

Look at your options. You can paint; that means a lot of time, a lot of money and it smells. You can wallpaper; messy, time-consuming, pretty difficult even if you’ve done it before, and generally expensive. There are posters; you have to use tape (tacky) or tacks (ugly, and they damage the wall), plus posters are always getting beat up and looking pretty shoddy in no time. Of course you can do nothing, which is pretty boring and basically says you have no imagination whatsoever.

And then there’s Fathead. Hundreds and hundreds of images to choose from. Very affordable, especially when you compare it to wallpaper or paint. Takes about five minutes to put up – get a friend though because a Fathead is HUGE! You’ll probably spend more time figuring out where to put all the free extra images that come with the main image than you will putting up the big one. And here’s the kicker – you can move a Fathead and reuse it. You’re not stuck with one look.  And when you move it you don’t have to worry about the holes that the tacks or nails left behind, or the paint that the tape took off. If you live in an apartment this is a major advantage – no worries about getting charged for repairs plus you can take the Fathead with you when you move.

So, I’m just saying, we’re working really hard to get you the Fathead that works in your home because we think (and we’re right) that Fathead is an amazing decorating solution. If you still haven’t found the Fathead that works for you, just tell us – a lot of what you see at www.fathead.com was created because someone like you told us you wanted it.

We know the Celtics made it past the Bulls in round one of the NBA playoffs but they had to play as many overtimes as games to do it – seven games, seven overtimes. Are the Bulls rising or did the Celtics just find out what it takes to win without Kevin Garnett? Speaking of Garnett, word is that the Orlando Magic have been watching film of KG as they prepare for their series with the Celtics. Well, when you have an extra day or two, why not. On the other hand it’s not like Garnett is going to walk onto the court one day and everybody’s going to wonder “who’s that?” Orlando lost both games against Boston in the regular season with Garnett in the lineup. They won both when he was out or playing limited minutes. So the question is, do we see another seven game series with multiple overtimes in this next round between the Magic and the Celtics? I mean, overtime is pretty cool and admit it – wouldn’t you rather have your team win a close one in triple overtime than be 20 points ahead at the end of the first quarter and coast to a 10 point win. And what about that twofer we got yesterday when the Red Wing and Ducks played what amounted to two games worth of hockey in a single afternoon!

So two questions for you today: 1) Will the Magic and Celtics go the full seven games, and 2) What’s the greatest overtime game you remember? Fathead wants to know.

With all the new products we’ve been putting up at Fathead, everything from NBA and MLB Classic Logos, to new NHL, MLB and NBA Players, to Xeko Animals, you may not have noticed that we now have a full complement of MLS Logos.  If you follow soccer then you know that MLS stands for Major League Soccer. If you don’t follow it, you should. Why? Not because it’s the most popular sport in the world. That would be easy. MLS is great because of what it represents for sports in America – an opportunity. Isn’t that what every American kid hopes for – a chance?

America keeps giving soccer a chance and I’m confident we’re going to get it right. It’s not something we can just tune in for every few years during the World Cup or sneak a peek at on Entertainment Tonight because they’re talking about David Beckham. We have thousands of kids playing soccer in this country and we have fifteen teams now in the MLS; the latest, the Seattle Sounders, has fans in that city turning up in droves. There are great players, great teams and great fans of soccer in America right now.

So I challenge you. Give soccer a chance. Give MLS a chance. And, if you have a story about your love for soccer or your experience with MLS, share it with us.