Secret Surprises

The "Secret Surprises" were small trinkets given annually to members of the Weezer Fan Club in the '90s. They were designed by fan club founders, Mykel and Carli Allan. Only two annual items were officially released by the sisters, however there are numerous items which were either unreleased, served as substitutes for the annual items, or called back to the original tradition in some form.
==List of Secret Surprises==
Year	Released 	Type 	Notes 	Image(s)
1995	Officially released by fan club as annual Secret Surprise 	Viewfinder 	The first Secret Surprise, sent to fan club members in 1995, was a viewfinder keychain featuring an image of the band at Bearsville Studios in June 1995, taken by Karl Koch. The viewfinder is blue, and features the text "weezer fanclub ‘95" embedded in gold on its side. In the deluxe edition of the Weezine Omnibus, Koch explained that it was necessary that a photo he had taken be used (as to avoid copyright issues), and that the included photo was the most recent he had of the band.Koch, K. (2016). Weezine Omnibus: Deluxe Edition.: 164 	
1996	Officially released by fan club as annual Secret Surprise 	Zipper pull (plus sticker)	The second Secret Surprise, distributed in 1996, was a yellow zipper pull. On one side, there is a blue flying =w= logo in a hand drawn style (similar to one used on some shirts from the era), and on the other is the text "weezer fanclub 1996". A sticker of the band was also included. The zipper pull was chosen as a cost-cutting measure, as there were many more fan club members by this point and a less expensive item to produce and ship needed to be chosen.: 218 	
1997	Unreleased, intended to be annual Secret Surprise 	Pen 	The 1997 Secret Surprise would not be released to members due to the death of the Allan sisters, who had previously coordinated their production (amongst many other facets of the fan club). However, a prototype sample pen produced by the same company who had created the previous years' items was found when searching through the fan club archives. Koch speculates that it is likely to have been the Secret Surprise for this year.: 287 The pen is white (black on the ends), and is covered by the text "WEEZER FAN CLUB" in various colors. 	
1997	Released by fan club, not an annual Secret Surprise but intended as a substitute 	Sticker 	As a result of the fan club's limited funds, a proper Secret Surprise could not be released this year either. Instead, vinyl fan club stickers (which were initially printed to be used in new member packages) were sent sporadically to existing club members as a substitute. According to Koch, the sticker's design hailed from '70s commercials for Honeycomb cereal; the "Honeycomb Hideout" is replaced with a Weezer Hideout. The sticker was not officially announced as being released to members, and it is unclear whether all members actually received one.: 333 	
2016	Released by fan club, referred to as a Secret Surprise in marketing material but separate from the original annual releases	Pin 	In 2016, following the fan club's 2014 reformation, the band released the second yearly "fan club bundle" (a set of items generally consisting of a fan club-themed T-shirt, a 7"-vinyl single, and numerous small exclusive pieces of merchandise). This bundle was advertised as including a "Secret Surprise" item, calling back to the original club's line of releases under the same name.Koch, K. & Eubank, L. (2016). Weezer Fan Club welcome letter. Archived on Weezerpedia at :File:Fan Club 2016 Welcome Letter.jpg. This item was a small blue pin emblemed by the iconic 1994 "Rock Music" logo, which was originally used on the band's early T-shirts. Other bundles had similar inclusions, many of which were also pins, however the 2016 bundle was the only to utilize the specific terminology and secret nature of the item.	
==See also==
*Weezer Fan Club
*Weezine
*Mykel and Carli Allan
==References==
Category:Fan club
Category:Lists
Category:Merchandise