And then it was 1997. Welcome to our ongoing series of bringing back to life Fossil Times from the Collector’s Club era. Up for your consideration today is Volume 4, Issue 1. The newsletters from 1997 & 1998 were the first ones in a different size at 10.5 inches wide and 16.5 inches tall (ie..very hard to scan in)

Let’s start with missing socks. Remember those from last time? In this day and age, it’s hard to imagine a major company (or any company) announcing that they received a sock and have a hard time identifying the sender! 22 years later did anyone ever claim that sock and what was the reward?

The highlight of this newsletter and the reason why this site was created was for the collectors. On Page 3 we find an article called, “C’mon in Collectors” and wow it really made me long for the retail days where you had to go to the stores to get your goods and talk with salespeople. I had a good relationship with the salespeople at 2 of my local Fossil stores and they would call me when the good stuff came in! Like my own personal Cheers Bar minus the drinks. Those Fossil stores in the 90’s were magical and I can attest that they were designed to keep us coming back for more.

Further inside in the newsletter we learn about the international presence of the Fossil Collectors Club – 1500 members internationally! Suspicions confirmed that the retro-American style was loved internationally just as much as here in the good old USA. Little known fact that has been forgotten was Fossil Collectors had their own inbox direct to Fossil HQ: COLLECT.FOSSIL@FOSL.COM

Other points of interest are always Star Wars watches (how many did they make?), information on the 1997 Collector’s Club option and always a highlight for Collector of the Quarter – where are you Matthew Martin?

Enjoy the first issue of Fossil Times from 1997 – it was a good year!