Patches of Pride Company Information Proudly serving fans and collectors of 1/6th scale action figures since 1998! How did Patches of Pride (PoP) get started? Flash back to the 1960s... Future PoP founder Mark Otnes was just 6 years old. He was sitting on his living room floor, munching a bowl of Quisp cereal and watching Saturday morning cartoons on TV (probably Jonny Quest and Space Ghost). Suddenly, a fantastic new toy commercial appeared on the screen. It was for the amazing new GIjOE Mercury Space Capsule (audio for this commercial is now playing). His eyes widened when he saw the capsule with an astronaut inside wearing a shiny silver space suit. The US/Soviet "space race" was going at full steam at that time, and Mark knew this was his "must have toy" for Christmas, 1966. Later that day, in a "magical" marketing happenstance, the new SEARS Wishbook catalog appeared in his mailbox. What were the odds?! HA While leafing eagerly through its pages, he came upon an ad for the exact toy he had just seen on TV (see actual ad below). OH YEAH, BABY! America's toy marketers were on the job! Sure enough, Mark soon became the proud owner of a brand new GIjOE space capsule (see photo at left). The new capsule and its floatation collar were perfect toys for bath time, and when combined with a GIjOE Scuba Diver, Sea Sled and Deep Sea Diver, a lot of exciting "splashdown action" was guaranteed for years to come. Unfortunately, after repeated exposure to hot tub water and soapy Mr. Bubble bath soap, the capsule's stickers warped, faded and peeled off. Without its original colorful graphics, the toy seemed less interesting and was set aside and forgotten. Flash forward to 1998... As a professional graphic designer, Mark realized he now had the ability to recreate and replace the original faded stickers on old toys with his own new and accurate recreations. Excited by the prospects of reviving an iconic toy, Mark set to work recreating the graphics of his old capsule's instrument panel decal, detail by tiny detail. When it was finally done, the reproduction instrument panel decal became Patches of Pride's (PoP) FIRST official product. A recreation of the capsule's exterior hull decal soon followed, and after applying them both, the 1960s space toy looked practically new again. At that moment, a new business was born---Patches of Pride! Is there a PoP store I can visit in person? No, we don't have a "brick and mortor" store at this time, sorry. Currently we're strictly an internet based mail-order business. It's our intention to keep overhead costs as low as possible, and pass the savings on to you. Do you guarantee your merchandise? Yes! We want you to be happy with your purchase. If you're not, simply return it to us and we'll refund your purchase price. Shipping is non-refundable and there is a 10-day limit on requesting to return items for refunds. These are our refund and return policies: 1) All returns and refunds are subject to our approval. 2) Unauthorized returns are not accepted. 4) We reserve the right to refuse refunds for any reason to anyone at anytime. 5) There is a 10 day limit for requesting returns or refunds. 6) Shipping is not refundable. What methods of payment does PoP accept? We accept PayPal payments made to: mark@patchesofpride.com MC, VISA and DIscover credit cards Money Orders made out to "Patches of Pride" and mailed to Patches of Pride, 303 E. Sherwin Drive, Urbana, IL 61802. Tell me about PoP's limited offer of free shipping. We provide FREE shipping for most patch and decal orders to destinations within the U.S. (unless otherwise specified in the item's description). Our free shipping offer does not typically apply to conversion kits or bulky items (see that specific item's description for details). And, shipping is (unfortunately) additional for ALL international orders. Does PoP "outsource" the manufacture of its products to China or other countries? No. We're not fans of outsourcing American jobs to foreign countries. Instead, we've chosen to keep the production of our products right here in the USA. Nearly everything on our website is made right in America's heartland (Illinois), while the rest is produced down in the great state of Texas! As a result, our prices are not always as low as our competition (hardly ever actually), but we feel it is more important to keep Americans working, support free enterprise, and strengthen the capitalism, freedom and democracy our forefathers intended for us to enjoy. Hoo-rah! Does PoP take product suggestions or accept custom orders? Absolutely! Simply e-mail or call Mark at 217-337-1706 to submit your suggestion for upcoming products. We promise to produce as many as we possibly can. Please let us know if you're looking for anything in particular. Chances are, we've already made it, and just haven't had the time to list it yet. Does PoP barter or accept items in trade? Yes. As a matter of fact, our "Trader's Bucks" program is very popular. It's a great way to exchange your extra toys and turn them into PoP store credit, good towards ANYTHING we sell. Some of our customers use this barter system exclusively, and NEVER paid a single penny for Patches of Pride merchandise. How do I contact Patches of Pride? EMAIL: mark@patchesofpride.com SNAIL MAIL: Patches of Pride, 303 E. Sherwin Drive, Urbana, IL 61802. PHONE: (217) 337-1706 (9AM-9PM CST). HOME