A must read

[MissyM]

http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Billy+Smith%2C+Elvis+memorablia&fr=my-vert-web-top&u=www.geocities.com/elvissymposium/shaw.htm&w=billy+smith+elvis+memorablia+memorabilia&d=SSEWh-dmPbI6&icp=1&.intl=us

[Diane]

Wow that was a lot of information Missy. EPE has definitely turned Elvis into a money making commodity but so is anyone else who is trying to make money out of him so I don't what to think of this guy that wrote the article. Is he just another one or not?

Diane

[ksimms2]

wow! unbelievable, money grubbing, stingy pieces of crap! don't know what else to say.

[presley31]

shame people need to be greedy, when it comes to a great man like elvis.

[JDD]

I don't know while I understand a lot of the resentment, and agree with some of it , with some of it I think people forget, all these souvenirs and the money stuff didn't start with EPE . It started with The Colonel and Elvis. So while they've done many things I don't particularly like, such as trying to run that little shop "Boulevard souvenirs" out , I can't really hold it against them making money. Everyone needs to make money, how many families of regular people get to put food on the table and pay the light bill because of EPE and the Elvis Machine? Quite a few over the years . Gotta be thousands. How many jobs have you or any of us held that didn't come with rules that if you broke you could get fired. I know I personally have had to deal with confidentiality clauses which if I spoke against the company I was gone. How much of those dismissed is due to breaking what most people would consider normal rules of Business, and how much of it was abuse of power? Hard to say. Elvis has been big business since the 1950s. He didn't work for free then, and he doesn't now that he's become a brand name in death either.

So while I get what people are getting at, I don't necessarily agree because nobody is making anyone support "EPE", you don't have to spend a dime to walk up the drive to see the grave , you don't have to buy a ticket to Graceland or buy Elvis Pez dispensers. As for the Billy Smiths and the others that are upset, thats rough, but I can't help but wonder if we're getting the whole story. In any conflict there is always two sides, and usually only the one that loses makes noise and we never quite get the full story. I hate to stick up for someone so many people that I like here on this site think is borderline if not outright evil but I've found with age, almost nobody is all good , or all bad .

Now I guess I'll duck and cover

JD

[elvisgal824]

I have mixed emotions about EPE. Sometimes I think it's really a great thing that Elvis' personal items and Graceland are preserved. I certainly didn't appreciate having to walk through gift shop after gift shop when I went to visit Graceland but going to the house itself was one of the greatest thrills of my life. On the other hand, I don't think EPE uses Elvis' memory and popularity in the best ways. Most of the Elvis merchandise is completely tacky and I feel that some of it makes him look like a joke. I'm not surprised that EPE functions this way; after all they are just trying to make money. I kind of agree with JD on the point. I think the reason this upsets so many people, well at least the reason it upsets me, is because this turns him into just an image that they can put on cheap t-shirts and some people forget he was a real human being with feelings. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop buying tacky Elvis memorabilia and going to Graceland though. Visiting Graceland and having Elvis merchandise still makes a lot of people happy. I guess EPE and it's business practices are just a necessary evil as long as certain people are involved with the company.

[Joe Car]

Anybody that can endorse impersonators such as EPE did for the 30th anniversary week, shows what they really think of Elvis and his legacy, a--holes that they really are!

[MissyM]

I have no problem with Elvis memorablilia persay. I just don't think it should have become only controlled by EPE. And I think if only half of the article is true then, it shows the greed involved. Let's face it, we knew it was going to happen and ppl are not stupid. Fan's would have chosen the best things anyway. I don't understand why it had to become a monoply??

[Diane]

I think they are just following a sign of the times Missy. Greed is rampant.

Diane

[Getlo]

Anybody that can endorse impersonators such as EPE did for the 30th anniversary week, shows what they really think of Elvis and his legacy, a--holes that they really are!

Exactly.

People should've turned up with burning torches when EPE announced this disgusting display was to be sanctioned and encouraged. :angry:

[Getlo]

The guy who wrote the article is Sid Shaw, from Elvisly Yours. He had the guts to stand up to EPE and won.

He once met Cilla at an airport in the UK with some flowers. Thinking he was a kind fan, she went to take them, only for him to serve her with papers challenging EPE's stranglehold on Elvis merchandise!

The guy is a legend as far as I'm concerned.

He used to sell some very cool stuff (ok, so some of it was tacky) and the Elvisly Yours magazine had some excellent pictures in it. Is this still going, anyone know?

[presley31]

I think they are just following a sign of the times Missy. Greed is rampant.

Diane

l agree diane(y)

[cameron]

I don't know while I understand a lot of the resentment, and agree with some of it , with some of it I think people forget, all these souvenirs and the money stuff didn't start with EPE . It started with The Colonel and Elvis. So while they've done many things I don't particularly like, such as trying to run that little shop "Boulevard souvenirs" out , I can't really hold it against them making money. Everyone needs to make money, how many families of regular people get to put food on the table and pay the light bill because of EPE and the Elvis Machine? Quite a few over the years . Gotta be thousands. How many jobs have you or any of us held that didn't come with rules that if you broke you could get fired. I know I personally have had to deal with confidentiality clauses which if I spoke against the company I was gone. How much of those dismissed is due to breaking what most people would consider normal rules of Business, and how much of it was abuse of power? Hard to say. Elvis has been big business since the 1950s. He didn't work for free then, and he doesn't now that he's become a brand name in death either.

So while I get what people are getting at, I don't necessarily agree because nobody is making anyone support "EPE", you don't have to spend a dime to walk up the drive to see the grave , you don't have to buy a ticket to Graceland or buy Elvis Pez dispensers. As for the Billy Smiths and the others that are upset, thats rough, but I can't help but wonder if we're getting the whole story. In any conflict there is always two sides, and usually only the one that loses makes noise and we never quite get the full story. I hate to stick up for someone so many people that I like here on this site think is borderline if not outright evil but I've found with age, almost nobody is all good , or all bad .

Now I guess I'll duck and cover

JD

I agree with this. I just don't buy everything.....:)

[JDD]

Cameron , aside from books and Videos I hardly buy any of it . What do I need an Elvis Face coffee mug for?

I think the most out there "souvenir" I have bought was a pretty sharp looking
"hawthorne villiage" of the house which I really liked.

JD