It's my honour to finally properly introduce you to

[Wreck]

The former Play.com Product Buyer of SteelBooks.

All this time his identity has been kept secret. He gave the go-ahead to do this introduction and it's truly an honor / honour.

He's a hardcore collector now like many of you. And I may have had a lot to do with that.

Some things that he's responsible of making happen and credit to the HDN Staff as well. @digitalbabe @apsmith21

Winner of a 'SB Of The Year' award, the Terminator HDN voted inside art, an end to printed logos and rears, mandatory inside art, front & rear 'bossing, a few grail reprints saved and countless other industry firsts and disasters avoided.

He was one of the first and most active Product Buyers to work hand in hand with HDN for many things and it's been an absolute joy working with him throughout the years.

You all might know him as .... @zoneism

If you own any great Play Steels he had a lot to do with them and he's a Ninja for life!

 

[Towser]

Many thanks for all you wonderful work @zoneism and many thanks for letting us know @Wreck

Ron

 

[bigwednesday0]

Well done buddy! Just too bad I got into collecting steels too late to buy Iron Man!!

 

[Hatori]

Thanks @zoneism it's your fault that I've started collecting steelbooks. Thanks for many pretty steels.

 

[spass]

I got him that job

Awesome @zoneism !

Now you can (finally!) get the recognition you deserve Luke! Well done mate!

 

[nekromantik]

I only own one or two play sbs.
thanks @zoneism

 

[Zaandam3]

A+ for your hard work! Thanks @zoneism!

 

[zoneism]

Wow, what a great reception!

Firstly, many thanks to @Wreck for the humbling introduction. To be recognised like that by one of the true greats and drivers of the SteelBook phenomenon is a huge honour, and it's been an absolute pleasure working with you, @digitalbabe and @apsmith21 (and others) very closely over the past few years in order to move this hobby forward and always pushing the limits where we could. The wealth of knowledge you all have has played a pivotal role in taking this hobby to where it is now. You all truly deserve recognition for that!

Secondly, thanks to all you fellow ninjas on this forum who have shared the enjoyment. You have all played your part by voting for titles / artwork etc and voicing your opinions, both positive and negative, which has meant that retailers and studios know what collectors are looking for. So many steel gems have come out of working with HDN and being a part of it all. And not just from Play, but other retailers also turn to HDN for knowledge and inspiration. Keep doing what you are doing!!

And lastly it would be wrong not to doff my cap to my fellow buyers who were also part of bringing you some amazing SteelBooks during the Play glory years. They had to put up with my constant ramblings about SteelBooks and ninjas for years, but I'm sure they will agree that we achieved some great things from it (hopefully it was worth it!! )

I have had the pleasure of getting to know some of you really well over the years. A few of you knew my true identity and you all kept that secret as requested. It was great fun working from the shadows and I apologise to those of you who I didn't share my secret with, but I didn't want to detract from what a great job the staff do here and the recognition they deserved when sharing all of the breaking news over the years. It's truly been a team effort. The amount they do behind the scenes is just unbelievable and I hope you'll join me thanking them all for making this such a friendly environment and such a close community with a very big voice!

It's nice to finally meet you properly
Much love to you all!
Luke

Ninja for life

 

[Kizza]

I had a sneaky feeling @zoneism worked for play.com. Just some little things that i noticed but kept under wraps.

Well done Zone. We all love you!!

 

[lomadu]

Thank you very much for your hard work @zoneism !

 

[IRON MAN]

That's awesome, thanks again Luke! @zoneism

 

[Scary Hair]

Clark Kent , Peter Parker , Nnnaaahhhh nothing compared to @zoneism . True UBER Ninja .

Light hidden under the bushle much . Time now to bask in the light and it could not happen to a nicer guy .

 

[Basil]

wow that was a bit of a mind job, just know zoneism as a really cool nice ninja i know and always very helpful.
nice to hear you come out of the shadows and proper chance to just say thanks for the cool steels you have help made happen, we could do more like you

all the best
basil

 

[DADDYCOOL187]

Oh, so your the one @zoneism to blame for this addiction after purchasing my first steels from Play.com......my wallet thanks you!!!

 

[cooey]

It's awesome that this has finally been made public!

Thank you @zoneism

 

[Starling]

I'm Spartacus...!

 

[hiphopnrap]

@zoneism 007 HDN Agent

 

[justboy]

Wow, thanks @zoneism for helping create so many of my favourite steelbooks!

 

[jitstark]

Great work and huge appreciation on my part @zoneism for listening and feeding back the wants/needs of collectors during the Play years. After seeing your pictures of your collections and multiple dipping on past threads, @Wreck seems to have turned you into the hardest of the hardcore collectors!

 

[crossbow]

Entire lot of Play steelbooks from start to finish, was excellent. My first steelbook was Fight club play.com exclusive. And I started steelbooks collection with Play.com titles. All designs were pretty good. And Them prices.

Kudos @zoneism

 

[lgans316]

Congrats @zoneism