The fan community (also referred to as fanbase or fandom) of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, though not as vast as other fanbases may be, retains a respectable size and an unwavering loyalty that spans at least a decade for many of those who remember watching the series when it first aired on television.
Generations
During the decade that followed the show's original release, there have been a number of activity bursts from the fanbase. On a whole, there are three major activity bursts that can be separated into "generations", for lack of a better term. This is probably due to a group of fans drifting apart and finding other interests, and then new fans entering the fanbase with fresh ideas and fan works to offer. Most of the old fans move on; the new stay until they too, move on.
First Generation
The First Generation, or Old Fans, spanned more or less six years. There was an initial emergence of some activity, such as several Yahoo! groups and fan fiction, when the show ran between 2000 and 2002. There was also a fan site that can still be found online called the Team Lightyear Archive that was created in 2001.
But the real activity boost happened after the end of the show's run, around 2003. The Wikipedia article was made, fan art was published, and the first forum called the Star Command Message Boards was also created. This phase lasted for about three years, until 2006 or so, when the majority of the fans had found other interests and drifted apart, due to both personal issues and disagreements.
Second Generation
A handful of fans that survived the First Generation or joined it towards the end kept with the show and made up the Second Generation, or the Mid-Fans, with the XR Fan Club as the main forum they hung out on. No doubt the resurgence in popularity was due to reruns that began airing again around 2006 that lasted until around 2008.
However, due to disagreements amongst some of the members, a few created the NOS-4-A2 Fan Board. By early 2010, not many fans were left on either board besides a few stragglers, and activity had dropped to yet another low.
Third Generation
Those who remained made up the Third Generation, or New Fans. This period overlaps somewhat with the Second Generation, mainly concerning the stragglers that had remained from the Second and a few newcomers who made up the start of the Third. For a time, they kept to the XR Fan Club and NOSboards. Some attempted to make a more neutral and accepting forum on Buzz Revolution, but activity on all three forums had dropped to an all-time new low, with very few remaining to support the show.
Those who did made a few deviantART-related groups such as Star Command, Zurgtastic and NOS-4-A2's Universe. The very wikia you are reading was also made around this time, as well as another attempt at a LiveJournal community with blosc_redux.
However, the Third Generation only came full circle with the creation of the To Infinity and Fandom forum on the show's 10th Anniversary. Attempts were made by those who remained to invite as many fans as possible. First and Second Generation fans joined, as well as new fans who now make up the Third Generation.
As of yet, it is still too early to tell how this phase will progress, but so far it seems to be going well.
Important Dates
- August 15, 2000 — The first fan fiction on FanFiction.net, Mock Speed, is published.
- October 8, 2000 — The Yahoo! groups buzz_star_command and starcommandcentral are created. Presumably, around the same time, BuzzLightyearFanfic and buzzlightyearstarcommandrpg are also created. [inactive]
- June ??, 2001 — The first fan site, Team Lightyear Archive, is created. [inactive]
- June 23, 2002 — The first LiveJournal community the_buzz is created. [inactive]
- April 11, 2003 — The Buzz Lightyear of Star Command article is first created on Wikipedia.
- July 3, 2003 — The first fan art on DeviantART, Agent Z, is published.
- November 27, 2003 — The first forum, Star Command Message Boards, is created. [inactive]
- June 6, 2004 — The first fan club on DeviantART, BLoSC Fans United, is created. [inactive]
- January 10, 2006 — The first role-playing forum, Star Command RPGs, is created. [inactive]
- November ??, 2006 — The first fan video on YouTube, Like Humans Do, is posted. [unavailable]
- December 1, 2006 — The first character-specific forum, the XR Fan Club, is created. [inactive]
- May 14, 2007 The second character-specific forum, the NOS-4-A2 Boards, is created. [inactive]
- April 23, 2008 — The Buzz Lightyear of Star Command article is first created on the FanHistory Wiki.
- February 2, 2010 — The forum, Buzz Revolution, is created. [inactive]
- August 7, 2010 — The first wikia, BLoSCWiki, is created.
- November 6, 2011 — The first tumblr account, Ask Team Lightyear, is made.
Terminology
The fandom has come up with several phrases and shorthands to describe elements present in the series. Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used by some, though not all, of the fandom.
- BLoSC — The most common abbreviation for "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command".
- Beer — Shorthand for the pairing Buzz/Mira.
- BigMac — Shorthand for the pairing Mira/Romac.
- Burger — Shorthand for the pairing Buzz/Zurg.
- Nora — Shorthand for the pairing Mira/NOS-4-A2.
- NOX — Shorthand for the pairing NOS-4-A2/XR.
- Marred — Shorthand for the pairing Mira/XR.
- Wine — Shorthand for the pairing Warp/Mira.
- XR.2— Shorthand for the pairing XR/42.