It look longer than expected, but we’re finally here. The full details (or most of them, at least) for my rebind of Ready Player One!
As mentioned several times, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a particular favourite of mine. As a lifelong geek and gamer, the story seriously appealed to me. Add this to the awesome concept of the Oasis and the hunt for Halliday’s easter egg, and I just couldn’t put it down.
The story takes some really bad ass turns and is incredibly satisfying in it’s payoff, all the while getting hammered in the face with non-stop 80’s pop culture. Fuck yeah!
After deciding to do a rebind (after being given the idea by a new friend) I had a good think about what title to choose – rebinding definitely opens up your choice of titles. You’re only hampered by the cost and availability of first editions.
It didn’t take long for RPO to pop into my head, and it definitely felt right. The wealth of content in the book gave me lots of ideas initially, and once I had seen a few first editions that didn’t cost the earth, it was decided.
So here it is:
One of the first thoughts I had was the traycase, and it’s no doubt the coolest feature. When I had the idea I quickly went online to check dimensions of the Atari 2600 and hardback book. The early figures looked very promising.
Once the first Atari arrived at mine and I opened it up, I knew it was definitely possible. It did however need a lot of work, as it clearly isn’t made to house books!
Luckily I have a sign-maker in the family (father in law) who has experience of plastic fabrication who was able help make this a reality. It’s worth noting this is still a prototype, and the production case will be an even neater fit (there’s a lot of trial and error involved in this).
Then I took the case and concept to Ludlow Bookbinders, and after a surprisingly warm reception to the idea – they were up for the challenge. The end result being a beautifully lined case covered in black suedel.
Next up was the cover design, something I did myself (as I did on Gardens of the Moon). I went through several ideas originally, but settled on a Pacman-style design as the book hinges on Wade playing a perfect game of Pacman.
A few tweaks were added to it, including the 3 keys and the nod to Adventure with the Easter Egg on the back.
Due to the intricate nature of the blocking done on this book, we went with a black goatskin leather with a finer grain, rather than the calf we had originally planned. This allowed the finer details of the design to remain clear and visible.
Next up is the art, which is not pictured but is still currently in production. I have secured the services of five artists for this project, four of them are original Atari artists!
There will be a portfolio that comes with this book with three signed and numbered prints.These prints are original artist recreations or “homage’s” to the game covers they worked on, that feature in the book – they are:
- Adventure, by Susan Jaekel
- Black Tiger, by Peter Andrew Jones
- Tempest, by Mark Duffin
Also there is a custom piece of art being done by John Enright (Outlaw, Slot Racers, Flag Capture) which will be bound into the book, and will depict a game-cover style piece for Ready Player One. All 26 books are signed by the four original artists, and there is a display stand included with each book.
Not only that, there is a custom endpaper being designed by Francesco Lorenzetti, which will depict a scene from the book (The Battle of Castle Anorak) which I am particularly excited about.
I am producing a limited run of 26 lettered editions (A-Z) and this comes in 3 states:
Deluxe, limited to 6 pieces
Signed First Edition
Unsigned First Edition
The deluxe edition is different in a few ways. It is housed in the rare all-black “Darth Vader” Atari 2600, and also comes with a remarque from original Pacman/Joust artist, Hiro Kimura. There will also be some design differences on the binding of the book.
The deluxe utilises a signed first edition of Ernest Cline’s masterpiece, and the majority of the standard edition’s are signed first edition’s too.
This should be available for pre-order on our website early February, and production time should be in the region of 4 months in total.
I will of course share images of the final production case and book once finished and when I have the art in hand.
