The Original Fan Fist has been in the making since the year 2000, but we officially launched in 2011 in the state capital in Sacramento.
First of all, we see Fan Fist as a fresh new way to root for your team while also giving back to kids, cancer, and other worthy causes with each Fan Fist sold.
In 1998, during a college rivalry football game – Sacramento State vs. UC Davis, Michael began to wonder how his son’s toy fist would be cool to have at the game. He felt there could be a fresh and more fun way to fist bump and throw up fists when supporting your team in a game. Michael thought of an upgrade to the Foam Finger that originated around 1974 and consequently began to research and design what he thought the upgrade could be.
He settled on a collapsible model after multiple designs and trials. In his words, "if they were collapsible, they would be easier to transport and cheaper to make."
Sadly, the Fan Fist project has been abandoned since then for various reasons, including money. Although the uniqueness of the ideas was preserved as Michael held on to the idea of intellectual property and other signs of proof that we didn’t just copy the foam cup holders that have come out over the past few years. But in 2011, The Original Fan Fist brand eventually registered its name at the state capital in Sacramento.
Michael and the entire team, comprised of the Technical Resource, David Griffith, and Larry Thompson, overseeing the Marketing and Sales of the business, had a primary goal of supporting kids and creating more awareness of cancer. We want students to be able to raise money for their schools and feel good about giving back to society as well. And we believe our product has this potential and even more.
Our reasons for choosing to pursue this mission weren’t unfounded. First, our logo with the fan holding their fist up is from an actual photo of Michael Borda, a close friend of Michael who died from pancreatic cancer in March 2015. Michael also lost his father to cancer just recently, and aside from these cases, several others in our circle have been touched by this horrible disease. The least we can do to help is to ensure the brand creates as much awareness and support as possible.
We are a strictly online business that sells just one product. Therefore, we do not have any inventory: any orders that come into our site will be checked by our admin and then sent to the manufacturer, where they will be made and shipped directly.
Because we are not licenced yet, we currently only supply youth sports and high schools as we do not need a licence to sell to them. Also, usually, private deals with licenced sports teams can be made privately.
How we sell the product primarily depends on the minimum orders the manufacturers allow. Generally, individual fists aren’t an option at the moment. However, depending on how small the order is, the manufacturer may be able to cater to you, although our offer may be made at a higher price than the original price of the product.
Of course, there are processes that the NCAA uses when testing new products, so you can be sure of having only the best and top-quality Fan Fists from us.
“Our mission is to sell products that will help youth programs, high schools, and colleges raise money and give back to society, particularly bringing awareness to not only cancer, other diseases, bullying, racism, and injustice, but also giving back to kids. We are set out to supply products that are new, affordable, easy to carry, fun, and most importantly, promote what we’re hoping to spread.”
Michael Johnson
Michael had the original idea of The Original Fan Fist. He is also the head of the team and operates from the United States.
Larry Thompson
Larry is a long-time friend of Michael and is in charge of Marketing and Sales at The Original Fan Fist. Larry operates from Canada.
David Griffith
David is a long-time friend of Larry and is in charge of the technical aspects at The Original Fan Fist. David operates from Canada.