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The
Royal Connection Between Ron Jackson, King Tut and the
Castello Brothers As
most of you know
the Castello
Brothers (Michael and David)
of Castello
Cities Internet Network, Inc.) have
developed successful websites on many of the great geo
and generic domain names in their portfolio. I have
often talked about their sites at PalmSprings.com,
Nashville.com, Acapulco.com, Whiskey.com
and Daycare.com, but those represent just a
handful of the assets in the CCIN collection. 
Michael
Castello (left) and David Castello of Castello
Cities Internet Network, Inc.
speaking at the Domainer Mardi Gras conference in
New Orleans Friday (Feb. 12). You
may not have heard about another generic gem
owned and developed by the Castello Brothers - KingTut.com.
I had forgotten that this domain was in their portfolio
myself until Michael sent me a photo and note last night
that said, "King Tut is now prominently
positioned next to you on my bookshelf!" And
so he was... 
New
King Tut bobblehead doll takes a place next to the Ron
Jackson
bobblehead on a bookshelf in Michael
Castello's home office.
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This odd couple is
the result of a royal connection - a Warren
Royal connection to be precise. Royal (who
was profiled in a December
2008 DN Journal Cover Story) is a
domain investor/developer who owns and operates
a burgeoning business at Bobbleheads.com.
After buying the domain for $30,000 Royal
has leveraged the direct navigation traffic from
that category killing domain into a leading
ecommerce site that offers hundreds of different
bobblehead dolls for sale, including two that
feature domain industry figures, Rick
Schwartz and Ron
Jackson. Royal released the Rick
Schwartz Domain King bobblehead at the 2008
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York conference
and the Ron Jackson bobblehead at the 2009
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York show.
With his business
booming, Royal soon branched out into contract
manufacturing, producing custom made
bobbleheads for other retailers. |
Bobbleheads.com
owner Warren Royal |
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The Castello
Brothers were at the 2009 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New
York conference where Royal introduced the Ron
Jackson bobblehead and gave a free one to every
attendee. The Castellos were impressed with the
quality of Warren's work so they decided to ask
him to produce a King Tut doll that they could
offer on KingTut.com.
The site gets
tremendous traffic spurred by an explosion of
public interest in boy king Tutankhamun
that began back in 1922 when
archaeologist Howard Carter received
worldwide acclaim after finding Tutankhamun's
intact tomb in Egypt's Valley
of the Kings. Tutankhamun was nine
years old when he became pharaoh and reigned
for approximately ten years. He was one of the
few kings worshiped as a god in his own
lifetime.
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Michael was
so pleased with the final proof of
the King Tut bobblehead he sent me his
bookshelf photo right after the doll had
arrived for his approval (all that
remains to be added to the retail dolls
is the King Tut name on the base).
Michael told me, "The detail is incredible!
It is a real piece of art. The
thing weighs like 2 pounds. Warren
brings a new "collectors"
appeal to bobbleheaddom."
Bobbleheads.com
begins the manufacturing process by
producing clay models that can
easily be modified to incorporate
changes or special details their clients
want. You can see the exceptional detail
in the late stage clay model of the King
Tut doll in the photo at left. Notice
how advanced this model is compared to
one of the earlier renderings in the
photo on the |
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left below.
The photo on the right below is a side
view of the finished proof that shows
the exceptional detail, craftsmanship
and coloring that went into the final
product. |
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The King Tut
bobblehead is expected to be available for
purchase by the end of this month. In addition
to being sold on KingTut.com, it will be
available from this
page at Bobbleheads.com.
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While I'm
happy to see the Castello Brothers
taking a big step forward with another
one of their developed sites, I have to
tell you that the King Tut bobblehead
created a nightmare for me last
night. I saw the movie A Night at
the Museum (and the sequel Night
at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
in which statues of historical figures,
including Egyptian pharaohs, come to
life and wreak havoc after dark.
After seeing Michael's bookshelf photo
of King Tut and I, I dreamed that our
bobbleheads had come to life and were
fighting over who gets to drive the
model Ferrari on the shelf next
to us! |
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Unfortunately,
I got my butt kicked in the dream and Tut
roared off in what should have been my
ride (after all my bobblehead is
a year older than the Tut one, so I
figure it should have had seniority).
Next time instead of taking on the
19-year-old Tut I am going to start the
dream when he was a 9-year-old. I
figure that will give me at least a 50-50
chance of taking him! It still may
require a sucker punch to get the job
done, but when there is a Ferrari on
the line a man's got to do what a
man's got to do. |
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