FAQ

Time to answer some questions I guess! (last updated 5 July, 2012)

For more information on the people who run this site, visit the Website Creative Team link on the left sidebar, and please visit the Special Thanks page for without special people, this site would not be as good as it is today.

Q: Are you affiliated with the National Wildlife Federation?

A: No, I'm just someone who has grown up with Ranger Rick and is simply putting him online to showcase to an audience of readers. Please note, I have been in contact with the National Wildlife Federation, and have legal permission to host this site as a historical archive of Ranger Rick.

Q: What gave you the idea for the site?

A: Oddly enough I was going to change my avatar on a message forum and wanted to put up a picture of Ranger Rick. I had a bunch of cutouts from an old webpage that was online about 2007 (and seems to have disappeared from cyberspace) but they were of low quality and I couldn't get anything to look right. Thus, I decided to make my own, and considering there were no pages about the way Ranger Rick used to be presented when I was young, I figured I'd fill a missing niche online.

Q: Do you know any of the artists of the Ranger Rick adventures, Lorin Thompson, Alton Langford, or Robby Gilbert?

A: Wish I did, but no, I've not met them. Lorin died in 1997. However, I did get a wonderful opportunity to speak with Lorin's daughter's, Judy and Sandy through email during the Christmas holidays of 2009 when they contacted me about this site. Their question/answer session with me is now a section on this site. Alton Langford is still drawing art, and continued to do so after his work on Ranger Rick. I was able to talk with Alton Langford, and his question/answer session with me is also a section on this website. Robby Gilbert contacted me in 2012 about the site, and wanted to offer his input on the history of Ranger Rick and the change of the adventure stories to a comic book format. Please look for the "Interview with the..." links to the left to learn more.

Q: How do you create the high quality captures for this site?

A: I currently scan the pictures at 400 dpi using a Canon MP980 all-in-one printer. (Some of the older scans were from the previous model of the printer, the MP800.) They are saved as high quality jpeg files. I edit them in Microsoft Digital Image Anniversary Edition 2006 and save the character cutouts as PNG files (which allow for the transparency you see on all the images). For the website, I'll take the high quality cutouts and try to shrink down the pictures as best I can. I have updated most of the images because some of my earlier scans from 2009 when I first started the site did not scan well. I have not been able to fix everything because of the printing of the magazines, and any adventure story with odd coloring (e.g. if it takes place at night) does not scan well no matter what I try.

Q: Where did you acquire all of your issues of Ranger Rick?

A: Practically my entire 1980s collection came from a yard sale many many years ago. Some of my 1970s issues were my mother's copies (some with the brown shipping covers still attached). I've gotten some of the 1990s issues from local school libraries that were discarding old back issues (those I got for free!). My 1960s issues (including the first one) were ebay finds for $20, and I picked up many of my 1990s issues for less than $35. Given the age of many of these magazines, I stand a better chance of finding exactly what I'm after through online shopping and that's my primary way of searching these days.

Q: Do you buy Ranger Rick magazines?

A: Sometimes...if I don't already have the issue and you do! I don't keep duplicates of my collection--though some collectors do. Any duplicates I receive in a transaction I donate to my special needs classroom. If you're interested in selling some, please contact me by email, and maybe we can work something out. See my list here to see if you have something I'm interested in - Looking to Sell Ranger Rick magazines?

Q: Do you sell Ranger Rick magazines?

A. No. This site is run by collectors and if you know collectors, they don't give up their stuff! Any extra magazines I come across I donate to my classroom rather than resell them.

Q: Can you put "x" picture from "x" issue on the site?

A: Honestly, it depends. If its a character legally owned by the National Wildlife Federation (e.g. Ranger Rick Raccoon, Scarlett Fox, Boomer Badger, etc.) then yes, I can try and work something out if I have the issue in question. If its anything else, the answer is likely no. This includes artwork found on Reader Riddles pages, the Ask Scarlett/Ask Ranger Rick pages, and includes artwork of Wise Old Owl drawn by Lynn Munsinger or Cyndy Szekeres. That is why the character does not appear on the site despite "Whoo Knows" being a long-running question-answer column up through 1990.

Q: Why are there no adventure stories on the site? You obviously have the issues to get the character images.

A: Its not permitted due to publishing copyright. If you happen to remember a certain story, I can try and help you figure out which issue it came from so you can pick up your own copy, but I cannot reprint the adventures for download purposes.

Q: What do you do?

A: I'm a special needs teacher, and work with teenage students on the autism spectrum.

Q: Where can I contact you?

A: Email is best. classicrangerrick@gmail.com