Pauls Valley — There’s more to the benefits than one might think when it comes to being an official member or sponsor of Pauls Valley’s Toy and Action Figure Museum.

A big push to draw more support is now well underway after it was announced in early July the local museum was being courted by officials in Oklahoma City to relocate the facility to the Bricktown area up there.

To help attract the additional support needed here in PV officials at the museum have in recent days been working to add to its benefit package for members and sponsors.

Both museum curator Kevin Stark and director Lisa Driskill believe that support for the museum pays off for individual and corporate members and Pauls Valley as a community.

“There are people who support us emotionally and that’s great. That’s nice and it’s all important to us,” Stark said.

“But we also need monetary support and that’s what these memberships and sponsorships do for the museum,” he said.

“We’re non-profit so all the profits go back into the museum. All the money goes into new displays, acquisitions, rent, the bills here. The real need is to grow the concept. That’s what these memberships help us do.”

Driskill believes the museum, local businesses and community as a whole are kind of like partners as the prosperity for each is intertwined.

She also believes there are plenty of benefits for those supporting the museum with a family membership or business sponsorships.

“There’s a lot of benefits to being a sponsor for the museum,” Driskill said.

“This is a win-win for businesses and the museum. We’re working to drive our guests to the local businesses,” she said.

According to Driskill, a recent survey done by the museum shows 60 percent of the facility’s visitors eat in local restaurants, while 40 percent buy gas at stations in PV.

“As a business owner it’s important to remember the museum brings around 2,000 people a month into our city, and these are people who spend money here,” she said.

“Most see Pauls Valley as this charming town that they want to explore a little bit. That’s obviously a good thing for the businesses here.”

For Stark the benefits of the museum go much further, specifically in the way it promotes Pauls Valley with the attention drawn to the museum on an international basis.

“We’re selling Pauls Valley with iconic characters,” Stark said.

“Our influence reaches out to the whole world and in return we promote Pauls Valley. We are ambassadors of Pauls Valley,” he said.

An example, Stark said, comes from the July edition of the national magazine Wizard, which focuses content on comics, entertainment and pop culture.

An the article listed the PV museum as one of the top “places to go” in the entire country, along with Disneyland in California and attractions from the Universal and Marvel Comics parks in Orlando, Fla., to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City.

As for the local support needed, any business can purchase a sponsorship from the museum for a minimum of $250.

With this sponsorship the business gets a life size rivet or toys for their window display. The museum will have a flyer on hand encouraging visitors to visit these businesses.

• The $250 sponsorship gives the business a day at the museum with its name in the window and employees free for the day.

• The $500 sponsorship gives the business its name in the window and admission for employees free for the weekend.

• The $1,000 sponsorship give the business a week for its employees to come for free with its name in the window.

• Family membership is $100 with a family of four getting into the museum any day for free for a year, a birthday party that is usually valued at $200 only $100, 10% off in the gift shop, two museum shirts, two toys valued at under $19.99, a bumper sticker and magnet and two free tickets to the museum’s members only birthday party in October.

• Individual membership is $50 with an individual getting into the museum for free any day for a year, 10 percent off in the gift shop, one museum shirt, one toy valued at under $19.99, a bumper sticker and a magnet and one free ticket to the museum’s members only birthday party in October.