MAXx FX Alien prototype

[Neutron X]

WOW! I don't know Mel but his stuff is amazing!!!!!!! I remember my boss coming back from Toyfair and talking about his awesome Max FX presentation I was really excited and had planned on buying it all. Things didn't go that way but love that the prototypes are safe and sound! The Creature is my all time fave!!! Congrats on such a wonderful piece of art and history! I like the display too!

[Steve Evets Reywd]

I should probably include Mel's incredible website, explaining about the line. All the characters were pretty awesome : )

http://melbirnkrant.com/maxxfx/

[LonnieFisher]

The video has a big mistake in the first few moments. He says they were an 8" line, when they were the body size one up from that. They were on the 9 1/2" body. Eight inches would have been better for customs!

[LonnieFisher]

[Steve Evets Reywd]

The video has a big mistake in the first few moments. He says they were an 8" line, when they were the body size one up from that. They were on the 9 1/2" body. Eight inches would have been better for customs!

Yup, you are correct. Matchbox made that decision. If Mel would have had his way, they would have been on the 11" GI Joe bodies.

[ODBJBG]

I've never understood the Matchbox Freddy thing. I'm not saying parent groups didn't protest, but I have a hard time believing that was the sole reason for the line's demise. There were LOTS of Freddy dolls, candy, 1-800 numbers at the time. Maybe Matchbox got cold feet, but they were hardly the only one marketing Freddy to kids.

[Steve Evets Reywd]

I've never understood the Matchbox Freddy thing. I'm not saying parent groups didn't protest, but I have a hard time believing that was the sole reason for the line's demise. There were LOTS of Freddy dolls, candy, 1-800 numbers at the time. Maybe Matchbox got cold feet, but they were hardly the only one marketing Freddy to kids.

From what I understand, it was over the talking Freddy doll, that Matchbox, for some reason, released at the very same time. But you are right, they could have just pulled Freddy from the shelves and proceeded with the rest of the unproduced line. The way Mel talks of Matchbox, and you get this from his website also, I think there may have been more marketing issues over there, then were discussed publicly.

[scott metzger]

Very cool, and interesting. I didn't know there were actual prototypes made at the proper scale for any of the unmade figures; I thought the only ones were the original converted GI Joes. It really was a shame the line died before it even got started; the concept was a great twist on Captain Action, and there were a lot of places to go with it. Alien might also have raised some eyebrows (look at Kenner's debacle with the original film), but probably not as bad as marketing a child killer. And, as others have intimated, that may not have been the only reason the line was shelved; we've no idea what other problems Matchbox may have been having.