DAMNNNN...How the mighty have fallen since the 90's...

[samurainoir]

Well, Mother T might have deserved it.

The guy likes a cleaner style, and he is a great sculptor - he does some DC Direct stuff and things with Four Horsemen

Weren't the Four Horsemen pretty much the McFarlane shop at the height of the Spawn boom? They walked away while they were on top to form their own shop? (kind of like Image left Marvel)

Seems like they are pretty much the only "name" toy sculptors out there with a brand that the general public knows... particularly with the Masters of the Universe Classics and DCU Classics, and fans even clamoring for their own original exclusives at SDCC and their website.

[Tothiro]

Weren't the Four Horsemen pretty much the McFarlane shop at the height of the Spawn boom? They walked away while they were on top to form their own shop? (kind of like Image left Marvel)

Seems like they are pretty much the only "name" toy sculptors out there with a brand that the general public knows... particularly with the Masters of the Universe Classics and DCU Classics, and fans even clamoring for their own original exclusives at SDCC and their website.

They're celeb, but the amount of work they've put out between them is also impressive, and yeah - they were the guys making things happen in the early mcfarlane days.

This is a page post from 2006-2008 that I had to wayback machine to pull up:
Four Horsemen FOURum - Complete list of H-4 work!! (UPDATED: 4/7/06)

Also, the sculptor for early spawn waves who later became project manager was Jean St. Jean, who has his own studio - but doesn't do a lot of press. You've seen his stuff on the Blackest Night GL line, and he's done a lot of statue work. Here's a press bit:
Pop Culture Zoo | Exclusive Interview With Action Figure Sculptor Jean St. Jean

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I was a toy dealer full time when these came out. If I saw them at retail, I'd buy them and put them on my table for a buck or so more than I paid, it was mainly to drive a little traffic.

Other dealers would tell me "you're selling too cheap" like we were supposed to be OPEC or something. I never took one home after a show, being a student of economics, I always suspected that the whole thing was a bubble.

Last summer I saw one of the old school dealers at a show, with ceiling high stacks of all the "rare ones" like this guy and BTAS Poison Ivy and oodles of those muscle Star Wars, nobody was looking at his table.

Yep, same here, back then is when I had my store, and I would do the occasional toy show as well. I'd get cases of McFarlane toys because they were in high demand, but I never marked them up too high, I knew they were hot at the time but by that point I'd started to get the clue that most of the '90's toys weren't going to be much good for long-term investments. I got alot of customer traffic from having those figures and at fair prices. And the other toy dealers would get angry that I was underpricing them, lol. Now they're stuck with loads of 'em. I still have some of them for my own collection because honestly, I thought the first few waves of Spawn figures were pretty darn cool. The Malebolgia was one of my favorites, not due to rarity or money value but I just thought it was such an amazing looking figure. I got one at retail and the package was 1/3 opened due to the weight of the figure pulling the bubble apart, but I didn't care, I just liked the toy.
I think the real major sign that McFarlane toys were gonna suffer a major aftermarket backlash was when he started the collector's club, where you could buy not only club exclusives, but also buy older "rare" figures that people had already been paying lots of money for on the aftermarket, but now for a much lower price. I can recall many many collectors being irritated that the "rare" Red Violator limited figure they'd once paid $100 for, could now be ordered from the collector club for $15! Quite a few Spawn collectors that I knew at the time quickly gave up on it and tried to dump their collections...

[Earth 2 Chris]

I only bought like two Spawn figures, but I do have totes and totes of 90s Batman figures packaged. Now, I never bought them for investment. At the time, I liked to display them MOC on my wall. I've since converted to ripping everything open, but I can't bring myself to unleash my BTAS figures, mostly because I already have one of each figure loose too. Hey, I was in my teens and early 20s then, and had disposable income!

But totes take up space, so I've been donating quite a few of the non-BTAS Batman/DC figures to various charities, and it does make me feel good. Plus you get a tax write-off, which isn't bad.

Chris

[TheBigToyAuction.com]

man when I think of Spawn 2 things come to mind

2- some rich doctor I use to train in the gym, he finds out I collect toys..and tells me his son has a huge collection but wants me to help him sell it and he'll give me a percentage when I sell them...I say ok, show me what you got, he brings me a cd full of pics and it was like 200 spawn figures I told him he was better off donating them and getting some sort of write off with the salvation army or goodwill...he was in shock and didn't believe me

For me, that's absolutely one of the hardest parts of my job. I hate having to tell a potential clent that their "Treasures" (that's an industry term, meaning junk ) aren't worth what they think they are.

So many times people will bring items with ridiculous made-up prices they've talked themselves into believing are real, or appraise their collection based on the sentimental history attached.

When I have to tell them "I know that canteen belonged to your grandfather, but *every* canteen belonged to *someone's* grandfather. Unless your grandfather was General Patton, bidders aren't going to care, and they're not going to bid it up to the $1,000 you think is fair for it. You'll get more value out of it by giving it to your *own* grandchildren," and they just nod and agree, I feel like I've just singlehandedly set their retirement fund on fire.

I actually prefer it when consignors get angry at me and go off to sell it themselves out of spite. PLEASE - feel free to sell your Mcfarlane toys for $25.00 apiece somewhere else. That'll show me!

[TheBigToyAuction.com]

I only bought like two Spawn figures, but I do have totes and totes of 90s Batman figures packaged. Now, I never bought them for investment. At the time, I liked to display them MOC on my wall. I've since converted to ripping everything open, but I can't bring myself to unleash my BTAS figures, mostly because I already have one of each figure loose too. Hey, I was in my teens and early 20s then, and had disposable income!

But totes take up space, so I've been donating quite a few of the non-BTAS Batman/DC figures to various charities, and it does make me feel good. Plus you get a tax write-off, which isn't bad.

Chris

There's a pretty neat charity called Healing Heroes at Healing Heroes Project They work with a children's hospital to have critically ill children draw a figure they'd like to see, or even imagine themselves to be, and then Customizer Scott Hall creates a custom version of that character for them, usually within a one-week turn-around period.

He won't accept any sort of cash donations or anything, but he does accept figures for custom fodder. Most GoodWill stores and the like will just sell the toys off for pennies on the dollar, but Healing Heroes is a good way to get more value out of these for a great cause. If you're interested, you can check out the website, and contact Scott directly.