DST Spider-Man Limited Edition Collector Set

[Hedji]

Zach, welcome to the Museum. Can you tell us approximately how many we can expect per year, or the frequency of the releases. It's lovely, but the price is a bit of an ouch. A few per year, okay, but $80 per month is another major bill.

[Chris]

I'm so excited about this!

Please, PLEASE bring on the classic AND updated Lizard with Doc Conners alter ego!

Oh, and PLEASE make Wolverine's original "whisker" mask one of the options for him!

All great ideas.

Luv that packaging. Nothing drives me crazier than those plastic "Collector Friendly" cases.

[EMCEtoys]

As much as I'd rather Paul speak for my side or Zach for DST, for some reason Paul's been unreachable all day (of all days), so I'll jump in for a minute and hit some points. Initially, this was supposed to be unveiled at C2E2 and Paul was going to be there when it happened, but Marvel made the announcement, so the proverbial cat, etc., etc.

- There will only be a couple per year; that price point is meant to be a premium collectible, not a wallet-gouging monthly subscription.
- The only way to get an action figure dispensation from Hasbro/Marvel was to produce at this price point
- Due to that, of course, there will be no separate "Mego only" options
- Yes, there are only a handful of characters that justify this treatment. For this year, I believe we're talking about Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor and Wolverine. Wolverine will be fun because we get to imagine how he would have been Mego-ized in the 70s to begin with. Our model for next year will be 3 characters Mego did and 1 they didn't.
- Besides the costumes and accessories in the photos, each kit comes with a "mini-magazine" produced by Cinefantastique, the classic scifi/pop-culture magazine, with content about Spidey's costume evolution, Mego's Spidey toys, a bit on Spidey and Mego customizing (courteously contributed by this esteemed forum's own "Palitoy", Scott Heiler), and a behind-the-scenes piece on how we made this kit.

As many of you know, I originally got into this to help realize some of Paul's dreams, and this was the big one. We have already done DC and tried to improve on those characters (tons of threads here document the issues we had there) instead of just cranking out copies of the old ones -- I can say that so far the experience with Marvel is the POLAR OPPOSITE of that experience in terms of creative input and approval process. And since we're working with Diamond Select, you're already familiar with the quality of the final product. We threw the kitchen sink at this one.

Though all Marvel characters are awesome (GOD I wish we could do Deathlok), there is a short list of those who warrant this treatment. We want to avoid what we jokingly refer to here as "getting to the 'Mirror, Mirror' stage". Each entry will be carefully thought out, have lots of stuff, packaged nicely and have a new mini-magazine in each. But we're not gonna stretch this out unless the line is so white hot that they continue to fly off the shelves 20, 30 characters from now.

As for bodies, there's always drmego.com, but I recall something about an 8" no-strings body that DST acquired that was SUPPOSED to be released individually. Will have to look into that.

Thanx to Chuck Terciera at DST who gave us the start back in 2006 when we launched the 8" trend with Star Trek, Chris Schaff at DST who managed the project and coordinated Marvel approvals, Zach Oat for crafting all the PR. And congrats to my partner Paul, who - I kid you not - swings between giddy laughter and teary eyes with each new milestone hit on this thing.

Hopefully you'll all enjoy these as much as we enjoyed working on them. OK, back to work...I've got a shield to finish. :-)

Joe Sena

[pmwasson]

Congratulations Paul and Joe! The set looks beautiful and I can't wait to get it into my grubby hands!

Thank-you!

[GaryPlaysWithDolls]

Yeah, I think the whole thing would kinda hinge on the spare bodies. Looks pretty cool, though. I was really excited about new marvel megos, but the $ makes me nervous.

[melkorjunior]

Some thoughts...

Peter Parker is a pretty iconic civilian identity, up there with Clark, Bruce and Dick, and I love the Romita-esque headsculpt. However, I'm not so sure getting a Steve Rogers head with Captain America or a Don Blake head with Thor would give me as much of a thrill. For Cap and Thor and Wolverine I'd like to see:

Cap:
original Mego (with fixes to the shirt, boots and gloves)
a costume with a more modern-style Cap head
a Bucky head with a Bucky outfit.


Thor:
original Mego (but please fix the hair--straighter, shorter would be good)
a modern version with a new head and outfit (maybe he can have a beard ala Chris Hemsworth)
a Beta Ray Bill head.

Wolverine: masked, whisker mask, unmasked.

I also hope you guys find some way to release a Green Goblin and a Lizard in the future, as those are some of the best figures Mego produced and Goblin especially is a nightmare to complete on eBay. I'd buy a two-pack of them for $80 without any third costume or head being included (although Norman Osborn would be welcome. He'd make an awesome Mego with his uber-Nixonian hair!)

[JediJaida]

That bandless body that DST acquired was the original ZICA body, which was utilized for the Buck Rogers line that Craig had a couple of years ago. They (in most people's opinions, including mine), simply sat on the leftover stock, as well as the tooling, and we all thought that they weren't going to do anything with it.

They either kept REAL mum about this deal happening, because they had all that, or it is simply a happy coincidence that the Marvel license was brought to the table.

Of course, if Doc is using his OWN bandless body, it would be even better.

[Brown Bear]

I am so excited to have YOU GUYS doing these. It's truly music to our ears and we'll be front and centre to pre-order these when ready.

[ovenmitt]

Thanks, Joe! I can go for 4 sets per year $80 each! I will buy at least 2 of each set! Spidey, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine sound cool for this year! I hope Hulk, Iron Man, and maybe a Fantastic 4 member with new movie for 2015 and a FEMALE like Jean Grey whose had many costumes! Congrats to you, Paul, and DST on getting the license! I hope for many Mego Marvels!

[monitor_ep]

Cap:
original Mego (with fixes to the shirt, boots and gloves)
a costume with a more modern-style Cap head
a Bucky head with a Bucky outfit.

I would rather
* WWII Cap w/ triangle shield
* Mego corrected version
* S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit

And as for the Goblin I would love to see
* Mego Goblin with glider and pumpkin bombs
* Norman Osborn
* Hobogoblin outfit and head or the Phil Urich costume

[Iron Mego]

Thanks, Joe! I can go for 4 sets per year $80 each! I will buy at least 2 of each set! Spidey, Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine sound cool for this year! I hope Hulk, Iron Man, and maybe a Fantastic 4 member with new movie for 2015 and a FEMALE like Jean Grey whose had many costumes! Congrats to you, Paul, and DST on getting the license! I hope for many Mego Marvels!

If you read the post above you'll see that those first four sets won't all be out this year. And only a couple sets will be released per yer. I don't think this is going to be anything like FTC's DC license and releases.

[ovenmitt]

Joe,

OK I am a little confused, will there be 2 or 4 of these sets a year? I hope 4, 1 each quarter!

[Iron Mego]

Now I'm confused too. Just re-read and see where he says those four will be coming out. Sorry. I think I'm going to stay out of this until all the particulars are out in the open.

[melkorjunior]

I would rather
* WWII Cap w/ triangle shield
* Mego corrected version
* S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit

And as for the Goblin I would love to see
* Mego Goblin with glider and pumpkin bombs
* Norman Osborn
* Hobogoblin outfit and head or the Phil Urich costume

That Goblin set would be sweet!

[Gadgeteer]

So glad to hear these won't be coming out all at once, I might be able to swing these and Batman66 too!

Oh and Thank You Dr Mego!
ALL this REMEGO stuff wouldn't be happening without you!