Dream Mego Figure... Concensus?

[scottstoybox]

Haha! LOL! I could definitely see that LadyZod! I'll steer well clear of that creepy stuff, I promise. Ideally, this would capture the essence of the piece as art. How far we'll go will be deterimined as we get a little closer to production. We're also planning on running them at a couple of different scales, probably full life size and a little smaller than life size, to see what ones make better display pieces.

And a quick update on the cloth issue. I've been talking with a seamster on this and he thinks a heavy ribbed stretch cotton/poly blend would emulate the first run fabric well in the scaled up form. I'm awaiting samples. They will be in white and they can be dyed to the fabric colors from there. the nylon cape material is another battle altogether!

More info soon!

[PCofmisfittoys]

Super-expensive? Besides the fact that expensive is a relative term, the price has not yet even been calculated... I'll let you know when we get there...




Limited only by the interest in the piece. If only 25 people want it, then yes, it's limited to 25. I don't see tons of collectors wanting this, so it probably will not be "mass market" by any means.



"bootleg", HARDLY! It is an all original art piece that pays homage to the now defunct Mego Corp we all hold in high esteem. "neo-retro"? OK, ya got me there!

.

I take offense to this one as Imp did...Because we enjoy collecting Mego and Mego-like items, we are not "gullible". We are simply enjoying another facet of a hobby we ENJOY...Doesn't make us gullible, does it"



Sorry, no "sign up" yet. Send me your email and I'll keep you posted!

So, ABMAC, Where were you RIGHT? All your posts have been thus far are negative and dragging. If you don't want to take part in this thread, then move on to another thread. I'm done responding to childishly negative verbal jabs and I'm done with you now. I don't have to defend myself to you or anyone else. And just so you know, you should really know who you are jousting with before you start flinging words around. I have been a toy and hobby industry sculptor for the better part of 14 years and have a spotless reputaion. I'm not making promises I can't or won't keep. I'm simply opening up a line of dialogue with fellow collectors to guage interest in a particular project for US. You don't like it, keep your negative, pessemistic conjecture to yourself. It's just infantile.

Let's just move on from here, please. No more verbal jousting from the keyboards. We may collect dolls in pajamas, but this is a board of adults is it not?

as a sculptor of other things besides toys , I think it's a good idea to some degree but all the characters that everyone has listed has been hashed and rehashed so many times.
that's why i don't collect superhero items at all really. I mean you've seen one batman ,you've seen the all. Spidey has been flooded throughout the market. Bob Kane's bat-man to the new bat-man..it's still Bat-man.
you have to find something new to catch the consumers eye and not the same old mego or gentle giant look. Any 15 year old girl from middle school can sew a costume and put it on a doll , but it takes an artist to see a vision past that.
good luck with it. i hope it works out for you.

[LadyZod]

My dolls prefer boxer shorts to full blown pajamas. We live in Florida afterall.

But aside from that, I look forward to seeing these things. From your description, it's a little hard for me to completely visualize. I keep seeing a giant painted face Batman head with creepy eyes watching me when I sleep. Which I'm all cool with, but I have a feeling what you're aiming for is a little higher up in the quality scale.

[scottstoybox]

Hmmm… another super-expensive

Super-expensive? Besides the fact that expensive is a relative term, the price has not yet even been calculated... I'll let you know when we get there...

limited-edition

Limited only by the interest in the piece. If only 25 people want it, then yes, it's limited to 25. I don't see tons of collectors wanting this, so it probably will not be "mass market" by any means.

bootleg neo-retro superhero item

"bootleg", HARDLY! It is an all original art piece that pays homage to the now defunct Mego Corp we all hold in high esteem. "neo-retro"? OK, ya got me there!

targeted at a small group of seemingly gullible collectors

.

I take offense to this one as Imp did...Because we enjoy collecting Mego and Mego-like items, we are not "gullible". We are simply enjoying another facet of a hobby we ENJOY...Doesn't make us gullible, does it"

Where do I sign up?

Sorry, no "sign up" yet. Send me your email and I'll keep you posted!

So, ABMAC, Where were you RIGHT? All your posts have been thus far are negative and dragging. If you don't want to take part in this thread, then move on to another thread. I'm done responding to childishly negative verbal jabs and I'm done with you now. I don't have to defend myself to you or anyone else. And just so you know, you should really know who you are jousting with before you start flinging words around. I have been a toy and hobby industry sculptor for the better part of 14 years and have a spotless reputaion. I'm not making promises I can't or won't keep. I'm simply opening up a line of dialogue with fellow collectors to guage interest in a particular project for US. You don't like it, keep your negative, pessemistic conjecture to yourself. It's just infantile.

Let's just move on from here, please. No more verbal jousting from the keyboards. We may collect dolls in pajamas, but this is a board of adults is it not?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think this is a neat idea, and I for one would like to see how this turns out. Good luck to you!

Chris

[palitoy]

I have to admit that I'm intrigued and tempted, I was impressed when DL did his Spidey busts at Megocon, how cool the head looked. So please keep us posted on your progress Scott.

I'd love to be proven wrong for once, instead of this ad hominem stuff.

It's argued against you because of the way you said it.

[ABMAC]

Sarcasm, ABMAC? If it's not your thing, I understand. But why the tone? Some folks, like myself, would like something like this. I'm doing it as a fan, not to make oodles of money on the deal. And who mentioned price?

Nice straw man. I didn't say you'd make "oodles of money." I don't care whether you make any profit at all. I predicted that these things – if they ever appear – will be super-expensive. If I'm wrong, prove it.

If that wasn't your intention, sorry...But if you don't like the idea, try something like, "I don't think this is my thing. Just give me vintage Megos." or the like. Don't come off like a jerk to someone who's trying to bring something new to the hobby.

Let's move on.

Was anything that I actually said wrong? I'd love to be proven wrong for once, instead of this ad hominem stuff.

[scottstoybox]

Thanks for the kind words, Ben (CAN'T WAIT FOR THE BOOK!!!!), David, and Anthony! I was wondering if I was totally off base. Anywhoo....

Ben, the art angle was truly my intention as well. I see Mego as generational art to be certain. Looking at them by today's standards leave a younger generation scratching their collective heads and wondering why these were ever cool. To the Mego generation however, these defined action figures and the appeal is in that old vintage feel as art.

As for the removable cowl/mask angle, we are struggling with that one. For logistics, we'd probably have to do the more common molded cowl, painted mask versions. The paint ops would be the trick, and we'd have to use paints that simulated to look, but not neccesarily the feel unfortunately, of the vintage heads. If we can't get the prototype to look perfect, it would probably die there. I am pretty confident we can get it with Pantone color matching.

And David, your Spidey looks great! I love it!!! What an homage to this great line of figures!

Thanks again for your support with this. I'll keep you updated. We have alot of other projects in the works, most unfortunately not Mego related, but I'll keep you all in the loop.

Scott

[The Toyroom]

I'm intrigued as well Scott! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[David Lee]

Scott,
I think it's an awesome Idea, and I want one for sure. I love that you are doing something different and it's a great homage to the World's Greatest Action Figures! I think it will look great in ye old display room, with your Greatest American Hero figure . Thanks for doing this and for involving us, it does not go unappreciated.

I actually did this on a smaller scale back in 2004 for the MEGO-CON... I blew up a Spidey head to around 300 percent for a trophy style collectible.



-Dave

[imp]

...try something like, "I don't think this is my thing. Just give me vintage Megos." or the like. Don't come off like a jerk to someone who's trying to bring something new to the hobby.

Ignore Ant. He aims to be succinct, sarcastic and downright mean. But he generally does so with a wink and a nod — which, unfortunately, forum readers can neither see nor detect.

Scott, I was wondering where you were going with the thread, and I must confess I didn't have high hopes. Now that I know what you're trying to do, however, I'm truly intrigued.

I am inherently interested in the nature of Mego-as-art; in the Mego book (annnnnny day now!) I included four original oil paintings of Mego goodness, and my author photo is original art-inspired-by-Mego. I see your project as an extension of similar belief and adoration. I, for one, am extremely interested in the life-sized busts.

For me, the deciding factor here won't be price, but aesthetic. Is it really possible to capture the tactile qualities of a 1st Issue Batman outfit? The thick-ribbed polyester? The stiff nylon cape? The painted rubber head?

And how do you propose to handle Batman's Removable Cowl or Robin's Removable Mask (you did say you plan the original 1st Wave Heroes, right?)?

I suspect you have an uphill battle on this front, but if you can resolve the design issues, perhaps even create a prototype to photograph and share, I think there will be a small faction of collectors who would totally groove on these. I'm certainly one of them.

And Ant can sit back and cast acerbity at all of us "gullible collectors" (nice, Ant. Really nice.) throughout, wishing all the while he hadn't been so quick to belittle and judge.

Benjamin

[scottstoybox]

Sarcasm, ABMAC? If it's not your thing, I understand. But why the tone? Some folks, like myself, would like something like this. I'm doing it as a fan, not to make oodles of money on the deal. And who mentioned price?

If that wasn't your intention, sorry...But if you don't like the idea, try something like, "I don't think this is my thing. Just give me vintage Megos." or the like. Don't come off like a jerk to someone who's trying to bring something new to the hobby.

Let's move on.

[ABMAC]

Hmmm… another super-expensive limited-edition bootleg neo-retro superhero item targeted at a small group of seemingly gullible collectors. Where do I sign up?

[Mikey]

It think it's a good idea, but I should get a free sample because I gave free advice.
After all, it's only fair, right ?

M

[scottstoybox]

Ok gang! Here's the concept...

We will probably start with Batman (classic painted head) as the base for our concept. Using a vintage Mego Batman head of our fearless hero, we will be producing a lifesized bust perfectly replicated using software technology similar to Gentle Giant. We'll also scan the upper torso section (shoulders up) which will be replicated as well. Both will be ''printed'' and cleaned up, then molded and cast in high-quality resin. After that, it's painted in pantone-matched colors (and finish! We'll get that glossy Batface down too!) to the original Megos, dressed in scaled up fabric, and ready for display on an enameled base. We'll probably limit each bust to 25 or so and we plan on doing the ''First Four'' first. That is, if demand is there for this. It is untried terretory and we don't know what will happen. They will definitely appeal to the high end collector and will be of the highest quality all around.

Please give your thoughts on this concept. We've crunched the numbers and it is possible to do this! I do this for a living with other concepts all day long and it will be fantastic if we actually get collector support on the idea! This is a high-concept art piece based on the figures we all love. I just don't know if fans other than myself are attracted to this idea. Let's see!!!

Updates soon!

Scott