I'm just going to upload things that I think may interest you as they arise.
As I've just finished The Owl's very own magazine, I thought I'd share something of the processes of putting the mag together. You may think all the images come from a big Marvel database (they do have an image library but it's nowhere near good enough for our purposes - I think it has 3 or 4 dodgy pics of the Owl).
We did order the Cover image directly from Marvel, but this takes forward planning so I mainly just reserve that service for cover images that I know I'll need. The ordering process can take up to 2-3 weeks.
So we do a bit of research and compile a list of all the characters appearances (and buy as many as we can) - I think The Owl had about 70 appearance (not all useable!)
So you can imagine it was difficult to find a large full page image of the meanie for the intro page! I found this Pin-up by Gene Colan from Daredevil Annual 1 (DD Masterwork Vol.3).
Firstly I scanned the page at 800dpi and isolated the black line art (fairly easy to do using channels in Photoshop) creating a layer of just black. Then I went about removing the bits I didn't want (the lettering and captions) and carefully filling in the tree where I'd removed the box, plus extending the tree on the left (to allow for the shape of our magazine and the text area that goes over the artwork).
Looks kinda ugly until the black line art is overlayed, and pulls it all together (and looks amazing IMO!)
Finally add the design and text elements (the logo was simple enough to create using an existing font). Et voila! the IFC (inside front cover) or intro page as I call it, is ready...
This page maybe took me 1-2 hours to achieve. Purists may balk at this modernising of vintage comics, but the original line work is still there to be seen and changes had to be made to make it fit our format. So why not update if you are respectful of the original?
'Nuff said.
PS someone asked about the numbers on the base stickers. They are purely made up to look like some sort of official numbering system, but they are randomly generated and have no baring on when or where they were made (Don't ask me why they do it!)
PPS A purely hypothetical question - But if we were to get another special before we wave adios, who should it be? Lockjaw, Destroyer, Skurge, Red Hulk, Onslaught? Who would really deserve the final spot in the collection?
PPPS You've done a great job getting the membership numbers up (189?), but I'd really love to get in to 200 members, so if anyone hasn't joined yet please do.
Bye for now. Dan
252 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 252 of 252Hey guys
Nothing really to do with the current topic, but I just had to get this out. I finally received my Iron Man movie special edition and I have to say it is one of the best figurines of the collection so far. Amazing workmanship and just makes me sad that the collection is ending. Well done to everyone on the team that made the CMFC possible. I have really looked forward to my monthly package at the post office since I started collecting almost 7 years ago now.
Thank you!
Lars
LIMITED EDITION SPIDERMAN
MARVEL HEROES AND VILLAINS COLLECTION:
Can somebody please tell Eaglemoss to remove the advert from their web site ?
If the collection is not going to be available , why advertise it ?
What the hell is going on with that company ?
Sack all of the stupid decision makers.
They just haven't got a clue what they are doing and have no respect for the Marvel fans and what they want.
Thanks for all the special suggestions and comments - JUST GOT THE NEWS TODAY: WE MAY STILL GET ANOTHER SPECIAL!
so I'm not just giving false hope - how's that for serendipity!
Sorry can't sell the Owl pic (© Marvel Comics). LaWay like your version!
That's awesome news Dan. What are you thinking for the last special if it does come to light? Will it be a forum and blog poll/request or will it be the big wigs up at the towers who get the final say?
I do not consider Attuma, Whirlwind, Baron Mordo, The Cobra & Mr. Hyde, The High Evolutionary, Molten Man, Tombstone, The Jackal, The Warriors Three, Heimdall, Mantis, Marrina, Box, Mastermind, The Melter, Zeus, Diablo & Dragonman, The Mad Thinker, The Super Adaptoid, The Red Ghost, Air-Walker, Yondu, Star-Hawk, Sunspot, Archangel, Frankenstein's Monster, Titanium Man, Lockjaw, Skurge the Executioner, Puma, Selene, The Living Laser, The Grey Gargoyle, The Destroyer, Molecule Man are so called B characters.
Nice news on another possible special! Thanks for sharing that with us Dan! You've heard our thoughts, any ideas who it might be or who you would personally like to see?
SV
Sorry you cannot sell the Owl redo by you but thanks for at least answering back Dan.
Don't know what to say as "may still get" still does not mean yes we will get. And only one with all the special sized characters from Attuma to Mr. Hyde to Blastaar to Dragonman to Titanium Man to Skurge the Executioner to Lockjaw left to choose from sadly. If it is a regular size special I'm still torn between Skurge & Titanium Man which I suspect means neither will be picked. If it is another Mega then Dragonman. I know Lockjaw is more popular but towering Dragonman with his wings spread open would look far more impressive.
Great news Dan.
But now I'm more confused than ever by the bean-counters' way of analysing these things.
How can the numbers make sense for another special, but not for another extension?
If they've run the numbers to justify a special (pricing, distribution,, volumes, manufacturing, licensing), then we can't be a million miles from a commercially viable extension?
Hopefully we're seeing the first glimmers of regret about their over-hasty decision...
My preferences:
Archangel - NO
Atlas - NO
Attuma - YES
Blastaar - NO
Destroyer - NO
Dragonman - YES
High Evolutionary - NO
Hulkling - YES
Lockjaw - NO
The Living Monolith - NO
Madame Webb - NO
Onslaught - NO
Skurge the Executioner - YES
Stan Lee - NO
Strong Guy - NO
The Super Adaptoid - NO
Titanium Man - NO
Warpath - NO
Wendigo - NO
And I would add: I'd love Shuma-Gorath, Eternity and Frankesntein's Monster
Power Pack would be a great idea
I would love a Brood figure or Queen Brood. :)
I would love Strong Guy for my X-Factor display...
For me
Archangel - YES
Atlas - NO
Attuma - NO
Blastaar - NO
Destroyer - NO
Dragonman - NO
High Evolutionary - NO
Hulkling - NO
Lockjaw - NO
The Living Monolith - NO
Madame Webb - NO
Onslaught - NO
Skurge the Executioner - YES
Stan Lee - NO
Strong Guy - YES
The Super Adaptoid - NO
Titanium Man - NO
Warpath - YES
Wendigo - YES
Another idea for the special:
what about a double pack with two of the more famous alien races around the MU?
A double special with a brood drone and a skrull¡
As Hasbro did in the Marvel Legends Line time ago...
I think the fairest thing to do is have a poll on which characters the collectors want.
Or, a better indication of what will sell, EM look through this blog's comment section, give the forum a list of names that the majority like, and we vote yes/no simply on if we would buy it. That will truly show commercial viability.
There are a lot of very passionate people out there, but squeaky wheels and all... More people are asking for Lockjaw (like me) or Archangel, but I bet someone like Skurge has the most people buy him.
I think Skurge the Executioner appears to be a common choice among many of the bloggers on here.
Hey, Dan, I'm comming a little late, but for last special I would vote for Strong Guy, as he completes the X-Factor team.
Also, do you have any info on the release date for Mojo?
Nice to hear a little encouragement on a final special Dan. It still hurts to type 'final' :(
I just checked this weeks posts and Skurge is almost universally popular/accepted. Mentioned about 50 times over 220 odd comments although half of those could be Tino ;)
Only 2 bloggers said No to Skurge. I half expected Leigh to be in there just for the hell of it but Blake too ?? That surprised me tbh. Why no love for Skurge guys ?
My only issue with him is that would make 9 Asgardians.....I need 10 to fill a plinth EM ;)
He's popular on here for sure but didnt get such a following on the forum. I would expect any forum poll would still have Lockjaw and Strong Guy at the front but are they worth the bother as Marmite ?
Maybe as the last one EM would accept minimal returns as a gift to fans of LJ or SG. Or maybe they want to sell as many units as possible ?
"I would expect any forum poll would still have Lockjaw and Strong Guy at the front but are they worth the bother as Marmite?"
This is why instead of a "Pick Your Top 5" poll, we need a "Would You Buy, Yes or No" poll from a list of 15. If a character IS marmite, it will show.
They've painted themselves into a corner now Robert and it is hard to see how they can get out of it. DC are trying through the recent relaunch, at least.
I read Civil War after hearing how amazing it was and I was appalled. Even the very core dynamic of it was flawed before the narrative even really got underway. Iron Man and Cap, allies for decades, at each others throats within a few pages? Utterly ludicrous.
If you are prepared to try to flog that nonsense where do you stop? You end up with tripe like Ultimatum. OK, alt. universe and all that, but let's remind ourselves of just some of the characters killed off:
Angel, Beast, Blob, Cannonball, Captain Britain, Cyclops, Daredevil, Dazzler, Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, Emma Frost, Forge, Franklin Storm, Hank Pym,
Juggernaut, Madrox, Magneto, Nightcrawler, Polaris,
Professor X, Thor, Toad, Wasp, Wolverine.
Disgusting.
If indeed we do get another special,I believe EM should choose whom gets done. Maybe Dan and Richard whom seem to be familiar with the MU and fans of the same can make the choice themselves. Polls in the past have proven to be kind of faulty and we have ended up with poor choices in characters or costume choices.
If a poll is indeed held then Dan and Rich should pick a certain amount of candidates and present them to us for voting on.
My personnel choice are:
If it's a regular; Skurge or Destroyer
If it's a double pack(doubtful I know): Fandral and Hogun
If it's a mega: Super Adaptoid or Dragon Man
There are many more great choices,but these are my favorite.
LIMITED EDITION SPIDERMAN
MARVEL HEROES AND VILLAINS COLLECTION:
Please give us some official answers about this!
They pulled the plug on that project jimbob. Seems like they didn't get the results they expected or wanted.
Thanks for the kind words Dan, just tried to do The Owl in the colours I was familiar with him in.
An extra special is great news. I imagine the specials are popular sale items, and thats the reason why we are offered an extra special instead of a risky extension that not everyone commits to.
Why don't I like Skurge? Well he has never appeared in any comics I have read I don't think...and just look at his design! How can he be taken seriously?!
As for Civil War narrative failing from the start, the big accident is the catalyst for the change. Iron Man being SHIELDs main man has to follow orders. Everyone knows who he is. The public grew scared of anonymous heroes taking risks like those kids did. Its a logical reason for registration, which is why he made a good 'villain' for the series with conflicting ideals from Cap. I guess you could say a flaw is Cap has been following orders his whole life but then decides to oppose them when they make so much sense.
It wasn't an amazing storytelling experience, but it was a great idea that shaped the Marvel Universe and had so many more stories to tell in its aftermath.
But I agree with Robert, way too many 'events' nowadays. I used to love them, but now there are so many it is hard to keep up with them all.
Anyone seeing the new Spider-Man film today? Got my tickets for the weekend.
I think personally Eaglemoss should produce the first and only triple pack special to end on , if this is indeed the very end of this wonderful collection.
THE WARRIORS THREE
FANDRAL , HOGUN , and VOLSTAGG
I'd love to get Lockjaw & Maximus to complete the Inhumans
I'd love to get Strong Guy to complete X factor
And I'd also love to get Skurge the Executioner to go with the Enchantress
But we all know that it's not going to happen.
If I can't complete the Inhumans and X factor together then I'd rather get something new , something missing from the regular issues.
And the answer to that would be the very popular , highly requested Warriors Three !!
I forgot Hela's coming ! Skurge would be 10 Asgardians filling a plinth perfectly. Make it so EM ;)
The Mad One is right! Going out with a bang and having a Warriors Three Triple-Pack would be a wonderful way to end the collection- especially if they were as dynamic as Sif, one of the best figs for quite a while.
BD
I disagree with Laway that Surge cannot be taken seriously as a comic book character. In his classic blue & gray garb with the battle-ax symbol on the chest holding his battle-ax he would make an impressive figure & would unfortunately bring a perfect end since EM is executing this collection when many of us still want more.
If they choose Skurge or Lockjaw or the Warriors Three or Titanium Man (I know I'm the only one who wants him) or Dragonman or Archangel or The Super Adaptoid or Attuma or Blastaar or I'll gladly buy them. (Do Them All EM) The only figure I would not buy besides mojo (talk about taking a comic character seriously) is Strong Guy with his oversized muscles & undersized head with a little whiff of white hair I would just as soon make Giant-Man the last for me.
Having The Warriors Three as the next (notice how I said next and not last) special would be great. In fact I mentioned it a short while back and refered to it as a "SPECIAL" special. I just hope that whoever is chosen proves worthy,and that the sales obtained will motivate EM to do more.
The Warriors Three would be a fabulous end to the collection. I think the likelihood is about tha same as me going to sleep tonight and waking up tomorrow as George Clooney, though...
Tino, I mentioned Titanium Man a few times years ago. I'd really like him. Classic Shellhead villain.
Skurge? Classic character. Leigh, no offense but yet again it amazes me how little you've experienced the MU. Haven't read anything with Skurge?? Does that mean you haven't read any Simonson Thor, which has the best death in comics? Seriously, when this collection ends you should use your CMFC money to buy some classic issues.
THE BEST SPECIAL
How about a 20-pack special whereby a new regular-size character is released every 14 days until all 20 figurines have been released? Each figurine could even be accompanied by a magazine about the character, bearing the character's image and name on the cover. And, hear hear! The 20 issues could even be numbered 201 to 220 and made available as a subscription. We could then ask Mephisto to delete the word 'extension' from human memory. Everybody would then proceed to collect these 20 new figurines religiously every 14 days and refer to them as simply the 20-pack special.
LarryS said...
Great news Dan.
But now I'm more confused than ever by the bean-counters' way of analysing these things.
How can the numbers make sense for another special, but not for another extension?
If they've run the numbers to justify a special (pricing, distribution,, volumes, manufacturing, licensing), then we can't be a million miles from a commercially viable extension?
Maybe they are just testing the waters to see how interested we are in a few things.
Heroes and Villains showed that the majority of us were willing to pay more money for a resin figure. A resin figure we already have in lead.
Now, interest in a Special might indicate to them that they can do a relaunch of the line, for more dough, similar characters, made of resin. I'm hoping this is the case.
We'll see.
Warriors 3 would be fantastic but I cant see EM commissioning 3 sculpts at this stage. I would happily pay £30+ for that triple pack.
@Robert - Pippin Gold's done an awesome Drax in classic costume. Thought you might appreciate it :)
http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt358/avengerblue/PICT0318.jpg
@Leigh - I dont think I ever read any classic comics with Skurge either. I probably like him so much due to recent cartoon appearances in Avengers EMH. I think he's also been in some Super Hero Squad stuff, comics or cartoons or both.
My nipper knows him as well as I do, he danced a little jig at the thought of him coming in lead :)
CMFC has done more for our Marvel knowledge than anything. My lad isnt allowed to touch them but he knows almost all of their names and when he see's one on TV or in a comic he has to stop and go and find it. He's only knocked one over recently.....Invisible Woman. Reckoned he didnt see her !
Anyone been to see Spidey yet ?
Wow, Toon. That Pippin Gold guy does incredible mods. I'm a big Infinity Watch fan, as you all know, so I'd have loved to have a proper Drax and Pip. Thanks for posting that link.
Haven't been to see Spidey yet. In no rush, to be honest, but fairly sure I'll go.
I don't want to get caught up in one extra special euphoria too much, but is it possible that since the option of a new line died on it's arse, they are sniffing around the idea of wringing a few more quid out of this one?
I've just updated my blog by uploading some videos and new pictures of my Marvel display cabinet.
I've changed the layout and added my latest 2 additions - Sif & Domino.
Come take a look , I hope you like.
Pippin Gold's Drax mod is incredible!
Well done PG and thanks for the link TooN. Who is it modelled on? Anyone know? Pose is familiar....
On the subject, I'd love to know if anyone has done a mod of Killraven, Baron Strucker, Mantis, White Tiger (must be fairly easy compared to some...)or even tried an Eternity!
BD
Warriors Three!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finish off by giving us three figures, go on EM we deserve it!;)
Pipping Gold's Drax is a real masterpiece. I'm in awe of his creativity and skills. The figurine is beautifully executed, the character is represented at his best and then there is the surprising creative idea to turn DC's Blue Devil into Drax, which is genius. How I wish that was the Drax in the CMFC. Pippin Gold has done many other awesome customs, like Kaine, Hyperion and many more. As for Baron Strucker, Ciro has made an amazing custom figurine. He's another really talented customiser.
Did you guys hearthe news about Marvel relaunching the MU as "Marvel NOW"?
That's right Marvel has decided to go the "DC 52" route and relaunch their whole line of characters.There will be a new group called Uncanny Avengers with formal Avengers and X-Men as members. Some character's past encarnations will be brought to the present. There will be costume changes and some of the main guns will be made to represent their movie versions.
First I get the bad news that the CMFC is ending and now this.
The end is truly near!!!
Tino, you aren't the only one asking for Titanium Man at all! I've been calling out for him for a long time! I know Robert and a few other bloggers have too.
As much as I want the likes of Onslaught and Madame Web, my most wanted Special of the 'popular choices' would be the Warriors Three! They absolutely should be considered as the one and only triple pack of the collection. Considering that the DC Collection got a sub pack before it's cancellation, EM should make it fair and give the CMFC a triple pack to make it fair. The Warriors Three are popular and massively overdue!
SV
Yes SV,The Warriors Three are indeed worthy of inclusion in this collection,and I really don't understand how they and many other worthy characters were ignored and left out. Sure wish EM would listen to our request and give us this wonderful and deserving trio.
Thor8 I had heard the rumours regarding the rebranding but had hoped they were untrue!
Seems Disney are going into commercial overdrive and see the characters solely as part of a catalogue to play with as they wish.
Incidently went to see the new spider man reboot on Tuesday.... Have to say really impressed and in my humble opinion far better than the previous three movies and yes I liked the previous three!!!
Anybody else seen the new film your collective thoughts?
Jacadoo: I have not seen the Spider-Man movie yet although 2 of my sons did. I will most likely see it this weekend.
As for the Marvel reboot,I believe Marel is going about this all wrong.If they are seeking to win new and younger fans they should start by deflating their prices. Ever since McFarlane was given his own Spider-Man title way back when,artists and writers were given big bucks salaries and the work rendered did not in many cases meet up to par. So now we have low quality comics with high prices. Most kids can't afford to buy more than one or two books at the existing prices,and many adults aren't willing to pay high prices for the kind of medicore books published today.
All the hype of mega epics stories that don't say much and you have to buy the whole Marvel line to get the whole picture isn't doing the indstry much good either.
I also went to see Spider-Man yesterday too and it certainly does live up to the title Amazing! It was a little slow in places and you have to wait a while before Lizard shows up. But even then I still think this film is better than the last three, and Andrew Garfield is perfect as Peter Parker, much more deserving of the role than Tobey Maguire in my eyes. There is a small clip during the end credits too so make sure you stay for that guys!
SV
Aaaaaaaaaa missed the extra scene........ But thanks to YouTube I have now caught up!
Thanks sinisterV!!!!!!
Hi thor8 fully agree all these tie in titles are simply far too expensive to keep buying, let alone the single issue cover price.
The current avengers vs xmen saga would cost £18 every two weeks or so...... So tell me how can marvel hope to keep children in the loop and attract new readers?
Something has to change or I fear for the future I can see it now.......
Fantastic Uncanny Avengers 4!!!!
On another note; I wonder if Dan will be posting a new update tomorrow with news about the extra special having been approved or not. If they are going to hold a poll in order to pick the deserving character,I hope they pick the candidates themselves and then ask us to vote for one of them.
Ha! can you belive this? The passwords are escogle 39. If you take the l away it reads escoger 39,which in spanish means pick or choose 39. Boy do I wish!
Plese not another Angel! If I could choose: I would love to have Skurge ... but him and the others I can customize. So it's Lockjaw.
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