Daniel Clowes' 'Death Ray' 12" Figure

[Grosby]

For most of you here I'm sure this looks absolutely awful in every way but for one or two of you I suppose it holds some interest...

In July Presspop is going to begin shipping a 12" figure from Daniel Clowes 'The Death Ray.' The set will be limited to 200 and sell for US $105, quite a price.

All the details and other pictures you can find here.

I don't think it looks great, even if you're partial to the Mego-type look it doesn't seem so good. Still, I very much like Clowes and so I'm half certain I'll buy it anyway.

 

[tinister]

Pretty cool! I love Daniel Clowes. And I really dig these kind of offbeat figures. I have the "Ghost World" figures that were produced a few years ago. They have cool retro box designs like this figure.

Thanks for sharing

 

[karamazov80]

Looks pretty cool as a retro throw-back, but also looks like a $50 figure tops, even accounting for the fact that it's probably produced in low numbers and is considered a wacky designer collectible rather than a toy.

I'm not familiar with the source material, but I like the design of the character.

 

[Batty]

I'm a Clowes fan too, but that's not worth $105. Cool idea though...I have that issue of Eightball.

 

[jinroh75]

dont know who clowes is. was this a spiderman design that was rejected?

$105 is crazy for a mego figure

 

[Grosby]

Yeah, I made this thread a very short time after first seeing the figure and after further thought on it, what you're actually getting, I'm feeling less certain I want to put down that sort of money on it - when you think about what else you could buy instead, it gets tough...

The box looks nice, there's no way around that, but if I really wanted this character standing on my shelf I feel now that I could probably make it myself, including the gun, with minimal effort and probably even end up with something I'd prefer over this. There doesn't seem a whole lot to it.

 

[jinroh75]

yeah for $105 you can probably get a customizer from here to do a much better job maybe. he just looks really plain

 

[tinister]

Sure - a bunch of guys on this forum can probably make a better custom of the same character, but like the "Ghost World" figures - part of the charm is that it's a figure of a character(s) that normally would never get produced as a toy. And I think like the GW figures - will be highly sought in the future.

But I do agree $105 is a bit pricey. I got the GW figures for about $40USD each back in 2005. $40 or $50 for this would be better.

 

[Grosby]

It seems to me that a figure from a source like this isn't really that unusual these days, what with all they have in vinyl, and so I don't feel there's much of a selling point there.

I wasn't saying I wanted to make a custom, also, to be clear, just that the figure feels like seems like something I could create myself at home without much trouble, from the costume to the head to the accessory.

I'm still not certain on whether I'll get it. There's a few days until it goes up for pre-order. In the end I think it'll probably just be a situation of buying now and asking questions later.

Moving on, this is said to be by a new company called Oakland Toy Corp and this is their first release. With Clowes being from Oakland, I'm thinking there's a possibility that this is really just a brand name of sorts under which Clowes may be putting out more Clowes-related toys, that's my hunch here.

 

[Lejuan]

The title of this thread should read "Daniel Clowes' 'Death Ray' 12" Action Doll"

 

[Gully Foyle]

Moving on, this is said to be by a new company called Oakland Toy Corp and this is their first release. With Clowes being from Oakland, I'm thinking there's a possibility that this is really just a brand name of sorts under which Clowes may be putting out more Clowes-related toys, that's my hunch here.

Hope your hunch is correct.
If so, then Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron figures are the obvious next step.

Mr. Jones figures from Clowes's masterpiece? It's a no-brainer.

 

[Grosby]

Yeah, even if I'm incorrect it seems reasonable that they still might take on other Clowes figures if they continue.

They've updated/replaced the previous photos now with more action poses and it looks a little more appealing. See here:

https://www.presspop.com/shop/daniel_clowes/dath_ray_doll.html

This goes on sale soon, within a few hours. I'll be in bed by the time it's up but I think I'll buy it if it's still available tomorrow. I feel like there should be no doubt that it'll still be available tomorrow (and maybe even months from now) but the sale page seems to be really pushing the idea that it's going to disappear within minutes of going up for order. They even list the exact time it'll be available, giving two different timezones, like people everywhere are clamoring for it. Perhaps this is their trick for getting people to buy, I'm thinking - it's kind of working on me if so.

 

[Lejuan]

Guaranteed I won't be in bed AEST tonight Grosby - but don't worry, there'll still be 199 left, which I'm sure will be plenty

 

[Grosby]

We'll see, Mr Lejuan! I misread the timezones and so really it goes on sale here at 9 - 10AM tomorrow, I should be able to use a computer then. But by this time tomorrow it'll be at least six hours since it went on sale, then we'll know if it sold out instantly as that site seems to expect it will.

I'm still feeling really torn on this. On the one hand I think it doesn't look so good and on the other hand I for some reason feel a need to buy it... I guess I just worry that later on, maybe a year from now, I might genuinely want it and by that time I wont have the opportunity to buy anymore. If that's not it, I don't know where the current desire to buy is coming from, maybe just craziness.

 

[EVILFACE]

Neat looking figure, but yea, it looks about on par with a $40 Captain Action.

 

[Lejuan]

We'll see, Mr Lejuan! I misread the timezones and so really it goes on sale here at 9 - 10AM tomorrow, I should be able to use a computer then. But by this time tomorrow it'll be at least six hours since it went on sale, then we'll know if it sold out instantly as that site seems to expect it will.

I'm still feeling really torn on this. On the one hand I think it doesn't look so good and on the other hand I for some reason feel a need to buy it... I guess I just worry that later on, maybe a year from now, I might genuinely want it and by that time I wont have the opportunity to buy anymore. If that's not it, I don't know where the current desire to buy is coming from, maybe just craziness.

Craziness, there is that. I got that way over a Kamen Rider. And there it is, sitting on my shelf, an ever-present reminder of that craziness.