Keeping the DREAM Alive— A “Rocketeer” costume set for Captain Action has long been one of CA fan’s “holy grails.” With the reveal of this latest prototype, is such a sought-after product FINALLY about to become a reality? This one looks to hold MUCHO potential. Cross your fingers! (Photo: CAE)
The internet’s all “abuzz” this week with talk about possible new costume sets for 12″ Captain Action (CA) figures. Over on Yahoo’s Captain Action News Group (yes, such places still exist) and on Facebook’s Captain Action Enterprises (CAE) fan page, “Actioneers” are eagerly swapping first-person and hearsay descriptions of products that many clearly want to purchase, but (sadly) don’t actually exist—yet. But fan memories are long, and CA collectors recall having their hopes raised (and dashed) many times before (remember those never-produced Batman, Superman, and Rocketeer costumes?). Many are reluctant to be “burned” in such a way again, preferring to give such online gossip of “prototypes seen at Comic-Con” an understandably WIDE berth of cautionary skepticism. Nevertheless, as dyed-in-the-blue-spandex CA fans ourselves, we’d be remiss here at The Joe Report if we didn’t pass on any and all juicy CA intel when it became known to us—and so—with a quick dash of “just don’t get your hopes up,” here is what we heard on the boards today—
“I went to the Captain Action panel today at the con. Along with the spacesuit set and the Mars Attacks Dr. Evil costume, they also announced the Rocketeer, based on the comic version of the character, not the movie. Future costume sets in the pipeline include Madman, the Black Terror, and the Golden Age Daredevil. The hope is for the first release to be ready in time for Christmas.
There is a new headsculpt, but it’s essentially a ‘1st shot’ prototype version, not a final product version, so it is almost certainly going to change before any sort of future release. Also, distribution of the new sets will be online-based. Some retailers have expressed interest in carrying the sets, and they’ll certainly work with them to get them stock, but they’re not focusing their attention on brick-and-mortar store distribution.
No price point at the moment, since all the manufacturing arrangements are not finalized yet. Being a costume set and not a dressed figure, it should be way below the cost of your average Hot Toys figure. Figures are a possibility in the future, but not immediately. Flicker rings are also a possibility (It’s new for you!), but no guarantees.” —James (last name not given)
AKK! My, how he’s GROWN— The “Mars Attacks” martian prototype. (Photo: CAE) Click to enlarge.
Mining the “Public Domain”— Let’s face it, licensing fees are what killed the Batman and Superman CA costume sets. Such “top-dollar” properties are protected like the gold in Fort Knox. Fees to reproduce their logos and likeness cost a VERY pretty penny. As a result, budget-conscious toy companies (such as CAE) hoping to “mine” pop-culture for new and affordable product ideas have to go WAY back in time to find characters that nobody knows, remembers, or cares about. Ideally, such “forgotten” characters are also now in the “public domain,” copyrights-wise (i.e. FREE). Ever hear of “Madman?” Didn’t think so. How about “The Black Terror?” Nope. We all know who Daredevil is, but that boomerang-wielding guy (above) ain’t Marvel’s Matt Murdock. And as for the identity of CAE’s “Mystery Hero,” well, if that’s not the silhouette of Will Eisner’s “Spirit,” then we’ll eat a comic book price guide! (Photo: CAE) Click to enlarge.
CAE’s head honcho, Joe Ahern, added these informative comments—
Joe Ahearn, founder of Captain Action Enterprises (Photo: CAE)
“The figure at the show is just a stand-in. The prototype came to us very late, so there was no time to rework it on a Captain Action figure. The head though, is a new headsculpt we are toying with, but haven’t made any decisions about.
We’re not doing any new figures at this time, but if we get good results on these costume set offerings, we’ll certainly look into that more closely. Just to clarify, the Rocketeer is absolutely the Dave Stevens comic book version.” —Joe Ahearn, CAE
Bottom Line: We’ll believe it when we can buy it. Until then, this is all speculative talk—albeit just the kind of talk we typically only dare DREAM about. Please let us know when we can REALLY get excited, fellas. Until then, we’ll just keep holding our breath along with the rest of the Captain Action collecting universe. Let Justice be Done!