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[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Hi All,

My name is Jared Zichek and I'm both a 3D artist and a big fan of Golden Age comics. I recently sculpted a figurine of Stardust the Super Wizard, who I'm sure is familiar to many folks here, originally created by the infamous Fletcher Hanks. I've just launched a Kickstarter campaign to finance a limited production run of the figure for fans of Hanks and his bizarre creation.









The figure is sculpted at 1/21 scale, the same scale as the Marvel and DC figurines produced by Eaglemoss of England. The figure stands 4.45" (11.3 cm) tall including the base; it is equivalent to an Eaglemoss "Special" due to its above average size. The production figurine will be made of white metal and hand-painted; cost is $25 plus shipping for a single figurine. Backers should receive their figure by March/April 2013. The campaign ends Friday, December 14 at 12:54 am. If the project is successful, I hope to sculpt further public domain characters from the Golden Age of Comics and create an ongoing collection celebrating these colorful mystery men. If this sounds like something that may interest you, please check it out!

Best Regards,

Jared Zichek
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/441047786/fletcher-hanks-stardust-the-super-wizard-figurine

[josemas]

Your sculpture looks really cool! 

Good luck with the venture.

Joe

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Thanks Joe! If any forum members have suggestions for characters they would like to see as part of an ongoing collection, I'm certainly open to them.

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Well, we're 8 days into the Fletcher Hanks' Stardust Figurine Kickstarter and 35% funded - pretty good, but still quite a ways to go. Many, many thanks to everyone who has pledged thus far! Please tell your friends about it and help spread the word; getting the word out about it is critical to meeting the funding goal. I've added a couple new rewards which will hopefully attract some new pledges:

On the low end, I've added a $5 pledge for those who want to support the project but can't afford the figurine; for this amount, you will receive a limited edition Stardust trading card:

 

I estimate that only 10-20 of these will be produced, so it may become collectible in its own right. It's only available at the $5 pledge level; any excess cards I have at the end will be randomly added to figurine orders.

On the high end, I've added a $750 reward for the serious collector - for this amount, I will digitally sculpt you a single public domain character of your choice and deliver a completely unique hand-painted resin 3D print with a certificate of authenticity. It must be at 1/21 scale and a humanoid of normal stature, not an oversized character like Stardust. This would put it at about 3.5" high. This sculpt will not be produced in quantity and remain one of a kind. If the character you choose is commercial enough to eventually merit mass production, I will substantially alter the pose, select another costume variation, etc. to maintain the exclusivity of your figurine. This reward may seem rather expensive, but given the fact that a professional sculpt can easily run $1200, and a high end 3D print $250 (at this size), it's actually a relative bargain.

In addition, I've created a survey to determine the level of interest in and content of a potential "Golden Age Comics Figurine Collection." If you have a moment, you may fill it out here; it will only take a few minutes and help me in planning out the series.

Finally, a Happy Thanksgiving to all the US members of the forum!

-Jared

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Hi All,

I've recently completed a new digital sculpt of Stardust the Super Wizard which I would like to share with the community here:



An animated turntable video of the sculpt can be viewed on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/60884192. The sculpt is about 90% new; I made a conscious effort to give it a more dynamic pose and try to capture Hanks' unique style. I think the new version of the figure is an improvement over the old one; for reference, you can view the original "De Structo & the Headhunter" story at http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/783529.html. I'm considering three color variants for the production figure:



From left to right: standard grey boots (as he appeared in the De Structo story); red boots with red dots on the collar; and yellow boots version. Which one(s) do you prefer? I have set up a brief new survey at http://bit.ly/XhRigr to determine the popularity of each variant. You can also comment on and critique the sculpt in this survey; I will be sending the digital model to the 3D printer Friday, March 8, so I would appreciate your feedback before then, if possible.

I've also sculpted a figure of Fantomah, Fletcher Hanks' other great oddball character; she is shown to scale with Stardust below:



Fantomah will stand 3.75", while Stardust will stand 4.3", both at 1/21 scale. I'm considering a couple color variants for her as well:



Which do you prefer? You can vote on it in another brief survey at http://bit.ly/13FHOxr, if interested.

Finally, I'm preparing to sculpt my third figure, this one of the popular Black Terror. I have picked out some exciting covers which could serve as the basis for a cool figurine:



I'm partial to cover "I" with the Black Terror punching out a robot, but would appreciate your opinions; you can select your favorite in the aforementioned survey at http://bit.ly/XhRigr. Some of the covers have offensive racial stereotyping which will have to be altered if turned into a statue. Otherwise, I think any of them could make a good candidate.

Many Thanks,

Jared

[josemas]

I gotta admit that I'm partial to the robot cover myself.

Best

Joe

[Yoc]

I think 'C' with the flying torpedoes would be a unique sculpture if you included the torpedoes.

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Right now the robot cover is in the lead, with covers D and E tied for a close second. If you want to vote for your favorite Black Terror cover, the survey is still open at http://bit.ly/XhRigr, though I'm no longer collecting data on the Stardust colors, as he is now in production! I hope to post some photos of the 3D print in about a week.

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Hi All,

Check out these renders of my recently completed digital sculpt of The Black Terror vs. Killer Robot, which is inspired by the cover of Exciting Comics #45:











As you can see, it is not a direct adaptation of the cover, but definitely retains the spirit and style of Alex Schomburg's dynamic illustration. To avoid breakage in transit, it will likely be packaged in sections and require some assembly on the part of the collector using super glue. Fun bit of trivia: the robot's aerial will likely be made from an insect pin (the kind used by butterfly collectors) with the point clipped off, as it best matches the look I am going for. The robot's hoses will be made either from lead-free solder or armature wire.

I used some artistic license to detail the back side of the robot and its joints, which actually don't make a lot of mechanical sense when you try to translate them to 3D. I moved the character logos from the front of the base (as on the Stardust figure) to the top, which provides much more space. The "Killer Robot" moniker is my invention, as I could not find his name inside the original comic. Indeed, the cover art does not correspond to any story within the comic at all, which was not uncommon in the Golden Age. This figure will follow Fantomah in the sequence of releases, assuming of course that Stardust sells well enough to justify an ongoing collection.

Update on Stardust

Stardust is currently in production in China and I have some photos to share of the painted prototypes; these were take with a camera phone at the factory and are not the best quality, but they give a general idea of how the production figure will appear:







I'm hoping to receive shipment of the figures by the end of this month; will post an update here when they are available for sale on Amazon, which will likely be the exclusive distributor for the collection.

Best Regards,

Jared

[narfstar]

very cool

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Hi All,

The long wait is over - Fletcher Hanks's mad masterpiece, Stardust the Super Wizard, is finally available as a limited edition, hand painted polyresin figurine! Sculpted at 1/21 scale and standing 4.3" tall, Stardust is the first in a new series of figurines devoted to public domain superhero, science fiction and horror characters from the Golden Age of Comics. This collection is compatible with the existing series of Marvel and DC superheroes produced by Eaglemoss of England. Only 180 pieces of the Grey Boots Edition have been produced; a Yellow Boots Edition (75 pieces) and Red Boots Edition (45 pieces - sold out) are also available. Each variant has its own label, is individually numbered, and comes in a custom full color box. Below are some photos of the figurine and packaging:















Stardust is priced at $27.95 with free economy shipping for US residents; he can be purchased directly from Goldenagefigurines.com, on eBay, and on Amazon. International customers are advised to order through eBay, as that is the only selling platform presently accepting orders from overseas for these figurines. If you have any questions, please let me know - thanks for your support!

Best Regards,

Jared Zichek, Owner
Goldenagefigurines.com

[narfstar]

I think it is cool but I had not bit. Then I saw the big banner on the top of CB+ and realized it was time, it was the straw that broke open my wallet. So I ordered one and look forward to getting it. Black Terror looks so awesome too. I  hope they sell out for you.

[mr_goldenage]

They are so darn nice and priced really nice as well. I bet they make great Xmas or whatever time of year/event/celebration you need to get/give a gift for/to problem is if I bought one I would want 3000 different ones from around the world and that would never happen storage space being just one issue. But hay they're great. And you did a great job by the looks of it. Narf,,,,when you get yours let me know how it goes ok?

Richard

[narfstar]

OK. And I know what you mean in that I am already expecting to get the Black Terror one. I expect it will sell out rather quickly. The character is more known, thanks to Dynamite, and it looks so awesome. Fanomoah looks neat, but not like something I would want to buy. It needs something extra like the robot of BT. I was looking through some issues and she battles some Lizard creatures in 4and5, apes in 6, Green creatures in 8, Arco or his mummies in 11 and others
Looking through the Fanomahs is pretty cool. So quirky and most ended in the death of the antagonist. I wonder what the reaction was to her back in the day. She must have been popular to have been around so long.

[Yoc]

I agree with Narf something extra with Fantomah would be fun - but hey - her head flew off in several stories.
What about having her head detachable?

Just a thought,
-Yoc

[narfstar]

Got my figure today and it is pretty darn cool.

[mr_goldenage]

Didn't She have a glow about her head like green flames or something when her face went into skull mode? Say what about a female blonde skull head that glowed green flames that a headless Fantomah holds somewhat like Stardust does with the villians head? No? O well just a thought.

RB @ home

[narfstar]

Fantomah was pretty darn cool. The villians used ended up dead, either by her hands or cirmumstances.

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

I am presently resculpting Fantomah to give her a slightly more interesting pose; will hopefully have her up for pre-order early next month. I may add a third color variant as an option. I don't expect to add any other extras to her though as that will raise the price, and I'm getting the impression that folks are rather price sensitive these days.

I am also thinking of making some Fantomah jewelry, perhaps earrings and a necklace pendant with her in a flying pose. Would sell these through Shapeways.

[narfstar]

I just pre-ordered Fantomah. My problem is I have no where to put these things. I think Black Terror will be your big seller and I look forward to it.

[GoldenAgeFigurines]

Thank you very much for your support, narfstar! I recommend putting Fantomah and Stardust on your bookshelf in front of the Fletcher Hanks books from Fantagraphics - that is, if you have the books and the shelf space!

[narfstar]

No space just books and comics everywhere These things are cool.