Mystery Question Of Valiant Collecting #7

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:43 pm

Does this prototype of VH2 XO still exist?

thanks sonicdan

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:49 pm

Yes...sort of. They made 2-3 promos for the office staff at Acclaim. I tried to get one of these on several occasions, but no one that worked for Acclaim at the time seems to know who made off with the prototypes. If memory serves they made a blue version & a limited chrome version. They were solicited through Previews & were previewed in a couple different toy magazines (I've got them somewhere), but the figures were never released for sale. It was a combination of Acclaim's slumping sales & low interest. Hope this helps. ~Erskine

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:55 pm

Yeah. We all know that the figs. never came out.

But what about the prototypes?

I know their out there...

You know their out there...

So where are they? Who has them?

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:08 pm

Most likely an employee of Acclaim made off with them when they restructured between V2 & V3. This is hypothetical, but I have it on pretty good authority that Skybolt did send 2-3 protos to the Acclaim office. I have e-mailed everyone (writer/inker/penciler) that I could find contact info for in order to see if they had one to sell. I had no luck even locating one. Also, I used to search Yahoo & Google to try to find one & all I could find were a couple action figure dealers with it on their want lists. They were willing to pay $1,000+ for them. I'd say that more than likely some secretary took it home to her kid to play with... Just speculation from the questions I've asked ex Acclaim employees, ~Erskine

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:26 pm

What Skybolt would have sent to Acclaim were one-ups, final painted version prototypes.

What about the rough prototype versions?

And was Acclaim working on the art for the packaging? Card backs?

Are their prototypes for this?

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:31 pm

jedimarley wrote:What Skybolt would have sent to Acclaim were one-ups, final painted version prototypes.

What about the rough prototype versions?

And was Acclaim working on the art for the packaging? Card backs?

Are their prototypes for this?

All great questions. I have no answer for any of them. I did try to get ahold of Skybolt, but they were no longer producing toys by that time. I never found a contact there that I could talk to. That route may be the best to actually find out what happened to these... ~Erskine

Vault-Keeper · Post by **Vault-Keeper** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:42 pm

Does anyone know who headed up the action figure department at Acclaim? Who was in charge of producing the Turok line?

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:46 pm

Vault-Keeper wrote:Does anyone know who headed up the action figure department at Acclaim? Who was in charge of producing the Turok line?

Wasn't that part of the video game department?

x-omatic · Post by **x-omatic** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:51 pm

Wasn't there one on eBay a couple of years ago?

Vault-Keeper · Post by **Vault-Keeper** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:51 pm

jedimarley wrote:
Vault-Keeper wrote:Does anyone know who headed up the action figure department at Acclaim? Who was in charge of producing the Turok line?
Wasn't that part of the video game department?

There are some ex-Acclaim employees on the board here that might know...

xomanowarfan · Post by **xomanowarfan** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:53 pm

This adds to the possibilty that prototypes are out there in some form. I have a scan from a magazine of a close up of the figure that I will get uploaded today:

SNEAK PEEK: X-O MANOWAR

Trust us on this one: this toy is cool.

At first glance, it’s the deep blue metallic surface of Skybolt Toyz’ new X-O Manowar that catches the eye, but there’s so much more here. Collectors who never open their boxes are out of luck on this one, because you gotta crack the case and actually play with this thing to appreciate its unique, one-of-a-kind feature: the chest plate with snap-back action.

You see, in the comic book, the X-O armor is a symbiotic liquid metal that exists inside the human host, and erupts out through the X-O emblem on the chest. You’re bonded to it for life, so if you try to take that emblem off, well… Let’s just say you’d need some heavy-duty bolt cutters.

Fabian Nicieza, Publisher of Acclaim Comics and the man responsible for updating the character from its earlier Valiant Comics incarnation, remembers the scene from issue two where the new bearer of the armor had to take the emblem from off the chest of its previous, dead host. "When our new hero picked up the emblem off the guy who just died," says Nicieza, "it was still kind of attached, so naturally all these tentacles, wires, veins and goop got lifted out with it. Skybolt saw that and thought that was a really cool feature so they did it too."

That’s right, X-O Manowar comes with its very own pop-out chest emblem, complete with elastic tentacles extending into the body. Skybolt Toyz’ VP Steve Zyskowski recalls the first time Fabian Nicieza ever saw the feature. "Fabian gave me a call when we sent him the prototype" laughs Zyskowski. "He asked, ‘Didn’t you tell me something about a chestplate that can be pulled out?’ I said yeah, it’s right there on the prototype. Put your finger under the lip of the thing and pull it out. ‘Hold on’ he says." Zyskowski then describes a long pause, after which Nicieza excitedly jumped back on the phone and gushed his enthusiasm. "He said, ‘I just called everybody into my office so I could show them. It looks great!’ Trust me, it’s a very cool thing."

Nicieza has nothing but praise for the job Skybolt has done with his characters. "It’s fantastic, I’ve never seen that feature on a toy before" says Nicieza. "It’s really cool, I’m pretty damn happy with it. I’d be a fool not to be happy, I’m looking at this thing and it’s great! I’ve got a prototype on my desk right now, and I’m not kidding when I say it’s one of the best-looking toys of this genre that I’ve seen. I’m really happy to see my characters taken this way."

Even beyond the cool chest plate, X-O is still an awesome toy. It’s fully vacuum-metalized, "a hobby market exclusive first" claims Zyskowski. It stands 6 ½ inches tall, has two removable visors, one clear, one gold, and comes with a customized collector's display stand. It’s also highly detailed, with articulation at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees, and should retail for $10.95. There will also be two "mystery" variant figures shipped with each case, as well as a special Platinum Collector's edition, which will be limited to only 5,000 units and retail for $14.95.

X-O should ship in September, while Solar, Man of the Atom, complete with hovering action, will likely come out four months later. Beyond that, there are plans for "classic" versions of both characters, reminiscent of their Valiant Comics days, due to ship in early ’99.

Skybolt’s attention to detail and innovative product designs have thoroughly impressed Acclaim’s publisher, to the extent that Nicieza will soon be throwing more business their way. "As a result of what we’ve seen them do already" says Nicieza, "I may discuss another character I have that’ll be of interest to them."

New toys? Awesome. What’re the plans, what’ll it be, what’s the scoop?

"Well, I have to talk to them about it first" says Nicieza. "It wouldn’t be a good idea to tell you about it now without running it by them first." Aw, c’mon, pleasepleaseplease? We won’t tell a soul, we promise! "Well, you guys’ll be the first to know, how’s that?"

Deal.

VITAL STATS

What?

Skybolt Toyz’ X-O Manowar action figure

Who’s in the assortment?

For right now, just X-O, but he’ll soon be followed by Solar, Man of the Atom, as well as "classic" versions of both characters.

When?

Look for X-O Manowar in September ’98, Solar about four months later.

What’s the deal?

X-O Manowar is fully vacuum-metalized, and comes with two visors, a chest plate with snap back action, and a customized display stand. A word of advice: check out what’s under the chest plate!

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:00 pm

So. There could be a Solar prototype.

xomanowarfan · Post by **xomanowarfan** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:20 pm

X-O HoboJoe · Post by **X-O HoboJoe** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:23 pm

xomanowarfan wrote:

Great, it looks like Jake Gyllenhaal.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:07 pm

X-O HoboJoe wrote:
xomanowarfan wrote:
Great, it looks like Jake Gyllenhaal.

Looks like he needs to shave his eyebrows.

Technique · Post by **Technique** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:23 am

xomanowarfan wrote:

It looks like his head expanded in the helmet

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:17 am

Vault-Keeper wrote:
jedimarley wrote:
Vault-Keeper wrote:Does anyone know who headed up the action figure department at Acclaim? Who was in charge of producing the Turok line?
Wasn't that part of the video game department?
There are some ex-Acclaim employees on the board here that might know...

Who?

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:17 am

x-omatic wrote:Wasn't there one on eBay a couple of years ago?

Really???

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:39 am

Let's just say there were only 2 total prototypes made (just for the sake of argument). What would a fair price be to offer for one? ~Erskine

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:44 am

$500.00

If the seller knows what he has.

If the seller doesn't know....Less then $100.00

xoken · Post by **xoken** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 6:48 am

Erskine71 wrote:Let's just say there were only 2 total prototypes made (just for the sake of argument). What would a fair price be to offer for one? ~Erskine

This is one of the few valiant items that is more desirable to non valiant collectors (toy collectors) than valiant fans.

If the figure was coming from an ex employee he/she would probably be delighted to get rid of it for $50 or so, but taking into consideration that there are collectors out there willing to pay $700-1000 makes a fair price difficult.

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:17 am

xoken wrote:This is one of the few valiant items that is more desirable to non valiant collectors (toy collectors) than valiant fans.

Many online toy dealers/collectors have this on their want to buy/trade for list.

Daniel Jackson · Post by **Daniel Jackson** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 9:07 am

Technique wrote:
xomanowarfan wrote:
It looks like his head expanded in the helmet

It makes you wonder how they got that helmet to fit over that huge melon.

Zero · Post by **Zero** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:25 am

xoken wrote:
Erskine71 wrote:Let's just say there were only 2 total prototypes made (just for the sake of argument). What would a fair price be to offer for one? ~Erskine
This is one of the few valiant items that is more desirable to non valiant collectors (toy collectors) than valiant fans.

If the figure was coming from an ex employee he/she would probably be delighted to get rid of it for $50 or so, but taking into consideration that there are collectors out there willing to pay $700-1000 makes a fair price difficult.

Well...I found one, but it ain't cheap folks. I confirmed there were only two actually made & both were the chrome version. One went to the Acclaim offices & one stayed at Skybolt. The one I found is currently priced at $8,000! He advised me he's had offers at $4,000 previously that he's turned down. I thought it was gonna be up there if I found one, but never that far up there... ~Erskine

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:27 pm

Erskine71 wrote:
xoken wrote:
Erskine71 wrote:Let's just say there were only 2 total prototypes made (just for the sake of argument). What would a fair price be to offer for one? ~Erskine
This is one of the few valiant items that is more desirable to non valiant collectors (toy collectors) than valiant fans.

If the figure was coming from an ex employee he/she would probably be delighted to get rid of it for $50 or so, but taking into consideration that there are collectors out there willing to pay $700-1000 makes a fair price difficult.

Well...I found one, but it ain't cheap folks. I confirmed there were only two actually made & both were the chrome version. One went to the Acclaim offices & one stayed at Skybolt. The one I found is currently priced at $8,000! He advised me he's had offers at $4,000 previously that he's turned down. I thought it was gonna be up there if I found one, but never that far up there... ~Erskine

$8,000