Hey, I'll comment. I just had to register here to do it, and if you e-mail me it will go to my gmail account since I do not have access to my RTM mail at work (rob@toymania.com).
But I can understand some reservations about these so I'll tell you about me and what I know and you can decide on your own whether they are real or fake. And I can take other angles of these if you'd like, if there is some way you could tell from that.
First, I am one of the people who owns and runs Raving Toy Maniac (www.toymania.com). Because of this I have contact with industry people and insiders and since I have run the site for about 7 years now I have met a lot of folks behind the scenes and seen lots of stuff that never made it to the public. I know Chuck, Mike and Matt and the other guys at DST on a personal level as well as some of the folks from Art Asylum.
I bought these two minimates (actually three at the time including the gold Spidey) around 2004 or so. My memory isn't clear of the exact date, but it had to be within a year of the Gold Spideys coming out. I bought them from a toy industry insider. He is still in the industry and at the time he was close with Digger but he did not work for DST. I won't say his name because he asked me when I bought these to never say who he was since he was concerned about his job.
He also said I should never show these online, but sometime in the last few years (I think it was at Toy Fair) I mentioned to Chuck (DST Chuck) that I had purchased them and asked if he cared if I had showed them. I recall he didn't seem to mind but I can't say if Chuck remembers the conversation or not as it was over dinner I think. I remember it from Outback steakhouse in NYC and I think both Mike and Matt were there. This is just my memory of the event, their's may be different.
The gold Spidey was not numbered. There were a small amount of them made outside the actual release (maybe 5-10) of 50 that were going to friends of Digger, and that's how my contact got his.
The translucent ones were done up (by Digger I think) without any permission (which is why the pictures previously seen were hastily removed) and they were done just as a promotional things to see how they would turn out. Marvel wasn't interested and they were supposed to be destroyed since they are unlicensed. I would have to go back and see if I can find my original e-mails on these to get the proper dates and background info as I am going by memory.
When I bought the gold spidey he mentioned he had the two translucent ones and asked if I wanted them (as long as it was secret). Obviously I said yes. They were not cheap either, but I'll keep the price to myself (over $500 for the three).
I have no customizing ability at all and I couldn't make a Doombot out of a DR Doom minimate so I certainly couldn't have done it myself.
And these are the same ones that were previously photographed and showed up however briefly online.
The person I bought them from had access to Art Asylum and the people who worked there and was and still is a member of the industry. I won't say who he is or where he currently works but if he wants to come forward he can.
I can understand that it could be very easy to doubt me on this since I got it from an 'unnamed' source and you basically have to take my word for it. All I can say is that I do have access to folks who could have had this and as far as I know they are real.
You can make your own decision on this, but if I can take a picture that would prove they are real then I will, just let me know what you need to see.
-Rob
