Raving Rob

Too cool Rob! Was Red Spidey's eye scratched like that before or after you got em? Since we are sharing odds and ends any chance we will be seeing more pics?

His eye was already scratched when I got him. I'll see if I can snap some more shots this weekend. Any requests?

-Rob

I can up this offer... I'll send you both of Reideen's Kidney's and one of JL's if you send the mates to me

T.

I'm not big on kidneys, but I could use some lungs...

I just checked over my records and I got these at the end of 2004 right after Christmas and before New Years.

I checked and indeed these were one shots, or unique from my source.

Also, a little background on the Gold Spideys. Evidently, there were 10 extra Golds made past the 50 piece run that were given to friends and of the 50 slated for giveaway, it looks like Marvel took about 30 of them and DST gave most of the rest away.

Just a little more food for thought.

-Rob

So there was only one each of the red and blue made?

As far as I know, these are the only ones around. I would have to guess that they made at least a few, just to make sure they came out okay. But if they were damaged or came out badly from manufacturing they would have been destroyed there.

Still, I would guess that at most there might be up to 5 of each just as a sheer guess, but I have never heard of any others and my source said they were the only ones made.

-Rob

Trust me I understand ALL too well! Not to mention with guys on this board like Shane, TBT and me (however I speak for myself here) minimates we've never seen definitely pique our interest!

Anyway, Sorry if I came off rude. I wasn't trying to call you out I just wanted to see what you had to say about them to suppress any doubt on the mythical clear spideys. Awesome to know they are real!

Welcome aboard, don't be a stranger!

-CloneMe

Hey it isn't rude at all. I can understand people have questions and I'm more than willing to answer them as best I can.

One thing about rare and unreleased toys is that they really don't have a providence like art does to prove they are real. You pretty much have to go by what people say and judge for yourself.

-Rob

I'm not saying they are fake just my personal opinion, maybe Rob from TRM would like to comment, or was this from a complete article?

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