Re: TurboMan, Booster, Dementor Toys?
OK -
So, I called Kirk and left a message. He called me back, and is a totally cool, laid back dude. We talked for a little bit about our personal and professional lives, and he offered me a job. Sort of...I think. Well I'm going to Cali (first time) in July and so we made plans to meet up. He told me about how he is in the union out there and he can bring me in if I want. He then said (at the end of our conversation) to make sure I bring some photo's of my work and "we'll see if we can get you working on a film while you're out here." So needless to say I'm astonished by the offer. Who would have thought that my quest for some toys would bring me such luck and hospitality? I sure as hell didn't and I can tell you that the Mrs. would have even put money on the fact that it
wouldn't.
So, some info on Kirk Starbird. He's worked on Honey I shrunk the Kids, Toys, Minority Report, Jingle all the way and currently he is working on Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 just to name a few. He also did all the sculpting for the toys and things like that in The Indian in the Cupboard. That movie sort of ruined my chances in him saying, "Sure, I'll send you a set of all the toys tomorrow - whats your address?"
What I mean by that is this...When he was working on Jingle all the Way, FOX had a toy collector for an adviser on making the toys. His name is Alan Adler. Well after his Job was complete on the set, he continued to hang around and show everyday. Apparently it was no big deal, no one thought anything of it. Well he some how managed to talk his way into being the Archivist for FOX on their props. Well when Kirk went on to do the Indian in the Cupboard, he got a call from Alan and I guess they had a coversation and Alan kind of pressured him into promising to give him a full set of the toys from Indian in the Cupboard. Well Kirk kept thinking about it and it just didn't feel right. So he told Alan he couldn't do it. Well Alan started threatening him and even tried to black mail him into giving him a set. Eventually Kirk had to threaten him with the law. So now Kirk is very hesitant on what he gives away or sells because technically this stuff is still the property of the studio, they paid for it, and he doesn't want to get sued. He also is nervous about someone sock puppeting for Alan. Totally understandable.
So at this point in the conversation I'm starting to feel a little discouraged.
So we keep talking numbers and about things that happened during Jingle and the like. Eventually he takes a deep sigh and says,"You know, I would really love to unload some of this stuff - I'm not a huge fan of the Jingle things, they're high end and they look fantastic but I would definitely like to pay off some credit card bills." Then he went into how he is still walking on glass so to speak about the whole Alan thing but he is definitely willing to let them go, he just wants to know WHERE they're going. So we decided to keep in contact via e-mail (which he only checks once every 2 weeks on average) and phone calls until I go out there and we'll work something out from there.
So you know what that means right? If you guys want to eventually get a set of these bad boys, I would appreciate it if you guys could help me with buying them by buying my other stuff.:angel
*'*
Crosses his fingers and Prays*'*
So I will definitely own these things, it's just a matter of when.
I'm sure by now your asking - What Things are you talking about Kyle!?!?
Well since you asked so nicely -
Kirk owns -
- 1 - Hero Turbo Man (14" Version) with fully articulated joints AND fully articulated Jet Pack.
This figure never saw airtime. The producers decided to use the static version which, for all intents and purposes is exactly the same, for the scenes where the 14" Turbo Man is seen. There were 12 articulated Turbo Men originally made - at $20,000 a pop. There were then 6 more made upon request of the CEO's and big wigs at FOX. Giving 18 total.
The static, non-poseable versions had over 100 made of each figure. I.E. -
100+ Turbo Man
100+ Dementor
100+ Booster
- 1 - Hero Dementor
- 1 - Hero Booster
Now as far as specific numbers on these I didn't get a chance to really go into it but believe me I will.
NOW - The Holy Grail, which I originally thought was the 24" Turbo Man from the end of the movie - The final piece of his collection (or so he's let me in on)...
Now why is this the Holy Grail? Well only three were ever made. Of those three - each is a different color. As you can see on the card backs I posted pictures of earlier, they have three Demon Team members listed. Those are the three that were produced. They never saw film - never even left the Toy Department.
So that is what I...I mean he, owns (soon to be owned)
Now for the rest of the fun tid bits.
Each Hero Turbo Man figure, Including the static, articulated, and the 24"ers, were Fully Gold Plated. NOT Vac-Metalized. The parts to remain Gold were then masked off and the rest of the figure was painted with a red Lacquer. Once that was done the figures were turned over to a specialist who hand painted each individual face.
There were only 3 24" Dolls made. At one point after the filming, the woman who was in charge of production design, Leslie McDonald, was given all three. She felt uncomfortable about being the only one who got them so she gave one to the Director Brian Levant. They both still own them today. So apparently the person I tracked down that claimed to have one was not being so truthful with me.
And the last bit of info I have to share -
The toys for this film were made before the suit. Arnold wasn't brought in until very late in the process and it was only because Chris Columbus was able to get Arnold to do the film while he had 3 months off before filming his next movie. Well during a session with Kirk, Tim Flattery who designed the Turbo Man suit, and Arnold - Tim was "sculpting" the suit up and taking input when out of no where Arnold grabbed one of the toys and said I want it to look like this (referring to the pectoral muscles), I don't want that. Those look like big boobs. I'm the terminator. The terminator doesn't have big boobs.
And that is how the Turbo Man suit came to look so awesome...sort of.
Thank You, Thank You - Donations are accepted but not necessary.
-Kyle
