| this baby is the result of a whim
(well, many babies are, but that's beyond the point...). one day i felt i needed a cerebus
figurine to put on my shelf and it had to be a good one too. i scoured the 'net for a
while but, with this happening in 1995, it wasn't as huge as it is now, so i ended up
empty-handed. not one to give up easily, i
called a modelist friend and asked him if he'd sculpt one for me. "why not?, sounds
like fun", he said. i showed him the character and explained what i wanted, then an
idea came up so that i could also pay him for his work. i faxed dave sim asking for
permission to cast a few pieces and he agreed, as long as the character was true to his
vision. a few weeks later i sent him pictures and got a green-light to cast thirty pieces
+ artists proofs.
being this the first figurine that my friend
"mass"-produced, it took some experimenting and he ended up casting a total of
10 pieces for each figurine, which he then expertly assembled and painted. when the full
run was ready, certificates of authenticity printed and sealed and figurines boxed, i sent
out an email and a few letters to some people and sold every single piece in about a
month.
after paying my friend for his huge work and the raw
material, i had $1000 for dave sim, and that's when i found out what a cool --no, make it
COOL-- guy dave is. when asked how should i send him the money, he replied "just
send'em to the cbldf". i so did and, while at it, found out what the cbldf is and got hooked. ultimate art,
a name i came up with for my booth at comic-cons, finally had a mission other than buying
and selling comics to provide me with the means of widening my collection.
a one-of-a-kind version of this figurine, with the "bill
of creator's right" on the table instead than the money-pouch, was auctioned --way
before ebay was the behemoth it is now-- by the cbldf for $900. nope, mine is not for
sale, sorry...
after the run was gone, i tried to talk dave into doing a
pope cerebus, but he kindly declined because he didn't want to over-exploit his character.
in a world where every close-to-recognizable character is milked to death, his stand was a
refreshing one and i absolutely didn't felt slighted one iota. actually, my respect for
the man increased again. SOLD OUT! |
