A tour of the Baxter Building lab!
By MiskatonicNick on Flickr
It’s been a little bit since we’ve shown off one of The Toyroom’s customized Mego-style playsets but this one’s worth the wait: a Fantastic Four Baxter Building set that is about 45 years overdue.
Back in the ’70s, Mego showed a fairly decent amount of commitment to Marvel’s First Family, producing figures of the entire team — Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, the Human Torch and the Thing.
Problem is, they never went all in like they did with Batman: no vehicles, no villain (especially Dr. Doom!) — and no playset.
But The Toyroom’s Anthony Durso at least has that last part covered now with the Fantastic Four Baxter Building Lab displayset:
“I really wanted a Bronze Age feel for this,” said, Anthony, who is also a 13th Dimension contributor. “This carry case format is a little constricting so instead of building a multi-layer Baxter Building, I decided to just highlight the lab/communications room.”
“The first issue of Fantastic Four I ever read was #183 and it had a lot of the Negative Zone in it so I wanted to make that a focal point of the playset. I tried for a combination Jack Kirby and George Perez tech look for the walls, with a lot of the gizmos lifted from other Jack Kirby joints,” he added.
“The computer monitor screens attempt to showcase the variety of threats the FF is always on the alert for,” Anthony explained. “Whether it be attacking Atlanteans, sinister Skrull skullduggery, the evil of Dr. Doom, or those pesky Inhumans, the Fantastic Four has it covered. And although I wasn’t a fan of his back in 1978, H.E.R.B.I.E the Robot has grown on me over the years so I had to include him. The power monitor just to the left behind H.E.R.B.I.E. keeps track of each member and is reflective of their Mego box colors”
“On the exterior front (first set pic, top), it’s repurposed/redrawn artwork from Marvel Treasury Edition #2 (by Jazzy John Romita) with an Invisible Girl swapped out from The Superhero Women (also by Romita), which was redrawn for her Mego box,” Anthony said.
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A few thoughts:
George Perez pencils, Joe Sinnott inks
— Anthony has done more DC than Marvel sets so this one is really welcome. I still have my fingers crossed for a Spidey set.
— In addition to this display, The Toyroom’s sets currently include: The Fortress of Solitude (click here for an INSIDE LOOK), Lex Luthor’s Lair, the Batcave/Wayne Foundation (click here), the 1966 Batcave, the 1966 Batgirl apartment and changing room (click here), the 1966 Batman movie United Underworld HQ (click here), the Joker’s Ha-Hacienda (click here), the Riddler’s hideout (click here), Wonder Woman’s Paradise Island (click here), Wonder Woman’s TV series IADC headquarters (click here), the Green Lantern HQ on Oa (click here), Aquaman’s Aquacave (click here), Captain Marvel’s Rock of Eternity (click here), the JLA Satellite (click here), the JSA Brownstone (click here), the Super Friends Hall of Justice (click here), the Super Powers Hall of Justice (click here), the Hall of Doom (click here), Iron Man’s Armory (click here), the X-Men’s Danger Room (click here), a Star Trek: The Animated Series Enterprise (click here) and a Scooby-Doo haunted house — with more to come.
— And as I always feel compelled to point out, I don’t make anything from this. I just love showing it all off. Each set — including case, artwork and complete assembly — is $85 plus shipping. Contact either thetoyroom@yahoo.com or you can message Anthony, who also owns Retropolis Tees and is a 13th Dimension contributor, through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
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MORE
— INSIDE LOOK: The ‘MEGO’ IRON MAN ARMORY Playset You’ve Been Waiting For. Click here.
— INSIDE LOOK: The X-MEN DANGER ROOM Playset You’ve Been Waiting For. Click here.
July 5, 2020
FANTASTIC!!!
July 5, 2020
Never saw one of the Fantastic Four figures up close for real. They were always the mythical figures of hearsay and school yard lore. Only glimpses I had of them were the pictures on the boxes of other figures at T G & Y. Once, there may have been one behind a passed over Planet of the Ape figure but I was too scared to turn it over for knowing my mother wouldn’t buy it for me. Like not opening the Wonka bar for fear of disappointment. When I finally did see one I was perplexed and fascinated with their solution to the Thing and Torch’s bodies – painted patterns on cloth coverings. Why couldn’t they have made the body like the heads, I thought. But I know this isn’t the topic of this thread.