Flatt World's Dracula!
I had no idea these could be picked up for so little on Ebay! I assume the cost is what sunk these figures upon their initial release? I know the cost is what kept me from getting one, I always thought it was an awesome looking figure but $60 bucks for an 8" figure?!? I'm glad to finally be picking this one up but it sure does suck for Flatt World that the market didn't support this.
The listing says 10 available but I don't believe that counts the 8 that are already spoken for,so only 2 left!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Flatt-World-Bela-Lugosi-as-Dracula-New-MIB_W0QQitemZ250232793550QQihZ015QQcategoryZ348QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I was really excited about these when they were first announced. I remember being a bit dissapointed in the likeness once they were released. I seem to remember seeing or thinking that the face was changed between the preview of the toy and the final. The $60.00 price tag was the deal-killer once I saw the face on the final toy.
$10 bucks is pretty darn tempting, though.
There were a lot of problems with quality control. Coffins without hinges, figures without capes, missing shoes, etc...
I got one from this seller a year or so ago for about $15. He worked with Cahrlie flatt. No problems with the figure whatsoever.
When it first came out I was pretty excited, but the $60 price was a bit off putting. Still I intended to buy it since it was the best Lugosi toy up to that point, however, once it came out and I was able to inspect it I changed my mind. The likeness and the way the close fit are not, to me, up to the level of quality one would expect in a figure that costs this much. Also, the packaging was meant to appeal to both loose collectors and MIB collectors in that you could take the toy out and place it back in the box without damaging the package at all. This seems to suggest a complete misunderstanding by the company of the appeal of a MIB toy, i.e. that its NEVER been opened or tampered with. Therefore the MIB, $60 toy you bought at the comic shop might have been opened, displayed, played with and you would not even know it. Add to that the fact that Sideshow started their 8" line fairly close to the release of this figure (I think) and stated that they where actively pursuing the Lugosi license. Now it would bge a while before they actually got a Dracula figure out, but it still made Flatts a little less appealing. Once the Sideshow 12" Dracula was released I pretty much lost all interest in this. I'm not a completist and get bored with redundancy in my collection.
I picked up a couple of these a few months ago from this seller. At $10 a pop, this is a great figure. I kept one MIB and used the other for customizing parts.
George
There are bids on 10 of them. It's not a fixed price sale. If someone else bids, then the person who bid the highest will win it at that price, and the one who bid $10 last will lose out. It's a Dutch style auction, so just because they are $10 now doesn't mean they will stay at that.
Here is eBay's more detailed explanation of how it works:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buyer-multiple.html
Word on the Mego Museum is that this seller is actually the guy who made the Dracula figures for Charlee Flatt. Charlee never paid him, so he's sitting on a warehouse full of the things. If you contact him via eBay, he may be able to work a deal for you on cases of them.
George
Thanks for listing this.
This will make a nice Christmas gift for two younger collectors that I know.
Even at a little more then 10 bucks, it's still a nice presentation.
I paid 13 +shipping for mine because I had already bid on 1 from another seller, still not bad and I can't wait to add it to the collection.
For anyone still interested in picking one, or two, or three, or more of these up the seller has listed 10 more!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Flatt-World-Bela-Lugosi-as-Dracula-New-MIB_W0QQitemZ250236534436QQihZ015QQcategoryZ348QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I got one,haven't gotten it yet though.
Got mine in today and MIB.
I picked one up about 6 months ago for $15 and I'm very pleased with it.
Likeness seems pretty good to me...