United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Costume making, prop building and other '66 Bat-related arts and crafts.

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Scott Sebring
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United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Scott Sebring »

It's been a long time since I've done some Bat-Crafting like this. Back in July, Ben told me about the Villian's Lair from McFarlane that was planned to come out. We both thought this was a wonderful "deep cut" kind of item and the only criticism we had from the promo pics was the villian's lair logo on the wall. We understood the probable reasons why they had to or decided to switch it but we longed for the old school movie "United Underworld" octopus. I tried to find a nice hi res image of it but of course that was a lost cause. So I did some screen captures, ran some AI software and used my day job skills to whip up the classic graphic from the screen grabs as well as I could.

Then we waited....

Success! Success!
vl_craft_Scott_Sebring_01.jpg

I scanned the playset wall and adapted my graphic to it's shape and framing in Photoshop. I ordered some Epson self adhesive paper in matte finish for the job. I've made a PDF that embeds the exact dimensions of the graphic for printing to size. I added an off white/yellow background to help make the edges and cutting a little more forgiving and blend in with the wall.
vl_craft_Scott_Sebring_02.jpg
vl_craft_Scott_Sebring_03.jpg

Went on like a charm.
vl_craft_Scott_Sebring_04.jpg
vl_craft_Scott_Sebring_05.jpg

I've added the PDF to our resources page and this link for your own crafting pleasure.
United Underworld decal art by Scott Sebring thmb.jpg
CLICK HERE for - United Underworld Decal Art by Scott Sebring PDF File
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Batfanman
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Batfanman »

Fantastic! Amazing times we live in - far beyond the imaginative capabilities of the Bat-computer.
Every Day Is BATMAN DAY!
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Ben Bentley
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Ben Bentley »

It genuinely brought a smile to my face seeing this idea that we had a few months back brought to life, it's such a simple yet rewarding upgrade! I can't wait to do mine too!

Thanks for taking the time to clean up and up-res the authentic movie-used UU logo and for making it available!
rickkrefft
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by rickkrefft »

I’m very stupid at this stuff and don’t own a printer. What would I need to use this to make my own sticker?
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Ben Bentley
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Ben Bentley »

rickkrefft wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 5:59 pm I’m very stupid at this stuff and don’t own a printer. What would I need to use this to make my own sticker?
You would just need:

1) Inkjet printer compatible sticker sheets, like the Epson ones in Scott's photo.
https://www.amazon.com/Epson-Quality-Se ... 159&sr=8-7

2) The PDF file that Scott made available (it's sized to the correct size and ready to print)
http://www.66batman.com/wp-content/uplo ... ebring.pdf

3) ...Access to a printer! Local libraries often have printer services available if you don't have an immediate friend or family member who can help you out.
rickkrefft
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by rickkrefft »

Thanks Ben I’m gonna see if I can use the library printer
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Therin of Andor
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Therin of Andor »

Very cool. I played with this idea myself last week. Have printed one out but not yet affixed it.

The filing cabinet also needs a "METALLIC CONFETTI" label for the top sign.

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Metallic Confetti and Riddler by Ian McLean, on Flickr
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Very nice, Scott. Although i'm not a collector of McFarlane's '66 line, I can appreciate how your U.U. logo makes the playset "feel" right, as opposed to the '66 branding art that's on most items related to the series.
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Scott Sebring
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Scott Sebring »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:33 am Very nice, Scott. Although i'm not a collector of McFarlane's '66 line, I can appreciate how your U.U. logo makes the playset "feel" right, as opposed to the '66 branding art that's on most items related to the series.
Yeah. I haven't jumped on everything coming out in that line but the lair was such a fun niche' subject that nobody else has ever touched and a toy set I would have LOVED as a kid. I couldn't pass it up when I saw it in the wild. I wouldn't have ordered it though. I like the "finding treasure" aspect of these sort of things.
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hisyouthfulward
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by hisyouthfulward »

Might I make a small suggestion? I'd advise going to a FedEx or other type of office supply store and use a laser printer. I've found that the colors are crisper and brighter than an inkjet. You'll need laser printer compatible decal paper but you can snag that easily. I tried recreating the old 70's superhero stickers and a laser printer gave me a more professional look.
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rsaffle
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by rsaffle »

Great job Scott! Thanks for making it available. That logo is too cool to not be seen or used.

Other than the random bomb floating around in playsets has there ever been any other toys from Batman the movie?
No Penguin sub or such that I'm aware of.
*See more 3D printed props @ https://www.instagram.com/saffledesigns/
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Ben Bentley
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Ben Bentley »

hisyouthfulward wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:02 am Might I make a small suggestion? I'd advise going to a FedEx or other type of office supply store and use a laser printer. I've found that the colors are crisper and brighter than an inkjet. You'll need laser printer compatible decal paper but you can snag that easily. I tried recreating the old 70's superhero stickers and a laser printer gave me a more professional look.
A couple of thoughts on inkjet vs laser for this specific application...

Scott pursued making the stickers at home because of the issues I was running into at the likes of Fed Ex and even Walgreens. Ultimately, these kind of print shops (rather than professional printing companies who deal in very large quantities) would not print the PDF onto anything thicker than regular letter paper. Using a PDF rather than a JPG ensures that the scale that the graphic prints at is 100% true rather than gambling on bleeds and margins, etc. The other disadvantage to using public facing printing services is that they rightfully so have copyright policies and if something looks to be associated with an IP that none of us own, then i've been turned away too.

On a practical level, with laser printing, you would have to ensure that the sticker or paper stock you are printing on to is heavy-duty enough that the adhesive is not going to aggravate the way the ink is held by the paper, especially with the saturated colors in the UU design.
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Therin of Andor
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Therin of Andor »

rsaffle wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2022 7:16 pm Other than the random bomb floating around in playsets has there ever been any other toys from Batman the movie?
The Batcopter and Batboat debuted in the movie. Also the set of various labelled Batsprays.
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

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Jimmy L. 66
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Jimmy L. 66 »

Fantastic job Scott!
They look very similar in shape to me.
Is it possible that Mcfarlane foresaw this happening and wanted it to be a simple switch, or more likely whomever designed the villain lair sticker took the easy route and just switched out the octopus for the licensed villain images?
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Therin of Andor
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Re: United Underworld Decal for McFarlane Villian's Lair Playset

Post by Therin of Andor »

Jimmy L. 66 wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 1:08 am They look very similar in shape to me.
Is it possible that Mcfarlane foresaw this happening and wanted it to be a simple switch, or more likely whomever designed the villain lair sticker took the easy route and just switched out the octopus for the licensed villain images?
My guess is that the prototype anticipated being permitted to use the movie signage, but it was vetoed before production started.
"Holy nostalgia, Batman!"
Therin of Andor

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