For Lewis Wilson BATMAN (And Serial) Fans...

[AndyFish]

Keeping in mind that I don't have the figure in hand, I wanted to wait to 100% recommend the customizer. I'll DM you Randy.

[AndyFish]

A couple of folks have asked me to post any other figures he makes, I don't have a ton of reference photos, but here are his two Tom Tyler figures from ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL and THE PHANTOM.

[BiffPow]

The Captain Marvel is fantastic. I never was a fan of the Phantom. I really can’t put my finger on why, but I suspect it’s the striped trunks. They’re just weird.

[AndyFish]

I became a big Phantom fan when a friends older brother gifted me a box of his old Captain Action's. The serial is one of my favorites too, along with ADV OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, the first BATMAN, GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, SPIDER'S WEB, THE SHADOW, all of the FLASH GORDON serials and even BUCK ROGERS which also starred Flash himself, Buster Crabbe.

[BiffPow]

The Phantom is the one of the few serials I’ve not watched. Have seen the others.

I was such a fan of the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials that, as a teenager, when my parents purchased a life-size 1930s standee of Buster Crabbe advertising Granger pipe tobacco, I asked for it and even took it with me to college as decor for my room.

[AndyFish]

That's great, Biff.
Buster was a great guy and king of the serials.

[rsaffle]

Those look great. I'm the opposite on the Phantom though because I love his costume, even the trunks. He has a cool origin story too. Love that he punches people with his ring and leaves an imprinted scar to scare other criminals. I need to learn more about him now.

[AndyFish]

The Phantom is arguably the first costumed comic hero and his story is unique in that his saga goes back 400 years so the character is generational passing the mantle on as that era's Phantom ages out or is killed (something that is addressed in the Columbia Serial right in Chapter One). Lee Falk's idea was that the character would age in the comics, the same way the characters in Gasoline Alley did.

[BiffPow]

I have a good friend from India who is a big fan. He relates that in India, characters such as the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician are very popular.

As a kid, I did think that the skull was cool (it’s why I enjoyed Vincent Price movies so much, as he had a penchant for adding a skeleton whenever he could) but it just could not offset the weirdness of those trunks for me.

Every time I see the Phantom, that “barber pole under-over-wear” dominates, and it just demolishes that whole “the ghost who walks“ image that the character is supposed to have. What “ghost” would choose striped underpants to strike fear? I could see wearing it if maybe he owned a candy store and he’s advertising those Gilliam blueberry hard candy sticks:

[AndyFish]

I can understand it, I feel the same way about Batman being cast in a rubber suit. Doesn't work for me at all.
The Phantom is a minor character here in the States but remains hugely popular in India, Australia and Sweden. I know this for a fact because my #2 son (also a huge Phantom fan) and I often go up against the same collectors in auctions.

Billy Zane told me they tested the striped shorts for his 1996 Phantom film (which itself is quite good) and they didn't work.

[Mike Mulitsch]

I’m excited too, can’t wait to see it in person.

[BiffPow]

Billy Zane told me they tested the striped shorts for his 1996 Phantom film (which itself is quite good) and they didn't work.

I actually did like that movie. I haven’t seen it since it first came out, but I remember thinking Billy Zane would be a huge success. He always reminded me of a young Marlon Brando.

[AndyFish]

There are a whole run of Comic Bookish movies from that time period that were really really good-- better than Burton's Batman in my opinion, but it was Burton's success that got them made-- The Phantom, Dick Tracy, The Shadow, The Rocketeer and a few others I'm sure.

For those asking, the figure was finished on Dec 30th and is currently in the golden hands of the USPS -- like Ralphie waiting for my decoder I've only got a tracking number so I can see it getting closer. It's five states away right now. Hopefully I don't open the box and it's just a jar of Ovaltine ™

[BiffPow]

The Rocketeer

…

Ovaltine ™

1. Really enjoyed the Rocketeer. In fact, it was the theme of one of our Halloween parties. I made jet packs (from scratch using found objects and ingenuity) for both me and my young son;

2. This past year, we took a trip to see the original house used in “A Christmas Story,” in Cleveland, OH. They used the exterior, but the owners purchased it and turned it into a museum - and did their best to reconfigure to look like the interior in the movie. Great place to visit.

Now: “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine, Andy!”

[AndyFish]

Cleveland has a lot of great places, I hope you made it over to the original Superman house-- the house at 10622 Kimberly Ave is where Jerry Siegel lived when he came up with Superman. It's adorned with a plaque with Superman's logo and some other interesting artifacts. It's a private house but it's worth seeing for the historical aspect alone.

Cleveland was actually the basis for Metropolis, not Chicago or New York as many people think.