Futurama Prototype's and Rare Items

[on:]

Hi All,

Im lucky enough to have a massive Futurama Collection.  The best bits being prototypes from the 1999/2000 Moore Action Collectibles series of toys.  After a number of years I've decided to get them graded.  As expected they are delicate and sometimes hard to display.

I wanted to share these with you and see what people think.

Would also be great to see other peoples rare items.

Andy

[Reply #1 on:]

First up..

MAC Planet Express Ship Prototype, Graded by UKG with a grade of 70%.

[Reply #2 on:]

1999/2000 Leela Prototype

Looks amazing graded the team did a great job.  Always struggled displaying this until now.  Really pleased.

[Reply #3 on:]

Prize item in the collection.  The Bender Prototype graded 85% by UKG.

[Reply #4 on:]

Not a prototype.  This is an item made by Dark Horse Comics in 2001.  The Bender Halloween mask.  These are super rare and I've not seen one on the open market for a good few years.  Especially with the retail hanger still attached and the original sting and stickers on the back.

If you've ever seen one you'll understand my concerns over keeping this safe and in great condition.  Lucky for me the guys at UKG understood the concerned and agreed to grade the mask and make it an amazing display item.

Shown with Toynami Bender's to give an idea of the size of this great item.

[Reply #5 on:]

I don't think I've seen that particular mask before; awesome collection!

[Reply #6 on:]

I don't think I've seen that particular mask before; awesome collection!

Hi Danny

Thank you for your kind comments.  The mask is very rare, I assume most got warn, damaged and thrown away.  I've not seen a complete one on the open market for years.  If you see one grab it while you can.

[Reply #7 on:]

love the prototypes. I have a few rare ones as well. How did you go about the grading? I would like to do the same. They look great.

It looks like you have a script on your shelf too. Which one? Scripts are some of my favorites to collect.

[Reply #8 on:]

Hi
I use a company called UKG (UK Grading) http://ukgraders.co.uk
In the USA there is the AFA but note they are funny about encasing the figures, UKG is the best option.
Be great if you could upload some photos of your prototypes.
I'll update on the script when I get back from holiday.
Thanks
Andy

[Reply #9 on:]

love the prototypes. I have a few rare ones as well. How did you go about the grading? I would like to do the same. They look great.

It looks like you have a script on your shelf too. Which one? Scripts are some of my favorites to collect.

Finally back from holiday....  The script is "LUCK OF THE FRYFISH"  Production script No.3ACV04

[Reply #10 on:]

A few hours of rearranging to fit in the Dark Horse section and my display is finally complete.

[Reply #11 on:]

Congratulations.  The complete collection!

[Reply #12 on:]

Hey, I've got that mask too! I didn't realize it was all that rare, but it's definitely nice. Excellent collection!

[Reply #13 on:]

Holy crap, that's an insane collection! Nice work!

[Reply #14 on:]

Wow, I don't have nearly the amount of obsession attention to detail needed to collect and organize and display all of that.  Most impressive!

[Reply #15 on:]

I really should get some Futurama merchandise beyond just the DVDs.

Excellent collection!

[Reply #16 on:]

Thanks all for your kind words..

Anyway quick update....

I've finally managed to acquire the final prototypes from the original Moore Action Collectibles (MAC) series of figures.  Today I received a heavy box from the USA full of the parts and after hours of sorting I wanted to share some of the highlights.  Any questions or other pictures wanted don't hesitate to ask. 

I've got a Twitter account going and would appreciate some followers if we have any Twitter users out in Futurama Land...  Account name is @Futurama.shopuk

[Reply #17 on:]

Hey, I've got that mask too! I didn't realize it was all that rare, but it's definitely nice. Excellent collection!

It is one of the rarest Futurama collectibles you can get!  Try and get it graded to protect it as you'll know the plastic is not great and wasn't designed to last years.  Most of these got warn and thrown away.  Think I sold the last one on eBay about five years ago and achieved a price of £100+.  

Drop me a message if you want advice on getting it graded.

[Reply #18 on:]

awesome finds!

[Reply #19 on:]

Hi All,

Quick update on the prototype parts I managed to get hold of.  The most complete figures I found being the first shot prototype Fry's.  For some very strange reason all four of them didn't have any knee's!  So after sometime hunting on the internet I managed to find a guy in Texas that actually repairs and builds custom action figures!  You would not believe how difficult to find someone with action figure repair skills.

Well after waiting 7 years to get these parts I was reluctant to send them back across the pond.  I halved the risk and sent two of the Fry parts for a trip!  That's two crossing's across the pond in a month, if only action figures could get air miles.

Sadly as they needed replacement knees I needed to find two willing donors, after a hunt on eBay I managed to find some tired Fry figures who agreed to donate their knees for the cause.

They arrived back last week, I sent Billy two bags of parts and I mean just parts and he sent back two complete first shot prototypes!  Both showing off new blue knee's.

Think you will agree they look amazing.  Next is to get them graded and the other two Fry's across to Billy for repair.

I've attached some pictures and also one of Billy's business card, hope this is ok with the forum?  So if you have any action figures that need repair or you want a custom one made give this guy a chance.

Enjoy as always and will keep everyone posted with updates.

BEFORE THE OPERATION



AFTER THE KNEE REPLACEMENTS AND CONSTRUCTION!  These figure never got put together in the factory!  They have been in bits since 1999...



FRY'S THANK YOU SHOT



PS don't forget to follow us on Twitter!  Find it a quick and great way to share updates and great ideas.  Twitter name @Futurama_shopuk

[Reply #20 on:]

Aren't prototypes often stolen/sold by factory workers?

Yes, yes they are.

Unless the prototypes come with proper documents from senior employees working within the company, they are often stolen.

That's one HOT collection you've got.

Seriously, it's not a big deal though, since nobody cares about what is technically prototype garbage to these companies now.

One mans trash is another mans... blah blah blah.

Anyway, AWESOME COLLECTION!

[Reply #21 on:]

Thanks Muchado some great points raised.

Your right, the prototype figures are never supposed to get into the hands of the general public.  They are however becoming more collectible with companies like Funko actively selling Prototypes to collectors.  Think this why they have a commercial value so staff won't slip them in their pockets as there stock.

Think they do show the great length of work the teams go into producing the figures we all love, so many stages to get them right. 

Think this also raises the point of authentication.  Try and ensure you get a COA from a senior member of the business.  Luckily for me authentication came from Clayburn Moore, can't get much higher.

Second stage is to get it authenticated by using AFA, CIB or UKG.  You'll see from my pictures I am a fan of the UKG system, Steve and his team are great to work with and are true collectors.

Planet Express Ship with COA from Clayburn;



Bender with COA's from AFA, CIB and UKG.

[Reply #22 on:]

Can you please put me in your will? Simply amazing collection, I am in absolute awe of it all. I wish I could have the time and money to be able to invest in Futurama like yourself.

If you are ever interested in showing it off to a fellow Futurama fan, send me a PM and i'll try to visit your neck of the woods for a great museum tour!

Thanks for posting such amazing pics and allowing us to follow along with you

[Reply #23 on:]

I hardly ever visit here anymore (since the Toynami line ended  ), but I'm sure glad I did to see this thread get bumped. Wow, what a collection of production samples!

futurama.shopuk, I assume you're of the eBay shop of the same name? If so, I got my Santa Bender and Mating Zoidberg from you. Nice to see that you're not just a seller, but a collector too.

And what a collector! Getting your hands on all this stuff, I bow before you.  

So please can you give us the story on how you managed to pull this off?

By the sounds of it you obtained the original pieces (Ship, Leela, Bender) years ago, then got the rest last summer.

Did you buy any of these on the open market or did they all come directly from Clayburn Moore? Did you cross paths with Moore somehow or did you just go looking for him online?

Looks like you cleaned him out of all his MAC samples. Was he looking to sell? Did you have to persuade him?

You get my drift, how did it happen? An epic find like this needs a story to go with it.  

Am thinking that maybe you're just the collector to pry loose the convention samples of cancelled figures from Toynami!

The only thing worse than not getting those awesome renditions of Morbo and Lrr is the thought that they're just sitting unloved in a box in their office and/or worse that they could get intentionally or unintentionally binned one day.

Those babies really need to end up on some collector's shelf, along with the Robot Mafia and Flexo. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...  

[Reply #24 on:]

Hi Jabalong,

Thanks for the message and so sorry it’s taken so long to reply.  Hopefully I can answer your questions.

Your right Futurama.shopuk on eBay is me.  Back when I started collecting Futurama items it was difficult to find them in the UK.  After doing some maths it came apparent I could import a case of Futurama figures and after the fees etc a box of figures sold would pay for me to have the figure in the collection.

I spent months building contacts in the USA and finding suppliers of Futurama figures.  I remember when the Blue Zoidberg came out and I had about 50 of them, they sold for around £30-£40 each!  Imagine if I had them now.

Back in 2008 I found a listing on eBay.com for some of the original Futurama MAC Prototypes.  I contacted the seller and after a number of phone calls I purchased the first of the prototypes.  From what I remember he was an employee of Clayburn back in the day, when times got tough he got paid in prototypes.  If I remember correctly I purchased the three Fry hardcopy prototypes, the Planet Express Ship, Bender hardcopy and some paint samples.
 
Late 2014 early 2015 I decided to have the figures authenticated.  I sent the Bender hardcopy to the AFA back in the USA.  This was passed to CIB for extra checks.  The figures then came back authenticated.  I’d never doubted it but it’s always nice to have it confirmed. 

This caused me a different headache as AFA refused to case the figure, they gave it a grade and reference but wouldn’t case it.  As you can imagine these figures are very delicate and I wanted them protecting. 

I’d previously used a British company called UKG to grade the Robot Devil Build-a-Bot as AFA don’t like figure’s like this.  I dropped Steve the owner of UKG a message and he agreed to help.  You’ve probably seen the picture of the amazing work Steve and his team did.

After the Bender was complete I decided to try and contact Chris again.  He had always spoken about some ‘bags of bits’ he had in his garage.  From what I remember his garage was full of bits and it would be a big job to fish them out.  After a good number of emails, he finally responded.  More emails and he finally agreed to fish the bits out and send me some pictures.

You’ll have probably seen the pictures and they are bits.  After approx. 35 seconds of thinking about it I had agreed a price to have them shipped to the UK.

My big fear was I had in fact purchased a box of bits.  How was I going to display them?  Would they mean anything to anyone else, eg Fry’s arm looks like a bit of plastic. 

So the box arrived and a day later of sorting I found that I had some amazing finds.  The bits actually included 4 first shot prototypes of Fry!  What was really strange was all four didn’t have knees!  Three came complete with all the accessories!

The next find being three Chef Bender figures first shot prototypes again.  These had missing arms and legs.  One had a full set of accessories.

Other items included hard copy prototype parts of Bender and Leela.  A number of Nibbler figures which came with the Leela figure.

The next part was deciding what to do with the figures.  I managed to get a number of Fry and Bender figures from eBay and decided to have the Prototypes put back together.  Harder than you might think!  I tried myself and failed.  After a few days of searching I found a guy in the States that fixes action figures.  So another trip across the pond for the Fry and Bender figures.

They are now back with me and look amazing.  I’ve just had one of the Fry figures sent to UKG for casing and he looks amazing and even got a 70+ grade!

So to your final question.  This is frustrating as I have been trying to find the Toynami prototypes for about a year.  Toynami have said they have a set but they are in the archives and won’t be releasing them.  Another set is with George Sohn the owner of Toynami.  The final ones I’ve been told are with Fox.  Now I’ve contacted Fox and I’ve been told they don’t know what happened to them.

Toynami press team have advised that George is a Futurama Fan and would not be interested in releasing any of the figures.  I even offered to exchange him a set of the MAC prototypes for a set of the Toynami ones, this was rejected.  Well I actually can’t get a response from George just his social media team.

So I assume they will sit in a draw for a number of years until someone finds them and they end up on eBay or worse case in a bin.  I won’t give up and hopefully one day they will be added to the collection.

Hope this covers everything.

Andy

PS Few pictures of updates

[Reply #25 on:]

Gee, you must've spent a lot of money on this.

[Reply #26 on:]

Gee, you must've spent a lot of money on this.

Your not wrong....
To repair one Fry figure.  It took a spare retail fry figure for his knees, £15-20 on eBay.  He then had to be shipped back to the USA to a toy engineer to put him together.  This cost £15 shipping then £15 repair cost and £15 return.  Then he needed to be graded to protect him, £20.

So that's £80 just to bring one of the Fry's back to life.  This does not include the original purchase price of the bits.

Not a cheap collection to maintain and continue to grow, but well worth the investment.

[Reply #27 on:]

Hope this covers everything.

Hi Andy, thanks for sharing the background story! 

If I'm reading it correctly, it sounds like you got all the prototypes from one former MAC employee. Is that right?

If so, I saw at least one certificate of authenticity from Clayton Moore. How did that come about?

I'm just curious really.

Am really blown away by the effort, thought and investment you put into this project.

I'm doing historical research at the moment and your story reminds me a lot of what I do. So much of it is detective leg work chasing stuff down sources, then you've got to try persuade/cajole/wear down people to help you.

But you've got the extra, maybe hardest part of an archivist, who then has to study the material and figure out how best to bring it back to life for display, with all the effort and cost that it can entail (and an amazing job you had done!).

I don't know what you do for a living, but in a perfect world there'd be a job for you at an auction house, a museum or something along those lines. You've got a knack for this.

The other thing that strikes me about this story is that it's a good reminder that people shouldn't be quick to pass judgement on toy sellers, be they on eBay or elsewhere.

Collectors are often quick to grumble about profiteering, but you're a good example of how there can be a much bigger backstory in terms of why you got into selling (very sensible to import in bulk and resell extras!) and what you're raising money to finance.

Kudos,
Jeff

PS. About the Toynami figures. Did you know that Toynami's sculptor used to post on here? His username was something like sculptboy. His name is Otto Marlow - I'm not revealing a secret here, as he told us he was the sculptor and his name is on Toynami's Futurama packaging. At the time that the toyline was dying, he floated the idea of whether anyone might be interested in customs of the Toynami prototypes he'd sculpted (Morbo, etc). No one took him up on it I don't think (probably because we still hoped for them to be produced) and I still kick myself for it (I really want a Morbo and Lrr)!

Anyway, Otto doesn't work for Toynami anymore, but still does different kinds of sculpting from what I see on his Facebook page. You might contact him via Facebook (as don't know that he'd see a PM on here) and ask him to confirm how many prototypes were made. He also might be able to help you navigate his former employer and put you into direct touch with someone beyond their PR firewall (maybe even George?). Best you explain about your restoration project and your serious proposal, lest he not just think of you as a rabid fan.   

[Reply #28 on:]

I’ve just had one of the Fry figures sent to UKG for casing and he looks amazing and even got a 70+ grade!

Oh, I meant to ask you one more thing about the grading.

Has UKG ever explained to you how they arrive at a percentage grade for a product like this?

I understand collectible grading, but with a retail product you have a clear gradient from  mint production line condition on down.

But there's no such thing as mint with production samples as many of these were never intended to be perfect, and actually part of their appeal is seeing their rough condition at different stages.

It really doesn't matter one way or another for unique prototypes/samples like this, but I'm still curious how a grader could assign a percentage grade. I'd almost think it should be "not applicable".

Anyway, if they haven't already, you might ask UKG out of curiosity, as it would be interesting to understand their rationale.

Jeff

[Reply #29 on:]

So to your final question.  This is frustrating as I have been trying to find the Toynami prototypes for about a year.  Toynami have said they have a set but they are in the archives and won’t be releasing them.  Another set is with George Sohn the owner of Toynami.  The final ones I’ve been told are with Fox.  Now I’ve contacted Fox and I’ve been told they don’t know what happened to them.

Sorry, I keep having more thoughts.  

I'd wonder if Fox's set of prototypes isn't in the hands of Matt Groening.

Have seen photos of him with Simpsons memorabilia and if memory serves with another figure line I once collected (Family Guy or South Park, not sure), sometimes it's a show's creator who reviews prototypes and therefore might keep them (celebrities love free stuff!   ).

I don't know if that helps you as have no idea if contacting Matt Groening is within the realm of possibility, though if it is, I imagine this board could be a place to get tips on how.

Now even if Matt has the prototypes, I wouldn't think he'd part with them, but if you're keen to definitely account for that set, the trail may very well lead to him.

Of course, i could be completely wrong, but it would seem like a logical path to explore.

You know one way you might entice Matt to get back to you is if you could make him aware of your MAC restoration project. It's really such an amazing thing, that if he does have any interest in his shows' collectibles, he may very well be curious to hear more about your project.

[Reply #30 on:]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks again for all your messages.  Sorry for the late reply, its been hectic at the minute.

To try and answer your questions.  The COA'S with Clayburn's signature came with the original prototypes I purchased.  As mentioned before the seller I purchased them from, worked for MAC in the early days when they stopped trading he got paid off with stock and prototypes.  My assumption would be he asked Clayburn for COA's to insure a higher return.

The bits I managed to get hold of early 2015 didn't come with a COA.  Something you'd expect with just bits.  Seems they just bagged up whatever was left and kept them in a box.  I don't think the seller realise what he had, even I didn't from the photo's.  It was only when I spread them out I realised I had nearly complete first shot prototypes.  The Fry's only having missing knee's was a great surprise.

As you can imagine the parts purchase was a big risk.  I could have ended up with a load of bits which I would struggle to display.  But I'm glad I took the risk and am so happy with how the figures came out.  Having the first Fry come back from the USA fixed with his new blue knees encouraged me to continue with fixing up the other parts.

On the grading front.  I've never asked the question.  I'll be honest that I got the Hardcopy Bender graded by AFA in USA who use CIB to authenticate the figure and then the AFA guys to grade it.  The reason for the original grade was just to put my mind at rest that the original figures where actually what I believed them to be.  The good news was they came back as real.  The bad news was they wouldn't case the figure.

I then turned to Steve at UKG who I've used before.  Even better for me he's only a few miles down the road so the figures don't have to travel far.  The main reason for the grades is to have them cased.  I always worried about opening the cabinet with the hardcopies being in it, if they fell out that would be the end of the figure.  Cased at least they have some protection.

I would assume that they grade them then same as a normal figure.  The Bender hardcopy got the same grade from UKG as it did from AFA so clearly they have the same set of standards they follow. 

Next time I speak to Steve at UKG I'll ask the question.

Next the hunt for the Toynami figures.  I'm afraid its bad news.  I've contacted Otto who has confirmed that the prototypes are with George Sohn in his own collection.  So won't be able to get hold of them.  This does not mean I've given up.  The factory would have made first shot prototypes and first shot from cast figures.  So I've got people in Hong Kong trying to find me the factory details to see if they have any lying around.  My assumption is that factory workers took them home for their Children which happens in most cases.

I will keep on plugging away and will keep you updated.

If anyone gets any further leads about the prototypes It would be great to hear that.

Thanks again

Andy

[Reply #31 on:]

Next the hunt for the Toynami figures.  I'm afraid its bad news.  I've contacted Otto who has confirmed that the prototypes are with George Sohn in his own collection.  So won't be able to get hold of them.  This does not mean I've given up.  The factory would have made first shot prototypes and first shot from cast figures.  So I've got people in Hong Kong trying to find me the factory details to see if they have any lying around.  My assumption is that factory workers took them home for their Children which happens in most cases.

Appreciate the detailed reply, lots of interesting stuff in.

About the idea that rare Toynami prototypes could be sitting at the bottom of some child in China's toy box, am not sure if that's sad or comforting thought! 

I'd never really thought about this as something that might happen with factory castoffs, but I guess it makes some sense.

Sounds like you're following all leads. I'm in Hong Kong actually!  If somehow you do get a factory name, but need help contacting them, feel free to let me know.

My wife runs an export business from China, which is all about liaising with factories over the border in China.

[Reply #32 on:]

Hi All,

Been a long time since I've updated this post.  I've been busy in the background still having the last MAC Prototypes repaired and display ready.  This week I've received another three items back from UKG the UK Based grading company.

First up is a Leela hard copy prototype.  These are parts as you can see, the figure never got constructed and her head is in the very early stages. 





Second up is a first shot Fry prototype.  If you've read the previous posts, when I found the four Fry figures all had missing knees for some reason!  They all got constructed using the knees from a retail release figure.  This is the second Fry graded, but the first with all the accessories, makes it a big display item.





Last of the three.  The prototype part find included three Chef Benders first shot prototypes.  Like Fry these had parts missing, this time legs and arms.  Again with the help of some retail release figures they have finally been constructed.  This is the first of the Chef Benders graded with all accessories.  Same as Fry this is now a massive display item.





Any feedback as always is welcome.  The work continues on the rest of the prototypes and I'll keep you all posted.

Andy

[Reply #33 on:]

Extremely cool, dude!  You have a lot of patience and determination

[Reply #34 on:]

Another quick update...

A few weeks ago I was on the hunt for a Kidrobot Hyperchicken!  The search got me talking to a guy in the USA who agreed to sell me his figure.  He also had a white Hyperchicken!  He really wanted to support the collection so agreed he would donate it!  He didn't know if it was fake or a prototype. 

The two Hyperchickens arrived a few weeks ago and I have been spending lots of time trying to authenticate the white chicken!  Kidrobot wouldn't authenticate it as they didn't pass it on.  Great help!  So I turned to the Kidrobot forum, a few ex staff all agreed it was a prototype. 

Bit more research and I found out the most influential figure in the Kidrobot collectible world is a lady called The Baroness!  A few more weeks and yep I managed to track her down!  This was the feedback;

The prototype looks legit for a few reasons - 1 - the removable head. Nobody is going to go through the effort of making a protoype and try and gauge joints. 2 - the very first round of prototypes are usually gray, but not always. And then the second round is done in the material you see. I have also had prototypes come to me in clear and colored plastic. 3 - the smooth texture of the body is a sign too and 4 - the office always received multiple prototypes, one for the office to hold on to, then we had to send one to the artist, and possibly another one

So the collection now houses a Kidrobot Hyperchicken Prototype!  Few pictures below;







As always any feedback or questions are welcome.

Andy

[Reply #35 on:]

Extremely cool, dude!  You have a lot of patience and determination

Thanks, taken a lot of time and hard work but well worth the results.

[Reply #36 on:]

Damn, nice job getting the prototype Hyperchicken!

[Reply #37 on:]

Extremely cool, dude!  You have a lot of patience and determination

Thanks, taken a lot of time and hard work but well worth the results.

Do you work the market much?  Ie, buy and sell.  Is the market for futurama merch pretty active?  What do you value your own collection at, personal price and more objective reasonable sale price in market as a collection by your own educated opinion?  I wouldn't expect you to want to sell any time soon, if ever, considering you've put a lot of effort into creating it; I'm just curious.

[Reply #38 on:]

Extremely cool, dude!  You have a lot of patience and determination

Thanks, taken a lot of time and hard work but well worth the results.

Do you work the market much?  Ie, buy and sell.  Is the market for futurama merch pretty active?  What do you value your own collection at, personal price and more objective reasonable sale price in market as a collection by your own educated opinion?  I wouldn't expect you to want to sell any time soon, if ever, considering you've put a lot of effort into creating it; I'm just curious.

Hi Winna,

The market for Futurama collectibles is more alive then ever at the minute.  It has been helped by some of the new companies who have obtained the licence.  Back in 1999/2000 when MAC, Dark Horse and RIX for example made a Futurama collectible it was for us guys the fans of Futurama.  Now we have the likes of Funko making the POP range and Kidrobot making figures.  These guys have their own fan base and they are as committed as us guys if not more.  This has really driven the price up of the new collectibles. 
The market is like the stock exchange!  I remember when a Toynami Golden Bender would fetch $400 easy on eBay, you'll now be lucky to achieve $200.  Same with the Moore Action Collectibles Stuff, 2/3 years ago a Planet Express Ship would set you back $120 not $60/70.
My own collection I have know idea of the value at the minute.  I need to sit down and catalogue it to be honest, over the past 18 months I've never actually had the whole collection in one place due to repair work and new items being purchased.
It's also hard to value some of the items, how much is a hard copy Bender from 1999 worth?  There is only 1 known to exist.  A guess would be about $500, but then a Kidrobot Prototype which you'd expect to fetch $200-$300 fetched $1000 on eBay.
Once I've put the list together and guessed a value I'll pop it on the forum for everyone to discuss and challenge the prices, might be fun and also might help people value their own collections.

[Reply #39 on:]

That's pretty interesting.  Thank you for the information and answering my question.  Markets in general sometimes seem rather interesting me.  Your collection is really neat, and I figured you'd know a lot about it and futurama collectibles in general.  You've had an enjoyable journey building it I'm sure, and it looks really nice the way you display it.