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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Captain Action Aquaman Costume - Ideal

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Back in December, I asked Santa all week for some sweet Aquaman stuff that I didn't yet have. One of these items was the Aquaman costume for Ideal's Captain Action doll in the late 60s. I figured finding a complete suit--to say nothing of a box--would be so costly and/or difficult that I thought this would be one of the last pieces I ever added to the collection.

So, Santa didn't come through, but F.O.A.M. member Craig Wichman sure did. Craig was one of the first people to comment on my missives on the MegoMuseum message board, and has been enormously generous to me outside of it. He sent me--gratis--a copy of the treasury-sized Tales from the Crypt comic for treasurycomics.com. A few weeks ago, he let me know he was getting rid of a few things, and would I be interested in purchasing his Aquaman Captain Action suit, original, complete, and in great shape? I couldn't write back "yes" fast enough, but only one problem--I was in the middle of my periods where all my freelance clients were late in paying me, causing a perfect storm of financial penury.

I was worried that I was going to miss my opportunity to get ahold of this beauty, when Craig wrote me back and said, basically, don't worry; it's yours, pay me when you can. Aquaman really brings people together!

So not only did Craig send me the costume, packaged more securely than most CIA files, but he sent me a gorgeous repro box, made for him by another MegoBoard denizen, a talented fellow known as ToyRoom. He then asked me if I needed/wanted an actual CA doll, to display the costume on. Holy Poseidon! Will the generosity ever end? Am--am I dying or something?

Craig sent me the Captain over the weekend, and I quickly got the whole thing ready for the photoshoot. Sitting there at my art table, struggling to get clothes on a naked doll, made me feel only slightly like a nine-year-old girl. But I did a gut-check, adjusted my pigtails, and shot the AquaCaptain in all his glory. And as you can see, it's a beautiful piece--the costume is wonderfully over complete (what does Aquaman need with flippers, anyway?), and the box is simply awesome, both in its original design and its perfectly-accurate repro-ness. This has immediately risen to the top as one of my favorites of the entire collection.

On the whole, I've met much nicer people online about my Aquaman habit than I have in real life. People I've never met, from all over the world, have been extraordinairily generous to me in keeping this Shrine going, either with donation of items or just words of support. So thanks, Craig--like you requested, the Captain is getting a really good home.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is not only an awesome piece, but the box is beautiful, and the story behind it is great! Don't you love it when everything falls into place?

Tegan said...

DROOOOOLLL...

Anonymous said...

Craig is good people. And that CA Aquaman set is just goregous.

This is one of those cases where the item and the owner HAD to come together. It's destiny.

Chris