News

previous post next post

Fan Feature: Gary Mui

#McFarlaneToys

September 03, 2016

Name: Gary Mui

Age: 38

City/State: Vancouver, BC

What is your favorite McFarlane Construction Set? Walking Dead- Dale’s RV

What was the hardest McFarlane Toy to find in your collection? The original Malebolgia from Series 2.

What was the most valuable McFarlane Toy in your collection? Necroplasm Spawn autographed by Bob McFarlane (editors note: Todd McFarlane’s father) , when I met him in 1998.

How big is your McFarlane Toys collection? 511 Figures.

Where do you display your collection? On all four walls of my bedroom.

What is one toy or brand you wish McFarlane Toys would RE-MAKE? M.A.S.K.

What is one toy or brand you wish McFarlane Toys would produce? Gobots

What is one McFarlane Toy you want but don’t have in your collection? Blue variant of the original Spawn on clamshell.

If you were an action figure, what accessories would you come with? Interchangeable hands for different poses.

Why did you start collecting McFarlane Toys? My dad bought me the Series 1 Spawn for helping him paint, then I got addicted.

From Gary —

Thank you for the opportunity to all me to share my collection with you guys! I’m a HUGE Spawn fan since the comic books back in the day, then an even bigger fan when Todd Toys came out in 1994.

I got my first figure in 1994 when I was 17yrs old. My dad had dragged me to a house he was fixing up to rent out, and he put me work to help him paint some rooms. It was a long day, but afterwards he took me to Toys R Us and I discovered Spawn Series 1 in the action figure aisle. I sheepishly showed it to him, and he agreed to buy it for me for my hard work that day! I haven’t looked back since, and poured all my allowance money into the collection.

The result 4years later is what you see in the attached photos. Keep in mind back in 1998, digicams were not widely available yet, so I dug up the hardcopy photos and scanned them into my computer. I used photoshop to roughly recreate a panoramic view of all four walls. I was an original member in the McFarlane Toys Collector Club. In fact I just found the original letter I MAILED to you guys in order to receive an application (pre-internet days!).

The pinnacle was when I went to a local Comic-con in Vancouver, BC that year and met THE Al Simmons and Bob McFarlane (we called him ‘The Creator of the Creator’). I actually brought these pictures with me to the show and showed them. They were so impressed with my collection that they gave me a copy of Spawn #70 autographed by Todd himself. I got to hang out with them for a while at the show, and I’ll never forget that day. #BestDayEver.

Mr. McFarlane: Thank you for creating such rich characters and such a deep storyline in Spawn for fans like me to appreciate. For better or for worse, spending my young adulthood collecting these figures has enriched my life more than I could ever express. These figures kept me out of trouble, and gave me an outlet to connect to other fans around the world as the internet became more and more accessible.

I’ve since got married in 2013, and we’re expecting a baby boy due April 4, 2016. The collection is mostly packed up in boxes at my parent’s place, in the crawlspace downstairs. I’ve still got some Vancouver Canucks figures in my home office, and I still have all the animated VHS tapes, CDs, DVDs, comics, you name it. I’ve been slowly pulling the boxes out one at a time and cataloging them with my new DSLR setup (complete with a photoboot and special lighting). I hope to pass on this collection to him some day.

To see his FULL McFarlane Toys collection, click here!