"And One Shall Surely Die!" T-Shirt

The shirt below appeared in the August Previews magazine among the merchandise that should be hitting store shelves (or racks) by the end of November.

It is unlikely that you would be here and not recognize this as the cover of issue #12 of the original Alpha Flight series.  It is not a personal favourite, admittedly, since the book concluded in the first of many deaths of my favourite character.  But it was undeniably impactful, if the fact that it generated a shirt almost 30 years after its release is not evidence enough.

So I'm a little undecided.

Mystery Solved!

About a month ago, I asked visitors to the blog whether they'd ever seen a Guardian action figure with the suit's colours reversed.  The character wore such a version of his uniform in issues 90 to 100 or so of the original Alpha Flight series.

In addition to making me aware of the Mego-style Guardian action figure that I posted about a few days ago, Sam Noir located the picture below for me.

It is identified on this page as a variant of the Toyfare mail-in exclusive from the late 90's (seen at right).

The website to which Sam directed me seems awfully familiar, though the specific action figure does not (I thought the one I'd seen was leaner).  I believe that I probably came across that site at some point while looking for an answer to my inquiry, but being that it is dedicated to custom action figures, I probably dismissed it.  I did not believe that the action figure I saw in 1998 was a custom, so probably that site did not seem likely to be helpful.

I now see that "flip" Guardian is specifically identified as a variant and not a custom on the site.  The only thing that caused me to still have some doubt was the packaging.  I had read that the Toyfare exclusive came in a plain white box.  My recollection of the action figure I'd seen was that the packaging was far more professional looking.  But honestly, the most likely scenario is that my memory is wrong.

I also recall (and mentioned earlier) that the action figure seemed unusually costly, and that would be consistent with a rare, variant mail-in exclusive toy.

So thank you Sam, I believe you nailed it and answered a question that had been on the back of my mind for about 15 years. :-)

"Octoyberfest 2013 Exclusive Retro Mego Style Guardian Figure"

Man, I have (accidently) broken the legs of so many of these action figures back in the day...I loved the Human Torch one in particular.

We are pleased to officially announce our next show exclusive, the limited edition (20 total) custom retro Mego-style Guardian 8" figure!

The leader of Alpha Flight is dressed for action in his distinctive attire, with a fully articulated body! Designed and built by Mego Ed, this true north hero fits in perfectly with the rest of your Mego Superheroes collection and features card art by Toronto artist Christopher Yao. Once again, this figure will be available only at Octoyberfest 2013 at the Mego Museum area.

Something I always look for on any merchandise (or art) involving Guardian is yellow eyes. It shows an attention to detail that I appreciate (like people who look to make sure that Northstar and Aurora are drawn with pointy ears, as they should be).  I find that any collectible that includes always implies a certain level of caring in the character and the workmanship.  Compliments to whomever built this.

The action figure sells for $50 at the show.

Now I didn't come across this on my own; I was directed to it in an e-mail in the name of Sam Noir.  I was provided info on another matter which I post over the weekend (gleefully).