FAO Schwarz Astronaut Masterpiece Edition
FAO Schwarz Astronaut Masterpiece EditionThough it was exciting to be able to create Masterpiece Editions for all four of the original 1964 GI Joe figures (army, navy, air force and marine), I still thought it would be nice to do one that had a HELMET - - - like the Deep Sea Diver or Astronaut.
As luck would have it, the 1996 International GI Joe Collectors' Convention was scheduled to be held at the Space Center in Florida in October. I'd already tabled the notion of a "limited edition" Masterpiece Edition for FAO; now we had a ready-made event that could tie-in to our product. FAO agreed to buy 15,000 units that would retail at $100.
We had to move fast. Getting the product ready by the date of the convention meant getting a new cover photo and package design together in record time, not to mention assembling a complete set of astronaut uniforms and equipment to ship to Hong Kong for reproduction. We cut it VERY close; the first finished packages we saw were at the Florida show as they were unpacked for sale.
When it came time to shoot the FAO catalog photo you see on this page, I sent a complete vintage Astronaut and accessories to their studio. Very soon after they got the figure, I received a frantic call from the studio; "We have to get this shot today, and, um, we were playing around with the figure and now we don't know how to get all the stuff back on the GI Joe."
Who can blame them for succumbing to temptation? After a 25-minute session on the phone ("OK, now slip the strap over his right shoulder..."), they got the shot you see in the FAO ad.
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