Recent Pick Up- LJN proto Martel

[mesteve]

Just picked up this figure. I thought I'd take a chance with this one and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. But once it arrived I was very pleased with it. This was always my favorite sculpt of the line, so if I'm going to get a prototype it was going to be this one. After looking it over, I personally think it is genuine, and I think it is a very nice figure. It is slightly larger than the produced figure, with slightly different arm positions. There's an LJN figure ad on the backs of some of the PWI magazines, and in the pic (the upper box) Martel's arms seem to point more inward like this figure. Let me know what you guys think.

[ozz]

Awesome! I love seeing stuff like this for LJNs. I always liked the Martel figure, too. Killer find!

[Mr Angry Cena]

LJN protos are definitely hard to come by. Great buy buddy!

[aaron34]

That's a really nice piece! Does anyone else have LJN proto's they'd like to show? I've never really seen any posted.

[Mr. Old School™]

Awesome buy!! Love seeing these old LJN's. I wish someday we could see someone with the "Adorable" Adrian Adonis prototype. That's the one prototype I would very much like to see. It has to exist in someone's collection somewhere.

[Kasper.ca]

What is it made out of? Where did you find this thing?

That's pretty amazing, if legit. Well done

My only question would be the paint. The boots have that odd greyish color to them and the rest of the figure is essentially pristine white. Even the red lighting bolts are crisp. Just seems too good to be true. lol

For your sake, I hope it is real. Congrats!

[mesteve]

Oct 3, 2014 15:25:14 GMT -5 Kasper.ca said:

What is it made out of? Where did you find this thing?

That's pretty amazing, if legit. Well done

My only question would be the paint. The boots have that odd greyish color to them and the rest of the figure is essentially pristine white. Even the red lighting bolts are crisp. Just seems too good to be true. lol

For your sake, I hope it is real. Congrats!

I understand your concerns. I took a chance in purchasing this for two reasons. One, the variation in the arm positions, to me, matches pretty good with the LJN ad I referenced. If a mold and cast was made of the existing rubber figure, I think we'd see a more open arm position. And two, I think the figure looks great, and like I said it was my favorite sculpt in the entire line, so having a very nice resin statue of it is pretty cool too.

If the grey you're referring to is on the soles of the feet then that's because that part isn't painted. If you mean that the actual boots have a grey tint to them, well it must be the lighting. They are painted with the same whiteness as the trunks.

I'm actually contemplating submitting this to AFA to see if they can authenticate. I'm not sure how they would do it or what they'd look for, but I may do that.

I would love to see some good pics of that Jimmy Hart prototype that someone on here owns, the one that was given to them from Jimmy Hart Jr. I would imagine that would have to be genuine if the source is true. I'm curious what it is made out of. I can't recall who has it in their collection.

[greenmist]

There was an eBay auction for this same proto about 3 and a half years ago. mesteve, did you get yours from the winner of that same auction:
2011 thread

[mesteve]

greenmist, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I'll see what I can find out from the seller. I do remember that auction, but this seller said he has been the owner for several years. But now that I think about it, I do recall seeing the pics from that ebay auction a few years back and remember his left index finger was missing paint just like the one I have. There's a pic out there somewhere, so I'll see if I can dig it up.

Anything more I can find out about this I will, and will definitely let you all know, especially if something doesn't add up, even if that means it will hurt resale value for me in the future. Unfortunately I'm the type of person that needs to look it over myself. If you all remember I took a chance with that LJN unpainted 8" Sgt. Slaughter prototype (bendable figure with wires in his arms/legs), with the hopes that it will someday get authenticated somehow. You never know what info will come to light. I see it as somewhat of an investment, with some risk involved, not dissimilar to other types of investments. Since I purchased that figure though, another one just like it but of Jimmy Snuka surfaced, which apparently included an original photograph of the sculptor/creator of that figure, posing next to Snuka.

I missed out on that auction because I didn't have any extra cash on hand at that time, but if anyone here happens to own that fig and would consider selling...I'm interested. It would look nice alongside the Slaughter bendy fig.

[mesteve]

I checked the pics from the auction a few years back, and yes, this is the same figure that was listed in that auction. I spoke to the seller, and he said that sale never materialized. He says he was the original owner.