LET'S START WITH AN OVERVIEW. HOW DID THE MARVEL GOLD LINE BEGIN?
I started the line because I was a big collector of both toys and comics. I was waiting for them to be done. So I would pitch these characters to Toy Biz. They told me that these figures wouldn't be done because they were so obscure. They wouldn't do well in the mass market. So in 1996, I started planning a Marvel Gold line, though that didn't get released until 1997. These got shown and sold to independent toy retailers and companies. The Marvel Gold are like "children" to me and they were created for a certain home. I was looking for foster parents to adopt and take care of each "child." I take care in making these choices.

HOW ARE CHARACTERS CHOSEN TO BE PRODUCED IN THE MARVEL GOLD LINE?
I come up with the choice of character from Marvel's history, then work with Toy Biz to get the figure to look proper. I then bring it to the buyer, telling them how it will look, showing them a prototype. The buyer, of course, has input on how it will look. But I can't drastically change it. We are restricted by the body molds available and whether the heads can be put on these bodies. But I try to do everything possible to make the figure look like the character.

COULD YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, a character is chosen and the name is sent to Toy Biz in New York. At Toy Biz, there's a lady named Sophia that I work closely with. She actually has the tough part since her job is to work out schematics and color scheme for the character to become a figure. She then sends it to another department, where the character now materializes as an actual action figure prototype. The prototype is then sent to me for approval. If there are any changes necessary, I will note them and send my notes & the prototype back to Sophia. She usually does such a great job,though, so it's not even necessary. Then I send it to the buyer for their approval. When the prototype is approved by all three parties(the Buyer, Toy Biz and myself), it gets sent to Hong Kong, where it will be produced.

The 1st series was 6 figures, each limited to 10,000. When that went well, I started on a 2nd line. I asked Toy Biz what was the lowest production run to be cost-effective and they said 7,500 pieces. So for the 2nd series, which began with Black Panther, I cut it to 7500. But there's been a big improvement from the 1st line to 2nd line. I added cloth outfits and I tried to go with more up-to-date sculpts on the bodies and heads.

HOW MUCH INPUT DOES TOY BIZ HAVE ON THE MARVEL GOLD LINE?
As I said, I bring the character to them. And they've been very fair and sincere in the making of the line. Because they admitted that many characters wouldn't be made because of popularity, I make most of the choices. And they are quite happy with the response to the line.

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY CHARACTERS THAT YOU PITCHED THAT GOT KILLED?
I pitched Alpha Flight and got the initial go-ahead. As I started preliminary work on it, I was told that this would be a future line for mass market. And I'm very happy with what they've done. The new sculpts look beautiful, much better than using any of the old molds. I planned to do Capt. Britain but he didn't look as good as I'd want it to. Though I am limited in the material & mold selections for the Marvel Gold line, I always try to make the best product and the best character possible.

WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE FOR THE BLACK WIDOW FIGURE?
The Black Widow should reach the U.S. by boat at the end of October. NeoGenesis should have it shipping by mid-November.

WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE FOR THE FALCON?
The Falcon should show up by January. When NeoGenesis approached me, I contemplated on what kind of head to use. In fact, the prototype provided was a Daredevil head on which I modified the face and mask to see if I could render the proper look. The actual head for the figure will be off of the 8" Famous Covers Falcon, since there is already a sculpt for the head. So we decided to shrink it down for this figure, a first for the Marvel Gold line. This is one of the best figures we've done. I'm very excited and proud about it. I think everyone will be pleased with it.

WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED RELEASE DATE FOR THE BLACK KNIGHT?
The Black Knight should be arriving in late January, if it stays on schedule. As with all Marvel Golds, sometimes the time of release may get pushed back as much as a month, due to any one of several reasons. The Black Knight is a great looking figure, though. In fact, Lawrence Heinke(of Bounty Hunters) did a great job on redoing the prototype. Fans will love to see this figure added to their Avengers collection. All of the figures aforementioned are what makes me proud of the Marvel Gold Line.

TIME FOR THE QUESTION THAT'S BEEN BUZZING AROUND THE NET-WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE TASKMASTER FIGURE? WHO WILL BE SELLING IT?
Right now, Taskmaster is in limbo. No one has it. It's a "child" looking for a good home. If you are a retail store or chain and want to sell Taskmaster, you can contact me, George Sohn, direct at (818)376 6509 These figures are ready to go out for November, if a home is found. I'm confident we will do just that. And I'll let you and AFT when there is a new home for it.

HAVE YOU AND TOY BIZ IMPLEMENTED ANY NEW POLICIES TO AVOID THE PROBLEMS THAT OCCURRED WITH TASKMASTER AND MOON KNIGHT?
Yes. Originally, the only requirement was that the figure was prepaid in advance to show that they were serious. I wanted to see these items out there. And I gave it to those that could. After that first year, though, I realized that just putting up the money wasn't the main thing for me. I wanted to find the best home for these "children." All the money in the world wouldn't give me a good "father" for these children. I had a problem with one "father" in Kansas but, overall, everyone else has gotten the figure out to the people.

DO YOU THINK THE PROBLEM YOU HAD WITH OTHER "FATHERS" WILL AFFECT THE FUTURE OF MARVEL GOLD?
Well, I hope not. But I'm sure it has affected some collectors. They feel that they've been taken advantage of by these people. And for that, I apologize. I don't want these problems to tarnish the name of "Marvel Gold." As the line has matured, I've spent more time looking at the businesses that want a Marvel Gold. I've been looking for the right homes rather than the right amount of money. Overall, I think we've got a good track record. 7,500 pieces is a small amount compared to the world of collectors. It can seem "risky" getting these pieces, but I am trying to make it easier for the collector. I am trying to make the piece good, so I want to find the people who will put it out into the world for others to get. And that's what I did. I wanted to keep the line fun and collectible. That's the goal of Marvel Gold-to get these characters out into the people's hands, the collector's hands.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN YOU CHOOSE CHARACTERS?
I need the good characters to use. They need to look dynamic and that they ARE dynamic. That means characters that people want to see. I wanted to have 6 characters in each line However, I was running out of good characters for the 2nd line.

SO FAR ONLY 11 FIGURES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED, WHAT IS THE 12th FIGURE?
Right now, I'm really not sure. What do the fans want to see? I know there are buyers out there, that's not the problem. It's finding the characters they want to see. There is no 12th figure yet, but maybe AFT can help me with that. I'm looking for suggestions from your readers. What Marvel characters do you want to see made? E-mail it to AFT and they can pass it on to me. (EDITOR'S NOTE-You can use the suggestion form is available at the bottom of this page.)

SO, ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR A MARVEL GOLD SERIES 3 IN 1999?
No, not at this time. But I'm always willing to listen. If there is a home out there for a Marvel Gold, I'll find it.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, GEORGE.
Glad to help, Randy.