The Spirit (Mezco)

The Spirit
Mezco
2008

It's a real shame that 2008's The Spirit doesn't get the kind of love that other comic book movies have garnered. Quite honestly we thought it was pretty good. Mind you, we're also big Frank Miller fans, and love his style of films - Specifically the visuals.

Mezco produced a few items to coincide with the film's release, but sadly, they were as poorly received as the film. Items stayed on pegs for months before being shifted to clearance isles, where for many stores, select items continued to sit.

Overall, the line did a decent job of covering a fair amount of ground for being just one series of figures. There are glaring omissions, such as Scarlett Johansson's character - Silken Floss, Dan Lauria's character - Dolan, and one of the two main love interests of The Spirit, Sarah Paulson's character - Ellen. No doubt, these figures would have been an amazing addition to a second wave.

The Spirit*Sand Seref*Plaster of Paris

The Octopus*Pathos*Plaster of Paris and Sand Seref Black and White Two-Pack

Mezco also produced a twelve inch Spirit, which was available in two slightly different versions. The first features a straight tie, while the second features a tie that is depicted as flapping in the wind.

The Spirit (Straight Tie)*The Spirit (Flapping Tie)

Prices for the series flip flop all over the place these days. We've seen entire carded sets sell for as little as $8.00 for the whole lot. On other occasions, we've seen specific figures sell for around $15.00 on the card. This back and forth makes it incredibly difficult to pinpoint a price point. If there is anything to be learned from this, patience will pay off in money saved if you're hunting them down as there are cheap sets to be found.

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Afro Samurai (DC Direct)

Afro Samurai
DC Direct
2008

Afro Samurai was a dream project come true for creator Takashi Okazaki. He first started doodling black samurai characters in his teenage years, and later developed the character Afro Samurai. It was after a friend of his decided to create a small batch of action figures based on the character that a Japanese producer for the company Gonzo would propose adapting it into an anime. While in the works, Gonzo developed a trailer which landed in the hands of Samuel L. Jackson who took a great interest in the project. The rest as they say, is history.

The story of Afro Samurai revolves around the wearers of the number one and number two headbands. The lore of the headbands is that whoever wears the number one headband will be granted God like powers. Only the wearer of the number two headband can challenge the wearer of the first, and anyone can challenge the wearer of the second. Thus life for the wearer of the second headband is a constant struggle for survival.

It's in this vicious rules above that it would come to be that Justice, the wearer of the second headband would defeat and behead Rokutaro to claim the first headband. The head rolls towards his son Afro, who is told by Justice to seek him out when he wants to challenge a God for his revenge. Thus the stage is set for the series.

The anime was a huge success both in Japan and United States, and quickly found a spot on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup. Since then, it has only grown in more popularity for both its appealing charm to young American otakus, and because of Samuel L. Jackson's voice over work.

With so much popularity surrounding it, DC Direct procured the license to develop a small series of figures based on the anime. Four figures in total were produced for the basic line, as well as a relatively unknown exclusive two pack. It was a fairly small, yet fairly solid line that seemed to cover most of its bases.

 Afro Samurai

 Justice

 Kuma

 Ninja Ninja

Many collectors of the Afro Samurai line don't seem to be aware that fye/Suncoast received an exclusive two pack. Granted the figures were no different from the basic line beyond blood splatter covering them. The set is not easy to find, and as such we don't have a benchmark for what it would cost if you tracked one down. The last one we saw was for an opened / loose Afro Samurai (didn't include Kuma), and that sold for $45.00.

Afro Samurai and Kuma (Bloody) - fye/Suncoast Exclusive

As far as the basic line of figures, they sell for roughly $30.00 to $60.00 each (mint in package) depending on the character. Afro appears to be the rarest of all of them to find, so he typically sells closer towards the sixty dollar range.

Join us next time when we take a look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

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