Dida Displays at Mego Meet

At last I am back home from my trip to Mego Meet and the long-awaited public debut of the Dida Displays. Of course, the original plan was to have a the whole line well represented at the Meet and to be taking orders right there
if not actually selling product. As it was, the samples I ordered did not arrive at my house until 2 days before I had to ship them to Wheeling in time for the show. So I was left scrambling to punch holes and install snaps in the display boxes and get everything jammed into boxes and at UPS.

Click here to see all the Dida Display pics from Mego Meet.

Then my wife and I flew to Washington DC for a Memorial Day weekend wedding. After the mad rush it was a very nice vacation spent with family. On Monday we then took a train to New York city and spent the week with a friend seeing the sights, relaxing and eating really well.

Of course during all of this vacationing I was pondering how I was going to get the displays ready on MegoMeet Friday. I was also still finishing playset artwork on my laptop and printing at Kinkos in Times Square! In fact, after the shuttle picked me up at 4:30 on Friday morning I had 2 1/2 hours to kill at JFK airport and ended up finishing the Baxter Building artwork which I then emailed to the Kinko's in Pittsburgh for printing and picked up in the rental car on the drive to Wheeling. I arrived at Noon to the Toy and Train Museum 5 minutes ahead of the UPS truck that delivered 5 boxes of Dida Display parts and I was off.

There was so much to do and I worked straight through for 10 hours. Allan at the Museum let me set up a small workshop in the back room and I set about finishing the holes punching and installing more snaps. This involved lots of heavy hammer banging and some cursing as the snaps have been giving me a lot of trouble. Folks came by from time to time and say "Hi" and marvel at the frenzy of activity. But after everything I'd been through to get these made and get them to the Meet at the last possible moment there was no stopping. Around 6 pm I actually felt like quitting and declaring failure, but a 20 minute meditation refreshed my spirits and I finally got the Batcave put together. Anthony ABMAC came in and helped me by making the crow's nest to the pirate ship. I had some scrap pieces of vinyl that I knew could be transformed into a basket, and Anthony did a great job of figuring that out.

Everyone was very enthusiastic about the displays and were very supportive and encouraging. I definitely got a boost of energy to go forward with them and find a supplier who can do the job right. The prototypes and samples we've made are great, but adjustments need to be made to make sure they really work and hold up to use. The biggest problem was that the people I was working with couldn't punch the holes accurately---it requires a machine die that they couldn't handle. That's why I ended up canceling the Mego Museum Special Edition box---they were willing to make it, but I couldn't hand-punch that many parts correctly. So when I find someone who can do it all that will be back.

One treat for me was that Anthony Durso (The Toyroom) sent some of his playset art to me. It was great to see someone else's work in a Dida Dipslay panel. Here's his Captain Action set with Theressa's CA Custom.

Click here to see my pictures.

Unfortunately, I was so pre-occupied with making these that I didn't take very many pictures! I had the Monster set and the Knights castle set up but don't have any shots here. When it all gets back to me in the mail I'll do some better pictures.

It was wonderful to get in person feedback on these, listen to ideas andsuggestions. I had a great time meeting new people and spending time with friends I met last year.

Mine Eyes Glazed Over

Can't think anymore....It's late on Sunday night and I think everything on the website is ready to go. I've been working on it for days getting pictures together and trying to figure out the clearest way to explain and present what I am doing. It's especially hard setting prices given that I'm two months away from having part assembled and ready to ship. While I've done my best to figure my costs I am almost certain something unforeseen will pop up to throw me off. Labor, shipping, printing, who knows. But the order is going in to the factory this week and I need to take pre-orders on the deluxe sets so I know how many people really want one.

The first Mego Museum newsletter goes out tomorrow and there's lots of great stuff in it. Brian and I wanted to step up the Museum's promotion of Benjamin's book (Worlds Greatest Toys!) and it seemed like a great opportunity to make use of the mailing list we put together for the Star Trek cards in December. Not wanting it to be the only thing in the newsletter we hit upon the idea of doing a profile of Rob Chatlin, a great Mego collector and a good freind to us over the years. That will probably be the favorite of all and deservedly so, Brian did a great job. We are also covering the Logan 5 discovery and the aforementioned Mego Meet. Last but not least, a little thing I've been obsessively working on since August, the Displaysets...

So we'll see how it goes. Reaction to my customs has been very strong and many people have approached me seriously wanting to be on the list to get them. I hope that all translates to reality, I'm certainly optimistic.

And tired.

Happy Birthday, Dida!

April 1st is my late grandfather's birthday, always memorable because it's also April Fool's. This will be a fairly serious post, despite the wacky holiday....and just to be safe I'm posting it nearly on April 2nd.

My grandfather is one of the most important people in my life, and 6 years after he passed away he's still there for me as an inspiration.

I spend a lot of my spare time working on the Mego Museum and its projects. My passion for those particular toys started the day this photograph was taken, when we had just come back from Montgomery Wards with Superman, Batman, Robin and Aquaman. The smiles say it all.

For the last 6 months to a year I've been obsessed with manufacturing Mego style playset displays with interchangeable artwork and parts. I call them Displaysets. The project is coming to a head now and I am ready to order parts from the factory, have them assembled and shipped to (hopefully) many happy customers. It's the culmination of years of dreaming about making toys, and it's so satisfying to have pursued a vision so relentlessly when it would have been easier to give up the many times I felt overwhelmed or despairing. It's also scary and at least 3 times a day I ask myself, my wife, or just the empty air if I am crazy and doomed to failure. We shall see. As she says, what's the worst case scenario? You lose a little money and gain an experience.

My grandfather was a smart, hard-working man who built a successful business for himself and his family. I've always been the artist who doesn't understand math and has never balanced a checkbook in his life. I wish I could ask him for advice. I know he'd want to see a more thorough business plan than the vague swirl of ideas in my head.

Sorry, Dida, I'm doing the best I can.

Dida was what I called him from a very early age. It is pronounced "dee-dah" but doesn't look that way on paper. People always say "Dih-Daa" or "Die-Dah"....the same way they often say "Meh-Goh" instead of "Mee-Goh"....So that's pretty much perfect for me and my new endevour.

The domain isn't set up yet, I haven't built the website or even finalized my prices....but I have the business license from the city of Oakland and the state of California that says I can start doing business on April 1st as "Dida Displays"....



No foolin!