| Interview from the Void |
| Written by James Tomlinson | |
| Thursday, 24 July 2008 | |
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TOP SECRET SUPER SPY UNMASKED... Delve into the intrigue below Gentle Reader, at the risk of finishing this page knowing too much. The mysterious syndicate known only as the "Void" operates within a level of secrecy so obscure the world at large is unaware of its existence despite the fact that it’s machinations sway the balance of the world as we know it. The Void's vast range of influence is felt from the fall of governments to socks missing from the laundry -- "always the left sock," according to Michael "Mez" Markowitz, president and wizard behind the curtain at the cutting edge Mezco Toyz. According to our sources, The Void utilizes the finely honed skill sets of a sole agent, Gomez, and Gomez is Markowitz's brainchild. Those familiar with the the enigmatic and omnipresent Mezco mascot, known previously only as "the Roach," will instantly recognize that likeness in the Void's agent Gomez. "The Roach was definitely the inspiration for the character," said Markowitz. "He just became this quirky project of mine. I was working up graphics for some Mezco sales materials for Toy Fair of last year. For whatever reason, I started doing paste-up sketches and just popped the Roach head on top of some clip art of a guy in a business suit, and I really liked the look of it, and basically ended up with a really weird figure that to me is sort of a cross between Naked Lunch and 007," said Markowitz. You'll notice from the photo layout that Gomez comes with an array of gadgets, weaponry, and yes -- some sort of cocktail drink, which will presently be explained in all detail allowable, as determined by the Void "minders" we were assigned for purposes of preparing this feature. "What's an action figure without weaponry?" said Markowitz. "In the back of my crazy geek mind, I started coming up with a random batch of accessories, which included, of course, a ray gun, sword, boombox, and a martini. Then I had to make sense of all of this and started writing down basically what amounted to package copy to explain why he had these accessories, and then that somehow turned into a much more involved back story," said Markowitz. "The reason he comes with a samurai sword, quite frankly, owes to two things -- a Kill Bill aesthetic, and the fact that I had this Thundercats toy when I was kid, I forget it's name, but it came with this giant samurai sword that was ridiculously large, probably the length of the figure itself. I always loved that ridiculously large samurai sword, so I said we're going give Gomez a ridiculously large samurai sword. That was the first accessory we did for him actually. Originally he was going to come with a pair of nunchuks, but we scrapped those." So who is Gomez? How'd he get his name? "He actually got his name from an online promotion we did, where we ran a 'Name the Roach,' contest," said Markowitz. "Mezco fans wrote in with suggested names, and I don't mean a lot of people wrote in. The winning entry was 'Gomez.' As soon as I saw it I got it -- 'Go Mez.' The fact that it had such names stacked against it like, Charles, Alexander, Bill, and Joe, plus the fact that I'm a huge Addams Family fan, pretty much clinched it," said Markowitz. Gomez' mission instructions are received directly from The Void by a combination of subliminal broadcast on his Boombox combined with "Black Martinis," known as the "cocktail exchange". The information transmitted during the cocktail exchange is only receivable by the antennas of Gomez. Finally, Gomez, Mezco’s suave mascot and The Void’s only active agent, has been realized in action figure form. "We'd already developed our hyper-articulate 9-inch action figure buck, so the figure format was an easy decision," said Markowitz. Standing over 10 inches tall with his ball-jointed antennae, Gomez comes complete with Boom Box, "black martini," "atomic pea shooter" (ray gun), and zip sword (forged of ultra rare Magmezium). Dapper, in his custom tailored suit, Gomez features over 40 points of sophisticated super-spy articulation, giving him all the articulation he needs to beat the bad guys and love the ladies. Gomez - doer of missions, mover of information and eliminator of obstacles. Gomez is a limited edition of 500 pieces, Dimension-wide, and is available exclusively though www.MezcoDirect.com, as well as at San Diego Comic Con 2008. Learn more, or at least as much as can be divulged, at www.Mezcotoyz.com |
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