American comics: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

These toy figures.

Reminds Colin of another ‘century toy’ that was also born in the Great Depression – Lego bricks.

Of course, during this period.

The concept of LEGO only exists in Colin’s mind.

Even its founder, Ollie, was just a carpenter living in a remote village in Denmark, relying on his exquisite woodworking skills to occasionally make toys for children.

The early toys of LEGO were not much different from the figurines in Fisher’s workshop.

They were all wooden toys such as various figurines, animals, cars, and small houses. However, in the later development path, Ollie was inspired by a British product called “self-locking building blocks”, which gave him the idea of ​​making Lego toys into blocks and standardized, and finally made them a reality.

Of course, the reason why Colin thought of this.

It was not because he was very interested in the history of Lego’s toy development, but because he had some ideas about its final product, Lego toys themselves.

In later generations, the development of Lego has basically matured.

There are numerous toy products built by Lego, and the standardization of Lego bricks has greatly increased its playability. This way of playing, which allows you to create various things at will through infinite splicing methods, almost makes Lego play without any restrictions.

"First Evolution"

Everything in the known world can be restored with Lego bricks as parts; everything in the unknown world can also be imagined with Lego bricks as parts.

And this also means that if Colin is willing.

This method can also be used to make Superman Lego.

In the future, because of the development of Lego, others need to cooperate with them to authorize the manufacture of peripherals.

But now, Colin can completely replace them and make his own Lego Superman.

Once this idea came out of Colin's mind, it could never be taken back.

...

"Injection molding machine?"

In the Courier newspaper office, facing Colin's question.

Jack Lebovitz showed a clear puzzled expression on his face. He frowned and thought for a while, and finally asked back with a confused look.

"What is that?"

Well, the idea of ​​producing Lego Superman is too good.

Colin overlooked an important issue, that is, in this era, the industrialization of plastics has not yet fully matured.

This chemical product invented in the 1870s has undergone a long evolution and has not really entered the mature stage of large-scale application until the mid-1940s.

Before that, in fact, the production of Lego was still mainly based on wood.

Even Fisher's first toy made of plastic did not appear until the early 1950s.

During this period, most toys were made of metal and wood.

So, this means that the birth of Lego Superman will take some time to wait.

In the newspaper office, it came to light.

Colin's face showed a look of regret.

However, he did not give up the development of Lego Superman. Since there is no way to make real plastic Lego.

Then, wooden Lego is also acceptable.

After the first Superman doll produced by Fisher was launched, Colin planned to start making Lego Superman.

The reason for waiting until then was that, in addition to planning to use the first Superman doll to test the popularity of this product in the market, Colin also had the idea of ​​acquiring Fisher-Price.

Once the Superman doll was popular in the market, then after experiencing the hot sales of Superman toys.

How could Fisher-Price easily give up the patent for this product?

From the development of later generations, Colin knew very well that the founders of Fisher-Price Company were talented in toy manufacturing and sales.

Especially in the production of infant toys, the future Fisher-Price took the lead.

Newly born babies may not be able to understand the "Superman" comic stories in newspapers or "Courier Comics".

But they will definitely play with toys, even if they don't know the prototype of the toys in their hands, but the image of Superman will be subtly outlined in their young hearts from the baby rocking bed they lay in since childhood and the baby toys they played.

...

In the next few days.

Colin traveled back and forth between the newspaper office and the Fisher-Price toy workshop in Churchville.

Participated in the production of Superman dolls.

The image of Superman is not only a symbol of the Messenger, but also affects the cohesion of Colin's mark and the collection of [belief].

Therefore, he naturally cannot license it out casually like Disney did.

He does not want to see Superman's head appear on something that should not appear one day.

"I think the position of the chest can be adjusted to make the 'S' logo on Superman's chest more three-dimensional..."

In the toy workshop, Colin made suggestions on the first toy model of Superman.

The first Superman doll made by Fisher was still made of the wood they were most familiar with. The height of the whole doll was only less than three centimeters. The cape behind it appeared in a carved way. At the same time, the doll put its hands on its waist and posed in Superman's classic pose.

"But if this is the case, then the time to make a Superman toy will also increase. I think it can be replaced by printing."

Hearing Colin's opinions, Margaret spoke up and expressed her different opinions.

"If printing can do it, then I don't object."

Professionals should leave it to professionals. Facing the objections raised by Margaret, Colin did not stubbornly refuse.

His purpose was just to make Superman's dolls available on the market smoothly. As for the process of toy making.

As long as it meets his requirements, some details can be left to Margaret and others to deal with.

"In addition to wooden toys, I think cloth dolls are also a good choice, and cloth dolls are easier to make than wooden toys to a certain extent, with higher production and less damage."

On the other side, looking at the Superman puppet in Colin's hand, Helen made suggestions.

Although Fisher has rich experience and creativity in making wooden toys, it does not mean that they have no involvement in other types of toys.

Before founding Fisher-Price, Helen once ran a toy store in Binghamton, New York, so she had experience in all kinds of toys.

Puppet toys have always had great potential in the children's market.

It is also one of the main toys for children, and even many adults also collect dolls.

"Maybe we can try to produce a batch of Superman dolls first to see the market reaction."

After some discussion, Herman finally decided on the shape and craftsmanship of the first batch of Superman dolls after consulting Colin.

Please remember the domain name of the first release of this book:. Shuquge mobile version reading website: