World’s Greatest Toys!

Today was a special day. I arrived home from work to find this package awaiting me:

I knew what the package was supposed to contain, so I had to take a minute to compose myself. I paced around the room for a minute, staring at the package. Realizing this package represents nearly four years of work, I was nervous, excited and nauseated all at the same time. I wanted to soak it in for a while.

“It” is the unbound, first-edition print of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys! This is the very first copy of the book in the whole world, and it seemed like an awfully big moment, at least to me.

I finally snapped and made a bee-line for my shoulder bag; I’m such an art geek, I actually carry an X-Acto blade — not to mention 40 extra blades — everywhere I go.

Still trying to enjoy the moment, I slid the blade across packing tape to reveal the contents:

When my publisher told me he was sending the original “press proofs” of the book, I imagined a stack of large (18″ x 9″) flat sheets, printed on both sides. Instead, the printer actually folded the pages into the finished arrangement of the pages (so-called ‘reader spreads’):

The book will be a series of 16-page ’signatures,’ one signature stacked upon another, with all signatures then bound to the hardcover. It’s pretty cool to see how the book breaks up into signatures. Here’s the recently revealed (and pleasingly popular) Green Arrow ‘Revolutions’ spread, in its unbound, finished form. This is the very first printed edition of the book, and needless to say, I’m thrilled to finally hold it in my hands.

What this means (for all of us) is that the book is finally coming… any day now!

Benjamin