Just when I had officially given up on Target as being a legitimate destination on the hunt for figures (namely Mattel WWE Elite, Hasbro Star Wars Black Series and Hasbro Marvel Legends), I see this…You can now buy an action figure in your likeness at Target!
What’s that you say? You’ve been able to make your own action figure for quite a while now from various parties both online and otherwise? True. In fact, our very own TJ Norris of Go Figure News has a figure in his likeness. But a customized action figure with your face from a kiosk called "Super Awesome Me" at Target?
For $59.99 (which I think is a tad steep; it should have capped at $49.99) you can stand in front of a digital camera, have it capture your image right there in the store, and place it on either a 12” Star Wars Jedi or Stormtrooper or Marvel’s Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, or Spider-Man and have it mailed to your door. Each figure appears to have only five points of articulation, which is my issue with the price. They’re not placing your face on decent figures but the type of figure that might normally retail for $9.99-$14.99. So why is this $59.99?!
I didn’t catch the name of the company that is supplying Target with these kiosks. I only read “SUPER AWESOME ME – BECOME AN ACTION FIGURE.” If there is a larger company behind this trend it was not clearly marked. But since it’s supplying Star Wars and Marvel figures one might guess that Disney is either the provider or at least the licensor. (Publisher's Note: these are 3D printed in cooperation between Hasbro and 3DPlusMe - this system was originally tested in 2014 at Sam's Club and Walmart).
It appears to be marketed toward kids, as they exclusively had pictures of children with their own mini-mes. (No nerdy adults were pictured as models). Since it was fairly late on a Friday night, and no one was looking, I started to make Iron Man. I mean, Iron Sal…
Once your image is captured they computerize (?) it, or should I say, they recreate it. I’d never seen a digital image of myself in this style so it was strange, almost haunting, to see a likeness of me that was neither a reflection or a picture or a drawing. It’s a spooky version of yourself ready to appear in plastic form as the character of your selection. Of the five options Iron Man was an easy choice for me. Although if they had offered to green me up and put my head on Hulk I might have whipped out my Visa card immediately.
The touchscreen allows you to zoom in and see your figure from various angles and depths. So after making your choice and entering your email and mailing addresses the machine saves the image and prints out a ticket that you take to the front register to pay your $59.99. This is where even some avid collectors might bail out. I balked at the price. I appreciate the novelty of it, and will honestly tell you that even as a kid I have wanted to have an action figure in my image, but I couldn’t justify the price. Besides, I had just spent $50 on a Play Arts Kai RoboCop figure. Now if they could stick my head on a quality, fully articulated figure like that I might pay up to $99.99. Your move, Target.
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Sal Rodriguez began collecting figures upon discovering UFC and WWE figures by Jakks Pacific. He lives with his two cats, Fluff Daddy and Little Mister, and over 2,000 action figures. Subscribe to his YouTube channel.