Silver Snail Comics is one of North America's oldest comics and collectibles store. Its display was simple, striking, and ultimately compelling. The exquisitely-posed, full size Spider-Man figure was created from a mannequin, and it looks great against a background drawn by Chalk-master Dave after an original design by John Romita, Jr. When the elements of a display are this strong, you don't need a lot of extras. In this case 'less was more.'
The Store
Founded by Ron Van Leeuwan, Silver Snail Comics is a full-service comic store located north of the border in beautiful Canada (Toronto, Ontario). Back in the early 1970's, Ron was studying art at the Ontario College of Art. It was there that he first discovered the wonder of comics. Soon enough though, it became known that he was running around the city picking up new comics from various stores. Word spread, and soon enough he found that he was picking up comics for upwards of 20 people. It was then that he realized that there was enough interest to start a business. Ron began his retail business by selling comics out of their former bathroom of a science fiction book store; Bakka. After a few years, he and Bakka parted ways and Van Leeuwen set up shop across the street. With 20 boxes of comics and $10 000, the Silver Snail was born. 26 years later Silver Snail Comics is the store to buy comics and collectables in Toronto.
The Display
The display started out as a challenge and turned into a three-month labor of love. Created by Nelson Costa and Rick Thompson with the background mural by Chalk-master Dave (based upon a John Romita, Jr. design), the Spider-Man display uses a mannequin base highly modified into the classic Spidey pose. This creates a very solid fiberglass structure and the final paint layer is not unlike that of a car. The possibility exists to hang this figure out-of-doors. Such detail went into the spider-man that you can't even see it all in pictures. His mask is sculpted to appear separate from the body and a watch was even sculpted on his wrist (under the costume).
The Results
Most people have no idea what went into this Spider-Man display. Many believe it to be just another blow-up display, but I assure them that it's anything but the case. It's surprising to see how many people don't know that comic books are still being published and many people who read at a very young age have started to come back (this is also helped by the HUGE turnout for the Spider-Man movie this weekend). It is our practice to push products that are good and well written. Ultimate Spider-Man and The Best of Spider-Man hard covers have quickly become our best sellers and with the talent involved in those books people are coming back again and again to read more.
Click here to see the Second Prize Winner -- Bookery Fantasy in Fairborn, Ohio.
Click here to see the Third Prize Winner--Wade's Comic Madness in Levittown, Pennsylvania.
Once again the staff here at ICv2 would like to thank all the retailers who participated in our contest, and our sponsors -- Topps, Wiz Kids, and Diamond, and prize sponsors Dark Horse and Ballantine Books.
This display contest is part of our big May Movie Moolah
promotion. We're currently in May Movie Moolah Episode II. Click here to read all about it.
Click here for the first prize listing, worth over $2400.
Click here for the second prize listing, worth over $1,000.
Click here for the third prize listing, worth over $600.
We did a number of stories on merchandising movies as part of our promotion. Here's some of our coverage:
We talked to two retailers in different parts of the country about how they merchandised entertainment trading cards. Find out how they do it in 'Merchandising Entertainment Cards'
For an enlightening interview with Long Beach retailer Darin Erickson on how he successfully sells movie merchandise in spite of competition from a nearby discount store see 'Moving Movie Merchandise, Part I'
Len Katz of The Joker's Child in Fairlawn, New Jersey gave us his strategies for selling movie-based merchandise in 'Moving Movie Merchandise, Part II'
For an overview of the movie merchandising business see 'Navigating the Movie Merchandise Minefield.'
For a look at the 2002 movies, and which ones might be merchandising powerhouses see 'Best in Shows -- 2002'
