This is the fifth in a series spotlighting our members.
Scott D.M. Simmons is our first VIP member being featured. His artwork is currently featured on the 2009 Summer Social Badges as well as oswcc.com. He has worked for Hasbro in the past, and is now working on several independent comic books. Check out his work at scottdmsimmons.com.
Name: Scott D.M. Simmons
Region: South
Age: 39
Hometown: Amelia, Ohio
Occupation: Comic Artist & Graphic Designer, former photographer at Hasbro Toys
Time in OSWCC: Since the Summer Social in 2007
Family: Married
Favorite Movie: Empire Strikes Back
Collecting Focus: R2-D2, Padme
Star Wars fan since: I was seven and saw the first movie on the big screen. My mom got me the first four figures for my birthday I believe the next year when they came out, and man, I just really loved zooming the Landspeeder around. Later on, my dad got a job photographing the Kenner Star Wars toys. Years later, I worked with him, and upon graduation from college, I worked at Hasbro as a photographer for eight years from 1996 to 2004.
Favorite character: R2-D2
Favorite item in your collection: That varies… maybe the landspeeder, the CAP-2 (my thumb is on the package), remote control Biker Scout, Epic Force Slave Leia, or the 12-inch Queen Amidala. My R2-D2 phone was really cool, but my mistake was in actually using it. I also love my Star Wars Stratego game. And I own an awesome original art drawing of a samurai-like Darth Vader by Joe Madureira. Too many cool things to pick from.
Originals or Prequels: Originals, although I really enjoy The Phantom Menace too.
Favorite Quote from the Movies: “Watch your mouth, kid, or you’re gonna find yourself floating home!”
Loose or Mint on Card: If my dad or I photographed some neat stuff on the card or box, I like it unopened; otherwise, open it up or get a second one!
Vintage or Modern: They each have their merits. The vintage stuff has a certain innocence and charm (and certainly childhood memories), whereas the newer stuff has insane detailing, nice articulation, and sometimes great electronic features.
Collection location: Our house has a very large walk-in closet upstairs that runs along the whole width of the house. So my toy collection, art stuff, and comics are all in there. It was one of the several unique features that totally sold us on the house.
Novels or Comics: Comics, especially Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (adaptation of the novel I loved as a kid), Dark Empire, and the Star Wars manga.
Dark Side or Light Side: Light.
Star Wars Dream Job: (One was fulfilled when I worked for my dad’s studio and then at Hasbro itself). Now, my dream job would be doing artwork officially for Lucasfilm or for companies with licenses to produce Star Wars artwork. I would love to do official sketch cards and SW comic books.
Here are some photos of Scott’s collection, with commentary from him:
“Of course, it’s not my whole collection covered here. I have some vintage stuff too, but not on the walls. And there are various other toys and comics scattered throughout. I wish I had my SWEp1 Manga poster and Joe Mad Vader pencils up on the wall, but there isn’t room for them (yet). You can see Star Wars stamps and manga books here, and fave toys in a breadbox display. And a Star Wars sign from a Toy Fair show.”
“There is me (an action figure of me created with Hasbro’s image capture and R&D tools) surrounded by Gatchaman and my favorite actress Kate Winslet, Hasbro name plates, a remote control speeder bike, National Amusements cups, and a nice Star Wars stein, among other items.”
“The best shot I could do to show both connected closet spaces. R2-D2, Padme, the CAP-2, Slave Leia, Ackbar… protected from Transformers like BlackArachnia by Krypto I guess. I have a GIJoe figure signed by Hasbro’s Don Fardie, because the character was modeled after his likeness.”
“The Hoth Deluxe figures were the very first packages with images shot by me as a solo photographer so they are pretty special to me. The speeder bike images were great fun to build dioramas for, much like the Ewok village and Hoth battle scenes were as well. The Tatooine sand… not so much, because I would always accidentally breathe that in.”
“On the right is an assortment of packages my dad shot images for (with the exception of the cantina diorama which I believe I bought at the Hasbro employee store). I recall helping out with some of these images. There are more toys in my collection that don’t pertain to Star Wars and are not shown here, but it will always be a favorite collectible theme of mine.”
