THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIR
Instigator: Various toy companies including
Toy Biz
Purpose: To publicly display and advertise
potential and upcoming toy products
Allies: Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Opposition: Venom (Eddie Brock)
Location: New York, USA
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Toy
Fair Special#1 (1999)
History:
(The Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1 (fb) - BTS) - Freelance
photographer Peter Parker was assigned to cover New York's annual
American International Toy Fair event. While there, Parker was attacked
by his enemy Venom and Parker quickly changed into his Spider-Man
costume to defend himself.
(The Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1) -
Spider-Man and Venom's battle erupted into the Toy Fair when the
superhuman duo smashed through one of the event hall's windows near the
Toy Biz company booth, forcing patrons and company employees both to
run for cover. Upon landing, Venom immediately punched Spider-Man into
Toy Biz's display of WCW wrestling products. After landing in the WCW
talking punching bags, Spider-Man went on the offensive, springing
himself from the display's wrestling ring ropes and using the momentum
to distract Venom by kicking several of the WCW action figures into his
enemy. When one of the figures spouted the pre-taped "talking" line of
"Get ready for defeat!," Spider-Man jokingly thanked the action figure
for its vote of confidence before fiddling with the figure, curious as
to whether the volume of the talking toys could be adjusted to take
advantage of Venom's weakness to intense sound. Before Spider-Man could
properly adjust any of the figures, however, Venom pulled Spider-Man
back into the fray and smashed him into the wall, leaving one of the
Toy Biz employees to get inspired by Spider-Man's curiosity about the
talking toys when the figure Spider-Man had been messing with began
emitting a loud electronic squeal.
Venom and
Spider-Man's battle then continued into a room showcasing Toy Biz's
protoype action figures for the MTV television show Celebrity
Deathmatch. Spider-Man
managed to regain his footing and used Venom's own momentum against him
by flipping Venom into a display of Toy Biz's Kinder-Garden Babies and
Miss Party Surprise dolls. After Venom landed in the ice cream that was
part of the Miss Party Surprise display, he hurled the ice cream
freezer at Spider-Man. Spider-Man dodged the freezer and the battle
continued into a giant display resembling a game of Whac-a-Mole. Venom
soon became frustrated at the teasing electronic moles in the display
and he angrily lifted and ripped apart the display as Spider-Man
escaped into a Toy Biz display of action figures based on himself.
Venom quickly caught up and punched Spider-Man into the section of
display advertising the Spider-Man: Web Splashers action figure line.
Before Venom could kill the downed Spider-Man, the Toy Biz employee and
a small gathering of other employees and event patrons confronted
Venom. Venom warned the assemblage that his quarrel was not with the
innocent patrons but the Toy Biz employee reminded Venom how he had
trashed the entire showroom and that they also had a problem with Venom
attacking their favorite wall-crawler. The assembled patrons then
revealed a slew of talking WCW toys, each of which had been adjusted to
emit the same loud squeal that the one Spider-Man had messed with did,
and they each hit the button to make the figures squeal. The
high-pitched scream of dozens of talking action figures created a sonic
tone that caused Venom's symbiote pain and Venom was incapacitated
enough for Vault Guardsmen to arrive and take Venom into custody.
Spider-Man then thanked the Toy Biz employee, who admitted that it was
Spider-Man's idea to use the squealing action figures in the first
place. Spider-Man suggested the patrons not sell themselves short
before he swung off, bidding them all a "So long!"
Comments: Adapted into Marvel Comics by
Michael Stewart, Dave Tata and Al Milgrom.
The comic featuring the Toy Fair
was called "The Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1" on the front
cover but the indicia refers to the book only as "Toy Fair Face Off!"
(with no number or mention of Spider-Man listed). Normally, I would go
with the indicia here but with the front cover having such a different
name and it being the only place where the issue number is displayed, I
am choosing to go with the name on the front cover rather than the
indicia. Wouldn't be the first time this has happened (I'm reminded of
the X-Men Icons & Avengers Icons mini-series of the early 2000s)
and it could very well simply be a situation where the internal pages
were created prior to perhaps a last-minute cover where the issue title
was changed or something. After all, "Toy Fair Face Off!" is actually
the name of the issue's story, rather than the issue itself.
For those that aren't aware, Toy Fair (formerly known as the American International Toy Fair) is a real life international toy trade show that began in 1903 and has regularly happened in New York ever since, featuring various toy companies displaying examples of their upcoming products. The event is currently (as of 6/7/2026) managed by the Toy Association organization.
Has any other comics featured the Toy Fair somewhere? If so, please let me know, as I'd love to update this profile with more appearances! I feel like there had to have been another appearance somewhere but I couldn't find one...
There is absolutely nothing in the Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1 that would make it not fit into Earth-616 continuity. While it may easily fit into Earth-616 continuity, it would also be considered more on the fringe since it was only seen in a promotional comic given out by Marvel and Toy Biz during the 1999 International Toy Fair. Of course, many fringe characters and events have made their way officially into continuity such as the Hostess ad villains, video game characters/events and the Superhero Olympics seen in the first Marvel swimsuit special...
Strangely enough, the Marvel
Database Wiki lists the Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1 as being
published in February, 1999 but the only date we get anywhere in the
issue is in the indicia, which only shows a copyright of "1999." No
month is given in the indicia or on the cover.
This profile was completed on
06/07/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the
Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The American International Toy Fair has no known connections to:
images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1, p1, splash page (Venom &
Spider-Man crashing into the Toy Fair, main image)
Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1, p2, pan3 (Venom vs. Spider-Man
in the Toy Fair WCW display)
Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1, p8, pan4-5 (Venom being taken
into custody & Spider-Man departing the Toy Fair)
Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man Toy Fair Special#1 (1999) - Michael Stewart
(writer), Dave Tata (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Steve Behling (editor)
First Posted: 09/27/2026
Last updated: 06/07/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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