Figures Toy Company Q&A, the latest on FTC’s ROH, Rising Stars and Legends lines
With the Internet being…the Internet, what kind of negative feedback are you getting from the line?
CD: The price point. A lot of people ask why we’re charging $29 for a figure when they can get a $10 or $20 WWE figure in the store.
I tell them it’s because our production run is so minimal compared to Mattel or even Jakks. They’ll release 200,000 Cena or Xavier Woods in a wave compared to 2,500 to 3,000 for our figures so we’re on a much smaller production run. Compare them to the online exclusives at Ringside Collectibles. They’re usually $30 and even those exclusives are around 10,000 to 20,000 production numbers.
Our figures are online only, through collectible shops. These figures aren’t going to be sold at mass retail.
The other criticism we’re getting tends to skew younger from people who into collecting with Mattel and never got the Jakks figures. They want to know why we aren’t doing Mattel style bodies.
Like I mentioned to you earlier, Jakks still has a larger collection than Mattel at this point. With the Ruthless Aggression and Deluxe Aggression lines, the Jakks style includes then present day WWE superstars, WWF, NWA, WCW, ECW and TNA guys. Jakks has the most variety per talent. You can mix and match these guys with a John Cena, Sandman, Brock Lesnar to create the most random figure federation around thanks to them.
The Jakks vs Mattel argument will always be a hurdle. What’s your take on the difference?
CD: Personally, the Jakks style made the wrestlers larger than life and more like superheroes. They’re a little bit bigger than normal people.
With Mattel figures, especially the basics, the figure bodies just come off bland. I collect Elites too because I’m a fan. When Mattel hits a home run, they really hit a home run, but sometimes they put out a product that’s maybe more for the 10 year old at Wal-Mart than the hardcore collectors.
How is the feedback helping you all make better, or different decisions, in the future with the line?
CD: I always pay attention to what people want to do and see. I’m very active on forums and reddit. Online, it’s mostly taking a look at the fan request and try and make deals with guys.
We’ve also gotten great feedback from the wrestlers. They’ve actually helped us a lot in getting other wrestlers signed. People like Chris Hero, who initially turned us down, talked to guys like Colt Cabana that really won him over and swung him back to us. It’s great for our company and really good for the talent.
With the limited run for figures, could you re-release a figure if he’s a strong seller? Does the Kevin Steen and AJ Styles contract fall under that umbrella?
Kevin Steen was under the ROH license so we can’t go back and do a variant. Once the initial wave of him sells out it’s done.
With guys like Kenny Omega, Chris Hero, etc. if that initial run sells out and collectors are dying to get a Chris Hero figure we can decide to re-release the same figure or contact Chris about which attire he’d like to see next. All of the wrestlers sign multi-year contracts.
Thanks to the Rising Stars line, Bullet Club is making a strong showing. You’ve got Styles, Gallows, the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga and Amber Gallows. What happened with Karl Anderson and is Bad Luck Fale on your radar?
CD: Karl Anderson was interested, we had a contract sent to him, but he just ended up not following up on it. I’m not sure if the writing was one the wall for him and he just decided to wait for the WWE. There’s nothing with Bad Luck Fale. Not really any communication with him.
Joey Ryan was previously announced, and with Brian Cage and Ivelisse coming as part of Rising Stars does this signal more Lucha Underground stars possibly signing on?
CD: Cage and Iveliesse actually use their names as they’re independent contractors. With Lucha Underground, a lot of them have AAA contracts so anything we do with them would have to go through licensing.
Johnny Mundo could fall into that as I believe he is still an independent contractor. But as much of a fan of him as I am, he’s been done so many times as a figure by Jakks. Figure wise there’s so many names that should come ahead of him. Collectors want to see someone new as opposed to someone they might already have.
What’s the status on someone like Ricochet, who’s Prince Puma on LU, but an independent contractor as well?
Ricochet is another guy waiting to see where his career takes him. He was very nice and responsive, but I think he chose not to pursue it because he doesn’t know what his next move is going to be.
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