The Mike
In the Pixels
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I don't know if this has been posted yet but in an interview with Figures.com Tonner commented that they are going to do Pirates, more DC and Marvel characters as well as a couple of dream licenses. Read on!
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Tonner on Harry Potter, Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean and more...
Figures.com: You have plans to release a variety of new ‘collectible figures’ – from Spiderman and Superman to Pirates of the Caribbean. Why now?
RT: It’s my interest. I’ve now been in the doll world for a long time. I see other company’s versions of these characters and I want to do my version. It’s a business decision, but it’s also where my interests lie…
Figures.com: Is it the license you like or expressing the license in a new way that you like?
RT: Expressing the licenses, that’s the part I like. These characters have been done, but I love taking (the character) and doing our own version. I want to make a Spiderman figure and be able to turn him into Peter Parker. That’s the kid in me. If he has a secret identity, I want to be able to make him have that secret identity. That’s why I like clothing. The secret identity is important, especially for Spiderman…
Figures.com: You've announced you have the Superman license. Do you then plan to make a Clark Kent figure as well?
RT: Absolutely...
Figures.com: Something unique about your company is your creation of unique bodies for certain character types. Obviously Superman and Clark Kent aren't going to have the same body as Spiderman and Peter Parker.
RT: Right. That's one of the things that's important - we don't use the bodies over. We can use the same body for different characters, but I've made a new body for Superman that's much larger and more built than Peter Parker.
Figures.com: Can we look forward to more super hero and comic-related characters in the future?
RT: For sure (laughing). I just finished a Batman head (sculpt) and a Joker. On the Marvel side, we're looking at Captain America, though I've seen he's died. I can't wait to get my hands on (more comic characters)...
Figures.com: So you have the license for all of DC and Marvel's characters?
RT: Yes. We pretty much propose which we want to do and they either give us the go ahead or turn us down.
Figures.com: Well, you must be one of the first companies to make figures based on both Marvel and DC characters at the same time...
RT: And it's been great so far...
Figures.com: You said Harry Potter figures were a break though for your company and now you've announced your doing Pirates of the Caribbean character figures. Captain Jack Sparrow is probably the most popular on-screen character as of late...
RT: Unfortunately, Captain Jack doesn't change clothes much, so I'm a little disappointed in that. But (our Captain Jack figure will be) highly detailed and (include) a Johnny Depp facial sculpt. We'll be doing numerous version of Keira Knightly - as a pirate and in her gown. We're also looking at an Orlando Bloom figures as well.
With Harry Potter, we can't do enough. There's so many characters. Same thing with "Pirates of the Caribbean." They have a lot of characters and I'd like to go there...
Figures.com: Do you have a specific name for this category of hybrid between a doll and an action figure?
RT: We've trademarked the name 'character figure.' I don't see it as a traditional action figure and it's not a traditional doll. And it's working, because I'm getting crossover, it's male and female. It's not attracting the comic collectors but the Spiderman collectors, the Wonder Woman collectors... It's more specific...
Figures.com: You said before you enjoyed Star Wars and Star Trek. Are these licenses - Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings - licenses you're looking into?
RT: Each one of those are ones I'd like to do. We have plans to approach them at a later time, but we have so much on our plate now...
Figures.com: What is your dream license?
RT: You know what, I think I got them...(laughing) I'd love to give "Lord of the Rings" a try and I'm a huge "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fan. If you're a "Buffy" fan, no matter how long it's been off the air, you're still a "Buffy" fan. That might be one for down the road...
Figures.com: And that seems to be a product line that could cross over that male and female boundary as well...
RT: Exactly. I don't think we'll go into the horror realm (though). But we'll do a Voldemort (from Harry Potter) and that's really different for us.
Figures.com: And there are numerous characters within Marvel, DC, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean that could be considered scary...
RT: And there's a market for them. If they're really well done, I think there'd be a market for them. One figure I couldn't wait to sculpt - and I really enjoy sculpting fashion dolls - but I have to tell you, the Joker was the most fun to sculpt. It was something really different...
Figures.com: Two of the things that distinguish your figures from others are the clothing and hair. Do you do all of the tailoring in-house?
RT: Yes, for the fashion dolls. I have an in-house designer who was in the garment center. We both have garment center backgrounds and we both really know what we're looking at. For something like Harry Potter though, it's already designed for us - the interpretation.
Figures.com: Have you seen your distribution changing?
RT: Hopefully it will change and it'll grow. Hopefully we won't loose our doll (retailers). They're very nice people and we've worked with a lot of them a long time.
The grandmotherly lady who comes into a store to buy a doll in a dress for her bedroom; I don't think that's where the action is at. I think it's more with a younger group of collectors...
Figures.com: Can you tell us about any future plans you have now?
RT: I think I can talk about this one - we just signed The Golden Compass. The Golden Compass has some fashion elements in it, the fantasy elements, stuff like that...
Figures.com: One question a lot of 1:6 scale customizers have is do you have plans to sell the 16" male or female body blank to be used for customizing? There are a lot of 1:6 scale customizers out there that would like to use a larger, more muscular body for their fantasy or science fiction figures.
RT: There are those people in the fashion doll world - repaint or "face up" artists - and they reroot the hair and paint the faces. Personally I think it's crazy, but I (also) think it's a wonderful thing when someone can take something and turn it into their own artwork. And that's what these people do. We could never manufacture like that - it'd take a week to paint a face.
To answer your question - yes, that is something we're considering...
**********************************************************
Tonner on Harry Potter, Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean and more...
Figures.com: You have plans to release a variety of new ‘collectible figures’ – from Spiderman and Superman to Pirates of the Caribbean. Why now?
RT: It’s my interest. I’ve now been in the doll world for a long time. I see other company’s versions of these characters and I want to do my version. It’s a business decision, but it’s also where my interests lie…
Figures.com: Is it the license you like or expressing the license in a new way that you like?
RT: Expressing the licenses, that’s the part I like. These characters have been done, but I love taking (the character) and doing our own version. I want to make a Spiderman figure and be able to turn him into Peter Parker. That’s the kid in me. If he has a secret identity, I want to be able to make him have that secret identity. That’s why I like clothing. The secret identity is important, especially for Spiderman…
Figures.com: You've announced you have the Superman license. Do you then plan to make a Clark Kent figure as well?
RT: Absolutely...
Figures.com: Something unique about your company is your creation of unique bodies for certain character types. Obviously Superman and Clark Kent aren't going to have the same body as Spiderman and Peter Parker.
RT: Right. That's one of the things that's important - we don't use the bodies over. We can use the same body for different characters, but I've made a new body for Superman that's much larger and more built than Peter Parker.
Figures.com: Can we look forward to more super hero and comic-related characters in the future?
RT: For sure (laughing). I just finished a Batman head (sculpt) and a Joker. On the Marvel side, we're looking at Captain America, though I've seen he's died. I can't wait to get my hands on (more comic characters)...
Figures.com: So you have the license for all of DC and Marvel's characters?
RT: Yes. We pretty much propose which we want to do and they either give us the go ahead or turn us down.
Figures.com: Well, you must be one of the first companies to make figures based on both Marvel and DC characters at the same time...
RT: And it's been great so far...
Figures.com: You said Harry Potter figures were a break though for your company and now you've announced your doing Pirates of the Caribbean character figures. Captain Jack Sparrow is probably the most popular on-screen character as of late...
RT: Unfortunately, Captain Jack doesn't change clothes much, so I'm a little disappointed in that. But (our Captain Jack figure will be) highly detailed and (include) a Johnny Depp facial sculpt. We'll be doing numerous version of Keira Knightly - as a pirate and in her gown. We're also looking at an Orlando Bloom figures as well.
With Harry Potter, we can't do enough. There's so many characters. Same thing with "Pirates of the Caribbean." They have a lot of characters and I'd like to go there...
Figures.com: Do you have a specific name for this category of hybrid between a doll and an action figure?
RT: We've trademarked the name 'character figure.' I don't see it as a traditional action figure and it's not a traditional doll. And it's working, because I'm getting crossover, it's male and female. It's not attracting the comic collectors but the Spiderman collectors, the Wonder Woman collectors... It's more specific...
Figures.com: You said before you enjoyed Star Wars and Star Trek. Are these licenses - Star Wars, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings - licenses you're looking into?
RT: Each one of those are ones I'd like to do. We have plans to approach them at a later time, but we have so much on our plate now...
Figures.com: What is your dream license?
RT: You know what, I think I got them...(laughing) I'd love to give "Lord of the Rings" a try and I'm a huge "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fan. If you're a "Buffy" fan, no matter how long it's been off the air, you're still a "Buffy" fan. That might be one for down the road...
Figures.com: And that seems to be a product line that could cross over that male and female boundary as well...
RT: Exactly. I don't think we'll go into the horror realm (though). But we'll do a Voldemort (from Harry Potter) and that's really different for us.
Figures.com: And there are numerous characters within Marvel, DC, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean that could be considered scary...
RT: And there's a market for them. If they're really well done, I think there'd be a market for them. One figure I couldn't wait to sculpt - and I really enjoy sculpting fashion dolls - but I have to tell you, the Joker was the most fun to sculpt. It was something really different...
Figures.com: Two of the things that distinguish your figures from others are the clothing and hair. Do you do all of the tailoring in-house?
RT: Yes, for the fashion dolls. I have an in-house designer who was in the garment center. We both have garment center backgrounds and we both really know what we're looking at. For something like Harry Potter though, it's already designed for us - the interpretation.
Figures.com: Have you seen your distribution changing?
RT: Hopefully it will change and it'll grow. Hopefully we won't loose our doll (retailers). They're very nice people and we've worked with a lot of them a long time.
The grandmotherly lady who comes into a store to buy a doll in a dress for her bedroom; I don't think that's where the action is at. I think it's more with a younger group of collectors...
Figures.com: Can you tell us about any future plans you have now?
RT: I think I can talk about this one - we just signed The Golden Compass. The Golden Compass has some fashion elements in it, the fantasy elements, stuff like that...
Figures.com: One question a lot of 1:6 scale customizers have is do you have plans to sell the 16" male or female body blank to be used for customizing? There are a lot of 1:6 scale customizers out there that would like to use a larger, more muscular body for their fantasy or science fiction figures.
RT: There are those people in the fashion doll world - repaint or "face up" artists - and they reroot the hair and paint the faces. Personally I think it's crazy, but I (also) think it's a wonderful thing when someone can take something and turn it into their own artwork. And that's what these people do. We could never manufacture like that - it'd take a week to paint a face.
To answer your question - yes, that is something we're considering...
