Next up was Jakks' first Comic-Con panel ever, no doubt a result of Scott "Toy Guru" Neitlich recently joining their team.
Thursday, July 9, 12:00pm, Room 29AB. The panel consisted of:
Scott Neitlich, Marketing Director
Alec Willis, Art Director, Packaging
Jose Alvarez, Senior Designer
Eli Halpert, Senior Designer, big figs
Peter Skourtis, Senior Director of Design
I must confess that at least half my interest in this panel was just to see how "ToyGuru"-y Neitlich would be post-Mattel... and the answer is about 75% as much. While definitely seeming a bit more casual and relaxed than at the Mattypalooza panels of yesteryear he was still laying on the marketing schmooze and constantly trying to get the room excited by how many "cool" licenses Jakks has. The rest of the team seemed pretty cool, though, and even asked the room some questions during the Q&A once audience questions dried up.
There wasn't a whole lot of news or reveals, it seems, and the 6" range of World of Nintendo was conspicuously unmentioned, but there is still some neat stuff coming out. They're also launching a new pseudo-3D-printer craft product that, honestly, sounds pretty intriguing (at the least) and fairly cool (at the most). I'm definitely curious to try it out once it hits shelves. Seems like it could actually be a pretty fun designer toy customizing thing.
(In an effort to get all this info to you as timely as possibly I present my notes to you here is rough form, please bear with the brevity)
New logo, been around for 20 years
Marvel
RC cars
Big Figs
20", $20
31" = massive scale, $30
48" = colossal scale
DC
20" - classic characters, Batman Superman Flash
31" - classic Batman
BvS - 20" Supes, Bat (armored), WW - 31" Bat Supes
Star Wars
20" - Jedi Luke, Greedo, ESB Fett; Bossk, farm Luke, Tuskan raider
31" - 20" Yoda for $35; R2-D2 Basic = head and shoulders and wheels + deluxe with lights and sounds and motorized head and motorized wobble on legs
Colossal Vader will have interactive lights and sounds, can play with him or against him
Power Rangers
Dino Riders Red Ranger 20" 31"
TMNT
Colossal Leo up next, comes with katanas that fit INSIDE shell
Minons
20" Kevin, heads opens for storage
World of Nintendo
Plush, 8-bit plush 9" tall, novelty plush with sound features,
Big figs - Mario, fire Mario, Yoshi, Link
4" -
2.5" - 8bit then back to 3d, scales are comparable, 2" goomba and 4" Mario
8" rc car
Warcraft
Movie got moved up so toys aren't ready yet, but they have the master toy license for the property
Will be doing 6" figures comparable to other 6" collector lines
Doing 2" Army builder packs, will be like the Play Along sets from LotR
Halo
31" master chief, extra point of articulation at bicep and elbow to allow for signature pose, basic and deluxe versions
3Dit
Activity product, sort of a 3d printer for kids
Molds, wax colors, decals
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Q&A
Halo characters other than master chief? Definitely, but all would be 31" scale
Nintendo F0? Not at the moment
Working on cool new technology? Exploring different ways to make things playable, new scale so still learning how people play with and display them
Nintendo vehicles for Star Fox? Exploring that idea, Peppy figure will be coming
Sculpting in clay or 3d? 3D, these toys are big so it would be too time consuming to hand sculpt all the texturing and detailing
Peter asked us how we display, buy them for kids and they hold up, takes them to work and uses them to scare coworkers,
Interactivity with phones and tablets? Yeah, we have a dept that focuses on that, next year there should be new stuff, but at the same time we want kids to be running around and playing with them
3Dit does have a dedicated app, to pre-select and virtually create your character while the figure is being made
Blank sticker sheets to create your own deco? No, but now there will be
Does the wax melt after time? Room temperature won't affect the plastic, they'll survive the sun and outdoors, etc. it's a special wax meant specifically for this kind of molding
Wax is only primary colors - can you make an Aquaman with orange shirt and green pants? You could cast the different pieces in different colors
Is the skeleton articulated? Yes - head, shoulders, legs, waist and torso. Can cast only specific pieces at a time
