Update: Fisher Price let us know of a couple of key points including:
- Imaginext Mad Scientist Lab was the small playset in the Monsters line coming this Fall. This will be exclusive to K-Mart.
- The blind-bag mystery figure isn’t actually Breaking Bad’s Walter White, just a generic character in a hazmat suit. With kids in mind, Fisher Price uses real-life uniforms in this line and not inspired characters from TV. Both are updated below.
Continuing our coverage of the Fisher Price Tour from yesterday (and make sure check out The Heritage Center Coverage), we have full coverage of our meeting with the Global Marketing and Design Team of the Imaginext line.
One interesting tidbit is that we were told that ToyHypeUSA was the first website to visit Fisher Price and the brand team. We are honored by this and appreciate the opportunity and look forward to revisiting in the future.
The night before, we received an email from ToyHypeUSA reader Richard G. sending in questions, and providing us with concept art of Masters of the Universe vs. DC Superhero 2 Packs.
First off, we are happy to report that Fisher Price can make brands that Mattel is currently producing such as Masters of the Universe, ThunderCats, Ghostbusters, and other lines such as Dino Riders (Mattel is looking into it as we reported at SDCC). MOTU, ThunderCats and Ghostbusters has been discussed at Fisher Price on more than one occasion. The timing needs to be right and has to work in conjunction with Mattel. For example: Mattel is releasing more of the Mini Masters, and if Fisher Price wants to make 2″ figures, it can’t correspond with what Mattel is doing. All of these lines would also be open to the possibility of beasts such as BattleCat, vehicles, and play sets such as Castle Grayskull. However, they want to make these figures better than the standard Imaginext figure, with better sculpting and detail. Another big factor is that they would need an animated series as children won’t relate to the franchise.
Reader Questions & Answers from Fisher Price:
Q: Any future female figures in the foreseeable future, ie: Batgirl, Huntress….
Yes, more females are coming. Fisher Price will look at live action movies and what’s popular right now.
Q: With the new Batcave that’s being released, are they looking to do anything with the vehicle assortment….
Add new / change or redesign any?
For the $15 price point, they will continue to make new characters and include different vehicle not previously offered.
Q: how about the expansion of the Movie Superman wirh the coming Dawn of Justice movie… much like Mattel did with the Kal-el vs Zod & fortress of Solitude playset?
They are looking at Superman.
Q: How about going retro with the Super Friends JUSTICE LEAGUE & create a HALL OF JUSTICE from the 70-80s animated shows from Hanna Barbera…?
They did do a Hall of Justice as an International release, and a Fall 2015 release in the U.S.
Q: I have noticed in the single pack series that you have been putting out that there is a recurring theme of original (Universal Monsters) ie. DRACULA, Frankenstein, Wolfman…
as well as the sports oriented theme like the boxer, pro wrestler, female snowboarder…
Forgive my ignorance, but I’m not familiar with any playset that these would correlate with these themes….
Are there any plans to make an OLYMPIC ARENA for these sports related generic characters or a haunted Castle playset for the monsters related figures…
Updated: There is a small playset coming for the Monsters line called The Mad Scientist Lab as a K-Mart exclusive this Fall (shown below).
The Olympics are on radar.
Q: Also, I have noticed that whomever is creating the characters has been sneaking in some adult themed characters into the single figure blind pack assortments. For example, the Planet of the Apes Spaceman, or the Breaking Bad yellow hazmat suit Walter White.
As a collector oriented blog site, our readers want to know if there were others that we have missed & if so, which ones from which series & can you hint at what we can look for next???
Maybe a scarface figure with a Tommy gun or a clint Eastwood cowboy figure with his poncho & a fistful of dollar bills?
Or how about a BACK TO THE FUTURE MARTY MCFLY, wearing his puffy red down vest… or maybe a Gene Simmons Kiss like axe bass guitar rock star???
Updated: The figure in the hazmat suit isn’t actually Breaking Bad’s Walter White. Fisher Price used the hazmat suit as a real-life uniform. The line is inspired with kids in mind and is more generic. The Space Monkey isn’t meant to be Planet of the Apes, and just something that they dug up for fun.
Back to the Future is possible assuming there is a new movie or some other media to back it up.
Q: Are there any new licensing agreements that have recently been procured that you would be able to share with us….
No, they had announced Power Rangers last year.
Q: As a fan of the line from the beginning back in the mid 90’s when they were genric body types, going fast forward to now, I am pleased & excited with how detail oriented you get with the figures yet you still don’t loose the feel for the pre-school brand. With that said, how do you decide where to put the details, for example, a figure with a costume… do you put detail into the body or into the accessories that go on the figure… What’s the deciding factor?
Fisher Price builds each characters off the basic body buck and has to be safe for Pre-Kindergarden age. Helmets have to fit on a specific character and also be safe for children.
Q: Batmobiles
1966 Adam West – A retool/more authentic version is possible.
1989 Michael Keaton – Possible
Arkham Knight – Possible
Q: The Wonder Twins (with Gleek), Giganta and Toyman (to finish the Legion of Doom), Shazam, additional females?
All under discussion.
Additional tidbits of information:
Since the Imaginext line is geared towards children, Fisher Price can get away with creating something unique that has no source material such as this version of the Batmobile.
Fisher Price is currently doing something like Dino Riders, and we have to say the dinosaurs that they are making are better than what Hasbro had to offer in the Jurassic World line. Of course, if Fisher Price were to do Dino Riders, the T-Rex would need a helmet, weapons, armor, and technology attached to him.
The DC line shown in our gallery is coming this Fall 2015. ToyHypeUSA were given advanced samples and we will be reviewing these.
