Craig Drobis is the SVP of Marketing for boys action figures and collectors for Jakks Pacific. Craig will be answering your questions for all Ask Jakks submissions. ToyHypeUSA will be sending him monthly questions and we will have your answers back on or around the beginning of each month. Send us your questions to [email protected] by September 31st.
1. People are finding repaint figures based on the Batman v Superman sculpts. There is a Man of Steel in black costumes with red glowing eyes, a darker color costume Wonder Woman and pics of a black armor Batman. There were any announcement about these figures. Is there any thoughts on maybe updating the fans on Facebook or on your website. Easier to keep track of new releases.
That was definitely an oversight on our part, while also one of the challenges we face. We like to communicate things early, but sometimes they don’t end up in production for a variety of reasons. The black armored Batman is an example. We built that for a wave that did not go into production before we shipped the new Justice League product. This one is on us though. Here are images of the Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman redecos from BvS which did go into production.
2. The new Justice League Batman figure has a lot of reuse parts from the Batman v Superman version. Was this based on lack of reference material or a budget concern? The cowl from Justice League is very different than the previous movies.
You are correct that we needed to borrow parts from the BvS Batman in order to make the production schedule. That said, we wanted also to make sure we had all the details in the Tactical Suit version which we revealed at San Diego Comic Con which is why it is a little delayed. Tactical Suit Batman releases first with added accessories at Target and should be hitting store shelves in the next couple weeks. Hopefully this one will get everyone excited. And if that doesn’t do it, Aquaman closer to movie time will.
3. Are there currently any 20″ deluxe figures in the works? The deluxe Batman and Darth Vader are both very impressive releases.
Right now, the Darth Vader and Batman are the only deluxe figures we have produced. We have concepted up some others which just haven’t gone into production unfortunately.
4. Will there be any new comic bases DC characters coming out this year? And more so, would love to see another female figure like Batigrl or Powergirl(probably with a new unique body sculpt.).
I believe we have announced all of the DC Comic figures for this year. Toys R Us is carrying them and TRU and Amazon are the everyday places to find them. We have long list of next characters to add to the assortment, and we are working through that, including the SDCC suggestions. More to come later there.
5. Jakks Pacific recently mentioned that the Big Figs line is focused on DCEU movie characters at this time. Is the DC Comics Originals “Bronze Age” comic book Big Fig of Wonder Woman still due for release?
Yes, the comic Wonder Woman has been produced and if it hasn’t reached retailers yet, it will soon. I know Toys R Us is one of the retailers who will have it.
On a total separate note, I really do appreciate all the questions, comments and feedback you all send our way. We at Jakks really do want to make toys that we are proud to sell and you are proud to play and display. We are continually looking for ways to improve which is where the feedback is helpful. I am hopeful there will be more new features and benefits to the Big Figs line in the future that we can announce, we have some major new properties we are working on for 2018 for all scales of figures, and I haven’t even mentioned the much appreciated, tremendous support we receive from you all on the World of Nintendo line which we feel is our strongest this year and will be even better next year. Keep the questions and comments coming.