Piko Interactive, a company that holds rights to video game properties such as Glover, Shadow Madness, 40 Winks, and many more is launching an action figure line. Toyetico is the subsidiary that will handle taking video game characters from Piko properties into the real world with custom action figures. These figures are 100% original and created in a similar fashion as other action figures gamers grew up with. The first title in this new toy line is the Gremlin Graphics action game, Switchblade.
Under the ownership of Piko Interactive, Switchblade has seen a port to the Atari Jaguar and the Sega Genesis consoles. This is a common occurrence for Piko when they acquire the rights to titles, they begin work on completing any incomplete portions of a game then put in development ports to other platforms. Piko Interactive has also embraced the digital marketplace as well as continuing to support physical releases. The Switchblade toy line will feature Steam keys for a copy of the game included in the package.
Originally developed by Core Design (Tomb Raider, Rick Dangerous, Wolfchild) and published by Gremlin Interactive (Top Gear, Body Harvest, Zool) Switchblade saw release on many platforms and garnered a cult following within the gaming community. Toyetico’s Kickstarter for the new Switchblade action figure line starts with the protagonist from the game, Hiro, with stretch goals allowing for expansion of the line to include enemies.
Switchblade’s Hiro figure features nine points of articulation as well as a similar size to familiar action figure lines of the 1990’s such as Toybiz, Playmates, and Hasbro. This gives the Toyetico line of toys an instant familiarity for fans and collectors. Each action figure will ship in standardized packaging – blister pack on card with graphics depending on how well the Kickstarter performs (if additional enemies are unlocked then graphics on all cards could change significantly).
The minimum funding goal is $8,500 which will pay for 1,000 figures to be created. Creation of those figures requires tooling and factory setup. Estimated delivery to backers is fourth quarter 2019. To find out more about this project head over to their Kickstarter page.
