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]. Send in your questions by December 15th.
Jakks Pacific products can be ordered on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Megalopolis: City Of Collectibles, Hobby Link Japan, and Amazon.com.
1. Do you have any idea when the Sonic The Hedgehog Toy line will be released in Australia?
We are really excited about the Sonic line and the early sales in the US and UK are telling us that fans are too. As far as Australian distribution specifically, I know some product is shipping in January and should arrive in the first quarter. We are trying to get more there.
2. Could a Yoshi’s Island playset for the 2.5” Super Mario line be possible especially considering that Jakks has already released many of Yoshi’s variant colored figures?
Yoshi is clearly a favorite character and one we always have positive reactions to. At this point, we have several great Mario themed playsets and several more in development for 2020. I hope you all are enjoying them. Yoshi’s Island is not currently in the development plans and is definitely one to consider for the future.
3. The Last Kids on Earth line that was shown at San Diego Comic-Con, are there any possibilities to expand the product line with articulated figures?
We have looked at evolving the line over time and are working on what the long term plan will be for a property we think will be around for several years. For now, we wanted to make sure that the monsters like Blarg, the Dozers, and the Wretch were properly executed and in a representative scale to our heroes. If we were to have Quint, Dirk, June and Jack in 5″ or 6″ scale, the monsters would be massive and we view this as a world to collect into where you want the heroes and the Zombies and Monsters. We are really excited how the line turned out and we are shipping it to retail now so look for it on Amazon, Target.com, Walmart.com and in stores soon.
4. Hi, Are there any chances we’ll see a reissue of Bowser Jr in the 2.5” line? A lot of the earlier figures have a pretty high markup right now.
After over six years of producing Nintendo figures, we have a large bank of figures to work with and we know people have started buying into the line at various times. We do try to strike the balance of having new figures and reissues. I know when I speak with fans, some only want new and some want more reissues. We are doing our best to please as many people as we can while also inviting new fans into the product line. The short answer to your question is that I am sure Bowser Jr. will return at some point, I just don’t know exactly when at this time.
5. Are there any plans to update the articulation of some of the 2.5” figure line for Super Mario? I would love to have a Princess and Mario with articulated arms and legs in that scale? Maybe 5-6 points would be enough? Has there been any demand for more articulation outside the 4” figures?
Articulation in the 2.5″ scale is something we have revisited a few times and have tried to make work. The figures being the size that they are creates some challenges and they vary by character. To get significant movement in the legs as an example, some significant cuts in the pants would need to be made to get forward and backward motion. We want to make sure the final look of the figure when standing represents the character well and then the articulation adds to the play. We know fans want to recreate the iconic poses and limited articulation in this scales has been the best way to execute this. I can say the investigation is on going, but no solutions have been found to date.