We have the latest Ask Jakks with Craig Drobis, and you can check out this months Q&A below. 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 August 15th, 2021 (send these in right away before we max out of submissions).
Update 8/10 – Submissions are now closed. Check back for your answers.
Jakks Pacific products can be ordered on Entertainment Earth, BigBadToyStore, Hobby Link Japan, and Amazon.
1. Any plans for more Mega Man action figure toylines akin to the “Fully Charged” series to be released in the near future (hopefully this year)? For about the past decade, the Mega Man license has been passed around various companies so much that fans and stores are repeatedly left with mostly figures of Mega Man himself, some of his allies, but a scarce amount of villains (Robot Masters, Mavericks, etc) with whom to battle. Personally, I’ve felt that the Fully Charged series was the best provider for Mega Man villain toys in years and that we hopefully get to see a similar main (non-8-bit) toyline for the Classic, X, or other parts of the franchise you have access to.
We are pleased that you enjoyed the Mega Man line and it was a fun one to work on. Unfortunately the viewership of the series and sales of the toys didn’t achieve the levels we were all expecting given what a great franchise this is. There were several cool characters in the show to produce that we never got to. So, for now, Jakks is passing the baton to someone else.
2. The 2.5 inch figures in the Sonic line, will the 4 inch come with different arms pose?
That is something we are looking at as a means to provide some new iterations of Sonic. Articulation is being explored as well. The challenge is that the arms are thin and it doesn’t always look right in the final product.
3. Any chance that the blue chaos emerald be re-release with a different figure that isn’t from previous wave?
There is always a chance. We try to pair unique accessories that make the most sense with the figures. Of course, when we are talking about the emeralds, there are lots of options, as there are several different colors of emeralds to execute.
4. Will there be a re-release of the Chao figure?
There are lots of characters in the world to play with and the Chaos are certainly fan favorites. I’m sure we will revisit them and have different versions in the future. Exactly when is to be determined.
5. Will there be figures of characters from Sonic spin-off games like Sonic Riders, Tails Adventures, Tails Sky patrol, Sonic Boom,and Sonic fighters?
It may be possible, but there are no immediate plans. There is plenty to work with in the games we are pursuing at this point. Thank you for the suggestions. What characters from these games would you recommend?
6. Will there be a Buzz Bomber figure based on it generation design like the moto bug figure? The Buzz Bomber that they are releasing is based off it lost world look.
First, I really like the Buzz Bomber we released. It looks really good and I know the team is proud of it. As I have said before, one of the many great things about this franchise is that there are a lot of great characters and multiple versions of them to produce. We know people have their favorites. Hopefully the line will continue to sell as it has and we can do them all. In the meantime, we will talk to the team about Sonic Generations and make sure it is on the list for discussion as we build our plans. Thank you.
7. And will there be a Buzz Bomber and Moto bug figures for the 4 inch figures?
We aren’t really in the position to announce waves into the future so unfortunately the answer will be similar to some of the other questions. We appreciate the suggestions and really do take them under advisement, but we aren’t making any announcements at this time.
8. Any plans for more Mega Man action figure toylines akin to the “Fully Charged” series to be released in the near future (hopefully this year)? For about the past decade, the Mega Man license has been passed around various companies so much that fans and stores are repeatedly left with mostly figures of Mega Man himself, some of his allies, but a scarce amount of villains (Robot Masters, Mavericks, etc) with whom to battle. Personally, I’ve felt that the Fully Charged series was the best provider for Mega Man villain toys in years and that we hopefully get to see a similar main (non-8-bit) toyline for the Classic, X, or other parts of the franchise you have access to.
This is a repeat of the above.
9. With the announcement of the new Sonic show; ‘Sonic Prime’ coming to Netflix in 2022, I was just wondering about two things: Will Jakks Pacific be making any merchandise and action figures to coincide with the show’s release?
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10 If you will be making action figures for the series, how will this affect the current Sonic toy line? Will it be it’s own ‘sub-line’ like Movies? Or will it be integrated into the mainline waves (i.e. would there be like 1 or 2 new Prime related figures per wave for example)?
I hope this is alright to answer at the moment.
N/A