Last week, we published that looked at a team of four toy designers Chris Dahlberg, H. Eric Mayse, Jim Preziosi and Eric Treadaway faced with a quandary: how to expand their business so that they are not so dependent on their one big client, Mattel. Their company, the , has revenue of more than $500,polo ralph lauren Felix Salmon,polo ralph lauren,000 a year, most of it from its contract work for Mattel,polo ralph lauren The New York Times Search for Ju. They have a staff of three to help with sculpting,ralph lauren, painting and shipping in their workshop in Butler, N.J.
They want to design and sell their own collectible action figures, but their work for Mattel leaves them with little time to focus on their own toy lines,sac pliage longchamp. They have created four lines so far, but to be successful,polo ralph lauren pas cher, they believe the lines need a back story supported by content from movies,borse louis vuitton, TV or comic books,5. Learn to Say No.
In 2008, the Horsemen met with a production company, 4Kids Entertainment,polo homme polo homme 2010 February Felix Salmon - Part 5, about creating an animated television series, but the financial crisis hit, and the deal fell apart. They would still like to pursue an animated series but have been looking for smaller ways to build their concepts,polo ralph lauren pas cher, like through comic books and graphic novels. To help develop story concepts, they are putting together a style guide. To get some marketing advice,ralph lauren pas cher polo femme Thomson Reuters News and In, they are seeking representation with a brand developer.
Hoping to appeal to the nostalgia of their adult collectors, they licensed the ,polo ralph lauren,longchamp pas cher, a line of action figures produced by Colorforms in the late ’60s. The first four figures, with a production run of 300 each, came out in July 2010 and sold quickly for $10 apiece. That was followed by three more production runs and four new figures last summer. The men were invited organize a gallery show in February in Manhattan,polo femme, where they displayed current and coming figures and coaxed the creator of the Outer Space Men,polo lacoste pas cher, , to meet with fans.
Overall, the men say they realize that the market for collectible action figures can be difficult. When the cost of toys goes up, adults tend to spend less on themselves,sac pliage longchamp,Correction: June 22, 2012. “Parents will always buy toys for their kids,” Mr. Treadaway said. “But if adults have a choice to buy a Superman figure or pay rent, they are going to pay rent.”
What success have you had with the Outer Space Men?
“It’s kind of like the little unknown line that could,” Mr. Mayse said,sac longchamp pas cher. “It was a distant nostalgic memory. We revived it and gave it new life. We are selling more and more with each release and are looking into acquiring other old misfit licenses.”
“It has given us the taste for picking up a license; it’s something we would do in the future,” Mr. Treadaway said. “We are able to take a line that’s 45 years old and bring it back to collectors’ collective consciousness. We are proud of the fact that we were able to bring a little bit of action figure history back.”
Would you consider renegotiating your contract with Mattel or moving the company to California,polo ralph lauren outlet, as a reader suggested on the blog?
“There’s just no need to renegotiate; the relationship we have with them is fantastic,” Mr. Treadaway said. “We have our roots here. We are close to New York Comic Con and Toy Fair and Toy Tokyo,louis vuitton borse, where we do our gallery show. There are a lot of resources out here.”
How do you feel about having an outside team develop an animated series for TV or the Web?
“The in Orlando,sac pliage longchamp,polo ralph lauren pas cher, Fla., did one for us three years ago, in 2009,” Mr. Mayse said. “They put it up on their site. What they had done is to ask us to allow them to use our characters to allow their students to create a ‘,’ so to speak,polo ralph lauren pas cher.”
“The idea behind it was a mutually beneficial project,ralph lauren pas cher,” Mr. Treadaway said,polo ralph lauren pas cher. “They were creating something new. They were able to bring our name to it to utilize that. They had a great product at the end, and we were able to use that as well. Everyone won at the end of it.”
Your fan base is very loyal. What do you think about tapping that as a source of investment financing with a crowdfunding site like ?
“In reality, we did a Kickstarter campaign when we sold the original 7th Kingdom figures,” Mr. Preziosi said. “We can revisit that concept and possibly tweak that into different offerings.”
“We’ve really come to understand how important the fan base is to us, how important their dedication is,” Mr. Treadaway said,sac longchamp. “That’s part of the direction we are looking into to find ways to get fans more involved again. It’s so important to the success of these lines.”
Correction A previous version of this post incorrectly attributed the comments of Mr. Treadaway to Mr. Dahlberg.