ZICA Doing Captain Action

[ZICA]

Craig, I really, really hope this works out for you this time. You deserve success for all of your efforts. That prototype is just gorgeous. I'm not going to sugarcoat it though...I'm extremely worried about your teaming up with Ed and Joe, because they have completely and utterly botched the 12" Captain Action line.
I saw the pics from their booth. Promoting Loki? Really? That set came out what...two or three years ago now? Where are the DC sets they keep promising? Where is this supposedly in development animated series? These guys are really good at promising a lot and delivering little.

Perfectly said Dwayne. I second the motion. I wish you all the best Craig with this line, but watch those guys. Their reputation for backstabbing when the well runs dry is documented in great detail.

Thanks for the compliments on the figure guys, I really appreciate it! As for how things are being handled with the 12" line, I really can't say anything about that. However, I can say that Ed and Joe have been very easy to work with on the 4" line. They've pretty much given me free reign on the design and development side of things which has been a huge help.

[TRDouble]

I don't know much about Ed and Joe, but I do know that TRU seems to have screwed Round2Corp, which made the 12" figures. TRU decided not to order the last Marvel Wave, reportedly because they had enough of backlogged Iron Man toys. Whatever the reason, TRU canceling their order is what caused the Iron Man and Wolverine sets to be scaled back from Deluxe Sets to just standard sets with the remaining Hawkeye costume pieces.

I was looking forward to the DC costume sets and even stocked up on Captain Action basic figures when TRU was selling them for $7.49 (TRU wanted to really, really get rid of these things). I think the biggest problem is that the majority of the figures I got were junk. Loose screws. Missing screws. Weak joints. One Dr. Evil was missing a hand!

I picked up all of the deluxe Marvel sets on the cheap and they are okay. Thor, Loki, and Hawkeye are nice. Spider-Man is okay. Captain America's mask ruins it and tall Wolverine just looks silly. Iron Man is silly looking too, but I like it for some reason. Even if it is nothing like the promo shots and, at least on Amazon, the promoted sales pictures.

I think the 12" CA line has a lot more to do with shoddy work done by Round2Corp than anyone else. And you cannot sell what retailers don't want and I doubt TRU wants these anymore. I hope the NYCC Exclusive has better QC.

The Tonner and GoHero Lady Action figures look nice though. Just way out of my price range these days.

[levyguy]

The ZICA CA looks very good. I hope the line gets produced and does well.

I think TRU got screwed by Round 2, which promised them costumes they did not deliver and TRU had ordered extra CA figures in anticipation of sets that R2 never provided.
Instead of releasing the DC sets they promised us two years ago, they offered 2 characters which TRU did not want, and did not sell well in Comic book stores.
The quality was poor on those sets.

The SM and BM sets would have sold well.

So much is being misdirected with CA- it is a shame. They need to get back to the original CA line, produce the sets and figures exactly as Ideal & Pm did, with reasonable price points.

[Scousebadger]

Comment removed.

[the_Archivist]

Craig,

That is a great looking figure. I can't wait until the campaign starts to see the other CA decos.

Do you plan on having digital or physical prototypes of the other 3 characters by the time the KS starts or will you have those done if the funding unlocks them?

[gaga4toyz]

Craig once again you have done a great job. I really like your execution of this figure. It looks like a modern figure with a nod to the classic CA we love. I will be supporting your efforts on kickstarter.

[ZICA]

Craig,

That is a great looking figure. I can't wait until the campaign starts to see the other CA decos.

Do you plan on having digital or physical prototypes of the other 3 characters by the time the KS starts or will you have those done if the funding unlocks them?

The other three characters will only be shown as concept art for the Kickstarter because the cost of getting them digitally sculpted is very expensive, and way too much of a financial risk for me at this point.

Craig once again you have done a great job. I really like your execution of this figure. It looks like a modern figure with a nod to the classic CA we love. I will be supporting your efforts on kickstarter.

Thanks for the compliment Jason, and for your support on the Kickstarter. Both are greatly appreciated

[the_Archivist]

Craig,

With your license to do 4" Captain Action figures does that include representations of Marvel/DC/Lone Ranger attire or would those not be included in your license. Captain Action seems like a unique property due to his ability to take the form of so many other characters from other properties. It would seem like a licensing nightmare if you had to get individual licenses from each property.

[ZICA]

Craig,

With your license to do 4" Captain Action figures does that include representations of Marvel/DC/Lone Ranger attire or would those not be included in your license. Captain Action seems like a unique property due to his ability to take the form of so many other characters from other properties. It would seem like a licensing nightmare if you had to get individual licenses from each property.

Sorry to say but the license is only for Captain Action. Any additional characters outside of that property would require another license.

[the_Archivist]

Sorry to say but the license is only for Captain Action. Any additional characters outside of that property would require another license.

That's no problem for me. I still plan on pledging for anything that is available. I'll probably get a couple extra and put his head on the Boss Fight V-HACK Blanks or paint the CA figure to achieve the different costume designs. A couple water slide decals is all that is really needed for some of them.

Is late October still the planned Go-Live for the campaign?

[ZICA]

That's no problem for me. I still plan on pledging for anything that is available. I'll probably get a couple extra and put his head on the Boss Fight V-HACK Blanks or paint the CA figure to achieve the different costume designs. A couple water slide decals is all that is really needed for some of them.

Is late October still the planned Go-Live for the campaign?

The way it's looking now the Kickstarter campaign will most likely happen in November. There's still a few details that need to be ironed out first, the biggest of which is finding a reliable factory.

[scott metzger]

I think some good stuff can be done just with the actual CA characters. As someone who had the original CA back in the 60's, I'm really glad to see something good being done with him. I got all the Round 2 stuff, but was saddened to see how it sort of ground to a halt (I stocked up on CA's during the TRU sale as some others did in anticipation of the DC costumes). I'm still waiting to hear any info about the 12" Lady Action that was shown briefly at SDCC. Seeing something like this that can actually go forward is good right now; the idea of the 4" line with the potential for a vehicle appeals very much. I hope this gets the funding and you (and we) can get all we can out of the license.

The figure itself looks fantastic and heroic (the original looked so scared I eventually used him as Shaggy from Scooby Doo as a kid), and I'd honestly be tempted to get him even if I'd never seen Captain Action before.

[the_Archivist]

How is the factory search going? Hopefully well.

That would seem like a very difficult part of the whole process.

Out of curiosity, since you have produced figures before and have multiple contacts from other action figure companies like Biff Bang Pow, Boss Fight, wouldn't you have some "go to" factories already picked or is the whole process of getting a reliable factory that won't steal your products really convoluted? I'd be worried my product would end up on E-bay from one of those Chinese E-bay companies that seems to sell lots of out of production action figures or something and it would undercut the whole project.

[ZICA]

How is the factory search going? Hopefully well.

That would seem like a very difficult part of the whole process.

Out of curiosity, since you have produced figures before and have multiple contacts from other action figure companies like Biff Bang Pow, Boss Fight, wouldn't you have some "go to" factories already picked or is the whole process of getting a reliable factory that won't steal your products really convoluted? I'd be worried my product would end up on E-bay from one of those Chinese E-bay companies that seems to sell lots of out of production action figures or something and it would undercut the whole project.

I'm talking with a new factory now and so far things seem to be going well.

Without going into all the specifics, working with factories that are being used by other companies isn't always an option or the best choice. There might be QC issues going on that you're aware of, or the company just isn't willing to share the factory information. As I've said before, you're pretty much taking a gamble when dealing with Chinese factories. Even having someone over there to represent your company isn't a very effective safeguard. Basically you just have to hope you eventually find one that's trustworthy and can produce product at the quality level you're striving for. This isn't easy, but it is possible.

[the_Archivist]

I'm talking with a new factory now and so far things seem to be going well.

Without going into all the specifics, working with factories that are being used by other companies isn't always an option or the best choice. There might be QC issues going on that you're aware of, or the company just isn't willing to share the factory information. As I've said before, you're pretty much taking a gamble when dealing with Chinese factories. Even having someone over there to represent your company isn't a very effective safeguard. Basically you just have to hope you eventually find one that's trustworthy and can produce product at the quality level you're striving for. This isn't easy, but it is possible.

That doesn't seem like a chance I would enjoy having to try and take. I'm glad there are people like you and other small toy companies willing to take on those risks to bring us such great figures.

I can't wait for the KS to start and hopefully it goes really well for you.

I like the new Eagle Force RIOT Trooper reveal as well. I could see these replacing GI Joe in many fans eyes.