Thread 11614212

Greetings /toy/, I come to you with two thread topics today, for which I will make one thread asking both things.

One: do you know how to get a toy line idea off the ground? I have a really good idea for a line of action figures that I probably should have had the clarity to pursue twenty years ago, it's long overdue and even now would revitalize the action figure market. That's all the details I'm going to give you about it in this post. Unless you can give me enough details about how to actualize this idea to persuade me to share more.

My next question, is if any of you know what I'm talking about when I search for a 2003 action figure of Batman holding the Joker up by the neck during an interrogation, and the Joker is wearing a straightjacket? I thought the figure seemed controversial at the time with the Joker being defenseless, but I'm sure that action figure contributed to the Joker interrogation scene from 2008 and would love to buy that figure for my desk.

That's all!

>>11614212 (OP)
How you get a new idea off the ground is:
1. know how to design and produce the initial concept figures you want

2. google toy factory outsource sources to produce, and let them handle physical production

3. know how to copyright your brand as well as within-brand character likenesses and names (which count separately).

4. NETWORKING! Show up at toy conventions big and small to promote the brand.

How many millions of dollars do you have and how many contacts in china do you have for factories?

If you have neither then you're not getting anything done.

Feel like being a chinaman living in china is the way to make toys in current year. Seen so many rando brands pop up this year and feels like their production pipeline has been so fast
>make a 3D sculpt
>3D print and paint a prototype
>show it off on Chinese social media or at a Chinese toy convention
>some marketing company picks it up and works with sites to put up photos and preorders
>some factory picks it up and starts production
>???
>few months later it is in customer hands

Seems a lot harder if you are American

>>11614212 (OP)
>>11614212 (OP)
The concept in your head is all you got?

You need to start building a fanbase and hype. Promote your ideas, show 3D renders, drawings. With all of this it's going to be easier for you later on.
Before you start searching for a toy factory, you need to have your prototype done. Sculpted or 3D printed. Designers need to know what they are dealing with to estimate the costs.
Then you start your kick-starter campaign unless you got ten of thousands of dollars saved already.

To show you how expensive is to make your own toy, simple 5POA Flip-or figures, full of reused parts made by youtuber Mad Hatter, required 200.000 usd to be made.

>>11614228
>5POA Flip-or figures, full of reused parts made by youtuber Mad Hatter, required 200.000 usd to be made.
Flip-or only required $100,000 but he raised $200k. It's still not a good example because Mad Hatter is a greedy Jew and/or didn't do his research to bring down the cost. Savage Crucible needed only $120,000 to make a wave of fully articulated figures with reused bucks but really nice paint decos. Their second and third waves in that Kickstarter both unlocked at $242,000 and were both completely different builds.
Defenders of Eden only needed $110,000.
Hatter's numbers never added up when comparing his Kickstarter to other Kickstarters for higher quality toys.

>>11614226
>Seems a lot harder if you are American
Because Americans are low iq niggers

Thanks for your input ol chaps, I knew I could count on you. Another question: what's the best software to make 3D designs that would then be used in moulds? Or what does the process of drawing it out until it's sculpted look like, is there a lot of advanced geometry involved? Explain it to me like I'm five

>>11614226
What's the best random brand you've seen pop up this year that hasn't tanked yet? Maybe sharing this idea with them would be mutually beneficial if they already have all the manufacturing stuff set up and if they're struggling to keep it

>>11614316
Thanks for the info and comparisons, anon, didn't knew that.
>>11614345
So you literaly don't have anything? Not even drawings? Let's be real, if you haven't done anything in 20 years, you'll never do it.

Industry standard for 3D sculpting is ZBrush. It's good but getting the software is a pain, so I persinally use Blender. For 3D model to happen, you need reference drawings, so basically drawings and sketches showing your projects from different angles. If you don't know how to draw and 3D sculpt, then you will have to hire artists, good ones cost a ton. And they will do the basic T pose sculpt not a fully functional action figure. Learning all of this yourself can take years to make stuff that looks decent.

Moulds are done in CAD. You wont do those but engineers specialized in injection moulding.

>>11614212 (OP)
>I have a really good idea for a line of action figures that I probably should have had the clarity to pursue twenty years ago, it's long overdue and even now would revitalize the action figure market

$10 says it's our 3D print vaporware anon at it again with a different format

>>11614391
Your $10 is mine, I'm a first time /toy/ poster itt. And you guys have persuaded me enough, the idea is for /mu/ action figures of 80s metal bands in the headbanging pose and with speakers inside the toy amplifiers to play the music. If any of you can help me with this I will leave my email in the field

>>11614402
Do you want them to be licenced? I doubt this can be done with reasonable amount of money. Putting speakers inside the figure with all the electronics requires is impossible. Quality of the sound would be bad, battery life would be short and collectors don't care about gimmicks like that. Better solution would be literal concert speaker accessory.

In my opinion, your idea is to unrealistic. I don't think there is an audience for that.

>>11614443
Why wouldn't it be plugged into the wall? There are little Bose speakers the size of a 7" figure's Marshall stack that sounds great

>>11614443
If there is an audience for Kiss figurines then why wouldn't there be an audience for stereo speaker toys of other full bands?

This is something that definitely would have been a great idea 20 years ago, and the Comedy Central stage sets would have had comedians with their Comedy special uploaded to the speakers on the toy - now people on CC do standup in a drab grey stage room that always looks the same, so you couldn't even do that with it today.

The only other ideas I have are a series of historical figures and their wives and a few of their army men as chess sets, you would sell an army against another army that fought each other in history as a chess set with clergy men as the bishops, knights as the knights, archers as the rooks and armed townspeople with wooden shields as the pawns. That, and the idea of making action figures of actors as themselves, not in movie roles, because I think that would be great memorabilia to get autographed.

Those are my four big ideas, if you think they would be worth setting up an LLC for the licensing to do all four things I would be happy to work with any of you gents who can offer me some resources to get some or all of these four toy lines off the ground (music bands with stereos in the amps, comedians and their stage sets with stereos in the speakers, historical figures chess sets, and actors in their day to day lives as action figures) then please do feel free to send me an email at the address in the name field, I haven't gotten any emails from you dudes yet and am looking forward to getting someone else who knows the road map of all this better than I do involved in it also

>>11614443
>Better solution would be real concert speaker accessory

Can you elaborate on that please? I feel like you are taking the idea of the toy's amp being a real speaker and saying it wouldn't work one way but would in a more specific way. Can you clarify what you mean by a real concert speaker accessory please?

>>11614402
....that's not an idea for an action figure, that's barely even a toy. You want to make novelty speakers attached to statues of specific people, that is not an idea that's "long overdue", hell it's not even an idea I would call good and it certainly won't revitalize anything, let alone a market the idea has absolutely nothing to do with.

>>11614531
......those are all pretty terrible ideas man. This entire post is starting to feel like some sort of bad AI chatbot with how off the wall these ideas are, especially since you seem to imply these are good enough concepts that actual humans would want to buy that the people on /toy/ of all places should want to invest in it.

Here's what you really need to do. Get in contact with the PR reps or managers or whoever is in charge of merchandising for whatever specific artist or entertainer you think would make for a good "action figure". Pitch the idea to them, show them designs and concept sketches, tell em you're making a new franchise collectable like it'll be the next Funko Pop or Labubu or whatever other fad crap normies eat up and then let rot in their basement for decades. Really play up the idea that whatever specific quasi celebrity you're talking to could get on the ground floor of the next "collector craze" and get THEM to invest in your idea. Because you have a FAR better chance of getting money from a random celebrity for these terrible ideas then you do getting anything but scorn from anyone on 4chan.

>>11614603
You're misconstruing my idea to make it sound like your idea, the concert speaker is what the word amplifier means in case you didn't know that.

I guess I thought this would be a good place to get advice about making toys and not just buying them, but nobody has even been able to tell me if software models are involved in the plastic moulding. Thanks for your time

>>11614402
Marshall already makes a mini version of their stacks that actually work.

>>11614607
So does Fender

>>11614402
Anon... you need permission from the artists for both the likeness and the music.
Also Super 7 already makes a bunch of ultimate and more simple action figures for bands - King Diamond, Lemmy etc. I just ordered the Slayer goat man.
Also also, toy fans don't really want gimmicks like an amp that plays music because it makes the figure way more expensive.

Here's a real idea, high quality toy guitars and amplifier accessories for 6inch figures. A proper range of guitars, so I can have a fender and a flying v.

>>11614637
Yes the idea for a miniature of every instrument to be congruently accurate to instill a more profound talent on the full sized instrument the way skateboarders got really good from the miniature Tech Deck is a well documented part of this idea, I hadn't shared that part yet but I like your style of thinking. In fact phase 3 after that would have moving action figures with robotics if it ever has to go further than that.
Thanks for your contribution!

Before anyone else mentions it, the bands would have stage lights with a light show that plays with the music

>>11614605
Nothing to misconstrue, you want to make statues that play music. That's your idea. It's not even an idea with any sort of interactive play feature like those little speakers that play different songs when you change the figure you place on top of it. You just suggested making statues of Metal bands in headbanging poses with tiny working "amps".

You do not want to make toys, you want to make novelties.

>>11614670
The stage would have a hard drive that plays the band's discography, part of the nerd appeal would be getting all the right dudes from the album you're listening to onstage and their instruments. Toys are novelties my friend

>>11614607
>>11614619

That's awesome! I'm gonna try to get in touch with Super 7 tomorrow and see if they would be interested in incorporating action figure sized ones into what sounds like is an existing collection of metal band figures they already have going on. Thanks for both contributions guys

>>11614690
>>11614692
sounds like some gay fag shit

>>11614373
I overlooked this post, thanks dude. Why couldn't Blender to CAD be done by someone who isn't an engineer, just out of curiosity?

>>11614693
He should know!

>>11614700
They design sprues, air vents, adjust shape of the parts so they can be actually pressure moulded etc. So your parts can be actually done without any air bubbles and material getting stuck. This is why basic mould costs 10k minimum.

You want to do action figures of real people, so just get basic bodies, commission artist to do make 3D headsculpt of a rock star, 3D print it on resin printer using ResioneTough 74, paint it, sew soft goods, sell them on Esty.

>>11614212 (OP)
Come to accept that toys are made in China, so you are going to need a contact in China, some engineer or whatever who knows the factories. If you check some Kickstarter campaigns, you'll often see "we're working with [John Smith] in China who also works for [ACME] toy company"

>>11614345
>>11614402
Wew, honestly, you've got nothing. That's the sort of "idea" that's only valuable when you already have all the contacts, money, knowledge and social skills to succeed at anything you do. Either you do almost everything including the legal licensing all by yourself (are you going to contact the bands? how much are you going to pay for their rights?), or you talk about someone more knowledgeable about your idea at which point you'd be the "ideas guy" with no value (how would you defend that the idea of making speaker toys was yours if they "steal" it?).

Go to some toy convention and talk with some small toy company to get some vibes of the proccess of toymaking, maybe.

If what you want to do is extremely simple, non-articulated, you might be able to 3dprint it locally and slap a speaker inside, I guess, but the more complex the project is and the more people involved, the smaller your role would be.

>>11614212 (OP)
>idea to revitalize the toy industry
Hate to be a doomer, but unless we somehow revert to 1980s technology and entertainment from some time-space fluctuation the only thing that can be done is getting corporations like Hasbro and Mattel to stop raising prices for collector lines. Good luck with that.

>idea for statueshit rock band figurines with tiny speakers.
What’s going to stop people from just buying Funko pop shit and placing it near their computer or stereo speakers for better sound quality and it’ll be less expensive? Even if it’s IRL musicians, most people on this forum and community like articulation and having the ability to make more than one specific pose with their figures.

>idea for the last 20 years
If we had mini-speakers like the ones shown in this thread of that quality 20yrs ago, this might have been a niche line some would buy. But not the next big thing. Also, 20yrs of this idea and you have nothing to show for it? No prototypes, no CG or CAD models, no sculpts of the musicians, no paperwork licensing likeness rights from said musicians, not even sketches of blueprints? You’re either an out of touch boomer, a naive zoomer, or a liar because you only just now came up with this idea and not 20yrs ago.

I take back my guess you were the 3D print anon with the vaporware figures. You are obviously not him. You’re even worse. You have NOTHING to even tease people with. At least that asshole has actually printed parts, and even made a janky-ass printable pikachu no one asked for.

By all means, learn to design, start making connections and research, research, research. But your idea is an overpriced mini speaker with a statues. This is not something that will be a big seller today nor something a newbie could make money off of starting from scratch. Find something else that is gaining popularity, hopefully something you can do your own OC stuff with to avoid costly licensing fees.

>>11614212 (OP)
I forgot to ask previously. Do you have money?

If you do and you are confident in your idea, well, I guess you could talk to some small toymaker and let them handle the more technical aspects while you finance the venture because you believe in it and are willing to take the financial risk, and effectively be an equity partner.
If you are asking what software to use, though, I suppose that isn't what you have in mind. You should ask yourself what actual roles you'd have in your enterprise. Are you a music professional with contacts with those bands that could help getting the whole thing working nice and easy? Are you an enterprise manager? Artist? Engineer? "Ideas guy" is not going to cut it.

>>11615859
I wasn't aware of the Super 7 action figures of rockstars that are already being manufactured when I made this thread, some anon made me aware of that here. I have a great idea that would make a great supplement to their execution of that idea now basically.

>>11614985
Thanks dude.

To everyone suggesting or implying these would be 3D statues with no articulation points, not sure where you got that out of the word action figure, but it's a cheap way to shoot down the idea.

>>11615022
>How would you defend your idea of the speaker toys if they stole it

I hope it wouldn't come down to that, but I have ample online documentation with dates on it for this stuff that I could cite if I had to defend in court that it was my idea