The New Toymaker

Cards, Costumes and Inkworks

I've spent the last few days in the world of Inkworks' Supernatural Season Two Trading Cards.

They came into our warehouse this week and we worked non-stop to get them out to customers. Sounds easy, right? But then you have to remember we have to open up all the card packs to make base sets (the regular sets of 90 cards), chase sets (9-piece "The Devil's Due puzzle set, 6-card "Hunters" foil set and 3-card "Family Matters" box card set) and mini master sets (all the above plus promo cards, binders, card sheets, etc.)

We finished (with help from all quarters, including kids and grandmother) and nearly every package shipped already.

I have to say that Inkworks, as a card company, seems to get better and better. This set has a great assortment of base cards and subsets ("Losses" is very touching) and  an amazing array of pieceworks  cards (including some that form very cool Sam & Dean puzzles).

We've been working with Inkworks for years (hello to Alan, Alyssa, Kim and Martha) and continue to be impressed by the effort they put into their products. They've got some great sets coming out with some very innovative costume cards (called pieceworks) and prop cards (called propworks).

The one that is a must-have for me: A piece of the Lost plan embedded in a card signed by Lost pilot Greg Heroes Grunberg! Brilliant! I don't want to wait for Lost Season Three Trading Cards to be released. I want it now, please. (By the way, I was with my brother Chris at a party where we met the big man, Greg Grunberg. Warm, friendly dude).

"Kristen Bell Takes Over the World" Part II

It was so fun to see Kristen Bell on Heroes last night...no pun intended but it was good to see her energy back on television.

As a fan of Veronica Mars, the cancellation by The CW is still perplexing. Great writing, acting and characters, all revolving around Mars, Veronica and her unerring ability to ferret out the truth in a town used to disguising it.

As the holder of a license to produce Veronica Mars collectibles, the cancellation was near devastating for us at CineQuest.com. We'd worked so hard to put together a strong line-up of busts and 12" figures, to get actor scans, costumes and props, all in an effort to produce collectibles that lived up to the quality of the show. Nearly two years of work went into a project that had just hit its stride when the brick wall of cancellation was suddenly thrown in its path.

Once the wall came up, demand for Veronica Mars busts came crashing down. A cancelled TV series doesn't generate sales for retailers or manufacturers. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek are the exception, not the rule).

As a result, we have two great paintmasters - the "Russkie Business" Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls minibust variants - that may never be made. (Sorry, Lior. I know you are still upset that the great "Wish" Buffy Summers sculpt will never see the light of day, either)

You can see from the photo that the RB Veronica is simply gorgeous - amazing sculpt, phenomenal paint job. And fans apparently want it - I get emails almost daily asking about the status of the regular RB Veronica and the red variant we made available solely to members of our collectibles club, Club CQ.

Here are answers to some of the many of the questions we've received in the past few months:

• Will the two "Russkie Business" busts be made? Unlikely, given present demand for Veronica Mars collectibles.
• The "Russkie Business" Veronica bust is sure to sell out. Why not just make and see? I don't think we could afford the risk, given the increase in manufacturing costs in China in the wake of the Mattel lead paint fiasco as well as the investment we're currently making in Supernatural.
• Is there a way we can help get it made? I've been approached by a few Neptune stalwarts who have suggested a campaign to get "Russkie Business" Veronica Mars made.
• What would it take? A large campaign to reach show fans and collectors to convince them to order it, a campaign that we don't have the resources for at this time.
• What would be the goal? We'd have to sell 350 "Russkie Business" Veronica Mars busts @ $50/each to justify the expense of manufacturing it at this point. That's the minimum number we would need to order to get the factory to agree to make it (called an MOQ, or minimum order quantity).
• Are you giving up on the two "Russkie Business' minibusts? I don't want to. I love each of them to death - they were the ones that were going to differentiate the line, bring a fun, cool touch that matched the fun coolness of the show.
• So what happens now? Frankly, I'm open to suggestion. There's a box that has walls made up of cost, risk, cash flow and minimum order quantities. It's a challenge but if someone can "think inside the box"  and recognize the realities surrounding the making of decision to go forward with one or both of these minibusts, I'm ready and willing to listen to their ideas and plan.

Meanwhile, I have my Veronica Mars Season Three DVD to go out and buy and a truckload of beautiful Season One Veronica Mars and Season One Logan Echolls minibusts coming in the next few days.

"Kristen Bell Takes Over the World" Week

Kristen Bell is everywhere this week!

Tonight, she starts her stint as the latest hero, Elle, on Heroes

Tuesday, Veronica Mars Season Three comes out on DVD.

Wednesday, she's the voice of Gossip Girl on The CW.

And on Friday, she and Jason "Moonlight" Dohring are finally to arrive in our warehouse in the form of 7" tall minibusts under license from Warner Brothers Consumer Products and sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios.

It will be a big day for us when these items arrive. They represent the first collectibles we've manufactured here at CineQuest.com, our first licensed minibusts. And they represent nearly two years of planning, praying and paying for us on our first leap into the world of producing licensed products.

I'll finally hold a finished product in my hands after two years of reviewing actor scans, sculpts, prototypes, paintmasters, factory samples, counter samples and more. And, more importantly, finally ship them out to fans who've been so patient and so supportive!

Can't wait.

Sam & Dean: Such Cards

We're buckling our swashes and battening down our hatches in preparation for the pending arrival of Supernatural Season 2 Premium Trading Cards from the great people at Inkworks. I can't remember a card release as anticipated as this one by us and our customers. Why all the fuss?

For fans of this great show (Thursdays, The CW) it seems there can't be enough collectibles. There's already a Supernatural calendar, shot glass, T-shirts, a mug, a Season 1 Trading Card set, 8x10s and posters! Not enough. They want more and want it now, according to the emails we receive at CineQuest.com nearly every day. It's beginning to feel alot like Buffy collecting in its heyday. Fans are excited and excitable...and it's fun to sell to them.

For us at CineQuest.com, it's a huge undertaking whenever we get an Inkworks release: customers want sets, mini master sets (set and all the chase cards) and master sets  (every card!) and we have to open up cases and boxes and packs to put them all together. 10 boxes per cases, 36 packs per box. Thousands of cards have to be sorted into sets and chase sets. We have trays for sorting, plastic boxes for sets, screwdown cases for pieceworks and autographs, top loaders for chase and case cards.

It's a production.

And it's one of the most fun times here as well. We'll opening up boxes and packs for hours, vie to see who will be the one who gets the pack with the Jared Padecki autograph or the Jensen Ackles pieceworks. Whose pack will contain the last chase card needed for the puzzle set?

And throughout, there's fun in knowing that the cards will soon be in the hands of people like us, who like a TV show enough to want to own a reminder of it, a solid representation of the experience of enjoying a great story or of falling for a great character.

Supernatural Action Figures: Minibust or Boom?

Supernatural action figures? That's the question on the minds of fans who email me about our license and our plans for Supernatural collectibles.

"A Sam action figure would be cool," writes Rayna from Rhode Island.

"I want to be able to pose Dean in many different positions so make him super-articulated," declares Dona from Denver.

"Please make the monsters, too, so I can have them fighting across my desk," intones Ivan from Inca Flats.

All these fans - whose names and abodes have been altered in the name of alliteration - are talking about 6" articulated action figures, those great playable plastic toys I love to collect, and to pose, and to have fight across my desk.

Six-inch figures are tough for small companies. Start-up costs are very high, too high when you're just starting out. It's not only the sculpting cost, it's the steel mold needed to make even one 6" figure. That can cost tens of thousands of dollars for one figure. Smart companies - and people like Aaron from the former Moore Action Collectibles - can work out complex molds that can produce enough pieces to make more than one figure from it.

But then you get viral variants: Sam Winchester in blue jacket, Sam in brown jacket, Sam with hoodie, Yellow-eyed Sam, Doppleganger Sam, Vampire Sam, Band Candy Sam...

Buffy collectors: you know what I'm talking about. At about the 9th Willow variant or the 19th Spike, you know you've had it. Yes, you know it helps get the figures made. Yes, you know some of them are must-haves. But you tire of the variants, wish for a new figure, hope against hope that someday in a galaxy not too far away, you can pit Riley against Angel in a battle for Buffy's heart in your Sunnydale Library Playset.

I don't want to do that to Sam or Dean or John Winchester. And, given our size, we couldn't afford the upfront costs of the steel to make it happen.

What we can afford is to do some incredible minibusts: of Sam, of Dean, of John (check out the  exclusive photo of an early John sculpt) and some demons, capturing great moments from the series in resin art.

And, if sales are good, to capture the boys in 12" figures with real clothes and articulation to make Dona from Denver deliriously delighted.

Free Stuff? I'm So There

Freebies and exclusives owned me today.

Designer Janet (aka Bumblebee) sent me to Target to buy that store's exclusive Transformers DVD. Why there? And not Best Buy (where I also went) and not Newbury Comics (where I also went)? Free toy! The Target edition has a DVD case that transforms into an 18" tall (albeit somewhat flat) Optimus Prime! Had to have it! My son Benjamin helped me figure out how to transform it. Best DVD box ever! (See yesterday's blog entry). By the way, this Target exclusive is only available in stores not online.

And I had to have Roberto Rodriguez's Planet Terror DVD as well. I missed the Grindhouse experience at theaters, unfortunately but bought Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof two weeks ago (loved it) and had to own Planet Terror. But where did I buy it? Not at Target but at Newbury Comics. Why? Free Planet Terror Newbury Comics Pint Glass! (Yes, I own the Death Proof Pint Glass as well).

And just when I thought I had shaken off the siren song of exclusives and freebies, I stop at BJ's to get some household items and walk out with the DVD for Bruce Campbell's 2002 classic Bubba Ho-tep for only $14.99. Free miniature white Elvis jacket included!

Freebies and exclusives. They work.

We'll be announcing a few surprise exclusives with this month's release of our Veronica Mars minibusts (finally, it's been a long year!) and soon after that some exclusives and freebies in our Supernatural line.

I hope they work. =)

A Box is not just a Box

Every product needs to be put in something. And someone needs to design a great container for it.

My friend Janet is the one who does that for CineQuest.com.

And I think she does it brilliantly.

For our Veronica Mars busts, she created a look for the overall line that was different from everyone else's somewhat boring box designs.

As a collector I sometimes get frustrated with the artwork on boxes as they don't give you a true idea of what the product looks like, something that's important for those among us who do not display everything they own (who can?).

You can see our product from the front, the sides and the back before you buy it - you don't just get a photo from one angle or a small window through which to see a face (I love Gentle Giant's Harry Potter busts - that's why we chose them to sculpt Veronica Mars for us - but sometimes that window is just too small.)

Today we're looking at a draft of Janet's design for the first of the Supernatural busts: The Scarecrow, which we've just put up for preorder for a February delivery. I've chosen him to grace my blog site because I think he's just scary and out there. She's put together a great box that is scary and out there as well.  Check out the preview and let me know how you like it.

Oh, and Janet told me to go Target to get my Transformers DVD as they have an exclusive box that transforms into Optimus Prime.

Now there's a box!

The New Blogger

Let me preface my first post by saying that this is my first post - and my first blog. So bear with me. =)

My friend Larry has been listening to my travels and travails first as an online collectibles retailer and now as a newly minted manufacturer and has been telling me to write a daily blog about it. I've learned to listen to Larry and so here I am.

Making collectibles - versus selling what others make - is a fascinatingly frustrating (or is it frustratingly fascinating) experience.

CineQuest.com's first product - resin busts of characters from the much-lamented Veronica Mars - will be in our warehouse next week. Our next line of collectibles is from the show Supernatural, which airs Thursdays on The CW Network.

My goal is to write about the process of making collectibles and of trying to expand and change a family run company to keep it successful as the market changes for items that people don't need but really want. I also won't be able to resist commenting on the shows I watch and the stuff I don't need but spend money on anyway.

I'm a collector and always have been, according to my mom, who still has boxes of my stuff in her basement. I have a great Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection, an ever-growing Doctor Who collection and a small but well-loved collection of Cultural Revolution Mao buttons. (I have a master's degree in Chinese history, speak Chinese and worked as a journalist in China for UPI).

As a collector, I like to sell collectibles. As a seller of collectibles, I like to sell collectibles that are well-made and which mean something to those who drop their spendable cash down on momentos of the stories they love and the characters about whom they have come to care.

The great challenge now as a manufacturer is to make great items that people will want on their shelves, next to their desks or in their offices.

Wish me luck.