Last month, Jakks Pacific revealed more action figures from their World of Nintendo line, which features characters from Nintendo’s biggest franchises. In a recent interview, senior designer Jose Alvarez and marketing brand manager Justin Mills-Orcutt took the time to answer some questions regarding the new Nintendo figures to be released this year. The interview also featured more photos of upcoming releases, including a 6″ Wind Waker Ganondorf figure. I will say right now that it sure is interesting to see Ganondorf placed next to a giant Metroid.

For those unaware of Jakks Pacific’s World of Nintendo figures, the line features several Nintendo-themed figures ranging in size from one to 20 inches. Most of the already released figures are from the Super Mario series, but more Zelda characters are expected this year. The new 6″ Wind Waker Ganondorf (due in April) will join the 4″ Skyward Sword Link figure, adding more representation from the Zelda franchise.

When speaking of scaling differences between the figures, the interview hinted at future Zelda releases:

Q: Towards that end, does Jakks have an overall philosophy for how the WoN property is being handled in terms of product and execution? This is one of those properties that not only appeals to a mass marked crown, but also to the collector sect.

Mills-Orcutt: We have three major categories that we concentrate on: Figures, Plush and Vehicles and within each category we work closely with Nintendo to really explore each franchise available to us and offer as many characters from that universe that fans will enjoy. Other factors we look into are scale, value and price point. For scale we want to offer different scale options for our figure lines that are strategically cross compatible so you can create your own world in scale. For example our 4″ Mario will be in scale with our 2.5″ scale Boo and our 6″ WW Ganondorf will be in scale with the 4″ link Wind Waker figure “Hint hint” and so on. This really creates a line that everyone will want to collect in all scales to create your own WoN.”

The 4″ Wind Waker Link has since been released for purchase, but Jakks Pacific might be considering the release of additional scaled Zelda figures. While they are maintaining a scaling guideline, more collectable figures exceeding it may be released, like a 6″ Link:

Q: Additionally, scale is (usually) a big deal to the collector market, so while Mario, Wario, and Yoshi have a great relative scale, many people are already requesting seeing characters like Link and Ganon in the deluxe line to keep the correct scale to the rest of the characters, any chance of seeing that happen?

Alvarez: This is one of the questions I was actually most excited to answer as I know there are many concerns and doubts as to what we have planned, so let me dive into it and clear it up for everyone. The WoN characters are very special to us and we would like to represent them the only way they should be. Also keeping in mind that we do want to deliver an affordable line, we do have some cost limitations so we have to be very careful as to how we approach every character and their scale.

For all of our lines especially the 4″ line, the characters will be in scale with each other within their own respective franchise. I know there were some concerns about our 4″ Link (Skyward Sword) not being in “true” scale but we wanted to be able to deliver a Link figure that was as detailed and articulated within price point for that line. This is considerably our main core line and we want everyone to enjoy collecting it. This is not to say that we will never see a 6″ scale Link or Samus in the deluxe line (more collector based) but we want to be able to appeal to a larger market as well as the collectors.

This will open up many options for fans of all ages as well. Some smaller characters may be bumped up in size (Just a bit) and that is ONLY so we can be fair and still deliver a good value to the consumer. Cross promoting our lines is very important to us and we really hope consumers have fun collecting them in all scales.”

The interview also covers Jakks Pacific’s use of the Wind Waker universe in its Micro Land line and the expected number of 2015 figures:

Q:2014 was the kind of the first year rollout for product, but can you give us any indication on what to expect in 2015? Will be seeing more? About the same?

Mills-Orcutt: 2015 will be a much more exciting year than 2014 as building the WoN takes very careful planning and timing which is why we saw a very limited run in 2014. We want all of our lines to have purpose, which means every figure in every scale is carefully chosen. Just in the 4″ scale line you will see 20 plus figures being released in 2015 not counting our other scales such as the 2.5″ line which will have about 30 plus figures.

While collectors have latched on to the action figure lines, I think that the Micro Land sets have a TON of potential and the little figures are a great way to build up a quick universe, do you still have plans for this execution?

Mills-Orcutt: Our micro line was an opportunity for us to break into something different for young fans and it has proven to be successful even in the collector market. In response we do have plans for extending our micro world out. Our wave 2 should be in stores now which includes 4 new play sets from the New Super Mario Bros. U and 18 new figures. Other universes will include Zelda Wind Waker HD and even classic titles for later releases. Not to mention these little figures are a great way to build out the world with the largest character selection available across the different scales.”

Three micro Wind Waker play sets have already been announced, including 1″ Link, Tetra, and Ganondorf figures. And with only 13 or so 4″ figures already announced (like Ocarina of Time Link and Skull Kid figures), we are still unsure as to what other characters will fill out that “20 plus.”

Having purchased some Jakks Pacific Nintendo figures, I can say I look forward to the announcement of more. If you have any expectations for future releases, let us know in the comments.

Source: The Fwoosh

Sorted Under: Nintendo News