NECA: Gears of War Action Figure Q & A with Randy Falk

[JeffSaylor]

FIRST LOOK at the Kantus and new Boomer types...

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NECA's Head of Product Development, Randy Falk, once again returns to kindly answer a new round of questions regarding their popular line of Gears of War action figures. In addition, we get a first look at upcoming new Boomer types (Butcher and Grinder) and the world debut of the Locust priests/monks, the Kantus. For those keeping track of this amazing figure series, NECA has also supplied a handy poster showing all 33 figures released to date that you can download HERE! Lock 'n load your Lancer and let's move out...

1) With the amazing all-star Series 5 now hitting retail, the question on top of everyone's mind is what characters will make up Series 6? I know we have the robot Jack and numerous Boomer types (Mauler, Grinder and Butcher) still to go...

Next up are two different exclusive 2-packs for Toys"R"Us. In time for the holidays TRU will have a Locust 2-pack that includes the Locust Drone and Locust Sniper with the added articulation and removable weapons along with a variety of accessories and an exclusive Gold version of the Hammerburst 2.0.

The second 2-pack will be Marcus & Dom complete with Lancers, and COG pistols along with an exclusive Golden Lancer. That will take us through the end of 2009.

I am not sure what will make up Series 6 yet but I can tell some figures that are complete. We have Jack, the Mauler Boomer, the Grinder Boomer, the Butcher Boomer, the standard Locust Grenadier, and a few more...

2) Fans are dying to see Dizzy, Tai, Skorge and Kantus. Any good news for us?

Yes and no. We don’t have a Tai or Dizzy in the works but the Kantus and Skorge are well under way and will both be shown at NY Toy Fair in February, if not sooner.

3) Love how the Locust Horde is growing stronger series by series. Will we see more powerful Locusts, like Berserkers, Blood Mounts and the most famous Wretches? No exclusives here please!

Wretches are likely for the future. The larger figures like the Berserkers present a problem due to size/scale and increased costs.

4) What's the likelihood of a Locust Queen figure or COG command like Anya?

Both are possible for the future, I’d say there is a good chance you will see at least one of them over the next year.

5) The new Series 5 COG solider's articulation is incredible! Will older figures, such as Cole and Baird, receive similar upgraded articulations as a future release?

Thanks, glad to hear that. It is something I was never happy with since we first released Baird and Carmine and I always wanted to improve it. I am thrilled we were able to and it makes the figure so much better now. I’d like to find a way to re-do Kim and Baird now using this improved body and tooling. I have an idea in mind but it is too early to discuss just yet.

6) Speaking of COG soldiers, any chance of a box set featuring the three previously released helmet designs? Are there anymore helmet designs?

As far as I know we have covered all the game-based helmet designs. If I am missing something we will try to hit it because we’d like to do them all as it provided variety in the ranks for army builders and the helmets and armor Epic designs are all so cool. I’m not sure a boxed set is the way to go but we are looking at a way to get more COGs out there, especially with the improved leg articulation.

7) While I'm sure getting all the in-game characters produced is NECA's first priority, has there been any thought to producing characters from the comic books or novels?

We’ve definitely given this some thought and I’d love to cover some Pendulum Wars era figures, but for now we are sticking strictly to the game. I think if we venture outside the game it would be fun to try a comic or book based character as an exclusive or limited edition type piece to sort of test the waters. Maybe SDCC 2010 or the NY Comic Con next Fall.

8) Everyone agrees that the new Boomer figure is awesome, however there has been alot of discussion about his height and why he's not much taller than other figures. Care to end this Boomer debate?

I don’t know if I can end it but I might be able to help explain it. First off, it would be great if the Boomer was about a head taller, however, if you look at the volume and mass of the Boomer figure along with articulation, deco, and the weapon we totally pushed the limits of what can be done at the price point. We tried to have him larger at first but he came in too expensive so we scaled him down slightly but he is still bigger – when you line up your figures the Boomer in his default pose is hunched and has bent knees and stands about even with Therons and Grenadiers. We also had to plan for the future Boomers up-front knowing the Boomshield and the Flail would add even more to the costs. So how far and how big could we go with the basic Boomer before we started adding more on to create the later versions? Anyway, if you stand the Boomer up straight he is taller then the rest of the line. Even with the height being slightly small, the girth and thickness of the figure is still very impressive.

It took a lot of planning and assorting the waves the way we have just to be able to produce the Boomer. We need to have multi-use out of bodies and tooling and balance the assortments with higher priced & lower priced characters so we maintain our average unit costs. The Boomer retails for $13.99 at TRU – look at what else is on the shelf for that price and show me anything that compares. Most of the competition is going smaller with less deco and less accessories at the same price point. I think we offer a great value and I am thrilled that after 2 years we were able to make a Boomer.

9) Can fans expect any more 1:1 scale weapon replicas like your awesome Lancer rifle? A Locust Hammerburst would be killer! Any plans for more non-weapon props similar to your COG tags? A locust pendant perhaps?

These are possible in 2010, we are looking at more opportunities like this outside the action figures.

10) With your Gears of War figures being a success, are there any plans to create figures based on Epic's UNREAL franchise somewhere down the road? (ie: Unreal Championship 2, Unreal Tournament 3, etc)

It’s certainly possible and I LOVED their collaboration on Shadow Complex but for now Gears is the marquee title and I want to keep expanding that universe. In just under 2 years we have covered 33 different figures (download the poster HERE!) and I am very proud of that. I thank the fans and Epic for their support and I hope that we keep on going so we can do something really special for the 50th figure milestone.

We'd like to thank Randy Falk for taking the time to answer these burning questions. We look forward to all the new Gears of War goodies NECA has planned!

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[SamRock]

Thank you Jeff and Randy for the really wonderful Q & A!! The Kantus/Skorge, and the new Boomer figures looks really bad *****! Those one made my day....

I am now totally convinced with Randy's reply on the Boomer(sad though).

And I also felt few other answer were too brief or sort of incomplete (may be Randy doesnt want to /cant reveal much now)
If the 2 packs are coming next, does that mean, series 6 will be seeing light quiet late???

Looking forward to see more awesome Gears figures and news from NECA at figures.com. You are doing a great job

(Special thanks to you Jeff, for taking our questions to NECA )

[JeffSaylor]

Oh I don't think Series 6 will be late at all. There is usually one series per toy quarter - Spring, Summer, Fall/Winter. So I'd expect Series 6 next March/April.

If you take a look back at this year it'd look like:

Spring 2009: Series 3, Chainsaw 2-pack

Summer 2009: Series 4, Hive Box Set, Kim vs Raam, SDCC Exclusive

Fall/Winter 2009: Series 5, TRU 2-packs

NECA is waiting until Toy Fair in mid February for the full reveal on Series 6 (and as Randy mentioned, he isn't 100% sure right now who will be in Series 6. Good idea, but not locked down) and future figs, but I think they did a good job of whetting everyone's appetite until then with this Q&A. And you're welcome!

[SamRock]

mmmmmm... thats nice to know... getting too greedy these days.. and want them all sooner .. hehe

but I think they did a good job of whetting everyone's appetite until then with this Q&A.

Totally agree with that....and credits to you! Also helps us plan our budget for future favourites

[JeffSaylor]

helps us plan our budget for future favourites

True dat! Though with Gears, that'd be ALL of them

[SamRock]

These are the only figures I am collecting right now! So its ALL for me too \

Thanks to NECA, the young collector in me was reborn after 12 years! Looking forward for Army of Two, and more RE5 figures.(got Chris Redfield, TE2, Bionic Commando and Ninja Gaiden)

Gears of War are my "must haves" till the very last figure is made!

[wesitron]

I don't mind the size of the Boomer and I understand completely why they had to do it. Increasing the size would have increased the price point and there's no guarantee that they could count on our money at the higher price. It was an excellent business decision and while I would have loved for him to be slightly taller, I am more than pleased with what we got.

Thanks for the info and keep it up, I know I'm not the only one who loves to read interviews with these guys!

Neca, be here forever. And make Assassin's Creed 2 toys. Thank you.

hi, I'm a huge collector of neca figures, especially the gears line...so I can't wait for the skorge figure I just hope they give him his lower body armor like in the campaign... by the way I joined the gears forum months ago, but I can't post anything can anyone help me with this problem??

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.

Kantus NEEDS LOTS of Articulation! as much as the Ninja Gaiden II Ryu Figure.

Ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders with a cut joint on the bicep side of the ball, single pin elbows, double pin knees, single pin ankles, cut wrists, waist and calves, an ab-crunch joint, and [B]MOST IMPOTENTLY ball jointed hips.

Berserkers and Blood Mounts are larger figures present a problem due to size/scale and increased costs, OK one word Rotocasting


"if you stand the Boomer up straight he is taller then the rest of the line." - REALLY? .. Don't think so, see for your self.

the Boomer is 32" shorter than the Locust Drone by adding one inch to the Lower Legs/ boots he would be the right height-

Keep in mind there, though, the Drone and the others are standing straight up, while the Boomer still has bent knees.

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Thank you NECA and JeffS. Excited to hear there's a possibility of Unreal toys in the future.


C'mon, you know you want to.