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Thundarr.com is proud to present an interview with Scott Tipton of Toynami, who
took some time out of his busy schedule to rap with us about his work at Toynami 
and about the pending release of the Thundarr The Barbarian Action Figures!
    
                                     
   
Thundarr.com: First of all, I'd like to say thank you for agreeing to do this interview.  Would you please 
introduce yourself and your company to our readers?

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Happy to be here. Well, Toynami is a toy and collectible manufacturer that specializes 
in action figures and related collectibles based on popular animation properties. We currently hold licenses for 
such properties as Robotech, Dragon Ball Z, Lain: Serial Experiments, Armitage: Dual Matrix, the Herculoids, 
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, Dynomutt and, of course, Thundarr the Barbarian. 

We offer everything from action figures to keychains to PVCs to die-cast transformables to mini-busts and maquettes, 
plus our trademark mini-figure line, the I-Men. We want to make toys that are sturdy and fun for kids to play with, 
while still very cool and extremely authentic, to please collectors. 

As for me, I'm Communications Director for Toynami, and I also pitch in on the creative side of things, depending 
on the projects. I've been very involved in the development of our Saturday Morning Adventure Superstars line, 
including Thundarr.


                                     
                                      
Thundarr.com: How did the Thundarr and other Saturday morning cartoon figure projects come about? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Toynami President George Sohn and myself are huge fans of these shows, having 
grown up watching them, and we really wanted to make the toys we always wanted as kids. We put together a 
proposal, met with the good folks at Warner Brothers, and here we are. 


                                     

Thundarr.com: There's some confusion as to who owns the rights to Thundarr.  Can you clear up the confusion?  
Is it AOL/Time Warner?

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Yes, our license for the four properties is with WB.


                                     

Thundarr.com: Who's sculpting the figure molds?  What is this person's history in the business? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): The Thundarr, Princess Ariel and Ookla the Mok figures are being sculpted by our 
own Shin Tanabe. Shin's been our in-house sculptor on practically all of our projects, and his work is simply 
amazing, and constantly improving at that. You can see some examples of his work in our Robotech and 
Robotech: Battlecry lines of Super-Poseable action figures, our Rick Hunter and Roy Fokker mini-busts, all 
of the I-Men, and many of our other products. Shin's incredibly versatile; his ability to switch gears from the 
anime-style of Robotech to the cartoonier, Alex Toth style of Herculoids, and then to the strong Kirby influence 
on Thundarr, just amazes me.


                                     

Thundarr.com: How big are the figures and what sort of accessories will they come with? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): The figures (which will be fully articulated) will be in the 6-inch/7-inch scale. Thundarr 
will come with the Sunsword, with a removable blade, and the hilt will be able to be stored on his bracer. Ariel 
will come with "sorcerous power blasts" that connect to her hands, and Ookla will have his bow and arrow.


                                     

Thundarr.com: How big is the initial production run going to be, approximately? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Still to be determined at this stage.


                                     

Thundarr.com:  Will the figures be sold individually, as a set or both? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): The figures will be sold individually, but come on: who's only going to buy one? 
You've gotta have all three.

                                     

Thundarr.com:  Can you give us an approximate release date for the figures, even if it's only a target 
fiscal quarter? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Current production schedules call for a release in Spring 2003.


                                     

Thundarr.com:  Do you know what the suggested retail price of the figures will be? 

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Also still TBD at this point, but we're looking at an estimate of $10 - $12 each.


                                     

Thundarr.com:  What is Toynami's distribution like?  In other words, where will the figures be available for purchase 
when they're released?

Scott Tipton (Toynami): You'll be able to find the figures at comic shops nationwide through Diamond Distributing, 
as well as specialty stores like SunCoast Video and Tower Records and video-game and electronics retailers like 
GameStop and Software Etc. You can also try a wide variety of online retailers; just check out the Links 
page at www.toynami.com. 


                                     


Thundarr.com: Finally, what are the chances of more Thundarr figures being released?  Any chance we'll see their 
horses or perhaps other secondary characters/Evil Wizards, etc. released?

Scott Tipton (Toynami): It all depends on the fans. If sales are great, we'd love to go back and do more. I've been 
itching to make Gemini since the day we got the license, and there's been much discussion around the office about 
horses, but it all depends on the sales.


                                     

Thundarr.com:  Is there anything else you'd like to add or you'd like our readers to know?

Scott Tipton (Toynami): Another quick plug: if you can't wait until Spring 2003 for some Thundarr merchandise, 
then keep your eyes peeled at the abovementioned retailers for the Hanna-Barbera assortment of I-Men, which 
includes poseable mini-figures of Birdman and Avenger, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, the Galaxy Trio and of course, 
Thundarr, Ariel and Ookla! They should be in stores in January.

Also, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send us an e-mail at info@toynami.com. 
We're always interested in what the fans have to say, so please let us know! 


                                     


Many thanks, again, to Scott Tipton at Toynami for agreeing to do this interview.  Don't 
forget to drop by Toynami's Website and check out all of their cool stuff!