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Round 2 Model Kits: It’s been awhile…
Have you ever had, I dunno, one of those years when you just can’t seem to catch up to your workload? We at Round 2 know how that is. Keep in mind that Bob and I work on two of our brands, Forever Fun holiday product and Round 2 model kits. Like most companies trying to survive in the current economy, Round 2 is run on a skeleton crew. We’ve got less than 20 people running things. (We could use 20 more.) To say the least, things have been hectic. (I don’t think I’ve ever written an understatement as massive as that one right there.) So, I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks… check that, a month.
For Forever Fun, our year starts with the Hong Kong toy fair, so product planning starts months in advance for that. Once that’s over, there are numerous sales appointments with buyers that require tons of product and packaging mockups and other sales information. Also during that time, we finalize product mockups, spec colors, etc and generate revised RFQs (Request For Quote). That leads into finalizing packaging and reviewing test shots in the late spring and early summer. Production is done during the summer. Basically as soon as (or before actually) we get done with one year, we start planning the next. We hold our sales summit in late summer and head directly into show season based on feedback from that meeting. We do our two biggest trade shows in the fall (which requires catalogs, signage etc) and start sales presentations in the late fall which again require tons of mockup work. Keep in mind, that’s just Forever Fun. Bob and Terri, another art director, and I cover all of that plus more. (this paragraph doesn’t even begin to cover it)
While that is all going on, we also have to develop our model kits and as fun as “Forever Fun” is, sci-fi is my kind of thing so I’m always anxious to get to it. With everything that goes on, that’s almost impossible to do sometimes. We try to work as far ahead as possible but that has turned into 3-6 months and that should ideally be a year. I’ve had test shots sitting around for so long that I couldn’t find some of them when I found the time to review them. (which I do at home) We get buildups done just in time for our shows and we hardly even get a chance to enjoy actually looking at them. Preparing for a show whether it is Wonderfest, iHobby or any other trade show takes about a month of planning and at least two solid weeks of work which usually goes right up to the panicked day before. One or two of us goes off to work the show for a weekend only to come right back to work to give attention to all the stuff that had to be put aside while doing the show prep. Hundreds and thousands of emails are received and written each week in our department to further distract us. We work long hours and weekends (others even more than me).
I hope I don’t sound like I’m venting. I’m not looking for sympathy. These are all good problems to have these days. It is all worthwhile when I see or hear how much our fans enjoy the product. I finally had a half a day today to clean my office and assemble a big batch of test shots to take home for review. I think I can devote the next week to model kit development that is sorely behind.
Despite our very best efforts, our two highest profile kits may not be out for Christmas. The Enterprise Refit looked like it would make it in time but delays completing the package and instructions seems to have set it back a bit. Buying, shipping and refurbishing the original Batmobile tool is the cause of that kit’s delay. We’ve been further hindered in getting its packaging artwork approved by the licensor. These aren’t indefinite delays. The refit will leave the orient well before the end of the year. All of the materials have been handed in and approved. I think we should have a breakthrough on the Batmobile soon too. It shouldn’t arrive any later than sometime in January. Believe me this news hurts on many levels. I worked as hard as I could to get my part done on time. I felt physically ill the morning I read the email telling us the latest “closing” (shipping) date of the Enterprise. These things happen and we’ll learn from them to keep it from happening again in the future.
I may seem like Uncle Scrooge but I’m actually just a tired monkey…
Star Trek Model Kits: Interviews and Artwork with Trek Visionaries
Bob and I really value the input of the behind the scenes designers and craftsmen that had their hands in the creation of some of the best sci-fi out there. We’ve taken the initiative to contact people here and there that we feel would give some good insight into the subjects we are releasing as model kits. We think it is a good way to really give more content to our website to keep people check back once in awhile.
Bob recently interviewed Ryan Church, the designer behind the new movie Enterprise. We’ve also contracted him to do a box cover illustration for the kit when it gets released. Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on in the great debate over the ship, I think the interview does a good job of showing what went into the design and Ryan’s approved concept sketch seemed to capture more of what fans thought was missing.
It was my honor recently to interview Andrew Probert. It was kind of difficult for me because I can get star struck at times. I had to buck up and come up with some good questions and not sound like a newb. I’ve been exposed to Star trek my whole life. I knew the characters and the ships but not the names behind the effects and I knew a lot of the readers would probably be more “in the know” than I was. I did a little research by reading a couple other interviews with him and decided to focus on subjects we have coming out. I felt that approach might gain some new insight that modelers would find helpful as they sit down to capture some of the magic of the filming models. Andrew was very gracious and answered everything I threw at him. The interview can be found in the “articles” section of our website. I hope everyone enjoys it. Feel free to comment here to discuss it.
A little while after the interview, we came to the realization that the artist we had planned for our new box cover (me) seemed way too busy to get the art done in time. I had really been looking forward to painting the ship but I saw no gap in my schedule to do it in. While researching the green-cast strongbacks for our new 1/1000 Enterprise Refit, we were shown a section of an image by Andrew. It struck me that the image was a great angle of the ship and as usual was an awesome rendering. We would just need the ship itself, as the licensor requires us to use a certain background anyway. I offered up the idea to Bob that if I couldn’t find the time, maybe we should see if we could gain the rights to use that as our box art. I’ll tell you that at the time, I was BUSY (heck I’m still just as busy or more so) but I would have made the time (slept less) to paint the ship for the box. Opportunities like that only come along once in several life times. At the time though, I just figured if I couldn’t paint it, having a Probert illustration is actually better for everyone as more people know him than me obviously and I would still get my beauty rest. So we contacted Andrew and we agreed on terms to use the Refit image as seen in his print, “Past Reflections” (which is available on his website).
And the crowd went wild while I shed a tear as my opportunity to paint my favorite Enterprise for commercial use passed me by.
Round 2 Model Kit Preview- iHobby
If I said our workload here at Round 2 is unbelievable right now, that would be an understatement of epic proportions. I barely have time to write this blog entry. I promised myself it would get done last week. Anyway, here it is now.
I just have minute to tell you about the Round 2 model kit preview we have going on at iHobby. We will be releasing our plan for the first half of next year. We’ll be bringing out around 50 kits by the middle of 2010. Around 20 kits will be genre (sci-fi/ pop culture) kits. Some have been mentioned in passing before and of course many have not. This just sets us up for a great 2010 with many more high profile releases to come later in the year. We’ll also be releasing our first print catalog showcasing all of our model kit brands.
Amidst our display, we will have a built mockup and hopefully a built test shot of our new 1/1000 scale Enterprise Refit. I hope to see everyone come out and take a look. To add to the incentive of just coming out and taking a look, I’ve got something special for a lucky sci-fi modeler- a test shot to take home of the new Refit kit. The only catch is that you have to write a review of it here and everywhere else on the internet that sci-fi models are discussed. So how will I know who to give it to? Just reply to this post. I’ll draw one of the names from the posts. Cut off for sign up will be Friday morning (when I leave for the show- no hard deadline so sign up sooner than later) You must be present to win Sunday at 1:00cst at the show.
I’m showing some pics of our finished mockup. It turned out well for being cast in all opaque resin. The decals you see are prototypes and will be tweaked to lighten them considerably. Notice the strongbacks are greenish gray, that’s why we keep calling this one the “Refit”.
http://www.ihobbyexpo.com/Consumer.html
Polar Lights model kit update: Enterprise Refit
Sorry I haven’t posted for a while. Things are pretty busy in Round 2 land. We are gearing up for our company preview in the Dallas Toy Fair as well a s iHobby coming up in October. I’m not sure whether I will make it to the show but everyone in the Chicago area will probably want to stop in and see what we’ve got coming up for 2010.
In the meantime, I just got in a revised mockup of our new Enterprise A Polar Lights model kit. The tooling is already underway but we needed this copy made up for our iHobby display. (if we are lucky, we’ll have a test shot on display as well) It is going right back out to Jim Small to be built up and painted.
The kit is really turning out nicely. Many of the detail revisions I’ve ordered have been made. Dealing with a kit at this scale has been pretty tricky because unless you see it first hand, you don’t really know what to expect detail wise. In addition to detail revisions (deflector dish and panel lines to name a couple), I also had a few adjustments made assembly wise. The nacelle grills on the previous mockup were assembled from the inside of the nacelle similar to our 1/350 version. I’ve had this changed so that they are inserted from the outside. This should help with painting I would think. The arboretum windows are the same way. Actually the only clear parts that insert from the inside are the pieces on top of the saucer. Another little change I made from the 1/350 kit was to have the chiller grills (I think that’s what you call them- the copper colored half football shaped grills on the sides of the nacelles) be made separate pieces as well so they can also be painted separately and inserted after all other painting is done. I hope this helps you guys out.
DISCLAIMER: One of the pylons was bent in shipping resulting in the nacelle sitting crooked. Also, some gaps look big in these quick photos. This is because the kit hasn’t been glued together. The gaps will easily disappear in the hands of a capable modeler. Oh, and the clear parts were incorrectly cast in opaque resin. Other than that, this is what you can expect in the kit.
1966 Batmobile Model Kit
I’m sure you’ve heard of our plans to retool the classic 1/32 scale 1966 Batmobile model kit. We even went so far as having a mockup created to match the old kit. Well, our plans have changed…
This arrived on my desk recently. Can you guess what this means?
Star Trek Model Kit: Vulcan Shuttle Surprise
Sorry to be away for so long. We’ve finally gotten through our yearly sales summit. It seems that our ideas for new model kit product for next year went over pretty well. Full steam ahead!
I’m heading out for a week’s vacation so it’ll be while before I get back on my regular blog schedule. In the meantime, I’ve prepared a couple more quick hits. The post following this one will be mysterious but probably incredibly exciting to some (hopefully most) of you out there.
Before I go, though here’s a pretty exciting little tidbit itself. When we release our Vulcan Shuttle Star Trek model kit later this year, it will feature brand new box art. We are very proud to announce that we have had the ship’s designer, Andy Probert, do a brand new illustration of the ship! We are pretty stoked. We will feature an interview with Andy on our website when the release date gets closer. So here is a sneak peak at the illo. Of course we will add the licensor’s mandated background elements and a few extra bells and whistles to tie the look into our other boxes. Hope you enjoy.
Star Trek models: U.S.S. Enterprise Refit 1/1000 scale
I have to admit, I’m hesitant to show this off. Not because I don’t want anyone to see it, but because I don’t want to hear any feedback at this point. The kit will undergo some revision before tooling that will correct some of the eyesores that may be pointed out. I’ll address a couple things up front but it is not a comprehensive list of issues. All issues are being ironed out as I write.
I’m sure everyone can see the chasm-like panel lines. I had the same reaction when I saw the images of the mockup come in from the factory. That is the primary reason I blurred the last set of images. After seeing it first hand, it isn’t as bad as it shows in a photograph. They will be worked on believe me.
The other huge issue to be resolved is the deflector dish. It is way too thick. I’m really not sure why it was so hard for the mockup folks to grasp. Like I said, it will be corrected. No worries.
The part breakdown will have a few revisions too but nothing that won’t be appreciated. Special attention is being paid to this kit from a painter’s perspective. I’ve tried to make it as paint friendly as possible given the size of the kit. I’m betting we will get some requests on these areas to revise the 1/350 kit to build the same way to make it easier to paint. These are the kinds of things we will really pour over in the development of our 1/350 TOS kit.
The mockup builds up great I think. If all goes well, we will have a U.S.S. Enterprise Refit 1/1000 scale buildup at iHobby in October.
Jinkies! We’ve been busy working on our Polar Lights model kits!
So, how’s it going for you guys? We’ve been incredibly busy around here and its tough keeping our heads above water. We’ve been finishing up lots of packaging and instruction sheets for upcoming Polar Lights model kits releases. I’ve missed having a chance to write about some of our recent developments.
We’ve been getting ready for a big sales presentation to our reps for all of our brands for next year’s products. It gives us a chance to fill them in on what we would like to do and get their input about our product. On top of that, we are putting together mini catalogs for inclusion in our model kits. We’ll be doing a full-blown print catalog in preparation for the big iHobby show in October. At that show, we’ll be unveiling our release schedule for the first half of next year. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about our plans.
I’ve been giving final approvals on tons of test shots including the revised C-57D saucer sections which will now assemble to be a bit more sturdy and hopefully alleviate some of the edge warping that was prevalent in the earlier issue. Mr. Spock is looking good and he has a collar now. Finally, the UFO sprues now have part numbers on them.
(Literally) I just heard that our second run of 1/350 Enterprise refits just came in and half of them are going right back out to distributors. Grab them while they are hot!
The thing I’ve been busiest with is the new Scooby Doo Mystery machine box and instruction sheet. I’ve had my hands in instruction sheets before but Bob usually handles the packaging. He says he really wanted to do it but he is juggling a lot. It was fun to do a package for a change. I had to deal with a licensor supplied style guide and we usually cringe at the thought. It wasn’t too bad in this case. Their new elements look pretty cool even though they aren’t as spooky as they should be. Rather than using as little of the style guide as possible, I actually used it to steer the rest of the design on the box sides, back and instruction sheet. I’m pretty satisfied with the results.
Well, back to work on to the C-57D instructions.
Model Kits: Drama on Altair 4 (in Glorious 1/72-Scale)
Here’s another sneak peek at our upcoming Forbidden Planet C-57D model kit re-release. We unveiled the Id Monster a few days ago – heightening the drama is the crew of the C-57D, laser rifles in hand; Commander Adams barking orders into his communications device and the lovely Altaira suitably distressed by the whole situation.
The figures, along with the ID Monster, really bring the kit alive by presenting a bit of the drama that is at the heart of the plot of Forbidden Planet, rightfully hailed as a masterpiece of mid-century sci-fi cinema. In addition, the small size of the in-scale figures really serves to highlight the massiveness of the C-57D. A true sense of scale is something we felt was somewhat lacking in the last release of the kit, in spite of the inclusion of Robby and the detailed interior. Adding the human element somehow really puts everything into context, and helps bring the story of Forbidden Planet back to the forefront.
As with the Id Creature, Jamie directed the creation of the sculpts, starting with a series of turnaround drawings for the sculptors to use as a guide, and then providing comments and further direction as the sculpts progressed. As with the Id, we received approval on the sculpts just last week, and gray resin castings were photographed, retouched and incorporated into the packaging graphics on the box bottom.
Model Kits: Forbidden Plastic
At long last, the ID Monster makes his styrene model kit debut! Here’s a sneak peek at part of our upcoming re-release of the Forbidden Planet C-57D Space Cruiser, which includes a few upgrades since the model kit was last seen on the market. The Id Monster is cast in clear plastic – which is the closest we can get to “invisible.” Included here are images of Jamie’s original turnaround drawings, the approved sculpt (a resin casting painted primer gray) plus a Photoshop simulation of the assembled monster, rendered as if tinted with a transparent red glaze (as if he is being made visible by the force field fence). At 1/72 scale, he measures a whopping 2” tall, which makes him 12 feet tall in “real life.”
Why a Photoshop simulation of the completed monster instead of an actual buildup? Well, it’s one of those weird cases where the packaging is due before we’ve even seen an actual test shot of the figure, as we just received approval from the licensor on the new sculpts last week. Our new packaging shows off a nice image of the buildup on the box bottom, so I felt it was important to have a semi-realistic representation on the package back. Tooling is commencing immediately, as the kit is due out in November – and that’ll be here before we know it!
