114 replies to this topic

[JafariStew]

I just want to say what a privilege and an honor it has been working with Johnny & Glenn on ROTB, for both the upcoming comic and being able to create character designs for them.  They have so much amazing stuff planned and I can't thank them enough for the opportunity.  They are both really stand up guys and are a pleasure to work with.  Let's get this KS Funded, as this is just the start of a dream come true for everyone involved and the potential behind the ROTB brand is immeasurable!  =)

-Chris Para aka Jafaristew

 

 

Edited by JafariStew, 22 February 2016 - 07:33 PM.

[plasticfiend]

Pretty much. We may do a few minor tweaks and stuff, but he is pretty much the final product.
Once he is sliced, I send him to Paul at the factory and he will tell us what to change to make it work in the mold. Undercuts and what not.
What are your thoughts?

The 3d guy is working on a hammerhead alternate head for him right now, and the weapon.

 

Good to know - I was thinking when I saw the shark, how cool it would look as a hammerhead!

 

PF

[Draznar]

Pretty much. We may do a few minor tweaks and stuff, but he is pretty much the final product.
Once he is sliced, I send him to Paul at the factory and he will tell us what to change to make it work in the mold. Undercuts and what not.
What are your thoughts?

The 3d guy is working on a hammerhead alternate head for him right now, and the weapon.

 

He reminds me of a guy who goes to the gym every day, but only works his chest muscles.

It might not be possible due to costs, but I feel like his limbs are under-sized. (But don't get me wrong, I would never miss a chance to buy a shark figure.) And all that being said, the figure may look different in figure form. So I'm trying to reserve judgement until I see the actual toy.

I would definitely be interested in seeing a Hammerhead shark, but this generic shape gives you the ability to have "different" sharks via their paint jobs, like Great White, Tiger, Bull, Mako, etc. Whereas a Hammerhead is a Hammerhead.

Edited by Draznar, 23 February 2016 - 08:05 AM.

[plasticfiend]

He reminds me of a guy who goes to the gym every day, but only works his chest muscles.
It might not be possible due to costs, but I feel like his limbs are under-sized. (But don't get me wrong, I would never miss a chance to buy a shark figure.) And all that being said, the figure may look different in figure form. So I'm trying to reserve judgement until I see the actual toy.
I would definitely be interested in seeing a Hammerhead shark, but this generic shape gives you the ability to have "different" sharks via their paint jobs, like Great White, Tiger, Bull, Mako, etc. Whereas a Hammerhead is a Hammerhead.

I was thinking he would be awesome do do as a much bigger fig, kind of like the Goliath fig on the Mystic Warriors.

PF

[Draznar]

I was thinking he would be awesome do do as a much bigger fig, kind of like the Goliath fig on the Mystic Warriors.

PF

 

That's not a half-bad idea either!

Though again, getting the molds made would be a major inhibitor on that idea.

 

Molds ain't cheap. Molds for bigger characters are definitely not cheap!

[koppenschevelle]

I just want to say what a privilege and an honor it has been working with Johnny & Glenn on ROTB, for both the upcoming comic and being able to create character designs for them.  They have so much amazing stuff planned and I can't thank them enough for the opportunity.  They are both really stand up guys and are a pleasure to work with.  Let's get this KS Funded, as this is just the start of a dream come true for everyone involved and the potential behind the ROTB brand is immeasurable!  =)

-Chris Para aka Jafaristew

 

 

Wow, Chris you did an amazing job! I am so excited to see some of my paint schemes get immortalized in your fantastic artwork. Great job! And I am really liking the design on the red panda!

[JafariStew]

Wow, Chris you did an amazing job! I am so excited to see some of my paint schemes get immortalized in your fantastic artwork. Great job! And I am really liking the design on the red panda!

 

Thank you so much Eric! As a big fan of your color work (amazing detail and color choices my friend), it was fantastic to be able to draw from your colored samples, and add some added life into these terrific characters because of that! 

 

I appreciate the kind words on the Red Panda, as she was the 1st of my entries to Johnny & Glenn, and holds a special place for me in my creative process for ROTB as the line's 1st female character!  =) I look fwd to you painting her up some day!!  ;-)

-Chris

[koppenschevelle]

Thank you so much Eric! As a big fan of your color work (amazing detail and color choices my friend), it was fantastic to be able to draw from your colored samples, and add some added life into these terrific characters because of that! 

 

I appreciate the kind words on the Red Panda, as she was the 1st of my entries to Johnny & Glenn, and holds a special place for me in my creative process for ROTB as the line's 1st female character!  =) I look fwd to you painting her up some day!!  ;-)

-Chris

Absolutely! I am really hoping this line can move forward. They are a joy to paint.

 

At some point, if Johnny and Glenn are in need of more character ideas, I need to convince them to do a pangolin character, I just can't draw worth anything. hahah. But I have been doing a fair amount of pangolin conservation work over the past two years. Last summer I was in Africa working with Cape Pangolins in Namibia. This summer I will be visiting a researcher in Borneo that works with Pangolins, then traveling to Vietnam from there to directly work with Sunda pangolins at in the Cuc Phuong national park. I am currently making a feature length documentary about my travels for pangolin conservation. And I made a short, animated video about the origin of the pangolin that is being used at some educational facilities. I think a pangolin character, with all those scale details, would look really great in this toy line/format. And I could do some cross-promotional work with it, like stuffed animals for other endangered animals. Not sure if Johnny and Glenn would go for it though. lol.

 

Really looking forward to seeing more of your comic art! Excited to see what story is put together with these guys! Keep up the great work.

[JafariStew]

Absolutely! I am really hoping this line can move forward. They are a joy to paint.

 

At some point, if Johnny and Glenn are in need of more character ideas, I need to convince them to do a pangolin character, I just can't draw worth anything. hahah. But I have been doing a fair amount of pangolin conservation work over the past two years. Last summer I was in Africa working with Cape Pangolins in Namibia. This summer I will be visiting a researcher in Borneo that works with Pangolins, then traveling to Vietnam from there to directly work with Sunda pangolins at in the Cuc Phuong national park. I am currently making a feature length documentary about my travels for pangolin conservation. And I made a short, animated video about the origin of the pangolin that is being used at some educational facilities. I think a pangolin character, with all those scale details, would look really great in this toy line/format. And I could do some cross-promotional work with it, like stuffed animals for other endangered animals. Not sure if Johnny and Glenn would go for it though. lol.

 

Really looking forward to seeing more of your comic art! Excited to see what story is put together with these guys! Keep up the great work.

 

Thanks bro! And keep up your dedicated conservation work, that is truly a gift!

 

Glenn designs most of the characters, & I am sure if he did a Pangolin it would turn out amazing... but if the boys in charge ever want me to take a crack at it (with your input down the road) I would be more than happy to design something up.

They are very unique looking creatures and already come armored up, plus classic Battle Beasts gave us a blue print! ;-)

 

Glenn has a terrific story cooked up and I am blessed to be able to put pictures to his words for the upcoming comic!

[TinyPink]

Good stuff, Jafari!   (MOTU reference?)

 

 

In the same vein:  My wife is going to help me out later with all the sign in/technical bullshit/bank numbers/etc., so I'll finally be able to pledge!  

[JafariStew]

Good stuff, Jafari!   (MOTU reference?)

 

 

In the same vein:  My wife is going to help me out later with all the sign in/technical bullshit/bank numbers/etc., so I'll finally be able to pledge!  

 

Big Thanks on the art TinyPInk!

Yes Jafaristew is from MOTU, a line by Skeletor on the MYP animated series, when I joined He-Man.org, all the obvious names were taken, so I went with something I thought no one else would have, and thus that name has been with me for like 13 years now! lol

 

Glad you will be pledging soon good sir!

[OmegaTraf]

I'll finally get a pledge in later tonight. Electronic money transfers of any kind always take me some time to arrange. I was prepared to mail Jon cash last time.

[koppenschevelle]

I got my pledge in tonight and I have been trying to spread the word. Sorry that my pledge came in late. I know there's still a long way to go in a very short amount of time, but I am still crossing my fingers.

[JafariStew]

Hello friends & fans... We are in the FINAL Hours of the ROTB Kickstarter 2, so please if you want to see this amazing line happen, the time to pledge is now!!

[Beastformers]

Kickstarter or no Kickstarter what´s important is to keep the faith and to keep supporting Jon out here as much as possible because the line is awesome and the future ideas and plans are looking great as well so its a matter of time before this line is about to be picked up by a much wider public because that´s what it deserves. We all know how the Series 1 Kickstarter got canceled and how we still got the Scorpion and Rhino sculpt eventually so the failure of the Series 2 Kickstarter is probably not much more than a delay because I´m sure Jon will continue with them and he should because he´s been teasing us with all those awesome new figs, weapons and future ideas. So there´s no way this line will finish due to a failed Kickstarter project

 

Sooner or later the Beasts will Rise again!

[ironmask]

Still, it would have lessened the burden on Jon, had the KS succeeded. I think he should give it another go-'round.

[Draznar]

Still, it would have lessened the burden on Jon, had the KS succeeded. I think he should give it another go-'round.

 

My thoughts exactly! What about running the KS for just the two figures, and weapons pack as a stretch goal?

[ironmask]

I'm not privvy to all of the particulars of how these are being financed, but it does stand to reason that it will be less expensive overall, the more things they can fit into a mold at a time.

[Draznar]

I'm not privvy to all of the particulars of how these are being financed, but it does stand to reason that it will be less expensive overall, the more things they can fit into a mold at a time.

 

And neither am I, but it's simple math to assume that molds for two characters will be cheaper initially than molds for four characters, even if it means in the end more will be paid out.

Cutting the campaign in half has it's own risks, of course. Did the pledge count only reach so high because of 4 characters and weapons? Will it maintain that level if the rewards are brought down?

Who knows?

What I do know for a fact is I need some more ROTB figures in my life.

[jkaris]

There won't be another KS for a while and it will be after Series 2.

Why didn't it hit the goal? The most basic reason was not enough people were able to or interested enough to pledge.
Why that is, I can't honestly say. A lot of folks have lots of ideas why, and it could be any of those or a combination thereof.

So, rather than throw up another KS, I'm just going to self fund the next batch. But will it be weapons or will it be weaponless figures?
I can do one or the other pretty quickly, but I can't do both quickly.
And if I do figures without weapons again, does that hurt the line?
If I do weapons next, will there be enough buy-in from the fans (not just RotB fans, but mini figure fans) to recoup most of the costs and move on to the next batch of figures?

As far as the technical side of things
2 figures fit in one mold. And I am hoping that alternate heads can fit also.
8-9 weapons can all fit in one mold.

But even if we could fit 2 weapons in the mold with the 2 figures, would we really want to?
That limits what colors you can have weapons in, since they have to be shot with the figures as well. It also increases the run costs, since you have to run figures and weapons all at once.
So that is really why the weapons need to be in their own mold.

At this point I am looking at waiting until I have enough for both and doing that, with some of the repaints releasing in the interim.
I'm putting together an order for the Rhinox/Scorponok repaints later this month. Those should come pretty quickly. It will be nice if that can peak the interest of some of the TF fans.

I am also hoping that we can get the first part of the comic out in the next 3 months. A great storyline with great art always draws interest!

But as it sits, what we really need is more people interested in RotB. I'm certainly committed and I know most of you reading this are as well. How do we expand that?

[imperfecz]

My paypal was drained with a couple of household emergency purchases and I couldn't guarantee I would have the funds if I pledged which is the reason I didn't show. Not that I would've funded the remainder but still that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Draznar]

But as it sits, what we really need is more people interested in RotB. I'm certainly committed and I know most of you reading this are as well. How do we expand that?

 

I can agree with that. How? Not sure.

What about all of them fancy indie toy mags/blogs/etc? They might have readers/viewers who aren't a part of LRG, the facebook groups, etc.

I made an attempt through Reddit, but the problem there is if you don't get enough "upvotes," your post gets drowned. (Which is exactly what happened to my post.)

Shoot us all a heads up when the next wave is due on the distro list. I'd like to be at the ready to get those repaints! (Alternate heads sounds awesome, PS. )

[plasticfiend]

Jon,

 

I'm PMing you with some more unconventional ideas.  I'd really like to see this happen, but alas I come from a perspective of inexperience and not enough understanding on some of the manufacturing burden.  But I hope I can come up with some ideas for you.

 

I'd love to see you do well with this line. 

 

PF

[Strontium Dog]

I did pledge for the full kahuna (all figures and weapons), but I wouldn't mind betting that the unusually punishing exchange rate has dissuaded a fair few UK folk. Unfortunately our government has seen fit to put our membership of the European Union to a public referendum, and this uncertainty has inevitably led to the value of the pound plummeting. The upshot is that buying anything in dollars is more expensive than it has been for 8 years or so.

Edited by Strontium Dog, 04 March 2016 - 02:43 PM.

[Draznar]

I did pledge for the full kahuna (all figures and weapons), but I wouldn't mind betting that the unusually punishing exchange rate has dissuaded a fair few UK folk. Unfortunately our government has seen fit to put our membership of the European Union to a public referendum, and this uncertainty has inevitably led to the value of the pound plummeting. The upshot is that buying anything in dollars is more expensive than it has been for 8 years or so.

 

You lot are still better off than us folks using CAD!