Source: Action-Figure SOTA Forum.
Jerry Macaluso, President/Founder Of SOTA Toys wrote:
- The clear SF gifts were packaged.
- Accessory packs are being sculpted..Adam and Rene are running with it..I dont think we'll announce any details until SDCC
- Its not necessarily Capcoms dislike for Marvel legends style figures its the entire eastern cultures dislike. They prefer Kotobukiya and Kaiyodo style 'hidden' articulation. They like articulation to be on a figure by figure basis. They perceive articulation as an 'art'. Marvel legends are seen to be 'cheap' because the articulation is so visible..they are seen to be 'kids toys' same with SF. Of course I didnt know this until after I commited to ML style articulation. I still would have done it the same way even if I had the hindsight...I dont particularly like Kaiyodo or kototbukiya style articulation. I guess its cuz I grew up with Microman/Micronauts and thats what I like.
- My deal with Capcom is i can do whatever I want in plastic..articulated or unarticulated..between 3" and 18" with any character from the Street Fighter Universe except EX characters. That gives me a lot of leeway. I only need to get creative approvals on the 'look' of things.
- No booth at the Toronto Comiccon..sorry..wish we had the staff to do more conventions but we need to get back to work. We only take a week off for SDCC
- Gouken has the X on his forehead but you cant really see it in the pics.
- We've never done anything organized. Its really just fan/collector interaction online and at cons. Truthfully without a new game to rebuild a younger fan base the potential of the franchise just isnt big enough to warrant the costs of more in depth marketing.
- Capcom sees everything before we release pics but they rarely have any comments. There were only two times we battled with them. First was at the very begining trying to get them to understand the 'Marvel Legends' style..they hated it..every japanese company hates it. Second was the infamous 'bloody' 2 pack... but really capcom is fantastic to work with.
- As for 'scrapped concepts/early sketches' .. yeah I have stuff I plan on putting on the new website.
- Let me tell you how we went into the SF line... both feet first. That was at the very begining of the company...Tomb Raider hadnt even come out yet so Jed and I ( yes that was the entire company) had no clue what we were doing. I always knew that I wanted to try and spread out the popular characters to support more rounds but I hadnt planned on letting the fans vote when we started. The fan vote came about through discussions with Nomad and Adrian. They suggested it.
- My fav memory of this SF line was when we released the very first teaser pic of M Bison and the action-figure traffic went bananas...thats when I knew we had something.
- Hellhound..I think it would be a good idea to put the previously released figues on the packaging somewhere.
- What happens to Darkstalkers orders that have already been placed. I dont have an answer to that yet...
- Shipping to Canada. Thats a Jed thing..though I know we have a policy to not mark shipping up. We use an outside packing service so theres additional costs besides the shipping itself..they charge us for the box, the tape, the unpacking then repacking, loading etc.. that adds to each figure. You should email jed@sotatoys.com
- I think Jed is planning to bring some older 'rare' figures to sell that we found in the warehouse..
- IF we re-do Ken and Ryu we WILL put in forward/back shoulder movement..
- With Gouken comoing out I think Goutetsu is a possibility down the road
- When we do Oro I DO want to give him the rocks
- My fav SF girl...probably Karin for cuteness factor.. Chunners for Cool factor
- Capcom is thrilled theres a Gouken..I dont think they ever thought it would happen. I didnt actually ask them if we could do it..hes part of SF..I just had to have them approve the look. They didnt know we did it until I showed it to them.
- The rotocast SF figures didnt sell all that well...we may try it again later in 07 once the new webstore thingie is up.
- I havent seen the SF6 vote results so I dont know how Geki did. Your guess is as good as mine.
- Actually KameN we havent done the artwork for the Gouken clamshell..shoot me an email with an attachment of your work. Jerry@sotatoys.com
- Darkstalkers is planned for release in early 07 as our first online only line. You will see Demitris new head sculpt at SDCC but it wont be painted...or maybe it will..you never know..
- SF5 will be shown completely painted at SDCC.
- We do intend to develop some new styles of articulation. I just cant throw that at the new factory right now as its hard enough for them to understand the quality I demand.
- I go into the voting thing one round at a time. On R7 I might change how we do it..but until we're ready for it I just dont know.
- I get asked a lot at the office about re-doing Ryu and Ken. Im pretty sure it will happen but not sure when. It might be some kind of box set.
- Nothing is timed with the PS2 compilation game.
- Will the Gouken be sold with a ticket system.. not sure..thats up to Jed..he sort of organizes SDCC. Yes Gouken will have his own card..I dont think there are moves to list really.
- Wont have any Gouken accessories to show for a few more weeks. But they're kinda gummi..thats the established style.
- We were about to cancel our SDCC booth because I didnt think we could get an exclusive done in time with the old factory jacking all the molds. I dont like to go to SDCC without a fun exclusive. At the same time I was well aware that there were a lot of people spreading rumors that SOTA was going under and not attending SDCC would only help those people to spread their gossip.
So I talked to the new factory and they said they could do it but it would be very expensive. We sent an Akuma to them to find out how expensive. When we got the cost back it was enormous and I figured Gouken was dead in the water as with everything else going on I just couldnt afford to throw this into the mix financially.
Well Toy Rocket got wind of it and offered to cover half the costs for half the figures and that made it do-able. So then Adam, Rene and Alexi worked their butts off to get it sculpted in less than a week. We actually didnt even have time to mold it..we just sent the sculpt to china..thats why you are only seeing photoshop colored pics.
- Gouken should be available in the UK wherever SF figures are sold. If he isnt its not because we didnt offer it..it'll be because the UK distributor didnt want it. But it will be after SDCC. I am pretty sure it will only be the SOTA version that is available unless Toy Rocket decides to sell theirs to UK independantly from us.
- Its far too late to change the way the figures are coming.
- If we have Goukens left after SDCC they'll go up on our site within a week.
- If and when we go online only everything overseas ( outside USA) will remain as it currently is. If Forbidden Planet currently carries our figures they should continue to carry them.
- ta da !
J
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