Sideshow Collectibles Q&A - Interviews

Maybe it's not something we've all thought about but it's a matter that constantly plagues me. How do they decide what action figures to bring to the masses? Why don't we see action figure for everything? Recently, I got to pick the brain of Brock Otterbacher of Sideshow Collectibles to answer these questions and more because 1) I want a Gordon Freeman action figure and 2) I like to know how things work. Thanks for your time, Brock!

Han Solo

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Sideshow Collectibles Q&A

By way of introduction, please state your name, your position at Sideshow Collectibles, and how you landed the job.

Brock Otterbacher. Licensing. I asked REAL nicely.

Seriously, though- I happened to be at the right place at the right time, asked the right people, gave enough blood, and passed a trial-by-fire.

Okay, that wasn’t so serious. I’ll do better on the next one, I swear.

Hulk vs. Spiderman (left); the Samaritan (right)

The big question is, how are licenses handled at Sideshow? Do companies approach Sideshow to have figures made or is it the other way around?

It’s a little bit of both, really. Sometimes we seek out something we want to do; sometimes companies seek us out. And sometimes we even meet in the middle.

We got a really big license once, by calling up, and asking for something else. We were told “no, we can’t do that with you, at this time, but how about…THIS?” That was great…

If Sideshow is going after a property, how does Sideshow pursue such a deal?

Well, there’s a lot of discussion before hand, to make sure a property is right for us, that there is a market for it, and the most important aspect- that the financials make sense.

Once that’s all figured out, the groundwork begins- calling, emailing, negotiating, and so on. And every once in a while there’s a jousting or a duel, but that’s only with the tough deals…

From rough concept drafts to finished product, how does the approval process proceed? Is there a lot of back-and-forth between Sideshow and the company?

Depending on the property, there can be a lot of back and forth with the company (or licensor). There are many stages of approvals, and each license has its different way these are approached. Generally speaking though- you start with a concept. This can be anything from a fully rendered illustration, to a picture of one of the staff holding a rubber sword.

From there, you submit a sculpt, usually unpainted. This is where a lot of the initial comments are made by the licensor, and we in turn make the appropriate changes.

Next is a painted prototype, from which more comments usually come.

After the prototype is approved, then it is sent overseas to the factory. In a few weeks, we start getting samples from the factory, showing what they can replicate in mass production. We then send a sample to the licensor, so they can see what the product is going to look for the consumer, as there are sometimes slight differences between the prototypes and final production samples.

After all that is done, we send the licensors the final samples, and it’s this time that the customers get them into their happy hands.

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Sideshow has only (relatively) recently been able to offer pieces based on Marvel and Star Wars properties. In terms of “geekdom” these are sought after properties. Was it a long road to travel to get these “in the bag”?

For the 12” Star Wars deal, yes. We spent a long time talking with Hasbro and Lucasfilm, to make sure that everybody was on the same page. I

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mean, Hasbro/Kenner had been making these figures for 20+ years, and to have somebody come in and want to take up the mantle is no small deal. Though, as long as it took, it was all very positive, as everybody knew going in that it would be a slow process.

Marvel, on the other hand, was a fairly fast process. It was really about us as a company being in the right position with ourselves, and the fans, to be able to take on the Marvel Universe.

Hypothetically, if I really wanted to see a 12” Gordon Freeman (of Half-Life fame) action figure what would be the best way to see that come to pass?

Everybody asks, “how do I get a figure of so-and-so made?”, or we get the comment “Sideshow should make figures of such-and-such.”

First and foremost, as one could imagine, we discuss a lot of different ideas internally, as well as get pitched on a lot if properties. So it’s safe to say that there is almost no idea that we haven’t heard, or thought of (in terms of licenses we should or shouldn’t do).

But to really answer your question, you’ve got to ask yourself a couple of things, and you have to try to be as unbiased as possible- does the property make sense for what Sideshow is currently doing? Is there a true market for it? Is the figure going to cost too much to produce?

These are just some of the questions we ask ourselves, when looking at new properties. It’s not as simples as saying “Hey, there’s a petition online asking for Dr. Doolittle figures. We should make Dr. Doolittle figures!” There are a lot more things to consider than if a property is popular, or not.

Would it be much of a stretch for Sideshow to branch into videogame properties?

Not at all. The challenge with video game properties, esp. for a company that makes high-end collectibles (not action figures), is that most hardcore video game players would rather spend their hard-earned $$$ on the next system, game, or upgrade. They would rather play the character, than have the character sitting on their shelf.

However, there are some games that transcend this, and yes, we’ve been talking… ;)

Is the licensing process much the same for 12” action figures and the more statuesque polystone pieces?

Doesn’t matter if it’s a 12” figure, or a paper airplane with Darth Vader drawn on it- it all comes down to the contract, the availability of the license, and the dollars and sense. And no, I didn’t mean cents.

Is the deciding factor of whether or not a piece goes into production cost versus profit?

Of course. Someone could say “why doesn’t Sideshow make that Super Tyrana-Trooper from that one movie, when he was wearing his mega laser armor. That would be sooooo cool!”

Well, how much is the Super Tyrana-Trooper going to cast to sculpt? How much is it going to cost to produce? How many people know what a Super Tyrana-Trooper is?

(Come to think of it, a Super Tyrana-Trooper with mega laser armor DOES sound pretty cool. If anyone wants to make some figures of it, contact me. I think I may want to license it out. For a small fee, of course.)

(May 22, 2006)