McFarlane Toys is one of the world's largest toy manufacturers. Established in 1994 to manufacture and sell action figures based on founder Todd McFarlane's comic book character Spawn, the international award-winning company has expanded into licensed products to become one of the premiere action figure producers on the planet.
We recently had a chance to talk with the folks at McFarlane Toys regarding the design of the Conan Series 1 & 2 line of figures. Here's what they had to say!
The Conan figures have an amazing photo realistic look. How do you capture such life-like features for characters that don't exist in the real world?
That's easy. We just followed the words of Robert E. Howard himself. Howard was an incredibly descriptive writer and he often loved to linger on detailed descriptions of not only his characters but also the lush worlds they lived in.
How much of an influence was the comic art?
Our license is based upon the literary work of Robert E. Howard. His stories are the foundation upon which we built our toy lines. Just about everyone who worked on the toys was a Conan fan of some fashion or another. So I think it's safe to say the comics, the movies, and the paintings all had some sort of tug on the people crafting the Conan toys.
Conan Series 1 - Conan the Indomitable
The figures have a great sense of motion and intent behind their sculpts. How do you decide on a particular pose or facial expression for each character?
We decide what part of the story we are attempting to tell. Then we do everything we can to isolate that exact instant with the best gesture, the best expression to convey the details of the moment we are trying to capture.
Again, Robert E. Howard's prose makes this so easy - his writing is so clear when it comes to the character's intent and motivation. We take the character's thoughts and impulses and build the figure from the inside-out. Howard often was also very descriptive about weapons and armor and the other little bits of things that allow us to capture that elusive sense of "reality" for something that is based on "fantasy."
How important is having articulation over having a great, but non-articulated final pose?
Articulation versus pose is the never-ending struggle. It is very difficult to do both well at the same time. Over the years, we have found that our fans tend to appreciate a dramatic pose with minimal articulation above all other options.
Conan Series 2 - Xaltotun the Undead
Conan fans are particularly demanding... what has the fan reaction been to the toys and characters done so far and how does that affect future toys in the line?
The fan response has been quite enthusiastic. As with all our toy lines, we listen very carefully to the critiques offered by the folks who purchase our toys. Their input after the first line was very visible in the second line. It's our intention to continue to offer toys based upon the most popular Conan stories.
Can you tell us anything about what the line has in store for the future?
We hope that the next Conan movie is imminent!
Any particular characters we can look out for or other surprises?
So far we have focused on mainly Cimmeria, Stygia and Aquilonia. We will continue to explore all of the worlds and peoples that are found in the prose of Robert E. Howard and look at them through the McFarlane lens. The Conan line is a real joy to work on and the folks at Conan Properties are just a terrific bunch of people who truly love their character and the world he lives in.
Make sure to check out McFarlane Toys great selection of Conan Series 1 & Series 2 Action Figures .