The long wait is over. Finally, the production samples of Peanuts Halloween poseables have arrived. Here’s the line-up:

Charlie repeats his appearance in his trendy Vampire costume. Snoopy is wrapped like a mummy and his buddy Woodstock is the archeologist. Sally has the iconic hair of the “Bride of the Monster”. Linus, as the Monster, sports shoe lifts, neck bolts, manacles and face paint.

They each come with a cardboard backdrop for display. That’s all we’ll have out there for Peanuts Halloween 2010. Let’s see the creations we piece together for 2011. Muahahaha!

I want to take a minute to ensure everyone that, we do indeed see whenever someone posts comments to our blogs. It is just sometimes difficult to find the time to answer back when we see them come in. I admit that I haven’t been able to post here as often as I would like or should. There have been many times when I’ve been compelled to write, but honestly couldn’t think of anything that I thought warranted it. We’ve had a very up and down year as far as Forever Fun goes. Literally, we felt like the line was going away one week and found it flourishing the next based on information coming in to the creative department. Through those circumstances it has been difficult to find positive things to write about.

My responsibilities have also been slowly shifting direction here. When we first added our model kit line to our Forever Fun responsibilities, we started small and let it grow slowly. After two years, it’s not so small any more and as my involvement in that has increased, my input to the Forever Fun line has dwindled. I still give my two cents to the line, giving suggestions and helping where I can with product development. Meanwhile, Terri, another art director who has been working on the line the entire time too has been taking on even more of the Forever Fun line responsibilities. We have also brought in a new graphic designer, Kate, to play utility infielder for pretty much all of the lines here at Round 2. She will be helping Terri considerably as we go along.

So with that said, I’m handing off the responsibilities for this blog over to Terri and Kate might chime in a time or two. You’ll see a few more posts from me too as I try to post video of my Hong Kong trip. (I haven’t forgotten. I’ve just been experiencing technical difficulties) Be patient with us as we all make this transition. Terri has said she’ll try to post images of our Peanuts Halloween line soon. Her posts may be shorter than mine have been but I think you’ll find them to be sweeter too. Who knows what other interesting tidbits she’ll drop on you guys as we have started our plans for exciting NEW product lines featuring our Forever Fun holiday characters.

I’m starting to write this one a little earlier and I feel well rested and ready for the day. The next two days will be spent at Doallser. Like I said, I am more familiar with the people here. This factory produces our Round 2 Models kits and Peanuts Forever Fun product. It seems to be an excellent company to be partnered with.

The owner, Mr. Dasam Hsu, takes a genuine interest in the well being of his employees. He has begun team building and wellness programs for them. He wants them to care for one another and work well as a team. They even take a break every day at 4:00 for dancing and back rubbing. It is quite a thing to see with line workers lined up front to back each rubbing the back of the worker in front of them. I saw training to use a fire extinguisher today. At first I thought it was kind of odd but then I thought about it. We take for granted that having a fire extinguisher nearby is good enough. I can’t recall ever trying one myself though. It seems like good practical training to me.

I was honored to meet our customer service staff- Grace and Fay, who communicate with me daily about model kit progress; Beckie who keeps us updated about our Forever Fun products; and Cola, who handles our die cast product (I think) with our guys back at the office. They seemed very interested to meet me but were quite timid. I was told that they might be shy but that they would be able to overcome this. Each greeted me in English. They fear that they don’t speak English well enough, but I understood everything they said (in English) the great majority of the time. They understood me most of the time and they have always written very well. They were intrigued by (but too timid to touch) my “whiskers”. They giggled to each other at the prospect. They were very proud to point out our product as we saw it on our initial tour of the factory and they were very anxious to talk with me directly about our projects. I have been looking forward to meeting these young ladies. It is always easier to deal with people where you can put a face to a name and email chatter. I started to sweat when they asked about learning Chinese. I had told them I would try to learn a little bit before I came. I had listened to a couple quick lesson on the internet the other night and I made up a small cheat sheet with me and received a couple more giggles because my notes weren’t written phonetically well enough. They set me right though and taught me how to say “China” and “watermelon” in Chinese. I wonder what I will learn tomorrow.

The facility is organized with a lot going on. Recent upgrades in technology in different areas have really raised their capabilities. We had been recently informed of their new CNC milling machine and electrostatic clean room for decorating high end collectible products. They have also purchased a larger format injection machine to inject our model kits.

Right now, they are running the new 1:32 scale 1966 Batmobile Collector’s Edition Tin, Double Dragster and K-7 Space Station kits. They have one final assembly/ packaging line that is devoted to our product. It was fun to see stacks of Batmobile boxes and bins full of bagged parts waiting to come together like a Reece’s peanut butter cup. Mmm… yummy model kits. No sooner had my camera let me down but then the batteries completely konked out on me. It was late in the day before I got more pics. I did take a video of some of the production lines. I’ll find a way to quickly edit them and put them out once I get back.

Dasam showed me some very special projects they are working on and they are AMAZING. Unfortunately, I am sworn to secrecy. I can say precision die cast fans would be impressed. The biggest one is a limited commercial project so I’m not sure if the majority of the public will ever get to see it. I hope so though.

After a long day at the factory, we ended up at dinner with the whole crew. I think besides knowing about the working conditions, I would expect everyone to be curious about real Chinese food. This was the third night in a row for me to eat Chinese. I was hoping to have something else but I think I liked tonight’s meal the best. I’m not sure if I could say why though. I have tried everything on the table and was complimented tonight on my bravery by Dasam’s sister, Amy. Along the way, the dishes have ranged from tofu dishes to BBQ pork, fish with the heads and tails on the dish and almost everything in between. I figure why not, the least that could happen is that I wouldn’t take a second bite of something.

I think the strangest thing I ate was last night and that was a red bean dish. I think it was served as a desert. It was the consistency of a soup and was somewhat sweet. The impression it left me was that it was kind of like a soup version of red velvet cake. It took me a few bites to decide if I liked it or not. I finally decided that I’m not a fan.

The best thing was probably last night also and it was a vegetable similar to a fork sized celery stalk almost like an elongated cabbage. I can’t remember what it was called. It was served in a buttery sauce. There have only been very few dishes that I would say I didn’t like and even then it is kind of a mild dislike.

All in all, it isn’t “crazy” food. There is a lot of variety. Compared to Chinese food at home, it is a bit more subtle. The tastes don’t really bang you over your head like at home. There aren’t many dishes with really spicy hot or sweet sauces. It is a more mellow food. Chinese dishes are brought to the table one after another until they have all been delivered. You start with what is first placed on the table and then eat the other dishes as they arrive every few minutes. Dishes are placed on a lazy susan so everyone can reach it. You eat from a tea cup sized bowl and you take just a few bites worth from the center dishes. It is difficult to really know how much you have eaten yourself. It is a very different way to eat with no sense of urgency what so ever.

I’ve eaten everything without asking what it is. Most times I was told first but not always. I’ve eaten so many different things and understood so little about what was in it that I can’t tell you everything that I’ve eaten. I’ve been a brave little monkey on this trip and I’m sure I’ll be ready for a hamburger once I get home.

So, I’ve mentioned some of the issues we’ve had with our Peanuts holiday figures, especially with Peppermint Patty. It is rare that we have any problems with the factory on this product. Sure things happen here and there but they are pretty dependable.

Last year we were getting ready to include her in our Halloween assortment at CVS. I got the painted test shots back and was horrified. She had blonde hair! I thought it was a practical joke. Turns out the joke was on me as I had picked up specs for Sally and rewritten over them. I missed correcting the spec on the hair. Luckily, it wasn’t too early to correct it. (occaisionally, we get “test shots” and they are actually production pieces- Yikes!) Here’s a look at bleach blonde Patty. One of about ½ dozen in existence.

Our most recent miscue has been Patty packaged in Christmas packaging. She was not in our plans for this year but somehow the one shown ended up on the shelf at Meijer. Sure it is a little beaten but it is still factory sealed in spots. Closer inspection shows that she was actually placed in a Franklin inner blister. Notice the lack of an insert- it doesn’t actually say Peppermint Patty anywhere. I’m guessing that the factory had to do some planning for something packaging oriented and they sealed a few of her in the package. (Franklin may have lagged behind in production because parts of him are new) Somehow, she got put in cases and out she went. There is no way of knowing how many are out there. We would never have known about her if Bob hadn’t actually found her in our local Meijer store. What are the odds?

Some of my earliest memories are from when I was a little kid when my dad worked late. I’m not sure if he was working second shift or just overtime. Anyway, I remember begging my mom to let me stay up late on Friday nights to watch CREATURE FEATURE. The funny thing was that I could rarely keep my eyes open long enough to see the stars of the show. I’m sure what I did get to see gave me nightmares. Boy did I love it though. Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, you name it. I’ve always had a love of the classics. I’m glad that we got to take some inspiration from those classics to freshen this year’s Peanuts line.

This gives you a little peak at our Peanuts Halloween poseable figures, which will be available at CVS pharmacies. We love them and hope they make a fun addition to everyone’s Halloween décor. Charlie Brown as a vampire is just the start.

Fat Santa Claus is one of this year’s Forever Fun product offerings in the deluxe poseable category of Rudolph figurines. As the story goes, Mrs. Claus is concerned that she might have to alter his coat if he doesn’t start eating and fattening up. And Santa is Casual about the whole idea. This deluxe product includes our poseable Casual Santa with a fabric coat and hat. Put it on and he’s fattened up and ready for his Christmas ride. Press the fabric toy bag and you’ll activate sounds from the classic show. Baby Rudolph with a light-up nose is also included. This is a soft good mockup of the suit, which the factory will emulate for the production run. He looks so happy — it almost seems his tummy shakes… like a bowlful of jelly!

Yikes! We have been nurturing the birth and progress of a new line of figurines to add to our Forever Fun line up of holiday seasonal products. Sculpts and sales samples for this line up recreating the characters in The Little Drummer Boy holiday classic have been warmly received. Test shots have been reviewed and packaging samples received and approved. The next step would be reviewing painted test shots. Jamie received an email loaded with turn around images of the anxiously awaited painted figurines. Image by image, front view, side views, back view, three quarter views, each figurine was revealed. Things were looking pretty good. Image by image we were feeling more and more confident that the factory had understood our specifications. Scrolling toward the end of the images…. YIKES! We have a problem with Aaron, the star of the show.  Everything was looking so good up until then; we decided that folks at the factory were playing a little joke on us. So Jamie decided to return the favor! We are very happy to announce the addition of this new license to our roster of Forever Fun holiday classics.  Little Drummer Boy holiday figurines premiere release will be at selected retailers for the 2009 holiday season.