Captain Action’s big news this week is our announcement of the Marvel license for Captain Action costume sets! This is significant indeed, as it reunites Captain Action with his old pals Spider-Man and Captain America, and allows Captain Action to venture further into Marvel territory with costume sets of Thor, Iron Man and more! For the full scoop, see the official Captain Action press release here.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of a couple of sculpts-in-process of some special accessories for the deluxe version of the Spider-Man costume set. Keep in mind that these are not final, and are not yet approved by Marvel. Enjoy!

Tanks, But No Tanks!

Fans of the original Captain Action may remember that goofy (but, oh, so lovable!) “web tank” that was included in the original Spider-Man Ideal costume set. (Ominously, it was labeled on the packaging as “Spider Venom Spray.” Ouch.) Although some of those quirky original accessories have become very endearing to fans over the years, it is our intent to be faithful to the original source material. So – instead of Spidey’s questionable “web tank,“ we have opted to recreate those wonderful web shooters that Peter Parker ostensibly hides under his Spider-Man gloves. While these do not actually fit under the 1/6-scale glove/hands (more about that later!), it allows the 1/6-scale aficionado to display our friend Mr. Parker (using the alter-ego mask included with the deluxe set) getting dressed and ready to fight crime as everyone’s favorite web-slinger!

After over 40 years of faithful, superheroic service, we at Forever Fun decided it was time to give Captain Action a couple of well-earned upgrades. First of all, our Valentine’s Day gift to you, dear Captain, is a new and improved face.

Cap’s facelift was a matter of some debate. There are those who consider Cap’s original appearance a thing of sacred (that is  “sacred” — not “scared” or “scarred”) beauty. That said, Cap had already been re-released, under the Playing Mantis regime, with (more-or-less) his original face. So, for this new release, did we want to go to that well one more time, and not mess with the supposed visage of perfection that our rose-colored glasses of nostalgia showed us? OR, did we want to look to the present, (nay, the future!) with our 3-D, HD stereoscopic spectacles and modernize our beloved Captain Action, youthify and meanify him so he fit more within a modern aesthetic?

With the blessing and assistance of our friends Joe Ahearn and Ed Catto at Captain Action Enterprises, the current licensor for Captain Action, we decided to give Cap a subtle facelift, a look that is slightly more modern, while not abandoning his classic appearance entirely. This Cap may have a stronger jawline and a more determined look, but he still has that subtle, fun-loving smirk that his original incarnation sported — a look that says he’s ready for adventure, fun and fighting off the bad guys! In any case, here’s a sneak peek at Cap’s new face.

Once upon a time there was an action figure with a blue laser gun and lightning-shaped sword. He had a skin-tight black and blue superhero costume and a captain’s hat. He had sort of a goofy grin on his face and looked a little like the friendly middle-aged neighbor from next door. (But, heck, this was the 1960’s and we didn’t mind if our super heroes looked like our dads.)

The cool thing with this action figure is that you could change him into OTHER superheroes and comic book characters, like Batman, Superman, Green Hornet, Spider-Man and Captain America. This great action figure even had his own alien nemesis, a freaky blue-skinned guy with an exposed brain! (How cool is THAT?!) He even had his own kid sidekick, who had a black panther as a pet! (That’s just crazy, man.)

There are a few of us that still consider this unique toy the best action figure ever. In fact, he was so beloved that a little toy company you may have heard of, Playing Mantis, even brought him back about 10 years ago.

Well, you can’t keep a good man down, and we at Round 2/Forever Fun are proud to be associated with this classic action figure once again.

We’ll have more news in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out this press release on Forever Fun and take a gander at the (very preliminary) images posted below.

Actually, 2011 spring is over at Round 2 and the 2011 fall and winter season is full swing. Of course I’m talking about our selling seasons. We have presented all our spring offerings to our buyers/retailers and they have all declined. We had some great ideas but they just didn’t ‘stick’ as they say. Below are sales images of the Easter and Valentine poseables we had planned. If you own the figures already, it might be fun to set up your displays using these ideas. My favorite is the Peanuts Easter Pig Pen with the egg coloring deco!  You’ll notice the Peanuts Valentine Snoopy/Cupid sports the angel wings from the Sally mini figure in the pageant set. Well, there’s always next year. We will never give up trying.

Proposed 2011 Easter Poseables

The Forever Fun Website has be UPDATED! Be sure to check it out!

photo by RICK GOLDSCHMIDT ARCHIVES

There was a small item in the news recently, the kind of article that many casual readers could have easily overlooked. However, for those of us who are fans of Rudolph, it came as a big bit of very sad news: Billie Mae Richards, the voice of our beloved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, has died.

For most of us who have worked on the Rudolph line here at Round 2 and also previously at Playing Mantis, developing the Rudolph line was (and is) so much more than just a job. I grew up with Rudolph on television every Christmas, and to actually become a part of that holiday phenomenon, even in such a peripheral manner, is a real privilege and an honor. It is about so much more than just commerce. When we started adding audio to our figures, and the instantly identifiable sounds of the REAL Rudolph started coming out of our product, it was that perfect icing on our holiday cake, the final touch that at last made our product feel truly genuine.

We have Billie Mae Richards to thank for that. The dulcet tones of that shy little reindeer, humble and magnificent at the same time, will continue to be an indelible part of our holiday year after year, for generations to come. Maybe it was just a tiny incandescent bulb that really gave Rudolph his shiny nose, but it was Rudolph’s distinctive voice — full of insecurity, goodness and hope — that gave that little stop-motion puppet its heart.

Thank you, Billie Mae, for truly bringing Rudolph to life.

Rick Goldschmidt – A Rankin Bass Historian’s Account

Los Angeles Times Account

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.