MattBrady
01-14-2008, 02:14 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/Harley.jpg" border="0" align="right"><i>by Jim Beard</I>
Greetings! Just before the end of ’07, I had the chance to speak with Georg Brewer, VP-Design and DC Direct Creative about the year now past, some new developments, and future lines. We now bring that chat to you.
Georg Brewer: Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you. Right off let me say that talking about the DC Direct line can be a bit of a challenge given the product cycle and long lead times for development. Basically as we sit here at the end of 2007 we are already wrapping up development on the product you will see in stores throughout 2008 and we have started 2009. So excuse me if I bounce back and forth between stuff developed in a certain year and stuff that actually came out in stores. I know it can be confusing but welcome to our world.
Newsarama:How do you place 2007 for DCD? What did it achieve as a company and what if anything was a disappointment?
Brewer: I think 2007 was a solid year for both the line and our collectors. We managed our growing list well, and hit some nice high notes. In the core action figure line we’ve seen two of our longest running lines ever, the Alex Ross designed Justice and McGuiness Superman/Batman lines wrap up. And we launched DC Unlimited with the World of Warcraft, which was a success on all fronts. And with the continued extension of Batman Black and White as well as our core statue program I think we hit it on numerous fronts. All in all looking back we have a lot to be happy about.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/Jokercane.jpg" border="0" align="left">NRAMA: Do you feel DCD truly “broadened its scope” in 2007, as you have stated as a goal?
Brewer: Definitely! We continue to try new things, and while it all cannot work we have more hits then misses. DC Unlimited holds the potential for tremendous expansion for our creative talents. The 1:6th scale line has come into its own and the diversity of characters and body types has set the stage for even more interesting things to come. Ame-Comi, the reconfigured prop program and just a few action figures lines show how broad we can go.
NRAMA: This is nine years of DCD’s first ten; what exactly does that mean to you? Is it an achievement or is it ‘business as usual’? Is it a better company now? Are you a better director?
Brewer : It has been a wild ride that is sure. In the beginning there was only three or four of us getting it all done, and that was on top of everything else we were already doing. Syndee Barwick has been here from the very beginning with our current Production Manager, Christine Napolitano coming in shortly there after. There are more of us on the team now, but in many ways as a tightly knit group we still come together with the same entrepreneurial spirit to get the line out. Even after nine years we continue to learn to do what we do better, and I hope that comes out in the final product.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/Supergirl.jpg" border="0" align="right">NRAMA: The 13” line seems to have taken off; what where the most important things you’ve learned in ’07 about the line? How will that help going forward?
Brewer: Each figure has its own set of challenges and provides and education that carries over to the next. In many ways as we complete one figure and have the next four or five in the hopper we find our more of what we don’t know. It’s solving these challenges and problems creatively that keeps the juices flowing.
NRAMA: Will we see the 13” Wonder Woman in ’07? Another teen figure?
Brewer: Sorry no, but she will be in 2009, and seen for the first time in 2008. In some ways she is one of the hardest figures to pull off. From the amount of the figure you see in the costume to her trademark hair we’ll keep working on it until it is right, and every fan looks on her as the definitive Super Heroine 1:6th scale figure.
NRAMA: 2007 also seems to have been a good year for the Minimates program; what have you learned there? Does it curtail any thoughts of a more realistic line of small figures?
Brewer: Creatively Minimates has been a fun line to work on, and the mix of character choices has had some nice surprises. It would have been good had they performed at bit better, but their holding their own. To me these have little to do with a realistic line of small-scale figures, as I’m not convinced they would hit all of the same collectors. We have in fact developed prototypes of a 4” figure line, so you never know.
NRAMA: The New Gods figures were a great 2007 reveal; has initial reaction been enough to warrant a second wave?
Brewer: Reaction was great, but in general it is a hard marketplace for secondary characters. That said I think I have a picture of some additional NG figures around here somewhere… Jim “Kirby-Crazy” Fletcher probably took them. Editor’s Note: A Wave 2 Kalibak has since been shown in ToyFare magazine.
NRAMA: Showcase Presents (http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/Showcase/ShowcaseFigs.html) also caused a healthy stir among collectors; do you feel the calls for a tweaking of the Superman sculpts to be warranted? Will there be any adjustments to any of the figures?
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/SHC1.JH_t.jpg" border="0" align="left">Brewer: I am a big fan of the Showcase line myself; it bridges some of the same space captured by First Appearance while also having a specific artistic style to it. We are always tweaking and adjusting the figures as they go along through production, but I don’t think any major changes are planned. There are so many challenges interpreting different artist’s styles, and those very same artists do drift and evolve over time. Agreeing on the definitive look can be literal to a specific comic issue, or a gestalt of the overall body of work. Take Nick Cardy’s Aquaman who I was just discussing today. In the early issues he had a real Steve Canyon flavor to his work, but by the end of the stories in that first Showcase he had matured into his later more rounded style of drawing. We keep swinging for it, and I’ll always consider specific comments and suggestions where practical. I think the debate, when presented respectfully, is healthy and fun for our community of collectors.
NRAMA: Lots of Justice in ’07 as well as some controversy over the armored figures; what is your justification of the armored figures and where can the line possibly go from here?
Brewer: I was surprised by the reaction to the armored figures, and to me given their role in the story there were valid for the line. By the time this hits we will have announced our “last” line of Justice. Though as I often say never say never, and we can always go back to that story if the fan demand is there. We are cooking up something further with Alex so stay tuned. Editor’s Note: This is obviously the JSA line, recently revealed in ToyFare magazine.
NRAMA: You’ve mentioned a bit of your plans for the 10th anniversary of DCD in ’08; what more can you tell us of those plans for a line of anniversary figures?
Brewer: Plans seem to change daily. We do have some new ideas in the hopper and will share them early in the New Year.
We’d like to thank Georg and Alex Segura of DC for their time and for making these Q&As work. Stay tuned for more Super-Articulate tomorrow!
Greetings! Just before the end of ’07, I had the chance to speak with Georg Brewer, VP-Design and DC Direct Creative about the year now past, some new developments, and future lines. We now bring that chat to you.
Georg Brewer: Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you. Right off let me say that talking about the DC Direct line can be a bit of a challenge given the product cycle and long lead times for development. Basically as we sit here at the end of 2007 we are already wrapping up development on the product you will see in stores throughout 2008 and we have started 2009. So excuse me if I bounce back and forth between stuff developed in a certain year and stuff that actually came out in stores. I know it can be confusing but welcome to our world.
Newsarama:How do you place 2007 for DCD? What did it achieve as a company and what if anything was a disappointment?
Brewer: I think 2007 was a solid year for both the line and our collectors. We managed our growing list well, and hit some nice high notes. In the core action figure line we’ve seen two of our longest running lines ever, the Alex Ross designed Justice and McGuiness Superman/Batman lines wrap up. And we launched DC Unlimited with the World of Warcraft, which was a success on all fronts. And with the continued extension of Batman Black and White as well as our core statue program I think we hit it on numerous fronts. All in all looking back we have a lot to be happy about.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/Jokercane.jpg" border="0" align="left">NRAMA: Do you feel DCD truly “broadened its scope” in 2007, as you have stated as a goal?
Brewer: Definitely! We continue to try new things, and while it all cannot work we have more hits then misses. DC Unlimited holds the potential for tremendous expansion for our creative talents. The 1:6th scale line has come into its own and the diversity of characters and body types has set the stage for even more interesting things to come. Ame-Comi, the reconfigured prop program and just a few action figures lines show how broad we can go.
NRAMA: This is nine years of DCD’s first ten; what exactly does that mean to you? Is it an achievement or is it ‘business as usual’? Is it a better company now? Are you a better director?
Brewer : It has been a wild ride that is sure. In the beginning there was only three or four of us getting it all done, and that was on top of everything else we were already doing. Syndee Barwick has been here from the very beginning with our current Production Manager, Christine Napolitano coming in shortly there after. There are more of us on the team now, but in many ways as a tightly knit group we still come together with the same entrepreneurial spirit to get the line out. Even after nine years we continue to learn to do what we do better, and I hope that comes out in the final product.
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/Supergirl.jpg" border="0" align="right">NRAMA: The 13” line seems to have taken off; what where the most important things you’ve learned in ’07 about the line? How will that help going forward?
Brewer: Each figure has its own set of challenges and provides and education that carries over to the next. In many ways as we complete one figure and have the next four or five in the hopper we find our more of what we don’t know. It’s solving these challenges and problems creatively that keeps the juices flowing.
NRAMA: Will we see the 13” Wonder Woman in ’07? Another teen figure?
Brewer: Sorry no, but she will be in 2009, and seen for the first time in 2008. In some ways she is one of the hardest figures to pull off. From the amount of the figure you see in the costume to her trademark hair we’ll keep working on it until it is right, and every fan looks on her as the definitive Super Heroine 1:6th scale figure.
NRAMA: 2007 also seems to have been a good year for the Minimates program; what have you learned there? Does it curtail any thoughts of a more realistic line of small figures?
Brewer: Creatively Minimates has been a fun line to work on, and the mix of character choices has had some nice surprises. It would have been good had they performed at bit better, but their holding their own. To me these have little to do with a realistic line of small-scale figures, as I’m not convinced they would hit all of the same collectors. We have in fact developed prototypes of a 4” figure line, so you never know.
NRAMA: The New Gods figures were a great 2007 reveal; has initial reaction been enough to warrant a second wave?
Brewer: Reaction was great, but in general it is a hard marketplace for secondary characters. That said I think I have a picture of some additional NG figures around here somewhere… Jim “Kirby-Crazy” Fletcher probably took them. Editor’s Note: A Wave 2 Kalibak has since been shown in ToyFare magazine.
NRAMA: Showcase Presents (http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/Showcase/ShowcaseFigs.html) also caused a healthy stir among collectors; do you feel the calls for a tweaking of the Superman sculpts to be warranted? Will there be any adjustments to any of the figures?
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/superarticulate/DCD08/SHC1.JH_t.jpg" border="0" align="left">Brewer: I am a big fan of the Showcase line myself; it bridges some of the same space captured by First Appearance while also having a specific artistic style to it. We are always tweaking and adjusting the figures as they go along through production, but I don’t think any major changes are planned. There are so many challenges interpreting different artist’s styles, and those very same artists do drift and evolve over time. Agreeing on the definitive look can be literal to a specific comic issue, or a gestalt of the overall body of work. Take Nick Cardy’s Aquaman who I was just discussing today. In the early issues he had a real Steve Canyon flavor to his work, but by the end of the stories in that first Showcase he had matured into his later more rounded style of drawing. We keep swinging for it, and I’ll always consider specific comments and suggestions where practical. I think the debate, when presented respectfully, is healthy and fun for our community of collectors.
NRAMA: Lots of Justice in ’07 as well as some controversy over the armored figures; what is your justification of the armored figures and where can the line possibly go from here?
Brewer: I was surprised by the reaction to the armored figures, and to me given their role in the story there were valid for the line. By the time this hits we will have announced our “last” line of Justice. Though as I often say never say never, and we can always go back to that story if the fan demand is there. We are cooking up something further with Alex so stay tuned. Editor’s Note: This is obviously the JSA line, recently revealed in ToyFare magazine.
NRAMA: You’ve mentioned a bit of your plans for the 10th anniversary of DCD in ’08; what more can you tell us of those plans for a line of anniversary figures?
Brewer: Plans seem to change daily. We do have some new ideas in the hopper and will share them early in the New Year.
We’d like to thank Georg and Alex Segura of DC for their time and for making these Q&As work. Stay tuned for more Super-Articulate tomorrow!