May 21, 2001 CURRENT RUMBLE Jumbo Megatron- Behind the Scenes Marvin 5.21.01 Materials I'd like to use some form of plastic with the color molded in. I ALSO LIKE THE IDEA OF MAKING IT A COMPLETELY SOLID PIECE. This is because people equate weight with quality and the molding process is A LOT cheaper! The only down side is the amount of materials goes way up, but on a small volume piece like this, that might not be a bad factor. After all this is sort of a "boutique piece." I want to go with a sort of flat gun metal, not gray or chrome but a rich looking silver. The waist, hands, leg pistol grips I want to do in a solid hard flat rubber. (The same kind that plungers are made of.) This will allow the parts to connect tightly without the use of complicated joint connections. The photon cannon might also be made of the same rubber material. This is because everything else that will be molded in black will be rubber. The hard part with the gun is designing it to be super large like the show and toy. It has to be strong enough to keep the quality standards that I seek, but light enough not to cause a strain on the arm joints. The ball and chain used in episode one I'm figuring on using a semi-clear plastic material with a hue to reflect the energy effect. All these materials I have found from one source.The chain will be metal. (We've already found a perfect size for the model. It might be painted to match the ball, but the decision to paint it has to be seen to see if it is worth it. The box that I want to put it in will be in itself a real treat if I can do it the way I want. Marketing Plan (not set in stone.): On the marketing side I had this idea: The figure and the box will both have a serial/production number. The figure will have two (one hidden and one visible.) This will keep the re-sale value of the figure up if all the numbers match. (Like they do with classic cars.) Each figure that's sold will go to a buyer where I/we will keep a file on who bought it. This will allow us to keep a list of who buys one to keep and who buys one to resale. The main reason is that this will give me a file of potential customers who would be interested in a second series model if produced. (I would really want to do a second model to bookend the series.) Customers of the Megatron would be FIRST in line for future models. This rewards loyal customers without having the person with the biggest wallet be the first person to get the future model. This also allows us to eventually get away from companies like Ebay by having a built in customer base. Price: Well that's tricky. Not because we're trying to be secretive but because we truly don't know. The idea was really to see if it "Could be done" by a couple of guys who have the skill and desire. This idea was further pushed by the guys at Studio Halfeye. They are very small time operation who made such a detailed Perfect Change Getter 1. If they could do it with such a complicated figure then surely we could do a Megatron that's basically a big blocky designed-to-sit-on-a-shelf and look pretty figure. Once we see how much it takes to make one then we'd have a better idea of what it can be sold for. Here's the thing I'm going to say that people on this site will hate. I think we will have to let Ebay set the going price on this figure as they are made at a rate of 3 or 4 a week. This will give me a retail rate base.On the other hand if people on this site would help sponcer it to get this produced then I have no problem selling it to people on the ToyboxDX for the cost of their investment once that is determined. (I really will probably shy away from this idea becuase getting people's money for a future product has a lot of risk, and when you take money from folks they usually want to put in their 2 cents and then you have the whole "Too many cooks spoil the brew" happening. Since more then likely people on this site will be following the progress of this project, I would probably sell to ToyboxDX'ers for a little over cost. Seeing if this is a bargin for the DX'ers can only be determined after getting a Ebay going rate. After all ToyboxDX put the basic idea in our head. I WILL AT LEAST MAKE ONE OR TWO NO MATTER WHAT. We haven't spent too much time and money to go "Ah the hell with it." ETA: Once again hard to say. To give you an idea. We got the idea around the first of January and since it has really been one or two guys working on it at any given time I'd figure we've been moving at a good clip. Some sections were designed and built in a day (The gun barrel on the back for instance) while some took well over a month (like the legs, and upper arms.) We figure the head is going to be a real bitc* to do. That's why we saved it for last. I would hate to spend so much time on it and it be made too small of too big. FYI- Transformers heads are generally larger than your standard Shogun Jumbo Machinders. Once the head is done I figure it's all but over. Then we can concentrate on the guns and weapons (Which I'm really looking forward to.) Size of operation: Just a couple of guys that have been amazed at how far we've come in such a short time. If we can make enough where we can stay at home. We'll make as many as we while keeping the quality up. The one question I'm surprised NO one has asked is: "Why did you decide to make a jumbo sized Megatron?" Their are two reasons: Jumbo sized anything is always "Cool". I don't think we had the skill to do it smaller with the amount of detail needed." Remember: This is our first attempt to make/carve "ANYTHING!" The only past skills that I brought to the table is that I've made model airplanes in the past (explaining the use of balsa wood.) and Joseph has worked with molds. (Which were plaster cast.) Other than that there is just our toy desire and my marketing degree.  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE