Wandering Planet Toys is back with another unique set of figures, this time based on legendary comedic duo Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy.
The 6″ fully articulate figures are currently available to back on Kickstarter and are the first of their kind.
We spoke to Gavin Hignight and Doc Wyatt from Wandering Planet Toys about their new project in this exclusive interview.
When/why did you decide to make Laurel & Hardy figures your next project?
Gavin Hignight: After the success of our first line, The Prisoner retro figures, we were feeling good about having made figures from an IP that we loved. One of the main reasons we made Prisoner figures is that we love the series and took great joy in having collectibles that we wanted from the series. The thought process was very similar for Laurel & Hardy. I was just thinking about how much I love them, love their classic films, and on a whim I looked up who had the license and reached out with an inquiry. It came together very quickly, and here we are!
Larry Harmon Pictures who owns the license have been amazing to work with, and our conversations have been all of us nerding out about our love for the classic duo more than anything. So yeah, short answer, we love Laurel & Hardy and wanted these figures for our own collections and thought our fellow fans would want them too.
Doc Wyatt: As soon as Gavin mentioned it to me, I was immediately on board. In a way, Laurel & Hardy were, long before Star Wars, the original kings of movie tie-in collectibles. Google vintage L&H merch– you’ll be surprised how much was out there back in the day– whole ranges of toys and collectibles that were out there, even before Walt Disney himself learned the power of merch. But that was all long ago, and well before modern-style action figures were a thing, so we get to usher Laurel & Hardy into this world.
Both actors have very distinct appearances. How did you go about capturing their likenesses?
Hignight: These men are ICONIC! We worked with amazing sculptors and consultants to get the likeness just right for both. We also made a choice to make the hair a separate piece, so when the you place the hair with hat on the head… the hat fits correctly. We want these figures to be as screen accurate as possible, so “toy” looking hats that fit strangely over the hair wasn’t going to do it, we decided to go the direction of FIGMA or Mafex type figures from Japan, that give you the ability to swap out “portraits”, hair, hat, etc…
Wyatt: For Stan we are including three “expressions” Happy, Sad/Crying, blank/deadpan. For Ollie, what is hilarious… Angry Ollie or Happy Ollie communicates almost all his moods. We are thrilled with the likeness and thank everyone on our team for bringing them together.
What went into select the items for the Studio Special package?
Hignight: We always try to come up with a little something special for our backers and customers who are huge fans and want to help us by going “ALL IN” on a pledge. That, in combination with the 100th Anniversary coming up, led to the creation of the exclusive anniversary enamel pin. The accessory set… well, that’s a deep cut! Some additional accessories that the Laurel & Hardy obsessed will appreciate.
Wyatt: These are collectibles and they are supposed to be fun. We are constantly talking about how to make what we are doing fun. What can we sneak in, what details or moments from the film can the figures convey or pay tribute to? We are constantly thinking, what would make us happy to discover upon finding or buying these figures?
You have done a number of figures and crowdfunding projects. What have you learned about both over time?
Hignight: That crowdfunding is A LOT OF WORK! LOL. Crowdfunding means… having a crowd, which means having a community. Which is awesome! We truly could not have made either Prisoner or Nancy Drew without the fans who backed us… and the bonus is that we’ve met so many like-minded fans of things we love by making these figures and joining forces with other fans to make them. We hadn’t really thought about it like that when we started. We knew and hoped other fans would like these as we do, but we didn’t realize part of the process meant we’d be connecting with, and keeping in touch with, and community building with everyone.
We have a Prisoner tribe, a Nancy Drew tribe, and now we can’t wait to have a community of fellow Laurel & Hardy fans. It’s been great bonding with everyone and celebrating these films, tv, books, stars, etc. As for making other figures… thanks to our friends in the toy community and our amazing factory, we are learning more and more with each project and we think this launch of a 1/12 line, more details, more accessories, etc. shows how we’ve evolved from our first figure. It’s very exciting.
Wyatt: Gavin’s right, it is a lot of work. But it’s also very affirming. You learn that there are these big communities out there, that might be scattered across a wide geographic area, but they love what you love and are willing to back cool projects.
Upcoming projects?
Wyatt: We say too much and our publicist will not be happy with us, but we’re pretty close on some pretty exciting stuff.
Hignight: OH YES, more to come… and more soon than you might expect. We’ve got more coming in the realm of 1/12 scale and we think… some minds are going to be BLOWN. Some cool stuff on the way. But… for now, we are laser focused on Laurel and Hardy getting the launch they deserve.
The Laurel & Hardy figures are available to back on Kickstarter until October 17.
