This weekend, Chicago was host to the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, or C2E2 for short. It is mainly a comic convention, but it is also a chance for a ton of other agents of geekery to show off their wares. There are endless booths showing off things like cosplay accessories, t-shirts, television memorabilia and scads of action figures. There are brand new action figures and vintage ones that will make even the most composed 30something year old like me squeal with delight.
I had the privilege of sitting down with Bryan and Eric, two of the three co-founders of Warpo. These are two guys that not only have a ton of cumulative experience working in the toy industry, but also they are self-professed diehard toy collectors. They explained to me that as avid collectors, it is very easy to fill up your collection and be left wanting more. Unfortunately, there are only so many old school action figure licenses out there and the Internet has made it incredibly easy to get every figure you want quickly.
What the guys at Warpo want to do isn’t re-issue or reboot old licenses. They want to create new and unique action figures that could easily fit alongside the existing ones in anyone’s collection. They want to use materials and manufacturing processes that are authentic to the 1970s and 80s era of toy making. This may not sound that spectacular, but what it means is figures that have been hand sculpted instead of digitally rendered, packaging with hand painted artwork instead of PhotoShop cut-and-paste jobs and an attention to finer details that have often been left to perish on the vine due to more modern and less time extensive toy making techniques.
They weren’t ready to divulge a lot of details yet, but in June they will be launching their first line of toys. Head on over to their website to get some more details about how they got their start, what kinds of things they have in mind as they get rolling and some ideas of where they are drawing their inspiration.
