It was back to the future last month at Toy Fair for Factory Entertainment, at least as far as Beatles product was concerned.
The Concord, California-based producer of licensed toys and collectibles, which has been producing officially licensed Beatles products for several years, put up for display a number of new Beatles items leading off with 12-inch Collector Action Figures: highly detailed collector figures of John, Paul, George and Ringo, each 1/6 scale with over 32 points of articulation and accurately styled fabric clothing, interchangeable hands and accessories.
Next up was a line of Famous Covers Banks--collectible coin banks featuring 2/3 scale reproductions of classic vinyl album sleeves and starting with Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver.
“They’re little art pieces, replicating both the front and back album artwork,” said Factory Entertainment president/CEO Jordan Schwartz. “They go on your desk or shelf.”
Likewise, Factory has replicated vintage Beatles metal lunchboxes featuring artwork from the highly sought after original 1960s classics. The Beatles Signatures box features illustrations and autographs of the Fab Four, while Yellow Submarine has cartoon artwork relating to the film. Both come with drink containers.
Then there’s the expanded line of Shakems Premium Motion Statues, which Factory Entertainment launched last year and takes the movement of a traditional bobblehead and adds the accuracy and detail of a polystone statue.
The Beatles were represented in the first wave of Shakems (along with Men In Black, The Princess Bride and Garfield), and now are included in the next one (along with Back To The Future, Archer, Jaws, Shaun Of The Dead, Jurassic Park, Monty Python and Ghostbusters).
The new Beatles Shakems are based on the band’s Sgt. Pepper garb, and feature regular and “disguise” heads—as they appeared on Yellow Submarine’s Pepperland bandstand--that can be swapped on and off. Meanwhile, new Yellow Submarine Beatles product from Factory further includes a highly detailed 13-inch long Yellow Submarine Maquette constructed of heavyweight polystone, and an updated Die-Cast Yellow Submarine based on the 1960’s classic die-cast but with added modern detail.
"Everyone remembers the Corgi Yellow Submarine,” said Schwartz, invoking memories of the original die-cast Yellow Submarine and its legendary U.K. manufacturer.
“The Beatles figures in it were like Siamese twins, but ours features individual sculpts. It’s color-accurate, too, and has two propellers as opposed to the dots on the original.”
And as for the giant three-foot plush Yellow Submarine it brought to San Diego Comic Con as an exclusive, Schwartz said that Factory may eventually offer it to retail.
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