As we wrapped up the Fwoosh coverage of Toy Fair 2007, we had the opportunity to speak with Guang Yang, the new CEO of SOTA Toys.
In part one of our interview, we talked with him about his predecessor (Jerry Macaluso), the current team at SOTA, and how he ended up in the top spot there. And in part two, Guang shared what we can expect this year from the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers lines.
To close out the interview, Guang updated us on Now Playing and his plan for summer exclusives, and shared his thoughts on the changing retail landscape. We also asked him which toy website he likes the best.*
[thefwoosh.com] So you’ve also got Now Playing – is that going to continue in 2007…
[Guang Yang] Oh yeah! The direction that SOTA has been going down has always had two legs – the video game franchise, and also the classic movie / horror lines. It works for us, we’re good at it, so we’ll continue to do them. As you can see, the Land of the Dead finally shipped. We’ve got the packaging samples sitting right there. It’s awesome, I love them.
The next line of Now Playing will feature the Leprechaun, the second clown from Killer Clowns from Outer Space, the Anubis warrior from Mummy Returns, and the American Werewolf in London – that’s a box set. It’s an awesome lineup, and we already have most of the sculptures done, except for American Werewolf in London – that’s a big one, so it’s going to take a while. [Laughs] But we have some really good people working on it. Anubis warrior is 80% done, and looks fantastic. For those that loved the dog soldier werewolf, they’ll love the Anubis warrior. It’s actually slightly taller than him.
One of the new lines we’re announcing at Toy Fair is Now Playing Presents: The Small Screen, for obvious reasons, thanks to Rene. Got to give him credit for that. Essentially we’re taking the Now Playing license and making them in the three and a quarter to three and a half inch scale. The figures won’t be in scale to one another – the first figure is the Anubis warrior from The Mummy Returns, the second is from Land of the Dead, and the next is the Fairy from Legend. Now if we made them in scale to one another, the fairy would be about this big. [Laughs]
These will be PVC or vinyl, and they’ll come with a base. In terms of sculpture and paint, I love them.
[fwoosh] Were they sculpted at this size?
[Guang] Yes. I’m impressed by our creative team every single day. We’ve had a lot of great response so far. The mid-tier stores love these guys. They won’t burn a hole in your pocket either. They’ll retail for about $7 to $9 depending on where they go. They’ll be individually packed in blister, so everyone should have one next to their computer! I know I will! [Laughs] I’m going to have an army of these Anubis warriors. So that’s our little surprise for Toy Fair!
[fwoosh] You mentioned the mid-tier stores – that’s a landscape that’s been changing. Where will you be selling SOTA products?
[Guang] It’s a difficult thing. 2006 was not a good year for specialty toymakers. There’s not that many mid-tier chains left. The ones that are left – you can count them with one hand. That puts a lot of pressure on everybody that sells to mid-tier.
We are trying to sell direct…
[fwoosh] So you have the website store now and can take orders through there…
[Guang] Actually, the selling through our retail website is more of an advertising venue for us at this point. We don’t want to compete with our customers. There’s no point to it. It only makes bad feelings and hurts our overall business in the end. SOTA is a toy developer and wholesale distributor, not a retailer. Our accounts are a lot better at it than we are.
When we put up our new website, we had a lot of kinks to work out. It’s a sign – we’re not that good at the retail level. We’ll get better, as everyone else has, but we’re fairly new at it. A lot of our accounts, the retail stores and e-tailers, we want to give them support, not take it away from them.
[fwoosh] So do you have any aspirations for mass market?
[Guang] Mass market is a very scary beast to deal with. If you don’t do it right, you kill yourself. Very fast. But if you do it right, it can be very lucrative. The reason why people deal with mass market is that it works. But you have to be disciplined enough to work with them. Rules and regulations. And you have to know how to deal with these situations. It means you have to be prompt on deliveries and have good quality control on everything.
[fwoosh] Do you think the appetite is there for SOTA products?
[Guang] Actually, there is. SOTA prototyped for other companies before and some of the products have made it in mass market. They were well-received, and that speaks to me and says that we have what it takes to make it into mass. We have the quality. We have the means. We just have to be very smart about it.
[fwoosh] So maybe with this upcoming announcement there might be some legs for Street Fighter in mass market, perhaps?
[Guang] Well see! Obviously we have to juggle many different balls. We’ve gotten pretty good at that recently. We’ll see what will happen. The only thing I can say is that when you see SOTA products in Wal-Mart, then you’ll have your answers. If you don’t, then we haven’t made it there yet.
[fwoosh] A lot of people are wondering if SOTA is going to be pursuing other licenses.
[Guang] We’re constantly on the lookout for new licenses. Jerry left me with tons of licenses to capitalize on. We paid a lot of money for them. It would be a waste, both in sense of property and money, if we don’t capitalize on them. So right now we have our plates full, in a sense. But we still have our eyes on the lookout, and nothing’s stopping me from grabbing one that is really good if it will really work for us.
[fwoosh] So are you thinking about extending the video game leg, or the horror genre leg, or do you think there’s another direction a new license might take you?
[Guang] Both, actually. Since both legs work very well for us, we definitely keep an eye out for both types. There’s a strong following for classic horror, and the video game industry is growing so big now that it will take over the movie industry in no time, so it only makes sense to pursue both ways. So we’re aiming for that.
[fwoosh] What do you have planned for a summer exclusive, at San Diego Comic Con?
[Guang] There are plans in motion, and deals to be made, and at the end, we might be looking at more than one exclusive for the summer. Expect to see exclusives, more than just at San Diego Comic Con. The exclusive will not just be a repaint – I assure you of that. It will be a very good looking one.
[fwoosh] Any other hints for fans clamoring for information?
[Guang] Well, let’s just say that it’ll be a way to jump start things. We’re planning for a great kickoff for our 2007 lineup. For a long-term business point of view, it may not be a smart thing to do, but I figured the fans have waited long enough for a lot of stuff, so let’s just give them everything in 2007! Well, almost everything! [Laughs] A lot of stuff.
[fwoosh] Any final thoughts you want to leave with the fans?
[Guang] Well, I want to thank all the fans for all the support they’ve given to SOTA. Their opinions weigh a lot on our decision-making process – it’s simply because we are fanboys ourselves. We know how they think and feel, and we want to treat them the way that we would want to be treated. That still is the philosophy of SOTA. Jerry started the company with that philosophy, and I think it’s good and I respect it, and I want to continue it.
Look for better products from SOTA. We’re not going to be late again. From a manufacturing background, I will make sure things are going to come out when they’re supposed to.
[fwoosh] Guang, thanks very much for your time.
[Guang] Thank you.
*We didn’t really ask him what toy website he liked the best. Ain’t it obvious? 
Photos: http://www.thefwoosh.com/picsold/thumbnails.php?album=739
Discussion: http://www.thefwoosh.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36973
This completes our interview with Guang.
You can read Part One here: http://www.thefwoosh.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=320&Itemid=78
You can read Part Two here: http://www.thefwoosh.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=325&Itemid=93
