As promised, we want to make our updates more frequent now that the production process has started, so we have a bit of new information to share with you.
As we stated in the last update, the “tooling” process is underway at our factory in Asia. This is the first real production step, and all of the steel molds that will be used to create the hundreds of parts needed to make these action figures are being created as we speak. This important process has a lot of quality checks in the planning phase (it is REALLY expensive to cut that steel), and we have had a few sign-offs already, so things are going well.
We wanted to share an example of what occurs when a prototype is used as a tooling master, and what changes happen in order to transition a handmade resin sculpture to a full-blown action figure.
This picture is a small example of some of the changes that occur during this process. As you can see, due to the design of the shoulder and ankle joint disks for the final figures, the pins that were visible in the prototypes will no longer be necessary. We realize that the quality of a figure is often discussed in terms of degradation from prototype to production, but this is one of those cases where the production process improves the overall look and functionality of some crucial joints.
Now, we know that many of you are action figure aficionados, and that you likely know this is a pretty standard production change, but if this is your first time seeing this type of work-in-progress step, we hope it casts some new light on the complicated process of making action figures.
Again, this is just a small example of many tooling requirements we are monitoring at the moment, and it is very reassuring that the factory is being proactive in suggesting improvements where they can be made, and they are also being very accommodating to our strict quality and aesthetic requirements.
We are cataloging all of these steps closely, so we hope to share more updates like this, if you find them interesting. Be sure to let us know in the comments.
