A Conversation With Enterbay (Part One)
ENTERBAY "entered" into the 1/6th market with an impressive "bang", with the much lauded high-end Arnie Kim-scultped Bruce Lee Game Of Death figure, but nothing much else is known outside of the images and toys seen online ... i had the opportunity to have an online chat with Enterbay's CEO; Bill Tjhang just, who graciously answered my questions regarding both their new Gang2 figure [blogged] and Arnie Kim's upcoming Way Of The Dragon figure [blogged]this is the first of more "conversations" to come :)
*read the entire interview after the JUMP*
TOYSREVIL: first off, thank you Bill, for the opportunity and i'd like to jump straight into your new Gang2-figure! who designed him? anybody we know, or a new up and coming figure designer?
BILL: G2 was designed and created by T.York, one of our team members in ENTERBAY. We welcome any (collaboration of) potential creative ideas and "characters", irregardless if they are from an in-house member or from around the world.
TRE: does G2 have any other details (ie: body tattoos etc) that are not included in the current 3 images and descriptions shown online now?
BILL: Yes, we are still in the pre-production stages of finalizing the figure, so there are still quite a few details that have not been shown to the public yet, like the tattoos on the body and arms, the shoes and the sunglasses ... I believe we will be able to release the final info by the end of March.
TRE: personally i can't wait to see them LOL! is G2 the begining/first figure of a series of "fashionistas"? or would it be a series of people from all walks of life?
BILL: Yes, it is the beginning of the GANG2 series, with G2 being the main character in this story. More of the "gang" will be added and appear soon. The GANG2 series will include 'Fashion', 'Luxury', 'Lifestyle'; the Cool and Powerful. A comic is also being planned for release as well.
TRE: that seriously sounds cool ... i've always liked the concept of cross-over collabos between toys and comicbooks (since im an avid comic-reader myself :p) ... how many of G2's "family" are currently planned for the series? and would you be able to release any images/drawings/prototypes of them? :p
BILL: We have at least 3 figures in line, with more to come. We will release further info about the "family" members and the story by the middle of this year; as some designs are still in draft-stage and are awaiting further enhancement.
TRE: i understand (of coz i still had to try my "luck" LOL). Enterbay is well known for their packaging, in addition to their figure (especially with the Bruce Lee G.O.D-release) - how would the packaging be like for the G2-figure?
BILL: About the G2 packaging, it will be a very cool packaging in black, as "deluxe" as our first-release G.O.D. - Enterbay will pay attention to not only the figure product itself, but also deeply involved with attention to the details and design of the packaging box - to add more collection value to all our customers. Good to look at, and also good to collect.
TRE: (oops! looks like my "packaging-theory" was wrong then :p) anyways, always appreciate a company that looks out for their customers .... now, i've had people mention that Enterbay only does "famous people", is that entirely true?
BILL: Our 1/6 Scale Real Masterpiece Series will be focus on "famous people" with amazing likeness and accuracy, while our Original Series line will focus on "original designs". Another new series of characters ("mechanism Robot-like") will be announced by the middle of this year, that will be one of our major projects (including Gang2) for the Original Series-department.
TRE: one final question - is G2 supposed to be a representation of someone famous?
BILL: No at all, it is truly a Original design and creation.
TOYSREVIL: definitely will be on the look-out for G2 and his family! now, unto Way Of The Dragon! is there a specific release date for the WOD-figure?
BILL: We are doing our best to do a release at the end of April, with Asia getting the stock earliest.
TRE: i am very intrigued with the "free photo album" of Bruce's travels in Italy (as mentioned in your promo-flyer) - any further details you can reveal?
BILL: Since "THE WAY OF THE DRAGON" was shot in Italy, in 1972, we decided to make something special for our up-coming release and to add a more "exclusive value" for our fans and collectors.
ENTERBAY travelled to Italy in early March this year to locate the places that appeared in the film, including the exact locations and spots that Bruce Lee himself had visited, and even posed the figure in the exact position as Bruce Lee did in some locations! We have also included some locations that were not shown in the film, hence "Behind the scene"-images. The album will consist of 12 to 15 images. We at Enterbay hope collectors and fans will love it, as it is also a form of respect that we offer this tribute to Bruce Lee and for the effort he had made.
We will reveal more images to public at the end of March, as they are currently pending licensor approval.
TRE: the G.O.D. package was a highly successful release, how is Enterbay going to top that? would the new package incorporate similar designs (ie: diorama function)?
BILL: Sure, a Diorama is a must for ALL in our Bruce Lee series! This time for the WOD, we have selected the Rome Colosseum as a diorama background, the difference is that we will combine this diorama background with the Deluxe packaging box, ie: when the box is opened, it turns into a very beautiful background display, that is slightly bigger sized than the previous G.O.D. diorama.
(*pls note: the above scenes from WOD-movie is of my own "predictions"
rather than actual production images/scenes undertaken by Enterbay*)
TRE: any accessories that would come with this figure?
BILL: 10 X Hands for posing, 2 X Nunchaks, 1 X Long Stick (Weapon), and 4 X Darts that were used in the film. Those are the basic gear, we will also feature a Premium outfit with fine material.
TRE: any variations to the release? (ie: special limited-edition "battle damaged"-headsculpt etc :p)
BILL: Well, after the Way Of The Dragon, we still have FIST OF FURY, ENTER THE DRAGON, THE BIG BOSS and KATO from "Green Hornet" and we will add very special limited editions of GAME OF DEATH and ENTER THE DRAGON next year!
TRE: sounds great for Bruce Lee and 1/6th-fans! will be looking forward to these ENTERBAY projects soon! thank you for your time, Bill and we'll have another chat soon, yeh? cheers :)
Fist Of Fury
Enter The Dragon
Big Boss
Kato (from "The Green Hornet")
[primary image sources: The Divine Wind / 20th Century Warriors]
