Jada Toys Gets In on the Action

Jada Toys has brought iconic characters from the screen to collectors’ shelves for nearly a quarter of a century, re-imagining fan-favorite heroes, vehicles, and more as die-cast keepsakes. And now, as the manufacturer ebbs closer to its 25th anniversary next year, it’s embarking on a new adventure into the playful world of action figures. The Pop Insider chatted with Michael Jimenez, vice president of marketing at Jada Toys, about the company’s latest endeavor and how its newest products seamlessly fit in with its existing lines and the quality fans have come to expect from Jada.

Michael Jimenez: In recent years, Jada has been making an effort to not only continue to produce high-quality die-cast collectibles at great prices, but to also break into the action figure category.

Our Capcom action figures are proving to be a driving force behind our efforts. Giving action figure fans a great product at a great price is the same approach we took when launching our die-cast vehicle lines when Jada first started nearly 25 years ago.

Another area where Jada is excelling is in the feature R/C category. Jada is injecting some creative innovation into our R/C design and development. We can’t wait for everyone to see and experience some of the new R/C products we are producing. It’s a very exciting time.

MJ: Actually, the question should be, “Why does Jada include vehicles with some of its figures?” Hollywood Rides was inspired by Metalfigs, which is our die-cast collectible figure line. We wanted to take die-cast figures and pair them up with die-cast vehicles — Batman was perfect for this. Batman is an iconic character who drives an iconic car. We used this pair to create a collectible product that is unlike any other on the market. [The] problem is, not all characters drive cars. In those instances, we create a replica figurine of a character and pick a vehicle that shares similar details, traits, or history. We then design the graphics for the car so that the vehicle becomes an extension of the character.

MJ: The look of our sculpts, paint, points of articulation, and joint performance are amazing on our action figures, but what I think really makes us stand out is our price value. Our product development team is passionate about action figures, and they made sure to include all the best joints, details, and features that are usually included in products more than double the price of ours.

It’s not just about the number of articulation points, it’s about how each of the joints perform. The range of motion is one of the most important features of an action figure. Without articulation that has a wide range of motion, action figure collectors cannot get the character into that perfect, dynamic pose that reflects the personality of the character.

MJ: The Street Fighter line is really selling nostalgia. Many of the collectors I talked to have fond memories of going to the local arcade and putting their quarters on the header of the machine to save their place in line to play the game. By not including a reference to the arcade cabinet, you are leaving out half of the experience of Street Fighter II. Seeing it on-shelf and recognizing the six buttons and joystick on the package brings you back to those days of riding your bike or your skateboard to the local arcade or convenience store with a pocket full of quarters.

MJ: At Jada, we are not just a group of car guys or toy designers. We are fans. Our team has a very wide range of interests within pop culture. Yes, we are really into the custom car culture and toy collecting, but we also have employees who are high-end Japanese vinyl collectors, hardcore movie buffs, anime fanatics, sports fans, and music junkies. All of us are hardcore within the things we are into — this makes it easy for us to find properties to go after because we have people who are digging deep into those genres of fandom on a personal level and not just for work. Brainstorm meetings feel like water cooler talk because we are talking about entertainment’s latest news, rumors, and episodes of the topics we are passionate about.

MJ: Going out to try to obtain something that is hard to find or limited in quantity is a modern-day treasure hunt. The ultimate joy is finding it and bringing it home, but I think there is a bad side to limited editions or exclusives.

Resellers who are just looking to make some profit are ruining the hunt by buying all the products and reselling them at crazy prices that are often out of real fans’ budgets. We are constantly working on creative ways to ensure that true fans are the ones getting their hands on our exclusives. Ultimately, those are who we want to have our products.

MJ: Social media is the quickest and easiest way to reach our fans. We do our best to reply to all our comments and questions. We read all the replies to our posts and always take fans’ suggestions into consideration. Although many Jada employees are very knowledgeable about certain genres of pop culture, there is always more to learn, and we find that the fans on social media are a great resource. Besides, our job is to make our fans happy. Why wouldn’t we listen to them?

MJ: Jada Toys is doing some really awesome things. If you think what we have out now is cool, wait till you hear some announcements that we will be making in the near future! Catch us on our social media channels or subscribe to our jadanextlevel.com newsletter to get the news first.

Visit Jada Toys at Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Booth No. 3744 and follow them on Instagram @jadatoys.