I can remember as a little kid getting a bunch of small action figures and waging wars either on my living room floor or my backyard. Star Wars figures would battle the likes of Cobra and GI Joe would go head to head against the forces of the Empire. There is one company that is taking the action figure market to new heights and that is Super7.
TR: Please tell us a bit about the company.
S7: Super7 is a designer toy company based in San Francisco. We also have retail stores in San Francisco and San Diego.
TR: Tell us a how Super7 got its start.
S7: Super7 started in 2001 as a magazine about vintage Japanese toys. We used our roots in punk and skate fanzines, design, and production and made the first issue about everything we wanted to talk about and wished we could find. We also started creating our own recolored toys and because of the success with these we opened our first store in San Francisco in 2004. That same year we also debuted our first original toy line: The Neo-Kaiju Project mini-figure set. In 2005 our first original vinyl figure, the Ghostfighter, made his debut. We manufactured this in collaboration with Secret Base in Tokyo and the series continues to this day. The Super7 Magazine discontinued publication in 2007 and from there Super7 became a toy and retail company. In 2010 we released our first large toy project with Lucasfilm on the Super Shogun Stormtrooper and in 2013 our ReAction Figures made their debut at San Diego ComicCon with the release of the cancelled line of Alien figures from 1979. In 2015 we began our partnership with Mattel on Masters of the Universe which basically brings Super7 up to present day.
TR: You not only produce these figures but you have retail locations as well correct?
S7: Super7 designs, manufactures, and distributes everything in-house. Our retail stores in San Francisco and San Diego act as our “club houses” where we can offer and show off our products. We also host regular in-store events at both locations throughout the year. Our San Diego store also becomes the Super7 HQ during ComicCon annually in addition to our booth at the convention site.
TR: What are some of your most iconic figure lines?
S7: For our older fans some of our original Japanese vinyl figures are the most well-known and our owner Brian Flynn was honored with a Lifetime Achievement from the Designer Toy Awards in 2016 from that community. To our newer fans it’s probably our Alien and Masters of the Universe lines so far. However, our Iron Maiden figures have introduced Super7 to a new audience on the music side of geekdom as well.
TR: You recently went to Toy Fair in NYC tell us a bit about that.
S7: Toy Fair is the annual industry event where we meet with current and potential business contacts and also with folks in the media. It’s a very focused event where companies reveal what they have planned over the next year. For Super7 to be there is interesting because literally the entire toy industry is represented from educational toys, to timeless toys like bikes and sports, to action figures and collectibles.
http://super7hq.com/news/super7-at-new-york-toy-fair-2018
TR: What are some of the exclusive lines that you are coming out with this year?
S7: This year Super7 is continuing the Masters of the Universe and Alien lines with new ReAction Figures and other releases. We will also be launching Planet of the Apes (original movies) in the spring and Universal Monsters and Pee-wee’s Playhouse later this year.
TR: Which Super7 release are you most excited for coming out in 2018?
S7: Everything is exciting to us! It’s all part of the bigger picture of Super7 working on properties that meant a lot to us growing up. Plus we have some projects based on our own original Super7 characters in the works as well.
TR: You also have plans for beyond 2018. Is there anything you’d like to announce?
S7: We have A LOT in the works for 2019 already and will announce them in due time. Sorry. We can’t talk about these projects yet.
TR: What would be the one license you would love to make a toy line out of?
S7: There are a few…but we don’t want to jinx anything by saying what they are. You never know what might happen in the future as the toy industry changes.
TR: Thanks for chatting with us.
Thanks for the interest and support for Super7! We are doing all of this because we love and embrace being nerds!
And that’s it folks! If you want to see all the greatness that they are coming out with (including more of those M.U.S.C.L.E. figures based off some great movie and pop culture references) head over to http://super7hq.com/ and check out some of the amazing things being released by this company.
