Reprinted from ThePopInsider.com
Posted by Madeleine Buckley, 8/10/21
As you read this, The Little Prince is on a journey, much like the one he goes on in the beloved book that made this small, blonde boy a beloved literary character. But this time, The Little Prince isn’t traveling across space. Instead, the first-ever collectible figures of the character are being shipped, soon to arrive on store shelves!
This new figure from Boss Fight Studio went live for preorders last June, and here at the Pop Insider, we got our hands on one of the very first final versions of this collectible. We also got to chat with Catrina Arana, partner and creative art director at Boss Fight Studio, about the making of this new figure, plans for future The Little Prince collectibles, and more.
The Pop Insider: What was the process like for developing this figure? In terms of the artistic direction, how did you find a balance between making it feel like a Boss Fight figure and staying true to the visuals of The Little Prince?
Catrina Arana: We have such a great partner in SOGEX for The Little Prince figures. From the beginning, they were really open about allowing creative, stylistic choices. We both knew from the beginning that we wanted something articulated that would allow the customer to play with the figure — really pose and interact with it instead of it just sitting on a shelf. I think our shared vision for what this could be really helped push us creatively to think outside the box and create an iteration of this beloved character like it’s never been seen.
Starting from such a beloved character like The Little Prince was a dream, but we really wanted to translate it in a way that it hasn’t been seen before. There’s a challenge to bring an illustration as simple and beloved as The Little Prince into 3D. I wanted to make sure that the figure captured the iconic elements while bringing a playability aspect. Our lead sculptor, Fred Aczon, and I worked really closely to make sure the engineering was correct and that the iconic elements came through.
The Little Prince figure out of box | Source: The Pop Insider
PI: What do you think it is about the Little Prince that resonates with fans and makes the character a good fit for a collectible like this one?
CA: The Little Prince is one of my favorite stories, so working on this was a dream come true! I think the beauty of this book is that no matter what age you are when you read it, there’s a new lesson to be learned. I grew up reading the story, I’ve read it with each of my kids, and as an adult, I’ve re-read it a few times as well. Each time a different message has resonated with me. Once we put out there that we were working on these figures, I think I had so many messages from friends, family, and even some of our fans, about how much the story has meant to them and how excited they were to see what Boss Fight Studio was going to do with it. As we started to take photos of our prototype around different areas, we saw the fans get excited about the intractability the articulation allows. I can’t wait to see all of our customer images of their figure interacting with the world wherever they are!
PI: This figure is intended to be part of a larger The Little Prince series. How did you decide to make the Special Rose and Friend Fox the focus for this first figure?
CA: One thing we want to make sure comes through in our toys is all the various lessons and messages that are so important to the story. Some of the most important lessons in the book revolve around The Little Prince and his special relationships with his special rose and his friend fox. It was a natural first step, as those relationships are at the core of these lessons that have meant so much to me.
Future figures will feature other characters and accessories that lean into different lessons from the book. We can’t wait to share them!
CA: We shared a first look at The Little Prince Little Moments at Toy Fair [New York] — these are small moments in time captured from the book. This was one of my passion projects, as we thought about different ways our toys could bring scenes from the book into physical form for customers. Each moment is beautifully captured in a small “glass” jar. We just kicked these off with our factory and we can’t wait to show the first images! We also have other articulated figures coming from different points in the book. I know one that everyone is super excited to see will be The Little Prince in his iconic long coat — Wait until you guys see this! I think the most exciting part of this line, for me, has been that everything we’re working on gets everyone in the office even more excited than the last.
Source: The Pop Insider
PI: The packaging for this figure really evokes the feeling of the book, even including passages on the back. Can you tell me a bit about the development/design process for that?
CA: Our art director, Dave Reeves, really took the book and style guide to heart and brought the packaging to life. The direction was a premium window box that featured the toy, and we wanted it to stylistically match the brand. He took that and ran with it and I think it’s one of the most beautiful, eye-catching packages we’ve created, although I might be a little biased! Including some of the passages that felt meaningful for this figure seemed like a natural fit. So much of the playability is tied to the messaging from the story that we wanted to make sure that connection came through. One of our favorite things is when our retailers start sharing photos of our toys on their shelves! I can’t wait to see The Little Prince displays!
All preordered The Little Prince figures will start shipping over the next few weeks. Then, according to Arana, the figure should be available for general sale next month through bossfightshop.com and through Boss Fight Studio’s retail partners. All updates about this and other The Little Prince figures will be available through Boss Fight Studio’s mailing lists and social media accounts.