The following is an interview with Wandering Planet Toys co-founders Doc Wyatt (writer – Essentials, Star Wars Resistance, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters) and Gavin Hignight (writer – Star Wars Resistance, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) regarding their return to Kickstarter for the first officially licensed, 1:12 scale, fully articulated deluxe The Prisoner action figures. Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Wyatt and Hignight about their incredible connection to the Prisoner fan community and its positive impact on their product development, the exciting backer rewards available through the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: It has been a joy to watch the incredible trajectory of your work with Wandering Planet Toys since the company’s launch 4 years ago, and, by popular demand, you’re returning for a third wave of action figures based on The Prisoner! What can you tell us about this new, more modern line of figures?
Gavin Hignight: Thank you so much! I think the momentum we’ve had with Wandering Planet Toys is a testament to that saying, “Do what you love, and the rest will fall into place.” It’s been a great journey, and I love the small community that has been forming around our toys and collectibles, some great passionate people.
For The Prisoner, we see this next assortment as a kind of side mission… There is Prisoner Retro Action Figures wave one, wave No2… and we’re planning a wave three! But before we do wave three of the 4-inch retro style figures… we wanted to offer a 1/12 highly articulated, collectors figure, for those who collect in that scale, or for Prisoner fans who want multiple styles of Prisoner collectibles. We’ve been thrilled with the response and quality of our retro figures, but we’ve known for some time we also wanted to scratch that itch of a more modern collectors piece.
There’s a lot we can do with the 1/12 scale that we can’t quite do with the small figures. We can get even more detailed, we can offer additional pieces, like the extra hands, extra heads, and they are much more articulated. So, there’s a lot of play value, and display value with these figures. It’s just another way for us to celebrate our Prisoner fandom.
BD: What can you tell us about the research and design process that goes into each new wave of Wandering Planet collectibles, especially given that your action figures are often the first of their kind?
Doc Wyatt: The research involves watching The Prisoner over and over again. Which is the kind of research that I love.
GH: The reason we took so long to approach figures of this style is that we wanted to learn what we were doing with the factory before we got too complicated. And we’re still learning. With every wave we learn more and more. And with the other toys out in the market we collect, we get more and more ideas of approach. So, yeah, lots of time and research went into these… but when research is buying action figures, playing around with them, re-watching episodes of the series to get details right… it’s hard to call that research “work,” isn’t it? But we did work hard to get these right and make figures that fans can really enjoy for years to come. They’ll look great displayed by themselves, with other figures in the 1/12 scale, or even adjacent to the retro figures. One fun detail that Jenny, our designer, worked on with us was to make sure the packaging felt quite different from the retro figures, since we see these as a release independent of the retro line. We wanted to visually indicate these are different Prisoner figures, and that ended up being a very fun assignment for us.
BD: As longtime collectors yourselves, what can you share with us about your engagement with the collectible community and the fans of each property, and how, if at all, does that connection factor into your development process?
GH: We’ve relied exclusively on crowdfunding to make the figures we make… which means the fan community of each of these properties comes together and unites along with us to make these toys a reality. We can’t do it without the trust and pre-order financing that the fans provide through Kickstarter. We always aware and thankful because of that. But I think one thing we didn’t quite anticipate is the community aspect. That we have this great group of Prisoner fans, Nancy Drew fans and now Laurel and Hardy fans that we interact with daily. We wouldn’t make these figures if we didn’t love these properties and its great meeting, interacting and celebrating the properties with the folks who support our figures. One great example of the community aspect of our figures and fandom is the art for our limited-edition Prisoner Lunchbox that’s offered with the 1/12 figures. That art came from a fellow Prisoner fan and artist we met through Prisoner wave one. Richard Martin is the artist who did the art we used for the lunchbox, and we would not have met him, or seen is awesome work, without the campaign aspect of the first figures.
DW: In terms of Prisoner fans, they’ve been asking us for the last four years to do 6-inch 1/12 scale figures, so this campaign exists by fan request!
BD: In light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
DW: Get both figures, everybody. You know you want them both, and together they come with a cool retro tin Lunchbox. Original art!
GH: I just teased it in my last response, I guess… The ALL IN TIER that includes both the No6 and No2 in 1/12 scale, and the retro lunchbox, is a great deal. We were able to work with our vendors to really get that lunchbox as a bonus for getting both figures. I think they make a very nice set or gift. One of the things I love about the Ultimate Edition figures is that folks who have not collected our retro figures, or who are big toy collectors, can have a Prisoner piece to display all on its own. These figures work solo, together, or with our retro figures and the lunchbox.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to spotlight?
DW: Season 3 of my TV show, LEGO Ninjago Dragons Rising, will drop on Netflix on April 17th – check it out! Also, I’ve co-written a new graphic novel called Essentials which is out now from The Lab Press. If your local comic books store isn’t already carrying it, they can order it for you, or you can get it online.
GH: We’re super focused on Laurel and Hardy figure production, The Prisoner 1/12 will come into the factory hot on the heels of those… but we have a fun surprise for horror fans coming up, as soon as Prisoner 1/12 are on their course to the factory. I can’t say more… other than I still can’t believe we get to make what’s coming!
BD: Lastly, what is the best way to learn more about Wandering Planet Toys and your Kickstarter campaign?
GH: Thanks so much for the interview and all the support over the years!! Here’s the campaign link for The Prisoner Ultimate Edition.
And here’s where we are active on the socials:
https://www.facebook.com/WanderingPlanetToys/
https://www.instagram.com/wanderingplanettoys/
We just launched @wandering-planet.bsky.social
