July 11, 2022
Last year, we wrote about the manufacturing process TAKEOFF uses in each project that includes figurines, dioramas, and other amazing pieces of kit.
You can read the post here. In summary, we manufacture our collectibles in China where specialist factories use our moulds to create stunning figurines and dioramas.
Our relationships with our manufacturing partners not only help to keep costs low for the client. It’s an incredibly streamlined process which creates premium gifts and high-quality items for each collector’s edition.
Because of the intricacies of the manufacturing process and wider supply chain, though, the price will naturally be more reasonable when more units are ordered.
At the very start of our interactions with clients looking to commission a collector’s edition, we make this point quite explicitly.
It’s not financially viable all-round, for instance, to create 10 collector’s editions as a one-off.
Minimum orders at our partner factories are typically 10,000 units, and our current lead times for collector’s editions – from creation to end delivery – take approximately 12 months.
After we deliver orders, too, clients have to consider their delivery company’s capacity. For high runs, for instance, delivery companies will need approximately two months’ preparation time.
Smaller runs can be more expensive for clients; at the same time, though, some partners worry about ordering too many units, wondering if there’s enough demand for them or whether they’ll sell.
It’s a practical problem we’ve answered before. With a creative approach, unit prices can be reduced and margins can look a lot healthier by turning those units into influencer kits or multiple collector’s editions.
Creed is good
Our Assassin’s Creed collector’s editions for Ubisoft are a great example of how we’ve made this happen.
Our collector’s editions for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Origins all featured one single large-scale figurine of each game’s respective protagonist.
Our Odyssey collector’s edition featured a 39.5-cm-tall figurine of Alexios, engaging in battle with an enemy by performing his signature Spartan Leap move from the top of a large column.
Our Origins collector’s edition, in contrast, featured a 28.7-inch-tall Bayek figurine, partnered with his eagle Senu, drawing his bow and leaping from the top of a fallen Egyptian column.
Orders for both collector’s editions exceeded minimum order requirements to help keep manufacturing costs low.
However, with some slight tweaks to figurine poses, dioramas, packages, and items included, we were able to split each edition into different tiers.
Our Odyssey collector’s editions included the top-tier Pantheon Edition, mid-tier Spartan Edition, and Medusa edition which featured a fallen Medusa-head statue. We also created a slimmed-down, digital-only ‘Omega Edition’.
The same applied to our Origins collector’s editions, creating different price points for fans of the series and providing them with various options of what they could own without sacrificing on quality.
Our extremely collectible Bayek and Alexios figurines feature across the tiers in different action poses alongside other physical and digital goodies for Assassin’s Creed fans. All that was needed were some small tweaks to create something new and magical.
This approach allows IP owners to get the most from their budget, increase their margins, give them an advertising boost and – most importantly – provide something incredibly rare and collectible that fans and audiences alike can enjoy.