Interview: Nacelle Toys Talks Biker Mice, Sectaurs, Comedians, More

The good news for fans of Sectaurs action figures — both the originals and Nacelle ‘s new, scale-compatible versions — is that yes, the giant glove-puppet bugs are on the way. Speaking to Superhero Hype at Comic-Con, founder-CEO Brian Volk-Weiss confirmed to us that he has already seen the prototypes, though he isn’t ready to comment on whether or not they’ll have battery powered wings like the originals.

What’s the Deal With…?

Less likely to show up are many more stand-up comedian figures. Says Volk-Weiss, “I’m glad we tried, but they were definitely our worst-performing toy.” Many fans were vocal about the price being a bit high for what they came with — at BigBadToyStore, as of this writing, a 6-inch Joan Rivers figure goes for $36.99. Volk-Weiss agrees that may be too much, but adds, “I don’t like to give up, but sometimes it gets me in trouble. If I have to guess, we’ll do one more swing – I’ll try and get some bigger comedians, who also happen to be alive…someone like Bill Burr.”

He also let slip they’ll be doing a music licenses soon, which might provide a better model — “a really famous singer, who tours a lot. I feel like if that does well, it proves my theory.”

Another Brick in the Wal

Meanwhile, some of the retro-licenses that make up the “Nacelle-verse,” soon to be seen in comics and toys, will be coming to Walmart, in contradiction to what the company told us last year , when they touted their brand as akin to a limited-batch craft beer.

“When you start getting calls, you have a meeting!” he says. “I’ve been going to Walmart since I was eight or nine. You start to realize, listen, we’re putting a ton of energy and time into all of this. We want as many people to buy it as possible! So we made a jump ball – we made the decision to try, and it seems to be working, and for what it’s worth, other than one store, and we deal with about 430-440 stores, everybody has either not said anything, but I’d say about three dozen stores have been, like, ‘Congrats!’ Because it helps them, the more public this stuff is.”

Collectors can look forward to a price cut, with exclusive Robo Force variants aiming for $32 rather than the previous $50 point, though Volk-Weiss says he still wishes they could do them for less. There will be a much smaller sidekick figure that’s cheaper.

Say Cheese

Meanwhile, the Biker Mice From Mars figures seem to be striking a big nostalgia chord, with light-up bikes coming, as well as some Diamond-exclusive sports figures in color and black and white. “Part of the reason I’m a fan is because they’re from Chicago,” he says, “so instead of Chicago Cubs, they’re Chicago Nubs.”

Arch-villain Limburger and female associate Charley will join the line, but although two of the initial figures had action weapons, don’t expect that to be a priority moving forward. Modo’s gun didn’t fire because, “there was a very specific mechanism that was needed, due to the shape. It’s like Goldilocks – it was too long and too short for any existing mechanics, so we couldn’t buy anything off the shelf, so we would have had to have something custom made so it would be fully functional, and it would have added another dollar to every figure.”

But the CEO has never been much of a fan of action features generally, neither as a kid, when he preferred to use his imagination, nor as an adult, saying, “I feel like 95% of these end up on a shelf and they stay there until they get dusted. That’s what I wanted to focus on. The economy ain’t great, so the amount it costs to do internal work like that, it makes the price go up a lot.” He is prepared to listen to what the fans want, though — like ab-crunch articulation. (“We probably had three or four thousand people complaining about ab crunch, so we listened.”)

Room to Expand

Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa join the Nacelle-verse this year, and though they look a lot like Super7’s Ultimates, Volk-Weiss takes pride in the fact that they’re slightly bigger, noting, “I want big. I want you to be able to know what you’re looking at from across the room.” As for how big the price might be, he’s still working on that, but would like to get them all lower than they have been.

The Expanse figures will get a new restraining chair accessory, but will not be seen at Walmart alongside the vintage licenses. On that one, at least, Nacelle is still a craft beer company.

As for the animated series that will combine all their characters? They’re not going to shop it around until it’s done. But with The Toys That Made Us returning soon (see video below), they might have a nice package to showcase.