SDCC 2015: Four Horsemen Mythic Legions (with AFP Video Fly-By)

One of my favorite stops at San Diego Comic-Con is the with the Four Horsemen, the folks behind the scenes on some of our favorite toy lines like Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics and now Thundercats. I spoke with Eric Treadaway about their own line of toys, Mythic Legions, which launched on Kickstarter as the most-funded action figure project of all time, surpassing the previous reigning champs, Boss Fight Studios’ Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. and their previous Kickstarter for the Gothitropolis Ravens.

We also got to touch on their continuing work with Mattel, on the DC Comics Multiverse and Batman v Superman 6-inch lines. And of course, Thundercats!

They are very pleased with the progress their factory is making on Mythic Legions. The test shots they brought to the show just arrived in the nick of time. Eric said he was able to closely look at just a few of them and that they look very good – no major rework needed. They’re very sensitive to the delays during production of the Ravens, even if the Kickstarter backers were very understanding, so they’re happy that things are moving forward smoothly. Could this mean an early delivery? There’s a slim chance, so keep your fingers crossed.

The Four Horsemen also had painted prototypes of an upcoming addition to the Mythic Legions family – the Mythic Legions Birds. This line extension will feature repaints of the Gothitropolis Ravens, including some new species being added to the mix. It wasn’t originally planned for the all of the Ravens to join Mythic Legions – one major character was to be included, but the Horsemen think it makes sense to have some focus on Mythic Legions as their main fantasy line.

This means staying in the fantasy genre for some time moving forward. We talked about some possibilities in the longer term, like military and cowboys, but I think when they eventually branch out, the top of the short list will be sci-fi.

The Mythic Legions Birds won’t be making their way to Kickstarter. Most of the major tooling is done, with just a few additional heads joining the mix, so the Birds will directly be going to StoreHorsemen.com and other online retailers.

The massive Mythic Legions troll on display is still in early design stages. It is MASSIVE – that’s a Mythic Legions test shot in his hand. When produced, the troll will be vinyl rotocast. His lower half will likely have a T-crotch with no further articulation for knees and ankles – this would be intentional to eliminate floppy leg syndrome that would plague such a huge beast. But the Horsemen are planning the articulation on the rest of the troll to give it dynamic poses – ball-jointed neck, shoulders, and elbows, and swivel cuts for the wrists and waist. On the waist, the cut will be at an angle, so as you rotate the troll at the waist his front shoulder will dip forward.

They are thinking of soft goods for a loin cloth, and are planning ahead for different heads and decos so you can build out a variety of trolls and ogres.

Like with the Birds, expect this to go straight to StoreHorsemen and other online retailers, since the tooling requirements would be much simpler than a full line.

We then talked for some time about their partnership with Mattel. They are as busy as ever, thanks to Mattel’s decision to move DC Comics Multiverse back to 6-inches, the continuation of Masters of the Universe Classics, and the introduction of companion line He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the MOTUC-compatible line for Thundercats.

The Horsemen won’t be on everything coming out of DC Comics Multiverse – some of the comics-based figures will continue to use the DC Universe Classics bodies they developed, but Mattel is working with other partners too, primarily for the TV and movie properties. That’s not to say the Horsemen won’t get a shot at those too – some of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 6-inchers (formerly known as Movie Masters) are from them – you can probably guess.

They’re pretty excited that the new team at Mattycollector has found ways to reinvigorate Masters of the Universe Classics despite the doom and gloom hinted at last year’s Mattypalooza. And Thundercats is something that the Four Horsemen have been pitching to Mattel for over a decade.

With their work on DC, Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, and countless other brands, Eric was hard-pressed to identify a pop culture brand still on his wishlist. Eventually, he came up with Marvel Legends and the Fantastic Four. While the Horsemen did do some work with Toy Biz back in the day, Eric still wants a crack at making the perfect Thing figure. Let’s hope the feud between Marvel Studios and Fox gets smoothed out, so he might get a shot at it!