Marvin Mariano Q & A For Actionfigurenews.ca!

[marvision prime]

Originally Posted by Scrapper6

Someone (Rob ) told me you designed for LEGO, so perhaps you'd like to talk abit about that?

I mean, what did you do for them precisely? Did you in fact work for them or is it only a rumor? Did any of the products get made into final production items? What were those production items?

And perhaps you could also mention what the difference is designing fully functional action figures like Transformers and G.I.Joe compared to dealing with LEGO items that are basically built up from various pieces and generally look and feel different toywise comparatively speaking.

Rob is so thoughtful eh? Thanks man.
The Lego stuff I worked on at that time was called GI Joe Blocks back in early 2001 to around 2002. Now I'm not quite sure what name it was released in the market. I did some designs but most of my task was coloring all the drawings done by the other artists.


By the way I threw in the Optimus firetruck in there just for kicks. haha. The two vehicles below that were part of another line, again I'm not sure what it was called because it was almost a decade ago. We didn't get to do as many explorations or concept work for Lego compared to the GI Joe or Transformers toys. This was mostly for package art work so it was a pretty easy job.

[marvision prime]

Originally Posted by courtdevil

What software will you use when designing? Or you just think 3 dimensionally and sketch?

Do you also get involved in sculpting / prototyping the toy? That sounds a lot of fun!

I do most of my work traditionally sketching with pens and markers. I guess thinking 3 dimensionally comes naturally because I don't really pay much attention to it other than I just put down whatever I see or imagine on paper. Photoshop is my main tool for coloring and adding details to my original work. I haven't done any sculpting or prototyping for toys but I'm pretty confident in that medium as well.

[Robimus]

Its interesting seeing that Lego had the G.I.Joe license for a while. I never knew they looked at that franchise.

[marvision prime]

Here's another gem for you Rob. I was Googling for some Star Wars toys I've done and found these 3 items.
If anyone spots the Yoda or has one, feel free to post 'em here . I never saw these toys come out here in Canada. I should write: 'Dear Hasbro or Santa,..I want these for Christmas!'

[Robimus]

Those are really cool. I don't think they ever saw release in Canada. We did have some simplified Star Wars characters on motorcycles that I remember, but not this "Custom" line.

I love the Imperial Emblem on the front of Vader's bike.

[Aernaroth]

The GI Joe block sets were part of the short-lived Hasbro Built-To-Rule (BTR) line. I don't know if it was actually a joint venture with Lego, or just something similar, like Mega Blox.

The "star wars customs" did see some release in Canada, though I don't know if all the waves made it out, and I don't think they were out all that long, except for at Zellers for some reason.

For another question, how much design work never sees the light of day? What ratio would you say of designs make it to the shelf? How many drafts or revisions do designs normally go through before you're satisfied with them?

[marvision prime]

Originally Posted by Aernaroth

The GI Joe block sets were part of the short-lived Hasbro Built-To-Rule (BTR) line. I don't know if it was actually a joint venture with Lego, or just something similar, like Mega Blox.

The "star wars customs" did see some release in Canada, though I don't know if all the waves made it out, and I don't think they were out all that long, except for at Zellers for some reason.

For another question, how much design work never sees the light of day? What ratio would you say of designs make it to the shelf? How many drafts or revisions do designs normally go through before you're satisfied with them?

BTR Line, yes that's right I remember that line now and that's what those were for. There's even a couple of playsets we did for that too.

There's a chain level of decision making that goes into developing these toys. I'm not sure but I can guess about a good half of the designs are stored away in Hasbro's design vault. The art directors are really great to work with. It's really interesting to learn what works and what doesn't when it comes to exploring and developing the designs of some of these characters. Sometimes the ones you think looks cool and could be made isn't what the art director may particularly like, so you keep going. It's like an elimination process. I can tell you that I've personally done at least sixty concept sketches of Silverbolt for example (including both mech and ship modes plus head studies). You really have fun with these and try to put out your best 'coz in the end that's going to be part of your legacy.

[Robimus]

I saw the Indiana Jones game pictured earlier in the thread today at London Drugs for $7.99. Kinda cool.

[marvision prime]

Originally Posted by Robimus

I saw the Indiana Jones game pictured earlier in the thread today at London Drugs for $7.99. Kinda cool.

You did? Cool! Too bad I can't get 'em here.

[marvision prime]

Here's my illustration work and package art for the Transformers Armada. Would like to know how it plays and what you guys think of boardgames these days compared to playing actual Transformers video games.