StarWars.com catch up with Lucasfilm’s senior manager of product design Brian Merten and Funko’s creative director Reis O’Brien to discuss the latest array of Funko Pop releases from The Mandalorian.
StarWars.com: First of all, thank you for making the Frog Lady figure of my dreams. For this newest wave of Funko Pops!, how did you decide which characters and moments you wanted to include from Season 2 of The Mandalorian?
Brian Merten: Thanks for taking the time to interview us! Some characters are obvious first choices that rise to the top; with others, we like to keep the offering fresh and exciting. Maybe even throwing in a little unpredictability, surprise and delight as they say. That’s where characters like the Frog Lady and the Gamorrean fighter come in. For this, we did have a little bit of conversation and easily landed on the Frog Lady. I would imagine that you’re pleased that we didn’t land on an ice spider.
StarWars.com: You’re not wrong.
Reis O’Brien: Personally, when I first saw her, I immediately thought she’d make such a fun Pop! Then, when I noticed the fan reaction online, I knew right away that we had a fan-favorite on our hands. So I’d consider making her into a Pop! a classic “no brainer.” It just had to be done.
As far as the other characters are concerned, we always know who the main heroes and villains are going to be, so they get chosen automatically. But we often discuss those breakout characters that may not have the biggest role, but will resonate with fans and collectors. And in the Pop! world, characters like that make for a perfect collectible. I always like to have at least one character per wave that makes people say, “Oh wow! I can’t believe they made that one! I gotta have it!”
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in '81 and has been a presence online since webpage Fanta War in 1996. He is the EiC and Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, Star Wars – Das Offizielle Magazin, Journal of the Whills and Starburst Magazine, having previously contributed to magazines Star Wars Insider, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, partworks Build Darth Vader, Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Build The Millennium Falcon, and websites Jedi.net, Jedi News, StarWars.com, Lightsabre.co.uk, and Wirezone.
He is the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015 (hosting it four times), and is the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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StarWars.com catch up with Lucasfilm’s senior manager of product design Brian Merten and Funko’s creative director Reis O’Brien to discuss the latest array of Funko Pop releases from The Mandalorian.
StarWars.com: First of all, thank you for making the Frog Lady figure of my dreams. For this newest wave of Funko Pops!, how did you decide which characters and moments you wanted to include from Season 2 of The Mandalorian?
Brian Merten: Thanks for taking the time to interview us! Some characters are obvious first choices that rise to the top; with others, we like to keep the offering fresh and exciting. Maybe even throwing in a little unpredictability, surprise and delight as they say. That’s where characters like the Frog Lady and the Gamorrean fighter come in. For this, we did have a little bit of conversation and easily landed on the Frog Lady. I would imagine that you’re pleased that we didn’t land on an ice spider.
StarWars.com: You’re not wrong.
Reis O’Brien: Personally, when I first saw her, I immediately thought she’d make such a fun Pop! Then, when I noticed the fan reaction online, I knew right away that we had a fan-favorite on our hands. So I’d consider making her into a Pop! a classic “no brainer.” It just had to be done.
As far as the other characters are concerned, we always know who the main heroes and villains are going to be, so they get chosen automatically. But we often discuss those breakout characters that may not have the biggest role, but will resonate with fans and collectors. And in the Pop! world, characters like that make for a perfect collectible. I always like to have at least one character per wave that makes people say, “Oh wow! I can’t believe they made that one! I gotta have it!”
Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in '81 and has been a presence online since webpage Fanta War in 1996. He is the EiC and Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, Star Wars – Das Offizielle Magazin, Journal of the Whills and Starburst Magazine, having previously contributed to magazines Star Wars Insider, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, partworks Build Darth Vader, Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Build The Millennium Falcon, and websites Jedi.net, Jedi News, StarWars.com, Lightsabre.co.uk, and Wirezone.
He is the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015 (hosting it four times), and is the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.
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