Making a universe of amiibo-like figurines
Today we want to talk about one of the most popular rewards of our Kickstarter campaigns and also one of the most difficult to make: the Mika and the Witch’s Mountain and Koa amiibo-like color figurines.
As we have never developed something like this before (we only develop games!) and there are a lot of questions and challenges we were facing at that time, this was a real challenge.
From the idea to the opportunity
All developers dream of physical objects of their games (and whoever denies it, is lying! haha), from the most modest, like stickers or prints, to plushies and figurines.
We had always thought about figurines of our characters, but it was something that remained in our imagination as an unreachable dream because of all the complications that surround it: What materials could they be made of? Who would make them? What if nobody wants one?
But that changed with Mika’s Kickstarter campaign.
A little over a week since the Kickstarter began, we started to recognize how much the community valued Mika and this excitement went beyond the game itself.
It was then, moved by the excitement of the moment and the focus of attention we had, that we decided to make a first test: share the idea on social media using the inspiration of Nintendo’s amiibo.
The positive response was not long in coming, so we had to move fast to try to get as much information as possible, as we were presented with a unique opportunity. What if the time had finally come to make an amiibo-like figurine?
Model, print, repeat
We couldn’t have been more fortunate to have talented people on the team (thank you Caro, Carlos, Alberto and Vicente!) who immediately set about sketching and 3D modeling the first Mika figurines.
We got a first figure prototype made with a 3D printer and, within a few days, we had a first impression of what we wanted to achieve.
Although it was clear that it needed some changes and we still had no supplier or costs established, we were completely elated with that little first version.
But there was still another big challenge to solve: the packaging.
We wanted to get a quality figure, the best within our possibilities, and the packaging had to be up to the task.
We wanted to achieve a resistant packaging in which the amiibo-like figurine would travel well protected anywhere in the world, but so beautiful that everyone would want to exhibit it next to the figure.
Also, the support for the campaign was exploding, so we couldn’t help but add a special version for the backers as a thank you gift.
Find the 7 differences
Even without a final model, only with the amateur 3D model we made from the team and some beautiful sketches, more than 4000 figures were ordered at the end of the Kickstarter campaign. A real madness!
When we had a more accurate figure, we could start talking to suppliers to get the perfect figure.
As expected, some of the proofs we got didn’t look like what we had in our minds, or the materials didn’t seem to be of high enough quality – but finally one of them stole our hearts.
Next steps
The Mika and the Witch’s Mountain campaign opened the window of opportunity, but the next campaign, the Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara campaign, followed in its wake with the creation of a new amiibo-like figure for the collection, the number #002.
The production of the Mika figures finished at the beginning of this year 2024 and even some of them have already arrived at the home of our dear backers.
Koa figurines were produced and delivered last year, and people was thrilled with the look and quality.
Given the great reception, we decided to extend the production a little, so both Mika and Koa figures are available on the website of our partner Undigital Atelier.
We’ll posting soon about our last project with the amazing team of Undigital Atelier related with Mika and the Witch’s Mountain: Delivery Witches the boardgame!
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