Zuffa recently hatched another merchandising coup, coming up with at least one way to make use of its multi-million dollar acquisition of the Japanese-based mixed martial arts promotion Pride FC (besides a handful of fighter contracts) when it announced a deal with JAKKS Pacific to create a line of collectible dolls, er, “action figures” along with accessories and play sets.
JAKKS is a very popular toy manufacturer with a wide range of products that feature some of the most popular children’s toy licenses in the world.
The company has or has had successful partnerships with some of the biggest companies in the world, including Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Cabbage Patch Kids and now the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
The mixed martial arts “action figure” line will also include popular fighters from the WEC — another Zuffa owned MMA organization.
Here’s a snip from Stephen Berman, President and COO, JAKKS Pacific:
“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with UFC by adding WEC and PRIDE to our action figure roster. As the world leader in fighting action figure toys, we plan on dominating the Mixed Martial Arts collector action figure arena. The addition of WEC and PRIDE gives JAKKS a substantial base of fighters with which to work and develop into a broad and exciting line of collectible products for fans.”
UFC President Dana White also felt good about the deal, saying:
“This agreement with JAKKS gives fight fans a premier line of authentic collector action figures. This is a great partnership that benefits the sport, our athletes and our fans.”
This line of mixed martial arts “collectible action figures” is set to hit the shelves sometime in spring 2010. For more details on the UFC action figures, which was announced earlier this year, click here.
26 Comments »
Thats Hilarious
That might possibly be the studpidest looking sh1t I’ve ever seen.
they all look like apes… and wtf is up with cro cop?
lets see how the Faber butt chin will look….
LMAO! After I heard the “butt chin” thing, I cant ever see an interview with Faber without thinking about that!
Its soooo big, Faber’s crease can now be considered a butt-jaw or dare I say, a butt-head.
He for sure has one of the most defined butt chins I have ever seen. After washing his face, he needs to get some toilet paper to wipe the wetness out of his chin-crack.
wonder if we’ll see a fedor one.
I’m sure of it. I wonder also if any of the figures will be smilin’, like the WWF figures back then, hehe!!
That picture above has Fedor and Aleks in it?
when i posted there wasn’t a picture yet
Aleks looks like they made his figure on their handicapped edition.
I’d like to get the Helio one and the Fyodor one. Helio seems so cute to display. Guests comin’ into the house will wonder, “Who the f**k is that guy on display?”
i want to get the gina carano one, life size… lol
lol, a life sized f**k doll!! HEllz yeah!!
I will order 2 if you guys ever find someone to make them. Actually make that 3, thanks.
lol
How much for the real Gina? I could just borrow the money from Sticky.
NICE!!!
Hahaha the takada one is great, hunt too~
cant see how they have the rights to the fedor and aleks and other non ufc fighters
does this mean that because cage rage once featured andersson silva, rampage and bisping, that they can now sell their own products with the fighters on… my money would be on no
guess pride must of had some image right contracts which last a long time that the ufc got hold of when they bought them
i can fully see how ufc got the pride footage and assuming no % of dvd sales contracts with individual fighters, then they can sell them and keep all the cash
in soccer i know real madrid and other teams get 50% of the players image rights, but once that player leaves they lose this
the fact that jakks needs to team with ufc (and disney etc in the past) suggests that image rights exist, otherwise jakks or anyone else could make figures and other merchandise of fighters and just keep all the cash
wonder if dana will get his own figure
I gotta get my nakamura before it sells out.
Haha, better grab that Overeem too
Jakks is worried about cornering the market on MMA dolls. They are going to be lucky to sell 100 dolls. The people who watch MMA aren’t the people who normally buy action figures. The key demographic for MMA is 18-34 year old males, probably the worst group of people to try to sell dolls to. I know people are going to say that hockey and baseball dolls sell well. Those sports also have a larger audience and are kid friendly. If you want to sell dolls you better start targeting children, it’s not happening.
the demographic for mma is 18-34 year old males. i think its safe to say a lot of the males that fall into the group have kids and and they will be buying their fav fighter for their kids and as their kids grow up the will think ufc if the best since they have played with their action figures forever
OMFG the Helio one is priceless
They need to have a victory series featuring Chuck Liddell’s scream, Anderson Silva’s dance, etc. Maybe a MMA history series with a “scene” from famous fights in action figure form. Gabriel Gonzaga CroCopping Cro Cop, Randy Dropping Silvia in the first, etc.