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Mattel marketing director talks Avatar tie-in toys

Posted by Team Boxwish 3 months ago

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After years of waiting, Avatar is now with us and, after a bumper opening weekend at the box office; it’s THE subject of conversation around water coolers everywhere. Did you struggle out past the snow to see it, Boxwishers? Indeed, it’s all we’ve been talking about here at Boxwish HQ and it’s a big, blue thumbs-up from us. And if, like us, you really loved James Cameron’s imaginative new world of Pandora, you might be interested in checking out some of the cool tie-in merchandise (see here), chief among which is the tie-in with toys giant, Mattel. And opening up about this collaboration is Mattel’s marketing director, Jason Horowitz.

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, Horowitz revealed that Mattel “have really high hopes and expectations for the Avatar toy line” which they believe work as fun toys and also potential collector’s items.

Some critics have suggested that the audience’s unfamiliarity with Avatar and it’s Na’vi characters will put will put people off (compared to more recognisable works like sequels, remakes, adaptations. etc.), however he thinks this fresh start is a big plus. “The designers they really tried to make a line that was really authentic and had all of the detail to really bring these characters to life,” he says. “James Cameron brings things to life in amazing ways and we really wanted to do the same with the toys and the figures.”

This commitment to syncing up with the movie sees the toys show off their own innovative technology (iTags that once scanned online enable 3D reality play), a feature that has Horowitz seriously enthused.

“For the first time, every toy in the line comes with an iTag which allows people to unlock a 3D image on their computer that allows people to learn more about this world of Pandora and the characters. They get to learn in a really amazing, detailed way that blends the real world and the digital world with our toy-play, just as the film is breaking ground with the 3-D technology and the whole concept of the avatars in the film.”

“In the films it’s about immersion and going into another existence and the iTags fit with that; it allows kids to blend the physical world of the toy with the digital world … with one of the characters, for example, when you activate the iTag it opens up the doctor’s journal and you see one of the amazing plants of Pandora grow up out of the journal [on your computer screen].”

Sounds amazing to us, and definitely befitting of Avatar.

To read the full interview with Jason Horowitz, hit the link below.

[via L.A. Times]

UPDATE: Get all the best Avatar merchandise, from cool graphic tees to replica props here.

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