United state of Attakus

Attakus started designing and sculpting collectible statues in Paris in 1997 with its first license, Disney, and quickly picked up deals for Terminator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Marvel, among others.

Today, the company continues to develop items based on French comics and other popular European titles like Black Fat exclusively for the European market. But three years ago, the company opened shop in Montreal because of the growing consumer demand to distribute its collectibles in North America.

Diego Arnedo, manager of Attakus America, tells Playthings that the company's collectibles were doing very well overseas, but it was difficult for collectors in North America to get their hands on these items as Attakus' distribution rights did not include the U.S. or Canada. Star Wars—first acquired in 1999—is still the company's only worldwide license, while in Europe, Attakus offers products based on Marvel characters or Aliens.

In 2007, the company will launch several Star Wars (Sandtrooper, Oola and Probe Droid) and Ice Age (Scrat) statues in the States. Arnedo says the company is also working on signing on more manga and anime properties, like Tezuka's classic Astro Boy.

As to the specifics of the company's editions, Arnedo tells Playthings that the company tries to stay consistent with the number of limited editions per property, as in the standard 1,500-count for Star Wars statues, with the exception of two or three pieces.He warns that there's a fine line between meeting demand for products and overdoing it with excessive variants. “We're trying to get the highest quality possible, keeping them limited in a way that the collector is not fooled. If you make a statue limited to 1,500 pieces and change statues by just offering a different helmet, that's a very unique way to make money for a company, but don't fool customers—they're on guard [about being manipulated]. It's just a matter of being as responsible to the movies as you can,” he says. —TB