For a long time, Mondo has been the go-to place for fans who like to celebrate their favorite properties with literal works of art. But as Mondo continues to change and evolve, bringing posters, figures, soundtracks and more to the table, it's heartening to know that fans and their desires are still at the center of the company's core.
At C2E2 in Chicago, nerdy was delighted to speak with Peter Santa Maria, Mondo's Senior Creative Director of Collectibles, about what goes into creating a Mondo collectible, how fans shape the final designs of Mondo's works, what on the horizon for the brand and more. Santa Maria was even able to show off a new type of Mondo collectible on the horizon, citing something the brand has never done before. We can't wait to find out what that is, but in the meantime, dive into the world of Mondo with us.
Nerdist: Mondo is known for their amazing creations and high quality designs. Can you talk a little bit about how you decide what to make into a collectible and how you decide what it should look like?
Santa Maria: Yes, in general, whether it's our soundtrack, posters, or collectible figures, we always start from “Are we an in-house fan?” So whoever is working in the company and is a fan will direct the product.
Let's not do something we probably won't buy into as fans, right? So we have our favorite properties that we like to know about, like now Godzilla i Masters of the Universe; Of course, we love Marvel and DC, but we've also posted a few recently Scott Pilgrim collectibles
We love that. But the idea is that if you work with a franchise that is very big, very well known and has products out there, what do we bring to the table? So it's healing. It's finding the right artist and then matching them with the film, the show, whatever, so that it's like a new synthesis that happens. People say, “Wow, I'm excited because I never thought I'd see so-and-so designed in this style.”
So that's really what I mean. Are we excited by the idea? Are we excited for so-and-so to do such and such a project? If we are, that means the fans certainly will be.
Nerdist: Yeah, I was looking at the last set and I saw the Beavis and Butt-Head poster, which I thought was really cool. So I think it's great that you follow your fan desires and not necessarily just go by what movie is coming out.
Santa Maria: No, no, and there are many times when we will reject something that is important because we don't have a personal connection or we don't know what we would bring to it.
So if it doesn't speak to us, we'll say, “Not yet, maybe in the future.” But you mentioned Beavis and Buttwe just did that beautiful silkscreen of the artist, Kensausage. Probably one of my favorite artist things of all time. He designed us a bunch of sketches of what this poster could look like, and we said, “Yeah, they're all great, which one do we pick?” But that weird mutant version of Beavis and Butt together, we felt we had to have it. It's a new interpretation, but it feels like the show, the movie when they have their psychedelic experience or whatever.
And now we also introduce a bunch of fans to Kensausage. And then you can put the poster back on the artist and their other artwork and it creates a whole new audience for that art, which is the best part of what we do.
Nerdist: So really, at any moment, Mondo could decide to create something new for an old property? (nerdy personally threw more Hannibal posters.)
Santa Maria: Yes, if we have the license and we feel like there's enthusiasm, or we think, “Normally we wouldn't do this, but this looks great, we should probably do it,” then yes.
Who knows; you could see us design like a big robot mechanized Hannibal that looks like a figure that came out of Japan in the 60's right? No one else would. That's the idea.
Nerdist: I would love to. And I think it's great because often if you're a new fan of an old franchise, you don't get a chance to experience new products, so it's great that Mondo can step in.
Santa Maria: Exactly, 100%.
Nerdist: How much does fan input influence your decision making?
Santa Maria: We're always listening to fans in terms of, sometimes there's feedback about, “Hey, I really like this line, please don't forget to include such and such a character because he or she always gets overlooked. ” Or, “I love the franchise. I love that you're doing it on that scale, but why don't you do it smooth online or whatever?” So we're always hearing that, and that's how we get better. We can't do it without the fans and the excitement of the fans. So we do what we think is great, we put it out there, the fans respond and say, “Great idea, or wait we're almost there,” and then we work on it.
Nerdist: Do you have an example of this type of interaction?
Santa Maria: Yes, Masters of the Universespecifically. I can't reveal anything, but there are some characters we know from other lines that don't come out as figures very often. In the Facebook group, people mentioned it, and I've seen it in YouTube comments, so internally we're going, “You guys, we need to do this.”
And when people see it, they will turn around.
Nerdist: This ties into my next question: Are there any upcoming releases that your fans can get really excited about?
Santa Maria: Yes, there are some big surprises that will be mentioned on our panel tomorrow. And then at Comic-Con, we have our new one Scarecrow of Masters of the Universe 1/6 and Scaremare, our original. We designed a character for Masters of the Universe that Mattel allowed us to do, and we're going to debut him on this show, and it's going to be super, super exciting. Of couse, Scott Pilgrim is coming out Our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vinyl figures are released. We're trying to reach as many fandoms as we can with something new, refreshing, that looks worthy of your shelf space.
Nerdist: Mondo is pretty well known for their posters and, as you mentioned, figures, vinyls, and more. Is there another type of arm or type of collectible that you envision in the future or thinking about?
Santa Maria: I mean, yes, we're working a lot on our posters, our silkscreens, to find out what hasn't been done yet, what interpretations haven't been done yet. We love revisiting Universal Monsters. We love to visit again.
But now we're exploring anime in a bigger way and how anime is reinterpreted when fans already love the style of anime. But can we challenge this aesthetic and do something new and interesting? This is a big one for us.
Too, our soundtracks, we continue to look forward to designing truly exciting packaging designs, so that people have all this experience when they open them, listening to the music, but also going through the record. You can expect great things.
Nerdist: But on top of that, could we see new types of Mondo projects besides collectibles, figures, and soundtracks?
Santa Maria: Yes, there is a… Let's see, I have to say it without spoiling it. There is a new product line to be announced in the next couple of months from Mondo. We've never done that before. I think people, especially people who like to do unboxings on YouTube and watch them, will love this one.
Nerdist: Just to finish, what do you think has been your most successful release? And what is your personal favorite?
Santa Maria: Well, I'm biased towards the figures I personally designed, such as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Mechagodzilla. But in terms of the most successful releases this year, I mean, we had a big hit with Rogue from our X-Men 1/6 animated line. We had great success with Scareglow, our soft vinyl figure from our Masters of the Universe line.
We also had one Godzilla: Minus one poster that has worked well for us. That was huge. So you never know. You can get an idea of what it will be, but you never know. You always have to see where the fans are and what they are pointing at you.
