Imports Dragon offers exclusive NHL All-Star Game figures
By Stephen Laroche | Beckett Hockey Editor
Imports Dragon, the exclusive manufacturer of NHL and NHLPA-licensed action figures, is offering visitors of the 2016 NHL All-Star Fan Fair in Nashville, Tennessee an opportunity to own two figures of their hometown heroes.
Available for sale at the company’s booth for the first time were Premium Sports Action 6″ figures of Nashville Predators All-Stars Pekka Rinne and the show-exclusive Shea Weber featuring the 2016 NHL All-Star Game logo. Limited to 2,400 and 3,600 copies respectively, they were proving to be a hot seller at $20.00 each.
“They (the fans) have been extremely receptive,” noted Imports Dragon Brand Manager Alexandre Ouellette. “They haven’t seen anything like this in a long time. The fan base here has grown and we’re really excited. The figures are beautiful. The Pekka Rinne wasn’t an All-Star exclusive, but we made sure that the Shea Weber wasn’t out there before the All-Star Game. We wanted something special for the NHL and the fans in Nashville as well.”
Ouellette also spoke of the challenge of getting these Premium Sports Action toys ready for the event.
“The NHL really helps us out with this stuff. Obviously, there is confidentiality involved and we’re sure to be safe with that stuff. So far, they’ve been really good to us in giving us the information and giving us the artwork in time so that we can actually produce on time. It takes a minimum of three to four months to get that stuff into production and a good month to come back over here. It’s extremely easy to work with the NHL and the NHLPA. They’ve been great.”
Which player is most popular among the fans in attendance? Ouellette answered this question and also dropped details of the next Predators player that is being planned for the line.
“It’s really half and half, but I think the goalie figures do much better. I think I’ve seen a little bit more Rinne than Weber. Rinne has been having good seasons in the past couple of years, so he’s a fan favorite here. We got a lot of comments about how Roman Josi’s doing this year, so we’ve got a lot of people asking for him. He’s probably going to be the next player in the line for Nashville.”
There is also an exclusive 2.5″ figure that is available for the first time at the 2016 NHL All-Star Fan Fair and it appears in packaging from the upcoming second wave of figures that are compatible with the company’s game.
“We have a Pekka Rinne 2.5″ figure. He’s got the nice black All-Star jersey with the yellow stripes on the side. We’re giving people the opportunity to buy it without going through random packs. We want to do it for the fans and make sure they can leave with what they want. We’re also giving them the opportunity to get a blind pack to get some of the other figures. It was important to us to be able to offer every single product that was available to the Nashville fan base.”
Imports Dragon was also showing off some of the key figures that will appearing in Series Two, which is expected to hit stores in mid-February.
“There’s a lot of good rookie in the lineup. We have Connor McDavid, there’s Jack Eichel. You’re going to see Dylan Larkin in there and Nikolaj Ehlers from Winnipeg. There’s a whole new set of gold figurines, including McDavid and Eichel, and then you have the silver figurines as well. A great lineup coming out, mostly young folks.”
Stephen Laroche is the editor of Beckett Hockey, Beckett Basketball, and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at slaroche@beckett.com or follow him on Twitter @Stephen_Laroche.
