Whilst most people would say It’s A Wonderful Life, Home Alone or Elf is their favourite Christmas movie, for a small group of us in this world, it simply wouldn’t be Christmas without hearing Arnold Schwarzenegger say the words “Put that cookie down!” in slapstick, festive 90s movie, Jingle All The Way. Having watched the movie twice already this Christmas, a new crowdfunding project set on bringing to life an original prop, has got me pretty excited.
The plot centres on two fathers and their last minute rush to find the hottest toy on the market on Christmas eve. It’s a story many parents who experienced the mania of trying to get their hands on a Buzz Lightyear toy for Christmas in 1995, will be familiar with, only the ‘it’ toy here is Turbo Man, a Power Ranger-style action figure that’s got parents fighting in the aisles. Now to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary (how did that happen?) a Kickstarter is giving you the chance to bag your own with a little help from 3D technologies.
Similar to the way reverse engineering was used to recreate the Dejarik "holographic chess" style game in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, project founder J.R. DeJesus is using a static original prop from Director Brian Levant and 3D scanning to create a digital replica of the toy that will then be re-engineered in 3D modelling software to create full articulation points.
DeJesus told TCT that the initial prototype will be 3D printed using the scan data and a quick look through DeJesus' Instagram shows the progress that's already been made in the initial stages. For the final product, a manufacturing company is already on board to start mass production once the campaign is completed.
Due to high demand, the limited run of figures, which cost $130 each, has been increased from 100 to 200 units with the funding goal of $13,000 already smashed. The campaign still has 24 days to go but they're getting snapped up pretty fast, so if you don’t want to end up like Arnie or scouring eBay for your own in time for next Christmas, you should probably get in there quick.
