Robyn Morgan of Underground toys was kind enough to take time from her extraordinarily busy schedule to answer some questions about all things Who. Here is my EXCLUSIVE interview.

The following is an interview conducted between myself and Robyn Morgan of Underground Toys. Underground is the US distributor of Doctor Who action figures in the United States. The interview was conducted via email. I sent Robyn the questions and she sent me back the answers. The questions in this interview are a mixture of my own and the submissions from the users of the forum at WhoNA.

Q.) Please introduce yourself and describe your job at Underground

A).  My name is Robyn Morgan.  My role at Underground Toys is International Licensing Manager and I am responsible for the negotiations and acquisitions of our merchandise deals with major property owners such as Lucas Film, Twentieth Century Fox, Cartoon Network, BBC Worldwide, Universal Studios, Summit, United Media, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Sony and many more.

Q.) Brief background on Underground (How big a company, where located, products distributed..etc.)

A).  Underground Toys is based in California and London.  We distribute over 1200 different products across 30+ properties.

Q.) Please explain Underground’s place in the overall Doctor Who toy “world”

A.)  We are the US licensee for Doctor Who.

Q.) Can you explain the state of Doctor Who figure retail here in the US? (i.e. Who is and is not carrying them and why?)

A).  Doctor Who is a property which appeals to both Specialty and Mass markets.  In the US, it’s fair to say that it leans more towards Specialty.

Q.) Several readers would like to know about the Classic line. How is it doing? What kind of commitment do you have to it?

A).  We love the Doctor Who Classic Line , it is a major part of our plans for Doctor Who in the future.

Q.) Is there a chance for Classic figure re-releases, such as the ones that are done for the “main” line?

A).  There is definitely a chance but our efforts are normally focussed on bringing new products to the market place.

Q.) Is there a chance of you conducting a fan poll to determine a future exclusive or wave?

A).  We take on board what the fans would like when deciding on which items to release but obviously not all products are viable.

Q.) Has there ever been an item you produced that backfired?

A).  There have actually been several across all our properties but more noticeably on small properties which may  have underperformed at the Box Office against expectations.

Q.) Will we see the new series logo on the Classic figures’ packaging?

A.)  This is a decision for the BBC.

Q.) Please explain how the release schedule for a figure works? What are the approximate lead times on a figure both in the UK and the US?

A).  Every item is different and the timings depend on the level of tooling involved.  There is no fixed length of lead time.

Q.) Do you set your own case breakdowns for a wave of figures in the US? How does allocation to outlets get decided?

A).  Sometimes we set our own case breakdowns and we always do our best not to allocate.

Q.) How far in advance are the lines currently planned? How far in advance do you know of items production-wise?

This is a moving target, with many parties involved.

Q.) Which Exclusive are you, personally, most proud of? Which mass retail item?

A).  Personally, I love the 11^th Doctor and Orange Scientist Dalek set.  There have been so few Matt Smith variations to date and I think this one was a beautiful item.  It was really great to get such positive feedback directly from the fans at Comic Con.  I would say that this has been our best San Diego Comic Con item so far.

Q.) Have you ever considered doing a “mail-away” figure?

A).  That’s a great idea.  I know this was executed successfully for Star Trek in the past – we will discuss this internally.

Q.) Will there be an additional allocation of 11 Doctors sets?

A.)  Yes.

Q.) Any final message to the fans?

A).  We truly care about the Doctor Who brand and it’s heritage.  Half of our company is made up of British employees who grew up with Doctor Who.  We are very proud of what we have achieved so far but we can only continue to bring you new, exciting products because of your ongoing support.

Thanks again to Robyn for taking the time to do this interview.

When Robyn’s schedule calms down a little, I will try to do a follow-up. It is all dependent on the time she can spare.