Review Fix Exclusive: Bryan Cantrall Talks NHL TeenyMates

January 16, 2016 Patrick Hickey Jr. Video Games 0

Review Fix chats with Bryan Cantrall, Executive VP of Party Animal Inc., who discusses the NHL line of the popular TeenyMates toy line. Featuring every NHL team, Party Animal discusses how the brands got together and their goals moving forward. Cantrall also discusses the possibility of an eventual Winter Classic series and lets us know exactly why these new toys have a place in your man cave, kids room, or office.

Review Fix: What makes the NHL figures different from your others?

Bryan Cantrall: When we added NHL figures to the TeenyMates brand the biggest challenge was the level of detail of the team uniforms and logos compared to that of other sports leagues.  The NHL has a lot of awesome and intricate team designs which look great on the figures, but it was a challenge to bring that level of detail to such a small scale.The figures themselves also require a lot of intricate detail due to the complexities of the hockey uniforms, from the helmets to hockey sticks.  We even managed to put the figures on skates!

Review Fix: How does the NHL help you guys create?

Cantrall: The NHL has been an excellent brand to work with.  They have such a passionate fan base and the league has really gotten behind the idea of expanding themselves as a brand.  They have been very encouraging in helping us grow NHL TeenyMates as a brand as well.

Review Fix: Any thoughts on eventually making individual figures? Like star players on each team?

Cantrall: TeenyMates have always been about the teams and the league itself.  They have never been intended to represent actual players.  We feel this allows kids and collectors to spark their own imagination when playing.  It also gives us the opportunity to include all 30 teams on an equal basis.

Review Fix: Any thoughts on a Winter’s Classic series eventually?

Cantrall: We are always researching new possibilities for future series and rare figures.  The Winter Classic is one of the most popular events in the NHL season and would probably make for a very cool TeenyMates series or set of rare figures.  Don’t be surprised if you see some Winter Classic figures popping up in the line soon!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Cantrall: We are looking forward to expanding our NHL TeenyMates line in 2016 with the addition of arena display sets and exclusive gift sets.  These will be available at Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods and many other retailers in both the U.S.A and Canada later this year.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13879 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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