Tinkle bobble heads to be launched today

And yet again, the city is ready to embrace the Comic Con sway. Over 11,000 have already registered on the Facebook Page of Comic Con Hyderabad. With so much enthusiasm from the land of Nizams, it is obvious that the pioneer of Indian comic’s scenario, Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) have plans to surprise many.

And for the news finally, “ACK will be foraying into merchandises with bobble head dolls of the naïve Suppandi, the always-lucky hunter Shikari Shambu and Billy The Vampire,” informs an excited Manas Mohan, CEO (Publishing) of ACK in an exclusive interaction with The Hans India. But that’s not all, our favourite childhood characters would be making a grand entrance to the cartoon scenario, possibly by the next few months.

Well, it is never too late. “Our market research started as early as four years ago. We have been printing t-shirts, mugs, etc, to see where and how to foray into the market with merchandises. Designing merchandise is a lot different from books," he says. And now, these folks are ready to jet-set and go.

ACK established in 1967 by Anant Pai was started with the view of acquainting the youth with mythology native to the country. Initial editions were graphic retelling of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Such was its popularity, that at its peak, it was not only translated into regional languages but also Indonesian, French and Spanish among others. It has gone digital and is available on its website as well as app stores. Tinkle, an offshoot of ACK, is doing brilliantly too. “During the Big Billion Sale on the Flipkart recently, the Ultimate Edition of ACK was sold out in four hours. This makes me way too happy to say that we have not lost on our popularity,” Manas says.

The 34-year-old legendary brand Tinkle from the ACK stable has also associated with Amazon for pre-booking and e-retail and would soon hit the retails and comic libraries soon.

"Priced at Rs 999 each, the bobble heads have been available for prebooking at Amazon. We have been targeting the entry level market and are looking at people who understand and appreciate the collector level items," Manas says adding, "there is no danger of stocking out because we are not offering any discounts and are in the process of scaling up."

In fact Manas is among the few who believe that there is a new kind of audience. Audience who are content oriented and are not moved by the heritage of a comic series. “We are at an exciting transitory phase, though we are figuring out on how to create a complete eco-system. The well read and educated lot from India still pick up ACK and Indian comics for their kids. Evidently, our sales crossed 70 per cent of the usual last month.” He highlights that even avid readers who come from across the border prefers to pick up comics which are rich in content.

The makers have huge expectations. If all goes well, then we can expect ACK doing what Ninja Turtles and Transformers did in the US.