One of the most exciting thing about our partner crates is the opportunity to create Loot that is specially curated just for these assortments. We got a chance to talk to Ray Makowski, the product designer behind the Halo Icons figure line which debuted only in the Halo Legendary Crate!
(Photo by Ciji Thornton)
Q: Have you always been a big Halo fan?
A: I bought an Xbox just to play the original game. (True story: met Neil Patrick Harris because he was buying one at the same time.) I went to the midnight release of Halo 2, played through the campaign before the sun came up — and went to work in the morning! I’ve played every game in the series.
Q: What’s the design process for the Halo Icons figures like? What are your greatest challenges?
A: We work closely with 343 to select a character. Once the subject is chosen, 343 provides reference files, and a digital sculptor creates the figure from my initial sketch. The pose and sculpt are refined over a lengthy review process until it’s exactly what we want. The greatest challenge is to capture a pose that speaks to the essence of the character.
Q: Do you have a favorite Halo Icons figure?
A: The Master Chief vaulting over the grunt. It’s a dynamic pose that also recaptures the joy I felt when playing the original Halo: Combat Evolved.
Q: How do you determine which character to focus on for each crate?
A: Loot Crate and 343 plan out the themes for each crate, focusing on key moments in the Halo timeline. Once we have decided on the theme, we select a character that best represents the events of that theme and go from there.
Vaulting Master Chief figure, from the “Halo Conflict” crate
Q: Can you tease out anything about what’s next for the Halo Icons line after the first six-figure-ring is complete?
A: Expect more epic Halo moments frozen in time. We’ve barely scratched the surface of the massive Halo canon and there are tons of characters we haven’t done yet. I also have a fondness for Forerunner architecture…
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with Halo Icons collectors?
A: Please stop whipping my ass in Warzone. I am old now, and not nearly as fast as I was in my Halo 2 days. And please continue sharing your Legendary Crate goods on social media. We love seeing our Looters enjoying the things we make, and discovering easter eggs like the energy sword letter opener being scaled to work with the ThreeA Halo figures!
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for joining us!
