Lupine Book Club: Creatureplica Interview -- with Jean St. Jean!

Pic courtesy of Jean St. Jean

Jean St. Jean is a man who needs little introduction in the action figure community. He's worked for McFarlane, NECA, Diamond Select and DC Collectibles, just to name a few -- if you've been collecting for a while, the odds are strong that your collection includes some of his work.

But in 2015, he's returning with his very own line -- CREATUREPLICA!

Prepare to enter the primordial woods and frozen wastes of the world and explore it’s darkest corners. There are things undescribed by science on the fringes, stomping through the forest, chittering in the shadows. Join us in our quest. And Beware.

Dedicated to cryptozoological creatures, Creatureplica's first offerings are planned for release in October 2015. Those of you who've been reading the blog for a while know all about my fascination with "The Unexplained", so when I came across this forthcoming line I was extremely excited. The Louisana Rougarou has particularly taken my fancy, for obvious reasons.

Jean was recently generous enough to take some of his time to speak to the LBC via email, to talk about the line and some of his other action figure/collectibles work. All pics come courtesy of his collection.

Some of your best-known work is on the Diamond Select Universal Monsters line -- was it working on this line that triggered the idea of creating a line based around cryptozoology, or did you have a pre-existing interest?

The opportunity to Work on Universal Monsters with DST was a dream gig in itself. They give me a creative freedom to develop lines in the way that I’ve always wanted to see them produced, as a fan myself. Cryptozoology has always been another interest of mine since I was in grammar school and first came across still from the Patterson-Gimlin film. (the famous 1960s film of "Bigfoot")

Would you look at expanding the line in future series to cover similar paranormal territory like alien abduction?

Now that Creatureplica is underway, we’re hoping to hit a bunch of well known and exotic lesser known creatures along the way.

The Metaluna Mutant from Diamond Select's Universal Monsters range

Describe a little about your creative process for the Creatureplica line -- does it start with sketching, or do you go straight for the modelling clay?

I prefer to just start pushing clay around to design. I think better in 3-D. The Cryptids have been haunting me for a long time, so they just sort of poured out of my subconscious once I had the opportunity to create them with an actual goal to produce them on the horizon.

Once you've designed a figure, how much input do you have in the articulation? Do they consult you beforehand, do they work with what you give them or does it just plain vary from company to company?

Darkness from Legend

That depends on the company. Most give me very specific articulation plans. DST lets me develop the articulation as I see fit depending on how it will mesh with the aesthetic.

It's a bit of a cliché to ask, but of all the many and varied projects you've worked on, do you have one would be your favourite? Or would that be too much like picking a favourite child?

Honestly, the last couple years have been amazing because bucket list gigs like the ’66 Batman series and the above mentioned Universal charters came my way. Also, Thundercats was a lot of fun. Figure-wise specifically, I sculpted Darkness from Legend for McFarlane when I worked there, and Pumpkinhead for SOTA toys, which was a blast.

Pumpkinhead from SOTA Toys

And last but not least -- at the moment, October 2015 is the planned release date for Creatureplica -- any plans to tie it into Halloween?

Depending on when they hit, obviously Halloween will be an added advantage to selling our monsters. In addition, we have a few side projects that we’re developing as well that will take everyone by surprise!

Thanks for your time, Jean!

You can view the upcoming Creatureplica range here and visit their Facebook page here.

You can also check out some of Jean's other work by visiting his DeviantArt page!