“Fans care about detail, so we care about detail”: Oliver Chang and Gurdeep Bains discuss development of YuMe Toys’ latest Stranger Things capsules

Guys, it’s great to catch up. We’re here to dive into YuMe Toys’ latest wave of Stranger Things capules. The brand is a big part of YuMe’s history right?
Gurdeep Bains, Global Creative Director, YuMe Toys: Absolutely. Stranger Things helped shape YuMe to where we are today. When we started working on our first line of capsules, it was a new property and didn’t have the expansive consumer products programme it has now. But we really liked the show, and we knew there would be a dedicated fanbase for it. From there, we’ve done more capsules, DZNR plush, Bobble Heros… The brand has been a great fit for the product areas we focus on and cemented the play pattern around our capsules.

That play patten being an unboxing experience that’s also ‘gamified’?
Gurdeep: Exactly. We didn’t want fans to just open the packaging… The unboxing experience is tied to gameplay that provides clues about the mystery character that hides inside.

So, series one and two of your Stranger Things surprise capsules took the form of little TVs… Series three takes the form of these terrific retro walkie-talkies – why go in this direction?
Oliver Chang, Senior Art Director, YuMe Toys: Well, it was all about leveraging the unique aesthetics of the show, which has a strong 80s visual identity. And that sits well with our kidults demographic. You have people who experienced the 80s and now have nostalgia for it, and there’s a new generation who are fascinated by that era even though they didn’t live through it. So our first stop was to find an object that really captures that era.

And walkie-talkies came straight to mind?
Oliver: Actually, our first idea was to do arcade machines which was very retro. It was a cool aesthetic and we felt consumers could personalise each one. However that felt very tied to series season two.

We did explore other key items that appear within the show like an 80s boombox as well as vehicles, but we eventually landed on the walkie-talkies. It felt authentic to the show, but also to the gameplay of the unboxing experience… The clues utilize this cipher grill from the walkie-talkie, and that felt very linked to ideas of espionage and that Cold War era.

And I imagine the shape of the walkie-talkie steered some decisions around what you could do with the unboxing experience?
Oliver: Yes! There’s some aspects that we know we want to include regardless of the form-factor, but then we always like to incorporate the item into the unboxing experience. Like using the cipher grill from the walkie-talkie to crack the puzzles. There are all sorts of things you can play with.

On that, talk me through the unboxing experience here.
Gurdeep: Our unboxing experience features an interactive clue card game where consumers play detective to uncover which character is hidden inside the capsule.

In this Series 3 Capsule edition, the story takes place in the eerie world of the Upside Down, where one of the characters has been trapped. Consumers must team up with Lucas to reveal who the character is. The contents inside the pack are numbered to guide players through the unboxing sequence. The final item is a blind bag containing the figurine – revealing whether or not their guess was correct!

The clue card itself is designed around the Morse code alphabet. To solve it, players detach the front of the walkie-talkie and use its grill to overlay on the clue card. Certain Morse symbols are hidden while others are revealed, helping players uncover specific letters. The letters are jumbled, forming an anagram of the trapped character’s name that must be unscrambled.

This Morse code decoding ties directly to Season 2 of the show, where the same method plays a key role in the storyline – making it the perfect fit for this unboxing adventure.

Brilliant. And there’s also these bags?
Gurdeep: Yes, you open up the bags to get a scene card, side stickers, an accessory and antenna which can be used in two different ways. It can be used as an antenna to bolt onto the walkie-talkie for role-play, or you can display it underneath your collectable.

Ah, because it has the Netflix logo underneath.
Gurdeep: Exactly. So it’s an antenna for role-play, or a Netflix icon for display. And we’re big on customization, so fans can remove the scene card from a display and put it onto a different character’s scene if they want. And if you turn it over, you’ll see it partly spells out Stranger Things once you have collected the whole series. Each one also comes with individual stickers themed around the characters, so you can personalize your walkie talkie to the character you’ve just unboxed.

And those scene cards look great.
Oliver: I had fun painting those by hand!

Oh, you painted these backdrops?
Oliver: Yes! We pushed for that because it gives it a slight human touch which makes a difference. We didn’t want to just slap on a screen grab – it was more about capturing the essence of a moment… And Netflix were great in providing us with set photos months before anything was revealed. That helped a lot.

I can imagine. And when it comes to the poses these characters are in, what steers that?
Gurdeep: We watch the show and look at what’s resonating with the fans on things like forums. With this series, we’ve got fan favourite characters as well as some legacy characters that have appeared in the previous seasons. It’s the final season of the show so we wanted to include a few nods to iconic moments that have come before. For example, we have Steve in the Scoops Ahoy uniform, but also Eleven in her new look.

Did any of your previous Stranger Things launches shape how you tackled this range?
Gurdeep: Well, we’re also trying to push the boat out and go one step further each time. Each capsule series we’ve done has been some sort of learning curve. The components keep getting better and we keep innovating around the unboxing experience. Sometimes they sound like small decisions – like which finish to apply – but these constant improvements build up and make a difference when it lands with consumers.

Oliver: We’ve always tried to make the unboxing experience feel important and vital, rather than something tacked on as an afterthought. That approach has been there from day one.

Going back to the walkie-talkie. You mentioned earlier that it can double as a role-play item – and it really could. It looks fantastic. Why go to these extents for an element that, in other people’s hands, could’ve been approached as simply packaging?
Oliver: Gurdeep really pushed for this.

Gurdeep: Well, I do think it’s really important. And the proportions are slightly different from a real walkie-talkie – we had to tweak things to fit everything inside. But I really wanted this to look as authentic and realistic as possible. Fans buy these as collector’s items and they really care about the detail – especially when it comes to things they want to display and show off. So if they care about detail, we need to care about detail. We never looked at that aspect as something disposable. It was crucial from the get-go. And it also makes it stand out on shelf!

Absolutely. And how was Netflix throughout the development process?
Gurdeep: Netflix is great. They understand the way we think and how we like to approach things, and that trust stems back to the first wave of TV capsules we did. It was a great success and they loved the product, so that got us off to a great start. They’ve been great to work with and they appreciate the fact that we’re going to this level of detail. It shows we love and care about their brands.

Guys, always a pleasure to chat and congrats again on your latest wave of Stranger Things capsules.