IF Labs Clarification & Announcement

Figures.com has received confirmation that the new toy production company IF Labs, a partnership between Irwin Toys and FUNimation, will be an entirely new company and will not directly impact the established Irwin Toys or their continued production of toy lines including Dragonball Z, Sailormoon and Reboot. While Irwin Toys will continue to produce mainstream action figures and toys, IF Labs will concentrate on the toy collector market, producing “grittier” and more “Mcfarlanesque” action figure toys.

Figures.com has also discovered that IF Labs will be producing action figures based on the anime and manga Yu Yu Hakusho created by Yoshihiro Togashi. Series 1, which will launch next March, will feature the core characters of the series: Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara. Funimation is currently in the process of preparing the anime TV series for American television broadcast. For those unfamiliar with the series, here’s some background:

“Fourteen-year-old Yusuke Urameshi is the toughest kid in town, a young rebel frustrated by his lack of direction in life. But when he unexpectedly gives his life to save a child from a deadly traffic accident, everything changes. Because of his noble sacrifice, Yusuke is given a second chance. He is allowed to return to Earth from the Afterworld – but not to the life he left behind! Yusuke has been granted some amazing new powers, and if he wants to live again he must use them for the cause of good. Yu Yu Hakusho follows the many adventures of this reluctant hero and his uncanny companions as they defend an unsuspecting world from the dark creatures and powerful monsters that lurk in the shadows.”