ReSaurus Figures

Toy model sheet from Kenneth Lilly's portfolio

The Gex: Deep Cover Gecko - Series One figures were a line of cancelled action figures by American toy company, ReSaurus Company, Inc. They were slated for release in 1999, and would have coincided with the release of Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. However, their launch would be pushed back into 2000 and would inevitability be cancelled with the closure of ReSaurus.

History

Development on the Gex action figures began in late 1998. In July 1998, Crystal Dynamics struck a deal with the Creative Licensing Corporation to produce figures for the Gex and Legacy of Kain series. ReSaurus was chosen as the manufacturer, and their partnership was officially announced in December 1998. According to the RTM Independent Toy Newswire, the Gex figures were set to release in June 1999. An ad for the figures would later appear in Volume 2 Issue 7 of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, further emphasizing this June release date with an MSRP of $9.99 per figure set. The figures were first unveiled at Toy Fair 1999. Resin prototypes of the Gex figures were later shown during the Comic and Toy Show at the Brice Outlet Mall in May 1999. A month later in June, via a news post on their website, ReSaurus would announce that the figures had gone through some significant revisions and would not meet their projected summer release. Instead they would be available later in the year, in time for the holiday season. This new Fall 1999 release would be reflected in the Series Two release of Crash Bandicoot figures, in the form of a small advertisement appearing on the back. However, the figures would remain unreleased for the rest of 1999.

ReSaurus ad page in Volume 2 Issue 7 of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.

It wasn't until February 2000 that the Gex figures would resurface once again. Pre-production models of the toy line were showcased at Toy Fair 2000, and it appeared that they were not far from a retail release. This is corroborated by an ex-employee who stated that the figures were far along into development prior to their cancellation. Unfortunately, according to another ReSaurus employee on their website message board, the toy line never went into production and was cancelled due to "very little interest in people taking it in." ReSaurus was also going through financial woes at this time, due to mismanagement and back royalty payments on other licensed franchises. The company would eventually be put up for sale, and a 50% off liquidation discount was offered on all online store items. With no prospective buyer ReSaurus would ultimately go out of business by the end of 2001, leaving many of their upcoming toy lines (including Gex) to go unreleased.

Ad featured on the back of Crash Series Two packaging

In the years since ReSaurus's closure, none of the Gex action figures have been sold or exchanged online. This means that the figures have either been lost, destroyed, or remain in the hands of ex-employees. Only a few figures are known to have survived the ReSaurus liquidation. These figures are Long John Gex, Count Gexula, Moo Shoo Pork, and Skeleton Pirate. In a company profile posted on Raving Toy Maniac, Long John Gex and Count Gexula (along with an image gallery full of other prototype or unreleased figures) can be seen in the hands of Plan-B Toys. Prototype or unpainted models of both Moo Shoo Pork and Skeleton Pirate can be found on archives of Toxic Mom's Studio's website. An image of a fully-painted Skeleton Pirate figure can also be found on the website, however the image is unfortunately broken. On a later re-design of the website, the Skeleton Pirate figure can still be seen in an image gallery as late as 2006. A link to sculpt turnarounds and coat images was also included. Unfortunately, the link is now broken and clicking it simply reloads the webpage.

Thumbnail of Skeleton Pirate from Toxic Mom's image gallery.

While at first glance it seems odd that both of these studios would own these cancelled figures, it makes more sense once you know the history of both companies. Plan-B is a company that was formed shortly before ReSaurus's closure, and even worked with them on some of their figure lines. Toxic Mom's Studio is another toy company that was formed shortly after ReSaurus's closure. Both companies were started by ex-ReSaurus employees, so it made sense that they would eventually come into possession of many of their unreleased figures. Unfortunately, just like ReSaurus, both companies would go out of business in 2006, leaving the fate of these figures unknown. It remains uncertain if Plan-B or Toxic Mom's Studio had any other pre-production or prototype Gex figures, as only the four previously mentioned figures were ever publicly shown. If not, then they are likely lost or in the hands of other ex-ReSaurus employees. It's highly probable that only a single set of figures were made, since the toy line never went into production. This makes these pre-production models highly valuable, and those in possession of these figures may be unwilling to part with them for this reason. It's also possible that anyone associated with ReSaurus may be holding onto them for historical or memento purposes. These factors make it very unlikely that these figures will ever make it into the hands of the general public.

Release

Series One

Packaging for the Vs. series shown at Toy Fair 1999.

The first series of Gex figures went through some significant revisions before the pre-production models were finalized. The original run of figures consisted of: Grandmaster Gex & Moo Shoo Pork, Long John Gex & Skeleton Pirate, Private Gex & Sarge, and Secret Agent Gex & Rez. However, this was later expanded to include more characters from the series. In addition to the figures mentioned, two new Gex figures were added: Extreme Gex and Count Gexula. New buddy figures were also added to this revised run. These figures consisted of: a penguin, Paunch the Kangeroo, and Rex the Tyrannosaurus.

The packaging release for the original run of figures would have featured a "vs." theme. Each set would have included a variation of Gex and a complimentary villain figure that matched that variant's theme. Thematic weapon and collectible accessories were also included in each vs. set, as well as a remote and breakaway TV with a fly hidden inside.

This packaging theme was later altered or scrapped, and a "buddy" theme was incorporated into the revised line up. Each buddy figure would have been bundled with a Gex figure. These extra figures were largely meant to be companion pieces to the newly added Extreme Gex and Count Gexula figures. However, Paunch the Kangeroo and Rex the Tyrannosaurus were designated as buddy companions for both Private Gex and Secret Agent Gex. It is unclear how the villain figures would have been packaged or reincorporated into this new line-up of Gex figures. No buddy figures were ever announced for these figures, so they would have either been sold separately, sold in versus sets, or possibly bundled with another villain in a sort of "villain buddy" figure set.

Figures

Below is a list of each figure, along with their companion figure(s) and additional accessories. It is also worth noting that, while not listed, each set of figures came with remote and fly TV accessories.

Figure	Companion Figure(s)	Accessories
Grandmaster Gex	Moo Shoo Pork (Vs. series)	Nunchucks Chinese Take-Out Box
Long John Gex	Skeleton Pirate (Vs. series)	Saber Treasure Chest
Private Gex	Sarge (Vs. series) Paunch the Kangeroo (Buddy series)	M1 Rifle Grenade First Aid Kit
Secret Agent Gex	Rez (Vs. series) Rex the Tyrannosaurus (Buddy series)	Walther PPK Sunglasses
Extreme Gex	Penguin (Buddy series)	Snowboard Candy Cane
Count Gexula	Rex the Tyrannosaurus (Buddy series)	N/A
Moo Shoo Pork	Grandmaster Gex (Vs. series)	Cattle Prod Weapon
Skeleton Pirate	Long John Gex (Vs. series)	Cutlass
Sarge	Private Gex (Vs. series)	Pistol
Rez	Secret Agent Gex (Vs. series)	N/A
Paunch the Kangeroo	Private Gex (Buddy series)	N/A
Rex the Tyrannosaurus	Secret Agent Gex (Buddy series) Count Gexula (Buddy series)	N/A
Penguin	Extreme Gex (Buddy series)	N/A

Gallery

Figures/Accessories

This gallery showcases additional images of the cancelled action figure line, as well as their accessories.

Gex and Rex figures at Toy Fair 2000

Extreme Gex with penguin and candy cane accessories

DracuGex and Paunch figures at Toy Fair 2000

Skeletal Sam figure with TV, sword, fly, and remote accessories

Mooshoo Pork figure with cattle prod and nunchuk accessories

Image of Grandmaster Gex figure from ReSaurus website.

Ad from Eidos marketing brochure featuring Long John Gex figure

Image of Mooshoo Pork figure from ReSaurus website.

Set image of Mooshoo Pork looking demonic.

Fly TV accessory.

TV Remote accessory.

Close-up Shots

This gallery contains close-up images of various figures from ReSaurus's website.

Close-up of Secret Agent Gex's sunglasses.

Close-up of Secret Agent Gex's gun.

Close-up of Rez's eyes.

Close-up of Rez's hand.

Close-up of Long John Gex's hook.

Close-up of Long John Gex's peg leg.

Close-up of Skeleton Pirate's face.

Close-up of Skeleton Pirate's leg.

Miscellaneous

This gallery contains advertisements, pre-production/promotional images, and even images of the Gex display at Toy Fair 1999.

Series One release ad in PS1 manual.

Ad from Millenium Gex 3 strategy guide.

Promotional brochure for the Vs. figures.

Unpainted Skeleton Pirate from Toxic Mom's Studio homepage.

Unpainted Moo Shoo Pork from Toxic Mom's Studio website.

Prototype resin sculpture of Extreme Gex action figure by Michael Norman.

Potential mock-up for Vs. series packaging.

ReSaurus staff hanging up property banners for Toy Fair 1999, one of which being Gex.

ReSaurus setting up their Toy Fair 1999 showroom, with an empty Gex display in the back.

Only image of Gex display at Toy Fair 1999.

Trivia

• On February 11th, 1999, IGN ran a contest on their website giving away an assortment of Gex 3 goodies to 10 lucky winners. Among the items rewarded were 10 limited edition 8-inch Gex action figures produced by ReSaurus. Despite sounding exclusive, these figures may not have been uniquely designed for this contest. According to the images provided by the article, the figures are simply 8" replicas of the Secret Agent Gex figure. Still, as the article states, these specific figures were never sold in store. Despite 10 potential winners, only two winners were publicly announced on February 23rd, 1999. As it stands, these figures are the only officially released Gex action figures in existence. Pictures of these figures haven't circulated online, and it's unclear if the two winners of this contest still own them.
• While ReSaurus was able to obtain action figure rights for Gex, it is unclear if they were able to obtain the rights to Legacy of Kain as well. There has been no mention or images of Legacy of Kain figures being made by ReSaurus, so it is highly unlikely they did. However, according to CollectingChannel.com, they did at least pursue the rights for the series. Had ReSaurus acquired the rights, planned figures would have included Kain and Raziel.
• In the prototype image posted above, the head shot of Extreme Gex appears to have fangs. It is unknown why this particular image shows this model with Count Gexula's fanged teeth, but this was likely done for testing purposes.
• According to the image provided on Toxic Mom's Studio's website, the Moo Shoo Pork figure had 8 points of articulation. This is the only Gex figure that has a confirmed number of articulation points.
• The DracuGex figure is incorrectly labeled as Count Gexula.
• Mooshoo Pork's name is misspelled as Moo Shoo Pork.
• Strangely, the Rez action figure came equipped with a set of tank tread-like wheels. If this figure had been released, this would have been the only official depiction of Rez using wheels to move around. This decision was likely made to help balance the figure when standing and to provide a unique "toy" aspect to this figure.
• ReSaurus was well-known for making toys based on popular video game franchises. In addition to Gex, ReSaurus made action figures for video game series such as Duke Nukem, Crash Bandicoot, and Sonic the Hedgehog.
• In addition to the royalty payments ReSaurus was already struggling to pay, they had to battle several lawsuits as well. One lawsuit was filed by Sony for the unauthorized manufacturing of Godzilla action figures. ReSaurus lost this case and had to pay Sony a substantial settlement. Another lawsuit was taken out by Kiss lead guitarist, Paul "Ace" Frehley, alleging that ReSaurus manufactured miniature replicas of his Gibson Les Paul guitar without his permission. It is unknown whether ReSaurus won this case or not. These lawsuits likely did not help ReSaurus with their financial situation, and would further contribute to their closure.
• All e-commerce on ReSaurus's site was handled by Ncom, another company owned and operated by ReSaurus's president, Doug Sapp.