There was a recent bid to fund a pair of figurines from Hotline Miami 2 that has failed.

The project comes to us from ESC Toy who was pitching the creation of a pair of figurines based off of Ash and Alex Davis, sometimes collectively known as the Swan twins or simply “The Swans”.

These were intended to be 6.5 / 7 inch tall (16.51 / 17.78 centimetres, different sizes as one character is taller than the other) action figures complete with 15 points of articulation and interchangeable accessories.

The campaign was seeking to raise $75 000 (more than R1 million) but has ended its run with only $30 758 (R442 463) meaning that the funding is unsuccessful and the product may not go into production.

This campaign is unique and worth writing about for a few reasons. First of all this seem like an extremely random time to create this project. Hotline Miami 2 released more than a year ago and, while the game is still loved with a huge fan base, the initial hype around it – that may have helped sell this product – just wasn’t there.

Perhaps seeing the writing on the walls, the creator of the campaign posted an update postulating a change in scale, presumably because smaller figurines would be cheaper to create.

At the time of writing, the project has not had any further updates to address this supposed change again and the failing of the campaign.

Even more interesting is the fact that this isn’t some nobody trying to bank on a popular IP, as ESC Toy has already run two successful Kickstarter campaigns to create Hotline Miami branded figurines.

Both Jacket and Helmet from the original game were funded, raising $145 826 and $70 840 (R2 million+ and R1 million+) respectively.

One final aspect to note is this documentary we found on Hotline Miami in which those involved in the creation of the game speak about it. From what we gather, these figurines cost more to produce than the games they are based on. Without inserting our own personal opinion on the matter, we just find that strange.