Supreme Court's Ruth Bader Ginsburg now a superhero action figure

FCTRY's Ruth Bader Ginsburg Real Life Action Figure

Following the acclaimed RBG documentary, the eagerly awaited On the Basis of Sex biopic starring Felicity Jones, and a plethora of merchandise including t-shirts and coffee mugs, the seemingly inevitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure is being issued by FCTRY, the Brooklyn-based product design company best known for its Unicorn Snot line of glittery gel, sunscreen and lip gloss.

But the gavel-in-hand Ginsburg figure, which ships in October, was especially captivating at this week’s summer NY NOW home/lifestyle/gift market trade show at New York’s Javits Center, where it stood on display with its fellow “real-life” action figures of “Post-Presidency” Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pope Francis, and clearly out of place in this group, “Evil Trump,” with middle finger properly extended.

According to FCTRY’s director of wholesale accounts Tyler Breuer, the company’s entire office saw RBG together. The figure itself resulted from a Kickstarter campaign starting in June, during which $600,000 was raised in one month.

FCTRY actually started with action figures in 2007 with a pre-presidency Obama.

“The current one has a different shape and design,” said Breuer. “They’re all designed by us, and since the Hillary figure in 2015 they’ve been made by Mike Leavitt--an insanely good artist.”

A portion of the sales from all the figures is given to associated non-profit organizations, though in the case of the Trump figure, 100 percent goes to the American Civil Liberties Union. With the RBG, though, Breuer said that FCTRY was ironically contacted by the Supreme Court and told to desist, since it could conceivably suggest bias.

As all the figures are of politicians or appointees, noted Breuer, their likenesses are in the public domain. He said that there will be more figures forthcoming that he couldn’t name yet.

Incidentally, FCTRY also has an RBG enamel pin, “Supreme Ink” temporary tattoos and “DISSENTING” pencils (there are also Warren “Nevertheless She Persisted” temporary tattoos and “PERSISTENT” pencils). Meanwhile, a few aisles away, The Unemployed Philosophers Guild offered the latest addition to their line of breath mints in tiny tins: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Judgmints, emblazoned with the slogan, “Don’t lose your appeal”