Our Head of Global Business Development and avid toy enthusiast, Rodney Ramlochan, continues his ongoing series on the action figure community, highlighting key independent toy lines, manufacturers, retailers, and YouTube podcasters. This time the focus is Soumya Das, founder of The Hierophant Entertainment and the creator behind Legends of the Ramayan.
A Gap on the Shelf
Every independent toy line begins with an absence. For Das, it was the realization that the epic he grew up with had no place in his own collection. Growing up in India, the Ramayan was not simply a story to him, it was woven into cultural identity, and Yugo Sako’s animated classic Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama shaped his imagination as a child. Like most collectors, he loved action figures. Unlike most, he wanted ones rooted in his own heritage. When he found they did not exist, he decided to make them himself.
That instinct fits the company he built. The Hierophant Entertainment is a publishing and collectibles house whose catalog runs from graphic novels such as The Violated to the Ramayan figures, all of it built around storytelling first and product second.
The Collector Grade Standard
The distinction Das insisted on separates a serious line from a gift shop item. Each figure is presented in 1/12 scale and sculpted by Four Horsemen Studios, standing roughly 8 inches with 35 points of articulation. The Hanuman release ships with a crown, a mace, five pairs of interchangeable hands, shoulder pauldrons, an extra face plate and a bendable tail. Collectors who know the Four Horsemen name will recognize the standard on sight. Reviewers who handled Wave 1 landed on the same read, calling out an intricate sculpt and vibrant paint rather than novelty value.
The Kickstarter Verdict
Wave 2 launched on Kickstarter on July 8, 2025 and closed on August 17, drawing 251 backers and $71,340 against a $50,000 goal, an average pledge of $284. That average is the number worth studying. It signals buyers committing to multiple figures rather than sampling one, and it arrived with Wave 1 already produced and in hand, which is a rarer position than most crowdfunded lines can claim.
Stone Sapphire Comes to the Table
The property has now crossed from crowdfunded passion project to backed franchise. Stone Sapphire India Private Limited has made a strategic investment in The Hierophant Entertainment, putting manufacturing, licensing, retail and global distribution behind the line. The two first went public at Mumbai Comic Con 2026, aiming the property at the fast-growing kidult segment across a planned universe of nine Ramayan warriors. Stone Sapphire chief executive Shobhit Singh framed the ambition plainly, describing the effort as building the foundation of an Indian superhero universe. The timing is not accidental. A major cinematic adaptation of the Ramayana has pulled fresh attention toward the epic, and merchandise demand has followed.
Collectors First
Das has said the goal was always to present Indian theology with the quality, depth and collector appeal of leading global franchises. With Hanuman, Ram, Lakshman, Ravana, Meghnaad, Vaali and Sugriv in the pipeline, the test shifts to fulfillment and consistency. On the evidence so far, this is a line worth watching.
