During a recent interview with NECA Toys' Randy Falk, the director of product development casually mentions that Sony is bringing back the beloved Crash Bandicoot series.

It's hard to believe it, but Crash Bandicoot turns 20 years old this year. The beloved platforming mascot that helped launch the original PlayStation has cemented himself as a fan-favorite amongst gamers, but it has been almost eight years since the series last saw a core installment. That's why fans have been clamoring for a return to form for the iconic character, and it seems like he'll be receiving just that given recent events.

The latest suggestion of such a return came from PlayStation itself in a recent tweet, and before that fans began speculating in the wake of SCEA’s president Shawn Layden's t-shirt at PSX 2015. Now, during an interview between YouTuber PixelDan Eardley and NECA Toys' director of product development, Randy Falk, the toy rep mentioned the lineup of PlayStation-related action figures that NECA has en route. Then he said something interesting about Crash Bandicoot...

"Looking at some of their other titles, I see they're bringing Crash Bandicoot back which is really cool."

It's obvious that someone in Falk's position has some knowledge about pending deals for NECA – in fact he references just such insight leading up to his comments regarding the orange bandicoot – so there could be some insider knowledge pertaining to Sony's plans with the franchise. That said, he may have simply been referencing recent and very public teases about Crash's resurrection, in which case he could have been speculating that perhaps NECA could have a hand in creating toys for the series.

At this point, however, Crash Bandicoot really isn't Sony's to bring back. At last check, the IP still belongs to Activision, and the publisher has already said that it's continuing to "explore ways in which we could bring the beloved series back to life.” Those comments were made over two years ago and nothing has come of them, but recent events seem to suggest that something is occurring with the franchise.

Hopefully gamers won't be waiting too long to find out one way or the other, as we firmly feel like Crash Bandicoot needs to come back as soon as possible if it's to find appropriate success. Activision partnering with Sony, or even selling it to PlayStation's parent company, seems like a solid route for both parties, as it makes for a very enticing exclusive on the platform. Of course, this is all speculation, but Falk's comments do seem encouraging.

Do you want a new Crash Bandicoot game? Would you pick up an action figure of Crash from NECA Toys? Get at us in the comments.

Source: PixelDan Eardley (via NeoGAF)