R2-D2 Statue Cancellation

Today we have some more bad news for Gentle Giant. The company announced today that the R2-D2 statue has been canceled.

The R2-D2 statue originally scheduled to ship December 2007, is being canceled and will be resolicited.  At this time, we don’t know what the new ship date will be or if the pricing will remain the same, but as soon as we have new information, we will be posting it on our website and sending out an email.  For those members of our collectors club who have already placed a pre-order through our website and would like to keep your original pre-order, please confirm this AFTER the new information is sent out.

I think this is another sign that Gentle Giant is struggling in the market. My guess is that the R2-D2 statue is being canceled because there was not enough orders for it. The question is will it ever be made? If you read their announcement, they don’t sound too confident.

There are some other possibilities. One is that production on the statue has been held up for one reason or another. A second possibility is that Gentle Giant is making more of an effort to sell direct through their web site. In this case, it is possible that orders were low so Gentle Giant canceled it to resolicit through their web site to make more of a profit on it. Either way Gentle Giant isn’t saying, but we will see what happens in 2008.

Gentle Giant Indiana Jones Mini Bust and Statue

Gentle Giant updated their blog today with info on the Indiana Jones mini bust and statue. Releasing in July, the Indiana Jones mini bust depicts Indy in his trademarked leather jacket, fedora and whip from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It will stand 7.5 inches tall and retails for $55. Here is the picture we have of this so far.

In addition to the Indiana Jones mini bust, comes the Indiana Jones on Horse Statue, a 7-inch scale statue of Indy, standing 11 inches tall and retails for $210. Here is the official image.

Gentle Giant is now taking pre-orders on both of these items. See Gentle Giant Gets the Indiana Jones License! and Future Indiana Jones Products from Gentle Giant for previous coverage.

Gentle Giant Product Cancellations [Clarification]

Cool Toy Review today reports that Gentle Giant has had to cancel some of their products that were recently announced. Gentle Giant is canceling the Will Turner and Captain Barbossa animated maquettes from the Pirates of the Caribbean line. They are also canceling baseball cap, ultraviolet pen, canvas patch, and embroidered patch planned for 30 Days Of Night.

The main reason manufacturers cancel products is due to little or no demand from retailers/distributors. This may or may not be the case here.

This is not good for Gentle Giant and might be an omen of things to come. Many of the fans believe that Gentle Giant has begun to branch out too much, causing them to be spread too thin lately, rather than focusing on their core properties, such as Star Wars.

It is my belief that in addition to spreading themselves too thin, Gentle Giant has begun setting edition sizes too high to be “limited editions.” This combination of problems has caused their products to be in much less demand than in previous years. This can be backed up by simply looking at eBay. Outside of the super limited exclusive editions, the majority of Gentle Giant products can be had on eBay, often much lower than retail price or even cost.

Update: Gentle Giant sent out an e-mail to collectors tonight with a clarification on the situation.

Hello Gentle Giant Collectors,

We just wanted to take the time to clarify some information regarding our Animated Pirates of the Caribbean Maquette line. Although we announced the cancellation of distributor orders for Will Turner and Captain Barbossa Maquettes at the beginning of this week, we are still producing the 2 items. These items will be available directly through Gentle Giant and limited to 1,000 pcs world wide. They will be available to purchase through our website www.gentlegiantltd.com in spring of 2008, and are currently still available to pre-order. We have not cancelled preorders previously placed through the website. You must be logged into your account to see the pre-order.

Thanks,
Gentle Giant Ltd.

So to clarify, distributor orders were canceled, but Gentle Giant is still producing the item and selling it directly through their web site. I’m guessing that there was not enough demand from retailers/distributors for these items, so rather than scrap all their plans they decided to sell it exclusively through their web site. I’m betting that with the current retail situation, we are going to see more direct sales like this in the future.

Star Wars Royal Guard Mini-busts Now Shipping

Gentle Giant recently announced that the Royal Guard and Senate Guard mini busts are now shipping to retailers near you. Retail is $50 on each. The edition size is 10,000, but the ratio for Royal Guards to Senate Guards is 2 to 1. Here is the numbers breakdown on each.

• Edition size of 10,000 pieces total
• 6667 – Royal Guard
• 3333 – Senate Guard

They are also starting to show up on eBay. You can find the Royal Guard bust here and the Senate Guard bust here.

Clone Commander 5 Pack Premiere Guild Raffle

Gentle Giant e-mailed the Premiere Guild members to let us know that the raffle for the Clone Commander 5 Pack will start this Thursday, November 8th.

Update – 11/8/07: The premiere guild member raffle for the Clone Commander 5 pack is now live. Click here to enter. You have to be logged in for the link to work. Here are the details.

• Edition size: 500
• Price: $250
• All 5 of the Clone Commanders will have the same edition number
• Raffle will start today (11/8/07) and run for six(6) days, ending on November 13, 2007 at 11:59pm Pacific
• Open to all Premiere Guild Members worldwide

They have also included an important note this time about damage to any of the busts. Here it is the full text taken from the blog post.

Because of the limited quantities of this item and the fact that all pieces are numbered with the same edition number in each pack, our return policy for damage items is slightly different. If one or more of the 5 commanders is damage we will take it on a case by case basis as our damage replacement allocation for each of the commanders is close to being depleted as these items have already been out on the market for a while and we have already replaced some of the individual damaged items. Please be aware that we will not be able to replace the piece with the same edition number. 

To recap, Gentle Giant announced their World Tour Exclusives this year would be 5 Clone Commander busts. Part of these would be available at 5 shows held at different times around the world, and part of the them would be raffled off after the shows to the premiere guild members. It was also announced at the end of the year 500 of each bust would be raffled off as a 5 pack to the premiere guild members. Here is the list of where each Clone Commander was available and the edition size of each.

• Commander Gree mini bust – 2500 – Star Wars Celebration IV
• Commander Neyo mini bust – 1500 – Gentle Giant @ Blister Event Tokyo
• Commander Bly mini bust – 2000 – Gentle Giant @ Forbidden Planet Event UK
• Commander Cody mini bust – 3500 – San Diego Comic-Con 2007
• Commander Bacara mini bust – 2000 – Baltimore Comic-Con

Here is an image I created with all five Clone Commander busts. Click on the link for a desktop background sized image at 1024×768.

Watch this post for updates.

Senate Guard Statue Now Available for Premiere Guild Members

Gentle Giant has announced that the Senate Guard statue will only be available online. Premiere Guild members can order a week in advance starting tonight. It will not be available to the Collectors Club members until next Friday, November 9th. Click here to order the Senate Guard statue or check out the image below. The link only works if you are logged into your account.

The price is $165. The Senate Guard statue is limited to 1500, so get yours soon. You don’t want to end up paying high prices for it on eBay!

Lord of the Rings Sauron Ringbearer Bust

This bust was unveiled at San Diego this year from Gentle Giant. It looked amazing, I must say. The Sauron bust will stand 11 1/2″ tall and retail for $60. It is scheduled for release in May 2008.

Lord of the Rings Snaga Ringbearer Bust

Snaga, a scout in the band of Orcs that captured Merry and Pippen at Amon Hen, was the only surviving subordinate of Shagrat after the battle in the tower of Cirith Ungol. Scheduled for release in May 2008.

Star Wars Animated Emperor Maquette

Finishing up Gentle Giant’s list of Star Wars items for next summer is the Animated Palpatine maquette.  It retails for $80 and is scheduled for release in May 2008. Here is the image.

Star Wars Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress Statue

Gentle Giant continues their list of announcements for next summer with this statue of Count Dooku and Asajj Ventress. It is based on a recent Star Wars Insider covers and will retail for $230. Release is scheduled for May 2008. Here is the image below.