It was announced today that Diamond Select Toys will be acquiring Gentle Giant Ltd.. A move that will certainly bolster DST on the statue market front. See the press release below:
Both Diamond Select Toys and Gentle Giant Ltd. have long been known for delivering high-quality busts, statues and action figures to collectors worldwide. Now, fans can get the best of both worlds, as DST finalizes the purchase of select assets of Gentle Giant, taking over manufacturing and distribution of many of the company’s key lines.
Beginning February 1, Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles, LLC, will assume operations for all of Gentle Giant’s existing licenses, and release previously developed and newly created busts, statues and scaled-up vintage action figures. Any in-progress and future products will be offered to retailers through the Previews catalog, published by DST’s sister company Diamond Comic Distributors.
Gentle Giant’s collector club, the Premier Guild, will continue to operate, with exclusive items for members and reserved access to certain products. DST has pledged to fulfill any outstanding exclusives and rewards to current members, and to expand on the club’s scope going forward.
“This is a great moment for DST,” said Diamond Comic Distributors owner Steve Geppi. “The unification of many of Gentle Giant’s licenses and built-in fan base with DST’s sales and distribution channels is a recipe for success. Two wonderful companies uniting talents to produce the best of the best. I am confident the final product will be well received by both companies’ wonderful supporters and customers.”
"It is a great honor for Gentle Giant to continue our strong creative relationship with Diamond,” said Karl Meyer, VP of Entertainment at 3D Systems. “With great pleasure, I am personally thrilled to have DST uphold the Gentle Giant Ltd brand and work with our artists in bringing entertainment magic from the screen to the collectors’ hands."
“I have been a longtime fan of Gentle Giant’s products, and I am excited to continue their legacy,” said DST president Chuck Terceira. “Once we’re up and running, we plan to deliver seamless service of existing product lines, so expect to see the same level of quality, with the added bonus of DST’s broad distribution.”
In addition to resin busts and statues, DST produces Gallery PVC Dioramas, Select action figures, Minimates mini-figures, Vinimates vinyl figures, D-Formz PVC figures, prop replicas and vinyl banks.
Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, LLC, was formed in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comic Distributors as a source of collectibles for all ages, developed primarily for the collector’s market. It has enjoyed relationships with a number of content producers, including Lucasfilm, Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros., Sony, CBS, Legendary, PopCap, EA and many more.
Here is a FAQ list that DST has released as well:
What will change when DST takes over Giant Gentle?
Very little. Most products already developed will move forward, and new products will be developed to follow them. Many of the existing designers, sculptors, painters and factories will continue to be involved. You can expect to see some new artists that DST has worked with in the past start to work on traditional Gentle Giant Ltd. products. Convention attendance will remain largely the same, and the Premier Guild will continue to operate as it did.
Will Gentle Giant be changing its name?
Gentle Giant Studios are not involved in this acquisition and will continue to operate, performing sculpting services for a variety of clients, including DST. The Gentle Giant Ltd. brand will be joining the DST family.
Will DST take over Gentle Giant’s licenses? Including Star Wars?
Yes, DST will take over the majority of the Gentle Giant Ltd licenses and will continue the existing lines that Gentle Giant has started, releasing already-developed items and developing new items. Each license will be reviewed and discussed, and we will update you as soon as possible on their status.
What should fans of Gentle Giant look forward to?
A continuation of everything that they know and love about the company, with the addition of some new product categories, an injection of new artistic talent, and more ways to get the products they care about.
As long as the quality is high and prices fair, all good to me!
JayC -
2019-04-08 @ 3:12 pm
Diamond Select Toys to Sell Star Wars Products Under the Gentle Giant Ltd. Line
Gentle Giant Ltd. has long been known for its connection to the Star Wars brand, delivering high-quality busts, statues and action figures to collectors worldwide. Diamond Select Toys has their own connection to the brand, having created merchandise for Star Wars in the past. Now, DST will be returning to the Star Wars galaxy with the acquisition of select assets of Gentle Giant Ltd., taking over manufacturing and distribution of many of the key Star Wars product lines.Beginning in Spring 2019, Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles, LLC, will release previously developed and newly created busts, statues and scaled-up vintage action figures in Gentle Giant Ltd.s Star Wars lines. All in-progress and future products will be offered to retailers through the Previews catalog, published by DSTs sister company Diamond Comic Distributors.Gentle Giant Ltd.s Star Wars collector club, the Premier Guild, will continue to operate including items available only to members and reserved access to certain products. DST has pledged to fulfill any outstanding exclusives and rewards to current members and to expand on the clubs scope going forward.I have been a longtime fan of Gentle Giant Ltd.s products and I am excited to continue their legacy, said DST president Chuck Terceira. Once were up and running, we plan to deliver seamless service of existing product lines, including Star Wars and Marvel, so expect to see the same level of quality, with the added bonus of DSTs distribution channels.Diamond Select Toys previously made Star Wars products from 2008-2012, including action figures, vinyl bust banks and bottle openers. In addition to busts and statues, DST produces Gallery PVC Dioramas, Select action figures, Minimates mini-figures, Vinimates vinyl figures, D-Formz PVC figures, prop replicas and vinyl banks.Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, LLC, was formed in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comic Distributors as a source of collectibles for all ages, developed primarily for the collectors market. It has enjoyed relationships with a number of content producers.
I've been sending emails and leaving phone messages for months to GG regarding a customer service issue and never got a response. Then the few times I actually got a live representative on the phone (beyond the person on their switchboard) they said they'd take care of the issue but then never did and then when I'd try to hold them to some type of specific they were cryptic about it. Perhaps I now know why the cryptic responses was there (not that that resolves my issue).
Beyond my specific situation there seems to be a lot of question that have still yet to be addressed. For instance:what does all this mean as far as Gentle Giant Premier Guild is concerned? Presumablymembers will still get their gifts for this year, but will there be a new Premier Guild renewal coming up here in a couple of months or is this the end of that? Will there still be the Gentle Giant Guild and Convention exclusives being offered to members? Andwhat about all the other rewards/coupons/etc that current members have yet to cash in? Will there still a Gentle Giant booth next to Hasbro at SDCC this year? Lots of things here that hasn't been addressed and while if this were a normal company that would be understandable, but seeing as GG charges an annual membership fee that's supposed to include rewards and access that we're currently not getting this really seems like something they need to address.
Hmm, its all kind of a Have your cake and eating it, too thing, or so it seems to me... If Gentle Giant still continues moving forward, and Diamond Select has just acquired more IP and licensing. Since I know GG has already been involved with sculpting stuff that DS puts out.
