Gentle Giant Ltd./3D Systems is a name that’s been respected for a very long time, but the one problem for many has been that their products haven’t really been attainable to a mass audience. For nearly 20 years, they’ve become famous for their high-end collectibles rooted in their pioneering digital scanning process, but now they’re about to go mass-market with six new collectible toy lines and the return of an old favorite. At the 115th North American International Toy Fair in New York, Gentle Giant Toys will launch as a new division separate from Gentle Giant Ltd, and they’re looking to bring their famous level of craftsmanship into toys that almost everyone can afford.
“These fun new, lines deserve a fun, new logo. The new logo tells a story and is more playful and approachable,” said Daniel Pickett, Marketing Manager for Gentle Giant Toys, “The Giant represents the company’s history and expertise in the world of authentic replication. The Butterfly is the embodiment of the artistic and innovative style ingrained into its consumer products.”
“We are excited at the prospect of taking our almost two decades of experience and applying the same care, craftsmanship and attention to detail to these lower price-point collectible toy lines: same way we treat our high-end resin pieces,” said , Dev Gilmore, Director of Creative and Licensing of Gentle Giant Ltd.
“We’ve had a lot of fun making our 1:6th scale collectibles, life-size monuments and even larger than life pieces, but the great thing about digital sculpting is that the product can be any size! So, we are taking it down a few notches to be fun, compact and awesome so you can build new collections quickly, without having to look at adding a wing onto your house for them.” Said Ashly Powell Director of Product Development.
Here’s some background on what they’ll be showing at Toy Fair:
Bust-Ups – One of their most popular lines returns for a new generation. Gentle Giant has poured all of their world-class sculpting resources into creating this line of dynamic heroes and villains into unique busts and scenes featuring the world’s most iconic characters from across the Star Wars and Marvel Universes. Bust-Ups are pre-painted, snap together mystery model kits. You collect them, build them and display them! These eye-catching miniature models allow you to re-create some of your favorite moments from the most successful science fiction and comic book franchises of all time!
Enamel Pins – The enamel pin craze has swept the planet and once again pop culture fandom is on the forefront of that trend. Gentle Giant Toys steps into this arena with the biggest juggernaut license in the galaxy – Star Wars!
Gentle Giant will launch their new enamel pin program with 2-D enamel pins representing arguably the most popular toy line of all time – vintage Star Wars figures! Subsequent waves will feature current films and characters from movies such as The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi as well as looking back across over 40 years of the Star Wars Universe!
Fleet Flyers – Boldly GO!… AND take your favorite ships from Starfleet with you! From the runaway hit TV series Star Trek: Discovery comes Fleet Flyers! Relive your favorite space battles or explore the outer reaches of the quadrant with these replica spacecraft that have appeared in the new season of Star Trek: Discovery. Each vessel is sculpted using actual digital models from the show, capturing every detail of each unique ship from both the Federation, the Klingon Empire and the yet unknown! Each ship comes packed with an articulated arm stand and suction cup so that can be attached to any smooth, flat surface for display!
Micro Bobbles – The Marvel Universe just got a little more adorable with Gentle Giant’s new Marvel Micro-Bobbles line. These stylized heroes from across the Marvel Universe are presented blind-bagged in a fun, new, original, bobble-head style. Each bobble–head character features a suction cup that helps define their characteristic action. Collect them all to create your own epic battles of good vs. evil!
Mini Heroes – Straight from the covers of Marvel Comics comes the Gentle Giant Toys’ line of Mini Heroes animated maquettes! These mini statues feature fun, stylized versions of your favorite Marvel heroes and villains on a whimsical base environment! Each character is taken from a 2-D comic book image and translated into adorable 3-D for your collection! Not all heroes have to be gritty!
Super Stills – Gentle Giant Ltd. has been making direct market licensed busts of top shelf entertainment properties and franchises for close to two decades. Now we are extending that expertise to reach new audiences and find new collectors by making our highly detailed models more accessible for the mass market. With the new PVC SuperStills line Gentle Giant Toys is sticking close to our roots and changing the materials but not the care and attention to detail we pour into each bust. Using high grade PVC we are translating the most iconic characters in entire Star Wars and Marvel universes into dynamic and affordable mass-market display pieces.
Tiny Tin Pocket Pails – The greatest heroes, villains, and creatures from every corner of the Star Wars and Marvel Universes have gathered to adorn the exterior of these delightful boxes, presented in both modern and retro styles. Each of these dynamic tin, hinged boxes contain a matching thermos shaped eraser pencil topper. Each Tiny Tin is blind-boxed to ensure collectability and there will be surprise chase variants in future assortments!
Gentle Giant Toys will showcase these new lines at Toy Fair International in New York, February 17th-20th in booth 4211.
