Gentle Giant Mini-Busts

[MetalJedi]

Seriously? Out of all the potential OT busts they could of done they choose a EU video game character for the C4 bust? Wow.

[Morgbug]

So much for the 30th Anniversary   It's well done and I'm sure the gaming fans will be thrilled.  It won't end up in my collection.  I do think it a bizarre choice though given the event and significance of that event. 

I have to say, it's getting easier and easier to think of missing C4.  The location was the first kicker for me and this was one piece that could have made my decision to attend a must.  Oops, guess not. 

[Nicklab]

I kind of like this.  I felt like there were far too few Sith in our Gentle Giant collections to begin with.  Well, at least since Gentle Giant kind of hit a wall there since they've already made all of the movie based Sith in mini-bust form.  I think this is better than them revisiting Darth Vader again, or making a decrepit ROTJ Emporer.

Plus I think that the character choices are starting to get somewhat limited for Gentle Giant.  They've made a mini-bust of pretty much every major character in the Saga so far, barring Jabba the Hutt and some others.  Do we want them to revisit ANH farmboy Luke?  Or try TESB Han Solo?  Personally I find choices like that boring.  I think the only revision type piece that I might find interesting would be a force spirit of Obi-Wan, and I just don't know that Gentle Giant can make the materials work for a bust like that.

I also think that GG might have gone with a character like this so that people wouldn't be upset about missing out on a major character by virtue of it being an exclusive.  You've got to want this piece if you're going to want to get it.  So making a video game character might not be a bad idea in the grand scheme of things.

[MetalJedi]

Granted making a "main" character for a C4 bust was a given but they could of easily made it a Tie Fighter Pilot, Tusken Raider or Jawa.

I do enjoy the EU but if they were going that route I would of preferred a Quinlan Vos myself. 

[JayDouble]

The bomb has dropped.  Holy cow!   

GENTLE GIANT TRAVELS THE WORLD WITH STAR WARS EXCLUSIVES

Five Special Clone Trooper Commanders, Other Items Only Available on Worldwide Tour

February 10, 2007, Burbank, Ca. – Gentle Giant Ltd. is ready to take the world and collectors by storm with an unprecedented five-city worldwide tour. While traveling the globe, the company will make a special, exclusive Star Wars Clone Trooper Commander mini-bust available at each of the five locations.

“Why should rock stars and movie celebrities have all the fun?” asked Gentle Giant Vice President of Product Development and Design Dev Gilmore. “We figure it’s high time the collectibles industry had its own world tour, so we’re taking the lead and having a lot of fun. And of course, we want to invite everyone to come join us, so we’re making it worth your while thanks to some very cool, exclusive Clone Trooper Commander mini-busts.”

As amazing as the Clone Trooper Commanders are, Gentle Giant knows that a single exclusive does not a party make. So the company is offering multiple tour exclusives to go along with the specific location exclusives. The Gentle Giant Worldwide Tour 2007 Exclusives include a Yoda/R2-D2 Animated-style maquette and a special Bust-Ups 2-pack of Han and Luke in Stormtrooper armor. There will also be other exclusives at some of the five events, which will be announced soon.

As to those Clone Trooper Commanders… They’ll be available in the following cities:

Event #1 -- Star Wars Celebration IV (Los Angeles, CA): Commander Gree
Event #2 -- Gentle Giant @ Blister (Tokyo, Japan): Commander Neyo
Event #3 -- Gentle Giant @ Forbidden Planet (London, England): Commander Bly
Event #4 -- San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA): Commander Cody
Event #5 – Special fifth location to be announced!: Commander Baraca
 
“This will be a lot of fun and a great opportunity for collectors to score some exclusive Star Wars collectibles,” said Gilmore. “But we also know that not everyone can follow us around the world, and we figure everyone deserves a shot at these cool mini-busts. So we’ll be making 500 limited edition box sets of all five mini-busts, and those will be available exclusively on our web site at the end of the year.”

The Gentle Giant Worldwide Tour 2007 begins on May 24, 2007 at Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles, Ca. and continues throughout the summer. Check the Gentle Giant web site at www.gentlegiantltd.com for tour updates and more information on tour exclusives.

For more information and images on another just announced Gentle Giant Star Wars Celebration IV Exclusive - head on over to Starwars.com.

[MetalJedi]

Wow what a **** up GG has on their hands. One(highly sought after)exclusive bust per event what a great idea! /sarcasm.

[Hemish]

As to those Clone Trooper Commanders… They’ll be available in the following cities:

Event #1 -- Star Wars Celebration IV (Los Angeles, CA): Commander Gree
Event #2 -- Gentle Giant @ Blister (Tokyo, Japan): Commander Neyo
Event #3 -- Gentle Giant @ Forbidden Planet (London, England): Commander Bly
Event #4 -- San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA): Commander Cody
Event #5 – Special fifth location to be announced!: Commander Baraca

Guess Australia still doesnt count as part of the collecting world and wow look at that America is in there twice, Asshats !!!

[evenflow]

As to those Clone Trooper Commanders… They’ll be available in the following cities:

Event #1 -- Star Wars Celebration IV (Los Angeles, CA): Commander Gree
Event #2 -- Gentle Giant @ Blister (Tokyo, Japan): Commander Neyo
Event #3 -- Gentle Giant @ Forbidden Planet (London, England): Commander Bly
Event #4 -- San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA): Commander Cody
Event #5 – Special fifth location to be announced!: Commander Baraca

Well why the hell is there a need for 2 California dates, why couldn't one of those US dates be in NY.

[Morgbug]

So they'll have two exclusives at C4 then?  Interesting. 

I have to confess, I was getting tired of the clones (partially because I can't/won't chase down the rest of the Ep II clones) but some of those sound fairly nice.  I can probably find assistance for all except Commander Bly. 

Maybe Bacara is in NY? 

This will be a pain though, no matter how you cut it.

[JayDouble]

I know it says 500 of the Clone Set will be available to GG members but that's no guarantee of getting one.  Most people are going to have to go that route to complete the set and there's way more than 500 members.   

[Hemish]

This is pissing people off beyond belief, I think the only ones happy about this are the scalpers who attend these cons and will be able to pay off their mortgages when they sell em on ebay.

[JesseVader08]

I don't collect the busts but even I can see that the 5 exclusives is a stupid idea.  GG seems determined to piss off their faithful fans by offering the set of 5 at the end of the year, after all the shows and any opportunities to buy them online. 

[MetalJedi]

As to those Clone Trooper Commanders… They’ll be available in the following cities:

Event #1 -- Star Wars Celebration IV (Los Angeles, CA): Commander Gree
Event #2 -- Gentle Giant @ Blister (Tokyo, Japan): Commander Neyo
Event #3 -- Gentle Giant @ Forbidden Planet (London, England): Commander Bly
Event #4 -- San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego, CA): Commander Cody
Event #5 – Special fifth location to be announced!: Commander Baraca

Well why the hell is there a need for 2 California dates, why couldn't one of those US dates be in NY.

Personally Im pissed that Blister keeps getting exclusives. They got 4 last year alone including the Blackhole Stormie. Why do they keep getting exclusives??

I'm sure GG already had this planned out before they announced the location of C4. So that's why there's two CA locations. I could see the Bacara being at Wizard World or end up on SWS.com.

[Dan]

These do look great, but I am glad I stopped collecting them a while ago. Too much money, and no place to be displayed. I still may try to get one just to have a ROTS commander bust, but I'm not paying the gentle giant collector fees just to hope to get something. I guess they have chosen the route of having very sought after collectibles, and a very unhappy customer base.

[Morgbug]

It's a tough call for them though.  They make something really abundant like the recent Maul/Vader/Yoda and you get stuff selling at 60% of MSRP   You may something with an issue size under 2500 and everyone's pissed.  I can see the dilemma for them.  After all, I didn't spring for any of Maul/Vader/Yoda ahead of time and it's doubtful I'll spring for many busts at full retail unless the edition size is 2500 or lower.  Yeah, you can find them for the more reasonable $39.99 often at lots of online retailers, but I saved enough on ROTS Vader and Yoda to consider my Maul free, even at the $39.99 price point.

I'm not going to disagree that they have an exceptional ability to piss off their fans, they do.  Why they do is for that buzz it seems to create, I guess.  I'm no fan, but the products aren't hot or talked about without it.  The ROTS Vader and OT Yoda are spectacular busts really (Yoda's a bit small though) but the demand for them remains low and nobody is talking about them. 

I'm hoping the edition sizes are a little larger, 1500-2500 instead of just 1000.  I'm also hoping they put these up singly, sooner for those of us in the collectors club.  There has to be some merit to dropping that $50, doesn't there?  Two months in I'm not seeing it.  Still, it was that or hyperspace as my throwaway funds for the year, so let's see what it yields.