— May 23, 2007
The Star Wars Roron Corobb Clone Wars Maquette from Gentle Giant is now in stock for $63.99.
Gentle Giant’s new Star Wars maquette is based on original data from the Lucasfilm Archives. Roron Corobb is the Ithorian Jedi Knight from Cartoon Network’s hit animated Clone Wars cartoon series. Made of poly-resin, the Roron Corobb maquette stands 8″ tall. Limited Edition of 2500.
— May 23, 2007
The Star Wars Zuckuss mini bust from Gentle Giant is now in stock for $39.99.
The mysterious alien bounty hunter Zuckuss was one of the bounty hunters Darth Vader summoned to his Star Destroyer to hunt Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. The Zuckuss mini-bust stands 7 ½” tall and is made of poly-resin. Limited Edition of 5000.
— May 23, 2007
We just received an updated shipping date for the Lord of the Rings Balrog Bust from Gentle Giant. The Balrog bust is now shipping on 06-20-07.
A demon of flame and shadow, relic from the ancient past, to protect the Fellowship and save the quest, Gandalf gave himself over to fate, and casting the Balrog into the pit, was himself pulled down in the swallowing shadowy chasm. The Balrog mini-bust has a light-up feature, stands 8″ tall and 9″ wide, and is cast from polyresin. Limited edition of 3000.
— May 15, 2007
News hit yesterday from NBC of a “Heroes” spin-off called “Heroes: Origins” according to the MSN TV Blog. Heroes has been a big hit for NBC this year. I must admit I am a huge of fan of this show, especially as the season finale is coming up.
Reportedly, Origins will temporarily replace Heroes on Monday nights, has been ordered for six episodes, and will introduce a completely new set of characters. The biggest shocker is that Heroes will not be on next fall, but should be back in January. Also, according to the article, the audience will vote on which new character will become a regular cast member on Heroes when it returns.
— May 15, 2007
The Lord of the Rings Animated Saruman Maquette from Gentle Giant is now in stock at Hero Hunt. This is the first maquette in the animated style from the Lord of the Rings line. It features excellent sculpting from Gentle Giant, and is a very limited edition of only 1500 produced. The price is only $63.99 so get yours while they last!
— May 15, 2007
There are 3 main differences between the new Hasbro Marvel Legends and the original ToyBiz Marvel Legends, price, the missing comic and the detail of the figures themselves. These are the reasons I really don’t like the new Hasbro Legends. The packaging is a big difference too, but that doesn’t bother me that much considering I open all my figures anyway, and the new Hasbro packaging is easier to open.
1. Price - The price on Hasbro Marvel Legends went up about $2 at retail. That is a pretty significant price increase for collectors, especially those collectors who buy one, or more, of everything in the Marvel Legends line. I believe the reason for the increase is so that the price of Hasbro Legends would be more in line with the rest of Hasbro’s offerings not because of cost or anything else.
2. The Missing Comic - I believe the reason the comic reprints were included originally is because ToyBiz is owned by Marvel. Marvel owns the rights to all the comics that have been reprinted and included with Marvel Legends. It only makes sense that Hasbro would not include those because they don’t want to pay Marvel for the rights to do that, even though they increased the price.
3. Detail - Lastly, collectors know that the Hasbro Marvel Legends are not as detailed as the ToyBiz Marvel Legends. I think the reason for that is in the manufacturing process for Hasbro. The plastic pieces that make up Hasbro Marvel Legends are usually cast in the color they are supposed to be in so that they will not have to be painted. Hasbro Legends are made with as few paint ops as possible. This results in a noticeable loss of detail and a more “mass market” appearance even though the sculpts may still have a lot of detail. ToyBiz Marvel Legends had detailed paint jobs that gave them the highly detailed appearance that made them highly sought after.
Out of the 3 reasons I listed above, #3 is the only one sufficient enough on its own for me to not buy the Hasbro Marvel Legends. Overall, character choice also plays a big part. I think the line was on the way out when ToyBiz had it. The only way they kept it alive was by doing the build-a-figures.
Hasbro is doing a good job of finding characters left to do though. I don’t think movie versions and artist specific versions will be enough. All the major characters have been done at least once and some many more than once. We may be seeing the end of the Marvel Legends as ToyBiz may have supported it for longer than Hasbro is going to, if sales start to drop.
— May 6, 2007
After having seen Spider-Man 3, my thoughts are turning to Spider-Man 4, specifically what is left for the Marvel movie writers to tackle in the next movie. There are still plenty of Spider-Man villains left to choose from. I am talking about important storylines from the comics.
Is it possible that all the major Spider-Man storylines have either been done or can’t be done due to the movie continuity already having been established? Here are some major Spider-Man storylines and why they can or can’t be done in the future.
The Night Gwen Stacy Died - Amazing Spider-Man #121-122, June - July 1973
Trying to spoil as little as possible, I will say that this story could still be done in a future movie, although without the Green Goblin, as he is dead in current movie continuity. This story depends on Spider-Man’s relationship with Gwen Stacy. In the movies, Spider-Man’s love interest is Mary Jane. However, the writers could change all that in a future movie if Peter breaks up with Mary Jane and starts dating Gwen Stacy.
Spider-Man No More! - Amazing Spider-Man #50, July 1967
In this comic, Spider-Man temporarily gives up being a superhero by tossing his costume in the trash. This storyline was done in Spider-Man 2. Although the writers could revisit this theme in a future movie, it would be wise not to.
The Drug Issues - Amazing Spider-Man #96-98, May - July 1971
This storyline was important because it depicted the negative effects of drug use by showing Harry Osborn addcited to drugs. This storyline could be used in a future movie, although specifics will have to be changed due to what happened in Spider-Man 3. However, the importance of this story is the social statement that was made, something Marvel may not be willing to do here.
Crossovers
Many important Spider-Man stories involved crossovers, where characters in other Marvel comics had major involvement in the storyline. This seems unlikely for any Marvel movies, although still possible.
Spider-Man’s Wedding - Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, 1987
In 1987, Peter Parker and Mary Jane got married. This is definitely possible, and likely, in a future Spider-Man movie.
The Black Costume/Alien Symbiote - Amazing Spider-Man #252-258, May - Nov. 1984
Go see Spider-Man 3. ‘Nuff said.
The Clone Saga - 1975 and 1994-96
There are 2 clone stories in Spider-Man’s history. The first would be good for the movies, although it involved Gwen Stacy back when she was Peter’s girlfriend. The second one has been much maligned by fans since it ended. Probably not the best idea for Marvel, although never say never.
So what’s left? Although it’s possible I have overlooked something, those are the most important Spider-Man storylines I know of. It looks like slim pickings for those Marvel movie writers. So to speculate what lies ahead for Spider-Man 4 and beyond, let’s look at the villains.
As I said, Spidey does have plenty of villians left. Here is quick rundown of important Spider-Man villians, and which ones we could possibly see in the future.
The Green Goblin
The Green Goblin story has been done in the Spider-Man movies. As we know, the movie Goblin is now dead, so the character cannot be used in future movies. It is my opinion though that many of the great Spider-Man stories involve the Goblin. However, in the comics, the Goblin was resurrected and returned to appear in many comics. The only way the movie writers can use the Goblin in any future stories is to resurrect him. This seems unlikely, though Marvel movie writers have already done this for Elektra.
Doctor Octopus
Doc Ock was also killed in the movies and can no longer be used unless the writers resurrect him.
Spider-Man 3 Villians
I won’t reveal any spoilers here, but if you have seen the movie you know which characters die and which live, so you know which ones can or cannot be used in future movies without resurrection.
The Kingpin
If the Kingpin hadn’t already been done in Daredevil, and poorly I might add, this villain would be a great choice.
The Lizard
A strong possibility since Dr. Curt Connors has already made his appearance in the movies.
The Hobgoblin
This seems like an obvious choice but one the writers might be unwilling to do as 2 of the movies already have had Goblins in them. Never rule anything out however.
Carnage
Carnage could be a good possibility since we now have Venom in the movies.
The Rest
There are plenty of Spidey villains left, Scorpion, Electro, Kraven, Mysterio, Vulture, Chameleon, Rhino, Shocker, etc. The list goes on. My point is that I don’t know if any landmark stories that involved any of these villains.
On the surface, there is still may be much for the writers of Spider-Man 4 to choose from. And have no doubt, they are doing Spider-Man 4, in fact they are probably already working on it. Upon closer inspection though, the Spider-Man movies may have already used the best material from the comics or can’t use it due to established movie continuity. In the latter case, it would be very easy for Marvel to make changes to make those stories movie-worthy. But is that the right direction to go in? Maybe not.
There are plenty of other Marvel characters and stories that have not been done that might be better for Marvel to do instead of another Spider-Man sequel. Spider-Man 3 was good, don’t get me wrong, but what about Captain America, Nick Fury, the Avengers, Thor, Namor, etc. I know that a lot of those are already being done or are in the works, but if I was at Marvel now, I would be putting my best writers and big budgets into making those movies great, and making sure they don’t turn out like the Punisher, Hulk or, god forbid, Elektra.
— May 6, 2007
Here is a video I took of the new Lord of the Rings Gandalf bust from Gentle Giant. The bust also features a light up staff, which is really cool but not an essential feature. You turn the light on using a button on the bottom of the bust. Once you turn it on, it stays on until you push the button again to turn it off. I think the light up feature works really well, but I think it will look better on the Balrog, which is hopefully coming soon.
— May 6, 2007
Here are some pictures I took of the new Lord of the Rings Gandalf bust from Gentle Giant. As you can see, the detail on this bust is amazing and the likeness is dead on. The bust also features a light up staff, which is really cool but not an essential feature. I think the light up feature will look better on the Balrog. Here is a link to a video showing Gandalf’s light up feature. This bust is limited to 3000. You can see the full gallery of the Gandalf bust images here.
— May 4, 2007
Update: This item is now in stock.
On top of Spider-Man week, it seems like it is also Gentle Giant week here at Hero Hunt. In addition to everything else, the Pirates of the Caribbean Animated Jack Sparrow maquette from Gentle Giant is shipping next week. This item will be put up for sale on our site as soon as it is in stock. Watch this space for up to the minute information on this item.
Jack is the first animated maquette from the Pirates of the Caribbean line by Gentle Giant. This piece is designed in the animated style which has also been used by Disney. It is limited to 1500. The third movie comes out this month, so you know this item will be hot. Be sure to get yours soon!
| Item | Bids | Price | Time Left | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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MEGA-SALE! DC Direct 6.5" Lot of Miscellaneous Figures | 10 | $11.49 | 3h 6m 33s |
 |
12 Inch 1/6 Scale GI JOE Dragon Hot Toys BBI TS Figure | 14 | $73.65 | 56m 9s |
 |
Star Wars The Power of the Force Lot of 12 Figures | 3 | $11.99 | 3h 2m 32s |
 |
Kubert Superman Series 1 DC Direct Action Figure Set | 7 | $11.00 | 56m 25s |
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Kubert Superman Series 1 DC Direct Action Figure Set | 9 | $11.00 | 56m 29s |
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