Diamond Select Toys have worked closely with Gentle Giant Ltd. for some time, particularly on sculpting work. In a move to obviously enhance their business in statues as well as action figure sculpt and development, Diamond have agreed a deal to purchase the Gentle Giant assets.
What this means is that Diamond will assume ownership of the Gentle Giant product and licences which include agreements for statues and busts from big names like Star Wars and Marvel.
Diamond will retain the Gentle Giant brand but will use their own channels for distribution. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming months and year. The full press announcement can be read here.
"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 12, 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. "