Saturday, February 18, 2012

Toy Fair 2012 : Dark Horse : Game of Thrones

Dark Horse Deluxe is proud to announce, in partnership with HBO, a vast Game of Thrones product line debuting in the spring of 2012, leading up to the show’s second-season premiere in April. Licensed product categories derived from the series will span a large range, including statues, busts, and action figures; prop and jewelry replicas; and barware, stationery, and other collectibles. This exciting new line of products debuts with a range of branded magnets, patches, playing cards, coaster sets, and more.

“We are delighted to be part of HBO’s licensing roster for Game of Thrones. We are big fans of the television adaptation,” said Dark Horse’s VP of Product Development, David Scroggy. “We are working closely with HBO to develop a line of products inspired by the series that will delight the fan base.”

NOTE: if you haven't watched the show and are planning to, slight spoilers ahead.

The Daenerys Bust (sculpted by Gentle Giant) has been approved by HBO and the actress Emilia Clarke, depicting her emergence from the ashes with a newborn dragon on her shoulder at the close of Season 1. Note the subtle hints of ash on her skin and hair. The idea was to suggest this moment while retaining the overall beauty of the character. The base of the bust shows the ornate woodwork seen on the wooden chest which contained the three dragon eggs. There are plans to do one paint variant on the dragon (green, blue and black), as there were three born in this episode. This will be a shared exclusive with Entertainment Earth and the HBO store.







Daenerys is the only sculptural piece we are seeing right now due to the line being fast tracked to meet the March release date of the DVD/Blu-ray for season 1 (click to pre-order!) They had only JUST gotten the license in late September! David Scroggy remarks “We took the iconography of Game of Thrones and created some products we could reproduce quickly while still having them be of quality.” We are told there will be an end cap at Barnes and Nobles with the DVD and some of Dark Horse’s products for you to snap up. Best Buy is doing a promotion as well with DH’s coaster set and the DVD. David assures us “While we have been creating this first wave of stuff with thoughts on timing, we’ve also been quietly developing much more nuanced pieces for the collectors. We’re in Game of Thrones for the long haul!”

Two poly resin pieces will follow the release of the Daenerys bust; a 13 inch statue of Jon Snow with his Dire Wolf Ghost, semi crouched and ready for battle on a snow covered base with his sword in hand, and a replica of the throne itself. We’ll see two scales for the throne with one being around 12 to 13 inches boasting extreme detail and paints, and the other, a smaller replica similar in scale to HBO’s paper weight, only with far more detail. Both are fairly far along in production so expect pictures in the very near future. HBO sought out Dark Horse to be the licensor for their products, so to create the best line possible, they’ve been feeding DH reference from key moments/characters/situations from the show’s second season (set to run April through September) so they could be sculpting pieces now. They are getting so specific, we are told one such moment is from episode 9 of season 2, kept tightly under wraps of course, but you can see the level of trust involved. Hell most of the Dark Knight Rises licensors had trouble getting the new bat suit right, most likely because the designs were under lock and key. With HBO and Dark Horse really working as a team with access to props, character costumes and photo reference from the set as scenes are shot, it is hoped you’ll get a line that will blow your mind! With that thought, know the next two pieces in production are being kept secret, as they are specific to the next season.

So the release schedule breaks down like this…

Daenerys bust in late June
Thrones statue / Jon Snow statue late August/September
A third sculptural item that may make it in time to be shown at San Diego Comic Con and be in stores for the holidays
And the fourth..a stone carving of a primitive wolf seen over a crypt translated into book ends!

Also on tap…jewelry, miniature shields, and miniature crowns. We asked if full size prop replicas were a possibility and while Dark Horse like the idea, they would rather explore things you can actually use, like a particular whine goblet with a dragon’s foot stem. David says they put together a wish list of things they would like to make and came up with over 200 items! Now the challenge is what to make and when to release it. “We are fans ourselves so we give considerable thought to what is going to ring true. We don’t want people to think we are just slapping stuff against the wall.” Current items coming this March include…

Throne Journal – $9.99
Daenerys Journal – $9.99
Hand of the King Pin - $12.99
Character Magnet Set - $8.99
House Sigil Magnet Set - $8.99
Stark Mug – $12.99
Targaryen Mug - $12.99
Magnetic Bookmark Set - $6.99
Playing Cards - $4.99
Embroidered Patches – Lannister, Baratheon, Targaryen, Stark - $4.99 each
Sigil Coaster Set – Lannister, Baratheon, Targaryenm, Stark - $9.99












Further down the line we’ll see items bearing the squid sigil of the House of Greyjoy, who have a strong role in season 2. We are also told the Westeros gods are a big element in season 2, so expect some product to reflect them. Dark Horse has pages of reference to draw from with items containing antiqued metals, distressed leathers and such that will inform their products.

Nothing is set in stone at the moment past what we are able to show you and those items we have said are absolutely coming, so if you’d like to see something you can’t live without, now is the time to be heard! Leave your thoughts in the comments below and we’ll make sure Dark Horse reads them.

CLICK HERE for more pics of Dark Horse's Game of Thrones collectibles!

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3 comments :

  1. Well......where the hell are the action figures? Can't announce that you have the figure license, and not have figures....

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  2. They took meetings at toy fair to discuss just that. They don't want to start development on something that cost so much to develop until that have every bit on intel on making that line perfect nailed down.

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  3. See the thing is Paul, they announced back in November they were going to make action figures so TheRocka has a point.
    http://www.figures.com/forums/news/14405-new-game-thrones-collectibles-2012-a.html#post58024

    Not a peep from DarkHorse. If you ask me, there should already be an Eddard Stark figure in the works.

    ReplyDelete