Check out the great Gentle Giant Ltd Q&A that Chris Wyman, of Rebelscum.com, did with Chuck Terceira, President of Diamond Select Toys. He asks all the questions that Gentle Giant fans have been wanting answers for.
Chris Wyman: Chuck, thanks so much for clearing some space on your calendar to chat with me today about the current state of Gentle Giant Ltd.’s Star Wars product lines! To start things off, can you tell me how you first got involved with Diamond Select Toys and who your favorite Star Wars character is?
Chuck Terceira: I can give you the short answer. I started at Diamond Comics over 20 years ago to be the toy buyer and start the toy division. Shortly after that, Steve Geppi founded DST to make products aimed at an area he felt was under serviced at the time, collectors and the specialty market. After about a year of its creation, I was added to the staff at DST. When I was little and the movie A New Hope came out, I liked Luke and would play as him with friends, and used anything I could for a lightsaber. Now, I am not sure…maybe Han? Might still be Luke too if I am honest.CW: It’s been just over a year since Diamond Select Toys purchased Gentle Giant Ltd. and we’ve seen some great stuff solicited and released thus far. How was that first year for you guys and what’s been your favorite product line or individual collectible to work on up to this point?
CT: For sure it has been a steep learning curve and we’ve tried to do more good then not good. I’ve been very lucky to have Dev Gilmore on board to help guide our path with the history and knowledge he has for the franchise and collectors. We’ve had to spend much more time then we expected working on the website, but we’re confident the changes we have made will be seen as improvements. I am very happy with how that is evolving. For products I am most pleased with, the Dreamer Statues of Luke and Rey. I am most impressed with the work the team has done on the 1/6 scale Vader. For upcoming, I love what we are doing for The Mandalorian – I really like that show, as well as the new 1/7 scale animated line.CW: I’ve noticed some newer product line names that have popped up over the last year or so which includes the Milestones Collection (1:6 scale Statue) and the Dreamer Premier Collection (1:7 scale Statue). Are these the new and official names for the 1:6 & 1:7 scale lines moving forward?
CT: Yes, that is correct. It’s more a branding issue and a continuity of messaging issue then anything else. GG LTD was already doing 1/6 statues for Star Wars and DST had several lines existing at that scale and had for many, many years sold under the Milestones line, so we brought the SW line under that banner. As such, our plan is to make the bases more thematic and when it makes sense, to make for more dynamic poses and displays then the black base GG has been using.For some reason, GG was calling their smaller scale pieces “Gallery”, which for DST, is a huge issue. We’ve had a robust line for several years now of our PVC statues produced under the Gallery banner. So our thinking, as well as sales and buyers thinking, was that both lines could not exist with that name. We already had a smaller more basic pose and base line called Premier and again, it had existed for years. So we decided to roll that into what was the GG Gallery line. The two scales are very close to each other and the pieces we have displayed in the office seem to fit very well. I understand on the face, any change will be upsetting to collectors and we hope they will at least stick around to see how it goes. We had to move the product forward to try to improve on the sale GG LTD had been having while respecting the legacy and what the collectors loved about the lines.
Read the full Q&A at the link below.
