Sideshow Collectibles is a specialty manufacturer of movie, film, television and proprietary collectible figures, statues and high end pieces. Featuring properties such as Star Wars, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, The Lord of the Rings, Disney, Predator, G.I. Joe and Indiana Jones, Sideshow artisans are sculptors, model makers, painters and costumers, whose combined efforts result in the creation of original designs and detailed likenesses of pop culture icons, including film and television monsters, villains, heroes, mystical creatures of fantasy, and legendary figures from history. Recognized as a quality manufacturer, Sideshow has been highlighted in national trade and specialty toy publications, where its collectible 12-inch figures and polystone statues have been awarded "Best of the Year." Sideshow Collectibles is the exclusive distributor of Hot Toys collectible figures in the United States, North and South America, Europe, Australia and throughout most Asian countries. It is also an official distributor of Iron Studios statues in United States territory.
History
Sideshow Collectibles started out in 1994. They originally created toy prototypes for major toy companies such as Mattel, Galoob and Wild Planet. In 1999, Sideshow began marketing its own line of collectible and specialty products under the Sideshow brand, beginning with the Universal Classic Monsters 8" Action Figure license, which sold through Toys R Us and other mass market retailers. The company then began creating items in the sixth scale format that sold through specialty markets, at which time Sideshow switched their name from "toys" to "collectibles". Sideshow also flirted with a different paradigm for shopping, the concept of selling their product directly to their customers. This allowed them to provide more detailed, higher end products, offer direct customer service support, and to interact with collectors more closely from sale to delivery as well as through online communications and fan forums. Sideshow has continued to improve on this model, offering options like product pre-ordering, flexible payment plans, and a responsive 30-day Guarantee/ Returns policy to their customers, as well as focusing on the kind of quality and detail that attracts gaming, comic and film collectors alike. Sideshow has forged collaborative relationships with Hollywood filmmakers and special effect houses including Guillermo del Toro, Legacy Effects, Spectral Motion, Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. and KNB EFX to produce some of the most sought after collectibles based on movie props and pre-production film maquettes from blockbuster film's such as Iron Man, the Transformers, the Avengers, Hellboy, Predators, Alien 3, and Alien vs Predators. Sideshow Collectibles currently partners with Marvel, Disney, DreamWorks, WB, Lucasfilm, DC, Blizzard Entertainment, and others to create product from properties such as the Marvel Universe, the DC Universe, Star Wars, Alien & Predator, Terminator, The Lord of the Rings, G.I. Joe, Halo, World of Warcraft, Star Craft II, Mass Effect 3, Diablo 3, and many more. Sideshow Collectibles' products are currently sold in specialty, trend, collectible and comic shops both in the US and internationally, as well as online directly through Sideshow Collectibles.
Production
A collectible at Sideshow starts out with conceptual art, which may be several layers deep. Then sculpting begins, primarily with traditional clay or wax sculpture tools. Digital rendering programs are also used, which are printed out in a rapid prototyping machine. The output is taken into the sculpture pool, and then cleaned up to bring in an additional layer of detail by human hand. 90% of the collectibles Sideshow makes are licensed properties.
