Diamond Comics Bankruptcy

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Diamond Comic Distributors, the parent company of Gentle Giant, has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Not sure what the future holds for Gentle Giant but this is certainly not good.

 
Woah! While not surprising this is sad. I hope GG finds a way to continue to distribute their upcoming pre-orders and more items in the future.
 
Woah! While not surprising this is sad. I hope GG finds a way to continue to distribute their upcoming pre-orders and more items in the future.
I'm sure they'll find a buyer but I would say anything currently in production is now in limbo.

The higher prices and excessive edition numbers have not been a good business model from what we've seen the last few years. Everything is going into deep discount and lingering for years...
 
Whoa. It will be interesting to see where things end up, and I hope that GG falls into good (or preferably better) hands. I feel for all of the employees who might be affected by this, but at the same time… down with monopolies. 😅
 
Yikes... I wonder if they're profitable enough to stand on their own given how much inventory they're producing and how rarely product seems to sell out now.

I wonder if they were to fold what it would mean for existing gifts... like, I still haven't gotten the Han Solo that we preordered eighteen months ago... Also there's this year's gifts.

There aren't too many announced mini-busts that I couldn't live without, but I' d be bummed if Bom Vimdin, Gold Leader, and that Wampa never happened.
 
Chapter II isn't the worst one (7 is), but the action does represent a last gasp Hail Mary attempt before things totally collapse.

We've already seen the bottom drop-out quality-wise on these lines when GG sold-out to Diamond, now we may finally be seeing the end on the horizon.
 
The optimist in me would like to hope that someone will see the potential in GG - when it's done well. Since taking over, DST made some choices that I liked, but there have been a lot of missteps too. I would still think that if someone were to focus on high quality sculpts, and perhaps smaller ES's, they could get away with almost any character lineup. And then maybe all of us would see busts that we would like to buy once in a while.
 
Not surprised. Collecting in general has taken a hit due to current economic situations. Add that prices have been going up on these things. Top it off with low interest outside of us die hard fans. I cut down my mini bust collecting. Diamond offers more than just mini busts but all mentioned applies to them as well.
I hope GG will be bought by another company. This will bring new hope and anxiety as we don't know what they will do. GG has survived this long but I really don't know how much longer it will last. Lots have got to change.
Hopefully whatever is in production will hit the shelves. Concepts that were released may not.
 
First of all, I'm feeling sorry for all people who will be affected by this. And I really hope, they will find other employment soon!

That being said, in the case of DST/Gentle Giant, they had it coming... Producing high editions of (mostly) mediocre products and trying to sell it at prices like they asked for these products, will leave you empty-handed in the end.

And I know, the economy in general has taken a hit, and production costs went up, as well as materials and shipping. But when you keep delivering high-quality items in smaller edition sizes, the want for these products will still be there. Other companies, licensed, as well as unlicensed, have stepped up to the plate. And they are able to deliver, what collectors want to see, nowadays. Collectors love a well-made item, which brings a certain uniqueness to their collection. And they will proudly display such an item, and point it out to people looking at their displays (in my case, to keep it Gentle Giant, that goes for the original Thrawn-bust and the original Boba Fett-bust as well, but I can imagine, people who own the Queen Amidala-bust feel the same way).

But if you, as a company think, collectors will buy your products, regardless how bad a likeness is, or the paint applications are, at editionsizes of around 3000, you really underestimate your customers, I think. No, we are not geeks, who'll buy just anything, as long as it has the Star Wars-logo slapped on it! We expect quality items, which won't downgrade our collections! As the collectors community has been trying to point out to DST/Gentle Giant more than once! But if you're headstrong, and keep doing things your way, despite all complaints by customers, despite overstock of products nobody wants, catching dust in your warehouse, eventually this is were it ends.

It really is a shame for Gentle Giant, because there was some improvement lately, but maybe it's for the best. Let's hope, a new owner will set things straight, and Gentle Giant busts and statues will find their way back to the high-end collectiblesrange where they used to be.
 
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Oh, well. It's a good thing I've been diversifying into other types of memorabilia. Due to much of what's been said above, and what happened to me with them at a personal level (some of you know it) DST/GG stopped being my main focus a while back. Yet, I honestly hope the line of Mini Busts and statues will continue as I have been collecting it for 20+ years and as I know many of you folks still have a great interest in them. Let's wait and see how everything pans out after this news, and what becomes of what was once a truly precious brand of collectibles. Here's hoping they can find a good buyer that could concentrate on what collectors truly want rather than what the big suits want.

P.S: Hopefully my preorder for the Bom Vimdin Mini Bust does not wash away.
 
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It would be a shame if GG's SW busts/statues came to an end...they still do, on occasion, make a really nice product that I'll want to pick up. I suppose, however, that I would not be devastated if this was the end. I've been buying GG since 2002 and I feel my collection is pretty complete at this point.

fyi I emailed customer service to see if they have any info for us...if I hear anything, I'll update this thread.
 
According to reports it looks like Diamond owes over $32 million to various companies. It's much worse than I imagined. Here are the top 30 entities they owe $ to:

Penguin Random House LLC $9,202,181.45 {Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, IDW}
Bandai Co, Ltd $4,348,743.08
National Entertainment Collectibles $2,682,994.22
Kin Kin Mould $1,811,934.04
TMP International, Inc $1,734,814.39
Disney Consumer Products, Inc $1,712,447
Hasbro, Inc $1,064,378.39
Wizards of the Coast LLC $914,601.84
Xceeding Partnership Solutions $843,496.70
Little Buddy LLC $694,628
Simon & Schuster, Inc $600,144.80
Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles $576,072.46
Lunar Distribution $496,967.84 {Image}
United Parcel Service, Inc $476,398.57
VIZ Media, LLC $421,204.93
Catalyst Games Lab, LLC $401,483.12
The Army Painter Ap S $386,925.86
ARA, Inc $378,827.04
Titan Publishing Group Ltd $357,417.28
Square Enix Holdings Co, Ltd $314,295.51
Microsoft Corp $307,816.00
The Pokemon Company International, Inc $280,375.00
Transcontinental Inc $243,541.48
Beast Kingdom Co, Ltd $237,903.14
Funko, LLC $237,631.62
Publisher Services, Inc $223,140.92
Dynamic Forces, Inc $217,317.64
Pai Technology Inc $211,331.50
Udon Entertainment Inc $202,694.07
Super7, Inc $163,686.50

After the comics, graphic novels, cards & games....around half of the debt is owed to various licensee holders and/or toy & collectible companies....which falls squarely on the Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, LLC branch. Disastrous....

Don't have to go out on a limb to conclude that this company as we've known it is toast. More than likely will be cut-up with various parts being sold-off. Steve Geppi turns 75 years old next week. The times have changed & there's no way he has the energy or patience it would take to turn this thing around. From the outside looking in it appears he's trying to find the least-painful way out at this point. Man, moving forward the smaller publishers are gonna be screwed...

But yeah, hope the Gold Leader mini bust is nearly finished and out of the factory by now. Once that last pilot piece is done I feel it would be a good stopping or resting point until another entity eventually buys out this tiny division (formally GG) and/or the SW license. In a few years there will be new things as there always are. The hobby survived losing Master Replicas, it surely can survive this as well. Though it still remains to be seen if it can survive Kathleen Kennedy....
 
I always find it hilarious when companies owe money to shipping partners when they charge their customers for shipping already. So where did that money go? 🙄
 
Just heard back from DST.

This is what I wrote:

"In light of Diamond Comics filing for bankruptcy, can you let me know if Gentle Giant is still carrying on business as usual? Are existing preorders safe? Are you taking new orders?"

And the reply:

"Thank you for reaching out.

We understand your concerns regarding the recent news and want to reassure you that Pre-Orders will remain unaffected.

Pre-Order products are still scheduled for release, and Gentle Giant and Diamond Select Toys customers will receive their eagerly anticipated items. Please rest assured, we are continuing to accept new orders without interruption.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to assist.

---

Sincerely,

Oliver Jarjosa"
 
Bummer, I hope they find a buyer. I've been collecting the busts since 2003. I also just remembered I never chose my PGM gift this year which I just did, but who knows if we'll ever receive them. I also really want that Wampa in particular.
 
Just heard back from DST.

This is what I wrote:

"In light of Diamond Comics filing for bankruptcy, can you let me know if Gentle Giant is still carrying on business as usual? Are existing preorders safe? Are you taking new orders?"

And the reply:

"Thank you for reaching out.

We understand your concerns regarding the recent news and want to reassure you that Pre-Orders will remain unaffected.

Pre-Order products are still scheduled for release, and Gentle Giant and Diamond Select Toys customers will receive their eagerly anticipated items. Please rest assured, we are continuing to accept new orders without interruption.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to assist.

---

Sincerely,

Oliver Jarjosa"

Well that sounds positive, at least as far as pre-orders go. Hopefully that is accurate and we can get pre-orders fulfilled at the very least. Still hope they can move on beyond this.
 
Unfortunately not very surprising, along with material prices going up, they seem to think were still in 2008 where these busts would sell 3-6k pieces.

Unless it is a trooper or a main character from the original 6 films, these sizes need to be less than 500. I shouldn't be able to pick up any piece I want for 40-60% on Amazon 4-6 months after they release.

You have your outliers, but most of their product just sits there, and how do busts like Dooku get approved and give them an ES of 3000? You really think you're going to sell 3,000..of that?
 
Just heard back from DST.

This is what I wrote:

"In light of Diamond Comics filing for bankruptcy, can you let me know if Gentle Giant is still carrying on business as usual? Are existing preorders safe? Are you taking new orders?"

And the reply:

"Thank you for reaching out.

We understand your concerns regarding the recent news and want to reassure you that Pre-Orders will remain unaffected.

Pre-Order products are still scheduled for release, and Gentle Giant and Diamond Select Toys customers will receive their eagerly anticipated items. Please rest assured, we are continuing to accept new orders without interruption.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to assist.

---

Sincerely,

Oliver Jarjosa"

Thank you for the update, Ben. Hopefully everything on the works gets finished, offered and sent out. Personally, as I know not all of us want the same,, my main interest would be for them to continue with the Cantina and Jabba aliens, OT droids that we have not seen production so far, and some militaries. Smaller edition sizes would be a way to go to minimize production costs to some degree. It is crazy the amount of units made for certain characters lacking much popularity or the constant repetition of others. If they were to offer more variety and pay more attention to many of the listings we have put up here, it would be a good starting point to sell more rather than to have merchandise going the discount way in many places. JMHO
 
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Well, that's sad. I was collecting minibusts since the beginning, the journey was very nice and I enjoyed a lot but all things have an end. If this is the end, it's ok for me, if they continue I will stop soon. My collection it's almost done, I'm missing some characters that I would like to add but I can let it go. They repeated a lot of characters the last period and the quality of the headsculpts was very bad in some cases and I was starting to loose attention in this line.
Just hoping at least that preorders will be released and I send many courage to the employees that for sure they are suffering at this moment.
 
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