After Diamond Select Toys acquired Gentle Giant Ltd. earlier this year, there were some early trepidations that it might be curtains for some of Gentle Giant’s long-running Marvel lines such as their busts and Skottie Young Babies. Luckily, it’s ended up being business as usual with a fairly steady string of new items being solicited this spring and summer. And now, the latest entries for both those respective lines have appeared: the Gentle Giant Ghost Rider Bust and Animated Spider-Man & Venom Statue are now up for order!

If there’s one character who’s had a weird time with the Gentle Giant Skottie Young Marvel Babies statues line, it’s Spider-Man. He’s appeared three times in the line, and all three times have had an odd feel to them.

The first Animated Spider-Man Statue was a SDCC Exclusive a few years back that felt like it was in a wholly different aesthetic style from every other piece previously released in the series. I bought it (because I’m bonkers for this line), but it always felt out of place.

The second Spidey was part of an oversized “scene” statue with Peter upside-down and putting a ring on Mary Jane’s finger. I bought this one too, but this obviously feels even more out of place displayed with the rest of the Skottie Young series.

The third time again has a bit of an oddball feel to it, but I think it’s actually going to be my Skottie Young Spider-Man statue of choice for my shelf, as even though it’s got the Venom Symbiote trying to take control of Spidey, this has by far the most consistent look and feel with the rest of the line to date.

This 6.5” resin statue recreates the variant cover to Venomized #1 in figure form, and is one of the more intricate and visually interesting figurines in this Gentle Giant series so far. And with a $59 MSRP, it’s the second cheapest statue in the whole lineup. Love this. Bought!

The other new Marvel Gentle Giant item solicited recently is an 8” Ghost Rider mini bust. Bowen Designs released three Ghost Rider mini-busts back in the day, but both of the non-armless ones are rare and sell for a small fortune these days, so I think the Spirit of Vengeance is a great character for GG to tackle in this resin form.

While previous Gentle Giant busts have carried hefty price tags of around 120 bucks in recent years, DST has reduced the MSRP on this to $99. And online retailers have discounted it further still for pre-orders: the Ghost Rider Bust is just $79.99 with free shipping from EE!

I’m very picky about Marvel busts given that I have an expansive collection of Bowen Designs mini-busts—but I don’t have an armed Ghost Rider and this one looks pretty slick. So for 80 bucks shipped? I’m in.

The Gentle Giant Venomized Spider-Man Animated Statue and Ghost Rider bust are now up for order, and are scheduled for release in fall 2019. I like both items and want to see these lines continue, so I pre-ordered both myself right away. If you’re on fence, though, there should be plenty of time to make a decision before these sell out. Take your time.

Any remaining fans of these Gentle Giant Marvel lines left out there besides me? Who’s picking up either of these items, and what characters would you still like to see transformed into busts or Skottie Young art inspired statues?

The post Marvel Animated Spider-Man/Venom Statue & Ghost Rider Bust! appeared first on Marvel Toy News.