A report from the desk of DSTSchaff: “Since we’ve done replica license plates for Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, you should have been able to guess that it was only a matter of time before I came to you to talk about Knight Rider. Naturally, the first plate up will be the famous plate of the Knight Industries Two Thousand, a.k.a. KITT! As with all of our other plates, these will be durable metal, 1:1 scale with screw hole placement to allow for easy mounting to your vehicle, assuming your state laws permit such things. If the KITT plate does well, expect to see the plate for the diabolical KARR in the near future — I suggest that all of you buy both at your favorite comic shop, online retailer or specialty store. (Shameless attempt to boost sales: complete!)” Coming in 2012!

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The Femme Fatales PVC statue line by Diamond Select Toys has really taken off, and many of the earliest releases (Alice, Dawn, Tarot) have long sold out. But one of the sold-out ladies — Jim Balent’s comic-book creation Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose — is about to get company. Her sister, Raven Hex, has just been offered though Diamond Comics Distributor’s Previews catalog, and it features a great sculpt by veteran toy and statue sculptor Steve Kiwus!

The original plan was to depict Raven as if she were casting a spell, but partway in to the process DST went back to the drawing board and came up with the more intimidating pose seen here. Now, the 9-inch PVC statue is on track for an early 2012 release date, and we checked in with Kiwus to talk about what sorcery goes into creating such a sinister-yet-sultry piece of sculpture.

DST: Is this piece intended to be a companion piece to the Tarot statue, or is it meant to be a stand-alone piece on its own merits?
Kiwus: It’s a stand-alone. I had seen the Tarot figure, but didn’t really take it into consideration. It’s been my experience that unless the bases interlock, statues don’t really interact with each other.

DST: Raven Hex doesn’t have a lot of material in her costume. Does the amount of clothing affect the amount of time it takes to sculpt a figure?
Kiwus: It ends up being about the same amount of time — surface details can hide a lot of sins. Yes, I end up saving time by not having to add them, but I spend a lot more time on the underlying form of the body.

DST: Balent’s women are famously full-figured. Is it difficult to find a balanced pose for a character who is naturally, er, top-heavy?
Kiwus: The large endowments really only shift the center of gravity up a little. It’s not nearly as difficult as balancing a figure with a large gun — which is usually pointed forward — because that makes the figure really want to tip forward.

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Well, the triumphant return of Ghostbusters to the theaters is coming to a close, and this Halloween will be the last day you can see the heroes of Central Park West on the silver screen (for a while, anyway). In honor of the boys in beige, Diamond Select Toys is giving away a massive Ghostbusters prize pack to three lucky winners! Simply share this contest announcement on Facebook or Retweet it on Twitter and you’ll be entered! Just be sure to do it by Friday at 5 pm!

Grand Prize: One Light-Up Mr. Stay Puft Statue, two Ghostbusters Series 2 two-packs, three GB T-shirts (L and XL) and one GB hat.

Runner-Up Prizes (two winners): One Ghostbusters Series 2 two-pack, one GB T-shirt (L) and one GB hat.

Shirts and two-packs will be chosen at random. Facebook post to Share is here, and the Tweet to Retweet is here! Good luck!

Check out more of DST’s great GB products below, and at diamondselecttoys.com!

October has been a big month for Diamond Select Toys, from the Munsters to the Universal Monsters to X-Men: Curse of the Mutants. Well, we’ve got one more specialty-market ship date left in October, and it’s a doozy! Not only will comic book shops and online retailers get the first box set of Femme Fatales Minimates (with Dawn, Darkchylde, Tarot and Lady Death), they’ll also get the long-awaited specialty assortment of Minimate Vehicles Series 2!

The blue MAX Tech Stealth Jet with Pilot, the glow-in-the-dark Pirate Raiders Ship with Cartographer and the Back to the Future II Hover-Mode TIme Machine (phasing version) with Jennifer will all arrive at stores this Wednesday, so hit up you LCS or your favorite online retailer for your set. Check out the pictures below, and check out the glowing ship’s debut in the first episode of “Calico Jack’s Pirate Raiders”!

See more pictures on Facebook and get more updates on Twitter! And find your closest comic book shop at comicshoplocator.com!

The first wave of Diamond Select Toys’ Munsters action figures is out now, both the specialty-exclusive Select versions with build-an-electric-chair parts as well as the chair-free Toys “R” Us assortment. For those of you who have been putting off that visit to Mockingbird Lane, here’s some pics of the family at home, enjoying the detailed accessories that have been provided to them by talented sculptor Jean St. Jean. Check out the galley here!

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When you first shivered at the sight of the Mummy, cowered in fear from the Wolfman and felt the cold, clammy hands of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, were the monsters in bright, vibrant colors? No, of course not — they were in black and white, and they still are to this day! That’s why Diamond Select Toys has made this exclusive box set of black and white Universal Monsters action figures, which we’re calling the Legacy Series. It includes the Mummy, the Creature, and the Wolfman just as they were intended to be, and Imhotep willing, always will be. No fan of the original monster movies is going to want to be without this set! Available exclusively at the following retailers now!

Redford Films: http://www.redfordfilms.com
Hastings: http://www.gohastings.com

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DSTChuck cleans house in this edition of the Q&A! Get in on the free for all after the jump!
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History was made earlier this year with the epic World War II saga Captain America: The First Avenger, and this week sees that history set in stone with the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the movie! But what’s history without a monument? Our miniature monuments to the movie can be yours in this week’s contest — simply go to our Facebook and/or Twitter page and share or Retweet the contest announcement! The winner will get a set of Captain America and Red Skull Marvel Select action figures (with combined Cosmic Cube base display), as well as a set of Cap Movie Minimates! One prize package will be given out on Twitter and one on Facebook (winners chosen at random), and a third randomly chosen entrant will get a Disney-store-exclusive comic-style Captain America Marvel Select figure! Share or Retweet right away, and we’ll pick a winner Wednesday morning at 10:00!

Share our announcement on Facebook and Retweet it Twitter!

Diamond Select Toys, the Maryland-based collectibles company that is quickly becoming known for their supernatural product lines, has secured a new license: Lenore, The Cute Little Dead Girl, from creator-writer-artist Roman Dirge. Celebrating her 20th anniversary next year, Lenore has been the star of her own comic book and animated series, and will soon be the star of a diverse product line from DST including action figures, MiniMates™, PVC figurines, banks, bottle openers and ice cube trays.

“The team at Diamond Select is thrilled to be working on new product for this fun, dark and occasionally gruesome series,” said Chuck Terceira, Director at DST. “Diamond has been getting a great response to their horror-themed brands — The Munsters, Universal Monsters, Ghostbusters, Calico Jack’s Pirate Raiders and Maximum Zombies — and we think Lenore is just the right mix of terrifying and irreverent. The character of Lenore is instantly recognizable to a wide audience, and her supporting cast consists of some beautifully creepy, wonderful characters who will make great collectibles.”

“I have been working on numerous new Lenore comic books this year and I am excited to see her popularity continuing to grow,” stated Roman Dirge. “Diamond is in touch with Lenore’s fan base and I am looking forward to working with them to develop some great new Lenore products for her fans. With the feature film in development, I believe Lenore is on a course for phenomenal growth.

Inspired by the eponymous poem by Edgar Allan Poe, the character debuted in Xenophobe magazine in 1992 and received her own comic book from Slave Labor Graphics in 1998. In her adventures, the undead, homicidal waif wanders in and out of people’s lives, wreaking havoc everywhere she goes, and the comic was turned into a web cartoon in 2002. More recently, Lenore Volume II began publishing in 2009 from Titan Books, and a CGI film adaptation is in development with Neil Gaiman (author of Coraline, the comic book series The Sandman, and novels Stardust, American Gods and The Graveyard Book) set to be executive producer.

All DST toys and merchandise are available online from www.diamondselecttoys.com or by visiting your local comic book specialty shop — go to www.comicshoplocator.com to locate a shop near you. For more information on Lenore, The Cute Little Dead Girl, visit www.spookyland.com.

The mid-1980s was a dark time for superheroes, with comic books exploring the obsessive side of heroism and a more sadistic side of villainy. But it was that era that gave us what are now considered the classics of the comics world. One such classic? The Death of Jean DeWolff, written by Peter David. Jean was a detective in the NYPD and an admirer and comrade-in-arms of Spider-Man, and her brutal murder in 1985’s Spectacular Spider-Man #107 sent Spidey down a dark path. His investigation of the crime spiraled out of control, and more people would die before the final scene, in which he went toe-to-toe with Daredevil.

To commemorate this landmark storyline, which has been collected numerous times since its initial publication, Diamond Select Toys will release a wave of Marvel Minimates based entirely on the Jean DeWolff saga to comic shops and specialty stores. The line-up of Wave 43 (due out in early 2012) will include:

- Spider-Man (black costume) with Jean DeWolff
- Daredevil with Sin-Eater (both with removable masks)
- J. Jonah Jameson (removable jacket) with SHIELD Agent (extra hair)
- Aunt May (chase figure) with SHIELD Agent (extra hair)

These will be the first toys ever made of Jean DeWolff and the Sin-Eater, who would return in different incarnations in later years. Also, these will be the first Minimates ever made of the standard SHIELD agent and Spider-Man’s Aunt May.

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