Darklord Dave
Super Freak
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2005
- Messages
- 19,029
- Reaction score
- 80
Through the years Sideshow has put out catalogs of its product - these grew from just a folded pamphlet 20 years ago, to large impressive coffee-table books in the more recent years. Now they've put out a book that captures the best of their collectibles in iconic photography and it is a collectible in itself.
There is a Foreward by Guilleramo del Toro that talks a little about how he came to Sideshow as a fan and artist with Hellboy and how they've worked together every since. An introduction by Creative Director Tom Gilliland gives a bit of history and the purpose of the book - to show the best of the photography of the Sideshow pieces.
The cover shows the Alien Big Chap in an embossed photo with a removeable plastic sleeve for the title.
I tried to show the embossing off - it gives a great look to this 2D photo, bringing it slightly back to the 3D figure it represents:
There is no order to the photos - they jump from one type of figure and subject to one that's completely different on the next page. There seems to be the goal of never having the same license in any subsequent photo. Star Wars leads to Batman then Disney followed by Marvel, etc. But there is a design aesthetic at work - a full body shot could be followed by a closeup of a face of a another figure, or an alternate head sculpt would be featured on the opposite page as if in a mirror to the original piece.
And if you're curious as to what each piece is - there is a Credit page at the back of the book that identifies the license and the type of item that is on each page.
This is a wonderful book and a work of art in and of itself. It accomplishes the goal that has been delineated in the introduction very well. I don't want to review what it isn't - but as a detail oriented person myself who enjoys a little back story - I would have liked a little text in the book - perhaps a page following each photo that told of the history of the piece, the artists that worked on it, etc.
This book continues the tradition of the great catalogs that Sideshow has done in the past - I would love to see books like this that were more comprehensive, featuring a photo of each item they've made - perhaps separate books for Premium Formats, 1/6, Legendary Scale, etc.
There is a Foreward by Guilleramo del Toro that talks a little about how he came to Sideshow as a fan and artist with Hellboy and how they've worked together every since. An introduction by Creative Director Tom Gilliland gives a bit of history and the purpose of the book - to show the best of the photography of the Sideshow pieces.
The cover shows the Alien Big Chap in an embossed photo with a removeable plastic sleeve for the title.
I tried to show the embossing off - it gives a great look to this 2D photo, bringing it slightly back to the 3D figure it represents:
There is no order to the photos - they jump from one type of figure and subject to one that's completely different on the next page. There seems to be the goal of never having the same license in any subsequent photo. Star Wars leads to Batman then Disney followed by Marvel, etc. But there is a design aesthetic at work - a full body shot could be followed by a closeup of a face of a another figure, or an alternate head sculpt would be featured on the opposite page as if in a mirror to the original piece.
And if you're curious as to what each piece is - there is a Credit page at the back of the book that identifies the license and the type of item that is on each page.
This is a wonderful book and a work of art in and of itself. It accomplishes the goal that has been delineated in the introduction very well. I don't want to review what it isn't - but as a detail oriented person myself who enjoys a little back story - I would have liked a little text in the book - perhaps a page following each photo that told of the history of the piece, the artists that worked on it, etc.
This book continues the tradition of the great catalogs that Sideshow has done in the past - I would love to see books like this that were more comprehensive, featuring a photo of each item they've made - perhaps separate books for Premium Formats, 1/6, Legendary Scale, etc.
