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Sideshow Collectibles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sideshow Inc.
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1994; 32 years ago (1994)
Headquarters
U.S.
ProductsFigurines, action figures
BrandsHot Toys
Websitesideshow.com

Sideshow Collectibles is an American specialty manufacturer of movie, film, and television collectible action figures, statues, and high-end pieces. Sideshow's licenses include Star Wars, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, The Lord of the Rings, Disney, Harry Potter, Masters of the Universe, Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, Street Fighter, Game of Thrones, and Star Trek.

Sideshow Collectibles is also 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 the U.S.

Sideshow has a campus located in Thousand Oaks, California.[1]

History

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Sideshow Collectibles was established in 1994 as an artist collective of four friends working in a "pool house backyard studio" for freelancers.[2][1] It originally created toy prototypes for major toy companies such as Mattel, Galoob, and Wild Planet.[3] 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 to create a hyper-stylized line of toys called "Monster Shredderz", which sold through Toys "R" Us and other mass market retailers.[2][1][4] 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".[5][3]

Sideshow Collectibles currently partners with Marvel, Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Lucasfilm, DC Comics, Blizzard Entertainment, and others to create products drawn from 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.[5] Sideshow Collectibles' products are currently sold in specialty, trend, collectible and comic shops both in the U.S. and internationally, as well as online directly through Sideshow Collectibles.[2]

Production

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Sideshow employs a variety professionals to design and produce its collectibles, including concept artists, sculptors, tailors, painters, art directors, engineers, graphic designers, project managers, and others. In an interview, Matt Bischof, Sideshow's VP of Development and Manufacturing, explained "... any one Sideshow statue could be brought to market through the collective effort of anywhere between 50-70 individuals across the company during the projects’ active life."[4]

A collectible at Sideshow starts out with conceptual art, which may take several steps, including a "fact-finding stage for licensed characters" in which reference material is gathered, followed by a preliminary 3D design and "rough digital sketching".[4] 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.[6]

Sideshow previously manufactured its own line of historically accurate 12" collectible figures under the brands Bayonets & Barbed Wire (WWI), Brotherhood of Arms (American Civil War) and Six Gun Legends (western characters). Sideshow also manufactures products under different brands, including Sideshow/Weta Collectibles and Sideshow/Morpheus Collectibles.[2]

Licensed properties

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DC Comics

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Marvel Comics

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Television

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Video games

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Additional statues

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Lang, Robert (2026-01-23). "Spaceship, Sith-3PO & A Festive Wookiee: A Rare Glimpse Behind The Curtains At Sideshow Collectibles' Secret Campus". Deadline. Retrieved 2026-04-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CollectionDX (2011). "Sideshow Collectibles". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  3. 1 2 Moore, Chuck (2016-03-29). "The 10 Most Popular Sideshow Collectibles On CompleteSet". CompleteSet. Retrieved 2026-04-04.
  4. 1 2 3 Tokarev, Kirill (2026-03-17). "An In-Depth Interview With The Creative Team at Sideshow". 80.lv. Retrieved 2026-10-04.
  5. 1 2 Michael Crawford (2006-06-15). "Collecting Action Figures – A Brief History". Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  6. ↑ Swaby, Rachel.