Sideshow Collectibles

2008 could be remembered as the year of the Geek. Iron Man and The Dark Knight ruled the box office and it's likely that they could also take home some prestigious awards. Video games have never been more popular - hardly anyone looks at you strange when talking about your Wii. Television was full of sci-fi and fantasy, from "Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles" to the love-it-one-minute, hate-it-the-next "Heroes." The attendance at the largest annual Geekfest, San Diego Comic Con, was the highest it's ever been, with many days selling out in advance - an unprecedented event.

What does this confluence of nerd-ness mean? Well, for one thing it means that Sideshow Collectibles, as the preeminent conveyor of all things genre, is in the right place for making the most of the mainstream's embrace of their inner Geek. This past year Sideshow Collectibles has shown that their innovation, dependability, and dedication to growth makes for a collectibles company that continues to steadily rise above the pack. This was evidenced by the end-of-year awards earned by Sideshow from by AFTimes.com, MWCToys.com and Figures.com.

During the Super Bowl Sideshow debuted their take on GI Joe, formerly designed with the kid in mind, Sideshow has re-imagined the sixth scale Real American Hero for the modern collector, mixing the fantastic elements that made Joe a genre hero in comic books and on Saturday morning television, with the realistic weapons and authentic detail that the adult collector demands. This has proved to be an extremely popular line and the collecting community is salivating in anticipation of the be-visored first offering - Snake Eyes - due to ship early in 2009.

For the first time Sideshow didn't brave the snow and cold to physically attend the New York Toy Fair, but they didn't pull back on the online coverage. Lots of new product was revealed, both by Sideshow and by their distribution partners. New and creative licensing has allowed Sideshow to work closely with collectibles manufacturers from the Far East, Hot Toys and Medicom Toy, to bring product to the West that would not have been possible in the past.

New licenses and new product aren't the only ways that Sideshow is innovating - they are also changing the way a company works with its customers. Sideshow's website has always been a refreshing portal into another world; far more than an online catalog, it's the face of the company to the fans. In 2008 it got a face-lift to be more streamlined, easier to navigate and a far better tool for Sideshow to interact with the collectors around the world. It's become a destination in and of itself with many cool features to amuse and edify.

Sideshow Collectibles doesn't just sell with its distribution partners; this year we saw the results of a partnering in product development. Working with the Hong Kong-based Hot Toys, Sideshow developed two new body-types to improve their sixth scale line of figures. To make The Lord of the Rings hobbits the best they can be, Sideshow and Hot Toys developed a hobbit size body with the full range of articulation fans have come to expect from both companies. Hot Toys also assisted in developing a new slimmer body for armored characters - first shown on the Obi-wan Kenobi: General - Clone Wars figure.

Additionally, Sideshow Collectibles developed a new state-of-the-art sixth scale body, the Prometheus, which is more realistically proportioned than any other 1/6 body on the market and has more articulation than previously seen anywhere else. The Prometheus first saw light with the hotly anticipated Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones figure.

The website is home to the Production Blog, where we see behind the scenes information about how our favorite collectibles are conceived and produced. The website is also where we can see the creative short films that make it fun to be a Sideshow fan. From The Dead zombie footage that seems to be from a faulty video security camera, to high production value comedy shorts designed for specific promotions, to the Backstage Pass product previews featuring the fan-named Man with No Pants (actually Production Manager Scott Klauder in a suit - but they don't show him below the waist - only the cameraman truly knows if he's wearing pants) - there's always something new to see from the media team. [Explore the Sideshow Video Vault]

Through the website we get continual contests where one can win anything from a Sideshow cap to a rare collectible that's been sold out for years. Although Sideshow has had contests since their inception, in 2008 they had the mother of all contests - the 'Figure It Out,' make-your-own commercial contest. Many Sideshow fans submitted incredibly creative short films and the first prize winner, Robb B, got $1000 in cash and Sideshow gift certificates. All the best entries were shown at the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), one of the few conventions where Sideshow always makes a huge impression debuting new product directly to fans and has representatives from all departments of its business present to personally meet and greet collectors. [Explore Sideshow Contests]

In a central location in the gi-normas exhibit hall in the San Diego Convention Center, Sideshow's booth is the place to see and be seen during SDCC. Celebrities stop by, cosplayers love to get their picture taken there, and the events are non-stop - usually shared with the online fans through the ubiquitous Comic-Con live webcams. Sideshow spares no expense in making SDCC a great experience where fans can chat with the whole range of Sideshow team members, from design & development to customer service.

At SDCC fans got their first in person look at many of the products from Sideshow's distribution partners. It's these kinds of distribution deals that have allowed Sideshow to grow into new areas and offer more and more diverse products to its customers.

Sideshow doesn't stop even when unwinding from the biggest event of the year. The Summer Giveaways continue and new announcements are made, and fans gather round the website admire the new product announcements from SDCC and go through the extensive coverage from the Con - hundreds of still pictures, new videos, celebrity interviews and much more.

Online events like September's Fall Fantacular continue to show how much Sideshow appreciates the collectors. From the Golden Gift Card giveaways, to the free gifts with purchase, to the amazing contests, the Sideshow Web Team never fails to deliver. But it doesn't stop there. The Customer Service Team at Sideshow Collectibles continues to receive much-deserved praise and kudos from across the globe for going above and beyond all year long. Each Customer Service representative deserves a medal of honor for working day in and day out to make sure collectors are given the kind of care that has come to be indicative of the Sideshow experience.

As if excellent customer service wasn't enough, Sideshow also takes pride in gently easing even the most newbie of newbies into the sometimes insane world of collecting. Pre-Orders of newly announced collectibles are easy and relatively pain-free, as long as you are subscribed to (and read!) their weekly e-newsletter. They even offer 'Priority Pre-Order' status to Newsletter members for much-anticipated items such as popular Star Wars 12-inch characters. And Pre-Orders can even be canceled at any time... without a cancellation fee! (Although the exception to that rule is FLEXPay, with which cancellation fees accrue with each payment. But the convenience and appeal of making monthly payments rather than plunking down the cash all in one shot makes it totally worth it.)

There's also no such thing as buyer's remorse with Sideshow - if you are not fully satisfied with your purchase you can return it within 30 days for ANY reason. But wait, what if you didn't receive the item in the first place because you were late to the party, and your holy grail of collectibles was - gasp! - SOLD OUT before you had a chance to Pre-Order? Never fear, Sideshow has thought of that and created their amazing Wait List Reservation system. Simply sign up on the Wait List and reservations will be recalled on a first come, first served basis if cancellations or credit card declines on that item occur. Wait Lists do work, just ask the thousands of Sideshow collectors who have benefited from them.

Sideshow is also unique in sponsoring all the online events that keep fans glued to their computers at certain times during the year. The Spring and Fall Fantaculars bring more contests, prizes, and fun; but the biggest online event of all is the Halloween-centric SPOOKTACULAR. This year a Spooktacular Readyness Kit was a hot commodity throughout October. The Kit contained cool Sideshow items, including a decoder spyglass which you had to look through to see some of the secret clues on the website. As usual, the "Sleep is for the Weak" battle cry rang out through the cyber world as fans were vigilant into the wee hours in hopes of winning a coveted Spooktacular prize.

Sideshow doesn't just rely on movie studios and comic book companies for product ideas, but also delve into their own creativity to develop new types of collectibles. The Dead, Sideshow's proprietary line of 1/6 scale zombies, continues to shamble along with horrifying and funny new releases - from Mall Santas to helpless, hungry school girls, to Harbingers of doom. Sideshow also recently unveiled their new line of dioramas (dino-ramas?) - Dinosauria, featuring the Sideshow Collectibles creative team's take on the big, bountiful world of the thunder lizard.

Sideshow's existing license library is a virtual potpourri of Geek delight - Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, Alien, and Predator (to name but a few) - however collectors are gasping with glee at the new Christmas announcement. We're finally going to see some of our favorite movie characters from classic Walt Disney films in what has become Sideshow Collectibles' signature collectible style - the mixed media Premium Format Figure. Going after first-class licenses such as Walt Disney is just one way that Sideshow has demonstrated innovation over the course of 2008.

There's more and more cool and exciting products coming next year too as Sideshow continues to innovate and grow. Over the last decade there have been so many ways they've changed the industry; forcing other companies to play catch-up, not only in the diversity of product, but how that product is marketed. From newsletters, podcasts, nearly daily website updates, to the best booth at Comic Con; Sideshow has turned customers into fans. Now with the mainstreaming of sci-fi and fantasy media well under way, Sideshow's potential has never been greater as they spearhead the charge into what could be the century of the Geek.