First look: Bode mini-bust

We're really psyched to share the first in our line of upcoming "Locke & Key" mini-busts, Bode Locke. The prototype seen here is sculpted by the very talented Troy McDevitt, designed by myself and "Locke & Key" artist Gabriel Rodriguez. Bode will have a very limited run. We're shooting for an April pre-order release. Israel
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First look: "The Stuff of Legend" Colonel

Last year we announced a new partnership with Th3rd World Studios and its amazing book, "The Stuff of Legend." Now we're psyched to give an early first look to a rough prototype of the first release in that line: The Colonel. It's sculpted by the talented Derek Hallett, the same sculptor behind our upcoming Tony Chu mini-bust from "CHEW." The Colonel will stand just over 2 inches tall, at full attention, in hand-polished pewter. We're shooting for a May/June release. A resin Jester mini-bust for that line is underway, more on it soon. Hands up if you'd also dig a Max plush? We'd love the feedback. Israel
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Early look: Tony Chu

We wanted to give an early look at our upcoming Tony Chu mini-bust from "CHEW" as he winds his way through test paints. Rob Guillory has worked out some beet-tastic art for his base and Tony will also be rising out translucent beet juice resin. We hope to release him early next month in a very limited edition run. Really hope you guys dig him. Israel  
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Happy Crew Year!

New website, two new partnerships and some really great times, and that's on top of 12 new replicas – 2014 was pretty sweet. 2015 will be even better. We kicked off last Jan. 1 with the release of the studio’s Poyo mini-bust so we figured it would be fitting to give a sneak peak today of the next CHEW mini-bust, Tony Chu. We’re shooting for a late January/early February release with a limited edition run of 500. It’s designed by Rob Guillory and myself and sculpted by Derek Hallett, who did a killer job. We also wanted to give an early look at the prototype sketches for our new “Locke & Key” mini-bust line, designed by Gabriel Rodriguez and I. Hope to show Bode prototype pics very soon. From “The Stuff of Legend,” below is a first look at The Colonel by Charles P. Wilson III. He’ll be 2.25-inches tall, solid pewter and able to lead your other toys into battle. Look for him around March. From “Mouse Guard,” we also have an early shot of Gwendolyn’s Pike-Ax sculpted by John Thompson. It’s been in the works for a while and we’re really excited to see it come out in February/March. Below, there's also an early shot of the coin replica from Ben Templesmith's "The Squidder" and a shot of Mischrasse's pendant from our B.P.R.D. Artifact Archive collection, both soon to be released. Last thing: We’ve added gift certificates in case you’d like to give a little Crew goodness this year. If there’s something you really want and we haven’t made it yet from any of our lines, shout it out. Because, you never know.   Wishing you and yours an awesome 2015.   Israel                                                    
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First look: ‘The Squidder’ coin exclusive

We're psyched to offer an early look at a prototype sculpt of the In Squid We Trust coin from Ben Templesmith's new book "The Squidder," published by IDW. That's also a subtle way of announcing that Skelton Crew Studio and Templesmith plan to collaborate on all sorts of cool replicas and props in a our new Templesmith Collection. The line will kick off with the release of the limited edition coin this winter and will also include plush and busts from Templesmith's critically acclaimed comic "Wormwood," also published by IDW. The coin, sculpted by the talented Jamie Macfarlane, is 4.25" wide, in bronze-plated pewter and heavy enough to knock out a squid. Check back in November for pre-order details.      
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Skelton Crew adds to ‘The Legend’

LITCHFIELD, Maine — Th3rd World Studios and Skelton Crew Studio are excited to announce a new partnership that will see Skelton Crew producing replicas and mini-busts from the New York Times best-selling comic “The Stuff of Legend.” The book is written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith and drawn by Charles Paul Wilson III. “‘The Stuff of Legend’ frankly has it all,” said Skelton Crew Studio head Israel Skelton. “It’s a wonderfully written story with a cast of characters you quickly become attached to. And did I mention the art is AMAZING? I couldn’t be happier to bring these characters to the next dimension.” A six-inch Jester mini-bust is slated for the first release in the new line in early winter 2014. We couldn't be more excited to be partnering with Skelton Crew for ‘The Stuff of Legend,’” said Th3rd World Studios co-publisher Michael DeVito. “The quality of their work and, more importantly, the level of respect that they show to the source material in bringing their replicas and collectibles to life shows a true dedication to their craft. Planned future releases include a pewter replica of The Colonel and a Boogeyman mini-bust. “The guys have been awesome to work with and I can’t wait to see what else we dream up,” Skelton said. Check Skelton Crew’s website, www.skeltoncrewstudio.com, for prototype shots and more release details in coming months. Israel and Charles will both be at BangPop comic con in Bangor, Maine next weekend. About Skelton Crew Studio LLC Skelton Crew Studio is already the exclusive home to props and replicas from “Locke & Key,” “CHEW,” “Mouse Guard” and “B.P.R.D.” Its most recent releases are a green vinyl Chog from “CHEW” and an SDCC-exclusive Alpha Key from “Locke & Key.” It’s been featured on G4's “Attack of the Show,” MTV.com SourceFedNERD and The Onion’s A.V. Club Pop Culture Gift Guide. About Th3rd World Studios Th3rd World Studios (www.th3rdworld.com) is a print and digital publishing house specializing in the development of high-quality original and adapted properties such as “The Intrepid Escapegoat,” “SuperFogeys,” “Legend of Bill,” “Holiday Wars,” the breakout, all-ages fantasy “Finding Gossamyr,” and the acclaimed, original, New York Times Bestselling series, “The Stuff of Legend,” which is currently in development as a feature film from Mandeville Films and Walt Disney Studios.      
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Upcoming Replicas

We wanted to share a quick hello and news of soon-to-be-released projects, comic book and otherwise:

* We had a lot of fun on Hellboy Day — and how could you not? — with an exclusive first look on MTV of some of our early pitch sketches to Mike and our next releases, a sweet interview with Multiversity Comics and few graphs in Multiversity’s piece on creator’s favorite “Hellboy” stories over the last 20 years. SourceFedNERD also did a killer review of the first four pieces in the Archive line. Still can’t believe we’re lucky enough to be adding to this amazing universe.

In very related news:

* The next Artifact Archive pre-order launches today for the Ogdru Jahad Amulet and Vasilisa’s Comb & Handkerchief. A prototype pic of our next release in the line, pegged for later this summer, is below. Follow us on Twitter, @SkeltonCrew, for monthly exclusive coupon codes that start with today’s release.

* Jewelry is still very much in the works, both for “Locke & Key” and “B.P.R.D.” Hope to have more on that next month.

* So much in the works with “CHEW.” Only 50 pre-order Poyo mini busts left — that bada@@ bird is HOT. It’s still on target to ship out in May/June. Last week Rob Guillory teased to some plush projects. That line will kick off with pink and blue Chogs this summer. Fair warning: They’re also pretty fricken’ adorable. Pics to come. There’s also . . . well, I can’t say just yet. But it’s very cool.

* “Mouse Guard” will see the next release in that line in May with Lieam’s Sword. A prototype shot is below. Marionets and Gwendolyn’s pike-axe are in the prototype phase.

* Amazingly psyched to say we’ve partnered with two more books for future prop and bust lines. We hope to announce one very soon and one this fall.

So much to do. That said, our biggest replica this year will have us lying low the next two weeks. We’re expecting the latest addition to our Skelton Crew any day now. If it takes a few extra days for Kathryn or I to respond to an email, really hope you understand.

Thanks,

Israel

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Bustin’ out

Hope everyone is enjoying an early start to fall. We hope to have “Mouse Guard”’s Rand’s Shield out the door in the next two weeks and when it ships, it’ll have a cool bonus: writer/artist David Petersen has offered to sign tags on any orders placed by Oct. 15.

A few other odds and ends at the studio this week:

* Our new painted Poyo prototype from “CHEW” is below, both in its own glory and with a few other mini-busts to show scale. It’s amazingly sculpted and painted by Jamie Macfarlane. We’re shooting for an early spring 2014 release. Plain and simple, Poyo is bad ass.

* David did a great blog post about our next few pieces and our process working together. He’ll have golden SDCC Black Axes for sale at NYCC if you catch up with he and Julia there. (Both awesome people. Tell ‘em we said so.)

* Really happy to announce Jetpack Comics, Zimmie’s and Vault of Midnight are the first three comic shops to start carrying Skelton Crew Studio merch, the only place to find it outside of this site and the occasional con. We love the idea of working with and supporting independent shops.

Take care,

Israel

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Happy New Year

Let’s get right to what the studio has in the works for 2014:

* Alpha 2 might have brought an awesome close to this arc of “Locke & Key,” but happy to say the keys will keep coming. We have many more planned for 2014 and beyond, starting with a new key and another addition to the jewelry line later this month.

What you won’t see: the new release of any more legacy, or variant, editions. Well, with one possible exception. It’s the key we’re asked about the most each week. We’ll see if those tentative plans take us Anywhere.

* David Petersen’s already teased to plans about a very limited “Mouse Guard” marionet. That’s in the works along with Loukas’ sword, Lieam’s sword, Gwendolyn’s pike-axe and more.

* “CHEW” should see the release of a new color Chog, a to-be-revealed SDCC exclusive, Tony’s badge and other goodness. And, of course, we launched our mini bust line with a resin Poyo pre-order today.

* In our Artifact Archive Collection, look for Vasilisa’s Comb, Mohlomi’s Bell, the Ogdru Jahad amulet from “The Island” and more from the “Hellboy” and “B.P.R.D.” universe.

As people’s time allows, we’ll continue to try to get the initial releases signed by creators as often as possible this year.

We’ve also got other projects in the works and who knows where they could lead. The possibilities are endless.

From creators to sculptors to editors, we work with some amazingly nice and incredibly talented people and we have, hands-down, the best customers around. We never forget how lucky we are.

Hope the year brings amazing things for you and yours.

Israel

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Coming up for air

We had a customer ask two weeks ago, very nicely, if we’ve had no news since December. Fair question. The studios has had tons going on, and tons more planned — thanks for the nudge to come up for air and share. For new releases, we’ve got in the works: * “Locke & Key” Owl Key, Mending Key, Philosophoscope Key and maybe a too-be-announced Black Friday key. The series wraps in one more issue? Not for us. We’ve got keys planned for all of 2014, the Gender and Timeshift, to name two. * “Mouse Guard” will see one more piece this winter before 2013 wraps. That line is just getting started. * “CHEW”’s pink Chogs are about to be retired. The SDCC glow Chogs are all snapped up. We have Tony’s FDA badge planned for this fall. The guys had prototypes out at SDCC if you caught them there. * “B.P.R.D.”/ “Hellboy”: The next two pieces, the Elf Shot and Agrippa’s Charm, debut next month. Love the feedback we’ve been getting and really digging the Artifact Archive line. I did an interview with John Scrudder at Behind the Panels last week, and the Giant Key made a cameo in USA Today not too long ago with Joe and Gabe. I had an absolute blast at Boston Con — amazing time, hope to go again next year. I’ll be at Coast City Con in Portland in November for those in greater Northern New England this fall. Take care, and as always, thanks. Israel
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