Hey gang! Hope everyone is very well and that cabin fever isn’t hitting those of you piled up with snow too hard. Tonight I have a VERY exciting update for you guys and gals, and I am really quite honored to have had a chance to ask Tom Woodruff a couple of questions that you guys have been asking me. What exactly happened to the props that were used in AvP and AvP-R? Here’s the scoop from the man himself…

PStuff: What happens with the props and costumes after filming? Are they destroyed or distributed to the actors and crew or does ADI simply store them?

Tom: Some of them actually get destroyed (or badly damaged) during the shoot. Anything that survives the production is returned to us and stored. Occasionally we’ll get the chance to re-use certain pieces like some of the Alien suits from the first AVP for AVP-R, with new heads of course. With the Alien body count as high as it has become, it’s useful to have a low-cost solution to providing fodder for Predators!

PStuff: Are there any channels that collectors can go through to acquire original movie props used by ADI?

Tom: Unfortunately the studio is not keen to part with actual effects pieces, especially when it can serve their needs for a future installment. At this point we have no idea if there will be another AVP, but they will want to keep their options open by keeping close rein on the stock.

PStuff: ADI works with companies like Sideshow to produce reproductions of props used in movies, such as the AvP Shuriken, the Wolf’s bio helmet and the Wolf’s Cannon (In fact, I have all of these on pre-order as I type this!). How can the average collector express his or her wishes for additional items? As an avid collector and someone that is greatly involved in the community, I know for a fact that fans have been waiting for an AvP spear since the first AvP was released. Is there a way to convey this desire and have it considered for production?

Tom: We can definitely pass along what we hear from the fans. It might also serve to address Sideshow Collectibles directly online with interests in possible products.

So there you have it guys… now you know what happens to the props that we’d all trade our souls to own! I would like to say a huge thanks to Tom Woodruff who took the time out of his crazy schedule to answer my questions and I suggest you guys keep your eyes open to win a special gift from the folks at ADI next month.

A SURPRISE GIFT FROM KRE8-FX

I am absolutely stunned at a gift that has recently shown up at my house, sent to me from Pete at Kre8-FX. For the last 2 months, Pete has secretly been working on a full size Wolf bust for me as a thank you for helping out with the costume sales and helping get Kre8-FX on it’s feet. I am truly shocked by this piece, it’s HUGE, insanely kick-ass, and I am very humbled by Pete taking the time to make this for me.

This is a full 1:1 scale bust, cast in latex and foam filled with a wicked paint-up, Bambooie dreads and a gorgeous custom stand with a movie plaque and the Kre8-FX logo. The sculpt is massive, and overall this piece is bigger than the Sideshow Predator 1 bust, it’s amazing! For those of you already drooling and wondering how to get one of these for yourself, we don’t have any plans on selling built up pieces like this (Hey! It’s MINE and no, you can’t have it!) but we may sell a couple of extra pulls in the shop. If we do offer it, I’ll post a shop update announcement so you’ll know it’s available.

So again, thank you so much Pete, I’m just floored with this thing. Be sure to check out all the photos I took of this beast (It didn’t even fit in my photo tent, I had to improvise) by clicking the photo icon below… Oh, and there’s a few pics of Pete working on it as well!

MONSTERZ.NET EXCLUSIVES ARE IN STOCK!

Heads up guys! All of the Monsterz exclusives I had on order have arrived and are in stock in the shop, but quantities are very limited, so act now or you’ll be waiting another few months! I know a bunch of you were waiting for the clocks, and those are in as well.

Here is what’s arrived in stock:

I’ve also received a ton of stock for the regular Narin kits I carry and I have more Chopper and Celtic kits coming tomorrow as well as the first shipment of Hybrids (Sorry, they’re all pre-sold, but no worries… next one will be here in 4 weeks or less). So check out the shop for all the latest goodies!

That’s about it for now guys! Going to be a crazy week for shipping, so enjoy and I’ll cyas on the next update! be sure to leave your comments by clicking on the comment button below and using the form to leave me a note.

Hey all! Just a note that the awesome new book from ADI on the making of AvP-R is turning up in all your favorite book shops!

Here’s some places to go:

Direct at Design Studio Press

Amazon.com

They’ve got the paperback up at Chapers, Coles and Indigo

Borders (Same thing as Amazon)

Barnes and Noble

Booksamillion

For those of you in the UK: Blackwell

Enjoy!

Dan

Good evening ladies and gents, have I got a TRUCKLOAD to talk about tonight. First off, I would like to wish you all and your families the very best in 2008 and I hope you are all looking forward to an absolute ONSLAUGHT of new goodies for you pred-heads out there. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (political correctness be damned) and that you had a safe and happy holiday. With the parties over and the worst of the hangovers shaken off, it’s time to get back to business! Shall we dance…?

ONE TIME BARGAIN COSTUME SALE!

To start things off, I have two costumes for sale made by Joe Evans. These are NOT the costumes that I sell with Kre8-FX (You can read about those costumes here). These were made by my friend Joe and they are in his shop in the USA. He wants to sell these suits ASAP and there is only 1 of each. These new suits are being sold as is and once they are sold, there are no more available. I’m sorry, but there will be no “setting it aside” or financing or anything… basically the first person to send me the money via Paypal for a suit gets it and the sale is done. Payment is paypal only and buyer will be charged an extra 3% to cover fees.

These are FANTASTIC suits and I can guarantee you will NOT find something like this ever again at these prices. Like I said, Joe wants them out of the shop and his prices are VERY cheap. And again, these suits are new and are sold as is.

First suit is the Predator 1 costume:

Click the icon below for photos of the P1 suit:

(PLEASE NOTE in the photos where someone is posing in the suit, it’s actually a girl with a small build wearing the costume, so the suit is obviously too big for her. I would recommend this suit to anyone around 5′6″ to 6′1″. Also you will see some photos of a full mask and some of a half-mask. This suit actually comes with the half-mask only as per my request. It’s done this way so when you’re at a party, all you have to do is take off your helmet to eat and drink. In a full mask, you have to take off your helmet AND mask in order to eat or drink, PLUS a half-mask is MUCH cooler to wear than a full mask because your face is all open:

The second suit is an AvP costume:

Click the icon below for photos of the AvP suit:

Pricing for these suits are as follows:

Predator 1 Costume: $2000.00 USD
AvP Costume: $2300.00 USD

Shipping in the USA is $50 and $80 to Canada. Overseas destinations need to contact me for a custom quote.

If you would like to purchase one of these suits OR if you have some questions about them and you are considering buying one of them, all you have to do is contact me and let me know. I will respond right away with the payment details and first person to pay gets the suits.

That’s it… good luck and congratulations to anyone lucky enough to grab these bargains!

COSTUME SALES PAGE UPDATE

I have just completely revamped the costume sales page for the Predator costumes sold by us and Kre8-FX Productions. I’ve added new details and pricing as well as a FAQ area at the bottom to answer common questions. One really important note is that we have suspended the production of animatronics until further notice on new orders. They are simply too time consuming to make and locate parts for and it’s KILLING our production schedule, so we put the kibosh on that. So, if you want to check out our gorgeous costumes, check it out:

NEW BOOK: AVP-R - INSIDE THE MONSTER SHOP

DesignStudio Press has released another ADI book called Aliens vs Predator: Requiem - Inside the Monster Shop! And while most book companies still don’t even have it listed for order, much less have it in stock, you can actually order it direct from DesignStudio Press. Just click here and have your credit card ready!

For those of you that have seen the first version of this book released for the first AvP movie, you know just how awesome this will be… for you folks that missed out the first time, you definitely want to get this book. It’s LOADED with pics and information guaranteed you missed by watching the film alone. In fact, with AvP-R being so darn dark (see my review further down), you almost need to get this book to check out the detailed work you missed on the creature suits. Definitely a great buy!

MY MINI AvP-R REVIEW

OK, so everyone is busting my chops on what I thought of the latest movie… here are my thoughts:

First off, it took me a week to finally get in to a theater to see this… My wife wanted to come with me, and it wasn’t until New year’s Eve that we had someone to watch my daughter so we could go. I literally brought in the new year watching Wolf kick some alien ass.

Now the first thing is, yes, it’s full of plot holes… BUT I didn’t tear the movie apart with them for one reason: the Wolf Predator kicked ass. Seriously. The only reason I tore AvP a new one by finding over 200 plot holes (yes, we actually did this on a forum… we found 200 plot holes) was because 2 Predators were killed within 80 seconds of finally seeing them BY 1 ALIEN!!! i was so disgusted by that, it ruined the entire film. But not in AvP-R my friend, uh uh, nadda… Wolf wipes the floor with them.

So overall I loved the pred, but the movie was WAAAAAAAAAY too dark, constantly. You couldn’t really make out any details on the wolf, much less any clue to coloration. My wife didn’t even pick off the battle damaged face and missing mandible until I told her about it after the movie ended. It was just too dark.. some dark spots in some places is OK, like the sewers, but the scenes in the hospital should have been way brighter, you couldn’t see jack. At one point when they fight in the stairwell, it’s so damn dark you can’t see a single thing. So yeah, my major issue was shit was too dark.

Second thing was I didn’t like the effects used for the aliens… the pred looked kick ass and believable and Ian did a wicked job in the new slimmer suit. But the aliens looked fake and what REALLY stuck out was the parts in the sewer that had the “secreted resin” spots. In Aliens where you see a lot of that resin material dripping with slime, it looks realistic, but the shit they used in this film… it looked like they used white plastic grocery bags with slime smeared on them. Several times you see an alien’s head move in close to a victim… it literally looks like the head is mounted on a trolley and it’s wheeled in, it’s pretty bad. In fact, there isn’t a single frame in the entire movie that shows a complete shot of an alien. You see tails, heads, arms etc… but not a full frame shot of the alien or Hybrid now that I think of it.

But I must say Tom did a GREAT job in the Hybrid… his movement was cool and I liked the concept. The poor guys must have lost 20 lbs of water in that thing!

My last complaint… they revealed to much in the form of trailers, sneak peeks and all the other clips. They really showed pretty much all the cards even though they said there was plenty of surprises left. Well no, there wasn’t actually. I watched most of the movie already knowing exactly what was happening next because it ha already been posted on the web as “teasers”.

But yeah, Wolf owned so I’m happy… too bad it was so f’in dark that you miss out on a lot of detail. I’ll buy the DVD for sure, but hopefully they do a director’s cut edition and add about 25 minutes to the movie.. it’s definitely way too short and rushed. In fact, my good friend Ian, who was onsite during some shooting in BC, confirmed that 2 entire scenes they filmed were never included in the final cut. Overall, ADI did a KILLER job, especially on the Wolf… too bad it was so dark though, so a lot of their hard work in the details was lost on the average Joe.

So yeah, those are my happy thoughts on the movie! Click the comments button below and post your thoughts on the movie!

SHOP UPDATE

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have TONS of new stock coming in, so be sure to check out the shop for all kinds of kick-ass new pre-orders coming up!

So that’s it for now gang… I have a ton more to add and many new updates coming up, so stay tuned!

Thanks!
Dan

Hi gang! Welcome to a new type of feature tonight, where we take a minute to share with you some new goodies that artists in the GK community have been working on. This will be the first of many such write-ups (hopefully) and I hope you enjoy some of the awesome talent out there and it will give you a sneak peek at some of the goodies coming up in the near future. If you would like to submit work to be featured in an upcoming Artist Watch article, please use the contact page to send me a note about what you would like to feature and we’ll take it from there!

Tonight, I would like to start things off with a GORGEOUS paint-up by my good friend and fellow Hivester “Syndicate” member Al Degregorio. He’s put together a sweet version of one of Narin’s older kits - the Gun Arm Predator:

One of my favorite things with Al’s build-ups is each piece he does comes with it’s own little short story, which is really unique and fun to read. Here’s what Al had to say on this guy:

The Story
1944, Germany…SS troops are on the move after witnessing a fireball crashing to earth. After probing and securing the area, the creature; along with the ship, were taken to an underground lab where the wounded Hunter was sedated and tested. Hitler saw this as a great advantage to use against the enemy by trying to control the creature for use in war. Drawing on the hunter’s technology, a massive gun was constructed in place of the missing arm along with a manipulating sedative to control the creatures mind. April, 1945…Germany was on the brink of losing the war. Hitler ruled it was time to release his weapon. Upon entering the lab, the troops noticed the creature and the gun were missing. Hitler was quickly escorted back to his secret underground bunker. Little did the troops know the Predator was lurking and followed their every move. Hitler sits and waits quietly listening to the bombs above…never realizing the cloaked Hunter is staring at him from across the room…

If you would like to read everything Al had to say on this kit and leave him some feedback, check out his original post on the Hive forum HERE. For anyone that digs this kit and would like to order one for their own collection, I have some stock on the way and you can pre-order yours in our shop HERE.

Nicely done Al and thanks for the kudos to Predatorstuff in your postings! *hugs*

MONSTER IN THE MACHINE

I was recently contacted by the good folks at Monster in the Machine Sculpting Group and they have a couple of VERY interesting pieces coming down the pipe fairly soon. I hope to actually carry these in the shop at some point, but for now they have sent me some preview photos and I’ve been given permission to show these off to fellow Predatorstuff.com blog readers!

So first up is the nearly complete Bat Creature Predator Killer:

This kit is currently in the final stages of completion, however I’ve only been given access to photos showing the main creature’s bust. Apparently this will come with an elaborate base featuring the skull of a dead alien and severed predator head. OK granted this kit will involve a DEAD Predator, which is pretty much boo hiss hiss, but I still can’t wait to see what the final product looks like.

For now, you can click the icon below to check out the progress pics so far:

The second item is in the VERY rough stages of sculpting… this is called the Predator Rex and from what I’m reading, this thing is going to extremely elaborate and MASSIVE!

Here is what MiM had to say about this upcoming piece:

He will be HUGE, a very powerful breed of predator, bred to become a king predator, he will be sitting on top a a bunch of predator corpses, skulls, and other defeated foes including Aliens, and other huge monsters.
They will form a kind of throne where this P-rex will rest after long hours of fighting for the throne and becoming the last one standing…or rather sitting (resting) on a throne/pile of defeated foes…remember the last scene in the Chronicles of Riddick?
well something like that.

Sounds pretty bad ass to me, can’t wait to see more shots of this! Right now all we have our the rough shaping of the head of the Pred, but MiM told me more shots will be coming soon and would like to share with you guys the various stages of taking a complex sculpt from start to finish. For now, you can click on the icon below and check out the sculpt in progress of the head:

That’s it for now gang! Hope to see more of your work in my inbox soon!

Dan

Hey guys, check this out… scored some pics of an upcoming 2008 AvP-R calendar and you can get a better look at the pred’s face!

You can clearly see some of the scarring and burned off dreads… pretty damn cool! The more I see, the more promising this film is looking. Hopefully we can all kick the first AvP movie under the carpet and focus on something a bit more promising.

UPDATE! You can buy the calendar at calendars.com… click here to order!

There’s a couple of pics of the calendar, just click on the icon below:

Enjoy!
Dan

A few days ago, September 12th came and with the passing of that day, the dust got a little higher, my memory got a little worse and the bones started cracking a bit more than usual… yup, my birthday passed. This year was year numero 31 for me, otherwise known as the second anniversary of the death of my beloved 20s. But it wasn’t without plenty of surprises, and one of this them was this completely unexpected haul courtesy of my good friend Mr. Al DeGregorio:

Now, you’re probably wondering just what the heck you’re looking at… well, I have been looking for a Machiko style girl for my Predator collection for ages and I have yet to get one until NOW! (If you don’t know who Machiko Noguchi is, you can read about her here.) Al completely customized a sexy Kotobukiya Ninja Gaiden Ayane PVC statue, which is a nice size at 1:6 scale, and converted her in to an Anime style female human hunter hauling human and Predator weaponry. All that with a hot bod too! She comes complete with several automatic weapons, samurai sword, Predator Plasma Cannon and armor detailing and wrist computer. It’s a gorgeous custom and I can’t thank Al enough for hooking me up with this.

Now what good is a haul without pics right? Click on the photo icon below for my photos of this sexy killin’ gal:

Thanks again Al, this was really very generous of you! I’d also like to thank all my friends in the community for the threads, PMs, and emails all wishing me a happy birthday. It’s pretty funny actually… some of my family never called me but I think half the internet got a hold of me lol! You guys rock, thanks everyone <3

Dan

PS. No, this is definitely NOT for sale

Time to show you who takes home the Hot Toys AvP Elder Predator figure, valued at $129.99! Once again I would like to thank Sideshow Collectibles for their tremendous support and we had an amazing turnout! I received over 300 entries!

Before we announce the winner, lets answer the trivia questions!

1. In the early stages of filming Predator 1, a completely different suit was originally used as the alien hunter and quickly scraped in favor of a new suit designed by Stan Winston Studios and worn by Kevin Peter Hall. Who was the actor that wore the original monster suit for 2 days before walking off the set?

It was Jean-Claude Van Damme

2. Who came up with the idea of having mandibles on the Predator?

The idea of creating a creature with mandibles was suggested by James Cameron.

3. Name the actor from Predator 2 that has been killed by a Predator, an Alien and a Terminator.

Bill Paxton.

4. Why didn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger agree to join the Predator 2 cast?

He had already committed to Terminator 2.

5. At the end of Predator 2, the elder Predator throws an old gun to Danny Glover’s character. Inscribed on the weapon is “Raphael Adolini 1715”… who is this referring to?

Raphael Adolini is a fictional character from the Predator series. He is an Italian-born Moroccan-raised Barbary pirate. He was one of the most feared pirates of his day, but because of the mysterious disappearance of him and his whole crew at the height of his career, others like Blackbeard have been remembered with more notoriety. His ship, the “Muerte Negra,” was feared especially because unlike many ships which flew the Jolly Roger, Adolini’s ship flew a red flag, the “jolie rouge,” which signaled to its captives death to all. The phrase “dead men tell no tales,” has been ascribed to Adolini. It was carved above his cabin door, when his ship was found floating vacant, east of the Bermuda Triangle in 1718, The flintlock pistol rumored to have been one of Adolini’s favorite prizes was taken from Ivar the Boneless after Adolini attacked and plundered the ship of the Viking pirate in April 1715.

At the end of Predator 2, Michael Harrigan is given that pistol by the Predators as a prize after he kills one of their own. This is the first reference to his existence. The story of Adolini’s demise was later told in the Dark Horse comic book series.

6. Throughout the film Alien vs Predator, Paul Anderson pays tribute to the older Alien and Predator movies several times with scenes that are directly referencing those older movies. Describe at least 1 scene where this is done and which movie and scene it is referencing.

a. The pen scene referencing when Bishop did the knife trick in Aliens
b. Lex calling the alien “One Ugly Mother F’er” in tribute to Predator 1
c. The altars where victims were placed in the Chamber of Sacrifices of the pyramid is arranged exactly the same as the hibernation pods in the original Alien movie.

There were MANY others and most people got this right.

7. For AvP, ADI is the company that did the special effects and props. What does ADI stand for?

ADI stands for Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated

BONUS QUESTION – If you correctly answer this question along with the other 7 questions above, your name will be added a second time to the final pool of names:

During the filming of Predator 1, Stan Winston’s crew pulled a prank on Stan himself in his hotel room. Stan immediately thought that the always-joking Arnold Schwarzenegger had pulled off the prank so he retaliated by doing the same thing to Arnold’s room. 20 years later, Stan found out that it was in fact the CREW that pranked him all along and not Arnold. What was the prank?

Stan’s crew gathered up a bunch of MASSIVE bullfrogs (about the size of a half-loaf of bread) and stuffed them all in to Stan’s shower in his room. When Stan found the frogs, he immediately thought his good friend and practical joker Arnold had done it, so he had his crew gather up the frogs and put them in Arnold’s room. It was many years later when it finally came out that the crew had done it all along!

So who won? The winner is….

ARIEL GONZALEZ from Miami Florida!

Ariel successfully answered all the questions, including the bonus question, and was the first name drawn from the hat! Congrats Ariel, you’ve won the contest and Sideshow will be sending out your prize very soon!

Thank you to everyone that took the time to enter, and I think we’ll do it again soon but with even harder questions

Take care!
Dan

Hi Everyone!

Some exciting news I just discovered! Ian Whyte, the actor that played Scar in AvP and plays the “Wolf” Predator in AvP-R has signed up on the PlanetAvP.com forums to answer questions about himself and the AvP movies!

People are hitting him with a TON of questions and so far he’s responded a couple of times as best he can. Dave Shipley from PlanetAvP.com assures us this is the real deal and not some poser, so if you want to get in on the fun, check it out on their forums in this thread!

Here’s a sample of what he has to say:

Being in a heavy and constrictive costume for 12 hours a day can really take it’s toll on your body and mind. Even if you’re not necessarily a claustrophobic, it doesn’t mean your brain won’t react to it. I was lucky this time around in ‘Requiem’, the suit was a lot lighter and less bulky than the one I wore in AvP, allowing me to be a lot more active and to really get into this role, more so than the first film. Also, Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis designed a brilliant Predator costume, as to where the helmet could come off in a jiffy if things got a little too hot. This really saved me at times.”

Pretty cool opportunity, so be sure to go look in on the discussion.

Next up, Sideshow has posted up Quictime Virtual Reality 360 degree tours of all their upcoming AvP-R prop replicas on their site. It was announced today in their newsletter! So click the image below for the prop you want to see, then click the 360 VR icon located under the picture towards the left (the icon with quicktime logo on it):

Preorder this direct from Sideshow or click below to view more photos:

Preorder this direct from Sideshow or click below to view more photos:

Preorder this direct from Sideshow or click below to view more photos:

That’s about it for now folks, just remember to get your entries in on our Predator Trivia Contest! You’ve got 1 more week to submit your answers and then 1 lucky person takes home a Hot Toys AvP Elder figure!

Have a great weekend!
Dan