His Dark Media
Twilight Saga
SherlockChronicles.orgFigures.com has posted a series of images of the forthcoming The Golden Compass action figures and toys. In this article we take a look at the most interesting pictures.
First of all it worthy to note how accurately the toys match the movie material that we've already seen. Lee Scoresby's balloon looks just like the actual model that we saw at Shepperton. If you look closely you'll notice the circular designs on the balloon, in line with what production designer Dennis Gassner's told us at the set visit:
“The simplicity for me was actually the sphere which became the golden compass. The protagonist and the antagonist of our films, you need symbols, simply become that. The symbol for purity [the circle] for Lyra and then the antithesis of that would be for me the oval, which is the extension or manifestation of that symbol. So it's nice to have a contrast, and you can start to build the world from there..
Some other object we instantly recognise are the ship that takes Lyra and the Gyptians to the North, the Noorderlicht, the car that featured in one of the concept art images, and of course a zeppelin.
Another discussion that existed for a while now was the question what Iorek's armour would look like, as the promotional booklet contained an image of a polar bear with horns on his armour. We can now confirm that that is in fact Iofur, or Ragnar Sturlusson as he is known in the movies; Iorek's armour features a much more sober look.
It does seem like Iorek is the most prominently featured character, with such toys as an 18" talking Iorek, an Iorek mask, or even Iorek Byrnison slashing paws — the box reassures us that it's simply a 'roleplay electronic'.
There will also be (as predicted) transforming dæmon plushies. For those of you who who always wanted an alethiometer, here's your chance. It even comes with an authentic carrying pouch.
For those of you who are rooting for the Magisterium you might wish to invest in a couple of spy flies.
In my opinion most of the merchandise really looks interesting. The only thing that I disagree with is the smile on the golden monkey's face.