Bowen Designs
Founded in 1992[1] (first incorporated as Bowen Designs, Inc. in 1991), Bowen Designs was a company dealing in the creation and sale of entertainment-based collectible statues. Most Bowen products released thus far are based on Marvel Comics characters, but products based on independent comics and movies have also been created.
Industry | Action figures |
---|---|
Founded | 1992 |
Founder | Randy Bowen |
Headquarters | , United States |
Website | http://www.bowendesigns.com/ |
The primary designer and sculptor for Bowen Designs is Randy Bowen. He started as a garage kit creator and throughout the years became a well-known sculptor in the industry. Currently, Bowen Designs consists of many more people and often employs freelance sculptors and prototype painters due to the large amount of product being released. Bowen Design's produces mostly statues and busts based on heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe.
The Marvel License
Bowen Designs' tie to Marvel Comics began as early as 1997. In May 1998, Bowen released the first Bowen Marvel Mini-Bust in the line (The Hulk). In December 1998, the first in a series of Bowen Marvel Statues hit the market (Daredevil). The license once covered mini-statues, done much smaller than Bowen's other Marvel statues, but few were released and the mini-statues were not revisited. The Marvel license periods were broken up into "phases," where a new phase was started upon confirmation of renewal of the license. Phase 5 was the last phase to be produced, leaving Bowen Designs future with the Marvel license in the dark. Attributing factors to the lack of renewal for a Phase 6 may include Marvel being acquired by Disney. It is unknown if Bowen Designs will pursue a renewal of the Marvel License, or even if Disney/Marvel would be open to it. Randy Bowen recently announced that the company will come back at some point with new statues, but the announcement failed to specify what kind of statues or what properties any future productions might encompass.[2]
MYTHOS Editions
The MYTHOS line was conceived as a way for Bowen Designs to release statues related to licenses that are in the public domain. This includes mostly mythology based pieces so far. Being untied to any sort of license agreement, this gives the sculptor and designer free rein over all aspects of the character sculpt.
Sculptors
Sculptors employed by Bowen Designs for various projects include:
- Randy Bowen-main sculptor
- Tim Bruckner
- Ulises Cantu
- Stephen Hickman
- The Kucharek Brothers
- Thomas Kuntz
- Jim Maddox
- Barsom Manashian
- Tony Mcvey
- Joseph Menna
- Mark Newman
- Gabe Perna
- Ruben Procopio
- The Shiflett Brothers
- Erick Sosa
- Joy and Tom Studios
- Carl Surges
- Neil Surges
- Ray Villafane
And many others...
Prototype Painters
Prototype Painters employed by Bowen Designs for various projects include:
- John Ficchi
- Saul Alavrez
- Randy Lambert
- Dan Cope
And many others...
Products
- Gargoyle
Number | Character | Edition Size | Sculptor(s) | Phase |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Daredevil Museum (red) | 4000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
2 | Daredevil Museum (yellow) | 2000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
3 | Thor Museum | 3000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
4 | Captain America 1940's Museum | 2000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
5 | Captain America Modern Museum | 4000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
6 | The Thing | 4000 | Randy Bowen | 1 |
References
- "About Bowen Designs". Bowen Designs. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- "Bowen Designs Guardians of the Galaxy Groot Mini-Bust Available February 2013". Cosmic Book News. Retrieved 2017-05-25.