Gaming Heads have revealed the latest statue in their 20 Years of Tomb Raider Collection. This statue celebrates the reboot era with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Lara donning her snow gear from the beginning of the game. She stands over 20" tall and is available in three different editions. The Regular Edition, the Exclusive Edition, and the Collective Edition.
The Exclusive Edition is limited to 500 pieces and includes interchangeable arms with dual axes and glow stick as well as the option of Lara wearing her beanie and goggles.
Tomb Raider has once again been honored in a collection of stamps by Royal Mail as part of a special selection based on video games. There are full sheets, miniatures, and bundles available for purchase via the Royal Mail website. As you may recall, this isn't the first time Lara has been stamped. There was also a limited edition stamp packet celebrating 20 Years of Tomb Raider in the Square Enix Store UK and France ran a video game stamp sheet featuring The Angel of Darkness.
We finally get a look at the ever secretive "20 Years of an Icon" statue collection by Gaming Heads! The image above is a mock-up of how the statues will look and how they all can fit together in one hell of a gorgeous display!
The statues were originally going to be cast in 1/4 scale which would have made the collection massive with a massive price tag. Plans have changed and now they will be cast in 1/6 scale making the collection much more feasible for collector's such as myself. There will be exclusive variations of each statue with slight differences, more on that later.
The first to be released will be the "Tomb Raider I" statue, hopefully coming later this year, followed by the "Tomb Raider III" statue early next year. The other statues will follow consecutively.
Below are the first 3D printed statues of the collection. You can imagine how wonderfully detailed these statues will be. Note how the Tomb Raider I statue's arms are posed differently...hmm.
The details of the statue collection were first shown by Meagan and Morrigan in the Crystal Compass Live stream. Check it out here: Crystal Compass Live - Episode #2
2016 was the 20 year anniversary of Tomb Raider, the original game from 1996. It was a year full of celebration and unique events showcasing everyone's love for our heroine Lara Croft. It went by pretty fast and boy was it a whirlwind of fun, but you may have missed some things. So I decided to put together a reminiscent post of the happenings of last year.
In the Tomb Raider 20 Year Challenge famous YouTubers and Gamers competed against each other in true adventurer style to win the ultimate prize: The Golden Axe. Check out both episodes below.
Tomb Raider 20 Year Challenge: Episode 1
Tomb Raider 20 Year Challenge: Episode 2
See how these Lara Croft cosplayers celebrated at San Diego Comic Con...oh and the bear.
A Day with Lara Crofts at SDCC 2016
Sit down with the panel at Comic Con to discuss Lara's massive multimedia empire. Speaker include the one and only Meagan Marie, the fabulous Camilla Luddington, the amazing Andy Park, the phenomenal Noah Hughes, the wonderful Debbie Lash, and the Kinda Funny Greg Miller.
SDCC 2016 Panel: 20 Years of Tomb Raider - Lara Croft's Multimedia Empire
It was a fantastic year for Tomb Raider and if you wanna see more or if you feel that there is something else that you missed, fiddle through the official Tomb Raider YouTube channel to find out.
We have the official launch date for The Tomb RaiderSuite Kickstarter Campaign! This Friday, May 26th, 2017 we will be able to donate and support this amazing project! Visit and bookmark www.tombraidersuite.com to learn more and get in on the action come launch day. If you missed the previous post detailing what is to come, click HERE.
Crystal Dynamics just released a fantastic video celebrating the culmination of the 20 Years of Tomb Raider that took place throughout 2016. Last year held so many great moments and accomplishments for Lara Croft and Tomb Raider, and with the film coming out next year, there is no doubt to be many more.
If you look closely in the video, you'll notice as I did, that the "20 Years of an Icon" Gaming Heads statue collection will start releasing in the fall of this year. That's over a year from when it was initially presumed to be released. I am just glad to finally see more details on the project. Hopefully we'll get some prototype images soon. Cross your fingers.
Refresh Yourself on the Collection Announcement HERE.
I was just mentioning the other day that Lara Croft is like the only character that hasn't been made into one of those POP! figures...and lo and behold, now she is! Coming this winter, Funko is releasing the official Lara Croft POP! figure and a Rock Candy figure as well! The POP! vinyl figure should be out in January and the Rock Candy vinyl figure should follow in February. Keep an eye out!
GamerShoes and Crystal Dynamics have just revealed a new line of Tomb Raider kicks! I can't believe we finally have official TR shoes to match our TR lives! All of them look absolutely amazing! Check out the full line and order yours HERE!
A few months back I was asked by Crystal Dynamics to share what Lara Croft and Tomb Raider mean to me and here it is! I mean I could go on for days about the topic, but I managed to fit it all into this short video clip. Please enjoy and share your passion for Tomb Raider in the comments below. :)
The "20 Years of Tomb Raider: Digging Up the Past, Defining the Future" book written by Meagan Marie is available now! Get yours at you local book store or online HERE. Inside you'll find a massive insight to the entire Tomb Raider franchise including fan content and unreleased games! I have the amazing pleasure of being featured in the book as well, Showing off some of my Tomb Raider tattoos! Be sure to pick up a copy for your collection!
Player Piano and Crystal Dynamics debut the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration Medley along with an amazing music video! Composer and Pianist Sonya Belousova and Director Tom Grey beautifully blend Tomb Raider's Main Theme, The Angel of Darkness, Legend, and finally Tomb Raider 2013.
“I had an incredible time composing and producing the music for Crystal Dynamics,” said Composer and Pianist Sonya Belousova. “My goal was to reflect the spirit and the journey of the Tomb Raider franchise by travelling all the way from the intimate solo piano moments through the dark romantic lush strings to the epicness of the whole symphony orchestra.”
“We wanted to capture the spirit of adventure found in the Tomb Raider series and I figured that there would be no better way than to take our piano on its own escapade to the desert, the forests, and in the center of a storm” elaborated Director Tom Grey. “We certainly had a lot of fun…I can’t say the same for the piano.”
Fans can download the track for free via SoundCloud and the sheet music to boot!
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration launches this coming Tuesday! Until then we've got a bunch of new screenshots and a glorious new trailer to tide us over. The game is releasing on PS4, but the new DLC and modes will be available for Xbox One and PC users as well with the Season Pass or separately.
The "Woman VS Wild" series continues with a deeper look at all that is to come in Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration, including Croft Manor! Check it out!
I was recently invited to a private viewing of the content shown at this past Gamescom event. I was joined by many of the other fansite webmasters as we watched the footage unfold and Meagan Marie and Will Kerslake answered some of our eager questions. What was previously only shown behind closed doors in the Gamescom Theatre is now revealed for all to see in the video above. Rich Briggs narrates the video giving a little more insight of what to expect without spoiling too much.
The demo opens up with what is called "Thin Ice," showcasing a section from the middle of the game. From what I could tell the game runs very beautifully on the PS4. We still need confirmation on the controllers supporting lighting and sound effects, as was with the reboot on PS4, but Will did mention the controller works as a flashlight in the VR mode of "Blood Ties." Speaking of VR, it sounds as though it is a very rich experience worth trying. Regarding the inclusion of old school, polygonal Lara skins, Meagan spoke of wanting to capture the history of the franchise with a good variety and even including the AOD sunglasses. The "Extreme Survival" difficulty mode sounds very difficult. There are no checkpoints. The only way to save is to fight your way to the next available campsite and ignite the camp. New achievements/trophies are added to the package as well.
Now the "Blood Ties" content in Croft Manor is what I'm most excited about. Lara's uncle is contesting her legal status in ownership of the Manor and she must find her father's will and testament to prove she is the rightful owner. This story-driven content actually fits into the main game's timeline in between Syria and Siberia, which I find is a nice touch. Lara wears her "London Jacket" outfit during this level as she discovers rooms she had never been in. There will be plenty of clues, relics, and even references to the old games. "So many throwbacks and secrets" Meagan noted. Will also spoke of "comments from Winston about certain freezing devices."
"Lara's Nightmare" is a new mode playable in Lara's Manor after completing the story portion. The level makes more sense to me now after hearing Meagan and Will elaborate. Think of it as Lara having a literal nightmare. Where everything that she has seen, everything she has encountered is culminating into one dark, twisted dream. It's the Manor story again, but then Lara's uncle is morphed into a demon like visage condemning her to death for fighting him on the matter of the estate. The manor is flooded with zombie-like men coming for Lara constantly. "Supernatural has always been a part of the Tomb Raider universe" said Meagan. You only have one life. You are trying to beat the level and get the highest score. You have to survive the hordes of zombies, destroy floating skull effigies, and then there is a boss apparently, which I did not see. The level is randomized each time you play as well which makes it that much more of a challenge.
Last, but not least is the Co-Op Endurance Mode which has you surviving with a friend in the bitter wilderness. This mode is only only, no local play. You both get to choose a couple of challenges and cards before starting and share them. The traps are more difficult in the fact that they do not slow down to give you time to shoot them. You need to disable them by tripping them first or you will die. Your teammate can revive you, bu you only have a limited number of revives. You can gain a revive by discovering a sarcophagi. You and your teammate share food and other supplies, but only if you are near each other. You individually collect weapons for more realism.
I, personally, am so excited to play this new content when it arrives on October 11th and I hope this inside information has you ready to play as well.
Xbox brings us a new trailer showcasing the upcoming "Blood Ties" and "Lara's Nightmare" DLC that will be available alongside the PlayStation 4 release of Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration edition. I have said it before, and I will say it again; I am so excited to play the imfamous manor! It has been too long! Check out the IGN Gamescom interview below for more footage and info. Also visit the ROTTR: 20 Year Celebration Page.
We've got a brand new piece of concept art and some tantalizing screenshots coming out of Gamescom in Germany today! Take a look at Lara's Manor from the upcoming "Blood Ties" and "Lara's Nightmare" levels! This will be the first time we've visited Croft Manor since Tomb Raider: Underworld and it looks absolutely divine! It's going to be a joy to play through the game with classic polygon Lara as well.
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration releases the 11th of October this year on the PS4.
