The second movie in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets premiered in 2002 and was based on the 1998 novel by J. K. Rowling. It went on to gross over $879m, beaten in 2002 only by The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It tells the story of Potters second year at Hogwarts and the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster within the school. The [...]
A phenomenon that has travelled far from its Japanese homeland, Chibi (ちび or チビ) is slang for short and is applied to various pop culture genres today. Chief amongst those are the small, chubby caricatures with their small bodies and over-sixed heads - also called super-deformed (SD). A popular style in anime and manga, and also with the Funko figures that are seemingly everywhere these days, we're actually surprised the concept has taken this long [...]
You have to go back six years for the first New Zealand Mint Disney coin. They chose the original Mickey Mouse short, Steamboat Willie, and it came in a full range of sizes up to a staggering kilo of gold. Now the subject is back for a reissue in amore limited form. There are very few changes to the design, just the expected inscriptions showing difference.This time the range is limited to a [...]
The latest in the New Zealand Mint's attractive 'Guards of the Empire' Star Wars themed coin series is upon us, and after looking at the various layers of cannon fodder that makes up the Empire's bulk, we get a look at the elite. The red armour clad Praetorian Guards, named after the bodyguards were the last line of defence for the leader of the First Order, and like the rest of the Empire's forces, they [...]
Launching in April, the New Zealand Mint issued the first Archangel in a new series of rectangular 1oz silver coins - Gabriel. The second is here now and features a depiction of the Archangel Michael from a stained-glass window in Hull Minster in England. A beautiful piece of art by Mary Hutchinson, Gabriel was also based on her work in this superb 13th century building. You can read more about it in [...]
This isn't the first time the iconic Imperial battlestation, the Death Star, has appeared on a coin as part of the New Zealand Mint's extensive Star Wars range. In September 2018, the moon-sized instrument of destruction featured as the subject of a 2oz ultra-high relief silver coin, with a suitably healthy price tag. It's back as part of the mints long-running Star Wars Classic series in cheaper form, and also in gold, which isn't...There are [...]
One of the New Zealand Mint's superb 'Premium Foil' series, DC Comic Covers reproduces some of the iconic cover artwork from the last 80 years of what is now known today as DC. Some of the most popular superheroes around have been birthed in this period, and with the genre now more popular than ever, although ironically not as actual comics, these are a great way for the fan to obtain the [...]
We love a good dinosaur coin as much as any coin collector, so it was great news to discover the New Zealand Mint was adding their own effort to the mix. The Tyrannosaurus Rex debuted a couple of months ago, and now it's the turn of the behemoth traditionally portrayed in life or death combat with it - the Triceratops.The big triple-horned herbivore is an icon of the palaeontological world, maybe reaching 9m [...]
Easily our favourite of the New Zealand Mint's Star Wars coins being released in 2020, 'Guards of the Empire' offers a look at the cannon fodder warriors that fight on a daily basis to maintain the Galactic Empire. We've already seen the iconic Stormtrooper and the earlier Clone Trooper, but now its the turn of the black clad Death Trooper, the sneaky Special Forces of the Star Wars Universe.A 1oz antique-finished fine silver [...]
Videogames have grown from the weird little hobby of the far-sighted few, to a mainstream juggernaut that drawfs the movie and music industries. It's easy to understand why. Other forms of entertainment generally involve soaking up someone elses vision, but gaming allows you to control the narrative personally, to a quite extraordinary degree in some modern titles.The history of videogames is something garnering huge interest, and even the coin world has dipped a toe into [...]
