House of Gog's inaugural collaboration with Montreal-based digital artist Pascal Blanché led to the creation of Moonstone, the Demon Hunter, an original art statue that has made a significant mark on the collectibles market in its own right.

This partnership is defined by a genuine love and passion for art and artists, a relentless pursuit of exceptional craftsmanship and a commitment to creating some of the coolest collectibles on the market.

A 7-minute read on House of Gog’s debut statue with Pascal Blanché.

The genesis of the collaboration

P-A L'Esperance, one of the cofounders of House of Gog, was working at Ubisoft's Montreal studio at the time, on the consumer products team, and had been quietly planning to start something of his own. The collectibles industry was busy making the same superheroes and villains over and over, and as a lifelong toy collector he kept thinking about how much incredible work was sitting on Instagram and Artstation: independent artists with entire universes of their own whose work had never been made into physical collectibles.

The moment it became real was completely accidental. P-A was picking up his running partner at his desk for their usual lunchtime run when he noticed the art on the monitor of the guy sitting next to him. He asked who it was. The answer was Pascal Blanché, an art director at the studio.

Then came the second realization. P-A collects old-school Heavy Metal magazines, and Pascal was the artist behind the cover of issue 270, one of the coolest Heavy Metal covers he had ever seen.

When P-A left Ubisoft to build House of Gog, Pascal was the first artist he contacted, and the shared studio history made the introduction easy. They agreed to lunch at Tsukuyomi, a ramen place around the corner from the studio. P-A started pitching the idea on the walk from the office to the restaurant, and by the time they sat down, Pascal was in.

The ramen was a nice bonus.

Ubisoft Montreal, where it started

The email that started House of Gog, March 9, 2018

Tsukuyomi, Montreal

The follow that made it real

Pascal Blanché's Derelict Planet

Watcher, cover artwork for 3D World magazine

From digital art to the physical world

The original artwork

Bone helmet, sculpt pass

Digital sculpt, full figure

Pascal seeing the prototype for the first time

Design and production process

The design phase began with selecting Moonstone, a character from Blanché's universe, which had already made a notable appearance on the cover of Heavy Metal magazine (#270) in 2014. This artwork was already part of the public's imagination, giving it cultural significance before the statue existed. We wrote more about our artists on the covers of Heavy Metal last week.

Since Pascal works with ZBrush we already had a detailed 3D model to work with as a strong foundation. While we made a number of adjustments to ensure the design would work in physical form, this model provided an excellent starting point. 

Surprisingly, the first sculpt came together almost effortlessly, with barely any revisions needed.

The moon was never part of the plan

The moon started as a promotional idea. We wanted something behind the statue for the reveal photography, a backdrop that would echo the original artwork. That was the whole plan.

Hugues, our co-founder and art director, saw an opportunity to take it further. He suggested that the moon should ship with the piece, making it part of the statue rather than a photo prop.

He was right. The moon is a big part of what makes the original Moonstone illustration so striking. The vivid orange against the figure’s cool two-tone palette creates a contrast that gives the composition much of its visual impact. Take the moon away and you lose something fundamental to the artwork. We realized the same was true of the statue. The moon wasn't simply something behind Moonstone. It was part of what made Moonstone work.

A new resin blend, born From a problem

Moonstone was difficult to produce. The design is full of intricate parts, thin tubing and delicate elements that look fantastic in an illustration and behave very differently once you try to cast them.

Rather than simplify the design, Hugues and his engineering team worked with chemists to develop a softer resin blend. The goal was simple: give the most fragile parts enough flexibility to withstand handling and shipping without snapping under stress.

It does not make a statue indestructible, and we would never claim that it does. It does make delicate parts far more forgiving. The new blend was developed for Moonstone, and we still use it today across House of Gog statues.

Moonstone is where it started.

Setting the edition size

One of the earliest decisions was also one of the hardest. As a brand-new company with a new concept and no track record, we had no idea how many units we could realistically sell. Two thousand? Five hundred? Fifty? At one point, we considered 800. We eventually settled on 400.

It proved to be a good number. It was large enough to give the concept a real chance, small enough to keep the production viable and, most importantly, gave Moonstone room to find its audience over time rather than being defined by a quick sell-out.

We also took an unusual approach by starting production before opening preorders. Typically, preorders serve as both a financing tool for production and a way to gauge final edition size based on demand. However, we wanted collectors to experience our work as soon as possible, so we took the risk and moved ahead. In an industry where collectors often wait two to three years for their preorders to be delivered, this was a breath of fresh air. 

To this day, we remain committed to fast delivery, aiming to ship preorders within six months - one of the quickest turnaround times in the industry.

Heavy Metal 270, September 2014

Hugues Martel, co-founder and art director

Production, unpainted arms

Production, Blademaster visor tubing

Cast parts waiting for assembly

Hand-signed and numbered, 1 of 400

Finished pieces in the workshop

Everything in the box

Launch and Reception

Upon its release, the Moonstone statue was met with excitement from both collectors and art lovers alike, winning multiple awards, including statue of the year (Best Statues of 2019 - Radd Titan Awards). Its limited-edition status, coupled with the unique collaboration between House of Gog and Pascal Blanché, made it stand out in a collectibles market often dominated by the same large IP characters. 

The success of this debut project not only solidified Moonstone as a groundbreaking collectible, but also paved the way for future collaborations, setting a new benchmark for how visual art can be transformed into high-craftsmanship, physical collectibles.

The statue, treated as the illustration

Bone helmet configuration

Blademaster configuration

The moon that was never part of the plan

Uniqueness in the Collectibles Market

This collaboration is unique in its approach to bringing digital art into the physical world. By working directly with the artist and focusing on high-quality production, House of Gog ensures that each piece is not only a collectible but also a work of art. This dedication to art set this collaboration apart in the industry.

This partnership between House of Gog and Pascal Blanché showcases a successful fusion of digital artistry and collectible craftsmanship, offering collectors a fresh, innovative alternative to the traditional collectibles that have long dominated the market.

For a closer look at the "Moonstone" statue, you can watch the unboxing videos and reviews below.

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Interested in owning one of the coolest statues ever? We still have limited quantities of the Moonstone original art statue available exclusively on our shop.

The matching Moonstone art print is also available for $110, printed with UV-protected inks on acid-free matte art paper.

Stay connected with House of Gog and Pascal Blanché, follow us on social media.

@houseofgog on Instagram, Facebook, X, Tik Tok & YouTube 
@pascalblanche Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky & Artstation

Love ya!

-Selina
Team House of Gog | Community Dev.
"Always the illest for the illests"