DST crowns its Marvel Select photo contest winners

Toy maker Diamond Select Toys has officially named the winners in its Marvel Select photo contest. The results include a surprisingly large amount of really awesome Rhino pics.

Don’t get me wrong,, there are plenty of solid entries here, but I was a little shocked by the abundance of pics of the classic Spider-Man villain The Rhino. His figure is one of the best that DST has produced over the last year though, so maybe that shouldn’t come as much of a shock at all.

So without further ado, here’s your winners and the shots that nabbed them their prizes:

It’s been a long time coming, but the massive Marvel Select photo contest is finally finished! We went through all of the entires and picked out the three best, based on a variety of criteria, including pose, lighting, composition, complexity and innovation. Read on to see who the winners were!

The second runner up was Earl E. Ware III, who shot the Marvel Select Rhino standing victorious over a fallen Spider-Man. With the rubble-strewn set and the particles of dust floating in the air, it made for a dark and ominous scene! He wins a pre-production Unleashed Hulk in test packaging and an unpainted brown Amazing Spider-Man prototype.

The first runner-up is Geof Le Baron, who shot Marvel Select’s Agent Venom being overpowered by the Classic Venom, in full-on Madness mode. Whether this scene is literal or metaphorical, the stark white backlight puts the focus fully on the truly disturbing situation unfolding in the foreground, and Geof scores a Fearsome Foes of Spider-Man Gift Set and an unpainted brown Green Goblin prototype.

The winner of the competition is Ryan Vasquez! Ryan was a runner-up in our contest from two years ago with his shot of Marvel Select Juggernaut, and this year’s photo blows that one out of the water! Once again, the Marvel Select Rhino takes on Spider-Man, but this time, Spider-Man executes a dazzling leap over the mid-stride Rhino. For capturing such an action-packed moment on such an elaborate battle zone set, Ryan wins the grand prize: a Don Cheadle-signed Iron Man 2 War Machine figure, a variant Genis-Vell Captain Marvel figure, a prototype Fearsome Foes of Spider-Man Gift Set and an unpainted all-black Venom prototype.

Below, you can see some of the photos we think deserve an honorable mention: Arvin Trinidad’s charging Rhino; Brent Brown’s Phoenix-haunted Marvel Girl; Dominic Dmagmaliw’s victorious Hulk; Fred Saulo’s Spider-Man rogues; James King’s mourning Days of Future Past Wolverine; Johneric Razon’s intense Classic Venom; and Emmanuel Guevara’s hilarious Marvel Select beach party. But thanks to all the entrants for making our toys look so good!