Diamond Select Toys has announced the impending release of a series of statues based on Neil Gaiman's 1602 mini-series from Marvel Comics.  The first figure in the series will be Dr. Strange sculpted by Andy Bergholtz with direction supplied by 1602 artist Andy Kubert.  The 1602 Dr. Strange Neil Gaiman Special Edition statue will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by Gaiman.  The special edition figure will be strictly limited to 1,000 pieces worldwide.

The central conceit of Neil Gaiman's 1602 mini-series is that the Marvel Universe began some 360 years earlier in Elizabethan England.  Gaiman, the awarding-winning author of American Gods and creator of the modern Sandman series (including the hugely successful Sandman: Endless Nights hardcover), has been associated with a number of very successful resin statues editions, which featured characters from his Sandman series.