I remember being quite impressed when I saw the previews for the DC Direct Jade bust, part of the Terry Dodson designed series 2 of their Women of DC bust line. I like me some alien coloured women, she had a cool looking energy base, seemed like a slam dunk. Unforunately, things weren’t quite how they seemed, check under the cut to find out why!

Where to start? There’s so much that went wrong but was so close to being right. The energy base doesn’t look as good as it should. It’s sculpted well, the energy waves swirling around are nice and of course they’re swirling away from her ass so that’s on display, haha. Oh pinup styles. The paint is the issue. It’s a bland and uninspired green, it needs deeper shading and brighter highlights. It would’ve been better to make it translucent like the Starfire base.

The face looks so much different from the prototype. The prototype had a wider head and a much nicer smile. It gave it a softer look instead of the doofy one you see present in my pictures. When you combine that with how they’ve changed the angle of the head, it’s much worse than it was. I have no clue why they agreed to these changes.

The lack of refined paint lines in some areas and the hair don’t help matters either. Just look at that hair paint, ugh. Even with the face changes, I think a talented painted could improve it’s appearance considerably. Her body and pose are sculpted just fine after all. Unfortunately, I’m not enough of a Jade fan to make that happen.

2/5.

Buying Options : There are plenty available on Ebay. Cheap on Amazon too.

Quick Buying Options : Most likely you’ll be stuck with Ebay. But you can get on waiting for the regular at Sideshow, or Amazon.

Not being a fan of Sideshow’s earlier Adam Hughes She-Hulk comiquette, it was great to see a more traditionally styled She-Hulk from Sideshow. While it wasn’t the one piece outfit that many associate She-Hulk with, it’s an accurate version of her outfit from the cover this statue is based on (She-Hulk #29 I believe). Plus I’ve heard if you take her pants off, she’s actually wearing a one piece, so with a bit of customization you could get that look as well. But I didn’t want to risk damaging the fabric!

One of the few complaints about this statue is that the musculature isn’t quite large enough for She-Hulk. I can understand the complaints because She-Hulk is traditionally drawn as a hot female body builder, although in the cover this is based off of, she doesn’t look nearly that large. There’s some well done musculature around the abs and there’s some on the arms but it wouldn’t have hurt to make her a little bigger. She would’ve been just as feminine and attractive with a little more bulk.

The rest of the sculpting? Very nice indeed! The cracks on the road, laces on the shoes, and the way the hair flows are all very appealing. She has a very pretty face as well.

The paint job on this is really great. Starting from the base, the contrast between the side and top of the broken street is a nice touch. The shade of green they picked is perfect, it’s a more flattering one than the darker green on the AH comiquette. Her hair is a dark green with well applied light green highlights. The shading done to enhance the ab musculature and the eyes are exactly like you’d hope for.

About the only part that isn’t perfect is the detail work around the hands. Specifically, the black outlining the fingers. It’s a little too heavy. When I initially received this statue, the fingers around the meter looked really bad, however, Sideshow replaced that with a much nicer hand. If you have issues with yours, contact them, they may be able to help you out!

The Premium Format parts of this are the pants and belt. The pants are made of a nice thick material and lined well, the belt looks like a belt. Given that it’s a fairly simple outfit, it required no futzing to get it to look right and they’re tight in the areas you’d want them to be tight.

As for the exclusive, it’s a parking meter. While it’s not cover accurate, it looks pretty cool! It’s well sculpted and painted and fits the scene. I wouldn’t consider it necessary but it’s certainly a nice touch.

4.5/5. Almost exactly the She-Hulk statue I was hoping for. Slightly more muscle-y and it would’ve been perfect.

Buying Options : Most likely you’ll be stuck with Ebay. But you can get on waiting for the regular at Sideshow, or Amazon.

Quick Buying Options : Long sold out at retail, you’re stuck with Ebay.

My first impression was being surprised at how enormous it was. Coming in at 24 inches with the base, what really sets this apart is how wide/long it is. Spider-Man’s off the wall in a pose you don’t really see from any other characters. You need a serious amount of space to display something like this. It has a fair bit of heft to it as well so make sure whatever you’re displaying it on can support it.

I was surprised they fully sculpted and painted the back of the wall, which probably knocked the price up (the price was a complaint when it was released, not that it prevented it from shooting up in value) but considering you might want to display it from the side, that was definitely a good idea. You wouldn’t want some unfinished looking sculpture when your friends check it from different angles.

Besides the iconic and unique pose, the best part about this is it LOOKS like Spider-Man. The way the eyes are shaped and the emotion they’re expressing, the pose, even the base has a good Manhattan feel. Just looking at this statues seems like it’s straight out of a comic.

One issue I have is that the musculature is a bit intense. Spidey’s certainly ripped, but it’s a bit much for my ideal Spider-Man. Though it matches very well with the Venom, which had crazy huge musculature. The back and butt areas in particular, they’re not quite distracting, but I would’ve been down with them calming down a little! Still, a minor point.

The paint on the base is fantastic. Great weathering and colours, look at the dirt and wear around the edges and the differently colored bricks. Spider-Man himself is painted pretty well but there’s some linework that could be better. The one I received is far better than some of the ones I’ve seen, they had completely unpainted lines in some cases. If you’re looking for one, make sure to ask about the paint! You can see some of the paint issues on the front of the mask in the large picture I posted. Keep in mind, that is a fair bit larger than life though.

The exclusive is an art print. It’s not quite the style of print I like displaying but that’s how it goes sometimes with these exclusive prints.

4.5/5. Arguably the best Spider-Man statue to date in terms of the impressive size, pose, and look. Though my favourite is still the 1/6th Diamond Select statue I reviewed way back in the day, it doesn’t have the same impact as this.

Buying Options : Long sold out at retail, you’re stuck with Ebay.

Quick Buying Options : Still available at Sideshow Collectibles and you can try your luck at Ebay.

One of the coolest things about this release was when Sideshow announced they were going to add an extra bust display base, which doubles your display options. Instead of getting one collectible, you’re getting two! You have a full statue, which you can display as either Gollum or Smeagol, with an interchangeable magnetic nameplate. Then you place the other one on the bust display and attach the other nameplate to it as well. It’s a sweet setup!

Gollum’s base is rather tall, which is understandable due to his short height. Totally works with the movie given how many mountain ranges they climb or cross over. The base is nicely sculpted and well painted with properly applied highlights throughout. The bottom of the base is a round silver design with interlocking rings and worn paint. The magnetic nameplate fits in quite well with the base, no obvious separation.

The premium format portion of this is limited but I doubt anyone is surprised, considering Gollum wears very little. What he does wear looks good but it’s not exactly difficult to make front and back fabric straps like that. The fabric is properly weathered along the edges as it should be.

On to the statue! I started with the Smeagol top since I liked the look of wonder on his face. He’s holding up the One Ring and looks like the happiest little fella in Middle Earth. The sculpting on this is just superb so be sure to check out some of the high-res shots for much larger than life pictures. Some particularly good areas to check out : the varying sizes and wear on the teeth, the emaciated musculature, particularly around the chest, and the lines of expression around the face.

The paint on this is really good! Gollum might look like he’d be simple to paint but there are so many details, a half-assed paint job would’ve made this flat and boring. You’ve got the varying amounts of dirt on his feet, knees, and hands, exactly where he’d have most of it. The purple/red tones visible across his skin, particularly the most emaciated parts of him, and even some nicely done vein work. And look at those baby blues! I can’t say whether they’re decals or not but they’re definitely applied correctly.

The Gollum top is just as good as the Smeagol one. He looks downright vicious, as if someone is threatening to take his precious from him. His teeth are sharper and more menacing (which I’m not sure is movie accurate, do his teeth change during the movies? Possibly!), his intense expression is really evident in the lines across his face. The paint, as with the Gollum top, is excellent.

5/5. Thanks again to Sideshow for providing the review sample. This is a fantastic addition to a Lord of the Rings statue lineup and I couldn’t find any issues with mine. Pose, paint, sculpt, base, it’s an excellent statue all around.

Buying Options : Still available at Sideshow Collectibles and you can try your luck at Ebay.

This week, I’ll be reviewing one of the more unique statues from Megahouse’s Portrait of Pirates line, Carue. When this was announced, many people within the One Piece community were rather disappointed. During a time of slow releases, they seemed to think that this bird was holding up other characters and he was too expensive at $50+, compared to the regular price of $35-$45 for most characters at the time (ah, those were the days for collectors!). I thought he was fantastic from the first time I saw him and considering how much he kicks ass in the series, he was an easy buy. Considering the price he goes for on the secondary market, a wise decision.

When you open him up, you realize just how large he is compared to most of the characters from this line. The Portrait of Pirates line has always had a few scale issues, but he matches up well.

Megahouse decided to make him an even better value by including some alternate display options, which unfortunately, I didn’t have time to get photos of. They include a closed mouth and an injured wing, which is accurate to the series as well as looking pretty cool.

The sculpting on him is spot on, as usual with Megahouse. He looks pretty much like the anime come to life. His wings and legs are nicely detailed, the helmet and harness are simple but look as they should. His expression is exactly what I wanted.

Much like the sculpting, I had no issues with the paint. He’s bright and comes off quite vibrant, no paint drips or other annoyances that I ran into.

5/5. You have to ask yourself, do I like the show enough that I want a big bright yellow bird in my collection? If you do, you’ll never get a better version than this one. Great companion piece to Vivi.

Buying Options : Try Ebay, since he’s only available on the secondary market.

Here’s another Megahouse Portrait of Pirates release, Vivi. She was originally in the third wave of these statues and was re-released as a “Neo” figure with a fair few improvements. The most obvious improvement is the dress itself, it’s much nicer. The pose itself has been slightly altered and improved as well.

Vivi here was an important character during my favourite story arc of the series and I was pleased that any figure was made of her, let alone a good one, then a re-release that was even better. After they released the companion piece of Carue, which I reviewed last week, she became a fantastic part of a One Piece collection.

You know, I always want to complain about her size and shape. As in, her tiny waist and enormous breasts. But then I remembered that that’s how most One Piece females look and she’s actually pretty accurate. Although in this case I think they overdid the breasts a little bit. She’s a very good representation of Vivi, though I think another pose might have suited her better. The improved transparency on the dress is surprisingly cool, though I can’t remember if it was exactly like that in the series or not.

The paint is excellent and I have no issues with it. Very nice colours.

4.5/5. Minor flaws aside, she’s a great purchase for a One Piece fan.

Buying Options : As with any Portraits of Pirates figure, check HLJ first to see if there’s a restock. If not, off to Ebay. As usual with the PoP line, be careful of bootlegs.

I’ve reviewed a few of the maquettes in this line, the Supergirl and the Harley Quinn. The DC Direct Zatanna maquette seems to go for the highest prices in the line, I’m not sure whether that’s due to wider appeal or a lower edition size. Let’s see if this little lady fares better than the others!

Quick Buying Options : Sold out years ago, your only options are forums and Ebay.

Straight up, I’m not a fan of the design. While the idea of popping out of a box and getting handcuffs off in a cute pose is a good concept, it suffers in the execution. Her face isn’t nearly as cute as it looks in the Batman animated series, and since that’s a central focus, it’s somewhat offputting. The pose should be better. It’s not bad, but it looks awkward from a fair few angles and isn’t that great looking even from the front. Considering that’s the angle it’s supposed to be viewed at, it was a little disappointing. The treasure chest is nice. On the other hand, something about her actual chest looks a little strange, at least in picture form.

The paint on this is fine. It’s not excellent, but it does a good job of showing off the animated style and it looks nice on the treasure chest. Could it have been improved on the face and fixed some of my issues with it? I’m sure it could have.

3/5. Good idea, lackluster execution. The high price doesn’t help any.

Buying Options : Sold out years ago, your only options are forums and Ebay.

Quick Buying Options : The exclusive is only available on Ebay. However, the regular is available at BBTS, Entertainment Earth, Amazon, and Ebay.

For those confused about the exclusive situation, here’s a summary. It was up for preorder with an edition size of 500 and sold out. Later on, First4Figures raised the edition size to 725 and told the first 500 that they would receive silver foil lettering on the bottom of the statue with the name/etc.. of the statue on it, similar to their Zant statue. They also increased the edition size of their Wolf Link and Midna statue. I can understand that light-up exclusives cost a fair bit to put in place but I’ve never been a fan of increasing the edition size without a larger benefit to the people who originally ordered. That said, the silver foil lettering does look nice.

Dark Link comes in a dynamic jumping pose, which matches up surprisingly well (bases aside) with the previous Link statue they released. I kind of prefer the Dark Link pose! It’s tempting to consider repainting a regular to have another awesome Link statue. The pose looks like the fight is about to start, as in, he’s jumping towards Link but not ready to swing yet. Which is an interesting take on an action move.

The sculpting is classic Link, pretty much exactly what I wanted. The detail work on the shield, sword, and sheath are all top notch. The musculature and fabric folds are all sculpted in, even if they can be a little difficult to see due to the all black paintjob. Even the notches in the leather that hold up the sword sheath, all there! They definitely put in as much effort as any of their full colour statues.

Paint-wise, it’s better than expected. It’s easy to slack off when you’ve got an almost all black paint scheme, but nope! The eyes are a bold red over transparent resin to allow light out. The sword is a silver light metallic shade, with a different darker shade on the handle. The shield itself has a good contrast between the darker and lighter silver/grey shades. The base is a well done wet looking rock. There’s more variety than you’d think!

The exclusive version is easily one of the best exclusives I’ve received to date. I knew the eyes would light up and that feature looks fine (though some people have reported light-leakage over the head, fortunately, not on mine). What I didn’t expect was how fantastic the base would look lit up! As you can see in the pictures below, the base is BARELY transparent. You can see there’s something there but not with any detail. Once you light up the base, select areas of the water “glow” and you can see all these rocks underneath as it pulses (difficult to show in photo form). It’s so cool! Then when you press it a second time, it lights up a wider area and gradually the lights dim out, followed by the eyes dimming and shutting off. I was very impressed to say the least. If I weren’t having some problems with my Youtube account, I would uploaded a video. If I can get it fixed up soon, I will!

Unfortunately (for those who didn’t preorder) the exclusive is sold out and going for high secondary market prices already. However, the regular is available in quite a few places due to a larger edition size. It’s a very cool statue and the regular is definitely worth it, but the exclusive feature is so cool! It’s a tough call.

5/5. Fits perfectly with the line, excellent exclusive feature, top notch presentation all around. If you’re interested in videogame villains, it’s definitely a solid addition to a collection.

Buying Options : The exclusive is only available on Ebay. However, the regular is available at BBTS, Entertainment Earth, Amazon, and Ebay.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Vision in the Avenger’s comics, though I always appreciated his simple, but kind of cool design. A friend of mine picked this statue up and I figured what the hell, let’s check this guy out. Come experience THE VISION under the cut.

Quick Buying Options : The regular version is easily available on Ebay. Cheap too!

Bowen made two versions of this. The regular one that I’m reviewing and the “phasing” exclusive version. Same pose, just part of Vision is phasing. The phasing one looks slightly nicer, but not nearly enough to justify the increased price.

I’m not entirely sure about the overall pose since Vision doesn’t have any arm related powers, it’s not a threatening pose, and holding his cape seems unnecessary. Though I believe he’s holding his cape because the Scarlet Witch statue is holding hers, which ties them together in an interesting way. Those issues aside, the pose looks pretty cool, even if it isn’t particularly related to his powers.

He has an incredibly simple yet impressive paint application. The shading, though also simple, really fleshes the whole thing out. That was always Vision’s design so the lack of complexity is no fault of Bowen.

The sculpt looks exactly like the Vision I remember. It’s his face that really seals the deal. It definitely nails the impression and feel I had of Vision when I read older Avengers comics. The decision you really have to make for yourself is do you enjoy classic Avengers to pick up a (reasonably) priced statue that isn’t exactly the most interesting? It’s unlikely Bowen will come out with another Vision anytime soon, there’s simply not much to do with the character, and this is a good representation. For me, it was worth it!

4/5. He’s a very affordable statue and a solid addition to any classic Avengers collection.

Buying Options : The regular version is easily available on Ebay. Cheap too!

For those of you not familiar, Sideshow Collectibles has an original line they call “The Dead“. It’s has some exceptional pieces that go for crazy amounts on the secondary market, like Patient Zero. During one of their contests I managed to win this figure, the Harbinger Priest exclusive. Will I trash or praise this practically free figure? Keep reading and you’ll find out!

Quick Buying Options : Available cheaply on Ebay. Goes under retail and I imagine it will for a long time yet.

As a big fan of horror, I found myself with few horror pieces in my collection. Sure, I’ve got a couple Resident Evil Hot Toys figures, but no proper zombies, no Freddy, no real monsters like Mothman, dinosaurs, aliens, whatever! I was missing out. So I won a contest, paid a few bucks for shipping, and this fella showed up at my door. He comes in a nice box, it’s a bold white with a bloody hand print going down the front. There’s also a window that allows you to look inside to see the figure.

The exclusive is a bloody stump of a hand with a crow on top. Not that useful since you can’t attach it to the figure but I’m sure it’s nice if you’re building a display. The big fat bible isn’t terribly useful either, since he can’t hold it. The base is a plain Sideshow base that mimicks the look of the box. I will say this though, I find the Sideshow base system more stable than the one Hot Toys uses.

Given the dark costume, you’re immediately drawn to the head, which is excellent since it’s the best part of the figure. It’s well sculpted and suitably gory for a zombie figure. The chunks of his head missing, his screwed up jawline, the eyes rolling back into his head, the missing skin chunks, it’s that sort of attention to detail that makes a proper zombie stand out.

I had little problem manipulating him into all the poses I wanted. I wasn’t going for action poses so I can’t say how it fares there, but for shambling poses the Sideshow body works well indeed. I had him in a more festive preacher pose at the end, no issues there either. His shoes were nicely sculpted and the rest of the costume is competent, but given his profession, obviously very simple and undetailed.

Compared to Sideshow’s more recent offerings, it may seem underwhelming in the articulation and accessories departments. But given that it’s considerably cheaper and … it’s a zombie, how much would extra articulation and accessories really benefit it? In this case, a more affordable price was definitely the way to go.

4/5. The price I paid obviously helps with my score but it’s a good figure on it’s own, particularly given the price. The exclusive item makes no real difference in my score, it was alright.

Buying Options : Available cheaply on Ebay. Goes under retail and I imagine it will for a long time yet.