Here’s the
full list of announcements/launches did by Sideshow on 12 Days of Sideshow:
1 – Thanos on
Throne maquette;
2 – Wonder Woman
PF (based on movie?);
3 – Pre-order
Captain America Avengers Assemble statue;
4 – Alien Warrior
statue;
5 – Pre-order
Deadpool life-size bust;
6 – K-2S0
PF;
7 – She-Ra
statue;
8 –
Catwoman Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau statue;
9 – Thor Jane
Foster PF;
10 – Gethsemoni
Shaper of Flesh PF and Oglavaiel Legendary Scale bust;
11 – Ghost Rider
sixth scale figure;
12 – Deathstroke
PF.
The first
thing to notice on this list is the big number of female characters: five
(Wonder Woman, She-Ra, Catwoman Stanley Lau, Thor Jane Foster and Gethsemoni
among the 13 pieces shown during the event. I don’t know if we can count K-2S0,
Alien Warrior and Oglavaiel as male characters, but if count them out we’ll
have the same number of male and female characters what shows that Sideshow is
investing hard on the female front.
The other thing
that got my attention was the great number of statues (smaller than PF): four (Captain America, She-Ra, Alien Warrior, Catwoman) against 6 PF statues, what
maybe shows a new tendency of Sideshow to make more affordable pieces to the
average consumer.
The four pieces
with most wow/hype potential in my opinion were Thanos on Throne (by far the
greatest revelation of the bunch) followed by Deadpool bust and Deathstroke PF
and finally Thor Jane Foster.
Thanos on
Throne is a sure bet to be a hit regardless the price tag. It may be PF size but it must be big to really grab collector’s attention. For the little
the rendering reveals one can perceive that Thanos is not on a straight pose,
leaning his head to the right, what is a breath of fresh air regarding figures
on thrones that are always seating straight looking up front. Figures on
thrones are an enduring trend I really don’t get, but collectors seem to love.
Deadpool
life-size bust is a fun very well done sculpt. One can almost see the deformed
face oddly smiling behind the mask. Pretty cool. Busts aficionados will undoubtedly
jump over this one. It may very well be the first bust ever to the collections
of many. The price is salty but nowadays is not really that expensive comparing
with other pieces out now.
Deathstroke
PF was a bold move from Sideshow since the Prime 1 version was so acclaimed by
the public and sold a lot. Nevertheless is a great addition to Sideshow’s
Batman series and brings a more realistic and yet more close to the comic books
version of the character. Great piece altogether, as far as the picture reveals
it. Hope it to be in a more dynamic pose than Prime 1 museum-posture 1/3 figure.
Curious to know the price tag of this one. Hope it don’t hit the $ 700 range
that is slowly being established as the norm price for 1/4 figures now.
Thor Jodie
Foster PF is a beautiful new addition to the expanding hall of great female statues
Sideshow is putting out (Dark Phoenix, Captain Marvel, Red Sonja, Black Canary).
A couple of years back Sideshow wasn’t that good at female faces but nowadays
they’re really nailing it. Jane Foster is another proof of that. And I loved
the detailed armor. It can be a kind of heretic character for diehard Thor fans
but the statue is turning out very nicely besides that.
Another
that shows promise is She-Ra. Even though we get to see only the silhouette of
the figure, the traces are very pretty. I am sure she will turn out another beautiful
addition to female host of Sideshow. I am planning not to buy any new figures
this year but must confess that She-Ra got me tempted. I hope she doesn’t end
up so well as I expect her to so I can stick to my plan! Lol.
Catwoman
Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau didn’t make the cut to me. It looked more like a toy than
with a statue. The plastic glasses/mask (or whatever material it is) really broke
all the magic of the piece. Besides that, all Artgerm female portraits seems to
have the same face. It’s like having a Barbie with different figurines to me.
It may be a too harsh comparison but it’s the way it feels to me.
Wonder
Woman PF is a hit or miss figure (with big chances of miss) since it looks like
it’s based on the movie character and Sideshow is not good in replicating
actors and actresses faces. One that grow used with Hot Toys perfection (or
even Prime 1 1/2 WW) will most likely get disappointed with the end result of
the head sculpt of this piece. Unless Sideshow outdoes itself in this piece.
The armor and sword, on the other hand, looks amazing. Let’s hope for a big good surprise
on this one. But I would not grow great expectations.
I don’t
know why but the Avengers Assemble line didn’t hit the spot to me so far. I
didn’t like Iron-Man and the same goes to Captain America. Maybe the case with
Cap is that I believe I have the best statue ever made of him which is Sideshow
(something) Against Hydra PF. I don’t like the head sculpt of this one and I
don’t like the gigantic pouches on his belt. And it doesn’t seem very detailed
either. I don’t know what’s going wrong here, I guess is the art direction
Sideshow is giving to the characters because the Masters of Universe, albeit
also 1/5, are as detailed – if not more – as any PF figure. What is not the case
with Avengers Assemble line. But I didn’t loose the faith yet. Hulk seems to be
very cool and Thor seems not bad either. Maybe it was just a rough start. Well,
anyway, Captain America didn’t capture my attention.
In the
Court of the Dead department, they will launch their most humane character yet
in the shape of Gethsemoni. They showed only a concept art of her that resembles
me of Shard. But I’m not into Court of the Dead (only character I would
consider investing would be Malavestros) so I’m biased to talk. I’m sure she
will please the fans.
I loved the
bust of Oglaviel. Even though it is a piece that doesn’t match my collection,
everything on it is fantastic with or without the jaw. Loved the head and the base.
Only thing I didn’t like was the black cane in between them. I found a very
poor simplistic solution given the level of detail of the rest of the piece.
One can’t
go wrong with K-2SO. I believe that Sideshow may even had access to the movie
3D model of it. But even without the aid
of LucasArts or Disney it’s not a difficult sculpture to do especially working
with 3D software. So it’s a carbon copy of the funniest and probably the best character
of Rogue One.
One can
only do so much when the subject is Alien. Let’s hope the pose brings something
new to the table, otherwise it will be difficult for this figure – that it’s
not even a PF – to stand out from the several earlier iterations of the iconic creature.
Finally the
little one, sixth scale Ghost Rider. It seemed a little bald to me, if you know
what I mean, but it attends to the demand of the fans who wished the fire to be
made of translucent material. It’s not the most impressive figure I’ve ever saw
and of course it pales in comparison with XM’s statue. I really wonder who is
the public for this piece and can imagine no one. It’s like they needed to do a
sixth scale figure for their line and came up with this.
Well this was
the overview of the 12 Days of Sideshow. Once again I beg to you sign the
petition below asking payment plans to begin with the pre-order, lowering this
way the monthly fees (because the value will be divided in more months) and
giving more flexibility to us. Click the link below. It only takes a minute.
And can make a great difference to all of us collectors.
No comments:
Post a Comment