I AM A FANBOY. IS THIS A BAD THING?

I even have their t-shirt and the printing and the fabric are not that great
but I'm feel pretty comfortable with it. Lol.

I came to an obvious conclusion watching the Wonderfest: I am a fanboy. A Sideshow fanboy. Though I hear, read, see and know the faults of Sideshow, something in me that grew I don’t know how makes me prefer their statues over the others. Not by far but from a safe distance Prime 1 and XM can’t touch. I won’t mention ECC because I’m not into movie pieces (except for their Gizmo) and they are a selected niche company in an already niche market. So I’ll focus on the big three. I know and I see that XM and Prime 1 have undeniable strengths. XM packaging, the weight of their statues, the creative bases, the attention to detail, the quality of the production and finishing, the daring projects (X-Men vs. Sentinel diorama or Hulkbuster, for instance) the variety of characters offered all adds up to the legacy the company has built and that they deserve. Almost the same can be said of Prime 1 gargantuan figures and bases (minus the creativity). The two of them offer some major works and in some regards their pieces surpass Sideshow’s. It’s a fact I cannot deny. The flaming Ghost Rider in his devilish motorcycle it’s a sight to behold, the beautiful contrast of black and vibrant shades of orange really grabs the eye. But assembling it is almost as puzzle solving. And I don’t like that (I gave up my P.O. on Malavestros for the same reason). To me it breaks the magic of the statue even though these several-pieces figures are done that way to minimize breakage. The intention is the best I just don’t happen to like it. The less parts the better. I start collecting Bowen figures. And yes I know the hobby evolved in complexity and keeps evolving in unbelievable ways since I started collecting, so measures like that are the guarantee to deliver the most astonishing pieces possible. One can give me all the reasons in the world to buy a statue with dozens of pieces to assemble, I don’t care I just won’t get the statue. But enough of this subject.

The one thing I care the most about a statue is the portrait. And Sideshow is simply the king of portraits. They amped the game to extremely high standards this last SDCC (as long as they don’t try to do portraits based on actual people, they completely suck in this category, they’re extremely bad on that. If you want a figure of a celebrity, go for Hot Toys or Blitzway). I was completely blown away by most of the SS portraits shown in 2018, all of them with different facial features, each of them with unique personalities. For this reason alone – my main decision factor to choose whether to buy a figure or not – Sideshow owns me. Completely. I think Prime 1 statues to have lifeless uninspiring portraits while XM have them too generic (apart from Kingpin, Vulture and that old screaming Inhuman’s guy, the name escapes me now). This is the main reason I am a Sideshow fanboy. Added to the fact they tend to do bases that are good in size and don’t distract the attention from the character. I really don’t like convoluted bases with dozens of elements or big ones that overshadow the statue. Prime 1 is notorious to do that and XM in some cases does the same (though with much more finesse, in my opinion).

As a fanboy – what I certainly am – I have the bad side of it, in other words, I have prejudice against other companies. I don’t like this side of mine and try to keep it to myself as best as I can. I try not to go on criticizing other companies on the communities, I think it leads nowhere; it’s impolite and irrational, as I believe any fandom is. It’s quite an emotional thing. And I can’t criticize what I don’t have, what I just saw in the pictures posted by the community or on sites. However, here is my space and I feel free to be more outspoken regarding my tastes.

If I had to choose one figure from Prime 1 and one figure of XM to have which I would choose? As for Prime 1 I would contradictorily go for one of the most lifeless museum-esque figures of their catalogue: Batman Beyond Golden Version. A golden 1/3 Batman would really add up to my collection it would look like a gigantic trophy of sorts and would complement my SS Hulk LSB as the center of my collection. Unfortunately, I don’t have money for it right now. Would have to sell some pieces in order to get him. It’s a case to think. A gigantic golden Batman appeals highly to me. As for XM I know the obvious answers would be Magneto on Throne or Ghost Rider but I don’t like the head sculpt of Magneto, as much as I like the overall design, concept and execution of the piece. It’s the one throne figure to rule them all because it makes sense to me he's seating on a Sentinel’s hand. It tells a story others figures on throne don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t like the portrait and don’t like those mandatory grails every great collector must have in order to prove themselves so. And I don’t like figures on thrones either! Lol. About Ghost Rider I don’t like it because it’s awkward shape turns him a pain to display and I think the main character on this piece is the bike not Ghost Rider. It’s a pretty cool piece beautifully executed but not my alley. I think I would get the Inhuman’s guy, I guess his name is Blackbolt. The screaming portrait is phenomenal and makes one wonder what would happen if the guy did that in the comics.

To finally close this post I will enumerate some pros and cons of Sideshow. Please, keep in mind that despite being a longtime collector (since the Bowen era) I don’t know much about the market as you guys do.

CONS OF SIDESHOW

- Their figures seem poorly or cheaply casted in comparison to XM and Prime 1, hence they’re lighter (or so you say). I love my Hulk LSB but I bet I would love it even more if it was casted in polystone instead o fiberglass. It doesn’t really make a difference while on display but it bothers me I don’t know why. That being said, if I had the means I would buy SS PVC Swamp Thing simply because he is my all-time favorite character and I think the sculpture is just fabulous. (Yes he comes first Batman Beyond Golden Version on my list).

- Sideshow still have quality control issues, though I think this have becoming to be addressed more seriously and I hear less complaints in this regard on the communities than a couple of years ago. I’m optimistic about it but, hey, I’m a fanboy and never got any defective piece. Maybe I’m just lucky.

- It’s a pain to get replacement parts or figures that came defective. Or so I heard.

- Bases can be very simplistic to many collectors.

- Not much variety in characters released. Which I think changed a bit this last SDCC but it’s far from what XM has to offer.

- This is a polemic one, but I really don’t see the point in the Court of the Dead line. I know that to launch a new IP is a tremendously bold step that leads to a lot of creative freedom and the sculptures are just fabulous but I believe it’s a thing that exists more in the mind of Tom Gilliland than outside of it. I ended up ordering Malavestros and canceled it not because I disliked the statue but because (as I mentioned) I disliked it came like a puzzle to assemble what I truly hate.

- Not akin to take much risk regarding characters but then again they launched a PVC statue and have an IP of their own.  

- They suck when trying to replicate real life portraits.

- Head seams. They just turn me off of a figure completely. Sideshow should learn from XM and Prime 1 in this respect. They nailed it. Sideshow is beginning to learn. I'm all over Rebel Terminator because she happen to look like Natalie Portman to me but I don't know how the interchangeable heads will work. The pictures don't show any seam but I believe the production piece will have an ugly seam since there's no necklace or something to hide it.

- They’re capitalist as hell.

PROS OF SIDEHOSW COLLECTIBLES

- The portraits of fictional characters are unmatched. Period.

- The price of the delivered product is the best when comparing to XM and especially Prime 1. Not saying it is cheap but it’s the most affordable high-end collectibles company I’m aware of. (Apart F4F!)

- They still have some artists who hand sculpt which I believe is a dying art and most of my statues are hand sculpted.

- The figures are generally designed to be display-friendly which is a great plus to a collector that have only his own room to show the figures (like me).

- They’ve made me a believer of digital sculpting with what they achieved in this last SDCC. It far surpasses the competition. The portraits and poses and the level of detail are just amazing and could not be achieved by hand sculpting alone.

 - They have the best distribution service on the market.

- They congregate almost all of the great brands, they’re site it’s a joy to navigate.

- The customer service is second to none. (I know many will disagree with that. Lol. But they always solved my little issues).

- There aren’t many substantial delays on their schedules.

I can’t think of anything else. All I know is that I prefer Sideshow style of sculpting above all other companies. And they keeping getting better. I know they’re maybe more money thirsty than other companies but I believe this leads them to stay always on top of the competition which is not a bad thing for collectors. Answering the question of the title, I don’t think it is bad to be a fanboy, it’s limiting in more ways than it needed to be, but so is my money. And I like to spend it in what I truly love and the company that hits my sweet spot is Sideshow. Again I don’t know why. It’s like a favorite band I guess. I consider myself lucky from the financial standpoint though. If I was a Prime 1 or XM fan I would be in real trouble (with all due respect for the companies). I just wonder why there’s so much hate towards Sideshow and only praises about the others. Maybe being at the top attracts this type of hate. I don’t know. You, that is not a Sideshow fanboy, could explain it to me?

P.S.: the experiment testing the power of the Facebook communities mentioned in the last post will take place on Wednesday, one hour after Sideshow Live on Statue Collectors community. Let’s unite our forces and try to make a difference regarding Sideshow line of PFs. I believe dreams may come true. Do you? Be ready. :)

ADENDUM

GOOD NEWS ABOUT REBEL TERMINATOR - If you read my post, you know I hate Sideshow’s figures head seams. I’m very interested in acquiring (if I can) the Rebel Terminator figure since she resembles my dear Natalie Portman (to me at least). My only concern was that it had an awful head seam since the EX is an alternative portrait. Therefore, I asked Sideshow about it and here’s the answer: “As you can see (pun intended), you cannot see any seam anywhere - the break comes all down to the shirt. As such you should have no issue with ordering the item.”

Indeed the only issue I have now is to arrange the money. Someone has to leave in order to her come into my collection. Sideshow is learning from its previous mistakes and seems to have realized that crude head seams are not tolerable by today (high) standards. I’m more fanboy then ever! I have to move things around fast, as the ES of exclusive version is only 350 pieces.

IMPRESSIONS ON SDCC

I will only write about the figures that marked me in some way. For better or worst. I will only talk about statues since I don’t collect 1/6 articulated figures. I will separate this post into two topics, disappointments and impressive. Let’s begin with disappointments.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Terrible paint app! Yuck!

1 – The lame production painting of Killer Croc. I found the face painting of the production piece of Killer Croc to be lousy and lazy. I feel like I was fooled by the astonishing prototype painting and buy a pig in a poke. Airbrushing the black on the teeth the way they did was lazy to say the least. Very disappointed and had so high expectations about this piece. I think I will going to sell it without even open the box. (Update: I cancelled my pre-order...)

2 – I think I’m not alone on this one: Magneto. I have to admit there were maybe too much anticipation and too high expectations about this piece but the finished revealed piece was nothing better than regular. Among the huge amount of versions of Magneto available both licensed and custom and with the magnificent white Magneto coming from XM, Sideshow fell short to stand out from the crowd. The base is okay, the mixed media cape was a terrible choice, the uniform was okay, best part of the figure. The pose was very uninspired, very “me too”, but I guess this is a recurring problem with Magneto, everybody wants to see him levitating looking like he’s using his hands to manipulate metal, so it’s an issue of the character more than of Sideshow. What was a big letdown for me was the face sculpt. I found it to be just plain ugly. Such a big nose. Hope the unmasked version, if this will be the ex, does a better job portraying him. I don’t care much for Magneto at all, so I wouldn’t order it even if it turned out to be an incredible figure, but I can sense the disappointment of the fans who eagerly waited for SS awesomeness on this figure. The base was okay though, even if yet again using a sentinel, I liked the way the head seemed twisted and kneaded by Magneto’s power.

3 – Wolverine. I think this piece would belong better on XM’s catalog than on Sideshow’s. The textured outfit and the bad head sculpt, not to mention the uninspired pose all check. The feeling it’s a smaller scale figure I get so much when looking at XM pieces is present too. I think this to be a great waste of time and a very boring statue overall. Wolverine deserved better. I liked how detailed the base is though. As a companion piece to Magneto, it had to be a sentinel part, and the most iconic part of the character besides his head is his hand so it was a no-brainer. Well, Magneto deserved an opponent at his (low) height and he got one. I guess I’m more disappointed with Wolverine than with Magneto. Maybe because I already saw early efforts from Sideshow regarding the character that oozed personality which this piece completely lacks. But then again, I couldn’t care less about Wolverine as I have the statue of him I want.

4 – The most expected piece of my collector’s life, the Swamp Thing Maquette, turned out to be a huge letdown. Well not that huge since I liked the original take they put on the texture of the character body, even though it looked more alien than plant-like, but it looked cool nevertheless. I let pass the color scheme, much brighter and more yellowish than Swamp thing original palette. I’m cool with that too since it looked great. The strange glossy finishing also didn’t bothered me much, one can imagine he just emerged from the waters of the swamp and is wet, since plants are not often that glossy. What really bothered me was the “creative” take on my all-time favorite character’s head. The floating vines could not help but remind me of that tentacle-faced character of Pirates of the Caribbean. That was unforgivable. And I found the face to be less detailed than the overall piece. My only hope is that they do an alternate “classic” head as the exclusive item for this figure. However, I think this isn’t going to happen as it seems that the figure is “whole” there’s no detachable parts (apart from some of the horrendous floating vines). The final blow will be probably the price as I imagine that this “Maquette” thing is a designation Sideshow created to sell overpriced pieces. I admit I got a little depressed because of this piece, since I know I won’t get another Sideshow Swamp Thing statue in my life. The only bright side is that I will save a whole lot of money by not ordering it. As a last hope I know Prime 1 is making a New 52 version of Swamp Thing. Although by the render I saw it doesn’t resembles the Moore/Totleben ST at all, it seemed much more wooden-made that plant-made, but a lot can change and they can actually put an acceptable vision of my most beloved character (which I doubt). Why you did this Sideshow? Why? I was complaining that Wolverine and Magneto had zero artistic creativity and you decided to put all your creative vision on the character I’m more conservative about. This seems ironic, to be honest. I like creative takes of my characters but not that creative. Not Pirates of the Caribbean creative. I think Sideshow crossed the line here and turned an otherwise magnificent piece into an aberration. I know Swamp Thing is an aberration, what turns it all the more ironic.
(Update: I'm more on the fence now, the more I look the more I grow used to it but need to see Prime 1 Swamp Thing hopefully in WonderFest on July 29th to draw my conclusions. One that I reached is that I need a Swamp Thing 1/4 in my collection regardless if I love it or just like it. I won't have another shot. Which one will be is the big question...)  

5 – Not that I ever considered buying such a gigantic piece, don’t have the space in my room (or wallet) but I found Batman Legendary Scale to be an anatomical disaster. The legs are way too short and thin compared to the rest of the body and the muscles of the abdomen are way too many. It would be much better if they did a life-size bust because the head is the only thing that’s cool about this piece. The belt in bright yellow is discrepant with the dark tone of the figure. 
A total mess in my opinion. (Oh my, how is easy to criticize, I’m impressed by that. I’m not that used to do so much bashing at once and am amazed how easy it comes out.)

6 – Iron Studios pieces overall didn’t impress me at all, especially Marvel’s, but that’s no major failure either. Just don’t like the style. The only really impressive piece from the company was the Batman Black Version 1/3 statue. For me, among the truckload of Batamans available, was the best one and this says a lot. Batman vs Bane comes in second as my preferred pieces from the Brazilian company.

7 – It’s not really a disappointment, it’s exactly what was expected to be but Lady Deadpool (as Heat-Seeker) is a complete overload mess. If they only had put both legs stretched, it would be more feminine and more akin to a real-life fighting pose. On the other hand, the add-ons will be the coolest I’ve seen in a while from Sideshow. An alternate unmasked head and Headpool are no small offerings.

Well, that’s enough with criticizing. Now with I found impressive. Remembering this is a one-man opinion, you’re more than welcome to differ and share your own point of view.

 IMPRESSIVE

1 – I have to begin with Red Sonja. I give you that it has a pretty uninspired base, just a bunch of rocks with a bloody head, and her hair does not appear really red, but everything else about the statue is perfect. The anatomy of the body not to muscular, the confident yet relaxed pose and the brilliant head sculpt makes this the best female character ever did by Sideshow in my opinion. I hope I’m fortunate enough to have her in my collection since I love pretty female characters and don’t have any Red Sonja yet. It’s not a character I really care about but this one I like very much. Just wonder what Dynamite stands for…

2 – I’m not into movie collectibles but the Alien Queen Maquette really grabbed my attention. Besides being very detailed and menacing, like it is galloping to attack, the base is so detailed and full of elements, it is a sight to behold. One of the best pieces displayed on the show hands down.

3 – Freddy Kruger was other that got me wowed. The character depiction is perfect, the painting of the head is top-notch and the base with it’s infinity depth mirror trick really adds to the piece. A winner. Must cost a small fortune though. Oh, and ECC's Jason has a incredible base as well, though Jason as a character, with his hockey mask is not a astonishing sculpt as Freddy.

4 – When I believed I was through with Iron Man Sideshow comes to prove me wrong. Their Iron Man Mark III Maquette is the one Iron Man to have. The pose is perfect, very imposing and heroic, the painting is extremely well done (let’s see the production pieces, though) and the base is cool enough for me. It seem big and bold. Outstanding piece.

5 – The Megatron with T-Rex hand impressed me. I’m not a Transformers fan let alone this Beast variant, but the sheer details of the T-Rex hand alone won me. The pose is very dynamic for a 1/3 piece (I guess is 1/3) and lights adds the bells and whistles to the piece. Sweet. Even though regarding Transformers - and everything else - this was a very weak Prime one show compared to last year.

6 – Hulk LSB. I have to mention it otherwise I’ll be betraying myself. I think this is the best LSB Sideshow ever done, supplanting even the phenomenal Joker bust of yesteryears. I even happen to like the color scheme! Lol. I think Sideshow achieved the right balance of comics style with hyper-realism in this piece. It may be light but I’ll not be moving it from the entrance of my room where I can scare some newcomer and always watch this masterpiece every time I enter my room. I know the majority of the collectors hates this piece but I just happen to deeply love it. The most expensive statue I’ve ever bought and I hope it continues this way.

Give an everlasting flavor of Halloween to your house!

 7 – Court of the Dead offerings. It was extremely impressive the sheer amount of pieces from this line Sideshow brought to the table this year. It just shows how dearly Sideshow holds their own IP. Overall very impressive statues and some oddities like the real-life line. Who the heck will want a life-size Supreme Death in one’s home? Or the ornaments? I really don’t know, I just want to see the price of Supreme Death once it’s out for PO. If the 1/4 figures are already expensive let alone this monstrosity (in every way).

8 – Tweeterhead Joker. The first piece of the company that really made my eyes glow. Everything about the piece is top, painting, details, head sculpt, even though is just a 1/6 statue it behaves like a 1/4. Kudos for Tweeterhead for going the extra mile with this piece.

The star of the show.

9 - I almost forgot the most unforgettable piece on the show: Thanos on Throne. Is quite perfect. What more can I say? It's a grail. Will make a lot of collectors extremely happy if the production pieces match the quality of the prototype. Am I mistaken or the stones light up? A plus to a magnificent piece. I won't order it because I'm not into Thanos, barely know the character and the price is a little too salty for me. I preferred to spend my bullets on Hulk LSB. For the ones who are getting him. Happy collecting!

Well, I guess these sums up the things that grabbed my attention for the best or worse on the SDCC. The rest of the pieces were from regular to good, so average in general. Since so little deserved my time I think this was a very warm show this year. I remember making a much more extensive report of the show last year. Maybe because it was the first I followed (through Facebook groups, never went to one) in my life. Or maybe because there were less engaging pieces this year. Or maybe I’m becoming more selective. I don’t know. I know I realized that criticize is far more easier than praise and this is an insight that doesn’t lift my soul one bit. I wish it was the inverse but was not what happened here. Was not what happened with me. But I avoid to criticize people, I think it is unnecessary to hurt anyone’s feelings so I keep the critics to myself if any. I have the tendency to criticize myself a lot. As much as I try to take it more easy on me I can’t avoid but to be punitive with myself. But this is not a subject to be discussed here. I have a blog in Portuguese for this. It’s my therapy. Lol.  

HOLY SDCC, BATMAN! - STATUES WRAP UP

I was asked to write an article commenting the SDCC, even though I’m miles away from there. My font of reference was the internet, mainly Facebook groups – a great source of information –. There were so many statues, action figures and whatnot that if I would cover every picture I saw I would be writing here ‘till the next SDCC. So I decided to focus only on statues, specifically the ones that caught more my attention. It’s a highly subjective article so fell free to criticize and comment.

First, if there was a character that defined this edition of the San Diego Comic Con it was Batman. Greatly because Prime 1 Studios brought 4 or 5 versions of the hero to the show and Sideshow brought three more (not to mention other companies). Second he was the one to get the most characters of his universe launched by the big companies.

The show was his (or theirs)

The things I was super excited to see (Prime 1 doing 1/4 scale figures and Sideshow Deadpool PF) were big letdowns for me. But I’ll get into it at the right time. Let’s begin with the Batman avalanche that assaulted Comic Con.

The Dark Knight that caused more hype was exactly Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns statue from Prime 1. As all Batmans from the company, this piece also has 1/3 but for a refresh it isn’t in a museum pose (even though it’s a not so cool pose). Altogether is a pretty cool piece and the sculpt was based – as the base and the bruises suggest – on Batman after the fight with the leader of the Mutants gang from DKR. I like the statue very much apart from one little big detail: his face is so deformed on one side by the bruises that it is difficult to make sense of what his face really looks like. I just hope they launch it with a second unbruised (or less hurt) head that resembles Frank Miller’s rendition of the hero.

Strange pose, strange face, huge hype. This came out of nowhere.

But for me, the greatest Batman of them all was also from Prime 1: Batman Beyond. I became a bit disappointed because it wasn’t bluer as on the preview images. It ended up black and gray which is much less cool than the bluer of the yester version. Nonetheless the level of details of this piece is nothing short of amazing and the size helps a lot in cause an impact. It’s on museum pose, which I don’t like much, but in this case fits the character perfectly making him extremely imposing. I’d never seen this Batman before because I stop reading comics around mid 1990’s and I have a PS3, therefore never played Arkham Knight game, but it’s an extremely creative take on Batman; it looks like a cyborg Batman of sorts. I don’t know, I just wished it stayed bluish.

Oh, if he was bluish like the preview it would be so much cooler...

I’ve changed my mind about the best Batman of the show! I completely forgot the coolest Batman of them all. I don’t know who’s producing this but King Batman is an absolute masterpiece. You see that it’s a labor of love, every single part of it painstakingly detailed and painted and he has this huge spread bat wing severed by battle that is freaking cool. It’s an incredibly impacting figure, violent and vicious, barbarian figure. It’s another Batman version I’ve never seen before. And one I won’t forget. It’s a pity I don’t have money or space to display it as the wing seems to be really big and the price should be as big as the wing.

Visceral

There were yet another curious Batman lurking away from the spotlight that grabbed the attention of some fans. Entitled Batman Red Rain it’s a dark exquisite rendition of Batman that certainly will please fans with a more artistic vision.

Dark gray and orange and very weird. Sure to capture the attention of artsy guys/gals.

Still on the Batman universe, there were several of partners and villains of the cape crusader on the show floor. Sideshow Bane caused much hype among the fans (obfuscating even Prime 1 Deathstroke) while I preferred Killer Croc from Sideshow and Two-Face from Prime 1. Sideshow also brought women companions for Batman, as Black Canary, Catwoman, Huntress and Cheetah. Of all the DC girls I would stay with Black Canary with her pinup pose and sexy expression. A prove that sideshow is really improving in doing women’s faces and expressions. None of the DC girls, to my taste, were match to the Marvel’s female team headed by Dark Phoenix and Captain Marvel.

Just like the comics. Just like the fans love and hype!

Cooler than Bane in my humble opinion. You can hate me now.

DC babies.

Speaking of Marvel I had my greatest disappointment of all time with Sideshow Collectibles when I saw the completed figure of their new PF Deadpool. It was like “take the cool, sleek, preview image we’re been teasing for months on our site and turn into a ridiculous carnival”. And so they did. Made an horrible base, simulating apparently the beginning of an explosion, Deadpool dodging a missile, a bullet in slow-motion coming out of the gun and the katana cutting a grenade in half. With that horrid translucent material all over it. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what they did to my most eagerly awaited figure of all time. I thought by that preview picture that nothing could possibly go wrong with this statue. I couldn’t be more mistaken. Every part of the figure that was not shown turned out a big mess. I know the Deadpool spirit is to be a bit ridiculous but make a ridiculous statue due to that. C’mon... Well, on the bright side, I don’t have the money to buy it anyway because I bet with all this bells and whistles they put and the hype over the figure it will cost around $600.00. And even if I had 10,000.00 I wouldn’t buy this ridiculous piece of junk Sideshow made of a fantastic Deadpool sculpt. I wish all that trash was removable, one could put if one wanted and if one – me – doesn’t want, throw it all on the garbage. If it was like this, I could think about buying it even if with that overly ugly base. Oh, I put all my frustration out. Feel so relieved now. At least Sideshow was bold enough in turning a thing of beauty in something pathetic just to follow the more humorous facet of the character… clap, clap, clap… Wanna know who designed that. Very curious to know. Oh, and don't get me wrong, I loved the movie! Saw it twice!

Exploding (I guess) floor, cut grenade, missile, slow-motion bullet?
Take all that off and I'll take the figure.

 On the Marvel front, beyond Dead-bleargh-pool the great novelty was the Hulk vs. Wolverine diorama. That came out of nowhere and looked cooler than I thought. It’s not my type of statue but it has it’s presence. Wolverine is top notch, Hulk not so much. As Hulk is the biggest part of the diorama it’s a no go to me. I prefer to save money to buy the Hulk of the Hulks, the old Sideshow Incredible Hulk PF…

Good Wolverine, strange Hulk, the worst possible way. Ok, I'll pass.

Like I said on the girls front, Marvel goes very well. Besides already cited Captain Marvel and Dark Phoenix, Marvel counts with Gamora and Angela (the last being a bit without personality, between her and Black Canary I think I would pick the DC character).

Marvel gals (missing: Dark Phoenix)

Beyond this what really caught my attention on Sideshow booth were the animals (and vegetal) available there. First, the reinvention of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that looks simply stunning, the way the turtles always meant to be.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should look like this since the beginning! Cowabunga! Spot on.

Second but no less important are Rocket and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. They look absolutely fabulous and Groot is really big and awesome. They seem, as Gamora more based on the comics than in the movies and I like that. I like that overall on Sideshow. Generally the create their own vision of the character but always based on the comics. Of course always appears a PF from Avengers or Captain America flicks here and there but the majority is based on comics.

Comics fidelity. Nice. Very Nice indeed.

Another statue that generated much hype was Sideshow Predator from the first movie. I particularly don’t collect statues from movies, but the fans was crazy about it. It’ll be a best seller no matter what price they put on it. (What is bad for the industry and when I say industry I say my wallet.) Cinemaquette (or ECC I never knew the difference) had their own version of the Predator which may cost a small fortune. I’ll put them side by side so you can compare both, remembering nobody know if sideshow exclusive for this Predator is the head without helmet or not (but one can’t imagine any other exclusive item for this piece)

Sideshow or Cinemaquette (ECC). You or your pocket decides.

Oh, the entering of Prime 1 on the 1/4 market was a thing I thought would come to raise the level of this segment of statues but their fourth scale Superman from League 52 is just meh. The skin has Prime 1 special finish is there, the details are not as detailed as their 1/3 counterparts and the glossy finish that suits well the big third scale boys because mixes and balances with lots of opaque parts does not work very well on the Superman. For now, there’s nothing Sideshow or XM should worry about. But I still believe is just for now. Once Prime 1 gets the hang of the thing the 1/4 market will never be the same. By talking about changes in the market, in my interview with Randy Bowen he hinted he would or could make a partnership with one of the companies from the market. May we hear something about it on Comic Con? I can’t hardly wait and hope so. I wish it was with Sideshow because of ancient distribution partnerships that happened between the two companies. But one never knows.

Perfectly uninspired.

I’m not on action figures and I said I wouldn’t comment about it here but must I confess I saw two pictures of the golden Stormtrooper that got me drooling.

Oh, so shiny... so pretty...

Another one that had the same effect was Gremlin’s Gizmo going Rambo. The details of the figure are amazing you can swear the finger are real, not to mention the cute face with those two big lively eyes and the ooze dead gremlin behind him. If the figure comes with it (the dead gremlin) I would seriously consider save money to buy it.

 

Marvelous!

There were the Darth Vader invasion also at SDCC. He was there in all possible sizes, the bigger the Vader the more statue-like the pose. 1:6, Premium Format, Legendary Scale and 1:1 versions were available depending on the size of your pockets. I was astonished that there were 3 Star Wars 1:1 available: the aforementioned Vader, Boba Fett and a Stormtrooper. Looks like Star Wars fans houses tend to me more spacious than that of most other collectors. I didn’t see any Darth Vader with an alternative head without helmet but they weren’t showing the pieces with their respective exclusives, so there’s still hope.

I forgot to mention the 1:1 bust. Sorry, too many Vaders to remember.

Last but not least, there was the release of Court of the Dead jester Malavestros. I knew this was coming because every time a CotD character gets the spotlight is because a statue is coming and with the jester was no different. What I couldn’t preview was the incredible statue it turned out to be. I couldn’t care less for Court of the Dead but this statue entered on my most wanted list. The effect of the magic he is doing is not short of astonishingly whimsical. And the character per se is just fantastically sculpted. Not to mention the base. The color pallet of the figure is different from the dark tones from CotD characters what gives it a fresh feel almost like it was painted with watercolor. It’s the one figure that substituted my disappointment with Deadpool mess. A show stealer, in my opinion. Would love to know who sculpted and who colored it.

Along with King Batman, Malavestros the statue that stole the show.

Iron Studios was the only one to bring Spider-Man to the floor as well as a Civil War flick statue, Falcon (part of an enormous 1/4 diorama they will be launching along this year and the next). It was the first appearance of the Brazilian studio on a SDCC. Hope more to come.

And I didn’t even mention the full return of Sideshow to terror movie characters with nothing less than Jason, Freddy Kruger, Leatherface, and the woman from Helraiser! I didn’t mention because I don’t collect horror figures but fans of the genre got pretty excited by the news. I don’t collect busts too and there were several the only one that grabbed my attention was the Cinemaquette Freddy Kruger, very expressive and extremely similar to the movie character. Many didn’t like the base but it resembled me the place where Kruger was burnt. And there was the corridor in the middle with a silhouette of Kruger at the end. Pretty awesome if you ask me. But I don’t talk about busts.

Sharp.

Well there were of course more figures, dozens more statues to comment but the post would become too extensive for anybody to read. Therefore, I stayed with the ones I thought most significant from what I saw on the net and finish remembering you that it’s a highly subjective article and that you’re free to comment otherwise and share your thoughts about whose figures stole the show. Thanks for reading and if you interested on the people who actually make this pieces of pop culture art I invite you to read a series of interviews I’m doing with key people on the industry:

- Randy Bowen

- MattBlack – Part I (Sideshow)

- MattBlack – Part II (Sideshow)

- GabrielEbehardt (Iron Studios)

More interviews to come after SDCC (I hope!).

IF YOU WANT TO AMP UP YOUR COLLECTION…

I recently learnt many things about collectibles. I believed there were no better statues than Sideshow’s and that all statues were solid. However I was mistaken actually. Do not get me wrong here. I still love some of the pieces from Sideshow and won’t cancel my orders of He-Man, Skeletor and Dark Phoenix, I still find them marvelous statues. The reality though is that Sideshow pieces nowadays are made of a thin – and I mean really thin – layer of a cheaper resin than polystone and are not the best in the market. I learnt no figure ¼ and up is solid, all of them are hollow or the shipping costs would be through the roof. But…

If you go to the top league in collecting be prepared: you will have to have very deep pockets. Do you think Sideshow Avengers Hulk cool? Take a look at Cinemaquette’s Hulk. Just the base is a piece in itself with severed Ultron’s minions sculped to the last detail. The hair of Hulk is actual synthetic hair implanted, the statue is casted in high quality translucent resin to give the impression of skin, it has acrylic teeth and the paint job is impeccable. The piece is a real monster with 32 height x 40 width x 36 depth and come in two boxes, one for the base other for the Hulk.  Now we come to the really monstrous thing: the price. One of Cinemaquette’s 500 Hulks will cost you $ 2,980.00 plus more than $200.00 for shipping. The perfect Iron Man, with an almost Hot Toy precision of Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) face costs $2,500 and the shipping is almost $250.00. By the price of the shipping you can deduce these are sturdy figures that Sideshow thin layered figures. So are you willing (or are able) to pay $3,000 plus on one statue? I would love too but I can’t. And to tell the truth the statue is not five times better than Sideshow Avengers Hulk... Just three (the hair makes such a huge difference)! ;)

You can low your scale by a half going to XM Studios where you could get (if it wasn’t sold out) a Darkness statue for $1,500. You can find cheaper figures like Iron Man Mark XLII for $800. Still out of my league and the sculpting, to be sincere, is on par with Sideshow (if not subpar). But hey, you’re getting cold cast porcelain figures.And hey, I must admit the recent projects they`re working for look pretty amazing but, hey, they're just projects, need to see the final product. And yep, I just saw Magneto and Daredevil and they`re pretty cool too. (Even though I prefer my SS classic Daredevil, but I'm biased!)

In this range is also Prime 1 Studios. Excellent quality overall, made of polystone, but not so cool franchises. The price tag is more affordable, about $700-$1,200 apiece. Did I have to say that’s out of my league too? Oh, I’ve forgot there’s Prime 1 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for “just” $575 apiece, the price of a Sideshow Hulk figure.

And there are many more studios I’m unaware of making expensive high quality figures to be sure. So what’s the point of this article?

In one word, to amp up your collection, you must be rich, which I’m not. I value time over money not vice-versa. Sideshows figures are getting better every day in terms of sculpting and painting, what is getting worse is the “cheap is better” manufacturing process and the inflated prices. As I said, I believe Sideshow’s Daedpool PF will be the last statue I’ll ever buy. I was planning buy Blanka from Pop Culture Shock too, but nobody is buying what I’m selling on eBay so I don’t have the money!

-x-x-x-

One last thing, First 4 Figures has evolved the quality of their products quite impressively. The new Dark Souls character got me awestruck. And the price range is the same or even lower than Sideshow. It's a pity they only get game franchises so far. But that's their niche.