SAMUS ARAN ZERO SUIT VER. - Metroid Other M Statue

Max Factory/Good Smile Company's Metroid Other M Zero Suit Samus Aran is one incredible statue. It executes the promotional shots perfectly and has zero quality control issues! This is the production quality that every collectible-toy company should be striving for...

Standing just about 9" tall, this PVC statue was purchased during its 2nd "re-release" run. I'm not a huge fan of Metroid, as it's not a game I ever played (though I do have 2 figma Samus releases). As a result, I'd been putting off getting this statue, as it was quite expensive on the secondary market and long sold out. When a 2nd run was announced, I quickly pre-ordered it, before changing my mind again and cancelling. But I just couldn't get over how striking the statue looked, so once it was released I went ahead and ordered - and I'm certainly glad that I did.

The sculpt is fantastic: it's sleek and smooth and simple, while still capturing plenty of detail. It's interesting, yesterday I took a look at a Bruce Lee statue where all of the muscles were defined with deep striations and bulges. In contrast, Samus captures detail with subtlety. There are hints of lines and muscles, which makes the illusion of a suit over top of them all the more realistic. The face is incredible, with no stray marks or blemishes to be seen. Likewise, the suit, with 2 different shades of metallic blue and clearly defined black piping, presents no bleed whatsoever. The design tampoed on her back is, again, perfect, and there's a red band holding the ponytail in place as the wind sweeps it to the side. The pose is maybe a slightly bit awkward, with her hip thrust to the side, but it works. Samus holds a nicely detailed and painted blaster in her right hand.

The entire statue pegs into a plain clear stand, with the words Metroid Other M, which also holds a clear rod which attaches to her base-mate: the baby Metroid. It "hovers" near her right elbow, and sports some average detail. Honestly, I think the JAKKS mini version might be a little more detailed, but the baby is not the star of this show. It certainly doesn't detract from Samus, but she honestly doesn't need it, either.

Overall, Max Factory's Samus Aran Zero Suit statue is a home run. She looks right at home alongside other Bishoujo style statues, and it's light-years ahead of the figma version (which I honestly found a bit disappointing). She's a great addition to the collection!

Base

Beside Storm Collectibles Scorpion

With Figma Zero Suit Samus

BRUCE LEE The Martial Artist Series No. 2 by Storm Collectibles

Storm Collectibles' "The Martial Artist Series" of Bruce Lee statues saw its second release this summer. No. 2 in the series features Bruce in a sparring pose and represents some significant improvements over the first figure, especially in terms of sculpt and proportions.

Standing about 7 & 1/2" tall, Bruce's measurements clearly don't match the line's 1/12 scale moniker. So know, right off the bat, that this figure will NOT be in scale with other 1/12 figures. In fact, it's not even in scale to Storm's other "1/12" figures (Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat). It's just a tad bit "off", even when posed beside No. 1 from the line, although that might be because No. 1's knees are locked, while No. 2's are slightly bent (however, I tend think it's more due to the overly long legs of No. 1, while No. 2 is more accurately proportioned).

The figure itself is beautifully done. The face sculpt is a vast improvement over the two heads that were included with No. 1. This one captures his features perfectly, and the slight pursing of the lips, subtle knitting of the brows in the forehead, and lifelike texturing of the jawline are all brilliant. There's a five-o'clock shadow that's well-done here, as well. The body is made of an interesting plastic, which actually resembles a very hard rubber. It's not flexible in any way, but there's a little give when you press on it with, say, your fingernail. The sculpt of the musculature everywhere is absolutely amazing. In real life, it's one of the things that made Bruce Lee so jaw-dropping, and the figure captures that essence perfectly. Bruce Lee is shredded. From his neck all the way down to his calves, there are striations and crevices and veins. I count six prominent muscles in his forearm, alone. Of course, the abs and obliques are terrific, and nothing (well,almost nothing) is overdone. The result is that the figure doesn't get "old", if that makes any sense. What I mean is, as a statue, there is little to no play value here. What I want from a statue is something that I can return to again and again and still find things of interest. This statue accomplishes that (the muscles across his chest and shoulders consistently amaze me!). It looks great on the shelf, and is something that I will be noticing for a long time.

That said, there are two slight complaints that I have. First, the armpit hair stands out too much for me. My complaint isn't that it's there (accuracy and all), but more that it's too defined. It detracts from the rest of the figure because it's something that distracts my attention from other details. My second complaint is odd, in that it relates directly to the sculpt that I was praising earlier. Sounds like a strange reversal, but it's not. I'll explain. The sculpt is fabulous, period. The paint, however, is not quite as strong. The result is that there are places where the edges are not as sharp as they should be, especially where the trunks meet the torso, and around the black and white applications of the gloves. What would really have been perfect, would have been if these were separate components added on, rather than having them as part of the original sculpt. The lacing at the gloves and shin pads are especially bad, and ruin the lifelike illusion of the rest of the figure. Doing them as separate pieces with that soft rubberized plastic that Storm uses so well on their other figures would knock this one completely out of the park. In fact, they've done such a thing with their Mortal Kombat ninjas, making the forearm, hand and shin bracers as separate sculpted pieces, to great effect.

That said, No. 2 Bruce Lee is a nifty statue. It improves on No. 1 without replacing it, and offers enough of a new look to be worth the purchase. I'm very happy with it, and feel that it's a solid A- offering. Incidentally, the head for this statue is on a magnet, as well, and can be interchanged perfectly with the two heads that came with No. 1. Below are some pics of the heads and torsos, mixed and matched...

No. 1 and No. 2 together

No. 2 with No. 1's head

No. 2 with No. 1's alternate head

KEN MASTERS - Storm Collectibles Street Fighter V action figure

It seems like everyone and their grandmother is reviewing Storm Collectibles' Street Fighter figures right now. The good news is that the reviews tend to be very positive, with most of the complaints I have seen occurring around QC issues having to do with breakage at the joints. To this point, Ken is my sixth opened Storm Collectibles action figure and, thankfully, I haven't had any breakage issues at all (knock wood). I've been very pleased with the figures I've gotten so far, and I'm still as excited about the line moving forward as I was before the first figure's initial release!

Ken is the third Street Fighter V figure to be released by SC (not counting re-paints). It's another solid figure, and might actually be my favorite of the three so far, despite my general ambivalence towards Ken's SFV character re-design.

Ken comes packaged in a fairly large window box with attractive graphics on each of the panels. SC has been releasing 2 package versions for each figure: Asian releases have all of the descriptive text in Japanese (I assume), while North American versions are translated into English. Since mine came directly from SC, I've no idea what the bio shares. I like the general design of the box, but there are a couple of things worth noting. First, there's a LOT crammed into this figure's package, which makes it feel like the thing is about to burst. In fact, my top panel was fairly popping out of the tape. It's easy enough to open, but a little trickier to keep mint for MIB collectors. My second and third notes have to do with MIB collectors, as well. The SF logo on the top panel is a cut-out, which means there's a V-shape of cardboard that doesn't like to sit flush against the top panel. As a result, that V tends to get caught on things and bend upwards, which can be an annoyance for MIBers. Finally, there's a sheet of thin plastic film wedged around the figure and between the clamshells that hold everything in place. I love that SC is keeping the figure and contents from paint mishaps, but it makes it very difficult to see the figure and its accessories in detail through the protective wrap. These are all minor quibbles to me, and do not in any way detract from my enjoyment of the product.

Storm Collectibles has included a ton of useful accessories with Ken. You'll get a total of: 8 hands, 3 face plates, 3 bang hair pieces (making for a total of 9 different looks for the head), a small flame effect for the foot, a dragon punch flame effect, a large dragon kick flame effect, a display stand and arm, a flaming Hadoken effect and a cardboard backdrop. The flame effects are beautifully crafted of translucent plastic with painted highlights at the edges. The hands include 2 fists, 2 open palms, 2 Hadoken gripping hands, another open left hand and a pointing right hand. The Hadoken hands clamp onto the fireball pretty well, but getting them attached to the arms is tricky.

Aesthetically, Ken is fantastic. I feel like Storm Collectibles begins with the sculpt, and works the articulation scheme from there. The result is that their figures look really accurate to the game and make creative use of a variety of materials (such as rubber or softer plastic) to enhance their articulation. Bandai's Figuarts figures, on the other hand, feel like they begin with the articulation and work towards the sculpt from there. The result is a figure that has a smoother articulation scheme and can achieve a wider variety of excellent poses, but doesn't quite match the thickness of the SFV game renders. I like both styles, personally, and am as excited as ever that we are finally getting outstanding SF figures - from TWO different lines, no less!

SC's figures are so well-sculpted that I'm perfectly content with them standing in a vanilla pose, fists at their sides, on my shelf. Ken is bulky but proportionate. There are wrinkles sculpted across the back of his tight undershirt, and his gi-top hangs folded down around his waist. The black stretch shirt has red piping that is sculpted on as raised elements, rather than just painted on, while the pants and lower torso elements are very similar to those we saw with Ryu (the exception being the straps molded onto the underside of Ken's feet). The default face comes with a stern, tight-lipped expression, creased at the forehead. The alternate faces feature two kids of yells, while the bangs either sweep to the side, or apart. Overall, this is an A-quality sculpt that matches the game renders nearly perfectly, while hiding the articulation fairly well.

The paint is excellent, especially on the face(s). The eyes and brows look great, and the hair looks blonde without being glaring. There's an uneven wash in places over the outfit to give it some grime, though it's not as heavy as it was on Ryu.

Once I started messing around with trying to pose this guy, I discovered some things that I really liked, and some that weren't quite as good. I'll start with the good, first. The head has an amazing amount of tilt, both forward and backwards. The rubber neck and the ball inside work much better than they did on Ryu, and he holds the tilts very well. The rubber upper torso can lean deeply, as well, though a gap opens in the front when he tilts too far backwards. The rubber inserts at the shoulders are great, working as well as they did on Ryu, while looking better. The "skirt" is rubber (it can be removed by pulling the torso apart), but it does restrict the ability of the legs to move out to the sides somewhat. It was inconvenient when I was trying to get high-kicking poses. The wrists have an amazing amount for movement to them, and the ball joint underneath is hidden well by the rubber wrist cuffs. All of that, combined with the excellent sculpt and paint work, really make this figure shine. That said, there were some negatives I encountered.

First and foremost, I do not care for the rubber bangs. The "sweeping to the side" and "sweeping outwards" bangs don't do much for me, and (more importantly) they did not peg into the head deep enough. Either the post is too long, or the rubber is too flexible. Either way, they stick out too far and just don't look good. I'd suggest small bits like that be done with regular plastic, rather than rubber (they really don't need to flex anyway). My biggest gripe (and biggest surprise, actually) are the translucent plastic effect parts. They are not easy to get on, at all. It was really frustrating to try to squeeze Ken's foot into the large dragon fire kicking effect, and once I got it on it was too heavy for the hip joint, so it kept pulling the leg down. Plus, it sits in a really awkward direction on the foot. I couldn't even get the smaller foot-fire effect attached at all. The place where these parts clamp in is just too tight, and they have no flex whatsoever to them. This is a case where I'd recommend a softer plastic for the effect parts. The dragon punch flame effect part worked great.

Overall, Ken is another home run for Storm Collectibles. The figure looks terrific, and the SF shelf is really starting to round out now (check out the pic below of all three figures released so far)! I think each release is improving in many ways. I did find the effects parts to be fairly difficult to work with, though they do end up looking pretty good in action shots. I'm sure someone with more posing skills than me will really enjoy this figure. For me, I super happy having him displayed on my shelf. Next up is Zangief!

IBUKI - Street Fighter Bishoujo Statue

Ibuki is the sixth figure (I believe) released in Kotobukiya's Bishoujo Street Fighter line of "pretty girl" statues. I've resisted diving into this line for nearly three years, but with 2017 shaping up to be an all-out Street Fighter merchandising blitz, I just couldn't hold out any longer.

Ibuki is a fixed-pose, PVC statue based on the artwork of Shunya Yamashita. She comes packaged very carefully in a window box (with 3 windows!) featuring the beautiful artwork that inspired the figure. Everything is protected very well, and the box is attractive enough to keep and even add to the display (I've got the box turned around to the full-artwork side as the backdrop behind the statue). The figure is advertised as 1/7 scale, and she stands about 9" tall atop her non-removable, clear plastic base.

The sculpt is excellent. The pose is interesting, and eye catching. Visually, there's a neat line created from the bend of her right elbow, following her forearm, across her throat and down her extended left arm to her hand. It's tilted slightly downwards, which I wish was a tiny bit different - raising her left arm and hand just a little would have added just a touch of aggression that the statue seems to lack. Along those lines, Ibuki's face is a tiny bit longer and thinner than the artwork of Yamashita. The result is a more "pixie-ish" look that I have a harder time taking seriously as a ninja warrior. It's not bad, by any means, just different enough from the illustration to be noticeable.

The outfit has plenty of detail in the form of creases and folds to suggest motion and depth. The lower portion is a separate piece, allowing for space between the body and "clothing" in places. The hair is fantastic, with the enormous tail whipping up over her head and back around to her waist, and three tremendous strands bowing down in front of her face. They are not pliable, and I'd suggest being careful with them. The same should be said about the blade she has in her right hand, as it is fairly pointy and made of pretty hard plastic.

The paint is the real highlight of this statue (and, from what I've seen, of the entire Bishoujo line). It really is exceptional, and really serves to enhance the sculpt. The base colors are all applied perfectly, with absolutely no bleed or blemishes. Granted, it's a pretty simple color scheme: flesh, brown, dark brown, light brown, off-white, beige and pink fingernails. That said, Kotobukiya applied some expert airbrush highlighting to make everything pop. The clothing and actual flesh both sport subtle shading in strategic locations, never feeling overdone or sloppy, while standing out when examined closely - it's artfully and tastefully done.

The face is clean and sharp, with a gloss applied to the eyes. As I mentioned before, I prefer the face of the illustration to the final product, but the statue certainly isn't bad. Ibuki is a terrific addition to my shelf, and (yes) I will be getting more Bishoujo Street Fighter statues. She's beautifully sculpted, painted perfectly and looks great on the shelf. A quality statue is one that draws you back to it time and again, while a powerful work of art encourages you to notice new things on each visit. I feel like this line of statues has the care and craftsmanship to make both of these things possible, and I certainly look forward to adding new releases (as well as old!) to my collection...

BRUCE LEE The Martial Artist Series No. 1 by Storm Collectibles

Storm Collectibles released the first in their line of Bruce Lee statues in June of 2016. Dubbed "The Martial Artist Series No. 1," it depicts Bruce Lee flexing his muscles in a pose taken directly from a scene in "Way of the Dragon." Storm's website lists this item in their "1/12 scale" category, but unfortunately this figure is absolutely not in 1/12 scale. Nevertheless, it's a terrific piece, and a fitting tribute to Bruce Lee. No. 2 is due out some time in Q2 of 2017, and I'll be picking that one up, as well.

Right off the bat, know that this is a plastic statue. There is no articulation, save what you may be able to achieve with the alternate heads. There are two included, each with a magnet inside, and they attach securely to the neck, which has another magnet embedded in its top. The standard head features a shaved face and eyes staring straight ahead, while the alternate has a bearded chin and eyes which are shifted off to the figure's right. Both are beautifully sculpted, but I prefer the clean-shaven look, which has a better paint application on mine. The paint is actually quite good. The skin his a lifelike texture, and the eyes have a slight glassy appearance. Fine details like the eyebrows and faint stubble are excellent and understated, though they do much to add to the realism. I feel like the eyes on my bearded head are a little askew, but the beard itself is great. Both feature a slight blush to the cheekbones and the excellent detailed sculpting of the hair complete the package.

The body is just as well-done. The muscles, textures and paint all work together seamlessly to create an illusion of realism, even coming complete with sculpted veins popping in strategic places. The sculpt captures Lee's physique very well, and looks just about exactly as it did in all of the prototype promo pictures. I will mention a couple of things that are bugging me about the sculpt, though. First, the promo pictures seemed to imply a sleeker, glossier skin tone - almost like sweat, which would be entirely appropriate for the scene the pose is taken from. I find the matte, dappled paint they used doesn't bring out the muscle sculpt as much as the glossier finish would have. That said, he's still incredibly life-like. My other quibbles have to do with the proportions of the sculpt itself. This statue has incredibly long forearms. Either that, or they are thin that they give the figure an almost bird-like appearance. The more significant issue has to do with his proportions at the lower torso and legs. The cloth pants (which are done nicely, and are glued into place - not adjustable) do a lot to hide this, but the figure's legs are ridiculously long in comparison to the upper torso. The distance from his belly button down to the base of the crotch is the same as the distance from the belly button up to the chin. Like I said, it's mostly hidden by the pants, but it's there.

The last thing to note is the size. I bought this because it was advertised as 1/12 scale, and I thought it would be awesome to have a Bruce Lee to display among my NECA Street Fighters and Storm Collectibles Street Fighters and Mortal Kombat participants. It's not 1/12 scale. The figure measures 7 & 5/8" tall (and there is no base). If my math is correct, that puts this figure at between 1/8 and 1/9 scale in comparison to the 5' 7" Bruce Lee. I don't have many figures on my shelves in a 1/8.6 scale, so he looks woefully out-of-place beside just about anything. That said, Bruce Lee probably deserves his own shelf. If Storm Collectibles manages to get No. 2 as right as this one is, and can continue the line through track-suit versions and more, I'll happily built a Bruce Lee 1/8.6 scale shelf all its own. In the mean time, I'm happy to have this one, and continue to be impressed by the level of quality Storm Collectibles exhibits.

Alongside Storm Collectibles MK 1/12 Scorpion