Pop Culture Shock 1/3 scale Chun-Li statue

I love Street Fighter, and have been playing since high school back in the 1990s. My favourite character is Ryu, and I have the previously released 1/3 scale Ryu statue from Pop Culture Shock (PCS). When I saw the prototype for the new Chun-Li, I knew I had to have this classic rendition of her too!

Click through below to check out my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can give the video a thumbsup and subscribe too! 😃

When a statue of this size and presence arrives in the post, it's always a great day. My smile couldn't get much bigger could it? 😄

After setting her up, she absolutely looks amazing. The level of sculpting detail is pretty good, and the material used for the mixed media is great too. The stockings look nice, and I'm glad they moved the seam from the outside of the legs to the inside. It's mostly hidden, but from some angles you can still see some unsightly stitching. Luckily it's not that noticeable from most angles.

The qipao has a nice material, but I wish some of the gold stitching was done with more attention to symmetry. From the front it looks OK, but some of the stitchning along her back is noticeably off centre. The front gold stitching fares a bit better.

Placing the wrist bracelets and hands was a little tricky, especially on the left hand to get it sitting close to her chest. But just make sure the bracelets sit low enough on the arms to allow the hands and their magnets to connect properly and it'll be fine.

The paint application on the visible skin is a little flat. I was expecting to see more skin texture and freckling like they did with the Ryu. That sort of detail always adds to the realism, especially at this scale. The lack of much skin texture and shading is a little disappointing, but from regular viewing distances it holds up OK.

Now on to some of the more annoying QC issues that have resulted in me asking for a replacement head sculpt. The issues I have with my statue are:

1) The red satin material used to wrap parts of the statue actually rubbed off red colour onto white painted parts of the statue. This included the hair buns and it was worst on the right shoe. The red cannot be wiped off with water.

2) The bridge of her nose has a strange small patch that is a lighter shade than the surrounding skin colour. It's like the top layer of paint was removed from that small area.

3) The sculpt along her underwear near the stocking seam has a crack. This is luckily hidden when the back of the skirt is in the normal down position.

It's the red stains on her hair buns and that light patch on her nose that mar an otherwise great sculpt. I've contacted the retailer, so will hopefully find out soon if I can get an exchange on the head sculpt. I really hope PCS learn from this and use a white satin material instead of red!

In the end, it's a fantastic statue that I love in the collection. Once an unblemished head sculpt arrives, she'll be damn near perfect!

Collection update video and pics - 1/6th scale and statues

It's been pretty slow this year on the 1/6th scale and statue front. But with 3 months left in the year I figured it was time for me to do a collection update on that side of the collection. I do have a few more figures and statues coming toward the end of the year, so I go through that as well.

Click through below to check out the collection update video over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can give the video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel to see all my upcoming videos :)

I've also had a go at trying out some manual camera settings and trying to take some better photos. The toy photography people post on Instagram and Facebook is pretty amazing these days, so I was inspired to pick up my photography skills.

It's definitely been an exercise in trial and error in playing with the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings. I think I'm starting to get a feel for the ways in which the different settings affect the quality of the photos. I do need to get a bit more creative in posing and angles of shots though!

Check through a selection of the photos I've taken recently. Hopefully I can improve and continue to take better photos over the coming months!

The new Hot Toys Royal Guard looks fantastic. The classic outfit just pops on display!

The original movie Iron Man Mk3 suit is still one of my favs. The mix of red and yellow for this style I think is a great mix of comic origins and movie creativity. It's a shame the figure is scaled too small!

I also love the original Ant-man outfit from the first movie. I think the Civil War costume was terrible though. Luckily they went back to a more classic style for Ant-man and The Wasp, and I think that new suit is a better mix of the old and new. I might still consider picking that up next year, but there's still plenty of time before that releases.

The War Machine Mk1 diecast figure is still a damn beast. It's almost too big, with a head sculpt that seems slightly too small. Still an amazing figure that photographs so well!

The old DX11 Joker is still a pretty nice figure too. The outfit and all it's layers still ranks right up there with the best from Hot Toys.

Here I'm testing out different areas of focus. The macro shots do bring out all the amazing details in these great figures!

I've barely touched the classic Tobey Maguire Spiderman figure over the past few years. It's just been standing in the Detolf cabinet all this time. Despite that, the ankle joints have crumbled, which has been a common problem with this figure. Still, I was able to get it into a stable fairly dynamic pose. Again, it's still a pretty nice looking figure by Hot Toys!

I do have more 1/6th scale figures coming this year, such as Jedi Luke and The Emperor. I also have statues like Orko from Sideshow's Masters of the Universe series and Evil Dead Ash from Kotobukiya's Horror Bishoujo series. Hope you can stay tuned for those reviews coming up soon!

Sideshow Collectibles Evil-Lyn Masters of the Universe exclusive statue

Sideshow's three current Masters of the Universe statues were all released in very quick succession beginning in  Dec 2016 with He-Man, then Skeletor in January and now Evil-Lyn. And I have to say they have done an incredible job with each one! There's only one issue that I have with the Evil-Lyn, and that's mostly fixed with a slight modification to the way I've displayed it.

Click through below for my full video review of Evil-Lyn over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel:)

Out of the box, the statue itself looks amazing. The paint app is clean with no bleeding, and I love the makeup and high gloss paint they used on the lips and fingernails. But as I feared from Sideshow's own unboxing video, the statue has an excessive forward lean to her left that was not seen in the prototype sculpt or the official prototype preorder photos.

The pose itself is quite good, and holding just the statue body itself off the base, it's clear it matches the prototype well. Her right leg is mostly straight, in which her weight should be on that leg. Her left leg is the bent one, but with the lean it seems her weight is unnaturally on her left leg.

I think it comes down to how the main statue is placed on the base, or the angle of the base itself, that causes the strange forward lean. Since there's no easy way to fix how the foot pegs fit into the base, the only way I could think to correct the lean was to place some folder paper underneath the front edge of the base to essentially lift up that forward lean and make her more straight.

The folded paper is not too noticeable on display, but makes a big difference to her posture, so I definitely recommend doing something like that to correct the pose. Other than this issue, everything else is pretty much perfect on the statue!

Unlike the hands on Skeletor which were a little loose, the hands on Evil-Lyn are pretty solid, and fit nicely into the arms with strong magnets. You can loop the cape around the wrists and that all hangs together with the magnetic neck piece. The cape is necessary I think to add that signature bit of purple to her, otherwise her outfit looks a little too black, even with the silver highlights.

Some collectors have commented that her legs look a little short. I think that's an optical illusion due to all the black in her outfit that hides her legs and hips. To counter that, you need to futz the front fabric skirt to be more like the prototype sculpt. That sculpt actually showed the front skirt tucked between her legs, that revealed her thighs, and showed off her boots and stockings.

Revealing the skin of her thighs breaks up all that black, and gives her legs and pose a more natural look. I didn't do a very good job in the photo below of tucking it between her legs, but I have since done it and it makes a world of difference in how she looks on display. The skirt tucked down vertically in a natural manner makes the overall outfit and pose look much better.

The exclusive accessory in Screeech the Falcon is a nice solid piece. It's painted and sculpted well, with a nice bit of weight to it too. The base fits perfectly in with the Snake Mountain aesthetic of Evil-Lyn and Skeletor.

Overall, I love the Evil-Lyn statue, and together with He-Man and Skeletor they make for an incredible looking centerpiece for any MOTU collection. I just wish it wasn't going to take so long for the next statue in the series to be released! They've teased She-Ra as the next, but without even an announcement yet, it's looking to be a 2018 release at the earliest. Hopefully they continue this great looking style for many years to come!

Get this evil witch for yourself by clicking the link here to head over to Sideshow Collectibles! :)

Sideshow Collectibles Skeletor Masters of the Universe exclusive statue

I loved the first statue in the new Sideshow Masters of the Universe series with He-Man. And this follow up with Skeletor is every bit as awesome! Check out my full video review below over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel :)

I got the exclusive version that comes with the additional swap out cartoon styled head sculpt. With the prototype pics I thought I'd like the regular head sculpt more since it's a more realistic style that complements this new aesthetic from Sideshow. But in hand, the exclusive head sculpt is actually nicely sculpted and painted, and the yellow does not look overly cartoonish. So I think for my display I'll be going with the exclusive head sculpt.

Note that the head of the staff I have rotated all the way down the staff to the hand like it was shown in the prototype pics. Many inhand videos, including Sideshow's own unboxing video, show the ram's head just placed near the top of the staff, which makes it very top heavy and unstable.

All you need to do is adjust the position of the hand once placing the bottom of the staff, and then rotate the ram's head down to the correct location just above the hand. A little pressure is all that's needed, and since the staff is metal, there's low risk of any breakage. Doing so will make sure the staff is stable and the head won't suddenly topple off.

The base is nicely sculpted and painted too. Some early reports indicated there were loose pieces inside the base, but luckily mine is OK with no rattling inside. It all feels pretty solid. The lava paint app looks decent in hand, and the holes fit the foot pegs well to hold the statue in place.

The sculpting and detail of the body and armour is perhaps even better than it was on He-Man. This sculpt just has so much detail, with a great bluish body paint with the black wash in all the right places to accentuate the musculature.

The armour pieces are all plastic, which has annoyed some collectors, but I don't really care to be honest. The paint app looks metallic, and is flexible enough to avoid any damage particularly when placing the neck armour and cape around the shoulders.

The chest armour and shoulder piece look great, again with lots of detail. The cape pegs were a bit of a pain to get in, particularly with the furry pieces wrapped around the peg. But gently prying the plastic piece wider and lining up the peg holes solved that easily enough.

Before putting the cape on, make sure to give it a spray of water and a gentle iron on low heat. It will remove the extensive wrinkles since it is packaged all rolled up. The shiny inner lining will look much smoother and more natural with the wrinkles removed.

There were some complaints about the hands being loose with weak magnets. The hands are looser than on He-Man for sure, but mine aren't too loose to the point I'm worried that they'll fall out. Even picking up to move they felt stable enough, but maybe just remove them when moving just in case.

Again the plastic nature of the armour doesn't bother me. If noone told me, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway on display! The sculpting and paint app make the armour pieces look amazing!

It would've been nice if the sword was made of metal like it was on He-Man. The details are intricate, and would've been a nice touch in metal, but at least it looks nice attached via a magnet on his back.

Under that cape, the excellent sculpting and detail continues to the rear of the armour. The torso, waist, and even lower leg armour really has been sculpted beautifully. It's almost a shame the cape covers it all! I did consider displaying the statue without the cape, but unlike He-Man, this Skeletor looks a little skinny without the cape. The cape gives the statue a bit more bulk and gravitas for this evil character I think.

Displayed together with He-Man, these two make for I think some of Sideshow's most visually dynamic and interesting statues for a long time! The barbarian / fantasy style of these perfectly suit the adults that grew up watching the cartoon, with a sophisticated aesthetic coupled with all the nostalgic cues the MOTU line deserves. I hope Sideshow continues this line for many years to come to release all the core characters from their premium art print! Highly recommended!

Click the link here to head over to Sideshow for all the order details :)

Sideshow Masters of the Universe He-Man exclusive

When I first saw the teaser pics of Sideshow's new Masters of the Universe statue line, I loved the style. But I was trying to stay away from larger collectibles at the time due to space and funds. But after seeing more pics, and then the details of the Skeletor and Evil-Lyn statues, I just couldn't resist! I ended up using the free reward points that Sideshow was giving out during their recent Spooktacular to essentially give me free international shipping to Australia on this one, so can't complain at all!

Click the link below to check out my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. This thing is just beautiful!

The day it arrived I also received the new BigBoysToys TNC-05 Blanka set. It's always a good day when great things arrive in the mail lol :)

Everything is packaged fairly well within the usual foam protection, and all wrapped in plastic with desiccant. I have heard some reports that people may have received some with moisture inside that resulted in some paint defects, so definitely check over it carefully! Luckily mine didn't have any major issues that I was concerned about.

The exclusive version that comes with the Battle Axe has an edition size of 1250, of which I received 0776. I'm not too fussed with the numbering or edition size, but like PCS it would've been nice to have a certificate of authenticity or something to accompany the statue.

As I said, the exclusive comes with the Battle Axe, and it is an essential purchase with this statue! If it hasn't sold out already, head over to Sideshow and get the exclusive one!! The Battle Axe (and standard Power Sword) are both full made of metal, with some extremely nice sculpted detail. The heft is quite pleasing to the touch I have to say!

The base itself looks great, and is also quite heavy. Not sure exactly what it's made of, but it weighs quite a bit so make sure your shelves can handle it! The statue fits into the base with a metal rod in the left foot, and goes in fairly smoothly. Normally I actually prefer standard black bases, but on this statue the design works very well.

The sculpted details on the body, armour and costume are all well done for this. Luckily the head sculpt is not meant to resemble anyone, and the stylised look works well here. I don't think accurate likenesses are Sideshow's forte, so going with this style was a good decision!

The statue comes with a red cape, but I still haven't figured out how to put it on properly lol! And when I did try, the leather like straps actually left brown streaks on the statue which initially scared the crap out of me. But with that, there's no way I'd leave that on for any length of time in case it permanently stains the statue!

Despite the Battle Axe and Power Sword being metal, it's a shame the shield is only plastic. It is still painted very nicely, with a leather like strap over the forearm piece. Unfortunately on mine, one end of the strap that attaches to the shield was not glued properly. I'm waiting on Sideshow's response for a replacement, but they should be able to help me out like they have in the past.

The separate sheathed Power Sword is plastic, and attaches to He-Man's back with a magnet. Together with the Battle Axe, it makes for an amazing looking statue on display! Note that it does also come with an unsheathed accessory for when he is holding the Power Sword.

Together with the other statues, I think this new series from Sideshow look amazing. I really hope that they continue on and make all the core characters, unlike Pop Culture Shock that stopped their line without completing them. If they do that, this series could truly become legendary for Sideshow!

Kotobukiya ArtFX+ Avengers Now Hulk

Late in 2013 Kotobukiya completed the release of their new ArtFX+ New 52 Justice League statues, which all looked sensational. At that time, I had no Marvel related statues, so was wondering if they would also start releasing Avengers or other comic characters.

Almost as if reading my mind, Kotobukiya teased the first photos of their Avengers Now line of statues, starting with Hulk. As more and more prototypes were shown, it was pretty clear that the Avengers lineup would be just as awesome as their Justice League statues, so I preordered all of them! Recently Hulk was the first to be released, and he is an incredible statue to have in any collection!


Packaging:
The New 52 Justice League packaging was a stand out in that the boxes together formed a nice mural with artwork of the characters. I have to say that the Avengers Now packaging for this new line is not as nice, but still has some decent artwork. And being the Hulk, this first box is huge!

Love the group artwork above, which I assume will be formed with the boxes once all the statues are released. Similar to the New 52 boxes, I think these will make for a very nice backdrop to the statues on display.

Assembly:
The statue comes packaged in 3 separate parts - the head, upper body, and legs. I'm not sure why they had to package it like this, but perhaps the separate pieces are for ease of manufacture and painting. Either way, the assembly is pretty straight forward, with the pieces click together very easily.

Statue:
Once put together, the size of Hulk really becomes apparent, and he is most impressive! The ArtFX+ line of statues is done in 1/10th scale, and Hulk stands about 22cm, resulting in a very impressive presence on display.

He's so big in fact that this time Kotobukiya have included two of their magnetic stands, where normally their statues fit onto a single stand. The magnets in the feet hold firmly to the base, although he has a wide enough stance that the stand isn't strictly needed.

The sculpting of the muscles on the statue are just phenomenal! The poses of the New 52 statues were all fairly museum-like and static, but it looks like Kotobukiya have gone for a more dynamic style with their Avengers line. It really pays off for the Hulk, with a pose that shows he is definitely ready for action.

The paint app too is a standout, giving the awesome musculature the shading and nuance to really show it off. The proportions are just right too with everything you'd expect in a Hulk statue. The veins too are very nicely done and result in a sculpt that depicts the strength of the character in a nice subtle way.

The only real complaint about the sculpt that I have is that the mold lines just above the biceps, extending around to the triceps, are more visible than if the arm were one solid molded piece. This is a shame, as the prototype photo (as shown on the box art) does not have these mold separation lines.

Similarly, the mold separation is visible just above the knee, however they are mostly covered by the torn pants. It's strange that they decided to mold these as separate pieces, but then glue them in place to be packaged, considering some assembly was still required anyway.

Either way, it is a pretty minor quibble, and one that is easily overlooked when looking at the statue from a normal viewing distance.

The head sculpt is beautifully done, with a great fierce grimace with Hulk ready to smash. The teeth are nicely done, and the paint app in the face really brings out the detail in the teeth, eyes, and hair. Overall, another fantastic job by Kotobukiya sculpting a comic book likeness.

For the size, sculpting detail, and sensational paint apps, these statues are actually really great value! I was hoping these would be as good as the New 52 statues, and Kotobukiya has exceeded all expectations. Highly recommended!

Here's the link below to the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel video review of the statue. Hope you can check it out, subscribe, like, and comment with your own thoughts! :)

Sideshow announces upcoming 1/4 scale Premium Format statues from Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The First Avenger was one of the initial origin story movies from the first phase of Avengers movies that I enjoyed. The trailers for the sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier look pretty damn good too.

Before the movie has released, Sideshow has just announced that they'll be releasing 1/4 scale Premium Format statues from the movie! Click this LINK to see more details!

Definitely looking forward to seeing what collectibles both Sideshow and Hot Toys will be releasing for the upcoming movie! If you want to see what current Captain America collectibles are available at Sideshow, click HERE!!

Kotobukiya ArtFX+ New 52 Justice League Cyborg statue

Kotobukiya finally released their last statue from the core group of the New 52 Justice League this month, with the release of Cyborg! And it was definitely worth the wait! With the team setup together, they look simply outstanding!

The Cyborg statue stands just on 20.5cm (or over 8") in height, and is the tallest from the core group of seven. As with the others in the line, the paintwork is sensational, and has very little slop. The face sculpt is very nicely done, and blends the skin and metallic face cover neatly.

The metallic silver over the suit gorgeously reflect the light, and has subtle differences in the silver tone throughout. I also love the varying greys around the torso and thighs that give some variety to the suit.

The pose is simple, but matches perfectly the box artwork and the others in the team. Perhaps the only thing that I personally think they could've done better would be the feet. They seem a little too chunky, but this is only a minor quibble. The arm cannon is nicely detailed and sculpted, with beautifully done red accents that simulate bright lights.

The detailing on the rear is also sensational, with the jet pack looking sweet, and the red centrepoint being very well defined. The forearms and calves also look great with the detailing in the suit and colour variations.

Like the others, the statue looks incredible from pretty much all angles, and definitely has a lot of shelf presence due to its size and bulk compared to the others. It comes with the standard magnetic base and little magnets in the feet, so it stands firmly on its base.

I've mentioned before that I haven't really followed the DC Comics, but this new line of statues from Kotobukiya have definitely tweaked my interest now! They have done a sensational effort on all fronts with these statues - sculpting, detail, stands, poses, and especially the amazing paint application! I could not recommend these statues any higher - if you're remotely into comics, superheroes, movies, or just the geeky side of things, then you should definitely look into these!

Check out the Kool Kollectibles youtube channel video review below!