When news broke that Sideshow had gotten the Turtles license and sneaked a WIP Donatello, I got excited.
Really excited, hehe.
While I never got the chance to read the comics, I grew up with the TMNT cartoons and watched the live action movies growing up. So it was only natural that I absolutely have to collect this line of statues.
Looking at the painted sneaks, there was some worry about whether Sideshow would release the statue with the cartoon accurate painted bandanas or the comic accurate red ones. But when preorder day came around, that worry disappeared:
We were going to get both!
So obviously, I tried and managed to get my preorder for the exclusive in (coloured bandana FTW!!):
While the pose might not look very interesting on its own, I chanced upon the picture below:
The Donatello pose looks exactly the same and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Sideshow is basing the other statues on this artwork. If so, this set is THE turtles set to own. I wonder if Sideshow will make a Master Splinter to go with this set. *prays hard*
Of course, this means I now have to camp in front of the PC whenever the pre-order for the other turtles come up so that I can complete the cartoon accurate set.
Looking the the pictures really brings back memories of my Donatello action figure. I never owned all 4 of them because an action figure cost a pretty penny then.
Real Time Strategy games hold a very dear place in my heart. Having grown up playing Dune 2 and Command and Conquer way back in secondary school and becoming jaded with the genre, Blizzard’s offering of Starcraft was a breath of fresh air. I played this game all through college.
With the phenomenal success of Starcraft, a second Starcraft was announced at Blizzcon 2008.
StarCraft II, originally envisioned as a single game, was announced to be a trilogy at BlizzCon 2008, consisting of one game followed up later by two expansion packs, provisionally entitled Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void respectively.
Unlike the original series, where each game had three 8-10 mission campaigns, one for each race, each game in the StarCraft II trilogy will have only one, 26-30 mission campaign centered around a single race. The Terrans will be the focus of the first campaign, followed up by Zerg and Protoss races in the expansions. Every game in the trilogy will have all races available to play during the skirmish or multiplayer and online modes. Blizzard claims that each part will have enough content to feel like a full game in its own right. No release dates have been announced for the trilogy as yet.
The campaign storyline of StarCraft II takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War, and features the return of a number of characters from the original series; including Zeratul, Arcturus Mengsk, Artanis, Sarah Kerrigan, and Jim Raynor. Players will also revisit original series’ worlds, like Char, Mar Sara, and Braxis; as well as new worlds, such as the jungle planet Bel’Shir. It has been confirmed that the Xel’Naga, the ancient space-faring race responsible for creating the Protoss and the Zerg, play a major role in the story.
At the conclusion of Brood War, Kerrigan and her Zerg forces became the dominant faction in the Koprulu Sector, having annihilated the United Earth Directorate’s Expeditionary Force, defeated the Terran Dominion, and invaded the Protoss homeworld of Aiur. However, after the conclusion of Brood War, Kerrigan retreats to Char, despite having more than enough power to crush all remaining resistance in the Koprulu Sector. In the four years leading up to the events of StarCraft II, she has not been seen or heard from by any of the other characters; although her ultimate attack may come at any moment.
Arcturus Mengsk has been left to rebuild the Dominion, and is consolidating his power while fending off harassment from rival Terran groups. Valerian Mengsk, a character introduced in the novel Firstborn, will play an important role in Dominion politics, due to his position as heir apparent to the throne.
Meanwhile, Jim Raynor, whose role in the events of StarCraft and Brood War has been marginalized by the media under the Dominion’s control, has been reduced to mercenary status, and has been shown to be doing business with the “Moebius Foundation”, a new faction which is interested in ancient Xel’Naga artifacts.
Chris Metzen, Vice President of Creative Development at Blizzard, has emphasized that by the events of StarCraft II, Raynor has become jaded and embittered by the way he was used and betrayed by Arcturus Mengsk. Other new characters to the series include Tychus Findlay, first introduced in the StarCraft II teaser cinematic, a marine who will be a member of Raynor’s crew, and Matt Horner, Raynor’s second in command, a character originally featured in the novel Queen of Blades.
Following the fall of Aiur and the death of their matriarch Raszagal, the Protoss have retreated to the dark templar homeworld of Shakuras. There, Artanis, a former student of Tassadar, is trying to unify the Khalai Protoss and the dark templar, who have nearly separated into a tribal mindset as a result of centuries of distrust. Zeratul, tormented over the murder of his matriarch, has disappeared to search for clues to the meaning of Samir Duran’s cryptic statements regarding the Protoss/Zerg hybrids in Brood War’s secret mission “Dark Origin”.
According to his criminal record within the trailer, Findlay is a convicted criminal from Mar Sara, sentenced for murder, piracy, theft, larceny and narcotics offenses, and is also suspected of several other crimes. His death sentence was commuted for service in the Marine Corps. At BlizzCon in August of 2007, Findlay was shown in the single-player campaign demonstration, in the service of Jim Raynor. It was later revealed in BlizzCon 2008 that he escaped from prison and, in the Terran campaign’s opening missions, tracked down Raynor and recruited him to work for the Moebius Foundation
Brought to life by Martin Canale and his talented team, The Gore Group, this stunningly detailed statue has to be seen in person to be believed.
Here, I have some work-in-progress pictures of this statue from Martin’s website:
Nothing painted as yet, but omg, the detail on this piece is already shaping up to be quite awesome.
Standing at 18″ tall, the sheer presence of this statue is simply awe-inspiring. While the composition of this statue isn’t the most creative, it is the immense detail in the actual piece itself that takes the breath away.
The bad news: this statue was only available to customers in the EU and US for direct order.
The good news: yours truly managed to get my hands on one, and here it is in all its full coloured glory!
From the tiniest weather worn detail at the paint application level,
to the blood soaked rock on which the recently dispatched Hydralisk lies (note the beautiful detail on the carapace!),
to the spent cartridges,
To the scars and pores on Findlay’s face (I’ve seen my fair share of human representation, but this is absolutely amazing!),
Weighing in at roughly 7kg, this is one solid piece of art. I would rate this beauty 4.5/5. It basically loses points for the pose, but that, in no way, detracts from the perfection of this statue.
I remember feeling the hairs on my back stand when I saw the official game trailer that was released by Blizzard Entertainment some time ago.
It certainly is about time I got my Starcraft fix…
Growing up in the 70s, Star Wars was a HUGE part of my life. Endless imaginary lightsabre duels with imaginary foes (complete with sound effects), asthmatic breathing (who else do you know made asthma cool?) and the all important, invisible FORCE.
And the penultimate bad guy in Star Wars? Obviously, it has to be Darth Vader. In the 30+ years since his debut, there has been no badder-ass, evil-exuding asthma sufferer that’s quite caught the world’s attention as Lord Vader.
Sure, the fashion’s gone out of style since then, and he might have only come in 3rd by The American Film Institute’s list of the greatest movie villains after Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates, but hey, who else do you know can force choke you with only a flick of the wrist with nary a care in the world?
If I saw Vader in real life today, I’d prostrate myself in front of him in awe. I remember going to bed worried that Vader was hiding under there.
Heck…Darth Vader IS Star Wars.
Tall and menacing, Darth Vader is the most potent icon of the Galactic Empire’s might. The protege of the Emperor himself, Vader answers to only the highest in the Imperial command structure and is granted great leeway in the work he conducts on his master’s behalf.
Once a Jedi, Vader possesses absolute command over the Force, and through him it is directed to terrible and often fatal effect. As a Lord of the Sith, the Dark Side flows through him, and it can be channeled to kill with a single thought or to subdue his detractors, enemies, and sometimes even subordinates.
Feared by Rebels and Imperials alike, Darth Vader is a terrifying union of man and machine hidden beneath black robes and forbidding armor. Determined to hunt down and extinguish the Rebel Alliance, Vader commands the massive Imperial fleet and rules his forces through unquestionable terror, much like some bosses we’ve all come across in real life at least once. *rolls eyes*
Having been such a big part of my childhood, it was inevitable I caved in and got myself a Sideshow Collectibles Premium Format Darth Vader statue. This piece is a museum quality 1/4 scale reproduction of the Dark Lord’s appearance in Star Wars: A New Hope.
The multi-layered costume has expertly tailored clothing with a body and armor cast in heavy-weight polystone and other mediums, each chosen to best represent the original costume.
The lightsabre, chest and belt panels feature electronic light function, as you can well see. However, as you can also see, the light up function on the lightsabre doesn’t seem to be even, showing up bright on only the tip and base of the sabre. Nitpicking aside, this is still totally beautiful. The light saber is an exact replica of Vader’s saber in Episode 5.
The clothing is real: Cloth for the cape and drapes, leather (or vinyl) for the suit and boots!
Towering over most other collectibles at a height of 23″, this statue certainly has the presence befitting of such an iconic character.
I’d give this beautiful statue 4.5 / 5. This piece basically loses points over the uneven light of the lightsabre and the unimaginative pose. Although, it has to be said, this pose is truly movie accurate.
The first Star Wars film hit screens in 1977 and was titled Star Wars: A New Hope. Basically this was Episode 4 in a series of 9, the last three of which seem unlikely to be made at this time.
Just for kicks, I pulled out a clip of duel between Obi Wan and Vader:
Synn snapped some of these gems while I was at work one day with amusing results, lol.
The Emperor Eyes WolverMuggs With Some Concern
Interestingly, Tristan was extremely enamoured of the two Muggs. I think the vibrant colours just grabs his attention. It’s a fantastic way of introducing him to the Marvel universe, and a sneaky way of (maybe) getting him interested in the comics and cartoons Synn and I grew up with, hehe.
WolverMuggs Fails To Scare The Emperor
It wasn’t long before our smiley friend started getting excited about the new additions to our collection, lol.
SpiderMuggs Liked Looking At Things Upside Down
Synn and I also managed to get our hands on more Mighty Muggs! We’re hopelessly addicted to this line. More pictures of them and the little man soon!
I recently discovered this gem of a vinyl line by Hasbro.
The Latest Additions To Our Home
Apparently, these have been released for quite awhile, now. I can’t believe I missed an entire line of cute Marvel vinyls!!!! Arghh!!!! And now the backtracking begins. *facepalm*
Getting To Know Each Other
At $35 a piece, this line is definitely more for the novelty than its collectibility. But gawddammit, they’re so farking cute, I can’t stand it.
Spidey Wastes No Time In Exploring His New Home
Obviously, these additions are just crying out to be introduced to the little man.
And introduce them we did, lol, with hilarious results. More in another post another day.
Spidey Meets Tristan For The First Time
In any case, we’ve got a few more pieces from this line on order, so there should be some interesting days to come, lol.
As you may know, Synn and I played WoW for about 2 years before we retired to start Project MiniMe. This was before I had gotten addicted to collecting statues.
So, obviously, when Sideshow announced they were making a statue based on two memorable years of our lives, I was all over it. The diorama is based on the teaser artwork that was shown by Blizzard just prior to the release of The Burning Crusade expansion, introducing two new races, Blood Elf and Draenei, to the game.
The composition captures a Rogue Blood Elf in mid air, coming down on a Paladin Draenei. Rogue in mid-strike, Paladin’s shield raised in defense, preparing for the return smash of the hammer on leather.
The Blood Elf Rogue is geared in Tier 2 Bloodfang Armour, but I can’t for the life of me recall what blades those are. They look so darned familiar.
This piece was announced more than half a year ago and I had it preordered the moment I heard about it, so you can imagine my excitement when I finally laid eyes on the statue in front of me!
Beautiful, beautiful piece! To me, this is seriously one of those pieces where pictures don’t do it any justice.
I have to admit, I had my reservations at first when I saw some of the initial pictures on the forums. There were some concerns on the unusually long-ish facial sculpt of the Blood Elf, but they melted away when I saw it for the first time.
There is an amazing amount of detail that has to be seen in person to be appreciated. So much disparing textures to look out for on it! The leather, the steel, the cloth and even the texture of the paper in the tome…it’s simply incredible. I can’t say I’ve seen more colour on any other diorama or statue, and with such richness and so many various tones as well.
The slash marks and chips on the battleworn armour and shield.
The flowing hair and billowing cloak.
Check out the tattered and frayed cloak on the Draenei. Beautiful detail.
Even the worn leather bound tome looks…well…beautifully worn and leather bound.
I love the detail on the Draenei’s hooves!!
All these little details, together with the colour and composition of the piece, comes together to make up a beautifully dynamic diorama!!
Kudos to the Pablo Viggiano’s team on creating such a masterpiece! You can check out the making of here.
My only grouse with the piece are the poor facial expressions. They both look rather poker faced. Grrr. But even without much expression, there is still so much detail to admire on the Draenei’s face. Absolutely beautiful.
I think facial expressions would have lent the piece an added sense of epic-ness of these two characters’ intense fight to the death.
But aside from the poker faced facial sculpts, I’m in WoW heaven…*orgasm*…this really brings back memories of my gaming days. It’s too bad I didn’t have a chance to get the Sideshow exclusive, which would have given me an extra Netherwhelp pet. It’s not that cute, but it would have been a welcome addition, hehe. Oh well, I’m a happy camper as it is with this piece already.
I truly hope there’s more in store for this line of statues, what with the next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, already announced.
Having played Street Fighter since my secondary school days in the old Katong Shopping Centre (Ten Pin Bowling Center), the news that SF4 was in development had me stoked.
Can’t wait to get my hands on this when it’s released. I think it’ll be quite an interesting experience to play this with Tristan when he gets older, hehe.
And of course, in anticipation of the game, the associated statues must be had as well, heh:
Adding to my growing collection of X-Men statues is the leader of the brotherhood of mutants: Magneto.
With this addition, I can safely say I’m happy with my current collection and don’t have any immediate plans to grow it. (Well, maybe with a Dark Phoenix or Storm, hehe)
Also in museum pose, this statue strikes an imposing enough figure, one arm grasping his cloak, the other raised in an apparent gesture to will metal to his needs.
Facial sculpt, while detailed, seems a little off. Like a facelift gone wrong, Magneto’s mouth appears to be a little ’stretched’ to their sides.
Facial expression is acceptable and I like the little detail on how Magneto’s hair spills out behind from under his helm.
Another thing I didn’t like about the statue was the apparent joint line along its left arm across the chest just under where the cloak starts.
While it isn’t obvious from certain angles, just knowing it’s there just irritates me. I can’t be sure if this is an issue with other pieces or is this just a factory defect affecting my piece.
The cloak is nicely done, and I like the texturing of the fabric at the location Magneto is clutching it, and how the fabric appears to hang from that grasp.
Turning the statue around and looking at that location from behind and the fabric lines of the entire cloak is a real treat for me.
The paintjob is not outstanding, and looks too cleanly painted on. Musculature is nothing extraordinary either, and the statue simply looks too clean. Well, not as clean to be as two-dimensional as the Superman Vs. Wonderwoman piece, but definitely can and should have been improved upon before release. Incidentally, these two pieces were sculpted by the same guy, Ray Villafane. I understand, though, that this piece is comic accurate, and thus the musculature is correctly portrayed.
I’m pleased with this addition to my X-Men, and my only regret is that they can’t all be displayed together on the same shelf because Colossus is just a tad too tall.
I just bit the bullet and paid big money for this baby.
I present BD’s Super Chrome Colossus:
I’ve been looking to add more X-Men to my growing collection of this series by going after the more recognisable characters and this guy was up for grabs on Evil Bay. He normally goes for much more and I decided I’d be able to live with the minor defects that were raised by the seller for the price point he was offering. Even better, he was more than willing to ship to Singapore!
For a heavy hitter, this statue was surprisingly light! And my first impression on laying eyes on him was ‘SHINY.’
Yes, the super chrome version of colossus is a real sight to behold, and the chrome really adds to the realism of the character.
Unfortunately, while the chrome is a nice touch, it is not evenly done. I can’t say if this is limited to a factory defect on my piece, but I could see areas on the statue where the chrome was not as evenly applied as the rest. I couldn’t get the pictures to show up this difference though.
Sadly, these areas mar the overall beauty of the piece.
Facial sculpt is acceptable, but not spectacular. Ironically, much of the facial details are lost in the shiny chrome of the piece. It’s only upon closer inspection that you can see the furrowed brow and steely determination in Colossus’ eyes.
The pose of the piece (I suppose this is a museum pose) is unimaginative at best. While I may possibly be biased against museum poses, I believe there are museum pieces that do truly convey a sense of presence, eg. Classic Thor, Classic Captain America, Gambit, to name a few. Unfortunately, for this offering, there seems to be something sorely lacking that I can’t quite place my finger on.
Musculature is perfectly done, and the statue does convey the relative size of the character to the rest of the X-Men.
All said, I still feel Colossus is a worthy addition to any X-Men collection, the two redeeming factors being the chrome and the musculature. I’m glad I did not go for the painted version because I feel it detracts from the feeling of the original character, and lessens the presence of the statue. I’d think it would have just reduced the allure of the statue even further.
It isn’t until he stands next to the rest of the X-Men pieces that I have that Colossus really jumps out at you. After my next review, I’m planning to take a nice long video of my X-Men collection sitting pretty in my re-arranged cabinet. Until then, you’ll have to make do with a teaser picture.
A teaser for for next statue review:
Teaser for my Avengers collection, by the way (couldn’t resist taking the shot since I was already there with the camera on hand):
@mrbrown I want a holiday from mrbrown cos my wife and I need a reason to get away from our terrorist 2yr old, otherwise we'd never go on 1. 3 days ago
