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With that impressive size does
come some truly outstanding detail, and
that is evident in the stunning portrait, that has to be one of, if not
the strongest commercially available portrait of Lee to date. So, lets
imagine you are already the proud owner of a good few 1/6th
interpretations, and maybe even the cool ¼ scale statue, or maybe even
the fully articulated ¼ scale figure from last year… do you need
another… lets see if I can give you a little steerage?
Packaging - ***
This packaging is best thought of as utilitarian and functional, and
when you are dealing with a statue of this scale, that seems pretty
fair to me. Mine arrived in an oversized brown freight-shipping box,
within this was large white Styrofoam case, supported at all eight
corners by Styrofoam corner protectors. Once this pulled out we are met
with a typographic and illustrative design modelled within its surface
(as has been utilised by other companies for their ¼ scale figures, and
indeed by Hot Toys on the 1/6th Terminator: Salvation line). It is held
shut by broad tape and a printed card sleeve. Once the sleeve is
removed and you have cut the tape, the box comes apart into three
sections. The top holds the figure, the arms and his accessories whilst
the bottom holds the ornate heavy base.
So, we have a solid and functional piece of packaging that has been
well thought through. It does the job of getting the contents to you
unharmed very well, but its sheer scale makes it pretty unwieldy, and
the design, whilst functional is not as exciting or aesthetically
pleasing as the earlier cool boxes Blitzway did for their (admittedly
smaller) Scarface or Carlito figures.
Sculpting - ****
Up until now I think my favourite Bruce Lee portrait was the Arnie Kim
vs Enterbay ¼ scale statue (reviewed here-
http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_100610b.htm), it captured near perfectly
not only his face, but also his hyper fit, lean and wiry physique.
Admittedly there is not as much flesh on show this time, as he wears
the classic yellow and black, Game of Death jumpsuit, but the work on
the face, hair, arms and indeed trainers is just sublime.
The face shows a focussed expression, and incorporates a graze on the
right cheek, but even though the expression is focussed, it is also
‘neutral’ enough to show the actor just as we remember him. Recently we
have had some more extreme facial looks in ‘mid fight’ expressions, and
I have to admit I have really enjoyed getting these to add to the
overall collection (variety is the spice of life), but I am also glad
they went for a portrait here that is instantly recognisable as the
great man. The hair shows the usual high quality, and the bigger scale
allows for some deep crisp detailing, and more definition in the sheer
amount of strands that can be rendered. It is constructed as a separate
piece that mounts perfectly to the top of the head. Both of these
sections are made of vinyl, and the head is removable from the
shoulders by means of a perfectly aligned slot, invisible when dressed.
His hands and arms are cast in Polystone, and the sculpting is
masterfully carried out, all three attach by means of concealed
magnets. You need to push the sleeves of the suit up and they simply
slot into place. I have to admit the magnets on my lowered right arm
weren’t as strong as I would have liked, but do hold the arm in place
just about OK. Luckily for me I prefer the pose with the nunchaku under
the arm anyway, and the arm for this pose has a far stronger
connection. Of course yours might not have this issue anyway. Both of
the right arms come with the distinctive elephant hair bracelets
already in place, and it does warn you not to move these around too
much, as their metal wire construction could potentially damage the
painted surface.
The head sculpt is undeniably the most important thing to get right
here, but the iconic bright yellow Asics, Onitsuka Tiger trainers
(though some seem to believe they might have been adapted Adidas) come
in at a close second, and the attention to detail here is pretty
astounding, to the point they almost become my favourite part. They are
a solid sculpted piece with the peg that supports it to the base
protruding from the bottom of the sole on the right foot. The sculpt
here is enhanced by a beautifully crisp paint app and real tiny scaled
laces are threaded through the eyelets to complete the look.
He also comes with an ornate base, modelled to look like the pagoda
temple in the movie, and it is quite frankly huge! However I shall
cover it in more detail for the accessories section!
Paint - ****
I’ve said it before and by Darwin I will say it many more times before
I shuffle off this mortal coil, why do people accept the paint apps
they do on statues… I guess because up until now they have had to!
I know that the production method is a thoroughly different process
from 1/6th, and ultimately we are talking about a thoroughly different
product and often material, but on my travels I have seen some hugely
impressive sculpts on statues that would have benefitted from a simple
all over bronze effect, rather than the sloppy, ill advised excuse for
a paint app that they receive.
One of the criticisms often levelled by statue collectors against the
ranks of 1/6th aficionados is that they collect a more ‘adult’ and
‘superior’ product, whilst onesixers collect ‘dolls’… firstly, you are
wrong, we are all geeks collecting over priced toys, the fact that it
is articulated or static matters not one iota! What should matter to us
all is the quality and finish!
And here, we have a sterling job! The flesh tones on the face are just
masterfully rendered, with warm convincing tones that capture his
particular colouring beautifully. There is also some well executed
bruising and grazing to the face and expertly applied work on the
eyebrows. There are also a few stray hairs tricked in around the hair
line where the sculpted hair meets the head, offering another layer of
depth and realism to the transition point.
The eyes are crisply rendered and clean, adding just the right level of
glossiness to look real and catch the light well, and the edges are
blended subtly to make the whole thing look very convincing.
The arms are constructed of Polystone, and have what Blitzway call, and
I quote… “a new ‘life like’ finish to give the statue unparalleled
levels of realism” Now I don’t know what the trick is here, but they do
have a beautiful semi-opaque translucent quality that catches the light
very convincingly, with expertly applied colour washes to bring the
effect to life. In short, the whole thing is pretty outstanding! Of
course there is always room for improvement, and here I feel the hair
could do with just a touch of attention. In the past, glossy Asian hair
has just been routinely handled in a well sculpted, but ultimately flat
coloured affair, that lets the quality of the sculpt do all the work
against the sculpting in the vinyl. And to be fair it works pretty well
here, but the extra scale does make one look just a little more
closely, and it feels like a little extra colour might have let the
sculpt sing even more. But even taking thay into account, this is a
truly stunning paint app, and it would be remiss to offer anything but
a full score… outstanding!
Accessories - ****
This is not an action figure, so we don’t get a host of things to
interact with, however what we do get is fair selection to capture a
small handful of display options. I am counting the left arm with
splayed fingers and the lowered right arm for gripping the bamboo pole
and nunchaku as the basic items. Yes they do come packed separately,
but lets face it you can’t count them as accessories, as he can’t come
without arms, no sir, that just be plain wrong!
So we get-
- one large (and very heavy) ornate pagoda base
- extra right arm for holding the nunchaku in the under arm position
- gold name plaque
- nunchaku with concealed magnet
- nunchaku carry case
- bamboo cane
There was also an alternate super rare ltd edition of 200 with a gold
base, which has long sold out from brucelee.com for $699 you can see in
this video here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLBofqvQvtc that gives
you a glimpse of its shiny golden wonder!
The arms all attach by means of slotting onto pegs that have concealed
magnets to hold them in place. This is a pretty nifty idea and on the
whole works well. I did find that the magnet on my right lowered arm
was a little weaker than all the others, but it still managed its task
efficiently. It did make me think that its probably worth using a small
ball of Blu-Tack tucked up within the peg if I was going to use that
arm for any long term displays, just to add some extra grip. Of course
this may be an isolated occurrence on mine, but I just warn you so as
to take care when swapping over.
The nunchaku come in a drawstring topped black carry case, handy for
storage and leaving at his feet should you choose the bamboo holding
option. The weapon within is a great scaled facsimile of movie prop,
and comes with a magnet concealed in one handle so it grips the under
arm position when offered up, and the other handle comes apart by
pulling the rounded base part away from the handle, this makes placing
it in the hand an absolute doddle. The bamboo cane also comes in two
sections that can be pushed together, and like the nunchaku it
replicates its screen seen counterpart near perfectly.
The nameplate included is a gold and brown antiqed finish, if you had
ordered direct from Blitzway before a pre-set date it was possible for
this to come personalised on the reverse with your name engraved, I
should say I sadly left it too late, however I actually quite like the
fact that it is left more anonymous, and even though I have zero
intentions of selling this on, I like to leave my collection
unencumbered by my personalised moniker.
Lastly we have the base, and this thing is a beast, and by that I mean
huge and heavy. It is intricately sculpted and tooled to look like the
pagoda featured as the main location for the prolonged confrontation in
the movie. The meticulous attention to detail here on the roof tiles,
windows and protuberances are all finely crafted, and add another layer
of richness to the statue when displayed. The reverse of the base is
engraved with what in effect becomes your built in certificate of
authenticity. Informing us of details about the fact this was created
to celebrate and remember the 50th Anniversary of Lee’s sad and
untimely demise.
So a solid selection, and one that makes for a great display, with a
few swap out options for good measure! I guess an alternate head sculpt
and even a dirtied up jump suit with the infamous footprint might have
been cool. However, I think the fact that they have managed to bring
this in at $599 makes the selection seem pretty fair, and I’d rather
have what we get than it be more costly, with some extras I might never
use!
Outfit - ****
Although this is a statue, it is obviously apparent that this is
utilising multiple different materials to achieve its convincing levels
of realism. Part of this is down to the finely tailored and ‘oh so
iconic’ bright yellow jump suit! The fabrics have been well sourced to
mimic what we saw in the movie, and at such a weight and weave that
they hang just right for the scale. The beauty of this statue is that
the outfit is perfectly fitted to cover any points were the mixed media
joints are hidden, and of course it does the job well. I know that
Blitzway have a number of other exciting IP’s in the bag, so it will be
interesting to see how the more clothed and indeed semi-naked licences
fair using this mixed media approach. On mine all the seams and hems
were finished well, with no loose threads or sloppy divisions. The back
of the outfit has a concealed zip that runs smoothly, though to be
honest its only needed if you wish to remove the head and neck for
closer inspection.
So, to sum up, this is just about as good as it gets for what is
admittedly a relatively straightforward outfit to get right… however,
that doesn’t diminish the fact that they did get it right!
Fun Factor - ***
You can’t play with this, it is not a toy and therefore any fun derived
is purely through ownership and display. However, for any dedicated
Bruce Lee fan, hell, even for the casual ones who just want to
represent him in their home cinema or display room, this is an absolute
peach! Not only does the scale dominate any area you choose to present
him in, but the fantastic attention to detail, paint and costuming are
all at the pinnacle of what can be achieved… and all for penny under
600 bucks. The accessories also give you the option of changing your
display with three options.
Of course I’ll let you decide if you think that is fun or not!
Value - ***1/2
This statue comes in at $ 599, which lets admit on face value does
sound like a lot of money (heck, it is a lot of money). However, I
still find this to be pretty good deal, and here’s for why!
1- Although it’s not our job as
collectors to cut a company any slack, a new kid on the block is facing
a far bigger uphill struggle than a well-established company. So the
habit of cutting corners, just to get your product out there is not
uncommon… I’m happy to report no cutting corners here!
2- This is a frickin 1/3 statue for $599…
hell even Sideshow routinely charge $300 for a ‘Premium Scale Statue’
which actually means ¼ scale, and that extra 200 bucks buys you a far
more dominant presence, and a paint app that is off the scale!
3- For the price you pay you are actually
getting something that feels like value for money, and these days, that
can be quite a rarity!
4- Blitzway + Bruce Lee + Arnie Kim…
ARNIE KIM! Say no more!
The witness for the defence rests your honour!
But… and there always has to be a but, do check out your best shipping
options, this thing is a beast, so get the best deal you can in getting
it to you!
Overall - ****
I can find literally nothing to judge too harshly here, maybe the
magnet that holds the right arm in place could have been a little
stronger on mine, but to be fair it does the job assigned to it just
fine, and if I was to set my mind on a particular display option, a
tiny blob of the ever faithful ‘Blu-Tack’ will take away any worries of
appendages falling off when you move it. But to be fair I’ll be going
for the nunchaku under arm pose, so problem there!
In short, as of this moment, this is THE Bruce Lee statue to own. There
has been (as I alluded to earlier) no shortage of very well put
together figures of this iconic actor and renowned martial artist over
the last few years, but none have the impact that this guy does. So
until I can locate a more suitable home for him, mine is at present
displayed in our front room (I have a very understanding wife), and it
goes without saying that you literally can’t fail to notice him!
Every detail has been sublimely rendered, and its obvious that with the
carefully selected and diverse choice of materials chosen by Blitzway
and Arnie Kim, that what we have is in their minds the best way to
bring this figure to life, and you wont find me challenging them, as it
sure beats one big solid badly painted chunk of Polystone.
I have always been a dedicated onesixer, with occasional dalliances
into the arenas of different scales and levels of articulation. But the
one thing that has routinely kept me away from the world of statues and
large-scale mixed media offerings is the lack of quality in the paint
apps. Of course I realise it is horses for courses, but why would I
want a figure that is much bigger than the usual 1/6th I collect, if
the paint app is no where near the quality, and often embarrassingly
bad?
A couple of years ago Enterbay proved that we don’t need to accept
these levels of quality on their ¼ scale statues
(http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_100610b.htm ), and both they and Hot
Toys continue to show the levels of realism achievable on their
articulated figures… and now Blitzway show that even at this mighty
1/3rd scale, we need make no compromises in the quality of paint. Add
into this equation that we have another stunning portrait from Arnie
Kim, a beautifully tailored outfit and probably one of the most
impressive bases ever to accompany a Bruce Lee statue… all for just a
gnats whisker under $600… colour me impressed.
Of course its mighty scale, and subsequent hefty international shipping
costs might be the thing that makes fewer of these end up in Europe,
the UK and the US, certainly not enough to meet the demand, but with a
growing part of the Chinese populace having more and more wealth, not
to mention the likes of already fiscally buoyant nations like
Singapore, I have a feeling this will sell well enough domestically to
the Asian markets that it becomes a moot point! However, it does mean
these might be thinner on the ground than people expect, so I wouldn’t
delay jumping for too long.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ****
Where to Buy -
The best way to support the company is to purchase direct here from Blitzway.
Or you can try our site sponsor Big Bad Toy Store that has it for a
very reasonable $579.99.
And once all the retail versions have disappeared you can head to Ebay
where its going for between $620 to $699… with one person chancing
their arm at $2,180.99. Worth a try I guess ;)
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