Review of Phoenix - Marvel Bishoujo Statue

Introduction

In Japanese, bishoujo (or bishojo) means 'cute, young girl', and is a popular style in anime and manga. An art style more than a genre, you can find bishoujo characters in just about any Japanese animation.

Kotobukiya picked up on this style and have applied it to the Marvel Universe of hot chicks, giving us Rogue, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Psylocke, all of which sold out quickly. Next in the series is Phoenix, the fiery babe with the cool green costume.

This is an early review, as this version won't ship for a couple more months. She'll make her debut at the San Diego Comic Con first, where Kotobukiya will have  a white version. You can pre-order it right here for $70, and there are both attendee and non-attendee order pages.

And there's one more variant as well - Dark Phoenix! She's only $60, same as the regular version. Both the regular and Dark versions will be start shipping after SDCC.

Packaging - ***
She comes packaged in a box, with a plastic tray that holds the statue very safely. They also have some of that sticky plastic paper wrapped around the outside of the statue to further protect the paint.

Like most boxes, it's very collector friendly, and it's also quite easy for the MIBers to store. There's also double windows to allow you to see the statue you're buying before you get home. She comes already attached to the base, so no assembly is required.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Phoenix is about 8" tall on the base, similar to the rest of the line. She's too big to fit in with the usual 6" action figure series and I've included a photo with a couple to show the scale difference. She'd fit in better with a 7" series, but even then she's a bit large if you assume she's supposed to be a young girl.

She looks amazing though, with a wonderful sculpt and design. I love the way she's dropping down on one foot into a fire ball,l with her hair flowing out around her face. The pose is both sexy and dynamic, with lots of energy in the flowing lines.

Action poses can be tough to pull off, but they've managed beautifully here. The figure is attached to the base with a metal screw, coming up from the bottom. My only complaint, and the only thing holding this back from a perfect four stars, is the slight tilt to the figure itself. It doesn't quite line up as cleanly  as I'd like, and she has a slight tilt to one side. I think this is an assembly issue, and might be corrected by taking the statue apart and making some minor modifications. This is a VERY minor issue though, and I'm betting most folks won't even notice or care.

Paint - ****
Phoenix has a very colorful costume, and the green and yellow contrast perfectly with the flaming red hair and actual flaming base.

The eyes are perfect, as are the lips and eyebrows. The cut lines are clean everywhere, and the small costume details (like the gold symbol, or small sash clasp) are as good as I've seen on any statue in this price range.

They've used some airbrushed black on the green costume to give it a more gritty, shadowed look, toning down the bright nature of the basic color. They've also given the cool yellow boots and gloves a bright gloss finish that contrasts nicely with the matte outfit.

The flames and the hair are both done with a smooth transition from dark to light red, giving them a deadly fiery look.

This is really nice work, and I wish all the DCD Batman statues had this much attention given to their paint detail.

Articulation - Bupkis
No deduction from my overall, as this is just an FYI for you. No articulation here - this is a pure statue.

Value - ***
Many statues in this scale are going for $60 - $70 these days, so a $60 price point is certainly reasonable. These are also very popular, making it less likely that you'll find them on sale. You can find them already as cheap as $50 at many retailers, and that's a very good price considering the high quality.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!

Overall - ***1/2
This statue was *this close* to getting a perfect score. My only real complaint is the slight tilt to the figure on the stand, which I mentioned in the Sculpting section. Had she been a bit more aligned, she would have pulled both a full four stars in the sculpt category and in the overall.

Even with that one very minor issue, she's a beautiful statue. This style isn't going to be for everyone, but if you like the 'cute young girl' design and you're a Marvel fan, then you're going to love these. Much like DC Direct's Batman Black and White statues, these look better the more you have together on the shelf, where the consistent style can take advantage of the full effect.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - Bupkis
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- you can pick up the regular for $60 at Kotobukiya's site, or you can pre-order the White SDCC version or the Dark Phoenix variant.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I previously covered Rogue.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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