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Metroid Prime Samus Aran Statue

Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures

   "The following is a guest review.  The review and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the guest author."

Tonight a new guest reviewer joins us - Jeroen Schaafsma! He's looking at a very cool new statue...tell us all about it, Jeroen!

First of all hey everyone, and thanks Michael for this opportunity to write a review on this piece!

Being a huge fan of the Metroid Prime games, I was awe-struck when I saw the first pictures of the First4Figures Samus Aran figures, but I never jumped the shark hearing about a lack of quality from forums and alike.. However, when I saw this at Gator for 135 euros, I couldn’t help myself but order it, now was it worth it…

Packaging - ***
While the packaging itself isn’t all that special, it IS nice and easy to open and the statue is pretty secure in it, which makes it earn it’s 3 star rating already for me, I’ll be doing a review of my Link statue from these guys as soon as I get my replacement, since that one broke in it’s box, so I’m happy that wasn’t the case here, she’s safe in there! Besides that it’s just a box a with some Samus artwork from the game itself, which is basic, but gets the job done. It’s also hand numbered on the box, mine being 426 of 1500, so that’s nice.
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures

Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures

Sculpting - ***1/2
Let me start of with saying that in pictures on the 4F4 site, the pose turned me off, since it was just a repaint of their previous statues. However, since I don’t have those in my possesion, it doesn’t really matter to me, so  I have to say this is a really nice pose in person, and very much catches the person that is Aran. However, if you already own one of the previous Samus’ then it might be less impressive. 

As far as authenticity goes, I believe it’s a pretty spot on likeness, but I’ve heard people say her shoulders are too big, but I’m not that picky, I like her big shoulders. BUT, I’m still dissapointed that they didn’t go the extra mile and add a sculpt underneath her visor, her feminine eyes always were what made Samus for me in the games, showing she was actually a woman, and not a guy.. which is sort of lost here, so no 4 stars for me for that reason!

The base on the figure is awe-some. It’s basic, it’s black, but the dark mirrored base on it really looks nice, reflecting a bit of her lights on herself as well! I do wish they had included the Metroid logo somewhere on the base though...

Scalewise, I’d put her slíghtly below 1/6, so I was a bit suprised, because I secretly hoped her to be
a little bigger. Still, the details are nice, and I like the pose, so 3 and a half for this overall!

Paint - ***1/2
The paintwork on this overall is pretty spot on on my piece, with no slop whatsoever, however, these áre hand painted, so it might be otherwise in other cases. Mine did have a little damaging near her ankle, which is too bad, but not a big enough deal to be a distraction because its well.. at her ankle, I posted a pic and circled it so you know can see what I mean!

The detail work is pretty nice, but there aren’t too many details allowed, since she doesn’t have any straps or bells and whistles, and because the “lighs” aren’t painted, since they light up, but there’s no slop, allowing full light to come through, so all’s good.

I also like that they didn’t add highlights to her armor like some statues do by adding a more blue-ish tone to it, which looks fake to me. 

The paintwork on the base is pretty nice, but not perfect, but its nice. It’s just black anyway, so there’s not much to talk about here apart from the little fact that it’s also hand numbered on the bottom on the base.
All in all, no slop, good quality work, 3 and a half stars.

Light up Feature - ****
And here’s the main attraction of this statue, it lights up. And damn does it look good.

When it first arrived I turned them on and was underwhelmed admittedly, BUT that was in broad daylight! Later that night I turned it on, and wow. Just wow. It looks great.

What also caught my eye is that it makes the figure a lot more versatile, because the figure without the lights looks ace, no doubt. But turn it on and it really becomes a whole different statue, not better looking persé (I dig the lights off, makes it looks like a black and white representation of the figure) but it does looks like a totally different thing turned on! Nice.

The colors looks great, and I like that the gun is a different color as well. The lights connect to the base via 2 small pegs in samus her foot, into the base. The lights work on 3 AA batteries, supplied with the statue, however I don’t know how long LED’s tend to last so I can’t judge that really, but this feature really makes the statue for me, almost making it two statues in one!

Value - ***
I was doubting between 3 and 3 and a half stars, I got this statue for 135 euros (200 dollars), shipping included. Which to me was the final push to ordering this piece. I love Samus, but for the regular price of 190 euros (that’s 290 dollars) here in the Netherlands, I’d easily take off a whole star! So 135 euro’s was a nice price to me, and it was worth it, but that’s me being a Samus geek.

Overall - **** (*** at full price)
Keep in mind this is coming from a huge Metroid/Samus geek. I love her design, her big shoulders, and her pose. If you don’t, it’s likely more to be 3 and a half, and 3 if you pay the full price! The paint app is great, and the light up feature is great as well. The base is.. basic (no pun intended) but get’s the job done.

Having said all that, I do hope for a Varia suit in a different pose, making me have both my favorite suits, but I ain’t getting that when it’s the same pose.

Well, that’s all folks! My name is Jeroen by the way, I hope you enjoyed my first ever written review, I tried to be as objective as I could, but do keep in mind I’m a huge fan of this franchise. Now to wrap things up, here’s the score recap:

Scoring Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Value - ***
Light up Feature - ****
Overall - **** (*** at full price)

Any more questions, or want to say something about my review, feel free to email me at eczamurai@hotmail.com
Now if only there was a way to get a fully articulated 1/6 figure that can turn in a Morph Ball…
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures
Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures

Samus Aran Metroid Prime statue by  First4Figures


Figures from the collection of Jeroen Schaafsma

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