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Sculpting - ***
If I were grading this on the likeness alone, it would score much
higher. The head sculpt is very accurate, from the eyes to the nose to
the lips and even to the shape of the head and chin, they've captured
Lee almost perfectly.
The
hair line is a bit more broken up than his usually was, but that might
be a good aesthetic choice. Lee usually had more of a Moe thing going
on, with less forehead exposed and more solid bangs. However, that may
not translate well into a statue, so going with the slightly thinner
coverage with the bangs was probably a good idea.
The slight
drop in score here is more due to the hands and the stance they've
chosen. I like the idea of going with very specific, very character
accurate poses to the hands, but they didn't manage to make them look
as realistic as the head sculpt. The fingers are large and
fat,
and they are splayed much to wide, especially the back left hand. It's
almost like they did a caricature of his hands, rather than real hands
in these classic poses.
The stance is also a classic Lee look,
but while it's accurate, I'm not sure it translates into a static three
dimensional figure particularly well. While it might seem simple, in
reality it's a pose that's very, very difficult to capture. It looks
better from the side than from the front, but in either case there is
still something off about it to the eye. It might be that his center of
gravity doesn't seem to make visual sense with the position of the feet
and legs...it might be that the front leg and torso are too
straight...but it's hard to put your finger on exactly what it is. I do
think that tilting his upper body back slightly would have helped - the
last photo was taken with the camera tilted slightly, and I think it
looks more natural. They went for a tough stance, and missed it by
*that* much.
The sculpted base is very basic and simple, with the painted dragon
adding most of the visual interest. Lee stands about 19" tall including
the base.
Paint - **
My biggest issue with the quality of the PF is not the sculpt, but the
paint. This is a very expensive statue, particularly considering the
simplicity of the sculpt. You should expect perfect paint at this
price, but it falls short.
The
skin tone is consistent and clean, but the other details all have minor
issues. The hair line along both the bangs and the sides is sloppy,
with too much skin riding up onto the sculpted hair. The
eyebrows
aren't quite as clean as I'd expect, the lips have a slight
discoloration to the paint at the deepest point, and the eyes have
bleed from the skin, particularly in the corners.
The pupils also
have a very good point, and a bad one. They painted them so he's
looking through his upper eyelids, staring you down. This was his
classic look, and it works perfectly for this character.
Unfortunately,
that's balanced off by one eye being slightly lazy. It's only slightly
off center with respect to the other eye - we're talking millimeters
here - but again, at this price point, I expect a PF to look as close
to perfect as humanly possible.
Articulation - Bupkis
I won't be holding the score against this statue, since that's what
it's supposed to be. However, as regular collectors of
Sideshow PF's know, occasionally they do have a point or two of
articulation, so it's worth mentioning that this one does not.
Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit is very basic, but it looks fine. The tailoring is good on
both the upper and lower half of his classic Kung Fu uniform, and you
can adjust the clothes slightly to get the look you want. The buttons
are in scale, the stitching is solid, and the elastic around the waist
and ankles works well. The pants are a bit baggy in the crotch, but
that's actually fairly accurate.
Value - **
Sideshow's Premium Format statues are not cheap, hence the 'premium'
title. Two hundred and fifty dollars is a lot of cash for anyone in the
current economic climate, and this is not a particularly complex
creation. The edition size is actually fairly large for a PF as well,
and with the minor issues around the paint, it's a tough sell at this
price.
Things To Watch Out For
-
Always be careful when attaching a PF to it's base, as the metal rod
can damage the resin. His is also very close to the front of his foot,
and with other PF's like that, I've managed to break the thin front
section of his foot when attaching it. I didn't have that
problem
here, but there's always that potential if you rush things.
Overall - **1/2
I like this PF a bit better than the overall actually indicates, but I
can't ignore the issues particularly at this price point.
If
you're looking for a display statue for your home theater or movie
room, I haven't seen a better one than this. Sure, the Enterbay figures
are about the nicest Lee collectibles out there (with the price tag to
match), but they are sixth scale, not quarter scale like this.
This
isn't a terrible statue by any means, but Sideshow needed to tighten up
the paint, as well as give us something a bit more substantial for this
much green.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - **
Articulation - Bupkis
Outfit - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - **1/2
Where to Buy -
Sideshow was the place to pick
this up originally, where he is $250. Other options:
- Dark Shadow
Collectibles has him at $225.
- CornerStoreComics
has him at $225.
- Alter Ego
also has
him at $225.
- if you're in the UK, Forbidden
Planet has him at 160 GBP.
. Your other
choice is to search ebay, and you can do that using the sponsor MyAuctionLinks.
Related Links -
I have several other Bruce
Lee collectible reviews:
- Enterbay has made some of the
nicest sixth scale Lee figures, including one based on Way of the Dragon and Game of Death.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this review? Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be
discussing it!
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