Quote:
Originally Posted by gomur
The paints on mine could've been nicer with better masking and less clumping around the ribs. My claws also had a few small scratches. That shouldn't happen with adamantium!
Going by Koto's track record with Cyclops as an 'F' and Magneto as an 'A', then most of us will probably receive a 'B' or 'C' effort. B- overall? I really wish the Fine Art line were as consistent as the ArtFX, ArtFX+, and Bishoujo series. Those statues are consistently well painted with vibrant colors.
The gold standard at 1/6 scale remains Bowen Designs. I have Brown Action Wolvie and my bro owns Brown Museum, and both have top notch paints. The colors are richer and the shading more evident. Just cleaner overall.
One area I cannot criticize is the sculpt. Erick Sosa delivered big time! Wolverine is ripped and ready to rumble. So many beautiful viewing angles, and a pose that works alongside museum and action statues. Some collectors were worried that Wolverine was too small, and that is not the case. Shoulder to shoulder, he is yoked compared to the Bowens.
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I agree with your comments. The Bowen paint apps are superior in many cases compared to the Koto DRS statues, and there's no question about that.
But outside of the paint apps, the Koto 1/6th line of X-men statues have better sculpts than any comparable Bowen statue.
So far, Koto has released or is releasing the following X-Men team members:
1. Blue/Yellow Wolverine
2. Psylocke
3. Gambit
4. Colossus
5. Cyclops
6. Brown Wolverine
7. Rogue
I've carefully compared each design/sculpt to the Bowen counterpart, and I can't get over how just resoundingly superior the Sosa sculpts are in comparison to the Bowen ones. It's incredible - in some cases to a comical degree.
I personally own the Bowen Brown Museum, and it (along with the Blue/Yellow Museum statue) is the one Bowen counterpart that doesn't look comically bad next to the Koto/Sosa sculpts.
Now don't get me wrong - if you look at some of the Bowen statues on their own merits, they rate well. The Bowen Museum Wolverines are exquisitely beautiful in the pared-down, minimalist way that captures the basic likeness/essence of the character. The Blue/Yellow Action Bowen Wolverine's pose is dynamic and outstanding. It's just that when you put them next to a Sosa DRS statue, they just pale in comparison. In my opinion your combo shots of Bowen and Kotobukiya Brown Wolverines provide supporting evidence (more so the Action/Unmasked Brown Wolverine).
For example the Brown Unmasked Bowen has a bizarre-looking 'dolphin' forehead and top-to-bottom 'squashed' face, which just kills it for me. It probably has that look because it's a re-sculpt of the Bowen Blue/Yellow Action statue (which I also own). Even that has a weird forehead but looks acceptable because he is masked.
Next, I've always maintained that the proportions on all the Wolverine Bowen statues are flat-out wrong. The guy is supposed to be
5'3" and 185 pounds - looking at it proportionately, he should look like an Olympic powerlifter
(read: SQUAT and muscle-bound, to the extreme). In comparison to this standard, the Bowen Wolverines are positively
lanky/slender, even if the arms are muscled (note the relatively puny 'chicken legs')!
Basically as far as sculpts are concerned - Koto + Sosa nails it completely; Bowen misses it by a mile. Check out my attached photo of the DRS Brown Wolverine, Gambit, and Psylocke - I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy this view at work every day.
Koto DRS > Bowen counterparts
