Okay, I've had mine a week now, I've got over the frustrating setup which I think was mostly due to a few ill fitting parts on mine. And I have to say.... THIS THING IS AWESOME!!!
I absolutely love this statue! I can't believe how negative this thread was when this first started shipping now that I have this in hand. I realise a few people early on received bad examples with peeling and wonky decals and they are obviously an exception (Which I hope was resolved) But this statue is simply phenomenal in person! I'm so glad I re-ordered this while I still could. I'm lucky enough to have a few incredible statues in my collection, including the EX SWS maquette and the Prime 1 1/3 Big chap. This goes straight to the top of the list as the most impressive statue I own, only that Big chap really compares to it.
Now sure the scale is off and the paint could be better, but does anybody know of a factory produced JH painted better than this because I don't. I love the SWS to death, but over all I have to admit that this is a better statue in general. The SWS has better armour and a FAR superior bio mask, but this one is arguable more impressive in pretty much every other area and I do not say that lightly. The base on this is also just rammed full of visual stimulation and really makes the statue feel alive. Prime 1 are often guilty of over elaborate bases, but in this case it really does suit the statue and work well.
I only really have one real complaint with this thing, and that is the movie mask which isn't on par with the rest of the statue. The heavy texture they gave it, combined with the sculpted damage really changes the look. The Guardian mask was produced to a much higher standard in terms of looking how it should. Fortunately I really like the Guardian mask so I'm happy to use that mostly. If Prime 1 wish to offer the new improved bio from the 1/3 statue for this however, I'd happily purchase one! Any other complaints are minor, the quills could be better for example and I did prefer the original position of the heads. As mentioned before mine has a few branches which don't fit properly (I will fix them) And obviously the paint tones could be lighter. Although in person that isn't as noticeable really. The net full of skulls is infuriating to setup if you have big hands like me, I actually gave up! And the other three skulls rest loosely on the base, a magnet system would have been ideal there.
Over all any cons are far outweighed by the good. If anybody is on the fence about this, it gets a highly recommended stamp of approval from me. Get it while you still can from Secret compass...
Here's some absolute photo spam, featuring Merlin as scale in a couple. He's happy I promise, he's just a Labrador with a typical sad face as my attention wasn't fully on him for two minutes! Enjoy...
Got it for a great deal everything on it looks great, the top brantch that holds to body has a bit of a seam line but i was able to out the twine over it.
