StatueForum Review - Bowen Designs - Nightcrawler statue (2005)

[risingstar]

Nightcrawler statue (2005) - Sculpted by the Kucharek Brothers
14 inches in height - Limited to 2000 pieces

Bowen Designs proudly presents the Nightcrawler statue, a delightful addition to its stellar line of X-Men statues. Nightcrawler’s first appearance in comics dates back to Giant Size X-Men #1 published in May, 1975, written by Len Wein and pencilled by Dave Cockrum. Considered by most as the dawn of the new comic age, the (unlikely) X-Men would soon take the comic world by storm. In the midst of these seemingly countless memorable tales of drama and adventure featuring the often misunderstood and feared mutants was Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler.

[risingstar]

[risingstar]

[risingstar]

Sculpture: The Kucharek brothers did a wonderful job capturing Nightcrawler in a post-teleportation moment. The pillar of smoke featured on the base truly adds to the action dynamic as Nightcrawler appears prepared to leap into the fray to face the X-Men’ latest threat. It’s a definitive moment in the character’s theme and the Kucharek brothers nailed it.

The statue comes in 2 pieces: The Nightrawler statue and the base, both of which fit perfectly together. The sculpture loses some points on the base as the smoke looks more like purple goop than smoke. However, given the price of the piece, the time it was produced, and the lack of other options to produce the smoke effect, it did the job. A smoke effect like this likely wouldn't pass today.


Rating: 7.5/10



Paint/Mixed media: The paint applications on the polystone are good overall. While the paint applications didn’t exactly test new grounds, the effort is consistent with the Bowen brand. However, it’s important to note that this statue was produced 10 years ago. While by today’s standards, some might consider the paint applications simplistic in comparison, especially the smoke base, in 2005, this was considered more than good enough. It merely serves to remind us how quickly this hobby evolves.

What ultimately takes points away from the paint applications is the lack in detail and shading. However, it did look close to the promo pics so it's not like we first saw one thing and then received something else.


Rating 7/10



Production and Build quality: Again, more than satisfactory. This is a good, solid piece. Very easy to put together. There’s no tilting or imbalance to it. The scale is completely in line with the other X-Men statues produced by Bowen Designs.


Rating 7.5/10



Design: This gets high marks. It displays remarkably well and won’t fade or blend into the background like a number of the uninspiring museum poses typically offered by Bowen Designs. The statue box looks as good as any other produced by the company. However, remember to take pics of the statue while still in the box so you'll have no issue putting it back in the box.

This is an underrated piece. I find this to be among the best action poses produced by Bowen Designs. Nightcrawler fans, specifically those who collect Bowen statues, should be very pleased with this release.

Rating: 8/10


Overall rating: 7.5



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Nightcrawler pics taken in 2011 with the Canon Powershot SD790-IS

[Bmutha]

Nightcrawler is probably my third favorite X-Man...love the character. Great pics and review.

[Force of Nature]

Hi Risingstar,
thanks for sharing this great review!
I have this statue as well (in fact it was one of the first statues I bought) and I still love it after all these years.
Good stuff!

Rainer

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Nothing can stop The Juggernaut... NOTHING!

[dechirico7]

The design on this piece is great. I love the bright colors too.

[risingstar]

Originally Posted by dechirico7

The design on this piece is great. I love the bright colors too.

While I have since replaced this camera, it served me really well at the time. For the past couple of years, I've been using the Nikon d5100. I'm thinking of upgrading soon too.

[JP Sarri]

Beautiful piece indeed. Even through the test of time, Bowen Designs never disappoints.