Statue Forum 





Go Back   Statue Forum > News and Updates > Statue Reviews

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 02-27-2018, 12:43 PM   #1
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
XM Studios – WEAPON X STATUE – StatueForum Review

XM Studios – WEAPON X STATUE – StatueForum Review

“It’s the Hulk, Leftenant! I’m afraid we have no choice but to mobilize –– Weapon X!”
(Captain Matthews in the Royal Canadian Air Force,
Incredible Hulk #180, October 1974, Len Wein)

XM Studios proudly presents Weapon X, the grisly subject of brutal and inhumane experiments conducted by a clandestine genetic research facility designed to create indestructible killing machines. This ¼ scale premium quality collectible statue captures this defining moment in Wolverine’s tragic history before he joined the uncanny X-Men.

Wolverine first appeared in the final panel of the Incredible Hulk #180, published in October 1974. Writer, Len Wein, artist, Herb Trimpe, Marvel Editor-in-chief, Roy Thomas, and Marvel Comics art director, John Romita Sr are all credited with having played a role in creating and designing the flagship character, though comic fans typically credit writer, Chris Claremont, writer-artist, John Byrne, and artist, Dave Cockrum, and to a degree writer-artist, Frank Miller, for having more fully developed Wolverine into the man who truly is the best at what he does. However, the origin of the notorious Weapon X program, which essentially tells the tale of how Logan ultimately became the covert, adamantium-laced, black-operative named Wolverine, is largely credited to the legendary Barry Windsor Smith who both wrote and drew the ground-breaking mini-series collected in Marvel Comics Presents #72-84, originally published in March 1991.

Wolverine’s family background and history has always been shrouded in mystery and myth. Classified and largely redacted RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) records indicate that Code-Name Wolverine, originally James Howlett, was born in the late 19th century in northern Alberta, Canada, to wealthy landowners John and Elizabeth Howlett. However, as James discovered that he was actually the illegitimate son of the Howlett’s groundskeeper, Thomas Logan, he adopted his more familiar namesake, “Logan”.

Following a tragic sequence of events leading to immeasurable heartbreak and death in the Howlett family, which ultimately prompted the horrific and painful manifestation of his retractable claws mutation, Logan, frightened, angst-ridden, and confused ventured out on his own to contemplate his ill-fated and accursed destiny in a world acclimatized to mistrust and despise all that which they fear and do not understand. Logan soon learned that he had razor-sharp animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, and a powerful and regenerative healing factor, which set him apart from everything and everyone he knew. He also became remarkably adept at employing his formidable retractable claws in combat.

In time, Logan’s incredible abilities were discovered by a nefarious underground Canadian government organization obsessed with creating super soldiers answerable only to them. They believed Logan’s healing factor would allow him to survive the excruciating and agonizing process of bonding adamantium to his skeleton, which would turn him into a living weapon of death and destruction. The sinister conclave behind these horrific and brutal experiments also subjected Logan to dehumanizing brainwashing techniques designed to bring out his most primal and murderous instincts, thus transforming him into the perfect killing machine.

XM Studios adds to its marvellous gallery of premiere collectibles by offering the fanbase a definitive interpretation of Marvel comics’ arguably most gripping and tragic origin story.




risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:43 PM   #2
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094













risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #3
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
With the laboratory lights on:














Note: Red lights on the VR helmet!

risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #4
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094












risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #5
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
The "wet" effect:


















The best way to connect the VR cables to the battery pack.

risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #6
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
















The metal with chrome finish claws.

risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #7
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
XM Studios – WEAPON X STATUE – StatueForum Review

The creative team behind the Weapon X statue are Daniel Bel (sculpt), Studio Hive (illustration, design and concept collaboration) and the XM Studios Design & Development team. The Weapon X statue stands approximately 22 inches high (i.e., from the base up to the highest panel), 21 inches wide, and 17 inches deep. The multi-piece figure piece weighs approximately 31 pounds. It was limited to only 800 pieces worldwide at a retail price of $1099 SGD (approximately $830us).

The Weapon X statue was Made To Order for select locations in Asia. XM Studios began shipping out first batches of this statue in late February 2018.

Sculpture: This is an extraordinary sculpture. It exemplifies the horrors Logan was subjected to at the hands of a malevolent clandestine research facility hell-bent on creating super soldiers made to do its bidding. Bathed in sterile suspension fluid and covered in blood-spattered bolts and electrodes, we see Logan just moments after he literally erupted from his cylindrical rejuvenation containment tank. Enraged and consumed by primal urges and chaotic instincts, and surrounded by a plethora of serrated and jagged shards of glass, Logan stands poised to mutilate anything and anyone barring his frantic and panic-driven need to escape from the vile research facility.

Succumbing to a feverish and frenzied haze, Logan is unaware that he’s wearing a virtual reality helmet, which the scientists at facility used to control, manipulate, and hone his perceptions and battle prowess and proficiency. He truly believes that the terrifying images he sees are completely real and he’s ready to kill anything that stands in his path without mercy. His body is attached to cable wiring and drug-injection tubing, used primarily to observe, assess, and trigger his pain thresholds and psychological responses to their limits. He is also surrounded by a series of state of the art panels and sensors reading his vital signs, all in an exerted effort to ultimately turn him into deadliest killing machine the world has ever seen.

His virtual reality helmet features a stark red light-up mechanism signifying when he’s being bombarded by horrifying images. Above and below are two sets of floodlights, which may be turned on to illuminate the results of the depraved Weapon X experiments. The abundance of strategically placed monitors displaying his engineered diagnostics look real enough to pass for LCD screens. The diagnostic panels may also be moved slightly from side to side as well allowing for numerous display options.

This is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship.
----

The Weapon X statue ships with two different portraits, i.e., one wearing the virtual reality helmet and the other without it. I prefer displaying the portrait with his virtual reality helmet on as I think it best befits the story being told.

The statue comes in 22 pieces: 7 stand and attaching floodlight panel pieces, 6 diagnostic panel pieces, 5 containment enclosure pieces, 1 body, 2 portraits, 1 base, and a full color print designed by Studio Hive.

Rating: 10/10

risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #8
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
Paint/Mixed media: The tones featured on this piece are meant to embody the cold and sterile confines of an underground research lab. As is typically the case with XM Studios, the paint applications look really smooth and indicate consistent professional and confident strokes. While there may be an atypical amount of pvc and light-up materials used, it doesn’t at all reflect negatively on the overall look and design of the piece. In fact, it’s designs like this one which show how pvc and light-up features can actually improve and best illustrate the objectives of the design team. There was virtually no painting over lines, smudges, or off-centered eyes, or other paint imperfections.

I would like to take a moment to address the outstanding realistic appearance of the suspension fluid we see dripping and trickling from various points on Logan’s body (i.e., the “wet” effect). I admit, I had my doubts this could be pulled off at all, let alone be pulled off well. However, once the piece was assembled, I actually found myself wondering if those “wet” areas were actually areas of paint that had not yet have fully dried. I have never seen this wet effect executed in such an exemplary fashion. The blend of clear resin paint truly is innovative work.

Weapon X’s unsheathed claws are three inches long and are made of actual metal with a chrome finish. It is the coolest thing.

Rating 10/10
-------------------------------------------------------

Production and Build quality: As always, when it comes to XM Studios, you can pretty much guarantee that you will be receiving a solid piece of craftsmanship. The Weapon X statue is no exception, even with the noted number of pvc pieces and light-up extras. The diorama has a fabulous size, shape, and weight to it. While it was a bit of a challenge assembling the 20+ piece, it can be done, as long as you follow the assembly booklet instructions provided. However, please do be careful around the containment tank pieces as there appear to be some sharp and fragile textures to some of them. The clear resin (i.e. glass parts) seem especially fragile so when you remove the base from the box, pick it up from the sides not from the center.

The magnets worked really well. There’s no tilting or imbalance to the statue or cause to be concerned about long term leaning issues. Again, excellent job overall.

Rating 9.5/10
-------------------------------------------------------

Design: As noted earlier, the objective of the XM Studios design team was to capture a familiar pivotal moment in Wolverine’s fascinating history. When it comes to storytelling designs, XM Studios is arguably the best in the business. The attention to detail is simply remarkable. However, to be fair, we are seeing an image we have seen before so from a design standpoint, even though executed in an exemplary fashion, it isn’t entirely an original design, though I do not think XM intended to present something entirely original. However, in a historically driven theme such as this, familiar is exactly what the fanbase hopes to see.

Rating: 9/10
-------------------------------------------------------

Final thoughts: On the heels of such exceptional pieces like the Iron Fist and Electro, also produced by XM Studios, the outstanding sculptor, Daniel Bel, merits being mentioned alongside some of the best sculptors in the statue market today. I suspect fans and collectors alike have only begun to scratch the surface of what he is truly capable of producing as an artist. It’s awe-inspiring efforts like this that make buying and reviewing this kind of artwork such a sheer pleasure. This is a phenomenal piece of craftsmanship.

In closing, what ultimately separates XM Studios from most other statue companies is its high regard and attention for storytelling. It intentionally sets out to epitomize benchmark moments and themes in a character’s history and endeavours to execute them to near perfection. In this case, XM presents that bloodcurdling moment when Logan lost sight of his humanity and became the ultimate assassin, Weapon X.

This is another homerun for XM Studios. A definite keeper.

Overall rating: 9.6/10

P.S. Lastly, please do not forget to register your statue’s serial number on the XM website. Join the fight against recasters who continue to plague our industry in growing numbers.
risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 12:44 PM   #9
risingstar
Jedi Order
 
risingstar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Habs Nation
Posts: 28,094
risingstar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2018, 02:03 PM   #10
WalkerFodder
The X-Men
 
WalkerFodder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,024
Excellent Write-Up! Simply stunning piece. I’ll be by the door waiting on delivery day.
WalkerFodder is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:16 PM.



Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright StatueForum.com