Kotobukiya Fine Art Statue: Spider-Man Unleashed
A review by Bmutha
(^ Take a look overhead...)
Product Information:
Size: approximately 16” tall (1:6 scale)
Artists: sculpted by Erick Sosa
Originally Released: November 2012
Edition Size: 1900
Spider-Man Fun Facts:
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy # 15 (August 1962)
Real Name: Peter Parker
Alias: Web-Head, Wallcrawler, Webslinger, among many others
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 167 lbs.
Powers: proportionate powers of a spider (strength, agility, ability to cling to surfaces, spider-sense), ability to bag one ultra hot girl friend after another.
We’ve all heard the well known quote from Uncle Ben countless times:
Quote:
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“With great power comes great responsibility.”
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Well, Uncle Ben wasn’t just lecturing his adopted son about the life of a super hero, he was probably also talking about the great responsibility collectible companies have when they put out a statue of a much beloved character like Spider-Man. If you’re going to take a crack at producing a high end Spidey (arguably Marvel’s flagship character) collectible, you better nail it because there is almost no chance it slips under the radar.
One of the defining characteristics of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has to be his agility. His acrobatic prowess, the ability to fling himself through the air while contorting his body in mind boggling ways is on display in seemingly every comic book panel. Translating this defining characteristic to a 3D medium is a major challenge it seems.
Inspired by an exceptional Todd McFarlane splash page from Amazing Spider-Man # 317 (which happens to be my all time favorite issue), this sculpt captures the web slinger at his high-flying best. Although not an exact match for the McFarlane art (the eye shape in particular), the sculpt does do a great job of capturing the hyper-musculature that was prevalent in the late 80’s and early 90’s Spider-Man artwork. The pose itself is pretty much Spider-Man in a nutshell, you have a dynamic, agile pose coupled with web swinging and web slinging…what more could you ask for here?
(^ The statue is based on this splash page from ASM # 317)
One issue with the Spider-Man sculpt is the webbing on the suit. This aspect of the classic Spider-Man costume seems to plague most statues and collectibles. Here, there are just some areas where the webbing is a bit of a mess, particularly on the neck and lower jaw.
The base is sculpted as what appears to be part of a ruined building. You can see remnants of a finely detailed, hand sculpted building façade that is sadly damaged beyond repair by yet another battle with a super-villain (I can see why J. Jonah thinks he’s a menace!). Looked at on its own, the base is nothing overly special, but does serve its purpose well (to elevate the man himself and give the appearance of Spidey swinging amongst the rooftops of NYC). The biggest problem I have with the base is that because it is so tall and Spidey himself is so compact, unfortunately when standing back and viewing the statue you see mostly base. The paintwork on the base is rather drab – plain greys with some brown highlights – so having it take up so much of the viewing window is a mistake, in my opinion.
(^ The base takes up a large portion of the statue given the compact pose.)
The paintwork is average to good on this piece. The web lines on the suit, as is the case with most Spider-Man statues, are good in some areas, but not so great in others. Minor paint bleed in the transition areas between red and blue is noted throughout. Kotobukiya decided to use a darker metallic blue finish, and although it looks nice, there is not much shading to accentuate the musculature. I have seen one of these statues re-painted in a lighter blue with some shading added, and it makes you long for what could have been with the production piece.
Being part of Kotobukiya’s Fine Art Statue line, this piece is constructed of cold cast porcelain, which is similar to the polystone material that many people are familiar with. The statue itself is solid and has a quality feel. Spider-Man’s body is a single piece and fits into the top of the base with a metal peg. I had a very difficult time getting the peg to fit, to the point where I thought it may be defective, although I do not know if it is a common problem with the statue.
The webs come in three pieces: one piece that is shooting from the right hand, the long piece that curls around the base from the left hand, and the tail of the web on the left hand. I was so worried about how fragile the webs would be, but the webs are actually made of flexible wire…nothing to worry about there. The webs are a really nice touch and lend to the overall dynamism of the piece.
The statue is advertised as 1/6 scale, but it does feel a bit undersized when placed to other statues in this scale category.
Sculpt: 8.5/10
A dynamic sculpt that captures the essence of Spider-Man very well. Some of the sculpted web lines around the jaw and neck are a bit messy and the base is only mediocre.
Paint: 7.0/10
The paint could definitely be better on this piece. The metallic blue on the suit has very little shading and hides much of the musculature, and the transitions between red and blue have some paint bleed. The base is painted rather drably as well.
Design: 8.5/10
The selected pose looks like it jumped right out of the pages of the comic and the webs make the piece feel all that more dynamic. However, in attempting to elevate Spider-Man with the tall base, and the fact Spidey is in a rather compact pose, means the base occupies most of the field of view.
Production & Build Quality 8.0/10
The piece has a good weight and solid feel. The webs are made of flexible wire and are easy to pose to your liking. However, there was some difficulty fitting Spider-Man onto the base.
Overall: 8.0/10
This is an impressive piece from Kotobukiya, and one that is highly sought after in the aftermarket. The statue really captures the essence of one of Marvel’s most well-known and beloved characters. The pose and overall presence of the wall crawler make up for the lacklustre paint application. I would have no qualms about recommending this statue to any collector.
