I'll take the last comment first-
I find the Icon piece satisfactory because it nails a fundamental aspect that I've wanted to see for a long time. Something that no other statute or action figure yet made has (and I'm including the much praised Tweeterhead in this).
The Icon piece looks
exactly like the character that Perez, and others following Perez, drew in Eighties.
Simple as that.
Even the NTT set that DC Collectibles put out, whose specific intention is to recreate Perez's cover to NTT #1, is stiffer and looks less like Perez's style than the Icon does
I don't know what colors are showing up on your monitor, but in person- in natural light here- the color relationships are comic accurate. Or at least close enough not to be an issue.
Quote:
Hair is a Brown Blob
In a cheesy flying pose.
|
The hair, like the paint color, is comic accurate here.
Her hair was always drawn as having these big, bulbous curls that gave the mane plenty of volume.
It's that lack of exaggerated, outlandish volume that is the main reason I'm not as keen on the Tweeterhead as others are (the cipher-like lack of personality in her expression is another).
People may not like that huge "Peg Bundy" mane, but that's personal preference. The fact is, Perez- and every single artist that followed on the title in his wake- drew her in a specific, identifiable way.
Changing the hair to a more relatable, or sensible, version (or adding pupils to the eyes) are both big fails for me in regards to this character.
Others may, and apparently do, feel differently.
As for the "cheesy flying pose", it is a straight up recreation of JG-L art for the character. That's plenty good enough for me- and actually, in this case, I think the figure work here in the sculpt (the form) is stronger than the art. Lopez is one of the most accurate illustrators I've ever seen depicting the body in action and with foreshortening. Starfire's midsection in this particular illo is, frankly, a little clunky.
Beyond just form, the Icon fully gets the
spirit of this particular character. She exudes sex appeal, but she's not a sly temptress. Her main quality was a guileless, sunny nature. The Icon piece conveys that for me.
Quote:
Shoddy paintwork
Base is laughable
|
Yup. Already admitted as much earlier.
The base is nice and heavy, so I don't worry about the fig tipping over. But the shape serves no purpose, and it's footprint is far larger than it needs to be- both of which are annoying.
QC on these has been poor. There's another person here who has had terrible luck with his- both the original purchase and the replacement.
The paintwork on my Starfire is serviceable, but just.
That's why, while I love it, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. I had to have two of the other figures in the order (Raven and Deathstroke) replaced for shoddy QC. The replacements turned out
slightly better.
Like Starfire though, both of those are also spot on, comic accurate to Perez's art.
None of these Icon pieces are something you want to get your nose right up next to study in fine detail. At about three feet away though, which is where I have Starfire, it serves it's purpose just fine- and any shakiness of some of those paint edges are simply invisible.
Ultimately, expectations are slightly different with a 1/9 $80 statue vs a $300-$600+ one. They get graded on different curves.
FWIW dealing with Icon direct I had no trouble whatsoever getting a response or eventual replacement pieces. I've jumped through far more hoops with both Sideshow and TH in the past.