Kotobukiya Black Panther Fine Art Statue
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Sculpt: Eric Sosa managed to sculpt a fantastic rendition of the Black Panther in his modern costume.
Body: Nice body proportions and muscular build. The pose has a menacing and aggressive quality to it; arms outstretched and ready to strike. Beautiful head sculpt! The eyes are nicely proportioned with brow furrowing features protruding through the mask. The hands are dynamically posed with the wrist in flexion and MCPs extended. The costume details are also nicely sculpted with intricate details to the panther medallion.
From the front, the cape is nicely sculpted with good flowing movement to it. From the rear, I wonder if the cape lines are a little too symmetrical. Still nice, but more randomness to the flow of the cape would make it look a bit more natural.
Base: By far, the best Kotobukiya Avengers Fine Art base up to this point, and in fact, a major selling point for me. The base tells a story that helps to compliment the figure. There is a nice use of storytelling here without it being a distraction from the figure.
The sculpt of the panther is well done. When lit from above, the features of the panther stand out nicely creating a mysterious and intimidating presence. The plants and rocky base are also well done, helping to frame the panther head.
The circular base looks great with the textured tile work and cracking. The details to the side are also nicely done with the ornate tribal patterns.
Score: 9/10
Paint: Overall, the paint work here is functional, but in typical Kotobukiya form, nothing really outstanding. Koto still has a way to go to match the quality produced formerly at Bowen Designs.
Body: Depending on the lighting, the paint has a charcoal black appearance. It’s difficult to tell if there is any shading on the piece due to the dark paint used. I’m pleased with the gold paint used for the costume accents. With my piece, the lines were very clean. Medallion looks great as well. Cudos to the production team on this!
I’m not a fan of the eggshell texture paint that Koto uses for some of their pieces. It makes the piece look a little flat. Functionally, it becomes difficult to maintain; it attracts dust easily, and when trying to dust, it can become an exercise in futility. I’d prefer paint with some level of gloss to it for this reason.
Base: Generally, nice paint applications here. The panther head has simulated water stains running down it. Also, nice paint splotches to give the impression of weathering which works well. The circular base component has a nice colour applied to it to really suit the scene.
Score: 7.5/10
Design: I think Erick Sosa and team delivered a fantastic Black Panther product here. The action type pose with complimentary base makes this piece a homerun as far as design goes. Overall, it’s just an aesthetically well designed piece; probably the most solid effort from the Avengers line. This is my favorite Black Panther statue yet made.
Score: 9 /10
Production and Build Quality: Magnets Koto. Please. I don’t think anyone likes the push peg limb attachments. I’ll happily pay the extra $5 for magnetic limb keys.
Although I was able to get my arm pieces to fit, I really needed to use effort when inserting the left arm piece. There’s always that fear of breakage whenever you have to use any level of force with a resin statue.
The figure itself feels solid and the cape has a nice thickness to it as well. It feels well put together.
The base is a bit on the light side, but that’s really a non-issue as far as I’m concerned.
Production wise, all of the statue components came out nicely and chip free; just magnets Koto please.
Score 8/10
Overall: This is a wonderful addition to the Kotobukiya Fine Art Collection. Black Panther is arguably the strongest Avenger piece to come from the collection so far. It displays nicely within a collection and works as a stand-alone piece as well!
Overall Score: 8/10
