Xm Studios - Black Cat

[loricstone]

Originally Posted by Shoo

Sure, many of the points raised above, if not all, are subjective. (And some are frankly ridiculous). That's why I stressed the 'perception' part. Spidey's belt is not debatable, though. That is wrong, period, not an opinion, and it should be fixed.

But I was mainly talking about the way they go about their portraits, especially those of females. There's something about them that I personally find clashes with their otherwise attention to detail for a high-end product. Sideshow is still king there, when their QC is on point.



Oh, I do give them credit. I applaud their generally ballsy artistic direction, which usually runs rings around that of other well established companies. If they would improve (greatly) on their portraits and chose color schemes more to my liking, I'd be in financial trouble.

As it stands, though, it saves me a lot of money, fortunately/unfortunately.



I can understand that and I'm glad for you.

Just for my understanding of what you mean when referring to color? Like can you give a few examples? And with headsculpts...are you referring to females specifically? Because IMO...the male headsculpts are mayhap the best are certainly some of the best in the collectible world. And its the same type of details and skin color that should also be applied to the women.

I kind of get the feeling that with women, XM is afraid to give them more detailed paint ups. The sculpts for the most part are there...but there are small lack of details like eye shadow, slight various coloration in on the skin, highlights / slight paint differences to give the hair more depth, toothpaste like blocky plain teeth.

I would like for XM to start giving the ladies the Vulture / Black Panther detailed paint apps.

[Shoo]

Originally Posted by loricstone

Just for my understanding of what you mean when referring to color?

It's difficult for me to convey what I dislike about them. They look... dull to me. I just don't find them pleasing to look at. (Darkness is a nightmare to me in that respect, with all those greens, purples and bronzes, which are my least favourite colors, lol). And those color schemes, man - Catwoman's bike, Black Cat's cat... Too dark as an ensemble, not enough contrast. And don't get me started on the way they paint males' lips.

It gets worse when large plain surfaces are involved. XM's capes, for instance, look amateurish to me, almost plasticky. That's what Kingpin's suit looks like to me, a big lump of plastic.

Originally Posted by loricstone

And with headsculpts...are you referring to females specifically? Because IMO...the male headsculpts are mayhap the best are certainly some of the best in the collectible world. And its the same type of details and skin color that should also be applied to the women.

No, I'm talking about all of their sculpts. I mean, the likes of Vulture and Cable are great, as old/rugged faces allow them to show off with greater detail, but then I look at Sandman or Eddie Brock and see bland faces with play-doh features, the likes of which could have actually been drawn by Todd McFarlane or Steve Ditko, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

But yeah, their females are their worst offenders. I've talked about it before - up until their (now seemingly botched) Magdalena and Gwen portraits, they have all looked to me like something a cheap action figure would have, not a high-end statue. And those lifeless eyes...

I stopped buying Sideshow some time ago, as they stopped cutting it for me for different reasons, but for all their shortcomings you gotta hand it to them, that's a department they've been excelling at.

Look at that Carol Danvers PF. In my opinion it's light years ahead of anything XM has done so far. It has character. (Harbottle's Sonja is in an even higher league! Now that's what I'd love to see on every statue of mine). Even with their shoddy QC, I feel there's no comparison there. Huge fan of Black Cat as a character here. Huge. Unlike other characters, I have no self-imposed limit as to the number of Felicias that may enter my collection. And yet I look at theirs and "Meh" is the best that piece elicits in me. I wanted to love this, damn it, but I'm not buying every statue of her just for the sake of collecting. I have to really like them.

When I get more satisfaction looking at the portraits of the few 1:6 females I own than what I see on XM's females, I know I mustn't spend a cent on the latter or I'll regret it.

That said, they do have absolute masterpieces, like Ghost Rider or Iron Fist, and again, I like those guys and mostly admire their artistic direction. It's the execution on many aspects that puts ME off.

End of *requested* 'rant'. I'd like to leave it here, please.

[jadekite22]

Originally Posted by Shoo

It's difficult for me to convey what I dislike about them. They look... dull to me. I just don't find them pleasing to look at. (Darkness is a nightmare to me in that respect, with all those greens, purples and bronzes, which are my least favourite colors, lol). And those color schemes, man - Catwoman's bike, Black Cat's cat... Too dark as an ensemble, not enough contrast. And don't get me started on the way they paint males' lips.

It gets worse when large plain surfaces are involved. XM's capes, for instance, look amateurish to me, almost plasticky. That's what Kingpin's suit looks like to me, a big lump of plastic.



No, I'm talking about all of their sculpts. I mean, the likes of Vulture and Cable are great, as old/rugged faces allow them to show off with greater detail, but then I look at Sandman or Eddie Brock and see bland faces with play-doh features, the likes of which could have actually been drawn by Todd McFarlane or Steve Ditko, and I don't mean that as a compliment.

But yeah, their females are their worst offenders. I've talked about it before - up until their (now seemingly botched) Magdalena and Gwen portraits, they have all looked to me like something a cheap action figure would have, not a high-end statue. And those lifeless eyes...

I stopped buying Sideshow some time ago, as they stopped cutting it for me for different reasons, but for all their shortcomings you gotta hand it to them, that's a department they've been excelling at.

Look at that Carol Danvers PF. In my opinion it's light years ahead of anything XM has done so far. It has character. (Harbottle's Sonja is in an even higher league! Now that's what I'd love to see on every statue of mine). Even with their shoddy QC, I feel there's no comparison there. Huge fan of Black Cat as a character here. Huge. Unlike other characters, I have no self-imposed limit as to the number of Felicias that may enter my collection. And yet I look at theirs and "Meh" is the best that piece elicits in me. I wanted to love this, damn it, but I'm not buying every statue of her just for the sake of collecting. I have to really like them.

When I get more satisfaction looking at the portraits of the few 1:6 females I own than what I see on XM's females, I know I mustn't spend a cent on the latter or I'll regret it.

That said, they do have absolute masterpieces, like Ghost Rider or Iron Fist, and again, I like those guys and mostly admire their artistic direction. It's the execution on many aspects that puts ME off.

End of *requested* 'rant'. I'd like to leave it here, please.

[grphyx1]

Shoo i gotta say i agree with a lot of what you're saying. Xm's female faces are an uncomplementary blend of cartoon and realism. They pull down a lot of the amazing sculpts

[Spidey976]

Originally Posted by loricstone

Just for my understanding of what you mean when referring to color? Like can you give a few examples? And with headsculpts...are you referring to females specifically? Because IMO...the male headsculpts are mayhap the best are certainly some of the best in the collectible world. And its the same type of details and skin color that should also be applied to the women.

I kind of get the feeling that with women, XM is afraid to give them more detailed paint ups. The sculpts for the most part are there...but there are small lack of details like eye shadow, slight various coloration in on the skin, highlights / slight paint differences to give the hair more depth, toothpaste like blocky plain teeth.

I would like for XM to start giving the ladies the Vulture / Black Panther detailed paint apps.

XM is getting their with their headsculpts and there has been a lot of improvement, but for now other then the odd occasion they aren't at the pinnacle of the hobby. Not even their males m8. I can't post them here because they are customs, but I have seen two headsculpts just in the last two days that are superior to your average XM headsculpt... now I don't think it will be that way forever, because their artists are growing, but they just aren't there yet mate. Not consistently.

Ps I think k Gwen and Black Cat are their best females to date and that is an awesome sight

[loricstone]

One of the things I like most about collecting is how my tastes and tolerances for things in the hobby change or grow.

When XM first came out with the Captain America (still the best Cap done so far IMO), I was so captivated with the overall look and feel that I wasn't really up and at em about portraits. Fast forward three years later and I now have a much greater appreciation for portraits than I ever did just a few short years ago. I liken this to how I used to be gung ho on mixed media that SS had on their statues to now, almost wishing mixed media goes the way of the dodo bird. It's true that even us most stout collectors are somewhat influenced or rather educated on the sophistication of certain things in this hobby and just art in general.

As of today, and recently providing my prognosis for Magdalena (very good statue but won't be great until some changes I pointed out are made) I have a much greater appreciation for details on portraits and details that add more depth to not just portraits but the entire sculpt. I have stated as much on facebook concerning Black Cat, Gwen, Darth Vader and another SW statue that's done that it's the finer details that give a statue so much more character and life. If you look at the DV Anakin...the likeness in the sculpt is pretty much there, but there is such a lack of details (shading, freckles, dirt, etc.) that it comes across as being very flat and lifeless if you will.

For the comic characters, like Black Cat, it doesn't bother me as much, but for realistic actor / actress likenesses like SW, it has to be on point..."spare no expense." This is the kind of thing that can not be half-assed at all, because any lack of detail subtracts from the statue as a whole, even when the sculpt is on point, which most if not all statues are.

So i say all this acknowledging that I would like to see XM begin to advance in the area of fine details on statues particularly in the portrait department. The sculpts, AD, paint apps (QC, neatness) and overall presentation is second to none in the industry IMO, but i feel they can improve quite a bit in the portrait department.

I will give you an example of the types of things I would like to see (grime, dirt, sweat on portraits and skin pores, cuts, etc.) Look at the sweat on Prototypez Ryu statue coming out soon. If these statues were still the traditional $350 statues from SS almost 8 years ago...I would be much less concerned about details....but at $770 - $2000 dollars a pop...these statues MUST reflect that across the board and XM especially.

Now while I don't agree with Shoo's issues with XM's color palette, I know exactly what he means when talking about portraits. I am a fair person...as XM gets older and continues to grow....just like a child that grows older and are held to a higher standard than when they were in a chair making a mess of food...so to must XM and every company be held to a higher standard the longer they progress in time.

Unlike most other companies that like to remain stagnant with pose and tired ass character choices, I firmly take heart that XM will evolve and continue to grow...especially with the details in the portrait department.

Teeth especially...XM shows they can do great teeth with Vulture and select other statues...please take advantage and implement nice detailed pearly enamels on the females too!

XM areas of improvement = more character, personality and determination with female portraits and eyes and more detailed paint apps on portraits (grime, individual looking teeth, dirt, sweat, cuts and bruises when necessary like Punisher, more hair details like highlights, shading, etc.).

[actionjackson83]

You would need them to move completely to the realm of realism and go far away from the comic style that they have used all these years to get to where you guys want them.

[loricstone]

They can keep the comic style but just add more depth. Vulture stilll has the comic style...so does Black Panther, but they have full details (freckles, skin variation shading, etc.)

The women should have them too. Black Cat hair is just lifeless. Her teeth need to be more distinguished like Vulture.

For the record, Black Cat was one of the highlights at the show for myself.

[dao2]

I think black cat is great, the female headsculpts showing teeth are all off though >< The one with pursed lips though is pretty damn good. Hair could use more detail but v0v.

[GrumpyBear]

It´s an very nice piece and the green Panther just needs great pictures to show the awesome paintjob.