Hey Kowarrior - yes, I purchased all of these busts mint upon release. My Spidey shipped to me with mint eye reflectors.
The Thing is an entirely other story however. Just like everyone else who owns one, my Thing has the same paint defect. It arrived mint but one afternoon as I was dusting the paint began flaking. I was damn close to tears!
It's all good though - I'm having both this bust and the Ross Hulk repainted.
I don't own the Silver Surfer and I missed out on Ironman. I sort of slept on both and I'm kicking myself now. I have no interest in Thor nor the UD Venom because I think the SS Venom is the end-all-be-all of Venom sculpts out there.
Just to throw in my 2 cents ... I think the DF Thing is a much nicer sculpt than Sideshow's Thing. It's incredibly faithful to Byrne's work on the Fantastic Four. I also prefer the DF Spidey over the SS McFarlenesque Spidey ... and I'm a fan of McFarlane's work.
I think the DF busts are a little under appreciated - I don't really ever see much discussion regarding them. I mean, you had Alex Ross designing them and Mike Hill sculpting ... how could you go wrong there (aside from the craptacular paint apps).
