Review: Bowen Unmasked Wolverine Action Pose Statue

Here's my very first full size statue. I got some extra money after I sold some of my action figures and I thought it was a good idea to get this one, I was able to buy it at WAY BELOW the price it normally goes for.

Bowen Designs Unmasked Action Pose Wolverine Statue, this was released sometime during 2008. Since Wolverine is one of the most marketable characters around, it's no surprise that Bowen has a lot of Wolverines out there already, 5 MBs (a 6th one being the first appearance with a gold base), 2 mid-size statues (brown and tigerstripe), 6 full-sized museum poses (Brown, Faux Bronze Brown, Tigerstripe, X-belt Variant Tigerstripe, Unmasked, Logan) and 3 action poses (tigerstripe and first appearance being the other two). But that's not all, Bowen has already put the X-Force Wolverine Museum pose up for order (ordered it already, by the way) and they're currently making Weapon X and Old Man Logan statues. I have no intention of completing them, maybe if I win the lottery I'll try it. Anyway, onto the review..

Packaging and CoA:
The packaging looks great, it has the classic feel to it and it looks distinctly Bowen. On top of the box, the word "Wolverine" is written using the default Wolverine font. As for the sides, it's pretty much a product shot and some information about Bowen. I don't know if it's just me but I prefer the style they use on their MBs, wherein a blurb about the character is written on the side. Bowen Designs doesn't provide a Certificate of Authenticity for their products. What they do instead is write the production number of the statue at the bottom of the statue's base and also at the bottom of the box.

My statue is numbered 126 out of 1000.

As for the packaging, same as all of the statues, styrofoam is used in order to protect the statue. It also has a special type of wrapper so that the statue wouldn't stick to the statue. It does a great job protecting the statue, i commuted on my way home and nothing happened to it. It's also nice that the statue is only two separate pieces, I've seen some that looks like a jigsaw puzzle out of the box.

Base:
The base of the statue is very detailed. It seems like it's the edge of a cliff or a huge rock sticking out of the ground. It's very detailed, It's the first time I've seen it up close and the sculptor really made a great job of doing this one.

I don't really have anything wrong to say about the base, it's a prefect base for a lunging Wolverine action pose. Another plus is that it's so big that you can actually use it as a diorama for the 3.75" action figures, though that'll make one EXPENSIVE base.

you really want to use this as a diorama?

Figure:

As for the figure itself, it doesn't disappoint. I think it's the same scale as the Museum Pose full sized Bowens, I really think that this is a great scale for statues. It comes with a small peg that you insert into the hole in the base.This is a great representation of the Brown Wolverine outfit, paint is really solid and there's very minimal slop. You won't really see anything wrong with this one unless you want to find one. The hair on his arms are painted on, it doesn't seem overly done. It's actually a nice addition since Wolverine is actually supposed to be VERY hairy. The claws also seem to be of the right length, it looks as if it could actually fit into his forearms. I myself am not very particular about it but i do prefer more realistic lengths rather that longer ones.If I could actually change anything about the statue, it would probably be the face. For some reason I keep thinking that he has a very flat nose on this one. He has that cave man vibe to him, I know Wolverine isn't supposed to be good looking but I think he looks gruff and unkempt instead of neanderthal like.
The face bothers me but not enough for me to think that it's a bad piece, the face might actually grow on you. From what I know, Bowen doesn't really have specific artworks to base their pieces on. I guess the face is the sculptor's own interpretation of what a 3d Wolverine would look. Another thing that could have added to the cowl at the back of the head, sort of like he just removed it. Much like the unmasked museum pose Wolverine or the LSB Wolverine from Sideshow.

Overall, I'm realy happy about my purchase of this statue. It looks great and it's a real steal at the price I got it for. It'll probably be a pretty long time before he gets followed by another statue but I'm pretty sure one's about to follow..

If you want one of your own, quite a few comic shops here in the Philippines still have him but I suggest checking online if any owners are trying to dispose him. Either way, he's worth the price..he's currently going for around $245.00 here in the Philippines since the dollar has went down since this was first released and because of the shipping but if you try hard enough, you can find him at around $180.00

Here's how I'm currently displaying him..

displayed with Wolverine 27 (EDIT: the display style was changed after i posted the entry)

Up for order!

ORDER HERE!

or if you're like me who can't order directly online, wait for it to appear on diamond previews and order from your local comic shop or wherever this baby can be found. It's a fairly good price for a FS statue at $160.00, though expect to pay around $200.00 if you'll get it from a retailer. It'll be more than a foot in height so it is fairly big. Bowen says it'll ship out at January 2011 but i have a feeling it'll be delayed, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since I'll be able to save up more money.

Full body final. AWESOME.

I'll definitely get this. This would be the main attraction of my collection. I can't wait to have this one. I'll make a review of this one once I get it, which I probably will. It's going to be a regular release so I'm going to make sure I get to see the next few Diamond Select Previews to anticipate to release.

OH MY GOD.

Remember when i posted this?

I was anticipating this thing for almost a year now, and finally..a picture of the finished product was finally released..

OH MY GOD.

I LOVE THIS.

I'm willing to starve my ass of just so I can buy this, hopefully it'll be a regular release instead of an exclusive..but HOPEFULLY, someone would give it as a gift. VERY unlikely.

Might STOP toy collecting

I'm actually considering stopping action figure collecting now. Why? Because I'm thinking of just moving on to something more expensive but comes out less often that the action figures...

Those STONE thinggies. I'm liking way too much of them now, especially with the Kotobukiya X-Force Wolverine and the Bowen X-Force Wolverine on my want list. And now something else was added to it..This was the first thing I saw in my e-mail the moment I woke up. I might stop toy collecting since I can't collect comics, action figures, and the occational statue/bust since that "occasional" might get more and more frequent. I sure as hell won't give up comics.

Here's my initial thoughts on the statue:
- It's better compared to the X-23 that was part of the SS X-Force Diorama. The pose is very similar but the Sideshow one overdid the strut and the thiness.
- Hair and face should be improved (Which will be)
- She actually has a teenagers body here, people usually forget that and make her look as busty as possible.
- I know it's trying to stay accurate to the reference art but I'm hoping it'll be both hands closed with claws out or at least both have claws out.
- I'm hoping they'll use a base similar to the other X-Men or maybe an X-base.
- Randy Bowen said an X-Force piece will also come out, I'll probably get that but I'm having second thoughts since it looks like this costume is good too. This is the one worn by the Eaglemoss X-23.

I'm hoping I'll be able to find the money for this, good thing it's probably still a year before this one comes out. I can save up for it little by little instead of suddenly releasing a boatload of money.

Review: Bowen "Logan" Minibust

Before I start reviewing my new Logan bust, let me just clarify my new comics for last week. It's weird that i remembered the ones that I DIDN'T get. here are the ones that i did and their actual pictures together with the ones I got from ebay that same week..

New Mutants #6 was from my LCS, got mixed up wtih the others. Wolverine vol.2 1, Wolverine vol.3 33-35, 73-74, New X-Men 139-141 were the ones i got from ebay.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me start with my review of the Bowen Logan Mini-bust. I first saw this thing in the November 2009 Previews, it was going for $60 and it was supposed to ship out January 2010. I pre-ordered it since i wanted to collect the Bowen Mini-busts. Afterall, i already had 3 of the 4 released at that time, the Brown one being the one i lacked. I didn't really like the hair of the piece, it looked a bit too anime for me to aprreciate. I was real happy to find out that the prototype shown in the previews were still tweaked and in my opinion, the face of the one released was way better than that of the prototype. I've read from the different statue forums that this was supposedly a Weapon X model with a cigar in his mouth and stuff, i also read that it had to be changed in order for Marvel to green light it. I won't compare it to that bust but in my opinion, the changes were for the better. Anyway, I have no idea what type of shipping they used as it took only 4 MONTHS for it to reach the stores. I actually almost forgot about this piece until my LCS texted me that it finally arrived, i found a way to gather the remaining balance i had on this piece so i can finally get it. To my surprise, the bust was actually numbered up until 1300, i had the impression that it would be around the 3000 mark. I got number 299, a pretty good number though it's not really that low.

I guess i should start of with the packaging, it's basically the same with the other Bowen Mini-busts, the front and the box have a huge picture of the product inside. The left side has the specifics of the bust such as the sculptor and the height, while the right has a write up about the character. I think the write-up changes depending on the look which is a nice touch. I think the "LOGAN" could've been made better. Or maybe it could've just replaced the Wolverine logo. Having a plain font really hurts the look of the packaging for me. At the bottom of the box is the number of the bust, mine says 299/1300. Pretty plain, i guess Bowen doesn't feel the need to make CoAs. But the packaging isn't what i'm after, it's the one inside. And let me just say I'm not disappointed with the bust at all, I don't know if it's just the excitement of finally getting it but i think this just replaced the X-Force Kotobukiya as my favorite bust! This bust is years ahead (literally and figuratively) of the last Bowen Wolverine MB released. (Tigerstripe) There's just a whole lot more detail in the bust compared to the older ones.

Here's the actual picture of the bust, the front just looks so detailed. You just get the feeling that the shirt used to be white. It looks like it's been dragged through mud. The gloves look real nice, and the way the claws are placed seems as if there were slits especially made for them. the belt is very detailed too, i think it's inspired by the belt Wolverine uses in the Origins movie, this look is probably inspired by the movie. The bullet wounds seem nice, and just to prove that this Wolverine just went through war, even the back has bullet wounds.

You can see in the picture above that the wound seems to be closing leaving only a hole and dried blood on the shirt. You could also see the way paint is applied on the shirt. Oh, and if you think I'm just going to shower praises to this piece, your wrong. I do have some problems with it, such as the claws. They are REAL fragile, they seem to have been slid inside. It's also thinner compared to the other claws so you better be careful in handling them. My biggest problem with the piece though is the base. Unlike the other 4 Wolverine mini-busts, this one doesn't have it painted. It's a plain black base with claw slashes on it.
The wound on the head is a nice touch too, it shows the adamantium skeleton and it's nice that it's the same color as the claws. The face, though looks a bit anime-ish, looks nice cause it really seems that Logan is pissed. Ready to cut you open if you get on his bad side.

Overall, i think the bust is really good. Bowen lists the product as sold out so i guess if you want it, go check if your LCS ordered one, if not..try ebay. I saw this bust there a couple of months ago, going for $45.00 without the shipping, which will probably end up being $15.00.

X-Force Stat: Bowen or Sideshow?

I'm a huge huge fan of X-Force, and especially Wolverine. So when i heard (and saw the WIPs) that Bowen will come out with a X-Force Wolverine Museum Pose Statue, i quickly decided to start saving up some money in order to get it once it comes out. From what most statue collectors told me; Bowen Statues, especially Wolverines, go for around P10,000 ($200) more or less as long as they're not the faux bronze, chrome paint, etc. editions. With all other expenses for food, dates, toys, comics, and other things i spend money on i think i could save up that much money in around 5 months time so. Then i heard that Sideshow will come out with a X-Force Diorama consisting of Wolverine, X-23, Warpath and Wolfsbane. It'll come out around late 3rd or early 4th quarter of 2010. Since i'm not rich, i'll only be able to get just one of two statues, either the Bowen or the Sideshow. This post will help me decide on which to get.

As of now, i have no statues at all, i only have a few busts around. Three of them are Bowen and i pre-ordered one more and i'm also currently looking for another. I don't really have any favorites among the companies, it's just that Bowen is more accessible to me.
Right of the bat, if you already have the other Bowen Wolverines, you'll notice that the pose is similar to the Unmasked Museum Wolverine released a few years ago. This might be a problem for some of you but it's not for me since i don't own that one (plus, there are more than just minor tweaks between the two). Since this is a WIP shot, i'll forgive Bowen for not fixing the pants. It's visible that it was designed to have the briefs on the outside instead of solid pants that are grey and black.Sideshow meanwhile has already produced promotion pictures, the ones you see on pre-orders and stuff. It's currently around P12,500 ($25o) so it's more expensive than Bowen. The advantage here is that this diorama includes the entire team from the 1st issue of X-Force. It MIGHT also be possible, though highly unlikely, that a second diorama including Domino, Elixir, Archangel, and Vanisher will come out. Both sculpts are probably just from the imagination of the sculptors or whoever since unlike DST, they don't have those comicbook scenes or those straight from the comic sculpts.

Case for Bowen:
- This statue will look good either as a stand alone or together with the other Museum Pose Bowen Wolverines.
- Bowen's known for their relistic approach to sculptic, so Wolverine here looks realistic. The claws aren't too long and his body isn't out of proportion.
- The detail put on the gloves and boots are just wonderful, you could even make out the ridges. The fact that it's only a WIP means more improvements might be ahead.

Case against Bowen:
- The pants, no one will touch this statue (i think) if they don't fix it.
- IF you're looking to complete the team, it might not happen.

Case for Sideshow:
- It's a team diorama which means we'll get more than just one character in a statue, in this case it's four.
- Interchangabel heads for Wolverine (masked or unmasked) plus if you're getting the exclusive, an interchangable Wolfsbane! (either human or wolf form)
- It's right there, you'll get something very similar to what you see in the picture.

Case against Sideshow:
- Design: Wolverine and Warpath's arms looks more fat than muscular. X-23's pose isn't right, she doesn't walk like that.
- Price: a bit more expensive than what i anticipated.

that's it for my pros and cons. As for my decision? i'd love to get both but then i only have to choose one. As of tonight, i'm leaning more towards Bowen. I just think that the way X-23 is sculpted ruins the entire statue. The arms i could stand, but X-23 is doing the model walk on Sideshow's dio. Plus i think it would've been better if they just stuck with Action pose or Museum pose, not mix it together in one diorama. Thousgh i MIGHT be forced to get it if Bowen doesn't do anything about the pants problem. I'm not saying you should follow my decision, it's up to you if you prefer one over the other. This is just my opinion i'm trying to share. But i'll be ahppier if i found a way to secure both stats that's for sure.