Robertobagg10collection Thread 'NEW UPDATE' A GLANCE AT SOME OF MY XM STUDIO STATUES
With all the XM Hysteria coming from last weekends STGCC (and rightly so as there were some amazing pieces on show!) i thought i'd update my thread with a few XM statues that arrived recently and some that i purchased a while back...
So first up was a piece that i really liked the look of during its concept stage and have to say, the final product didnt fail to deliver either. Its the XM Studios 1/4 Scale Daredevil. It's a fantastic dynamic pose that really captures the essence of DD (which was something i thought was lacking from Sideshows recent Premium Format). As you'd expect from XM, the statue has been phenomenally painted and i love how you can bend the wire to his cane to suit your taste!
Only downside to the piece (and something that has been criticized many times about XM is there portraits). Not quite sure why this has become their achilles heal with many of their statues (notably Captain America, Wolverine, Phoenix, Magneto, Doc Strange, Thanos....the list goes on...and with each of these characters mentioned, you now have 2 or in some cases 3 newly designed custom portraits being made! So with that said, the Daredevil unmasked head would be the only weak point that i could find...nevertheless, its certainly one of the best Daredevil statues around that's for sure!
The XM Studios Antman has to be one of the most fun pieces i've had the priviledge of displaying...there's just no limit as to how you can display it! Packed with a number of giant ants, various sized bases, 2 Antman statues and a giant flying Ant...you lose track of time as you try to decide how you want your display to look. For me, the smaller of the Antman statues is what really takes this piece to another level...maybe its the reason why so many collectors have sold off the larger Antman and just kept the smaller version lol
It's fair to say that the larger Antman is somewhat of a simple design with a simple paint application but its definately great to have him in the background to show you the difference is size after Antman transforms into his smaller self. Definately recommend this statue...one of the more affordable XM pieces on the market so it's definately worth trying to grab a deal somewhere!
Next up is the XM Studios Thor...and this piece i was extremely excited about, especially after seeing the unpainted printed version. However, once it had been painted and all was complete, i'll be honest and say that i lost some of that excitement but was still happy to see him arrive and what a beast of a piece he is!
To be fair, it's actually a pretty awesome piece with a number of switch out options which will leave you with the dilemma of which switch out hand to display as they all look great and make a huge impact on the overall display! Again, if i was to mention the weak points then i'd have to straight away mention that the base could've been so much better. After being spoilt with a vast number of incredibly detailed and dioramic bases by XM, i felt the Thor base lacked any presence (same with the Thanos base to be fair as i found that one quite underwhelming also). All in all, its a very well executed Thor collectible but certainly for me it doesn't come anywhere near the OG Thor Premium Format which reigns supreme as one of the best sculpted statues i've seen to date. A true work of art indeed!
One of XM's more under rated pieces would have to be their Black Bolt Statue...whether this is due to the character appreciation perhaps i'm not sure but no one can take away just how amazing the design concept is and how well the piece was executed! With 2 options of displaying Black Bolt at 2 different heights, packed with various switch out arms and heads...it really does deserve more accolades in the statue community and will go down as one of the best pieces made by XM Studios so far.
So next up is a piece that only arrived a few weeks ago and i was stunned/shocked/flabbergasted to hear just how heavy the XM Studios Sandman was going to be!!
and that mean't a huge shipping bill!!!! It certainly sucks when you pre order a statue, only to find out that your gonna pay almost half the cost of the statue on shipping lol but whatcha gonna do...you just gotta pay it! lol (all i can say is bring on Ghost Rider, Punisher, SubMariner and the Hulkbuster - all pieces which are supposedly heavier than Sandman...and yes, i've got them all on Pre Order too)
But its not all gloomy...no way! Unboxing the Sandman was such a buzz...i mean each individual piece was incredibly heavy, painted immaculately and covered in so much detail! I mean the sand literally looked and felt like sand! The portraits this time were actually pretty awesome and the switch out parts just totally make the piece come to life! I mean, i was walking around this statue thinking to myself...'this is frikkin' amazing!'
Are there any downsides to this piece? You know, i'm really struggling to find anything bad to say about it...its that good! Would maybe have loved some more switch out sand-shaped weapons like a huge hammer or just something else other than the hand or the giant spiky boulder but that would be really harsh on the piece. Its the only 1/4 scale Sandman statue ever made (as far as i know) and it's certainly gonna take some beating if a new one is ever made. Definately a keeper for me and now i just have to find the correct Spidey statue to display alongside it
Last but not least is my first ever XM purchase and probably the best one so far to be made by XM Studios. As an early sceptic of the company, i didnt really take XM that seriously at first and so foolishly i never pre ordered Magneto when he first got released...needless to say i most certainly paid for that mistake a year or so after as the secondary market value of this piece just simply skyrocketed!
I still managed to get a great deal on mine though as i managed to get the Erick Sosa unmasked custom portrait inclusive in the price (and for me that portrait is one of the best i've ever owned for any statue period!) so much so that the original portraits by XM are never used at all. So once i got unbox the piece it immediately struck home at just how awesome this statue was and that all those that thought it was just hype that was carrying the piece couldnt be further from the truth. It really is a phenomenal statue, for me its better than the OG Doom on throne PF which to some is considered one of the best statues made by Sideshow.
Again, its another of those pieces which i find hard to score down...for me it would have to be the portraits i guess but maybe having the custom Erick Sosa portrait has slightly influenced my decision perhaps, maybe if i didn't have it i might have appreciated the original portraits more maybe? other than that this Magneto statue is pretty much in a league of its own. A must have for any X-Men or Magneto fan....and for the record, i'm neither of those and still love it!
Still have to take some new pics of my XM Thanos...lots of new custom goodies coming for him very soon...here's a small taster of whats to come!
*Custom Light Up Gauntlet
*Custom Portrait
As for future pieces...well it's all got a bit crazy and i've well and truly caught the XM bug...here's my PO List
*Doctor Octopus
*Classic Iron Man
*Namor Submariner
*Electro
*Black Panther
*Cable
*Ghost Rider
*Lizard
*Punisher
*Hulkbuster
*Red Skull
*Venom
*Boba Fett
*Optimus Prime
that Spidey looks SIIIIIIIIICCCKKKK!!!!!! Congratz Andy
