Statue Spotlight: 1:4 Nightcrawler by Sideshow Collectibles

Regardless of whether my overall opinion of this statue is positive or negative, I must say, that it has been exciting to see a character many have long clamored for in 1:4 scale come to fruition. Even more, it was a surprise by Sideshow Collectibles, meaning this piece would be easily accessible for a lot of collectors. While, in my opinion, Sideshow has been slowly halting itself as a reliable option for high-end collectibles (maybe a conversation for another time), I have to hand this one to them. It is curious, though, as to the strategy the company took in keeping this a suprise a mere two weeks before its pre-order opened. I am not complaining and, for many reasons, appreciate this strategy cutting down on lingering anticipation and anxiety. But I assume there were some advantages for the company as well, such as avoiding a lot of pre-listing criticisms by capturing the excitement not only for the unexpected statue but for its order window quickly opening.

AT FIRST GLANCE: OVERALL CONCEPT

I find this to be a nice statue. Really nice in some areas and a bit lacking in others. Sideshow went with a good, yet safe, concept for the statue. Fitting in with much of their most recent X-Men line, the statue was designed with a Sentinel-themed base, specifically another hand, as Nightcrawler uses his teleportation ability. Unlike many, I do not mind the Sentinel-themed base because 1) it helps it fit other popular X-Men Statues (SS X-23, XM Magik) and 2) they used the hand well in constructing the character's dynamic pose. Even better, they did not change the color of the hand from their previous statues like XM Studios did on their Beast. Very annoying. Something I am still unsure about is the overall composition of the piece, with a heavy emphasis to the right side of the base when facing forward. I understand that the intention appears to be that it should be displayed at the angle indiciated in the measurement picture below. If you do not like that angle or do not feel like it fits your display, a more straightforward appearance may look just a bit off. It does appear more natural that way, but it does bother my OCD tendencies for desiring symmetry and balance

A WELCOME RETURN: EXCLUSIVE VERSION

Upon its initial reveal, the character was shown wielding his signature rapiers. I liked that the statue would have that option, but only if it was exactly that: an option. A slew of recent releases by Sideshow indicated movement away from offering a separate Exclusive version. Alas, that is not the case here, as Nightcrawler has switch-out hands which will allow you to display him with some combination of 0, 1, or 2 rapiers. Considering Exclusives have been far and between, I know it would be too much to ask for an alternate headsculpt. I like the one included, especially since the parted hair and smooth facial features are somewhat similar to the X-Men: Evolution (my favorite comic cartoon) version of Nightcrawler. At the same time, I think a more devilish portrait for shorter, spikier hair would have been highly welcomed. Considering who owns the license, I can guess why we did not get one looking more sinister. All in all, I would display the statue with maybe one rapier at most, and feel that thisExclusive is not a must have for me.

A CLOSER LOOK: DEVIL IN THE DETAILS

For a character only meant to bearound 5'10, this 23" tall piece grabs every bit of his 70 inches and converts it to 1:4. Having an 18" width almost makes this one large cube, which is a lot of real estate for a lanky-sized character. A testimate to the engineering and dynamic concept is how much open space this piece can fill. With its size and concept,, the character is given the spotlight and that is something I think Sideshow still does better than a lot of other companies. Yes, they do not get fancy with their bases or riddle their pieces with detail, but the character is almost always drawing the eyes' attention.

Outside of the subtle stitching on the edges of the white and red layers of his costume, the suit is smooth and textureless. It has really nice definition and musculature, as well as an excess of wrinkles captured in the abdomen of his suit. But these are, in the end, not as appealing as a more modernized approach to the suit, even as simple as having some of the sections alternate away from its textureless appearance, would have been. Now, that is not a knock against this statue, as it was not designed to be a modern version, just why it is not an automatic purchase for me. This is a really good statue for a couple of audiences: those who only have Sideshow as an option for 1:4 scale X-Men and those who desire more comic-accurate representations. Petaining to accuracy, a very notable X-Men statue collector pointed out that the tail is misplaced on the back of the body. He provided evidence of Nightcrawler's creators specifically citing that his tail should attach at the base of his spine, not at the top of his butt. Probably not going to deter anybody, but just for your knowledge. The last thing to note here is how immediately drawn I was to the quality of the head sculpt and its life-like presence, which is common with Sideshow's prototypes (which the factory will likely ruin).

Looking at the base brings a couple of eyebrow raising issues. Firstly, the seams in the smoke cloud from which Nightcrawler has emerged are glaring. For safety in shipping, I get that it would be safer in pieces. But for once, just once, I would like to see Sideshow step up their packaging to account for more fragile pieces and take chances with eliminating more of their seams and accomodating larger elements. Even more of an eyesore is the contradicting flow of smoke from the cloud which Nightcrawler has emerged and the smoke billowing up from the base. I think I see what they were trying to accomplish with the smoke rolling in thinner strands down the hand and accumulating underneath, maybe. However, the smoke from the base looks like it is not only in a competing direction, but it just looks completely separate from the centerpoint cloud. I get the idea, but the overall sculpt and execution of the smoky effect around the hand is disappointing.

Based on the prototype paint, it seems there is a bit of contrast being produced with the color tones on the character. The paint in the red and white areas appears to be vibrant and more intense than the faded look of the black body suit. I like that small touch because it provides some differentiation in the different materials that the portions of his suit contains. A part of that faded appearance in the black areas is an abundance of blue shading, which is so prevelant, that it makes it seem Sideshow took liberties with a navy blue suit as opposed to black. It is hard to tell with the paint choices they made and it is not a big deal, but a more black appearance would be a better contrast from the blue sentinel base and his blue skintone. If the purples in his BAMF cloud comes out aything like the purple explosions on Sideshow's recent Gambit Premium Format Figure, then I would have no qualms. However, to better emulate the flowing effect they appear to try and capture, better shading in the transition from light purple to dark purple is needed. Again, these base elements come off as two separate entities.

This is a good statue that I would be happy owning, but will be waiting to see XM Studios reveal their version before committing to either. But, committing to XM's will also come with a large discrepancy that highlights an ongoing benefit of Sideshow's mass production efforts: the price. While XM's will surely exceed $1,000 USD before shipping, this Sideshow Nightcrawler statue comes in priced at $595 USD for the Collector's Edition and $615 USD for the Exclusive version with the swap-out hands. That is far more than reasonably priced for a highly anticipated character and, I think, could be a nive message from Sideshow that they see and hear collector's difficulties with current pricings. Or, it could mean that we can expect low quality statue jobs like their recent Darkseid Premium Format Figure. Who knows, but there will be plenty of collectors who will find out first hand with how well this statue release has been received.

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