Statue Spotlight: XM Studios 1:4 Apocalypse

The X-Men have a lot of villains, some are more tied to individual members, but they all, nonetheless, serve as foils to the X-Men's mission. While I am sure most would agree that Magneto stands above them all as their best and most noticeable adversary, I would then put Apocalypse right behind him. Even if you do not consider him #2, I think it is fair to say that he is a top four in any combination of mutant antagonists. Regardless of where you sway in regards to the character, it is quite a surprise to realize that no statue company has released an Apocalpyse statue of any scale since Sideshow Collectibles released its Premium Format in 2014. The last one before that was the Bowen Designs statue sculpted by the Kucharek Bros. in 2007. The release of the XM Studios' Apocalypse will mark an 8 year drought for the character and while I fully expect Iron Studios to also release a 1:10 scale Apocalypse at some point for their Sentinel Diorama, it is crazy to think that it will have taken this long to get another high-end Apocalpyse collectible.

Of course, the less than enthusiastic reactions to 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse" and it's subpar box office numbers that put it barely ahead of "Kung Fu Panda 3" and begin "Sing" did not help the case for the character's popularity. Not that movie/TV success appears to have a strong correlation with statue releases, but there are definitely times where it seems to help with the expectation for demand. The recent Thanos statue released by XM Studios lent to having high hopes for what the company could do with another hulkly character and that hope has driven this vehicle since September of last year.

September 2020: The "A"

As with many characters, there has been talk and expectations of XM Studios moving towards developing an Apocalypse statue for years. I was very much a member of that club, with Apocalypse being one of my favorite X-Men characters and a necessary eventual addition to my collection. Sideshow's Apocalypse Premium Format was a great option for collectors wanting comic accuracy, but I found to be way too simple and boring. This initial reveal for this section of an early digital sculpt was the first confirmation that XM Studios' Apocalypse was on its way. As is common with most art, this simple and small section of the character's sculpt drew many fans and as many detractors, most of which centered around the letter "A". The sculpt indicated XM's plan to take a very modern take on the character, including a more compact "A" on his belt. While I found this cleaner look to be pretty attractive, others longed for a much larger "A" that better resembled his comic appearance, but I found to be overly cartoony. I think the belt buckle drew so much attention that collectors did not pay as much attention to some of the details sculpted into his body, though, those are sure to gather more spotlight in the future.

January 2021: The Talk

Four months later and there was nothing new to go regarding Apocalypse other than rumors and dreams. But a New Year came with new information and excitement, as XM Studios' Art Director, Ang Seng, ended up celebrating a little too hard and spilled many a cans of beans about upcoming new pieces. Of course, amongst the spoilers was a small snippet on Apcocalypse, which he reported was nearing the completion of printing. Like many collectors, I expected to see an update of this printing in within the next month. But with a slew of new collectibles on the way, maintaining a healthy pace of new reveals and pre-orders meant that an Apocalypse update would be delayed a few more months.

May 2021: The Print

While "X-Men: Apocalypse" did not do the character any favors in having new collectibles produced, it did seem to produce an irrational fear that Apocalypse's headsculpt could become a make it/break it aspect. Upon the the reveal of this print, the first of many notes was that the top of the statue's head appeared to emulate his traditional appearance. I never doubted the ability of the design team to nail the details of this sculpt. A greater point of contention was the overall concept, holding a traditional "Captain Morgan"-like pose. Unfortunately, this received a lot more hate than it probably would have had XM not already been receiving negative feedback regarding the similarities between their recent Hulk and Swamp Thing statues. Now, the Apocalypse statue would find itself under similar scrutiny.

Looking past that, this first look at the print captured the level of detail XM would be putting into the sculpt, with more than just a sectionalized and metallic feel to Apcoalypse's suit elements, but also mechighly mechanized sections. The entire backpiece, along with the chainmail-like sections in his legs, carried a very organic and lively appearance, capturing a feeling of movement. There are heavy robot influences, almost steampunk-like, that better separates the Apocalypse's body from his suit than he has traditionally appeared. Apocalypse's suit has always carried a high-tech and futuristic appearance compared to other characters and XM Studios took that and turned it up to 100. In some ways, I can absolutely understand collectors who were hesitant towards the techno-organic appearance of his suit, some even went as far to call him a Transformer, but how XM decided to paint the statue could help in capturing the essentials of Apocalypse and, maybe, while not highlighting as much of the suit's oddities.

June 2021: The Paint

Blue? Check. Grey? Check. Metallic? Check. Bronzes and golds..... I knew better than to expect a bland paint job from the XM team. With so much detail, there is so much color differentiation that is sure to follow. These first color reveals show almost what I expected to see based on the print, but with a surprise of bronze and gold as under armor and with foreground highlights. To be honest, I was not a fan of introducing these new colors into the character's color scheme, but most especially found the gold to translate the details as being too robotic by making them stand out so much. While there were plenty of complaints that Apcoalypse had been turned into a Gears of War charater, I though that this almost perfectly captured a 2021 modernization of the character's suit. Also, I expected to see something similar to the recent Thanos statue and, viola, I was not surprised.

In the three sets of images below, I edited the original pictures on the left to remove the gold accents and change them to silver, which is a more traditional color for the character. I left the bronze portions alone as I felt it helped break up the monotony of the blue/grey color scheme really well and, most importantly, in a way that did not draw too much attention to itself. I found the edited color combination, especially on the body sculpt, to essentially tone down what is already a lot for the eyes to capture and made it a bit easier to digest. Whether that will stay the case in the full reveal remains to be seen.

In the end, I can see how using a gold color can make conceptual sense, considering Apocalypse's Egyptian royalty and that culture's proclivity towards the color. It just sticks out like a sore thumb and highlights much of the less savory aspects of the sculpt. I love detail and all of the intricacies of his suit are really appeaing to me, but a drawback of having infinite details is the need to break those up with color to help it all stand out. It was an intersting decision to just do that with color, though, as that breaking up of details could just as effectively be achieved with changes in hue or sheen.

September 2021: "Coming Soon" Teaser

It probably occurred before this teaser, but there is a point when XM's transparency becomes less fun and a lot more frustrating. There are absolutely times when I appreciate XM's transparency and frequent updates, however, when they span across many months, it usually just results in frustrating anticipation. Getting a crumb after crumb after crumb can only go on for so long before you are drooling for the damn cookie. With all of the details masked in shadows, this really captures the overall concept of the body sculpt as Apocalypse and it comes off as very loyal to his traditional comic look. Of course, the strange contraption on his right arm brings us right back to the reality of modernization that is becoming of this XM Studios creation.

September 2021: Pre-Order Video Teaser

A teaser image followed by a video teaser, how fun. The only thing I took from this short clip was how well the headsculpt and paint captured the essence of Apocalypse.

September 2021: Full Video Reveal Teaser

I was prettuy upset to see another video release for a statue instead of a full gallery, but at least this captured the statue in its entirety. There were two points I really focused on while pausing the video a thousand times over: the switch-outs and the base. The switchouts are very unique in their designs and seeing them on the statue really cements this as a unique take on the character. More than just the intricacies of the sculpt or the colors used, the options for the weapons can be a bit baffling. I can understand the character's molecular manipulation opens the doors for all possibilities, but the pincer left hand and the strange tentacles come off as too alien for the character and could have easily been replaced with other inspirations. Of course, these are just two of many options so I am not really complaining since I will not use them, but the possibilites for replacing them could have really elevated the piece.

The base was of little surprise, considering Apocalypse's ties to Egypt and the fact that this is supposed to be able to pair with the recent Archangel release. Rather, it was that the sand and overall beige/brown/yellow colors in the base helped make the gold accents in the costume stand out less. The overall reveal made me feel less turned-off by the gold accents, especially with the video really translating how bulky the and deep the statue is, leaving the gold to disappear amongst the beefiness. What I still have trouble accepting are the Shockwave-like tentacles coming out of the rubble and making the comparisons to a Transformers statue even more likely than before. I do not have anything constructive to stay other than I do not understand their addition and making them go away would be the only suitable option for change.

September 2021: Official Reveal & Pre-Order

Over a year later and collectors are finally treated to the details and full gallery of the XM Studios' Apocalypse statue. The initial reveal, even with its standard "Captain Morgan" pose (which fits the character too well to complain) came off as an absolute win for me. The details embody such a powerful figure and, unlike a number of recent statue releases across companies, the switch-outs are plentiful. There are two headsculpts, three options for the left hand (fist, cannon, pincer), and three options for the right hand (hand, gun/saw, tentacles), giving collectors 18 different combinations for their display. The size of the statue is also quite impressive, with the listed dimensions being 32" H x 24" W x 25" D. The depth is likely to become the biggest barrier for many since not many have a display that offers the room for such a footprint. This is very similar to the size of my Prime 1 Studios' Venom and to think of this piece taking up even more depth is mind blowing given the attention my Venom captures amongst the rest of my statues. This is shaping up to be quite a showstopper. Of course, then comes the price, which is looking to be around $1550 USD, which is a bit steep considering the prices of the recent XM Studios' X-Men statues. Does this statue warrant a $600 increase from, say, the Archangel statue? I am sure there will be many camps gathering around their opinions of statue pricing, and I am far from an expert in the area, but it feels more like a $400 difference at most. Before giving my overall opinion and plan for pre-order, some of the 58 picture gallery of the statue is shared below.

Of the last batch of XM Studios' X-Men pieces, the overall grades I have perceived the statues to have ranged from F to B+, with most sitting towards the lower end of that spectrum. But that did not spoil my high expectations for Apocalypse, a character I have long wanted to add to my collection, and I aboslutely think this is an A-grade statue. It hits the marks in size, details, modernization concept, offering switchout options, and the paint application. I really like the Egyptian aspects of the base but, again, the tentacles are a sorespot in the statue's concept. Even though I have warmed upa bit to the gold accents, I still think that silver (or even a gunmetal) would have been a better choice. I really love this statue and even though the price tag is a difficult pill to swallow, Apocalypse instantly becomes my most anticipated pre-order thus far. This is a great redemption for XM Studios, who had recently been showing a great deal of cracks in their once "flawless" reputation for bar-setting statues. Bravo.

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