Statue BLITZWAY- Enter the Dragon- Bruce Lee Tribute 1/3 scale Statue Ver. 2 spec

[Shoo]

EX version?

Of course.

Yeah I thought it was that statue, since I didn't think you were into TFs but I didn't know you were into the TDK Joker, must of not seen your post as I posted a few times in that thread.

I probably haven't posted much there, if at all, but that doesn't mean I'm not eagerly awaiting news. ^_^

I agree it will be expensive, I wish they didn't make it 1/2 scale, if it was smaller I am sure it would less than 2 K. Kato said he is not doing the tailoring, they are only using his design of the suit, but that is practically perfect.

Yeah, well, I never expected him to do every suit.

I like Pinhead and I am regretting not paying the NRD now for the EX.

Don't despair, Steve, if you waitlisted, chances are you'll get one.

 

[xpl0sive]

It does look bad in these close ups but Nuri, you can't just live with it and pose it so you can't see it? I mean after going through 3 statues, this one is the best one. At least it doesn't lean and correct me if I am wrong but isn't the Jawline better on this one than the first one

I don't really have a choice but to live with it Steve. This is the 3rd one Pop Cultcha gave to me, and they only gave it to me if I agreed to pay postage both ways, as they believed there was nothing wrong with the replacement they sent me, even though I sent them pics of it along with some pics of members' statues on here for comparison to show them that it did in fact lean. I didn't want to pay postage, so I took a day off work and drove down to pick it up. I'm not sure what they would say if I asked for a 4th one. I highly doubt they'd agree to it and at best, they'd offer store credit. I can't see them offering a 4th, and if they did and that one had problems too, what then?

Annoyingly, all 3 statues had something better than the other. The first one easily had the best paint job of the 3. It was flawless. Even the sweat apps were actually not too bad as they were a bit more subtle and the worst ones were on the back. It had the crappy seam on the head though.

2nd statue was an improvement in terms of the seam as the chin was flush, although one side wasn't too great, and a particular area that I thought was limited to the first statue I had was also present on this, so I realised it was something that affected all of them. Paint job was OK, no flaws, but I felt that the head sculpt wasn't painted as nice as my first, some areas of sweat were good, some were bad. Worst part was the lean. I don't know if it was just me, but it was one of those things that once I saw it, it was all I could see. To be honest, I don't really pose the statue in a way that makes the lean noticeable, but I do like to have the option to pose from front on, and thus, I just couldn't live with it.

My 3rd statue has a seam that is somewhat in between the first and second statue. Not 100% flush under the chin, still has a very slight step, but not as bad as the first. It's barely noticeable. The sides are better than the second statue. I realised at this point that it would be near impossible to find one of these with a perfect seam all round, and you'd probably need to open 10 in a row to find a good one.

Paint job is a mixed bag. The head sculpt is painted better than my 2nd one, but I'm not a fan of the sweat apps on this piece. some areas are not bad, but the ones on the stomach are really crap, and I think the sweat on my first head sculpt was the best. Looked the most realistic. This one I'm not a big fan of. Cuts are the same on all 3 and generally crap all round

Well good luck with that man, hope you can achieve the look you want.

Thanks man. Adding sweat to this shouldn't be hard, it's just a bit tricky to add it to certain areas like the hand and make it look natural, like it's supposed to be there.

This is one of the reasons why I passed on this and probably also one of the reasons Arnie left Blitzway, at least with GOD not many people had QC problems.

I don't blame you. I'll be honest Steve, it's really hard for me to recommend this statue to you or anyone else. Not because it's crap, but I think it's a beautiful statue that's poorly made, if that makes sense. The quality of this just varies too much from statue to statue, so you just don't know what you'll get. Sideshow isn't really any better, probably worse actually, but at least with Sideshow replacements/refunds are easy. This one is a bit of a lottery, and being in the same city as PC isn't really an advantage either as they won't just let you sit there and keep opening their statues until you find a good one.

Apart from the dodgy seam, which pretty much seems to be a problem on all of them to some degree, my first statue was probably the best and I really should have kept that, as everything else looked great and the seam isn't really that noticeable on display. Having gone through 3 of these now, I have seen how much the quality can vary from statue to statue. Whilst the issues may seem subtle to some, if you're anything like me you'll be bothered by it. Add to that the already crappy sweat which varies in terms of how bad it is from statue to statue, the horrible cuts, not to mention expensive price tag, it makes it hard to recommend this.

Normally when I get a crappy quality collectible, I simply pass on it, get a refund and walk away as I've done with some recent Sideshow pieces, but with this I'm persisting because it really is nice and Blitzway have provided the base for something that can be truly great with a little bit of effort. The sculpt, clothing, base, skin paint and head sculpt are all excellent IMO, just sadly let down by poor QC, poorly done cuts and poorly done sweat effect. If you do land a reasonable one, a better sweat application and blood application would make this one of the greatest collectables you'll see in person. Hell, if I knew of a local painter with epic skills, I would pay someone to repaint this for me. I wouldn't normally consider that on any collectible due to the cost of initial purchase, especially something that costs $1000 AUD, but I like it that much. Not that it needs a full repaint, but a pro paint job will take this to the next level and would truly make it museum quality.

 

[xpl0sive]

Would like honest opinions from you guys. If you were in my position, would you bother contacting the retailer over these issues and try replace for a 3rd time if possible, or just accept it as is? Wondering if it's even worth persisting, or if I should just continue with my plan of re-doing the sweat and make the area less noticeable with some sweat application.

 

[kkchan]

This is one of the reasons why I passed on this and probably also one of the reasons Arnie left Blitzway, at least with GOD not many people had QC problems.

Skin painting for GOD also almost same as ETD version, just that GOD is suit so it doesn't show much impact. Instead, one of the main selling point in ETD is naked upper body, and sweating effect.

I have both on hand, have same issue on body painting, but I personally feel it doesn't really matter. Of course, can be better.
I am doubt if we able to get such a good likeness head sculpt and such painting job with USD 700 on other brands 1/4 or 1/3 statues? It is not perfect, but not bad at all. At least, no stupid lining issues

just my 2 cents

 

[mrchris]

to be honest mate I'd stick with this one,as you quite rightly said this statue varies with different seams/leans/paint/sweat apps.and I was one of the ones who said you shouldn't have to pay for some touch-ups on this,but seeing the latest mods shows how epic this statue could be.(it should have been from the start IMO)
if you can manage to do the sweat,then I'd consider paying a ''fair'' price to finish it off.i have decided to try and redo the cuts with a similar paint job shown recently,as to get them ''movie accurate'' is way to much hassle.even though I've nitpicked this statue your totally right it would raise it to a museum piece(hence my preference for GOD,as I think it displays better even though the yellow suit hides the body paint).stick with it my friend it WILL be worth it in the end.

 

[Darkavatar]

Of course.

Knew it.

I probably haven't posted much there, if at all, but that doesn't mean I'm not eagerly awaiting news. ^_^

I see.

Yeah, well, I never expected him to do every suit.

True, speaking of which, I wonder what the ES will be for these statues.

Don't despair, Steve, if you waitlisted, chances are you'll get one.

Thnx man.

I really hope I do, I just hate paying NRDs, and the fact that it is part III put me off as well, but I really want that the infamous Lament configuration box.

I don't really have a choice but to live with it Steve. This is the 3rd one Pop Cultcha gave to me, and they only gave it to me if I agreed to pay postage both ways, as they believed there was nothing wrong with the replacement they sent me, even though I sent them pics of it along with some pics of members' statues on here for comparison to show them that it did in fact lean.

Which is why I would never trust PC to check these statue for problems, because since the lean is a common problem, they assume that it is normal and that all of them lean, so they don't see it as a fault.

I didn't want to pay postage, so I took a day off work and drove down to pick it up. I'm not sure what they would say if I asked for a 4th one. I highly doubt they'd agree to it and at best, they'd offer store credit. I can't see them offering a 4th, and if they did and that one had problems too, what then?

Probably just accept it or return it and accept the store credit.

Annoyingly, all 3 statues had something better than the other. The first one easily had the best paint job of the 3. It was flawless. Even the sweat apps were actually not too bad as they were a bit more subtle and the worst ones were on the back. It had the crappy seam on the head though.

2nd statue was an improvement in terms of the seam as the chin was flush, although one side wasn't too great, and a particular area that I thought was limited to the first statue I had was also present on this, so I realised it was something that affected all of them. Paint job was OK, no flaws, but I felt that the head sculpt wasn't painted as nice as my first, some areas of sweat were good, some were bad. Worst part was the lean. I don't know if it was just me, but it was one of those things that once I saw it, it was all I could see. To be honest, I don't really pose the statue in a way that makes the lean noticeable, but I do like to have the option to pose from front on, and thus, I just couldn't live with it.

I don't blame you, I couldn't live with that lean issue either.

My 3rd statue has a seam that is somewhat in between the first and second statue. Not 100% flush under the chin, still has a very slight step, but not as bad as the first. It's barely noticeable. The sides are better than the second statue. I realised at this point that it would be near impossible to find one of these with a perfect seam all round, and you'd probably need to open 10 in a row to find a good one.

Most likely, but what is your definition of a good one?

Paint job is a mixed bag. The head sculpt is painted better than my 2nd one, but I'm not a fan of the sweat apps on this piece. some areas are not bad, but the ones on the stomach are really crap, and I think the sweat on my first head sculpt was the best. Looked the most realistic. This one I'm not a big fan of. Cuts are the same on all 3 and generally crap all round

The only parts on the statue that don't vary, too bad all of them look horrible.

Thanks man. Adding sweat to this shouldn't be hard, it's just a bit tricky to add it to certain areas like the hand and make it look natural, like it's supposed to be there.

Like I said good luck with it, post some pics of it like Chris did, when you are done.

I don't blame you. I'll be honest Steve, it's really hard for me to recommend this statue to you or anyone else. Not because it's crap, but I think it's a beautiful statue that's poorly made, if that makes sense.

Of course it makes sense, I think it is a beautiful statue to but the sweat apps are poorly painted and claw marks look more like stripes than cuts on the body, not to mention that it has too many QC problems.

The quality of this just varies too much from statue to statue, so you just don't know what you'll get. Sideshow isn't really any better, probably worse actually, but at least with Sideshow replacements/refunds are easy. This one is a bit of a lottery, and being in the same city as PC isn't really an advantage either as they won't just let you sit there and keep opening their statues until you find a good one.

You pretty much paraphrased what I have said, if I could get it locally to check it out I would be incline more to get it but I will have to pass because too many people (here in Australia at least) are having problems with theirs, like this is your third one that you felt needed to be replaced.

Apart from the dodgy seam, which pretty much seems to be a problem on all of them to some degree, my first statue was probably the best and I really should have kept that, as everything else looked great and the seam isn't really that noticeable on display. Having gone through 3 of these now, I have seen how much the quality can vary from statue to statue. Whilst the issues may seem subtle to some, if you're anything like me you'll be bothered by it. Add to that the already crappy sweat which varies in terms of how bad it is from statue to statue, the horrible cuts, not to mention expensive price tag, it makes it hard to recommend this.

I see, I remembered when you first got your first one, you didn't have anything really bad to say about it. Then you saw that SAB's one had a better seam, and that is when you started to complain about the statue. My advice to you would be not to compare yours to others unless the faults on yours really bothered you before you saw that others didn't have them.

Normally when I get a crappy quality collectible, I simply pass on it, get a refund and walk away as I've done with some recent Sideshow pieces, but with this I'm persisting because it really is nice and Blitzway have provided the base for something that can be truly great with a little bit of effort. The sculpt, clothing, base, skin paint and head sculpt are all excellent IMO, just sadly let down by poor QC, poorly done cuts and poorly done sweat effect. If you do land a reasonable one, a better sweat application and blood application would make this one of the greatest collectables you'll see in person. Hell, if I knew of a local painter with epic skills, I would pay someone to repaint this for me. I wouldn't normally consider that on any collectible due to the cost of initial purchase, especially something that costs $1000 AUD, but I like it that much. Not that it needs a full repaint, but a pro paint job will take this to the next level and would truly make it museum quality.

Yeah me to, I can just tell how much presence this statue would have and the head sculpt with that expression is so iconic.

Would like honest opinions from you guys. If you were in my position, would you bother contacting the retailer over these issues and try replace for a 3rd time if possible, or just accept it as is? Wondering if it's even worth persisting, or if I should just continue with my plan of re-doing the sweat and make the area less noticeable with some sweat application.

Accept it as is, unless PC will let you open every statue, so you can pick out the one you like.

Skin painting for GOD also almost same as ETD version, just that GOD is suit so it doesn't show much impact. Instead, one of the main selling point in ETD is naked upper body, and sweating effect.

Which is why they should of not done such a shoddy paint job on it, the paint job should be better than the GOD because of those reasons, not the same or worse in this case as far as sweat apps go.

I have both on hand, have same issue on body painting, but I personally feel it doesn't really matter. Of course, can be better.
I am doubt if we able to get such a good likeness head sculpt and such painting job with USD 700 on other brands 1/4 or 1/3 statues? It is not perfect, but not bad at all. At least, no stupid lining issues



just my 2 cents

Correct it is stupid to think that we would get an amazing paint job for the price and size but that is no excuse for poorly done battle scar decals and sweat applications, since EBs one was so much cheaper an only one scale lower with a much better paint job.

 

[mrchris]

apart from the likeness the 1002 has a much better finish to it,but lacks the presence this has,so enterbay make a 1/3 scale of the 1002 with a better likeness please I don't mind if it's vinyl and 500 bucks.
I'm away for a few days soon,when I get back I'm gonna look at redoing them cuts

 

[Darkavatar]

apart from the likeness the 1002 has a much better finish to it,but lacks the presence this has,so enterbay make a 1/3 scale of the 1002 with a better likeness please I don't mind if it's vinyl and 500 bucks.
I'm away for a few days soon,when I get back I'm gonna look at redoing them cuts

The EB HD1002 one is hollow right?

 

[mrchris]

yeah I've had no issues with mine,but I have seen some with a lean(maybe too near a heat source or sunlight?),but I suppose you could fill it for more weight/sturdiness.still a bargain for $150 even back then.
I wonder what plans for future BL collectibles Arnie has.

 

[Darkavatar]

yeah I've had no issues with mine,but I have seen some with a lean(maybe too near a heat source or sunlight?),but I suppose you could fill it for more weight/sturdiness.still a bargain for $150 even back then.
I wonder what plans for future BL collectibles Arnie has.

I think it is more of a deformation of the peg or socket, like when the peg goes in it goes in on an angle because of the deformation of either it or the socket.

 

[mrchris]

never thought of that as it's only a small peg/hole.

 

[SAB]

The HD-1002 does not have a better finish ....the paint apps are nowhere near the level of this new Blitzway one.
The sweat apps are better though in that they are more subtle, though it really depends on how you display.
On top of a book shelf the HD-1002 didn't look any different to any 'non-sweating' statues, where as the Blitzway one is actually noticeable.
(up close though it is too much)

Dark avatar is correct - the lean (in both HD1002 and HD1003) was due to Enterbay using a soft material that had a lot of potential to bend and warp over time.
HD-1003 was the most inconsistent and everyones seemed to bend over time in completely different ways ...some forward, some back, some to each side
HD-1002 tended to lean forward and on some, rotate a little.

They were a bargain at the time and I'm not sure why Enterbay didn't pursue more and do a GoD and FOF one as well (or even more EtD and WotD)


Regardless of any comparison, there should be no issues with a statue as expensive as this new Blitzway one.
While I apparently got a perfect one and it is now my all time favourite, if I had read this thread first, I lwouldn't have bought.
Risk on a $1000 collectibles is just not worth it IMO

However, if you are remotely close to a store that has one in stock, I'd definitely recommend going to check it out as it is a stunning piece.

 

[mrchris]

I think your one of the lucky ones regarding this statue SAB.and you make some very good points,although both my EB statues are still perfect so I must have lucked out there.regarding the finish on the 1002 color wise its better compared to this,as I think its a tad too pale.

 

[Darkavatar]

The HD-1002 does not have a better finish ....the paint apps are nowhere near the level of this new Blitzway one.
The sweat apps are better though in that they are more subtle, though it really depends on how you display.
On top of a book shelf the HD-1002 didn't look any different to any 'non-sweating' statues, where as the Blitzway one is actually noticeable.
(up close though it is too much)

Yeah the sweat is the biggest problem with the paint job on this, the paint apps as far as different shading goes is better than the HD1002, since there is no shading on the HD1002 at all. However, skin color on the HD1002, looks more accurate as it has a dark tan like the GOD statue.

Dark avatar is correct - the lean (in both HD1002 and HD1003) was due to Enterbay using a soft material that had a lot of potential to bend and warp over time.
HD-1003 was the most inconsistent and everyones seemed to bend over time in completely different ways ...some forward, some back, some to each side
HD-1002 tended to lean forward and on some, rotate a little.

That's true the soft material is the reason for them having the potential to warp over time. However, polystone statues are as hard as a rock and will not lean over time, thus, the only reason why some of these statues lean more than others is because of a design flaw either for the peg or socket. This is the reason why some statues lean straight of the box and some don't, thus if the statue does not lean after you have opened it out of the box, it will not lean over time. If it leans right out of the box then it is most likely a design flaw, which is a very common trait with Sideshow statues.

They were a bargain at the time and I'm not sure why Enterbay didn't pursue more and do a GoD and FOF one as well (or even more EtD and WotD)

I am guessing because of the criticism of the head sculpt and leaning problems of the HD1003, they probably didn't think it was worth the risk creating another disaster.

Regardless of any comparison, there should be no issues with a statue as expensive as this new Blitzway one.
While I apparently got a perfect one and it is now my all time favourite, if I had read this thread first, I lwouldn't have bought.
Risk on a $1000 collectibles is just not worth it IMO

It's refreshing to see that you agree with a lot of us about this statue being too risky, up until now, I thought you were recommending everyone should buy this statue.

However, if you are remotely close to a store that has one in stock, I'd definitely recommend going to check it out as it is a stunning piece.

I can imagine, and if I was able to see this in hand, I would probably cave and buy it, despite the fact that the sweat really bothers me.

 

[mrchris]

had blitzway left the sweat off and maybe just added the face cuts(or just painted the body cuts) this would have been a knockout for me.

 

[Darkavatar]

I think your one of the lucky ones regarding this statue SAB.and you make some very good points,although both my EB statues are still perfect so I must have lucked out there.regarding the finish on the 1002 color wise its better compared to this,as I think its a tad too pale.

Yeah the choice of color they used for PVC was much darker than this. Just wondering Chris what is the real color of the torso is it light flesh, like it sometimes looks or is it more of a greenish light tan?

had blitzway left the sweat off and maybe just added the face cuts(or just painted the body cuts) this would have been a knockout for me.

Don't know about a knock out, but it would of looked like a high quality statue if it didn't have those issues you mentioned and would have been the best Bruce Lee statue that has ever been mass produced. As it stands the GOD one still looks more like the higher quality statue out of the two, despite that there are more flesh tones on this one. Definitely the sweat paint apps and horrible decal cuts is the reason why this one looks lower in quality, because it looks fine when just these problems are fixed as evidenced by people who only repainted those problems.

 

[mrchris]

it is a light flesh colour,although mine does have some greenish tint in the arms and shoulder area.and I agree these issues apart it would be ''the'' bruce collectible more so as proved by those redos of the sweat/cuts,hence my preference for GOD,it has more of a quality look about it.this is no bad statue by any means,i'd call it a frustrating one as you know under that poor finish applied on top of the body paintjob there is potential for much better looking statue.

 

[Darkavatar]

it is a light flesh colour,although mine does have some greenish tint in the arms and shoulder area.

I am guessing the reason it sometimes has that greenish yellow tan look to it then is because of greenish hues they applied, possibly to mimic veins.

This would explain why in certain lighting you can see it's natural base color, which is a light pale flesh color and in other lighting the greenish hues shrine through the statue giving it that yellowish/greenish light tan look.

and I agree these issues apart it would be ''the'' bruce collectible more so as proved by those redos of the sweat/cuts,hence my preference for GOD,it has more of a quality look about it.

Yes even though in the latest redo the skin color still looks too pale, it looks like a high quality statue.

this is no bad statue by any means,i'd call it a frustrating one as you know under that poor finish applied on top of the body paintjob there is potential for much better looking statue.

I wouldn't call it a bad statue but the fact that nearly everyone feels the need to touch it up doesn't make it a good one. I think most people could get past the horrible claw mark decals, the major problem that makes this statue look like someone has butchered it, are the large globs of sweat. The horrible job they did on this doesn't even make it look like a company made it but rather it looks like some amateur just wanted to create the sweat look by flickering thick globs of glue on it. At least this isn't noticeable from a distance and in certain lighting conditions.

 

[mrchris]

I think the ''thick globs of glue'' just about sums it up.

 

[Darkavatar]

Just spoke to Arnie, telling him that I think he sculpted a great statue and blitzway ruined his work. His response was that he no longer has an affiliation with that company and the statue turned out far from he expected. Sounds like he is pretty disappointed with what they did to his statue.