Here's my 2 cents, FWIW.
The box is huge of course. It came packed inside the shipper box with styrofoam on all sides top and bottom and with foam corners and looked a tad beat up. Not sure if this was like that or from shipping. It comes with instructions and each piece is lovingly wrapped in silky cloth. I ended up with #238 of the deluxe edition.
The base is ridiculous. I cannot get over how heavy it is! May as well be made of concrete.
The first thing I noticed was how dark the paint is. It's more of a walnut look than the burnt sienna pics I've grown accustomed to. I had heard that someone had issues with chips and fingerprints on the dome so I carefully looked over these areas and almost paniced with the closed mouth version. It looked like the front of the dome was scratched. I gently wiped it with a microfiber cloth and water and whatever it was, it came off. No scratches. The clearcoat is a little rough under the backside of the dome probably due to pooling but it's not noticeable. As a test, I took a pic of it outside and sure enough, it lightened up in color. You can see the weirdness at the front of the dome. This was before I wiped it down.
The next thing I noticed was ill fitting to the base. I kind of expected this. Yes the right arm leans inward when fully seated in the shoulder socket. The left hand did not sit fully against the base and you could see the pin sticking up underneath.
This is what I did. And I'll warn you now. If you decide to do this, use caution. You can easily run you 2K statue. I took the right arm off and put the creature on the base. I pushed down on the left arm as much as I dared and then I started gently heating the fingers with a heat gun. You don't want to rush it. Be prepared to take a lot of time. You do not want to heat them up too quickly. They will eventually turn slightly rubber-like. I was then able to fully seat the hand into the base. I let it cool so as to hold that position when removed from the base.
The right arm took longer. I had contemplated boiling it in water to soften it but I don't have a pot big enough so I used the heat gun. I kept moving it all over the arm concentrating on the elbow area. Every now and then I would apply pressure to it to see if it had any give. Do not press hard or you could damage it. I've had pieces feel like they are moving only to snap in two because I was in a hurry. Just keep running the heat over it and keep it moving. If you hold it too long in one area, you could scortch it. Once it seemed bendy enough, I would peg it to the body and hold it with one hand. With my other hand I would gently bend the arm over and forward. First try it didn't move much. Back to the heat. Try again. I did this three or four times until it moved to where I wanted it to go.
Plastics usually have a memory so I pushed it just a tad further than what I wanted. This is to account for it maybe moving back to the way it was. I took a bit of wood and used it as a brace between the arms to keep it from moving and misted it with cold water. I then let it set for a few hours before removing the wooden brace. This is the result.
