Thanks to a tip, I found out about an eBay listing for this guy last week. Mulled it over for all of five minutes, made peace with the statues I'd have to cancel or sell off, and pulled the trigger. Today he arrived and I couldn't be more thrilled to finally add this grail to my small collection.
According to the listing, the bust was never opened (at least not while the seller had it). The batteries leaked while in storage and the seller cleaned out the compartment, but unfortunately the light-up feature no longer works. I wonder if replacing the battery contacts would fix this, but it's hardly a priority as I don't use the lights in my pieces outside of the occasional photography session.
Upon reception, I saw one of the index fingers had broken off in the box (clean break, easily glued) and a tiny screw was missing in one of the elbows. I don't know how much stability those screws contribute (they're a millimeter thin), but I'll track one down at a hardware store to make it feel complete.
I've read the stories about knuckles separating when pushing the fingers up to squeeze the triggers -- the fingers on mine land too high
above the trigger area, so my endo will practice gun safety and keep his fingers off.
Couple other observations: some spots on this bust feel a bit crudely put together. Not necessarily in a bad way, more like it's a product of a different collectible era. Parts glued or sculpted crooked, finger joints unable to fully curl because the segments or bolts start to brush up against each other. The nameplate is also laughable -- what font is that, Arial? Whatever the default setting on Word was at the time?
Might fabricate a replacement with a simple logo later on.
Having all that said, its shortcomings don't faze me. The obsessive, nitpicky part of my brain that usually skewers other collectibles has been surprisingly silent today. Maybe it's the incredible presence this thing has on the shelf; it's such a unique idea for a Terminator piece, one I'm stunned hasn't been mimicked since its release. Maybe it's the knowledge that I don't have any other choices; this is by far the rarest piece I've ever owned and has quickly made its way to the top of my "house on fire" collectible rescue list. Whatever the reason, this thing is pure joy.
I hope everyone looking for this finds theirs soon. Heck, I wouldn't even mind if another company came out and did it better in the future. There are some great Terminator treasures out there, many of which are far more refined than this, but man... making a statue that focuses entirely on the business end of an endoskeleton? The concept is so absurdly cool that it carries the whole damn thing to greatness.