New Sideshow Elektra Premium Format

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Not sure why it’s so difficult to get Elektra right. I may just get the XM one. It doesn’t sell for much in the aftermarket because it’s not great either.
 
Oh man ....that's another issue in itself. Yea, SSC needs to keep the price reasonable ...otherwise forget it.
 
I was super-excited when I heard a new Elektra was coming from Sideshow, and even more when I heard Harbottle would be doing the sculpting. However, the art direction here is just not good.

In one instant, they say, "let's have Elektra in this sexy pose, but then let's give her an androgynous face and take that masculinity a little further by giving her a tough motocross-inspired costume, complete with leather half-pants, knee pads and motocross riding boots.



Regarding the portrait, I think the face might have been 'okay', but then they gave her 'bangs' and worse, made them basically look like a chili-bowl hair style (Elektra isn't generally portrayed with bangs or any hair in the front). I think it was on-purpose to make her more masculine.

Technically, it's a brilliant sculpt. And the base is a work of art in and of itself. Art direction and respecting the history of the character is where I feel they fell short, instead jumping on the movie costume bandwagon.

Elektra.jpg
 
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I was super-excited when I heard a new Elektra was coming from Sideshow, and even more when I heard Harbottle would be doing the sculpting. However, the art direction here is just not good.

In one instant, they say, "let's have Elektra in this sexy pose, but then let's give her an androgynous face and take that masculinity a little further by giving her a tough motocross-inspired costume, complete with leather half-pants, knee pads and motocross riding boots.



Regarding the portrait, I think the face might have been 'okay', but then they gave her 'bangs' and worse, made them basically look like a chili-bowl hair style (Elektra isn't generally portrayed with bangs or any hair in the front). I think it was on-purpose to make her more masculine.

Technically, it's a brilliant sculpt. And the base is a work of art in and of itself. Art direction and respecting the history of the character is where I feel they fell short, instead jumping on the movie costume bandwagon.

View attachment 402265

LMAO. Those bangs and chili-bowl hair style are the Sideshow twists to the character.
 
I think the other thing that I don't like about this portrait is to make room for her bangs, they then had to reduce the size of her bandana, which leaves it looking like a kippah on top of her head.
 
I was super-excited when I heard a new Elektra was coming from Sideshow, and even more when I heard Harbottle would be doing the sculpting. However, the art direction here is just not good.

In one instant, they say, "let's have Elektra in this sexy pose, but then let's give her an androgynous face and take that masculinity a little further by giving her a tough motocross-inspired costume, complete with leather half-pants, knee pads and motocross riding boots.



Regarding the portrait, I think the face might have been 'okay', but then they gave her 'bangs' and worse, made them basically look like a chili-bowl hair style (Elektra isn't generally portrayed with bangs or any hair in the front). I think it was on-purpose to make her more masculine.

Technically, it's a brilliant sculpt. And the base is a work of art in and of itself. Art direction and respecting the history of the character is where I feel they fell short, instead jumping on the movie costume bandwagon.

attachment.php

I said as much about her boots in my earlier post. It is a bit much. They should've made her boots "more elegant" ...and a lot less motocross. In that I agree.

I disagree about the portrait, tho. She doesn't look masculine at all to me. IMO, she looks like Famke Janssen.

famke-janssen-jean-grey-x-men-movies-1280x641.jpg
 
Remember the new Black Widow portrait? When it was previewed pretty much everyone, myself included, thought that her bangs looked pretty bad on the regular portrait, hoped for a COH, then when it was fully revealed and we could see it from all angles the bangs ended up looking pretty sweet and even better than the requested COH (IMO.) So that could be the case with this one too.
 
While it's not very dynamic, it is an Elektra-ish pose IMO.

I'm not keen on the portrait (or the bangs, etc), but that isn't where the deal-killing problem with this lies for me.

It all in the typical, but inane, Sideshow art directors® choice of giving her costume real world tactical flourishes.
All those pads, and buckles and piping and straps are hilariously at odds with the underlying design and original intent behind it in the comics.

It may have been comic book absurd for a character to be bouncing around rooftops, committing assassinations in that (comic book) costume, but it was visually designed to be elegant and earthily basic, while also being alluring and sexy. It was also no doubt inspired by Miller's fascination with Japanese culture at the time designed with an eye towards ninja-like simplicity.

If you are going to try to approach this character realistically, just ditch that fantasy visual altogether as the Netflix series did. This trying to have your cake(Realism! Detail!) and eat it too with this particular costume is just plain dunderheaded.

As far as Harbottle's work here- I too was very surprised to learn this was him. Although I do see the appropriate balance that his figures always have. They also usually have a sense of naturalistic grace to them- which would be easier to see here if not for the inappropriate and over elaborate costuming choices.

A swing and a miss for me. The Comiquette is still the only statue that comes close to getting this character right for me. It's let down by an incongruously bland, but typical Sideshow zombie expression in the portrait along with an all too visible neck seam.
But the figure is dynamic, and the costume is spot on.
 
I'm not a fan of the head sculpt, I think it's masculine and it does look a bit like Famke (but mind you she played a tranny on Nip Tuck) so I am hoping for a COH and would prefer it to be looking forward and be more feminine.
 
I was super-excited when I heard a new Elektra was coming from Sideshow, and even more when I heard Harbottle would be doing the sculpting. However, the art direction here is just not good.

In one instant, they say, "let's have Elektra in this sexy pose, but then let's give her an androgynous face and take that masculinity a little further by giving her a tough motocross-inspired costume, complete with leather half-pants, knee pads and motocross riding boots.



Regarding the portrait, I think the face might have been 'okay', but then they gave her 'bangs' and worse, made them basically look like a chili-bowl hair style (Elektra isn't generally portrayed with bangs or any hair in the front). I think it was on-purpose to make her more masculine.

Technically, it's a brilliant sculpt. And the base is a work of art in and of itself. Art direction and respecting the history of the character is where I feel they fell short.

View attachment 402265

Pretty much this. While I love the base and the pose... the costume is just pure tasteless trash. Whoever designed it and whoever aproved it should lose their job.

P.S. Face is OK
 
Pretty much this. While I love the base and the pose... the costume is just pure tasteless trash. Whoever designed it and whoever aproved it should lose their job.

P.S. Face is OK

Agreed. The Art Direction over at sideshow is in dire need of a major overhaul and whoever is working in the approval department over at Marvel (and DC) needs to be relieved of their duties. Until that happens, we'll continue to see more pure tasteless trash costumes.
 
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Agreed. The Art Direction over at sideshow is need of a major overhaul and whoever is working in the approval department over at Marvel (and DC) needs to be relieved of their duties. Until that happens, we'll continue to see more pure tasteless trash costumes.

It's kind of like how Kathleen Kennedy is ruining Star Wars. She approves and allows those turds Ruin Johnson and Jar Jar Abrhams to violate classic characters and write poorly written scripts and everyone in Disney is just OK. Lucasfilms needs an overhaul just like Sideshow does.
 
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