Look, up in the Sky! It's a Bird! It's a plane! It's Sideshow Collectables Superman Premium format figure!
One of SSC most eagerly awaited pieces has arrived and boy is he a beaut. Standing over 25" tall this is THE Superman figure/statue to own. All others fall short. A bold statement you say? Well, all one needs do is it look upon it in person and realize that this is The Man of Steel as we all know and love him. SSC has really hit it out of the park with this piece. All the issues that the Batman PF had are absent here. Though this statue was not with out it's controversies (more on that later) it was way more universally praised then Batman both before and after release. So is this the crown Jewel of SSC DC collection... Lets see.
Face Sculpt - Reg and Ex 10 out of 10 - BAM!!! Right out of the gate SSC gets a perfect rating from me with two outstanding sculpts. The Reg head sculpt is pure Alex Ross. As you can see from my first photo this looks like it was pulled right from an Alex Ross painting. It is so heroic looking. Superman is in a calm state looking stoic and in control. He looks as though he is about to take off flying so to survey the world and make sure we are all safe. Everything about the sculpt screams Superman and I really can't see anyone being unhappy with this. Some have said they thought he looked too old. Personally I think he looks like he could be 40. That is perfect IMO. Not too old and not too young.
The Ex Head is even better IMO. I just love how he is looking down with such presence and POWER. Much of why I like the head sculpt better is because I display him higher and thus he is looking down... Having said that, the Reg head is perfect for eye level and lower displays. You really can't go wrong with either. Just amazing work.
I said something about this piece having some controversy around it and that controversy was the "Heat steam" eyes that came with the EX head. Many fans hated this look ( Me being one of the most vocal critics of the look) People just did not like the "squiggle" effect that it seemed to have. Credit to SSC for hearing us as they were totally cool and added some regular red eyes for alternate display. I have no pics of tat for my review as they are a pain to get in. Much more a pain then getting them out IMO... SSC did not have to go this extra mile for us. They could have just left the "Heat Vision" as is and fans would have just dealt with it (as it sold out anyways) but SSC added the extra eyes as a surprise and for that they should be commended. As it turns out the "Heat steam" eyes look much better in person and convey the look the artist were going for quite well. In the end, I feel I was wrong to complain so strongly as they look pretty good. Having said that I still wish that the EX head came with regular eyes and I feel that would be the best option for alternate display. But this is still good and most fans should be happy.
So even though I don't "love" the Ex eyes they are nice enough for me now to hold them against my rating of the sculpt itself. However it will effect my overall grade.
Body Sculpt - 10 out of 10 - Again a perfect score. What amazes me about the body sculpt is how well it works for too very different head sculpts. One sculpt is calm and hopeful the other is angry and powerful. But the Body is done in such a way that it works for both. Seriously when you change the heads you have two very different feeling statues. That is an amazing achievement by SSC. The body is also perfectly proportioned. No long necks or feminine stances here (I'm looking at you Batman). The hands are done very well and the boots look great. Again just another home run all around.
Paint - 10 out of 10 - Yep, another perfect score. This is one of SSC best paint apps to a human face I have seen and they had two chances to muck it up. The flesh tone is smooth and realistic. The eyes (which may be decals/stickers) are a perfect blue and have no wonkey eye issues. The hands look very good with ever so light blue used to highlight the veins. If I was to have one small complaint it would be on the EX head. There is red spray used around the eyes to give it a glowing effect. It does not work for just the small red eyes. It looks like Superman is suffering from allergies. But it was painted and mad for the "Heat steam" eyes and it works perfectly for that. Thus I will keep the score perfect.
Clothing / Tailoring 10++ out of 10 - I thought about taking half a point off of everything else so I could give the clothing a perfect score because as perfect as everything else is, the clothing is what really stands out and makes this piece special. The colors are just bright beautiful that the piece pops out in your collection. Nit only that, it makes other pieces around it look better. I love how my Bats and my Avengers Hulk look next to Superman. Bats Grey and Blue just looks more intimidating and Hulks green looks more colorful. The Material used is much like Batman's but it is a shinier / silkier looking material that works perfectly. It is really something to behold. Which brings us to the most important part of the Suit. The signature S.... It is done to absolute perfection. I dare anyone to try and find something to complain about here. It is a perfect representation of the Iconic S that we all know and love and really brings together the whole piece. Make it too small or too large and we could have a problem. There is no problem here. I guess I will add the cape here. Even though it is sculpted it is still part of the suit. the Cape took me by surprise. I thought in the photos it was one of the weaker aspects of the statue. I though the flow was kind of boring. Not so when you have it in hand. The Cape looks great. It is sculpted beautifully and is better then the Batman cape in terms of realistic flow combined with Comic book art. The piece really looks amazing from behind. I thought about talking a point off for the lack of an S on the back but I since I don't display it with his back to me it really does not effect me. I again decided to let that effect the overall grade and not the clothing / tailoring section.
Base - 9.5 out of 10 - This is where I have seen the biggest complaints. I have read that It is too blue, too plain, and too boring. Personally I don't really agree with any of that. I think that the base works well. I like that that is not overly exciting. This base forces you to look at what is important, which is Superman. Is it a tad too blue?? I guess so. But White would have been to extreme IMO. I have heard some wish it was made in more crystal like clear material. I don't know how I would like that. You run into the possibility of it looking to much like plastic. I will admit there is something amiss and I am not sure what it is. Overall I think it looks fine and it helps bring the feel of Superman to life.
Overall - 9.5 out of 10 - So take the not absolutely perfect base, add in the lack of and S on the cape, and no regular eyes and that equals in my mind a whole .5 of a point off the final score. I could easily give this a 10 out of 10. If I had just the Reg and not the EX I would not be able to rate the eyes. The S on the back of the cape is an oversight but not really an issue and I like the base even though it is lacking something. If this piece just had one of any of these small issues I would still give it a 10 out of 10. Put all three together and I felt I had to take off some sort of point.
Having said that I really believe that this is one of SSC best efforts. The sculpt, the pose, the clothing, and the paint apps are all very impressive. Without a question this should be in every Superman and Comic fan's collection. Highly Recommended to all Freaks!!!!!!
