We're trying out a photographer and we may use him for all future product shoots. A couple of exciting revelations;
1) The Face. We have one side who wants it more realistic and there's the other side who wants to keep it the same - usually because they like Artgerm's style which is somewhat more pan-asian/anime than realistic. So guess what, XM boys are already developing a THIRD head sculpt to cater to both sides (the things that keep them awake at night!). We will be posting the WIP real soon. BW seems to be the one which XM will make little profit due to the sheer amount of switch our parts and extras... which are;
2) Yes, 2 bases! One for BW to lean against, and the other which allows collectors to admire ahem, the rear sculpt of the statue. Again, this is developed due to feedback from fans they wanted to be able to view the back sculpt (Which I like alot heh heh). So we are talking about 2 heads (might be 3 if we can squeeze into the production cost), multiple change of weapons, 2 bases, 1 revolver designed stand to hold the alternate head. That's alot of good stuff.
3) Icing on the cake is the potential light up feature of the lamp sitting on top of the gate. XM boys are dabbling with electronics in a way if the led goes down, there's no need to take apart the statue to redo wiring etc. Just swap the bulb and good to go! Still awaiting approval from Marvel though so fingers crossed.
4) I'm surprised XM hasn't mentioned this... Actually, if you look at the bases of the Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow etc, you should notice that all the bases are designed as part of New York City's damaged battle ground. The final idea is to be able to display all the Avengers together in one large amazing "diorama" with matching city bases. For instance, the XM Hawk Eye is designed to come with a base that elevates his position so he can be seen perched up high behind the other Avengers firing an arrow into the distance. Word of caution... you will need a LARGE room to display the Avengers together!
5) I'm also discussing with the XM Boys once we are done with the Avengers team, we could look into an opposing Villians Team 'facing off' the Avengers team all using the same city base scenarios (means you need an even LARGER room! That's a team of 1/4 scale heroes vs a team of 1/4 scale villains! Time to relocate the baby!) but it all depends on response. Right now XM are getting loads of requests on Brown Wolverine, Punisher, Cable, Nova etc so we'll have to see how it goes.
And of course, please feel free to drop by XM Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/xmstudios and post any questions or feedback. There's only Ben and myself attending to questions so please bear with us if we don't give timely answers.
