I viewed Phoenix as its own statue, Magneto as its own, and Wolverine as its own. I know they're all on Sentinels but Sentinel bases are so common on X-Men statues that unless it's declared they specifically go together, like Koto's Danger Room series, using a Sentinel doesn't necessarily connect pieces together in my mind.
I'm a HUGE stickler for costumes and eras. I won't even put my Storm PF next to my Black Panther like SS did because their costumes are different eras. Something like Phoenix on a Sentinel just doesn't work to a comics purist who actually read the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga.
It's really no different than the movie collector fans who want their statues in poses actually from the movie.
Wolverine and Magneto however... unlike Phoenix in her comic costume, those costumes are already not comic accurate, which doesn't bother me since they're interpretive pieces that also make no sense together. Wolverine is clearly in a fighting rage while Magneto is cold chillin'. Aside from the commonality of a Sentinel, logically they have to be at two different places in time or setting.
Everything always boils down to personal tastes. I've been tagged as picky but I don't think I'm that bad and I'm not inflexible. I was one of the first peeps to ask what costume Mags was wearing because it certainly isn't his classic costume. I didn't care. Simply because it's such a phenomenal statue. I knew I was going to add it to my collection. If nothing else, I'd enjoy it as a stand alone piece. When I saw the art print for Mags, I questioned why the inside of his cape was red. Now, I was going to buy Mags regardless. However, the boys over at XM gave us a HUGE treat today. The sneaked some more pics of the statue and to my overwhelming joy....the cape is solid purple. Maybe they did this because we raised the topic here. Maybe they always intended to make the cape purple. I don't care either way. I'm just glad they added that element to the piece. If I truly was a picky dude, I would have said his costume doesn't even exist in any comic I ever read and the inside of his cape was never red. I'm going to pass. I didn't. Because as we all know, this is a truly special statue.
Mags is a villain. For me he can easily stand (or in this case sit) on his own. For me to start purchasing actual members of the XM X-MEN line, I want the line to fit together. When I saw Phoenix, I just about lost my mind. Her she is in her classic 80's costume looking fantastic. I thought for sure, other 80's classic X-MEN would follow. I'm going to be honest. I'm not as big a fan of the XM Wolvie as most peeps are. However, the reason I passed wasn't because of the lines in his shoulder pads or the straps on his gloves. I already have a fully sculpted classic Wolvie in the SSC COM and I love it. I figured if I picked up the XM Phoenix and added it to my Wolvie COM, I could pick up the other 4 characters I wanted in their classic 80's costumes. However, when I saw the Wolvie print, it showed Cyke in his 90's costume battling Sentinels with Wolvie. That's when I took a step back and started asking questions. Will we have a Jean Grey in the line or does Phoenix replace her? Is Storm going to be in her white costume or black one? In order for me to fully commit to Phoenix, I kind of need to know what direction the line is going. That's just me. It's going to cost a pretty penny to pick these pieces up and the only reason I would start is because I want ALL of the characters I enjoyed most from the Byrne era (Cyke, Wolvie Storm, Phoenix, Colossus, and Nightcrawler).
For the record. I'm not demanding XM make any era of the X-MEN. I do have a preference (Byrne). That said, XM is going to make whatever era they deem fit. I just think that it's nice to let your collectors know what era/direction a line is going to take. SSC did it by committing most of their X-MEN PFs to the Lee era (with the exception of Storm). It allowed collectors the knowledge of knowing more of their favorite characters in the Lee era were coming.
OK, I've said my piece. I know XM is certainly listening and I know they care about their collectors. Whatever they decide is all good. I'll just take things statue by statue and see where things go from there. If XM is going to make the rest of the characters I want to add, I can only hope Storm is the next character they release. If she's in her black costume I can make everything else work. I'm not going to lie though, If I picked up all the other characters and then found out that Storm was getting released in her white costume...I wouldn't be a happy camper.
