Tag Archives: j scott campbell

Oct 25 2024

J. Scott Campbell’s Fairytale Fantasies: Sultana by Sideshow

It’s always exciting for me to sit down and spend some time with a new statue from J. Scott Campbell’s fantastic Fairytale Fantasies series. I can’t quite say as I’m All-In on these, as I’m not double dipping on variants, and I missed out on The Evil Queen. But, so far I’ve checked out four of these here on FFZ, including: Tinkerbell, The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, and Red Riding Hood. Cinderella hasn’t had her time in the spotlight yet, but I still bumped Sultana to the front of the line. Sorry, Cindy, you’ll get your turn soon! As always, these are limited and numbered polystone statues based on the Great J. Scott Campbell’s artwork and featuring ladies from popular fairytale stories. In this case, we’re taking a magic carpet ride through The Arabian Nights!

This box is absolutely huge! They do seem to be getting bigger, but in this case the jump up in size is really extreme. A lot of that is because this particular piece invests quite a bit into the base, creating a really beautiful scene. The art box is quite stunning, so much so that I ordered a print of the character art that the figure is based on, as I do like to display them behind the different statues. In the past, Sideshow offered collectors editions, which included metal art cards, but I didn’t see an option for that here. Sultana was limited to 1500 pieces, and at 17-inches tall, she is about on par with the larger ladies in this collection. There’s a bit of assembly required, but all the pieces went together quite easily. Let’s get her set up and take a look!

Hot damn, is she gorgeous! As mentioned earlier, it definitely feels like this line has been slowly increasing the attention spent on the bases to give the ladies some context and boy is that ever the case here. Sultana is posed reclining on her magic carpet and holding up the Genie’s lamp, while a giant manifestation of the Genie’s hand holds her aloft amidst a swirling circlet of mystical fire. I absolutely adore the composition here! It’s pure dynamic cheesecake that suits JSC’s art perfectly. Plus, this is a large piece and really dominates the display, especially when set against the earlier release like Tink and Mermaid, but I’ll come back to that a bit more at the end with a group shot.

Sultana’s beautiful curves mixed with the magical curling of the carpet compliment each other so beautifully! And while I’m here first and foremost for the lovely ladies, I have to say that the figure and environment are so perfectly merged here, it’s hard to appreciate one without the other. Sideshow could have easily made the carpet be the base, but the Genie hand and magical effects elevate the whole presentation both literally and figuratively and I’m very happy they went for that extra wow factor here. There is clearly an intended sweet spot when displaying the statue, slightly angled with Sultana gazing at the beholder, but she looks great when viewed from all over!

As for Sultana herself, there’s a bit of seductive flavor to her position on the carpet, with her right leg in front of her, bent at the knee, and her left leg tucked under her. Lounging, she arches backward a bit, leaning on her right hand, while her left gently holds the lamp: The method of her mystical propulsion, spewing tendrils of blue magical energy from its spout. Her outfit consists of some shiny mauve leggings with cuts in the sides to expose her legs, a bikini-like top around her chest, and billowy sleeves, cuffed at her wrists, but open to expose her arms. She has gold slippers with curled toe fronts and a purple sash around her waist that drifts behind her, going nearly translucent at the end to show its delicate makeup. Meanwhile strings of gold coins adorn her outfit, like fringe. All of this detail is beautifully done and exquisitely painted. The gold leaf is bright and luxurious and the sheen of her outfit gives off an exotic flavor. The skin tone is warm and even with just the right amount of shadow to enhance the sculpt.

The portrait does a great job of capturing JSC’s singular art style. It’s a style that I doubt is very easy to convey in three dimensions, but Sideshow’s wizards seem to have mastered it going all the way back to their Abby Chase Premium Format. The almond eyes and sloped nose are practically JSC trademarks and her smirking lips are pitch-perfect right down to the red gloss. Another string of coins is sculpted across her forehead, as are clusters that make up earrings, and her voluminous raven black hair flows in the breeze with just enough detail to convey the effect while not stepping on the toony style. There’s a bit of glossy finish that comes off of her complexion under the studio lights, but not when displayed in normal lighting.

The carpet is practically a character unto itself, with every bit of the intricate pattern executed as part of the sculpt. The raised patterns around the border are painted in gold leaf as is a mystical circle in the center. The tassels on the front and back are incredible in the way they lick up at the edge and I have no idea how they are able to get the material to behave that way. It’s worth noting that the bottom of the rug includes every bit of detail as the top, even though it can barely be seen.

And that brings us to the base, which is so well designed on so many levels. The engineering and balance is impressive in and of itself, as the carpet and figure rests on one post with the rest secured by magnets in the fingers. I was so nervous when I was setting this thing up, but nothing budged at all as I carefully carried this heavy piece from the display shelf to the photo stage. The Genie hand has an ethereal quality to it with both iridescent blue and white coloring. He’s also got an emerald green bangle and gold rings, some with more mystic symbolism. The mystical flames that lick up from the black circular base are painted so vibrantly that under the right light it looks as if there’s a light up function, and that’s just so damn impressive. The limitation and hand number is on the bottom of the base, but I dare not try to flip her over to get a shot. I preordered the moment it dropped and got 325/1500. Not too shabby.

And here’s a quick shot of her with the other ladies on display in my office. She definitely gels better with the three more recent releases, while towering over The Little Mermaid. They are all roughly the same scale, but the poses and composition do make some look like some are scaled slightly bigger than others. I think Tink comes off as the slightest, but being a little fairy, that’s understandable.

These Fairytale Fantasy reviews always turn into me gushing on endlessly, and I’m fine with that because it’s impossible for me not to get all giddy and worked up over these pieces of art. I make it no secret that Campbell is among my top favorite comic artists and to get quality pieces like these based on his art is like a dream come true. And so far, this is a line that started strong and keeps on impressing me as it moves forward. I’d hate to have to choose a favorite, but right now this lady is pretty far up there. With Sultana being the sixth of these gals on my shelf, that just leaves The Evil Queen, which sold out a lot faster than I had anticipated. I’m on waitlist, so maybe I’ll wind up owning her, but if not that’s OK too. The newest reveal is The Cheshire Cat, and I’m not quite sure whether I will add that one. It’s a striking piece to be sure, but leans a little far into Furry territory for my liking. As for Sultana, she’s still available through Sideshow at the time I write this review at the not so trivial cost of $400.

Aug 2 2024

Cover Girls of the DC Universe (J. Scott Campbell) Wonder Woman by McFarlane/DC Direct

The DC Cover Girls line has been going on for quite a while. I reviewed my first statue from this series over ten years ago! The line was mostly produced by DC Collectibles, but when McFarlane took over the license they began releasing some here and there in partnership with DC Direct. I’m not going to pretend to know how the licensing works and who’s actually producing these now, but Both McFarlane’s and DC Direct’s names appear on the box. Recently, McFarlane announced a trio of these ladies inspired by the art of J. Scott Campbell, so you know I was instantly on board! They’ve already released Catwoman, Zatanna is coming soon, and today we’re checking out Wonder Woman.

The mostly white box is similar to what we saw last time, and has remained more or less the same throughout the series run. You get some shots of the statue, a notation of the artist, and the size is roughly the same as the Catwoman statue, with both ladies measuring about 10-inches tall. That puts these a bit taller than the older DC Collectibles offerings. Inside the box, the statue comes encased in two Styrofoam trays and you get a collector card. Assembly requires attaching her right arm at the bicep band via a magnet, and plugging her right foot into the base, which was an easy fit. Let’s get her out of the box and all set up!

Oh yeah, that’s the stuff! As we saw with Catwoman, the composition is a little bit of museum pose with a hint of action. Wonder Woman stands with a slight lean to her right hip and a turn to her left ankle. Her coiled golden lasso is held firm in her right hand, while her left arm is drawn up to effortlessly deflect a projectile headed right for her face. Her one-piece outfit has a very modern vibe from the golden belt up, and things get a little more traditional below, with some abbreviated skirt flaps hanging down front and back.

All the details of the outfit are incorporated as part of the sculpt, which helps make for some clean paint lines. The red part of her corset has panel lining and is painted with a rich, glossy red, while framed top and bottom with the same quality of gold paint. All this conspires to produce a beautiful new-car-style finish to this part of the costume. The high-heeled boots are painted in red matte with some dark shading, white stripes running up the center from toe to top, and gold bands around the top edges. You get two shades of blue around her pelvic region with a darker blue making up the panties and a paler shade for the skirt pieces. And, of course, both are speckled with white stars. Her arm bracers are painted in silver and gold, and her bicep ring is gold. These pieces have a duller metallic finish than the corset, but still look nice. Finally, the skin tone is very warm and even with some pink added to the knees and elbows. All in all, the sculpted detail and colors here are very well done, especially for a statue in this price range.

The portrait is quite lovely and does a solid job evoking the JSC style. Diana is sporting some dreamy, heavy eyelids, a narrow and sharp nose, and her lips are slightly parted, revealing a flash of white teeth. The painted facial features are clean, particularly the eye liner and pupils. The flowing hair has some blue shading to evoke that classic comic book panel coloring, and I really dig the way it bunches up to her right, swirling in a flurry of defensive action. The portrait is rounded out by her gold tiara with a central red star.

The coiled lasso also contorts a bit from her defensive maneuver, with one end curling up into the air. The paint on mystical rope looks good, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit of sculpted detail to the braid. What we got gives it a bit of a simple, animated look, which is fine, but a bit at odds with the detail in her corset. Still, not bad!

The bullet defecting on her wrist bracer is done with a bit of translucent plastic colored in red and orange. It’s not spectacular, but it gets the job done. It would have been cool to have an actual bullet sculpted in there, or perhaps being deflected away.

The base is a raised black disk with beveled edges and a gold stripe. The face has a Wonder Woman logo flanked by stars. I like the way this is stylized and it adds some nice flavor to the base, much in the same way they did with Catwoman’s. On the flipside you get the hand numbered limitation underneath. Mine is 590 out of 945. The limitation is a lot smaller on these than it was in the old days, when 5200 was the magic number.

Like Catwoman, Wonder Woman retails at $139 which, if you count for inflation, is probably pretty close to what the older Cover Girls sold for. I included a shot of her with the Stanley Artgerm Lau piece from 2016. I still enjoy to display that one and it’s fun to see how the series has evolved over nearly a decade. As for the new ones, well, I really like both of these JSC efforts, with Wonder Woman edging out Catwoman as the favorite of the two. From a design standpoint, I think there was just more to work with than this one, and the final release came a lot closer to what was solicited. They do look nice paired together, but I have Catwoman displayed with some other Catwoman pieces and Diana here will be going to my Wonder Woman display. Still, I’m excited to see how the trio will look when Zatanna joins up!

Mar 15 2024

Cover Girls of the DC Universe (J. Scott Campbell) Catwoman by McFarlane/DC Direct

It’s safe to say that I’ve been a long time collector of the DC Cover Girls line of statues. I’ve reviewed over 20 of them here on FFZ over the past ten years or so and while some have since left my collection, I still have quite a few and always have a shelf with a dozen or so of these lovely ladies on rotation. And naturally, Selina Kyle has turned up as a DC Cover Girl more than once! Indeed, this line has been around long enough to be rebranded from DC Direct to DC Collectibles, and now back to DC Direct and licensed to McFarlane Toys. Likewise, the series has showcased different artists over the years from Joelle Jones to Stanley Lau and while I have loved each and every one of those, it’s about time my main man, J. Scott Campbell got his turn, with Catwoman here in the lead and both Wonder Woman and Zatanna coming up next.

One thing that hasn’t changed much over the years is the packaging. Catwoman comes in a fully enclosed box with a clean white and black deco and some pictures of the statue front and back. This line hasn’t always been the best about showcasing the artist front and center, but here we get Mr. Campbell’s name right on the front. The statue measures about 10-inches tall, cast in resin, and comes encased between two styrofoam bricks. And I gotta say I have never had this much trouble getting the styrofoam out of the box before. I literally had to open it from both ends and push it through and even then it was crazy tight. So weird! Anyway, Catwoman comes out of the box with her whip in her hands. All you have to do is plug her foot post into the base and there’s a peg to help anchor the whip as well. So let’s let this cat out of the bag…

Selina presents herself somewhere between a museum pose and a little cheesecake tease. One leg is drawn up at the knee, resting the toe of her left boot on the ground. Her arms bent at the elbows and holding up her whip across her at neck level, as if inviting you to play. She dons a very classic blueish-purple bodysuit that is oh, so very tight and I’m going to say straightaway the curves on display here are this statue’s greatest win. The contours of Selina’s body are so lovingly sculpted here that the sheer simplicity of her suit works in the figure’s favor. The only real detail is on the zipper that tracks all the way down from her neck and stops just above her kitty’s lair with a large silver pull resting at the top. Otherwise, you do get some very subtle and sparing wrinkles, and just a hint of her underlying muscle definition. I dig this sculpt and composition a lot, especially the way it lets her curves do all the talking.

The paint would be simple if not for the pearlescent finish to the suit and the slight wash. In bright light it looks warm and even, almost like a second skin, but give her a turn and you can see some of the underlying sparkles come to life. You also get some high gloss black for her short gloves and low cut boots and a hint of bright purple for the boot linings. A lick of silver rounds things out below the neck.

The portrait is… well, it isn’t what we were promised in the solicitation photos. Not even close. And yes, that’s disappointing. That’s not to say I don’t like it, but there were clearly some major revisions done between pre-order and arrival, and that’s surprising considering how fast the turnaround on this statue was. The biggest change is the mouth, which was better sculpted and painted in the initial images. What we got shows too much teeth, and by that I mean just white paint with no real detail. Close up, it lets the statue down, but isn’t so bad when viewed with the statue on the shelf. The rest of the portrait’s paint turned out more basic, but I think it works for a comic or animated look. The lines are sharp there’s some nice gradient work in the skin tone, and I like the gloss finish used for the mask. It’s not the best rendering of J. Scott Campbell’s style in my collection, but it’s far from the worst.

The whip is cast in a soft, pliable black plastic with a glossy sheen. I like the way it coils up on the base, spilling over the side a bit. The peg that anchors it to the base doesn’t fit very tightly so it’s likely to pop out when handling the statue, but it works well enough when on display. You get a little texture to the grip at the end of the whip and there’s a sculpted loop hanging off of it.

The base is a clean and classy raised black disk with a Catwoman logo in purple and gold, and a purple ring striping the side of the platform. The underside of the base has the hand numbered limitation. The statue is limited to a production run of 920 with mine being 484. That’s a huge reduction from the old line, where these pieces were usually given 5000 to 5200 runs. Although, I’m not sure what the significance of the rather specific 920 is.

Finally, you also get a collector card with the statue and this is basically the same sort of thing Todd throws in with his DC Multiverse figures. Note, the stand is not included. I borrowed that from one of the figures for display here. Although, if they can throw that in with a $30 figure, it makes me wonder why they can’t do it with a $130 limited edition statue. Either way, the card is a forgettable bonus, and I would have much rather they included a numbered limitation card like Diamond does with their Premier Edition Statues and Busts, which fall in at about the same price range.

I really like this piece a lot, but I don’t remember there being this much disparity between the solicitation photos and the actual product back when DC Direct/Collectibles were their own thing. So, I’m definitely going to call out McFarlane on that point. I understand that final products rarely make for perfect matches to what is initially shown, but in this case the mouth got a complete redesign, and that’s a sticking point for me. Truth be told, I would have still happily purchased this piece if McFarlane had just shown what we were actually getting. And with how quick the turn around here was, I have to believe the statue was already well into production when it was solicited. Either way, I’m thrilled to have a J Scott Campbell Catwoman in my Cover Girls collection and I’m looking forward to seeing Wonder Woman next!

Jul 21 2023

J. Scott Campbell’s Fairytale Fantasies: Alice in Wonderland (Autographed Edition) by Sideshow

Sideshow dropped a huge reveal this week (at least it was huge to me) in the form of a preview of the newest statue in J. Scott Campbell’s Fairtytale Fantasies: Princess Sultana from The Arabian Nights! She looks absolutely stunning and it was great to hear JSC talk about it a bit on Sideshow’s channel. Of course, that got me to thinking about how I’m not caught up on my reviews of this series, so today I’m going to roll out one that I’ve had on my shelf for a little while. Let’s check out Alice in Wonderland!

Alas, I have the box for this one in storage, but here’s a shot of an art print that I have hanging above where I display her. This was offered a little while back on J. Scott Campbell’s store, which is also where I happened to get the Exclusive Autographed Edition of this statue. I’ve reviewed some of these out of order, with three so far under my belt: The Little Mermaid, Red Riding Hood, and Tinkerbell. But I think, Alice was the third piece released in the series, preceding Red Riding Hood, the most recent release. If you own any Sideshow statues, you should know the drill. She comes sandwiched between two big styrofoam bricks and there’s a little assembly required. Connections are achieved through easily fitted tabs and magnets, and it takes only two shakes of a Cheshire Cat’s tale to get the Alice ready for display!

Alice is a satisfyingly large piece, not necessarily because of her nearly 14-inches in height but the sheer weight of her mushroom base is quite impressive, especially when displayed next to Tinkerbell and Ariel. Every time I move this statue to dust, I’m taken back by how heavy this solid chunk of polyresin is. Alice sits poised on the giant mushroom with her skirt blowing up and a piece of the mushroom in each hand as if deciding which one to eat. Meanwhile, the monstrous Cheshire Cat coils around the base looking up at her with its rictus grimace. The composition is very nicely done with the serene Alice contrasted by the dark and foreboding goings on down below. And as with many of Sideshow’s previous JSC pieces, the colors here are to die for. The blue is so vibrant, matched only by the turquoise and purple of the Cat. Alice’s pale blonde hair has some nice gradient tones and all the paint lines are sharp and immaculate. I particularly dig the high gloss black they used for her shoes. Meanwhile, the mushroom has a bit of a dirty finish on it perhaps suggesting something nefarious about its nature.

Alice’s outfit exhibits that uncanny JSC style of mixing of the cute and innocent nature of Disney with a healthy dose of sex appeal. The striped high stockings with black bow-ties give way to a bare thighs as the frilled trim of her skirt blows up and reveals a flash of panties. Up top you get bare shoulders and an ample dose of cleavages, punctuated with another bowtie front and center and a super glossy red heart pendant hanging around her neck on a sculpted gold chain. The puffy effect on her sleeves is also well done.

And this portrait… oh boy! One of the things I love most about this line is the way the sculptors have captured the 2D style of JSC’s portraits in 3D, and Alice here is just another great example of that. The sweeping curve of her nose, the big, beautiful blue eyes, and the perfect pursed lips are all just dead on gorgeous. What’s more, the paint used for her skin tone is so soft and warm, especially in the cheeks. I may be guilty of saying this every time, but in terms of the portraits, I think this is my favorite of the series so far.

And shifting from the beautiful to the grotesque, check out the mug on the Cheshire Cat! The unsettling wall of teeth are painted with a high gloss to give them a slick, saliva coated sheen. He rests his head on his left front paw while admiring the view above like the dirty kitty he is. Either that or he’s about to bite off her dangling foot. I really dig the way he seems to blend with the mist as if he’s just materialized and his fur has a really cool and surreal look almost akin to crepe paper. The cracks in the edges of the mushroom look great and you get some ribbed texture in the stalk as it rises up out of the swirling mist.

The statue is autographed by Campbell on the back of the mushroom in an almost neon blue marker. Some may have preferred it be more front and center, but I kind of like having it in the back so as not to disrupt the aesthetics of the piece. This way you can have your shroom and eat it too. It’s also somewhat humorous to have the signature right below the panty flash. The Autographed Edition was available in two runs, one with a metal art card and one without. The art card edition was sold out by the time I could get to the website, but I was happy to get this one. This run was 4000 pieces and is hand numbered on the bottom of the base. I got #48 which is by far the lowest numbered Sideshow piece in my collection. It also came with the standard Certificate that is included if you buy signed comics from the JSC store.

Is this my favorite Fairytale Fantasies statue so far? Wow, that’s so hard to say. I do absolutely love it and I think the portrait is up there as one of, if not the best. I also have to give this one props for having such a complex base that really adds a lot of character. Still, I may have to give the nod to Tinkerbell as still being my favorite. I just love the way she’s standing on a compass and her wings are really pretty. It’s so hard to choose one, and I don’t want to hurt any of these ladies’ feelings. Anyway, the regular version of Alice retailed for around $375 and has long since sold out at Sideshow, while this one was just a smidge more at $399 for the Autographed Edition. And as you can see from my display, I have one more in the collection to look at here before I’m all caught up, so maybe I’ll bump Cinderella up to get her time in the spotlight soon.

Nov 18 2022

J. Scott Campbell’s Fairytale Fantasies: Red Riding Hood by Sideshow

I’ve been working on getting caught up on showcasing the Fairytale Fantasy statue collaboration between J. Scott Campbell and Sideshow, when a brand new release hit my doorstep and I decided to bump her to the head of the line. This time we’re checking out Red Riding Hood! If you’re not familiar with this series feel free to get caught up by checking out The Little Mermaid and Tinkerbell, but basically these are polystone statues based on J. Scott Campbell’s take on famous ladies from timeless fairy tales! And while Red Riding Hood here will be the third statue I’ve covered here, I still need to double back to check out both Alice from Wonderland and Cinderella!

Red comes in the biggest box yet. I mean, I was seriously not expecting a box this big. I imagine that’s because the scale has been a little varied here. The Little Mermaid is only partially showing above the surface of the water, making her a bit on the small side and Tinkerbell is a small subject to begin with. But Red here is a full Sixth-Scale statue, measuring about 19-inches if you include the base and branches. Needless to say, this box is plenty big. It feature some really classy designs, as well as the actual art that inspired the statue on the front panel. Red was available in a Standard Edition and a Sideshow Exclusive, which is the one we’ll be looking at today! This edition was limited to 2,000 pieces and hand numbered on the box and the bottom of the base. Mine is number 704! Assembling the statue is pretty simple. She pegs into the base, her arms are attached by magnets, and the tree components of the display attach to the base by magnets as well. Let’s have a look!

Well, this is not the little Red Riding Hood that I remember seeing illustrated in my storybooks when I was a kid. If it were, I might have hit puberty a little earlier. Here Red cuts quite the shapely figure wearing a black and white corset, skimpy skirt, high black boots, and indeed a red hood with a short cape. She also comes equipped with a trusty crossbow and a basket of special goodies. I do love the pose here, as it’s fairly neutral while still evoking a bit of a story. While tracking through the snowy woods to Grandma’s house, she suddenly stops in response to a twig breaking, or perhaps a distant wolfy growl, (or maybe spotting the giant wolf tracks in the snow!) and readies her weapon for the first sign of trouble. All the while, the sinister woods snake around her like spindly claws waiting to strike. Wow!

As always, JSC knows how to bring the sex appeal with his art and the wizards at Sideshow have done a beautiful job recreating it in polystone. Red’s outfit is not overly complex, but it does show some lovely flourishes, like the sculpted red laces in the corset, and the red bow that secures her cape around her neck. You get sculpted ruffled finery around the top edges of her bodice and a sense of simple elegance to the buccaneer style boots and gloves. The short cape and skirt are sculpted to lick up behind her, agitated perhaps by the wind, or from a sudden turn as she investigates a noise. Not only does it add a little energy to the pose, but it also gives you a little glimpse of Red Riding Hiney. The colors are great and have a soft matte finish, with some shading to the red garment and some soft, worm tones to Red’s skin.

Red’s portrait is JSC perfection, and boy I don’t say that lightly. His distinctive style is not easy to replicate in three-dimensions, and while Sideshow seems to have it nailed down, I can think of a few other producers who have missed the mark over the years. But here, it’s unmistakable in Red’s large almond-shaped blue eyes, her perfectly parted lips, and her shapely little nose. Her high cheeks have a warm rosy complexion, and the way her hair falls about her face is poetry in motion. I could stare at this beauty for hours!

The crossbow is a nice piece of kit, with a traditional wood-style stock and a metal crosspiece. The design has a few flourishes, but for the most part it emphasizes function over flair. The weapon is clocked with a bolt ready to fly. And I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s a silver tip.

Red’s left hand grips her basket of goodies, which has a beautifully sculpted weave pattern and a red cover to conceal its contents. Well, most of the contents. She does have a brace of bolts for her crossbow peeking out. What else could be in there? Caltrops? Holy Water? Crude sulfur grenades? I guess we’ll never know.

Moving down to the base, we get a simple disk pedestal holding a slice of snow-covered terrain, and dominated by two large wolf prints. Is the wolf hunting her, or is she the one hunting the wolf? The white-blue snow is disturbed by the claw-like tree branches, which sprout up as if to encompass her in their grasp. I absolutely love the way these are designed, with one low and reaching up, and the other snaking it’s way as if ready to grab her from behind. Perhaps they’re evil spirits of the forest come to life, but mostly I think they’re simply the artist’s license to add a further sense of danger and dread to the piece. The bottom of the base is fully illustrated and hand-numbered, and I hope you’ll forgive me for not photographing it, but this statue is heavy, and I don’t want to disassemble her to get the shot.

The Sideshow Exclusive release comes with a metal art card and stand. This is similar to what was issued with the Tinkerbell Exclusive, but that card was more concept art and this one looks more like a finished piece. I wasn’t able to get a metal card with The Little Mermaid, and as for Alice in Wonderland, I opted to get a signed statue over the card, so right now only two of my Fairytale Fantasies have the metal cards to display with them. I did, however, pick up this art as a signed print.

Red is still available through Sideshow at $340 for the regular edition, but with the Exclusive priced at only $10 more, why wouldn’t you? The prices on these have been creeping up since the initial two releases, but I didn’t mind so much with Red because she is absolutely huge compared to the other two releases I’ve showcased here. Besides, I can’t get enough of J. Scott Campbell’s art and I’m happy to see someone making premium statues that really do his unique style justice. And with Red finally under my belt, I’ll make an effort to take a look at Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland before the end of the year, so I can be all caught up. The newest release, The Evil Queen is already up for pre-order and expected to ship sometimes next year!

May 31 2021

Spider-Man and Mary Jane Maquette (Exclusive) by Sideshow

It’s been a week, but I’m back and ready for action… and something a little different for this Marvel Monday! When Sideshow solicited their new maquette based on J Scott Campbell’s cover for The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1, I may have sprained my button pushing finger on that pre-order button. And then the waiting came. And I mean WAITING! My pre-order was placed in November of 2019, and about a year and a half later this statue finally showed up. I’ll concede that my patience has been wearing thin with Sideshow and pre-orders these days. When I first got into this game, it seemed like six months was the standard, and now over a year is not uncommon. With the exception of a Must-Have piece like this, I’m going to start rolling my dice and trying my luck with buying after release. But I digress! Let’s get to the goods!

You can dig around in FFZ’s past to find that my love for J Scott Campbell’s work runs deep, and I’m always happy to see him turn his talents to Marvel characters. I probably have at least a half-dozen of his Mary Jane covers, all signed, but sadly I don’t have the cover of Renew Your Vows #1 that this work is based on. I do, however, have it as a signed 7×11 art print, and I’m pretty content with that. Still, the front of the box also has a recreation of the art for reference, along with a rap-around red brick deco of the NY apartment, which looks quite nice! The box is absolutely huge, clocking in at close to Premium Format proportions, while the statue itself measures only about 12-inches tall, making the figures close to sixth-scale. The boxes large size comes from the fact that this statue comes spread out in a lot of pieces. Yes, there’s assembly required, but it’s all done with one connecting rod and a lot of magnets. In the end, I had not troubles fitting anything together.

And here is the piece all set up and I am absolutely in love. The composition sees MJ reclining on a comfy purple armchair, propped up on a couple of blue pillows, with one leg out and the other folded back under it. Meanwhile, Peter squats on the back of the chair, unmasked but still in his Spidey outfit. Their arms are intertwined, framing MJ’s face in the center. I was especially curious to see how they were going to engineer that web of arms, and the execution was quite clever, and the connections are for the most part fairly seamless. Spidey is secured to the chair with a peg, but MJ simply rests in molded indentations in the chair, and yet it still feels solid, even when I was transporting it from the studio to the display shelf. It is a satisfyingly heavy piece, mainly because the sofa is a solid block of polyresin.

The attention to detail in the costumes aligns perfectly with the art. MJ is wearing a long t-shirt, cut-off jean shorts, and a pair of Spider-Man themed knee socks, while Spidey dons his classic blue and red suit. Every detail, including the web pattern is incorporated into the sculpt and the paint lines are immaculate. They did a nice job applying some blue shading to MJ’s white top, and I really like the gradient colors in the chair. Indeed, everything about the colors here just pop like crazy! I’m particularly in love with the vibrant blue used on Spidey’s outfit.

Both portraits are a real triumph and a credit to the sculptor, Steve Schumacher. He also did the Abby Chase Premium Format, and I also own his Domino Premium Format Figure. It always amazes me when someone can take the very distinctive art stylings of Campbell’s and translate it so perfectly to three-dimensions. I love Peter’s wide, beaming grin. It’s almost smug in knowing that he has indeed hit the jackpot. Meanwhile, MJ is just looking as gorgeous as she always does when JSC sets to drawing her. The paint application on both portraits is just about flawless.

There’s no actual base for this piece, the chair serves alone in that capacity, and I think that was a great idea. It sits slightly off the ground on four stubby legs, and remains perfectly stable with no wobble to worry about. I do, however, recommend displaying this one toward the back of the shelf, as MJ’s one leg does reach out pretty far in front and it would be a shame to catch it on your arm when walking by. The bottom of the chair has an illustrated finish, along with the hand-numbered statement of limitation. Yeah, I really should have snapped a picture of that before putting this thing together, but I was just too excited to do it. Mine is number 244 of the 1200 piece Exclusive run. So before wrapping, up let’s take a look at what makes this the Exclusive!

The Exclusive includes the little stuffed tiger that’s depicted in the original art. It’s an adorable little fellow and it’s designed to just sit right between MJ’s rump and the chair’s arm. Lucky bastard! This tiger really hit the jackpot! In reference to the cover art, the absence of the tiger is a bit conspicuous, so I’m not sure it was the best incentive for exclusive. I would have probably rather the tiger be included with the standard edition and we got a metal art card with the Exclusive, but then the Exclusive is still available at Sideshow, so anyone jumping on this even after release will be able to get it.

It’s tough for a collectible to live up to a year and a half’s worth of anticipation, but this maquette managed to pull it off. The paint and sculpt are both absolutely sterling, and the quality control is positively above reproach. I don’t think there was a single month in all that time where I didn’t find myself on Sideshow’s site and drooling over the pictures. And on the positive side, the $525 price tag is a lot easier to swallow when amortized over eighteen months. It’s great to have another killer piece for my ever expanding J Scott Campbell display.

Feb 24 2021

Danger Girl: Premium Format Abbey Chase by Sideshow

If you come to my home enough times, chances are eventually I will pour you a glass of Jameson and take you on the mandatory tour of my J. Scott Campbell collection. You’ll see books, art prints, action figures, statues, and I may even make you play a level of the PlayStation game. It’s OK. Just act interested. Oooh and Ahhh a few times, and you will be free to leave and go about your business. What can I say? From Danger Girl to Gen13 to his work on exclusive covers for any number of comic book companies, I love this man’s work and I love to share it with people I know. And as I was reorganizing some pieces of the collection this past weekend, I thought I might as well showcase Sideshow’s Premium Format of Danger Girl star, Abbey Chase!

This is where I usually show off the packaging, but the box for this gal is so damn big, that I had to put it in storage and it is not easy to get to. So instead, I’ll just show off some of my different editions of the original Danger Girl series. Signed Treasury Editions? Check! Signed Deluxe Edition? Check! Signed Ultimate Collection in both Hardcover and Trade paperback? Check and Check! As for the figure, she’s roughly quarter-scale which tends to be the standard for Sideshow’s Premium Formats, measuring in at just over twenty inches including the base, and sculpted in polystone with some mixed media elements. Abbey requires just a little bit of simple assembly before she’s ready to go, and I’m happy to report that everything fit well, which isn’t always the case. Sideshow offered two versions of this piece: A regular edition of 1,000 and an Exclusive of 500. Naturally, I had to get the Exclusive!

The composition of this figure sees Abbey caught in mid stride, half action hero… half runway model. Her right foot in front, her right hip thrust to the side, her left hand resting on the other hip. Her right arm is cocked at the elbow as she holds aloft her trusty automatic pistol, while flames lick up around her feet. Our hero cuts a perfect compromise between a museum-style pose and a whiff of action.. While not a perfect match, the design here looks like it was influenced by Abbey’s appearance on IDW’s Danger Girl: Gallery Edition, which collected a series of covers and pin-ups. And a mighty fine choice it was!  And I can’t help but appreciate those wonderful stylized proportions! I can practically hear the self-righteous Social Media Mobs screaming, BUT WHERE ARE HER POLYSTONE ORGANZ?????

When it comes to her outfit, Abbey has donned a few different looks over the years (sometimes not wearing much of anything!), this figure showcases the look that I would consider her most iconic. It’s simple enough, and starts with an extra-tight white t-shirt. Or maybe that’s half a t-shirt. Moving down we get a pair of tight pants fashioned from a mix of black leather, green spandex, and mesh, and finished off with a pair of high black boots. Abbey sometimes wore a matching jacket, but I’m not sorry that they left it out here. The t-shirt is part of the sculpt, and the paint really needs to be called out here, especially on the back where it gives off the effect that the material is so thin that her skin is showing through it. Man, that is a cool effect!

The pants introduce the mixed media element to the statue, as they are fully tailored out of three different types of material and sewn onto the figure. Once upon a time, it seemed like all Premium Format figures were required to have some element of mixed media to them, but that hasn’t been the case for a while. Indeed, of the four PF figures I own, Abbey here is the only one that showcases some aspect of tailoring in the costume. If her pants were all just black leather, I would have been fine with them sculpting it, but they really took the opportunity here, especially with the mesh panels, to make this aspect of the costume shine. And I can’t even imagine how difficult it is to stitch pants onto a polystone statue with that level of perfection. The final aspects of her costume worth pointing out ar ethe sculpted gloves and the DG-branded belt buckle!

Taking a look at the portrait, I think Sideshow did an excellent job bringing JSC’s stylized likeness of Ms. Chase to a fully fleshed out 3D form. This can be a tricky portrait to display, since her hair casts a shadow over the left side of her face. Ultimately, I have her displayed on a shelf which brings her eyes nearly level with my own, which helps to appreciate all the beauty hiding under there. I dig Abbey’s expression, which is about 90% business and 10% playful smirk. The paintwork on the face is very clean, the eyes have a bit of a lifelike sheen to them and the lips are painted with a luscious gloss coat. The hair is sculpted separately from the head, which gives her a razor sharp hairline, and I like the way the ends lick off to the side above her shoulders.

The gun is nicely detailed, and features a silver brushed finish that makes it look like it’s a bit weathered and well used. And shame on Abbey, for not practicing proper trigger discipline! On the other hand, I do love how she holds her pinky extended. That’s class!

Our next stop on this review is the base, and what a beast of a base it is! It’s sculpted and painted to look like it’s made from a solid iron ingot, and believe me when I say it weighs about as much too. The steel finish has a luxurious satin finish to it and the Danger Girl logo really pops on the front with the red and purple paint and the silhouette of Abbey over the D. The semi-translucent plastic flames attach firmly to the base with some powerful magnets, making for an especially nice effect. The bottom of the base has the Danger Girl logo again as well as Abbey Chase Premium Format Figure and mine is hand numbered 212 of 500.

And lastly we have the Exclusive incentive, which is a generously oversized metal art card and stand, showing off the concept art that was used for the creation of the statue. This is my favorite kind of incentive. Often, Sideshow will go with optional swap-out parts as the incentive, and those are nice, but they aren’t something I usually take advantage of, whereas I have this art card displayed beside the statue at all times.

The Exclusive has since sold out at Sideshow, but the tragedy is that the regular edition is still up for grabs. And keep in mind, she went up for pre-order back in 2017. Originally, I had hoped we might get a Sydney Savage as well, but I fear that the sales were probably not strong enough to support another one. Happily, JSC has continued to partner with Sideshow with both his Spider-Man and Fairytale Fantasies line, some of which I have reviewed here. It’s probably a pipe dream, but I’m still hoping that one day they may do a maquette with Abbey, Sidney, and Natasha. And you can bet that I’d drop a pre-order for a Caitlin Fairchild Premium Format figure the moment it got solicited. But that’s probably just a dream too. In the meantime, I’m thrilled to have Abbey here as one of the showpieces of my JSC collection.

Dec 18 2020

J. Scott Campbell’s Fairytale Fantasies: Little Mermaid (Morning Edition) by Sideshow

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen that I’ve been reworking my beloved collection of J. Scott Campbell books, prints, and collectibles to make room for some new additions. And while I’ve got plenty of stuff in this collection still waiting to be reviewed, I thought I’d push this newest one to the front of the list. Let’s check out The Little Mermaid Morning Edition Statue from JSC’s Fairytale Fantasies line.

I first visited with this line a little while ago with a look at Tinkerbell, but in case you missed that one, Fairytale Fantasies partners the enormous talent of J. Scott Campbell and Sideshow to create polyresin statues depicting Campbell’s stylized renditions of some well-known fairytale ladies. The Little Mermaid was the first statue and at the time she was released I had too much money tied up in other pre-orders to allow me to get her. Unfortunately, she sold out pretty quickly and I missed out, but another opportunity popped up in the form of this Morning Edition, which is a blonde haired, red-tailed variant. Yes, I would have preferred the original green tail and red hair, but hell I do enjoy me some salmon, and I wasn’t about to miss out on this one a second time. She comes in a fully enclosed box with some ornate decorations and the boldness of including absolutely no images of the statue on the box. But yeah, granted, I’d say the overwhelming majority of collectors that buy this are doing so online anyway. I don’t believe there was an exclusive release on this one, but it was limited to 1500 pieces and the number of each statue is on the bottom of the box. Inside contains a Styrofoam block with the statue in three pieces: The base, the upper body, and the tail. The pieces connect to the base easily with magnets and she’s all ready for display in a matter of minutes. Let’s have a look!

Oh, heck yes! These statues appear to be roughly one-sixth scale, but because our mermaid is bending over as she emerges from the water, we’re dealing with a piece that takes up about as much real estate on the shelf as she is tall. Nevertheless, this is a sizeable and hefty piece that commands attention on the shelf. The figure is pushing up from the surface of the water, with her hands resting on a jutting rock, while her tail disappears into the water (right about where her knees would be) and protrudes again to show off the majestic fin at the end of her tail. It’s a cool effect, and while the tail is a separate piece, I can definitely buy it being all connected under the water. I think the composition here is perfect, as it allows for a number of sweet spots so you can be a little creative with its orientation on the shelf. Truth be told, this lady looks great from just about any angle.

The tail itself features a sculpted checkered pattern of scales and an absolutely gorgeous coat of deep crimson red paint with a subtle sheen to it. Yeah, I made a Salmon crack before, but this is clearly red not pink. There are some semi-translucent fins coming off of each side near the waist, where fish meets lady. At first, I was thinking it would have been cool to work in an area where the tail gradually gave way to human flesh, but on second thought, that might have been a little creepy and gross. Given the stylized nature, I’m fine with the definitive cut off. The tail fins are cast in an opaque milky plastic with some gradient red running through it. It’s quite lovely and majestic, almost resembling flower pedals as it sweeps out and curves down at the tips. The tail manages to be impressive without being oppressive, as it really only blocks the view of the figure from directly behind.

Of course, the lady half is what garners the most of my attention, and that’s because she’s stunningly beautiful. The contours of her body match that undeniable Campbell style that makes me swoon (while making Twitter nutbags exclaim “OMG, WHERE R HER ORGANZZZ???” The fact that she’s pushing herself up on off the rock allows for some serious chest poofing, of which I am definitely a fan. It is, after all, a well known fact that Mermaids have no concept of modesty and they will advertise their goods to any fish or sailor that happens to be gawking. In this case, however, her rather elaborate shell necklace manages to conceal just enough of her copious chest to give this piece a PG rating.

The necklace is not only beautifully sculpted and painted, but talking about it more allows me to take some strategic close ups of her shells. This collection of conches, starfish, and other undersea treasures is painted in pink and turquoise with a pearlescent finish. She also sports a gold bicep band on her left arm.

And that brings us to the portrait, which is a stunning piece of work. A design style as singularly distinctive as Campbell’s cannot be easy to adapt to a 3D model, and yet the wizards at Sideshow seem to have mastered the art of this conversion. I think this Mermaid is right up there with Tinkerbell in perfectly capturing JSC’s talents. From the high cheekbones and almond eyes to the slope of the nose and the perfect lips, this head sculpt brings the 2D art to life. The paint here is exquisite as well. The applications on the eyebrows, eyes, and lips are all sharp and crisp, and the warm, soft skin throughout the statue has a subtle freckling that really brings this fish-gal to life. And while I would have preferred the redhead version of the original, this Morning Editions flowing blonde hair is certainly a worthy alternative.

Our final stop, as always, is the base, and here we have a simple black oval with a beautiful resin water effect, which ripples around the rock and tail. The jagged rock looks real enough as to have been plucked from the sea and glued onto the statue. The mermaid’s fingers grasp at each end of it, with her fingers adorned in gold rings, and her wrists covered with golden bangles. There’s even some pink nail polish on her fingernails.

The bottom of the base has the Fairytale Fantasies logo in gold foil against a pink backdrop. This combination looks striking in person, but my camera had troubles with it, so it’s not quite as prominent in the picture. Also here on the underside of the base, the statue is hand numbered. Mine is 495/1500. As far as I know, there was no Sideshow Exclusive version of this one, which is a shame. Tinkerbell came with a metal concept art card, but I’ll have to settle with picking up the concept art print off of JSC’s store to display with her.

If you’re a fan of J. Scott Campbell’s work and are looking to throw some money at some JSC for your shelf, this Fairytale Fantasies line is a great way to go, and I believe both of these statues are still available at various online retailers, including Sideshow themselves. I don’t think anyone has managed to capture Campbell’s work nearly as well in statue form and I think the subject matter is a perfect fit for the style. I’ll confess that I was a little worried that the variant colors would be a constant reminder that I missed out on the original, but that hasn’t been the case. For the record, there is also a purple tail brunette variant, which I believe was a JSC Store Exclusive too. I picked up this piece from Sideshow when they were doing a free shipping sale, which amounts to quite a bit of savings when you’re talking about a heavy statue like this one, and after applying some reward points, this fishy lady set me back about $250. A fine catch, if you ask me. I still have Alice to review, and Cinderella is slated to be released next year.

Feb 21 2020

J. Scott Campbell’s Fairytale Fantasies Collection: Tinkerbell by Sideshow

My love for J. Scott Campbell’s artwork knows no bounds, but I don’t get to talk about it here on FFZ as much as I’d like to. That’s because despite the tons of Campbell’s comics and art prints in my collection, the collectible merchandise based on his art just isn’t as prolific as I would like. We’ve had some action figures from Danger Girl and Gen 13, and some statues based on his art, but that stuff seems to be few and far between. But that’s not to say Sideshow hasn’t been doing their part lately. They’ve done some very nice statues based on Campbell’s Spider-Man art, a Premium Format of Abbey Chase, which I promise I’ll get around to reviewing sooner rather than later, and now they’re working on the Fairytale Fantasy Collection, thus far releasing J. Scott Campbell’s versions of The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, and today’s subject of review… Tinkerbell!

The statue is comprised of polyresin and reproduced in roughly one-sixth scale. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say she’s 12-inches tall, since, being a fairy, Tinkerbell isn’t exactly people-sized. The standard statue was limited to 3500 pieces, but the Sideshow Exclusive that I’m looking at today was limited to 1500. Tink comes encased in two slabs of Styrofoam and ships in a very attractive enclosed box. The artwork on the box alone is worthy of display, and I’ve actually got a couple of prints of similar art coming to me from Campbell’s webstore. She comes mostly assembled and ready for display, the only set up required is to plug the metal foot post into the base, which was easy to do thanks to a perfect fit. This little pixie has been on my shelf for a while now, and I’m truly excited to finally get around to giving her the spotlight.

If all you need is faith, trust, and a little pixie-dust, than Sideshow must possess it all in spades, because this statue came out gorgeous! Tink stands on her tip-toes atop an ornate brass compass with one hand on her hip and the other trailing beside her. Her head is turned off to the side and her impressive wings (all 11-inches of them!) fan out behind her. The composition just exudes spunky confidence! Obviously, Campbell has branded Tink with his singular style of sex appeal, giving her legs that go on for miles and flow beautifully into the rest of her curves. I’ve always thought Campbell’s work blends well with Disney’s designs and Tink here is about as best an example that I can come up with.

Tink’s petite costume covers only the essentials and consists of two sculpted leaves, one covering her front and the other the back, and secured together with sculpted and painted laces running up each side of the makeshift dress. The dress is convincing as being something separate that’s actually worn by the figure, even though I’m pretty sure it’s just part of the sculpt. It has a plunging neckline to show off her fairy goodies up top, but comes to a point down below so as not to show off too much of her fairy goodies. On the flip-side, the dress exposes enough of her back to see where the wings connect, and makes the most minimal effort possible at hiding her pixie-tush. Tink accessorizes her costume with three simple green bands: One worn on her right bicep, another around her left ankle, and the third as a thin choker necklace. Finally, she has a sprig of ivy painted around her right thigh. Because there isn’t a whole lot to her costume, the statue gets by mostly showing smooth skin, but the detail work in the dress is very nice, and did I mention how great the curves look? Yeah, I probably did, but I’ll say it again anyway because I just love how Campbell does curves when he draws his ladies, and this statue does a fine job reproducing them in 3D.

The paint on the figure is also worthy of praise, but that pretty much goes without saying when it comes to Sideshow’s work. Most impressive to me is the skin-tone, which is so soft and warm and lifelike. A lot of that is thanks to the gradient shades used for the shadows, which looks particularly good around her knees and the arches of her feet. It’s so easy for these statues to come out looking flat and lifeless, but Tink here is anything but. Likewise, there’s a great mix of green paint used on the dress, from darker green around the edges to the more yellowish green in the middle. Because of the rather simple costume, there isn’t a lot of opportunity for slop on this figure, nor is there really any that I can see. Of course most of the detailed paint is on the portrait, so let’s go there next!

As much as Campbell has a signature way of drawing a lady’s curves, his portraits are really the trademark of his art style and it’s here where I think that style matches so well with Disney’s. The big eyes, the pouty lips, the dainty little nose, it’s unmistakably Tinkerbell, albeit with a saucier flavor than what the kids are used to seeing. Once again, the paint here is impeccable, from the emerald green pupils in her eyes to the glossy pink lips. Her short hair is secured with a painted green hair band and a few strands have escaped to fall down the left side of her face and gently kiss her chin. This is one of those times where the portrait came out every bit as good as the image we were solicited with, and these days, that’s no small feat.

My final stop on the figure is that gorgeous set of wings, and here is where most of my trepidation lay while waiting to get the figure in hand. If they were too thin, they’d look cheap and be terribly fragile. If they were too thick, they’d look unconvincing. In the end, I think Sideshow got them just right. They certainly lean toward being thick, and the golden top edges are where most of the heft can be found. The rest consist of semi-translucent plastic with patterns running through them. Each of the four wings secure firmly into her back and I have no worries about them coming loose or easily breaking off.

And that brings us down to the base, which is quite a work of art in itself. I love the fact that they used the compass as a base, as it gives a sense of scale and reinforces the fact that Tink is supposed to be tiny. There’s a crocodile motif sculpted around the side of the compass and a single ring protruding from the top. The surface that Tink is standing on is clear plastic, displaying the needle and the face of the compass beneath it. It’s pretty convincing as an actual instrument and it’s wonderful to see Sideshow put so much effort into it.

Flip the base over and you get the series logo, Tinkerbell’s name, and the hand-numbered limitation. Mine is #241/1500. As far as getting a lower number, I guess that’s not too shabby, but then I did pre-order this statue the day it went up. So, other than the smaller circulation number, what else is different about the Sideshow Exclusive?

The Exclusive also came with this metal art card and stand. The card features some of the original concept art that this statue is based on. The stand is painted gold to match the base of the statue and has a simple slot running through the middle that allows the card to stand at a bit of an angle. The colors are vibrant and I dare say this piece would be worthy of display even without the statue to go with it!

When Sideshow first showed off this series, I knew I was going to get at least one for my collection and then if budget allowed I would see what happened. And as great as all three of the statues looked, it wasn’t a hard decision on which one to go for. Tinkerbell was the one that called to me, and it was the one that had me slapping the pre-order button. And if you can’t tell by this review, I had absolutely no regrets. At $300, she’s a little more pricey than the statues I’m used to buying in this scale, but then it’s easy for me to see where the money went. The sculpt is lovely, the colors are vibrant and her beautiful golden wings make people take notice of her even from across the room. And besides, having another piece of J. Scott Campbell’s art realized in 3D form? How can I put a price on that anyway? As for the other two? Well, the first release of The Little Mermaid has sold out, so if I go for that piece it will have to be a variant. Alice in Wonderland, on the other hand, is still available, and I’m considering picking her up more and more each day.