Tag Archives: women of dynamite

Oct 7 2020

Women of Dynamite: Sheena Queen of the Jungle Limited Edition Statue by Dynamite

When it comes to comics, there was no shortage of feral blonde bombshells stalking the floppy jungles. Marvel has the ravishing Shaana the She-Devil and Dynamite dared to one-up them with TWO buxom tree-dwellers: Jana The Jungle Girl (who recently got a wonderful TPB Omnibus release) and, the focus of today’s review, Sheena the Queen of the Jungle! I didn’t need a whole hell of a lot of convincing to buy a Sheena statue, but when you toss in the fact that it’s based on the art of one of my favorite artists, J. Scott Campbell, this was basically a required purchase. But it was also one made with some trepidation. The Women of Dynamite statue series has been really hit-and-miss when it comes to quality control. So much so, that their Vampirella got a second release which promised to improve on the dire paint of the original. I picked that one up and while I did review her fairly favorably, it still wasn’t quite up to my expectations for a $150+ limited statue. Hopefully Sheena will fare a little better. I will confess, however, that I was slightly worried about the fact that most of the promo material for this piece was a 3D render rather than a painted prototype. Not usually a good sign!

Sheena comes in a fully enclosed box, which is fairly sizable given that this statue is roughly one-sixth scale. The box art is colorful and we finally get some shots of what I presume is the prototype. The side panel shows off some of the repainted variants that are available for this piece, including a B&W version and even an arctic version, which fails to put any more clothes on poor shivering Sheena. The statue inside is made of resin and comes encased between two Styrofoam bricks. Along with the statue you get a hand-numbered limitation card (denoting that this had a run of 750 pieces) as well as a card acknowledging that the statue was made possible by a Kickstarter campaign. I watched that campaign closely, but ultimately had to bow out of backing it because of the lack of a physical prototype. There are quite a few companies that I would trust pre-ordering based on a render, but Dynamite is not one of them. Ultimately, I picked her up through an online retailer, and she is still available through Sideshow at the time I’m writing this review.

And here she is freed of her confinement and on the prowl. Sheena is based off of the Campbell’s cover for 2017’s Sheena Queen of the Jungle #1. The only real difference is on the cover she’s depicted holding on to two vines, while here she has one hand resting on the tree and another holding her knife. It’s a clever work-around, as the vines leading to nowhere probably wouldn’t have worked for a statue. The tweaks allow her to retain the essentials of the cover art while even adding a little more excitement to it, as she has her weapon at the ready and looks like she’s about to pounce. As in the cover, Sheena’s left foot stretches forward with her toes clutching the tree, while her right leg is held back as if ready to propel herself atop her unseen foe. In terms of composition, I have no complaints here, the choices they made are all excellent and serve the character extremely well.

Sheena’s skimpy costume consists of some shredded leopard skins, which do little to conceal the Jungle Queen’s modesty. These are sculpted as part of the statue but hang off of her quite realistically and look great. Sometimes resin sculpted outfits can look rather thick and unnatural, but that’s certainly not the case here. The paint is also very well done, giving the garment a shade of yellow slightly deeper than Sheena’s hair and some meticulously painted brown spots. It’s secured by a sculpted belt, which feels a little too modern or civilized for the rest of the costume, although in fairness it is depicted on the cover. Maybe it was included to give her somewhere to carry her knife, although there isn’t a sheath. The rest of her costume consists of gold bangles on her wrists, and another on her left ankle, and finally a pair of gold bicep cuffs. And as nice as the outfit looks, its best attribute is that it shows off so much of Sheena’s best attributes. The sculpt does a nice job recreating those stylized curves that have become a trademark of Campbell’s sexy ladies. There’s a lot to enjoy here, but I think it’s Sheena’s legs that draw my eye the most. They are absolutely stunning and go on for days! What’s more the paint quality and application used for her skin tone is smooth, even, and absolutely perfect.

The portrait turned out fine, but as with Vampirella, I’m only seeing a little bit of Campbell’s work in there with more from some angles and less from others. The nose and lips look right, the overall structure of the face seems right, but the eyes aren’t quite there. In fairness, Campbell’s women are hard to copy in three-dimensions. Up until now I think Sideshow has been one of the few to get it spot-on. Still, I like what we got well enough. The paint is neatly applied, especially around the lips, and I’d say that goes for pretty much the whole statue. There are a few spots here and there where the paint lines could have been a little sharper, but you need to get in pretty close to start seeing any real imperfections. That alone makes this a huge improvement over the previous Women of Dynamite release that I reviewed. The hair sculpt is a little chunky, but that’s to be expected with resin and overall I think they captured the flow of her hair pretty well. The tribal necklace is a nice touch too!

They made an interesting choice with the base by putting the tree on a plain black disk, rather than going for a total diorama display. I kind of like it, as the contrast really brings out the detail in the tree itself. The bark is realistically sculpted and painted in a rich chocolate brown and additional vegetation is sculpted onto it, including some moss, vines, and leaves to imbue it with an unruly jungle flavor. I do love me some contrasts in my statues and the rough bark against her smooth skin makes for some great composition.

The bottom of the base indicates that this is the Standard Edition, as this piece was available in a number of different paint variations. The sculptor, Steve Kiwus is also credited here, although I’m surprised that Campbell didn’t get his name inscribed on here as well. The copyright is for 2019, but the statue was actually released this year. Finally, we have the limitation, which is hand numbered. Mine is a fairly high number: 662 of 750, but I’ll take what I can get.

And here’s a shot of her with the cover art she’s based on. I’m proud to have a CGC Graded copy of Sheena #1 signed by Campbell. And it’s the gold foil variant too! I’ll definitely be displaying these two items together!

If you can’t tell, I’m extremely happy with how this piece turned out and it’s nice to see that Dynamite is upping their game with these releases. Honestly, it was a bit of a tense moment when I opened it and had my first look at her, but gradually that apprehension was replaced with relief and then sheer delight! The sculpt, quality of paint, and precision of application are all where they need to be, making for quite an iconic and undeniably sexy display piece. But is it worth the price of admission? Mmm… that depends on where you get her. MSRP seems to be around $190 which seems pretty high for what you’re getting. I was able to pick her up for $130 and I had some gift cards to toss in, so like Vampirella, she came in at under $100 and I’m perfectly satisfied with that. Now, if only they can take another crack at Dejah Thoris and have it turn out as good as this, I’d be willing to go back to Dynamite for a third time!

Oct 18 2019

Women of Dynamite: Vampirella Limited Edition Statue by Dynamite

I know, I haven’t been back since Marvel Monday. My apologies for the lack of content this week, but that pesky thing called life took its toll on me and my time, along with plans to write about and photograph toys, crumbled. I did, however, have a little time today to check in with something, and since October is in full swing, why not check out a spooky statue. And by spooky I mean erotic. And by erotic I mean, it’s Vampirella! This was the first release in the Women of Dynamite series of statues, and one that I’ve had my eye on for a while. I mean, it’s Vampirella based on J. Scott Campbell’s artwork. How badly do you think you need to twist my arm? Alas, the paint quality on these statues have a reputation for being infamously bad, so I’ve stayed away. But when Dynamite subsequently re-released Vampirella and said, “We painted her good this time, honest!” that was enough for me to give her a try. Well, that and a deep discount, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

The Temptress from Drakulon comes in a fully enclosed box with a lot of artwork and shots of the statue. I really dig the presentation here, as it sort of reminds me of the old Aurora model kit boxes, and that sure ain’t a bad thing. Oddly enough, one of the panels is orientated in landscape format, but it does this to facilitate showing the statue from all angles. The packaging calls out that it’s based on the art of J. Scott Campbell and that it’s sculpted by Jason Smith. One panel actually states that the statue was “meticulously painted” which probably went over big if you got one of the original run. Inside the box, Vampirella comes sandwiched inside a styrofoam brick and there’s a certificate taped on one end with the hand-numbered limitation. In my case, I got #970 of 1969. You may also note the II beside the number, denoting that this is from the second production run. Vampirella is approximately 12-inches of cold-cast porcelain and comes fully assembled for display.

When it comes to composition, Vampirella can’t get more iconic than this pose. She stands with one knee drawn slightly in front of the other and with her cape clutched in each of her hands, trailing behind her. This piece may not win any points for originality, but it’s sure to be a favorite with the fans, and yes that includes me. And since the first thing I did when I opened her was scrutinize the paint, let’s just go ahead and start there. Overall, the precision of the application is actually pretty solid. There are certainly some uneven lines between her skimpy suit and skin, but nothing outrageous, and certainly nothing that stands out if I’m just admiring her on the shelf. Other areas, like the lines around the tops of her boots or the edges of her jewelry are notably better. As for the quality of the paint itself, I dig the high gloss on her boots, the gold leaf is fine, and the red used for her outfit is OK, if maybe a little flat. The skin tone is appropriately on the pale side, but it’s still an even tone with no scratches or rubbing, which is sometimes prevalent on these pieces. All in all, the paintwork here isn’t going to win any prizes for best of show, but based on some of the atrocities I’ve seen from the first run of this statue, I think Dynamite succeeded in stepping things up.

As for the sculpt, I think they did a beautiful job on her figure and it certainly fits Mr. Campbell’s rather distinctive art style. She’s got curves in all the right places, legs that go on forever, a tushie that won’t quit, and a bosom that is barely contained by her wardrobe. But let’s be honest, it isn’t even really trying. She isn’t showing a whole lot in the way of musculature, but you do get some wrinkles on her suit, and the folds of her cape certainly look natural. But when it comes to replicating the great J. Scott Campbell, the body is not usually the problem, it’s the portrait…

And here’s where Vampirella takes a bit of a hit. Now, to be clear, I don’t think this is a bad portrait at all. Maybe the hair is a little chunky and the eyes can seem a little bulbous from certain angles, but overall, I think it looks good. The paint application here is also especially precise on the lips and eyes. But does it invoke Campbell’s work? Not to me. Maybe there’s a hint of it in there, but not enough to really sell it. As a result, the Vampirella fan in me is quite pleased, while the J. Scott Campbell fan in me is rather disappointed. It’s nowhere near what we’ve seen out of Sideshow’s Abbey Chase or Fairy Tail Statues this past year, and sure those are more expensive pieces, but I’d even point to McFarlane’s Danger Girl figures from many years back as more accurate representations of Campbell’s work. Let’s move on down to the base…

I love this base both in design and execution. The circular dais of stone with sculpted crossbones and skulls supports a mound of dirt with skulls and various other human remains. The paintwork on the bones is excellent and reeks of age and off-colored decay. Her high-heeled boots are perfectly placed on them, triumphant and impossibly sure-footed. If only I could end things there, but here’s where the Quality Control on my statue took a huge and unexpected hit. Check this shit out…

Yeah, this crud is all over the side. At first, I thought it was some kind of intentionally disgusting weathering, but nope, it’s unintentionally disgusting goo. It looks like some kind of grease. It has no real odor. And luckily, based on a small area I tried to clean, it looks like it will come off with a little effort. But… Why? How? What kind of QC allows something like this to go out? How do they miss this and how many statues went out like this? It’s a shame that Dynamite went through all the effort to re-release this statue with improved paint quality only to allow something this obvious and easily avoided to get through. If you flip the statue over, there’s a full plate disclosing the artist, sculptor and the numbering of the piece. And as you can see, more of the goo carried on down here. This bit might be tougher to clean without smudging the numbering, but I’ll likely give it a try. But what a shame!

Even when the second run of this piece came out, my hesitancy kept me from pulling the trigger. It took a clearance sale at an online retailer and a price of $50, which is around a third of the original selling price. And as it turns out, I’m pretty satisfied with this purchase. I don’t think that would have been the case had I picked it up at the original price, especially not when I have to clean goop off of the base, but all in all, not a bad deal. It’s not as evocative of J. Scott Campbell’s art as I would have liked, but it is a nice representation of Vampirella for my statue shelves. But does it give me the confidence to invest in one of the other Women of Dynamite statues I’ve been looking at? Mmm… not quite. At least not unless another sale comes along.