Guess what I got…
Waiting for me when I got home today was my "River Triumphant" statue from Diamond Select Toys. One of only 1,000 (#16!), this statue was sculpted by Michael Norman. Here's the lowdown.
The box was bigger than I expected. Dunno why, but I was thinking it would be maybe twice as thick as an action figure box. Instead it's as big as a good-sized monitor to hold the two separate pieces — River and the base — in plenty o' styrofoam. (The styrofoam has a raised Serenity logo on it, which made me smile when I saw it)
The statue is pleasantly heavy, with a square base and four sculpted dead Reavers arranged around it, all of them holding various wicked-looking weapons and all of them in some physical distress. Lots of detail there, lot of variation on the tattered clothing, mismatched holsters and makeshift armor. River attaches to the base with four small magnets, two in the base and two in her boots, which hold her solidly without me having to force her onto those annoying little plastic pegs. The stance is good, although I would have liked to see some dripping blood. Too PG, I guess. Plenty of blood on her dress, though. The dimensions are 7" high, 10 1/2" across, and almost 11" deep.
On her own River is a touch under 6" high, designed be in scale with the other Serenity action figures. She stands by herself very well, thank you. No moving parts.
The sculpt is better than I expected from the promo pics. The eye makeup gives her a vaguely Asian look and the face is a bit off in a way I can't describe — possibly simply because the statue isn't sweating after beating up a room full of Reavers – but from some angles it looks pretty good. The hair she has looks nicely Riverish. I think it would have helped had her hair been more over her face but that may not have been feasable for a statue.
The weapons are good, very true to the screen versions. She has her movie poster axe and the Reaver sword, and her combat boots. The paint job is decent; the touchiest areas on River are where her arms and hands touch her weapons and where her hair meets her face, there's a little bleed there (love the extended finger on the axe hand). The blood spatters on her dress do not match the ones on the box, maybe they're all different? Very likely, if they're hand painted. The Reavers are mud-spattered and dirty, the metal is worn and rusty, and the exposed brain matter glistens nicely.
On the bottom of the base is the description and hand-written number, which is also written on the bottom of the box and on the certificate of authenticity included.
Overall I'm pretty pleased, and I'm looking forward to seeing more in this line. TFAW.com has a few in stock right now for 10% off the $99 retail price. And don't miss my interview with DST's Michael Leavy about the River statue and the upcoming "Inara Strikes" statue, which you can preorder from TFAW.com for 20% off the $99 retail price. Ship date for Inara is (so far) October 31, 2007.
"and the exposed brain matter glistens nicely."
ROFLMGAO!!!
Mine's on it's way. I was looking forward to getting it before, but after this review, I'm positively DROOLING.
Hurry it up, UPS!
I received mine a few days ago, and was pretty impressed, actually. The 'Serenity' logoed styrofoam made me smile, as well.
The blood on River's dress appears to have been hand-painted and is different on mine, as well. For the record, mine is bloodier than yours.
Thanks for the photos, I haven't opened mine. I ordered it (#60) months ago to donate to the Serenity screenings but just got it yesterday. Looks like it'll have to wait until next year.
Got mine this week, as well.
From looking at River, I would not be at all surprised if this started out as an action figure, as well. It's not too hard to imagine where the cut lines in the shoulders and neck would have been.