It's finally here! Anyone else on here who pre-ordered should be getting theirs soon, hopefully.
Pics and my review are below.
The good:
The detail is amazing! I know people tend to nitpick over how much a statue looks like someone, but I think this one gets it right.
Glad to see some Dangerous era rep on official merch.
The bad:
The assembly. There's a video manual from Blitzway that shows what I'm about to talk about:
Some parts of the statue have to be put together, those being the belts over the jacket, Michael's hands, ponytail, headset mic, radio for the mic, and sunglasses. The main statue also has to be inserted into the base, obviously. That part is easy, but the rest of the parts... not so much. You'd think there would be holes to insert the mic and sunglasses... but there aren't any. You kinda have to just press/mold them into Michael's head, and it's almost impossible. The headset is in two pieces, and one of them is VERY tiny and hard to work with. I actually dropped it a few times because of how hard it is to handle something so small/flimsy, and because it's so small I can see that part of the mic being very easy to lose. I wound up giving up on the mic entirely and put those pieces into a Ziploc bag and back into the box. I was able to the sunglasses on, but I do not trust them to stay on. The ponytail kinda seemed kinda hard to stay in, too, but I think I got it.
The belts were especially difficult; they hook together, but the hooks are SUPER tiny and hard to see. There seemed to be some kind of clear rubber bands on them that I wasn't sure if I had to remove first or not; but I got the belts hooked with those still on so I guess they're supposed to stay there. The last belt (the one that goes straight down over Michael's left side) also does not reach all the way down to his belt to tuck in like the video demonstrates. Maybe I'm supposed to stretch it a little more? I dunno... The radio thingy that goes in the back pocket was the easiest part, but I feel silly having it there and not having the headset since those are meant to go together.
The not bad but not good:
It's HUGE! I wish I had read the measurements more carefully before pre-ordering. I have like NO space for this anywhere (hence the rough environment with the Sailor Moon wallscroll in the background haha). I think I finally need to invest in one of those glass cabinets people put collectables into.
The box it came in was very nice and worth keeping for if/when you have to move into a new home. Unfortunately, I now need a space for this box, too...
That being said, when the statue is done, it looks AWESOME. I just wish some of the parts were easier to put in. I should also point out that this is on the Standard version and not the Black label version. Not sure if the Black label is any different, though I am curious now if it would have been easier to assemble the tiny parts on that version. There's no manual for that one out on Blitzway's channel yet, but we'll see.
Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. Just wish the tiny pieces were easier to put on. I do recommend it, but only if you can get it for much less than I did
and have the space for it.
