Earthdate: 21/02/2018
This will be the single-most expensive purchase I have done for my collection outside of furniture – and I have no regrets. I'm going to cover some of my experience with this particular statue, there were some admittedly frustrating points in the progress of the day, but all in all its an outstanding figure
I booted it from my pile of loot at BBTS, a little over a week ago, however I had selected USPS. BBTS, and their excellent customer service spent days attempting to get hold of me (I tend to not answer calls from non local callers) and they sent me an email - which got snared up in the system, and I finally got a few days later. They said that USPS could not take the parcel due to its weight, and likely size. They offered Fedex as an alternative, and I agreed. They said it would ship the following Monday (as it was Friday afternoon) and would arrive sometime during that week.
I was given a tracking number which showed all manner of details such as weight, size, how many was sent, when it should arrive - which is lovely. Canada Post never shows that sort of detail when its tracked.
So at about 1:30pm this afternoon (Feb 21, 2018) the door dings, and my husband and I fly up the stairs to greet the driver. We have a parking lot outside our town-house and our neighbours were away, which allowed the driver to back in conveniently. This was great because I was floored by the massive size of the box that awaited me on the back of the truck. My husband retrieved the dolly and he and the driver loaded it on and we took it inside. I wondered if it would even fit in the door. I pay what was owing on the shipping, and we haul it inside.
BBTS: A++
Shipping A+
| Fedex Arrives | |
Just off the Truck
Will it fit?
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We pull it into the living room, where my mother, who's recovering from recent surgery, wanted to see what it was I had. She was gob-stopped for the size of the package. We undid the box, and found that the box had another box inside. The shipper was a double walled carton with ample bubble wrap to protect the contents. So like opening up king tuts tomb, we tugged the statue's box out and folded up the shipping carton.
With a flourish of my pairing knife, I slipped the second carton open and guess what was inside; three more boxes! These boxes were beautiful – although one was slightly dented - that is neither here nor there providing the contents were safe. Two of the boxes sported photos of the finished statue, from the front and from the back, and on the flap it had an oversized G1-style tech-spec. One box was an ordinary cardboard, which had the base protected in very dense foam. In fact everything was packaged in this dense foam, wrapped in paper then placed in plastic bags, protected by being set within snug cut outs which were fitted with foam lids, with a lid on top of that to hold it all in.
Packaging: A++
| What's in the Box! | |
What's In the Box?
Another Box!
What's on the Box?
Carton Dimensions
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Pretty Packaging
Front and Back design
Transformer Sized Tech-spec
Accurate
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Now that I had the figure in hand, I could get a measure on the base and decide if I could run to Ikea to get that table I was eyeing up. Since the base also had the details of the statue, including stickers of authenticity, Its edition number (115 of 400) and whatnot, I decided on a wood table with a glass top.
My spouse and I measured the distance between the rubber feet and we took a quick jaunt to Ikea. The table I wanted was perfect. The glass area was less than the distance of the feet, which meant the statue would be resting on the wood. This allowed the details of the statue to be visible, albeit by laying on your back under the table, instead of being impossibly obstructed. The table chosen to display was called a Malmsta, which goes along with the rest of the room's decor nicely, it's a sturdy build, attractive and cost $129 Canadian. The Perfect table.
Left over parts: 1 wood dowel-peg
Malmsta: A++
| The Table | |
Malmsta Table
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Some assembly required...
The statue came with a beautiful instruction booklet, with full colour photos, clearly numbered and displayed in both complete and exploded form. Each part had a rare earth magnet in the joint that enabled it to snap together securely - this was amazing.
The set-up of the statue chugged along pretty nicely. As I stated earlier, each part was wrapped neatly and nestled away with loving care. My spouse helped by unwrapping each part, we started with the rockets to build up the base, and placed the paper and bags back in their original location. This kept the assembly clean and fairly quick. All was trucking along nicely until the right leg...
The right leg of doom... Resin, which this statue is made of, when removed from the mould sometimes may get a bit out of shape. This was a problem for the right leg and the left arm - to a lesser degree with the left arm. Some damage was caused to the joint while I attempted to remedy this problem. Instead of sharp 90° angles in the leg, it was rounded. I had to take a file and try to round off some edge on the leg joint at the body. Unfortunately I did some damage to the inside of the joint, however that is inside so it won't notice. The fact I had to file the statue to get the leg to fit, was a downer. It is fortunate I have tools at my disposal and I am quite acquainted with modifying things (such as war hammer) that I wasn't phased in the least. After a good amount of time filing, I had it fitting.
Another downer was a chip in the resin near this particular joint. We noticed it before I made my modification and after checking the bags and the area I was working with, we decided that this must have occurred prior to packaging. A little silver paint should fix it up, and its not that noticeable, however it is irritating all the same.
Another small problem we encountered, which is easily fixed, however a bit worrisome due to the fact resin is absolutely brittle and will shatter, is a rare earth magnet popped out of the left wrist. This was fixed with a small dab of Gel super glue.
Once these areas of trouble were addressed and rectified, the statue went together like bacon and eggs.
I have to say that as we went along that statue became heavier and heavier and I was grateful for my spouse's help as I needed a break from holding it. It has the size and the weight of a baby (a much smaller head though) The paint and feel of the figure is beautiful. Great details and a lovely addition to any collection, problems aside.
Once it was all set we gently moved the display into the corner of the room where it just looks amazing.
Statue: A++
Statue Problems: C (There should be no need for those quality issues for something with this price point.
Helpful Spouse: A++
I would rate this figure at about an A to A+ But I had problems and I may be an exception rather than the rule.
| Statue Set Up | |
Thick, Dense Foam
Careful Cutouts
115 of 400
Magnificent
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Closeup of face
Top of head
Magnetic neck joint
Clear plate on shoulder
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Right Side Details
Right Hand
Inverted insignia in relief
Clear Amber Canopy
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Left Leg Detail
Left Tail Wing
Knee joint detail
Base details
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Properly illuminated
With Masterpiece (Walmart variant)
With Classics and WST
Just a Small Corner
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And yes, I have a mannequin.
