Topic: Gabriel Dracula statue by First 4 Figures

[crisis]

He looks bored.

pffft u wish you were Dracula, son
you friends withJason David Frank?

[LuxKiller65]

So this one and Simon will be around 800$. Oh well, back to my loose NES carts.

[e105beta]

I would have loved one, but alas, no space for one, nor the spare pennies.  Could you do a review please, of yours, with photos?

Sure, I'll spin something up later this week.

[Crying Freeman]

Another beautiful figure! I'd go with the Simon one personally, but damn this ones also excellent!

[e105beta]

Sorry for the delay, Seraph. Just had a kid and she's been eating up most of my time.

A quick background: I buy a lot of figures, from collectibles, to decoratives, to action figures, typically in the $10 - $80 range. But at its price point, this was quite the purchase for me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I love the art and design of the LoS series, so it was an easy purchase.

I must say, I'm impressed. As a high end figure, this definitely lives up to my expectations, and in many ways it exceeds them.



Overall, the level of detail is very impressive.



Material:
The choice of polystone, over vinyl for example, really gives this figure the weight it needs. It makes it feel like a "statuette" rather than a "figurine", as nebulous as those terms are, and given the size of the figure it was definitely the right choice. Also a plus, for me at least, is that it comes in four pieces (Base, Throne, Dracula, Hand), so that cleaning it doesn't require me to root around in any cracks. It uses magnets for everything but putting the throne into the base, so it's just a matter of pulling the Dark Lord off his throne and dusting! And since I got the special edition, I got the wine glass hand, which I can switch out with his regular hand.




Paint:
The paint job is really spot on. No bleeding that I could see. The throne, for example, has plenty of love and care put into despite that fact that it isn't quite the focal of this figure. Even close up, the wood looks realistic. I won't say it looks like real wood, which you can see by comparing it to my actual wood table, but then again my table isn't painted. It's definitely realistic. The clothes are also a strong point, particularly the detail on the trim of Dracula's outfit, and while they don't look cloth, they do look stone, which compliments the design since his clothes never really looked cloth to begin with save for the cape. The slight cracking in his chest adds huge yet subtle detail, and his face is solidly painted. No complaints there.

The two major pain points are the base and the hair. The base is pretty bad compared to the rest of the figure, but its excusable given that it's, you know, the base. Also, it's not that bad, which should emphasize how much I like the figure. The hair, on the other hand, is not bad, but it seems out of place. It would look great on an anime figure, but it just doesn't match up to quality of the rest of this figure. I recognize that it's pretty damn hard to do realistic hair on a figurine, but it's slight cartooniness makes it stand out. It probably sounds like it really bothers me, but it doesn't, it's just something I noticed upon analysis. (I guess it matches the source material! Heyooo)

Also I really like the wine. It's a great touch.




Sculpt:
The level of detail etching is probably the best I've seen on a figure. The hair has the same problems in sculpt that it did in paint, and that really could have been somewhere the artist could have really shined by adding some much needed fine detail, but it's still shaped very well. His clothing has very real texture to it, which if the lighting is right, really adds to the fairly minimal shading. That could be said of everything really. There is so much really fine detail in the sculpt that gives very real weight and very real depth to almost every piece of this figure. The clothes have actual texture, the wood has cracks and grooves and grain, and there is not a single part on this figure where paint is used INSTEAD of sculpt. Every detail has been sculpted, and the paint is just there to enhance that sculpt.

Which makes the hair just that much more perplexing.

Overall I give it a 9/10

[TatteredSeraph]

Awesome, cheers for the review!  I really appreciate it.  Would you say that it lives up then to the preview photos in terms of quality?  I'd been tempted, but alas I lack the space to display him, which is why I decided in the end to not get one.  I'd love one of the art prints however, had I the money for one of the big, fancy ones.  The print of Gabriel in front of the burning cross in particular is a fave of mine.

(Sorry, just as a side note I actually prefer 'Tattered' or 'Tatt' over 'Seraph', out of habit of others calling me that. )

[e105beta]

Yes, I'd say it defnitely does live up to the preview photos. I was skeptical myself, but it really does look that well made.

[zangetsu468]

It's a nicely crafted statue but seems un-engaging overpriced. Comparatively on ebay when buying solid resin statues which are painted, some which are beautiful and up to around 18 inches in height go for under $300 with worldwide delivery. 

[Ratty]

This actually reminds me of some old Hellsing Alucard model kit(s?) which have been around forever (At least 3 styles/options- Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 ) I suppose Dracula sitting on a throne is just a natural theme.  Though of course the level of detail on this is much nicer and it comes pre-painted compared to those old Hellsing kits, most or all of which are unofficial as far as I know.

While this figure looks nice I'm in the "I'd never pay that much for any small statue" camp (which is why I'll never have a collection of sideshow universal monsters  ) I don't even have the space to display the statues etc. I've already got really.

[zangetsu468]

This actually reminds me of some old Hellsing Alucard model kit(s?) which have been around forever (At least 3 styles/options- Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 ) I suppose Dracula sitting on a throne is just a natural theme.  Though of course the level of detail on this is much nicer and it comes pre-painted compared to those old Hellsing kits, most or all of which are unofficial as far as I know.

While this figure looks nice I'm in the "I'd never pay that much for any small statue" camp (which is why I'll never have a collection of sideshow universal monsters  ) I don't even have the space to display the statues etc. I've already got really.

I like Example 3 painted better than the Gabriel statue. I'm not saying it's technically better/ better quality or higher value. I just think it looks nicer and more vibrant.

[Ratty]

I like Example 3 painted better than the Gabriel statue. I'm not saying it's technically better/ better quality or higher value. I just think it looks nicer and more vibrant.

Yeah I might have to agree. Though that is a particularly nice paint job someone did on that example.

[zangetsu468]

Yeah I might have to agree. Though that is a particularly nice paint job someone did on that example.

True, this sort of art is about capturing a moment though isn't it. I like the moment caught in the Hellsing figure more.