Superhero Times: a service of Action Online
For those living under a rock, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opens in theaters today.
Speaking of rocks, Ben Grimm, aka: The Thing as played by Michael "The Shield" Chiklis, returns to the big screen and collector displays as this new 1/4th scale movie maquette from Sideshow Collectibles.
Developed by Spectral Motion and Sideshow Collectibles, this highly detailed figure became the basis and original model to create the full-sized Thing suit for the Fantastic Four movie. The maquette is made of solid polystone and measures in at a smacking 16 inches tall.
Packaging: The Thing features a full-color, four-sided display box featuring dynamic photos of the statue in all its glory. The sides show a more bust level shot while the front gives a larger frontal view.
The back contains a full-figure shot, as well as a write-up on the piece. While it may be just a fluke, the glue on my box seemed rather weak and the box itself basically fell apart as I was sliding the Styrofoam shell out. Not a big deal though as you wil be opening this bad boy anywho.
Sculpting: If you ever wanted a life-like Thing of your very own, this would be the closest you’re going to get aside from Michael Chiklis standing in your living room in full movie gear.
The sculpting is dead-on, and you can really see the actor’s likeness behind that rocky exterior. And speaking of rocks, great care was taken to carve and mold each individual rock on his body, giving him a fantastic texture that feels like real rock with the help of the polystone. Ben Grimm is sculpted in a static, resting stance that is more artful than exciting. He even features his trade-mark stogie dangling between his fingers.
He stands upon a flat, stone base that is permanently attached.
Paint: Nothing represents the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing better than a pair of ever-lovin blue eyes. Besides this notable and necessary part of this piece, The Thing has an outstanding paint job that complements his rocky physique.
The paint that darkens in his crevices of rock really makes this piece three-dimensional. The spatters over the rock give it a realistic coloring. Ben’s pants have an airbrushed quality to them that contrasts and compliments the rock.
Cost & Overall Impression: Overall, the Thing maquette joins the ranks of a long-line of outstanding movie collectibles from Sideshow Collectibles. Any Marvel comic fan that likes the Thing or the Fantastic Four will love this high-quality piece.
This piece is available now through for $170.00.
For more images of Sideshows movie Thing maquette, CLICK HERE.
Review and Photos by Michael Klein
