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Marvel Collector's Club
12" Punisher Statue


NECA has been working with Marvel on the Marvel Collector's Club, producing some amazing high quality 12" scale statues at great prices.

Their first release was Spider-Man of course, and since they've followed up with Psylocke, Nightcrawler and now the Punisher.  Each sells originally to club members for $35.  Yep, $35.

I believe everything but Punisher is currently sold out, but they also have pre-orders up for a new Spidey, this one a sort of 3 D wall hanging.

It's no surprise they picked the Punisher, with the movie coming out this year, but this is not based on the film property.  Rather, this is a comic book version, but not a cartoony style.

Packaging - *1/2
You might think I'm being a little generous here, since these come in the most basic packaging humanly possible.  It's just a foam insert inside a plain cardboard box.  But while it's not much to look at, at least it keeps the statue safe and sound, it's number one priority.




I knocked another half star off though because mine had a bent gun barrel due to not fitting quite right in the insert.  I had to work at it for awhile to get it looking fairly good again, so it effected the basic score.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, there's no COA or other documentation.  As long as that means the price stays dirt cheap, it's fine by me.

Sculpting - ***
For me, there's a distinct difference on this statue from the neck up and from the neck down.

If I were grading this on only the sculpt from the neck down, you could add at least another half star.  The work on the body, clothes and weapons is excellent. There's tons of detail, and the flow of the clothing fits the stance and form perfectly, making him look exceptionally realistic.

Although all the weapons are part of the larger overall sculpt, they are done in relief in such a way to make them look wholly separate.  The gun stuffed in the belt is the perfect example, and perhaps my single favorite part of the overall sculpt.

The scale is also good, and he's a solid 12" tall, if not just a tad more.  Standing next to the Blade figure from Toybiz, he's leaner but more realistic, as you'd expect from a statue.

Ah, but then there's from the neck up.  And what a truly magnificent neck it is!  I thought I had a giraffe neck, but this guy has me beat.  Perched so very high up there on that long neck is a fairly decent head sculpt, although the chin seems a little weak.  That's partly due to the fact that he's looking down, but when you have him in person (and at certain angles in photos), it is more noticeable and annoying.

Paint - ***
One area that's been a bit of an issue for NECA on these low cost statues has been the paint operations.  Here we see improvement, although they still have a few things to correct.

The black looks good, and the lighter and darker areas on the jacket an clothing give a nice 'worn' impression.  The skin tone is consistent, and the hair line clean - maybe a little too clean.  It is razor sharp, without a blip anywhere, and while that's good, it doesn't necessarily look real.

I'm particularly happy with the paint work on the name in front of the base.  They've managed to capture the blue to white transition perfectly, and it really adds to the overall appearance.

The skull is pretty impressive on the shirt, and actually follows the contours fairly well, rather than just being painted on.  If there's one area that has problems, it's between the handles of the weapons, particularly the handgun, and the hands.  There's a bit of slop and poor definition here, and it takes away from the overall appearance.

Design - ***1/2
Didn't I see this guy as the front man for Toys R Us?  Okay, maybe I'm ragging on his poor old neck a little too much.

I do think the stance, position of the head, and how he's holding the weapons all work together nicely to give him an aura of bad ass.  It was a great design choice, and the statue is also nice and hefty, with very solid metal pegs in his feet to attach him to his base.

To sum it up - great design, excellent quality, hella long neck.

Value - ****
Thirty five bucks for a 12" statue of this quality?  Hey, even with a neck like that, you can't beat the price.  It's no wonder that these statues have consistently been selling out.

Overall - ***
For me, I can't quite go another half star because of, well, that neck.  See, there was this childhood trauma involving a trip to the zoo and a frisky giraffe...let's just say it wasn't pretty.

But if you're looking at the rest of the sculpt, the overall quality of the work, and particularly the value, then you can't really go wrong with this statue.  He's not quite as cool as Nightcrawler, but then, he was pooping out pink puffballs.

Where to Buy - 
If you want him, you better hit the Collector's Club.  Otherwise, you'll probably end up paying more than the $35 on the secondary market.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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