Review of Buck Rogers Battle Cruiser statue

Introduction

As a child of the 60's, I grew up reading Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, and watching Star Trek in re-runs. Sci-fi, including the classic early works like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, has always been part of my life.

At the last couple SDCC's, I've noticed a company called Cool Rockets. They're easy to notice, since they have some great looking retro designed rocket statues. Their early work was original designs, but using a very 30's sci-fi serial theme.

They've now branched out into their first licensed product based on the serials and comic strips of Buck Rogers. I'm checking out the Battle Cruiser tonight, but there are several others already in the works, with discussions around additional classic licenses.

This is a true limited edition, with only 1000 being produced. You can pick it up directly from them, or you can hit a couple of my sponsors where you'll spend around $150.

Packaging - ***1/2
The colorful box does a nice job showing off the ship, and the solid, dense Styrofoam trays keep the one piece statue very safe.

A nice feature is the small, colorful Certificate of Authenticity. I'd like it if the edition size and number were also on the bottom of the statue (it's not), but that's a minor quibble. I like the COA style, and the trading card size makes it easy to keep it safe.

Sculpting - ****
While I'm a Buck Rogers fan, I'm not an expert. I know the general bullet style of his flagship, the Battle Cruiser, and this incarnation looks fantastic to me.

Problem is, the Battle Cruiser went though changes over the years. Here's a look at a 1936 card game version, and Tootsie Toy did a version back in the day.

There's lots of great detail here, like the small rivets and gun turrets. This ship is no Serenity - it was armed to the teeth.

Cuts are fairly sharp, but the overall design has the rounded, flowing lines that is so common with the design s of the period.

The statue is a reasonable size, coming in at just a little more than 10" long. It won't take up too much space, but is large enough to catch the eye.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a one piece statue - the ship does not come off the post or base. The base is very large and sturdy, and will not allow the ship to tip easily.

Paint - ***1/2
The muted colors scream art deco, and the paint style matches the time period perfectly. While there's quite a bit of color here, none of it is overpowering or gaudy, and there's even some subtle wear.

Rather than try to do translucent flames shooting out the back, they went with a solid cone painted for effect. It works perfectly, matching the overall style just right.

There is a smidge of slop between the bands of color, and because they are fairly large and broad, these minor slips are more obvious. It's a minor nit though, and one that most folks won't notice.

Value - **
While this is sometimes referred to as a 'desk model', it's actually a resin statue, and a resin statue of a licensed product at that. Add in the low production run, and you know that you aren't going to get something like this for $80 - $100.

Even with those considerations, $150 is probably still a little over the sweet spot for most collectors. At closer to $125, this guy would have gotten an average value of **1/2.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing!

Overall - ***1/2
I'm a huge fan of retro licenses and original retro designs, so these ships speak to me personally. I took notice of Cool Rockets when they were producing their own designs, and like the Weta Rayguns, I love the style. But also like the Rayguns, I have always wished that someone would do licensed classic ships.

Now it looks like they've answered my prayers, and I'm hoping we see them expand into other licensed old school rockets. Now if I could just convince someone to give us blasters from Lost in Space, Forbidden Planet, and many of the other classics sci-fi shows and movies, I could die happy.

If you have someone on your Christmas list that loves sci-fi or just art deco in general, this ship would be a perfect gift. And if that someone is you, I'd suggest dropping a few hints.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Value - **
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
You can pick up this rocket (along with the rest of the series) at the Cool Rockets online store. Other online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth is carrying the Asterite ship for $150, but I didn't see this particular one.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Buck Rogers has had a few nice collectibles producted, including the full size replica Dis-integrator, the nifty retro style action figurs from Zica, and the high end action figure from Go Hero.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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