XM Studios Thanos

[comicbookguy]

Just seen this in person to a friend who got his one, it's outstanding. I've seen pretty much all XM pieces in person so far, and Thanos is surely the most impressive along with Magneto imho. Random impressions:

-portraits are amazing. Expressions, skin and lips texturing, eyes, they're spot on
-he's very very solid. His body alone weights more or less the same as Galactus' body. Base, arms, heads, gauntlets and shoulder pads are solid too
-paint app is spot on. I didn't notice rough lines except a minimal paint bleed in one of the corners of his costume. Note: the front of his costume has a black outline in the inside, it's made on purpose. I tried a bit, from about 2 inches far you can barely see the black outline, from 4 inches it's completely invisible. It blends with the shadow cast by the costume and the creases in the suit and adds some shading to the borders of the costume
-base is good enough. I've read a lot of critics about it but it's a good sculpt. Nothing over the top but it has some very nice detailing. If this is not a good base, I wonder how people classify bases like the X and A bases or the generic rocky terrains
-he is big, bulky and has a ton of presence
-cosmic cubes are awesome as are the gems in the gauntlet. They reflect light naturally so the lack of light up is absolutely unnoticeable

Now, it also had a pair of flaws that need to be mentioned:

-two of the three gauntlets had an unglued gem (both the green one), it's a super easy fix with a drop of glue but still, I've heard it happens a lot
-there was a gap of about 2 millimeters when we attached the left arm to the body. But note that the shoulder pauldron is a separate piece and once it gets attached, the gap is unnoticeable. The gap might be intentional to accomodate properly the shoulder pads - I'll check when I receive mine next week if he has the same issue or not

Btw, even considering these two flaws, imho this is one of the best statues of the year. I've seen many big beasts in person this year, Hulk XM, Lobo PF, Galactus Maquette... and Thanos is the absolute best.

Wow spot on! I love phoenix and mags more than ever. Once you all see this it's going straight to the top. he's amazing and presence surpasses mags and green bird woman. Thanos is now the best ex statue ever made imo as well. The switch outs rule like no other.

 

[filip629]

XM Mags is still tops in my book. That piece is just flat out stunning in very way.

 

[Centurion]

Nicely done with the video DC! This is a stunning piece.

 

[DarthChrisDK]

Thanks for posting this. I just started watching you videos. Love them and bookmarked your page.

Thanks a lot! Ytuly my pleasure.

Nicely done with the video DC! This is a stunning piece.

Thanks, Centurion. Yes, it sure is.

 

[DarthChrisDK]

My review of Thanos by XM Studios is up. Check it out below:

 

[Silverine]

My review of Thanos by XM Studios is up. Check it out below:

Wow, dont let him eat jeanie !

 

[DarthChrisDK]

What if he's really, really hungry?

 

[Centurion]

Thanks for sharing DC!
I think the base is just fine. Yes, they could have included a little more depth in the coloring/shading, but it's enough to get the idea across and not take too much attention away from the main subject.
Funny, now that you mentioned the right gauntlet not having any shading, I notice it every time now. LOL! Anyway, if you pose this on your shelf with Thanos looking straight out at the viewer, his body will cast a shadow on it and won't be so noticeable. Fantastic piece!

 

[traylorc]

Mine should be here by Friday....can't wait!

 

[DarthChrisDK]

Thanks for sharing DC!
I think the base is just fine. Yes, they could have included a little more depth in the coloring/shading, but it's enough to get the idea across and not take too much attention away from the main subject.
Funny, now that you mentioned the right gauntlet not having any shading, I notice it every time now. LOL! Anyway, if you pose this on your shelf with Thanos looking straight out at the viewer, his body will cast a shadow on it and won't be so noticeable. Fantastic piece!

My pleasure!
The base isn't that bad. But I liked some of the concepts that were suggested prior to the end-result.
Yea, the lack of shading (or the very subtle shading, at best) is not big issue. There are so many details so when the light bounces off of it, it will look very good.

 

[El Mule]

Finally got it, some pics of mine. Imho, amazing piece and best rendition of the character you can get.
Some pics, average quality since I was sick yesterday and didn't have patience to redo the poor ones:

 

[DarthChrisDK]

Congrats, buddy. It's truly an amazing piece, and despite the price of it today, I feel that it is a slightly underrated piece.

 

[Asdf]

Solid paint work

 

[El Mule]

Agreed. I think it's a mix of factors - first of all, this really sold out very quick, even people with good contacts got cut off (ergo: butt hurt). Then, it directly challenges some of the most sought after pieces by competition - namely, the Sideshow diorama and Bowen's Thanos(es), ergo butt hurt again. In my opinion it simply blows them out of the water, I could never get over how Thanos has always been sculpted with ridicolous super defined anatomy and monkey-like faces, that's how Sideshow and Bowen made him. The anatomy work on the XM pieces is simply outstanding, perfectly balances his muscular build with the sculpted suit's adherence.
Just the fact that people complained about the base tells me that there's a lot of butt hurt/hate behind this piece being underrated. Base is fairly big, solid, has a good paint app and added details like the geometry on the steps, the two reapers on the side and the front Death skull - overall it's a good base and pays homage to the infinity gauntlet saga. The amount of backlash it got is ridicolous, if this is a bad base I'd like to know how to define the usual crappy rocky bases, "X" bases and "A" bases.

 

[filip629]

Agreed. I think it's a mix of factors - first of all, this really sold out very quick, even people with good contacts got cut off (ergo: butt hurt). Then, it directly challenges some of the most sought after pieces by competition - namely, the Sideshow diorama and Bowen's Thanos(es), ergo butt hurt again. In my opinion it simply blows them out of the water, I could never get over how Thanos has always been sculpted with ridicolous super defined anatomy and monkey-like faces, that's how Sideshow and Bowen made him. The anatomy work on the XM pieces is simply outstanding, perfectly balances his muscular build with the sculpted suit's adherence.
Just the fact that people complained about the base tells me that there's a lot of butt hurt/hate behind this piece being underrated. Base is fairly big, solid, has a good paint app and added details like the geometry on the steps, the two reapers on the side and the front Death skull - overall it's a good base and pays homage to the infinity gauntlet saga. The amount of backlash it got is ridicolous, if this is a bad base I'd like to know how to define the usual crappy rocky bases, "X" bases and "A" bases.

While I own the XM Thanos and think it looks fantastic, SSC's and BD's Thanos look great too IMO. I owned all 3 (sold my dio for the XM piece) and I think you can't go wrong with any of them. They are all great representations of the Mad Titan. The biggest issue for me was only scale. Neither of the other 2 were 1/4 scale and most of us needed a 1/4 Thanos for our collection. If SSC's Thanos dio was in 1/4 scale, I would have happily kept it as my 1/4 Thanos. It was a great looking piece. The fact that I like the other pieces takes nothing away from XM's Thanos. It's phenomenal. No butt hurt on my part. I really like all 3 Thanos pieces.

 

[El Mule]

Yeah it's a matter of tastes and which comic iteration of the character you prefer, I just find that sometimes (often) people become too overprotective of what they own, like if an alternative on the market somehow took away from what they own. I love this Thanos but I'm keeping an eye on a custom one too and I hope Sideshow makes a 1/4 PF before their prices increase too much.

 

[filip629]

Yeah it's a matter of tastes and which comic iteration of the character you prefer, I just find that sometimes (often) people become too overprotective of what they own, like if an alternative on the market somehow took away from what they own. I love this Thanos but I'm keeping an eye on a custom one too and I hope Sideshow makes a 1/4 PF before their prices increase too much.

You're right. I've seen way too many collectors come here and bash new pieces because they want to protect the investment or value of the piece they own. It's unfortunate, but it does happen. I can always accept a different opinion on a piece by a collector. As you said, it boils down to personal preference. However, when a collector keeps coming back to a thread to bash a piece they don't like (for whatever reason), it just comes off all wrong and takes away the joy of other peeps who do like the piece and bought it. It's a pretty fine line between stating a strong opinion and trolling when it comes to some of the members around here.

Going back to the XM Thanos, it's an incredible piece with a ton of presence. This is a fantastic version of the Mad Titan and anyone who scored this piece is very lucky to have it in their collection. Given just how great it looks and how difficult it is to obtain, I feel very fortunate to have this statue myself. It's nice to finally have an AWESOME true 1/4 Thanos in my collection.

 

[nexus]

Thinking about commissioning a custom head. Being a Starlin fan back in the day (when Magus had an afro), I think a classic Starlin/Lim head would put this statue over the top.

 

[filip629]

Thinking about commissioning a custom head. Being a Starlin fan back in the day (when Magus had an afro), I think a classic Starlin/Lim head would put this statue over the top.

It's a great idea. It's already been mentioned a few times. I really like the portraits that come with the piece so I'm good. However, I do think XM missed the mark with the portrait sans helmet. Instead of that portrait I firmly believe that XM should have given us a more stoic or content looking helmeted portrait. Many of us were asking for that when WIP shots of this statue were shown. Regardless, a Starlin/Lim portrait should be in great demand since there are many fans of that interpretation of the character.

 

[izeroi]

Thinking about commissioning a custom head. Being a Starlin fan back in the day (when Magus had an afro), I think a classic Starlin/Lim head would put this statue over the top.

sweet! I'm always open for purchasing customs when done properly.