You can buy this new Bruce NTT or any other number of Bruce sharks at
https://www.sharkcityozark.com/
Note: This review will be making comparisons to the Original Mike Schultz NTT. In no way will should any of these comments be viewed as a take down of the original masterpiece Bruce NTT. Rather view it as showing examples of how ones skill can grow with practice and better reference material.
Note 2: Sorry for the long intro but I can't help it when I talk about JAWS
As many of you probably know (or should know from my name and avatar), JAWS is my all time fav. movie. I love Star Wars, Indy, LOTR, etc... as much a the next guy but JAWS has that certain something that sets it apart from the rest to earn it's title from me as "Best Movie Ever"!
It's a perfect film and after the invent of the internet I was shocked to see how many people agree with me. Hell in my own real life I know two other people who also put JAWS on the top of their list and have collections all their own. Another friend of mine thinks that, while it's not his fav film, it might be the best film of all time.
Now none of this makes it fact that JAWS is he best movie ever (even though it is) but it does say something about this film. A film that at it's core is a very basic story. But with it's direction, script, actors, and it's main star it became more. It became..... a Classic!
It has been very hard over the years to collect JAWS items.... Well at least items that are not just the movie poster plastered onto something. Over the years Pop Culture collectables have become a hot commodity. But with all the higher end ALIENS, Predators, Batmans, Star Wars etc. items there was never a really cool JAWS item....
Then came McFarlane's JAWS diorama. While not a perfect representation of the shark or the boat there was no denying that it was a very cool. Even if it was just a 20.00 toy.
Later down the road SSC put of the JAWS/ Bruce maquette. It was a dream come true for JAWS fans. A high end collectable of our fav. Shark but in all honesty there was a lot left to be desired with that sculpt. It was a nice shark sculpt but it was not a very good Bruce sculpt. Still I was happy enough with it.
That was until I found what was called the Bruce NTT by Mike Schultz! I about freaked!! What was The NTT? Who is Mike Shultz??? Can I buy one?? How do I buy one?? How much was it?? etc.... etc.. etc... Mike had made what was by far the best representation of Bruce ever. I had to own and I did! It was amazing and a true work of art.
Mike had gone on to make some other Bruce items, Smaller in scale (and one larger bust) but no less impressive. I have had the opportunity to own several of these items. During this time I also got to meet Mike at Jawsfest. Mike is a very kind man, who obviously loved his family and enjoyed his work. We were able to talk for several hours and I found that he was the type of person that you would be proud to have as a friend.
Mike's Talent sculpting Sharks got him noticed and soon he was making sharks and Gators for a couple of films on the Sci Fi channel. While he was doing this, little did we know that Mike was working on his Masterpiece. The all new Bruce II.
While Mikes original Bruce was outstanding it was his first attempt at making the Classic beast. Through the years and his other sculpts he kept getting better ad better. With tons of photos for reference he has been able to make what basically is a perfectly scaled replica of the famous Great White.
He teased us with photos and then put the items up for order... Allowing us to pick and choose how we wanted out sharks. Clean or gory. Eyes open closed or slightly closed. Harpoons or no harpoons, any number of barrels, paint apps and a choice of Base. This really seemed to be a JAWS' fan dream come true... Not long after the pre order Mike began to ship these guys out (I think in about a months time) So How did his latest work turn out?? Well lets see.
Sculpt - 5 out of 5 I gave the original NTT a 5 out of 5 also. And back then it was. Now with the updated version I would say the original was a 4 out of 5. But this new one is as good as you can get without traveling back to 1975 and grab the real thing. Mike nailed what is the Bruce personality. One look at this you know that it's not just a Great White but the Great White from JAWS. Improvements were made to the entire sculpt. Most notably, for me, the mouth, eyes, teeth, and Dorsal fin. That is not to say there are not more improvements. There are. But the above mentioned changes were the ones that popped out to me the best. All the main issues that where fixed seem to be a matter of size (to put it simply) the dorsal fin, eyes and teeth are all bigger and more accurate while the mouth has been made slightly smaller. The Color has been made darker also to match his look later in the film. The scares and scraps have been done to much better detail also.
Anyways both are top notch pieces that anyone should be proud to own. However the original NTT is sold out while this new one is on sale now.
Paint - 5 out of 5 - This is an area that Mike has always excelled at. His paint apps on all his Bruce items have been fantastic. While this one matches the end scene Bruce better, his original had the color of the shark before it ever entered the water. This one is a bit more gory then my last and I have to say that I love it. It just brings Bruce to life. In my opinion any one getting this should ask for med to heavy gore.
Extras - 5 out of 5 I gave the original a 5 out of 5 also... I have to say that I have to take that grade down a notch and give it a 3 out of 5. You did get a fantastic base with it with some cool extras (that were glued on) but with this one you get to choose which base you want and depending on what you choose you can get tons of extras that you can place wherever you want. This makes this a lot of fun and gives you the option of changing this up from time to time if you choose. However if you don't want to spend the extra money on the more elaborate bases you can get the one that comes free with it which is a very classy looking black base. But I have to say, you should go for the more elaborate ones which emulate the dry Dock that Bruce was placed on. Great Stuff.
You can also choose to have Harpoons in the shark and buy any number of barrels.
Overall - 5 out of 5 What else can I say. Mike has done it again. He promised the best and we got the best. This is a must have for die hard Jaws fans and fans of pop culture collecting. These are made out a very tuff, yet light, resin that you could basically drop to the ground and it would probably do little to no damage. Tons of tender love and care have gone into the making of these Sharks. Mike isn't jut a talented sculptor, he is also a fan. Make up Artist Greg Nicotero from KNB EFX Group has one of his Bruce items and actually showed the piece to Spielberg himself.
Get these while you can. There is no telling how long Mike can do these. He has been contacted by other film studios to do some work and I fear when Hollywood discovers his talent he wont have the time for making Bruce items.
Thanks again Mike for outdoing yourself.
Next on the list is his 36" sled shark Bruce..... Must figure out a way to save for that.
A look at all of Mike Schultz Work I have Owned.
https://www.sharkcityozark.com/
Note: This review will be making comparisons to the Original Mike Schultz NTT. In no way will should any of these comments be viewed as a take down of the original masterpiece Bruce NTT. Rather view it as showing examples of how ones skill can grow with practice and better reference material.
Note 2: Sorry for the long intro but I can't help it when I talk about JAWS
As many of you probably know (or should know from my name and avatar), JAWS is my all time fav. movie. I love Star Wars, Indy, LOTR, etc... as much a the next guy but JAWS has that certain something that sets it apart from the rest to earn it's title from me as "Best Movie Ever"!
It's a perfect film and after the invent of the internet I was shocked to see how many people agree with me. Hell in my own real life I know two other people who also put JAWS on the top of their list and have collections all their own. Another friend of mine thinks that, while it's not his fav film, it might be the best film of all time.
Now none of this makes it fact that JAWS is he best movie ever (even though it is) but it does say something about this film. A film that at it's core is a very basic story. But with it's direction, script, actors, and it's main star it became more. It became..... a Classic!
It has been very hard over the years to collect JAWS items.... Well at least items that are not just the movie poster plastered onto something. Over the years Pop Culture collectables have become a hot commodity. But with all the higher end ALIENS, Predators, Batmans, Star Wars etc. items there was never a really cool JAWS item....
Then came McFarlane's JAWS diorama. While not a perfect representation of the shark or the boat there was no denying that it was a very cool. Even if it was just a 20.00 toy.
Later down the road SSC put of the JAWS/ Bruce maquette. It was a dream come true for JAWS fans. A high end collectable of our fav. Shark but in all honesty there was a lot left to be desired with that sculpt. It was a nice shark sculpt but it was not a very good Bruce sculpt. Still I was happy enough with it.
That was until I found what was called the Bruce NTT by Mike Schultz! I about freaked!! What was The NTT? Who is Mike Shultz??? Can I buy one?? How do I buy one?? How much was it?? etc.... etc.. etc... Mike had made what was by far the best representation of Bruce ever. I had to own and I did! It was amazing and a true work of art.
Mike had gone on to make some other Bruce items, Smaller in scale (and one larger bust) but no less impressive. I have had the opportunity to own several of these items. During this time I also got to meet Mike at Jawsfest. Mike is a very kind man, who obviously loved his family and enjoyed his work. We were able to talk for several hours and I found that he was the type of person that you would be proud to have as a friend.
Mike's Talent sculpting Sharks got him noticed and soon he was making sharks and Gators for a couple of films on the Sci Fi channel. While he was doing this, little did we know that Mike was working on his Masterpiece. The all new Bruce II.
While Mikes original Bruce was outstanding it was his first attempt at making the Classic beast. Through the years and his other sculpts he kept getting better ad better. With tons of photos for reference he has been able to make what basically is a perfectly scaled replica of the famous Great White.
He teased us with photos and then put the items up for order... Allowing us to pick and choose how we wanted out sharks. Clean or gory. Eyes open closed or slightly closed. Harpoons or no harpoons, any number of barrels, paint apps and a choice of Base. This really seemed to be a JAWS' fan dream come true... Not long after the pre order Mike began to ship these guys out (I think in about a months time) So How did his latest work turn out?? Well lets see.
Sculpt - 5 out of 5 I gave the original NTT a 5 out of 5 also. And back then it was. Now with the updated version I would say the original was a 4 out of 5. But this new one is as good as you can get without traveling back to 1975 and grab the real thing. Mike nailed what is the Bruce personality. One look at this you know that it's not just a Great White but the Great White from JAWS. Improvements were made to the entire sculpt. Most notably, for me, the mouth, eyes, teeth, and Dorsal fin. That is not to say there are not more improvements. There are. But the above mentioned changes were the ones that popped out to me the best. All the main issues that where fixed seem to be a matter of size (to put it simply) the dorsal fin, eyes and teeth are all bigger and more accurate while the mouth has been made slightly smaller. The Color has been made darker also to match his look later in the film. The scares and scraps have been done to much better detail also.
Anyways both are top notch pieces that anyone should be proud to own. However the original NTT is sold out while this new one is on sale now.
Paint - 5 out of 5 - This is an area that Mike has always excelled at. His paint apps on all his Bruce items have been fantastic. While this one matches the end scene Bruce better, his original had the color of the shark before it ever entered the water. This one is a bit more gory then my last and I have to say that I love it. It just brings Bruce to life. In my opinion any one getting this should ask for med to heavy gore.
Extras - 5 out of 5 I gave the original a 5 out of 5 also... I have to say that I have to take that grade down a notch and give it a 3 out of 5. You did get a fantastic base with it with some cool extras (that were glued on) but with this one you get to choose which base you want and depending on what you choose you can get tons of extras that you can place wherever you want. This makes this a lot of fun and gives you the option of changing this up from time to time if you choose. However if you don't want to spend the extra money on the more elaborate bases you can get the one that comes free with it which is a very classy looking black base. But I have to say, you should go for the more elaborate ones which emulate the dry Dock that Bruce was placed on. Great Stuff.
You can also choose to have Harpoons in the shark and buy any number of barrels.
Overall - 5 out of 5 What else can I say. Mike has done it again. He promised the best and we got the best. This is a must have for die hard Jaws fans and fans of pop culture collecting. These are made out a very tuff, yet light, resin that you could basically drop to the ground and it would probably do little to no damage. Tons of tender love and care have gone into the making of these Sharks. Mike isn't jut a talented sculptor, he is also a fan. Make up Artist Greg Nicotero from KNB EFX Group has one of his Bruce items and actually showed the piece to Spielberg himself.
Get these while you can. There is no telling how long Mike can do these. He has been contacted by other film studios to do some work and I fear when Hollywood discovers his talent he wont have the time for making Bruce items.
Thanks again Mike for outdoing yourself.
Next on the list is his 36" sled shark Bruce..... Must figure out a way to save for that.
A look at all of Mike Schultz Work I have Owned.
