XM Studios 1/4 Elektra Statue

[sarakawa]

She looks pretty good but she is pretty expressionless. Phoenix and BW have expressions which is nice. Hopefully the other head on this will have a tad more personality. Then again XM put a grin on the unmasked DD head and people had a fit. XM just can't win lol...oh wait these still sell out in hours.

 

[-jay-]

She looks pretty good but she is pretty expressionless. Phoenix and BW have expressions which is nice. Hopefully the other head on this will have a tad more personality. Then again XM put a grin on the unmasked DD head and people had a fit. XM just can't win lol...oh wait these still sell out in hours.

But only to flippers. The whole 900 of them.

 

[Spidey976]

The go-to sculpt is generally blank for most companies, but if you're going to include more than one HS then go nuts with the other ones to give some variety. Doesn't have to be an exaggerated expression, just a smirk, smile, frown, etc. I'd rather display a statue with some expression on the head sculpt than a dead blank stare. Hopefully there will be another HS for Elektra that has some personality to it.

The main reason that people don't like to do to much in terms of giving a woman to much in the way of an expression is because you have to be careful not to age them to much. The rule of thumb for a pencil artist is that for every line you add to a woman's face you add 5 to 10 years to her age. the difference with a sculpt is it doesn't have to be that way. All you have to do is drop or raise a brow. Lift a corner of the mouth. Sure you have to be subtle , but it is do able.

7 of the 8 female PFs I have from SS have the same blank expression, but you make it clear with this comment, Spidey, that it's not really the expression you have a problem with then. I think the lack of differences in XM's facial structures of their female headsculpts is a more valid complaint than the one over the expressions.

I am sorry lucifixion maybe I am just to new, but Batgirl, WonderWoman, Spiderwoman (though the execution sucked), Poison Ivy (when painted properly), Catwoman, and the list goes on ... all had SOME type of expression to their face. Emma Frost is the only modern on that I can think of (there may be more of course) that has the SAME blank stare that this one, and three others, have. I honestly just feel that XM can do so much better then this... and they haven't as of late.

 

[Spidey976]

Maybe you'd be more impressed if Medusa had this expression while sitting on her throne Spidey:

Something more regal like this would have worked better.

She looks pretty good but she is pretty expressionless. Phoenix and BW have expressions which is nice. Hopefully the other head on this will have a tad more personality. Then again XM put a grin on the unmasked DD head and people had a fit. XM just can't win lol...oh wait these still sell out in hours.

The grin on DD got a lot of push back because it doesn't really fit the character. It wasn't that the went for an expression.

 

[El Mule]

There's a point where criticism gets beyond "moronic" and falls into the "utterly retarded" area... and this is it.
Now, I couldn't care less about Elektra and I've been one of the first to criticize her because I wasn't sold on the pose. I don't have either many XM statues on order (for myself, only two), so at this point I really couldn't care less... but this is getting ridicolous too quick. Let me do a very quick list from top of my head:

Emma Frost, Queen of the Dead, Psylocke (both PF and Comiquette), Ms Marvel, She Hulk, Poison Ivy - no expression. I owned Ms Marvel and I swear I'll punch in the face whoever tells me her face has attitude, seriously. It's as plain as it gets, "blessed" by a paint app without issues and decently painted lips. That's it, everything else is just a huge collective handjob by people who keep spitting the "Grail" status on everything.

Catwoman, Power Girl, Batgirl, Rogue, Supergirl - same playful pin up smile, spare me this s--t. "I'm a woman who beats the crap out of people, wait let me stop, strike a pose and put on a smile", yeah, seriously. If that's the kind of attitude every female piece has to have, give me the soulless stare any day, any time.

Only recent ones with some kind of expression I can recall are Wonder Woman and Jean Grey, and they miserably lose when it comes to paint app or hair color (but I guess that comic accuracy police works only against XM, duh).

I could waste the whole afternoon listing the number of Sideshow pieces with these exact same features, including many pieces that people like to call Grail on a constant basis. I could even throw in there characters from other companies, wait, let me rephrase- praised characters from other companies, like ARH Medusa, GG Artemisia, Black Widow and Shanna, Yamato Lilith and Ritual.
The freaking Red Sonja shown at last SDCC on whom we were all fapping on.
Most of the ones I mentioned have some kind of character to them thanks to either body language (pose) or their stare/eyes.
Which is the exact same case of Elektra, because even from these few and bad pics I can see that they sculpted and painted a determined stare on her face, and if I can see it, others can too, and they're bulls--tting left and right with their biased opinion.
By coincidence, tho, it has become an issue now, after years of statues that had the same features and were awesome in everyone's opinion. Come on, there's a point where this all gets ridicolous and even embarassing.
Apply some cold water on that burn and pull your brain out of your a--.

 

[nemenforcer]

I actually think it looks pretty cool. I wish I had a rogue portrait with that kind of hair. I really hated the ss exclusive

 

[-jay-]

There's a point where criticism gets beyond "moronic" and falls into the "utterly retarded" area... and this is it.
Now, I couldn't care less about Elektra and I've been one of the first to criticize her because I wasn't sold on the pose. I don't have either many XM statues on order (for myself, only two), so at this point I really couldn't care less... but this is getting ridicolous too quick. Let me do a very quick list from top of my head:

Emma Frost, Queen of the Dead, Psylocke (both PF and Comiquette), Ms Marvel, She Hulk, Poison Ivy - no expression. I owned Ms Marvel and I swear I'll punch in the face whoever tells me her face has attitude, seriously. It's as plain as it gets, "blessed" by a paint app without issues and decently painted lips. That's it, everything else is just a huge collective handjob by people who keep spitting the "Grail" status on everything.

Catwoman, Power Girl, Batgirl, Rogue, Supergirl - same playful pin up smile, spare me this s--t. "I'm a woman who beats the crap out of people, wait let me stop, strike a pose and put on a smile", yeah, seriously. If that's the kind of attitude every female piece has to have, give me the soulless stare any day, any time.

Only recent ones with some kind of expression I can recall are Wonder Woman and Jean Grey, and they miserably lose when it comes to paint app or hair color (but I guess that comic accuracy police works only against XM, duh).

I could waste the whole afternoon listing the number of Sideshow pieces with these exact same features, including many pieces that people like to call Grail on a constant basis. I could even throw in there characters from other companies, wait, let me rephrase- praised characters from other companies, like ARH Medusa, GG Artemisia, Black Widow and Shanna, Yamato Lilith and Ritual.
The freaking Red Sonja shown at last SDCC on whom we were all fapping on.
Most of the ones I mentioned have some kind of character to them thanks to either body language (pose) or their stare/eyes.
Which is the exact same case of Elektra, because even from these few and bad pics I can see that they sculpted and painted a determined stare on her face, and if I can see it, others can too, and they're bulls--tting left and right with their biased opinion.
By coincidence, tho, it has become an issue now, after years of statues that had the same features and were awesome in everyone's opinion. Come on, there's a point where this all gets ridicolous and even embarassing.
Apply some cold water on that burn and pull your brain out of your a--.

Post more often.

 

[shadowfax]

A complete "swing and a miss" on this
Generic at best

 

[Spidey976]

There's a point where criticism gets beyond "moronic" and falls into the "utterly retarded" area... and this is it.
Now, I couldn't care less about Elektra and I've been one of the first to criticize her because I wasn't sold on the pose. I don't have either many XM statues on order (for myself, only two), so at this point I really couldn't care less... but this is getting ridicolous too quick. Let me do a very quick list from top of my head:

Emma Frost, Queen of the Dead, Psylocke (both PF and Comiquette), Ms Marvel, She Hulk, Poison Ivy - no expression. I owned Ms Marvel and I swear I'll punch in the face whoever tells me her face has attitude, seriously. It's as plain as it gets, "blessed" by a paint app without issues and decently painted lips. That's it, everything else is just a huge collective handjob by people who keep spitting the "Grail" status on everything.

Catwoman, Power Girl, Batgirl, Rogue, Supergirl - same playful pin up smile, spare me this s--t. "I'm a woman who beats the crap out of people, wait let me stop, strike a pose and put on a smile", yeah, seriously. If that's the kind of attitude every female piece has to have, give me the soulless stare any day, any time.

Only recent ones with some kind of expression I can recall are Wonder Woman and Jean Grey, and they miserably lose when it comes to paint app or hair color (but I guess that comic accuracy police works only against XM, duh).

I could waste the whole afternoon listing the number of Sideshow pieces with these exact same features, including many pieces that people like to call Grail on a constant basis. I could even throw in there characters from other companies, wait, let me rephrase- praised characters from other companies, like ARH Medusa, GG Artemisia, Black Widow and Shanna, Yamato Lilith and Ritual.
The freaking Red Sonja shown at last SDCC on whom we were all fapping on.
Most of the ones I mentioned have some kind of character to them thanks to either body language (pose) or their stare/eyes.
Which is the exact same case of Elektra, because even from these few and bad pics I can see that they sculpted and painted a determined stare on her face, and if I can see it, others can too, and they're bulls--tting left and right with their biased opinion.
By coincidence, tho, it has become an issue now, after years of statues that had the same features and were awesome in everyone's opinion. Come on, there's a point where this all gets ridicolous and even embarassing.
Apply some cold water on that burn and pull your brain out of your a--.

I would rather have a smile or a HINT at some kind of feeling then a blank stare. You call my statement retarded, and then you use the praise of OTHERS to back your argument. I never praised those statues. I haven't stated my opinion on MOST of those statues. I haven't stated my opinion on most so you assume that I am some puck bunny who praises them. I am not. There are plenty of statues from multiple companies that have little to no personality to them and SSC is no exception. However, I can scream at the moon for 90% of those companies and it will have NO impact. XM takes constructive criticism listens, and then applies it. The lack of emotion on this one is just killing a good headsculpt

 

[wolf-brother]

There's a point where criticism gets beyond "moronic" and falls into the "utterly retarded" area... and this is it.
Now, I couldn't care less about Elektra and I've been one of the first to criticize her because I wasn't sold on the pose. I don't have either many XM statues on order (for myself, only two), so at this point I really couldn't care less... but this is getting ridicolous too quick. Let me do a very quick list from top of my head:

Emma Frost, Queen of the Dead, Psylocke (both PF and Comiquette), Ms Marvel, She Hulk, Poison Ivy - no expression. I owned Ms Marvel and I swear I'll punch in the face whoever tells me her face has attitude, seriously. It's as plain as it gets, "blessed" by a paint app without issues and decently painted lips. That's it, everything else is just a huge collective handjob by people who keep spitting the "Grail" status on everything.

Catwoman, Power Girl, Batgirl, Rogue, Supergirl - same playful pin up smile, spare me this s--t. "I'm a woman who beats the crap out of people, wait let me stop, strike a pose and put on a smile", yeah, seriously. If that's the kind of attitude every female piece has to have, give me the soulless stare any day, any time.

Only recent ones with some kind of expression I can recall are Wonder Woman and Jean Grey, and they miserably lose when it comes to paint app or hair color (but I guess that comic accuracy police works only against XM, duh).

I could waste the whole afternoon listing the number of Sideshow pieces with these exact same features, including many pieces that people like to call Grail on a constant basis. I could even throw in there characters from other companies, wait, let me rephrase- praised characters from other companies, like ARH Medusa, GG Artemisia, Black Widow and Shanna, Yamato Lilith and Ritual.
The freaking Red Sonja shown at last SDCC on whom we were all fapping on.
Most of the ones I mentioned have some kind of character to them thanks to either body language (pose) or their stare/eyes.
Which is the exact same case of Elektra, because even from these few and bad pics I can see that they sculpted and painted a determined stare on her face, and if I can see it, others can too, and they're bulls--tting left and right with their biased opinion.
By coincidence, tho, it has become an issue now, after years of statues that had the same features and were awesome in everyone's opinion. Come on, there's a point where this all gets ridicolous and even embarassing.
Apply some cold water on that burn and pull your brain out of your a--.

Don't sweat it. It's the same people all the time with their crital opinions. Just because their opinions are true for them doesn't make it true.

 

[wolf-brother]

Wasting your time here Mule.

Totally agree jay.

 

[Spidey976]

Y

Don't sweat it. It's the same people all the time with their crital opinions. Just because their opinions are true for them doesn't make it true.

I didn't say people have to agree with me wolf. However, I was the not one insulting people's intelligence either.

 

[El Mule]

I would rather have a smile or a HINT at some kind of feeling then a blank stare. You call my statement retarded, and then you use the praise of OTHERS to back your argument. I never praised those statues. I haven't stated my opinion on MOST of those statues. I haven't stated my opinion on most so you assume that I am some puck bunny who praises them. I am not. There are plenty of statues from multiple companies that have little to no personality to them and SSC is no exception. However, I can scream at the moon for 90% of those companies and it will have NO impact. XM takes constructive criticism listens, and then applies it. The lack of emotion on this one is just killing a good headsculpt

I honestly don't care who says what because I don't make ad personam posts, my post is clearly pointed to the ongoing attitude rather than the single individual, because you're not the only one who came up with this argument.
And the point is really simple: this sculpt has the exact same features that we've seen in the last 10-15 years by any company in this hobby on any female statue, including statues you said had character/personality/whatelse (Ivy, Ms Marvel).
Now, I wouldn't have made a lenghty and boring post with pictures on Statueforum about head sculpts if I thought that XM head sculpts were perfect. They aren't. I just see a ridicolous amount of double standards in this specific case where something that until yesterday was commonly considered "good" has now become not enough, and coincidentally only in this specific case.
Because the fact that people criticising this sculpt are the same ones praising their Emma Frost tells me a whole other story and seriously, I'd rather see XM not listening to any kind of criticism than listening to people who clearly have double standards or are personally biased.

 

[Spidey976]

I honestly don't care who says what because I don't make ad personam posts, my post is clearly pointed to the ongoing attitude rather than the single individual, because you're not the only one who came up with this argument.
And the point is really simple: this sculpt has the exact same features that we've seen in the last 10-15 years by any company in this hobby on any female statue, including statues you said had character/personality/whatelse (Ivy, Ms Marvel).
Now, I wouldn't have made a lenghty and boring post with pictures on Statueforum about head sculpts if I thought that XM head sculpts were perfect. They aren't. I just see a ridicolous amount of double standards in this specific case where something that until yesterday was commonly considered "good" has now become not enough, and coincidentally only in this specific case.
Because the fact that people criticising this sculpt are the same ones praising their Emma Frost tells me a whole other story and seriously, I'd rather see XM not listening to any kind of criticism than listening to people who clearly have double standards or are personally biased.

I haven't praise Emma Frost ... not once, and the reason I made my post is simple. I looked at pics of the Ms. Marvel production piece the other day and I thought ... "damn that is blank ass stare". Then to see this a few days later just made me want to actually say something. Now maybe there is an expression to this that has been lost, and can be saved by the pain app, god knows Ivy when painted well is stunning, and when she isn't she looks like a blank slate. However, in the end that isn't what is here. As for things being the same over the last 15 years, I am sorry but these guys can do better.

 

[Takaboi]

Sorry Mule gotta disagree on some of your post.
Ms Marvel have emotion, her pose matches perfectly with her facial expression which is this badass look as if she doesn't give a ****
Ivy has that seducive look which is based off artgerm.
Shehulk has that Nasty grin as if she just finished off someone.

I can agree on with you that emma is emotionless, but they may be because that's when emma lost all attachments and emotions in the comics?

Either way I'm interested to see the other sculpt

 

[lucifixion]

Sorry Mule gotta disagree on some of your post.
Ms Marvel have emotion, her pose matches perfectly with her facial expression which is this badass look as if she doesn't give a ****
Ivy has that seducive look which is based off artgerm.
Shehulk has that Nasty grin as if she just finished off someone.

I can agree on with you that emma is emotionless, but they may be because that's when emma lost all attachments and emotions in the comics?

Either way I'm interested to see the other sculpt

And I don't see what you see with those two, Takaboi. They appear as blank as this Elektra to me. Maybe their poses impart what you're seeing to their faces in a way Elektra does not, but I don't see it personally. I guess that's what it comes down to, different impressions for different people.

 

[El Mule]

Sorry Mule gotta disagree on some of your post.
Ms Marvel have emotion, her pose matches perfectly with her facial expression which is this badass look as if she doesn't give a ****
Ivy has that seducive look which is based off artgerm.
Shehulk has that Nasty grin as if she just finished off someone.

I can agree on with you that emma is emotionless, but they may be because that's when emma lost all attachments and emotions in the comics?

Either way I'm interested to see the other sculpt

You're more or less echoing what I said in the second part of my post. Some of those statues do have character, and it's visible either through body language (like Ms Marvel) or eyes (Ivy). Elektra here has a mix of both, she's in a combat stance with her guard high, while looking forward with a cold and decise stare.
As for Emma, she's supposed to be sexy regardless of her emotions, but she has a blank cow expression in her statue form, that's anything but sexy.
Even then, I'm under the impression that what people here want is for Elektra to put on a grin or a smirk at any cost like Catwoman or Batgirl, even if in the comics she's a cold ninja assassin. She doesn't put on grins or smiles often and she's mostly depicted as being perfectly calm while killing people... so exactly, where are comics accuracy nazis now? They seem to pop up only when there's something randomic to criticise, like "this isn't accurate to Jim Lee style, which is the only comic style I know and hence the only parameter when judging comic accuracy".

I haven't praise Emma Frost ... not once, and the reason I made my post is simple. I looked at pics of the Ms. Marvel production piece the other day and I thought ... "damn that is blank ass stare". Then to see this a few days later just made me want to actually say something. Now maybe there is an expression to this that has been lost, and can be saved by the pain app, god knows Ivy when painted well is stunning, and when she isn't she looks like a blank slate. However, in the end that isn't what is here. As for things being the same over the last 15 years, I am sorry but these guys can do better.

Not so sure why's so difficult to understand that some things I say are not directly pointed at you, you're just the only one replying.
I don't doubt XM could do better, but there's an ocean of difference between "can do better" and "suddenly what has been good (repeat: good) for all these years is insufficient because yes", which seems to be the common stance. Seriously, I'd want people to tell me that this looks like a mannequin while proudly displaying their Ms Marvel, or GG Black Widow or whatelse. And I'm not even sold on the pose yet, but some comments I'm reading are beyond ridicolous.

 

[loricstone]

Every Headsculpt should tell a story. These are the coupe de grasse of the statue, and they SELL the attitude of the entire body sculpt. Say what you want about SSCs finish on their pieces, and god knows they deserve the criticism at times(god damn googly eyes), but the facial SCULPTS have character. Calm Jean, both Ms. Marvels, Medusa, and now this one for Elektra they are ALL blank slates. There is no soul to the character; unless you count 'stoned' or 'drugged' as soul.

SS Red Sonja w/ sword doesn't tell a story...at least not her headsculpt. But there is nothing wrong with that. It's the base that tells the story on that one. And for the record...Medusa doesn't have a blank expression...but intense gazing expression. Ms. Marvel I agree with even though the headsculpt and hair is stellar on that one. Elektra is in the middle to me...but its the head with the headband that I am most interested in. Can't wait to see the paint up on that.

 

[loricstone]

Sorry Mule gotta disagree on some of your post.
Ms Marvel have emotion, her pose matches perfectly with her facial expression which is this badass look as if she doesn't give a ****
Ivy has that seducive look which is based off artgerm.
Shehulk has that Nasty grin as if she just finished off someone.

I can agree on with you that emma is emotionless, but they may be because that's when emma lost all attachments and emotions in the comics?

Either way I'm interested to see the other sculpt

I agree that Ms. Marvel expression was fine for the SS PF...but I disagree that she shows emotion. Ms. Marvel is as emotionless or fake emotionless as you can get. Still a great statue though.....the binary ex. head that is. The regular was meh.

 

[Takaboi]

Yes I'm adding the fact that pose has a HUGE impact on facial expression.
XM ms marvel did not hit that part, her face does not match the body and makes it look awkward.
Same goes with elektra second head sculpt, the face doesn't match but I was already disagreeing with the pose they went for in the first place.
I do have high hopes for their next sculpt though