Bowen Designs: Spider-Woman

Well, this is it! The real review of the Bowen Statue of Spider-Woman! This is one of my holy grails considering how alluring she is! Now, time to really dig into the details! But first, let's just look at the box real quick(again! I'll just use the draft's pictures since, well, it hasn't really changed and I already packed that HUGE box away).

I wanted to do a size comparison with the box and some other means. Like a comparison with a Marvel Legends? A Bishoujo box? But I never did. Trust ME! This box, like the figure, is colossal! Let's move on to the figure/statue itself.

This statue is elegant and sexy. Classic and nostalgic. Bold and true. This is Jessica Drew with all the elements that makes her Spider-Woman: agile, provocative, classy, but still seductive. For some reason, this really feels like the first and the best Spider-Woman in all her canonical self and the implied kinky side of her that isn't so boldly explored(for obvious reasons!).

Just to get it out of the way: I get why she is staring up; it fits the idea of the picture, however, it prevents some good angles. Sometimes, seeing a person looking up isn't really sexy. But for me to say that is just a really minor and petty complaint. As I already said, this posture is very sexy but still a bit conserved. She's not overt in the way she is 'showing' off, but she isn't exactly neutral. And the sexiness isn't your typical 'anime' or 'crouching down show my ass'(which I love), but it is womanly... but it is also so innocent in some way.

The dynamic, though only really in her hair, is still fluent. It looks convincing enough. The wind brushing against her hair definitely fits how she is sitting on top of that gargoyle just enjoying the breeze of the city skies.

The posture shows just how 'daring' she is. Sexy, daring, and just really dramatic despite how little dynamic is in this sculpt.

Speaking of sculpting, I've already talked a whole lot of about Jessica's sculpting. It's well done, that is for sure, but another sculpting that is done with a lot of care is the gargoyle that she is sitting on top of. It's detailed, but it really doesn't take itself too seriously; meaning that it wasn't intended to be the main focus, but it does compliment Spider-Woman in every way. Spider-Woman is robust, she pops, and she lets herself be known. The gargoyle is simply just a means, something to help her accomplish that. She is beauty while he is the beast. She is curvy, round, malleable, and the gargoyle is stiff, rigid, and stationary. The combination of the two really mixes well, but he doesn't take too much. Again, it compliments Spider-Woman.

Speaking of complimenting: the colors are fantastic! Spider-Woman received a nice metallic red and yellow paint! True to her colors and it makes her vibrant. The sleek and form fitting tights never looked so damn sexy on her! Her hair may not get the most attention, but with the dynamics and the contrast to the rest of her paint job, it's definitely more than good enough. Her web wings are also sculpted and painted accurately to offset from the rest of her costume. The gargoyle, while already loved by its own magnificent sculpt, also received some love through its colors. Dull grey, black, and stone wash, the mute and darker tone is a good comparison to the bright and eye candy Spider-Woman sitting on top of it.

Just letting the pic do some talking here.

And just to compare her size(which can give someone a good picture of how big her box is), here she is next to her Bishoujo(SDCC 2014 exclusive) version. As you can see the difference in style here since the Bishoujo is more anime in every way while the Bowen is definitely more comic book accurate. You can also see the height difference; most of it is the gargoyle, but yeah! The Bishoujo(especially this one) is not cheap by any means, but Bowen Spider-Woman makes it look like a comparison between a Hot Toy and a Figma.

And here is my NEW Spider-Woman shrine! Yes, these are all my Spider-Woman figures out of their respective boxes and containers (I know, I have yet to fully reveal "The New" Game Room).

I've never made it a secret that I was going to eventually get an expensive Spider-Woman product. With the comic book accurate depiction, the sexy and mature sculpt, and just the overall look of this statue, I knew that one day she is going to be the one expensive piece in my Spider-Woman collection. I love this statue and if I do get around reviewing everything this year, SHE will be a top contender for 2017's catch! Welps, hope my return to the collection posts did my hiatus justice! More to come in all areas of my collection!

Marvel Select: Spider-Woman

A Spider-Woman figure? What? Yes. This beauty I've had in my collection for a long while now. In fact, she stayed "Mint inside the box" for several years until finally, I decided that it's time to get her out and decorate a certain new area in my game room. I have a few Selects actually and I am still debating if I should open them. The only other one I opened aside from her is Hulkbuster from last year. Alas, let's talk about this figure.

The thing about Marvel Select that kept me from opening their figures for years is that they are actually aesthetically pleasing to display while they are inside the box. They have the transparent plastic that is able to display most of the figure's wonderful sculpt and accessories, and their box has a design that is custom to each character.

The back of the box is your standard 'show the figure' in its prototype form along with some promotional pics of other figures in this series. Though I will point out that the figure in the prototype version is not the same display option as the one we get. But not to tangent off here; the side panel is a cover of Spider-Woman's face. Not the best art rendition of her(and that's Veranke too), but nonetheless, Marvel Select boxes does a fine job highlighting the character to be 'special' in her own right (as they do with all the figures).

The sculpt of the figure is beautiful. Definitely meant to be a sexy figure. It might not be intentional, but her she comes bow-legged from being inside the plastic case for so long that her right knee warped; looks somewhat odd in certain poses from the front, but taken in the back and she it looks sassy. The mold itself is perfect for Jessica Drew; definitely a perfect superheroine in red and yellow tights. The wings are amazing; very supple and for what it does, it doesn't hinder the performance of this 'figure' (we'll get into the articulation later, of course).

The paint is awesome. Marvel Select outdoes Hasbro most of the time when it comes to details on their figures' coloring scheme. Even the hair is well done with black and a little shade of brown. The red tights have a dark tint in some areas for shadowing affect, same with the gloves. All the lines for her gloves, the yellow triangles, the lips, and skin are just done right.

As for accssories, Spider-Woman comes with a base and three Hydra agents. Remember when I told you that the promotional picture in the back for Spider-Woman is misleading? Well, in the picture, Jessica is the center piece and the Hydra agents are surrounding her, reading to incapacitate her(and maybe tie her up). This doesn't really set that up like that. I'll show what they look like together. But just by itself, the stand is a good idea. It really digs into Spider-Woman's role in the Hydra lore; which kind of makes her pretty important since Hydra is a big group in the MCU and the comic books. Details are great and the Hydra busts are all dynamic and expresses the same emotions but differently. 

You can set them up pretty much any way you want, but I find this is the best set up. Not bad looking. 

Her last accessory is her "venom blast". Now I know Jessica's signature firepower are depicted in various different colors but my headcanon is that they are neon green. Again I've seen it gold and yellow like this, but it's not my favorite take. As an accessory, it's not bad. It only does peg nicely one hand and it would be more useful if the figure is articulated better; let me get to that in a moment. 

Here is the whole set up together. Again, doesn't look like Spider-Woman is the center piece. The three Hydra Agents really take away from the whole idea. She really looks out of place. 

Marvel Select back then didn't really get its name from making articulated figures; they were more or less articulated beautiful statues. So with that mentioned, Spider-Woman doesn't have a whole lot to offer articulation wise. You can't get a lot of Spider-Y poses; some of her 'flying' poses just looks stoic and that venom blast doesn't really do much if her arms can't move. And because she is sculpted to look pretty, her figure is taking away from her range of movements. One thing she does have that I wish Hasbro would take into consideration is softer hair; I could have really moved her head around BUT because the peg or her head was so stiff, Jessica Drew's head came off. No big deal though since  there was super glue. 

ML(Hasbro), MU(Hasbro), ML(Toybiz)

Here she is next to my other articulated Spider-Woman figures. I'd have to say that the recent Marvel Legends Spider-Woman wins the 'overall' best figure. Still, a good addition to my "Spider-Woman Shrine".

In conclusion, I didn't expect much out of this. I wanted another Spider-Woman figure displayed and here she is. She's greatly sculpted, she looks like Spider-Woman, she some awesome features that wowed me, and she's Spider-Woman! I don't really suggest this Marvel Select to anyone who is looking for a great looking figure that is articulated. But for a Spider-Woman fan, she is a must! I won't be displaying her with the Hydra Agents though. You'll see! Until next time!