As promised, I'm continuing to do a review of all my Bowens as a way to recharge my excitement in the hobby and as a way to give back to Bowen for designing these amazing pieces and give back to statue marvels for giving this hobby a true home.
Reviews created so far, in chronological order, and their links are as follows:
If you can't wait for a certain statue to be reviewed and want to bump it to the top of the list, click my statue display link below, find a statue you want reviewed (new ones are posted further along in the thread) and send me a PM. I just got requests for some specific X characters so get in line!
Box art will be included on newly shipped statues from this date forward, but older statue boxes are in my attic. They will be updated when I have time.
I will always try to point out something I would like improved or something that wasn't well done about a piece, in efforts to stay truly objective. This can be from a tiny flaw that you would never notice to an all over bad sculpt (haven't had any of the later thus far).
Lastly, a soda can will be used in each review for scale. I'm not going to post next to other statues, as they aren't part of the review, and other collectors might not have the statue I would scale the subject statue next too, thus giving them no real idea of the scale anyhow. That being said, I will occasionally post with another statue simply for fun if the characters are associated together.
Produced by Bowen Designs and sculpted by The Kucharek Brothers, M.O.D.O.K. was released during Bowen Designs Phase V in 2011. This is 94 of 650. He stands just over 15".
I'm going to start by just getting it out there. This statue isn't for everyone. The character is already weird in it's own right, and for anyone who displays their statues for many people to see, he is the least favorite among noncollectors; i.e. spouses (my personal experience). Why? Because the brothers did an amazing job making this guy hideous. It's a different format than a regular statue, not a proportional human looking statue, so it requires a certain type of appreciation.
The head, being the focal point of the character has been given pain staking detail. The sculpt and the paint application are flawless. Every ridge in the squinting eyes has been given much focus by both sculptor and painter.
A close up shows the white eyes do have dark circles. Although hard to see in the photographs, even these dark circles have an obscene amount of detail, each having multiple lines and lid definition, but not too symmetrical, showing that each side is uniquely sculpted.
The lines and creases around the mouth are elaborate and deep. The lips them selves protrude out, giving exquisite depth to the teeth and face as a whole. Again, I can’t say enough about the paint application. The shading of the face in the crevices really helps bring the piece to life.
The nose is small on this character, emphasizing his already ridiculous look. What is so fantastic about this piece, is it’s so large that the sculptors were able to give so much attention to the face, which is often missed on some other Bowen Designs statues, simply because of the surface area the sculptor has to work with. Even though the nose is small on this characters face, it is still quite huge, about the width of a quarter. The scrunched lines on the nose are masterfully sculpted and we actually get some real depth in the nostrils; hard to see here due to the shadows the nostril create.
The teeth are a focal point for sure. What I appreciate about this particular sculpt of this character is that the sculptors did what they could to show that the teeth aren’t perfect. Too often in comics are all characters, even villains with bad hygiene, given perfect pearly whites, which just doesn’t make sense. Here the sculptors can’t diverge too much from the source material, but have made the teeth slightly crooked. Which is shown on the characters bottom left of the mouth.
A big reason why the teeth are a focal point, and why my noncollector friends don’t like the sculpt, is because MODOK has gingivitis. The teeth are painted in every crevice and where the top meet the bottom with tarter and rot. The bottom teeth also sport the gums, which are also showing rot throughout the gum line. To see the piece in person, is quite disgusting. But it is this detail that makes the sculpt so attractive to a collector.
The crows feet on both sides of the eyes are where most of the crevice and face lines are located. I think this picture stands out among the rest of the pictures of the face, in showing the true attention given to this characters facial contortion.
The gem on the crown of the head, is beautiful, but looks like it might be a sticker. I don’t think it is, but it does appear that way around the edges a little.
The, what I believe is a heart monitor, is definitely not a sticker. I wonder if every piece has the exact same swivel line here. Most likely it does, but would be interested if anyone has one that looks different.
The top of the head is odd in that it is so simple yet I am constantly looking at it. In short, MODOK has the most perfectly cut bowl cut I’ve ever seen. The hair is sculpted with multiple lines giving it a somewhat natural effect (ironically for a very unnatural character) which is a customary attention to detail on Bowen sculpts.
The arms and the legs are no doubt one of the features that makes this character so odd. A giant head with tiny legs looks funny no matter how you spin it. Here each limb has been painted with a glossy finish to help give a metallic shine.
Both arms and legs are also given multiple lines of detail, simulating the multiple layers and parts that make up these limbs.
In addition to the legs and arms, the hands themselves were also given perfect detail. In the photo of the hand below, it might be hard to spot, but you can see the metal shielding on the knuckles. The photos at the end will likely show this in some more detail.
Now for the chair. Not too much detail is given to the front of the chair, but this is understandable as we wouldn’t want to take away from the character’s face or it’s limbs. I will state that the tiny joy stick always makes me cringe as it looks easily breakable, but I haven’t had any problems yet.
Besides the front however, the chair is booming with detail, as can bee seen under the arm rest.
The jet area doesn’t have too many mechanical aspects, but does have the detail showing that this jet casing looks to be of multiple removable parts; if it were real of course. The bottom also has a darker brown paint pattern given to it, keeping it from looking like a simple disc. The painted lines here are clean and without fault.
The back side of the chair is where the mechanical parts of the chair are hid. There’s so much that I had to take a few separate shots to really cover it all.
From fuel lines on the bottom to exhaust vents on the top, it is a beautifully detailed piece.
The base is one of my favorites. The statue is anchored where the chair meets the flame. It is a large peg and was a little difficult lining up due to the weight of the piece. The flame and parts of the smoke are resin. This shot is the light on my phone showing the glow effect. A light behind this piece when displayed goes a long way.
Not all of the smoke is resin, as can be seen in the picture above. The resin aspects were added separately, which is one of my gripes about the statue. The resin smoke spears are show clear lines of attachment. Is this picky? Yes. But it bugs me nonetheless.
Underneath the smoke, where some will never look, is painted a glow from the flame of the jet. Just another attention to detail that no doubt is often unnoticed or over looked, but helps make these pieces what they are; that being some of the best sculpts of the genre you can find.
When looking at the base as a whole, it’s impressive that it can take on two base preferences at once. It’s simple because there isn’t so much you can do with the smoke, but it is also very complex for those of us who enjoy the more detailed bases. A critique could be that this piece may have looked better without the black statue base and had it simply be smoke. Another option would have had it separate but with, like the Madelyne Pryor base, which can be displayed with just the goblins or the goblins on the statue base.
So what is wrong with this statue. Honestly, the only thing wrong with it was the personal preference I already mentioned. That being the noticeable lines attaching the resin smoke parts to the rest. Very small, very minor, and very personal preference.
Overall, the statue is a home run. The weight is beyond solid. If there is any hallow aspect to this statue, I can’t tell; the beast is heavy. I know we all always use both hands when moving our statues, but this sucker demands the use of two hands. It’s hard to just push him on the table with one hand. Initially this was a pass for me as it is so odd, however as the collection grew and I found myself more open to different characters and sculpts, I had to ask, what are some staple pieces to show that you have an impressive collection? There is no doubt that this piece is up there. Major Bowen collectors should have this piece in their collection as it is one of the most dynamic and by far one of the more out there sculpts. If it is a matter of the character being ugly, hide him in a corner if you have too, but after owning him for the past year and seeing him every day, he is a must for collectors that are serious enough to push their collection past twenty pieces.
Another great review and excellent camera work. The paint details around the mouth are awesome. I like that his teeth are kind of gnarly. I don't imagine Modok's a flosser.
You mention him not working well for other non-collectors to see since it is such an odd and ugly character. The is evident in my two year old daughter. She HATES this statue and does not like going into the room where it is kept.
REVIEW: Bowen Designs M.O.D.O.K Statue by sash501
Linear Mode
