Speed Force has set up on Instagram as @SpeedForceOrg. We’ll be posting *ahem* Flash photography by members of the blog team, starting with Ed’s photos from HeroesCon, and very soon we’ll be running…well, that would spoil the surprise. Keep an eye out!
Hey Speed Readers,
Japanese company Kotobukiya, has teamed up with DC Comics to give us some slick statues based on the New 52. With Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern already announced Flash will be joining the ranks of Kotobukiya’s Justice League in March of 2013:
A KOTOBUKIYA Japanese import! Kotobukiya’s line of DC Comics “New 52″ ARTFX+ Statues continues, capturing the new looks and costumes of heroes in the Justice League. Racing to join the previously released Superman and Green Lantern comes the Scarlet Speedster and guardian of the Gem Cities, THE FLASH! Barry Allen was a mild-mannered forensic scientist (who was perpetually late) working late at night in his lab when a bolt of lightning changed his life forever. The electricity and chemicals combined mysteriously to imbue Allen with unbelievable speed and thus the Flash was born!
Not content merely to stand at attention like his fellow Justice Leaguers Superman and Green Lantern, the Flash can’t stay still for a moment. Ready to speed off to fight crime or supervillains with a wide-legged stance, Allen cracks his knuckles in anticipation. The Scarlet Speedster’s New 52 costume maintains the character’s traditional bright red and yellow color scheme but updates it with a bold new lightning bolt logo and intricate energy lines crackling all over his suit. The Flash’s excellent sculpt even includes the new technological details of his costume like the reinforced boots.
Standing 7 ½ inches tall (in the ARTFX+ 1/10th scale), the Flash was sculpted by master artist Atelier Bamboo. Magnets in his feet make him perfectly stable on his included display base, and he’ll look great on your shelf next to the rest of the Justice League including the upcoming Wonder Woman!
Release: March 2013
The statue is available for preorder at a number of outlets, my personal favorite, being Bigbadtoystore.com. It will retail for $39.99 usd, but you can find it at BBTS for $35.99.
Personally, I love this statue! Absolutely love it. Not only is it priced well but with all the sculpted details, being an import and standing at 7 ½ inches tall, I can’t think of a better deal. Plus, it’s so shiny!
Anyone plan on preordering this statue or waiting until the release and then trying your luck then? I’m probably going to wait a couple of months myself and make up my mind on whether I seriously want to throw support towards the New 52 or not. Such an excellent, affordable statue though. Decisions, decisions. Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Through Wednesday, Thwipster has the DC Universe Online Flash Statue on sale for only $52.
Thanks to Ken O of That F’ing Monkey for the tip!
One of the stranger items on DC’s September solicitations is this statue of the Black Flash coming in February.
AME-COMI HEROINE SERIES: BLACK FLASH PVC FIGURE
DESIGNED BY JIM FLETCHER
SCULPTED BY JACK MATHEWS
Death strikes faster than lightning!
Black Flash mysteriously appears as an omen of impending doom for any of the Flash family of speedsters that tap into the Speed Force.
Packaged in a 4-color window box with J-hook, this non-articulated PVC statue stands approximately 9” high and includes a display base.
On sale February 1, 2012 * Statue * $70 US
Now, you may recall that in the comics, the Black Flash looks like this. Read the rest of this entry »
Finally some more Flash love on the collectibles end of things. This month we have three Flash pieces being released through DC Direct. Unfortunately two of them are basically just repaints and the other is an expensive statue of Barry Allen.
The first one, available today, is from the third series of JLA Classified Classics, Zoom (The Flash’s chief nemesis). I was inclined to think that this was Hunter “Sheisajeweltoyoouuuuu.” Zolomon rather than Eobard “As long as I kill Iris, everything will be alright.” Thawne due to the way the eyes were colored and because they simply named him “Zoom”. But then I noticed the direction of his belt. Not a real issue or anything as Hunter has been out of the picture for some time now. Still makes me lament Johns-Era Wally though.
JLA CLASSIFIED: CLASSIC SERIES 3: ZOOM Action Figure
“The JLA CLASSIFIED: CLASSIC line expands with four all-new figures! Consistent in style and scale to Series 1 and 2, Series 3 features some of the most requested characters
from DC Comics.
The Zoom figure stands at 6.75″ high, features multiple points of articulation and includes a display base.
4-color clamshell blister card packaging.”
Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the style of these figures. I know that they are part of a artist-specific collection using Ed McGuinness’ art style as a template but I’m just not a fan of the overly muscled character designs and action figures. Especially on my Speedsters. I guess I already own the JLA Classified Flash so it would be cool to have Zoom to go along with him, but I won’t be rushing out to get it or anything.
Later on in the month we have the release of a Flash Two-Pack featuring repaints of Jay Garrick from DC First Appearances Series 1 and Wally West from Justice League of America Series 3 repainted to be Barry Allen:
DC ORIGINS: SERIES 2: THE FLASH ACTION FIGURE TWO-PACKS
Trace the history of some of the most popular DC Comics heroes with these special two-pack action figure sets!
Each set includes two full-sized figures packaged together – one based on art from the character’s early appearances and the other based on art from the modern era.
One two-sided collectible trading card featuring each character will also be included in each package.
The Flash figures feature multiple points of articulation and include display bases and character-specific accessories. The Modern and the Classic figures stand at 6.75″ high and 6.5″ high, respectively.
4-color clamshell blister card packaging.
These guys will be available the 17th, but frankly I am unimpressed with this offering. To be fair the Wally figure actually looks better when repainted to look like Barry and the paint jobs look to be really slick. But really two repaints? Not to mention Zoom might as well be a repaint too.
The only truly original offering this month will be on the 24th with the release of a Barry Allen statue that looks pretty slick but as I mentioned previously I have zero interest in it:
DC CHRONICLES: THE FLASH Statue
SCULPTED BY TIM BRUCKNER
The Fastest Man Alive kicks up a dust cloud as he slides into the DC Chronicles statue series!
This statue features The Flash of the Silver Age, Barry Allen, in his classic costume.
The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.
This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.75″ high x 5″ wide x 3.5″ deep and is packaged in a 4-color box with a 4-color Certificate
of Authenticity.Manufactured to order.
This baby retails at $99.99 and looks to be an outstanding piece. But if I were to purchase any Barry statue it would definitely be this:
Now that is what I call a statue!
Anyone plan on picking up Zoom, the 2-Pack, the statue, or all three?
Look forward to hearing from you all and thanks for reading.
Shortpacked! cartoonist David Willis posted these photos of the completed Robin DeSanto statue from Patch Together. I’ve got to say, it looks great. I’m not usually one for buying statues and such (though I do make an effort to buy print collections of webcomics that I really like), but I am tempted by this one.
If you missed the earlier post about the prototype, you can read up on the webcomic’s sugar-powered speedster.
The statue is available for preorder.
Among DC’s September solicitations are announcements of upcoming action figures and collectibles, including a Jesse Quick statue.
Well, sort of.
AME-COMI HEROINE SERIES: JESSE QUICK AS THE FLASH PVC FIGURE
Sculpted by Jack Mathews
Faster Than Lightning!
Super-speedster and member of the Flash family of zoomers, Jesse Quick invokes the mysterious 3×2(9y2)4A formula, tapping into the power of the Speed Force.
Fleet of foot, Jesse sizzles with swiftness!
Packaged in a 4-color window box with J-hook, this non-articulated PVC statue stands approximately 9” high and includes a display base.
On sale February 9, 2011 * Statue * $70 US
Thoughts: This is part of a series of statuettes that have taken DC heroines and redesigned them with looks inspired by anime. This one’s a bit odd, as is another one announced today (Duela Dent as the Joker) in that they’re double mash-ups. Instead of just anime-inspired Jesse Quick, it’s anime-inspired Jesse Quick as the Flash.
OK, the Flash has the name recognition. And while they could have just given us a female Flash, it’s nice that they actually used one of DC’s few female speedsters (most of them are alternate-reality, past or future characters). And, let’s face it, Jesse Quick doesn’t exactly have an iconic look to start from. She’s gone through at least half a dozen costumes since her first appearance.
Side Note: Speaking of Jesse Quick and anime, about ten years ago I watched a science-fiction sports epic called Battle Athletes Victory. There’s an athlete named Jessie with long blonde hair whose last name I could never remember, so I always thought of her as Jesse Quick!
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DC Direct‘s solicitations for November give us some definite dates on two great Flash collectibles. Blue Lantern Flash as part of the sixth series of Blackest Night figures and a DC Chronicles Flash statue.
BLACKEST NIGHT: SERIES 6: BLUE LANTERN FLASH Action Figure
The hugely successful BLACKEST NIGHT action figure line continues with four awesome new characters!
Included in this sixth installment of the series are Hal Jordan, the personification of the Green Lantern Corps; Wonder Woman, who finds the power of love and joins the ranks of the Star Sapphires; Hawkgirl, who was one of the first heroes to lose her life to the dark power of the Black Lanterns; and The Flash, who couples the power of the blue ring with his trademark speed to carry the message of hope to all.
All four figures feature multiple points of articulation and include a display base. Character-appropriate accessories are also included.
4-color clamshell blister card packaging.
On Sale November 3, 2010
And
DC CHRONICLES: THE FLASH Statue
SCULPTED BY TIM BRUCKNER
The Fastest Man Alive kicks up a dust cloud as he slides into the DC Chronicles statue series!
This statue features The Flash of the Silver Age, Barry Allen, in his classic costume.
The DC Chronicles statue line has a consistent base, and the retro-style logo on the base further gives the piece a sense of the period from which it originated.
This limited-edition, hand-painted, cold-cast porcelain statue measures approximately 6.75″ high x 5″ wide x 3.5″ deep and is packaged in a 4-color box with a 4-color Certificate
of Authenticity.
Manufactured to order.
$ 99.99 US | On Sale November 24, 2010
I’m really looking forward to Blue Lantern Flash as it will look great poking out of the field of red and yellow in my display. I’m also loving the sculpt. Reminds me of Wally West from the first series of JLA action figures they released a few years ago. Perfect build, great sculpt and a slick paint job.
I’m not really a statue guy. I do own a few but rarely if ever will you find me anticipating the release of one. This one is no exception unfortunately. I’m not really in the market for Barry Allen statues these days anyway. And I would need a Wally in new costume as an action figure first. Hint hint.
