If you’d rather read about it, check out the transcript below.
Billy Batson is coming to the big screen in just a few short months, so it’s the perfect time for Diamond Select Toys to release their new Shazam Gallery—a sweet interpretation of the modern comics take on the original Captain Marvel.
As with all of the recent comics-based Gallery pieces, Shazam comes in a very slick-looking box. I appreciate the fact that it isn’t over-designed. Just a few colors, windows, and biographical information—it looks great, and it’s sturdy.
The Captain is 10” tall from the base to the top of his head, but you’ll need to make sure you have at least 13.5-inches of clearance to fit that lightning bolt. He’s 6” wide from the cape edge to his left knee, and about 5.5” from the edge of the bolt to the farthest edge of his cape if you’re viewing him from the side. Joe Menna sculpted this handsome statue from a design by Shawn Knapp.
The head is very well-sculpted, and, with one exception, nicely-painted. That one exception is one of two complaints I have about the statue: the lips. They’re probably a little too pink, and the application of the paint on the lower lip looks like it may come down a little further than it needs to, so his lips end up looking a bit odd, particularly from the side.
The suit looks absolutely fantastic, both in sculpt and in paint—but with one exception. What exactly are they doing with that lightning bolt? I guess they’re trying to make it look like crackling, surging electricity, rather than a solid color light, but the end result isn’t very impressive at all, and something solid—even solid white—would have looked better than what they actually did.
The gold on the belt and wrist bands looks excellent, and the boots are wonderful. The cape, too—great look, great pose.
There’s really nothing to the base—it’s just a rock—but that’s perfectly fine. I usually enjoy the more elaborate diorama bases on the Gallery line, but I’ve never felt that they were essential.
Overall, in spite of two weird flaws, I think this is a great-looking statue. If you’re a Shazam fan, or you’ve been collecting these great new comics-based Galleries, you should be delighted to add this one to your collection.
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