Bowen Designs Sandman stands above the crowd - on a strong shelf, please!

As I said in my last post, I have been spending more of my collecting budget on statues of late, and not many of my recent purchases have excited me as much as tonight’s review subject. The Bowen Designs Sandman Full-Sized Statue is a truly impressive piece!

If I had to choose my favourite Rogue’s Gallery of any superhero, I’d have to go with Spider-Man’s. Batman and Flash’s archenemies come a close second and third, but there’s something about Spider-Man’s baddies, especially the Sinister Six, that really thrill me as a reader. Any classic story involving the Six or any of its individual members is guaranteed to be a winner.

My favourite of all of the Spidey villains is Sandman. He has an Avengers connection which would automatically make me partial to him, but I was a fan long before that. As a comic reading kid I was very taken by his powers, and his ability to be a very serious threat when written well. I also love his classic look of the green striped shirt and the brown trousers. Don’t ask me why on that one!

The Bowen Designs version of Sandman is nothing short of spectacular. This is a Kucharek Brothers sculpt, and as usual they’ve given it the deluxe treatment. We get a great display of Sandman’s powers in this design. His right hand has been transformed into a large sand fist, while his left hand is in block-style hammer form. Meanwhile, his legs are transforming to large pillars of sand with sand dripping off the base. Sandman is lunging forward in attack, making this a very dynamic statue that looks fantastic from every angle.

The textures in this piece are amazing. I know very little about the sculpting process, but I can’t imagine that designing something to look and feel like sand is terribly easy. There are different colours, textures and sheens within the sand areas, from the very rough sand of his right hand to the smoothed surface of his mallet fist to the wet, sloppy look of the sand that is dripping off the base. The result is breathtaking.

I haven’t been 100% satisfied with all of the paint work coming out of Bowen lately, so it was a big relief to see that the paint job on this piece doesn’t let the amazing sculpt work down at all. There is a nice sheen to Sandman’s clothing, which provides an excellent contrast to the sections that have turned to sand. The colours are classic Sandman colours, making him look as though he’s leaping right of the page of a classic Spider-Man comic. His face is very nicely painted, with those ever-tricky pupils the same size and smack dab in the right place.

Two things to note: first off, this statue is extremely heavy. It needs a very secure shelf to rest on - I’d never risk putting it on glass. The second point to be aware of is that this statue is a shelf space hog. The base is very deep and really only just fits into a Detolf - bottom shelf only thanks to the weight. It’s not as wide, so there will still be room on the shelf for a small base Full-Sized statue and perhaps a bust. I have Sandman’s Sinister Six colleagues Electro (FS) and Vulture (Mini-Bust) keeping him company, and they fit fine, but there’s no room for more.

I’m not pointing this out because I have any complaints about the space this statue takes up - it really is quite a beauty and deserves all the space that it can get in your display. It’s simply that buyers do need to be committed to the character as he’s not going to be a wallflower (shelfflower?) in your display - he’s going to be a dominant force!

I hope that Randy Bowen can keep the Kucharek Brothers busy with lots of Marvel projects - they consistently produce some of the most interesting and complex work out there - I’m very much looking forward to reviewing their Bowen M.O.D.O.K. shortly! In the meantime, I’ll be very content to look at their outstanding effort with Sandman sitting safely on a secure bottom display shelf!

You can see more pics at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and you can comment on this post to enter the June AFB Comment of the Month Contest!

Also - don’t forget to cast your vote for the overall winner of the Toy Lines! Caption Contest! 

Until next time!