SerenityVerse

Mal Bust from Razor’s Edge (Limited Edition)

December 15th, 2007 Posted in Serenity Collectibles

I feel compelled to open this review with a couple of caveats and addendums.  I’m a Firefly / Serenity fan and collector, but the world of sci-fi collectibles is a new one to me.  I’m learning that there is a world of busts and figures and statues out there, and many norms and traditions I was never aware of.  So die-hard collectors, I ask your patience with a review written from an outsider’s point of view.  In addition, I’m a die-hard Mal fan, which means that while I’m prone to buy nearly everything with a tie-in to his character, I’m also quite demanding when it comes to him.

When Razor’s Edge first posted photographs of their prototype of the Mal bust, I was not impressed.  While I’d seen worse (let’s face it, the Mal action figures and the Diamond Select character statues are just plain awful), this still failed to impress me, and at $50.00 it was certainly not added to my list of things to buy.

That changed when I saw the far more appealing final product photos, and after some pondering, I bought one.  It didn’t look perfect, but it was close enough that this Mal fanatic just had to have one.  Interested?  Get yours soon - it’s limited and many have already been sold.

The good:

• This is the closest anyone has come to a realistic-looking Mal figure.  There are no glaring errors, and the resemblence is quite decent.  It blows away the action figures and PVC figure, and all the fan custom-made figures I’ve seen.
• For the Mal fan, this is the best figure available, hands-down….and it may forever be.  On that basis, it’s hard to resist.
• The pose is quintessential Mal, with the gun and the determined look and all.
• The detailing is great, even the clothes and the gun are spot-on.  The hair is worth an honorable mention - they got the Mal hair right
• It’s half the price of the Diamond Select statues of River, Inara, and Zoe, and a far better likeness than anything they seem prone to crank out.  If you want a higher-end, realistic Mal figure, you’d best pounce on this one, because I don’t see a better option on the horizon.
• The gun is shiny - they did a really good and accurate job on the detailing.
• This was produced with care by fans, and I’m always willing to give extra leeway to such things.

The bad:

• For all that it’s better than previous attempts, the face just doesn’t capture the essence of Mal.  It’s not absurdly far off like the action figures, but without the costume and the gun I wouldn’t recognize it as a likeness of Mal.  That said, it’s the best likeness that’s ever been made, and quite possibly the best we’ll ever get.  The decision of whether it’s worth the money is an individual one.
• One particular downfall is the eyes - they are poorly painted and simply don’t have that determined spark that our captain’s do.  The paint is matte, which is perhaps a mistake.  Something glossy might make them look more like eyes, and specifically more like Mal’s.
• The pose is a bit odd.  Aiming the gun is good - quintessential Mal.  But I can’t recall Mal ever shooting with one hand held behind his back.  It certainly isn’t a trademark pose and makes him look more like a gentleman dueler than a rough-and-tumble outlaw.
• Bust = creepy.  I love my captain, and I prefer him with his legs attached, thank you very much!  This is where my non-collector-ness shows through; busts are common, but it’s a new concept to me and I’m having a hard time seeing Mal’s dismembered torso sprouting out of the top of my DVD player.
• It’s really expensive for what you get.  It seems poised in an odd price range between the awful $100.00 Diamond Select statues and the cheap and equally awful action figures, but I can’t get over the fact that this is, essentially, half an action figure selling for fifty dollars.  On the flip side, this is a limited edition of 1,000 and represents a lot of hard work, so I can see where they need to get their money out of it.  I guess it would make more sense to me to see this in the $25 range of the Dark Horse Serenity ornament and be an unlimited run.  At that price point it would be an excellent value, and more fans would have a chance to partake.

Rating:  Collector Bait

Approximate Price: $50.00 retail ($60.00 shipped), future ebay pricing unknown.

Available From: Razor’s Edge Collectibles

I’ve tried to show the bust from a variety of angles in my photographs here; these aren’t the best pictures I’ve ever taken but they do a fair job.  If you do an internet search for reviews of this bust, you should be able to find quite a few additional photographs.  My color tones aren’t spot-on here; the skin is a little less yellow, and the coat is a slightly truer brown than the photos reflect.  The face is the make-or-break feature of this, so I’ve photographed it from a number of angles.  I’ll go so far as to say this is the best Serenity action figure/statue made to date; unfortunately, the bar has been set so low by previous products that my praise has a hollow ring to it.

Still…..he has a handsome mug