Ok. I’m not a big statue guy…I way perfer figures. But we all have our favorite B-list (or lower) characters that resonate with us and become favorites. One of my favorite characters is the musically inclined mutant who turns sound into laser light, Dazzler. And while I’ve enjoyed Dazzler through the years, one look stands above all others – and it’s her disco look. I remember reading ‘The Dark Phoenix’ saga graphic novel and getting to X-Men #130 (Feburary 1980) and being instantly drawn to the neo-mutant.
For years the only Dazzler figure I had was a Toy Biz figure, a repaint in the ‘Marvel Hall of Fame She-Force’ line. To be honest, it was a pretty terrible figure. But that was all there was. Many years later, I added a Mini-mate to my collection, but it was her blue costume…but whatever, it was ages ahead of that Toy Biz figure. Then Hasbro stepped up to the plate in a big way with a Marvel Legend of the proper Disco Dazzler. I was in heaven. Then the do what? The release a second Dazzler, now in her blue costume on a retro card. I was pretty happy with my Dazzlers, but I knew there was one more coming. See, at the 2018 Toy Fair, Diamond Select Toys had a Dazzler on display in their showroom, part of their PVC Marvel Gallery line. I knew I had to have it, and every time I saw Zach after that Toy Fair I asked when Dazzler was being released.
Dazzler was released in August. And I have her. We’re going to look at her.
The packaging for the Mavel Gallery PVC statues features a four sided window box which allows plenty of light and the opportunity to enjoy the statue in the packaging. This is great for collectors who lean towards keeping things in the box, especially since most statue packaging are fully closed boxes, relying only on artwork or photography to show the statue in the box. Here you can see Dazzler relatively unobscured. The back of the box features a photo of the statue along with her bio describing the manifestion of her mutant powers and her eventual joining the X-Men. The back of the package also gives credit to the artists behind this statue, with Dazzler designed by Uriel Caton and sculpted by Alejandro Pereira. It’s always a nice touch to see the artists credited for their work.
Out of the packaging, Dazzler stands right near 9 inches tall. She’s wearing her white jumpsuit, has her discoball necklace, feathered hair, roller skates and microphone in hand – she’s everything you want a Disco Dazzler to be. The display stand even has her standing directly in front of a disco ball. The sculpt is pretty much perfect. I’m impressed by the way the sculpt captures the essence of movement, the one arm forward and up with the microphone arm back and behind, the bent knee with the tip of the roller skate down and the wind swept hair all keeps this statue looking very dynamic. On her raised arm, she has a ‘dazzling power’ effect. The paint and detailing on the statue are perfect, even fine details – the jumpsuit zipper down the front of her costume – are painted perfectly. The paint choice for the jumpsuit is particularly successful, as they’ve avoided a plain white, opting for a paint with an almost opalescent appearence, giving it a nice shine and making it far more interesting than a flat white.
Well, if you haven’t figured it out by this point, I think Diamond Select Toys did an A+ job with the Marvel Gallery Dazzler PVC statue. I thought that when I saw it at Toy Fair 2018 and I think that now as she’s standing on my desk. With characters like Dazzler (or any number of B-list X-Men, Avengers, Justice League, etc), whenever they get some sort of product, you just cross your fingers and hope it’s great – as she’s likely not going to get revisited for a long time. Fotunately Diamond Select Toys knocked it out of the park. If you think she’s great, you can pick one up at your local comic shop or online…I nabbed mine at AwesomeToyBlog sponsor Entertainment Earth.
