DIMIC

About a year ago, I previewed Pop Culture Shock’s Chun-Li statue. And because of certain complications, she only arrived around three weeks ago. With us being on vacation the last twee weeks, and just back, I finally found the time to actually review it.

If you’ve been following DIMIC for a while, you’ll know that Pop Culture Shock is a company I like. They make decent stuff and the man behind it all is always willing to listen to the fans. You’ll also know, or will if you just read the preview of Chun-Li, that people really were looking forward to this statue. And that there were going to be made three different versions instead of the usual two. And that we would actually own one of the rarest of those three versions; the Pop Culture Shock Exclusive. Luckily for us, this is also my favorite version of the three. At least it was until I saw the eventual product pictures of fellow collectors…

It was already known beforehand that Capcom requested to change some things about the facesculpt. Not that it needed any change but at least it wasn’t that bad. What was bad is that they also requested to ‘remove’ the teeth that were showing. One problem, the mouth is sculpted to be slightly open so naturally, she would show some teeth. No problem, Capcom replied, just paint some brown stuff over it and presto! Problem solved.
Ehhh, not really no. It looks horrible. What’s also horrible is the fact that almost all the Chun-Li’s arrived with severe wandering eye syndrom. Some were worse than others but all had it. Just look at the comparison picture below…

Bad isn’t it… This also made me extremely happy with the fact that we were lucky enough to get the black one. Why? Because Jerry (the owner of PCS) offered to fix the wandering eye and to ‘customize’ her in any way we wanted. Yes, customize. And we, of course, took that offer and let him paint back the teeth that Capcom so foolishly removed. And she really looks a lot better. I actually like her again. We do now own a piece that isn’t completely official. Usually we don’t like that but since it was to return her to her previous state, it’s kind of okay I guess…
Of course, people were upset that the initial offer only was for the people who got a Black Chun-Li, so Jerry also offered that (after the blacks were done) to the people who bought one of the other versions. Which is a real pain in the ass for people overseas… You have to pay to get her, than pay to ship her to Jerry and then pay to get her back. Luckily, Jerry did offer to do the repaint for free so you didn’t have to worry about that. But oh my, the customs… Real glad we have the black…

But, that’s enough of that. Let’s talk about the statue itself.

Since our Sideshow Skaar Premium Format just arrived before her, I was stunned at how tiny her box was. Of course, Chun is a rather small woman in the games as well. Still, it was shocking. What was also shocking was the change in styrofoam. They used to use real cheap-ass styro which, when you opened the box, tends to decorate your entire home even on places it logically shouldn’t be able to reach, but now they’re using slightly better styro. And it does make all the change in the world! It’s less annoying and my dog doesn’t crawl under the couch anymore at the sight of the fake snow. It also protects the statue a lot better.

The fact that Jerry said that the swirls on the qipao (dress) would not be stitched but sort of painted on really worried me but it turned out just fine. Strange that they can get that right but not the eye positions… The stitching on the belt thingie is also well done. The choice of fabric for the tights, originally well criticized, turned out to be well chosen and looks good.

Oh, and did I mention that Jerry even signed the base of the black ones as an extra? Cool isn’t it?

Apart from the necessary repaint, she’s actually a very nice statue. The tailoring and the paint application has been done very nicely and the choice of fabric is also okay. I just don’t like the eyes. They’re lacking life. I think they’ve been painted to dull or would have been better with some shiny finish on them or something. Only thing that leaves me really worrying is the choice of stance. I love it, don’t get me wrong but it could lead to leaning issues in the future. Let’s hope it won’t come to that…

Conclusion
I’m really glad to have the black because it narrowed down the problems we could have with her. It also guaranteed us that we wouldn’t receive one with the wandering eye syndrome nor the brown yuck issue. I’m sad that all had the same issues (mentioned before) but I’m really glad to finally have her in our collection. I’m just sad that we couldn’t get number 2 to go with our n°2 Vega. It makes me even more sad that the owner of the n°2 statue put her on Ebay the day he got her…
If you can get her cheap (or at least retail or less) and fix her up yourself or at a local painter, she’s a piece to have. Otherwise, don’t bother unless you’re a really big fan of the character…

Pictures

Item reviewed: Street Fighter – Chun-Li
Type: Mixed Media, Resin
Manufacturer: Pop Culture Shock
Variations: regular (blue) and Sideshow Collectibles Exclusive (red)
Rarity: Quite rare since it was originally sold out in mere seconds… Some made their way to Ebay already. 75 (black/PCS Ex), 200 (red/SSC Ex) and 550 (blue/regular) made worldwide