Prince Caspian : Minotaur Bust : Reviews

Selwyn
30/11/11
Weta Collector

A taxidermist result.

The primary attractions of this bust for me, were its standing... Read more.

The primary attractions of this bust for me, were its standing as a mythological beast, its detail, and the lack of any obvious branding. I have resisted from buying other Narnia products because they are obviously branded to what I feel is a wussy narrative.

I have looked at this bust at least a dozen times over the months it has been for sale. Then, it was on sale as a special. The price at this stage along with the above primary attractions gave me the necessary push to purchase the product. After spending Weta dollars I got the Minotaur for one quarter to a third of the regular retail price. I was happy and more than excited when the bust arrived safely at my house.

Disappointingly for me and I infer for many other collectors the devil lies in the detail-cliche but true. Online purchases are reliant on the accuracy of the examples we are given through photographs, QuickTime videos and other representations of whatever objects are of interest. In the case of this Minotaur we get our reference material through one photograph. At this stage of judging whether or not we ought to buy a product we of course ought to bear in mind some necessary assumptions. First, the representation of the product that is online may vary slightly from the final retail product. Photographs are never 100% representative of reality. Lighting techniques, and particularly in the present case, the lack of multiple profiles limit how much information we have to make a purchase decision.

So I made my decision on the promise that was presented to me by Weta through the single photograph. From what I could see I wanted this bust for the reasons outlined in the first paragraph. I also wanted it because the bust in the photo has been enlivened principally with expression through the brow, snout and limbs, and importantly with light gloss effects to the horns, eyes, mouth and the nails . But as I feared the photograph on the Web can only be taken as an approximation of the finished product ultimately produced.

When I opened the box and took out the bust I was initially pleased because the pose and sculpt is true to the advertising photograph. But then I took a look at the back of the beast and had a closer inspection of the paintwork. Alas, I found only shoulders on the back of the sculpt and the paintwork was lacking the gloss features exhibited in the reference photograph. So, crucial elements of the enlivening detail on the sculpt are simply not there as promised or implied. Because of the lack of gloss to the horns, eyes and so on the bust pulls off a look that resembles a dry, taxidermist representation. So instead of seeing an angry Minotaur alive with rage and threat, my eyes see nothing more than a stuffed bull with a human-esque torso in a threatening posture. In short, where there ought to be life, there is none. Other Weta products such as the Moria Orc bust suffer from the same terminal malady, as I'm sure others have noticed. It is because of this broken promise the Minotaur I have looks less alive, and less believable, than the Minotaur promised by Weta's advertising. I'm keeping this bust, but it is not my favourite and I'm giving it three stars out of five only because I got it for a good price. If it was not for the bargain I would have given it only two out of five considering the omission of a substantial portion of the back of the animal and the omission of life giving gloss effects.



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