It was a pretty big bummer that the Kotobukiya X-Men Beast ARTFX+ statue was a no-show at the Kotobukiya booth at New York Comic-Con 2015 last week, as the Beast statue had been teased before the show and many collectors had expected it to be on display there. We did get to see one slide of the ARTFX+ Beast during the Kotobukiya panel on Sunday, but it’s just not the same as seeing the figure close-up in all its glory. But at least Koto didn’t make us wait too much longer to see glam shots of Mrs. McCoy’s baby boy: the Kotobukiya Beast ARTFX+ statue is now up for order!

Although he’s one of the five original X-Men, as well as one of the smartest people in the entire Marvel Universe (and a member of the actual Illuminati, for Pete’s sake!), Hank McCoy just does not get the same amount of merch released as many of the more high-profile X-Men characters such as Wolverine, Magneto and Cyclops.

But in 2016, Kotobukiya will be turning their attention to Beast for the very first time, as Beast has now been officially revealed and solicited, and will be joining the Marvel Now X-Men ARTFX+ line in the spring!

When I first saw the way that Adi Granov had designed Beast for this line of 1/10th scale statues, I was not immediately sold on the pose. But having now seen detailed, hi-res photos of the piece, I’m willing to eat my words: this is a great Beast pose! I love the ape-like way that Beast is holding himself up with his knuckles, as well as the way that his dexterous feet are bent so much to show off his flexibility.

The sculpting detail of Hank’s fur goes far beyond the level of detail on any aspect of any other statue in the Kotobukiya Marvel Now X-Men series.

And although we couldn’t see the yellow portions of Beast’s shorts in the one image shown at the NYCC 2015 Kotobukiya panel, I’m very pleased to see that the eye-grabbing yellow areas of his costume as in fact present on this statue. And hey–those areas have even got paint shading and texture of their own!

When put on display with the other Marvel Now X-Men Kotobukiya statues, Beast looks absolutely awesome! Because most of the other characters in the lineup are predominantly wearing black, Beast’s light blue fur really pops, making him stand out amongst the crowd, despite being the only statue in the set that’s been posed in a crouching position.

And although the Beast ARTFX+ is (obviously) the shortest of the statues in this series, he’s also far bulkier and more covered in sculpting detail than any of his comrades, so Hank doesn’t feel like he’s a rip-off at all (especially if you get him for the discounted pre-order price online!).

The X-Men Beast Kotobukiya ARTFX+ statue is now available for pre-order, and is expected to be released in May 2015. BBTS has the best price this time out, with Beast on sale for a full $10 off the MSRP for pre-orders. Koto is usually pretty good about keeping to their estimated release schedule, so I’m confident that we’ll all have this bouncing blue ball of fur added to our collection right on time in the spring!

Are you impressed with the work that Koto has done with their ARTFX Beast statue, Marvel collectors? Will this Hank McCoy be bounding into your collection next year, or is this beauty of a Beast just not for you?