Diamond Select Toys has held fast as the budget choice in a statue collecting market where prices have otherwise soared to unheard of heights. Their successful Marvel Gallery statues lineup has been expanding rapidly over time, including more and more X-Men joining the series over the last year. And complementing the Rogue that also arrived this winter is the other half of the 90s X-Men super couple: Marvel Gallery Gambit is now available! Should this Cajun rage into your collection?

In a time where action figures are commonly retailing for $25 and up and resin statues cost over half a grand more often than not, it’s nice to see Diamond Select Toys hold the line with PVC statues in the 50-60 dollar range. The Marvel Gallery lineup includes a huge swath of characters at a respectable size, with dynamic designs and details that you might not expect to see in a “budget” series.

My preferences lean strongly toward the X-Men, so I’ve been collecting more DST Gallery figures as characters like Jubilee, Rogue, Beast and Madelyne Pryor have joined the line. And a PVC I’ve been particularly anticipating adding to my shelf is the beloved card-throwing, charming rogue himself, Gambit. Now that I’ve got him in-hand, is this 9” plastic Remy everything I hoped for? Not quite.

Like all Marvel Gallery PVC statues, Gambit comes in a cardboard box with plastic windows on the front and sides, and bio on the back.

The box is simple, but makes it possible to easily see the size and basic details of the collectible contained within. For keeping costs down, this style of packaging is A-OK with me.

At a glance, all of the defining traits you’d expect from a Gambit statue are present: iconic 90s costume with jacket; bo staff; throwing cards; energy effects; red eyes; stylish hair; dynamic pose. But upon closer inspection, I was disappointed by some of the choices made.

While X-Men fans are well accustomed to seeing Gambit charge objects with glowing pink energy, the energy effects on the Gambit Gallery statue are yellow for some mystifying reason. I’m sure some artist has colored Remy’s energy yellow in some comic somewhere, but in the overwhelmingly vast number of instances across media, Gambit’s effects are pink.

Even more startling is the fact that this figure has Gambit’s red eyes surrounded by the whites of his eyes; something that feels very bizarre as Remy’s scleras are typically depicted as black as part of Gambit’s mutation. As it is, the portrait reminds me of the bucktooth smile emoji. I just don’t like it.

Unfortunately, these weren’t random mistakes made at the factory—these were straight up design choices present since Diamond Select Toys solicited the PVC last year. So love it or hate it, no one can say DST didn’t follow through with what they promised.

Both color choices can be fixed easily enough with some paint—but not every collector has the skill or motivation to have to correct a collectible they’ve purchased. These colors are a major mistake DST made, in my opinion. Diamond Select has released numerous Gambit products in the past without these errors, so I have no clue what went astray here.

All that said, I don’t think these color choices ruin an otherwise very nice figure. The metal debris base pairs well thematically with Rogue’s base, and the flow of Gambit’s coat and hair feels very organic. The arc of thrown cards feels dynamic and alive, and the diagonal orientation of the staff feels just right.

Perhaps the coolest and most impressive detail on the piece is the ornate design-work on the backs of the thrown cards. This detailing feels like something you’d see on a larger and more expensive statue. I also really like the brushed metal deco on Gambit’s boots and collar-piece. 

The straightness of Gambit’s throwing arm and right leg and his bent left staff-gripping arm and left knee also have a feeling of life to them. I think the overall pose is a big win on this piece. 

Overall: Two utterly baffling coloration choices hold me back from being totally in love with this Marvel Gallery Gambit figure. The yellow energy effects I can probably get past, but I’m really going to need to have Remy’s eyes repainted to look correct.  I think the pose on this PVC statue is really cool, and the $50-ish price-tag is a fantastic value in today’s collecting landscape. Little details such as the detail on the back of the throwing cards really elevate this piece, and that’s why the color issues are such a big frustration. Rarely do I want DST to release a minor repaint, but this Gambit is a figure where weird mistakes were made that really hurt the piece as a whole. Recommended if you feel confident making a few paint corrections yourself. 

 

GRADE: B-