While many statue companies have decreased product offerings and edition sizes (while increasing prices) in the post-pandemic collecting landscape, Diamond Select Toys has quietly been carving out a niche for itself with the most successful and expansive series of affordable Marvel PVC statues ever: Marvel Gallery. This DST series has released a plethora of iconic comic and movie characters since it began its run in 2016, and this year the Jim Lee X-Men sub-line began to really take shape. The Marvel Gallery Rogue figure was managed to start shipping before the end of 2023–should it fly into your collection? Here’s my review…

Despite being one of the most popular women of the X-Men and the Marvel Universe as a whole, the market is less flooded with Rogue statues than you might think. I really would have thought Diamond Select Toys would have done a Rogue in this jacket in the last 7 years, but the sole time she’s appeared in the Gallery line it’s been the (embarrassingly risqué, imo) Savage Land Rogue in torn shirt and shorts.

But with Gambit, Beast, Cyclops, Magneto, Jubilee Omega Red and Psylocke in their recognizable 90s costumes all already released or coming soon, the time was right for Mrs. Remy Lebeau to get a new PVC figure of her own.

Like all DST Gallery statues, Rogue comes in a cardboard window box that lets you peer inside and see what you’ll be buying (assuming you see her on a store shelf and don’t just order online like me).

The packaging is basic and nothing riveting, though it is always a delight to see Rogue’s personal logo utilized. Inside the box, she’s safely suspended inside a two-piece plastic clamshell-like container.

Since the biggest draw of the Marvell Gallery line is the comparative value pricing to resin statues, Gallery Rogue retails for just under 60 bucks (and I paid less than that ordering her online). That’s an unbeatable price in the present era for a quality PVC statue of this size (about 1:8 scale) and price.

This particular Rogue statue is unusual for the Marvel Gallery lineup, as usually the statue’s height is the largest dimension and that’s not the case here. Rogue is depicted rushing forward (seemingly running and not flying as her feet are solidly on the ground) in a horizontal orientation. This adds a bit of dimensional variety to a display of Gallery statues, which is always nice to help break things up.

The base seems to be a mixture of rocky terrain and metal debris. It’s a bit confusing to puzzle out precisely, but it works just fine as an unobtrusive base. The underside is uncovered and not really displayable (nor is it meant to be).

Rogue herself is outfitted with her iconic green headband, brown jacket (thankfully not green like in X-Men 97) and yellow gloves, with her famous white skunk stripe running down the middle of her brown hair. This is the definitive Rogue costume, and it’s nice to get it on an affordable heavyweight PVC.

There’s a ton of sculpting detail on Rogue’s wavy hair, as well as paint deco and dry brushing to really make those details pop out. Rogue’s hair just has this wonderful retro 80s/90s magic to it. The wavy texture feels perfect.

What feels less ideal to me is the design concept for this statue. Rogue running forward with a gloved outstretched hand reaching out just doesn’t ring true in my mind, as a desperate Rogue feels more likely to me to have her glove removed so she can swipe an enemy’s power or life-force. The right fist being ready to punch feels natural, as does the way the headband is blowing back dynamically. It’s just that dang outstretched glove making me nuts.

The paint deco on this figure as a whole is “fine”. It’s a bit heavy on the dry brushing in places, but I never expect a value-priced PVC to have paint of equivocal quality to a $600 resin statue or anything. For the cost, I think the deco is more than acceptable.

Overall: While I think the size and heft of this Rogue Gallery PVC statue are still a great value for the price, I don’t love this piece quite as much under closer scrutiny as I did at a glance. The pose of her bursting forward with her gloved hand outstretched feels a bit off to me, and I don’t think it synergizes well with the other existing Marvel Gallery Jim Lee X-Men such as Gambit or Beast. The sculpting and deco on Rogue’s hair is what really pops out and impresses me most about this piece. No Jim Lee X-Men statue display would be complete without Rogue, and I don’t foresee DST redoing this version any time soon. For ~50-55 bucks, I think this Southern Belle is worth the pickup.

GRADE: B