When I posted my impressions of the Sideshow Black Widow Premium Format Figure teaser photo earlier in the week, I figured that the photos were an early indication she’d be up for sale this month. But, well–I wasn’t expecting her to hit the marketplace quite so soon! The bad news is the Premium Format Black Widow is a bit more expensive than I’d hoped. The good news is that we’re getting our second Sideshow Marvel Premium Format Figure statue up for sale this week, and this time there’s even a Sideshow Exclusive Edition!

Kicking off 2014 in style, Sideshow Collectibles will be releasing their second Premium Format Natasha Romanova (Romanoff) Black Widow statue in February 2014! I was hoping that since the Black Widow is a thinner statue than some of the more recent Marvel Premium Format Figures Sideshow has released, we might see a lower price-point of $250-$300 return. That is unfortunately not in the cards–the new comic Black Widow Premium Format statue carries a $359.99 retail price.

On the bright side, at least for that $360 you get a positively ravishing statue, though! I’ve never found the Black Widow to be particularly attractive in the Marvel Comics that she’s appeared in, but I have to admit that this Black Widow statue’s facial sculpt makes her a real looker! I usually favor the Marvel statues produced by Bowen Designs to the ones by Sideshow, but this Black Widow is downright beautiful–it blows all three Bowen Black Widow Statues out of the water (and that’s coming from a Randy Bowen fanboy).

Unlike the Gladiator Hulk Premium Format Figure put up for sale earlier this week, there is a Sideshow Exclusive Edition of the Black Widow Premium Format Figure available that you can only purchase from the Sideshow Collectibles website. The bonus exclusive item that you get with the exclusive edition this time is an extra switch-out left hand holding a knife. I think that’s kind of lame, especially since Sideshow just released a Punisher with the same sort of switch-out knife hand exclusive item a couple months ago. Even so, the Exclusive Edition and the Regular Edition cost exactly the same amount, so you might as well opt for the exclusive if you want this statue.

I’m a real sucker for snowy hillside bases, and Sideshow is definitely capitalizing on that with this snow-covered base that the Sideshow Black Widow style comes on. I adore the snowy paint deco that Sideshow put onto Natasha Romanova’s boots–it really makes the statue feel a bit more alive and real. Classy touch, Sideshow!

Sideshow is describing the comic book Black Widow statue’s costume as “black fitted fabric”, but it’s pretty apparent from the glamor shots that her outfit is made out of “pleather” (plastic leather). The Black Widow comic version Premium Format Figure comes packing a Russian Sniper Rifle and a Pistol with Silencer. Though this is easily the hottest Black Widow statue ever released by any company, you probably don’t want to hit on this Black Widow.

The Premium Format Black Widow Exclusive Edition statue is now up for order on the Sideshow Collectibles website for $359.99, with a scheduled release date of February 2014. $360 is quite a bit of cash to drop at once, so Sideshow also had monthly payments available of about ~$60 a month to make the Black Widow Natasha Romanova Premium Format Figure a bit more accessible. I’ll post photos and impressions of the finished Premium Format Figure Black Widow figure once it’s released.