Sideshow Collectibles has been giving us a healthy mix of new characters (like X-23, Domino and Miles Morales Spider-Man) and revisits of iconic mainstays (like Psylocke, Captain America and Black Widow) over the past year, and now it’s the most popular vigilante in the Marvel Universe’s turn: the new Sideshow Exclusive Punisher Premium Format Figure is now up for order! And continuing their recent streak of hot exclusives, it looks like this is going to be another 1:4 statue that’s going to be “EX or Bust” for most collectors…

It seems like just yesterday that I was discussing the previous Punisher 1:4 Statue from Sideshow Collectibles, but looking back in the archives on the site, it was actually 2013. Time flies!

While the Punisher 2013 PFF was based on the classic version of the character, Sideshow is throwing a bone to modern fans (and fans who learned to love the character through his Netflix appearances) for this new sculpture that’s sans “superhero” costume. Let’s discuss what Sideshow has created for us…

Ordinarily I talk about the Sideshow Exclusive version of a piece toward the end of a preview, but in this case, let’s cover that ground early. Subverting fan expectations, the Punisher EX head is in fact the Skull War Paint head for the Punisher that was displayed at New York Comic Con 2018 and which collectors have been salivating over. This is definitely a bit of a shocker, as the Skull face paint was one of the primary selling points of this statue for many.

I’m not a “war paint” Punisher kind of guy, as all of my favorite stories with the character are classic and not modern, but I know there are boatloads of fans out there who adore this look for Frank. And I have to admit: in this instance, the Punisher face paint portrait of the statue looks infinitely cooler than the “regular” Frank Castle portrait on the Collector Edition.

While I don’t think he’s going to win any beauty pageants or anything, I do kind of have to agree that this Punisher head sculpt is a little bit too “dashing” and (dare I say) “handsome” for the grizzled veteran. I don’t $600 love Punisher, but if I did, I would be going Skull Paint all the way on this statue.

The detailing on the “costume” of this figure is rather mind-blowing. Looking at the sculpted textures on hi-res close-up photos, fans might be convinced that Frank’s clothes are made of actual cloth and not just sculpted resin. Seriously, this is some stellar work here by Sideshow’s sculptors.

From the grime on Punisher’s face to the weathered baseball bat to the realism of the well-worn pants, this is one immensely detailed statue.

I like the way that Frank Castle has been posed for this piece, as if he’s in the process of confidently striding down the steps, ready to bust some heads with his bat and blow brains out with his smoking gun. This figures has the feel of telling a story, which is always a plus.

I’m usually pretty ambivalent about Sideshow’s bases, but I do really dig the war-torn cement stairs that the Punisher is walking down for this piece and the snapped Kingpin cane on the ground. Fun stuff!

If there’s one aspect of this figure that I don’t especially care for—besides the plain/regular head sculpt—it’s the smoke effects on the gun. While I ordinarily am a total glutton when it comes to effects pieces, the smoke emanating from the pistol’s barrel just looks wrong to me. I would have preferred if those effects were removable, though I doubt they’ll be a deal breaker for anyone.

Price-wise, this is coming in at the “new normal” MSRP of $600 for the exclusive (or $585 for the “Collector” version that I doubt anyone is buying).

Given the level of detail and the 22” height, I don’t think that’s necessarily the worst price ever, but it’s definitely a sharp increase from the price of the previous classic Punisher that Sideshow put up for sale in 2013. SS is making some magnificent stuff right now, but there’s no doubt that many collectors have been priced right out of the high-end market over the past few years by the rapidly increasing prices.

The Sideshow EXCLUSIVE Punisher Premium Format Figure is now up for order, and is scheduled to be released toward the end of 2019. There’s no pre-set edition size yet for this piece, so it should be up for order for a while yet. It’ll be interesting to see if the new Punisher EX statue is popular enough to get a massive edition like the recent Captain America and Wolverine statues, or if he ends up with a tiny edition size and a quick sell-through like the recent Miles Morales Spider-Man.

Now that Sideshow has played all its card and fully-revealed all the details, what do you think, Marvel collectors? Is the new Premium Format Punisher statue an “EX or fail” piece, or do you like the normal Frank Castle head just fine? Is this on your “buy” list, or is some factor putting you off from Sideshow’s latest take on the Punisher?