Silver Surfer fans have been demanding a licensed statue of the Sky-Rider of the Spaceways for years, and last winter Sideshow Collectibles officially announced that they were answering the call! And after months of anticipation, the Sideshow EXCLUSIVE Silver Surfer Maquette (with EX Nova companion piece!) is now up for order! The Exclusive Nova statue is definitely one of the better Sideshow exclusives ever, although the 1/4 Silver Surfer statue itself has divided fans somewhat! What do you think of this piece, Marvel collectors?

The greater the hype and anticipation for a statue is, the higher collector expectations are going to be. Such was the case with the first new Sideshow Marvel 1/4 statue revealed at this year’s “Comic Con at Home” event this week, where the curtain finally dropped on the Silver Surfer maquette teased over half a year ago.

And, well… despite being by fan-favorite artist Daniel Bel, fans are somewhat divided over this new Silver Surfer Premium Format Figure scale statue. And for that matter, so am I! Let’s have a peek…

When fans visualize what a Silver Surfer should look like in their minds, they picture a lot of different things. Illegal unlicensed statues have also run rampant the last few years, defining for many the sort of dynamic, action-packed chrome statue that a lot of Silver Surfer fans were expecting Sideshow would be putting forth. But. Well. The actual 1/4 Silver Surfer maquette is none of the above.

Instead, we’re getting a Norrin Radd in a museum pose, standing powerfully as his Surfboard emerges from a space portal. There’s not really any feeling of fluidity or movement to this piece, which disappointed many, but there’s no denying the Silver Surfer’s presence.

While I always personally prefer chrome at any cost on a Silver Surfer figure, chrome statues are legendary for causing production problems and having quality issues down the road. I can totally understand why Sideshow Collectibles opted for a brushed silver paint on Norrin, even though my personal preference would have absolutely been for chrome.

The classic bodybuilding pose for the Surfer also doesn’t do a lot for me. His physique is certainly defined, although the pelvic region looks rather odd.

The base for this piece might be my absolute favorite part of it. The swirling cosmos painted onto the portal is just gorgeous, and I think having Surfer come out of a portal is a clever way for Sideshow to avoid having to produce the entire surfboard.

As almost always, there’s a Sideshow Exclusive edition. And the Silver Surfer EX is actually one of the best exclusives Sideshow has ever done—because it’s a whole other character as a companion statue! Much less Juggernaut came with Kitty Pryde last year, Frankie Raye Nova will accompany the Sideshow Exclusive Silver Surfer!

I legit thought we would never, ever see another Nova Frankie Raye statue after the Bowen Designs busts of her, so this is a crazy surprise. The LED light-up hair is genius, and I like how she’s emerging from another portal so that she doesn’t have to have her own $500 statue. In fact, she only adds 30 bucks to the price of EX Silver Surfer! A bargain to be sure!

The Sideshow Silver Surfer EXCLUSIVE Maquette with Nova is now up for order, and is scheduled to be released in 2021. I was very surprised to see the $630 MSRP for the exclusive, as I really though this would be priced $700 or more—especially with the light-up EX companion piece. I’ll be very interested to see if this ends up being a small edition size, given how divided fans seem to be on the piece. I’d recommend everyone get the EX for this statue even if they don’t love Nova, as she’s likely to sell for far more than $30 solo on the aftermarket.

What do you think of this long-demanded offering from Sideshow Collectibles, Marvel collectors? Is this the Silver Surfer statue that you’ve always wanted, or are you not sold on Sideshow’s interpretation of the Sentinel of the Spaceways?