After dropping another half dozen new Marvel Legends figures for pre-order to close out last week, let’s hope Hasbro will give collectors a little respite before hitting them up with yet another blast of solicitations. In the meantime, let’s shift our focus to the next entry in Kotobukiya’s expanding high-priced PVC line! The sixth member of the Avengers lineup just may be the best figure we’ve seen so far in the line: ARTFX Premier Doctor Strange Statue is now up for order!

Based off of every PVC figure released thus far in the Koto Avengers ARTFX Premier lineup thus far being in their most recent attires, it seemed like the whole series might be mandated to follow that modern theme. But even though he was a part of the first roster of the current Jason Aaron Avengers, Doctor Strange dispels that notion by appearing in a very classic costume!

When I heard an ARTFX Premier Dr Strange was announced, I immediately assumed it would be another controversial piece like the recent Immortal Hulk and musclebound She-Hulk ARTFX statues. Nope! Perhaps wisely so, Kotobukiya is going full steam ahead with a classic Doctor Strange PVC in his most recognizable costume.

Frankly, this piece is pretty dang close to a masterpiece as far as the Premier ARTFX Statues series goes. Everything about this statue looks superb, from the mystical-looking terrain base (yeah, I know it’s a rock, but it looks mystical to me nonetheless) to the insane amount of sculpted texture on Strange’s tunic and cloak.

The official writeup claims that he Cloak of Levitation can appear red or purple because of its intricate paint scheme, but it sure looks straight-up red to me in every official photo!

I dig the way that the base gives the illusion of the Sorcerer Supreme actually “levitating”, and the micro-USB enabled light-up base is a feature we’ve never seen from Koto in their 1:10 scale work before. Purely as a PVC statue, this Doctor Strange is a winner supreme.

But unfortunately, we can’t just look at this statue in a vacuum—because it costs money. And once again, this is a 1:10 scale, 9” PVC figure that costs nearly two hundred dollars. Considering Koto ARTFX+ Marvel was originally set at a $50-$60 price-point and catered to collectors who couldn’t afford resin statues, that’s a shocking 300%+ price jump over the course of just a few years.

Even with the electronic light-up feature, that’s still a shocking price for a 9” plastic figure. Koto is upping the quality of their ARTFX line and lowering the run size (to LE 3000) with this Premier series, but I’m still unconvinced the collecting world will buy into a range of nearly $200 1/10th PVCs.

The Kotobukiya ARTFX Premier Doctor Strange Statue is now up for order, and is scheduled to be released in December 2019. These are limited to 3,000 pieces produced, so keep an eye on the availability of the previous five pieces as they’re released to gauge if this Sorcerer Supreme is in danger of being an early sell-out. My intuition says “No”, but you never can tell!

What do you think of the sixth Premier ARTFX Statue, Marvel collectors? Is Stephen Strange the best entry in the series yet, and is he good enough to earn your 190 bucks? Are there any 1:10 characters you’d be happy seeing at this price-point, or are you hoping for a return of the sub-$100 ARTFX+ PVC line?

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