Kotobukiya traditionally has only produced one or two (or zero) ARTFX+ statues for a given Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, but perhaps inspired by Avengers Infinity War having the largest case of heroes ever assembled, Koto is following suit with their most expansive MCU statue series to-date. And the third figure in the series is a character who broke out in Infinity War far more than his solo movie: the Kotobukiya Doctor Strange ARTFX+ statue is now up for order! But while this statue is priced as if it were made of resin, it’s actually PVC…

Alright, I had really hoped to lead off by discussing the pros and cons of the actual ARTFX+ Doctor Strange Statue that this article is about, but I’m going to address the demon in the room first (because I imagine it’s where a lot of readers will stop reading): the price.

Koto has set the MSRP for this 8.6” PVC plastic ARTFX+ figure at… $110. Yowza. Yes. Kotobukiya has actually priced their Dr. Strange PVC higher than the spectacularly-detailed, polystone resin Iron Studios Doctor Strange statue. Uh, what?

I don’t really have much to say about the pricing of this ARTFX+ Infinity War Statues series, other than that I think Koto has gone loco. Even if the actor likenesses take some extra work and money, does Kotobukiya really think this Doctor Strange is worth almost triple the cost of the DST Marvel Gallery Doctor Strange (which, frankly, I like better)? My mind is just boggled by all this.

But enough about the price: let’s talk about the actual Infinity War Dr. Strange ARTFX+ Statue. MSRP notwithstanding, this is an overall solid PVC statue.

The Benedict Cumberbatch likeness is probably the highlight of this piece—it’s downright awesome for a PVC figure of this size. The expression on the portrait itself is rather lackadaisical—Strange looks like he’s taking a stroll down the street and not fighting for the fate of the galaxy—but the Cumberbatch likeness is definitely there.

While the expression could be improved, I think Kotobukiya selected a strong, battle-ready stance for this piece. Doctor Strange has two pairs of interchangeable arms so that you can pick the pair you prefer (I think both options are equally good), and the pose will let him face off against Thanos well.

The overall level of sculpting detail and paint deco on this figure is also superb. This piece may have its drawbacks, but the effort put into making the costume look outstanding isn’t one of them. The paint on this statue is really impressive.

The Cloak of Levitation has been very well-done, with lots of textured sculpting detail and paint shading on the back of the cape to make it feel like more than just a red piece of plastic. Very nice.

Ordinarily I’m a total sucker for effects pieces, but while the mandala rune effect has a ton of terrific sculpting detail on it, it’s looking a bit “plastic” (I mean, it is plastic, but still). For a $110 MSRP Statue, I kind of feel like the magical effects should look significantly better than on a $20 Marvel Legends.

The Titan terrain base on this is simple and effective. I was no fan of the black square bases, but these small environmental based are a nice compromise of being not too plain and not too elaborate to raise the price (which most definitely does not need further increased).

The Kotobukiya Avengers Infinity War Doctor Strange ARTFX+ Statue is now up for pre-order, and is marked down 10 bucks on BBTS. I’ll be interested to see if this series ends up being a limited run because of the high price-point, or if the strength of the Infinity War movie is enough to carry this lineup to being a big success in spite of the cost.

What are your thoughts on this Avengers Infinity War ARTFX+ series (and Doctor Strange in particular), Marvel collectors? Are you planning on picking up any figures in this series, and are you okay with PVCs being priced at the same SRP as resin statues in the same size?

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