Thor Statue
In some perfect world you would be able to purchase a diminutive version of the Thunder God Thor, made of indestructible uru metal, and be worthy to move and display it in your home or temple. In the real world, there's no uru metal and the Asgardian Smiths are all union, so they won't do work for Midgard, but you can still get a little thunder. Diamond Select Toys (DST) has taken on the task, but have used resin instead of uru, and the talents of Chinese factories to produce just such a piece. The best part is that you really don't have to be worthy to pick it up, but the lack of uru means it can be broken.
Thor is a real world fixture as well as one in the universe of comics. The character is based upon the myths of the Norse people, where the god of thunder would explain where lightening and thunder arose. The Norsemen were Vikings, and just a guy as a god would be boring, so he had a mystic hammer to fight with. Having that hardware opens up the chance for more interesting conflict and economical home repair, both plusses. The name of Thor's hammer - Mjolnir, gives it a Nordic quality and makes for a very difficult puzzle on Wheel of Fortune or Hangman.
The Norse myths may have given us Thor for comics, but there is much more depth to the contributions in our modern world and society. A day of the week - Thursday - is named after Thor, and the Vikings were some of the earliest explorers of North America. JRR Tolkien was heavily influenced by the same myths, taking the name Middle Earth from Midgard (the term for earth) and even using a name found in Nordic texts - Gandalf - for one of the main characters. We'll try and pretend we don't know about the Minnesota 'never won a superbowl, ever' Vikings.
See the Big Picture
The translation of Thor to the comics medium was relatively smooth, and the character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Stan wanted something new for a hero, and suggested a god (just not the God) and Jack's love of mythology was essential in fleshing out Thor. While records aren't entirely clear, the themes and characters that Jack Kirby would use and develop over the years favor him being the driver behind the creation of the Thor character more than Stan. Both owe a debt to the Norse people who came up with the character initially, and to the copyright office for allowing such myths to be public domain and free for the interpreting!
Thor has had several alter egos over the years and a few costume designs, but DST chose the classic Thor for this statue. This is the Thor that is physician Don Blake when not a Viking, who was sent to earth to learn a lesson in humility from Odin. This is the classic comic Thor, made famous by Jack Kirby. In short, he's the real deal from the Marvel Age of comics.
 Thor is not a virgin to resin statues or busts, with several busts available from both Dynamic Forces and Bowen Designs. Bowen Designs created a statue of Thor in two scales. The DST Thor fits between the two scales that Bowen used and it stands around eight inches tall for Thor, but nine inches with the base. The statue has Thor in battle, with Mjolnir reared back ready to make someone's day. The base of the statue has a gargoyle head on it and stonework. The design of the statue is done so it can be displayed alone, or with the Loki companion statue. The cape of Thor is unattached to the base, and the detail is in there down to the cracks sculpted on the indestructible uru mallet.
This statue is part of the series of Avengers and Adversaries from DST, and the underlying theme is to take classic versions of Avengers and make a pair of statues showing them in battle with their arch-nemesis. The first statue in the series was the Red Skull, who will be followed by the Captain America companion piece. There are plans for a Mandarin/Iron Man pair, but for Thor there could be no other yin to his yang than Loki, his foster brother and the god of mischief. The Thor and Loki pair has special meaning for the Avengers because Thor was a charter member and Loki was the reason the group formed in the first place. The statue pairs are designed to join together to create a diorama and they are sculpted and scaled to complement each other.
Shawn Nagle is the sculptor for both Loki and Thor, and he is also responsible for the Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate WW2 Captain America figures in the Marvel Select line. He also performed the sculpting duties on the Fantastic Four bookends due in February 2003 from DST. Shawn has also worked for Marvel and Harris Comics, Toy Biz, Kenner, Dynamic Forces and McFarlane Toys. The guy sure does get around!!
The statue is limited to a run of 3000 pieces, which balances the same number of Loki statues. The statue comes with a full-color certificate of authenticity and a monochrome Styrofoam box (in two halves) with a cut out that Thor fits into. There is also a colorful cardboard box around this, and if you order through the mail you might get yet another cardboard box, though in classic cardboard color. Any mailing box will most likely be numbered and limited by the delivery service, and is more valuable if it actually arrives. The Thor stature retails in the $75 USD price range and is available at your local comic book store.
More Pictures of Thor
|
