Marvel Universe Cable Mini-Bust
Time travel - what a mess. The concept seems interesting, and of course time travel is possible as we know. There are really two reasons we know it happens - one is related to rotating black holes (and requires a bit of specialized knowledge), and the other is just common sense. We travel through time, just in the forward direction, so there you have it. What does al this have to do with a toy website and a mini-bust? You probably have an idea since you can see the title image above of Cable, but if not get out your notebook so you can keep track.
This is the point where we'll ask that you buckle your safety belt and return you tray to the upright position, because it gets a little rough. The thing to remember through it all are three words - Summers, clone and time. It's all about these three things, as we go down the very serpentine and circuitous path to the origin of Nathan Summers, aka Cable.
Sherman, set the way-back machine for X-Men #201, where a recently married Scott Summers (keyword #1) and his wife Madelyne Pryor-Summers have their first child - a son named Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. Seems simple enough, but it only seems that way. Madelyne was actually a clone (keyword #2) of Scott's true love - Jean Grey. She was created to create a Summers heir for the villain Mister Sinister to control, though it didn't quite work out that way.
Jean was thought to be dead by the X-Men (and all the readers) until it was revealed that she didn't really die. And when she came back, Scott left Madelyne to be with Jean in X-Factor. Add in the old adage about a woman scorned, and Madelyne turns out to be a very nasty girl (and calls herself the Goblin Queen). She was thought to be killed by Jean , but no one ever dies in comics. Anyhow, the aftermath of this put Nathan back in the care of his father, and with him Jean Grey.
Seems like things will turn out for the best and they'll live happily every after, but again - bad things happen. Nathan gets infected by the techno-organic virus and it looks like he's not going to make it. In the deus ex machine of deus ex machinas, people from the future (2000 years hence) time travel (there's #3) back to save Nathan by taking him with them. Good news - they can cure him. Bad news - Scott and Jean probably will never see him again.
In the future, eventually Nathan is saved (though he isn't cured before his left arm is transformed into a sort of organic steel), and guess what happens? He gets cloned! It turns out Nathan is really important, like 'the chosen one' important, and so they clone him in case he dies so they can still have someone to fulfill their prophecies. Kind of like insurance. Well, the original does survive and the clone gets stolen by the bad guys and eventually takes on the name Stryfe (bad schools in the future for spelling).
All this is fascinating (or at least mildly interesting), but where does Cable come in? While trying to stop the bad guys (in this case Stryfe and Apocalypse), Nathan ends up traveling back in time to the 20th Century. In order to keep a secret from his parents (and to keep readers guessing), he takes on the name Cable and is drawn by Rob Liefeld during his run on The New Mutants.
Speaking of Liefeld, this mini-bust does have something stylistically similar to his art - no feet. The style of the sculpture really isn't an effort to catch any particular artist's style, but to just apply a realistic approach to the work. This fits in well with other mini-busts in the Marvel Universe and Rogue's Gallery lines, both from Diamond Select Toys. The scale also matches those lines, with this mini-bust measuring out at nearly 6.5 inches tall.
The subject of the piece is Cable, and with only one arm on display. They chose the metal one, because it is more visually interesting since if you want to see just another arm you can always look at your own or a friend's. One thing that Cable has in common with Charlton Heston is that he loves guns, and so he comes with one. In the comics he likes to carry around huge, gigantic guns like he might be trying to compensate for something...
He's dressed in his casual battle wear, with pouches and colorful padding setting off an beautiful shade of blue. The white hair on his chest matched his head and eyebrows and the left eye has the signature starburst painted on just like a sparkle in his eye. It can sparkle when he uses his mental powers (telekinesis and telepathy), and he has to use them all the time to keep the techno-virus at bay.
The base is made up of a plethora of perilous products. These include smoke grenades, fragmentation grenades and a pair of crossed knives. There are also a ton of wires and cables wrapped around as if he's broken through the floor or ceiling. (Perhaps he's just excited and the techno-organic parts of him are slipping out!)
And now for the skinny on a few other statistics. The production run for Cable is 3000 pieces, and the sculpture was done by Rocco Tartamella. Rocco also sculpted a Punisher and Hobgoblin mini-bust for Diamond Select Toys and has previously done work for McFarlane Toys. For autograph hounds, there is the full-color certificate of authenticity signed by Rocco and hand numbered. Hint: If the number is not 1-3000 inclusive, it might be a fake. Use this information wisely...
More Pictures of Cable
| Where to buy the Marvel Universe Cable Bust: This statue is a limited edition of 3,000, and it retails in the $40 to $45 USD price range. It is available at comic book stores, as well as at various online toy and collectible retailers. |
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