They might not be able to turn into vehicles (or their “alternate modes”), but two new Transformers statues from Imaginarium Art are able to transform their poses so that you’ll never get bored of how they look.
The statues were launched at a press event at the Highlander on Wednesday night, where previous statues by Imaginarium Art were also on display.
Made of resin, polyeuthrane, acrylic, and superalloy metal, the two statues are sculpted by Argentinian Pablo Viggiano, who previously worked for Sideshow Collectibles, a collectible toy company. They are of the Transformers characters Ultra Magnus and Soundwave, from the original 1984 series, in the 1/4 scale.
The statues can change poses with additional parts provided, although the extra pieces were not available at the launch.
“Not many people will make a statue that can change poses, because it’s very troublesome. But we have done it in a bold way,” said Danny Lim, owner of Imaginarium Art, a toy company that creates statues from pop culture icons such as Iron Man and Aquaman.
Made by Singaporeans
Imaginarium Art is a Singapore registered, China based company, while Danny Lim himself is a bona fide Singaporean. He’s been in the statue making business for three years, having produced 15 statues thus far from the Marvel and DC franchises.
His managing director, Mohammed Sathick, is also a Singaporean Marvel fan. His personal collection stands at 50 pieces.
“I’m more mainstream, more into stuff like Marvel, DC, and a bit of Transformers,” said the 34-year-old.
His largest statue is a 1/4 scale Gladiator Hulk, who is known for being one of the larger characters in the Marvel Universe.
Ultra Magnus and Soundwave
In the animated series, Ultra Magnus transforms into a car-carrier trailer, while Soundwave transforms into a microcassette player. This rendition of Soundwave also sees his four cassette partners accompanying him, inclusive of one hiding in his tape deck chest.
Soundwave was also part of Lim’s childhood collection.
“13 years ago, I owned an original Japanese Soundwave, but I had to sell it off,” said Lim. “So this time, I must make it back in return.”
As for Ultra Magnus, it stems from Lim’s observation that most Transformers statues are of Optimus Prime.
“There are so many Optimus Primes already. So I wanted to do the other characters first, such as Ultra Magnus. This would enable it to complement other brands of statues.”
Next in line: the futuristic Autobot leader Rodimus Prime and the construction vehicle combiner Devastator.
Lim also said that a Quintesson, a Lovecraftian alien race in Transformers, was part of his line up.
Fan reactions
Pictures of the statues had already been leaked on the popular Transformers site Seibertron, before the official launch on Wednesday, so many fans already had a glimpse of the statues before their unveiling.
“It’s a very big effort,” said Roy Soon, one of the partners of toy store The Falcon’s Hangar. “Nobody else would do this. It’s very difficult to go into production for this,” added the 44-year-old.
But what does Lim’s 11-year-old son think?
“He’s not a fan. He likes to collect typewriters. But he’s my motivation to do this,” said his father.
As for Lim himself, he’s a fan of the Tomica Cars series, a line of small collectible cars.
In particular, he’s fond of the Mickey Mouse series of Tomica Cars.
And since since a Mickey Mouse Transformer has been released under the Disney Label in the past, it’s conceivable that we might one day see a statue of a Mickey Mouse Transformer.
Transform and roll out!
This article was also published on Yahoo!.
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