First 4 Figures 1/6 Varia Suit Samus Statue

The Varia Suit – Samus’ most recognizable and classic suit form the Metroid franchise. This statue from First 4 Figures was the object of my original desire – I had seen it online while I was a wee lad, though at that time, it was already long sold out and prices online had skyrocketed to over 200% its original price.

The irony when I buy it many, many years later at 500% its original price online, in exchange for a certain Phazon Suit Statue of the same sculpt.

Released somewhere between 2006 – 2007, this statue was limited to 2500 pieces worldwide. This was the original piece that kicked off First 4 Figures’ entry into the Metroid line, and fans of the franchise around the world rejoiced at a physical manifestation of Samus of higher quality than the original Joyride figurine.

The back of the box has a little blurb about the suit and how it’s made/molded/sculpted entirely out of resin, making it a delicate and fragile thing. The actual statue is encased in two pieces of over-sized Styrofoam blocks. I should also note that the entire package weighs in at somewhere around 6lbs. I was scared to bring it in the house when it arrived at my door, as I feared it broke in transit like my last statue. (Thankfully it did not).

At the time of its release, this beautiful piece was a mere $100 on First 4 Figures‘ site. Since then however, as I mentioned above, it has gone up.

I managed to nab this one on eBay recently at roughly $500; many others were going for as high as $1200, so I didn’t want to miss my chance. I didn’t think the day would ever come to pass where I actually managed to acquire this statue, but given that I had to give up another piece in exchange for this one, it can be counted as both a loss and a win, I suppose.

The Varia Suit, as shown here in its Prime incarnation, was definitively my favorite suit in the game, though I do also have an affinity sometimes for the Gravity Suit. Beyond the statue of that particular purple armor not being available anywhere because it was only produced at 250 pieces (never seen it on eBay or any other site for sale, which leads me to almost question its existence entirely) the beautiful metallic orange finish of the Varia captivated me.

I’ll be straight and biased right here and now – the metallic paint finish is majestic to behold. Funny because in almost all of First 4 Figure’s promotional images of this statue’s prototype, the finish is a flat, light orange. While the actual final promotional product images do yield a slightly shiner finish, I never expected it to sport such a lustrous sheen, like that of automobile paint. The same could be said of the red areas of the chest and helmet, as well as the metallic green Arm Cannon.

The attention to detail and the in-game accuracy is astounding. The subtle bells and whistles are what make this piece so great. From the yellow/orange highlights in the arm cannon to the green bit lights in the shoulders, it’s all there. Gotta thank First 4 Figures for doing their utmost to use the original game files as their primary reference point. I’ve said the same for the Phazon Suit, but with the lighter orange paint job in favor of black, the details and aesthetics are brought out that much more.

The Arm Cannon is painted orange on the inside of the barrel, though the very end of it is black/charred in texture. Looks like they just didn’t care so much about the inside of the arm cannon so left it somewhat half-done. Given that it’s difficult to see inside the barrel anyway, it doesn’t matter much.

One funny little thing to note is the left arm – doesn’t it seem somewhat uncannily long? I’m fairly certain this is just in the ways of artistic liberties, or for the sake of practicality to make the arm reach the cannon, but it seems longer than her arm really should be.

I’m really just nitpicking though; I haven’t actually noticed it much before, even with the Phazon Suit. But upon staring and drooling at this statue for a good few hours, some things stood out.

As usual for First 4 Figures, an Authenticity Card is included, with the specific and unique Product Number Code printed on. This statue was new when I purchased it, so I can only assume that it hasn’t been registered. But given its age, authenticating it now wouldn’t do much good, methinks.

The base is the heaviest part of the statue. It seems to be based off of a metal platform area in the game, though of which, I’m not certain. (And I’ve played Metroid Prime many, many times over).

Under the base is the usual printed info about the statue and the product number. Mine would be #2205/2500.

Samus plugs into the base via a metal peg that extends out the bottom of her left boot. She’s secure while on the base, despite only being connected at one point. Inserting that prong into the base can be a scary experience though; I’m far too weary of damaging this sculpt after the last one…

Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about juxtaposing this statue with the Figma Varia Suit Samus I already owned. It never looked that visually impressive in the past with the Phazon Suit, given Prime and Other M had fundamentally different suit designs, but the matching metallic orange of both statue and figure make quite the sight.

Figma Samus can’t quite pull of that impossible-looking pose the statue can do (seriously, it looks painful on the joints, especially in armor) but close enough.

And of course, before my poor old Phazon Suit is sold off forever to who-knows-who, I had to get a shot in of both of them together. I can’t believe I’d ever be privileged enough to own two of these high-quality statues at once. Gravity Suit we miss you…

Upon juxtaposition, I noticed something interesting – the stances of the two statues are actually off by a bit…Phazon Suit Samus seems to be leaning sideways a bit more. Take a look at the pictures above, it’s not just the camera angle. Varia Suit Samus actually looks more upright, as though the Phazon Suit is bending its left ankle forwards more…strange, hmm? I figured they used the same mold/sculpt, even though the Phazon suit is re-made with LEDs and clear resin.

Overall I gotta say – I love this piece. It’s become a crown jewel in the collection, and I’d be pretty satisfied with Metroid merch for a while with just this…if it weren’t for something else I’ve recently set my eyes upon…

If you’re a die-hard Metroid fan, this statue is a must-get. Just hope you’d be one of the lucky 2500 fans. While bloated in price at this point, I can only see it going up in the future, so if you’re on the fence, waiting may (literally) be costly.