BRUCE LEE CINEMAQUETTE

"Knowledge will give you power, but character respect" - Bruce Lee

I have loved watching Bruce Lee movies since young. His movies seem to portray a sense of fairness in an unjust world. More typically, an asian standing up to a western giant. His quick actions, boyish good looks and strong fighting spirit made him a legend and redefined the martial arts scene forever. Because of my affinity with Bruce Lee movies growing up, I couldn’t pass up on an opportunity to acquire the Cinemaquette Bruce Lee (at a relatively good price at that!).

Let’s get on with the review.

Packaging

Once again, Cinemaquette does not disappoint with its lavish packaging. You have the usual outer brown shipping box and an inner protective box for the colour box within. The colour box is simple in design but constructed very sturdily (made with some kind of high quality dense cardboard material which is very solid and heavy). Within the printed colour box, there were 3 separate and distinct layers; first layer held the certificate containing a printed signature of Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter (at the price point I half expected an original signature – but we know that doesn’t happen with the usual Cinemaquette), the second layer held the base and an owner’s manual and the third and final layer, Bruce Lee himself. One thing to note in the packaging was that Bruce Lee’s head was wrapped within a hard plastic bubble for added protection of the silicon head during shipping. This also ensures that the hair stays in place.

Bruce Lee is constructed in one solid piece (no assembling required) and came ready for display. However, as it is with most Cinemaquettes, minor adjustments to the clothing hair and accessories (if any) are necessary to make the statue really pop and come alive.

Overall packaging score: 9/10

Outfit / Materials

Quoting from the Cinemaquette website, Bruce Lee is constructed of “polyurethane composite with realistic silicon skin, the Bruce Lee Cinemaquette's head is individually punched with real human hair.”  I’m glad to add that Bruce Lee also comes with hand-punched eyelashes that are very realistic looking. Although they are slightly too long for my liking, they can easily be trimmed to perfection.

In addition to the silicon skin and hand-punched human hair, Bruce Lee comes with the following:

-    Real fabric attire (black outer shirt, white inner shirt, inner wife beater/singlet, and black pants);
-    individually sewn buttons on shirts and pants; and
-    Fabric black belt (adjustable).

The shoes and socks come sculpted, which loses some points here. Overall, the attire is well made and accurate to what was worn with martial arts practitioners back in the day. However, if I were to be picky, I would say that the black pants could have been made more fitting. It seems a tad too loose for Bruce’s thin frame. 

Overall outfit score: 8.5/10

Sculpt

Not much to say here as most of Bruce is covered in clothing, with the exception of his head and forearms.



The detail of Bruce’s face and expression is astounding. You can see the pores of his face and some teeth showing just inside his lips. Very realistic looking.

The hands are also well sculpted; you can see that the fingers, muscles and veins are tense and ready for some quick action.






To nit pick, I found the fingers a tad too long, given Bruce’s small frame. 

Overall sculpt score: 8/10

Paint Job

Pros:
-    colour of silicon skin is very natural and realistic looking
-    eyes were perfectly painted, almost looks like glass eyes! No lazy eye issues here
-    base very well painted, looks like real wood finish

Cons:
-    forearms were not well painted (I observed some slight paint rubs on forearms)
-    colour of the veins were painted sloppily and did not blend in naturally
-    finger nails could have been painted with a gloss finish
-    flat beige paint colour on forearms, could have been better painted with various skin tones


The sub-par paint job on the arms seems to be a noted problem with this cinemaquette release. Future buyers will be wise to inspect the arms carefully before purchase. Overall, I was disappointed with the paint job on the arm’s, and given the price point, the quality and QC expected of Cinemaquette, this was a little disappointing for me.



Overall paint job score: 6.5/10 

Pose / Likeness

The action pose chosen is fitting for Bruce Lee; strong, give me your ‘best shot’ pose, ready for a fight. The pose chosen is perfectly fitting for the character and continues to grow on me. The only thing that could have been done better is the head should really be posed looking straight ahead at the opponent, ready for a fight (not looking down as it currently is – which makes Bruce seem somewhat shy). Also, the eyes stray too much to the right – when challenged to a fight, he should really be looking straight at his opponent (again, head looking up and eyes looking straight would have been perfect).

There has been some debate about the likeness of Bruce Lee of this Cinemaquette. Looking at Bruce directly, he doesn’t resemble the legend perfectly, although some likeness is there (seems a tad too puffy on the face and mature looking). The likeness is better looking at Bruce from an angle. However, it’s still a good likeness of Bruce Lee. I do believe the hairstyle throws the likeness off somewhat...with proper styling of his hairstyle I’m certain the likeness will shine through.

Overall pose score: 8.5/10
Overall likeness score: 7.5/10

Summary

So in conclusion, how satisfied am I having the Bruce Lee Cinemaquette in my collection? Absolutely satisfied! Granted there may be stronger likeness of Bruce out there in the form of Hot Toys or Enter Bay figures…but the reality is; they are just figures; made out of plastic, poseable seams, sculpted hair etc and in 1:6 scale. If you want a Bruce Lee collectible which commands attention, looks incredibly realistic in person and made with the best materials available in the market today (okay..maybe not), then I would recommend the Bruce Lee Cinemaquette, only if you can look past the slight likeness issue and of course, the price. I still find great satisfaction having him in my collection and this, to me, is the Bruce Lee collectible to own.

In Summary:

Overall packaging score: 9/10
Overall outfit score: 8.5/10
Overall sculpt score: 8/10
Overall paint job score: 6.5/10
Overall pose score: 8.5/10
Overall likeness score: 7.5/10

Overall score: 80%

"Real living is living for others" - Bruce Lee