For most people, being a gamer isn't an inexpensive hobby. Between acquiring the latest gaming system, controllers and other peripherals, plus the games themselves, many players find themselves dishing out a considerable sum of cash on the regular to stay in-tune with the latest games.
While gaming has almost always had a selection of toys and collectibles for players to pick up, as the medium has grown older, the cost and quality has often climbed. Gamers are apparently more than willing to open their wallets for high-quality and limited collectibles of their favorite game franchises, and Street Fighter players may have to stretch their finances to pick up this latest reveal.
Street Fighter's Chun-Li is getting the statue treatment courtesy of Prime 1 Studio. Known for their other impressive replicas, like statues of the lead characters from Bloodborne, Devil May Cry, or Nier:Automata, Prime 1 Studio statues aren't usually cheap, and Chun-Li is no exception to the rule. This extremely limited collectible is currently accepting pre-orders for an eventual full cost of $1,099.00 USD. Only 150 units are being produced, making it an extremely rare item.
A high price tag is meaningless if the collectible isn't impressive, but fans of Street Fighter won't need to worry about that here. Chun-Li's iconic appearance and fighting stance have been recreated impressively, coming in at a whopping 30 inches with base included, for a 1/4 scale reproduction. Chun-Li is wearing her pink variant of her classic costume, posing valiantly on street rubble while energy swirls around her. She looks ready to finish her opponent with the next strike.
While most statues of this kind are fixed and can't be posed, Chun-Li will come with two different heads for those who pre-order the statue. Her standard serious expression can be replaced with the second head, giving her a winking smile instead, ready to lay waste to her opponent with style. As the statue is produced out of polystone, it will also be quite the heavyweight, currently estimated to weigh just under 30lbs (though the weight may change as the statue is still in pre-production).
As gamers have grown older, many more pricey collectibles in the gaming sphere have appeared. Some expensive purchases may be due purely to dwindling availability, like rising prices on old and rare gaming systems, while others take advantage of nostalgia, leaving players struggling with the notion of spending $12,000 on a Final Fantasy 6 Terra statue. While being a gamer certainly doesn't require owning any of these things, many enjoy surrounding themselves with reminders of their favorite hobby and characters, even if it means burning a lot of cash in the process, so high-quality and costly recreations like these are unlikely to stop being produced anytime soon.
Source: Prime1Studio