To be honest, I have never had a particular fondness for Ant-Man and instinctively I have always considered him as a secondary character in the Marvel Universe. Probably, when I started to read Comics, he looked like a sort of background actor in the adventures of the Avengers and his powers were not so extraordinary: having a serum to reduce one's dimensions to those of an ant (although with the capability of controlling whole armies of insects) appeared more as a kind of sleight of hand than a superhuman ability, and I did not understand how such a character could seriously face the enemies of Thor or Hulk without falling into some raw narrative stretching. As a matter of fact, I should not be the only one to think in that way, so much so that the hero was soon converted in Giant-Man, thus assuming a power and features much more in line with the other superheroes of the Avengers' team. And yet, in some respects, Ant-Man is a key figure of Marvel world. In fact, Henry Pym is not only one of the brightest minds on the planet (on a par with Reed Richards, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner), but also the husband of the lovely Janet Van Dyne (who turns into the superheroine Wasp by the same serum) and, above all, the main architect of the foundation of the Avengers! Furthermore, thanks to his work and experiments as a scientist, the android Ultron came alive! Ultron represents a very innovative figure among the Marvel villains and the creator, in turn, of the Vision, one of the most original and charismatic members of the same Avengers. Bowen Design has devoted only one statue to the character, digitally sculpted by Jason Smith and released in 2010 in two versions: the Ant-Man Statue, with a run of 600 pieces, and the DeLuxe Statue, produced in 450 samples worldwide, which has become a sort of forbidden obsession for many collectors! In fact, the prices of this statue have always been very high, but in the last years (probably also due to the release of the Wasp DeLuxe Statue, which it gives rise to a duo of rare beauty with) it reached some really crazy quotations. Without a doubt, however, the statue boasts a class and a distinctiveness out of the ordinary! It is composed of three similar and separate figures in order to simulate the dimensional transformation of the hero, thus overlapping an intrinsic dynamism to the classic static pose of the silhouettes and achieving a really extraordinary visual and aesthetic impact. The pose is reminiscent of a bodybuilder in the act of inflating the muscles: Ant-Man is erect with his arms bent and fists clenched, exhibiting an enormous chest with well defined pectorals and abdomens and the classic blue and red costume, decorated with a black centered template and the high buckle (with a metallic insert) of the belt. The hero also wears the typical helmet used to give orders to his invertebrate friends through a sort of central microphone (attached to the main structure by stout curved ducts) and two long antennas. The shades of color on muscles contours are perfect, as well as on the dark blue folds of gloves and boots. The base is very attractive too: it represents a quarter of dollar, with the words and the effigy of George Washington carved in relief. Then, a real touch of class is added: in order to give a greater emphasis to the dimensional mutation of the hero, the two smaller figures are partially made of transparent resin (the middle limited to the lower legs and the smallest up to the belly), with a continuity of great charm and an impeccable coloring. Beyond any personal appreciation of the character, the style of this statue is really unique. The usual strengths of Bowen products (excellent sculpt and very well-done painting) are here enriched with very original elements of great charm: the presence of three silhouettes of different sizes and the visual effect generated by the trick of transparency, in fact, represent some distinctive features and denote a design and an attention to detail definitely above average. It is hard to say whether these skills can justify (at least partially) the crazy market prices reached by the piece; in any case, I believe the Ant-Man DeLuxe represents one of the best statues ever produced and, for sure, one of the rarest and most sought-after pieces among Bowen fans and collectors.