​X-23 appears to be jumping away from or onto the hand of a sentinel. A mechanical arm snakes up to grab her but she’s not going to be easy to catch.

​We see her here in a dynamic pose, left knee bent as she jumps, her arms wide and back arched. Her two adamantium-coated claws are exposed from her knuckles and the single adamantium claw juts out from each of her feet.

​Her costume is beautifully sculpted. Her knee-high combat boots lace up from the ankle, and the treads appear slightly worn. She wears dark blue leather and yellow pants with a classic red and gold “X” belt buckle.

​The blue and yellow crop top she wears has a racerback design, showing off her triceps, biceps, deltoids. The exposed flesh between the top and the pants allows the viewer to see her abs, just muscular enough to show that she’s not to be messed with. She’s also wearing a pair of fingerless gloves that reach her upper arms — more for show than for utility.

​This figure comes with two separate portraits.

​The first is X-23 with her whole face exposed. Her features are scrunched up with annoyance and her mouth is open, baring her teeth. This version of Laura is ready to fight with anyone who looks at her wrong.

​The second portrait shows X-23 with a black eyemask. Her eyes glow red, her brows furrow, and her mouth is wide open in a primal roar. It’s here that the viewer can see the fury she inherited as a clone of Wolverine.

​In both portraits, Laura’s hair cascades behind and above her. Dark black tresses seem to defy gravity as she leaps into battle. Although it’s a nice look, we worry that it’s a bit on the unrealistic side given the nature of her pose.

​The sculpture work on her costume is exceedingly well done. The leather has folds and seams that look touchable. Her boots look well-made and the padding on her knees is a nice detail.

​We question the pose of her legs in this figure, however. Her right leg appears to hang limp while her left is engaged. But it’s not apparent where she’ll get leverage to use that right leg. With her shin almost resting on the sentinel’s mechanical arm, we can’t figure out if the leg was wrapped and held, or how it got where it is.

​Generally the paint work on this figure is decent.

Starting from the bottom, the sentinel hand base is well done in a metallic teal color. There’s apparent wear and tear on the hand as well as the mechanical arm. Some slashes along the machinery hints at the damage X-23 has already done to it.

The clothing X-23 wears is somewhat of a mixed bag when it comes to the paint job.

Her boots are shaded in such a way that they resemble worn leather. The treads of her shoes show some wear as well, a nice detail that might otherwise go unnoticed.​Some of the verisimilitude is lost when it comes to the laces of her boots, however. They aren’t painted in a way that makes them appear separate from the fabric of the boots, so it looks flat.

The texture of the dark blue leather and the bright yellow fabric of X-23’s costume is well-rendered. The dark blue portions especially look like realistic pieces of leather. Her belt shares this quality. The shading on her clothes is also well done.

The fabric textures on her crop top and her gloves continue the realistic look of her pants. But there’s a bit of bleeding from the blue to the yellow portions of her top that betray the realism.

The adamantium claws that come from X-23’s knuckles and feet appear dull in the lighting provided. Maybe it’s the fault of the films, but we think that adamantium should shine and gleam when it’s revealed.

The paint job is particularly skillful on X-23’s two portraits. Her make-up, her face, her slightly rosy cheeks — they’re small details that make her expression pop. The rosy shading continues on X-23’s exposed arms and torso. She’s just slightly flushed, which feels realistic to the fact that she is mid-combat.

​Sideshow’s X-23 Premium Format Figure has an edition size of 1250. The original retail price was $590. The figure is sold out. Although the edition size and the fact that the figure is sold out should punch up the value, the character is probably only second or third tier in popularity among the X-men.

​If you’re a fan of X-23 or Wolverine in general, this piece is a great find. However, we can’t rate it any higher in value due to the reasons listed above.

Height: 24″ (609.6 mm) | Width: 11″ (279.4 mm) | Depth: 11″ (279.4 mm) | Weight: 12.00 lbs (5.44 kg) *

Height: 12.00″ (304.8 mm) | Width: 21.00″ (533.4 mm) | Depth: 25.00″ (635 mm) | *

28.00 lbs (12.7 kg) [Intl. 38.00 lbs (17.24 kg)]

● Dan Ulrich (Sculpt)

● Marco Plouffe (Sculpt) (Design)

● Ian MacDonald (Design)

● Adam Smith (Mold and Cast)

● Chadwick Andersen (Mold and Cast)

● Kat Sapene (Paint)

● Tom Jilesen (Design)

● Richard Luong (Design)

● Andrew Huerta (Design)