Sometimes statue collectors do things that non-collecting might find a little, well… strange. Things like buying a statue for hundreds of dollars from a video game they’ve never played… or played and didn’t like it. Such is the case with me and the subject of today’s review: the First 4 Figures Katamari Damacy Dipp Statue! I hadn’t played Katamari at all when I fell in love with this statue, and hated the game when I did play it. But am I happy with my purchase nonetheless? Read on…
I’ve got a weakness for both cute things and for First4Figures statues, so when F4F pretty much had my number when they revealed their Katamari Damacy Statues back in 2016.
While I probably could have passed on the modestly colored Katamari Damacy Prince statue without much trouble (in fact, I did), there was simply NO WAY I was going to be able to avoid buying his crazily psychedelic-colored cousin, Dipp. And so I did.
First 4 Figures has some of the prettiest art boxes around, and the box for their Exclusive Dipp Statue is no exception. The colors are incredibly bright and vibrant, and reflect the aesthetic of the statue itself perfectly.
As an admin in the First 4 Figures Official Collectors Club on Facebook, I get to have my name on the card, art box and base of the F4F statues that I buy. It’s a cool perk that always puts a big smile on my face.
I purchased the Katamari Damacy Dipp Exclusive statue during the first 12 hours it was available, so I got a bonus holographic “Zero Hour” sticker and an extra signed card from F4F CEO Alex Davis (in addition to the authenticity card all Dipps come with). As usual, these are classy and cool extras. I’m looking forward to the day that there will be official art card holders available for purchase.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the etched designs on the styrofoam that holds F4F statues, although it’s a detail that I only ever see for a few minutes per statue. Even as an embossed styrofoam design, Dipp is such a sweetie!
Dipp comes in just three pieces inside of the styrofoam: figure, base and Katamari Ball. All three come protected in tissue paper to prevent scratching and wear in the styrofoam.
The base itself has a highly convincing wood floor texture on it. I think the sculpting here is great—this looks more like a wooden floor to me than my actual wooden floor in my kitchen!
The bottom of the base gives the official edition size on it: 150 pieces (although my “#Dabid/150” is obviously outside those 150 pieces). That’s a crazy small edition size! A lot of companies might not even bother producing statues with such a short run, so I really appreciate F4F pushing these little guys across the finish line (and into our homes).
Dipp himself is incredibly light when you pick him up, with a really unique look with all of the rainbow stars etched onto his black body. The paint at the bottom of Dipp’s face isn’t quite as “smooth” as on the rest of it, but otherwise he’s sheer perfection.
Dipp is perfectly complemented by his equally colorful and flashy Katamari ball. There are so many colors and stripes and shapes to take in on this ball—it’s a real treat for the eyes! It gives me a real happy feeling just to look at this ball.
The ball has a nice heft to it and feels like a quality piece of resin, just as you’d hope for with a high-end collectible like this.
Given the multitude of colors and tremendous amount of detailing on this piece, I was a little bit worried that something would go wrong somewhere and my OCD wouldn’t be able to cope. But I needn’t have worried: as has been the case with virtually every First 4 Figures Statue that I’ve ever purchased, there’s not a defect in sight. None of the lines or shapes are marred in any way.
This would be a pretty lopsided review if I didn’t also talk about the aspects of this Katamari Dipp statue that I don’t like. Oftentimes I end up omitting this section entirely in my F4F reviews, simply because there’s nothing I can think of to gripe about. In this instance, there are a few trivial things.
While it will sound like a nitpick, I’m not in love with how either piece of the statue attaches to the base. In the case of the Dipp figure, he just balances on one foot with a little metal pole pegging him into the base. Because Dipp is so light, I feel like he’s a little wobbly on the base, and I worry about him coming loose if I’m not careful.
But speaking of being careful: the Katamari ball itself doesn’t actually attach to the base at all—it just rests in some little trenches on the base. I haven’t heard a single report of anyone’s Katamari rolling away from the base and breaking yet, but I REALLY would have preferred some magnets be added to make me feel totally safe that the ball wasn’t going to come loose from the base.
The one other thing that disappointed me just a bit about this statue’s design also has to do with magnets: since the basis of the gameplay in Katamari Damacy is all about rolling stuff onto the ball, I was really hoping for a few little items that could magnetically be attached to the Katamari.
That’s not to say that you can’t find soft, light things to balance onto the Katamari statue by yourself—I had a blast sticking My Little Ponies and LEGO minifigures and action figures on it—but I think it would have been really cool to have some items to attach in the style of the game’s graphics. As it is, Prince and Dipp will forever be at the startling line with empty balls.
Overall: While I can nitpick little things like the lack of attachments for the Katamaris and my trepidation’s about the stability of the pieces, let’s be real here: these First4Figures Katamari Damacy statues are the finest pieces of merchandise for the franchise that will ever be made. The quality on this statue is through the room, and the aesthetic is amazing. Well it’s unlikely I’m ever going to like Katamari Damacy as a game, I love this statue and am psyched to have it in my collection. Get on the Wait List for Dipp and/or Prince while you can—these pieces are real gems that Katamari fans will really regret missing out on!