Looking for a little Rocky to give that someone special?
A. Thomas Schomberg, the Colorado sculptor who cast the well-traveled Rocky statue now back at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is making the big guy in mantelpiece sizes.
A 12-inch version of the knick-knack champ, cast in resin and hand-painted, can be had for $98. A 20-inch edition is bronze-plated as well, and goes for $468.
And if you're really into it, you might want one of 1,976 exact replica versions of the 20-inch statue, numbered, cast in bronze and set on a marble base. They're selling for $2,600 a pop.
(If you are from Texas, there's an even bigger one available. Read on.)
The statues have been licensed by Schomberg Studios and MGM Studios, which is releasing the sixth and final Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa, Dec. 22. You'll be able to but them online at the studios' Web sites as well as at some gift shops.
Schomberg's Web site tells the story behind the big guy. In 1980 Sylvester Stallone proposed to the sculptor that he create a monumental statue for Rocky III. Schomberg created a 30-inch wax model of the fighter, arms raised, face stoic, in classic Greek form. Realizing the actor would have limited time to pose, Schomberg first produced a mask of Stallone's face. The sculptor recalls Stallone's reaction:
"When Sly arrived at my studio he found a figure that was more representational of his earlier image of Rocky from the previous movies, namely a heavier appearing physique. However, at the time of this modeling session, Sly had worked very hard at chiseling his body into a trimmer and leaner appearance, and his comment at the time was, "I'm going to be a stick and jab kind of boxer.' "
So Schomberg trimmed the fighter's shape down to what you see today. Next step was casting the mold in bronze and plaster, then enlarging them by a series of measurements and multiplications. The final sculpture was modeled in oil-based clay, then cast in bronze to create the statue that stands 12 feet 8 inches from the bottom of the pedestal to the top of his gloves and weighs 1,400 pounds.
Schomberg has since made a second full-scale Rocky statue - it stands in the San Diego Hall of Champions. Philanthropist Robert Breitbard purchased it. There was a dedication ceremony Thursday.
Which doesn't make the one outside the Philadelphia museum any less a work of art.
The sculptor is at work on a third and final life-sized statue, said his spokeswoman Ginny Buckley. "It has yet to be determined where it will rest," she said.
One thing is known - it will not be auctioned off on eBay. Schomberg studios had allowed the International Institute for Sport and Olympic History at State College, PA., to try to raise money on eBay by auctioning one of the statues. Bidding started at $5 million, then $3 million, then $1 million. No one made a qualifying bid.
"That's not happening again," Buckley said.
