Mandible
Super Freak
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 3,321
- Reaction score
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Even though there are numerous in-hand photos of this floating around the forums - and has been since the beginning of October – I thought I would do a different type of review than my first impression, that gets more into the nitty-gritty.
First off, I must say I’m far happier with the one I received than the one I saw in-hand in the shop back on November 13th. The colors are much better, and more inline with the other photos others folks have put up.
But…
PAINT APPS: even though I’m happy with the overall “look,” the paint apps are a little basic. As you can see in the photos, everything is in “chunks” of color (the side panels, as an example), that highlight the individual die-cast pieces, rather than making it feel like it’s all one ship – like it was one color when it “rolled off the assembly line”. (I hope this makes sense, but if you look at the actual Falcon - again, the side-panels – it looks like they were the same color as the rest of the ship when it was first built, and just got dirtier over the years). Same with the shell of the cockpit, the inserts of the mandibles, etc.
DETAILS: are okay for die-cast, but are very heavy-handed in most areas, but then soft in other areas. Saying that, it’s not bad by any means, and does the job - but if you know the details of the ship intimately, you’ll know what I mean. An addition gripe I’ve noticed, other than the obvious seams, is the top gun – it’s all one piece. It’s not overly noticeable in photos, but in-hand it looks really toy-like and cheap.
SCALE: it is quite small – particularly for the money. It looks and feels like an expensive toy (like an old Dinky toy), rather than a replica (which of course it’s not), and for me personally, I think it is too expensive for what you get. At the originally quoted $299, it would have been amazing. But after 8 and a half years since the reveal, sadly they didn’t make that happen.
PRESENCE: it still gives a good impression to an untrained eye (although, as mentioned, it is small).
CONCLUSION: it will all come down to how particular you are. I now have the MR, the Bandai, and this, and for “as-near-to-the-real-thing-accuracy” goes, the Bandai is the clear winner. But for a no-effort, straight out of the box display representation of an iconic ship, the EFX is a good option I suppose.
Regardless of my issues with EFX as a company, I can never say anything bad about their finished products, as they are normally fantastic. This however, doesn’t feel like one of their products. It’s far too toy-like compared to anything they’ve ever done before under the Star Wars banner. Even the PCR helmets come across as more “authentic” feeling than this.
Will I keep mine? Maybe. I’ll put it on my desk for the time being and see if it continues to grow on me. But I dare say, once my Bandai has finished being painted, this may find its way onto eBay ☹
First off, I must say I’m far happier with the one I received than the one I saw in-hand in the shop back on November 13th. The colors are much better, and more inline with the other photos others folks have put up.
But…
PAINT APPS: even though I’m happy with the overall “look,” the paint apps are a little basic. As you can see in the photos, everything is in “chunks” of color (the side panels, as an example), that highlight the individual die-cast pieces, rather than making it feel like it’s all one ship – like it was one color when it “rolled off the assembly line”. (I hope this makes sense, but if you look at the actual Falcon - again, the side-panels – it looks like they were the same color as the rest of the ship when it was first built, and just got dirtier over the years). Same with the shell of the cockpit, the inserts of the mandibles, etc.
DETAILS: are okay for die-cast, but are very heavy-handed in most areas, but then soft in other areas. Saying that, it’s not bad by any means, and does the job - but if you know the details of the ship intimately, you’ll know what I mean. An addition gripe I’ve noticed, other than the obvious seams, is the top gun – it’s all one piece. It’s not overly noticeable in photos, but in-hand it looks really toy-like and cheap.
SCALE: it is quite small – particularly for the money. It looks and feels like an expensive toy (like an old Dinky toy), rather than a replica (which of course it’s not), and for me personally, I think it is too expensive for what you get. At the originally quoted $299, it would have been amazing. But after 8 and a half years since the reveal, sadly they didn’t make that happen.
PRESENCE: it still gives a good impression to an untrained eye (although, as mentioned, it is small).
CONCLUSION: it will all come down to how particular you are. I now have the MR, the Bandai, and this, and for “as-near-to-the-real-thing-accuracy” goes, the Bandai is the clear winner. But for a no-effort, straight out of the box display representation of an iconic ship, the EFX is a good option I suppose.
Regardless of my issues with EFX as a company, I can never say anything bad about their finished products, as they are normally fantastic. This however, doesn’t feel like one of their products. It’s far too toy-like compared to anything they’ve ever done before under the Star Wars banner. Even the PCR helmets come across as more “authentic” feeling than this.
Will I keep mine? Maybe. I’ll put it on my desk for the time being and see if it continues to grow on me. But I dare say, once my Bandai has finished being painted, this may find its way onto eBay ☹
Just kidding.
