1/6 1/6 Hot Toys - MMS 452 - Star Wars: Episode V ESB - Darth Vader

[ajp4mgs]

Does this (helmet) look properly scaled to you?



View attachment 425360

I'm gonna go with, "no." Especially considering . . .



. . . Tarkin's nose lines up with the base of Vader's neck (give or take a little); not too far off from where the nose on the figure of Tarkin lines up with the Vader in your photo.

With one photo and an eight-word question, you did a better job of proving the point that it took me four photos and several paragraphs to try to explain. Next time, I'll just go with "What Wor-Gar said."

 

[sithocan]

Does this (helmet) look properly scaled to you?



View attachment 425360

I am laughing out loud at the moment. Very funny

 

[TaliBane]

I think both of you are 100% correct about the HT helmets being oversized. All of them so far. And I think the helmet is the reason that the rest of the costume parts end up looking wrong on these figures. But, the good news is that I think the other parts (body included) are scaled pretty well. It's just the helmet sizes that have been ridiculous; and I think I can illustrate it conclusively. Just please be patient with me here because I have to explain it in steps.

Great analysis.

Does this (helmet) look properly scaled to you?



View attachment 425360

Yeah, when you look at "identical set-up" pics of Prowse with helmet on and off, you can see that the facemask is closer to the contour/size of a human face than you think.

As I've said before, I do think some of this is LFL mandated - the "scary towering Vader/cute little R2" thing where we keep getting oversized Vaders and undersized R2's due to LFL size parameters sent to all manufacturers. It's something like three or four 1/6 versions of Vader and R2 in the past few years, and all have the same height issues, even across different companies.

 

[rayeknor]

This thread is fun to watch now with the figure in hand and perfectly happy with it, most of what people are discussing still is very exaggerated compared to what its like in hand - the figure isn't perfect, no 1:6 Vader is or will be, but as people owning them all has also said, this one is definitively "Vader" when you look at it.
Hot Toys own promo pics is still the closest photos to what the mask and helmet actually looks like in hand so far, I gave up trying to photo the helmet, it keeps distorting one way or the other, even more so then the mask

If you're on the fence my advice is - go for it, unless you prefer the even higher gloss/Shaw sculpt probably coming with the rotj one.

I guess the ANH/RO sculpts dont have the details on the back of the helmet as this one does for the back head reveal? Was that stuff even there for the ANH prop? I wonder if they skip the back helmet details on the rotj one as it will most likely have the 2 heads. Personally I prefer how its done with the ESB version - no face reveal but you get the back head sculpt and helmet details for a nice middle road.

 

[momaw]

...Was that stuff even there for the ANH prop? ...

Nope.

 

[punisher1974]

Does this (helmet) look properly scaled to you?



View attachment 425360

Reminds of Rob Zombies Halloween when young Michael wears the mask.

 

[Getter Dragon]

Is there any other character as over-analyzed (to the point of absurdity) in 1:6 scale as Darth Vader?

 

[generalgrevious]

Great analysis.



Yeah, when you look at "identical set-up" pics of Prowse with helmet on and off, you can see that the facemask is closer to the contour/size of a human face than you think.

As I've said before, I do think some of this is LFL mandated - the "scary towering Vader/cute little R2" thing where we keep getting oversized Vaders and undersized R2's due to LFL size parameters sent to all manufacturers. It's something like three or four 1/6 versions of Vader and R2 in the past few years, and all have the same height issues, even across different companies.

that`s probably why I never liked the HT vader mask`s they were way oversized. I still think the Kaiyodo models vader mask is still the best to use. I got the ANH and ESB Vader kaiyodo`s done by Hurricane I think the over all look with his helmets and mask make the figure look like they should be instead of a huge helmet like if Vader was 8 1/2 foot tall.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Is there any other character as over-analyzed (to the point of absurdity) in 1:6 scale as Darth Vader?

Boba Fett.

 

[TaliBane]

Boba Fett.

Hello?! It's Ledger Joker FTW.

Is there any other character as over-analyzed (to the point of absurdity) in 1:6 scale as Darth Vader?

Why are you restricting it to 1/6? In terms of costume replicas, I don't think any character mask in film history has been so analyzed as Vader has, pretty much since the late 1970's, and showing no signs of slowing down even 40 years later.

 

[bwh1990]

Is there any other character as over-analyzed (to the point of absurdity) in 1:6 scale as Darth Vader?

Xenomorphs.

 

[bwh1990]

What's so great about the ESB in hand compared to the others? It looks really bad to me in pics. Seriously asking, not tryin' to be a ding dong.

Can somebody who has this figure answer this? I'm still debating if I should get this or not, need some hands on commentary about what makes it so great in hand so I can decide to pass on it or get it.

 

[rayeknor]

It looks like ESB Vader, despite what this thread sometimes makes you believe - there are more people justifying not buying/keeping previous versions then people praising it just cause when you have it in hand and are happy with it you no longer need to come back here repeatedly to state your opinion, which is natural.

The materials and paint jobs are all top quality throughout. Museum quality craftmanship.

I'm very picky, and I love this figure despite little things like the tusk reveal seam, WAY less in hand then implied here over sized mouth triangle and the less then optimal solution with attaching the dome.

I've only owned the SS deluxe Vader in 1:6 before this (now THAT was an oversized mouth), but this HT version completely blows that one away on all fronts.

If you prefer the ESB/ROTJ look, get this. If you prefer the episode 4 version, get the Rogue one figure. Between the two I cant comment since I do not own the RO Vader, but last few pages people having both in hand seems to lean towards ESB version. This one seems "sharper" in its sculpt, but that is because the ANH/RO mask was softer, more insectoid in appearance, not lower quality.

Hope it helps!

 

[TaliBane]

I guess the ANH/RO sculpts dont have the details on the back of the helmet as this one does for the back head reveal? Was that stuff even there for the ANH prop? I wonder if they skip the back helmet details on the rotj one as it will most likely have the 2 heads. Personally I prefer how its done with the ESB version - no face reveal but you get the back head sculpt and helmet details for a nice middle road.

While I like the figure overall - I still think it's the best out-of-the-box 1/6 Vader yet - the choices HT made for the helmet do feel a bit too cost-cutting considering the price. The neck greeblies/bolts are never visible on the ESB Vader helmet other than in the brief reveal scene (from back view,) so why not do what Sideshow did and include a reveal helmet and a "no-bolts" regular helmet?

As released, and displayed as pretty much everyone will display it, you always have the greeblies/bolts slightly visible from the front, which is not accurate for 99% of ESB. The bolts are toward the back, but they are pretty clearly visible in the 3/4 front view.

And the way HT did the head reveal isn't even accurate to what you see onscreen in ESB - the whole top of his head is clearly seen fully exposed in the movie, whereas the HT figure has it enclosed. And the exposed head, while very nicely sculpted, is very pale and simplistic in HT's paint rather than the rich/gross pink-yellow burnt skin colors seen in the movie.

In both head paint and helmet design, this is basically a ROTJ version with the two facemask halves glued together.

So HT does the bolts/greeblies for the reveal scene, but doesn't deliver for that display option with inaccurate helmet covering the head (ROTJ style) and simplistic/pale paint (perhaps ROTJ style.) So everyone then displays in "regular" (non-reveal) mode, but is stuck with the bolts/greeblies showing somewhat from the front, plus has to live with the inaccuracies that stem from the ROTJ reveal helmet design, ie the cut/break in the tusk rails, the too-large mouth triangle (due to the upper/lower facemask halves seam) and shallow teeth angle.

When the solution all along was two helmets for this release, and two helmets for ROTJ.

I hope you're right that the ROTJ version will have two helmets, but the fact they bascially gave us half of their ROTJ release - with ROTJ design and head paint but halves glued together - for this price seems a little bit of a cheat.

 

[IndyMOS]

Very nice.

Perfect opportunity to do the “No disintegrations” pose with Vader.

Thanks man! I actually did take a pic that was inspired by that scene. I’ll be posting it sometime soon. [emoji108]

 

[Black Label Society]

i cannot believe the amount of nit picking going on in here. i came in here to see peoples poses and instead there is a constant bickering about millimeters worth of inaccuracies. you people have lost perspective on life. the amount of sheer time wasted on this topic is mind numbing. its a toy. you people want a perfectly crafted figure at a perfect 1/6th scale for $250? It will never be perfect at that price. There is only so much a toy maker can do. get over it already. this figure is just fine.

 

[rayeknor]

i cannot believe the amount of nit picking going on in here. i came in here to see peoples poses and instead there is a constant bickering about millimeters worth of inaccuracies. you people have lost perspective on life. the amount of sheer time wasted on this topic is mind numbing. its a toy. you people want a perfectly crafted figure at a perfect 1/6th scale for $250? It will never be perfect at that price. There is only so much a toy maker can do. get over it already. this figure is just fine.

basically this

 

[Soulsaman]

i cannot believe the amount of nit picking going on in here. i came in here to see peoples poses and instead there is a constant bickering about millimeters worth of inaccuracies. you people have lost perspective on life. the amount of sheer time wasted on this topic is mind numbing. its a toy. you people want a perfectly crafted figure at a perfect 1/6th scale for $250? It will never be perfect at that price. There is only so much a toy maker can do. get over it already. this figure is just fine.

Amen!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[guyver1]

There are so many reviews on YouTube of this version now..so collectors are still getting this despite the many issues.

 

[rayeknor]

Most of the issues are in peoples heads and made hyperbole by close up lens distorted photos of a 13" figure, if the issues were as bad as this thread makes it seem I would be the first to jump on the train but instead I'm enjoying the in my opinion so far best representation of 1:6 Vader on my shelf.

Tusk issue in nonexistent in hand, at least on my figure. Mask sculpt just looks like Vader from every angle even if it's not a 3D scan of the prop. Materials are top notch throughout.. as Black labels so eloquently said the figure is just fine.

I'd hate for people to miss out on a great figure based on too much forum vaderology by people who mostly have not seen it in hand. Who knows if the likely (not certain as there is a 1:4 lurking) Rotj version will top it.