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

[bebe13junior]

It just struck me as funny -- us bickering about a costume on a doll not mimicking one of several costumes on a fictional character correctly.

Haha I know! We are ridiculous on the outside looking in.


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[rayeknor]

Not gonna argue this thread is highly entertaining!

I agree with the errors people are picking out but again, I just keep seeing ESB Vader when I look at it whether I want to or not, the mistakes are not that jarring to me, considering its a 13" doll vs a man in a costume.

That said, the prototype had tusks in order.. I wonder what happened

 

[epitaph04]

Wasnt planning on getting this but then I did. Disappointed in some of the inaccuracies but still think hes a damn good figure. Mine still needs some more futzing but its getting there.

 

[ajp4mgs]

I agree with the errors people are picking out but again, I just keep seeing ESB Vader when I look at it whether I want to or not, the mistakes are not that jarring to me, considering its a 13" doll vs a man in a costume.

Totally understandable. If you get a sense for ESB Vader in this figure, then who cares what anyone else thinks? As I think you've said before, all figures have flaws. If the flaws don't bother you, then it's a great purchase. Being happy with a figure is an individually subjective thing. Some of us don't like this figure because it doesn't look like ESB Vader to us, or just should've been better. For others like you, the figure is fine. That's the way it goes. You're one of the lucky ones in this case; and I'm glad for you.

 

[Centrocal]

Here's an illustration of what I was referring to about the eyes. I drew yellow outlines around the HT eyes and copied them over to the movie Vader image. You can see how the movie eyes are bigger and how the corners of them extend significantly further. The red lines are to show that the helmets are scaled to one another.

I could make it clearer if the original photo of the figure wasn't so low-resolution and grainy. But, it is what it is. Do you see what I mean about the size and shape of the eyes here?

View attachment 424278

Wow that picture makes me think they actually got the dome pretty close. But as you can see where the shoulders meet the skirt, I think its just the neck is too short.

 

[SilverStar17]

It just struck me as funny -- us bickering about a costume on a doll not mimicking one of several costumes on a fictional character correctly.

How dare you be facetious. This is a very serious matter.

The fate of RotJ Vader depends on it.

 

[TonTon]

Wasnt planning on getting this but then I did. Disappointed in some of the inaccuracies but still think hes a damn good figure. Mine still needs some more futzing but its getting there.

Spoiler:

View attachment 424281

Really nice pic and good futzing. This pic shows how great it can be, for me it’s only let down by the tusk issue in this photo.

 

[GodParticle]

I think the main thing is that the neck is too short the more I look at it

 

[sithocan]

Wasnt planning on getting this but then I did. Disappointed in some of the inaccuracies but still think hes a damn good figure. Mine still needs some more futzing but its getting there.

Spoiler:

View attachment 424281

How much can his head be bent forward?

 

[canofhumdingers]

Not gonna argue this thread is highly entertaining!

I agree with the errors people are picking out but again, I just keep seeing ESB Vader when I look at it whether I want to or not, the mistakes are not that jarring to me, considering its a 13" doll vs a man in a costume.

That said, the prototype had tusks in order.. I wonder what happened

View attachment 424280

Actually, this photo perfectly illustrates the tusk problem. You can clearly see, compared the the actual prop, the TOP of the figure’s tusk on our left (figure right) is lined up with the location of the BOTTOM of the prop’s tusk.

You guys who say the neck is too short, do you mean the neck peg in the figure? Cause the neck on the mask is spot on to my eyes.

And yes, this thread is hilarious. But I’ve long stopped worrying about how far down the rabbit hole of obsessive nerdiness I’ve gone. I am who I am, for better or worse, lol. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my functioning with reasonable normalcy within actual human society, nerd away!

I’m still fence sitting myself. I WANT to love this figure and have a new awesome Vader centerpiece to my action figure collection! I worked really hard to fund its purchase. And every time I see a properly futzed photo I go, “daaaaannnnngg! That looks good.....”

But then I see the tusks again, go “Doh!”, and start asking do I really want to spend THAT much on something with a highly visible flaw that keeps drawing my eye straight to it? Ugh. I just can decide.

 

[sithocan]

About tusks being normal on the prototype… The black bars are same in both prototype and final product. But the silver part of the tusk is different on both. It follows upper bar in the production, but follows lower bar in the proto. But if you look carefully, only the tip portion is inline with lower bar. The part where silver part connects to black bar is inline with upper bar, but then the final part changes direction to be in line with lower bar. That somewhat gives the illusion that it is not molded properly. Maybe that appearance forced HT to not bent it that way.



The direction of upper bar continues to the that cork-like section and at that point tusk changes direction. Another problem is upper bar is more outwads when joining with the lower bar which gives the impression that it has prodominance over the lower one whereas they are equal in the movie

 

[rayeknor]

Its a strange design choice.. they had it right on the ESB prototype, why change it for worse? It does not bother me enough to dislike the figure but they SHOULD know better.

I mean when you get the uneven cheeks and cloak bottom open seam details right, changing the tusks from the prototype just seems weird and a bit sloppy considering the mask is Vaders primary eye catching feature.

Meanwhile, in the next room someone got the 1:4 Vader mask scaringly correct

 

[MINIATURE-ART]

I was all set to purchase the ESB Vader from Hot Toys, but I'm not liking the the seperation line in the tusks, and the shorter stature which makes the figure less imposing and somewhat stumpy looking in my opinion. I modified my Sideshow Ver.2 Vader with the Hot Toys Rogue One parts, namely the chest armor and helmet, with the ANH suit, cape (minus chain) and inner robe. The body was modified by extending the neck to fit the Hot toys helmet, and cutting away parts of the torso at the sides so the arms can lay flat, as well as the torso and buttocks for better poseability :






the Rogue One helmet can be made into a convincing ESB version, I raised and tilted the dome backwards, removed the widows peak, and tinted the lens clear black. The nose plug was shortened so it sits deeper into the mask, and the neck area was sanded down by 3mm so the whole head sits lower on the torso. The tusks recieved 1mm silver ball ends and a new larger chin vent was cut out with a correct mesh pattern. The only thing left to do is replace the upper mouth mesh, but i happen to like the silver contrast of the original.






I think these mods make the Ver. 2 Sideshow ROTJ/Hot Toys Rogue One hybrid a viable contender for an ESB Vader on my shelf. Its larger size has the presence I need so it towers over his troops and it looks like he can stand up to the 1/6 Predators and Aliens figures on my shelf. 1/6 customs for the win

Cheers,

BOBBY

 

[sithocan]

Very nice looking. Congrats.

 

[Wchow16]

I have the 1/4 on PO. What worries me is I really liked the ESB proto pictures as well.

What is puzzling about this figure is some pics it looks good and there are a lot where it looks like a miss. If you stare at it long enough and start seeing Vader and then look at the RO/ANH helmet, it makes that helmet look off. IMO with out over analysis, the ESB looks off to me. Perhaps it's the sum of the differences that throws it off.

Its a strange design choice.. they had it right on the ESB prototype, why change it for worse? It does not bother me enough to dislike the figure but they SHOULD know better.

I mean when you get the uneven cheeks and cloak bottom open seam details right, changing the tusks from the prototype just seems weird and a bit sloppy considering the mask is Vaders primary eye catching feature.

Meanwhile, in the next room someone got the 1:4 Vader mask scaringly correct

 

[McHaleyArt]

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I think these mods make the Ver. 2 Sideshow ROTJ/Hot Toys Rogue One hybrid a viable contender for an ESB Vader on my shelf. Its larger size has the presence I need so it towers over his troops and it looks like he can stand up to the 1/6 Predators and Aliens figures on my shelf. 1/6 customs for the win

Cheers,

BOBBY

Nice work!

 

[McHaleyArt]

Its a strange design choice.. they had it right on the ESB prototype, why change it for worse? It does not bother me enough to dislike the figure but they SHOULD know better.

I mean when you get the uneven cheeks and cloak bottom open seam details right, changing the tusks from the prototype just seems weird and a bit sloppy considering the mask is Vaders primary eye catching feature.

Meanwhile, in the next room someone got the 1:4 Vader mask scaringly correct

It’s very possible HT used a new mold maker or even farmed it out, to increase their profit margin. It’s a mystery.

 

[epitaph04]

How much can his head be bent forward?

Not a whole lot more than what you see.

 

[sithocan]

Weird. It seems to bend more in proto shots.

 

[canofhumdingers]

In the continuing tusk saga...

I didn’t have time to snap a picture but I happened to be passing through my collection room and stopped to look at my old SS ANH figure and guess what? The tusks stick out below the mouth triangle very much like this ESB figure! And in 10+ years of owning and all the time I’ve spent scrutinizing and over analyzing the thing and I’ve never noticed. And seeing it now it looks fine.

This gives me hope that in hand the tusks on this new one won’t bother me either.