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

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Ya just know the perfect ESB helmet will be included with the ROTJ Vader, along with the reveal sculpt.
 
Ya just know the perfect ESB helmet will be included with the ROTJ Vader, along with the reveal sculpt.

They will reuse I think.

Look at the ANH sculpt. Reused that 3 times. I don’t think they will make a new one for ROTJ and I doubt we ever get a ROTS as it would have to be a new sculpt and one that I doubt a lot of ppl would buy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It will be at least a year before ROTJ Vader is revealed and allot can change in that time. There can also be many more changes before production.

Besides, I do not understand what difference it makes if there is details on the inside of a sculpt that is not meant to be seen. Would you feel better if none were present and the helmet was still the same?

One last thing. Many times a sculpture will sculpt the bones and muscles to understand how they affect the finish pose. Could Hot Toys be fitting those helmet elements in an attempt to see how they will affect the outside look? This helmet sculpt is including a head after all where the others did not. Do you thing those inside sculpts are finished designs?

Not sure what you mean. Everything I'm talking about is fully visible from outside, that's why I'm saying it affects the look of the figure. Obviously I wouldn't care if all of these details were on the inside and not visible.

They should have created a "clean" sculpt that was not ROTJ-style reveal halves glued together. To reiterate, HT's decision to use it created these problems on this figure:

- Mouth grill isn't angled back enough (to accomodate the inner reveal details)
- due to mold complexities of having two halves, there is a slight gap created by gluing two halves together - though its only a mm or so, it "stretches" the mouth triangle vertically, making it appear too big
- there is an obvious, unsightly seam/gap/step-up in the middle of the tusk rails where the upper and lower halves of the facemask mis-align (this gap shouldn't be there for either ESB or ROTJ regular helmets)
- due to them only including a ROTJ reveal sculpt with this release, the "reveal" brace's greeblies/bolts are visible from the front, which is never seen in either ESB or ROTJ
- with this figure displayed in reveal mode, the helmet covers the top of the head, which is ROTJ style, not ESB style which has the whole head exposed except over the face
- the Anakin back-of-head sculpt paint is the pale "baby powder" look from ROTJ, not the more pinkish-yellow burn victim look of ESB

And I'm not sure what you mean about the HT ROTJ Vader either - just like the ANH/RO/Tarkin Vaders, the ROTJ version will simply be this same split sculpt with an even more high gloss paint app and more gold-ish eye lenses. It would be surprising if that figure comes with a non-reveal sculpt, as they would/could have used it for this ESB figure.
 
Not sure what you mean. Everything I'm talking about is fully visible from outside, that's why I'm saying it affects the look of the figure. Obviously I wouldn't care if all of these details were on the inside and not visible.

They should have created a "clean" sculpt that was not ROTJ-style reveal halves glued together. To reiterate, HT's decision to use it created these problems on this figure:

- Mouth grill isn't angled back enough (to accomodate the inner reveal details)
- due to mold complexities of having two halves, there is a slight gap created by gluing two halves together - though its only a mm or so, it "stretches" the mouth triangle vertically, making it appear too big
- there is an obvious, unsightly seam/gap/step-up in the middle of the tusk rails where the upper and lower halves of the facemask mis-align (this gap shouldn't be there for either ESB or ROTJ regular helmets)
- due to them only including a ROTJ reveal sculpt with this release, the "reveal" brace's greeblies/bolts are visible from the front, which is never seen in either ESB or ROTJ
- with this figure displayed in reveal mode, the helmet covers the top of the head, which is ROTJ style, not ESB style which has the whole head exposed except over the face
- the Anakin back-of-head sculpt paint is the pale "baby powder" look from ROTJ, not the more pinkish-yellow burn victim look of ESB

And I'm not sure what you mean about the HT ROTJ Vader either - just like the ANH/RO/Tarkin Vaders, the ROTJ version will simply be this same split sculpt with an even more high gloss paint app and more gold-ish eye lenses. It would be surprising if that figure comes with a non-reveal sculpt, as they would/could have used it for this ESB figure.

Good post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Not sure what you mean. Everything I'm talking about is fully visible from outside, that's why I'm saying it affects the look of the figure. Obviously I wouldn't care if all of these details were on the inside and not visible.

They should have created a "clean" sculpt that was not ROTJ-style reveal halves glued together. To reiterate, HT's decision to use it created these problems on this figure:

- Mouth grill isn't angled back enough (to accomodate the inner reveal details)
- due to mold complexities of having two halves, there is a slight gap created by gluing two halves together - though its only a mm or so, it "stretches" the mouth triangle vertically, making it appear too big
- there is an obvious, unsightly seam/gap/step-up in the middle of the tusk rails where the upper and lower halves of the facemask mis-align (this gap shouldn't be there for either ESB or ROTJ regular helmets)
- due to them only including a ROTJ reveal sculpt with this release, the "reveal" brace's greeblies/bolts are visible from the front, which is never seen in either ESB or ROTJ
- with this figure displayed in reveal mode, the helmet covers the top of the head, which is ROTJ style, not ESB style which has the whole head exposed except over the face
- the Anakin back-of-head sculpt paint is the pale "baby powder" look from ROTJ, not the more pinkish-yellow burn victim look of ESB

And I'm not sure what you mean about the HT ROTJ Vader either - just like the ANH/RO/Tarkin Vaders, the ROTJ version will simply be this same split sculpt with an even more high gloss paint app and more gold-ish eye lenses. It would be surprising if that figure comes with a non-reveal sculpt, as they would/could have used it for this ESB figure.

Agree. Except that the issues are not that noticeable in hand, they are there but it's still ESB Vader on my shelf, looking damn good.

But they should have taken less shortcuts, for a even better product. At these prices, not doing so shows the slip towards profit over profit AND top quality by Hot Toys.
 
I finally pulled the trigger and ordered Vader today from BBTS. He's my first Hot Toys Star Wars Baddie that I've picked up. I shipped my POL as soon as payment cleared since after today they start charging sales tax to my state.
 
I finally pulled the trigger and ordered Vader today from BBTS. He's my first Hot Toys Star Wars Baddie that I've picked up. I shipped my POL as soon as payment cleared since after today they start charging sales tax to my state.

I was hesitant on this figure also. But I took advantage of the Bay %15 off coupon and pulled the trigger.
 
Not sure what you mean. Everything I'm talking about is fully visible from outside, that's why I'm saying it affects the look of the figure. Obviously I wouldn't care if all of these details were on the inside and not visible.

They should have created a "clean" sculpt that was not ROTJ-style reveal halves glued together. To reiterate, HT's decision to use it created these problems on this figure:

- Mouth grill isn't angled back enough (to accomodate the inner reveal details)
- due to mold complexities of having two halves, there is a slight gap created by gluing two halves together - though its only a mm or so, it "stretches" the mouth triangle vertically, making it appear too big
- there is an obvious, unsightly seam/gap/step-up in the middle of the tusk rails where the upper and lower halves of the facemask mis-align (this gap shouldn't be there for either ESB or ROTJ regular helmets)
- due to them only including a ROTJ reveal sculpt with this release, the "reveal" brace's greeblies/bolts are visible from the front, which is never seen in either ESB or ROTJ
- with this figure displayed in reveal mode, the helmet covers the top of the head, which is ROTJ style, not ESB style which has the whole head exposed except over the face
- the Anakin back-of-head sculpt paint is the pale "baby powder" look from ROTJ, not the more pinkish-yellow burn victim look of ESB

And I'm not sure what you mean about the HT ROTJ Vader either - just like the ANH/RO/Tarkin Vaders, the ROTJ version will simply be this same split sculpt with an even more high gloss paint app and more gold-ish eye lenses. It would be surprising if that figure comes with a non-reveal sculpt, as they would/could have used it for this ESB figure.



All of which guarantees they will reuse this sculpt for rotj and rots. Absolutely no reason for them to produce a new sculpt when they've clearly covered all their bases with this one.
 
or they'll realize it's a bad sculpt compared to the 1/4 scale and start over

if they sculpt stays the same the RO will remain my only Vader
 
or they'll realize it's a bad sculpt compared to the 1/4 scale and start over

if they sculpt stays the same the RO will remain my only Vader

:lecture Same for me.

I had skipped the original two renditions of the ANH Vader, awaiting the ESB version. I did pick up the RO Vader for an amazing deal that I could not pass up. But the ESB version, as nice as it looks, just has too many issues with it for me throw money at it. The two main issues for me are the tusks and that backwards base. If the RotJ version uses the same helmet, I'll probably pass and wait for the inevitable "DX" super-dee-duper version... :wink1:
 
I have the ANH HT Vader sculpt as well (which the RO is a shiny repaint of) and I feel like - albeit with a nose enlargement that also reduces the mouth size - the ESB helmet captures Vader better overall. I really need to have a close side-by-side look at the two helmets to see why that's so.

Looking at both though, as well as all the other 1/6 Vaders that have come before - this ESB Vader to me proved there will never be a 1/6 Vader that really nails the look of the helmet. It simply has too many intricacies and subtleties (compound curves, assymmertic aspects, very specific paint etc) that define it.

The thing I notice most on both the ANH/RO and ESB helmet sculpts is the mouth area seeming off. On the ANH/RO it's because the mesh pattern is very wrong (and quite visible,) and the teeth a whisker too narrow, whereas the ESB has a mouth that isn't angled back enough and is too big overall. Both create a wrong looking reflection around the mouth.
 
IMG_20181001_205822.jpg
IMG_20181001_205906.jpg

The chest box on mine isn't quite square with the body. I understand it's glued on, but anyone have any success futzing the figure to alleviate this?
 
How are you lighting Vader from below in those two pictures?

My girlfriend has a light-up moon about the size of a baseball that I placed at his feet. I also have a handful of battery powered lights from Legend Studio for this purpose, but the light of the moon is warmer, which is why I used it here.
 
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