I understand as much as anyone how tempting/entertaining these photoshop touch-ups can be, although it's true that all the armchair quarterbacking doesn't always have the effect you might hope it does.
The truth is (speaking as a sculptor of these pieces), there is virtually no flaw you can point out that I'm not already brutally aware of. We've been studying and re-studying these likenesses for months before they are ever shown to the public, it's extremely rare that someone will notice something after viewing the figure for 5 minutes that we haven't already realized ourselves (again, I'm talking about the sculpture specifically, NOT the paint). The unfortunate fact of the matter is (most of the time) that there is only so much tweaking that can be done on any given piece, due to demands made by the production schedule and direction/revisions by the licensor. So, while many folks think they might be doing us a favor or "keeping us on our toes" by "fixing" all of our apparently sub-par work, in reality sometimes it feels more like re-inserting a knife into an open wound and twisting it around.
Don't get me wrong.... We make these products the absolute best that we possibly can. But this is an art form, and there's a saying about sculpture that I've always adhered to: "A sculpture is never finished, only abandoned". I believe Leonardo Da Vinci said that. The point is, a sculpture could be worked, and worked, and worked some more, until the end of time, and still not be perfect. We simply do the best we possibly can in the timeframe we're given. An individual figure doesn't earn as much profit for Sideshow as you might think, there is only so much R&D that can go into any given figure before it starts to literally lose money. Given those parameters (which every company in existence follows), I think Sideshow does a pretty bang-up job.
I don't mean to ramble.... And by all means, certainly keep up with all the photoshopping, overlaying, critiquing, etc, to your heart's desire. Your comments ARE extremely valuable. Just know that a little understanding of what goes into these things goes a long way. And if some of these fan-made suggestions don't always appear on the final product (like they did with Han, etc), don't take it to mean that we aren't paying attention or don't care. There are many, many factors involved that might prevent us from always being able to make further revisions on certain figures, but we'll certainly do our best to give you exactly what you want.
It just seems from all the posts I've read on several different forums that the overall feeling on this release is one of disappointment. I've seen waaaaay more negative comments about this piece then positive. To each his own!
