Statue vs Action Figure what's your cake?

[potato]

I don't know, i felt most of the time Statue excels at size, weight, material, cool backdrop & stands, maybe some special effects and that is all. rarely i see a statue as realistic as their 1/6 figure counterparts, especially those that have full clothing that covers the joints. Of course, characters like Aliens/Predators really don't matter. The only time Statue stands out more is when the characters have odd body proportion, something that will cost action figures more to develop a special body and even so it might not be able to stand properly as a figure.

For example the Back To The Future McFLy, it seems that the Hot Toys can pose the same pose as the statue, just it lacks the special base to make it more dynamic, price wise, most statues actually cost more than figures, so to me if a statue looks like something their action figure counterpart can achieve, i would choose that.

I'm not sure the reason 1/6 sculpts are generally painted more realistic than their realistic statue counterparts, since the painting method should be similar? However those 1/1 or 1/2 statues are pretty realistic, but their price isn't realistic at all...

 

[budafett]

I prefer statues especially ones with limited use of pleather or materials that degrade quickly. Which is the reason I don’t collect any Hot Toys.

 

[generalszabo]

I just find figures look less realistic due to their smaller scale, when you get a large scale statue it just looks much more impressive and doesn't need posing. If I don't like the pose, I don't buy the statue, is nice and simple for me as I don't have time to keep changing the pose and futzing, I have enough options with change out pieces, changing the lighting and positioning the piece

 

[Buttmunch]

I hate the fragility of statues. I never have to worry about paint even getting rubbed off I’m shipping with a figure like I do with a statue. I know there is a lot of hate when statues are made of plastics rather than polystone but I think the perceived value in weight is idiotic. Nobody comes to your home, marvels at your statues, then asks to pick them up and suddenly thinks less of it because it’s lighter than they expected. As long as it looks great on the shelf, that’s all that matters. Perhaps the lack of Hot Toys realism in face paint is due to the materials used? Even if just the head was a kind of plastic, I bet most would find that acceptable.

I do like that statues can be in very dynamic poses without fear of damage. HT Spider-Man outside of a vanilla pose is a recipe for a damaged outfit over time. Downside is if a statue looks great but is in a bad pose, there isn’t anything that can be done to fix it. So each have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, I go more with figures than statues mostly for space reasons. I do kind of hate how statues seem to mostly need to be 1/4 scale or larger. Plenty of details can even be done at a 1/12 scale. Iron Studios 1/10 sentinels are mighty impressive and would have been impossible at a larger scale.

 

[ZE_501]

I've seen some pretty impressive statues but never went that route because they would eventually bore me. An action figure can be re-posed, even if only once every couple of years, and there's a tactile, interactive dimension to it.

I also wouldn't want to deal with the fragility and logistics surrounding statues, especially the larger ones. There are some downsides to action figures, sure ... highly dynamic poses can be problematic ... but I can live with it.

 

[MyenShi]

I used to collect statues, but I got out of it. Mostly 1/4 and 1/2 with Premium Format and Legendary Scale.

Statues are impressive and a lot of them are show stoppers. But they are also fragile, heavy, have gigantic boxes you have to store, and can be a nightmare to work with for QC because you can't necessarily just get a small replacement part.

It was always a bit nerve wracking unboxing them, though I will say Sideshow at that time had pretty good QC and I didn't have many issues aside from some big notable incidences (Rogue).

I ultimately got out of it because of that, and the fact that they just took up too much room. There was also a breaking point point where I felt the big price hikes exceeded the quality that was being put out.

Nowadays there are other players who make very impressive statues. They cost a lot more, but they seem to be next level in terms of quality, design, and paint.

I always loved toys and collected from childhood, so I continued to focus on 1:6 scale figures. Being able to pose them, display them certain ways, change accessories, take pictures, etc. is very important. I also have a large number of RS, MR, EFX, and ANOVOS helmets and some weapons so the statues lost out in the space battle to those.

But I have circled back around to be open to just a couple of statues now, mostly because of the Ahsoka PF. That is a must have for me. if they do an ESB Leia PF that looks good, I would be tempted by that as well.

So I guess it's ultimately just a matter of what fits best in a collection, the amount of room you have, the type of collection you're curating, the healthy limits you place on yourself, what resonates with you the most and above all, what makes you happy.

I'm not sure the reason 1/6 sculpts are generally painted more realistic than their realistic statue counterparts, since the painting method should be similar? However those 1/1 or 1/2 statues are pretty realistic, but their price isn't realistic at all...

No single answer for this one. Couple of factors. It's harder and much more expensive to get something painted the bigger it gets, especially for something as complex as a face.

The materials are different. Plastic can be cast en masse to have a base flesh tone and texture. Harder and more expensive to capture that at a bigger scale.

A lot of times statues are artistic interpretations not going for straight realism.

Some statue makers go for realism and accomplish it, but the price for those pieces reflect how difficult it is to do that.

 

[jye4ever]

Having owned the best both have to offer I say both are worth owning for obviously different reasons.

Can’t really go wrong with either.

But I would choose the Hot Toys Hulkbuster over any statue.

The engineering details and seperate working pieces impresses me more than just a solid statue.

But lets say you are a diehard Juggernaut fan of course you’re going to go with the SS Juggernaut maquette because nothing exists in action figure form that can match that maquette.

Bottom line you really shouldn’t limit your choices to just one style.

 

[potato]

I used to collect statues, but I got out of it. Mostly 1/4 and 1/2 with Premium Format and Legendary Scale.

Statues are impressive and a lot of them are show stoppers. But they are also fragile, heavy, have gigantic boxes you have to store, and can be a nightmare to work with for QC because you can't necessarily just get a small replacement part.

It was always a bit nerve wracking unboxing them, though I will say Sideshow at that time had pretty good QC and I didn't have many issues aside from some big notable incidences (Rogue).

I ultimately got out of it because of that, and the fact that they just took up too much room. There was also a breaking point point where I felt the big price hikes exceeded the quality that was being put out.

Nowadays there are other players who make very impressive statues. They cost a lot more, but they seem to be next level in terms of quality, design, and paint.

I always loved toys and collected from childhood, so I continued to focus on 1:6 scale figures. Being able to pose them, display them certain ways, change accessories, take pictures, etc. is very important. I also have a large number of RS, MR, EFX, and ANOVOS helmets and some weapons so the statues lost out in the space battle to those.

But I have circled back around to be open to just a couple of statues now, mostly because of the Ahsoka PF. That is a must have for me. if they do an ESB Leia PF that looks good, I would be tempted by that as well.

So I guess it's ultimately just a matter of what fits best in a collection, the amount of room you have, the type of collection you're curating, the healthy limits you place on yourself, what resonates with you the most and above all, what makes you happy.


No single answer for this one. Couple of factors. It's harder and much more expensive to get something painted the bigger it gets, especially for something as complex as a face.

The materials are different. Plastic can be cast en masse to have a base flesh tone and texture. Harder and more expensive to capture that at a bigger scale.

A lot of times statues are artistic interpretations not going for straight realism.

Some statue makers go for realism and accomplish it, but the price for those pieces reflect how difficult it is to do that.

i though the bigger they are the easier it is to add all the details in to make it more realistic? that is why 1/6 has always looked more realistic than 1/8 or 1/12?

i don't believe materials have to do with realism. Sure 1/6 heads uses softer plastic material but to achieve that on hard material like stone, as long as the sculpt looks natural, it can be painted just like or better than a 1/6 head. But usually what i see in the older statues are they really lacking color depths and shadings, even on the bodies, if there is any, it is very minor, compared to the cheaper Japanese PVC statues which usually gives out a flesh tone soft look. The statue usually end up more glossy than the PVC figures, which i think could be done matte using a more matte finish. PVC probably do not have perfectly smooth surface with really tiny pores so it probably why they don't reflect light as much as statues.

but anyone can show me a few actual shots of newer statues that have impressive realism? most of the sideshow ones i see, even if they have good sculpt, the paint just seems plain.

 

[MyenShi]

i though the bigger they are the easier it is to add all the details in to make it more realistic? that is why 1/6 has always looked more realistic than 1/8 or 1/12?

i don't believe materials have to do with realism. Sure 1/6 heads uses softer plastic material but to achieve that on hard material like stone, as long as the sculpt looks natural, it can be painted just like or better than a 1/6 head. But usually what i see in the older statues are they really lacking color depths and shadings, even on the bodies, if there is any, it is very minor, compared to the cheaper Japanese PVC statues which usually gives out a flesh tone soft look. The statue usually end up more glossy than the PVC figures, which i think could be done matte using a more matte finish. PVC probably do not have perfectly smooth surface with really tiny pores so it probably why they don't reflect light as much as statues.

but anyone can show me a few actual shots of newer statues that have impressive realism? most of the sideshow ones i see, even if they have good sculpt, the paint just seems plain.

Material choice absolutely has a lot to do with the end result. Paint can only do so much on a production scale in a factory. It’s the most expensive part of the process, and the part that companies really want to save money on.

Materials like polystone and hard plastic are very dissimilar to human flesh. So it takes a lot of skill and artistry for those to look lifelike. Which is why cheap hard plastic toys look like toys, and why low, mid, and mid-high range polystone statues don’t look particularly lifelike, though they can still be very good value for money.

You ultimately get what you pay for, which means if you want a high quality lifelike finish on large statues, $1,000+ is about the norm now like from Prime 1.

https://www.prime1studio.com/
Look at Queen Studios. To get the realism on their large pieces, they use silicone for skin and glass for eyes.

https://queenstudios.shop/
Even on a smaller scale, a lot of the realism Hot Toys and some other companies are able to provide is the process they go through to sculpt and cast their heads with a realistic texture in a higher quality plastic material that keeps those details.

Painting very realistic skin and features is is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and expensive. It’s a big advantage to be able to use material that is already flesh like.

The same as your example, Japanese figurines. Those are highly regarded and can be pricey for their size because the best ones use a PVC material that has a flesh like quality to it already. Paint is just used to highlight and bring out the details.

Bigger doesn’t make it easier. The end quality is just dependent on the to price point and what collectors would be willing to pay to get it.

Mezco does phenomenal work with their 1:12 scale figures, but those cost significantly more than average 6” figures on the market.

An artist or company out there would be fully capable of making a 4” figure look as good as a Hot Toys figure relatively speaking, but that would cost hundreds of dollars and not many people would pay that.

 

[potato]

Material choice absolutely has a lot to do with the end result. Paint can only do so much on a production scale in a factory. It’s the most expensive part of the process, and the part that companies really want to save money on.

Materials like polystone and hard plastic are very dissimilar to human flesh. So it takes a lot of skill and artistry for those to look lifelike. Which is why cheap hard plastic toys look like toys, and why low, mid, and mid-high range polystone statues don’t look particularly lifelike, though they can still be very good value for money.

You ultimately get what you pay for, which means if you want a high quality lifelike finish on large statues, $1,000+ is about the norm now like from Prime 1.

https://www.prime1studio.com/
Look at Queen Studios. To get the realism on their large pieces, they use silicone for skin and glass for eyes.

https://queenstudios.shop/
Even on a smaller scale, a lot of the realism Hot Toys and some other companies are able to provide is the process they go through to sculpt and cast their heads with a realistic texture in a higher quality plastic material that keeps those details.

Painting very realistic skin and features is is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and expensive. It’s a big advantage to be able to use material that is already flesh like.

The same as your example, Japanese figurines. Those are highly regarded and can be pricey for their size because the best ones use a PVC material that has a flesh like quality to it already. Paint is just used to highlight and bring out the details.

Bigger doesn’t make it easier. The end quality is just dependent on the to price point and what collectors would be willing to pay to get it.

Mezco does phenomenal work with their 1:12 scale figures, but those cost significantly more than average 6” figures on the market.

An artist or company out there would be fully capable of making a 4” figure look as good as a Hot Toys figure relatively speaking, but that would cost hundreds of dollars and not many people would pay that.

i'm not familiar with how they make molds for statues, is it similar to hot toys sculpt? like pour in the molten material and form the cast? i assume polystone or resin is some kind of synthetic material so is it still difficult to mold them into soft looks like soft plastic would?

did not know they use silicone for the skin, but IMO silicone will deteriorate and hard to maintain, i wonder how they paint the silicons so the paint sticks?

any reason statues do not combine materials, for example using pvc on the face? any reason they are so fixated with full polystone? or use polystone with more resin less stone?

also i find it much harder for cameras to capture the details on statues than a 1/6 sculpt. i wonder if it's the lighting or just bigger size. out of the only comic store that display some statues, they haven't really changed for the past years, so i can only observe the same statues, which i wasn't that impressed with their paint app. they seem to have no issue painting the outfits and backgrounds with lots of shades, but the flesh will always look the weakest. of course, we talking about human statues, maybe even game/comic human statues where shading can be applied.

also i know it's probably unrealistic but Japanese PVC figure usually gives that pinkish flesh look, but western statues usually give that pale yellowish tint instead. For example Wonder Woman usually looks plain while catwoman looks more realistic because only her face is showing. And for example the Street Fighter or Berserk Statues, while they have awful tons of details in the sculpt of the muscle, the final product usually looks plain and lack of depths. The fact that their flesh usually has some sort of subtle shine despite the flat coat makes them look less realistic like they wearing sunscreen (unless it's to make them look sweaty).

 

[Victοr]

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Cost, space, style and so on. Personally I go with figures because they cost less, take up less space, have more accessories, the headsculpts look more realistic, they have a wider range of articulation which results in more poses, and I like the mixed media aspect. Paying 1K for a plastic statue doesn't sit well with me. I see reviews from those "Whale" Channels, and I see stuff like chipped paint, badly painted teeth and eyes, from big companies at that. For me, a statue is an extra I'd buy if the character's in my Top 10, or if it's some awesome diorama piece. EG if I had the money and space I'd have bought the Legendary Scale Doom, and the upcoming X-Men Vs. Sentinel ones. But as it is, I want the articulation. In a way these figures are just the highest tier of the toys we had as kids, or in my case wanted to buy but could never find. I never had ToyBiz, I only saw them in ads. So this time around I'm getting the highest quality version of those same toys. Buying static statues is much less exciting to me. I can take off the coats, play with the wires in the capes, fudge the shirt and so on. I like the soft goods and how a toy can look so realistic but still be a toy.

Granted, one could make the opposite argument. You buy the statue and it remains as is. No fear of the pleather flaking or the pose you put your Spider-Man in ruining the suit. Which is a fair point. But I feel that for the money we pay, a static piece of plastic misses the point. These are all pop culture characters, they're not anything "important". I want to pose stuff together, creating my own "mini-dioramas" so to speak. We buy these things so that we can carry a few things from our childhood to our present. There's tons of statues that look cool, but they have different styles, bases and poses. If I buy all the Sith or Jedi, I can pose them all uniformaly. If I do the same in statue form, the bases and styles will absolutely not fit with one another. Look at the Mythos Sith stuff. Some are leaping, others are standing on rocks, Vader's being burned. It's much harder to create a scene with them. At the end of the day they're museum pieces, which comes off as silly to me when they're strongmen in tights or wacky aliens. I hear the word "statue" and I think GrecoRoman busts or a Buddha or Ramses II or whatever else. And that's not getting into how fragile they ultimately are. The boxes, the swap out pieces, it's risky. I don't see the point, I suppose. Too expensive and with too many cons, IMHO, to justify a proper collection.

For me a good statue is the "big finish". One I get all the figures I want of a particular character, and they're in my Top 5/10, then I might get a single, great statue to put on a special place. Until then, it's figures. So that I can customise them, pose them, shake things up and generally make my collection what I want. I was never tempted to get into statues, beyond the odd Doom one, whereas I was always jealous of the more expensive figures. I still see these things as toys and I want as much articulation as possible. The first thing I did when I got my BCS 11th Doctor was take him to the farm and take pictures of him exploring an alien planet. You just can't do that with a statue.

And that's what it comes down to for me. Collecting these expensive figures is done with the hypothetical that I could take them out of their boxes and "play" with them. I wouldn't do it, but I could. I could give Vader his saber and have him start fencing with Jack Sparrow atop some custom diorama. That's what keeps the hobby alive for me. These imaginary scenarios. I wanted to make stopmotions of them back in the day, so I even tried to make scenery for them. I never got the time, but maybe one day I'll go back and build a proper backdrop. Maybe one day I'll have all the X-Men standing inside a full-fledged Krakoa or Xavier's mansion. Maybe I'll build a small section of a deck to put Sparrow on. I probably never will, but it's this exact mix of getting something of high quality yet having that play factor left, that keeps me invested.

 

[Zurdo95D]

Great discussion!

I'm a predominant action figure collector, as I prefer the pose ability of figures (despite not majorly utilizing it) compared to statues, to boil it down.

I only own two statues (both in 1/10 scale) thus far. I certainly can appreciate some aspects of them, such as the specific dynamic pose, the special paint, diorama base and the weight of them. There are magnificent statues out there, and I like to admire them vicariously through shared photos on this forum. Even so, I'm contemplating a few statues (of a particular character ).

 

[jkno]

I collect statues as well as figures. I also collect props, helmets and studio scale models. So the format or scale are not as important, as much as the piece itself, if I like it, and if it fits in my narrow focus of Original Trilogy Imperials or Terminator 1 & 2 Endoskeletons, and of course if it is accurate enough and if fits the space and budget I have.

 

[MyenShi]

i'm not familiar with how they make molds for statues, is it similar to hot toys sculpt? like pour in the molten material and form the cast? i assume polystone or resin is some kind of synthetic material so is it still difficult to mold them into soft looks like soft plastic would?

did not know they use silicone for the skin, but IMO silicone will deteriorate and hard to maintain, i wonder how they paint the silicons so the paint sticks?

any reason statues do not combine materials, for example using pvc on the face? any reason they are so fixated with full polystone? or use polystone with more resin less stone?

Sideshow has a pretty good behind the scenes series.



Silicone is extremely durable. Are you thinking of rubber? Silicone will outlast all of us.

I have seen some pieces that mix materials like that, but it doesn't seem to be a common practice. I imagine everything boils down to cost and feasibility. It would be ideal to have different base materials for different parts of the statue but it's also just simpler and cheaper to have one material to work with.

 

[potato]

Sideshow has a pretty good behind the scenes series.



Silicone is extremely durable. Are you thinking of rubber? Silicone will outlast all of us.

I have seen some pieces that mix materials like that, but it doesn't seem to be a common practice. I imagine everything boils down to cost and feasibility. It would be ideal to have different base materials for different parts of the statue but it's also just simpler and cheaper to have one material to work with.

i don't know, maybe it's rubber that people worry about but bodies like phicen people always wonder when they will start to go bad but they are made with silicone. another issue is silicon pick up dust and stains easily, i have never came across painted silicone, so i don't know if the paint and top coat will solve this issue?

for statues that uses silicone, how thick are the silicone are they wrapping a solid material underneath? when you press them do they sink in?

after watching the short video, i wonder, why are they making silicone mold out of the original master, just to make another master copy out of resin? I assume they will still need to use this master copy to make more molds so they can start going with mass casting? Is this just to prevent damaging the original master or does the master copy make better molds?

 

[potato]

Great discussion!

I'm a predominant action figure collector, as I prefer the pose ability of figures (despite not majorly utilizing it) compared to statues, to boil it down.

I only own two statues (both in 1/10 scale) thus far. I certainly can appreciate some aspects of them, such as the specific dynamic pose, the special paint, diorama base and the weight of them. There are magnificent statues out there, and I like to admire them vicariously though shared photos on this forum. Even so, I'm contemplating a few statues (of a particular character ).

i only have 3 real statues from Art of war berserk line, while the armor/background are well done the skin tone has always been the weaker link.

however i have tons of non-articulated figure, or PVC statue, or fixed figure people call them, they are generally cheaper, range from tiny gachapons to 1/10 scales and nowadays 1/6. They usually have decent paint app, shadings all around and vibrant skin tones even though most are cartoon characters, they have more vibrant skin tones.

for me i don't really play with them much or pose them in dynamic forms, dynamic forms looks great but usually out of place when you display them side by side (and takes up more space), so my guys, fixed or articulated, is usually in a more neutral pose. As long as they look good i'm fine. Ironically the dynamic poses i have are usually smaller trading figures. somehow i felt smaller figures in dynamic poses looks better than the huge 1/4.

But i have yet purchased any Sideshow statues, i think they have improved alot, but have yet get a chance to witness the realism of new sideshow or prime1 statues.

Regarding the materials, i think PF has been using fabric/pleather/rubber on their PF formats, so materials do still fade over time.

 

[Jay Virtual]

I love both equally, but dammit man I could NOT get a statue and not have it chipped in some form or another! I'm really gentle with how I handle them but inevitably I bump into them, they fall, or just some kind of minor accident ALWAYS happens to me.

I keep an open air display since I'm not a fan of glass since it obscures the view and I'm fully aware that comes at a cost, it's just that I kinda wished they were made of reinforced, chemically treated PVC rather than polystone, I feel like with each statue I bring home, it automatically creates a hazard zone.

 

[Gipetto0812]

I've always loved both and if I had a lot more space I'd probably have more statues than what I do. I have a love/hate relationship with 1/6 b/c they are cheaper with so many options; therefore, it's hard for me to choose just one, then I end up having too many and have to trim the herd. And with HT, the realism is hard to beat most of the time. With statues, I tend to think more thoroughly on if it REALLY want it due to size, space and cos, so therefore IF I buy, I usually have no regrets and I tend to keep it over a 1/6 figure. For whatever reason, I tend to be more forgiving of statues than 1/6 even though they can be not as detailed or realistic as a HT figure. Could be how impressive they tend to be especially at viewing distance.

 

[MyenShi]

i don't know, maybe it's rubber that people worry about but bodies like phicen people always wonder when they will start to go bad but they are made with silicone. another issue is silicon pick up dust and stains easily, i have never came across painted silicone, so i don't know if the paint and top coat will solve this issue?

for statues that uses silicone, how thick are the silicone are they wrapping a solid material underneath? when you press them do they sink in?

after watching the short video, i wonder, why are they making silicone mold out of the original master, just to make another master copy out of resin? I assume they will still need to use this master copy to make more molds so they can start going with mass casting? Is this just to prevent damaging the original master or does the master copy make better molds?

I can only really surmise as to why and how the companies do certain things the way they do, but there must be a reason. You can always ask them if you're in the market for their products.

But the first point is an apples to oranges comparison. There's a concern that the silicone will get damaged usually from posing, which stresses the material. A statue doesn't go through that, and is a lot denser than what's on a much smaller figure.

I can only say to check out some in-hand reviews of Queen Studios silicone busts to get their impressions on it.

And I'm not saying silicone as a material is the be all end all best necessarily; it just has underlying advantages in helping to produce lifelike results. Polystone does have its own advantages, but my main point was that it costs a lot to get a polystone statue that is sculpted and painted to be extremely lifelike. Which is why all but highest end pieces on the market are not as realistic as you may want.

 

[obsidian7]

I used to only collect statues years ago and then ended up selling them all and ditching collecting for a few years. Have recently got back into it, but am only collecting the few I like in 1/12 scale figures. The quality in the scale seems to be evolving well, and they take up less space, while still giving me the character fix.