Weta Originals:The Rayguns

[DeadLeaves]

Ooooh, not much of a wait left now...

I'm gonna have to make an acrylic stand or see if I can find something, maybe a wrought iron stand or something to prop it up.

Does the trigger depress? Great photo - thanks man.

 

[gabberjawa]

Yep, the trigger does depress. As for a stand, have you seen the universal gun stand? https://www.wetanz.com/universal-gun-stand/from/brand

 

[occulum]

awesome. I need to pick one of these up.
Still need the full Mongoose as well ....

 

[Stikman]

I'm dying to get one of these guns. I'm hoping my wife "surprises" me with one for Xmas. I've even put the flyer I picked up at ComicCon on the fridge and circled the Mongoose. I wonder if she'll get the hint?

 

[gabberjawa]

Btw, we'll be giving away a Righteous Bison soon on the Weta forums, come try your luck!

 

[gabberjawa]

A Raygun for the Masses

My memory of Weta’s Righteous Bison: Indivisible Particle Smasher at Comic-Con are mostly faint. I recall that the prototype needed some fine tuning (reversed insignias, that sort of thing) but more vividly stuck in my mind was how poor display piece had begun to bear the toll of being fondled by the eager SDCC masses, developing cracks, scrapes and other unspeakable signs of collectibles abuse.

It’s alright though, life’s never really been easy for the Bison, having to fight perceptions toward its plastic pedigree since its moment of birth.

In addition to the obvious goal of attracting a broader audience with something more affordable, Weta has cited requests for a ‘convention friendly’ Raygun as an impetus for the product. Considering the Righteous Bison is not only less expensive and less fragile, but also transport-friendly without losing life-size form, that logic seems well supported.

Putting the final product through its paces, the Bison comes through in two righteous ways– fit and finish.
The details are crisp down to the rivet. You can count the handle detail (where the Atom is) which is rather ‘blobby’ looking as an exception– though it seems to be conceived that way, rather than it being any sort of manufacturing issue.

It all comes together darn precisely which is equally impressive. Although there are quite a few “plastic seams”– most notably where the two major halves join down the center– for the most part they are dead flush; there are no odd ridges or dodgy alignments. In the best cases, the seams can almost look as if they belong with the intentionally sculpted ones.

Here you can see a clear view of the seam running down the center​

A good test jiggle revealed no rattles or crackles and creaks of any kind. It’s a clean fit. It’s solid.

The gun is trimmed in gold and black with a metallic base. The weathering on top of the body is actually phenomenal, and if you do sense some surprise it’s because so often one would find this to look quite ‘painted on’ and artificial. Contrary to that, a beautiful job is done on the rust/oxidation along the adjoining panels. At worst, some of the black pieces, especially the large tail fin that look bare could do with a coat or two of paint. Black is black right? Why not leave as is? Because it does look more characteristically plastic there I wish they would have painted that not for color, but texture.

Nevertheless, the paints are bit better than what I’ve come to expect from a perceived ‘budget’ piece. Fit and finish, pleasant discoveries those– and really the difference that elevates this from merely “toy” status.

Not that it can’t be that too. If intended, it can suit that purpose quite well. You don’t feel compelled to don kid gloves every time you handle it, as you would its more expensive brethren. It doesn’t make any noise or light-up (which I’m absolutely fine with) but the trigger does squeeze quite ably! And while the Bison is certainly lighter than said brethren- which should not come as any surprise- it’s no flyweight either. There’s some decent mass to the thing; it’s perhaps at the upper limits of what you’d want it to weigh if you were to actually tote this around for an extended amount of time. A pretty good balance was achieved.

If you are dead opposed to a Raygun made of “imitation metal”, you might never get right with the the Righteous Bison. I was rather on the fence as well– but the bottom line is I would not hesitate to display this alongside the bona-fide high end Rayguns.
Dollar for dollar, I find the Righteous Bison to be more impressive than the identically priced miniature Unnatural Selector.

PROS +
Size and price:
The $99 price tag makes it a much less expensive Aether alternative.
Fit and Finish:
Excellent standards help piece live up to potential.

NEUTRAL ~
Plastic Construction:
It is what it is; can’t ask for a more premium material without also increasing the price point.

CONS -
Extras:
Does not include a display case (unless you consider plastic clamshell one) or stand. Forcing you to neglect your Raygun!

​

 

[DeadLeaves]

Nice review, thanks!

Any one who's been perched precariously on the fence thinking about these rayguns due to the price point should jump off right now - firmly gripping a Righteous Bison in their hand!

Hope mine ships next week, most anticipated purchase of the year!

 

[gabberjawa]

Cheers DeadLeaves, I hope you post some pics when it arrives

Never bring a knife to a Raygun fight.​

Here it is alongside the F.M.O.M. They are lined up on the same axis, so as to provides a useful visual comparison. I thought for sure that the Bison was noticeable larger but you can see that's not much the case here. It is more an illusion brought on by the very pronounced handle design in addition to the more 'stubby' shape of its components and the body itself.

Although the sumptuous F.M.O.M. is metal metal and the Righteous Bison is simulated metal, it's not really worth directly comparing how successful it is in that regard as it is plainly obvious that it is a different breed of Raygun, much the way the upcoming Pearce is different from the early lot of guns.

It worth noting that one aspect of the Bison may even be superior in that the circular gauges are detailed with what look like crisp decals complete with numbers and words (although the dial on top is certainly plastic), where as the F.M.O.M. sports a cruder, hand painted approach.

 

[gabberjawa]

I took the opportunity to review both the Mongoose and Unnatural Selector miniatures (1/4 scale):

The Long and the Short of It

My first Dr. Grordbort’s Raygun was a Goliathon miniature (reviewed here). Solid, affordable, it was a good introduction to the verse. I ultimately sold it because I knew I would be unwilling to play the secondary market to acquire the sold out Manmelter, miniature. And this would bug me- you know, typical collector completist neurosis at play.

Not that this has prevented me from freely dabbling in Rayguns since. In fact, I decided I would quite sated with a display combination of the Unnatural Selector and the Victorious Mongoose should they be made into miniature. I’m attracted to the idea of contrast they represented, at the same time freeing me of the completist mindset. Of course eventually the mini Unnatural Selector was announced, released, and the Victorious Mongoose followed suit.

There was just one notable snag in this whole plan, which was proceeding swimmingly until the Unnatural Selector miniature was released at this year’s Comic-Con:

I wasn’t not completely thrilled with it.

All of my objections relate in one way or another from the use of resin to simulate the wooden stock of this weapon. This is a departure in that the miniature Rayguns had been traditionally all metal. At the butt of the Blunderbuss are some very elaborate etched details but something was definitely lost in translation. In the final product (and at contrast to the brilliant prototype), the stamping is quite ‘blobby’; its consistency like that of wax that has begun to melt. In addition, it exhibited a distorted quality– on one side, the round brass dot was more of an oval.

I found the paintwork to leave something to be desired also. The color on the stock is more red and saturated– looking like cherry veneer as opposed to the darker, more earthy shade (something like rosewood) present in Weta’s product photos, of the mini and of the life-sized original.

Admittedly, the use of resin should not alone be accountable for either above issue, but it does contribute to some of the fit problems that have been reported (i.e a gap where the resin piece joins the rest of the body) as well as a less substantial weight\size ratio when compared with the other Rayguns. Therefore, although it actually is more faithful to the original 1:1 version which itself is a mix of metal and resin, I believe the miniature would’ve been much served with full metal construction.

The ‘wooden’ stock comprises such a large part of the Blunderbuss that these things are impossible to ignore. Is it still impressive to look at despite all this? .... Yes, actually! This is the Unnatural Selector at the end of the day; an unalterable fact. It just impresses much much more convincingly from a distance, which is disheartening.

In the greater scheme, this weapon was always destined to be something unconventional– an ‘odd duck’ if you will. I held little doubt that future minis would return to form.

With the miniature Victorious Mongoose now in hand, I’m happy to confirm this to be the case. Despite being a fair bit more diminutive, the Mongoose feels just like its older brethren. Solid feel, nice metallic quality, and a good weight despite its size. It is minuscule really, less lengthy than two standard US postage stamps end to end. But that’s one of its appeals isn’t it?– It’s a mini’s mini, and it’s darling.

What I’m really glad to see are the details– beautiful! Excellent definition! Crisp! As you may have surmised by now, I’m a stickler for this sort of thing, and the Mongoose delivers. Take a US penny and find the phrase “E Plurbis Unum” on the back– this is approximately the size with which “Victorious Mongoose” is phrased on both sides of the pistol (not as clearly as it is on currency, granted). The handle too is an area of particularly gorgeous relief work. It all leads me to ask why this wasn’t achieved on the Blunderbuss?

Illustrating the misaligned 'dongles'​

The Mongoose is not without a few problems of its own; The tip of the gun droops downward, and the little dongles on top are noticeably misaligned– shape tweaks that you may experience or not depending on individual variation. Beyond that, it’s mostly business as usual: The paint looks great. Ditto the base (goes for the Unnatural Selector as well).

Though it’s tempting to heap praise on everything Weta does (particularly when you run “wetacollectors.com”), I think they appreciate it when folks call it like they see it. Difficult as it may be to say– the Unnatural Selector was an usual blip in an otherwise steady line. If it was an issue of cost, I wouldn’t have minded paying a bit more if it meant a final product as brilliant as the prototype seen on Weta’s site, granted that is far easier to say in hindsight. The Victorious Mongoose achieves this with admirable success.

In more ways than I had anticipated, these two miniatures did after all prove to be a picture of contrasts. True to its name in this instance, it is the Mongoose who claims Victory.

The Unnatural Selector miniature​

PROS +
Affordable:
At an appealing sub-$100 pricepoint, Weta provides a taste for a design otherwise only obtainable at a cost in excess of $4000. And for more than just 50 people.
NEUTRAL ~
N/A:
CONS -
Part resin construction:
Detail issues and a less solid feel than previous Rayguns detract.

​

The Victorious Mongoose miniature​

PROS +
Detail:
Great definition makes this Raygun truly worthwhile.
NEUTRAL ~
Price:
At $49, with $12 shipping (to California), it’s difficult to call this a bargain.
CONS -
Minor distortions:
A few tweaks in the body places the Mongoose shy of perfection.

​

 

[jackyonfire]

That was cool. And thanks your pic

 

[MwNN]

Great pictures and thanks for your reviews. I have the Bison, I might wait on the Mongoose until SDCC next year. They seem to have plenty of the miniatures leftover this year.

 

[gabberjawa]

Cheers guys, and there's word that the Pearce 75 may be surfacing soon-- good times!

 

[gabberjawa]

 

[BeachBum]

...I might wait on the Mongoose until SDCC next year. They seem to have plenty of the miniatures leftover this year.

...and no shipping costs at SDCC.

Even so, Mini Mongoose is just too small and lacking in details for the cost for me to buy it. It costs more than half the price of the mini Selector, but it size and detailing it is less than 1/4 the Selector. I personally don't have any problems with the resin stock on my Selector.

Besides the mini Selector I have a mini-FMOM-- which I love. I saw the mini Pearce at SDCC, that may be the next purchase-- depends on price.

PS for those that can make it to SDCC to buy their rayguns-- Greg Broadmore will happily sign the box your mini comes in. He also signed my Dingus Directory and added a sketch of Lord (ockswain (not sure if that would get dinged by the robo-censor).

 

[gabberjawa]

Pearce 75 miniature now available: https://www.wetanz.com/pearce-75-miniature-version

 

[BeachBum]

Pearce 75 miniature now available: https://www.wetanz.com/pearce-75-miniature-version

Yah, I just got an email about that yesterday as well. Vey nice looking piece. Not sure if I want to get it now or wait and see if they are still around next year at SDCC.

 

[gabberjawa]

A few in-hand pics from Weta forum member Leaflock:

My mini Pearce arrived today. :silly This is another beaut. Gorgeous tiny details, high quality like all the other minis. Great paint job, especially for something so tiny. The red highlights on the raygun were painted well. This may be my favourite raygun so far.

#907/1000

Pictures taken this sunny afternoon in the garden.

More here: https://www.wetacollectors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33918&page=5

 

[BeachBum]

Blue sacked pillock (Venusian life form) now available from Weta. They had a prototype at Comic-Con which looked mouth wateringly gorgeous.

Full size Pearce 75 available as well.

 

[gabberjawa]

I was given a unique Raygun by some friends on the Weta forum recently (and by Weta themselves)

Full story here

 

[occulum]

all kinds of awesome.
THats full size ?