1/6 Hot Toys - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Chewbacca

[Zebedee]

Unless the pivot is right in the corner of the mouth, which will be hard to look nice at this scale, that won't work. I don't think this jaw pivots, it's a pull down mechanism that makes the corners of the mouth open up.

Once again it's an accuracy vs articulation problem.

Yeah I'd rather HT drop the mouth articulation in favour of a fixed almost closed mouth. Just enough to see the fangs. I don't know why they have gone down the articulated mouth route when it throws off an otherwise great looking figure. Most other figures don't have or need an articulated mouth. The only one I can think of is Kuiil and it seems to work for him but it's a very different figure. Go with a better looking fixed mouth and work out the mechanics for a better articulated version further down the road. As a gimmick it's not ready yet.

I didn't buy any of the previous Chewies, the faces looked way too goofy to me, but this seems a big step forward. Ditch the articulated mouth, ditch any pleather and go back to rectangle bases with removable nameplates and you'll have a near perfect figure.

I prefer the removeable nameplates. If I don't like the base I can swap it for a preferred one and add the name. Fixed. It's a big plus for the old style bases.

Oh, and where did 3PO's other shin and his butt go? Did some pervy Ugnaught keep it for himself?

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

Im pretty sure this is the exact same hair as the original Chewy, maybe slightly better.

The body, yes. The head has the wool hair. This is where HT has made the water muddy.

What's really considered "Artisan" now and what's not? Are the only defining terms to be checked off the be Artisan, wool hair and Exclusive limited to **** units?

It can't just be wool hair as we have Chewbacca, Regular Jack Sparrow, and Ladypool all with the wool hair and being regular releases. Chewie is the first of the 3 to have just as much, if not more than some, wool hair than any Artisan release and not be considered Artisan.

 

[HyperDrive]

The body, yes. The head has the wool hair. This is where HT has made the water muddy.

What's really considered "Artisan" now and what's not? Are the only defining terms to be checked off the be Artisan, wool hair and Exclusive limited to **** units?

It can't just be wool hair as we have Chewbacca, Regular Jack Sparrow, and Ladypool all with the wool hair and being regular releases. Chewie is the first of the 3 to have just as much, if not more than some, wool hair than any Artisan release and not be considered Artisan.

I thought it was known that Artisan is b/c of the implantation. Chewbacca, Lady Pool, Deluxe Jack don’t mention they have that, but all the Artisan releases do.

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

I thought it was known that Artisan is b/c of the implantation. Chewbacca, Lady Pool, Deluxe Jack don’t mention they have that, but all the Artisan releases do.

I see the difference in the descriptions now. Although, looking at the prototype Peter Parker sculpt the hair looks glued on to me and not implanted.

 

[Nick D]

I see the difference in the descriptions now. Although, looking at the prototype Peter Parker sculpt the hair looks glued on to me and not implanted.

All of these rooted sculpts have hair glued on, the only people attempting to implant it are JND. PVC sculpts are solid.

 

[HyperDrive]

Please share this to HT Facebook!

I will! Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll gain no where near the level of traction like the campaign to fix the black suit Spider-Man figure though. I think it’s pointless since they’re not going to figure out/pay up for the R&D to engineer it with the correct design. The cheapest (ideal, preferred) way to make it right would be to get rid of the articulated jaw and make it static, but that would genuinely anger everyone since they’re already looking forward to the moving jaw gimmick..

 

[MarkKing]

Mouth plates would have made sense for the price. Literally all the joints covered by fur

 

[Earth 616 Collector]

All of these rooted sculpts have hair glued on, the only people attempting to implant it are JND. PVC sculpts are solid.

That's what I thought. Leads me back to what's the difference between say Artisan Anakin and this Chewbacca?

 

[HyperDrive]

That's what I thought. Leads me back to what's the difference between say Artisan Anakin and this Chewbacca?

If that’s the case and we’re taking Nick’s informed word, then it’s simply a marketing gimmick.

Edit: I’ll sit this convo out, I couldn’t care less about these nuances. Hot Toys is a gimmicky company and I just take them for what they are.

 

[Nick D]

You can’t physically implant hair into a solid PVC resin sculpt. JND is doing it because their sculpts are silicone, any PVC sculpt they make will have the hair glue on instead (kojun lite). All Hot Toys & InArt rooted sculpts use glue to secure the hair.

The fur on the body of this Chewbacca isn’t the same material as the wool on the sculpt.
The wool on this sculpt is what they’re using for Anakin & Joker so in that aspect it’s technically an Artisan.

 

[davejames]

They've also got the hair on his body hanging way too straight for some reason. Needs to be a lot more ruffled and messy.

 

[HyperDrive]

You can’t physically implant hair into a solid PVC resin sculpt. JND is doing it because their sculpts are silicone, any PVC sculpt they make will have the hair glue on instead (kojun lite). All Hot Toys & InArt rooted sculpts use glue to secure the hair.

The fur on the body of this Chewbacca isn’t the same material as the wool on the sculpt.
The wool on this sculpt is what they’re using for Anakin & Joker so in that aspect it’s technically an Artisan.

I said I’d sit this out, but whatevs. So you’re saying Hot Toys is straight up lying to their consumer base then? Because they use the word “implantation” for all their Artisan releases and the entire community seems to be under the impression that these wool strands are “implanted” into the scalp and not just glued as done many times before pre-Artisan.

 

[Nick D]

I said I’d sit this out, but whatevs. So you’re saying Hot Toys is straight up lying to their consumer base then? Because they use the word “implantation” for all their Artisan releases and the entire community seems to be under the impression that these wool strands are “implanted” into the scalp and not just glued as done many times before pre-Artisan.

Everyone uses the term “rooted” incorrectly. Rooted means the hair is rooted into the sculpt, what people actually mean is something has real hair. Again, it is only possible to root on a surface than can be punctured.

Technically, they aren’t lying to anyone. The hair is still “implanted” as it was never originally apart of the PVC sculpt.

 

[HyperDrive]

Everyone uses the term “rooted” incorrectly. Rooted means the hair is rooted into the sculpt, what people actually mean is something has real hair. Again, it is only possible to root on a surface than can be punctured.

And how do you know they haven’t figure out a way to implant/puncture into a plastic cranium? But if so, Hot Toys is egregiously lying/misinforming and needs to be more clear as to what they’re doing then. You’re essentially saying the only difference is that they’re using a different material.

 

[Nick D]

Because I own plenty unpainted custom PVC sculpts, it’s impossible to penetrate and insert hair all over the entire sculpt to fill out a head of hair. They are not doing this, neither is InArt, if you want true rooted hair JND is your only option.

 

[HyperDrive]

Because I own plenty unpainted custom PVC sculpts, it’s impossible to penetrate and insert hair all over the entire sculpt to fill out a head of hair. They are not doing this, neither is InArt, if you want true rooted hair JND is your only option.

I personally don’t care dude. I’ve always thought the “STUNNING HAIR CRAFTSMANSHIP!!” and entire Artisan line is a load of gimmicky/marketing baloney. But if I do want a figure with “hair”, these DX Artisan Editions and INART Premium sets do the job for me (especially INART).

But per your sage advice, thanks for confirming that Hot Toys is lying out their a** lol.

 

[Nick D]

I personally don’t care dude. I’ve always thought the “STUNNING HAIR CRAFTSMANSHIP!!” and entire Artisan line is a load of gimmicky/marketing baloney. But if I do want a figure with “hair”, these DX Artisan Editions and INART Premium sets do the job for me (especially INART).

But per your sage advice, thanks for confirming that Hot Toys is lying out their a** lol.

Cool you can ignore me then, just offering help.

 

[Felinx]

I might get this but am fairly happy with my ANH Chewie besides the pleather falling apart.
Also wonder about the pleather on the new one over time.
I really do not need the C-3PO though as almost certainly won't display him.

Where are you located? I'm always curious to confirm that this happens faster in more humid climates.

 

[Felinx]

That's what I thought. Leads me back to what's the difference between say Artisan Anakin and this Chewbacca?

The ANH Chewie and ROTJ Wicket are just fur fabric sewn into a suit and glued on the head, in some places with lightly sprayed paint to recolor the fur. Seemed to me like the face was the only area where they took actual fur bits and directly glued it on. I'd assume this Chewie would be the same.

The face on this Chewie proto literally looks like a team of ten HT artists were styling it for a full week. Going to be really interesting to see how the production figures hold up to the proto - there was a pretty noticeable proto/prodn difference on the ANH Chewie.

 

[D'oh!]

Great looking figure, but I'd rather have a cheaper option ditching 3PO. That said, how much are reward points worth at One Sixth Kit? I have some there just gathering dust.