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

[matrix69]

Unless there are different versions of this figure's suit and chest box, I can tell you for certain that the chest box is indeed attached/integrated into the suit, and not just by velcro. I just got my parted-out chest box in the mail today, and you can see that it is pegged to a plate behind the suit. Adjusting it seems pretty much out of the question without breaking it apart. The velcro section is presumably for the shoulder armor since it's sewn in above the chest box.

View attachment 425087

I really wish it was velcro, though, since I hate the two folded sections of the vest next to both sides of the chest box. Pretty sure the undersuit in ESB didn't have those, or they at least weren't as noticeable.

View attachment 425089

It's pretty obvious now that HT are trying to "kill three birds with the one stone"..(or in this case three vaders..Empire,ROTJ and ROTS)..by reusing all the parts..

 

[canofhumdingers]

Here’s a side-by-side picture of the ESB Boba Fett and Darth Vader (Vader is on ROTJ Luke’s stand for the shot):

The futz is strong with this one...

A good futz, natural sunlight, and a high quality camera. These guys look spectacular!

 

[Wor-Gar]

Those two look epic together.

It does show how Vader (in all HT variations) overall is just a wee bit enlarged and overscale. Look at the size of his helmet.

 

[Geraldfire]

Here’s a side-by-side picture of the ESB Boba Fett and Darth Vader (Vader is on ROTJ Luke’s stand for the shot):

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180903/ede45e6343c32e9cbb97b3c472817aff.jpg

What a photo.

Bravo.

 

[canofhumdingers]

It does show how Vader (in all HT variations) overall is just a wee bit enlarged and overscale. Look at the size of his helmet.

I dunno, scale looks pretty close to me... I mean, Vader might be like a millimeter or two too tall. That’s pretty flipping close.

 

[Jaymas]

Those two look epic together.

It does show how Vader (in all HT variations) overall is just a wee bit enlarged and overscale. Look at the size of his helmet.

I don't know... I remember seeing one of the Vader helmets on display years ago on the "magic of the myth" tour at the Smithsonian and was shocked how large the helmet was in real life.

Neither these (Don Post standard and Rubies Deluxe) are actual screen used helmets, nor accurate, but I think the larger one is closer to the actual size of the real helmets. It's just crazy how big it is.

 

[Jaymas]

Unless there are different versions of this figure's suit and chest box, I can tell you for certain that the chest box is indeed attached/integrated into the suit, and not just by velcro. I just got my parted-out chest box in the mail today, and you can see that it is pegged to a plate behind the suit. Adjusting it seems pretty much out of the question without breaking it apart. The velcro section is presumably for the shoulder armor since it's sewn in above the chest box.

View attachment 425087

This is unfortunate, because mine looks a bit crooked to me and I keep wanting to straighten it

 

[IndyMOS]

Excellent photo, Indy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The futz is strong with this one...

A good futz, natural sunlight, and a high quality camera. These guys look spectacular!

What a photo.

Bravo.

Thank you guys! It’s an iPhone picture, but natural light always turns out the best for me[emoji108]

Did you unbuckle the belt to adjust the robe?

Yeah I unbuckled the belt, but the first time was on accident. It tends to pop open while futzing it around. Turned out good as it’s easier to then place the robes where you want.

Both figures look superb to me there.

Those two look epic together.

It does show how Vader (in all HT variations) overall is just a wee bit enlarged and overscale. Look at the size of his helmet.

I agree they look awesome paired together. Really cool that they released so close to each other. Got them maybe a few days apart.

 

[canofhumdingers]

I don't know... I remember seeing one of the Vader helmets on display years ago on the "magic of the myth" tour at the Smithsonian and was shocked how large the helmet was in real life.

Neither these (Don Post standard and Rubies Deluxe) are actual screen used helmets, nor accurate, but I think the larger one is closer to the actual size of the real helmets. It's just crazy how big it is.

Yep, the real helmet is flipping huge. I’m 6’3 and it makes me look like a character from Spaceballs...

 

[IndyMOS]

That’s a great looking helmet there canofhumdingers!

By the way, that shirt is awesome [emoji122]

 

[ajp4mgs]

The one issue with scale is that of the HT parts I have (and I have a lot) is that many of the parts - including the helmet feel about 10% oversized due to the fact they were designed to go on a finished figure that approaches 14". I think that's what is giving the ESB Vader that "dumpy" look a few people have mentioned - that they put the slightly oversized parts on a smaller body and it starts to take on that "teen wearing adult clothes" thing.

Those two look epic together.

It does show how Vader (in all HT variations) overall is just a wee bit enlarged and overscale. Look at the size of his helmet.

I think both of you are 100% correct about the HT helmets being oversized. All of them so far. And I think the helmet is the reason that the rest of the costume parts end up looking wrong on these figures. But, the good news is that I think the other parts (body included) are scaled pretty well. It's just the helmet sizes that have been ridiculous; and I think I can illustrate it conclusively. Just please be patient with me here because I have to explain it in steps.

First, here's a photo of HT ANHv1 Vader body, helmet, undersuit, & boots - with v2 shoulder armor. I added the new ESB vest (w/ chest box) because I want to scale things to ESB since this is an ESB Vader thread. Everything might seem properly scaled/proportioned (but the helmet is far from it).



I took the same figure, but swapped helmets with a broken Sideshow ESB/ROTJ one (not the Deluxe version). Here are the two photos cropped next to each other. Aside from the hideously terrible sculpt on the SS mask, you might think that the dome is way too small. It isn't; the mask is just too big. Stay with me here.



Now I'm putting both version on either side of a shot from ESB movie Vader. I drew some yellow lines on it to get a sense for the size of the shoulder armor and chest box. The green lines are for the body scale (using body width just under the shoulder bells). I slid all of the lines to both the HT helmet pic and the SS helmet pic. You can see that the body width, chest box, and shoulder armor are very closely scaled with the movie image (though the shoulder armor is shaped horribly). But look at the helmet size! In particular look at the domes!

The HT one is just absurd. The SS dome, however, actually comes pretty close in terms of size/width; but the mask inside of it is way too big.



The helmet is the problem. Just too big. I think the v1/v2/ESB body is scaled reasonably accurately. I think the other costume pieces are scaled pretty well. But the helmets are so big that the height of the figure ends up being too tall, and the whole costume just ends up looking off because the helmet is the key feature. Everything kinda flows down from the helmet.

In my opinion, HT would have been better off scaling their helmets closer to the size of their Luke-face helmet from the DX07 Deluxe set.



How's THAT for some tedious Vaderology? Sorry for all the detail and over-explanation. I just really wanted to try to settle the debate about scale/proportions. For the most part, I think everything is okay on these figures except the helmets. The rest can be futzed or padded well enough to get very close to screen accurate, imo.

 

[drjedisith]

Nice, that's pretty much the pose I have my R1 Vader in. The stand does finish it off though

thanks. yeah i really like the stand. i since put in the batterries and lit him up. except the saber. this guy needs a cathode saber someday .

 

[Centrocal]

Still however when I look at the back of the reveal head, it looks kind of under scaled. Although I havern't seen a decent comparison of the back of the head with another sculpt.

 

[sithocan]

So, you say it should be like this?



It seemed like Beetlejuice now.

 

[Lord Valefor]

I was looking more into the upcoming 1/4 scale RotJ Vader and at first glance I thought it was perfect ,but if I look at it next to screen shots and prop pictures I'm starting to see a few things wrong with it, like the neck is too short and "fat" and the lower chin vent too large and weirdly curved. A lot better than the ESB but still not perfect.

The thing is , if they want us to spend 300$ to 600$ on a character we already own multiple version of , they're going to have to start scanning real props in 3D (I think the Vader facemask and helmet is impossible to sculpt by hand due because it has so many angles and facets).

Right now , of all the pictures and Videos I've seen , the RO still seems like the best "compromise" Vader figure with no modding. Also it's taller so the head doesn't look disproportionately large

 

[Centrocal]

If there are any problems with the 1/4 figure, the time to complain about it and write emails is right now. The mistake we made with the ESB figure was we were all so enamored by the pretty pictures, we waited too long to nitpick. No one was really talking about the tusks until it was too late.

 

[ajp4mgs]

So, you say it should be like this?

View attachment 425337

It seemed like Beetlejuice now.

I think it should be somewhere in between the actual pic and your miniaturized "Beetlejuice" version.

Camera angles can change things dramatically, so this will never be an exact science. Vader's helmet would be huge next to a human head. But not exactly huge on the Vader costume. From some angles, it can even look smallish. I don't think anyone would be able to replicate the proportions seen below (from the actual movie Vader) with any of the 1/6 figures out there so far. The helmets are too big.



Vader's helmet should clearly be bigger than Boba Fett's, but it shouldn't dwarf Fett's by all that much.

 

[SilverStar17]

Here’s a side-by-side picture of the ESB Boba Fett and Darth Vader (Vader is on ROTJ Luke’s stand for the shot):

Very nice.

Perfect opportunity to do the “No disintegrations” pose with Vader.

 

[Lord Valefor]

. You can see that the body width, chest box, and shoulder armor are very closely scaled with the movie image (though the shoulder armor is shaped horribly). But look at the helmet size! In particular look at the domes!

The HT one is just absurd. The SS dome, however, actually comes pretty close in terms of size/width; but the mask inside of it is way too big.
.

it's the domes that makes the HT heads look too large. the facemasks seem the right size. Look at the 1/4 scale they got the right dome proportions and it's smaller and better flare

the SS one has completely the wrong shape

 

[Wor-Gar]

I dunno, scale looks pretty close to me... I mean, Vader might be like a millimeter or two too tall. That’s pretty flipping close.

Does this (helmet) look properly scaled to you?