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

[Mose Harper]

There is a pride of ownership for me that comes with having something that I know more hardcore fans out there respect- even if I can't really tell, or have that much care for, the differences.

It's a good feeling.

I'm probably more in the second category in that I only have known the broader differences between the costumes (shiny vs matte and rougher looking; chest armor exposed vs covered by the tunic; etc) I never got as far into it as parsing the more minute details on the mask and helmet, and never even realized the difference in widow's peak until the run up for the release of this figure.

I got the figure last week.
The loose helmet is a little annoying, but overall I think I like it better than the Vader from the Tarkin/Vader two pack. I think it will display nicely and most of why I bought it was for the base. Like the figure itself , it may not be technically accurate, but it is wholly evocative of the scene from the film and in this case, that's perfectly OK with me.

 

[FlyAndFight]

So you all have this figure in hand, yes?

That's the thing. Majority of the people nitpicking do not have it in hand, aka don't really know what they're talking about. Nothing wrong with nitpicking, its a not so hidden purpose of the forum and there are things to nitpick as people with the figure has pointed out - what gets old are people not owning the figure beating the dead horse over and over because they want to justify to themselves and others reasons not to get it or why Vader figure X, Y or Z is better in their eyes.

It just gets old and makes for very boring reading to scroll past between interesting posts, for me at least its nothing to do with getting mad over people criticizing a figure I happen to have bought, if I like something I'm perfectly fine with people thinking it is a pile of garbage, just say it once or twice then move on to threads about stuff thats enjoyable.. lingering here to repeatedly complain when not even owning or seen the figure in hand just to keep justifying why not getting it or why ye olde kaiyodo mask is Gods gift to humanity makes for a lower quality forum experience.

For an experiment, look through the thread and see how many people owning this Vader thinks its good in hand vs how many going "I'll be returning this pile of garbage" ..the writings on the wall.

Agree on the picture quotes

But having the figure in hand is actually irrelevant to being able to comment on a forum about the possible errors found with the figure. You've been around the forum for over three years so you must know that it's these types of discussions that drive this and all other figure forums. Heck, I've actually have picked up an older figure and then gone back to read the old discussions on it here! Have picked up some very interesting tips regarding detailing, errors to correct, etc.

I do not see the nit-picking as justification on passing on the figure. It is simply hobbyists sharing their passion with fellow hobbyists. I also don't remember any posts stating that this figure was a pile of garbage. Any nits picked were about subtle detailing flaws, designs flaws and comparisons to previously released Vader figures.

This forum would be a wasteland if all that was posted was purely positive in regards to the figures. It's the critiques, endless or not, that adds to the forum discussions.

 

[davejames]

Well there was an opening at BBTS so I decided to reorder this to see how it is in hand. I still really want an ESB Vader and it looks now like I might be able to live with the mask on this, at least if it's angled down a bit or displayed under the right light. And I'm also curious to see if it might be possible to mod at all.

 

[SilverStar17]

looks like Tom Cruise nut sack.

I’ll do you one better. How would you know?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Ung...I recently bought the Rogue one Vader, and I'm torn whether to pack him up and sell and get this version.
Really love R1, but kinda torn, cause I think V2 looks great.

For those that have both v2 and R1, are they both in terms of being shiny, the same, or is R1 more shiny?
One of the things I love about the R1 is the super glossy finish.
And it appears the v2 is about the same?

Remy -- if you want shiny, polished Vader, get ESB or ROTJ.

 

[Mose Harper]

Primary viewing angle and lighting both make a WORLD of difference when displaying statues and figures.

You can futz and make all the mods you want, but if the figure is poorly lit you will see flaws magnified and positive attributes diminished.

Futzing and modding gets talked about a lot here. I don't see the same care and concern over lighting.

 

[SilverStar17]

So you all have this figure in hand, yes?

That's the thing. Majority of the people nitpicking do not have it in hand, aka don't really know what they're talking about.

Disagree here. You’re essentially saying that unless one has a figure in hand, then that opinion should be disregarded because that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about, since they don’t have the figure in hand.

For instance, you were lauding this figure and saying how good it was, and how everyone who didn’t particularly care for it because of this or that were wrong, BEFORE even you had it in hand. By your own principle of having to possess a figure in hand first before sharing a considerable opinion, does that therefore mean that you didn’t know what you were talking about when you were praising it, before you had it in hand?

It goes both ways.

Ung...I recently bought the Rogue one Vader, and I'm torn whether to pack him up and sell and get this version.
Really love R1, but kinda torn, cause I think V2 looks great.

For those that have both v2 and R1, are they both in terms of being shiny, the same, or is R1 more shiny?
One of the things I love about the R1 is the super glossy finish.
And it appears the v2 is about the same?

If you want a shiny Vader, I’d keep R1 for the time being and wait to see what RotJ Vader brings. Then from there, you can decide to keep R1 Vader, or sell it for ESB or RotJ.

V2 ANH Vader isn’t as shiny. It’d be majorly inaccurate to ANH if it was.

 

[rayeknor]

I had some idea what I was talking about before I got it, but yes not really. When I got the SS deluxe Vader I could tell the dome and face was off before I got it, but it was actually worse in hand. Before I opened up ESB Vader I was among those convinced the down pointing tusks that turned out to be not down pointing at all, the seams who in hand are barely visible unless bright face on lighted, seemingly enlarged mouth triangle and possibly messed up mask and dome would make me consider sending it back for a refund, tho I thought it looked better then my SS deluxe.

I was very positively surprised.

 

[SilverStar17]

How do you differ from others then? How are you able to have some idea of what you’re talking about when it comes to critiquing a figure without having it in hand, but others don’t if they don’t have it in hand, as you said?

Just like you were able to tell things were off about your SSC Deluxe Vader presumably based on pictures, others are able to do the same with this figure.

 

[ShadowX81]

Unfortunatly mine came with a broken tusk. Really makes me angry that this happened.

However at the end of the day this figure is a work of freaking art and I couldn't be happier. A huge leap since Hot Toy's first Vader and an instant highlight of my collection. It also gave me the bonus of allowing me to finally upgrade the ugly gloved hands on my original ANH Vader.

 

[jedijim3002]

Looks more like Mexico to me.

 

[Remy]

Remy -- if you want shiny, polished Vader, get ESB or ROTJ.

I stayed up til 5 am last last night watching most of the reviews of both R1 and v2.
If I didn't have R1, I definitely would have pulled the trigger to get V2. I think the figure looks magnificent and I love the base.
I do think though that since I'm also pretty happy with R1, I should wait for ROTJ.

If you want a shiny Vader, I’d keep R1 for the time being and wait to see what RotJ Vader brings. Then from there, you can decide to keep R1 Vader, or sell it for ESB or RotJ.

V2 ANH Vader isn’t as shiny. It’d be majorly inaccurate to ANH if it was.

Oh, I was referring to ESB part 2, which I assume is v2?
Or is v2 specifically refers to ANH?

Sorry if I was referring to wrong figure. I don't frequent Star Wars thread much, and when I do, I go straight to specific figures, like Luke or ht r2d2.
There's so many Star Wars figures, so I miss a lot of things on this section.
I didn't even know about this part 2 ESB until recently.
So I'm having a little buyers remorse with R1 and wondering if I should sell it and get pt 2 ESB
From the videos I've seen, and it appears to be just as shiny as R1.

 

[loki2371]

I had some idea what I was talking about before I got it, but yes not really. When I got the SS deluxe Vader I could tell the dome and face was off before I got it, but it was actually worse in hand. Before I opened up ESB Vader I was among those convinced the down pointing tusks that turned out to be not down pointing at all, the seams who in hand are barely visible unless bright face on lighted, seemingly enlarged mouth triangle and possibly messed up mask and dome would make me consider sending it back for a refund, tho I thought it looked better then my SS deluxe.

I was very positively surprised.

Well I don't have it in hand, but based on these pics from a pretty thorough comparison, I do believe the tusks are indeed pointing down.

 

[rayeknor]

I never thought of Mexico.. I went bigger with the western side of South America

Unfortunatly mine came with a broken tusk. Really makes me angry that this happened.

However at the end of the day this figure is a work of freaking art and I couldn't be happier. A huge leap since Hot Toy's first Vader and an instant highlight of my collection. It also gave me the bonus of allowing me to finally upgrade the ugly gloved hands on my original ANH Vader.

Agreed 100%, its a great figure. Seems the tusks are #1 qc issue with this version tho.

 

[SilverStar17]

I stayed up til 5 am last last night watching most of the reviews of both R1 and v2.
If I didn't have R1, I definitely would have pulled the trigger to get V2. I think the figure looks magnificent and I love the base.
I do think though that since I'm also pretty happy with R1, I should wait for ROTJ.




Oh, I was referring to ESB part 2, which I assume is v2?
Or is v2 specifically refers to ANH?

Sorry if I was referring to wrong figure. I don't frequent Star Wars thread much, and when I do, I go straight to specific figures, like Luke or ht r2d2.
There's so many Star Wars figures, so I miss a lot of things on this section.
I didn't even know about this part 2 ESB until recently.
So I'm having a little buyers remorse with R1 and wondering if I should sell it and get pt 2 ESB
From the videos I've seen, and it appears to be just as shiny as R1.

No worries, man.

Yes, there’s a v1 and v2 ANH Vader. V1 is the MMS279 figure, the one that came out first. V2 ANH Vader is the one that came exclusively with the GM Tarkin two-pack; they didn’t offer the v2 ANH Vader by itself. V2 is essentially an amalgam of parts from the R1 Vader and the v1 (MMS279) ANH Vader. To get the perfect ANH Vader, people usually use parts from the v1 and v2, as both have their pros and cons. The cons on one are pros on the other, and vice versa.

They only make this one ESB Vader. There’s no two versions of him.

So if your goal is to have a Vader with shiny armor, regardless of what iteration it is, I’d keep your newly acquired R1 Vader for now, and see what RotJ Vader offers first. Then from there, you could either decide to just keep R1 Vader, or sell him for either ESB or RotJ.

However, both ANH Vaders and this Vader I think are more in scale with other figures. They made R1 Vader too tall, which I suppose if you’re displaying him on his own, wouldn’t matter.

 

[Reefer Shark]

I stayed up til 5 am last last night watching most of the reviews of both R1 and v2.
If I didn't have R1, I definitely would have pulled the trigger to get V2. I think the figure looks magnificent and I love the base.
I do think though that since I'm also pretty happy with R1, I should wait for ROTJ.




Oh, I was referring to ESB part 2, which I assume is v2?
Or is v2 specifically refers to ANH?

Sorry if I was referring to wrong figure. I don't frequent Star Wars thread much, and when I do, I go straight to specific figures, like Luke or ht r2d2.
There's so many Star Wars figures, so I miss a lot of things on this section.
I didn't even know about this part 2 ESB until recently.
So I'm having a little buyers remorse with R1 and wondering if I should sell it and get pt 2 ESB
From the videos I've seen, and it appears to be just as shiny as R1.

Ahhh that's where the confusion is! V2 is in reference to the second ANH Vader HT produced, which came in a two pack with Tarkin. If you want shiny, go with ESB (or just keep the RO)

 

[TaliBane]

I don't know dude. I don't have a problem with it but then again I don't over-analyze every centimeter of Darth Vader. The figure it looks amazing that's good enough for me. I will never display at ugly scar over the helmet of Vader. you go ahead and keep wondering why a scar on the back of the head doesn't perfectly match up with the real thing.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

I guess you just had to be there in 1980. That moment was up there in the top 5 most chilling/memorable moments of ESB for me. It opened up so many questions and possibilities about who/what Vader was.

Hearing it dismissed as an "ugly scar" - like it's a moment where we got an accidental glimpse of Vader's tramp stamp as he got into the shower - just sounds kinda funny.

It should have been done right. It's a major moment.

It's a conundrum because the ROTJ Shaw head was probably totally gray. That may explain why they opted to go this route. However I agree with you, it should be how it looks in ESB, since this is directly from this scene.

And as far as the 'two people that would display it w/o the helmet off' comment, people paid for this option, shouldn't it be accurate to what inspired it?

I doubt they really expected people to display it that way. It was probably just meant to be an extra cool detail to make the figure seem a bit more impressive somehow. Just like the extra detail they always put under the armor of Iron Man figures that never goes seen.

"Extra cool details" that never get seen shouldn't affect the main display of the figure - this one does. The addition of this inaccurately done hidden feature made necessary the somewhat wonky/insecure dome attachment and also makes the bolts/greeblies visible from the front - when Vader's helmet is never like that onscreen in ESB.

The whole idea to simply use the ROTJ helmet glued shut is the problem - ie a cost-cutting move. As I said, its created mask inaccuracies like the too-shallow angle on the mouth grill, the too-big mouth due to a top/lower half seam and the quite visible gap/break in the tusk rail.

Had HT simply done a "clean" ESB Vader helmet without the split/reveal feature none of these issues would be present - and visible.

For the two times I'm like to remove the helmet, I'm definitely going to be painting the back of the head to match that sick pic.

The mystery of what his face looked like was always intriguing for the first 6 years, taunted after 3 with that truly horrific tease. Then... we got Wizard of Oz with eyebrows.

But the top of the helmet encloses the head too much to fully paint it the way it is in ESB.

But yeah - you'd think HT would have at least done the way cooler/grosser "burn victim" ESB skin color instead of the silent-movie-star baby powdered face coloration we got in ROTJ.

 

[TaliBane]

I think we can divide 1/6 figure collectors into roughly the following two groups:

Group 1 - Want as highly accurate and detailed 1/6 scaled miniature figure for display as possible.

Group 2 - Want a nice looking figure for display.

What i find curious is how it's usually the later telling the former how to enjoy their hobby and what to post in this forum.

- "If you don't like it, don't buy it..."

- "Enough with the nitpicking; they're only toys..."

- "Get a life..."

I have been in this hobby for many, many years. I started with G.I. Joes as a kid and collected Hasbro Star Wars 12" figures, 21st Century, Dragon/DML, BBI/Blue Box, Sideshow and finally Hot Toys. Each company was subsequently better in quality, detailing and accuracy. it was that higher level of fidelity in detailing and accuracy to the 1:1 design that kept me in the hobby. I come from a scale modeling background and it was the detailing found in these figures that drew me in, in the first place.

I have a feeling that the majority of those telling the "rivet counters" to knock it off simply do not understand, appreciate or even care about the accuracy issues that have driven the other group's enjoyment of their hobby. Perhaps they are mostly new to 1/6 figure collecting. Perhaps they are simply unaware of the hobby in general and the different facets that drive it.

The fact that we have a forum to discuss the minutia of these figures is wonderful. It's what this and all other 1/6 figure forums were founded on. It is why there are customizing sections throughout these forums. It is why people sell their older figures in order to purchase the newer release.

Perhaps we should all be collecting Hasbro 12" Star Wars figures, as the characters are easily recognizable on the shelf and vastly less expensive...

 

[medicomsucks]

I stayed up til 5 am last last night watching most of the reviews of both R1 and v2.
If I didn't have R1, I definitely would have pulled the trigger to get V2. I think the figure looks magnificent and I love the base.
I do think though that since I'm also pretty happy with R1, I should wait for ROTJ.




Oh, I was referring to ESB part 2, which I assume is v2?
Or is v2 specifically refers to ANH?

Sorry if I was referring to wrong figure. I don't frequent Star Wars thread much, and when I do, I go straight to specific figures, like Luke or ht r2d2.
There's so many Star Wars figures, so I miss a lot of things on this section.
I didn't even know about this part 2 ESB until recently.
So I'm having a little buyers remorse with R1 and wondering if I should sell it and get pt 2 ESB
From the videos I've seen, and it appears to be just as shiny as R1.

Part 2 ESB? Are you getting that from the thread title? This is the only ESB version of Vader hot toys has made. The thread is called part 2 because the original thread was locked because of fighting over the last Jedi.

 

[rayeknor]

I guess you just had to be there in 1980. That moment was up there in the top 5 most chilling/memorable moments of ESB for me. It opened up so many questions and possibilities about who/what Vader was.

Hearing it dismissed as an "ugly scar" - like it's a moment where we got an accidental glimpse of Vader's tramp stamp as he got into the shower - just sounds kinda funny.

It should have been done right. It's a major moment.

Agreed. Tho I will display him with the helmet on, knowing it's there is very nice. And the details on the back of the helmet and scar tissue is pretty well done, even tho the paintjob on his skin is absolutely lacking.

Regarding the tusks they are definitively pointing too much downwards on production photos and others, but seems like I caught a break on my figure.. they can point straight or slightly down depending how you imagine it, nonissue for me.