12" Aragorn Image Thread

[Khev]

I got Jedi Luke and am the first to say that his headsculpt looks better in person than in pics, without a doubt. The problems with Jedi Luke remained, though- Bobble-head and monkey arms. There's no denying those issues. "Keep his arms bent and you won't notice the monkey arms as much" was the popular resolution. That certainly is true but now I'm stuck with a select number of posing options...

Han Solo looked better in hand than in pics, without a doubt. The problems with Han remained as well, though- Bobble-head, chubby cheeks, tiny jacket and fragile gun belt/holster. As a matter of fact, the tiny jacket and fragile gun belt issues came out after the figure was released.

No doubt about the Han issues. I was using the Luke situation *only* to address the "he looks clueless" criticisms. So did Luke, and his face looked great in person. If Aragorn turns out to be more like Han than Luke then yeah, that'll be quite disappointing.

The way I see it SS's LOTR figures have had some pretty serious stalls. No matter what the current Aragorn pics indicate they still aren't as bad as PF Frodo. Aragorn's prototype pics at least looked sweet.

We'll just have to wait until he arrives. I'm on the fence about collecting this line and if Aragorn is bad in person I might just stick with SW for the time being.

 

[gdb]

Hmm... mine still shows as order placed. Although I ordered, canceld and reordered once I found out about the $5 off coupon

Hopefully he ships out sometime this week!

Yeah I liked that $5 coupon.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Regardless of the issues, this forum does rock. Just look at this thread alone. Over "400" postings discussing this one item and I think there have been fantastic points brought up on both sides, not to mention a ton of information shared as well.

Thanks for that info, Rad. I've got to get to SDCC soon and buy you a beer.

Khev, you pretty much said what the bottom line is. "We'll have to wait until he arrives." Who knows if when that starts happening, this thread doesn't reach "800" posts!

Dave, you've got the figure in-hand so your opinion certainly warrants special attention. If the only issue will be the beard, I can certainly live with that.

Amanaman, I wish I could afford and have the space to display just the PF's, but unfortunately I don't. Plus the 12" line allows me to have (and afford) more characters.

 

[Buttmunch]

Yeah I liked that $5 coupon.

I guess I wasn't the only one that did that. I also have a $50 credit from Sideshow from them overselling something I bought with a gift card. So my Aragorn is only $10 and for $10 is will be a fantastic figure

 

[Khev]

Aragorn's prototype was off the charts. But wouldn't you all agree that his production pics indicate that Boromir should translate rather well? Boromir's design is pretty close to Aragorn's in complexity minus the stubble, leather jacket and weathering, which coincidentally are where the problems seem primarily focused.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Yeah, I think Legolas and Boromir's prototypes are far more realistic in terms of what can actually be mass produced. I expect the finished product for both will be pretty close.

 

[Seaward]

Galactiboy,
Thanks for posting the resized pictures! I am just getting to work tonight and the new pictures actually alleviated a lot of concern for me. Pjam, I think I see some of the differences you are talking about, but I don't know if it is a new sculpt, or that the detail had "softened" some by the time this figure reached production. I always thought that the prototype had a really subtle expression on his face, and it might have been lost simply in the mechanics of creating the casts for the head. A lot of figures look like sharp prototype sculpts, but the really subtle detail sometimes gets lost by the time you get a figure to take home with ya!

 

[FlyAndFight]

I agree, Khev. I think Boromir has the potential to be THE figure of the line until some of the armored figures get released.

 

[pixletwin]

wait till they give Boromir Dark Brown Hair...

 

[pjam]

Galactiboy,
Thanks for posting the resized pictures! I am just getting to work tonight and the new pictures actually alleviated a lot of concern for me. Pjam, I think I see some of the differences you are talking about, but I don't know if it is a new sculpt, or that the detail had "softened" some by the time this figure reached production. I always thought that the prototype had a really subtle expression on his face, and it might have been lost simply in the mechanics of creating the casts for the head. A lot of figures look like sharp prototype sculpts, but the really subtle detail sometimes gets lost by the time you get a figure to take home with ya!

We'll see Seaward, but the hair piece looks like a 4th generation recast, loss of detail there, the eyes and brows look markedly different from the proto sculpt, pictures do lie, but they can't reposition the browline or widen the eye sculpt so I don't know what happened there only to say I really wish SSC QC (isn't that Brant's purview?) has been inconsistent and disappointing with a number of figures, time after time...

Like I said before, collectors simply want what they ordered, is that asking too much?

 

[Seaward]

I am just hoping for the best with this one. That last run of pictures looked better, and the beard wasn't as thick as previous pictures, so I hope I get one with a lighter beard, otherwise, I'll have to fix that, and the detail on the coat is fine, it just needs to look like somebody has slept on the plains for about six months.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I'll reiterate - there is no difference in the sculpt of either the hair or head. Any difference you see is strictly paint ops.

As for Boromir - there's some detailing in the beard there that could fall by the wayside, but I do agree that there is less weathering and thus the production figure is likely to look more like the proto.

 

[DarkArtist81]

Yes, people... sand paper can be your friend. Just treat it like a very small leather jacket that you will never fit into but want to look really cool in case you ever could shrink yourself small enough to wear it...

No.... that would be crazy...

Just wait... I will post pics of progress... with STEP BY STEP instructions on how to weather you Aragorn jacket once I have mine. I promise you guys this!! it can be done....

 

[pjam]

I'll reiterate - there is no difference in the sculpt of either the hair or head. Any difference you see is strictly paint ops.

As for Boromir - there's some detailing in the beard there that could fall by the wayside, but I do agree that there is less weathering and thus the production figure is likely to look more like the proto.

I think Boromir CAN very well be the best 12" SSC figure ever, the proto detail, absolutely amazing Oluf sculpt and accessories are simply stunning, fingers crossed.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Yes, people... sand paper can be your friend. Just treat it like a very small leather jacket that you will never fit into but want to look really cool in case you ever could shrink yourself small enough to wear it...

I was also considering sandpaper, but then someone mentioned "flaking and peeling" and now I'm not so sure I want to try it. Perhaps the water treatment would work best to soften the pleather up and allow you to wrinkle it in the right places.

 

[Seaward]

Thanks for volunteering information on how to weather the jacket a little DarkArtist! I can't wait to see how you might work your magic on this one!

 

[Radagaster]

Dave . . .wouldn't a day's worth of curing under the sun in China do it?

 

[DarkArtist81]

I was also considering sandpaper, but then someone mentioned "flaking and peeling" and now I'm not so sure I want to try it. Perhaps the water treatment would work best to soften the pleather up and allow you to wrinkle it in the right places.

Well, I will risk mine and be sure to let you guys know what happened...

I made Connor's jacket look old and worn, so I know I can do it with this one, being of superior materials than the Connor one...

 

[Radagaster]

Just hope that Boromir's coat isn't vinyl looking either. Right now the proto looks like the right amount of dull leather. Strider's looked good in proto, until they used what looks to be a glossy vinyl version. Still, we'll see when he's in hand.

 

[The Josh]

Mine has shipped and will be here next Monday.