12" Inch Figure Dewback A New Hope

[Spiker]

And it is fact because you say so? Sorry but i still disagree.

 

[ProgMatinee]

It's not an opinion. It's fact. You can achieve the same level of detail with plastic or vinyl that you can with polystone. Polystone is plastic resin, with stone additives to make it heavy. Vinyl and other plastics are not limited in the level of detail they can be molded into. So I'm not sure what this bias is towards polystone, aside from the "feel".

Sean

Can you show us some pictures of vinyl items that are of similar quality to SSC's Dinosauria line?

This is what I got when I googled vinyl dinosaurs.

And this is what I got when I googled polystone dinosaurs.

 

[galactiboy]

Bubo and Salacious crumb are vinyl aren't they... pretty detailed pieces.

Polystone pieces usually look very crisp, but I don't know if that is just due to what people chose to make out of Polystone or a unique feature of the material.

 

[Lee in MI]

I think that is more about a number of large pieces being hollow polystone which feels kind of cheap and seems even easier to break.

This piece will certainly be hollow.

All of the thrones have been hollow and even the Yoda Hut is hollow. So it might feel cheap anyway.

And I think one of the main points here is why SSCs didn't find an engineered solution to the articulation problem...they just side stepped it altogether. Seems like they just took the path of least resistance...the easy way out, so to speak.

 

[icruise]

This is what I got when I googled vinyl dinosaurs.

Actually I think you just proved my point. Of course you didn't get any hits showing toy dinosaurs made of polystone. That's because polystone isn't an appropriate material for a toy. And aren't these figures supposed to be the grown-up equivalent of toys?

Vinyl can definitely be used to achieve surprising amounts of detail. Compare the AMT/ERTL Rancor model from 1998 with the polystone Rancor put out by Sideshow. I'm not sure if it comes through in my pictures, but I was very impressed with the detail on that piece. Heck, just do a Google image search for "vinyl models" and you should see quite a few impressive pieces.

 

[pixletwin]

And I think one of the main points here is why SSCs didn't find an engineered solution to the articulation problem...

Well isn't it rather obvious that more people will pay $300 for the unarticulated one than would have paid for $900 articulated one?

 

[SpaceCrawler]

Can you show us some pictures of vinyl items that are of similar quality to SSC's Dinosauria line?

This is what I got when I googled vinyl dinosaurs.

And this is what I got when I googled polystone dinosaurs.

Not an honest "example". Polystone is used for "high end" "collectables" (BECAUSE of the weight, giving the false impression of "worth") and vinyl is inexpensive, used for toys.

THAT'S why you got the image results you got.

Even the vinyl collectable dolls sold by Sideshow itself show that good detail is possible, but those deformed dolls, etc, are meant to be simple. Normally it's used for lower end stuff because it's less expensive.

I can't believe I have to point this out but vinyl can be cast into ANY shape, just as polystone can. There is no difference in what level of detail either substance can hold.

Why would you think there was a difference? Seriously, what's this myth about vinyl based on? Google vinyl doll, vinyl sculpture, etc, and you will see loads of detail cast in vinyl.

Sean

 

[Lee in MI]

Well isn't it rather obvious that more people will pay $300 for the unarticulated one than would have paid for $900 articulated one?

That $900 price is pure conjecture. There is no evidence that articulating the head or tail or jaw would have driven up the price 300%!

Pix, I think u are not seeing the argument...along with a few others. I don't think anyone is saying it should have been "fully" articulated. It just should have sported some articulation.

 

[ProgMatinee]

I'm not really talking about carving detail. I'm looking for painting detail mostly. I think the paint job on the vinyl Jabba doesn't look nearly as good as the paint job on the Dinosauria statues.

 

[icruise]

I'm not really talking about carving detail. I'm looking for painting detail mostly. I think the paint job on the vinyl Jabba doesn't look nearly as good as the paint job on the Dinosauria statues.

That's probably true, but why do you assume that the difference in the materials used? The prototype of Jabba looked great (and very different from the production version) and you can repaint Jabba just fine if you want to.

 

[ProgMatinee]

I'm not adverse to the vinyl, btw. I'm trying to get you to post some examples of what they should be able to do with vinyl.

I do think its conjecture though that SSC would charge $100 less if it was vinyl.

 

[VoidDweller]

I like Polystone, but if the Dewback was made of a hard rubbery plastic similar to the Papo T-Rex I picked up this month that has pretty good sculpt detail and looked as good, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't made of Polystone.

 

[ProgMatinee]

that is pretty dang cool!

 

[icruise]

I do think its conjecture though that SSC would charge $100 less if it was vinyl.

True. I wouldn't be that surprised if they would have charged the same. I think a lot of the cost of making these statues is actually in the painting and prep, rather than the raw materials. So if they step up the paint work compared to Jabba, that might raise the price.

 

[ProgMatinee]

This product is all about finished product, IMO. If it comes close to the prototype, I'll be getting it. Until then, I'm holding off on ordering.

 

[icruise]

How much was the T-Rex, VoidDweller? I remember seeing some Schleich dinosaurs at Toys R Us that were quite large and had relatively good detail for about $50. You'd think you could do something similar to that, but bigger and with a bit better paint for under $200.

 

[Spiker]

That Papo Rex should be around 30$. I bought one of them for my daughter.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Well...now you're in a whole new arena if you're going to compare a mass produced item with an SSC product.

I've been saying this since SSC got the license, the vehicles and monsters should have been a joint product between Hasbro and SSC.

SSC designs the sculpt, gives it to Hasbro to cast, then send it back to SSC for painting.

Hasbro has the experience and infrastructure to deal with soft plastic big items for a much lower cost than SSC.

 

[icruise]

Of course you also have to consider how many they're making. I don't know what the edition size will be on the Dewback, but we're probably talking 2000 tops, and more likely 1000. You can't take advantage of economies of scale like Hasbro does when you're only making that many.

 

[VoidDweller]

How much was the T-Rex, VoidDweller? I remember seeing some Schleich dinosaurs at Toys R Us that were quite large and had relatively good detail for about $50. You'd think you could do something similar to that, but bigger and with a bit better paint for under $200.

I picked up the T-Rex from Amazon for $16.28. I first saw it at Hobby Lobby, but figured I could get it cheaper online. Which I did! The T-Rex measures 6.5" tall.