3.75" Collecting Thread

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

Thanks everyone!

Why is he diving for cover anyway? He should have nothing to fear there.

I did some shots inspired by the canon marvel star wars comics

 

[TheDucky]

Those are some nice shots. Don’t understand your *** at 3.75” though considering 75% of those poses or more can be done with 3.75”.

 

[TaliBane]

Thanks dude!

Yeah I just personally prefer having access to the extra articulation whether I need it or not. Theres nothing I hate more than fighting the articulation to set up a pose. Being able to push a joint that extra few percent is the difference between the pose looking like stiff plastic or a natural person.

Theres almost no 3.75 figures that can do a kneeling pose that looks natural and comfortable

You also really can't do a good kneeling pose without double jointed knees unless the figure was specifically sculpted with that in mind. Like some of the 3.75 blockade runner rebels. And even then.

Why Hasbro hasn't put some $$ in your pocket I have no idea. You're selling figs for them I don't have those Solo Snow-train troopers, but they're so awesome in your pic that will likely change.

But yeah, that type of pose the service member is in doesn't occur in SW (at least OT) much at all though, and where it does occur as part of the character's iconic poses Hasbro sometimes does accommodate for it - like those old Fleet Troopers with the spin knees.

The vast majority of people just don't have any need for those types of extreme poses, but it's so great Hasbro has now fixed that mechanical knee problem - one of the major issues that held me back from buying some of these has been removed.

And glad we had this conversation because I wouldn't have known about that fix until it was too late - when the figs were a year old and going up in price.

Kenner Bossk was about as articulated as the actual Bossk. No need for fancy joints



Damn. That's a really painful broken leg jumping the crate. Serious surgery needed after that.

It's like the Sideshow IG-88 - in ESB IG doesn't do a whole lot but SSC threw accuracy out the window and redid his shoulder bells simply so he could achieve ninja poses that I've never seen people use in pics of the fig on here.

Those are some nice shots. Don?t understand your *** at 3.75? though considering 75% of those poses or more can be done with 3.75?.

Yeah, and even with nearly 15-year-old 3 3/4" figures...

 

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

Those are some nice shots. Don?t understand your *** at 3.75? though considering 75% of those poses or more can be done with 3.75?.

Thanks.

3.75 has some fantastic alien sculpts, but many of them are extremely limited in articulation. Hence my comment about great depth but much of it being seriously outdated and lacking range.

Having to fight ankles that don't rock to get the feet flat to the floor or pre angled swivel hips and elbows doesnt make for a natural looking pose except in very specific cases. A lack of a ball jointed waist in many cases doesnt help either. And really that applies to a great majority of 3.75 figures. And that's before getting into how all but like 20 human characters (with photo real face printing) look like dried up raisin faces.

Yeah you can get them into some poses, sure. But aside from the extreme double knee joint in the hasbro 6 inch, almost none of them ever come close to looking as natural and realistic.

Why Hasbro hasn't put some $$ in your pocket I have no idea. You're selling figs for them

I don't have those Solo Snow-train troopers, but they're so awesome in your pic that will likely change.ninja poses that I've never seen people use in pics of the fig on here.



Yeah, and even with nearly 15-year-old 3 3/4" figures...

Lol thank you! I really love those little Troopers

Anyway on the pose, that's not even remotely the pose though. All you've done is put Luke into the beginning of a lunge position.

Look at my photo again. Look at the comic reference. Starting with the left leg. Luke's leg is out in front of him, turned slightly inward at the left thigh. His leg is out and up to a little more than 90 degrees at the hip and bent to at least 90 at the knee.

His right leg is swung outward to the right as he brings it up and over cover. Something your swivel thigh Luke cant do at all by the nature of the joint. His leg his bent slightly at the knee (the only thing your pose has) and his ankle rocked inward slightly tensed from the motion.

I mean no disrespect but your Luke doesnt even come remotely close to that same pose.

Mine is not completely accurate either, I could have spread his legs a little wider apart (which the figure is capable of thanks to its articulation) but it certainly looks a lot closer and they are things the figure is capable of doing that I simply missed in my reference.

As far as kneeling pose. The kneeling pose many 3.75 figures are lucky to get into is just not viable at all and the correct realistic kneeling pose is depicted by Clone Troopers in the films (because their mo cap work was done by marines)

Because if you tried to take that weird center line kneeling pose that 3.75 figures can do while shouldering and shooting a weapon youd fall over from being off balance

Which is why this pre posed clone exists

 

[TaliBane]

Well, no - in the comic ref pic, Luke's legs are only at around a 90 degree bend, and the old 3.75" fig I showed (just a googled pic btw, not mine) is capable of that 90 degree knee bend. Your pic's pose has the leg more bent than the comic ref pic shows.

So even that old figure - I assume articulation would have improved a bit since 2007 - is capable of matching the ref pic pose, and does it with mostly-hidden knee articulation (better hidden than BS6.)

And yeah, the PT clones obviously have those poses (mostly because they are 100% CGI and an armored actor would have difficulty doing that) its a rarer pose in SW generally and isn't seen much at all in the OT. And also, clones happen to have a knee pad that's the same size/shape as the ugly BS6 "kneepad" anyway, so that articulation choice is a natural fit for them.

My original points were that Hasbro had the option all along to do an improved version of the 3 3/4" articulation for BS6, and I wish they had. Having this super obvious "knee-pad" plus the big gaps/holes above and below, simply for the sake of doing extreme poses that most SW characters very rarely do, makes little sense to me.

It works great for some of your action pics (which have a real magic to them) so I get why you love it, but I think the vast majority of collectors would rather have slightly less articulation range and lose the ugly/blocky kneepads, holes and gaps.

 

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

Well, no - in the comic ref pic, Luke's legs are only at around a 90 degree bend, and the old 3.75" fig I showed (just a googled pic btw, not mine) is capable of that 90 degree knee bend. Your pic's pose has the leg much more bent than the comic ref pic shows.

So even that old figure - I assume articulation would have improved a bit since 2007 - is capable of matching the ref pic pose, and does it with mostly-hidden knee articulation (better hidden than BS6.)

And yeah, the PT clones obviously have those poses (mostly because they are 100% CGI and an armored actor would have difficulty doing that) its a rarer pose in SW generally and isn't seen much at all in the OT. And also, clones happen to have a knee pad that's the same size/shape as the ugly BS6 "kneepad" anyway, so that articulation choice is a natural fit for them.

My original points were that Hasbro had the option all along to do an improved version of the 3 3/4" articulation for BS6, and I wish they had. Having this super obvious "knee-pad" plus the big gaps/holes above and below, simply for the sake of doing extreme poses that most SW characters very rarely do, makes little sense to me.

It works great for some of your action pics (which have a real magic to them) so I get why you love it, but I think the vast majority of collectors would rather have slightly less articulation range and lose the ugly knees, holes and gaps.

You can tell that Luke's leg is at a more than 90 degree bend because you cant see his thighs at all. Only his knee to shin. And he knee to shin is perfectly flat and perpendicular to the camera, rather than being raised up a little bit along with his thigh.

Im not understanding your comment on the Clone pose though. The clones were done with mo cap work, marines took those poses because those are combat viable shooting poses. Soldiers utilize them in real life, and by extension through mo cap work the clones do too.

It's a rare pose outside of that sure. But the point is that it's an on screen and realistic pose that the clones can achieve in 6 inch but not in 3.75 without pre molded plastic.

Wanting the articulation to achieve that vs the sculpt is absolutely preference. But as someone who strives to have every pose look as natural and real as possible, and not look like a hunky of plastic forces into a shape, the little details and angles are important to me. Be it for pictures or my shelf display.

But again yes it's all preference. And again yeah we're kind of having a pointless debate because hasbro is "fixing" the joints. But that does bring me back to WHY I prefer 6 inch over 3.75. Because, old joints or new "nicer joints", the amount of movement you can get from this level of articulation across all 6 inch scale lines allows for very realistic poses because of how subtly you can shift the limbs and weight of the figure around. And except for special cases like aliens that just dont have many limbs to begin with; the WORST articulated 6 inch figure still has at least the same or more articulation of the average or even best articulated 3.75 figure with the same amount of limbs/appendages.

But I think we've derailed this 3.75 focused thread into another country at this point lol.

I'm very much looking forward to that beautifully painted slave 1 and not having to pay $300 to $400 for the old one lol

 

[a-dev]

I'm very much looking forward to that beautifully painted slave 1 and not having to pay $300 to $400 for the old one lol

I'll say one thing it better have that great paintjob on the product that actually ends up in our hands. That's the big selling point for anyone who's planning to pay full price.

 

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

I'll say one thing it better have that great paintjob on the product that actually ends up in our hands. That's the big selling point for anyone who's planning to pay full price.

They've delivered on the barge and assault tank paint job haven't they?

 

[Captain Clown]

The barge took some hits from prototype to final, like the wood panel floors inside not having a wash on them and the airbrushed details on the hull being nullified, but it doesn’t look bad by any means.

 

[Malgus]

Similar to what TaliBane is saying I've always wondered is the ability for a figure to tilt his head like a curious puppydog really worth it when your figure ends up looking like this



Tha fuq is with that gargantuan gap at the back of his head. And if it's not there it'll be at the front. Hideous.

Ball joint heads can actually be done well ^ there's no excuse for that though.

The sad thing is some people would welcome a hot toys figure with an unsightly joint like that because it allows them more articulation.

 

[TaliBane]

You can tell that Luke's leg is at a more than 90 degree bend because you cant see his thighs at all. Only his knee to shin. And he knee to shin is perfectly flat and perpendicular to the camera, rather than being raised up a little bit along with his thigh.

Im not understanding your comment on the Clone pose though. The clones were done with mo cap work, marines took those poses because those are combat viable shooting poses. Soldiers utilize them in real life, and by extension through mo cap work the clones do too.

It's a rare pose outside of that sure. But the point is that it's an on screen and realistic pose that the clones can achieve in 6 inch but not in 3.75 without pre molded plastic.

I assume we're talking about the same pic (pasted below for clarity.) It's subjective because it's stylized but Luke's right leg that's clearly visible is only at 90 degrees (yours is more like 140 degrees, heel not far from thigh) - his left leg it's harder to say for sure due to how it's drawn, but looks around 90 degrees to me, maybe a touch more.

And re: clones all I meant is that, as seen in the AOTC pic below, the mo-cap performers weren't wearing any armor (added via CGI.) So those poses are made more possible due to CGI. It's what gives some of the PT clone battles an unreality - that to some degree real men in that kind of armor wouldn't move or pose like that, and real-world soldiers don't have armor like that (ie fully enclosed hard thigh, knee and shin armor like a knight has.)

I'm very much looking forward to that beautifully painted slave 1 and not having to pay $300 to $400 for the old one lol

To be honest, I'd pay $350 for a new/larger Slave I though. Though it's way better than the old mold Slave I, I'd love to see a version that's bigger, where Fett can almost stand under the "elephant's trunk" part of his ship to put the carbonite block in.

More realistic paint is great (and wow - zoom in on that new 6" snowspeeder's paint apps) but size can really make some of these vehicles awe-inspiring to see.

Though I get the idea that we are like 25 years into the "modern era" of SW 3 3/4" and people have a TON of vehicles already and to some degree the last thing you need is another "truer scale" vehicle (not looking at you, barge.)

 

[a-dev]

They've delivered on the barge and assault tank paint job haven't they?

I don't have those but in fairness the Desert Skiff did get a good paintjob. Doesn't mean companies can't suddenly revert though.

The sad thing is some people would welcome a hot toys figure with an unsightly joint like that because it allows them more articulation.

In the case of Hot Toys it can seriously undermine the otherwise great realism they achieve. Those Henry Cavill Superman figures are cases in point. Terribly integrated head/neck going on there. As I said in those threads he permanently looks like a guy pulling his chin into his neck like he's got a stick up his backside. Stiff. And I thought the whole point of ball-jointing the heads was to make it not stiff - that's the argument I always read.

The likeness and paintjob can be top notch but you ruin it if you don't pay attention to how the head sits on the neck, make sure there's a natural posture and minimize the gaps as much as possible. I know you favour sculpted head/neck combos in all cases - myself, I will tolerate ball-joint heads - afterall in some cases it's the lesser of evils if the only other place to put any kind of joint is at the base of a fully exposed neck - but Hot Toys - a high-end company priding itself on realism - can't even seem to do ball-joint heads as well as NECA can.....which hardly anyone seems to care about unfortunately.

 

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

I assume we're talking about the same pic (pasted below for clarity.) It's subjective because it's stylized but Luke's right leg that's clearly visible is only at 90 degrees (yours is more like 140 degrees, heel not far from thigh) - his left leg it's harder to say for sure due to how it's drawn, but looks around 90 degrees to me, maybe a touch more.

And re: clones all I meant is that, as seen in the AOTC pic below, the mo-cap performers weren't wearing any armor (added via CGI.) So those poses are made more possible due to CGI. It's what gives some of the PT clone battles an unreality - that to some degree real men in that kind of armor wouldn't move or pose like that, and real-world soldiers don't have armor like that (ie fully enclosed hard thigh, knee and shin armor like a knight has.)

To be honest, I'd pay $350 for a new/larger Slave I though. Though it's way better than the old mold Slave I, I'd love to see a version that's bigger, where Fett can almost stand under the "elephant's trunk" part of his ship to put the carbonite block in.

More realistic paint is great (and wow - zoom in on that new 6" snowspeeder's paint apps) but size can really make some of these vehicles awe-inspiring to see.

Though I get the idea that we are like 25 years into the "modern era" of SW 3 3/4" and people have a TON of vehicles already and to some degree the last thing you need is another "truer scale" vehicle (not looking at you, barge.)

ATOC wasn't mo-capped by Marines though. If you notice theres a big visual difference between the way the clones in ep2 move compared to Ep3. In truth the Clone armor is so badly designed it's not possible to move much in it at all in real life lol. However my point is simply that the common 3.75 kneeling pose is awkward either way and not really as stable or useful for shooting.

Ep2 clones are essential video games without any semblance of realism in any way shape or form. Ep3 at least has trained soldiers providing the movement.

Ultimately my point is I prefer the larger figures for their ability to provide more natural posing even if the joints might look off at times. Though that's not a problem at ALL for the non Hasbro 6 inch stuff. Which is what I tend to utilize most because of that added layer.

And yes that 6 inch snow speeder absolutely blows my mind. It's like a movie model

 

[DioramaMaker]

Re: 3.75" Collecting Thread

Shootingthegalaxy's photography reminds me of the old Hasbro promotional shots back when I was a kid. I know the guy who did the photography has passed away and they compiled his shots into a book, but I really connect with them. They have the awe of photographic skill mixed with the wonder of a child's imagination so they connect with both young and old audiences. Always enjoy what you have to post, my friend. Have you considered finding a way to publish a coffee table book?

 

[TaliBane]

Re: 3.75" Collecting Thread

Shootingthegalaxy's photography reminds me of the old Hasbro promotional shots back when I was a kid. I know the guy who did the photography has passed away and they compiled his shots into a book, but I really connect with them. They have the awe of photographic skill mixed with the wonder of a child's imagination so they connect with both young and old audiences. Always enjoy what you have to post, my friend. Have you considered finding a way to publish a coffee table book?

Also, has he approached Hasbro? Like I said, his pics sell these figs more than anything Hasbro does. Maybe a coffee table book would be a good start for hasbro to see, and doing a book like that isn't anywhere near as expensive as it used to be, and STG could easily get enough funding via a gofundme page.

They also show a deep love for and knowledge of both these figs and SW, and are really a window into the reasons SW figs were created in the first place. These pics are what I used to see in my mind's eye when I played with these in the early 80's - a lot like the movies, but also not. A shrunken down adventure that a kid's mind could go on, with the figs as that doorway.

 

[DioramaMaker]

Re: 3.75" Collecting Thread

Also, has he approached Hasbro? Like I said, his pics sell these figs more than anything Hasbro does. Maybe a coffee table book would be a good start for hasbro to see, and doing a book like that isn't anywhere near as expensive as it used to be, and STG could easily get enough funding via a gofundme page.

They also show a deep love for and knowledge of both these figs and SW, and are really a window into the reasons SW figs were created in the first place. These pics are what I used to see in my mind's eye when I played with these in the early 80's - a lot like the movies, but also not. A shrunken down adventure that a kid's mind could go on, with the figs as that doorway.

Well said. That imagination is why we are all still here, in a way. Even if the figures are now $200+, the magic of that is what makes all of this so fun. The Action Man and Max Steel photography (Mattel) were very inspiring to young me when playing and creating stories. To be cognizant to capture that wonderment AND display creative talent to such a level is something that should be rewarded not only by the community, but Hasbro themselves.

I would wonder how he would go about a book? I fear that if he makes money off of it, then it's considered a breach of the license. Maybe he can sell some other photography through the Kickstarter and "give away" the book as a bonus?

 

[TonTon]

I don't have those but in fairness the Desert Skiff did get a good paintjob. Doesn't mean companies can't suddenly revert though.



In the case of Hot Toys it can seriously undermine the otherwise great realism they achieve. Those Henry Cavill Superman figures are cases in point. Terribly integrated head/neck going on there. As I said in those threads he permanently looks like a guy pulling his chin into his neck like he's got a stick up his backside. Stiff. And I thought the whole point of ball-jointing the heads was to make it not stiff - that's the argument I always read.

The likeness and paintjob can be top notch but you ruin it if you don't pay attention to how the head sits on the neck, make sure there's a natural posture and minimize the gaps as much as possible. I know you favour sculpted head/neck combos in all cases - myself, I will tolerate ball-joint heads - afterall in some cases it's the lesser of evils if the only other place to put any kind of joint is at the base of a fully exposed neck - but Hot Toys - a high-end company priding itself on realism - can't even seem to do ball-joint heads as well as NECA can.....which hardly anyone seems to care about unfortunately.

I'd say they usually get it right in terms of when to go for the necked sculpt, but the execution isn't always there, as you say. ANH Leia technically could have been necked but they probably would have had to create or adjust their female body (potential cost cutting measure) and she might not have been able to look up at Vader all that convincingly with a necked sculpt. Sometimes I think the HT necks are too rigid too and don't allow any give.

 

[ShootingtheGalaxy]

Shootingthegalaxy's photography reminds me of the old Hasbro promotional shots back when I was a kid. I know the guy who did the photography has passed away and they compiled his shots into a book, but I really connect with them. They have the awe of photographic skill mixed with the wonder of a child's imagination so they connect with both young and old audiences. Always enjoy what you have to post, my friend. Have you considered finding a way to publish a coffee table book?

Also, has he approached Hasbro? Like I said, his pics sell these figs more than anything Hasbro does. Maybe a coffee table book would be a good start for hasbro to see, and doing a book like that isn't anywhere near as expensive as it used to be, and STG could easily get enough funding via a gofundme page.

They also show a deep love for and knowledge of both these figs and SW, and are really a window into the reasons SW figs were created in the first place. These pics are what I used to see in my mind's eye when I played with these in the early 80's - a lot like the movies, but also not. A shrunken down adventure that a kid's mind could go on, with the figs as that doorway.

Well said. That imagination is why we are all still here, in a way. Even if the figures are now $200+, the magic of that is what makes all of this so fun. The Action Man and Max Steel photography (Mattel) were very inspiring to young me when playing and creating stories. To be cognizant to capture that wonderment AND display creative talent to such a level is something that should be rewarded not only by the community, but Hasbro themselves.

I would wonder how he would go about a book? I fear that if he makes money off of it, then it's considered a breach of the license. Maybe he can sell some other photography through the Kickstarter and "give away" the book as a bonus?

Thank you so much guys

Also let me apologize if (not if, I know I did) I came off abrasive and/or douchy to anyone here.

Arguing the semantics of which toy line one prefers is serious business LOL.

So I'm sorry about that.

As far as doing work for Hasbro, they have their toy photographers they go to for this kind of stuff at the moment. I just keep working at it and hoping to get an email from them one day.

In the mean time I'm lucky enough to have worked with Mezco Toys on occasion to do some fun stuff for them. As well as other smaller companies doing fun things.

I've actually done a coffee table book before. It gets VERY expensive to make a decent size color photo book without a large production run. Maybe I'll try it again soon or look to crowd funding

 

[TheDucky]

After watching the first episode of season 7 of The Clone Wars, it absolutely sucks there won’t be a line dedicated to it. I’d buy 10 figures just from that first episode.

 

[jye4ever]

After watching the first episode of season 7 of The Clone Wars, it absolutely sucks there won’t be a line dedicated to it. I’d buy 10 figures just from that first episode.

I just wanted to end your statement there lol