Anyone felt 1/6 has hit a bottle neck in terms of realism?

[potato]

i dont really see much if an improvement over most players big or 3rd parties in terms of realism. they look ok but doesnt feel like much innovation or improvement over the past few years.

i am wondering have they hit some sort of bottleneck that limits the realism? seems the only realistic 1/6 needs to be done via special custom route like i see on twitter or facebook.

i think the next step forward would be start looking into realistic hair rooting system. qc will be difficult and they will be fragile, but maybe companies could test the water by releasing limited root hair versions at a premium price?

i think the paint technique have achieved realistic level but something is holding them back from looking more realistic.

 

[DeltaForceChung]

It's more like being hit over the head with a bottle.

The mania over Queen Studios/InArt could be considered as a new choice for higher end realism and quality, but I believe the jury is out until it's produced and released and not buying into the rampant faith, hype, and mania.

Furthermore, what you're discussing is really for the elite 1% of the hobby and not common collectors with a price tolerance of $350.00 USD for current premium standards (i.e., HT) or how others described as "mass produced collectibles" with disdain.

 

[xXJ0kerXx1]

paint technique does play a really heavy part into realism. lots of 3rd party and hot toys sculpts tends to be really soft and flat imo. you can have a really amazing sculpt, but if painted really good, can elevate it. some sculpts don't need rooted hair, mostly short haired characters. long haired ones like gandalf will really benefit from rooted hair. i think what some sculpts really lack like hot toys is 3d dimensional hair. there's no depth in some hair sculpts. but of course it might be due to fear of someone heavy handling things. most custom sculpts are resin while hot toys are a very soft plastic if heated up. i think there has to be some factor into how things are painted and the surface that its being painted on. resin can really bring out the details and wrinkles while whatever plastic hot toys uses, tends to be more subtle and soft compared to its prototype shown. by all means, these companies can hire these sculptors but it all comes down to how its being painted in the end by the factory or whatever team is in charged. inart is definitely taking a more premium route with viper's team from what ive heard but who even knows how it'll look until the figure comes into collector's hands

 

[ebor]

They need to improve upon how the head attaches to the neck and th un-realistic look of the neck muscles when posing the head off centre (there was a company that teased this...can remember the name--but the character looked like the Rock)

Other improvements needed wrist joints from separated at the wrist to seamless.

 

[xXJ0kerXx1]

i guess this could be an unpopular opinion, but i'd favor eye positions being elsewhere besides dead straight. it might limit the figure but i feel it'd give more character to it

 

[Wor-Gar]

All these things -- real hair, moving eyes, jointless wrists, more realistic paintwork -- have been being asked for more than 10 years ago. Been waiting for essentially what Queen is doing for a very long time. I hope its successful. I hope it allows others to try and bring the price down to a more affordable level.

There's no bottleneck -- the problem has been that HT for the last 10 years has had a stranglehold on the hobby and has done very little innovation over that time compared to their first 10 years 2000-2010.

 

[xXJ0kerXx1]

as much as i am excited for JND's 1/6 announcement that would probably pave way for more realistic sculpts, i really hope they don't go the silicone route. i have the 1/3 arthur fleck. i would much prefer something like a resin or even plastic sculpt that has a really superior paint job on it over something that will potentially degrade over time. silicone seamless joints with bendable fingers would be nice, but im curious how they'll handle it. maybe offering up a second set of hands just in case one destroys itself due to excessive bending or playing?

 

[DeltaForceChung]

There's no bottleneck -- the problem has been that HT for the last 10 years has had a stranglehold on the hobby and has done very little innovation over that time compared to their first 10 years 2000-2010.

--

 

[generalszabo]

If you'd have asked a few months ago, then yes. However queen and jnd are on their way to shake things up

 

[Lejuan]

Enterbay had moving eyes and jointless wrists a gazillion years ago. Shame they stopped innovating to make basketball players.

 

[a-dev]

They need to improve upon how the head attaches to the neck and th un-realistic look of the neck muscles when posing the head off centre (there was a company that teased this...can remember the name--but the character looked like the Rock)

Other improvements needed wrist joints from separated at the wrist to seamless.

Necks and head/neck attachment & aesthetics are a big peeve of mine with Hot Toys.

However, if we're talking about maintaining articulation at the base of the head itself (as opposed to at the base of the neck), I don't know how seamless becomes a thing - not to mention the ever-present concerns about deterioration over time which, if it happened, would ultimately be a worse thing than a permanent visible joint.

I just wish Hot Toys put more effort into necks and making ball-joint heads as un-intrusive to the aesthetics as possible. I'd love to have a Henry Cavill Superman but I don't because I cannot stomach the hideous, stick-up-the-arse, giraffe-necked appearance of those figures.

They have a certain set of doll-bodies that they reuse over and over instead of tailoring each body to each character. Muscle-men characters all seem to get these undetailed skin-barrels for necks and with the head just haphazardly plopped on top of it - sculpts can be badly cut off to make them fit these standardized bull-necks in ways that are aesthetically bad, detrimental to a likeness and just generally unnatural looking - what I earlier described as the stick-up-the-arse appearance - when a person tenses up and pulls their chin into their neck. The aforementioned Cavill Supermen (BvS & Justice League anyway) and DX10 T-800 to me have always looked like they are doing this. I believe it happens when they hollow out the headsculpt too much behind the chin to fit it to the neck, making the face look too retracted in a profile view. And all this to say nothing of actual visible gaps between heads and necks, especially when turning a head or tilting it.

NECA does a better job on this - and I know that's because they don't use standardized doll-bodies - each body has to get special attention. The ball-joint heads on NECA's Dutch from Predator and Sarah Connor from Dark Fate come to mind as extremely well done aesthetically while being perfectly functional without exposing gaps. I feel like a high-end company specializing in realism should be able to give us the same and they all too often don't.

 

[DeltaForceChung]

If you'd have asked a few months ago, then yes. However queen and jnd are on their way to shake things up

--

That along with bank accounts, credit cards, and wallets being horribly violated further.

Get the lubricant ready and continue those squatting exercises.

 

[Rogerbee]

I think the main problem with this is mass production. I think the companies have hit a bottleneck in terms of what they can get a factory to turn out. We don't know what the average factory worker earns, but, I'm guessing it's not much. They must work like dogs to even get to the quality we see now. HT has set expectation way too high, slick promos draw people in day after day and the PO's keep on coming.

Companies run to catch up and then fall. Didn't HT start by customising DML!? When did DML last make a figure!? As for movie franchises, which are the staple diet of the big boys, they live or die by the fans. Can a kid that goes to see an MCU movie walk out of the cinema, into a store and buy an HT figure!? Most of the time, probably not, they'll buy the comics for sure and idly lust after what they see in a cabinet. Where are they in all this!? The only 1/6 company that I see truly catering to real fans is EXO-6.

 

[DeltaForceChung]

The only 1/6 company that I see truly catering to real fans is EXO-6.

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Yes, but they're a very specific licensed niche that is ALL Star Trek with enough characters and concepts/designs to produce as is.

No idea if EXO-6 is even open to taking on other licenses because STAR TREK is their bread & butter only license that Nanjin spent his business career pursuing and finally have under his apparent control without interference (i.e., QMx).

 

[KitbashOfficer]

Any more realism and you're just asking for the already crazy prices to get way out of control. I don't even think you can expect the newly injected competition to bring that down either.

I'm fine with the realism where it is. There's occasional hiccups that we can't fathom (Peacemaker) but Hot Toys hit a nice peak since around 2016-2018. By the time I get out of the game in 2025, I'll have most of the characters I need. Then there will be the occasional 1-2 figures per year that I may pick up.

 

[DeltaForceChung]

Any more realism and you're just asking for the already crazy prices to get way out of control. I don't even think you can expect the newly injected competition to bring that down either.

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I'm preaching to the choir.

If we want more precise realism, design, and higher quality, then it'll cost more regardless of competition and consumer sentiment.

Everything costs $ and no business/company ever stated they'll take a loss/lose money just to give a better product to consumers while going out of business.

The goal of any business is to make money/profit. That's capitalism right, wrong, and indifferent.

Some viewpoints expressed here and elsewhere at times come across as ignorantly demanding filet mignon for the price of cheap hamburger.

With the current economy, even hamburger is getting unaffordable.

The 1:6 hobby is not a need. It's a want and discretionary spending at that.

At the end of the day, if everything reaches the price point where it's no longer reasonable, then I and others will be out. Plain and simple. I'm not even going to address how some will continue to max out their credit cards, etc. just to stay in the hobby. That's financial suicide. We all know there are collectors within this group and elsewhere who does it.

So think about what's being "demanded"/"expected". Clearly, there are some who just don't. Everything have consequences/ramifications.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

--

. That's financial suicide.

Heh-heh, good choice of words there.

Advice to those of you collectors that are younger than 45: Most of us here are part of this financially unhealthy branch of art/hoarding. Don't get so hooked on this stuff that you don't know when to back down/back out.

1. Identify your top 5 properties you love
2. Break down what form you like most within them (example: G.I. Joe is my number 1 but I don't do anything except 1/12 & 1/6 scale).
3. Identify your saturation point. What would you need to have before you're all good (example: you're into Batman. By this point, have you gotten enough)?
4. Cut out what you don't "need" (example: from my G.I. Joe love stated above - I don't need Shipwreck. I've also stayed away from Super 7's releases).
5. Identify a stopping point. Do you really see yourself still purchasing as much per/year at age 60? You can't take these with you!

 

[DeltaForceChung]

Heh-heh, good choice of words there.

Advice to those of you collectors that are younger than 45: Most of us here are part of this financially unhealthy branch of art/hoarding. Don't get so hooked on this stuff that you don't know when to back down/back out.

1. Identify your top 5 properties you love
2. Break down what form you like most within them (example: G.I. Joe is my number 1 but I don't do anything except 1/12 & 1/6 scale).
3. Identify your saturation point. What would you need to have before you're all good (example: you're into Batman. By this point, have you gotten enough)?
4. Cut out what you don't "need" (example: from my G.I. Joe love stated above - I don't need Shipwreck. I've also stayed away from Super 7's releases).
5. Identify a stopping point. Do you really see yourself still purchasing as much per/year at age 60? You can't take these with you!

--

If any of the younger than 45 collectors opts to disregard/ignore such insight, then feel free to do as you please and experience/learn such things the hard way.

If you do, just don't demand/expect any empathy/sympathy.

Some will learn and not make the same foolish choices.

Some will not learn and continue to make the same foolish choices.

To paraphrase/quote the comedian Kevin Hart, my POV on such collectors is simply "Zero ***** given."

You choose to disregard insight meant to help avoid such pitfalls, then own the eventual foolish choices made resulting in unwanted consequences.

Take a look around this forum. You'll find many instances.

@KitbashOfficer, very good insight. Hopefully, the new/younger collectors will take heed.

 

[generalszabo]

--

That along with bank accounts, credit cards, and wallets being horribly violated further.

Get the lubricant ready and continue those squatting exercises.

There's defo an appetite for more realistic 1/6, but only time will tell how lucrative it will be. Competition is good as for every JND piece you get queen at a better price point. Although luckily for these companies, there are many collectors who won't take the above advice and just want the next best thing

 

[Rogerbee]

--

Yes, but they're a very specific licensed niche that is ALL Star Trek with enough characters and concepts/designs to produce as is.

No idea if EXO-6 is even open to taking on other licenses because STAR TREK is their bread & butter only license that Nanjin spent his business career pursuing and finally have under his apparent control without interference (i.e., QMx).

They will only be Trek, but, they are giving the fans exactly what they want and what they ask for.