Statue BLITZWAY- Enter the Dragon- Bruce Lee Tribute 1/3 scale Statue Ver. 2 spec

[xpl0sive]

I'm curious, does anyone who owns both statues share the same sentiment as Bruce? With this release, is the GOD statue still the definitive Bruce Lee to have? Was the higher price tag worth it? ETD ranks #1 as my favorite BL film and GOD dead last but that still didn't stop me from getting the statue. I was ready to buy this but now I'm on the fence and my bias towards ETD is making the decision even more difficult. I don't own a professional display case with "museum" style lighting so if I were to buy this, it most definitely won't look as good as how it does in xplosive's pictures.

No stress mate, it still looks great in a normal setting, which is how I have him displayed at the moment (I only use the fancy lighting setup for the photos). He will be going in a professional display case however with proper LED lighting in it.

My issues with the flaws still stand however, which are the cuts and sweat. That's something that will be there, fancy lighting or not. The sweat not so much, but the cuts are decals and you can't hide them really, but if you are placing this on a shelf and viewing from a distance, you likely won't be bothered by it as it won't be noticeable (I don't really notice it until I get up close to the statue).

As has been mentioned already, everyone sees things differently, and some might be bothered by these flaws more than others. If it helps you at all, I will be taking some photos in natural light this weekend. No fancy lighting gear, just lots of light in from the windows, to give a more accurate idea of what it looks like in a natural setting.

 

[mrchris]

cheers xplosive,mine will be approx. 2mtrs away and about 18'' off the floor,in the case,so it's going to be very well lit by sunlight and normal house lights at night.
I could live with the decals if they were better done and correct front and back.but they are there and it's a live with it or change it thing.
I think all who PO'd this have breathed a sigh of relief seeing your pics,but ''natural'' shots would show a truer appearance if you follow.
trust me I much prefer your ''pro'' shots,but that will no doubt be how you will display this.

 

[Darkavatar]

They do, but when I hold them in my hand it's hard to ignore the cheap doll feeling they have, not to mention little problems like loose joints, things breaking easily, cheap looking bases etc...

Yeah true, a shame really but looks like it doesn't matter now anyway since they are focusing on their NBA figures.

oh I meant they are going in the garage, not selling. I don't have many at all. Apart from what I've told you about previously, the only new pieces I received were the 2 legendary scale Alien busts, both of which turned out poorly. One I smashed and got a refund from Sideshow coz it was so bad, the other is passable but I've decided to not keep it as I wanted the complete set of busts and since that's no longer an option I'm going to get rid of it.

oh ok gotcha.

Hard to say really, as PCS do not have much experience with movie characters, as they've mostly done Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. I think Robocop was their first movie statue if I'm not mistaken. I do like that statue, even though some don't, so I think they should do well with this. One thing PCS does really well is human anatomy, so I'm expecting the Arnold body to look amazing.

Yeah but Robo doesn't look like Weller and I doubt Conan will look like Arnie but we will see. Does PCS even have the lisence to sculpt Arnie's likeness?

There are various options out there but I'm expecting something closer to 1k to be honest, which sounds like a lot of money but having everything on individual pedestals and acrylic cases will cost much more. A nice glass cabinet will fit quite a few pieces as well, and I can re-use the cabinet once I move into another house. Haven't decided on anything yet though, going to see what's around first.

Oh well keep us informed.

Thanks brother

Do you you know where that extra ordinary quote comes from?

Fair enough man. Personally, I don't really see many tone/hue changes on the proto either. It mostly looks like one colour to me. I just see lots of shadows. The only pics where there is significant tone changes are the ones with lots of light manipulation in the close up shots. The base flesh tone on the proto is really good but. It's just the way I see things though, so you may see things differently. I'd like to hear other peoples thoughts on this too.

Yeah I don't know it just looks a lot more realistic than this as does the EB 1/4 WOD figure head sculpt.

Fair enough man, and all good, I know you're not, you're just trying to state your opinion and you're entitled to that. Wasn't thinking that at all

That's good but your pictures are making me regret cancelling this, although my primary reason was money and space. I just thought if it looks this bad then I might as well not go through with it.

 

[mrchris]

so steve your not (going to join us)see what I did there,you can still further down the line,if you can see this inhand and your feelings on it improve buy it,i don't think missing hans hand is a big loss you could always part with GOD if you really like this..even with my issues the cost of this was ''the cheapest 1/3 BL ever''.I will try and sort those cuts out,they are letting this down badly,the sweat is hit and miss also.
other than that he looks good and looking forward to the next 3 weeks or so.

 

[xpl0sive]

I would like it if someone would take a picture of this with the flash on because even the worst looking things can look good given the right lighting and high quality camera. Here is a picture of my WOD sculpt taken with a poor quality camera with the flash on.


You can see all the different tones and shading on the sculpt, which I do not see on this statue. That being said, it appears that this statue is as good as the HD1002 as far as flesh colored torso goes.

I can do this for you Steve, but the picture will turn out horrible. Not because the paint on the statue is bad, but the flash will really wash it out and give it a very pale, flat appearance.

If you've taken that pic with your phone and you had flash on, the reason it may not look as bad as you would expect is because phones automatically add their own post processing to an image when it's taken, to correct any issues and give it a slight enhancement. This is why sometimes people will take pics straight off an iPhone that look great and really pop (not talking figures here, just pics in general), as iPhones actually do a pretty good job of post processing an image (for a camera phone anyway).

An SLR camera doesn't do this. It takes the shot as captured by the sensor, flaws and all. The post processing is done by the user.

I don't necessarily agree with your comment about the worst things looking good with the right set up. You can certainly improve it and make it look better than what it really is, hide certain flaws etc...but as the saying goes, 'you can't polish a turd'. Remember, SLR's with a sharp lens are very revealing, so if the piece is painted very poorly, it will definitely show, unless you use a lot of enhancement. Have a look at the Battle Damaged T800 Premium Format from Sideshow. Even professional shots can't save that thing it looks horrible in every single picture I've seen, even the doctored ones.

I took some very close up shots of this, so if the paint was bad it would definitely show. It certainly wouldn't look the way it does in the photos.

What I will do is set the camera to full automatic, flash and all, and take a close up shot of the sculpt for you. This way, you can see the sculpt at it's worst.

This weekend I'll try take some shots in a natural light setting with no fancy lighting, just external light from the window and my camera. It will give you the most accurate representation of this piece, which might make it easier for you to decide whether to pick it up or not.

 

[mrchris]

step away from the camera and get some sleep my freind.

 

[mrchris]

I suppose regarding natural/normal lighting conditions this video (for now) shows the statue appearing at it's everyday look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO4-av_qApA

 

[Darkavatar]

so steve your not (going to join us)see what I did there,

Yeah it is the second line of the quote from ETD I used to describe xpl0sive's photography skills. Great pun.

you can still further down the line,if you can see this inhand and your feelings on it improve buy it,i don't think missing hans hand is a big loss you could always part with GOD if you really like this..even with my issues the cost of this was ''the cheapest 1/3 BL ever''.I will try and sort those cuts out,they are letting this down badly,the sweat is hit and miss also.
other than that he looks good and looking forward to the next 3 weeks or so.

It's not just the cost there are other factors as well, maybe I will get this later, if it is still available.

I can do this for you Steve, but the picture will turn out horrible. Not because the paint on the statue is bad, but the flash will really wash it out and give it a very pale, flat appearance.

Actually wasn't expecting you to take the pic Nuri just anyone with a bad to average camera. But thanks for offering mate.

If you've taken that pic with your phone and you had flash on, the reason it may not look as bad as you would expect is because phones automatically add their own post processing to an image when it's taken, to correct any issues and give it a slight enhancement. This is why sometimes people will take pics straight off an iPhone that look great and really pop (not talking figures here, just pics in general), as iPhones actually do a pretty good job of post processing an image (for a camera phone anyway).

I didn't take it with a phone I took with a 10 year old digital camera.

An SLR camera doesn't do this. It takes the shot as captured by the sensor, flaws and all. The post processing is done by the user.

I don't necessarily agree with your comment about the worst things looking good with the right set up. You can certainly improve it and make it look better than what it really is, hide certain flaws etc...but as the saying goes, 'you can't polish a turd'. Remember, SLR's with a sharp lens are very revealing, so if the piece is painted very poorly, it will definitely show, unless you use a lot of enhancement. Have a look at the Battle Damaged T800 Premium Format from Sideshow. Even professional shots can't save that thing it looks horrible in every single picture I've seen, even the doctored ones.

Dam it I thought I deleted that comment.

I took some very close up shots of this, so if the paint was bad it would definitely show. It certainly wouldn't look the way it does in the photos.

What I will do is set the camera to full automatic, flash and all, and take a close up shot of the sculpt for you. This way, you can see the sculpt at it's worst.

This weekend I'll try take some shots in a natural light setting with no fancy lighting, just external light from the window and my camera. It will give you the most accurate representation of this piece, which might make it easier for you to decide whether to pick it up or not.

Ok man thanks for that but there is no pressure.

 

[xpl0sive]

cheers xplosive,mine will be approx. 2mtrs away and about 18'' off the floor,in the case,so it's going to be very well lit by sunlight and normal house lights at night.
I could live with the decals if they were better done and correct front and back.but they are there and it's a live with it or change it thing.
I think all who PO'd this have breathed a sigh of relief seeing your pics,but ''natural'' shots would show a truer appearance if you follow.
trust me I much prefer your ''pro'' shots,but that will no doubt be how you will display this.

I forgot you had a case made for yours. At 2 meters away the decals probably won't bother you, although lots of sunlight in the room can be revealing.You probably won't know until you see it in hand. SAB doesn't seem bothered by them though. I know when I view the statue from 2 metres away under normal room lights, I don't really notice the decals. Haven't seen it from that distance in natural light yet, but I will confirm this weekend. Being the picky Bruce collector you are though, you're probably going to want to fix them anyway lol. I know I do, as I feel it will be the 'icing on the cake' on what is otherwise a really nice statue.

Yeah true, a shame really but looks like it doesn't matter now anyway since they are focusing on their NBA figures.

Yeah seems like it. Haven't seen any 1/4 scale movie figures announced since T1000 (which I saw in person at Pop Cultcha by the way, and it looks very cool).

Yeah but Robo doesn't look like Weller and I doubt Conan will look like Arnie but we will see. Does PCS even have the lisence to sculpt Arnie's likeness?

I personally think it looks like him from what I saw, although haven't paid that much attention to it. It's not as good as Enterbay's though, but Once again, Enterbay's is a nice looking figure that is cheaply made. I would never buy that. I believe they do have the licence for Arnie's likeness as they specifically stated it was going to be a statue of Arnie Conan. I'm pretty confident they can nail the likeness. Jerry himself will be sculpting it I believe (president of PCS), and all his sculpts have been bang on. He did the recent 1/3 Akuma statue that crashed their website on PO day due to the large amounts of traffic and he absolutely knocked that out of the ball park. I know it's not the same comparison as it's a video game, but I just think he has the sculpting skill necessary to get the job done.

Do you you know where that extra ordinary quote comes from?

You were quoting a post by Tyderium about my photo skills lol.

Yeah I don't know it just looks a lot more realistic than this as does the EB 1/4 WOD figure head sculpt.

Well technically it should as it's the prototype and it was shot in a properly set up studio. I can tell you now if I shot this statue with a proper set up my pics would look even better than they do now, by a fair margin. I have no large lamps to work with, no light diffusers, umbrellas, backdrops, nothing. All I've been using to take these pics is a couple of white LED puck lights that are quite small, with the figure placed on a black table in front of my black feature wall lol.

I personally think it looks fairly realistic in the pics I took. Not just saying that because I took them lol, but I was honestly impressed with how they turned out and it felt it made the statue looked fairly realistic. I showed several non-collector friends including my girlfriend who also agreed. The proto does look better but it also looks like a statue to me in most pics (but still looks quite realistic). Enterbay's sculpts are probably the best in the business. I don't think this has quite Enterbay levels of toning and shading in the sculpt, and I did compare to my T800 sculpt when I first got the statue, but the paintjob is very nice and realistic. Looking at the Enterbay sculpt, the hues are slightly exaggerated, as is the tan, kind of like a photo with the contrast bumped up. Displaying it under LED lights reduces this and makes it look more natural, so it looks best under LED lights, whereas I feel Blitzway's paintjob is a bit more natural looking and looks best displayed in a natural light setting, as strong lighting can wash it out slightly (even with the white LED's as they are fairly bright). This is probably the best way to describe it.

That's good but your pictures are making me regret cancelling this, although my primary reason was money and space. I just thought if it looks this bad then I might as well not go through with it.

No need to regret mate, you can still pick it up if you want to. I don't think you'll miss out on Han's claw as it's included inside the box. It's not a separately packaged item. It would have to be in the box with every statue Pop Cultcha have in stock, I don't see how else it can be done.

I've been trying not to hype this statue too much as I don't want to influence your decision to pick this up, mainly because you seem like you're probably the fussiest and hardest to please guy on here when it comes to this piece. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but opinions differ, and with such strong criticism, I would hate for you to buy this based on my opinion of it only to be let down once you see it in person. Not saying you will be let down, just saying that if it did happen, I would feel kind of guilty since I influenced you to buy it somewhat, lol.

I'm going to be taking some pics in a natural light setting this weekend. Hopefully this will give you the most accurate representation of this statue and will help you make a decision on whether you should buy it or not.

so steve your not (going to join us)see what I did there,you can still further down the line,if you can see this inhand and your feelings on it improve buy it,i don't think missing hans hand is a big loss you could always part with GOD if you really like this..even with my issues the cost of this was ''the cheapest 1/3 BL ever''.I will try and sort those cuts out,they are letting this down badly,the sweat is hit and miss also.
other than that he looks good and looking forward to the next 3 weeks or so.

Han's claw is included inside the box. There is actually a spot for it in the Styrofoam. I'd imagine any retailer that ordered these off Blitzway would have had to receive it with each statue. Either way, even if one were to miss out, it's not a big deal IMO. It's really nothing special. Just a neat little extra but if mine didn't have it I wouldn't really care TBH.

step away from the camera and get some sleep my freind.

Haha I know, I really need to get off these forums and step away from the camera for a couple of days lol. Going to take the shots you guys asked for and call it a night I think.

I suppose regarding natural/normal lighting conditions this video (for now) shows the statue appearing at it's everyday look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO4-av_qApA

To be honest that's not what I see in real life, so I don't think that's an accurate representation of it. Looks quite pale and flat in that video. Will see how my photos in natural light turn out and whether they give a better indication of what it looks like in real life. I might try take a video as well and see how that turns out.

 

[mrchris]

your video will be interesting to see. I think the owners of this have an advantage regarding toning and how it looks in normal conditions.
we will all see differences in this,from the casual to the hardcore collecters. but I think we all agree it's much better than the early shots shown.
I still think blitzway cut corners on this,but if those who have displayed this as is out of the box are very happy ..great
time will tell for me.....well about 10mins after I open the box.

 

[xpl0sive]

OK Steve, here you go mate. This is straight off my camera in 'automatic' mode with flash, which is basically point and shoot. Actually didn't turn out too bad disregard the sweat blob. It's honestly not that bad in person, trust me lol. The macro shot makes it look worse as it's blown up. For some reason the sweat effect is just impossible to capture properly on cam. It actually has a bit of a glistening effect all over the face, yet it appears matte in photos.

 

[mrchris]

great closeup.the sweat looks kinda raised on the forehead?.i'm really thinking of darkening the eyebrows (bruce had them)and a touch of shading above the eyes,and possibly ever so slightly darkening the stubble....can't belive I just said that
from a distance it wont be noticeable,but if I'm sorting the cuts,i may try this also.

 

[xpl0sive]

your video will be interesting to see. I think the owners of this have an advantage regarding toning and how it looks in normal conditions.
we will all see differences in this,from the casual to the hardcore collecters. but I think we all agree it's much better than the early shots shown.
I still think blitzway cut corners on this,but if those who have displayed this as is out of the box are very happy ..great
time will tell for me.....well about 10mins after I open the box.

As you said, we will all see differences in this, as everybody sees things differently not everyone will be displaying it in the same lighting conditions. Regardless though, I will honestly be surprised if anyone, even the hardcore collectors, sees this in person and says 'nah that's sh-t'. The cuts and to a certain degree the sweat as well will be picked on and disliked by pretty much everyone, even those with low standards, as will the ugly neck seam, but disregarding all that, the overall look should still please most collectors.

Blitzway certainly did cut corners and it is quite frustrating because the rest of the piece really does look so nice. Paying attention to those finer details would have really made this a 'set and forget' outstanding masterpiece.

Something I haven't mentioned before and is probably what I love most about this piece and makes it easier to overlook the flaws is just how 'alive' this looks on display. I'm not talking about the paint job here, but more so the pose and facial expression is what gives this piece such an amazing presence. It really does look like Bruce is standing right there on my shelf, looking at me. It's almost freaky. The pose is something not normally seen in statues. Most pieces have a very static look to them, and look like they are posing for a camera. Usually museum like. This looks like Bruce was captured mid-frame in the movie. The feet placement, body language. It's all very subtle but looks very natural. Does not look like he is posing, but rather he was frozen whilst moving, if that makes sense. It's something you need to see in person to really appreciate. I wish more companies would do this when creating poses for their statues.

 

[xpl0sive]

great closeup.the sweat looks kinda raised on the forehead?.i'm really thinking of darkening the eyebrows (bruce had them)and a touch of shading above the eyes,and possibly ever so slightly darkening the stubble....can't belive I just said that
from a distance it wont be noticeable,but if I'm sorting the cuts,i may try this also.

It is a bit, which makes it look more like sweat. The ones on the body are flat which is why they look like candle wax lol. The sweat on the face is definitely better than it is on the body.

Remember Chris, this pic is taken with flash, and also a very up close shot that has been blown up to show all the details. It's a lot darker in natural light.

I actually think the paint job on the face looks perfect. I do not think it requires any touching up personally, and it actually looks it's best in natural light. People do see things differently though and some may feel the need to tweak it.

 

[mrchris]

yeah frustration is a very apt way of putting it.i have no doubt now that yourself and others who have this are seeing the best and worse of it.
the pose/stance is indeed different,me I think it's lost just a little in transition from the proto.but your ''alive'' phrase gives me hope.
I do believe had the cuts been painted and placed correctly,and even lose the sweat this would have been epic.that's an opinion that wont change for me.regarding touching up the face.....that was my artistic side coming out.........oh I haven't got one.

 

[Darkavatar]

I personally think it looks like him from what I saw, although haven't paid that much attention to it. It's not as good as Enterbay's though, but Once again, Enterbay's is a nice looking figure that is cheaply made. I would never buy that. I believe they do have the licence for Arnie's likeness as they specifically stated it was going to be a statue of Arnie Conan. I'm pretty confident they can nail the likeness. Jerry himself will be sculpting it I believe (president of PCS), and all his sculpts have been bang on. He did the recent 1/3 Akuma statue that crashed their website on PO day due to the large amounts of traffic and he absolutely knocked that out of the ball park. I know it's not the same comparison as it's a video game, but I just think he has the sculpting skill necessary to get the job done.

Not sure about that as the Robocop doesn't look good likeness wise. Personally I think PCS should probably just stick to video game and cartoon characters.

You were quoting a post by Tyderium about my photo skills lol.

U disappoint me Nuri, check my reply to Chris's post on page 141, then you will know what I mean by that quote.

Well technically it should as it's the prototype and it was shot in a properly set up studio. I can tell you now if I shot this statue with a proper set up my pics would look even better than they do now, by a fair margin. I have no large lamps to work with, no light diffusers, umbrellas, backdrops, nothing. All I've been using to take these pics is a couple of white LED puck lights that are quite small, with the figure placed on a black table in front of my black feature wall lol.

I am sure it would but it shouldn't need special lighting to look good, it should look good out of the box. That being said, I am sure this is fine.

I personally think it looks fairly realistic in the pics I took. Not just saying that because I took them lol, but I was honestly impressed with how they turned out and it felt it made the statue looked fairly realistic. I showed several non-collector friends including my girlfriend who also agreed. The proto does look better but it also looks like a statue to me in most pics (but still looks quite realistic).

I think I might of been a bit harsh when I said it doesn't look realistic because it does but I think that has to do with the high quality pic of a product, rather than the product itself, if that makes sense? Anyway what I was saying was that I can tell the quality of the paint job on the product as I don't get fooled by high quality pictures like others do. Not that you were trying to fool anyone but some people can't tell the difference between a product with an average paint job (not saying this one is average as it looks as good and perhaps better than the HD1002) with a photo of a product taken in good lighting conditions than one with a good paint job taken even with a poor quality camera.

Enterbay's sculpts are probably the best in the business. I don't think this has quite Enterbay levels of toning and shading in the sculpt, and I did compare to my T800 sculpt when I first got the statue, but the paintjob is very nice and realistic. Looking at the Enterbay sculpt, the hues are slightly exaggerated, as is the tan, kind of like a photo with the contrast bumped up. Displaying it under LED lights reduces this and makes it look more natural, so it looks best under LED lights, whereas I feel Blitzway's paintjob is a bit more natural looking and looks best displayed in a natural light setting, as strong lighting can wash it out slightly (even with the white LED's as they are fairly bright). This is probably the best way to describe it.

The flash makes it look that way, trust me in hand it doesn't look cartoony, the paint job on the sculpt is very realistic, well... maybe the ears are a little over done.

No need to regret mate, you can still pick it up if you want to. I don't think you'll miss out on Han's claw as it's included inside the box. It's not a separately packaged item. It would have to be in the box with every statue Pop Cultcha have in stock, I don't see how else it can be done.

I might ask them if they still have it.

I've been trying not to hype this statue too much as I don't want to influence your decision to pick this up, mainly because you seem like you're probably the fussiest and hardest to please guy on here when it comes to this piece. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but opinions differ, and with such strong criticism, I would hate for you to buy this based on my opinion of it only to be let down once you see it in person. Not saying you will be let down, just saying that if it did happen, I would feel kind of guilty since I influenced you to buy it somewhat, lol.

Don't worry man your pictures are not influencing me, except the ones that show the right color, I would only be let down if it didn't turn out to be the same color as it is in your pictures. If it turned out to be more of a yellow color than flesh color I would be disappointed but nonetheless, would not blame you because we all see things differently to some extent.

I'm going to be taking some pics in a natural light setting this weekend. Hopefully this will give you the most accurate representation of this statue and will help you make a decision on whether you should buy it or not.

Looking forward to seeing them.

OK Steve, here you go mate. This is straight off my camera in 'automatic' mode with flash, which is basically point and shoot. Actually didn't turn out too bad disregard the sweat blob. It's honestly not that bad in person, trust me lol. The macro shot makes it look worse as it's blown up. For some reason the sweat effect is just impossible to capture properly on cam. It actually has a bit of a glistening effect all over the face, yet it appears matte in photos.

No it looks good here man, but it just has pretty much a plane paint job and does look more like a lighter tan than your other pics that show more of dark flesh color. I say pretty much because unlike the HD1002 this one actually has subtle hues through it but IMO the shading should stand out more. Looks like they improved the paint job on the eyes, the GOD ones don't even have pupils. Anyway thanks for taking the time to photograph this, I really appreciate it.

 

[Tyderium]

Here you go mate. This one has some more mood lighting going on and I thought it turned out quite cool, but I'll try to take a more brightly lit one. It's a bit tricky to do though without making the statue look washed out or yellow as I need the room lights on, but I'll try my best.

Thanks mate.

Of all the marketing shots of the proto, it was actually the directly front on shot that I liked most. It really sold the nuances of the feet and he just looked so tensed up across the chest and then the look sideways...

Then when the same angle was used on the production piece it just ripped the guts out of my anticipation. Shots like the one below, especially from this front on view made it look like a cartoon.

Well before xplOsive's shots came along - and I wasn't going to show this, it's something I did awhile ago but it gives insight into some of my thought process on this thing in helping me determine 'if it's not going to come to me out of a box, can I use this base factory piece with its flaws to gain the grail piece I'd like?'.
I deliberately used the shot I hated and thought showed the piece in an unflattering way so I wasn't fooling myself into unrealistic scenarios by just using the good shots of the piece to Photoshop.

I knew adding eyelashes and shading to the eyes would rid it of the cartoon stare and bring out the likeness more. I didn't adjust the yellow body colour, just the cuts and nipples and hair + a little more top lip stubble. It was actually this visual where I started to feel more positive and where I thought this has gone from a cartoon to really looking like Bruce.

And the whole time it has not been the cuts or sweat that bothered me like it has most here - redoing the cuts has been a no-brainer for me since I first saw the decals so I don't even think about how they look - I was more affected by the proportions of the thing, certain things just started to look off, in addition to the helmet hair and other things. But the new pics are really dissolving some of that conflict, a lot of the proportion issues were really just down to camera phones and short depth of field and other things, but it all plays on your mind with such an expensive piece.

I feel very aligned with Darkavatar and others on certain issues with this. I hardly buy anything because of having a critical eye but that is just how it is with me. But having said that, the great photos we are seeing now has levelled the playing field, even understanding they are beautifully lit and the subsequent shadowing is creating a depth of realism that may be perceived as being artificial or misleading to what you may see when you get the piece in hand. I certainly understand this way of thinking, but I feel the pin sharp detail is also not lying. The beautiful lighting and shadowing can have an aesthetic and perhaps illusionary value but I also think this sort of detailed photography is giving a more accurate representation of the piece than the earlier phone camera shots we have all seen.

So all in all, I feel a lot closer to this piece now than I did previously.
My 2¢...

 

[Tyderium]

Also, on the cuts.
I don't think anyone who is getting this needs to feel they have to display it high up on a shelf in a glass box so no one can see the decals.

I really feel anyone who can hold a brush steady will be able to change the one glaring error on this piece fairly easily - especially if you are interested in having it accurate to the film where there were just simple red marks painted on the body.

Removing the decals completely and just painting simple red stripes will be a vast improvement, it doesn't have to be perfect - they certainly weren't in the film, and they changed in appearance in almost every scene so there is no one template to follow or get wrong.

 

[Darkavatar]

And the whole time it has not been the cuts or sweat that bothered me like it has most here - redoing the cuts has been a no-brainer for me since I first saw the decals so I don't even think about how they look - I was more affected by the proportions of the thing, certain things just started to look off, in addition to the helmet hair and other things. But the new pics are really dissolving some of that conflict, a lot of the proportion issues were really just down to camera phones and short depth of field and other things, but it all plays on your mind with such an expensive piece.

So only these new pics, have convinced that the proportions are correct? I thought most people's pictures proved that this looked fine (proportion wise). It was only the very early pics, where I thought it looked weird but I also said that it is probably len's distortion.

I feel very aligned with Darkavatar and others on certain issues with this. I hardly buy anything because of having a critical eye but that is just how it is with me. But having said that, the great photos we are seeing now has levelled the playing field, even understanding they are beautifully lit and the subsequent shadowing is creating a depth of realism that may be perceived as being artificial or misleading to what you may see when you get the piece in hand. I certainly understand this way of thinking, but I feel the pin sharp detail is also not lying.

No I think you can say that is actually factual, which is where I think xpl0sive's pictures really shine, that and the color as well. And features such as these can be picked up high quality camera such as an SLR.

The beautiful lighting and shadowing can have an aesthetic and perhaps illusionary value but I also think this sort of detailed photography is giving a more accurate representation of the piece than the earlier phone camera shots we have all seen.

So all in all, I feel a lot closer to this piece now than I did previously.
My 2¢...

So you plan to buy it then?

 

[Darkavatar]

Also, on the cuts.
I don't think anyone who is getting this needs to feel they have to display it high up on a shelf in a glass box so no one can see the decals.

I really feel anyone who can hold a brush steady will be able to change the one glaring error on this piece fairly easily - especially if you are interested in having it accurate to the film where there were just simple red marks painted on the body.

Removing the decals completely and just painting simple red stripes will be a vast improvement, it doesn't have to be perfect - they certainly weren't in the film, and they changed in appearance in almost every scene so there is no one template to follow or get wrong.

I wouldn't do this just because I like to keep things stock, otherwise I would of gotten the GOD repainted and then glued the head back on. Nevertheless, I would like to see this mod done, if it can be done that is.