Han and Luke as Stormtroopers - SDCC '09

[Darklord Dave]

What, did you mistake SSC for HotToys? The previous body, the Buck, had several different height variations. It's a shame that while they claim all of these newer bodies are modular, we've yet to see them actually take it a step further in production and prove it with a figure. This would've been the perfect opportunity, being a cheap and easy fix but instead, they chose to intentionally fumble.

And what's more, all the previous Lukes have been on short bodies, from the very first Star Wars figure - Jedi Luke.

And it being on the same body isn't as disappointing to me as the apparently intentional attempt to mislead with the photos.

 

[teemu]

when it comes to retail/or selling products....majority of the time, there is intentional attempt to mislead people (the customer). Working in retail for 8 years, I found that out quick....honesty goes a long way...dishonesty does not

 

[FlyAndFight]

...And it being on the same body isn't as disappointing to me as the apparently intentional attempt to mislead with the photos.

I think that is the saddest part of all.

There is just no denying what was being done with those photos.

The figures look great except for being the same size. It's an important issue but one that could have easily been addressed during production. But even if they couldn't/wouldn't do so, at least try not to insult your customers with manipulative photographic techniques in the attempt to imply that the figures are not the same size. That's truly disappointing.

 

[drod26]

And it being on the same body isn't as disappointing to me as the apparently intentional attempt to mislead with the photos.

I agree with with that.. The pictures are very misleading and got the fans all work up... you just had to leave it to your marketing department to lurk in the consumers...

 

[thenammagazine]

This is typical SSC...I'm honestly disappointed cause I was hoping they would be pulling out all the stops. The helmets still have a "wow" factor to them but the height deal should have been addressed...afterall they had the foresight to address it in the pictures! Why not the actual figures?! Didn't they promise that the Pro and Armor bodies would be modual...or was it just the Pro?

Admittedly, this is not a HUGE deal, but it is a big enough issue that SSC should have addressed.

And from the pics, I won't be doing the mod...makes Luke look short and pudgy. The body needs to be proportioned differently...or at least the armor does.

See you Thursday SSC, but I am...disappointed.

That was a rough pic of Han & Luke. You do realize Mark is short in real life, right? As for the "pudgyness," I've since boiled the chest armor again and made it a bit tighter which made a considerable difference in the look by slimming down the torso a bit more.

And what's more, all the previous Lukes have been on short bodies, from the very first Star Wars figure - Jedi Luke.

And it being on the same body isn't as disappointing to me as the apparently intentional attempt to mislead with the photos.

That's adding insult to injury. If they'd been upfront from the get-go about the two being the same size instead of dishonestly, and intentionally misleading the public with the promo pics, I think the grumbling wouldn't have been as severe, even for a SW thread. That's not the image Sideshow tries to set for it's customers and in this case, the rotten apple is really hurting the barrel.

Imagine how the people who don't read these forums and didn't go into chat yesterday are gonna feel when they get theirs.

 

[MaulFan]

What, did you mistake SSC for HotToys? The previous body, the Buck, had several different height variations. It's a shame that while they claim all of these newer bodies are modular, we've yet to see them actually take it a step further in production and prove it with a figure. This would've been the perfect opportunity, being a cheap and easy fix but instead, they chose to intentionally fumble.

I understand the frustration of folks over the height issue, but from a business standpoint it makes sense to not have done it.

The ST armor was designed a certain way for a certain body size, and for one figure one time, they're not going to redo armor to make a shorter one for Luke, so that's out. Now you mention a body mod, but in this image

I don't think the Luke looks good, the body looks almost pudgy because of how the armor looks.

Even though the gag was Luke was too short for a Stormtrooper on film, I'm sure the armor was made for his body to some extent.

I just don't think a quality looking figure could be achieved without doing the same and as a business that'd be a wasted expense when you can make a nice one as is that's just slightly off in one regard.

I do agree with the frustration over the photography work, for those ordering these, I'm glad you guys at least got the word from the chat about the reality of the height situation.

 

[thenammagazine]

I understand the frustration of folks over the height issue, but from a business standpoint it makes sense to not have done it.

The ST armor was designed a certain way for a certain body size, and for one figure one time, they're not going to redo armor to make a shorter one for Luke, so that's out. Now you mention a body mod, but I don't think the Luke looks good, the body looks almost pudgy because of how the armor looks.

Even though the gag was Luke was too short for a Stormtrooper on film, I'm sure the armor was made for his body to some extent.

I just don't think a quality looking figure could be achieved without doing the same and as a business that'd be a wasted expense when you can make a nice one as is that's just slightly off in one regard.

I do agree with the frustration over the photography work, for those ordering these, I'm glad you guys at least got the word from the chat about the reality of the height situation.

The Sandtrooper is just a 1-off of the Stormtrooper, isn't it? I don't see too many variations of the Sandtrooper except for a different colored pauldron. That said, the only difference would've been removing an assembly step and remolding a shorter barbell. So time wasn't an issue as that would not only have cut time, but have been cheaper by negating a piece of the body.

As for the mod, did you read the part about folding in the chest piece more? That pic was a quick reassembly to see if I'd nailed a decent height difference between the two. I've since reboiled the torso to make it slimmer and more proportionate. As for the rest of it, re-watch Star Wars. The armor Luke had (arms and legs) was bigger on him than it was on Han.

But it's really all irrelevant to you because if at the end of the day you're not buying them, it shouldn't matter anyway, right? Because I did the mod for me, not you. And if others choose to do so for them, that's on them, also not on you.

 

[Matt S]

That was a rough pic of Han & Luke. You do realize Mark is short in real life, right? As for the "pudgyness," I've since boiled the chest armor again and made it a bit tighter which made a considerable difference in the look by slimming down the torso a bit more.

Would you please post an updated pic? I am darn curious!

 

[MaulFan]

But it's really all irrelevant to you because if at the end of the day you're not buying them, it shouldn't matter anyway, right? Because I did the mod for me, not you. And if others choose to do so for them, that's on them, also not on you.

I'm not buying them because I can't, not because I don't want them.

As far as your mods, the only thing SSC would likely do is the body, they stand by how the armor came out and it came out the way it did because of their production process, they won't have the luxury of heating up the armor and reshaping it, and collectors outside of this site may not know of that option or want to take it. Just because 50 people on this site could mod ST's to look just right, doesn't mean it makes figures needing to be modded sellable to the masses.

As for the Sandtrooper, they'll probably make 3 versions of it when all is said and done, so still more worthwhile than new armor just for Luke. If they don't do more than the 1 Sandtrooper, then it would be a point of frustration.

 

[thenammagazine]

Would you please post an updated pic? I am darn curious!

I'll see if I can dig out everything later, reassemble him and take a pic. I put everything back to a normal Stormtrooper (bought a spare body and chest piece off of TA for the mod) when I saw the pics of Sideshows. Looks like I'm gonna need it anyway since they dropped the ball.

 

[pixletwin]

I'm not buying them because I can't, not because I don't want them.

As far as your mods, the only thing SSC would likely do is the body, they stand by how the armor came out and it came out the way it did because of their production process, they won't have the luxury of heating up the armor and reshaping it, and collectors outside of this site may not know of that option or want to take it. Just because 50 people on this site could mod ST's to look just right, doesn't mean it makes figures needing to be modded sellable to the masses.

As for the Sandtrooper, they'll probably make 3 versions of it when all is said and done, so still more worthwhile than new armor just for Luke. If they don't do more than the 1 Sandtrooper, then it would be a point of frustration.

I am confused Sean. What exactly are you trying to respond to here?

 

[MaulFan]

I am confused Sean. What exactly are you trying to respond to here?

Nam had commented on how they could have used the modular nature of the armor and Pro bodies to make Luke shorter, I was commenting that it didn't makes sense for SSC as a business to design armor to look good on a smaller armor body for just Luke, and the existing armor looked goofy on the custom made smaller Luke posted a few pages back, and that the Sandtrooper at least would get probably 3 figures worth of use out of the alternate armor pieces they made for it, so it's not as foolish to have done that.

I just don't think, having a visual reference to go by, that using the existing ST armor on a shorter body to make Luke would look good unless you did heavy mods like some did to their ST's, but for many collectors that's not an option or something they want to do so the ideal is the best looking figure out of the box, which I see this Luke being, even if he's a bit too tall.

 

[thenammagazine]

Nam had commented on how they could have used the modular nature of the armor and Pro bodies to make Luke shorter, I was commenting that it didn't makes sense for SSC as a business to design armor to look good on a smaller armor body for just Luke, and the existing armor looked goofy on the custom made smaller Luke posted a few pages back, and that the Sandtrooper at least would get probably 3 figures worth of use out of the alternate armor pieces they made for it, so it's not as foolish to have done that.

I just don't think, having a visual reference to go by, that using the existing ST armor on a shorter body to make Luke would look good unless you did heavy mods like some did to their ST's, but for many collectors that's not an option or something they want to do so the ideal is the best looking figure out of the box, which I see this Luke being, even if he's a bit too tall.

I feel the opposite, and not because you bashed a pic of my "work in progress" custom . I'd rather see Luke in bulkier armor (he did take it off of a standard Stomrtrooper in the first place, not a midget trooper) and get closer to the accuracy of one of the most memorable scenes in the film, than have him the exact same size as all the other Stormtroopers, and taller than all the previous Sideshow releases of Luke.

 

[Matt S]

I'll see if I can dig out everything later, reassemble him and take a pic. I put everything back to a normal Stormtrooper (bought a spare body and chest piece off of TA for the mod) when I saw the pics of Sideshows. Looks like I'm gonna need it anyway since they dropped the ball.

Oh, man - don't sweat it then!!!!! That sounds like some effort!!!

 

[MaulFan]

I'm aware it didn't fit dead on in the film, but I just don't think the look of the current armor on a smaller body would work just right, I don't think the differences would be in scale and it wouldn't look good. If it could look good while being executed I'd be for it. And I'm not ripping on your WIP, it's just the only estimate of making a short Luke wearing the standard ST gear, so instead of talking all in theory, there's some visual evidence.

 

[Puay]

And what's more, all the previous Lukes have been on short bodies, from the very first Star Wars figure - Jedi Luke.

And it being on the same body isn't as disappointing to me as the apparently intentional attempt to mislead with the photos.

I didn't like it too for the case with last year's SDCC exclusive Aayla Secura, the photos taken were deliberately hiding the exposed joints at the right arm.

I am a strong supporter of Sideshow but simply disappointed with the misleading photos.

 

[thenammagazine]

I'm aware it didn't fit dead on in the film, but I just don't think the look of the current armor on a smaller body would work just right, I don't think the differences would be in scale and it wouldn't look good. If it could look good while being executed I'd be for it. And I'm not ripping on your WIP, it's just the only estimate of making a short Luke wearing the standard ST gear, so instead of talking all in theory, there's some visual evidence.

Fine. Your opinion's been reiterated but the armor shouldn't be to scale with the smaller body because theoretically, he took the armor off of a taller trooper in the first place. So we agree to disagree then.

Oh, man - don't sweat it then!!!!! That sounds like some effort!!!

No worries, I gotta do it anyway.

I didn't like it too for the case with last year's SDCC exclusive Aayla Secura, the photos taken were deliberately hiding the exposed joints at the right arm.

I am a strong supporter of Sideshow but simply disappointed with the misleading photos.

That's a little different though, because with the Buck, we knew what to expect. This was just blatant dishonesty.

 

[Lee in MI]

That was a rough pic of Han & Luke. You do realize Mark is short in real life, right? As for the "pudgyness," I've since boiled the chest armor again and made it a bit tighter which made a considerable difference in the look by slimming down the torso a bit more.

I do realize that...isn't that the whole point of the last two pages of post in this thread? Regardless, the WIP still looks pudgy and disproportionate...kinda like mixing medi figs with SSC figs...I'm sure you get that reference

I understand the frustration of folks over the height issue, but from a business standpoint it makes sense to not have done it.

The ST armor was designed a certain way for a certain body size, and for one figure one time, they're not going to redo armor to make a shorter one for Luke, so that's out. Now you mention a body mod, but in this image

I don't think the Luke looks good, the body looks almost pudgy because of how the armor looks.

Even though the gag was Luke was too short for a Stormtrooper on film, I'm sure the armor was made for his body to some extent.

I just don't think a quality looking figure could be achieved without doing the same and as a business that'd be a wasted expense when you can make a nice one as is that's just slightly off in one regard.

I do agree with the frustration over the photography work, for those ordering these, I'm glad you guys at least got the word from the chat about the reality of the height situation.

Gotta agree here wholeheartedly...maybe some updated pics will help.

I'm aware it didn't fit dead on in the film, but I just don't think the look of the current armor on a smaller body would work just right, I don't think the differences would be in scale and it wouldn't look good. If it could look good while being executed I'd be for it. And I'm not ripping on your WIP, it's just the only estimate of making a short Luke wearing the standard ST gear, so instead of talking all in theory, there's some visual evidence.

So far, it looks like Luke is kinda fat...maybe additional mods can change that but from the pic, I wouldn't go through the trouble if that's the end result. Not trying to bash it, but if that's the best we can get from making Luke short...I'll just leave him tall.

Bad form SSC...really bad form. Stuff like this lends credence to all the naysayers about SSC not going that extra mile to get things right and not leading the industry/market which they, argurably, started.

 

[Puay]

That's a little different though, because with the Buck, we knew what to expect. This was just blatant dishonesty.

As someone pointed out, most of us wouldn't have such a reaction if the height issue was addressed by Sideshow earlier. The very first image released, that little thumb nail image showing Han being taller, has already got many of us here discussing.

 

[galactiboy]

If I'm not mistaken the Buck male short body was the same as the regular with the exception of the forearms and calves being shorter. But either way I took a Marmit Kit (made for a taller figure) and stuck an ANH Luke body and sculpt in it. I think it looked fine in the end and had a height difference from Han.

Seems Sideshow (while doing all of the other work) could have created a shorter calf and forearm for Luke. Maybe it's not cost effective as they wouldn't be able to use those modifications again?