1/6 Hot Toys - MMS 279 - Star Wars Episode IV: 1/6th scale Darth Vader

[Pixelpiper]

Hot Toys has created "Dark Vader" to go along with their "Hank Solo"

 

[OutLander]

attitudes like this:

I have this ordered but small inaccuracies aside. This beats SS. People are comparing SS production with HT proto. Fair comparison is to do SS ANH proto with HT. Not sure why people are hating so much. Yeah the price sucks but in the end, HT will have the better quality and will be more accurate than SS. I'm not hating SS because I have the ESB version but I am sure HT will change this.

Are why this won't happen:

Key notes to change on helmet is the smaller pinched mouth/tusk area. Widen the lenses and lower the height of the eyes. Get rid of the huge neck. Vader had a short skinny neck not fat and long. Done brows are too thick. Need to pear at the middle eyebrow portion not outter portion.

 

[TonTon]

Nice comparison pics. The issues I see are eyes are a little too round (gives the slightest bug eye look), eyebrows on dome are both too thick and too pronounced, and the angle at which they slope is wrong. Probably due to top of dome being slightly narrower. Under the eyes looks a little elongated, which is probably contributing to the entire mask sticking out and looking fox-like from above angles. Grill of mouth doesn't angle in enough and the nose is weird, it looks like a separate insert piece.
That's me being super OCD. Overall looks good.

 

[Mike86]

HT doesn't do accurate. Quality yes, accurate no. YMMV - they're all over the place.

SS's Vader proto and final are all but the same. HT's protos and shipping products are usually pretty close too. They most certainly don't get better.

BUT.. Why compare HT to Sideshow anyway? Without comparing, you can like one and not the other, like them both or not like either. The quality and accuracy of one has no bearing on the other.

I think its kind of a goofy statement to say that Hot Toys doesn't do accurate figures. Some figures turn out better than others but I'm sure its not because they're trying not to be accurate. Also some figures definitely get better than the prototype such as Loki from The Dark World and the Spidey outfit from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Both prototypes were highly criticized and both came out great. The problem is people are too quick to jump the gun and freak out every release Hot Toys does. They have a better track record than some people like to give them credit for at times. I understand the aspect of getting an opinion out and hoping they'll listen and correct mistakes but I just feel some people go too over the top with the criticism they deal out.

As to the comparison between Hot Toys and Sideshow, its perfectly logical. Two of the biggest names in 1/6th manufacturing who have done similar figures obviously some people are going to draw comparisons.

 

[CriterionCollector]

I'll take this figure over the SSC figure any day. Small inaccuracies aside the figure under the SSC Vader is to scrawny. HT will do it up with a nice figure underneath.

 

[buzzybean]

The shape of the helmet as it flares off to the sides is the biggest difference but it's still Vader to me.

 

[zeiss]

Posted these comps over the past two weeks. I agree with Dave. Obviously different lenses in the pics etc. but I think it's closer than people seem to think. What's off is hard to pin down.

The dome is the main problem. The flare, eyebrows, dome width, and dome height are all wrong. The face mask is actually pretty good.

 

[TaliBane]

The dome is the main problem. The flare, eyebrows, dome width, and dome height are all wrong. The face mask is actually pretty good.

Yeah, there are a few minor issues with the facemask, but the dome is wrong in several very noticeable ways - to me, the brow being the key one.

It doesn't help that the dome is sitting too high also - in most of the memorable Vader ANH moments, that dome is very low over the eye lenses. With it like this, it gives him a surprised look that isn't threatening.

 

[davejames]

Yeah in both pics you can clearly see that the side of the helmet doesn't curve nearly as much as it should.

 

[DarthAlias]

I think its kind of a goofy statement to say that Hot Toys doesn't do accurate figures. Some figures turn out better than others but I'm sure its not because they're trying not to be accurate. Also some figures definitely get better than the prototype such as Loki from The Dark World and the Spidey outfit from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Both prototypes were highly criticized and both came out great. The problem is people are too quick to jump the gun and freak out every release Hot Toys does. They have a better track record than some people like to give them credit for at times. I understand the aspect of getting an opinion out and hoping they'll listen and correct mistakes but I just feel some people go too over the top with the criticism they deal out.

As to the comparison between Hot Toys and Sideshow, its perfectly logical. Two of the biggest names in 1/6th manufacturing who have done similar figures obviously some people are going to draw comparisons.

I'll take this figure over the SSC figure any day. Small inaccuracies aside the figure under the SSC Vader is to scrawny. HT will do it up with a nice figure underneath.

Exactly why you can compare SS and HT. If they make the same figure a comparison can easily be made. It's apples to apples. SS while getting better in quality still isn't like HT. Look at Snake, while the head sculpt looks better than previous, their production figure isn't as good as the proto. Nathan Drake anyone?
HT has improved from proto to production. While not all the time, they've proved they can listen to critique and change the production figure. Reeve superman, TDW Loki, Starlord, ASM2, Avengers Thor, DX06...list keeps going.

 

[Lejuan]

Poor Nathan Drake

 

[devilof76]

HT has improved from proto to production. While not all the time, they've proved they can listen to critique and change the production figure. Reeve superman, TDW Loki, Starlord, ASM2, Avengers Thor, DX06...list keeps going.

And the most glaring example of a HT prototype that should have been fixed was never touched.

 

[Captain Britain]

Posted these comps over the past two weeks. I agree with Dave. Obviously different lenses in the pics etc. but I think it's closer than people seem to think. What's off is hard to pin down.

It's all about the eyes for me - the HT eyes are too rounded, whereas the bottom line should slant upwards on the side going towards the helmet. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but it gives Vader a wide-eyed look and detracts from his aura of menace. There's something almost ewok-like about them which is just wrong!

 

[jkno]

I'm sure HT will release a new Vader some day, improved with more bells and whistles. That will be my Vader. The HT ANH Vader keeps saying to me: Don't buy me.

 

[JediSword]

The Vader on the right looks so cute

Sent from the Cockpit of the Millenium Falcon

 

[Captain Britain]

The matt black plastic surface looks wrong too. I don't see why they can't paint it.

 

[Chrono]

The Vader on the right looks so cute

Sent from the Cockpit of the Millenium Falcon

Kawaii Vader

 

[OutLander]

This is a generic Vader, just as is SS, maybe mandated by LFL/Disney? The only reason there calling it ANH Vader is because SS still has their ESB/ROTJ Vader and they don't want to conflict with the SS offering for whatever reason, and calling it ANH accomplished that. Both have flaws, with neither being more egregious than the other. What I see is a lot of people who were unhappy with the SS Star Wars product and were hoping HT would be their savior, and while better, given the price point and sculpt inaccuracy of multiple HT reveals, I think HT has fallen far short of their potential. To think otherwise is delusional. Is the HT Vader better than the SS one, no. It's different, but not better IMO.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Those are great comparison shots and I must admit HT's looks better than I originally thought. But I still see some admittedly small differences that seem to make a huge impact on the overall look.

I'll definitely pass on this one and wait for HT's eventual ESB/ROTJ Vader. Hopefully they will have learned from these mistakes and perfect the sculpt by then. But I may consider getting just the head, depending on how the final product ends up and how he looks in in-hand pics.

I do want that interrogation droid, though!

 

[greygoose]

Good comparison pic. Doesn't look as bad as some are making out.