Hot Toys ROTJ Emperor Palpatine

[ZE_501]

I think some figures are too futz-dependent to be as much fun as others. You work them to death and get that perfect angle, but then you'll never touch them again, which makes them almost more like statues or pricey accessories for your other 1/6 action figures -- it's a fine line.

I don't mess with my figures too much anyway, but there are some that will likely remain frozen in place for all time. Rooted hair figures come to mind, maybe this Emperor...I think I'm focusing on ESB so while he made an appearance, it's not a must-have for me. I've been on the fence with this one and ESB Boba Fett.

Nothing else Star Wars grabbing me right now, although I do want the Bespin Han HT teased we have no reveal or pre-order for that one yet.

Nonetheless, I continue to watch this thread with great interest.

 

[TonTon]

I think some figures are too futz-dependent to be as much fun as others. You work them to death and get that perfect angle, but then you'll never touch them again, which makes them almost more like statues or pricey accessories for your other 1/6 action figures -- it's a fine line.

Yup, very true. Boba and Vader fall into that category a bit as they each have lots of moving futzable parts, but both are pretty high reward figures with lots of posing options. Haven’t had time to work with the Emperor yet but he’s not feeling like his upside is high as those figs.

But I’m admittedly on the lazy end and like figures that look pretty good out of the box. Give me a stormtrooper, snowtrooper. Emperor being a sea of black is one of the tougher outfits for sure.

 

[generalgrevious]

maybe I should cancel my pre order for this. I still have the ss which I did customize the serious expression and swapped out the body for a luke type style body slim looks better then the stock body did. maybe get the throne if sold separately some day unsure of this release. never liked the smiling sculpt to begin with as there`s not much posing to do with a smiling sculpt as it`s screen specific shot.

 

[TonTon]

If I had a raised detolfs and different lighting I'm sure I could get this working. Sculpt really is excellent from certain angles.

 

[faststreetsofhongkong]

Looks great [emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1303]


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[ZE_501]

If I had a raised detolfs and different lighting I'm sure I could get this working. Sculpt really is excellent from certain angles.

Spoiler

View attachment 429146

That looks amazing. There, the expression is almost more of a grimace or sneer, not so jolly. Hood looks very nice too.

 

[ZE_501]

Yup, very true. Boba and Vader fall into that category a bit as they each have lots of moving futzable parts, but both are pretty high reward figures with lots of posing options. Haven’t had time to work with the Emperor yet but he’s not feeling like his upside is high as those figs.

But I’m admittedly on the lazy end and like figures that look pretty good out of the box. Give me a stormtrooper, snowtrooper. Emperor being a sea of black is one of the tougher outfits for sure.

Yes to Vader, definitely...but you nailed it with the 'high reward' remark. You can get a lot out of him. I've yet to own a 1/6 Fett but he seems to fall into the same category.

This HT Emperor would have been more tempting had there been a serious sculpt...a cold glare or whatever.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

That’s the best I’ve seen him look so far, TonTon.

The shadowed forehead makes a big difference. It definitely looks like the hood is too small to me but maybe that’s not the case.

 

[Mr Walker]

Maybe move the lateral parts of the hood further from his face

View attachment 429094

Is that the RPF sculpt from about 10 or so years back? Can't remember who made it, but I remember who was one of the original commissioners.....

 

[generalgrevious]

if I get him he will be displayed with this sculpt.

 

[chemicals]

I'm repeating myself...but i do wish HT would start to incorporate a USB port into the light-up base dioramas...

I don’t even bother lightning mine up, those little switches and batteries are terrible

 

[jkno]

Is that the RPF sculpt from about 10 or so years back? Can't remember who made it, but I remember who was one of the original commissioners.....

It is indeed, Elm-Studios Emperor. Better than the recent sculpts Cyberman is offering, though is the same sculptor, the new finished busts are inferior to Elm.

 

[CollectorGuy]

So i guess there is going to be some real work for custom robes for this figure. I may look into that myself.

 

[Hask]

This is the look they were going for

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[TaliBane]

Just got this in hand and initial reaction is it’s a bit of a disappointment. He looks happy from any top-down angle, which I would think is how most people’s shelves are. Top of the detolf he’s still smiling like some jolly old fart.

It’s also a tricky figure to light depending on your display. With top lighting the hood completely puts the sculpt in shadow. A shame as it has nice paint work and great detailing.

I remember being a bit unsure about Tarkin when all the talk was just about hoping he would be made, one part of me was thinking the Emperor made more sense as the one old baddie but Tarkin can also serve as the de facto Emperor in an ANH-centric display. But Tarkin was a stunning achievement and instantly impressive out of the box. Not feeling that with this figure yet.

Did you get the throne too, or just the fig?

This fig has been a bit of a shock since it was first revealed. Out of a list of SW characters, you'd think Palps would be pretty easy to nail for HT, yet it hasn't turned out that way.

 

[bwh1990]

The hood is definitely too small. That's a major problem. I'll have to get his eyes painted Sith proper as well. Why couldn't Hot Toys get his damn eyes right?

I feel like they're getting lazy and complacent, what with this and ESB Vader being their most disappointing offerings this year, especially after Luke and Anakin turned out pretty great. This will need heavy futzing and modding to make it worth the money.

 

[Adam1138]

If I had a raised detolfs and different lighting I'm sure I could get this working. Sculpt really is excellent from certain angles.

View attachment 429146

That’s one of the best pics I’ve seen so far. The mouth throws the sculpt off for me personally. It looks too symmetrical if that makes sense? Like a mail box.

 

[xipotec]

If I had a raised detolfs and different lighting I'm sure I could get this working. Sculpt really is excellent from certain angles.

View attachment 429146

Thats a winner.....see he covered the cheeks which lessened the intensity of the grin....

Also cover the brow ridge a bit....
Which is how we see him in the majority of the film. We have seen too many pictures with the entire face showing, which while is normally what you want, with the Emperor its not....

Sort of like posing the guards with their cloaks up and showing the suit underneath....just looks wrong.



Sent from the inside of a giant slug in outer space.....

 

[TonTon]

Thanks for the nice words on the pic, guys. That was the best one that came out, but required key lighting to really get that shadow on the forehead. The sculpt is really exceptionally detailed. Like here's one of just his teeth as those are pretty gross, impressively done.



But on the shelf, all that gets kind of washed out, so I think my initial reaction was in part based on the fact that I'll really need to rethink how I display the figure. I think recreating some kind of darker background with spotlighting would improve how he displays. Also possible for now it needs to go on top of the shelf with the guard and be in natural light, which isn't ideal for dust reasons but improves the facial expression at that height.

Did you get the throne too, or just the fig?

This fig has been a bit of a shock since it was first revealed. Out of a list of SW characters, you'd think Palps would be pretty easy to nail for HT, yet it hasn't turned out that way.

I had the throne and figure on order from BBTS, but wasn't sure I wanted to commit to the space that plus the emperor/guard would take up together, so I picked up the single figure for retail with one of those eBay coupons. But the pics of the throne are so nice and I think even if he's not sitting on it, having it in the background would enhance this figure. So we'll see, I could also go the other way entirely and cool off on Jedi figures. My ANH collection has alot of the essentials and I just don't have space to replicate that across all three movies.

 

[Otaku Surf]

Finally got my hands on the emperor, and for the most part I really like it. I really like the job they did on the face and the throne.

Did a little review below on my thoughts.