Hot toys Snowspeeder Pilot Luke Skywalker

[Hoody999]

Asmus can't make a decent sculpt. I would like to see Dam Toys getting rich, buying SW licence and blow HT to pieces. And yes, Dam Toys figures are on same level of quality. Even with their resources nowhere near to HT.

I wouldn't really care who it is. Just need someone to create competition for the same property. Problem is that Disney licence costs so much that it would be tough for a second player to make a profit. As I guess we saw with SS.

 

[Matt S]

I wouldn't really care who it is. Just need someone to create competition for the same property. Problem is that Disney licence costs so much that it would be tough for a second player to make a profit. As I guess we saw with SS.

SS quality control never helped them. They had a good run w clones.....

I have to disagree with that. HT of late has been very bad at teasing protos/figures that never see the light of day...


Here's the short list off the top of my head:

Death Star Trooper
ANH Stormtrooper sergeant
Snowtrooper Commander
R5-D4
R4-I9
AOTC 3PO
TFA 3PO
Poe
Elite Snowtrooper
Range Trooper
2nd Mudtrooper
Shoretrooper grunt
Shoretrooper Squad Leader
Mimban Trooper
Chewbacca (Solo)
Baze
Tank Commander
Padme
Luke Bespin
Han Bespin
Battle Droids
Utapau Clone trooper

I forgot about half of those. So much potential. What is with Asian companies loving to tease fans' with product that never comes out? There is about 6 on that list I would have gotten for sure.

 

[slikkerias]

Y'all arguing about a toy pilot suit that wasn't even consistent in size nor color in the movie. You guys arguing one way or the other or nit picking one thing or another don't have a leg to stand on

Figure looks great as is. Better than the SSC version for me. Can't wait to get this guy!

...ok? [emoji849]

 

[Rzeznikk]

I understand the point you?re trying to make, but with how long these figures take to develop, get approval for, produce, and release, the handful of PT figures we?ve seen were in development long before the renewed interest in the Prequel Trilogy.

Most of us that have been around for a while are aware of how long Anakin was said to be in development, which is closer to the start of the Star Wars line.

And while the PT has seen a resurgence amongst Star Wars fans for various reasons of late (I think more fondly of it now than before, especially after IX), we all live in a bubble within a bubble of high end collectibles in a specific product market.

Hot Toys doesn?t make business decisions based on the number of people that make prequel memes. There?s a ton of Star Wars collectors but the number of people that buy Hot Toys is minuscule compared to say Hasbro or LEGO. And while I don?t have numbers, OT is likely still far ahead of anything else as far as driving merchandise sales.

At the end of the day, Hot Toys is a business and they release what they believe will sell well and make as much profit as possible. Figures like Obi-Wan, Anakin, Maul, and Yoda were being developed years ago because they were considered safe bets from a business perspective. They?re popular characters even outside of the goodwill the PT has gotten in the last couple of years.

Ultimately, and unfortunately, regardless of what collectors want, we?re now left with a company that?s still small but have taken on way too much and are very, very risk averse for various reasons. Mainly the TFA figure debacle and limited production capacity versus the increasing number of blockbusters with larger and larger casts of characters.

Always two there are...

North American license and Asian license.

HT has a stranglehold on the Asian license, so even if a Company like Asmus or Blitzway wanted/could afford the SW license it's not going anywhere from HT.

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[Chronos1919]

Asmus can't make a decent sculpt.

If their production pieces of the Crown series Gandalf are anywhere near the proto quality that might not be the case. But yeah, their other releases haven?t been so hot in the likeness department.

 

[Hoody999]

Always two there are...

North American license and Asian license.

HT has a stranglehold on the Asian license, so even if a Company like Asmus or Blitzway wanted/could afford the SW license it's not going anywhere from HT.

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I would love to know how the licences are broken down. ie. We know HT got the PT license, so that must be separate to say the OT or ST.

While there was speculation Sideshow don't have the Star Wars licence any more, they are doing the 1:1 Child. So perhaps they have some sort of special Mandalorian licence agreement or the company they are working on has something due to their involvement with the actual prop ??

I guess this Con will be telling to see if Sideshow brings anything more than Skiff Lando.

If not, question is then, is anyone new working on Star Wars 1/6 figures other than Hot Toys ?

 

[Darth Fok]

I for one can?t wait to get this. I?m mainly sticking to the HT line as I do think they?re superior to SS. I found the the SS version looked like an oversized Hasbro toy.

 

[slikkerias]

I for one can?t wait to get this. I?m mainly sticking to the HT line as I do think they?re superior to SS. I found the the SS version looked like an oversized Hasbro toy.

Oh wow... so when so many collectors are saying that the SS version might be the best looking SW 1/6 figure of all time it doesn?t convince you that we?re not talking about a oversized Hasbro toy?

 

[mediame]

Does anyone have any insight into what makes the quality difference between HT and SS figures? Is it the talent of the artist? Is it costs are lower in HK for designing? Is HT using some 3D printing/mapping technology (or other) while SS does not? Just curious.

 

[chrisstbh]

Does anyone have any insight into what makes the quality difference between HT and SS figures? Is it the talent of the artist? Is it costs are lower in HK for designing? Is HT using some 3D printing/mapping technology (or other) while SS does not? Just curious.

Probably a mixture of reasons. I just hate that SS tries to charge Hot Toys level prices for signifacantly lower quality and value figures, in my opinion.

 

[Rzeznikk]

I would love to know how the licences are broken down. ie. We know HT got the PT license, so that must be separate to say the OT or ST.

While there was speculation Sideshow don't have the Star Wars licence any more, they are doing the 1:1 Child. So perhaps they have some sort of special Mandalorian licence agreement or the company they are working on has something due to their involvement with the actual prop ??

I guess this Con will be telling to see if Sideshow brings anything more than Skiff Lando.

If not, question is then, is anyone new working on Star Wars 1/6 figures other than Hot Toys ?

From my understanding its one giant umbrella license. All SW films fall under its master license.

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[ZE_501]

Does anyone have any insight into what makes the quality difference between HT and SS figures? Is it the talent of the artist? Is it costs are lower in HK for designing? Is HT using some 3D printing/mapping technology (or other) while SS does not? Just curious.

I don't know about currently, but in the past Sideshow has had some excellent portrait sculptors -- Trevor Grove comes to mind. Hot Toys has at least a couple of heavy hitters although they also have some B Team.

What has consistently elevated Hot Toys portraits is their paint work. Even their middling sculpts project a great deal of realism thanks to their paint on eyes (they may use decals for this, can't recall) and skin. Whether this is a proprietary method, access to specific technology, skilled artisans, or access to the best factories due to their physical and cultural proximity to means of production, is unknown.

While Hot Toys tailoring has tended to dominate, I think Sideshow is fully capable of matching it or -- on a case by case basis -- exceeding it. Snowspeeder Luke being a case in point.

The True Type bodies Hot Toys uses are generally higher quality in terms of build, engineering and pose better. They have competitors in this regard -- Soldier Story has produced some excellent articulated frames; but Sideshow tends to lag behind, with floppy figures being a frequent complaint.

Sideshow accessories like weapons tend to be as good or better than Hot Toys.

Tolerances, paint work and sculpts on Hot Toys smaller costume components tend to be finer and sharper than Sideshow, but this may not be consistent.

These advantages can make the overall presentation of a Hot Toys figure more impressive than a Sideshow release, even if Sideshow's actual portrait and/or costume matches or exceeds the Hot Toys piece.

All of this is in a general sense accurate up to the last couple of years, but Hot Toys has their own issues and there has been an overall impression recently that they're cutting corners in the name of volume and market dominance.

Anyone think of anything I missed?

 

[Jack Bauer]

Sideshow still has the Star Wars license.

I would love to know how the licences are broken down. ie. We know HT got the PT license, so that must be separate to say the OT or ST.

While there was speculation Sideshow don't have the Star Wars licence any more, they are doing the 1:1 Child. So perhaps they have some sort of special Mandalorian licence agreement or the company they are working on has something due to their involvement with the actual prop ??

I guess this Con will be telling to see if Sideshow brings anything more than Skiff Lando.

If not, question is then, is anyone new working on Star Wars 1/6 figures other than Hot Toys ?

 

[Jack Bauer]

From my understanding its one giant umbrella license. All SW films fall under its master license.

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Yep pretty much.

 

[mediame]

Thanks ZE_501 for the explanation. Why do they continue to use inferior bodies? That has to be based on some large volume previously purchased?

 

[mediame]

If SS has the license, why not identify One of the many highly coveted figures that are not available, do an amazing job and wait for the money to roll in? Guessing it is not that easy...

 

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

Sideshow still has the Star Wars license.

Any idea then why they haven't produced any new 1/6 Star Wars products for a couple years now? Skiff Lando doesn't really count because he was teased a couple years ago.

 

[Robianco]

If SS has the license, why not identify One of the many highly coveted figures that are not available, do an amazing job and wait for the money to roll in? Guessing it is not that easy...

Well they hit it out of the park with the Jabba release which has been universally praised. I?ve never found the more recent SSC 1/6 stuff to be oversized Hasbro but I?ve seen several people who flatly refuse to see them as anything else. To each their own. I?m really looking forward to Skiff Lando to add to a JP display. Body wise the only complaint I could have was with my AT-AT Driver and the neck being a bit loose on it. But besides that I?ve not really had an issue with them. I don?t go for very dynamic poses but all my figures are displayed without stands and the SSC have always been as stable as the HT figures in that regards.

 

[ZE_501]

Thanks ZE_501 for the explanation. Why do they continue to use inferior bodies? That has to be based on some large volume previously purchased?

Money's the usual answer; whatever they're using is what made sense for their business model. As Robianco says below, some bodies are just fine. I've had both SSC pilot Lukes and the bodies weren't terrible but still didn't have the feel of a TrueType, which for me so far (in terms of male bodies) has only been matched or beaten by Soldier Story in terms of proportions and how they hang together with a costume.

Well they hit it out of the park with the Jabba release which has been universally praised. I?ve never found the more recent SSC 1/6 stuff to be oversized Hasbro but I?ve seen several people who flatly refuse to see them as anything else.[...]

Sideshow is very good with aliens and robots. Their Imperial Probe Droid remains one of the best 1/6 collectibles of all time, in my opinion.

'Oversized Hasbro' sounds like a stretch, but even the excellent Snowspeeder Luke by SSC doesn't stand up to close scrutiny when compared piece by piece to a Hot Toys piece, although that jacket is literally perfect and the rest is at least very good.

 

[Sixth Scale Man]

The prototype for this looks pretty good, but I?m personally happy with the SS one on my shelf. If HT makes a new head sculpt and refines a few things on the release, I may upgrade.
While the unhelmeted head on the SS is pretty bad, the helmeted version looks great ( same goes for x-wing Luke)

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