1/6 Hot Toys - TMS 023 - The Clone Wars: 501st Battalion Clone Trooper (DELUXE VERSION)

[HPGR_Thrawn]

I enjoy the Phase I look far more than Phase II on standard clones. Main reason I got the deluxe of this fig.

 

[SOU7567]

Does anyone prefer the Phase I look? I am thinking of posing Mine with that helmet and the back pack on.

Only on plain white clones, it is unfortunate that HT made their Phase 1 helmet a bit bigger than it should be though.

 

[bebe13junior]

I guess I will have to put this figure through rounds of posing/accessories to see if I prefer the Ph. I or Ph. II helmet. I definitely want to display with as much of the accessories as possible though.

I actually do like the phase I look, but I’m probably in the minority.

 

[MyenShi]

@bebe13junior - That’s the best way. You won’t know for sure until you see everything for yourself first hand.

I’d say a fair amount of people probably like both, but a noticeable number definitely seem to like Phase 2 over 1. I’ve only ever seen a handful of people say they like Phase 1 more than 2.

I like both equally. Why choose, right?

They never made physical armor to film with, but the Phase 1 helmet has a lot of presence in person at full scale. The AP EFX Phase 1 Clone helmet is one of my favorite items in my collection.

I agree with @SOU7567 that Phase 1 does tend to look best all white and shiny. Though I do love the Phase 1 helmet in ARC trooper form, which is second only to Commandos as my favorite Clone armor.

Hopefully whenever they release a shiny Clone, they’ll address the helmet size. But knowing Hot Toys, that’s definitely not guaranteed to happen.

If they fix it though, I think I’d display them as Phase 1 in an AOTC/early Clone Wars display.

 

[bebe13junior]

I think this will be a figure I switch up a lot.
I am only getting the one, but I think this will have a lot of playability. I can def see how ppl get multiple since you can make three unique helmeted figures, various looks or even just army build one type of trooper.

 

[ScoutingForToys]

Only on plain white clones, it is unfortunate that HT made their Phase 1 helmet a bit bigger than it should be though.

I'd love them to do a phase 1 trooper but I don't trust them to fix the size of the helmet.

 

[sithocan]

Me neither. So there won't be a PO.

 

[agonistes86]

I'm one of those that prefer the Phase 1 helmet. Somehow the Phase 2 look never grew on me. Perhaps it's that the P1 is clearly different from the stormtroopers? I also like that the visor reminds me of Boba Fett, while unique in its own right.

I have ARC Jesse on pre-order, and just ordered one of the 501st Phase 1 helmets (and a jetpack and some rifles) from toyanxiety during their sale to use on him and make my own custom blend of ARC trooper. I hadn't read that it was oversized before, but I guess I'll see how it looks - in about 1.5 years when Jesse is out...

 

[bebe13junior]

I do think the Phase 1 helmet is accurate to the AOTC/live action clone armour. I looked at some pics and it does look a bit bigger:

I feel like they must have referenced something (renders from CGI) to produce a larger helmet like that. They should have maybe gone with aesthetic/animated series look over being too accurate. But maybe I am wrong and it is actually too big.

 

[agonistes86]

Does anybody have some comparison pictures of the two HT helmets side by side, and some shots of the clone wearing the phase 1 helmet? I'm curious about the difference now.

 

[MyenShi]

I feel like they must have referenced something (renders from CGI) to produce a larger helmet like that. They should have maybe gone with aesthetic/animated series look over being too accurate. But maybe I am wrong and it is actually too big.

It’s definitely too big. There’s already a general consensus on that. But it may not bother you in person though, which is what matters for your own collection.

The Phase 1 helmet appears large in its various depictions, but overall it should be about the same size as the Phase 2. The very pointy chin just throws it off visually sometimes. Doesn’t help that TCW exaggerated that a lot.

Does anybody have some comparison pictures of the two HT helmets side by side, and some shots of the clone wearing the phase 1 helmet? I'm curious about the difference now.

The Hot Toys version is not ridiculously bad, but the longer you look at it, the more noticeable the discrepancy becomes. You can’t unsee the slight bobblehead quality, and it doesn’t help that it also sits a little high.

My personal theory is that they took the measurement of the total height from the fin to the neck collar instead of from the fin to chin level. That subsequently threw the entire scale off, making the helmet larger overall proportionally.

Pictures from the Hot Toys bloggers:

 

[sithocan]

I think I got what's wrong exactly. The chin rim is thick in the figure. But in the above shots, the rim begins to go inwards right from the start.

 

[Rbeato]

Damn I’d love a phase 1 shiny

 

[SOU7567]

Funny, the Phase 1 helmet on the last batch of Sideshow Clones is almost perfect, I've had the Phase 1 helmet on my Veteran 1/6 for a long time now, doesn't look weird at all.

 

[MyenShi]

Funny, the Phase 1 helmet on the last batch of Sideshow Clones is almost perfect, I've had the Phase 1 helmet on my Veteran 1/6 for a long time now, doesn't look weird at all.

Agreed. The Phase 1 helmet is a deceptively complex design to nail down, but Sideshow did a good job with their later releases.

I have a few of their deluxe Clones as well and really like the Phase 1 helmets on those.

 

[agonistes86]

Thanks for those shots, MyenShi. I also scrolled back through this thread reading the earlier discussions and seeing some of the comparison shots made.

In some angles the size seems ok, so I wonder if some strategic futzing of the helmet, plus adding the ARC pauldron, can make it look good though. It won't fix the actual size problem, but visual illusions can go a long way.

I made a very quick and dirty mock-up with the shot above. I lowered the helmet, darkened the mouth and moved the shoulder pads out a tiny bit. I didn't change anything in actual size, just the positioning and color. Of course it's impossible to tell if this would still look awkward from different angles, but it's definitely something I'll try out when the time comes.

 

[Chainedstream]

Mouth line is too thick on the HT sculpt. They also forgot the red fin light back of the head. Scale of the helmet is off.

Think they gave some more R&D to the phase II helmet, which I think was a good decision. Just hope they'll redo the phase I helmet when we get a clean version/shiny.

EDIT: they did not rework the phase I helmet

 

[agonistes86]

Mouth line is too thick on the HT sculpt. They also forgot the red fin light back of the head. Scale of the helmet is off.

Think they gave some more R&D to the phase II helmet, which I think was a good decision. Just hope they'll redo the phase II helmet when we get a clean version/shiny.

Damn you're right, the mouth is quite glaringly off. I edited my post above and darkened the mouth area to make it stand out less, but it only helps a bit.

 

[sithocan]

It's really weird. When you look at movie shots, the faceplate and chin attracts your eye. On the figure, the ear columns catch your eyes.

 

[RTFLYER]

I have the Phase 1 helmet on one of my two 501st Clones, and I feel like it looks good.