First I'd like to say that if you have a perfect or near perfect version of this statue, it is arguably the best 1/4 Star Wars scale statue ever made in my opinion and would be head to head with any "grail" out there.
Having said that, I am not as happy since I think I got a piece with more that a few issues. Please let me know if some of these are even issues since it is possible I am just being picky. Some of this post is copied directly from my email to Sideshow.
1) I did not receive the lightsaber with my statue. I am referring to the long LED lightsaber that is inserted into Vader's right hand. It was not in the box!
2) The square chest box does not light up at all. I played around with the switch on the back and it flickered a bit only to die out. Seems to be either a dead battery or a malfunction of electronics within.
3) The half circle piece that is supposed to hold up Vader's cape around his neck has been connected to the cape backwards. The half circle is now facing incorrectly inward instead of outward, making it impossible for me to put the cape on. I tried bending it but the plastic was not meant to be bent that way and is clearly attached backwards. I'll either end up snapping it or scratching up my Vader if I attach it this way. (see below)
4) Please forgive my phone camera, I tried to take clear photos but this is hard to capture. The left side of Vader's helmet has "scratches". They are technically "rubs". As if the Styrofoam or the wax paper was rubbing against the side of the helmet and took away the black polish. Very hard to capture in a photo but I tried. It's much worse in person than on a photo. (see below)
5) The black stripe of Vader's chest plate has also been "scratched". Similar to the helmet, the black polish is rubbed down probably because of rubbing against the wax paper or the Styrofoam during shipping. Again, this is way worse in person but hard to fully capture with a phone camera. (see below)
6) The "I am your father" left hand has a piece of polystone that was left over from a bad mold. Looks like a wart on his finger. (see below)
7) I know this piece is supposed to be broken or damaged, but mine looks like it was really, actually chipped during shipping. I can see a light gray piece of unpainted polystone and it looks like the breakage pattern just doesn't match the rest of the edge. (see below)
Please let me know if some of these is just me being too picky. I'll actually feel better. I am very curious to know if everyone's helmet and chest plate is flawlessly polished with zero blemishes or are you guys just not as OCD as I am...