Kotobukiya McQuarrie Luke vs Vader review

[Michael Crawford]

It might be just a couple days til Christmas, but Things From Another World still has their holiday Kotobukiya sale going on, and I wanted to mention another of my favorites. This is the Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader diorama statue, done in the original McQuarrie style. I really like this pair, and if it weren't for one issue, they'd score even better. What's that issue? Well, you just have to read the review! You can find it at the usual:

https://www.mwctoys.com

Just a note on the Poppies - the judges have just about wrapped up their nominations, and I'll be putting the final ballot together between Christmas and New Years Day. Once it's up, I'll let the readers know so you can see what they are voting on, and put in your guesses too!

And I won't be doing a review Thursday, since I'll be doing the wacky Xmas day thing. But I will put up a guest review or two, in case you need a little light reading that day. Thanks for reading!

Michael
MWC

 

[darthviper107]

Great review. I had always wanted to get this. Have the poster on my wall. Too bad I don't have enough money for it even at 50% off.

 

[icruise]

I thought the blue on Vader was meant to represent the reflection from his lightsaber, but I've never seen the piece in person.

 

[plasmid303]

Great review, but I was a bit puzzled by the score you gave Vader in the "paint" section. I assumed the use of the blue paint was to highlight and emphasize the glow of Vader's lightsaber reflecting off his armor, like it does in the original McQuarrie art:

edit: icruise beat me to the comment about the blue paint.

 

[Michael Crawford]

If that's the case, it fails pretty badly. How would the glow of the saber reflect off the top and back of his shoulders, the back of his helmet, the sides of his holster, the back of and sides of his legs, even across the entire back of his belt, completely covered by the cape? If it's supposed to be a light reflection, there sure is an awful lot of it - and if that's what it's supposed to be, you can take off another half star from his paint score, because it doesn't even make sense where they've put it.

 

[OSCORP]

Art .

 

[plasmid303]

Ouch. Sorry Koto, our natural Holmes-esque curiosity and deductive talent have adversely affected your score on MWCtoys.

I don't see any blue paint on the interior cape, is there even the slightest hint of blue there?

 

[Michael Crawford]

Hey, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they are treating it like the usual black highlighting in general, not specific to the saber light. And no, there's none on the inside of the cape. On the back shoulders of the cape, yes.

 

[galactiboy]

Pretty cool looking statue... seems like they got a great translation from 2D to 3D.

 

[jkno]

McQuarrie is a really great artist and I'm glad Koto made this statue (hopefully one day they'll make a stormie as well).

 

[Michael Crawford]

The McQuarrie 3 3/4" figures actually got me back into buying the small format. Ah, but then it ended, as all good things must, and I haven't bought a small Star Wars figure since.

 

[Blackhole]

Gosh, that statue sure is purdy...

...

I love the look of Vader here, and he has a blaster too...

 

[OSCORP]

I'd kill for a 1/6 version of that vader

 

[JGouse0498]

If that's the case, it fails pretty badly. How would the glow of the saber reflect off the top and back of his shoulders, the back of his helmet, the sides of his holster, the back of and sides of his legs, even across the entire back of his belt, completely covered by the cape? If it's supposed to be a light reflection, there sure is an awful lot of it - and if that's what it's supposed to be, you can take off another half star from his paint score, because it doesn't even make sense where they've put it.

There's clearly a lot of artistic freedom in that painting. Depending on the style of painting, light reflections won't necessarily adhere to the laws of physical reality.

If anyone's interested in a different take on the same model, TFAW sent me one to review for them as well. You can check it out here:

https://www.kid4life.com/yoda2/DarthVadervsLuke Skywalker.htm

 

[Michael Crawford]

Great review! I'm going to pretend though that you didn't say that light doesn't adhere to the laws of physics

 

[icruise]

In a painting, no it doesn't necessarily adhere to the laws of physics, and I think that's what he meant. I'm sorry I missed out on this when it was $50 at Redford Films. I don't think I can swing $100 for it.

 

[Darklord Dave]

This is the only Koto vinyl I own and I like it a lot. I'd agree with Michael about the blue though - it would have made more sense if they'd treated it like saber reflection as is done in the painting. I hope they do more McQuarrie inspired pieces.

 

[JGouse0498]

Great review! I'm going to pretend though that you didn't say that light doesn't adhere to the laws of physics

Yeah, icruise correctly interpreted what I meant.

I meant that in the painting light won't necessarily follow real-world rules. It's more stylistic, which is what the model replicated. I went back and clarified that in the original post.

And thanks for the kind words, Mike. I liked the set-up you used too. The Vader looks really good in your pics.

This is the only Koto vinyl I own and I like it a lot. I'd agree with Michael about the blue though - it would have made more sense if they'd treated it like saber reflection as is done in the painting. I hope they do more McQuarrie inspired pieces.

Then you should really try to pick up the Scout Trooper and Commander Bly models. They are freakin' amazing!!

 

[Michael Crawford]

The Bly is one of the best they've done.

 

[Patient Zero]

All of the clones are nice. The ones I dislike are the human likeness ones. I did get a kneeling clone that is too gray though. kotos display well with sideshow figures also. The bounty hunters are very nice also. I will snap a few pics in a minute. I really want this McQuarrie one, but it will have to wait until next year. My only gripe with the kotobukiya's are the size of the base's, they can be cumbersome in displaying a few on a shelf.

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