Legolas Legendary Scale Bust

[The Josh]

I have a temp order myself. Though it will be easy to axe if I don't like how it develops.

 

[woodsy]

I'm scared to say it considering the response it's received in the thread, but I actually like this piece. It's a really different pose/concept after the countless "Legolas the Archer" pieces. The level of detail in the costume at this scale is great--look at the rear shot of the quiver, for example.
It's not perfect, but my gut reaction was positive and I ordered one. Horrible production photos of the final product might make me change my mind, but I think that further shots from more angles--along with a 360 turnaround--will shed a more positive light on this piece.

However, the initial reaction from the majority here seems to indicate a low ES on this one...

Agreed. I do think the prod. photo's are terrible, but the likeness is good, the pose is very dynamic and the overall attention to detail is top notch.

You could be right about a low ES however, and that will suit me just fine. I think some of the people who pass on this bust are going to regret it someday.

 

[Darklord Dave]

I'm not going to get into this too much, the haters are going to hate afterall.

But look how the light is hitting the eyes in that close-up. There are distinct reflections that hit each eye in a different place distorting how you're seeing the eye.

They've tried to give us more dramatic lighting to show more what pieces look like in person, but in this case it's not helping the piece. I think the QTVR and in person shots will illuminate it better.

 

[LOTRFan]

I will wait for the QTVR, but I don't sense any urgency in waiting to order this one.

Yes, the costuming aspects of the sculpt do appear quite good.

 

[Radagaster]

Dave, if there's anything you're pointing out, is the fact that Sideshow's Photo department doesn't do a good job of doing QA of their photos. I believe they admitted that they take these pictures not under the most flattering light.

 

[Jamal]

The only thing i can think of is if they make the eyes abit darker and pupils a tiny bit bigger

overall a very decent attempt man!

 

[RoboDad]

I don't hate the piece at all. I had it ordered before I came into the thread and saw the somewhat visceral reaction. My Photoshop effort was more to show that the sculpt is, IMO, really very good, and that the appearance of the eye in the photo was distracting people to the point that the couldn't see anything else. I kind of suspected that it was an optical illusion (I've encountered similar problems in my own photography work), and that hi-res pic only confirms it.

It reminded me of the way people claimed that the SSW Elrond Bust eyes were way off, and it ended up being, again IMO, one of the best likenesses in any of the busts, and there is no eye problem with that one either.

If there is anything I think is worth "complaining" about, it is the fact that the folks at Sideshow didn't notice that the particular photo they used for the product page did not scale well, resulting in the cross-eyed appearance. They really should have used a different shot.

And one last thing, to those who think that the irises in human eyes should always be the same distance from the sides of the eye, that is almost never the case, except when someone is staring off into a great distance. The closer the object of your focus is to you, the closer your irises get to each other. And if that object moves off-center from your field of vision and your eyes follow it, it is remarkably easy for one iris to appear in the center of your eye, while the other is slightly off.

 

[Darren Carnall]

I've had a look at these pics now... and what's throwing it off for me is the lightness of the eyes, the 'brown-ness' of the eyebrows, and the 'yellow-ness' of his hair. Even when Orlando was wearing his blue contact lenses, his eyes still had a very dark base behind them, but most of the time on screen his eyes just looked dark. They were never pale sky blue as this bust is showing. Also his eyebrows need to be much darker and thicker near the bottom.

(I only show my 1/6 figure to show that it can be done, even on a smaller figure..... so this bust could be made to look great I think)

with the eyes and eyebrows that the bust has, it's really hard to tell how the likeness is... but I don't think it's as bad as people are saying.

I really think that is the eyes were painted darker (and maybe slightly larger) and the eyebrows darkened, and the hair painted with more shadows in and less 'plain yellow' then this piece would look a LOT better. It seems to be a well sculpted piece, just not painted to look like Orlando for some reason.

(But don't blame the painter, he/she may have been instructed to do it like that)

 

[occulum]

 

[Bannister]

It's like watching Requiem for a Dream.

 

[woodsy]

I don't hate the piece at all. I had it ordered before I came into the thread and saw the somewhat visceral reaction. My Photoshop effort was more to show that the sculpt is, IMO, really very good, and that the appearance of the eye in the photo was distracting people to the point that the couldn't see anything else. I kind of suspected that it was an optical illusion (I've encountered similar problems in my own photography work), and that hi-res pic only confirms it.

It reminded me of the way people claimed that the SSW Elrond Bust eyes were way off, and it ended up being, again IMO, one of the best likenesses in any of the busts, and there is no eye problem with that one either.

If there is anything I think is worth "complaining" about, it is the fact that the folks at Sideshow didn't notice that the particular photo they used for the product page did not scale well, resulting in the cross-eyed appearance. They really should have used a different shot.

The more I think about it, the more I think you and Darklord are absolutely right about this. I think it very unfair to blame the artist Mike, who painted the prototype and I too was guilty of doing this. I think he has done a terrific job with this bust. This was the very concern everyone had with the Weta Elrond bust and I think the same thing applies here. And yes, I think SS should pay a bit more attention to the quality of the production photo's they release.

Though not perfect I really do believe this is the finest representation of Legolas we have ever gotten and I for one am really excited to finally be able to add a Legolas piece to my LOTR collection.

 

[WrathofSauron]

Though not perfect I really do believe this is the finest representation of Legolas we have ever gotten and I for one am really excited to finally be able to add a Legolas piece to my LOTR collection.

As usual Woodsy you get there and say it before me!! Well said!!

 

[nash]

It's like watching Requiem for a Dream.

lol good movie btw.

 

[Seretur]

C'mon, Nash, you and I know just WHY it's a good movie.

 

[The Josh]

Watching the backstage pass it looks really good.

 

[Isildur's bane]

Yeah this piece looks really good, i'm glad that we got another look at it and now realize sideshow can't take proper pics

 

[RoboDad]

Watching the backstage pass it looks really good.

It certainly does. Here's a screen grab I took, and the eyes look perfect to me, as does the sculpt, and all of the amazing details. Glad I ordered this one, for sure!

 

[Shai]

Yeah that pic looks good... but why oh why Sideshow post those pics for the preorder...

 

[Jamal]

Touch up the eyes and hes gonna look great i think!

 

[Mudshark]

He does look vastly better in the video and Robo's screen grab. From that angle he looks a lot more like OB. As Darren commented, fix the eye color and eyebrows and he'll be nearly perfect.