While my "today's quality vs the quality of yesterday" comment was in reference to the maquette line, it was also made in reference to the only two statues that can fairly be compared at this time, the SS Aragorn maquette vs the SSW statue. My comment was based not only on the vast superiority in the likeness dept., but also the huge difference in the complexity [sculpt-wise] of the two. Whereas the SSW statue is comprised of 4 separate pieces, the SS version is comprised of 8. So yeah, in regard to the two 1/6 Aragorn's now out there I'd have to say today's quality blows yesterday's right out of the water. I've also said, more than once, I do not expect every SS maquette to equal or surpass it's SSW counterpart. As for further comparisons, that's a bridge we'll have to cross when the time comes.
Now I haven't mentioned anything about detailing, at least in relation to statues of the same scale. There I think the SSW statues and the SS maquettes will be very similar. Sure, a more skilled sculptor will be able to add a bit more detailing than a lesser skilled one, but surface area is surface area and the limitations of sculpting a 1/6 scale statue apply equally to Weta and SS.
Sure we currently only have the two for direct comparison right now, I was just getting the impression from yourself and others that one could now just throw away all the SSW statues and get the new SS ones because today's quality is so much better. To which my general response was, just because it's being made today, doesn't mean everything is going to be so much better then what was made yesterday.
As such I think you agree? Being that the limitations of 1/6 scale sculpting are much the same and we are still talking mass produced products (all be it in limited numbers).
If you want to talk about specific bit's being better, then sure, the new SS Strider has a far better likeness then the SSW statue, so from that point of view, today's quality is better, I just don't expect that to always be the case.
I'm not so sure that the number of separate pieces really has much to do with, other then the amount of polystone one gets. Sure one piece can be made up of more parts, but that can just be because of the pose and the requirements of casting and painting or just that the statue has more stuff added (in the case of SS, the 'sleeping bag', the arrow quiver the box) that just isn't present in the SSW statue. Just it makes the SS one more complex, but given the pose and timing of the SSW one, none of those things would make sense in that context anyway. So not really a matter of quality, more a matter of your get more.
As for Aragorn, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Overall, I think the sculpt is very solid, but the likeness [and I use that term lightly] is hideous....and I actually own the statue! Mind you, I did know what I was getting into when I bought it. But, I wanted Brego for my horse and rider collection, and I did manage to find one sealed for $120, so overall I can't complain.
Sure it's not the greatest, but I wouldn't call it hideous either. I see Viggo much more in the Brego statue then I did in the hooded preview pic of the SS one. Sure, in the end the SS one is better and in some ways, so is the PF, but not so much so that I want to get rid of one to get the other.
So hard to take a good pic, this is the best I've got and even then, it looks better in person:
Still, at the end of the day, everyone just needs to decide for them selves.
And I'd need some clarification on the Sam and Bill remark. If you are referring to the brilliant manner in which SSW was able to capture the emotional bond between hobbit and horse I agree 100% Trying to replicate that would be like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. If you are referring to the likeness of Sam...not so much. The likeness is decent, but it simply can't touch Trevor's fantastic Mt. Doom sculpt, or the SSW 1/4 scale bust.
I guess was generally speaking overall. Yes the likeness is pretty good and clearly better then say Frodo, but not dead on. However, as an overall statue, any single Sam statue in the new SS line, will largely just be a let down.
Mind you, I have that Mt. Doom dio as well, so really, when it comes to Sam, doesn't matter what the maquette line does (assuming they do), I'm already all good.
Here's a simply rule concerning art.
The larger the surface area, the more the artist can do with that subject. Your Serenity replica may look amazing, but I can guarantee you if that same sculptor had another 10, 20, or 30% of surface area to work with, the amount of additional detailing he could cram in would have you shaking your head in disbelief. Again, don't take my word for it, ask an artist, any painter or sculptor will do. Case in point, my Legolas LSB. Every skin imperfection, every pore [and I mean literally thousands], the intricate detailing of the lips, you name it, it's there. You just will not see that level of detailing on a statue/bust of smaller scale.
Yeah, sure, the more area you have to work with, the more that can be one, if it isn't, then it just looks worse really. I'm just saying that for the same area, if the time and effort is spent, then it is possible to do more then what is usually seen in products produced in a factory at a certain price point. You see it all the time, the 1/4 scale PF heads that someone then hand paints always look way better then the factory production items that the rest of us get. And likely SS could even produce that if they wanted too, just the price would double and next to one would buy any of it.
Just so you can see what I'm talking about (and yes, it is just showing off
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I seriously go crossed-eyed just trying to focus on the smaller rivets half the time. It's like pin pricks that are actually sculpted on the model and then didn't disappear once paint was applied. Stand back 30cm and half of them you can't even see, even tho you know they are there.
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