1/6 Luke Skywalker: Red Five X-Wing Pilot Sixth Scale Figure

[JCFETT]

If its important to you ('you' meaning people), then price shouldn't even be a problem. Hell, I spent more than twice that on a good Bond (man in suit). Probably more than that again for a good Indy (not counting the hundreds I've already spent trying to get one I like).

For me though, I'd rather spend a large amount on one great representation of the character -- and for me that's going to be HT Farmboy Luke.

So to spend another $240+ on the same character in a different outfit starts to make no snese for me. I just want one to be front-and-center. Multiples create problems for my display as I've discovered.

agreed~! unfortunately I had the same approach and still ended up with three lukes and three solos. (stormtrooper disguise, hoth, classic solo and xwing luke). The problem is.. so many versions are just so iconic and classic. ESB is my absolute favorite so the echo base figures are a no brainer. Then stormtrooper disguise... I mean c'mon. It's a stormtrooper builder with portraits when you want them. And then the third was basically ok one classic final iconic figure that is all encompassing. Han is a no brainer. But Luke... well for me that Luke is X-Wing Luke. Nothing says.. I'm off to fight the empire than the boy in the orange flightsuit ready to join the rogue squadron and fly off to his destiny. Farm boy luke was whiny, kind of a noob. But X-Wing Luke... well that was the beginning of the making of a hero.

#mytwocents

 

[Darth Fok]

I'm amused at the renewed discussion for this figure now that Hot Toys has revealed photos of their ANH Luke. Boy, does Sideshow's $240 asking price look less attractive than ever! Although HT's headsculpt isn't the home-run I was hoping for, IMHO it puts the X-Wing one to shame.

Like DiFabio, there's no part of me that emotionally wants to crap on Sideshow's efforts. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how good their unhatted Hoth Luke's headsculpt looked on Hot Toys' Bespin Luke figure. But as it stands now, the only way I plan on including SSC's X-Wing Luke into the collection is seeing a significant price drop and/or knowing that I may have to display it with Hot Toys' ANH portrait.

I have to agree with you on this one. SS make great figures, but HT just seems to nail it better. Another good example is the difference in stormtroopers. I've seen the SS ones and just by the look of them you can tell HT ones are better.

 

[Travis Baumann]

I completely agree. The likenesses are all slightly off and just weird. You'd think they would have put their best work to date behind this license instead of kind of half-assing it. Seriously, Howard, what gives?

I am thinking the accelerated output on this line.

I mean other than Iron Man armors or Avengers lines that re-use characters (not necessarily sculpts but the artist has had time to study and do different portraits of the actor) this is one of the fastest reveals to shelf for HT I have ever seen and my guess is pressure of some sort from the LFL/Disney in order to get out as many of their older properties before the new film hits. I saw in another thread a very brief interview with Howard and he says his favorite figure is the Bespin DX so far and his most proud is the new furred Chewbacca... he is taking pride in the license but he did not mention any of these current ICONIC releases as his favorites. He also does mention that they will be doing TFA figures and we will see them before the year is out.

 

[PopCultKid]

So I guess I'll be the first to say it here

W...T...F...

My only guess is the expensive licence is less expensive for HT than it is for SS....

 

[Pixelpiper]

I'm guessing this was a pricing experiment from Sideshow and that we'll see lower priced figures again in the future.

 

[qbomb71]

I'm guessing this was a pricing experiment from Sideshow and that we'll see lower priced figures again in the future.

I think you are right on the money with that. HT's just made them look even more out in left field, even though both are pretty pricey.

 

[TonTon]

They totally screwed the pricing up with this one. They could have easily spread the cost across a couple figures released around the same time and let this one come in at $219 or so. Scout trooper $199 instead of $189, etc.

 

[Sidewinder]

Doesn't work too well when they also have to sell their competitors product as well. They don't want to overprice everything and then have issues with HT and their distributing rights.

I think this Luke will see some discounts once he's released, which will bring his price back to what it should have been to start with.


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[afattori]

Luke x wing 239.99 no accessories, HTS farm boy Luke 229.99 and a ton of accessories and great exclusive. Something wrong here.

 

[Travis Baumann]

Luke x wing 239.99 no accessories, HTS farm boy Luke 229.99 and a ton of accessories and great exclusive. Something wrong here.

I do agree but I remember from a SDCC panel that the "clam shell" helmet thing was being touted as a bit of R&D mastery so I have a feeling that might be where they felt justified in the price. I find it hard to believe that since the announcement of HT getting in the game that there have not been dozens of intercompany meetings to figure out what would be in the pipeline for each company and what the costs/prices would be but then right after Deluxe Vader we get a HT Vader so what do I know?

 

[afattori]

I do agree but I remember from a SDCC panel that the "clam shell" helmet thing was being touted as a bit of R&D mastery so I have a feeling that might be where they felt justified in the price. I find it hard to believe that since the announcement of HT getting in the game that there have not been dozens of intercompany meetings to figure out what would be in the pipeline for each company and what the costs/prices would be but then right after Deluxe Vader we get a HT Vader so what do I know?

Can understand r and d cost, but it is just a helmet. Can not see that being the cause or justification of the 239.99 cost for a bare bones figure.

 

[Travis Baumann]

Can understand r and d cost, but it is just a helmet. Can not see that being the cause or justification of the 239.99 cost for a bare bones figure.

I absolutely agree with you. What they felt in-house at SS though I cant imagine other than $$$.

 

[kl241]

I do agree but I remember from a SDCC panel that the "clam shell" helmet thing was being touted as a bit of R&D mastery so I have a feeling that might be where they felt justified in the price. I find it hard to believe that since the announcement of HT getting in the game that there have not been dozens of intercompany meetings to figure out what would be in the pipeline for each company and what the costs/prices would be but then right after Deluxe Vader we get a HT Vader so what do I know?

Nothing has changed. Same as it ever was. First Medicom, then Sideshow, then Hot Toys has their take. You just gotta decide which one you want to buy, how much you're willing to pay, and how long you want to wait for it. The game is rigged so each company gets their share of the profit pie.

 

[TonTon]

I think this Luke will see some discounts once he's released, which will bring his price back to what it should have been to start with.

Yeah, I was just thinking how they made Han Hoth and Luke Hoth available to a 20% coupon just this past week and they're only 2 months old. If Luke X-Wing was 20% off he'd be $192, which I could live with. Not too worried about missing out on the exclusive. Only issue is SS may have made a smaller run due to few pre-orders (not only from sticker shock, but from the NRD making people really think twice).

 

[TonTon]

Can understand r and d cost, but it is just a helmet. Can not see that being the cause or justification of the 239.99 cost for a bare bones figure.

Don't think it's justifiable still, but he also comes with SS's new body.

 

[PopCultKid]

I'm guessing this was a pricing experiment from Sideshow and that we'll see lower priced figures again in the future.

If this was truly an experiment (which I assumed too) then it's a supremely bad look, and I don't feel bad in the least for banging on them. This trend in the behavior of these companies pushing the price points to the limits to squeeze us addicts for every penny they can is getting seriously tiring.

On a lighter note, maybe they aren't just trying to capitalize on the price hike trend (and pushed it too far; like Medicom far). Maybe it's a matter of HT is just running way more efficiently. HT owns the factories and SS is using 3rd parties, so that could be the difference right there. But even if that's the case, something is still going wrong because it's not just HT that is able to deliver a solid product on a mass produced level. Even the final products of smaller outfits like the DID's of the world are outdoing what SS's subs are forking over. They really need to find a factory that's on par with the industry's top tier; especially if they want to charge top tier prices.

I like my Hoth Han & Luke, but they are a very noticeable step behind HT, EB, BW, etc.

 

[Pixelpiper]

The complexity with Sideshow is that they produce far more different products than anyone else. Figures, premium format statues with clothes like figures, straight-up regular statues with paint, half size stuff, full size stuff, dinosaurs, etc. Just a wide array of stuff which would make it nearly impossible to manufacture under one roof. Most of these other guys have the benefit of specializing in one specific kind of product.

 

[afattori]

Yeah, I was just thinking how they made Han Hoth and Luke Hoth available to a 20% coupon just this past week and they're only 2 months old. If Luke X-Wing was 20% off he'd be $192, which I could live with. Not too worried about missing out on the exclusive. Only issue is SS may have made a smaller run due to few pre-orders (not only from sticker shock, but from the NRD making people really think twice).

I was shocked that the exclusives went to 20% off already. I already bought both Hans and Luke on the way. Think SSC getting nervous that their stuff will be collecting dust with these HTS releases.

 

[PJB-1138]

We may have seen this coming with Bespin Luke; it's an outstanding release any fan would enjoy having on the shelf, in the end held back only by...an idealized portrait.

Yet some Hot Toys portraits are bang-on. They're as mysterious and unpredictable as Sideshow (albeit in different ways sometimes), in terms of art direction.

Perhaps we're being too hard on Hot Toys. I doubt they're being intentionally negligent of how well some licenses are handled over others. Remember, it was only after they got into the game when collectors really started expecting a headsculpt to resemble a human likeness the way we do today. Just because their headsculpts can be SO spot-on fairly often doesn't mean that they can do it ALL the time.

 

[Cixx]

This figure will end up being a joke. AND it won't even coming out looking anything like the proto down to the tailoring.