MOLDED HAIR VS. REAL HAIR

[sonolimy]

on the new PF Leatherface, he has synthetic hair, which i find to be incredibly cheasy and dumbs down the effect of the statue. i think molded hair is more classy and would hold the test of time and make the statue more valuable in the long run. sideshow has done that with the 12" figs and most of the statues since then. i personally think thats why the electra statue didnt do that well is because of the real hair aspect, if she had molded hair and it was flowing in a direction it would have looked better and sold more. i know i would have bought one. PLEASE STOP WITH THE REAL HAIR, MOLDED IS BETTER.

 

[BillyBudd]

I agree. Sideshow should stick with molded hair...but not because molded hair is always better. Real hair has the potential to look far better than molded hair, but real hair is also much more difficult to work with. Here is an example of real hair done well (https://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=31042). REALLY WELL.

 

[Josette]

I personally prefer rooted hair if the person the figure is depicting has long hair (shoulder length or longer). Molded long hair doesn't really look good usually, IMO.

If the person has shorter hair, then the molded hair works well.

 

[Mookeylama]

i agree w/ Josette. synthetic hair can look much better on even a 12" fig and definitely a 1/4 PF if done right. just look at the 12" CY Girl figures. looks much better than the molded hair on other figs. the lack of "real" hair on some SS pieces is the main reason i haven't purchased certain items. Buffy PF, Lurtz PF, ect. i agree that working w/ real hair would be more time consuming (attaching and styling it) and thus less cost effective, so they might increase the price points.

hey Billy, incredible work! do u do those pieces for museums? do u take commissions?

 

[sonolimy]

to retract a little bit, the hair on 1:1 scale busts, real hair is totally acceptable due to the fact it is more managable, but smaller items the hair is unmanageable and cannot look good and cant be fixed if something happened to it.

 

[Eva Estelle]

I agree. Sideshow should stick with molded hair...but not because molded hair is always better. Real hair has the potential to look far better than molded hair, but real hair is also much more difficult to work with. Here is an example of real hair done well (https://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=31042). REALLY WELL.

Wow! I’m impressed. That’s a nice bust!

I guess I pretty much second most here, I prefer real hair, IF! Only IF! It’s done right…Hands down, properly fitted real hair will always win out over molded, only problem is not to many productions with real hair “ware” it well, due to the artist's lack of skill in incorporating it into their productions. They end up looking “dolly” or “toyish” and that can really detract from a piece and turn people off from the idea of real hair. But this is just my humble opinion!

 

[tomandshell]

The 1:1 Yoda bust is the only example I can remember of "real" hair done acceptably.


EDIT: Now there are two examples, after checking out that Lost Boys link...

 

[Batty]

Here's an example of real hair not done well:

 

[pixletwin]

or this:

 

[Eva Estelle]

Pixletwin,
That's in a class of its own. That's called ' real-molded hair ' It's real hair but has been put through some sort of molding process to shape and preserve it!

 

[LOTRFan]

Unless it is done in very small production, I am usually NOT a fan of rooted hair. I am hoping the best for Yoda.

 

[Rhodes]

I'll take molded hair anyday. For a female doll character I don't mind so much but when it comes to male dolls I want molded hair. It literally is a deal breaker for me.

 

[BillyBudd]

hey Billy, incredible work! do u do those pieces for museums? do u take commissions?

I wish I had that kind of skill. Another statueforum member made that. His wife apparently does the hair. He does all of the sculpting and painting. Quite a team, eh?

I was just providing an example of real hair done right. Molded hair could never come anywhere close to looking that good.

 

[Batty]

I wish I had that kind of skill. Another statueforum member made that. His wife apparently does the hair. He does all of the sculpting and painting. Quite a team, eh?

I was just providing an example of real hair done right. Molded hair could never come anywhere close to looking that good.

Amazing talent! Did anyone check out the Christopher Reeve statue?

https://dullam-causey.com/gallery/index.php?path=L0NocmlzdG9waGVyIFJlZXZlLw==&page=1

 

[vespagirl]

One word, two syllables... Cinemaquette. Their real hair on Arnold, Jack Sparrow, and Viggo Mortensen was impressive. But for what they charge, they need to be rooting actual hair from their subjects!

 

[devlinboy]

i prefer molded hair . that lost boys sculpt by bobby, is an example of a super talented scupltor. real hair only works for me in certain cases. like 1:1 . oh and have you guys ever seen bobby's batcave. and him and a friend have a real batmobile and tumbler (wip). they rule

 

[Agent0028]

I prefer the sculpted hair, rooted hair may look better on some figures, but usually it doesn't. And even done well it can be annoying, the PF LAM is one I think of there, he tends to shed and I fear that if I'm not careful when dusting etc it may come out.

 

[vespagirl]

I prefer the sculpted hair, rooted hair may look better on some figures, but usually it doesn't. And even done well it can be annoying, the PF LAM is one I think of there, he tends to shed and I fear that if I'm not careful when dusting etc it may come out.

Amen - My 12-in Leatherface with real hair is unboxed and he needs the occasional gentle blast of air to keep the dust off. I'LL TAKE MOLDED HAIR FOR $400, ALEX!

 

[Dusty]

Wow, that Lost Boys sculpt is certainly amazing! But you've got to remember that that's an original work of art, not a re-production (one of 1000, or whatever). That's where the trouble comes in - if you spend hours and hours of time getting that one piece to look great, it can definitely be done, but replicating it multiple times on a production schedule is what makes it difficult! As for the Leatherface hair, I think it looks great in person, like a wig (you can't see the skin under it), which is what it looked like in the film, eh? Which I imagine is easier to reproduce than individually rooted hair (where you can see the scalp under it). Plus, you can always get a bit of hairspray out and re-style it a little if you want it to look different