Official 1/6th Darth Vader Thread

[JustinLuck]

So true, and that is something that you have to consider with a license. Personally, I feel SS are worth the money....when their factory delievers a well painted piece....I mean $80 versus $150 plus is a huge difference.

For human characters, I doubt Hot Toys would reach $150. I paid $144 for Iron Man. I already paid $100+ for Indy after tax. BR Joker was $114. The price differential is now so small, I would rather pay the extra for quality tailoring and a superior body.

That is NOT to say Hot Toys is perfect by any means.

Hot Toys has scale issues just like Sideshow. Their TDK Batman and Wayne heads are undersized compared to the Joker head.

Hot Toys does not consider height differences between actors or characters.

Hot Toys character selection can be just as random as Sideshow and they certainly leave out more than a few important characters in a line.

Hot Toys can take up to a year to release a figure after announcement, just like Sideshow. Was the Tumbler ever released???

Hot Toys makes it very difficult to purchase loose bodies or accessory items. Truetypes are collector pieces as themselves. And Hot Toys seems to have little customer support. Although my experience with Sideshow support hasn't been that great either.

Point is, both companies have room for improvement.

 

[MaulFan]

For human characters, I doubt Hot Toys would reach $150. I paid $144 for Iron Man. I already paid $100+ for Indy after tax. BR Joker was $114. The price differential is now so small, I would rather pay the extra for quality tailoring and a superior body.

That's a great bargain you got on the BR Joker, but I'd say average retail was $140-$150, and any deals can be found on SSC and HT.

Yes Indy was close to HT prices, but pretty much anything HT with a likeness seems to be in the $140-$150 range these days, Sideshow can be as high as $100 for their more elaborate figures but still as low as $70 for figures like Piett and Ki-Adi Mundi. A Hot Toys Piett would likely go for $140, and while probably better, not twice as much better.

 

[JustinLuck]

I figure the BR Joker is cheaper because it is through DC Direct rather than resellers in Hong Kong. It is because Hot Toys does not cater to US customers why we have to usually pay a premium.

 

[OSCORP]

and while better.

Fixed!!!!!

 

[MaulFan]

Well if that's the case, it wouldn't matter for Star Wars, I'm sure Sideshow would be the HT distributor for that and we know what prices through their are. It's also possible DCD might drop prices trying to win favor, I know they're not the most popular company with fans , throwing them a price break on demanded items is a good way to win folks over.

 

[JustinLuck]

Yes, and like I said, I am still waiting for my BR Joker pre-order to go through, while most you already have it. I think EF pre-ordered from the same place I did.

 

[MaulFan]

Well, I think that has to do with poor negotiations or something on DCD's part. Only one time have I ever seen Hot Toys products sold through SSC not either be earlier than other HT direct places like Toys2, be same time as places like Toys2, or be maybe a month or two later than other places, and that was the Endoskeleton and totally reasonable because the SSC release had to be put out as a Terminator 2 Endo and not T1 as Sideshow only had a T2 license. DCD seems to be like 4-5 months after everyone else, I imagine that's something they did or didn't do in making their arrangement with Hot Toys. Hell, the TDK stuff originally was going to only be overseas and HT dealers like Toys2, but DCD worked something out.

 

[Matt S]

I didn't realize scale was an issue with Hot Toys...interesting - thanks for the information, Justin!

 

[MaulFan]

I didn't realize scale was an issue with Hot Toys...interesting - thanks for the information, Justin!

In my opinion, more so than any of the big 3 makers. In a Hot Toys Star Wars line, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker would be the same height.

While Sideshow's lines aren't perfect in scaling, it's just not possible with limited base bodies, they've done a pretty good job of having short looks, tall Qui-Gons and average Hans.

Hot Toys figures are brutal in relation to each other. Their females are all scaled to about 5 foot tall, and every female I know of them doing (Ripley, Elizabeth Swann) are taller than that and look goofy with the males. I haven't collected an SSC line where that height wasn't correct, Leia is that short so those figures look fine. Then you've got males. Jack Sparrow is a towering giant in the Pirates line, and for some reason, specialty figures like Batmans and Davy Jones end up a slight bit shorter than standard figures, so Davy Jones is the shortest POTC character, and Batman is shorter than the Joker in the TDK line.

HT's good for the quality of an individual product, but their lines, between scaling issues and character choices, are a weak spot.

 

[Deak Starkiller]

For human characters, I doubt Hot Toys would reach $150. I paid $144 for Iron Man. I already paid $100+ for Indy after tax. BR Joker was $114. The price differential is now so small, I would rather pay the extra for quality tailoring and a superior body.

That is NOT to say Hot Toys is perfect by any means.

Hot Toys has scale issues just like Sideshow. Their TDK Batman and Wayne heads are undersized compared to the Joker head.

Hot Toys does not consider height differences between actors or characters.

Hot Toys character selection can be just as random as Sideshow and they certainly leave out more than a few important characters in a line.

Hot Toys can take up to a year to release a figure after announcement, just like Sideshow. Was the Tumbler ever released???

Hot Toys makes it very difficult to purchase loose bodies or accessory items. Truetypes are collector pieces as themselves. And Hot Toys seems to have little customer support. Although my experience with Sideshow support hasn't been that great either.

Point is, both companies have room for improvement.

Who is your supplier? There is no way you picked up a BR Joker for $114! His MSRP from DCD was $174.95! And Iron-Man at $144 is a good deal too (also more believable). Seriously who is the guy you buy from?

 

[thenammagazine]

I pre-ordered the BR Joker for $114. I believe Lando would fall within that price range.

I agree that Hot Toys is not reliable for releasing a broad range of characters...and takes just as long to release figures with waves 1, 2 ,3, and so on. I'm still waiting for the BR Joker from DC Direct.

BR Joker at that price? Did you forget to add in your deposit fee?! Anyways, let's be fair and put him in the Dutch range of $150 even though I think with LFL licensing fees he'd be more on par with Medicom's $180. But let's stick with the $150. So you'd pay $70 more for a better body? Because that's just about the only thing that can be improved here.

 

[MaulFan]

Honestly, the Bruce Wayne portraits are the only HT ones I've seen that were undersized, and it's a bit perplexing as to why. I've got over a dozen HT humans and those are the only 2 heads I've seen that with. I know some folks think the Two-Face head was off, but it's in scale with the average 1/6 head, it's the body and costume that make that one look off, but the Bale heads are definitely a hair smaller, not Medi small, but not in line with the 1/6 standard HT and Sideshow employ either.

 

[lerath666]

Don;t ge me wrong, But keep the electronics OUt of my figures. Yeah, it's kinda neet to have iron man with light0-up palms and light up eyes, but I'd Rather have not had the lights, and had better torso articulation. Lights are neet, but I'll take better articulated figures over lighted effects any day of the week.

 

[JustinLuck]

But who says electronics automatically negate articulation?

Deak, I pre-ordered from DCBS.

 

[Dally]

I love that they used lights in Iron Man, but a second Mark III helmet with painted eyes would have been nice for long term display.

 

[MaulFan]

Yeah, I'm not an expert, but I imagine Iron Man would have the same articulation he has with or without electronics. The HT Endoskelton has light up eyes and every part conceivable moves on that thing.

HT's getting pretty advanced with lights. The new Predator has a light up bio helmet, and yet the added technology seems to have no effect on the look of the helmet, very well hidden and kept in scale, and the batter pack seems to be a small bit at the back of his armor with a small wire to run from the power to the light up unit.

HT seems very skiled at the integration of electronics into their pieces, which is why I think IM was made as poseable as he could be regardless of the tech in him.

 

[barryo]

yea, i cant quite imagine an iron man that doesnt light up but i will be just fine with no light vader. may go with the cathode saber one day if its not terribly expensive to do.

 

[lerath666]

becuase of some of the lights in the chest, Iron man has very limited torso articulation.
The scarfce has no torso articulation
And Gelnn's vaders end up with no torso articulation as well.

The circut boards and batteries have got to go somewhere. Also, becuase of the delicate wires inside the bodies, they loos further articulation to protect them from twisting.

 

[MaulFan]

Well, the HT Endo batteries are very small, and all respect to what Hurricane achieves, but it's possible HT may know things to reduce the size and such of the tech.

There's only a small number of figures that would benefit from it anyway, and really, I don't see a need for a a great range of torso articulation in Vader, C-3PO is as stiff as you can get in the movie anyway so to have him with light up eyes would be great.

I think nice things can be done with electronics and where it can really benefit the greater look of a figure with minmal sacrifice, I think it should be done. Is IM limited, I'll take word that it is, but I've seen a great range of posing in photos, so while it may be possible to get more from him, there's quite a lot to be happy with seemingly and you get a better representation because the lights take the gap between real prop and collectible and shrink it.

 

[lerath666]

Yeah, i see where you're coming from, and TBQH, it probably would not be hard to wire up vaders chest box and belt boxes with an external battery pack hidden on his belt at the back. threepio having light-up eyes would work as well, due to the liht being very small. it's the chest light in iron man, I think, that limits his torso.

so glenn, could you do something like that, Wire up a chest and belt-box set with an external battery packl for vader?