Official 1/6th Darth Vader Thread

[FQRizzo]

I wish they'd made the boots more pliable or separate like Medicom's, the lack of poseability bugs me...
But it looks like a great figure, thanks for the review!

One-piece boots means no possibility of weak ankles. :chew

 

[MaulFan]

One-piece boots means no possibility of weak ankles. :chew

That's the upside. Where ANH Vader pretty much just stands up most of the time, even dueling Obi-Wan he wasn't very dynamic, it's livable on this figure. I'll take the little bit of limitation and not worrying about him toppling over.

He's been standing on my desk for nearly 12 hours now and hasn't buckled once.

 

[dedguy]

The problem I have with Sideshow sculpted boots, which I didn't realize was the problem until getting some Hot Toys figures with sculpted boots, is that the ankle of the boot isn't sculpted to be at a natural standing angle. So even with the legs slightly spread you end up with the boots never laying flat which isn't a problem with the Hot Toys figures. They somehow manage to have like no ankle movement and still remain flat in a variety of standing poses.

 

[thenammagazine]

The problem I have with Sideshow sculpted boots, which I didn't realize was the problem until getting some Hot Toys figures with sculpted boots, is that the ankle of the boot isn't sculpted to be at a natural standing angle. So even with the legs slightly spread you end up with the boots never laying flat which isn't a problem with the Hot Toys figures. They somehow manage to have like no ankle movement and still remain flat in a variety of standing poses.

Yes and no. That has more to do with the lack of a solid ankle on the HT figures, relying more on the barbell vs. Sideshows more "aesthetically realistic" ankle. But several poses for my military figures have one boot not lying perfectly grounded either, so while in some cases you can get the boots to lye flush, HT's fully sculpted boot-feet still suffer similar issues.

 

[Centrocal]

If someone wanted to replace the boots with better articulated boots which ones would you recommend ?

 

[thenammagazine]

If someone wanted to replace the boots with better articulated boots which ones would you recommend ?

Why on earth would anyone want to do that? Not only are Sideshow's boots better detailed/more realistic, and the body likely bigger all the way around, but Vader wasn't a ballerina.

 

[Valfar]

I don't really care for ankle articulation on this figure, i mean he was not like fricking Darth Maul running around and cracked out on PCP..i can't see myself posing Vader in these wide leg stances.

 

[Darthgothikus]

Hmmm. While we're throwing opinions about the ankles around I have an observation.

In some of your pics Sean you have posed Vader with his legs a little appart (not a "deep" stance, but not straight up and down)
His feet still look flat on the floor though. Question is, is there a "sweet spot" or do we have a range of leg stances achievable while keeping feet flat on floor?

 

[Dally]

No ankle articulation is fine by me. It means that it'll be a lot easier for him to stand on his own, though I doubt I'd ever pose him without his stand anyway.

 

[Valfar]

No ankle articulation is fine by me. It means that it'll be a lot easier for him to stand on his own, though I doubt I'd ever pose him without his stand anyway.

If there is anything i dislike most about Sideshow, its their bloody stands..they stay in the box.

 

[Dally]

If there is anything i dislike most about Sideshow, its their bloody stands..they stay in the box.

One thing that really sucks about their Star War's stands is that over time the figure's feet end up sticking to the silver paint on the base.

 

[thenammagazine]

One thing that really sucks about their Star War's stands is that over time the figure's feet end up sticking to the silver paint on the base.

I'm surprised nobody's come up with a fix for that, like a plastic overlay or a diecut adhesive laminate, etc.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Figure looks awesome, the helmet is a bit undersized though, I wonder if it will fit in the Detolf, I hope so

 

[jkno]

Ok, I'll leave the other thread to be primarily photos and put the review up here.

OVERALL LOOK

While there are a few points where depending on your source material, he may not look dead on like Vader from ANH, I'd say he's 90% there. He is very tall, just over 14" in height, taller than a Hot Toys Predator, and next to other figures in the line, he seems to be in good scale.

While it may not be perfect, and that's all in the eyes of the beholder, I feel this is the best looking 1/6 Vader mask and helmet made to date. From many angles, I feel like I'm staring at him out of the movie, angles where previous Vader's have fallen short of matching up to. The head also has prett good posability, mainly left to right and backwards, forward motion isn't too much because of the bottom of his faceplate.

PAINT

Not too much to paint on a Darth Vader, but what needs to be is done very well, clean edges, nice color and finish. The eyes on the mask feature a reddish tint like sunglasses, which is film accurrate to the ANH Vader appearance. The mask features correct mix of black gloss and gun metal elements.

While it's film accurrate, it is a little strange to see Vader without paint on his right tusk. Some may custom add paint to balance it out. Looking at images from the movie, the film helmet benefits from the extra detail of 1:1 scale, it catches more light and often looks as though it's silver like the left, even though it isn't.

The chest armor has a very nice finish, dull, not glossy like it was in Empire and Jedi, and the small detailing on the belt and chest box has a really nice metal look to it, or synthetic lights.

BODY

First and most important thing to cover here in my mind is the tightness of joints. Posability is irrelevant if the body flops around like a rag doll.

To my delight, Vader is fantastic. The joints on this figure are as tight as any Hot Toys figure I've ever owned, and I mention HT simply because I personally find their bodies to be the sturdiest you can get without being fragile either.

Now, as far as articulation, seems to be same as other bodies, torso, arms, neck, etc.

Hands can't pose, the gloves are a solid piece that can rotate. May not be to everyone's liking but I'm hapy with it, and with 4 right hands and 2 left, there's plenty of options.

CLOTHING

I was asked how the bodysuit compares with the Medicom figure, and for the sake of the comparison, my Medi-Vader is the ROTJ, incase there's variation between it and the ROTS version. Overall, they feel about the same. Medicom's is slightly glossier, which I think the matte finish to Sideshow's is more favorable. For those wondering, it's closed in the back by a velcro seam.

The codpiece is plastic with a texture and finish that matches the leather of his belt and the belt holding the codpiece on. Both belts are fastened with a strong velcro in the back, much like the Stormtrooper.

The chest box has a belt wrapping around his midsection with 2 shoulder straps, it's a very nice, snug fit, the box doesn't misalign or flop around. The belt part connects in the back with a clip connector like the armor on Hot Toys ALIENS Marines.

The boots are a very stiff plastic/rubber. Like I've said, given his size, I'm fine with this solid construction and no ankle articulation, as much as it might add, could also add risk to this figure so having something very sturdy is nice. Even though the boot is a solid piece, there's a matte boot with the shiny shin guard attached to it, kinda neat, a little better than just a solid piece. The gloves are nicely done, have small wrinkling and detailing to make them look used and not just pristine and perfect.

ACCESSORIES

Basically, 6 hands and ignited and unignited lightsaber, and of course the saber hilts are up to the same detail and caliber we've come to expect. As you've seen in photos, the blade is more transparent and darker red like the Palpatine and Ventress figures insted of the more pink, frosted look the Maul sabers had.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the cool, ample and comprehensive review my friend!!

 

[LOPIE]

MaulFan thank you very much for taking the time with pics, answering questions the review you wrote. You are a true Freak.

 

[Lordscum]

MaulFan thank you very much for taking the time with pics, answering questions the review you wrote. You are a true Freak.

Yea I second this! Thanks so much Mualfan for taking the time to do all of this ! Vader looks like a homerun for Sideshow! Now the hardest part is waiting for the next 3-4 weeks! Hopefully these will all be shipped out by
the time they start shipping out the SDCC orders.

 

[dedguy]

Yes and no. That has more to do with the lack of a solid ankle on the HT figures, relying more on the barbell vs. Sideshows more "aesthetically realistic" ankle. But several poses for my military figures have one boot not lying perfectly grounded either, so while in some cases you can get the boots to lye flush, HT's fully sculpted boot-feet still suffer similar issues.

Yes they do. My point was that they don't suffer the same issues but that it's nothing close to the same problem. I have transfered my fair shared of SSC figures onto Hot Toys bodies and it does nothing to help the problem (except in the super soft rubber boots like on Spike). Most Sideshow boots they don't even lay flat in a relaxed standing pose.

I also hate Sideshow's stands, also not a huge fan of Hot Toys stands. If I HAVE to use a stand I prefer those simple black sheet metal stands. Usually I don't use 'em at all though.

 

[screamingmetal]

Some fantastic pics of such an amazing figure Maulfan! I'm really looking forward to getting mine if I can afford it.

 

[MaulFan]

Hmmm. While we're throwing opinions about the ankles around I have an observation.

In some of your pics Sean you have posed Vader with his legs a little appart (not a "deep" stance, but not straight up and down)
His feet still look flat on the floor though. Question is, is there a "sweet spot" or do we have a range of leg stances achievable while keeping feet flat on floor?

I honestly can't say, I just went for some open leg saber stances and if he could stand up on his own in that pose great, having bought 12" figurs for years from Hasbro and Sideshow and even a number of Hot Toys figures, I'm quite used to non-posable ankles and don't worry myself too much how they look, just if the figure is supported.

One thing I hadn't mentoned that I'll point out, the body suit does limit leg articulation a bit, you can only go about as wide with the legs as some of my poses, he can't kneel in it. I hope if they do an ESB figure, he can kneel because that was one of the more memorable ESB moments seeing him kneel before the Emperor. Again, being an ANH figure, I'm not going to criticize these points too much, Vader was a very stiff character in the first film and the figure's as posable as Prowse was in that movie, but for future movies where Vader did more, I would like the figure to be able to do those things as well.

 

[galactiboy]

Does the cape have a wire in the hem? And just in general do you find the cape easy to work with for posing?