Sideshow 1/6 Imperial Probe Droid

[Mad Old Lu]

At the very least, putting something inside to make it heavier is a good idea. And maybe somehow reinforcing the base.
I felt a little worried for it.
And honestly, even though I don't regret buying it, this was a rabbit in a hat kind of deal.
The official Sideshow images are gorgeous, and that's what made me buy, but the product you get is NOT the same thing. The images are of a heavier prototype, probably made of resin or something, completely different paintjob (see that grain to it that makes it look like it was made of metal? yeah you can forget it).

Hate to say this too, but the plain base in the sideshow pics had this connected ridge in the middle of the dome, it wasn't a perfect dome, which gave it an industrial look.
I'm glad I have it, but it's not the end-all scale version the images made it out to be.
But it did take me forever to find the light button. Haha.

That is particularly disappointing to hear.

Thanks for the response, but I'm still not sure how the piece sits on the pole. Does it just sit or does it attach?

 

[ZE_501]

The pole slides inside the droid. It's actually quite stable, although the base could use some weight.

 

[ZE_501]

That is particularly disappointing to hear.

Thanks for the response, but I'm still not sure how the piece sits on the pole. Does it just sit or does it attach?

I should also reiterate that the paint could be improved, but I wouldn't call it bad.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Thanks ZE. Glad to hear the droid sits securely on the pole. As far as the nice speckle-y finish the proto had, it is disappointing. But based on some of the initial pics, it doesn't look too bad at all. It has that matte black look the movie prop did.

 

[jedibear]

View attachment 128557

Terrific shot, Daz....getting more excited to see this for myself...really appreciate the pics..keep'em coming!

 

[ApeManRyan]

I kinda have to laugh and applaud you at the same time, ApeManRyan! You know yourself well enough to know that you will eventually sell the piece, so why bother getting it in the first place despite of how good it came out!

I've come to know myself very well. I use to just order than cancel then reorder than cancel again and so on and so forth. I was one of those who couldn't make up there mind and than when I finally got the piece in I never kept it. I know what to order and what I like at this point. I try to buy pieces that I know I will never EVER sell unless financial or life hardship hits but other than that I want the pieces coming in to stay in the collection. I've gotten better with the collecting game for sure. Once in a while I'll do so but it's a rare event.

 

[Vonhahn]

I got the Imp Droid tonight. Overall I think it LOOKS really cool. I do have to say that I too am a little disappointed by the hollow and flimsy feel of the shell. I'm posting some iffy cell picts below, hopefully you will get the point that it really is hollow except for the chips inside for sound and light. It makes it feel cheap. I do like the base, even though it is vinyl rubber. The instructions tell you which legs go in which slots with numbers....however they don't correspond to the actual numbers. No fear however, the numbers are sculpted on the legs and posts so forget eh instructions and look at the actual parts. Legs are very fragile, and I snapped one at the post, but it was in a way that is easy to glue back together with no issue (maybe the glue from the factory just didn't hold, it wasn't a biggie) but just be careful.

Each of the "Spider Eye" cameras move independently which is cool.

Overall I'm glad I got him as he does LOOK cool....but I don't think it's worth $200.00+. I would say no more then $150 given the hollow and light/flimsy feel.

I will say at least Sideshow got the sound effect correct...unlike Hot Toys and their ED-209!

 

[Dinosoar Daz]

 

[Invictus Sol]

Beautiful shots, Daz. Sadly I cannot rep you again for a while, haha. I can understand the complaints about weight and fragility, but even so, I'm happy with what I paid. I'm assuming this was a fairly small run in comparison to something like R2, so that is bound to have pushed the price up. I think this will be a highly coveted piece once it sells out.

 

[Dinosoar Daz]

Many thanks for the rep points Invictus, much appreciated & glad you like the photos.

For sure, it's a very delicate piece. I guess we've all just gotten to expect the weight of polystone these days
Truthfully, I was glad it was a lightweight, as it cost $60 to ship to New Zealand! Still I have absolutely no regrets,
it's stunning effort from Sideshow and was always a favorite scene from Empire for me.

 

[King Darkness]

Damn fine shots Dinosoar!!! Those pics make me want this, thankfully I don't have $250 to spend

 

[TaliBane]

Interesting how "quality = weight" in so many people's minds. I look at this as more like Fine Molds did a 1/6 scale model and I paid someone to build/paint it. If you think of it in those terms (and add in a SSC $20 off coupon...) and it's really not a bad value, especially as others have pointed out that this has no reuse ability. And it's iconic but is halfway between object/equipment and a "character."

In terms of the weight, if you go to the Sideshow shipping calculator, you'll see this item has a flat rate ship amount to quite a number of countries all around the world for only $30 (obviously not to New Zealand though.) So I'm guessing that lighter weight helped out a lot of collectors worldwide who are used to paying way more for shipping such a large box.

And thank you Dinosoar Daz for the amazing pics. I took one and put it side-by-side with the SSC prototype pics for comparison...

 

[Dinosoar Daz]

Thanks for the compliments guys

A good comparison to a Fine Molds kit and custom paint TaliBane. And like you say, this is a one shot mold for sideshow so that explains the cost.

I did query Sideshow about the shipping cost, as it was $30 to Australia, but no dice. The perils of collecting at the bottom of the world

 

[jkno]

I swear that's not what my instruction sheet looks like.

This info comes directly from the Imperial Intelligence

View attachment 128806View attachment 128807View attachment 128808View attachment 128809

The best Probot pics!!

The SSC Probot looks great so far. The only thing I'm a bit worried is the fragility, one of the 3 reasons I passed 4 times on the less accurate Attakus version.

 

[devilof76]

In this case, I think accuracy and fragility go hand in hand. They could have got around that by making the legs metal, but I'd hate to see what that would have done to the price.

 

[ZE_501]

Interesting how "quality = weight" in so many people's minds. I look at this as more like Fine Molds did a 1/6 scale model and I paid someone to build/paint it. If you think of it in those terms (and add in a SSC $20 off coupon...) and it's really not a bad value, especially as others have pointed out that this has no reuse ability. And it's iconic but is halfway between object/equipment and a "character."

In terms of the weight, if you go to the Sideshow shipping calculator, you'll see this item has a flat rate ship amount to quite a number of countries all around the world for only $30 (obviously not to New Zealand though.) So I'm guessing that lighter weight helped out a lot of collectors worldwide who are used to paying way more for shipping such a large box.

And thank you Dinosoar Daz for the amazing pics. I took one and put it side-by-side with the SSC prototype pics for comparison...

Pretty much agree with all of the above. I think the price was just a touch high, but knowing what it takes to get physical products to market, I can't imagine this being a $150 item, given this probably isn't a large run.

Besides, no one else has a product like this. The Attakus is less accurate, brittle and long out of production, plus it's a statue; so I don't even consider them comparable.

 

[ambasah]

thanks for the pics everyone. I don't care about "weight" per se, but I would have paid more to have it made out of something that doesn't break so easily.

 

[TaliBane]

Jeez, the Attakus Probe Droid (1/5 scale) was $775 at retail back in 2010. I'm amazed people bought it, though Attakus stuff is pretty expensive across the board.

Maybe they could charge that because it was made of polystone.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Beautiful photos, Daz! Looks great!

 

[ZE_501]

Jeez, the Attakus Probe Droid (1/5 scale) was $775 at retail back in 2010. ...:

:O ... That's where *this* nerd draws the line. Crazy talk.