Sideshow ESB/ROTJ Darth Vader

[Matt S]

No pics w/HT Luke, oddly (you'd kinda think that would be the first thing a lot of people would do). Website lists Vader as 13.5" tall (which in 1:6 scale would be about 6.75', so that should be about right, shouldn't it?). I thought the ANH version was 14", but I might be incorrect on that.

Edit: Just Googled quickly and at least on the site I went to, Prowse in costume is listed as being 6.75'. So it sounds as though Sideshow actually does have the scale right, assuming 12" = 6'.

I disagree...Vader is way way too tall compared to the other 12"ers.....not even close. He was not a full foot plus taller than the 6'3" stormies.....

 

[Invictus Sol]

No-one's going to make precisely 6'3" Stormtroopers in 1:6, though. They'll be 12" and Vader is 13.5", so 6' and 6' 9", respectively. Not a foot plus taller in 1:6 scale. The figure would need to be 14+" to be as out of scale as you're suggesting. Sorry, but it is about accurate.

 

[greygoose]

So the Vader figure is actually the correct height in 1/6 scale?

 

[Invictus Sol]

Yep, as I mentioned Prowse was ~6' 9" in costume, which works out to 13.5" in 1:6. The figure standing next to a Stormtrooper will be a tiny bit taller than Prowse was to the real thing (basically figure is 9" taller than a Stormtrooper whereas if the Stormtrooper was in perfect scale, Vader would only be 6" taller). Some of the pictures make him seem much taller than that but not sure if that's angle or what. We'll need to wait on some more comparisons, I guess, to know for sure.

 

[pixletwin]

The ssc ANH Vader is 14.25". There is no way the new Vader is 13.5 with the helmet on' judging from Dave's photo.

All of our Vader mods (torso mod and KP02 mod) took him down to 13.5.

 

[Invictus Sol]

That's what's on Sideshow's page, so I dunno. Maybe we can get Optibotimus or D. Martin to break out the measuring tape.

 

[D. Martin]

They look similar in height in the back-to-back picture, but the new one looks shorter in the side-by-side shot.

It is shorter, from a certain point of view. The body is stockier, so it's more of the neck and head.

I used a T-800 muscle body on my ANH Vader (and switched it back to the original body for the shoot). I don't think the cut and sew on the ROTJ Vader will allow a more muscular body though…

 

[D. Martin]

It is a shame. It's also a shame Sideshow seems to have improved very little from the Vader they released 4 years ago, yet they want 250 dollars.

I want the figure, I want a great Vader, but I'm not sure how to feel about this figure.

I don't fully agree. Beyond the height (which I also have a strong opinion about) and an appreciation for the ANH's jumpsuit, the ROTJ is far superior in all other respects. Trust me, having it in hand is a whole other ball park.

 

[Lejuan]

It is shorter, from a certain point of view.

proportions are one thing, but it's either shorter or it's not

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Well on the side by side shot you can see the shoulders are lower, but the helmet brings it back up to Anh height

 

[bmarz1000]

What a missed opportunity.
It looks clumsy and awkward. The body is still way too tall. The KP02 body is perfect in height and bulk. Why couldn't Sideshow have produced something comparable to that?
The mask and dome look too small for the body.
The mouthpiece on the mask doesn't slope back at the correct angle and is really bugging me (they got it right on the ANH version so how could they screw it up on this one???).
The shoulder pads are horribly shaped. (Luckily the cape covers them up for the most part). Suit looks "cheap" compared to ANH. Dome is still way off (can't believe Hasbro got the dome much better proportioned in their attempt and Sideshow have messed it up both times so far).

In a nutshell, it saddens me to think that customisation is still required to get this looking correct. This thing should have been much better straight out of the box.

Here's my ANH which uses the KPO2 body, LForigno cape and robes and Hasbro dome. The result (at least in my opinion) - a much more accurately proportioned looking Vader who doesn't make the Troopers or Imperial Officer figures look like little kids next to him!

If we, as fans can get our ANH Vader's looking like this, why can't Sideshow learn from their mistakes and give us a more accurate figure - especially considering the massive resources that they have, not to mention access to Lucasfilm reference pics etc, etc? Having said that, you only need to look at the commonly available reference pics or even just look at the movies themselves to realise that their latest offering doesn't look as good as it could and SHOULD have been.

I'm with you Chris. This was a chance to correct the issues with the previous version and somehow they fell short. After all the feedback and discussions among the fans, this should have been as close to "perfect" as possible.

Congrats to those who are looking forward to this figure. Hopefully it looks better in-hand.

By the way, here's my Sideshow ANH with the same mods as cking.

 

[SwedishHeat]

I appreciate these early reviews showing us what's what, but I don't need the commentary about it, just show me the thing. Honestly, whether the opinion is biased or not, I can't trust someone's opinion who got it for free.

Most of the reviewers in this hobby are sent this stuff for free, or only do reviews on stuff they like, so I'm not even sure there are reviews that are objectively critical. These things are so expensive, no one is going to buy something if they're not totally sure they're going to love it, so it makes it very hard to get a non-biased opinion.

I can look at the ANH Vader and the ROTJ Vader movie costumes and spot a few of the differences. . . I don't see any of those difference in the side by side of the SSC figs. I completely understand that there are production limitations and warpage in molding and all that sort of stuff. I don't even think that Hasbro "intentionally" got their Vader helmet right, as though they studied the proportions exactingly, I think they just got lucky.

The body is the biggest issue for me, all that talk about going in and revising it, and it's maybe a few millimeters shorter when it needs to be at least a half inch.

I like how many extras there are, and I can see where the $250 goes. I know everyone likes to say "HT prices" but Sideshow is delivering DX style releases, with alternate heads and light-up stands and such, at the "old" DX prices, so I have no complaints regarding price. I just don't think it captures the look of ROTJ Darth Vader.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

The side by side shot next to the stock Anh was enough for me to see the potential, I made all mods except the body swap to mine and it is my favourite overall, looks incredible... This has its faults but the potential is there and with features Like the 2 part boots has a lot more poses available

 

[bloodgear]

I'd be willing to let the height not bother me too much if the dome was allright. Still too small.
Kind of wish I didn't use my RP on it but then again at least it's cheaper.

 

[TheFiend]

If Hot Toys did ever make a Vader, it'd be a DX and cost well over the $300 mark and still have flaws.

Yup. Not sure why some people are convinved Hot Toys would do a better job accuracy wise. If you really wanted to be an accuracy hound( and a lot of times you dont even need to be that) you'll see inaccuracies all over the place on HT figures. Theyll make a quality product, but this looks like a quality product too.

As a casual fan it's interesting to see people so excited about this. I have the ANH version and the improvements seem to me so marginal as to be not worth the expense.

I have a modified ANH version and at the moment I'm not seeing many pieces I want to aquire from this release to upgrade on my own. So in that sense I kinda agree with you. As a stock figure this one has the ANH version beat, but I'm not sure by how much though.

Looking forward to more pics.....


Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bo Shrek]

I think the Hot toys talk is due to the $250 price. If it was $200 I believe less would be said in regards to HT.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

I think the Hot toys talk is due to the $250 price. If it was $200 I believe less would be said in regards to HT.

Have you been in the hoth Luke thread

 

[shocktrooper_au]

But again love it in this pick, the dome looks a lot more reminiscent of the esb helm I remember , and it looks like I won't have to fork out for new robes , if I can achieve this look and proportion I will be able to leave this guy as stock, the only mods in my mind now are maybe bulking arms and stuffing the hip joints with cotton wool to stop the pants collapsing there, the one real pain from the Anh version was the limited foot placement from the one piece boots which is also fixed, so I may hunt down a pair for the older figure, actually I might replace the old ones body with this too

 

[AusGeorge5]

But again love it in this pick, the dome looks a lot more reminiscent of the esb helm I remember , and it looks like I won't have to fork out for new robes , if I can achieve this look and proportion I will be able to leave this guy as stock

Absolutely!

Can't wait!

 

[TheFiend]

Maybe... really depends on how it looks in-hand. Might start by just cutting out a bit of the thighs or calves. The arms look a bit too thin, but that could easily be fixed with a bit of padding.

Yeah, I wouldn't be concerned with the arms at all. Super easy fix that will cost no extra money. Its funny how not everyone can agree on the height/scale though. You'd figure that would be one thing that is cut and dry, not up to someones interpretation.

So



Sent from my LG-E739 using Tapatalk 2