Sideshow Hoth Han Solo (Echo Base)

[galactiboy]

I'm guessing here, but they probably thought it was an affordable way to make the sculpts more sophisticated. HT relies on high tech processes and extreme skill & time, which costs money, they have built up a system of paint and transfer work that is top notch.

SS eyes have never been great, so I guess they went for an option which seemed to be an answer to their problems and wasn't particularly skilled. An affordable way to get eyes would be perceived as high end. It backfired because the factories they have producing the figures just aren't good enough.

That's my theory as well... they need to stop. All they've done is continued to have a sub-part product, but now it's more work to fix it. Repainting the eyes is no biggie, having to resculpt eyelids is not

That definitely helps. I just wonder how easy or hard it is to take the head apart to adjust the eyes like that...

I depends, on Drake you have heat the head and pull out the plate with pliers. It takes some work, but is doable. the problem though, is not that the eye plate is misaligned, but the decal/transfer they use for the eyes is not well placed. So removing the plate and repositioning it wouldn't do much good here because it fits in a spefic way.

On Drake it was necessary to remove the plate because it was distending the jaw, but after I shaved down the plate the eyes lined up in the same place.

I think the easiest save on Han will be to add a dark line above the eye and maybe the hint of eyelashes on the bottom. Maybe a bit of darkness around the eyes as well to help give it more of a natural look. Right now the eyes are very open and the area around the eyes is all the same color, a bit of work might just save it.

Barring that you can always repaint the eyes a bit higher, but it's really the absence of the upper eyelid causing the issue here. I haven't done a side-by-side with Trevor's sculpt, but I'd be willing to bet his has a clearly defined upper eyelid that is now missing on this sculpt.

I remember that! That was SDCC 2012! They've been trying this crappy technique since back then and they still haven't gotten it right!

Oh god, that's way worse than I remembered... looks like that awful Twisted Whiskers cartoon

 

[davejames]

I think I'll probably just use some Magic Sculpt and make some new eyelids for mine. Shouldn't be that terribly difficult to do (although obviously it's a mod I would rather NOT have to make on a $200 figure).

 

[Rorywan]

That's my theory as well... they need to stop. All they've done is continued to have a sub-part product, but now it's more work to fix it. Repainting the eyes is no biggie, having to resculpt eyelids is not



I depends, on Drake you have heat the head and pull out the plate with pliers. It takes some work, but is doable. the problem though, is not that the eye plate is misaligned, but the decal/transfer they use for the eyes is not well placed. So removing the plate and repositioning it wouldn't do much good here because it fits in a spefic way.

On Drake it was necessary to remove the plate because it was distending the jaw, but after I shaved down the plate the eyes lined up in the same place.

I think the easiest save on Han will be to add a dark line above the eye and maybe the hint of eyelashes on the bottom. Maybe a bit of darkness around the eyes as well to help give it more of a natural look. Right now the eyes are very open and the area around the eyes is all the same color, a bit of work might just save it.

Barring that you can always repaint the eyes a bit higher, but it's really the absence of the upper eyelid causing the issue here. I haven't done a side-by-side with Trevor's sculpt, but I'd be willing to bet his has a clearly defined upper eyelid that is now missing on this sculpt.



Oh god, that's way worse than I remembered... looks like that awful Twisted Whiskers cartoon

I think you're completely right about the eyelids GB. The eyeholes on the face seem to be hand cut, somewhat crudely, looks like they just lopped of the lid detail as they went. I wonder did the original heads have eyelids before the production line put the eyeballs in? Either way, it's a real issue.

 

[Asta]

I wonder did the original heads have eyelids before the production line put the eyeballs in? Either way, it's a real issue.

This was Trevor Grove's original sculpt:

 

[davejames]

Yeah I think the issue is probably more with the lower eyelids being cut down too much.

 

[SithThundercracker]

That's the post:

Great pics!
What the hell are those things with the big hands??? I'm going to have nightmares tonight...

On the customising front, i popped up to work and picked up some white 6mm BBs.
The good news is that they are a PERFECT replacement for the SS eyes. With a set of eye decals, it will be possible to replace the eyes and have yourself a PERS-like setup where you can reposition them yourself.
I just drew the iris on with a sharpie, but with good decals and maybe three coats of clear lacquer, this will look grand. I'm going to see if i can do it on the angry/laser face tomorrow.

 

[paramoremcr88]

 

[ebor]

Ah ha, those pictures, especially the last are showing that this HS is not that bad--proper lighting and voila, Hanniquin Solo is better. I may cave, on the Blue Jacket EX, HMMMM...

 

[Khev]

I just walked over and looked at my HT BD Bespin Luke up close. Even with the PERS he still has freaking eyelids. Good grief Sideshow.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thanks Jason!!!!

Nice pictures. Good to see the reality of the Bespin jacket, but still a nice addition that didn't have to be made. Sculpt looks pretty good is dark, shadowy situations.

 

[Centrocal]

View attachment 167351

Thats the exact expression

 

[kl241]

Man the lack of eyelids just kills the otherwise amazing sculpt. KILLS it.

WTF?!?!?

 

[Pixelpiper]

freaking eyelids. Good grief Sideshow.

The sculpt in that respect looks, if not true, at least close, to the original TG sculpt with an inverted top eyelid. The bottom eye socket on the production piece looks a bit enlarged, especially to the outside of the face compared to the original. IMO, it's the top that gives the most "lacking eyelid" vibe.

The deadness traits are, again IMO, something very common with Hot Toys and others (industry-wide issue) and significantly exaggerated by lighting and photography. There's no denying that some figures look more lifeless than others, but this can always vary wildly from one photo to another. This is always part of the gamble with a neutral pose. I can't be sure, but at the moment I'd expect we won't hear as much moaning about this guy's eyes as we have in the past about Hot Toys Indy and Batman DX12.

 

[kl241]

Eyelid woes could be cured with proper shading. Trouble is their factory paints are so god awful he'd end up looking like he had eyeshadow on.

 

[galactiboy]

The sculpt in that respect looks, if not true, at least close, to the original TG sculpt with an inverted top eyelid. The bottom eye socket on the production piece looks a bit enlarged, especially to the outside of the face compared to the original. IMO, it's the top that gives the most "lacking eyelid" vibe.

The deadness traits are, again IMO, something very common with Hot Toys and others (industry-wide issue) and significantly exaggerated by lighting and photography. There's no denying that some figures look more lifeless than others, but this can always vary wildly from one photo to another.

View attachment 167367

Hmmm... I think you're right, there is very little visible top eyelid on the original. The production head looks similar in that regard, but the bottom looks more pushed out. Almost looks like there is a thick shelf of eyelid that looks pretty unnatural.

Although it also looks like there is a bit more space between the upper lid and the eyebrows on the production; could just be the angle... but the proto has a more determined set to the eyes and eyebrows. Regardless of the cause, something is definitely off here

And I never noticed this before, but it almost looks like the eyes on TG original are a different material... could be they just have a gloss on them, but I wonder if this was originally sculpted with the eye system in place... or the intention of using something similar

 

[Pixelpiper]

Eyelid woes could be cured with proper shading. Trouble is their factory paints are so god awful he'd end up looking like he had eyeshadow on.

Hmm, could help with some customs, but I can't think of anything off hand.

 

[Khev]

The sculpt in that respect looks, if not true, at least close, to the original TG sculpt with an inverted top eyelid. The bottom eye socket on the production piece looks a bit enlarged, especially to the outside of the face compared to the original. IMO, it's the top that gives the most "lacking eyelid" vibe.

The deadness traits are, again IMO, something very common with Hot Toys and others (industry-wide issue) and significantly exaggerated by lighting and photography. There's no denying that some figures look more lifeless than others, but this can always vary wildly from one photo to another. This is always part of the gamble with a neutral pose. I can't be sure, but at the moment I'd expect we won't hear as much moaning about this guy's eyes as we have in the past about Hot Toys Indy and Batman DX12.

View attachment 167367

I wonder if Trevor sculpted the eyes with the thought that they'd be looking slightly up, because it isn't so jarring on the prototype.

Luke was definitely sculpted with eyelids, we'll see how he turns out in production.

 

[thedarkknight]

I don't remember the bespin jacket having a zipper. Does anyone have any pictures that confirm or deny this?

 

[Khev]

No zipper.

 

[ebor]

Is Han wearing other pants under the Hoth Pants?