1/6 SSC Gambit Sixth Scale Figure

[Saintv1]

lol i love how confident you are yet how ridiculous your statement is. i am not arguing that it may be more expensive for sideshow to manufacture. i dont even know where sideshow does. my argument is that regardless of how much it costs them, the 1/6 market dictates that it is not ideal for them to charge premium pricing for materially lesser quality than the dominant player in the market place. a freshmen in high school who took basic macroeconomics would know this. companies do not get away, in any market, charging the same for lesser quality.

Regardless of how one feels about the pricing, SSC is making a 1/6 Gambit and HT isn't. So its not like there's a better priced Gambit out there for collectors to choose that has higher quality.

This is why I think the relevant question is what the figure is worth to you, not what the other guy would hypothetically charge for a figure they aren't actually making.

Similarly, I think ThreeZero's 1/6 line is pretty terrible, but they're the only company making 1/6 Destiny figures, so the question isn't what another company might have done, it's a question of how bad i want that item in my collection and what its worth to me at the quality produced.

Meanwhile, I suspect HT is going to hit $300 USD for standard figures within the next two years, based on how rapidly those prices are climbing, so we'll see if the current parity between HT and SS prices persists.

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[faker]

To be honest, Magnet is my favorite X-Men so I bought him, but there is no way he is worth what they charge retail. Once again, since they are charging Hot Toys pricing I am comparing to Hot Toys quality. The body is awful in relative terms - single jointed elbows and knees, some joints incredibly stiff while others flaccid like overcooked noodles. Messed up proportions (see their cyclops figure without the jacket) Weird decisions to skimp on quality like the stand. I won't judge too harshly on the clothing and costume since it is based on a comic book design, but if I imagined a Hot Toys take on the same character, I would be confident Hot Toys would make it look much better.

I tend to agree, there are a lot of hot toys quality figures or similar on the market, and I never really feel as if sideshow figures demand the offering price. It is good to know they've mostly improved sans the bodies. I had horrible issue with their old G.I.Joes, especially the awkward ankle joints and lack of proper joints. There's more than a few bootleg bodies I've bought that are twice as good as their default bodies.

To be honest, I am concerned about this, because their Snake turned out a little more than inadequate.

I think the difference between that and the newer items is night and day.

Costume: while the bodysuit on the old Batman figure is fine, the cape was a mixed bag and the trunks were basically diapers. Sideshow has switched to cloth capes and the tailoring on said capes is also a significant improvement. Likewise, the trunks on Magneto and other recent figure are nice and form fitting cloth pieces, not ugly pleather diapers.

Body: Sideshow has been using the same torso on recent figures and switching put the arms depending on whether the character should have muscular or slim arms. Magneto got the muscular ones. On the whole. I think this body is a huge improvement over the old Batman body that I have, as the musculature looks really good and natural under the suit. However, there is no bicep swivel and only a single bend elbow in the muscular version of the arms, and that sucks. Some feel the chest on the body isnot big enough, but I think its fine. Loose legs is still a problem, sadly.

Head/paint: Magneto is probably the best looking Sideshow figure I own, in this respect. The paint work is simplistic, but effective. Don't expect Hot Toys quality, though, because you just won't get it.

General quality: You're still going to see some occasional misses, but Sideshow is pretty reasonable about replacing items with issues. Having recently bought Batman, Flash, Magneto, Wonder Woman, and Superman, only Superman had a quality issue (a dent in the belt that unfortunately it seems like all of them had at varying degrees of severity). They sent me a replacement body, which had a better belt but some other minor issue on the body, so I'm doing to pry off the belts and swap them. All good as far as I'm concerned, but there is definitely a non-zero chance of QA issues.

What you see in the promo pics is pretty much what you get. If the limited arm articulation isn't a deal breaker for you, anyway.

Nice pics, and this definitely does help my purchase decision. It seems that the bodies are still not up to snuff, but that there's been significant improvement on the cloth goods, so I'll have to swap out Gambit's body for a better one. Do you have an recommendations?

And yes, I would agree their head sculpts/paints have gotten much better in general, as are their alternate hands and sculpted bits.

 

[faker]

I plan on getting this, but I will most likely switch out the head with one I already have. Just something not quite right with that one, and it's not just the ears.
View attachment 497307

Where on earth did you get this fetching head, and do they make more modern Gambit alternatives?

Regardless of how one feels about the pricing, SSC is making a 1/6 Gambit and HT isn't. So its not like there's a better priced Gambit out there for collectors to choose that has higher quality.

This is why I think the relevant question is what the figure is worth to you, not what the other guy would hypothetically charge for a figure they aren't actually making.

Similarly, I think ThreeZero's 1/6 line is pretty terrible, but they're the only company making 1/6 Destiny figures, so the question isn't what another company might have done, it's a question of how bad i want that item in my collection and what its worth to me at the quality produced.

Meanwhile, I suspect HT is going to hit $300 USD for standard figures within the next two years, based on how rapidly those prices are climbing, so we'll see if the current parity between HT and SS prices persists.

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I'm kind of shocked, the 3zero figures I've handled have been pretty good, same manufacturer as former 3A isn't it? Those were always solid too. I still think what he says is valid, I might opt for a nicer alternative and I do think Sideshow is taking advantage of the 1/6th market price but not offering quality on par with bootlegs that cost half price, not to insult sideshow, 1/6th "bootlegs" can be of insanely stellar quality but they really should step up their body game at the very least.

 

[Saintv1]

Where on earth did you get this fetching head, and do they make more modern Gambit alternatives?



I'm kind of shocked, the 3zero figures I've handled have been pretty good, same manufacturer as former 3A isn't it? Those were always solid too.

It seems like it depends.

Their Transformers get rave reviews, and people seem to feel okay about the GOT line (though obviously they don't approach HT quality in their likenesses).

However, whenever I look into reviews for others figure I find many recurring issues. The big one is figures ruined be terrible "weathering" and overall bad paint applications. Their Master Chief and Doom Slayer figures were particularly bad for this, and the Destiny figures look like they've all been pushed in the mud, honestly. Anything that should have sharp details doesn't, and armour or weapons with painted designs are particularly awful. Again, this doesn't seem to be the case with the recent Transformers, but at the same time definitely was true for the recent Destiny 2 Titan.

I still like my ThreeZero Isaac from Dead Space, but that's because the sloppy paint application is well suited to his rusty, dirty armour. They did a Mass Effect 3 Shepard figure around the same time, and it's comically terrible.

Personally, I would much rather buy a Sideshow figure than a ThreeZero figure, but to ThreeZero's credit, they are quite a bit cheaper.

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[faker]

It seems like it depends.

Their Transformers get rave reviews, and people seem to feel okay about the GOT line (though obviously they don't approach HT quality in their likenesses).

However, whenever I look into reviews for others figure I find many recurring issues. The big one is figures ruined be terrible "weathering" and overall bad paint applications. Their Master Chief and Doom Slayer figures were particularly bad for this, and the Destiny figures look like they've all been pushed in the mud, honestly. Anything that should have sharp details doesn't, and armour or weapons with painted designs are particularly awful. Again, this doesn't seem to be the case with the recent Transformers, but at the same time definitely was true for the recent Destiny 2 Titan.

I still like my ThreeZero Isaac from Dead Space, but that's because the sloppy paint application is well suited to his rusty, dirty armour. They did a Mass Effect 3 Shepard figure around the same time, and it's comically terrible.

Personally, I would much rather buy a Sideshow figure than a ThreeZero figure, but to ThreeZero's credit, they are quite a bit cheaper.

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Alright, so this is actually because Mr.Kim, who is mostly the owner of 3ZERO had to finish production on a number of figures 3A started as licensed figures. I wouldn't be surprised if it's only these with specific issues, but any new figures in the line should be much better. That being said, I'm a fan of their weathering.

 

[freestylex06x]

Regardless of how one feels about the pricing, SSC is making a 1/6 Gambit and HT isn't. So its not like there's a better priced Gambit out there for collectors to choose that has higher quality.

This is why I think the relevant question is what the figure is worth to you, not what the other guy would hypothetically charge for a figure they aren't actually making.

Similarly, I think ThreeZero's 1/6 line is pretty terrible, but they're the only company making 1/6 Destiny figures, so the question isn't what another company might have done, it's a question of how bad i want that item in my collection and what its worth to me at the quality produced.

Meanwhile, I suspect HT is going to hit $300 USD for standard figures within the next two years, based on how rapidly those prices are climbing, so we'll see if the current parity between HT and SS prices persists.

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I agree with your point on Sideshow being the only 1/6 company making a Gambit. However, as an example, I decided to go with 1/12 scale in Mezco to get my X-Men fix, including Gambit, given the quality and price point of Mezco so Sideshow is indeed losing sales (I buy a ton from Sideshow).

And I think they also lose sales from customers who are on the cusp of wanting a 1/6 Gambit but decide to go for a Hot Toys figure instead given the value (opportunity cost).

 

[Saintv1]

I tend to agree, there are a lot of hot toys quality figures or similar on the market, and I never really feel as if sideshow figures demand the offering price. It is good to know they've mostly improved sans the bodies. I had horrible issue with their old G.I.Joes, especially the awkward ankle joints and lack of proper joints. There's more than a few bootleg bodies I've bought that are twice as good as their default bodies.

To be honest, I am concerned about this, because their Snake turned out a little more than inadequate.



Nice pics, and this definitely does help my purchase decision. It seems that the bodies are still not up to snuff, but that there's been significant improvement on the cloth goods, so I'll have to swap out Gambit's body for a better one. Do you have an recommendations?

And yes, I would agree their head sculpts/paints have gotten much better in general, as are their alternate hands and sculpted bits.

I'm not the right person to ask about a body swap because I genuinely like the current bodies. Yes, the lack of bicep swivel and double bend elbows is unfortunate, but I feel these bodies do a great job of achieving a really great classical superhero look. On most of mine the legs joints have been fine, also.

Personally, I am pretty wary of body swaps because most of the examples I've seen look awful due to the suit not being tailored to fit that body (see all the M35/M34 body swaps where the character's emblem is horribly stretched due to poor fit). That said, if there was a similar but more articulated alternative to the SS body, I would look into it--I just don't know what the body would be.

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[faker]

I'm not the right person to ask about a body swap because I genuinely like the current bodies. Yes, the lack of bicep swivel and double bend elbows is unfortunate, but I feel these bodies do a great job of achieving a really great classical superhero look. On most of mine the legs joints have been fine, also.

Personally, I am pretty wary of body swaps because most of the examples I've seen look awful due to the suit not being tailored to fit that body (see all the M35/M34 body swaps where the character's emblem is horribly stretched due to poor fit). That said, if there was a similar but more articulated alternative to the SS body, I would look into it--I just don't know what the body would be.

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I've seen more than a few great body swaps in the ASMUS Devil May Cry threads, but it looks like nobody tends to do that as much here. I LOVE the look of the bodies, my issue is the durability and range of motion. I bought one of their star wars figs long ago and the body felt like cheap crap and that I could break it in half at any second, versus hot toys, where I never had that issue, even with the old RE figures.

 

[Saintv1]

I've seen more than a few great body swaps in the ASMUS Devil May Cry threads, but it looks like nobody tends to do that as much here. I LOVE the look of the bodies, my issue is the durability and range of motion. I bought one of their star wars figs long ago and the body felt like cheap crap and that I could break it in half at any second, versus hot toys, where I never had that issue, even with the old RE figures.

I don't think the current body feels cheap, but your mileage may vary.

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[KitbashOfficer]

And I think they also lose sales from customers who are on the cusp of wanting a 1/6 Gambit but decide to go for a Hot Toys figure instead given the value (opportunity cost).

They wouldn't lose sales if they upped their game all around. Sideshow doesn't make the best calls when it comes to their 1/6 lines.

Gambit for example (despite some of the things we're seeing that we don't like) is one of those intelligent moves. Fans have been calling for it, no Hot Toys version in existence, should equal success here.

 

[freestylex06x]

They wouldn't lose sales if they upped their game all around. Sideshow doesn't make the best calls when it comes to their 1/6 lines.

Gambit for example (despite some of the things we're seeing that we don't like) is one of those intelligent moves. Fans have been calling for it, no Hot Toys version in existence, should equal success here.

I hope so. But they really do need to deliver on Gambit. Having no ab articulation is unacceptable at this price point.

 

[ArtDamage]

I hope so. But they really do need to deliver on Gambit. Having no ab articulation is unacceptable at this price point.

Honestly, not sure if I'm in the minority, but im willing to work with limited ab articulation to maintain the chest plate appearance. Im sure it could probably be cut somewhere up top and not look too bad, but im ok if that doesn't happen.

 

[Sardo Numspa]

Honestly, not sure if I'm in the minority, but im willing to work with limited ab articulation to maintain the chest plate appearance. Im sure it could probably be cut somewhere up top and not look too bad, but im ok if that doesn't happen.

I strongly agree. To have ab articulation would mean a jointed torso (to keep the torso armor). That would not be ideal, and everyone would complain about it the same way everyone complained about the HOT TOYS JL Aquaman.
A hard armor look for Gambit would also be much more preferred than some kind of printed/soft look. The material needed at best would be like Hot Toy MCU Iron Spider, which would mean you wouldn't be able to use the ab crunch without ruining the figure anyway.

 

[Sardo Numspa]

How was the Magneto compared to their older releases? I Had their Nathan Drake, and some of their older G.I.Joes and Star Wars, and while the sculpt was nice the clothing was cheap feeling and the body was less than adequate. I haven't bought a modern figure from them in a long time.

I still have many of the older GI Joes, and the improvement over the older figure is absolutely night and day... body, cut & sew tailoring, paint on headsculpts/accessories are far better. Are they Hot Toys quality? Nope. But miles better than they used to be. Comparing Sideshow bodies to Hot Toys is a legit comparison and complaint. Comparing headsculpts is not. Sideshow is intentionally making "comic" inspired versions (maybe because they can't make realistic skin looking headsculpts), so a buyer cannot reasonably expect the same "realistic" looking headsculpts.

lol i love how confident you are yet how ridiculous your statement is. i am not arguing that it may be more expensive for sideshow to manufacture. i dont even know where sideshow does. my argument is that regardless of how much it costs them, the 1/6 market dictates that it is not ideal for them to charge premium pricing for materially lesser quality than the dominant player in the market place. a freshmen in high school who took basic macroeconomics would know this. companies do not get away, in any market, charging the same for lesser quality.

There is nothing ridiculous in my statement. Not sure how long you've been collecting, but a couple years back Sideshow posted some videos regarding their manufacturing, where they discuss the process of going over to China to visit the factories. That's why I know that the manufacturing is done there.
A freshmen in high school who took basic macroeconomics would also understand that companies can, and do get away with charging the same for lesser quality, when the majority of their revenue comes from other revenue streams. Sideshow produce 1/6, but also produce statues, maquettes, art pieces, etc., not to mention being a wholesale distributor for other companies, including Hot Toys.
They charge what they want. If sales aren't enough, they kill the line, and try again later on.
If the 1/6 market dictated pricing, even Hot Toys wouldn't be as expensive as they are. the recent ThreeZero Rambo is as good as any current Hot Toys figure, but costs SIGNIFICANTLY less.
As Saint mentioned, it is primarily a buyer's decision based on what they want to own. If you want all your XMen in 1:12, great. Others prefer larger scale.

 

[KitbashOfficer]

Honestly, not sure if I'm in the minority, but im willing to work with limited ab articulation to maintain the chest plate appearance. Im sure it could probably be cut somewhere up top and not look too bad, but im ok if that doesn't happen.

AGREED! If they're smart, they will have motion/mobility in the waist area which for me is sufficient.

 

[freestylex06x]

I still have many of the older GI Joes, and the improvement over the older figure is absolutely night and day... body, cut & sew tailoring, paint on headsculpts/accessories are far better. Are they Hot Toys quality? Nope. But miles better than they used to be. Comparing Sideshow bodies to Hot Toys is a legit comparison and complaint. Comparing headsculpts is not. Sideshow is intentionally making "comic" inspired versions (maybe because they can't make realistic skin looking headsculpts), so a buyer cannot reasonably expect the same "realistic" looking headsculpts.



There is nothing ridiculous in my statement. Not sure how long you've been collecting, but a couple years back Sideshow posted some videos regarding their manufacturing, where they discuss the process of going over to China to visit the factories. That's why I know that the manufacturing is done there.
A freshmen in high school who took basic macroeconomics would also understand that companies can, and do get away with charging the same for lesser quality, when the majority of their revenue comes from other revenue streams. Sideshow produce 1/6, but also produce statues, maquettes, art pieces, etc., not to mention being a wholesale distributor for other companies, including Hot Toys.
They charge what they want. If sales aren't enough, they kill the line, and try again later on.
If the 1/6 market dictated pricing, even Hot Toys wouldn't be as expensive as they are. the recent ThreeZero Rambo is as good as any current Hot Toys figure, but costs SIGNIFICANTLY less.
As Saint mentioned, it is primarily a buyer's decision based on what they want to own. If you want all your XMen in 1:12, great. Others prefer larger scale.

Of course you are being ridiculous. Go back to my original statement. I never even brought up the topic of how expensive it is for Sideshow to produce. I merely said I do not agree with Sideshow's pricing strategy and you went on a tangent about China. Consumers do not care nor think about how much it costs companies to produce something. They only care about how much they have to pay themselves and what alternatives there are in the market.

Read what you just wrote and think a little. Companies can only do that when they have something else going for them such as brand loyalty, etc. and the fact that they can produce other items is not relevant to the decision making. It is about opportunity cost and profitability, not revenues. You just proved my point for me. Exactly, ThreeZero priced the Rambo figure less because they know that is how they can compete with Hot Toys, even when the Rambo figure is quite comparable to Hot Toys quality. On the other hand, you have Sideshow doing the opposite to ThreeZero. What do you mean the 1/6 market does not dictate pricing? Of course the customers dictate pricing. Hot Toys can continue raising prices because they know customers are willing to pay out of our butts to buy the products. You continue to confuse my point on pricing strategy vs. this other tangent about manufacturing costs and buyer's decisions, etc. I am not arguing about the latter points, I agree with you on them actually.

 

[rjszar]

Where on earth did you get this fetching head, and do they make more modern Gambit alternatives?

I acquired this from Jacob Juan. He's done dozens of X-Men heads from the 80's and 90's including plenty of characters you wouldn't expect. Here are a couple for my next projects, Thunderbird/Warpath and Forge.

 

[actionfiguremovies]

I acquired this from Jacob Juan. He's done dozens of X-Men heads from the 80's and 90's including plenty of characters you wouldn't expect. Here are a couple for my next projects, Thunderbird/Warpath and Forge.
View attachment 497904
View attachment 497905

Those look great. Does he have a web page or Facebook page?

 

[faker]

I hope so. But they really do need to deliver on Gambit. Having no ab articulation is unacceptable at this price point.

email sideshow and tell them is all I could say. It's certainly easy to do, would just require cutting the chest armor below the pecs, sitting that above his shoulders like football armor, and having the ab armor attach to a cloth piece that slides under the chest armor like a wife beater, so most articulation would hide the cloth and the extra bit of plastic would help with that, while the cloth keeps the profile as low as it is now so you don't get Liefeld chest.

I strongly agree. To have ab articulation would mean a jointed torso (to keep the torso armor). That would not be ideal, and everyone would complain about it the same way everyone complained about the HOT TOYS JL Aquaman.
A hard armor look for Gambit would also be much more preferred than some kind of printed/soft look. The material needed at best would be like Hot Toy MCU Iron Spider, which would mean you wouldn't be able to use the ab crunch without ruining the figure anyway.

What happened with Aquaman? All I know is Mysterio seems to have the same problem as Gambit here and I don't think Hot Toys cares to fix it.

 

[faker]

I still have many of the older GI Joes, and the improvement over the older figure is absolutely night and day... body, cut & sew tailoring, paint on headsculpts/accessories are far better. Are they Hot Toys quality? Nope. But miles better than they used to be.

That's great to hear, while I did like their old joes, the cloth was not as durable or quality as I'dve liked, and all their proprietary products I'd gotten from them were from about 2013 the most.

Comparing Sideshow bodies to Hot Toys is a legit comparison and complaint. Comparing headsculpts is not. Sideshow is intentionally making "comic" inspired versions (maybe because they can't make realistic skin looking headsculpts), so a buyer cannot reasonably expect the same "realistic" looking headsculpts.

No, it is a legit comparison, sculpt quality, especially when they go for realism is a legitimate concern, however Sideshow usually passes this, they did with some of their older joes even, and SOME of their Star Wars lines, but then there's horrible pieces like Snake or Drake. A lot of the time failures seemed due to mediocre paint.

If they were going for a stylized look like gangster kingdom or 3A, it'd be different, but they're clearly going for the realism. Even stylized, I would still ask for a baseline of quality, if the sculpt was mushy when it should be crisp, if the paint apps were sloppy, if it looked cheap, etc. I would say Three Zero is a great example of this, even their anime stylings in doredora (that lizard thing) or Genos maintains paint and sculpt quality on par with it's competitors.

As it is now though, looking at their Magneto, it's more than acceptable. I don't know what the accessory count will be for the hands, but hopefully we get multiple sets of throwing and card holding hands for each hand at the very least. No idea what the extra hair will look like, or if we'll get an alt head for an exclusive ala Magneto, but here's hoping.

I do hope they decide to segment the armor in such a way that it allows articulation though. And again there's a thing they do better than hot toys bodies, those giant wrist posts are much better for hand swapping, but I would trade that in an instant for a more durable articulated hot toys like body. The proportions on their body are quite nice, however.

I acquired this from Jacob Juan. He's done dozens of X-Men heads from the 80's and 90's including plenty of characters you wouldn't expect. Here are a couple for my next projects, Thunderbird/Warpath and Forge.

Nice! Does he have a store, or a page?