alucard1138
Super Freak
And I generally like Michael Crawford's reviews. But I'm always wary of reviews when the Reviewer starts off by saying that they either don't know the character/film/comic/cartoon etc., or that they aren't a fan of the character.
Yes, figures should be considered based on their own merit ideally, but in reality, the source material has a big impact on how the figure looks/feels to someone who buys it. If someone doesn't know the source material, or doesn't like the source material, they are less likely to like the figure or cut it any slack.
I think the Blitzway Ghostbusters are a perfect example (or many other custom, super-limited figures). The love for the Ghostbuster original movies, has allowed some collectors to overlook the price, QC issues, and sculpt/paint that they might roast another figure over.
I'm not directly comparing this figure to those, I'm just saying that source material is a factor. I love BTILC, and Jack Burton, so naturally I overlook some of the flaws of this figure. Probably the same for many others...
Absolutely. I'm just thrilled to have a Burton of this quality in this scale. Is it perfect, no, most things aren't. Is it as good as the prototype, no, most figures aren't (though some do turn out better on occasion). Being both a massive fan of Ghostbusters and BTILC, you are spot on about how much the source material factors into this. For how expensive this hobby is, I really only collect figures from source material I love, so I'll most likely always be slightly biased and forgiving towards figures I collect. Plus, I get how this works. Spending a bunch of time, energy and special treatment on a prototype to sell a figure, how could mass production match that quality? If one spends a little time futzing with the figure, you can get this to look pretty great. I've gotten decent amount of Sideshow figures over the last 10 years, granted the price point has gone up so has their skill/quality. This is the nicest SSC figure I have (though my veteran Clone Trooper is pretty nice, SSC does well with troopers).