Friday, February 16, 2007

Lord Vader…Rise

With the induction of Medicom's VCD Super Deformed Darth Vader figure into my collection (thanks to my lovely wife) my Vader collection is complete. That is, until Gentle Giant releases their new Vader statue. Left to right: TAC Comic Pack Vader , TSC (UGH 2006) Vader, Galactic Hero Vader, Kubrick Vader Hasbro Unleashed Darth Vader Gentle Giant (ROTS) Vader Mini Bust Gentle Giant (ROTS) Vader Mini Bust and Gentle Giant Animated Vader Maquette Medicom VCD Super Deformed Vader My Realistic Vaders My Stylized Vaders Master Replicas Vader Mini Sabers (ROTS, ANH, ESB, gold ROTS) and Luxeon Vader FX

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

He's worth a lot to me

I received my Gentle Giant Boba Fett Statue #1514 of 6500 from Razor's Edge Collectibles for $142 shipped, on Jan 23, 2007. I forgot to take a scale comparison shot with a Hasbro Boba Fett figure, so I'd best explain that this figure is in 1/6th scale, and is about 14" tall (base included). I expected it to be cool, but not this cool. The pose is cool, the detail and paint is amazing. He has soft goods wookiee braids - I'm not sure how I feel about these. On one hand, it's neat that they're not sculpted, on the other hand, they look like shiny, nylon, doll's hair. Still, definitely points for the effort. The cape is sculpted, a tear in the side, and the bottom frayed and torn looking, and is really the only thing that doesn't look natural. The armor is scorched, dinged, scraped, dented, rubbed, worn, and just incredibly worn looking. The effect is truly a work of art. The entire piece is a work of art. My wife was incredibly impressed with this, I think unlike anything I have received. The folds and seams of the clothes look real, the shadowing of the paint is incredibly realistic. The pockets on his thighs look like there's something in them. The small pockets on his shins have stuff in them. As cool a character as Darth Maul is, as cool as the GG statue is - this Boba statue is much cooler. It probably helps that there are more colors on Boba, and more to his outfit than layers of black robes. He's got a flightsuit with pockets, boots, kneepads, gauntlets, gloves, a cape, the braids, sholder bells, rocketpack, armor, and a helmet. There's so much to him that I could stare at it for hours before I'd see everything. Granted, I haven't examined Maul this closely, but there seems to be a much higher level of detail on Boba, because there is so much more to show. In every way, this statue looks real. Where Darth Maul looks like a statue of something real -- like someone took a picture of Maul with his cloak blowing in the wind, used that as a reference to create the statue, freezing him in one moment in time, it looks like Jeremy Bullock was in the suit and shrunk down and is standing on my desk posing. It looks like he could up and walk away at any time. I think my mind is sub-consciously realizing there is something unnatural about Maul cloak, that it couldn't stay in that position so it must be fake, there is nothing to suggest that Boba isn't just holding still. Finally, here are the pictures. Some are kinda the same with slightly different lighting: lighter so detail can be seen slightly better, and darker so the realism can be seen slightly better in more realistic light. That and I was really happy with all of the pictures I took, and I could stand throwing a bunch of them away. It really helps to have the camera at the proper distance from the subject. :D Even more so than my recommendation for the Republic Commando maquette is my emphatic encouragement to get this statue if you can afford it. It can be had online for $140-$175, and it is worth every penny of those prices, and more. As I said above, it is truely a work of art, and amazing rendition of Boba Fett. If the character appeals to you at all, you WILL love this item. Personally, Boba Fett is not my favorite character, but after getting this he has rising highly in my estimation. It's probably the piece with the highest value/price ratio in all of my collection. I would go so far as to say that this is the favorite thing in my collection, and if for whatever reason, I could only keep one item, THIS would be it. Without question.

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