1/6 Hot Toys - MMS681 - Episode II: Attack of The Clones - Mace Windu

[LipSmack]

You're not lying. You just don't know how licensing works. HT doesn't have to pay separately or extra for Ewan or SLJ's likeness - it's embedded within their contract to manufacture action figures with Disney/Star Wars. The bottom line royalties already include the likeness rights, which the actors signed away when they accepted the role.

Tell me I'm wrong, but I've worked in licensing for over a decade. I know this deal backwards and forwards.

Exactly, it's one of the more cunning things George Lucas accomplished and revolutionized, most studios prior to star wars just gave away these rights and didn't care about merch, George has always had a mind for thinking outside of the box, truly brilliant dude

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Man, if they hit us in the mouth with a ROTS version with the likeness and movable eyes, I'll just about loose my f-in mind.

And ya know damn good and well, they'll do it. As if to use this failure as a way to capitalize on the nxt, better one. Mf's..

They did the same sheet with live action Ahsoka.

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

@Mr. Awesome

I get where you’re coming from. And given my own personal history of collecting HT since the beginning…I can tell you that they absolutely have the ability of capturing an actors likeness to a T…but they don’t for several reasons. Some you’re already familiar with just by being in the community.

1-JC Hong, their lead art director pretty much has ‘final’ say on how a sculpt looks. 99.8% of the sculpts he over saw have the same-y look to them all. Idealized-as in minimize what could be perceived as flaws. Any asymmetrical features visible on the actors face will either be minimized or just not exist on the sculpts. And paint apps…well, to this day, post InArt, their portraits still have this tanned, waxy, shiny look to them all.

2-there has NEVER been ONE figure in HT 20 year history where we ALL unanimously agreed is awful. Even ones that are EGREGIOUSLY AWFUL, like the smiling AntMan figure…bro we still have those 2-3 members on these forums that looked passed the ugly as sin portrait and picked it up anyway! If that’s not enough to convince you that HT can literally get away with their many anti consumer practices…

3-as mentioned before, they can totally get likenesses down, but choose not to. Save these incremental improvements for the next planned 2.0s, 3.0s, exclusive variant, sdcc **** you variant…rinse and repeat. They KNOW people will buy it regardless.

Lastly…you and I are pretty much on the same page: this looks NOTHING like SLJ. You’re also wise to their anti consumer ways with intentionally holding back certain things like a 99.9% likeness or meaningful accessories for future releases.

And yet you choose to buy Mace. Complain all ya want about crappy likenesses, they’re still getting your money.

THAT is why they continue doing what you and I hate.

Mind you, I’m not calling you out or anything. I’m just pointing out this vicious cycle between company and consumer. You want to send them a message right? Start here. You hate it that much? Don’t buy it. Hell, I ain’t. And I really want a Mace in my collection.

If you still go through with your purchase, I won’t think less of you (i speak as if my opinion matters lmao please don’t mind me)

But just remember how and why they get away with things like this.

I’ve passed on so many HT figures that have been announced recently. The one that literally made me say out loud “wtf is that?” was the artisan Dark Empire Luke. I like that iteration of Luke from the comics. And Luke is my fav character. But you couldn’t pay me to PO that dumpster fire. It’s ugly as sin.

 

[Danny-Boy]

This figure gives farm boy Luke a run for its money.

 

[SOU7567]

There’s a reason this board is dying. The hostility is ridiculous. People here are so quick to make every figure the worst thing ever upon release. It’s not everyone but man it’s really like some people don’t enjoy this hobby.

This sculpt is a far cry from perfect but it’s not so bad it’s the abomination some are implying.

We've lost a lot over the last 2 years alone.

Not to mention nothing from @MyenShi in months.

 

[RandomHero]

We've lost a lot over the last 2 years alone.

Not to mention nothing from @MyenShi in months.

We've also been missing @FlyAndFight for six months now

 

[Mr. Awesome]

@Mr. Awesome

I get where you’re coming from. And given my own personal history of collecting HT since the beginning…I can tell you that they absolutely have the ability of capturing an actors likeness to a T…but they don’t for several reasons. Some you’re already familiar with just by being in the community.

1-JC Hong, their lead art director pretty much has ‘final’ say on how a sculpt looks. 99.8% of the sculpts he over saw have the same-y look to them all. Idealized-as in minimize what could be perceived as flaws. Any asymmetrical features visible on the actors face will either be minimized or just not exist on the sculpts. And paint apps…well, to this day, post InArt, their portraits still have this tanned, waxy, shiny look to them all.

2-there has NEVER been ONE figure in HT 20 year history where we ALL unanimously agreed is awful. Even ones that are EGREGIOUSLY AWFUL, like the smiling AntMan figure…bro we still have those 2-3 members on these forums that looked passed the ugly as sin portrait and picked it up anyway! If that’s not enough to convince you that HT can literally get away with their many anti consumer practices…

3-as mentioned before, they can totally get likenesses down, but choose not to. Save these incremental improvements for the next planned 2.0s, 3.0s, exclusive variant, sdcc **** you variant…rinse and repeat. They KNOW people will buy it regardless.

Lastly…you and I are pretty much on the same page: this looks NOTHING like SLJ. You’re also wise to their anti consumer ways with intentionally holding back certain things like a 99.9% likeness or meaningful accessories for future releases.

And yet you choose to buy Mace. Complain all ya want about crappy likenesses, they’re still getting your money.

THAT is why they continue doing what you and I hate.

Mind you, I’m not calling you out or anything. I’m just pointing out this vicious cycle between company and consumer. You want to send them a message right? Start here. You hate it that much? Don’t buy it. Hell, I ain’t. And I really want a Mace in my collection.

If you still go through with your purchase, I won’t think less of you (i speak as if my opinion matters lmao please don’t mind me)

But just remember how and why they get away with things like this.

I’ve passed on so many HT figures that have been announced recently. The one that literally made me say out loud “wtf is that?” was the artisan Dark Empire Luke. I like that iteration of Luke from the comics. And Luke is my fav character. But you couldn’t pay me to PO that dumpster fire. It’s ugly as sin.

Really appreciate this. Took time, thought and hella effot to explain stuffs.

That isn't lost on me.

Also, a lot of great points I didn't even consider. Thanks, man.

 

[kashkarter]

The sleeves of the jedi robe in this video look comically short... Really hope that's just a just a futzing issue

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

Surprising absolutely no one there's people grossly exaggerating how inaccurate the sculpt is and then there's Mr. Pretentious Twat I mean Mr. "Awesome" still spinning in circles trying to make some bizarre argument over licensing...

Like Jesus Christ. It's not a perfect sculpt, but it's not horrible, it's very clearly Sam Jackson. Feels like the lot of you are just trying to poison collecting with nonstop outrage culture.

This is absolutely not fair. To say everyone that’s not on board with this sculpt and can’t find anything to praise are poisoning the hobby.

So where does one draw the line?

I’m genuinely asking. Not stirring ****, not here to make enemies. I do want to engage people here on a subject I adore.

I want to share this picture one more time:

I like Mace Windu. I love SLJ as an actor. He brings with him a ferociousness to certain roles. He made people like myself come up with our own fan fiction thinking of all the Jedi that can potentially join the Dark Side, it’s him. Reading those guide books about Lightsaber combat styles or forms and how Mace chose a form that brings the user dangerously close to the Dark Side…bro the edgy loser in me LOVED that!

With that in mind…would I have wanted a figure that looks 99.9% to the person on the right? Is that what we got?

EVERYTHING is off with the sculpt. I’m not a happy camper. I wanted this to be good. But IMO, it IS trash.

HOWEVER, if you think it’s fine, that’s cool! I ain’t judging anyone. Do I wish more people stopped buying mediocre figures because “their collection is missing so and so” and demanded something that looked more like the actor? Yeah. But it is what it is. I can’t expect everyone to see what I see, nor should you expect people like me to accept everything provided to us.

This sucka costs $280 when all is said and done. That’s not chump change. I’m willing to fork over that money, but the product needs to look extraordinary in order for me to do so.

This does not. Far from it, I want SLJ, not his stunt double.

 

[Mike86]

Mine is already pre-ordered and fully paid off. It’s not perfect but I want a Mace Windu so I have to have it.

 

[Nightwing94]

Is this the same suit as the one in Revenge of the sith?

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

Is this the same suit as the one in Revenge of the sith?

I think Mace’s outfit didn’t change at all in the PT.

 

[Lizard Lips]

Like Jesus Christ. It's not a perfect sculpt, but it's not horrible, it's very clearly Sam Jackson.

No it isn't very clearly Sam Jackson.

 

[Lizard Lips]

There’s a reason this board is dying. The hostility is ridiculous. People here are so quick to make every figure the worst thing ever upon release. It’s not everyone but man it’s really like some people don’t enjoy this hobby.

This sculpt is a far cry from perfect but it’s not so bad it’s the abomination some are implying.

Saying that something is the "worst thing ever" is either hyperbole or it's just a purely subjective claim given there are many ways to judge how good or bad a figure is of which head sculpt accuracy is just one factor.

However, that doesn't mean that pointing out a lack of head sculpt accuracy is a completely subjective claim. Just because a few people believe that this head sculpt looks like Samuel L Jackson doesn't mean it does. There are objective metrics for determining facial likeness like the shape of the head, size, shape and positioning of the eyes, nose and ears etc. That's why biometric facial scanning as a form of identity verification works.

This simply does not objectively look like Samuel L Jackson. If you don't care about that or you can somehow see the likeness in the sculpt then OK but it still isn't there.

 

[DarkChocobi]

Still buy him regardless.

 

[Gipetto0812]

We've lost a lot over the last 2 years alone.

Not to mention nothing from @MyenShi in months.

Yes, I do wonder what happened to Myenshi. Hopefully they’re ok and just walked away from the forum. He and I had some good conversations in the past.

Rather than get worked up now like I used to, I just put ppl on ignore that post too much negativity. It’s easier that way.
I believe someone has done the same to me a couple months ago actually but from a potential misunderstanding rather any actual malice made towards them

We've also been missing @FlyAndFight for six months now

I believe FlyandFight passed away unfortunately. It was around NewYears if I remember correctly.

 

[Chainedstream]

There’s a reason this board is dying. The hostility is ridiculous. People here are so quick to make every figure the worst thing ever upon release. It’s not everyone but man it’s really like some people don’t enjoy this hobby.

This sculpt is a far cry from perfect but it’s not so bad it’s the abomination some are implying.

Thing is, this beloved company if ours, has dropped their crown and become ”Fat N Happy” which I am not at all happy with. Cutting corners everywhere. I recall the times when DX13; Endoskeletons; Tarkin; heck all terminators; all evolution achieved with every Joker; batmobile; Jack Sparrow etc etc etc. You know, times when this company wanted to do NEW things and always OUTDO themselves at ever layer.

Today we’re in an era of simple re-releases (Some I love, eg sandies), reuse of old moulds that never were any good (Kenobi lip, I see you), Windu who doesn’t look like a day like Samuel L Jackson, Anakin “Artisan” where everything aside from head sculpt has been reused two times already! What’s so “Artisan” with pleather robes?
Republic commando is just one of many obvious examples of “whatever, you’ll buy anything regardless how bad it is”, taking us customers for wealthy id*ots.

All in all, we spend thousands and thousands of dollars on these, I’ve spent roughly $35 000 on this hobby (a small sum relative others on here). To expect high quality and innovation/creativity is bare minimum.

 

[Chainedstream]

It’s ugly as sin.

great reflection

 

[EdViler]

I wanted to be so excited for this figure, especially with the clone forearms. Before he was revealed, I was looking into making those myself to add to the figure.
But the reveal was so underwhelming for me. I had hoped the release would trigger the excitement, but alas ...

 

[Bgnyc007]

Sad they made so many Nick Fury figures but couldn’t nail a bare faced Sam J sculpt smh.