In defense of Medicom Luke

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Michael you are such a cheap bastard... I hate you!

I totally agree about Medicom's Neck joints... they have a great range of motion but the love to have a straight cut just below the chin and it looks bad. On some figures (like Luke) its not noticeable due the outfit, but others like the Spidey and Superman its not so nice. Strange that they would just follow the contour of the jaw and back the head?

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

While I am no fan of Sideshow's Luke, I do admit the SSC line of 12 inch star wars is good for the price. I dont know I've tried to like SSC's Luke but the expression just kills it for me, he looks like he's getting stabbed or raped or something. I have no idea what the sculptor was thinking before he started working on the head and how he could approve of that expression is way beyond me. The clothes are better for the Medicom, if you just compare the way it fits on the doll there is no contest. Medcom is much more natural. The posture and proportion of the Medicom is better as well and can pull off poses which are much more natural and organic than the SSC version. The headsculpt is the thing that separates ppl most. I think the SSC likeness is better but that expression is really bad. The Medicom one likeness is not as good but the expression is way better and more heroic. The painting of the heads is also a matter of opinion. As an avid Modeler, I think SSC's QC of paint is mediocre at best when it comes to their SW 12inch figures. The paint is just too thick and glossy at times. Medicom prefers the shade over plastic approach, which I think can be good at times and other times not so good. As I repaint or plan to repaint most of my 1/6 scale heads in time this doesn't bother me as much but I can see if you're a fan of painted heads that you would like the SSC approach more even if the factory level of skill is mediocre.

So in my opinion, I think Medicom is overall better with the feeling of the character of Luke and figure is more expressive while the Sideshow is better likeness of Mark Hammill and more accessories. So My Breakdown is this-

Medicom Luke- Better captures character, Better propotions, Better Base body (Medicom 301), better outfit, More expressive, more photogenic, Likeness not as good, Price is high, less accessories, Medicom SW Line not as deep as Sideshow's

SSC Luke- Better Likeness of Mark Hammill, More Acessories, Price is better, Easier to buy since it's domestic item, Part of a deeper line with many more figures to come, outfit not as good (too bulky), Bad base body (Sideshow body), Horrible Expression, Body Proportion not as good, Not as Expressive or photogenic

While SSC Luke is a better value with more accessories and at 1/3 of the price, It just doesn't have that "life" going through it that the Medicom has. As a man who is a practitioner of the "Art of Toys" The Medicom is a much better specimen with it's superior expression and "feeling". For that reason alone It's worth the extra $100 to me.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Batman looks good and even tempts me despite being the 13" figure and having such a small cape.

On the subject of the whos better argument, michaels points still valid, and rhodes i think you put to much emphasis on michaels mentioning of price points. He's not blind to the facts, and when it comes to the facts of what he reviews, hes judging the figure and how much it can, and should cost, compared to how much it actually does. This is his honest opinion, and isn't exactly wrong. Fact is medicom and other companies like it charge ALOT more than they have to for what they are producing. People like yourself who don't care about the price as much because they think they are getting their worth because the qualities so "good" only further that conception of medi's that they can charge 150 bucks for a basic 12" figure that doesnt even look realistic despite being based on a realistic human being.

I'm sure their figures are fantastic, and i'm sure people enjoy them. But looking at the facts, that they feature somewhat cartoony, often mostly unpainted headsculpts, bodies that are too small for other 12" lines, and sometimes only a few accessories, 150 bucks is asking alot.

Sideshows proving that they dont have to charge that much, mabye they dont reach the "quality" you expect but to me they are spectacular, and i'll buy a sideshow star wars product over any medicom, now thats just my taste but its not because im a sideshow freak, its just a more sensible deal, and to me they look better.

From what i see in your posts your very hardcore medi, like michael said your aligning yourself very much with the company and not the products, you turn a blind eye to obvious mistakes they make because overall you think they are better.

I'll be first to say lukes espression is stupid as hell and the first time i saw him in person i put him right back down picked up anakin instead, but i still want that luke just never had the chance to get him. Because in the end despite the wierd expression and the monkey arms, he still looks fantastic. It actually LOOKS like mark hammill, i'd rather he look like mark hammill and have an odd expression, than look stern and normal, and nothing like the actor at all. But hey its all just opinions

Go batman!

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Tendou-Kabuto said:

While I am no fan of Sideshow's Luke, I do admit the SSC line of 12 inch star wars is good for the price. I dont know I've tried to like SSC's Luke but the expression just kills it for me, he looks like he's getting stabbed or raped or something. I have no idea what the sculptor was thinking before he started working on the head and how he could approve of that expression is way beyond me. The clothes are better for the Medicom, if you just compare the way it fits on the doll there is no contest. Medcom is much more natural. The posture and proportion of the Medicom is better as well and can pull off poses which are much more natural and organic than the SSC version. The headsculpt is the thing that separates ppl most. I think the SSC likeness is better but that expression is really bad. The Medicom one likeness is not as good but the expression is way better and more heroic. The painting of the heads is also a matter of opinion. As an avid Modeler, I think SSC's QC of paint is mediocre at best when it comes to their SW 12inch figures. The paint is just too thick and glossy at times. Medicom prefers the shade over plastic approach, which I think can be good at times and other times not so good. As I repaint or plan to repaint most of my 1/6 scale heads in time this doesn't bother me as much but I can see if you're a fan of painted heads that you would like the SSC approach more even if the factory level of skill is mediocre.

So in my opinion, I think Medicom is overall better with the feeling of the character of Luke and figure is more expressive while the Sideshow is better likeness of Mark Hammill and more accessories. So My Breakdown is this-

Medicom Luke- Better captures character, Better propotions, Better Base body (Medicom 301), better outfit, More expressive, more photogenic, Likeness not as good, Price is high, less accessories, Medicom SW Line not as deep as Sideshow's

SSC Luke- Better Likeness of Mark Hammill, More Acessories, Price is better, Easier to buy since it's domestic item, Part of a deeper line with many more figures to come, outfit not as good (too bulky), Bad base body (Sideshow body), Horrible Expression, Body Proportion not as good, Not as Expressive or photogenic

While SSC Luke is a better value with more accessories and at 1/3 of the price, It just doesn't have that "life" going through it that the Medicom has. As a man who is a practitioner of the "Art of Toys" The Medicom is a much better specimen with it's superior expression and "feeling". For that reason alone It's worth the extra $100 to me.

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*clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap*

Well said.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Magnuz said:

Batman looks good and even tempts me despite being the 13" figure and having such a small cape.

On the subject of the whos better argument, michaels points still valid, and rhodes i think you put to much emphasis on michaels mentioning of price points. He's not blind to the facts, and when it comes to the facts of what he reviews, hes judging the figure and how much it can, and should cost, compared to how much it actually does. This is his honest opinion, and isn't exactly wrong. Fact is medicom and other companies like it charge ALOT more than they have to for what they are producing. People like yourself who don't care about the price as much because they think they are getting their worth because the qualities so "good" only further that conception of medi's that they can charge 150 bucks for a basic 12" figure that doesnt even look realistic despite being based on a realistic human being.

I'm sure their figures are fantastic, and i'm sure people enjoy them. But looking at the facts, that they feature somewhat cartoony, often mostly unpainted headsculpts, bodies that are too small for other 12" lines, and sometimes only a few accessories, 150 bucks is asking alot.

Sideshows proving that they dont have to charge that much, mabye they dont reach the "quality" you expect but to me they are spectacular, and i'll buy a sideshow star wars product over any medicom, now thats just my taste but its not because im a sideshow freak, its just a more sensible deal, and to me they look better.

From what i see in your posts your very hardcore medi, like michael said your aligning yourself very much with the company and not the products, you turn a blind eye to obvious mistakes they make because overall you think they are better.

I'll be first to say lukes espression is stupid as hell and the first time i saw him in person i put him right back down picked up anakin instead, but i still want that luke just never had the chance to get him. Because in the end despite the wierd expression and the monkey arms, he still looks fantastic. It actually LOOKS like mark hammill, i'd rather he look like mark hammill and have an odd expression, than look stern and normal, and nothing like the actor at all. But hey its all just opinions

Go batman!

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He looks far from fantastic. If that's fantastic then I'd hate to see your version of mediocre. I've been collecting 12" longer than Sideshow's even been on the scene. I'm a hardcore toy guy in general. I collect far more than 12" I recently spent 300 plus on the Fewture Getter Die Cast Robot. Am I rich? No, but I want something THAT incredible in my collection. I get all kinds of doll all kinds of dolls and quite frankly Sideshow is the best US doll company out there (which is like saying The DC Direct Batman is the best DC Direct doll. It's a step in the right direction but doesn't mean much).

Quality is important to me because in the end that's what I'm paying for. I have zero desire to defend something because all I can afford is a lesser quality doll. It costs what it costs -if you want the best Superman then you'll have to pay that price. After all what will you do when Sideshow raises their prices on their Star Wars? It will happen eventually as all toy prices are going up these days. Will you stll collect it? Would you be less willing to pay 75-100 bucks for a "toy"? If it wasn't a toy but sold as a work of art would you still react the same if it were also selling for 75-100 bucks?

Tendou Kabuto's line of Art of Toy is dead-on.

Michael's pointing out of the Spider-Man neck peg is irrelevant since it wasn't what I was talking about. It's like he lost focus on what I was saying and was veering to another area I wasn't discussing. My criticism of him was his price harping.

Again: "Long known for their exceptional work and even more exceptional price tags"
-He says that at the very beginning of his review.

I find it funny that you base your entire liking of the Sideshow Luke based on the head -totally ignoring the fact that aside from the better likeness it's inferior to the Medicom in almost every way.

As for aligning myself with Medicom - I align myself with quality. Which in this discussion happens to be Medicom. If we were talking about Dragon vs. Sideshow - again I would go over quality meaning Dragon. If I were talking BBI female bodies over Triad female bodies I'd go again with quality meaning Triad (although BBI is damn good in it's own right).

To the whole aligning myself with a company - I'm not the one with a Sideshow Obi-Wan avatar now am I?

But hey that's all just opinions.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

See to me it seems clear you're just aligned with medi rather than the quality. Because you say that medi's luke head is superior to sideshows in almost every way, when i see only one thing they did better, and thats the expression... the head looks almost unpainted with cheap plastic looking skin tone i'd expect from a dollar store figure, has an almost anime styled face sculpt that looks nothing like mark hamill, and even less like luke skywalker.

So if you defend it to the death, then its A: Your opinion or preference, but if you say it's a better likeness, or a better overall head like its a fact then your just aligning yourself with medi because you think them a better company. I don't mind if you prefer one company to the other, doesnt matter.

Thing is i know quality is important to you, but nothing about alot of medi's figures look like anything worth 150 bucks, maybe i don't have the experience in these things you do, but sorry. Personally i think your just defending the stuff because your justifying buying all of those things for that much money but again that would be an opinion heh.

You enjoy your medi stuff, good for you, i'll enjoy whatever comes along thats fairly priced and looks good. As for my avatar, i use it cause i like that figure, not because i like sideshow, frankly i think they have alot of room for improvement, bodies in particular, but at least the figure actually looks like ewan mcgregor

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

I think rhodes meant superior to it in every other way....meaning clothes, body, acessories etc.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Man, Medicoms nuts must be blistering red after all this swinging.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Yeah, you guys probably know me as the ultimate Sideshow hater of sorts by now. On the other hand I still like their product and customer service. I just cant get over their paints. We all know that they are shoddy. However being a man that respects a good paint job I just have this to say-----MEDI COM ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Go ahead and pay for a Japanese product that looks nothing like our American actors. Come on! Sideshow's recent showing of paints is just bad but Medicom's is worse. Somebody please post a side by side. That will end this.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Magnuz said:

See to me it seems clear you're just aligned with medi rather than the quality. Because you say that medi's luke head is superior to sideshows in almost every way, when i see only one thing they did better, and thats the expression... the head looks almost unpainted with cheap plastic looking skin tone i'd expect from a dollar store figure, has an almost anime styled face sculpt that looks nothing like mark hamill, and even less like luke skywalker.

So if you defend it to the death, then its A: Your opinion or preference, but if you say it's a better likeness, or a better overall head like its a fact then your just aligning yourself with medi because you think them a better company. I don't mind if you prefer one company to the other, doesnt matter.
Thing is i know quality is important to you, but nothing about alot of medi's figures look like anything worth 150 bucks, maybe i don't have the experience in these things you do, but sorry. Personally i think your just defending the stuff because your justifying buying all of those things for that much money but again that would be an opinion heh.

You enjoy your medi stuff, good for you, i'll enjoy whatever comes along thats fairly priced and looks good. As for my avatar, i use it cause i like that figure, not because i like sideshow, frankly i think they have alot of room for improvement, bodies in particular, but at least the figure actually looks like ewan mcgregor

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I think I wasn't clear the first time so let me repost.

"I find it funny that you base your entire liking of the Sideshow Luke based on the head -totally ignoring the fact that aside from the better likeness it's inferior to the Medicom in almost every way."

That's better.

I'm not justifying anything -that's a wild assumption. I'm talking quality because in the end I can't live with the fact that I have an inferior figure knowing a better one is on the market - I just can't settle for that. I like the Hot Toy Superman one over the Medicom one - I like Hot Toy Batman over the Medicom one -see a pattern? I'm not blindly loyal to a brand the way you'd make people believe I am. Again I am on the side of quality regardless of where it comes from.

I can stick the head of Ewan Mcgreggor on the a body made together of popsicle sticks -does that mean you'd buy it?

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

BadMoon said:

Yeah, you guys probably know me as the ultimate Sideshow hater of sorts by now. On the other hand I still like their product and customer service. I just cant get over their paints. We all know that they are shoddy. However being a man that respects a good paint job I just have this to say-----MEDI COM ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Go ahead and pay for a Japanese product that looks nothing like our American actors. Come on! Sideshow's recent showing of paints is just bad but Medicom's is worse. Somebody please post a side by side. That will end this.

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Where are you getting that from? We're not talking about paint application.

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I am all about likeness. If I had someone come over and look at the medicom figure. They wouldnt care how he was posed. They would simply ask--"Who is that guy supposed to be Luke. Wow dude he looks nothing like him." They wouldnt care that I could make him perform a round off back hand spring through the living room. When as humans we relate to individuals by their faces not just their bodies. The face has an emotional response that the body cannot relate. Thats all I'm saying. When I look at medicom luke he looks like a nobody. When I look at Sideshow's at least he looks like Mark Hamill.

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I know the medicoms body is better. Good for them. If you cannot relate to the character however that just doesn't work for me. Image if the movie trailer for Return of the Jedi came out and it portrayed Luke Skywalker being played by someone like Jamie Kennedy. You would not be able to relate to that character anymore. Even if Lucas wanted that body type. Why would you care. It is the emotional response by seeing faces that you relate to.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Well anyways I have to go. Nip tuck is on (10pm est.). Maybe in this episode Dr. Troy will take Medicom Luke's head and surgically alter it to look like Sideshow's. Hmm, Just a thought. I mean do you think that is air you are breathing now hmmm? :chew

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

You know with the medi vs HT supes stuff, and now this, medi just causes so much trouble haha...

Oh man this crap shoudl totally be split off this thread i feel bad we are ruining it for the fans of the bat figure.

Sorry rhodes, but i just can't agree with you on luke. SS's body is inferior and lukes even moreso cause of the long arms, but, the clothes are good, the accessories are great, the likeness is spectacular even if its a bad expression, and the paint is even pretty decent (and hey at least theres some paint there hehe). To top it all off hes actually in scale with 12" figures.

All that for 50 bucks, and well sorry it just outweights medi's too short figure that looks nothing like the character or actor that can cost as much as 3 SS figures. Sorry i don't see how the quality could be THAT good to warrant that, and frankly nothing you've said has shown me that and i dont think anything you can say will prove it. I thikn you're investing money in the BRAND, not nessecarily that your all medi i can understand that, but the simple fact that because its import or that because its expensive, it's automatically good.. and i dont think thats nessecarily true.

I love the hot toys superman and i think it's the best there is, but i still dont think its a 150 dollar figure, i think it could have been done for much cheaper, but because it was priced 125-150 people HAVE to pay that, and because of the limited quantity and demand he only gets more expensive, thats not really fair considering what you're getting, it's the companys preference to make as much money as possible, not just give people the best for what they pay, and to me thats what sideshows attempting to do, give us the most bang for our buck.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

BadMoon said:

I know the medicoms body is better. Good for them. If you cannot relate to the character however that just doesn't work for me. Image if the movie trailer for Return of the Jedi came out and it portrayed Luke Skywalker being played by someone like Jamie Kennedy. You would not be able to relate to that character anymore. Even if Lucas wanted that body type. Why would you care. It is the emotional response by seeing faces that you relate to.

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See the Sideshow Luke takes me out of the character. Yes I see Mark Hammil but he doesn't feel like Luke Skywalker. I look at the Medicom Luke and I can tell it's him. I don't want a Sideshow doll with a "Fingered Luke" expression (not even if it had a San Diego Comic Con sticker on it) and disproportionate arms (and so on). How a doll stands is very important. It's seems as if it would be a very simple thing to do but it's not. It adds to the illusion of it being a real person -the balance, weight distribution it all needs to be there to achieve that look. Maybe you know what I'm talking about, maybe not but it's important. I think Medicom Jedi Luke looks fine to me - he plays fine -feels fine and I have zero regrets.



Yes I would LOVE to have a perfect Luke for 50-60 bucks. Seriously who wouldn't? Non-exist at the moment. Maybe when Sideshow gets around to doing Bespin Luke they'll do a much better job. I might actually keep that Luke (as I posted earlier I got a Sideshow Jedi Luke then gave it away because I was unsatisfied). I hope they do succeed with a Bespin Luke since he's my second favorite Luke (and would look great to the MEdicom Yoda -theoretically that is).

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LOL WOW! Thanks for the reply. Your pictures however cannot prove my point more. Happy collecting.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

BadMoon said:

LOL WOW! Thanks for the reply. Your pictures however cannot prove my point more. Happy collecting.

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Continue with the mediocre shopping my friend!

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

Maybe when you watch the movie you will understand.

Re: 13" Batman Figure From D.C. Direct

BadMoon said:

Maybe when you watch the movie you will understand.

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I saw the movie when I was six years old in the theater. I atill have the movie program they passed out that night. I remember vividly the audience erupt when Vader picked up the Emperor (greatest feeling I've ever felt in a theater). I can reciet the lines and the scenes.

You've got nothing on me.

Go home boy.