Indiana Jones: Premium Format Statue

I have been waiting a long time for this one to arrive… finally it did (Exclusive #453/1000) Probably the best collectible piece that I have ever owned. The sculpt is dead on, the paint job is perfect, and the details are amazing. These pieces are quite expensive, but I got a pretty good deal on him (30% off of retail.) This one is the exclusive version, which came with a second changeable head, without his fedora hat. The statue was created by Sideshow Collectibles.

There have been some complaints about the jacket being too short. Yes… it is a tad short, but nothing to bother me. The jacket hangs fine, and although it’s not 100% accurate in length, it’s ok with me.

Another common nit-pick has been the color of the jacket. The jacket is criticized for being green. Mine actually looks gray… I’m really not seeing the green in it. I’m not exactly sure of the “actual” color of the original prop, but have read from people who have claimed to have seen the original jacket in person, that it does in-fact have a tiny bit of green in it. Once again, whether accurate, or not, it does not phase me in the least. I never really expect 100% accuracy with any collectible… none of us are perfect. However, this one screams Harrison Ford and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and that is all I need to really enjoy this piece.

Yet another issue that I have heard about, is that his flesh color is too dark. Honestly, I just don’t see it with mine. The flesh color is just right. Since these are all individually hand painted, perhaps they vary in shade… I don’t know, I guess I got a good one.

The statue is an amazing likeness of Ford as Indiana Jones, and has some of the finest detail work that I have ever seen on ANY collectible. The Idol is unbelievably realistic looking and has a very antiquated look to it. The jacket is weathered nicely, his shirt has some sweat stains, and the base is a piece of art in it’s own right.

If your a collector of Indiana Jones, there is absolutely no doubt that you MUST own this piece!

EDIT: After looking at my own photos I realized that I should have put the pouch strap over Indy’s right shoulder. This has been corrected, and he is now safe and sound in my display case… and I just can’t stop looking at him. I also put some crumbled up paper in his pouch to give it some weight, and have it look like there is something in it.

 

First Impression: Gentle Giant Yoda Statue

Well, I got my much anticipated Gentle Giant Yoda statue today. The piece was actually due out this past April or May, but, as is the way with most Gentle Giant collectibles, he was delayed… until December.

Yoda retails for approximately $140.00 through Gentle Giants official website; however, he can be found for around $110.00 + shipping at most etailers. I was fortunate enough to grab him for about $93.00 shipped. If I wasn’t a big Yoda fan, I might actually be a little disappointed with the “bang for your buck” factor. He is basically the same dimensions of any basic bust sold by Gentle Giant that typically averages approximately $35.00 – $45.00, and even as low as $15.00 – $25.00 if you hunt around ebay and collectible forum “for sale” sections. In a lot of cases, the amount of resin material used on the Yoda statue happens to be less than most busts.

But with that out of the way, he is a very nice piece! It seems that Gentle Giant used the exact same colors, and paint application techniques as they did with their EII Yoda mini bust masterpiece. The cloak has less of a yellow tinge to it than the EII bust, but 100% accurate, in my opinion, to the original ESB Yoda costume. The pink at the bottom of his eyes really is not as obvious as the photos may imply. however, I personally would have left the pink off of the sculpt… after all, they were trying to emulate the ESB puppet, which didn’t have the “pink…” but I’m starting to show my “anal-dorkiness,” so on with the blog.

I’m ok with his expression; not too happy, not to sad (although he does seem to be starting a slight crack of a smile.) I would have gone 100% serious, but it’s really not that big of a deal (just a personal preference.) The hair, which always seems to be a car wreck on most Yoda collectibles, seems to have turned out perfect. It works well, and doesn’t stand out. The paint applications on my piece are not sloppy at all, which always seemed to me to be a curse with Gentle Giant products since 2005.

The statue is glued to the base, which might bother some. Personally, I would certainly prefer him to be detachable, but no matter… it really doesn’t bother me. As for the sculpt, I think that it is one of the better Yoda sculpts out there, but it still isn’t dead on, (which really surprises me with Gentle Giants scanning ability.) I figured that they could nail this one on the nose. Perhaps they didn’t have the aid of the scanning this time around and molded him from scratch. Non-the-less it is certainly a “close enough” sculpt that should please any Yoda fanatic.

The only downside that I can see to this piece is really the price. It really is quite unreasonable, and one really has to question what Gentle Giant was thinking when they priced this bad boy. Still, if you can find him for a bargain, or you just love the piece and don’t mind spending an average of $110.00 for less than a mini bust, go for it. It really is a nice piece when you eliminate the price factor from the equation.

 

Random Pixels – Volume 2

“Order 66”

Being a collector of Star Wars statues and busts, and combining that love with my photography passion, I came across this photo on my hard drive.

I do enjoy photographing my collection from time to time, so you will probably see a lot more of it in my blog. Here is a piece that I actually ended up selling, but certainly felt that it was still photographically worthy.

 

Sideshow Collectibles – Yoda vs. Dooku

This, in a sense, is a follow up to my “Quality ‘Out of’ Control” post, from just yesterday, where I wrote:

“I recently purchased an almost $200.00 piece to add to my Star Wars collection, and believe it or not, I am currently awaiting for the third attempt of this piece to show up at my door via UPS. The previous two both had factory defects, and both, somehow, had passed quality control inspection. I am hoping that three times will be a charm.”

Well, I guess three times really is a charm. This one was perfect! This piece is artistically stunning to view in person. Count Dooku’s likeness is pretty much screen accurate, and yoda is superb. I do think that the Episode II Yoda bust, that was produced by Gentle Giant Ltd. had a more natural paint scheme, but make no mistake, the Sideshow Yoda is beautiful.

This piece, along with Sideshow’s “Duel of the Fates” diorama, are the first pieces that I ever owned by Sideshow Collectibles. I think that Gentle Giant has Sideshow beat in the sculpting dept., but Sideshow is a tad bit more admirable, in my eyes, due to the fact that their sculpts are 100% sculpted by artists, where Gentle Giant Ltd. utilizes a computer scanning process to aid in their sculpting. Of late, Gentle Giants paint applications have not been consistent, and Sideshow seems to be very accurate and consistent with all of their diorama paint applications.

Sideshow has some exciting and very dynamic pieces in this fairly new diorama line. I love the action portrayed in these pieces! The next one, that I have my eye on, is the “Ambush on Hoth” diorama, due out at the end of the year.

But as for this piece (Yoda vs. Dooku,) I must highly recommend this one to anyone who is on the fence about it. It probably won’t be around too much longer, and it certainly won’t disappoint.

 

Quality “Out of” Control

Being a collector of high-end Star Wars collectibles, and an average consumer of general products, I can’t help but notice, at least in my circles, how accepting of poor craftsmanship we have become.

I recently purchased an almost $200.00 piece to add to my Star Wars collection, and believe it or not, I am currently awaiting for the third attempt of this piece to show up at my door via UPS. The previous two both had factory defects, and both, somehow, had passed quality control inspection. I am hoping that three times will be a charm.

If that wasn’t bad enough, only three weeks before ordering the above mentioned piece, I had bought another entirely different piece, from a different manufacturer, that had a major factory defect that turned out to be an engineering flaw with it’s design. This was very evident in numerous comments found in this thread on a Star Wars collectibles forum. I called the manufacturer and to my dismay they would not issue a refund, so I currently have a second defective piece on the way. However, after numerous complaints, it seems they are now telling people to hold on to the piece and they are going to try to repair the issue. But before receiving numerous calls, they were content to stick it to those of us who called.

With all this said, you can probably tell that I demand quality. Then again, maybe you think that my expectations are ridiculous. This is what really tears me up. I think there are far too many people accepting inferior products. I can’t tell you how many times I have read in collectible forums, “It’s fine, I just touched it up with a little paint,” or “The peg was missing, so I just glued it into place.” What?!?! Are we just getting too lazy to walk out the door and face the miserable attitudes of the return department clerks, or make an effort to ship something back? Is money so valueless that we can afford to hold onto defective merchandise? Is product quality so poor these days that we just expect it to arrive broken, and then pay it no mind? Have we been brain washed?

My opinion on the matter is that quality is vastly diminishing because we don’t hold manufacturers accountable for the multitude of damaged products sold to consumers day in and day out. I for one am tired of it, and tired of explaining to people why, at least in the Star Wars collectibles world, I question the integrity of manufacturers products instead of just zipping my lip and giving my damaged items a quick fix. There is almost a feeling of sympathy aimed toward manufacturers, instead of consumers. It just seems so backwards to me.

This has to be a team effort. One can’t go this route alone. You need to encourage people to call manufacturers and vocalize the issues. Is this just a dying art form?

Well, I have to run down to the hardware store to buy some missing bolts to our new outdoor patio set, but let me know your thoughts on this matter.