I know this is going backwards in time a bit, but I wanted to post regarding my case of bust ups series 2 - Sith. I ordered a case, way back when, because I didn't want to risk missing out on a Vader chase. I didn't realize they would be quite so cheap at the time, so I doubt I'll order another case of 24, but there is some insight to be had from what I did, so I thought I'd share.
The box is attractive, but unspectacular. Can't quite make it out in the picture, but on the front to the left of Star Wars is a small Gentle Giant logo. To the right is an Imperial symbol in red that says Series 2 on it. On both sides a picture of the Death Star appears, so it's actually a neat display piece but you have to offset it to see the detail on the sides.
You can see they aren't nearly so Kubrickian in their sealing of boxes. Just a single piece of tape across the front, easily cut to get into the box.
I don't recall what the case breakdown was supposed to be precisely. EE never posted it, but at one time SWS.com had. I was concerned at some point because I was wondering how many stormtrooper sets to buy (I ended up getting five sets total, but it worked out to be worth it thanks to my black hole stormtrooper
) This is what is actually in the case:
Stormtrooper x6
Sidious x2
Palpatine x2
Royal Guard x2
Darth Maul x2
Darth Vader x2
If you look at the picture, from top to bottom starting on the left the columns were as follows:
1. stormtrooper x4
2. Sidious x2, stormtrooper x2
3. Dooku x2, royal guard x2
4. Vader (fist) x1, Vader (open hand) x1, Maul (saber to side, no teeth), Maul (saber in front, grinning)
5. Vader (fist) x1, Vader (open hand) x1, Maul (saber side, no teeth), Maul (saber front, grinning)
6. Vader (fist) x1, Vader (open hand) x1, Maul (saber side, no teeth), Maul (saber front, grinning)
Vader fist is on the left, Vader open hand on the right.
Maul no teeth on the left, Maul grinning on the right; saber positions are obvious.
So, if you order a case, you get three of each of Vader and Maul. That would help explain why chuckles and jaydouble and JesseVader did so well with AFX - it's a dead even split.
It looks like it's intended too. The boxes are typically taped with a single piece of tape and that was the case for the stormies, Dooku, Sidious and the royal guard. But some of the Vaders and Mauls were clearly taped twice, presumably because they had to be opened to verify which version was being put in. This would go even further to explain why ebay hasn't had a clear winner for either variant and why they remain cheap - because they are common as dirt.
I seem to recall RS posting about a third Maul variant. My guess would be that there is no such thing. Some enterprising individual probably just did a head swap to give the appearance of a third. You could technically make four by switching the heads. Now that would be obsessive.
I am moderately pleased with the quality of these. I've only assembled the two Maul and two Vader busts so far. Vader is a very nice piece (both) but they both tend to lean a little forward due to the positioning/sculpting of the base. That's a nit pick and situating them higher on a shelf would make it look much better. Vader's head doesn't fit quite as nicely as I'd like though. Otherwise both nice pieces.
Maul goes together quite well but where the sculpt loses it a bit is at the shoulders. The version with the saber in front is actually about as good as they could get it, but the other version has a big, horking gap with the left arm that looks funny. Again, I might be over critical here, but I do expect more from GG.
One big knock I have on these is how the sabers go together. You know how the Hasbro sabers are with separate hilt and blade? Ayup, same crap here and I see huge potential for breakage. The posts on the blades are even thinner than Hasbro's stuff, so let's say they shouldn't be handled much. I would have liked to have seen much better execution on these and I'm willing to bet GG will get more than a few requests for replacements due to breakage. Their customer service is very responsive, but I think they'll get more than a little tired of that complaint.
Gotta open the rest now.
