Vintage Collection Wave 12 (2012 Wave 3)

[Jesse James]

Softgoods costing more goes back to the Kenner days...  The Jawa getting a cloth robe and all.  Or that was what I always heard on that anyway.  Sewing = more labor intensive, where as a plastic skirt = a small part tooled up on a mold block already probably riddled with individual pieces, and they're already making a belt piece anyway (always, with a softgoods skirt) which kind of negates the argument that it's the cost.

I really think the length of the skirt is a big factor here...  They've blended plastic and softgoods really well at various points, and could've here, but in the past it's not generally been on a figure that it would inhibit articulation much.  The Anakin you posted is a good example of a relatively minor plastic bit overlapping fabric...  If the plastic's pliable, the figure doesn't lose any poseability, and the only thing it inhibits at all is the figure's ability to sit, but even that's minor because the part in question isn't TOO large.

Compared to this Anakin, the skirt covers his entire lower body below his knees.  The inner-robe even covers below the knee, and is the shorter and less obtrusive part.  Now imagine the outer robe, which is what would likely be the plastic part, and it's practically a trench coat.  It covers the figure's legs entirely...  Make that plastic, and try sitting him in a vehicle, or posing him in a lunging pose like Jared took a pic of...  It's not happening.

I like hybrid plastic/softgoods by the way.  I'm a big fan, so I'm not arguing against them...  again, Tarkin would look immensely superior with a plastic skirt that's pliable enough to pose him, and the fabric is nowhere near as good there.  I'm just saying that, on a figure like CW Anakin, it's a request that hurts the action figure far too much.  It's cool on ROTS Ani, or AOTC Ani, with their shorter skirt pieces, but on this figure it's something that would blow if you appreciate articulation and posing how you want, putting him in his Jedi Fighter, etc.

[CHEWIE]

I'm not trying to be combative or say that much of that should be plastic - just a small portion... and while I still think they could have blended plastic in some form here, let's say they simply could not.  Well, there's other material options for Hasbro than what they chose... remember THIS Anakin figure? 

That type of "vinyl-esque" soft goods would have worked great here for the blue part of the lower tunic.  They could have done it and retained every bit of articulation that the figure could ever dream of having.  But they chose something that has a lesser aesthetic appeal anyway... so, for what is supposed to be a premium line, I guess I expect things to look a little better.

[Jesse James]

I'm not a huge fan of the vinyl, but it maybe wouldn't have looked to bad either.  I dunno.  I might've gone for that.  I like the choice they made, but that vinyl might've looked cool too.

[CHEWIE]

Guess we'll never know!  But I actually might try and buy this now and pop off part of the cloth tunic and replace with a vinyl-type of material.  Might be a fun project to try... glad we had this discussion, because otherwise it never would have crossed my mind to even consider vinyl for this... I've seen some customizers use it in the past, and always thought it looked neat when done right.   

[Jesse James]

I think it works sometimes, especially for leathery looks of course.  Not sure on Anakin's tunic looking that way or not, but it could work for sure.  I like the dullness of the fabric as it matches the color of the plastic better to me, but I could go either way with it at this point too.  I like it as is so I won't change it but I wouldn't blame anyone for making a change either.

[Jesse James]

Another loose image gallery for a Vinty Wave 12 figure was sent our way by Jared.

The Imp. Navy Commander is easily my favorite of the wave, without actually having the wave yet, and I'm pretty excited to army build him to at least a slight extent.  As much as I possibly can anyway.  I guess that depends on Hasbro, retail, and me.

He's go the type of skirt piece Tarkin should have.

Honestly don't see much on him I'd gripe about aside from his high sheen he's got going on.  I've seen that in any batch of pics of him too, but I'm guessing it's just the nature of black plastic which can seemingly give off a bit of glare regardless of what you do, and looks better in person generally.


Clicky to check him out!

[Jesse James]

Thanks to our friend Jared, we've also got a gallery of Hoth Luke images ready to roll now too.


Clicky to check it out!

This figure, for every bit the CW Ani is polarizing because it's a major change in the line itself, this Hoth Luke is polarizing because its quality is a matter of some debate I guess.  What I have noticed however, is that nobody seems totally happy with it, and the way the line stands now, I think fans deserve to be pretty happy for what they buy.

Just some of the flaws, to me, are...

-lack of a removable hat
-bad shoulder joints
-bad torso joint (though I get why they went with it)
-sculpted on thigh strap for the holster
-ugly scarf accessory, doesn't fit properly either

Those are distinct flaws in a $10 figure.

The saving grace though, for Hoth Luke, is his looks when he's on the Taun-Taun he was basically made for.  The figure truly does look like the Phil Tippett model, almost exactly.  Some of those flaws become more minor, but it also makes Hoth Luke more of a one-trick-pony.  He's much more disappointing to look at if you're posing him with Hoth Han and Leia, or in the hangar or whatnot.

Pose him on the Taun-Taun though?  Suddenly he's much more appealing.  It's really quite weird.

Now can you fix him?  Yes.  Should you have to?  Never.  Will it be simple?  No, at least to me anyway, none of his fixes will be simple part swapping and whatnot.  There's some work involved there, and nobody should need to anyway.  I still will, but that's beside the point.

I'm already hearing desire for a resculpt that isn't as Taun-Taun specific, which may or may not happen.  Who knows where the line is going.  But at least finally that riderless beast has something you can put on it and spend several hours trying to balance it on your shelves!

[Daigo-Bah]

Ready to put a couple Imperial Navy troops right here:

[Jesse James]

I'm curious to see him with a black kepi hat on, actually.   He may make a very cool generic guy.

Actually, come to think of it, that's a pretty good bitch to dreg up...  Couldn't hasbro have included a hat too, and make it a really, truly, special figure?  They did that with their 12" figure, and yeah, it wouldn't have broke the bank on them...  Oh, come on man!

[Jayson]

I wonder if Needa's hat will work here. Might be a simple fix if you have a few extra ones laying around.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

The shoulders on this Luke are... odd. 

[Rob]

The shoulders on this Luke are... odd.

Agreed.  My first theory is that you can raise them all the way over his head and hang the figure upside down and that maybe they're weird to add that functionality. 

[User897]

My complaints about this figure are the same as everyone else, that's for sure!  While VC93 Vader is my priority (which also needs to be fixed by putting the Commtech Vader cape on, and what, no saber hilt??), I will probably pick a Luke up if I see him, and he will be seated on his Tauntaun.  The only way he looks decent.  You'd think at this stage in the game, Hasbro would be better about making sure the MAIN CHARACTERS at least have been given everything they got!

[Jesse James]

I wonder if Needa's hat will work here. Might be a simple fix if you have a few extra ones laying around.

Needa's would need a paintjob.  I'm betting though, that the Force Unleashed chick's hat would work, as it's the only black one that's removable.  I've not got him to check, but I think it could work as it's flexible, and that guy's head doesn't look oddly large or anything.  Kinda like the RFT's noggin' is a rather thin/smaller head.  Hasbro's been doing that more with their headsculpts I've noticed, unless they weren't intended to have any kind of headgear on them ala Jedi Luke and such.

[Greg]

as it's the only black one that's removable. 

Not quite the only one! The Baron Fel figure from the EE exclusive comic pack also comes with a removable black hat. It might be worth checking out if the FU chicks hat ends up being too small.