Vintage OTC Figures - A New Hope

[Diddly]

Found the Luke today as well. Haven't opened it yet, as some other figs from Alliance Collectibles came, but I'll share my thoughts soon.

[SilverZ]

I nabbed Luke today.  Freaky figure.  I'm digging the ball/socket hips.  A first and really something I'd love to see down the road on other figures (anyone on a speederbike, namely), and I dig the bare arms.  Best bare arm fodder available.

The torso's oddlly sculpted, but it really didn't need to be.  That's disappointing.

He is pretty tough to make a call on, isn't he? I agree that leg articulation is a great addition. How perfect would an Endor Luke and Leia be with that posability and soft goods ponchos? I'm also thrilled to finally have an ANH Luke that can hold a lightsaber with both hands. There's lots of good going on there.

But the bad parts really detract in a big way. What bothers me more than anything is his height. Put him next to the other ANH VOTC figures and he's tiny. Not just a little, but substantially shorter in comparison. When you also factor in the puffy soft goods, it makes him seem even more awkward. A close second is the headsculpt, which is a step back from the Xwing Luke in likeness, and a 2-tone paint app on the hair was really needed.

[Jesse James]

I agree.

For every plus Luke has, there's a negative.  It acutally seems that Ben's more "winner" than Luke overall.

The thing about Luke is that there's such a slew of him in this outfit, he's somewhat passable as at least different.

Still, I'd rather have seen:

-Sculpted Shirt...  I don't get Hasbro's DESIRE to articulate his torso like this really, and the coat's so rigid on him that the torso's only cool with the shirt off.  This is an instance I wholeheartedly think Hasbro went overboard with softgoods.

-Improved Height...  TOTALLY agree here.  I've seen people mention his height being accurate, but I think Hammil's about 5'8" or so?  Unsure exactly, but he's definitely not this small.  He's short though...  But this figure's a washout.  So is Pilot Luke in height.

PERFECT Luke height is Saga Jabba's Palace Luke.  In comparison, this LUke's a good half a head + shorter, and in 3.75" terms that means a LOTTA midget going on.

-Better Headsculpt...  I think, had this figure seen all the above improvements, that he'd not be bad enough to warrant a complaint on the head, but at this point he is.

-Personal Beef...  Notice the part of his lower torso with a ridge?  I'm really not sure what the deal is, but his torso below his waist is pretty ugly.  A nicely sculpted piece here would've really helped the torso look a lot better in my opinion.  Minor, under the shirt, but important to me.  With him being shirtless and all...  Or the option there.

Some great pluses though...

The leg articulation, and really the articulation overall, are outstanding.  Equaled by Han so far only.

The ball/socket hip though, indeed, would rock on a biker scout, Endor Leia, Endor Luke, EU Rebel Biker Scout (just throwing in a personal want), Dooku on Bike, Anakin on Swoop, etc...

Great figure possibiliites, and Hasbro's now gone the extra mile and proven they CAN ball/socket a hip joint without it looking like a G.I. Joe.  NO Company has done that this well in this scale.  To that end, my hats off to the innovator there.

I personally (tooting my own horn) was pondering this EXACT execution for customizing.  They need only have the post, on the inside, have a rounded edge so it's a little more "fluid" when posed.  It kind of locks into place now as it is, which his awkward when posting him.

Again, this articulation boggles my mind why they even did it, but they did it better than one could have even hoped for.

Too bad the SA Clone and other figures in VOTC DON'T have this joint too.  It's amazing.

[SilverZ]

I completely agree that the torso articulation really isn't necessary. Though I don't go in for soft goods in general, I do see that it opened up some good benefits to the figure. That socketed hip deal probably wouldn't work as well if restricted by plastic, and the bare arms under the sleeves is a neat effect. Plus, the removable belt is nifty and I think benefited in detail/paint since it was seperate.

I wonder if that ridge on his torso is to help prevent the removable belt from riding up? That's my theory.

If he wasn't so short I'd be much more thrilled with the figure. I think the height adjustment would help the current SG shirt to look like it fits better. You just loose the impression he has a neck. His massive head just sort of rides on the collar of his shirt.

Either way, yeah, the articulation is outstanding, and for once, innovative! It's more ammunition for when they slack off and don't use it on future figures.

I'd never have guessed once I got these in my hands I'd call Obi a winner, either. I think Leia helped quite a bit there. For every advance or new idea they've tried on the other three, they've blown it with her. She's problems from top to bottom (maybe appropriate since Carrie Fisher circa the 80's was too).  

[Jesse James]

Now I actually like Leia.  She's my favorite behind Han only so far...  I think the likeness is as close as any ANH Leia, and the articulation looks good.  She's not "great", but properly scaled and all.  

Han, to me, is the only clear winner in the first series unfortunately.  He's the only one I can't find any real complaints about.

Leia's missing gun, footholes, and the articulation being slightly lacking were my gripes on her.

Obi's artiuclation, hood, and sculpt all kinda bit to me, but he's doable as an Obi in a speeder.  That's good I guess.

Luke's, to me, like Obi.  Cool ideas and bad execution.

I'm surprised how many don't like Leia...  I think she's as good as we'll probably get of her in this outfit.

[Diddly]

I'm agreeing with all of you here. The Luke has good ideas, but they lack badly. The lower body of Luke is GREAT, but the upper body leaves a lot to be desired.

Here's how I rank the ANH Figs:

1. Han
2. Leia
3. Luke
4. Obi-Wan

[Mister Skeezler]

Yeah, I think you're on the money there, Diddly Squat. I like Leia, the scale is perfect, she looks like a female, and there's enough articulation to put her in a couple different poses. I just wish she had her blaster.

Obi Wan isn't bad, he just needs a little posing. granted, his articulation is hardly "more than I ever imagined", but he can nail the ANH sacrifice pose perfectly, even putting his head down slightly. It almost makes me want to buy another to get rid of his eyes to make them seem closed.

One thing I've noticed about soft goods, is that they're always really stiff when they're right out of the package. Try soaking them and even washing them with detergent. It can sometimes loosen the fabric a bit. When you're posing the soft goods on the figure (while still damp), give it a few squirts of hairspray to hold the shape you want a bit more.

[Diddly]

I see Hasbro is still using cheap materials for the accessories.  

I was fooling around with the Luke, and when I put the lightsaber in his hand, WHAM! A giant piece of the black at the bottom of the Saber flew off. I managed to catch most of it and glue it back on, but the Saber still has a small piece of Clear Blue where the black should be.  

EDIT: Either that, or it's because the Lightsaber is too big for Luke's hands.

[Jesse James]

I've found the guns to be pretty rigid in cmparison to others actually.  Han's didn't pull as much detail as the Cantina's, but the 2-pack Han's gun (virtually identical, with only minor differences in the sculpt) is far more detailed than both and a really rigid plastic.  Go figure.

Leia's stormie blaster's rather nice thugh...  As rigid as any ofo those things are.

[SilverZ]

Found Luke, Vader and Yoda at the local TRU after stopping at every TRU, Wal Mart and Target from Des Moines to home, I find them 2 blocks from my house

So, how are you liking that Vader? I tracked him down today, cracked one open, and am actually pretty thrilled. For me, the chain behaves itself. It seems to stay down regardless of how you position the head, so I guess I got lucky. I'm happy to get a Vader that I can pose on one knee in a convincing Emperor communication pose.

[Scott]

I posted my Thoughts? a few days ago...here they are again

Not real high on the chain on Vader...and I would have prefered ball/socket elbows over the cut versions, just would have made him more poseable.  The cape though is sweet and the rest of the detail is amazing, its another close but not quite there efforts which seem to be the norm for the VOTC

[SilverZ]

I posted my Thoughts? a few days ago...here they are again

So much for my reading skills... missed that. Oops.

[Scott]

I've seen 3 Yodas now and every single one of them has had some serious card creasing.  Vader seems to be fine and most of the Lukes I have seen are also OK, Yoda though seems to be in bad shape.  Read some reports at RS saying the same thing. Anyone else see this?

[Jeff]

Haven't seen any Yoda or Vader, so I wouldn't know about creases   

Jeff

[jokabofe]

i didn't notice at toys r us, but i went and looked at the figures i picked up the other day. sure enough, both of the yodas have a crease that runs down the back of the card, from about halfway up to the bottom, on the side where the bubble is attached.

dammit.