Author Topic: To soft good or not to soft good?  (Read 4071 times)

Offline Nathan

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To soft good or not to soft good?
« on: May 10, 2005, 03:00 PM »
So what do you peeps think of soft goods (the cloth parts on figures). I know this is near sacrilege, but I'm not a huge fan. Sure, they're great for knee-articulated figures that can sit, but for figures that mostly stand I prefer plastic. In my experience the cloth robes and things always stand up or stick out in some weird fashion.

For example, on my Clone Wars Saesee Tiin I had to safety-pin the back flaps of his tunic together to keep them straight instead of out sideways like wings.

And removable cloth robes never fit right and usually puff out making figures look like they're pregnant or sumo wrestlers.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2005, 03:38 PM by Valin Kenobi »
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Offline Gatillo

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2005, 03:57 PM »
This is one of those maybe/maybe not thingies. :-*

I usually do not like the soft goods.  It sounds like something your high school girlfriend gave you that was all but soft or good. :o

Anyway, sometimes it plain rocks like the red senate guard.  This is the first red guard to have a super awesome armor.  The soft goods really look nice on him b/c you can pull back the cloth and see the awesome armor in action.

But any type of soft goods skirt really gets my panties in a bunch.
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Offline Diddly

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2005, 05:24 PM »
I personally thing soft goods look good on certain figures. ROTS figures like Count Dooku, the Jedi, and the Royal Guards have benefitted from it. However, some figures just look plain bad with it, like VOTC Luke. I think it really all boils down to Hasbro's use of the soft good, and how much of it is used on a figure.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2005, 05:30 PM »
I'm loving ROTS because of the softgoods features...  Not exclusively, but they're a huge part anyway.

Case in point, Luminara Unduli and Shaak Ti are both the best "apology" figures from their Saga incarnations that I could fathom, short of ball/socket ankles and elbows (yeah, nothing's perfect).  A look at Luminara's skirt, and it's flawless.  It has texture that looks in-scale, it has ribs in it that look like folds in the fabric in-scale...  She's great, and it allows for one super poseable (mostly) Jedi.  I love that figure, and Shaak too.

Count Dooku, and his upcoming Evolutions version, both are, again, near flawless in my opinion.  Great figures.  

Ki-Adi has a great softgoods robe too, and makes for the best version of his figure so far.  He's fantastic.

I think cloth allowed this too...  It doesn't look bulky or puffy on any of these figures to me, and it fits perfectly.  I'd cite the Royal Guards, but they already have been mentioned.

At times it's good...  At times it's not so good.  I'm ok with certain figures (VOTC Yoda) because alongside him came the OTC Yoda...  You get the best of both really, at about the same time.  I actually like VOTC better I think just because it's the first really poseable Yoda...

I think ROTS has done well for cloth features though.  I think Saesee Tinn is a huge step forward compared to his Clone Wars version...  A little fabric glue though, and CW SaeSae Tinn looks pretty good too.  Sometimes the cloth just isn't great because they can't all be hand-sewn and have special attention paid.

Obi-Wan VOTC though...  That's bad softgoods robes.  You make that in a light/limp fabric like the "Total Control" Mace Windu's cloak though, and you have yourself a really REALLY nice removable cloth Jedi robe.  Sometimes it's more the quality material used than the idea that all soft goods look bad...  
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Offline ruiner

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2005, 05:45 PM »
Jesse always does this to a thread - he sums up everything so well, there's nothing else to say!

 :P

I prefer soft goods - especially with the ROTS line.  Mundi and the royal guards kick ass and are done tastefully. 

But when the wrong fabrics are used (and/or are oversized), things tend to look really weird.  IE:  VOTC Ben, Luke and Yoda.

So far, none of the modern Yodas have been up to par.  It's pretty sad when my preferred Yoda of choice is the one made almost 25 years ago!! 

Offline Nathan

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2005, 05:50 PM »
Sometimes it's more the quality material used than the idea that all soft goods look bad... 

That's a great point, guys. A lot of my beef stems from material that is too thick, or stiff, or both, and therefore doesn't hang right. Or stuff with a strong texture which would be 6-inch squares at scale. This is one case where thinner and limper is actually better. ;D

Like I have the black robe from the Episode I Sith Accessory Set which is pretty thin material and works acceptably.

And yeah, you guys are right that the ROTS line is a real step up in the soft goods department.
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Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2005, 06:27 PM »
I love it when the figure has soft goods (as long as the material is quality or of the right type to allow for proper flow - like Jesse mentions above) -- especially for the Jedi - with their belted tunics which result in all of the male Jedis having mini-skirts - that when made of a plastic (no matter how soft or plyable) ALWAYS prevent the figure from sitting.

This is what annoys me to no end with the ROTS Anakin and Obi-Wan figures - the first two should of had Soft Goods skirts - like the third releases of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon from the EP1 line.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2005, 08:07 PM »
There's a customizer out there who goes by the name of Findswoman...  She worked the FFURG booth at C3 for a while showing how to do quality softgoods customs, and she really does a great job.

If I am able to find a custom of hers I'll link it here...  She had some of her stuff on display at the booth during C3.  She really does top-notch work with fabrics on 3.75" figures (I'm pretty sure she works with 12" figures too but she shines with the 3.75" since it's not always an easy task). 

She had a Zuckuss (POTF2 I think) that was in the case...  If you'd seen this thing, you'd have WANTED softgoods on your figure even if you ardently oppose softgoods use.  The figure just looked tattered, worn, and perfect.  It was nicely done. 

I just never get over how Hasbro's Jedi robes ALWAYS suck.  They did that TC Mace right...  I can only imagine a whole robe in that fabric would look fantastic.  I'm one of the few who actually really enjoyed that figure for what it was....  Its robe was the best fabric ever.

A ROTS case-in-point about bad fabric though...  Take a look at Agen Kolar's skirt.  I dunno what they were going with (VOTC Obi's skirt is more the proper fabric, but is missing all the "layers" necessary for accuracy) on Kolar's skirt...  It's got the layers VOTC Obi's doesn't have, but the fabric is incredibly stiff.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2005, 12:04 PM »
I like soft goods myself. Not only does it alow maximum poseability, it also reminds me of the vintage line.
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Offline Aaron_D

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Re: To soft good or not to soft good?
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2005, 04:49 AM »
I guess I'm more in favor of plastic cloaks, and whatnot.  It just looks better, or more realistic, than most of the clunky cloth jobs that Hasbro's attempted in the past.  If they could ever find a real nice type of material that is finer, and lies down much better and doesn't bunch up, then my opinion may change on the matter.  But so far, very few cloth goods have even remotely impressed me.  But I will say that they are of course necessary for any figures that need to be seated, like Jedi Council members, or figures that sit in vehicles.  So I can tolerate those, though I'll say that mixing soft goods on the bottom, and plastic on the top looks a little bit strange.

I think the Total Control Mace figure in the Saga line may have been the closest Hasbro's come to decent soft goods.  Still not quite there though.