Gubernator's Various Photos, Kitbashes, and Customs (new update 5 May 2024)

Thank you very much for your efforts . I hope he wasn't injured. Looks like it would be easy to model the back of the skull and add a hairstyle over it with mohair. Was the pair of eyes inserted into the skull from behind? Hot Toys could have made the figure a little more expensive and added movable eyeballs.


Please don't try to remove the back plastic part from the head because of my questions.

Cool, I was fooled by the hat, I thought it was actually removable and not just stuck on there, I guess there's no real reason to make it removable. The body is also nice but at the same time I feel like Ugnaughts should be a bit shorter? Doesn't really matter tho, variety is the spice of life.

Cool set and setting for these two and/or three.  I like the shorter guy with the second sculpt with the gruff look.  Seeing the mechanism inside his head, do the eyes move?

Really nice pairing of the two main figures, Aquaman and Mera, with and without the third one.  And great craftsmanship on the enhancements!

BAMComix wrote:A very cool character, Ian. Lovely figure. What I particularly like about these type of figs is the variety in scale they offer in a picture with other figures, making it more true to life.

Thank you very much, Dal, I'm glad you liked them.

Ephiane wrote:
Thank you very much for your efforts . I hope he wasn't injured. Looks like it would be easy to model the back of the skull and add a hairstyle over it with mohair. Was the pair of eyes inserted into the skull from behind? Hot Toys could have made the figure a little more expensive and added movable eyeballs.

Please don't try to remove the back plastic part from the head because of my questions.

You are very welcome, Ephiane. No he wasn't injured (much). The hood was not meant to be removed, so there was probably some glue that I had to pry unstuck. Yes, it should be easy to sculpt the back of the head into something presentable. It would be more difficult to alter the molded hood so it would still fit, I suppose.
Yes, movable eyeballs would be good, but they didn't do this here. My guess is that perhaps the eyeballs were separately painted pieces, inserted and locked into place. The back plastic part seems securely ensconced (or glued), when I already checked if it would come out easily (which it did not).

Theboo-bomb wrote:Cool, I was fooled by the hat, I thought it was actually removable and not just stuck on there,  I guess there's no real reason to make it removable. The body is also nice but at the same time I feel like Ugnaughts should be a bit shorter? Doesn't really matter tho, variety is the spice of life.

They did a good job placing it, so it does look like the separate piece it is, rather than part of the same mold/sculpt. The real reason to not make it removable is presumably because this way they didn't have to sculpt and paint the back of the head and find another way of making the hat/hood sit securely and convincingly on top of the head. I think there is some difference between this Disney Era Ugnaught and the original ones in ESB, and height might be part of it.

Spartan06 wrote:Cool set and setting for these two and/or three.  I like the shorter guy with the second sculpt with the gruff look.  Seeing the mechanism inside his head, do the eyes move?

Really nice pairing of the two main figures, Aquaman and Mera, with and without the third one.  And great craftsmanship on the enhancements!

Thank you very much, glad you liked them. 
The short guy is Kuiil -- with either his own Ugnaught head or the bearded long-haired Persian Archer one I've been using. What you see from the back of the Kuiil head is not a mechanism but a non-movable brace/frame. It is either glued or jammed in there really well (or both), and does not seem to have any give. My guess is that the eyeballs are separately painted pieces that they stuck in there and then locked into place with this frame. Perhaps the plastic visible beyond the little holes in the frame belongs to the back of the eyeballs.

20. In lieu of review: Flash Point's Atlantis Princess (Version A)


Inspired by ukshaun's questions, here is a very simplified review of this product with new photos.



The figure comes in a stylish and solid cardboard box, the lid overprinted with a close up image of a pattern like that on her watertight suit. Inside are two foam treys (always a good thing), the top one with the figure itself, the one beneath holding the base and accessories. Very collector friendly.



If you are wondering where the accessories are, make sure you check out the base. It will rattle, prompting you to explore it further: the base's front conceals a drawer. Pull this out to get to the diadem and extra hand sculpts. You get a total of six interchangeable hands: a pair of relaxed, a pair of knife grip, an open-pointing right hand, and a left fist. The relaxed right and knife grip left hands are already in place on the figure. NOTE: the hands don't want to swap easily, make sure you heat them before taking off and putting on.

The trident is made out of metal and the top has to be screwed in. The rectangular base with the drawer has a raised platform at the back end, into which one inserts the crotch-grabber stand. One thinks that a screw-in goose-neck bendable stand might have been preferable for any attempt at posing the figure swimming.



The figure is visually very impressive and looks to me every bit as good as the promotional images, except perhaps for the skin being quite pale, although some of that might be the effect of different lighting. 



All the sculpted detail, including the head, hands, molded elements on the suit, the boots, is quite fine. The same goes for the paint job, which is pristine on the head (I do wish the insides of the nostrils were darker, but that's the only nit I could find to pick) and very accurate on the hands. It is saturated and convincing on the elaborately textured suit -- whether or not they tried much subtle weathering there (there seems to be some at least on some of the elements), it looks realistic for what it is. There is some additional sculpting and paint detail on the armor and diadem pieces, which makes them look more worn and realistic.





The hair is synthetic, which means it can easily become a mess, but can you imagine how much worse it would have been if they had taken a page out of Hot Toys' book and gone for long molded hair? It is very red, but I think that is about right for Mera.





The body looks pretty good in terms of proportions, even if the bust might be a tad too ample. The height is approximately right, standing 28.5 cm tall in her high-ish heeled boots. Amber Heard's real height (170.18 cm) translates to 28.3 cm in sixth scale, so perhaps the figure should have been a tad taller still.



When I first saw the figure in hand, I thought the eyes were too light and cold, but with proper lighting they seem both warmer and exquisite.



Where the figure really does disappoint is the articulation. Not all of it. The head and neck, the wrists and ankles all have good articulation. However, the tight outfit and possibly not overly tight joints interfere with the posing of the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Sometimes you can make them to farther, but they bounce right back -- not to mention the troubling creasing one sees on the suit with more extreme posing (no damage yet, but I have no idea how the suit would hold up long term). This is unsurprising but disappointing all the same. The wrists are also too weak to handle the weight of the metal trident without twisting this way or that.



Here she is with my rehaired Hot Toys Aquaman. The few cloth elements on him (most of him being molded plastic) are comparable to her suit. I think they look reasonably well, different but compatible, together. But note the vast difference in detail between their tridents (although I confess I haven't checked Mera's for screen accuracy). 



The height difference between the two should be about right. Jason Momoa's 193 cm height translates to 32.17 cm in sixth scale and the Hot Toys figure, with low-heeled boots, is close at almost 33 cm; Amber Heard's height, as we saw, is close to the figure's 28.5 cm. 



As always, what do you think?

Thanks for going to the effort of posting an in depth review.
Standing next to Aquaman, she works well.
I never knew the Trident was made of metal. That is good to know.
While the figure looks close to proto, i wish the proto had a small bust.
Personally i think her backside looks.. could look better.

Your photo's look on the bright side.
Lighting appears to appear to be direct on, rather than directional.

I am still considering picking this figure up. I am still not sure, as there are other figures i want.
If i were to pick this figure up, i would have to pick up an Aquaman figure. I would like to own an Aquaman figure.
The question is, will Hot Toys release a Mera?
If i were to own Aquaman, and Atlantis Princess, i would feel the need to pick up Black Mantis.

ukshaun wrote:Thanks for going to the effort of posting an in depth review.
Standing next to Aquaman, she works well.
I never knew the Trident was made of metal. That is good to know.
While the figure looks close to proto, i wish the proto had a small bust.
Personally i think her backside looks.. could look better.

Your photo's look on the bright side.
Lighting appears to appear to be direct on, rather than directional.

I am still considering picking this figure up. I am still not sure, as there are other figures i want.
If i were to pick this figure up, i would have to pick up an Aquaman figure. I would like to own an Aquaman figure.
The question is, will Hot Toys release a Mera?
If i were to own Aquaman, and Atlantis Princess, i would feel the need to pick up Black Mantis.

You are very welcome. Glad it was informative.
Yes, the new light is pretty bright, and largely from the front, at least on some of the photos. Actually I subsequently tried all the pre-set light levels on the new lamp and whatever you do, she still seems pretty pale (I also tried diffused daylight and actual natural sunlight) -- compared to the more realistic and subtle prototype paint job. Though she is still as pretty.
Will Hot Toys release Mera? Who knows? They have not always followed fan majority affections (witness the Brie Larsen Captain Marvel and the Ezra Miller Flash), so it is possible. I mean, why release Black Mantis (other than a halfway-decent excuse not to do a realistic human head sculpt)? Note that there are other Aquaman-related figures (non-aquatic superheroes apart) produced by third parties, including Aquaman's mother (Queen of Atlantis by Super Duck) and half-brother (Art Figure Master of Ocean) and another Mera (The Water Princess by Super Duck), as well as an Art Figure Atlas King of Atlantis (another Aquaman).

GubernatorFan wrote:

ukshaun wrote:Thanks for going to the effort of posting an in depth review.
Standing next to Aquaman, she works well.
I never knew the Trident was made of metal. That is good to know.
While the figure looks close to proto, i wish the proto had a small bust.
Personally i think her backside looks.. could look better.

Your photo's look on the bright side.
Lighting appears to appear to be direct on, rather than directional.

I am still considering picking this figure up. I am still not sure, as there are other figures i want.
If i were to pick this figure up, i would have to pick up an Aquaman figure. I would like to own an Aquaman figure.
The question is, will Hot Toys release a Mera?
If i were to own Aquaman, and Atlantis Princess, i would feel the need to pick up Black Mantis.

You are very welcome. Glad it was informative.
Yes, the new light is pretty bright, and largely from the front, at least on some of the photos. Actually I subsequently tried all the pre-set light levels on the new lamp and whatever you do, she still seems pretty pale (I also tried diffused daylight and actual natural sunlight) -- compared to the more realistic and subtle prototype paint job. Though she is still as pretty.
Will Hot Toys release Mera? Who knows? They have not always followed fan majority affections (witness the Brie Larsen Captain Marvel and the Ezra Miller Flash), so it is possible. I mean, why release Black Mantis (other than a halfway-decent excuse not to do a realistic human head sculpt)? Note that there are other Aquaman-related figures (non-aquatic superheroes apart) produced by third parties, including Aquaman's mother (Queen of Atlantis by Super Duck) and half-brother (Art Figure Master of the Ocean) and maybe another Mera (by Super Duck -- at least they made the head, which is in the head sculpt catalog), as well as an Art Figure Atlas King of Atlantis (another Aquaman).

I think (assume) Hot Toys released Black Manta as there is no human head sculpt involved.
From a business point of view there is no actor/actress issues (expenses) involved. It is also simpler for the factory to produce.
This applies to all figures that do not require human head sculpts.
I would assume Hot Toys love releasing Stormtroopers, as they amount to easy profit, not to mention guaranteed sales. I assume the same applies to Ironman and Spider-man. Sure, every now and then a human swap-out portrait is required.

That's a strikingly and accurate looking sculpt, Ian. In act, it might be one of the best I've seen. Nice pick up.

Great-looking figure, and I'm glad to see that the trident is diecast. But as soon as I saw the suit, I knew articulation would be poor. Though I like this outfit more than the Super Duck one.

Mera has such a great design—too bad I can't dissociate the character from the actress.

ukshaun wrote:I think (assume) Hot Toys released Black Manta as there is no human head sculpt involved.
From a business point of view there is no actor/actress issues (expenses) involved. It is also simpler for the factory to produce.
This applies to all figures that do not require human head sculpts.
I would assume Hot Toys love releasing Stormtroopers, as they amount to easy profit, not to mention guaranteed sales. I assume the same applies to Ironman and Spider-man. Sure, every now and then a human swap-out portrait is required.

I think you are right on these. We got a very good Chris O'Donnell Robin (even if he seemed a little too excited to see Batman), but only the masked head. It is unlikely that they would ever revisit him and do the unmasked head (they've done this on occasion before). And this goes for a bunch of other figures as well.

BAMComix wrote:That's a strikingly and accurate looking sculpt, Ian. In act, it might be one of the best I've seen. Nice pick up.

Thank you very much, Dal, I'm glad you liked it. I couldn't resist it.

Zes wrote:Great-looking figure, and I'm glad to see that the trident is diecast. But as soon as I saw the suit, I knew articulation would be poor. Though I like this outfit more than the Super Duck one.

Mera has such a great design—too bad I can't dissociate the character from the actress.

Thank you very much, glad you liked it. In principle, I love that the trident is metal, but it does cause problems for the wrists. I agree, no surprise on the suit, other than the beautiful execution of the design.
I feel much like you do, and this sort of thing does affect my appreciation of a product, but she was too pretty to pass up.

would be nice to have a mera head sculpt that is close to JND or infinity studios likeness,

theres not that many options for nice red head HS.

madnug wrote:would be nice to have a mera head sculpt that is close to JND or infinity studios likeness,

theres not that many options for nice red head HS.

Just checked them out, and yes, those fuller-scale heads are definitely more accurate likenesses of the actress. Perhaps that's why I like this one better, in a way.

Thank you for the photos, really stunning head I agree. Similarly I like the character, but the actor casts a bit of a shadow on it… any way, lovely figure and it would be great to see if you get a swimming pose eventually, if the dodgy articulation cooperates. They need an aquarium backdrop…?

Tanzenwolfe wrote:Thank you for the photos, really stunning head I agree. Similarly I like the character, but the actor casts a bit of a shadow on it… any way, lovely figure and it would be great to see if you get a swimming pose eventually, if the dodgy articulation cooperates. They need an aquarium backdrop…?

Thank you for the kind words. And I feel the same way. For an underwater scene, the hair should be all over the place, as with Ephiane's actual underwater mermaid channeling Daryl Hannah. Perhaps it could be simulated with hair gel and shot in front of an aquarium, or a printed or screen-displayed aquarium backdrop. Actually I don't know whether hair gel would work on her synthetic (?) hair.

Gube, old romantic! What a wonderful picture for an occasion that is simply beautiful and reminds people of love. A wonderful contrast to what else is going on in the world.

Thanks for the nice review of Mera, Ian! I've picked up the head from eBay, and it is really nice.

I like your Valentine's Day photo, very nicely posed and photographed!

Happy Valentine Day! Nice Idea! The two lovers have their heads a little too close to the fire

You just don't notice trivial things like that at a moment like this, Al.

Nice interior pieces - the rug, the fireplace.
But they are so close together this may cause a fire hazard.
Interior pieces, I mean. Or maybe not just them

Beautifully composed romantic scene! Perfectly suited for the day.

Ephiane wrote:Gube, old romantic!    What a wonderful picture for an occasion that is simply beautiful and reminds people of love. A wonderful contrast to what else is going on in the world.

Thank you very much, Ephiane, glad you liked it. That was what I was going for, even with limited time and resources.

Randam Hajile wrote:Thanks for the nice review of Mera, Ian! I've picked up the head from eBay, and it is really nice.

I like your Valentine's Day photo, very nicely posed and photographed!  

You are very welcome, Ralf. It is a great head, isn't it? Now that you mentioned it I went and looked, and indeed there were some. I picked up version B, although I paid more money than I should have.

Glad you liked the little impromptu nod to Valentine's Day, too.

ElBundy wrote:Happy Valentine Day! Nice Idea! The two lovers have their heads a little too close to the fire

Thank you very much, glad you liked it. Yes, they do, but I needed that for the purposes of the photography. In real life, they would have been slightly farther away.

Ephiane wrote:You just don't notice trivial things like that at a moment like this, Al.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Visisonor wrote:Nice interior pieces - the rug, the fireplace.
But they are so close together this may cause a fire hazard.
Interior pieces, I mean. Or maybe not just them

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked them. I'm slowly assembling more interior pieces for realistic scenes. The rug I found in a quirky shop. Some of these are meant to be mouse pads, but I don't know what this one's purpose was. The fireplace is from the Ukrainian guy on Etsy, Mihail. This was a video of the fire from YouTube that I scaled to fit. It is wooden, so, yes, a fire hazard. The other two will make fire of a different kind, with different hazards.

skywalkersaga wrote:Beautifully composed romantic scene! Perfectly suited for the day.  

Thank you very much, Sky, I'm glad you liked it. I wanted to do something to mark it, even if I didn't have too much time and much that was suitable handy.

Nice rug

ukshaun wrote:Nice rug

Thank you, Shaun, and yes, it is nice. Surprisingly thick, too!

Awww, beautiful photo! Nice setup! Quite inspired. 

Diana wrote:Awww, beautiful photo! Nice setup! Quite inspired. 

Thank you very much, Diana, I'm delighted that you liked it!
(Sorry if the guy isn't wiry enough for you!)

22. Happy International Women's Day!



Also, my parents' anniversary. My dad really gets to save on flowers. But I doubt that had anything to do with picking a date...

GubernatorFan wrote:22. Happy International Women's Day!

Also, my parents' anniversary. My dad really gets to save on flowers. But I doubt that had anything to do with picking a date...

Great pic! Congrats to your parents too!