NEW PRODUCT: HOT TOYS: STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS ANAKIN SKYWALKER AND STAP 1/6TH SCALE COLLECTIBLE SET

It’s been on imminent arrival at Timewalker for a week or so, but no telling when Sideshow will get this out to other retailers since they like to hold out as long as possible in the hopes people will get impatient, cancel their orders, and order from them for their grossly overcharged shipping. Man, I hope the ahole that runs that company dies in a car fire. Sideshow should never have been allowed to be both distributor and retailer; their business practices are absolute crap — they limit stock of not just Hot Toys but anything they are tied to to take the majority of sales.

I agree, Sideshow sucks. I did order this one from them, unfortunately, but I won't be ordering any more from them in future. For any future HT products, I'm going to switch back to the UK dealer I used to go through, now that he's changed the payment methods he accepts back to something I can actually do.

ETA: and thanks, Valiarde. Looking forward to him.

Mine arrived yesterday! A couple days earlier than I was expecting, which was a nice surprise. I was too busy to even open the (somewhat beaten-up) brown shipper until right before I went to bed, thankfully the actual art box inside seems to be in pristine condition.  

There were multiple versions of this figure, one with the stahp (which was too expensive for me, as much as I'd have liked it), one of the figure on its own, and then a Sideshow Exclusive version that came with a poncho. The Sideshow Exclusive is the one I got:

https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/star-wars-anakin-skywalker-hot-toys-906712?var=9067121


I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to unbox him properly, but of course I'll share pics once I do. My intention is to get some parted-out accessories from this figure to finish off my own custom version from three years ago, and then to take pics of them both. But it might be while yet before I can get my hands on those extra pieces, so we'll see.

I've also not done any photoshoots of my Captain Rex and Commander Cody yet, so that's something I have to get on as well. ;p

Ooh! Exciting! I am looking forward to any and all pictures you'll have to share.

I ordered the one with the STAP, but I have to wait u til it gets to my preferred retailer. Sky, if you want another Anakin head let me know (I can send it along with the custom Ahsoka stuff).

Stryker2011 wrote:I ordered the one with the STAP, but I have to wait u til it gets to my preferred retailer. Sky, if you want another Anakin head let me know (I can send it along with the custom Ahsoka stuff).

How can I say no to that?!! (Very kind of you to offer!)

No worries, S. Always happy to help.

Stryker2011 wrote:No worries, S. Always happy to help.

Thanks, friend.

Received mine today. The STAP is pretty cool; it feels rather fragile, but so far has held up okay, despite me messing with it trying to get a suitable pose out of the figure on it. Try as I might, I could not get it to do some of the cooler looking poses as seen in the promo shots (where he's sort of hanging off the side by one arm and leg).

Anyway, here's my quick shot of the new vehicle added to the Strykerverse.

Looks good!

And yeah, I feel you -- the HT bodies are a pain in the ass to pose (imo). One of the reasons my photoshoots have been kinda boring thus far, I haven't figured out how to pose my HT Anakin in a way that doesn't just topple over.

skywalkersaga wrote:

And yeah, I feel you -- the HT bodies are a pain in the ass to pose (imo). One of the reasons my photoshoots have been kinda boring thus far, I haven't figured out how to pose my HT Anakin in a way that doesn't just topple over.

Indeed. One of the other issues I have with this new body (and according to the majority of the Freaks) is that trying to replace the "standard" right arm with the "light-up lightsaber" arm is proving impossible. So far, most haven't been able to get the damn thing out of it's socket -- I tried and was worried I was going to break that very fragile shoulder armor. Very frustrating. But then, I don't often light those things up anyway, so I guess it's no big deal (for the cost, however, it should be able to be done at least once for photos).

Even in this perspective, I can not unsee that giant cute robot face

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia


I have exactly one Hot Toys body, and of all the bodies I own, including cheap knockoffs, this Hot Toys one is the worst regarding articulation and stability by far. If not for the unique shape I might have thrown it out already.

Interesting. I remember a time when HT produced base bodies for purchase and they were generally considered the best in the hobby (we're not talking seamless, obviously). I haven't been very impressed with their bodies lately, and have rarely gotten any besides those in actual boxed sets -- except where I really needed a body supposed to work with their clothing/equipment.
Anyway, great photo, Mark, and nice to see Darth Stryker ready to take on the galaxy from this mighty steed.

I think it's Anakin Strykerwalker, before he turned into Darth Stryker.

Stryker2011 wrote: One of the other issues I have with this new body (and according to the majority of the Freaks) is that trying to replace the "standard" right arm with the "light-up lightsaber" arm is proving impossible. So far, most haven't been able to get the damn thing out of it's socket -- I tried and was worried I was going to break that very fragile shoulder armor. Very frustrating. But then, I don't often light those things up anyway, so I guess it's no big deal (for the cost, however, it should be able to be done at least once for photos).

Jeez, how annoying! And yes, those arms have always been quite fragile-seeming, even the one on the RotS Anakin was very difficult to change to the robotic arm. That's why I have one RotS Anakin that permanently has his gloved arm, and another one that permanently has the mech arm, so I don't have to keep swapping them out. Shouldn't have to be that way, though. :/

So, I'm only finally getting around to messing around with this one (it was so damn hot all summer I didn't dare take him out of the box until now), and on top of just really hating the Hot Toys bodies for being flimsy pieces of plastic crap, I also have to rant about the way they do the padding under the clothing. Maybe it's just me, but I think it looks weird?? Neither the animated version of the character, nor the Hayden-version of Anakin are anywhere near that 'thick' around the middle. And since HT didn't pad the RotS Anakin, it stands out even more in comparison. I guess they are trying to make sure that, in areas where there is only one layer of clothing, the joints don't show through, but still. Idk, it just looks...off? And in some cases, it seems to hamper articulation even more.

ETA: I am very tempted to remove the padding entirely, especially since I am also considering swapping it to an entirely different body. The only thing giving me pause is not being sure if the tailoring of the clothing and the fit of the armour would handle such a body swap...

I didn’t even think of the stupid padding under the body impeding the movement, but that makes sense. HT and their constant cost-cutting laziness strikes again.

Yes, the padding is pretty stupid. In my experience, you lose virtually nothing by removing it and get all sorts of better articulation. But then again, the figures where I have done that (admittedly, more often when I am reconstituting the figure from parted-out parts) have tended to have armor pieces obscuring much of the clothing anyway. Especially if you can remove the clothing without damaging it, it is worth experimenting regardless of what you decide in the end.

GubernatorFan wrote:Yes, the padding is pretty stupid. In my experience, you lose virtually nothing by removing it and get all sorts of better articulation. But then again, the figures where I have done that (admittedly, more often when I am reconstituting the figure from parted-out parts) have tended to have armor pieces obscuring much of the clothing anyway. Especially if you can remove the clothing without damaging it, it is worth experimenting regardless of what you decide in the end.

Thanks, that's good to know. I'm willing to experiment... I did remove the padding from the RotJ Luke figure when I was attempting to 'upgrade' it, though that was a little tricky and I'm not sure it was a good idea in the end (but only because of the nature of the outfit). This Anakin figure at least as a few more layers to the outfit in comparison.  

Aside from the articulation, the problem I have with the padding is that it's visually *noticeable* to the point of being distracting (for me, at least). I even noticed it back when I was watching review videos when the figure was put into certain poses. Maybe I'm just too picky...

ETA: Just to illustrate what I'm talking about, this is the padding under the clothing:





Am I crazy or does this not seem like an...unnecessary amount of padding? They even padded his @ss!

Holy cow! That’s nuts!

Well it's always good to have some junk in one's trunk (otherwise sitting would be painful) but yes, this much padding -- even any padding -- is excessive for an action figure of this kind.

LOL, ok, glad it's not just me.

Seems like the only problem might be that, once removed, the armour would sit lower on the shoulders and thus the neck might end up looking overly long. But I suppose this could be worked around by adding just a smaller amount of padding back to the neck area, if need be.

skywalkersaga wrote:I suppose this could be worked around by adding just a smaller amount of padding back to the neck area, if need be.

Exactly.

Ovy wrote:Even in this perspective, I can not unsee that giant cute robot face

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia


I have exactly one Hot Toys body, and of all the bodies I own, including cheap knockoffs, this Hot Toys one is the worst regarding articulation and stability by far. If not for the unique shape I might have thrown it out already.

Same, mine can’t even stand any more after the knee joint decided to go completely floppy, and repeated attempts to fix it haven’t done anything to improve it. :/

Lynkhart wrote:

Ovy wrote:

I have exactly one Hot Toys body, and of all the bodies I own, including cheap knockoffs, this Hot Toys one is the worst regarding articulation and stability by far. If not for the unique shape I might have thrown it out already.

Same, mine can’t even stand any more after the knee joint decided to go completely floppy, and repeated attempts to fix it haven’t done anything to improve it. :/

Ugh, that sucks, but I'm not surprised. I haven't really messed around with most of my HT figures that much, but the Anakin figures I've tried to use for photoshoots are just such a pain. Loose knees, yes, and also the center of gravity is so bad... they can barely stand on their own half the time. If if weren't for the fact that I'm (unfortunately, lol) still a SW collector and find that purchasing boxed figures is less stressful than trying to track down parted out pieces, I would probably not bother with HT at all.

Ok, I spent a while today messing around with it, and my verdict still stands....the body and the padding are AWFUL.  As I mentioned before, one of the problems is that you can actually SEE the padding through the sides of the tunic. As in, you can see the seams in the padding itself. I do not understand this. What is the point of the padding under the clothing if you can see unsightly seams in it??!!

I'm determined to swap the body for something else, but the problem now is as I expected --- trying to find something compatible in size and shape, so that it will fit the tailoring of the clothing and the shape of the armour properly.

So far, the COOmodel body I tried seems the most promising, but sadly it can't hold any kind of ab crunch. I'll use it for the time being, but I'd prefer something with really good poseability. The whole reason I wanted a realistic version of the animated character was to do elaborate photoshoots with it, so the more poseability , the better.  I'm not very well-versed in 1/6 male bodies and only own a handful, but one of the best male bodies (for posing purposes) that I have is a DamToys body. I'd gladly just get another DamToys body to use for this, but the issue is that they are very rare and expensive to find on their own, and it seems that most of the male bodies out there have attached necks. And WorldBox doesn't work because the ankles are just too incompatible with the HT footwear (I have tried one in the past, with no luck). So any suggestions appreciated. Could be anything from a slim/narrow shoulder body to a moderately more muscular one, as there's a bit of wiggle room with the outfit since it was tailored to fit over the immense padding, lol.

Have you looked at the WorldBox Wolverine body? It may be a bit too muscular for Anakin, but it’s a solid body with a nice shape.

Stryker2011 wrote:Have you looked at the WorldBox Wolverine body? It may be a bit too muscular for Anakin, but it’s a solid body with a nice shape.

Is there a version of that body without a neck? I'm reluctant to de-neck the Anakin head (since the shorter hair means the neck seam would be quite visible).

skywalkersaga wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:Have you looked at the WorldBox Wolverine body? It may be a bit too muscular for Anakin, but it’s a solid body with a nice shape.

Is there a version of that body without a neck? I'm reluctant to de-neck the Anakin head (since the shorter hair means the neck seam would be quite visible).

Yes. The AT017 is the neckless version. You’ll probably have to add ankle extenders to give him the proper height (use some super glue to get rid of the usual slop of the extenders on the body — not the foot).