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

skywalkersaga wrote:Ah ok, thanks. It's so hard to keep all these straight. I'll have a look at that one.

I hear you there. I have to keep comparison pics (usually found on eBay listings) so I have a quick and easy chart — I can’t keep all these numbers straight in my head.

Stryker2011 wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Ah ok, thanks. It's so hard to keep all these straight. I'll have a look at that one.

I hear you there. I have to keep comparison pics (usually found on eBay listings) so I have a quick and easy chart — I can’t keep all these numbers straight in my head.

That seems like the smart thing to do!

Ok, the saga continues....

I took apart the entire figure and tried out several alternative bodies that I already had. I haven't bought any new bodies yet as I'm still unsure if it's even worth it. I have been leaning towards just putting it all back together and leaving it as-is, despite the fact that I hate the stupid padding. For one simple reason.... the clothing is tailored exactly to the HT figure's shape, to the point that it's going to be hard to get it to look right on anything else without a lot of modifiying (ie, re-sewing). I honestly don't have the time or inclination to do that, given all the rest of my current WIP projects. Frustrating, but I can live with it if I must. :/

That being said, I also ran into another snag. My intention has always been to use this figure with one of my re-haired Anakin heads for photoshoots at the very least (even if I display it with the plastic sculpted hair). BUT, I didn't realise that the HT head on this figure has been constructed in a certain way that makes swapping it out potentially difficult.

I don't know how to describe it so I'll just show a pic. This is how the bottom of the neck looks. There is no 'neck connector' -- the 'connector' is literally just built into the bottom of the neck itself, and space for the 'post' to fit is also placed asymmetrically towards the front of said neck. It basically just connects directly to the body.





While I could probably just use the regular neck connector on my re-haired sculpt, my concern is that it will give the figure 'giraffe neck'. What I'm wondering is if there is any other similar type of neck connector available out there that would allow the neck to go directly on the post on the body, rather than adding several centimeters via the rounded style of connector at the bottom.

Is that piece of the neck removable? Does it look like it’s just glued in, or is it part of the sculpt? HT does this weird sort of proprietary thing A LOT to prevent customizing. Concerning the padding, I’ve seen people remove small “sections” of it by cutting into it to improve articulation on different bodies.

Stryker2011 wrote:Is that piece of the neck removable? Does it look like it’s just glued in, or is it part of the sculpt? HT does this weird sort of proprietary thing A LOT to prevent customizing. Concerning the padding, I’ve seen people remove small “sections” of it by cutting into it to improve articulation on different bodies.

Yes, it feels like they made this figure to be purposefully difficult, if not impossible, to customise. Which sucks, since that was one of the main reasons I wanted it in the first place. I basically already had a Clone Wars Anakin in the same outfit, but the old Sideshow outfit wasn't as nice so I was hoping to upgrade with the new HT outfit and armour. But of course, HT has to make this almost impossible for me.

As for the neck connector, it might be removeable, but I'm not sure *how* to remove it safely. Hard to explain but it's really snugly fitted and even if I were to heat it up, it's difficult to find an area to gain enough purchase in order to pull it out.

My current frustration is that I was waiting ages for this HT figure thinking that it would be the final piece of the 'puzzle' I've needed in order to complete/upgrade my custom Clone Wars Anakin, only to end up with way more problems that need solving. I'm willing to compromise on keeping the HT body as-is, but the head thing is definitely frustrating. Sure, I could potentially rehair the new HT sculpt, but again... I was *really* hoping not to have to do too much more work on this one.

If you try heating it up, you could dig along the edge of the insert with a brand new x-acto blade (one of the scalpel versions), to either create a purchase, or cut through the glue holding it in — just go slow and careful as to not cut through the neck. Keep heating it up as you go and that could also help the glue loosen up.

That's a good suggestion, thank you. I'll give it a go....

Stryker2011 wrote:If you try heating it up, you could dig along the edge of the insert with a brand new x-acto blade (one of the scalpel versions), to either create a purchase, or cut through the glue holding it in — just go slow and careful as to not cut through the neck. Keep heating it up as you go and that could also help the glue loosen up.

Happy to report....success! I managed to get it out. It was indeed really well glued in there. I ended up using a blunt sculpting tool instead of exacto knife, since I didn't want to risk slicing the HT sculpt (or my fingers) in the process.


Thanks again for the help. Sometimes I get easily discouraged due to my fear of potentially breaking or ruining things.

Excellent. Glad it worked.

Stryker2011 wrote:Excellent. Glad it worked.

Yeah, take that, Hot Toys.

Finally opened him up!

Looks great!

I agree, effective and fun display. You got a whole army of battle droids!