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Hot Toys Star Wars Grand Moff Tarkin review

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GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
A blast from the past: I needed to reference this, and discovered it was only on the old site, posted shortly before it went haywire and led to the creation of this space. So I'm just migrating it here to be with the others. A number of the figures shown have been upgraded since (for example, see here), and the photos are overly bright (we're trying to show off a product, you know!). If you've seen this before and this bores you, my apologies. Then again, it has been 6 years since March 2018... time flies, whether you are having fun or not.

This is not a full-scale detailed review (I hope and expect Michael Crawford will be providing one Edit: he did), just some impressions and 26 photos. Hope you enjoy or find useful, and share your impressions.

Couple of disclaimers: my camera is not the best for macro photos, and in many cases the photos below do not give the product full justice; I have lighted the scenes a bit too much so that you could see more details of the product; I do not always have the right Death Star environment, and some of the supporting characters head sculpts are ad hoc approximations, so bear with me.

It is an exciting time to be a sixth scale action figure collector who likes Star Wars. Sideshow just completed their Empire Strikes Back bounty hunter team by releasing Zuckuss and Dengar (see HERE and Michael Crawford's detailed reviews), and also the Snowtrooper Commander; Hot Toys did not lag behind, releasing Hoth Leia (see HERE, with the Snowtrooper Commander) and now Tarkin (or, for those who ordered the two-pack, Tarkin and another Episode IV Vader). I say exciting, rather than great, because of the strain on our wallets. Tarkin retails in the US for around $235 (sans Vader).

hottoys - Hot Toys Star Wars Grand Moff Tarkin review Httark10

Governor Tarkin (I refuse to use the designation "Grand Moff" which is found on the box, because I find it both silly and not really canonical) was arguably the main villain of the original Star Wars film, later qualified as Episode IV: A New Hope. To be sure, he was written in facile, simplistic terms, a quintessential storybook (or comic book) villain -- all that was missing was doing The Simpsons' Mr Burns' play with his fingers and maliciously mumbling "eggcelent." If I were the ruler of the Galactic Empire, I would not have allowed anyone to blow up an entire planet of taxpayers to make a point -- even if it were just for the sake of revenues. Then again, Lucas has always claimed that Star Wars is a story for kids, and those of us who expect more from what could have been a more serious adult franchise have to keep remembering that. And it is easy to forget. At any rate, Peter Cushing did the best he could with this seriously handicapped role, and delivered what is still arguably one of the most iconic subtler villains in the history of cinema.

Hot Toys has released Tarkin as a sixth scale figure. The sculpt and paint are lifelike, precise, and super-detailed. This is certainly the best likeness of Peter Cushing as Tarkin in this scale, and likely to remain so. Is it really perfect? Maybe not quite. They certainly got Peter Cushing's gaunt and slightly misshapen appearance from the film to come through. But the head does not look spot on from some angles. I suspect the problem is the hair. In the film, Cushing's hair is becoming rather sparse and in places hovering a bit above and around the skull; that is not something easily replicated in a sixth-scale head sculpt (and I suspect trying to achieve it with rooted hair would have led to similarly mixed results). Another issue with the hair is the color. In many instances it seems to me that the figure's hair is a bit too brownish. But Cushing's on-screen hair was a mixture of brown and grey and white that again would be exceedingly difficult to replicate with any painted sculpt. These minor points notwithstanding, I doubt anyone (including Hot Toys) could have done a better job here, without lapsing into some other extreme. A minor quality issue: it seems to me that the seam line between the front and back side of the head is a little too apparent on my figure.

hottoys - Hot Toys Star Wars Grand Moff Tarkin review Httark11
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My one big disappointment with this figure (which I would still rate at least a 3.5/4, if not better) is the neck. Peter Cushing was an aging man with a wrinkled neck, and the decision to make a head sculpt including the molded neck is not surprising or unnatural. What is surprising to me is that it has even less posability than I expected from it. And, at least in this role, Cushing is all about gestures, head tilting, and sideways glances. From that point of view, a separate head and separate neck would have been welcome and probably a better choice overall. Speaking of sideways glances, if ever a figure could have benefited from PERS, this is it. While I appreciate we did not get stuck with a single extreme or one-way look (as we have with some Hot Toys products like their General Zod, first Harley Quinn, and second Star-Lord) here, PERS or additional head sculpts with sideways glancing eyes would have been a very nice touch.

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The outfit is beautifully executed, and does not restrict the articulation much. The boots are made of soft pleather material (like those that came with Hot Toys' Han Solo, but possibly working better at the ankle) and you can articulate the ankle without problems. The knee, wrist, and elbow articulation is also unimpeded, although the outfit includes not only the exterior uniform, but also Tarkin's signature white undershirt (I haven't opened up the clothing to investigate, but you can see the white cuffs and a bit of the white collar, just like in the film Edit: the white cuffs are just strips of white cloth attached on the inner side of the lower sleeves: there is not full white shirt underneath the uniform top). Getting him to sit properly is a little bit more difficult, but not very much so. The only place where either the body or the outfit impeded the articulation too much for my taste was at the shoulders. Trying to align the figure's right hand with the face and chin for Tarkin's apparent "trademark" pose was theoretically possible but difficult to do with precision and made me wish for the smooth movement of Phicen/TBLeague stainless steel skeleton bodies. A minor problem with the outfit is that either the side pockets are just a little too shallow for the rank cylinders, or the latter are just a little too long; they ride up a bit too easily.

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Hot Toys' Tarkin comes with two extra pairs of hands (making for a total of three pairs), the four rank cylinders to fit in the chest side pockets of his tunic, spare buttons, a stand, and his conference room chair. Since I do not consider spare parts (hands, buttons), things that are a permanent feature of the outfit (the cylinders), and stands proper accessories, the real accessory is just one: the chair. It is nicely done, in two pieces: you have to attach the seat to the base (carefully). The seat can rotate on the base, and so can the wheels (although they are not functional -- they do not roll). However, I noticed that the chair is not screen accurate: it is too tall, most notably the back is too elongated, and the top part clearly too long. In some of the photos above I cheated by making a makeshift booster seat out of foamies so that Tarkin's head would be at more or less the right place in relation to the back of his chair. Here is what it looks like without such devices (my hybrid Vader might be just a little too short, although when I was putting him together, I based the height on research):

hottoys - Hot Toys Star Wars Grand Moff Tarkin review Httark20

One nice but non-screen-accurate chair is not exactly a mind-blowing accessory, especially considering he does not come with a table (which would not have been practicable), and other chairs and the officers to sit in them are unlikely to be made by Hot Toys (a long time ago Sideshow might have given it a try). Now we don't see Tarkin with much in the way of accessories in the film, which surely justified Hot Toys' decision here. But they could have done better: as an officer, Tarkin would have had a cap and a weapon or two, even if we do not see them onscreen. By comparison, Sideshow's Admiral Piett came with two weapons (never seen onscreen), both bare and gloved hands, and two officer's caps (one molded plastic, the other fabric); and, one might add, a bare-headed head-sculpt, although we never so him without his cap on. But let's say that since we do not see Tarkin with a cap or weapon, it is ok to skip them. We do see him with a cool black and silver metal cup on the conference table in front of his chair; maybe a cup would have been a fitting accessory?

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In the photos below I have messed with the height of figures (by using various lifts and bases) to achieve something like the right perspective, but overall Tarkin is well-scaled vis-a-vis the other Hot Toys sixth-scale action figures (here, Leia).

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Here's Tarkin with my hybrid Hot Toys/Sideshow Vader (who might be, again, a little on the short side):

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And building up to his last moments...

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But in the spirit of Pulp Fiction, we'll do a flashback to a leisurely moment in the life of a cool bad guy...

hottoys - Hot Toys Star Wars Grand Moff Tarkin review Httark35

Hope you enjoyed it.

Other reviews:

Iconiq Studios Muhammad Ali


 
Maha 1/6 scale modular body
 
NBA Real Masterpiece Luka Dončić 1/6 Scale Limited Edition Figure Review and more
 
ANT Flexible Female Seamless Body Review
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Cobb Vanth
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker Bespin Review and Fun
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Return of the Jedi Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Assault Tank Commander
 
Hot Toys Star Wars Rogue One Director Krennic
 
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Jiaou Doll Male Bodies
 
Kamisoul MAF Extreme Seamless Body with Jiaou and TBleague comparison
 
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#hottoys #starwars #anewhope #grand #moff #tarkin #fiction #film


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Visisonor

Visisonor
Interesting, 2018 is already more than half a decade ago. Doesn't feel like that long. Realistic face details seem to have peaked at that time, or earlier - if there were improvements after that, they were marginal and hard to notice.

Great review of a great figure, and your diorama pieces are impressive too.

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
Visisonor wrote:Interesting, 2018 is already more than half a decade ago. Doesn't feel like that long. Realistic face details seem to have peaked at that time, or earlier - if there were improvements after that, they were marginal and hard to notice.

Great review of a great figure, and your diorama pieces are impressive too.
Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it/them.
Yes, without being absolutely perfect, it is one of their better products among so many very good ones. They have continued to produce excellent likenesses, and the movable eyes features have added a great deal of additional life in them. They already had movable eyes when they made Tarkin -- in fact, I wished they had given them to him. But back them they were the parallel eye movement (PERS) system, which worked somewhat problematically and sometimes resulted in a distortion of the facial features to accommodate the system within the head (Hot Toys' Indiana Jones, a deluxe figure, is victim to this, with a slightly off likeness).


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valentin

valentin
Love the mix media that you used to induce depth in photos with the 1/18 hasbro figures.

BAMComix

BAMComix
Nice looking figure, Ian I remember how pleased Nick (Of MIskatonicNick) was, when he received his. He looks really good with all the other imperials. The Death Star manual was a great touch lol! .

Darth_Hogge

Darth_Hogge
Really nice pics from the movie-scenes! Congrats!

Yes, the Death Star Manual is very funny and the 3,75" figures in the are backround working very well; good idea!


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Valiarde

Valiarde
What a cool figure, great head! And as always, your presentation is top notch. He fits your collection of course.

I like your backdrops, they are perfect for these scenes and photos!

Smile



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GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
valentin wrote:Love the mix media that you used to induce depth in photos with the 1/18 hasbro figures.
Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it!

BAMComix wrote:Nice looking figure, Ian I remember how pleased Nick (Of MIskatonicNick) was, when he received his. He looks really good with all the other imperials. The Death Star manual was a great touch lol! .
Thanks, Dal, I think so too (great figure). And I couldn't resist making a sixth-scale version of this book (which I actually own). I put it together for an earlier stormtrooper review, but it was really perfect for Tarkin, wasn't it?

Darth_Hogge wrote:Really nice pics from the movie-scenes! Congrats!

Yes, the Death Star Manual is very funny and the 3,75" figures in the are backround working very well; good idea!
Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked them. And the little joke with the manual. It occurs to me that if I had been less concerned with showcasing Tarkin, I could have dimmed the lights and made the forced perspective with smaller-scale figures work even better for the photographs.

Valiarde wrote:What a cool figure, great head! And as always, your presentation is top notch. He fits your collection of course.

I like your backdrops, they are perfect for these scenes and photos!

Smile
Thank you, Simon, I'm delighted you like him. And yes, he is definitely at home here, though he doesn't get out much. Glad you like the smaller scale backdrops too... they are actually almost a scale model of various Death Star spaces, that I made for my 1:18 figures before I prioritized 1:6. I haven't really taken them out since the move, because I don't know how well they survived it.


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BAMComix

BAMComix
GubernatorFan wrote:
BAMComix wrote:Nice looking figure, Ian I remember how pleased Nick (Of MIskatonicNick) was, when he received his. He looks really good with all the other imperials. The Death Star manual was a great touch lol! .
Thanks, Dal, I think so too (great figure). And I couldn't resist making a sixth-scale version of this book (which I actually own). I put it together for an earlier stormtrooper review, but it was really perfect for Tarkin, wasn't it?

It sounds really cool, I remember years back a buddy of mine had the enterprise one, it was a fascinating read, so I should imagine the Death Star would be just as good?

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
BAMComix wrote:
GubernatorFan wrote:
BAMComix wrote:Nice looking figure, Ian I remember how pleased Nick (Of MIskatonicNick) was, when he received his. He looks really good with all the other imperials. The Death Star manual was a great touch lol! .
Thanks, Dal, I think so too (great figure). And I couldn't resist making a sixth-scale version of this book (which I actually own). I put it together for an earlier stormtrooper review, but it was really perfect for Tarkin, wasn't it?

It sounds really cool, I remember years back a buddy of mine had the enterprise one, it was a fascinating read, so I should imagine the Death Star would be just as good?
It is fun and somewhat helpful when it comes to recreating parts of the Death Star environment. That said, it did make up stuff that did not necessarily make sense or correspond exactly to what was supposed to be the case -- insofar as that was ever specifically worked out in the original movie sets. One example of a retcon is the heartwarming story of Sergeant Jad Bean, who was made up by the author to honor a friend, with Lucasfilm's approval, see here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160308062656/http://www.jadbean.com/sergeant-jad-bean-an-officially-named-character-in-return-of-the-jedi.html

https://clubjade.net/interview-ryder-windham-on-death-star-owners-technical-manual/


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BAMComix

BAMComix
GubernatorFan wrote:
BAMComix wrote:
GubernatorFan wrote:
BAMComix wrote:Nice looking figure, Ian I remember how pleased Nick (Of MIskatonicNick) was, when he received his. He looks really good with all the other imperials. The Death Star manual was a great touch lol! .
Thanks, Dal, I think so too (great figure). And I couldn't resist making a sixth-scale version of this book (which I actually own). I put it together for an earlier stormtrooper review, but it was really perfect for Tarkin, wasn't it?

It sounds really cool, I remember years back a buddy of mine had the enterprise one, it was a fascinating read, so I should imagine the Death Star would be just as good?
It is fun and somewhat helpful when it comes to recreating parts of the Death Star environment. That said, it did make up stuff that did not necessarily make sense or correspond exactly to what was supposed to be the case -- insofar as that was ever specifically worked out in the original movie sets. One example of a retcon is the heartwarming story of Sergeant Jad Bean, who was made up by the author to honor a friend, with Lucasfilm's approval, see here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160308062656/http://www.jadbean.com/sergeant-jad-bean-an-officially-named-character-in-return-of-the-jedi.html

https://clubjade.net/interview-ryder-windham-on-death-star-owners-technical-manual/

What a great little bit of backstory and history of the character. Thanks for the link, Ian bounce

skywalkersaga

skywalkersaga
Very nice blast from the past to see this older review here! Thanks for sharing it. Smile


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Ignoring current 'official' Star Wars content for my own sanity.

Diana

Diana
Nice one!! He's a great figure for sure, though that seam line would bug me, too. But I suppose most of the time it's not that obvious. Yes, separately moving eyeballs would have been great and I'm very happy that they are becoming more standard now. Smile

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
BAMComix wrote:
What a great little  bit of backstory and history of the character. Thanks for the link, Ian bounce
You are welcome. At once a heart-warming story and a glimpse at just how random officially-sanctioned Star Wars canon can be!

skywalkersaga wrote:Very nice blast from the past to see this older review here! Thanks for sharing it. Smile
Thank you very much for the kind words, Sky.

Diana wrote:Nice one!! He's a great figure for sure, though that seam line would bug me, too. But I suppose most of the time it's not that obvious. Yes, separately moving eyeballs would have been great and I'm very happy that they are becoming more standard now. Smile
Thank you very much, Diana, I'm glad you like him. And that we agree (seam, eyes).


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blackpool

blackpool
very cool blast from the past!!! Good ol' classics never get old!

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
blackpool wrote:very cool blast from the past!!! Good ol' classics never get old!
Thank you very much, Alex, I'm glad you liked it.


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blackpool

blackpool
GubernatorFan wrote:
blackpool wrote:very cool blast from the past!!! Good ol' classics never get old!
Thank you very much, Alex, I'm glad you liked it.

That’s exactly the kind of figure that makes me regret not falling into the starwars collection. Simple but super iconic with an amazing portrait!

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
blackpool wrote:
GubernatorFan wrote:
blackpool wrote:very cool blast from the past!!! Good ol' classics never get old!
Thank you very much, Alex, I'm glad you liked it.

That’s exactly the kind of figure that makes me regret not falling into the starwars collection. Simple but super iconic with an amazing portrait!
I feel the same way... well, except for not having a Star Wars collection, which I do. More custom stuff coming up soon.


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Randam Hajile

Randam Hajile
Very nice, Ian. It is still an impressive figure. Thanks for sharing.

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
Randam Hajile wrote:Very nice, Ian. It is still an impressive figure. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much Ralf (and for looking, too). I like it a lot, just wish it got to go out and play more (as it did, at least once).


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Visisonor

Visisonor
GubernatorFan wrote:(as it did, at least once).
Oh wow, so that's where Officer Kavill comes from. I haven't seen it before. Hilarious.

GubernatorFan

GubernatorFan
Founding Father
Visisonor wrote:
GubernatorFan wrote:(as it did, at least once).
Oh wow, so that's where Officer Kavill comes from. I haven't seen it before. Hilarious.
Yes indeed! Glad you liked it. There's a bunch of them linked there.


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