NEW PRODUCT: HOT TOYS: STAR WARS STORMTROOPER (DELUXE VERSION) 1/6TH SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE

LOL! It's actually 'sinistro' but sinister is related.

CHEERS!

So did anyone PO one of these guys. I’m curious.in-hand pics have started to show up. Looks pretty good.

I ordered one, but I suspect it will be quite a while before it arrives.

I like the LED light-up background/stand, only wish it was a little bit bigger/wider, to accommodate more than one figure.

For those that may be interested, here are some in-hand pics by Freaks members faststreetsofhongkong and evodc.

First up faststreets':







According to his post, the light up background seems pretty nice (he didn't insert the batteries apparently), but he had the same complaint as many -- too small.


The other background is (again, according to him) the grey background wall is just a thin piece of cardboard -- and due to the small size of the display stand for the "walls" -- it's one or the other, not both side by side.




evodc's pics:

Comparison pics with the Han Storm Trooper and the new one, and a Patrol Trooper (I think):







And some side by side pics with Sideshow's Squad Leader Trooper and their helmets:

Very cool. They got the proportions correctly this time (although we already knew that from the promotional images). The Patrol trooper is out too?

The PT is out in Asia, at least, yes. Did you PO one of those, too, even though it’s Solo (I believe)?

I never noticed before, but were the lenses that green in reality? I do like the look of this guy, and seriously tempted...

Stryker2011 wrote:The PT is out in Asia, at least, yes. Did you PO one of those, too, even though it’s Solo (I believe)? I never noticed before, but were the lenses that green in reality? I do like the look of this guy, and seriously tempted...

I hate to pre-order for various reasons, but I had to. Big Bad Toy Store had sold out its preorders and so I turned to Timewalker which turned out actually more affordable. There were eBay options (including some that claimed to have it in stock) but they were more expensive. I did like this one -- enough to order one. I don't know that we got a good look at him in the film; it makes sense that the lenses are green like a stormtrooper's, but I agree that they look a bit more green than usual.

Yeah, I imagine since we never get a direct sunlight shot of the real deal, it’s hard to say. Maybe scalawag would know better with his cosplay set.

On another note, I forgot to mention that faststreets said the articulation on this figure is much better, and easier to work with, than the Han Trooper — if that gives any indications for you. Timewalker does have a great price for this guy.

Stryker2011 wrote:Yeah, I imagine since we never get a direct sunlight shot of the real deal, it’s hard to say. Maybe scalawag would know better with his cosplay set. On another note, I forgot to mention that faststreets said the articulation on this figure is much better, and easier to work with, than the Han Trooper — if that gives any indications for you. Timewalker does have a great price for this guy.

Yes they do! And nowadays they are actually a less expensive option for me that BBTS (which was until recently). By the way, my comments in my previous post were about the Patrol Trooper, not the Stormtrooper. I've had a couple of the ROTJ stormtroopers (one Deluxe, one Regular) on pre-order for awhile. I don't have the Han or Luke stormtroopers from HT or Sideshow, but better articulation is always welcome in general.

Seeing someone else pics of these is always beneficial rather than just relying on the HT/SideShow pics lol.

The lenses are green.  There are two types of lens used. The bulk of ANH helmets just had a strip of green lighting filter film taped behind the eye pieces.  These are know as 'Stunt' helmets an the lenses can look almost black on film and look flat like the original HT Stormtrooper in these pics.  Here is a pic of my Shepperton Design Studios 'Stunt' helemet which shows how the original 'stunt' helmets were configured by SDS for ANH with the piece of lighting filter film for the lenses.

 

The 6 'hero' helmets from ANH had vacuum moulded dark green 'bubble' lenses which actually fitted into the eye pieces of the helmet and protrude through the front of the eye sockets of the helmets.  These look slightly more green on screen depending on lighting.  The new troopers helmet lenses look like this type.  I don't have an example with bubble lenses to show you I am afraid.
From memory I think the ESB helmets were a mix of the two types of lenses, and ROTJ where bubble lenses. All subsequent versions of the original Storm Trooper (RO, Solo) have featured bubble lenses.

Lighting can really affect how both types of lenses look.  In some of the out takes which feature Sandtroopers in ANH you can actually see the actors eyes behind the green filter film lens when caught at the right angle.
The effect that we are seeing in these pics is caused by a light source being off to the side of a set of bubble lenses.  The light makes them look more green.
When we are costuming we get similar problems and so people wear black balaclavas to minimise being seen through the lenses, and some paint the inside of the helmets black to minimise the light reflected by the white interior in the helmet, and to stop the sort of opaqueness of the white plastic of the helmet which can cause light to leak in and the wearer to be seen through the lenses.  These helmets are not made of thick solid plastic, they are flimsy and wobble about, so strong light sources can shine through them.
I have black neoprene sheet stuck to the inside of the helmet I troop in for these same reasons.  The bubble lenses do distort your vision quite a bit too being curved, and I have stuck with the green light filter film strip for the lenses in mine. here is a pic of the helmet I troop in.



Seeing how these 1/6 lenses react to light is very reminiscent of the real thing.

On another note it appears that almost every piece of the armour has been remodelled to reflect ROTJ armour for this figure which is great detailing from HT.  Look at the difference in the belts....spot on to my eye.

I am a little disappointed by the weathering though as apart from the boots the rest is very very subtle and nearly invisible in the in hand pics.  He looks like a trooper that has stepped in a muddy puddle rather than one that has been in action on Endor.

Paul

Thanks for the detailed info, Paul. That was really helpful. Funny, folks over at the Freaks are complaining about all the inaccuracies of this figure to actual ROTJ armor. Glad someone with more experience with the real thing chimed in.

It looks pretty good compared to the original ROTJ set I saw a couple of years ago.



You can kind of see the more domed bubble lenses in this pic by the way.

Regardless of how accurate it is, its actually really nice to see Hot Toys preparing a completely new figure, rather than rehashing an older one again which they could have easily done here.

Paul

Screen used ROTJ helmet from the same exhibition. You can see the lenses clearly here.



Paul

Thanks for the images and details, scalawag.

My EFX helmet (high quality replica but streamlined to be symmetrical -- your Shepperton is more accurate) also has the straight lenses; I actually bought the bubble lenses to replace them but never got around to doings so.

For those that don't know, the ROTJ armor variant we see on these figures was designed to be used in The Empire Strikes Back instead of overly worn A New Hope sets, but for some reason (tardiness) ended up in only a very few shots (carbon freeze chamber). But when the next film was being filmed, they did use the new sets of armor, which is how this ended up being the ROTJ stormtrooper armor. The most obvious difference from the original (apart from the black-painted frown, already a feature in Empire) is the edge of the armor plates on the torso and the inversion of the buttons over the abs.

I'm glad the pics were helpful.

There are a myriad of minor differences on this armour from what had been used before, generally all too small to be of much interest to all but the most obsessed lol. But HT seem to have most of the little detail changes nailed on this figure too.
The other larger and immediately noticeable difference is the hand guards which are a totally different shape from the originals and made of vacuum formed plastic like the rest of the armour rather than the latex painted white that had been used before for these parts.

Oh and the holster being swapped to the right hip of course.

I have been looking at these and how available they might be here in the UK.  They are on preorder in a couple of places but once again the prices are too high(£200-£230($255-$290) for the standard and £250-£280 ($320- $355) for the Deluxe).  As you can see there is about a £60 ($75) premium on the Deluxe version here in the UK, and I just don't see how they justify that when the only difference is the backdrop thingy!!!  Is the backdrop really worth about 25% of the cost of the figure itself??

Paul

These UK prices are atrocious. Timewalker Toys has it for $182 but I don't know what shipping and customs would do to that...

I have had a look at Timewalker, but they don't advertise what their international shipping rates are. It would be due for at least 20% VAT (Value Added Tax) on arrival in the UK I would imagine, possibly import duties to and of course the fees from whoever is handling it here in the UK. Royal Mail, our postal service, charge an extra £8 I think it is just to pass it through customs for you. They just add it to the customs charge you have to pay to release the package.
By the time it has gone through all that it will probably be close to the cheapest prices here in the UK sadly.
It is part of why I have stopped buying 1/6 franchised figures lately, they are just stupidly priced in the UK now.

Paul

I wonder if it would work out to be cheaper if one of us were to order it and send it to you? If we declare the value, say around $25.00 or something, and as a “gift”, if the tax on your end wouldn’t be so ungodly. Of course, then you run the risk of something happening to it, and losing out on the full value.

Stryker2011 wrote:I wonder if it would work out to be cheaper if one of us were to order it and send it to you? If we declare the value, say around $25.00 or something, and as a “gift”, if the tax on your end wouldn’t be so ungodly. Of course, then you run the risk of something happening to it, and losing out on the full value.

Oh, that would be so underhanded! But maybe if someone accidentally opened it and "lost" some accessory, that would "ruin" the set and make it worth, say $34 and change... I am scared how my mind works sometimes! No, but maybe if someone "accidentally" weathered the tip of a blaster or two (which could be easily fixed)...

Haha, well that wasn’t exactly what I meant. The Retailers declare “full value” for purchases, and it’s not a “gift”, so the Brits get double-raped on taxes etc.. So I was suggesting doing what many of the Asian sellers do and declare it at a fraction of its value.

Stryker2011 wrote:Haha, well that wasn’t exactly what I meant. The Retailers declare “full value” for purchases, and it’s not a “gift”, so the Brits get double-raped on taxes etc.. So I was suggesting doing what many of the Asian sellers do and declare it at a fraction of its value.

I'm just trying to make it more justifiable/legit. Although I suppose technically it should be up to us to set the value of an item we technically own.

Yeah its ok guys,  these sort of work arounds are not something that I am that comfortable with.

At the end of the day it is what it is, and even at the American prices I would not buy these any more out of principle.  

The fun of collecting 1/6, particularly franchised figures, has somewhat disappeared for me since the prices started to go ridiculous and I have to think if I want to buy or not.
It has driven me in other directions as spending this amount of money opens up more possibilities as to what I might spend my money on.

I am content now with what I already have.

I really only buy the smaller scale stuff and 1-1 replicas these days.

Paul