Thoughts on older Sideshow figures?

This thread reminds me of the "Hasbro's still good" threads that popped up when Sideshow Star Wars was at its peak in 2006-2007.

Now we're looking back at Sideshow pieces against Hot Toys.

You know one day in the future we'll be looking back and asking: Does Hot Toys still hold up against..."?"


That all said, I have every Sideshow Star Wars figure up to the Endor Rebel Soldiers, which is where I started to become more selective. Still, even after that, I bought way too many figures. Sadly, I don't have one of the old Sideshow Star Wars figures up in display currently -- the only SS piece I have out is Sideshow's C-3PO, which blends right in with the HT ANH.

Of all the pieces I have, I think if I had the room I would display Sideshow's Tusken Raider, the Rebel Fleet Trooper (with new body and head), and Greedo if I could paint-wash the suit to be less shiny and darken the orange vest. IG-88 is also really nice still.

mediame said:

What is "DiD"? So the DiD sculpt that you are using is just a general officer look and not an actual Praji replacement?
Thanks for the info

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That is correct. The sculpt isn't a match for Praji but a good Imperial bad-guy.

DiD (Dragon in Dreams)

Chakaman said:

I pretty much echo everyone else's comments.

Luke X-Wing is a great figure. Sculpt looks fine with the helmet on.

Endor Soldiers and Fleet Troopers outfits are fine, but bodies and sculpts are s****.

The AT-AT Driver, TIE Pilot are also very nice.

Not sure if HT will ever do the bounty hunters from ESB, but they are all solid figures.

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Tusken Raider , the Gamorean Gaurd , Salicous Crumb and Jabba are all solid as well.

Oh I forgot Gammy. He's solid... needs a repaint on the face but still, just his unusual shape and dress alone make him shelf worthy.

I totally forgot about Jabba in my initial listing but I didn't have him then. (I currently got him on order with SS, though.)

I would also add "Bib Fortuna" and the "Creature Packs" to the list, as well.

Taun Taun, Hoth Luke and Hoth Han with their goggles on...

I have Bib Fortuna, creatures, and Ventress on display still. Are the bounty hunters considered old? I have them on display as well.

TaliBane said:

Yeah, forgot to mention the SSC Tusken. At the last minute a few months back I actually ended up buying another SSC Tusken instead of buying the HT one as I had planned. With a body swap and a few minor mods, the SSC Tusken is really, even a decade later, a pretty spectacular figure that looks like it could have been released in the past few years.

And that SSC Ben is one of the best 1/6 likenesses ever, even if it is a bit oversized and lacks finer sculpt detail. The old SSC Leia/Luke/Han don't hold up well at all, but that Ben is still stunning. I have a SSC Ben with a great repaint and it's one of my top 10 1/6 SW figs in my collection - eerily accurate Alec Guinness, and I also greatly prefer the Sideshow Ben robe over the too-dark chamois fabric version that HT produced (my HT Ben robe is in the box, I'll probably use it for my Sebastian Shaw Anakin custom.)

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Any pics of that Ben repaint you might want to share with us?
Thx

I also forgot about the Tusken. Also have Hammerhead on display still. No human figures I guess. I consider putting Thrawn somewhere and also Boussh Leia in a display.

Oddly, my Jabba diorama consists MOSTLY of Sideshow figures. In fact, I think there’s only one HT in the crowd (Mandalorian Tusken — but with the New Hope robes from Cocoboloboy).

evenflow said:

No human figures I guess.

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I think this is the key here. Not that there are a lot of options otherwise, but their alien sculpts are pretty good and so a lot of those figures have aged pretty well.

Others, need a body and sculpt replacement, but some of the costume tailoring is still okay.

The dejarik holochess table is still impressive and still holds up today

I actually still have a bunch of sideshow figures still in my display.
Jabba
Bib
Gammo guard
C3po
R2
Sand trooper
Geonosis battle droids
All of the esb bounty hunters
Rotj vader
Skiff lando
The og grievous
Stap and battle droid
Episode 1 yoda with the senate chair
We didn’t know how good we had it. At least we had a variety when both companies were making 1:6. Hot toys has just become Disney plus promotion, especially in regards to Star Wars. Aotc wave 2 hahahaha. Good one Howard…

I ended up tracking down the cantina band, dejarik table, hammerhead, and greedo - they were hefty but I could swing it.

The bounty hunters hold up and are close enough in quality to a HT so definitely worth it.

My stance is that most anything made by SS circa 2012/2013 is generally “good” quality at worst.

As you go back further into the catalog with rebel troopers etc., the price points generally aren’t worth it. I have a slew of Endor troopers and fleet guys - the issue was that by the time I body swapped, head swapped, boot swapped, modded elsewhere, etc., I was basically paying $150+ for a few soft goods of mediocre tailoring.

I never had any intention of getting into 12inch.

Always a huge Kenner and then Hasbro 3 3/4 collector.
Then 2 of my mates showed me the Sideshow Maul.
I got hooked,but also with the Gentle Giant Busts.
Needless to say,it was fun staying up super late trying to nab the exclusives before they sold out on Sideshows site,competing against other collectors around the world.
I was lucky to display my SSC collection at a local Model show,and won first place over the weekend of the show.
As soon as Hot toys got the license,I sold them all of ASAP.
Prices now are incredible when I think of how much they were back then.

Also had a lot of sideshow figures, when I got into Hot Toys I sold off most of my human head sculpt ones and ended up selling my clone commanders mainly cause they are still worth a lot and I'm happier with Hot Toys clones.

The ones I've kept in my display:
Bounty Hunters (Fett got replaced by Hot Toys version and I bought extra HT parts to upgrade it to the Pre-Production)
Ventress
Ep1 Battle Droids
Admiral Piett
Commander Praji (These two flank Tarkin but I would sell them in a heartbeat if HT versions ever came along)
General Grievous (Though the tubes around his head have perished, still looks good with cape on)
Technically still have my Sandtrooper sergeant but used his accessory parts to upgrade my HT Squad Leader
Imperial Throne (Figured I'd keep this and just get regular HT Palpatine but now regret not getting the Deluxe)

Bounty Hunter definitely still hold up the best, though IG-88 does look a little dated compared to IG-11.