EXO-6 Star Trek “Deep Space Nine” Figures

[JohnnyStarTrek]

View attachment 689234
home run
For those of you keeping score at home:

1. Enlarged her eyes
2. Added some simulated lighting from directly in front
3. Put some auburn highlights in her hair
4. Smoothed out her skin
5. Adjusted the color palette of her uniform

The "doctored" pic on the Right is pretty much a Home Run. I'd buy that
Am I the only one who feels that the Exo-6 figures that are"fine" or "a little disappointing" are really starting to outnumber the ones that are great?

 

[S. Griffin]

Am I the only one who feels that the Exo-6 figures that are"fine" or "a little disappointing" are really starting to outnumber the ones that are great?

Nope

 

[QuiGonFishing]

The "doctored" pic on the Right is pretty much a Home Run. I'd buy that
Am I the only one who feels that the Exo-6 figures that are"fine" or "a little disappointing" are really starting to outnumber the ones that are great?

Appreciate the feedback on my edit job!

Don’t lose hope yet. The other undeniable feature of EXO figures is they look AMAZINGLY better in hand. Sometimes SHOCKINGLY so!

 

[StarDude]

I think this is just again, mostly a preference thing. Kira has huge eyes in a lot of scenes but just Googling I can find photos where she's just under harsher light so he's more squinty and it does look surprisingly more like the figure. This photo I swear they used.

Most of the time you'd see her she's got huge eyes! I do think she's just squinting in this figure, maybe they're a bit small still but not by much.

 

[Mike86]

The problem I’m having with EXO-6 lately is it feels like a lot of me just settling. The figures aren’t bad but quite a few of them have me questioning decision making that goes into how characters look.

Kira has a few issues really with her sculpt and the fact that she doesn’t really match the other characters in terms of her uniform.

Same thing happened with Neelix recently where his sculpt is all kinds of wack and he has a uniform that not many or any of us would have chosen.

Is TOS or TNG going to suffer this at some point with a sacrificed sculpt or a random uniform? We’ve only seen Picard with the jacket and not his regular uniform. Same goes with only seeing Kirk in his dress uniform and not the normal color.

We’re not going to get these figures from anyone else though so I guess just take them and be happy or leave them and shut up. That essentially is the vibe Nanjin gives off too. Rather disappointing.

 

[Johnny Utah]

His only responsibility to collectors is to take their money and thumb his nose at them while he does it.

 

[Skyroes]

The problem I’m having with EXO-6 lately is it feels like a lot of me just settling. The figures aren’t bad but quite a few of them have me questioning decision making that goes into how characters look.

Kira has a few issues really with her sculpt and the fact that she doesn’t really match the other characters in terms of her uniform.

Same thing happened with Neelix recently where his sculpt is all kinds of wack and he has a uniform that not many or any of us would have chosen.

Is TOS or TNG going to suffer this at some point with a sacrificed sculpt or a random uniform? We’ve only seen Picard with the jacket and not his regular uniform. Same goes with only seeing Kirk in his dress uniform and not the normal color.

We’re not going to get these figures from anyone else though so I guess just take them and be happy or leave them and shut up. That essentially is the vibe Nanjin gives off too. Rather disappointing.

Refer back to his comments on Neelix:

Simple, we don't have the luxury to wait. Either we:

put Neelix out now OR
don't make Neelix until 2025 OR
don't make him at all OR
shut down EXO-6

If you read between the lines, I view EXO as essentially spending money as quickly as it comes in (out of necessity). Perhaps they don’t have the financial runway to be perfecting these figures to their full potential. They have to remain agile and potentially have to design and produce something that’s 90% of the way there to get it to production and off to market ASAP to sustain their operations. This isn’t an operation as vast as Hot Toys which has multiple revenue streams through its multi-license structure. EXO is niche.

Kira’s sculpt issues are minor IMO, I think they’ve come a long way since VOY.

I’ve seen no reason to be concerned with TNG as of yet, all those releases have been executed well to date. I’m trusting that they’ll deliver on Picard with the standard uniform as that’s what they said they were going to do.

 

[davejames]

I think this is just again, mostly a preference thing. Kira has huge eyes in a lot of scenes but just Googling I can find photos where she's just under harsher light so he's more squinty and it does look surprisingly more like the figure. This photo I swear they used.

View attachment 689310

Most of the time you'd see her she's got huge eyes! I do think she's just squinting in this figure, maybe they're a bit small still but not by much.

View attachment 689311

Yeah I can understand wanting to go with a more intense expression for Kira, but I'd always rather have the most common and ideal look with each character. And Kira's most defining feature was always those big beautiful eyes of hers.

 

[davejames]

Refer back to his comments on Neelix:

Simple, we don't have the luxury to wait. Either we:

put Neelix out now OR
don't make Neelix until 2025 OR
don't make him at all OR
shut down EXO-6

If you read between the lines, I view EXO as essentially spending money as quickly as it comes in (out of necessity). Perhaps they don’t have the financial runway to be perfecting these figures to their full potential. They have to remain agile and potentially have to design and produce something that’s 90% of the way there to get it to production and off to market ASAP to sustain their operations. This isn’t an operation as vast as Hot Toys which has multiple revenue streams through its multi-license structure. EXO is niche.

Kira’s sculpt issues are minor IMO, I think they’ve come a long way since VOY.

I’ve seen no reason to be concerned with TNG as of yet, all those releases have been executed well to date. I’m trusting that they’ll deliver on Picard with the standard uniform as that’s what they said they were going to do.

No doubt he's got a very tight production schedule and needs to always be putting stuff out, but we've seen him hold back several figures before for further work (Saavik, TMP Kirk, Kruge etc). But it's clear that some just aren't quite as important and Neelix is understandably one of them.

 

[Mike86]

No doubt he's got a very tight production schedule and needs to always be putting stuff out, but we've seen him hold back several figures before for further work (Saavik, TMP Kirk, Kruge etc). But it's clear that some just aren't quite as important and Neelix is understandably one of them.

Thing is Nanjin also has biases against certain characters. He’s said multiple times that he’s not a Chekov fan. Will that release be half assed?

Just one example (maybe two counting Neelix). How many more of those are there? Also let’s be honest a lot of the VOY crew felt kind of phoned in (the Paris sculpt, a few characters with wonky eyes, hit or miss paint apps).

 

[DParga21]

The only Exo sculpts I've really had issues with are the Voyager ones, which honestly doesn't bother me too much. The TMP sculpts? Magnificent. TNG / FC? Stellar. Enterprise? Also great. Shran's one of my favorites. And the DS9 figs are a dream come true.
I think, if it seems like we've been getting some "it's fine" sculpts, it's because they've been pushing out the Voyager figures fast and furious. And I'm okay if those are the ones they work out their kinks on.

 

[davejames]

Personally I think most of the Voyager sculpts have been pretty solid, save the Doctor and Neelix. It's just the simplistic paint jobs that have let them down.

 

[Brett Banner]

I’m sorry but this Kira looks awful. Like, the sculpt is just not at all pleasing to my eyes in any way. I jumped off the Voyager line after getting Janeway and EMH, now I’m really starting to second-guess collecting the DS9 figures as well, Sisko was fine, and Odo looks OK but still solidly in their mid-tier. The variance in sculpt quality across each release is just baffling to me. Feels like I’m in some sort of abusive relationship with this company. I just hope they don’t give us any clunkers with the main TNG cast or I’ll really be heartbroken.

Also, I love MWC and his reviews, but my god that man is the most forgiving reviewer of anything ever. Why have what is essentially an 8-point grading scale if you only ever use the top half of it? Seriously, if you see he’s given a figure a 3 out of 4 on the final score then you know that figure must really be dog **** lol.

 

[S. Griffin]

I think this is just again, mostly a preference thing. Kira has huge eyes in a lot of scenes but just Googling I can find photos where she's just under harsher light so he's more squinty and it does look surprisingly more like the figure. This photo I swear they used.

View attachment 689310

Most of the time you'd see her she's got huge eyes! I do think she's just squinting in this figure, maybe they're a bit small still but not by much.

If this is the photo they used, they missed the mark. The Exo-6 figure isn't squinting. The eyes are just too small, even for that photo you posted. Are they too small by a lot? Probably not, but sometimes a 10% difference in the size of a feature on a figure's face can look significant. Also notice the almost complete lack of lines going from her eyes onto her cheeks in that photo. I can almost excuse the eyes, as that's something Asmus, Sideshow, and even Hot Toys screw up sometimes, but I cannot get over the wrinkles they put on Kira's face. They only really started to show up a little bit in later seasons, and even then, only when she was very upset. I've seen Nana in interviews and in person on numerous occasions over the years, most recently chatting with her in Richmond just last March, and as I've said at least once in this thread, Nana still doesn't have wrinkles on her face like that, and she's in her mid sixties. Those wrinkles look exaggerated, and needlessly so. The figure looks like Kira hasn't slept for a month and has been totally cut off from Raktajino.

 

[davejames]

Yeah kinda reminds me of some of the QMX sculpts, where some of the features got way over-exaggerated.

 

[Skyroes]

Thing is Nanjin also has biases against certain characters. He’s said multiple times that he’s not a Chekov fan. Will that release be half assed?

Just one example (maybe two counting Neelix). How many more of those are there? Also let’s be honest a lot of the VOY crew felt kind of phoned in (the Paris sculpt, a few characters with wonky eyes, hit or miss paint apps).

Is it half assing or is it an inherent learning curve that came with founding a new company and training the production staff? VOY was all over the place and I take that into account as for the reason why. Everything since then from what I remember have been more consistent, and by that I mean DS9 and TNG have been fairly solid. Kira is the hot topic right now but I would reserve judgement until you all get her in hand, you may be surprised.

When NT frequented these forums he stated that he wanted to make QMx Trek irrelevant. He’s building a legacy, so I dont think they are purposely half assing things even if some previous releases look that way. He’s a TOS guy from what I recall and he seems to be leaving that for last, so they should benefit from increased skill.

I can’t explain how they produce a lacklustre Tom Paris and yet manage to pull off a more complex figure like Locutus. Are they utilizing outside contractors on some figures and using their internal workforce on others? Possibly.

Neelix is unappealing because of his expression, but if you compare him against the reference picture like another poster did, it’s a fair comparison. I was one of those people that immediately thought he looked horrible until I saw the side by side comparison.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Is it half assing or is it an inherent learning curve that came with founding a new company and training the production staff? VOY was all over the place and I take that into account as for the reason why. Everything since then from what I remember have been more consistent, and by that I mean DS9 and TNG have been fairly solid. Kira is the hot topic right now but I would reserve judgement until you all get her in hand, you may be surprised.

When NT frequented these forums he stated that he wanted to make QMx Trek irrelevant. He’s building a legacy, so I dont think they are purposely half assing things even if some previous releases look that way. He’s a TOS guy from what I recall and he seems to be leaving that for last, so they should benefit from increased skill.

I can’t explain how they produce a lacklustre Tom Paris and yet manage to pull off a more complex figure like Locutus. Are they utilizing outside contractors on some figures and using their internal workforce on others? Possibly.

Neelix is unappealing because of his expression, but if you compare him against the reference picture like another poster did, it’s a fair comparison. I was one of those people that immediately thought he looked horrible until I saw the side by side comparison.

For goodness sake . . . will you please stop being reasonable and thoughtful . . . we're all here for the drama

In all seriousness though - I think he's putting the best sculptors/effort on the characters/shows he thinks are worth that effort (for whatever reason) - we shouldn't blame him for those decisions. I'm pretty sure that the posts above about him doing what is necessary to survive are 100% on-the ball, which means he surely HAS to prioritise.

Of course, I say that as somone who is focused on TOS & DS9 and hasn't seen a bad in-hand sculpt from those shows yet

I just want him & his team to succeed and to keep going - despite how he views members of this forum.


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[Brett Banner]

He is always mentioning that he is a numbers guy and that he used to be a professional gambler. I’m sure he has data showing there would be minimal differences for the sales numbers on certain characters whether or not the sculpt is a C-Team sculpt vs one of their best top-tier sculpts. Like, I’m sure he knows that certain side characters like Tom Paris are only going to get a certain number of orders from those specific collectors who are buying a certain amount of the Voyager crew, and that even giving it a top-tier sculpt is unlikely to move the needle on those numbers much. So why even bother putting the best sculptor on it to begin with?

And as far as having to put figures out to keep the factories running whether they are ready or not? Honestly, there are so many characters that have different looks over the course of their shows or movies, personally I would much prefer taking more time to get the sculpts perfected and then repurposing them, instead keeping the factory going by producing those different costume variants. Example: I personally don’t care at all that the TMP Spock and TWOK Spock will have different sculpts, kinda seems like a waste of resources. And hell, the TWOK sculpt they keep showing doesn’t even look as good as the first one. Take a page from Hot Toys on that one!

Also I’m just kinda grumpy about this company right now because my recent Quark purchase had paint rub on the nose so I ordered a replacement sculpt from TA. And my replacement that arrived today *also* has paint rub on the nose. Their QC is real **** sometimes.

 

[Heavy Metal Spike]

. . . I’m just kinda grumpy about this company right now because my recent Quark purchase had paint rub on the nose so I ordered a replacement sculpt from TA. And my replacement that arrived today *also* has paint rub on the nose. Their QC is real **** sometimes.

Is it possible that happened in transit? (on both) - I know mine had a protective pad over the face to stop it rubbing on the clear vacu-formed plastic.


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[Brett Banner]

Is it possible that happened in transit? (on both) - I know mine had a protective pad over the face to stop it rubbing on the clear vacu-formed plastic.


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It did. It had the foam piece inside the clamshell where the forehead sits, but the problem is they didn't consider Quark's misshapen head so the foam doesn't even touch the sculpt and the nose still rubs against the clamshell. This is now the 5th(!) EXO-6 figure or head sculpt I've purchased that had paint rub on the nose. Had to buy 2 replacement sculpts for my FC Picard, one for my EMH, and now I'll be looking for a third for Quark. Different problem but my Sisko had one hand that was just randomly like 3x darker in shade than the rest of the hands or head sculpt. My Janeway was literally impossible to bend the arms, never owned another 1/6 figure that felt like the elbow joints were literally glued into position. My TMP Spock's legs are slightly different lengths for some reason that I still can't figure out until I get around to just completely undressing him to see what's going on.

I consider it a small miracle that my Locutus, with all its fragile little bits, came without any issues at all.