Figures that stood the test of time...

[BrooklynWolf X]

Let's hear it guys...

I choose two figures that, IMO, have stood the test of time.

HellBoy and Leonidas.

Two figures I'm kicking myself for not buying them when I had the chance all those years ago.

Whenever I see pics of them, I'm amazed at how beautiful they look. The sculpt and paint are phenomenal. Even more amazing is that they were released years ago and were never revisited. HT knocked them outta the park with their first and only try!

Look at how many versions of Thor, captain America, tony stark, Bruce Wayne there are. figures that took so many releases to either reach good or "I can live with it" status. however NONE of them reached true perfection like Hellboy and Leonidas. Once again...it was their FIRST and ONLY try at it and boom, perfection.

What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? What are your picks?

Let's keep it civil too fellas.

 

[AIR]

I still think the origins Wolverine is the best version so far.

 

[GalaxySupreme]

uhhhhhhh.......

HT hellboy and HT Leonidas are notorious for rubber deterioration.......

No offense, it seems like you literally picked the worst two examples to champion the principle of toys that stood the test of time.....

 

[Lejuan]

uhhhhhhh.......

HT hellboy and HT Leonidas are notorious for rubber deterioration.......

No offense, it seems like you literally picked the worst two examples to champion the principle of toys that stood the test of time.....

Leonidas has had very few issues with rubber deterioration. It could be because most owners are reluctant to pose the figure in anything other than a museum pose, but reports of tearing etc are few and far between.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Aliens blue Alien.

Original ED-209



Oh wait....

 

[Mr.E]

HT Platoon Sergeant Barnes. STILL one of their best sculpts.

 

[The Giamontan]

John Conner and Cannibal Jack Sparrow. For as long as they've been out the sculpt and paint are awesome. The outfits are perfectly tailored. The expression They gave Jack is something they rarely do. Even the extra head that came with Jack had a smirk. They both look great next to newer figures that were just released in my opinion.

 

[The Giamontan]

uhhhhhhh.......

HT hellboy and HT Leonidas are notorious for rubber deterioration.......

No offense, it seems like you literally picked the worst two examples to champion the principle of toys that stood the test of time.....

I've had my Leonidas in this pose since he first came out. No tears, no deterioration at all.

 

[Thainitty]

I'd say she predator machiko, the t-1000 from t2, and golgo 13 are still beauties to this day! Testament to hot toys legacy of great looking figures.....I don't have Leonids or hell boy but I've always thought they were gorgeous figures

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

uhhhhhhh.......

HT hellboy and HT Leonidas are notorious for rubber deterioration.......

No offense, it seems like you literally picked the worst two examples to champion the principle of toys that stood the test of time.....

Rubber deterioration is anecdotal tbh. Some say it happened to theirs, others say it hasn't. I guess I should've been more clear as to what I consider to be timeless figures, and for me it would have to be the headsculpts.

Ah cannibal jack is another good one. Not so much with the regular smirk, but the one with the expression is amazing!

 

[Mr Walker]

HT hellboy and HT Leonidas are notorious for rubber deterioration.......

They are?

 

[ebor]

Hot Toys Godfather...brilliant figure.

Don't laugh, but Salvation Conner, and Marcus Wright. (ok you can laugh, but I won't!)

 

[Plastic Bateman]

Here's five older figures (I did my best to find pictures of the final production pieces, apologies in advance if I stole and reuploaded the photos of anyone reading this) that I feel have stood the test of time sculpt and paint-wise:

I honestly think 2011/2012 was the golden period for Hot Toys. Bearing in mind that this is what they'd been producing in 2008:

And this is what was considered 'high-end' before Hot Toys:

I don't think the improvement Hot Toys have shown in the last four years is anything like the improvement from 2008-2012. Their innovation curve seems to have levelled out and become stagnant, we only see very small iterative improvement nowadays - a neat new magnetic feature here, better cloth goods there, etc - as opposed to massively game-changing releases. In fact I'd go as far as to say I like their older figures better. Nowadays they have a nasty habit of smoothing all the detail out of a sculpt:

Or painting fleshtones so dark the figure ends up looking like the original actor's non-union Mexican equivalent:

I prefer the old way they handled fleshtones, when they painted them paler and put more pinks into the mix. I also prefer the old way they painted eyes, it showed much more finesse, at least in my opinion. I feel like the company's become a victim of its own success, the sheer volume of figures they're now creating - both in terms of a packed release schedule and larger production runs - is starting to have an impact on the care, love and artistry going into the finished products.

I have a very hard time getting excited about new Hot Toys releases, but I'm taking a perverse pleasure in saving up the cash to go after their older releases.

 

[holtrax]

He may have a slightly too dark appearance but close up its hard to tell the difference between robert downey jr and that figure. I couldn't tell apart from the hairline if that was really him. Amazing level of detail even at a macro level.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

He may have a slightly too dark appearance but close up its hard to tell the difference between robert downey jr and that figure. I couldn't tell apart from the hairline if that was really him. Amazing level of detail even at a macro level.

I've seen and handled that figure at my LCS. While I agree it achieves a good likeness, there's something about it that just leaves me cold. I don't know if it's the mirthless thousand-yard stare, the too-tanned skin complexion or something else, but to me it's like the 1/6 death mask of Robert Downey Jr. All the correct features are there, but for lack of a better term the 'soul' is absent.

It's mechanically competent, artistically empty.

I appreciate most people won't share these sentiments, but I find the earlier releases have artistry, life and vitality about them. Much like the films they're now scrambling to produce these figures within the release windows of, the newer figures generally feel like something that just rolled off a production line to fill a quota, not something made with care and love any more.

 

[TheFiend]

They are?

Yeah, I was about to say I don't remember hearing a lot about it. I mean I wouldn't doubt it happened to someone, somewhere, but nothing like the first batches of the DX02. Hellboy had the knee problems though. I'd say, yeah, those figure have stood the test of time and look excellent. Love that Hellboy.

I prefer the old way they handled fleshtones, when they painted them paler and put more pinks into the mix. I also prefer the old way they painted eyes, it showed much more finesse, at least in my opinion. I feel like the company's become a victim of its own success, the sheer volume of figures they're now creating - both in terms of a packed release schedule and larger production runs - is starting to have an impact on the care, love and artistry going into the finished product.

I agree with you on the flesh tones, but not the eyes. The older eye decals looked too streamlined and simplistic. The detail on the iris has gotten much better,imo

 

[karamazov80]

The typical issue with Hellboy wasn't rubber deterioration, so much as plastic breakage, as red plastic is more brittle than other types. Particularly with his ankles and knees.

As for figures that held the test of time, Reeve Superman, Tech Noir Terminator, and DX Jack Sparrow are all way up there for me.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

I agree with you on the flesh tones, but not the eyes. The older eye decals looked too streamlined and simplistic. The detail on the iris has gotten much better,imo

I find the new way they paint eyes doesn't do many favours to dark eye colours, the details get lost unless you're poking a bright light and a magnifying glass/macro lens at them. What I like about the older eyes is they seem to catch light better when viewed from arm's length, i.e. displayed in a cabinet. For me at least, the ideal solution would be something between the two.

Hopefully this pic will demonstrate what I mean.

 

[WWEJedi]

Some might disagree, but a lot of the SSC Aliens/Jedi are still really nice in my opinion. Bodies aren't the best, but I think the sculpts and clothes still are nice for being as old as they are. I won't ever sell them.

 

[P.]

HT aliens space marines are very old, but have super detalization and are absolutely unique. replace the heads with modern standart sculpts, and it's something never repeated with zero flaws.
so they really stood the test of time.