Prime 1 - Ripley (Aliens)

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Now that I've picked up the old Sideshow 1/4 Queen Alien bust, this Ripley feels like it would be a great companion piece. Still want to see how Blitzway's Lynda Carter turns out before I reserve one of these, though.

Likeness works for me, especially in the behind-the-scenes shots. If all it takes to improve it is Photoshopping the color and size of her irises, that must mean there's already a good foundation in place.

I think this is similar situation to the 1/4 Dutch and T1 PFs that Trevor Grove sculpted for Sideshow, although they were initially met with greater praise. Trevor's Arnold sculpts evoke the feel and personality of the characters, but they're also styled to be more angular and severe than the actor in real life.

Not sure where other members stand on this, but I'd rather a company lean into "statue-fying" the character than creating a hyper-realistic human who simply has the wrong face. That's where Prime 1's 1/2 Arnold went wrong. The silicone skin and punched hair creates the expectation that you'll see a perfectly accurate face. When that expectation isn't met, it feels like a cheesy, uncanny wax sculpture.

When I look at something that's styled more like a typical statue, there's a subconscious understanding that the sculpt may be streamlined or heightened to feel more dynamic for that medium. Case in point: if this Ripley had rooted hair, I'd probably be harder on the likeness because true-to-life hair requires a true-to-life face to match.

Having that said, Weaver is an extremely tough likeness to crack. There are a number of pitfalls you can fall into and features you can favor. Here are some of the best sculpts I've seen.


Yingkang Luo:

yingkang-luo-hex-render-03.jpg



İlhan Yılmaz:

ilhan-yilmaz-ripley-1979-cam39-v14-2k.jpg



Last but not least, Hot Toys' second Ripley prototype. Still can't believe they abandoned this one in favor of what we ended up getting.

ugyhe2yb.jpg
 
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Now that I've picked up the old Sideshow 1/4 Queen Alien bust, this Ripley feels like it would be a great companion piece. Still want to see how Blitzway's Lynda Carter turns out before I reserve one of these, though.

Likeness works for me, especially in the behind-the-scenes shots. If all it takes to improve it is Photoshopping the color and size of her irises, that must mean there's already a good foundation in place.

I think this is similar situation to the 1/4 Dutch and T1 PFs that Trevor Grove sculpted for Sideshow, although they were initially met with greater praise. Trevor's Arnold sculpts evoke the feel and personality of the characters, but they're also styled to be more angular and severe than the actor in real life.

Not sure where other members stand on this, but I'd rather a company lean into "statue-fying" the character than creating a hyper-realistic human who simply has the wrong face. That's where Prime 1's 1/2 Arnold went wrong. The silicone skin and punched hair creates the expectation that you'll see a perfectly accurate face. When that expectation isn't met, it feels like a cheesy, uncanny wax sculpture.

Although remarkably in the case of the Prime 1 Arnold the punched hair and silicone skin seems to have been enough to convince some people that it's actually a good likeness. For the rest of us, those 'lifelike' aspects do the opposite in that they draw greater attention to how poor the likeness is.

When I look at something that's styled more like a typical statue, there's a subconscious understanding that the sculpt may be streamlined or heightened to feel more dynamic for that medium. Case in point: if this Ripley had rooted hair, I'd probably be harder on the likeness because true-to-life hair requires a true-to-life face to match.

While I think one would always ideally prefer a great likeness and not have to make any rationalization about it not looking exactly like she jumped out of the screen into your display cabinet - in this case I understand people making an exception. Ripley toys and statues are relatively uncommon and her likeness is hard to do, as you said. The general look of this statue is awesome - absolute facial likeness aside, it's iconic and unmistakable who it is - and the base is cool. If I were a statue guy I would be going for this one myself even without likeness improvements.
 
You spoke, and we listened!

At Prime 1 Studio, we pride ourselves with the foresight to offer the best version of your favorite characters. Our drive matches our passion! However, there are times where the speed of development necessitates having to course-correct further down the road. And that is why we are announcing a PAINT UPDATE for our UPMAL-01/01S ELLEN RIPLEY from ALIENS!

Ellen Ripley will now feature updated and improved paint application on her face to more accurately reflect her portrait in 1986’s blockbuster ALIENS film!

Ripley’s face shows off her experienced, focused, & tough exterior, as she searches (hopefully not in vain) for Newt, in the lair of the Xenomorph Queen.

We hope you will enjoy this updated Ellen Ripley statue and that this proves that Prime 1 Studio is the place to go for the definitive version of all your favorites!

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Put together an animated .gif to compare the two. The lighting is obviously different, but the updated paint app looks more natural, less stylized. Helps the likeness, I think.

p1-ripley-Comp.gif
 
In that gif I see lots of improvements. Really like her!! Can’t wait to receive my figure:) the only thing that bothers me is…that the final product will be different than this proto…we will se what we finally get…
 
Well first off they don't pride themselves on anything other that being terrible company with even more terrible customer service. And I guess listening to customers means banning or blocking them for critical comments on something that clearly needs work, then *attempting* to rework it because of those very customers. :rolleyes: And I agree with what's been said already...they DIDN'T listen because they didn't fix the sculpt. And honestly the eyes do look better, but now she has jacked bucked teeth and that's all I can see.
 
I do think the new paint app looks better, less young and stylized, and more realistic. It's not 100% of course, but I do see Sigourney Weaver and that's good enough for me. I actually just watched Aliens last night so this update couldn't have come at a better time for me with the movie fresh in my mind again, but I still won't pre-order yet, there's no need to. I will wait until she starts to ship and if it comes out looking similar to this then I will probably buy her.

She's likely the last Ripley we will get for a long while.
 
Tough crowd on all the forums. :lol I think this looks much better. So much of the Photoshopping we've seen was paint-related, so the likeness issues must be a mix of paint and sculpt. But as others have said, whether this change translates to the final product is a big question mark. There's a lot more subtlety and softness to the new paint app now and Prime 1's factories don't handle that very well. It would've been easier for them to knock out a sharper, more stylized Ripley than this.
 
Tough crowd on all the forums. :lol I think this looks much better. So much of the Photoshopping we've seen was paint-related, so the likeness issues must be a mix of paint and sculpt. But as others have said, whether this change translates to the final product is a big question mark. There's a lot more subtlety and softness to the new paint app now and Prime 1's factories don't handle that very well. It would've been easier for them to knock out a sharper, more stylized Ripley than this.
Of course it looks better, but the production piece will look like the original paint
 
SILENCE! Prime 1 has spoken. Quote, this proves that Prime 1 Studio is the place to go for the definitive version of all your favorites. End quote. Now cancel all orders from their competitors and put your money towards Prime 1.

It does look better. Except I don't know what they did but now the bottom of her chin looks kind of lopsided?
 
I think it’s a huge improvement and looks much more like Ripley.


The question is, will we get those prototype paint apps In the final production?

My Big Chap Alien says yes.

My Jungle Hunter Predator says no.
Think we'll have to look at their other Blitzway collaborations for the answer on that one. Linda Carter is the closest one, no?
 
I think we will get something between the first ripley and the second one. According to the other blitzway collaborations I am not worried at all. Also I expect it will be better in person than in photos…same that we have seen with ripley comparing the promotional photos and the video of her head…Aldo I want to thank you everybody that complaints about this figure because if this makes prime 1 do more improvements, they are very welcome. This will be my final piece in my alien collection and will look stunning next to the alien warrior maquette from sideshow!!
 
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