Star Wars: The Modern 12 Back Part II

Part II

Part One, showcasing the first four figures, is here. Now we’re really hitting the big guns…

Chewbacca

Chewbacca is one of the characters that helps to shape Star Wars the most. His relationship with Han softens the smuggler’s image, making him a more relatable character, and Chewie’s loyalty (most explicitly shown in ESB) erodes even the hardest of hearts. He may not have much of a character arc, but the OT wouldn’t be the same without him... whilst the PT would be a tiny bit better.

This Chewbacca is from the 2011 Vintage Collection Android set and is my preferred modern sculpt of the character, in large part due to the mouth being closed. There’s 15 points of articulation but he’s such a lean character there’s only so much posing you can do. That said, ball-jointed hips would have killed the look of him, so it’s an understandable trade off. This version was second hand and so his trusty bowcaster is missing its bow. It’s a shame, but I’m not too panicked about finding a replacement – I’m sure one will turn up eventually.

Princess Leia

For a film series that was being made up on the fly, the way that Princess Leia and Han Solo’s story arcs intertwine is extremely well done. She starts off as the uptight senator and bastion of the Old Republic, but as the saga progresses she eventually mellows, remaining a strong leader (at least until the final act of ROTJ), whilst becoming more forgiving of Han’s devil-may-care attitude, and even a little bit cocky herself.

This figure is from 2004’s VOTC line, and it looks like it too. It’s a decent figure, better than any from the POTF2 days, but Leia looks young, more like the teenage queen Lucas originally envisioned. Well scaled, but by that definition extremely small, she goes well with Han and Luke but unlike the respective likenesses of the other two, doesn’t quite do Carrie Fisher justice. An update for the captured Princess is sorely needed.

Luke Skywalker

The main hero of the OT, here’s Luke as he first appeared way back when: a young moisture farmer unable to take control of his own destiny who turns space adventurer, Princess-saver, Jedi-in-training and rebel hero. That’s a lot to pack into two hours, and is probably why so many kids grew up idolising young Skywalker. It may be cooler nowadays to say Han was your favourite, but there were fights over who would be Luke in my playground, brah.

Luke here is from the Blu-ray Commemorative pack for A New Hope, which is a slight repaint of 2009’s Resurgence of the Jedi figure. It’s the best modern ANH Luke by some margin, with 14 points of articulation, a fantastic sculpt and one of the better Mark Hamill likenesses Hasbro has produced. The arms do hang a little long and the figure suffers from not having ball-jointed hips, which could have been hidden by his skirt, but as Luke Skywalker goes this is a superb action figure. He fits in the Vintage Collection Landspeeder as well, which is always a bonus!

R2-D2

Star Wars wouldn’t have happened without R2-D2, the astromech with attitude and an unnatural devotion to his mission. Whilst Han had Chewie, Luke had R2, a divide between the natural and mechanical worlds that is examined thoroughly in Will Brooker’s highly readable BFI guide to Star Wars. I’m not excited at the prospect of seeing R2 again in the sequel trilogy after the way he was used in the prequels, but if they are going to be wheeling out the same characters again then you’d suppose that he has to be in there somewhere…

Also from the Blu-ray Commemorative pack, this R2 was originally from 2005’s Saga Collection Early Bird set. It looks gorgeous with a shiny chrome top, crisp blue paint job and lots of nice little details, including a removable third leg and light-piping for the eye. This is by far the best R2 at 3.75”, and well worth purchasing.

Part I is up here, and Part III will be online on Friday.

Thanks for reading!

Star Wars: The Modern 12 Back Part I

Part I

In the Star Wars collecting community there’s a lot of reverence for the first 12 action figures Kenner released. Initially on cards known as ’12 backs’ due to the card art showing illustrations of these original dozen figures, this selection of characters is at the core of any Star Wars collection, and with good reason – Luke, Han and Leia, Chewie and the Droids and Old Ben Kenobi give you all the good guys; Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper and, bizarrely, an Imperial Death Squad Commander round out the bad guys, whilst a Jawa and Tusken Raider give you all the indigenous life you need. Of course, the Star Wars toy line is now well known for quite how wide and deep it goes; but with these 12 figures you’re one Grand Moff Tarkin short of A New Hope prison break.

When I was starting out with the modern line I latched on to the 12 back figures as a collecting focus, and aimed to get the best present day iterations of each. Earlier this year I more or less completed that goal, and now it’s time to finally give these guys (and gal) a stage…

Tusken Raider

Though they may be easily startled, the Tusken Raiders would still be pretty terrifying to encounter when out in the sticks alone. This figure, from 2012’s Discover the Force line is a solid representation of the Sand People as they appeared in A New Hope, resplendent with flowing robes and a gaffi stick. This one also came with a rifle, but that’s more for shooting at Pod Racers than knocking out errant moisture farmers…

With 14 points of articulation this Tusken Raider, originally released in 2006 as part of the VTSC line, is the finest sample you’re going to find – just as long as you don’t want his swivel hips to straddle a Bantha, that is…

C-3PO

Human-Cyborg relations have rarely looked finer than they do here, with 2006’s Saga Collection C-3PO. Whilst this figure is based on Threepio from Return of the Jedi, coming with an Ewok throne, he’s not a character that changes appearance, save for gaining dust or dirt, through the Original Trilogy. With eight points of articulation this Threepio does all that you need him to do, and the shiny gold finish (with silver lower right leg) bring the character fully to 3.75” life.

I was really interested in getting the Vintage Collection matte gold C-3PO, but the lack of availability and exorbitant secondary market price put me off. It doesn't matter though, as this Threepio is a fantastic release, and fits in with the modern 12 perfectly.

Imperial Navy Commander

The Imperial Navy Commander was a slightly confusing release for the start of the line, coming out ahead of Greedo and Walrus Man, and nearly two decades before Grand Moff Tarkin saw the plastic light of day. However he makes good cannon fodder for the Rebel heroes, or as an officer for Darth Vader to boss around. Every Empire needs its underlings, right?

This version is from 2012, and The Vintage Collection. With 14 points of articulation, a removable helmet and a gun with working holster this guy has some serious build quality for a nameless background character. It commands a fair price on the secondary market, so I think I was lucky to get it when I did.

Han Solo

Captain, scoundrel and coolest guy in the galaxy, Han Solo was a lock for the very first wave of Star Wars figures. The pinhead/big head variations of Han Solo were amongst the first variations to happen in the line, starting a long tradition of collectors searching for every running change/factory screw up they could find. Considering you’re here you probably know all about Han Solo, so there’s not much else to say – except for maybe that he shot first.

This Yavin Ceremony Han Solo is from The Vintage Collection in 2011, and comes with the medal he received at the end of the film. Whilst some collectors prefer earlier versions of the character, this is the definitive Han figure to me. With 14 points of articulation (including some very tidy wrists), a blaster with working holster and an absolutely dead-on appearance, you will not find a better A New Hope Han Solo.

Parts II and III to follow!

Blogging and Photoshop

TF: Prime Deluxe Bumblebee

Since starting this blog I've been evolving the way I use my collection - from initially wanting to document each figure as I purchased it (on my way to building a Jabba's Palace display), to then wanting to focus on diorama building; however I've since found that the one constant has been actually photographing the toys, and creating images that attempt to show these characters at their best. The shot of Bumblebee above is my most recent, and I'd like to share some of the techniques I used to create it...

Firstly, the kit - I shoot on a Canon 600D DSLR, usually using the 18-55mm 'kit' lens, but sometimes a 50mm (although this generally only works for larger objects). This is my equipment for my day job as a filmmaker though, and something that I've worked up to. My initial forays into toy photography were on a Canon Powershot, and photographers such as R2witco take a lot of their stuff on camera phones. Basically, as long as you've got a macro function (often displayed as a flower on the camera settings) and can find a way to set the focus where you need it, then your camera is suitable for the job.

One of Many

This shot was an unused take from the session which yielded the final image. Here it shows more clearly the background, which is the old fireplace in my study. Whilst barely recognisable as anything, the important thing for an action figure shot is that it doesn't look like a house. Nothing kills the 'reality' of a Dinobot shot more than Grimlock being out scaled by a potted plant. What the above shot also shows is the lighting setup I was employing - basically, one torch. There was a little bit of light from the window (it was dusk), but that torch was my primary light source. I wouldn't encourage shining the light directly onto your subject like that, but I knew I would be cropping the image anyway (more on that later).

I'm often lazy with lighting, either taking the figures outside or shooting around the office window (nothing beats indirect sunlight as a light source), but taking the time to create a proper lighting setup often works wonders - see my PAK Batman shots here. I think it's to do with cast shadows, which helps to integrate the figure into the environment and in turn create a sense of reality. It's something I'm going to work on, especially as winter descends and daylight becomes scarce.

And Another...

What I consider the most important point of action figure photography is to GET LOADS OF SHOTS. Whenever you have a setup, go trigger happy - I'm gonna presume that you're shooting on digital so the cost of film isn't an issue. I find that it takes me a little while to get 'warmed up' to a subject, and really get an idea of what works. Mess around with your angles, the pose of your figure(s) and experiment with what you want to focus on - and even after you think you've got the shot that you're after, get a couple more. You may surprise yourself. The other thing to remember is that cropping is your friend - you might be gutted that the stand for your figure is just visible in the frame, but with a crop and a re-composition it could still be the perfect photo.

The 'One'.

When I had the shot of 'Bee that I was after, the fun part started. Firstly I opened the image in Photoshop (Paint.net is a superb free alternative if you don't have access to this), and then I did a quick Google search and found this rather superb guide to creating eye FX on the TFW2005 forums. Thank you, Process - if that is your real name...

After the eyes were completed I imported the image into Picmonkey, my editing suite of choice. Here I cropped the image to a 1920x1080 resolution (my usual canvas size), and then played around with the exposure, saturation and sharpness settings to get a base image I was happy with. Using these tools really does require trial and error, as well as a degree of personal preference, but it's at this stage that the image really starts to come alive. I should also note that you can use the colour settings on Picmonkey to fix the white balance, which is always useful - simply use the neutral picker and select the part of the image that should be as close to pure white or black as possible, and it will shift the colour tones accordingly. Again this takes practise, but when you get the hang of it it's a valuable tool. 

The Glow!

When I was happy with the core picture I used some of Picmonkey's various filters to complete the image, as seen at the top of this post. Once more this comes down to experimentation and personal preference as to how you want your image to look, but there are some pretty cool filter options on there. Really editing is all about how you want the image to look, and finding ways of making it happen. I've been doing this for a few years now and I still haven't found one particular style that I've made my own (look at Ed Speir IV's work for examples of instantly recognisable photos), but I'm definitely developing my skills, and I think that a style will come with that eventually.

There it is then, a few of the tips that I've picked up when it comes to action figure photography. I hope you find them useful... Now go and take some shots!

Shelf Review: Classics Deluxe Rodimus

"My actions speak louder than words."

Shelf Review! Not as in-depth as my regular musings, but a look at the equally-deserving items on my toy shelf all the same. For today's trip we're continuing the recent focus on toy lines beginning with the letter 'T', as we look at the G1 Autobot heir-apparent, Hot Rod! Oh, wait - he's called Rodimus now...

All-American Bot.

"Hot Rod is an all-American-boy Autobot. He's a typical adolescent who dreams of being heroic and important. He tends to not follow rules too closely. Although he means well, Hot Rod's impulsive actions often get him into trouble. He carries two photon lasers that temporarily electromagnetize an enemy robot's microcircuts. Speed: 120mph. Range: 4 miles. He can be hotheaded, but he's always a well meaning, admirable lad and a brave and honorable fighter."

From the tech specs found at www.tfu.info.

Now, I was born in 1983, and so my memories of seeing the Transformers on TV over here in the UK are slim to none - for me, it was all about VHS. I watched a whole host of pre-Movie G1 videos and loved the heck out of them, but when I saw the Movie for the first time at my friend's house, it was like a tiny star had exploded in my brain. The animation, the music, the consequential plot... And you know, by the end of it, I didn't care that Optimus Prime was dead, because there was a new leader in town, the evolution of this guy - Rodimus Prime. It wasn't until years later that I discovered that this continuation of Autobot leadership had caused any controversy; to me and my friends it was just part of the coolest film ever.

Collector Haul!

I'd been a fan of the Classics Deluxe Rodimus figure for a while, but had always found the price on Ebay to be prohibitive. However when I came across a loose specimen in the wild, at the only sci-fi/collectible fair we get around here, I leaped at the chance to own him. He may have come unarmed (or had he?), but was most definitely still a bargain for £6.

Reprolabel Required.

So, what's so good? Well firstly, from the unique sculpt to the colour scheme to the light-piped blue eyes, this is Hot Rod, and looking better than he has in any form since 1986. The proportions are solid, the articulation is fantastic, particularly compared to the original version, and he can strike some mean looking poses. The fire burst decal design looks true to the character and actually doesn't look cheesy at all - there was a later repaint of this figure that had a more cartoon accurate design and colour way, but this version bosses it. Furthermore, he feels sturdy. As a commander of my toy shelf Autobots (in lieu of actually owning a Prime), this guy does a great job.

It's, uh, a design choice...

Despite Rodimus' ability to pull a mean pose, kibble is still a bit of an issue. As he was actually designed simultaneously as a toy and a character he does do a better job of integrating his alt-mode into his robot form, but it's obvious that the red car bodywork on his thighs really had nowhere else to go. Rodimus does look messy from the back, but I doubt anyone would display him that way anyway. The only other design issue I've found with him is the elbows - being jointed where they are, it looks like his arm is snapping every time he bends there. It's not, and there's no stress on the plastic from doing it - it just definitely hurts the appearance of the figure.

Earth Car of 2005!

You wanna know what's neat though? Rodimus' alt-mode. Reportedly based on the prototype Dome Zero sportscar, Rodimus has a tidy transformation into this mean looking beast. Smooth and sleek, and just like you remember him from the cartoon, this is the best looking Autobot car you're going to get. Everything fits together so well it makes it easy to forgive the odd looking elbows on the robot mode; this figure's alt-mode is up there with Cyclonus as a favourite in my collection.

And do you wanna know what else is cool about this guy? The left fist flips back into the arm, and this little circular saw flips out in its place. This was such an awesome design choice and such a nice nod to the fans, who can now faithfully recreate Hot Rod Rodimus saving Kup on Quintessa. Furthermore it means that even without his gun, Rodimus here still isn't completely defenceless.

So, all in all Classics Rodimus is a must have for any G1/Movie themed Autobot collection, and he's definitely a good start for my Movie Autobot focus. If only there were some way to make him complete though, to make him truly a Rodimus Prime...

Photo by the Amazing Ed Speir IV

Oh, hey Fansproject.

OK, so any Transformers fan with an internet connection knows about 3rd Party products, and Fansproject is, by my understanding, the daddy of them all. The Protector Armour upgrade for Rodimus here turns him into a bonafide Rodimus Prime, and as far as I can tell creates a superior figure in every way. Now at present I've only had one dalliance with a 3P product, which I pre-ordered and then, eventually, cancelled after continual delays; this one however is already out on the market. I've got one lined up on Ebay, and as soon as I have the funds it will be mine; and my toy shelf will finally have a Prime - the one that I grew up with.

As for the off-the-shelf Rodimus though, well - solid robot mode and great alt-mode - he gets four stars.

*****

Thanks for reading!