It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:11 am

All times are UTC


THE PROP DEN is primarily a Darth Vader Prop Discussion Board, but we also deal with other Star Wars Props as well as Prop Replicas from other movies. If you do not yet have an account, set one up, sign in and jump into the Vader Prop Discussions!


Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Enter your Message here
 Post subject: ANH Darth Vader/Antilles Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission"
PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:44 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:25 pm
Posts: 2871
Sideshow “Diplomatic Mission” diorama Vader/Antilles - 2008- 1250 Pieces

Click to enlarge all Images.

This review is out of 5 stars.

ImageImageImageImageImage

Packaging: ***1/2
The packaging while a little dark is well done. Sideshow continue to grab your attention with glossy visuals and design. The diorama is seen on the front and depicts 2 separate different shots of the statue for the sides, combining the back with a detailed enough summary of Vader and the statue in trying to create the scene. Further more, movie stills are shown while the statue is on display at the back so you can link the inspiration to the creation. Just the lack of colour marks this down but in essence this is meant to capture a dark scene within the movie.

ImageImage


Sculpt/Outfit: Vader ***1/2 Antilles ***
Darth Vader:
The sculpt for this diorama is very good in places and it shows a good balance in creating a convincing overall pose that Sideshow have aimed for. The scale between the two characters is in good enough proportion and the details in creating the pose such as the motion of both character’s bodies are convincing. This statue captures a good likeness of ANH Vader where many sculpts fail, from some views Vader really does look very good. The “circle is now complete” Diorama (which is out next month) maintains a very similar sculpt of Vader, if not the same as this one with a few tweaks. That diorama is really just in a different position with a slightly different paint job for the most part.
Back to this diorama, the details are not as sharp when compared to that of other statue’s. Both Vader and Antilles retain the details but it can also be described as “soft” in places which could be seen as a lack in quality or attention to detail and can show if you compare this to something like an Attakus piece. For Vader it’s the shins, facemask, parts of the robes/cape, belt area and chestbox side strap detailing that look softer, almost like something that was cast a few times and lost some of it‘s sharpness, the rear of the boots blending into the robes is also a little cheap looking. it‘s not drastic but a point to mention. The creases and texture of the Vader suit is very good and so are various parts of the costume details which is covered in movie accuracy below. Sideshow have stretched themselves a bit more on this sculpt than they did for the Premium Format ANH Vader but not in all areas. The dome is a tad too high for the scene it's aiming for and the facemask looks odd when viewed from some angles, especially from a dead on front view, he looks like an inspired comic book version slash movie version. I’m pleased Sideshow sculpted the costume rather than use material, as a sculpt wins hands down for me as so few fabric pieces create the right look.
Another flaw with the overall sculpt is the addition of a piece of panelling from the Tantive corridor. I understand that it’s meant to capture just a small fraction of the set but it’s been referred to as a “piece from your toilet”. It does look odd and the display could of benefited from either not having it with the downside of feeling something is missing or they should’ve added more to that section. The recreation of the panel they have aimed for is a good effort but it just looks thrown on as a random after thought, I can live with it but I know of some that have removed this section. The base while a slightly awkward shape is nicely created and you get the usual nice confirmation of your statue number in the usual elegant Sideshow format.

ImageImageImageImage]Image

Captain Antilles:
Antilles sculpt, while good suffers from one thing. Likeness. This could really be the face of any rebel officer. The face doesn‘t look enough like him. While the rest of the sculpt and the costume is not a perfect likeness it retains enough smaller details to be considered a solid effort but all round the Captain is too slender.

ImageImageImageImageImage


Paint: Vader ***1/2 Antilles****
Vader:
The paint is well applied here to both figures. Not too much slop, runs or anything like that apart from on Vader‘s chestbox, especially the coin slots. The rest of the paint job is to an impressive standard and better than some of the more expensive statue’s. The colours are replicated well for what they want to achieve but once again attention to detail drags down the end look of the product. The chest armour is not the shiny ESB/ROTJ look that so many companies go for while trying to replicate ANH Vader, so that‘s a plus. On the other hand while it’s flatter in colour and darker it fails to match the gunmetal on the facemask which shows the two don’t match as well as they should. It’s not a major thing but a mild point of frustration as is the green colour on the lights that have been used, just a tad off, same as the red light on the chestbox and the rockers being too dark. The paint scheme is a little safe overall, definitely no weathering ANH style here but I just can’t see Sideshow or anyone with a license having that artistic freedom to weather too heavy as it may spur complaints from causal fans, even though the “Circle is now complete” seems to feature a rougher weathered job from what I’ve seen. The eye lenses are off. Sideshow are at least trying to tackle the lighter lens as seen in ANH. It’s not the first time they’ve tried but they continue to fail to get the look right. It’s better than having such dark lenses though but a happy medium could‘ve been applied. These nitpicks aside, Vader is well painted and the contrast in blacks has been nicely done to compliment the piece. Parts of this statue would benefit from some paint modifications which would improve the look. The armour, eyes, nose, greens and reds could all be easily done. Add some weathering and it would look very good, even add 2 silver dots to the chestbox straps and 2 dots on the belt boxes and this could be a very quick fix in adding the finer details to make this look great but at 1250 pieces and in demand it may be a mistake to do so.

Antilles:
This overall paint job is another strong effort. While not as complex in details as Vader, Antilles is well painted in some nice colours. The badge and some small details are lacking but the paint job isn’t so clean that it looks cheap or new. Antilles face is what you'd call safe, definately no awards here but it's all strong enough in resemblance to what we see on screen while perhaps not as hard to recreate when compared to Vader.

Pose: ****1/2
The pose is simply meant to capture the iconic moment in Star Wars when Vader strangles Captain Antilles through hostile interrogation. The pose is transfixed leaving little imagination for anything else so the pose is naturally in no way versatile unlike many other statues. It would be unfair to naturally mark it down as this is the point of the diorama. As stated previously, the scale and proportions are a good effort. The body language is well created here between the two characters and nothing looks drastically out of place, the position of Antilles hands on Vader’s gloves may be open to some interpretation as they move around on screen but it’s close enough and it could be argued that Vader doesn’t have such an arch to his body on screen which exposes his suit components, as they are hidden for much of the scene by his cape, but I guess Sideshow wanted you to see the details better on the sculpt rather than the cape block them. Overall though a great job from sideshow in recreating this pose which is no doubt not an easy feat to capture convincingly.

ImageImageImageImageImageImage

Movie Accuracy: Vader ***1/2 Antilles ***
Vader:
Sideshow are beginning to raise the bar slowly as fans would both hope and expect from them.
Vader, like all versions always suffers quite heavily in my mind that a 5 star rating almost seems impossible to give, even while taking everything into consideration including each company’s limitations. Starting with Vader’s dome, there is no evident Y Crease features in the dome which is a disappointment especially for ANH Vader. The flange edges are too thin while a better effort than many statue’s around but it should be thicker. The height of the dome in comparison to the brows will be a sore point to many a fan as it's not dead on but it at least tries to mimic a couple of the scenes it’s aiming to create (dependant on what section of that scene you look at, including shadow in that area), it's still too high though and the original prototype looked to show it from a fractionally lower position. Why the “Circle is now complete” statue features the same excessive height of the dome to it I’ll never know as that’s a very poor effort on Sideshow’s behalf as the bulk of scenes show Vader‘s dome to be low for the duel. Back to the matter at hand the dome does try to incorporate a widows peak which is more than I can say for many versions of Vader that have come and gone over the years that insist on using more a style to ESB at the peak area. The height to the overall dome is good, the centre strip width is not dead on but it’s not bad, it’s not dead straight and over thick like many others. The rest of the dome is passable, not perfect but solid enough for ANH, the dome cap is also better than the more expensive premium format, including some nice dome tilt at the end of the flanges and it‘s also in proportion and not overly long like so many sculpts. The face mask suffers like all Vader sculpts do and this is a weak point. They have paid some attention but it’s just another run of the mill Vader likeness with a hint of a comic book Vader . The teeth slots are all U shaped, amongst other issues, the mouth wall shape is flawed, the nose is not right and overall it’s just not well designed or sharp enough in the details to maintain the correct Vader mask, it’s all an average attempt in the face for this scale of figure but it’s not near the standard of the still inaccurate Sideshow Premium Format or near the quality of anything like the Attakus, where the dome beats the Premium Format Vader the face lets it down. The tusks are also very weak, amongst the worst seen, just stumps that have been painted. The tear ducts are there but not prominent. The chin vent is of good standard and better than many and the overall proportions are nicely done. Moving onto the rest of the costume. The cape and robes are good. They aren’t fantastic but do their job, sculpted pieces such as capes and robes always run the risk of looking cheaply done and in some respects some may think that but it looks like the set from ANH. I think they should've included the cape chain as it is on show in the Tantive scenes. Again attention to detail suffers. The armour is a solid sculpt while not movie accurate it’s of a high standard and the chestbox, while a tad small isn‘t too bad. The chestbox is actually better than some other sculpts. As it‘s a small piece some details are a little sketchy but it does look like the chestbox they aimed for all in all, could be better still. The belt boxes are also good, while not the most detailed and not as close together as they should be they look convincing. As for the upturned buckle and the details of the buckle that is a major disappointment. How this was passed is beyond belief, what’s worse is that it’s the same sculpt on the “circle is now complete” Vader, just showing that statue is from the same mould more or less. What a joke! The cod is well done. Pity the right blend of the inner oval loop and thickness couldn’t be given the attention to detail as the Premium format got, but they did well to make the cod shorter, to have it bend at the end and to also create a better overall shape than the premium format with some nice texture to it, as well as raising it high ala ANH Vader (especially when he's reaching up)and no doubt inspired by the shots from that iconic ANH Vader poster. The gloves, shins and boots are all well done. Not entirely movie accurate but enough care has gone into the sculpt. Some may say the shins look cheap but they are done well. The strongest part of the statue however is with the suit. Again not entirely movie accurate but it looks like the ANH suit. Great texture with details that bring a real credibility to the look along with a nice addition of the lightsaber which is also nicely done, hanging from Vader’s belt. The best thing about this statue is that this is one of the few pieces that leaves no room whatsoever to see another movie version within that look which is a massive strong point. This isn’t ESB/ROTJ or ROTS Vader, there is no mistaking what it is. A boast that not all statues, figures and kits aiming for ANH Vader can claim. The Vader template here is nice and could benefit from a major modification process as a stand alone figure, if I had a spare I would be tempted to re-design this using what it has and I'm sure the results would look very good, but as I have only one it won't be touched.

ImageImageImageImageImageImage

Antilles:
Basically two main things stand out here that let the accuracy of the Captain down. His weight being one of them. This look is a little too slender for Antilles build in ANH. Add that lack of weight to a slim lined face and the problem of Antilles looking 10 years younger than he should . The look of the actor is just not good enough. His expression is there but it’s not created in the way it should be. The outfit while strong does pay attention to some details like 5 holes being in the belt and a solid sculpt of the helmet and various other suit details but the face really lets this piece down, it just looks like a random Rebel to me.

ImageImage

Display Status: ***3/4
Most would remember this scene, even the casual movie goer. It stands out and recreates the scene for you and isn‘t open to interpretation. It’s also well scaled and shows Vader’s size when next to Antilles. You have to be careful like many pieces not to show their “weaker” side. Display this wrong or with harsh light and it can lose credibility. Get the display right and from many angles it looks great. The size of this diorama is large enough for it to also grab your attention. It’s by no means massive, in fact if you are used to large display's this is quite small. Vader stands at just over 11 inches and the base makes the display 12 inches. when compared to something like the 21 inch Premium Format size it will be dwarfed but it’s an eye catching display and it’s also different compared to many single statues that are either in a dynamic pose or in a more subtle position by themselves. This piece is definitely credible enough to display in a select environment.

Next to the Gentle Giant Fett, The Attakus V2 Vader and the Sideshow Premium Format.

ImageImageImageImageImage


Value: ***1/2
Just before Christmas there was a few of these around but all of a sudden this display is becoming harder to find and many stores have sold out. It has risen in price due to demand and instead of a comfortable £150 price tag, expect to now pay in the region of close to £200 which is quite steep but it seems a popular display. There is a Faux-Bronze edition of 50 statues for collectors of this display which runs more than double the price of the standard version on eBay. The diorama is cast in high quality polystone, hand painted and weighs about 12Ibs so it‘s not a plastic or vinyl combo.

Overall: ***1/2
I actually think this is a nicer display than the Premium format Vader but that’s just personal opinion and may come as a surprise. Something like the PT looks awkward and clumsy where as this piece is nicely done and looks the part, something about it looks elegant in design from a slight distance, like many of these sculpts they show flaws up close. It’s not just large displays or expensive statues that should dominant a prop room but something that you like. If you were to address some aspects such as some of the paint colours, the lack of weathering, that awful upside down buckle, the Vader face, lowering the dome and to add some sharpness in places then this would be one of the best ANH Vader’s ever produced as it has a good foundation. Sure it doesn’t have the quality of the more expensive stuff but it holds up. Antilles needs a better likeness and the add on of the corridor panel is a bone of contention but if you see past these flaws or nitpicks you should be very happy with this. The sculpt of the suit amongst some of the details put together as an overall is what sold me into asking for this at Christmas, so it‘s the newest member of my collection. When viewed from certain angles or distances the display really creates a feeling of nostalgia and I would recommend it to any ANH Vader fan if they are willing to accept the flaws that all statues seem to incorporate.

_________________
Paul

Reviews statuemodellarge-figure-review-section-vf203.html


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission" Darth Vader/Capt Antilles
PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:17 am 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:25 pm
Posts: 2871
Review is now up.

_________________
Paul

Reviews statuemodellarge-figure-review-section-vf203.html


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission" Darth Vader/Capt Antilles
PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:25 am 
Offline
Random avatar

Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:19 am
Posts: 4
2 different Vader statues from Sideshow and both have his belt buckle facing the wrong way. I wonder if they were using reference pics from reversed movie negatives ?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission" Darth Vader/Capt Antilles
PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:16 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 10, 2006 12:12 am
Posts: 3115
Paul, this was an epic review...a joy to read and the photo coverage is incredible. It is great to see someone care that much about a collectible to really cover it.

With all your reviews lately you could have your own website just on these amazing book and toy reviews. :cool: They are that good. That is some prolific writing.

Ya I'd like to see the pose of Antilles more screen accurate (feet level not dropping) and his helmet lower.

It is too bad that for yet another product of ANH Vader they have a chance to update or improve it on the mask end of things and they just reuse something that wasn't up to par to begin with. Oh well....but what else can I say...you've covered it as usual quite thoroughly.... :thumbsup

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission" Darth Vader/Capt Antilles
PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:34 am 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:25 pm
Posts: 2871
James Kenobi 1138 wrote:
2 different Vader statues from Sideshow and both have his belt buckle facing the wrong way. I wonder if they were using reference pics from reversed movie negatives ?


Are you referring to the Circle is now complete Vader? On Sideshow's website it looks to me that they have used more or less the same mold, sculpted a different pose and done a different paint job for the most part. There are a few tweaks but I see a lot of resemblance but as the product isn't out yet I hope the prototype ends up being altered somewhat.

Quote:
Paul, this was an epic review...a joy to read and the photo coverage is incredible. It is great to see someone care that much about a collectible to really cover it.

With all your reviews lately you could have your own website just on these amazing book and toy reviews. They are that good. That is some prolific writing.

Ya I'd like to see the pose of Antilles more screen accurate (feet level not dropping) and his helmet lower.

It is too bad that for yet another product of ANH Vader they have a chance to update or improve it on the mask end of things and they just reuse something that wasn't up to par to begin with. Oh well....but what else can I say...you've covered it as usual quite thoroughly....


Thanks Thomas, much appreciated :cheers

_________________
Paul

Reviews statuemodellarge-figure-review-section-vf203.html


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: ANH Darth Vader/Antilles Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission"
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 2:54 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:26 am
Posts: 285
another home run review.
i was considering getting one of these dioramas..but again.SS fails to deliver accuracy.

thanks for the review Paul..i know where to come now when i want to see a Vader statue upclose.

keep up the excellent job my friend. :thumbsup


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
 Post subject: Re: ANH Darth Vader/Antilles Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission"
PostPosted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:08 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:25 pm
Posts: 2871
Thanks for the compliments. :cheers
Each review takes some time so I'm glad it's worth the read.

_________________
Paul

Reviews statuemodellarge-figure-review-section-vf203.html


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: ANH Darth Vader/Antilles Sideshow "Diplomatic Mission"
PostPosted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:34 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:26 am
Posts: 285
your welcome man.

well, you do an excellent job doing them. very informative,

looking forward to your next review. :cheers


Top
 Profile E-mail  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
cron
Blue Moon by Trent © 2007
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Hosted by Freeforum.ca, get your free forum now! TOS | Support Forums | Report a violation
MultiForums powered by echoPHP phpBB MultiForums