Sideshow full size C3PO and R2D2 approved

[CustomCreations]

Thats a cool thread!
I was intrigued to the difference of mouth contours in that earlier pic of the 3 heads.

 

[hyperdyne]

Haha, "man points" huh? I must have lost thousands.

Something I personally wouldnt be bragging about, but hey to each his own! With that said, you might want to check to see if you still got a tallywacker. :eek

I think the SS R2 looks awful. For the amount they want you could do world's better. :thumbsdown

They mentioned lights and sounds, but it looks pretty static. Man, at least make the PSIs light up the right colors instead of painting the front one red. For 5 large a motion activated spinning dome wouldnt be out of the question either. That is pretty easy to do.

 

[micdavis]

I think I'll buy this one instead.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=4358

 

[Lear60man]

I cant comment on the 3PO. But the R2 needs some help. With the R2 builders group it is possible to obtain an accurate R2. That said its a no brainer for a company to take molds. I guarantee they spent more than 5K in R&D only to have a product that the average fan will say "somethings not right". To bad, 5K will buy a static club spec droid that looks right.

 

[BobFett]

The 3PO started off as a DP recast that was reworked...

 

[Got Maul]

Who wants to wear a gay golden droid outfit anyways?

You'd probably lose at least 10 man points everytime you suited up. :lol

I am sure you can make them up racing your R2 around :lol

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

Hey Jez...

Reading your interview it says that he was using the actual R2 blue mix that us R2 Builders have come to know as "hypo" blue...And some of the earlier prototypes seem to support that.

However, the new pics from Sideshow show a totally different blue.

He also states emphatically that 3P0 is plated. But the more I stare at the new pics, the more I'm beginning to think it's painted instead.

Any chance of finding out a definitive answer on these things?

Jason

I'll see what I can find out.

I agree with you over the 3PO plating issue. Like you said he was at pains to say it was plated (and I remember the SSC guys at Comic Con saying they were going to use the same technique as the T2 statue) so I cant understand why they dulled it up that way.

Here's an earlier plated version which really made me go "wow"

In addition, the more I look at the face, the more some of the proportions and detailing bother me. Its almost like the eyes are too big and the definition of the upper (2nd) "/\" forming the nose is too soft.

However, like I said earlier, I'm really not impressed with the shots - the photographers way too close which has distorted the features.

Cheers

Jez

 

[lonepigeon]

The left arm of the statue is posed very oddly and I think that's one of the issues throwing it 'off' for me rather quickly looking at pics. The upper arm is too far out of the shoulder and too far away from the body. In the shiny pic above posted by Jez both arms are like this so at least they fixed one. You can tell they're out too far when the end of the raised stripes are showing. Sometimes the arms slip down like this in the movie, but normally they do not.

Mid section looks too thin and is missing the two wires in the front with the gold details if it's supposed to be ANH.

I also feel the face is off, but maybe it is the fisheye effect of photos.

 

[micdavis]

Wow. All the detail on the neck ring is gone too. And all the edges of the rectangles in head ring are rounded. Weak.

 

[mverta]

It's inevitable that the more you look, the more reasons you find to confirm what you knew from the first hit: stuff ain't right. You may not always know why, but you can just feel it. The better you know these characters, the faster it breaks down.


_Mike

 

[bothanspy]

Wow, very informative. This is the reason why RPF is so invaluable to the prop community. Nothing gets by us :lol

Good work guys! thumbsup

 

[bobasfett]

Mike's right, they both look like crap. SS missed the mark, and Gino is right that it wouldn't cost too much more to do it right and satisfy the casual collector and the accuracy nut. Gino's point, if I am understanding it, is that the amount and type of material is the same (i.e. same cost) for a screen accurate threepio head vs. a fan sculpted head.....why not just do it right. In fact, it would probably be quicker (cheaper) because there wouldn't be any sculpting time.

It seems pretty obvious to me that if I were SS and trying to appeal to the largest crossection of fandom and collectors, I would have, at the very least, offered these with a screen accurate head and dome. A lot could be forgiven and/or even overlooked if they would have done that. Again, i think this what Gino is saying when he talks about selectively cutting corners to hit a price point; sacrificing the 'face' of both of these products for whatever reason just wasn't a great business idea.

 

[Gary Weaver II]

Myself... I can see how a custom from scratch Threepio would have issues regarding accuracy. To hear that "King of the Robots" Barton also tweaked a Don Post statue for this thing is even more distressing.

However, there is no reason for R2 to look as "off" as it does. Thanks to the public domain drawings from the R2 builders group there is NO EXCUSE for this thing to not be dead on.

Has anyone ever seen any good up close images of the Full Size Gentle Giant R2-D2s? I'm curious to see how close they got with theirs.

-Gary

 

[vaderdarth]

I gotta agree on the quality issues. For 5K, there is absolutely no excuse for not moulding original props, offering both plated parts and metal parts when applicable.........lights and sounds.........both R2 and 3PO could have had motion activated moving heads. In a production facility.........that would still leave about 3K profit per unit.........that's assuming you offered really nice quality parts no matter if they were fiberglass or whatever.

I think both pieces look terribly "off" both in materials and in accuracy. We've had at least 3 fan made R2 domes over the last 3 years that are 10X more accurate than what SS is showing on theirs. I mean, if we're gonna just drop fan made props in rubber......lets drop some accurate fan made props in rubber here!!!!

If that is plating and is just heavily weathered I'd be suprised. It looks like fantachrome or some other paint application to me. R2 definitely isn't sporting "hypo blue".

This is really very disappointing to me as I've been waiting on these since I first heard about them 3 years ago.

Dave

 

[artoo77]

Hmmm...I take issue with that comment. Most R2s are fiberglass castings and many are aluminum bodies. Sure, they are aged and have weathered through the 30 years of their existence, but I think they've aged gracefully...

Fred Barton contacted me when he started work on these. I told him to get the plans from the R2 builders as they were accurate, and I also said it would be hard for him to get accurate reproductions of 3P0 without casting them--which I didn't think Lucasfilm would allow him to do. I only spoke with him that one time.

I must agree with my esteemed colleague Mr. Verta...they don't look right. But I always thought the Don Post R2 sucked too. That said, this is a tough audience...however, if you're going to do it, do it right. As Gino said, it wouldn't have cost them any more--it's the talent that distinguishes the good from the best.

--Don Bies

MICDAVIS is correct. ACCURACY isnt always a good thing. I bet, if I snuck a REAL R2 our of the RANCH (one of the crappy resin ones, oh wait, Most were resin and crappy) and brought it out and told everyone
"here is my LICENSED R2, and for 5k this is what You are getting"

 

[phase pistol]

I think I'll buy this one instead.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=4358

No not that one... THIS one!

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=4357

:lol

 

[womo68]

Fred Barton contacted me when he started work on these. I told him to get the plans from the R2 builders as they were accurate,

--Don Bies

Hmmm....so Barton may have gotten plans from the group....*doing a search for "Barton"........* :cool


womo

 

[micdavis]

Well. Fred sold bootleg R2s (and Gort, and B9 and a few others) long before this Sideshow thing came along.

I am betting the R2 now is just a rework of what he already had. So I doubt he used the club specs for it.

He also was shopping around for a 3PO to use as a master. He must've found one, because that suit exhibits attributes of many of the fan owned/sculpted suits. More square shoulders, lack of detail in the neck and head areas, popeye arms. All typical of most of the fan suits.

 

[vaderdarth]

If he'd just change the head on R2, use one of the more accurate domes, it would go a long long way to selling even us hardcore builders on it. His dome looks alot more spherical and not the accurate "eliptical" style. Again, there are 3 different fan made domes out there with the more correct profile and that would make this particular R2 110% better than it is in this photo. But again, show me the darker blue we all know and love and get away from this more medical scrubs blue shown in the pics. In my opinion, those two things have killed this R2. I'd say one more thing on the blue color, your results will be spectacular if you put a transparent blue paint over the bare polished aluminum. That is the only way to achieve the color change in different lighting conditions with R2. In a darker scene, it looks almost navy blue, in bright light, a fiercely bright anodized blue...... If you just use a metallic flake paint to get the color, it won't really change accurately with the lighting.

Glad to hear your opinion on this Don!!!

Dave

 

[yodasan]

It's the "vibe" as much as any one issue. Sure, the blue is obviously wrong/paintjob sucks, and there are questionable choices in regards to things like his holoprojector - but overall, the surface quality and paint, details, etc., just come off like a cheap knock off.
_Mike

Would it be possible to show with pictures of the SS R2 and an archival or fan-made R2 the problems that are being pointed out? it is hard for the non-experts to see what you guys are talking about. This would be a chance for someone such as Gino to show to the casual collector what constitutes quality. I'm asking not to fan flames but to get educated.