Tomb Raider Anniversary 1/4 Lara Croft vs Raptor

[67L88Stingray]

Originally Posted by Shayfen

It was my first time dealing with Weta. I saw how crappy their other stuff was, but this Lara statue looked great. Clearly they have serious issues with quality control. Probably won't be dealing with them again, or at least not until seeing a finished product first.

They have been making good stuff for a long time, and like any company they have misses and sometimes QC issues, but overall very good. I also have the P1 Sonja you mentioned, and it's not perfect either, including the face.

The blood and dirt you didn't expect ARE on the prototype, not sure what you were looking at when you ordered. Details like that sometimes don't translate well into production, but for a factory job I think overall it's well done.

[Jon_Boston_83]

Originally Posted by Shayfen

It was my first time dealing with Weta. I saw how crappy their other stuff was, but this Lara statue looked great. Clearly they have serious issues with quality control. Probably won't be dealing with them again, or at least not until seeing a finished product first.

What other stuff exactly?? They're a top quality company - oscar winners and movie makers!

[Shayfen]

Originally Posted by 67L88Stingray

They have been making good stuff for a long time, and like any company they have misses and sometimes QC issues, but overall very good. I also have the P1 Sonja you mentioned, and it's not perfect either, including the face.

The blood and dirt you didn't expect ARE on the prototype, not sure what you were looking at when you ordered. Details like that sometimes don't translate well into production, but for a factory job I think overall it's well done.

There is nothing wrong with the Sonja statue. If you're talking about the shape of things then that is subjective. But the paint job is perfect.

As for the dirt, blood, and whatever other grime, you might want to go take another look at what the original looks like. The production statue has discolored fingers, which is supposed to be mud I guess. Her legs, shorts, boots, and shirt have a lot more dirt and stuff spread all over them. Her elbows, and knees have big bloody marks. Her left arm is covered in dirt or mud, which everyone has been commenting about it looking like liver spots. NONE of that is on the original statue. So I'm not sure what you are looking at.

Originally Posted by Jon_Boston_83

What other stuff exactly?? They're a top quality company - oscar winners and movie makers!

The original, which doesn't look very good as it is...
https://dhs1n389ze6jv.cloudfront.net...653cd12f31.jpg

And the production statue, which again looks worse...
https://youtu.be/2uvD_Matxk0?t=1020

Again, I have statues that are cheaper than that from Sideshow that look far better. As you say, these guys are supposedly award winners, and do special effects for movies and stuff. So it's surprising that they're pumping out low quality stuff. Like I've said, they seem to have issues with quality control. They themselves are making some fancy things in their studio, but then they hand it off to some cheap third party warehouse that is pumping out the production models, and doesn't seem to care. Yes, it's expected that things aren't going to be perfect, and some stuff is going to be altered. But when it comes to big changes that drastically changes the look of the character, they should be communicating with their customers to notify of those changes.

This Lost Valley statue for example, all of the extra blood and dirt really changes the look of Lara. It covers up a lot of details on the body. One of the selling points for me that immediately stood out was the muscle definition, and how you could see so many of the lines and curves in her arms and legs. Having it all covered in dirt now covers up a lot of that detail. Same thing with her fingers. Hands are something that I look at and pay attention to. Having them smeared in mud, or whatever bland looking paint they slapped onto them, causes it to lose all of the details that were in the original statue that was shown off. It's a complete bait and switch, simply due to drawing people in with a fancy prototype, and then changing things during production, and not telling your customers. It's scummy tactics that they need to be called out on. Especially for the price they are trying to charge.

[67L88Stingray]

Originally Posted by Shayfen

There is nothing wrong with the Sonja statue. If you're talking about the shape of things then that is subjective. But the paint job is perfect.

As for the dirt, blood, and whatever other grime, you might want to go take another look at what the original looks like. The production statue has discolored fingers, which is supposed to be mud I guess. Her legs, shorts, boots, and shirt have a lot more dirt and stuff spread all over them. Her elbows, and knees have big bloody marks. Her left arm is covered in dirt or mud, which everyone has been commenting about it looking like liver spots. NONE of that is on the original statue. So I'm not sure what you are looking at.

Sorry, but you are wrong. Sonja is really nice overall, but isn't close to perfect. The lips have a strange black shadow around the mouth and the skin paint they used looks very unnatural. The base is also lacking detail in sculpt and paint in many places, moreso even than the Weta base. I am sure there are more too, just can't remember as I haven't studied her in a while.

As for the proto pics of this, you can clearly see the dirt/blood in those pics. You also have to take into account the lighting they used washes out parts of the skin so it's hard to see exactly what the dirt looks like, but it's clearly there. Those types of details are hard to replicate well in production so that can account for some parts looking slightly different (though that can always vary piece to piece depending on who painted it)

As for that old Lara piece they did, it was nice, not as good as this new piece, but still good. I sold mine for about double retail when I ordered this so clearly others don't agree with you either. To call these a bait and switch is ludicrous.
The "bad" review you posted has the guy giving it a 8.5-9 out of 10! Wow, that's really horrible

[Jon_Boston_83]

I can't comment on the tomb raider stuff as I don't collect them or have any interest, but the majority of their LOTR line, which they have been doing for 20 years now, is top notch.

[Silas Loki]

Originally Posted by Shayfen

There is nothing wrong with the Sonja statue. If you're talking about the shape of things then that is subjective. But the paint job is perfect.

It's a complete bait and switch, simply due to drawing people in with a fancy prototype, and then changing things during production, and not telling your customers. It's scummy tactics that they need to be called out on.

I'm sorry, but that Prime1 Sonja leaves a lot to be desired - considering the scale and cost....in my opinion.

I'm actually a little surprised to see these two comments in the same post - again, right now, P rime1 is a major offender when it comes to "bait and switch" - as you describe it. I'm not saying Weta isn't playing the same dirty games - but to sing the praises of Prime1 while attacking Weta - seems a bit off.

Regardless of all that.....the bottom line is that you're unhappy with the piece. You should return it and cease to buy from Weta in the future. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. There's nothing to be gained debating the point on here.

[67L88Stingray]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

I'm sorry, but that Prime1 Sonja leaves a lot to be desired - considering the scale and cost....in my opinion.

I'm actually a little surprised to see these two comments in the same post - again, right now, P rime1 is a major offender when it comes to "bait and switch" - as you describe it. I'm not saying Weta isn't playing the same dirty games - but to sing the praises of Prime1 while attacking Weta - seems a bit off.

Regardless of all that.....the bottom line is that you're unhappy with the piece. You should return it and cease to buy from Weta in the future. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. There's nothing to be gained debating the point on here.

From what he said earlier, it sounds like he does not even have it in hand yet.

[Lugnuts]

Well, I FINALLY got this today. Unfortunately UPS got here too late to do pictures outside, which sucks as it was a beautiful, cloudless, warm day. Also my last day off until next Monday. I’ll try to get outdoor pictures tomorrow when I get home if the daylight is still good.

First impression is it’s beautiful. The fingers suck and the face on Lara is ok, not bad but not great. The raptors seem to go in ok but I don’t think there are in 100%, maybe 85%-90%. They aren’t loose and I pushed on them a little and tried to get them back out but they were not moving, which is good. This is one of those statues, along with Prime 1 Red Sonja, that deserves to be on a turn table.

Considering I’ve had his for 4 hours at the time of typing this, I’d give it an 8/10. I’m more forgiving than some people here. I know for $1,500 people expect perfection but I’m not that anal. I wanted Lara Croft and 2 raptors and I got exactly what I wanted so I’m happy. I’ll post more thoughts as well as phone pictures tomorrow.

[Lugnuts]

Pictures!

[RPG_FAN128]

Those are some great shots! Sadly that portrait's makeup is a bit "gloopy." It's a real shame. Mine is a lot sharper though and hence looks more in line with the proto. The raptors are great though aren't they?

Still I'm ecstatic about mine -- I need to start having company over to show off my new center piece, haha.