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Old 12-04-2017, 12:26 PM   #2011
jadekite22
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I don't have any issue with Lucky's eyes in person. I think the sunglasses were removable more for adjustment and breakage prevention. Even as apparent as the softened expression is on the production piece (which is a hangup I personally couldn't get over with Whisper), all the attitude is lost even on the prototype portrait without the sunglasses, so I would always display Lucky wearing them.

The only differences I can make out with the eyes themselves (not the eyebrows, which carry the expression) are the heavy shading above them in the proto and the slight widening at the bottom on the production piece, which actually makes sense because peering over one's sunglasses would show more sclera underneath than the dead-on straight eyes painted on the proto.

I say this, of course, knowing that this probably all accidental on the factory's part, but it does work for my money (of which I spent very little due to buying it discounted.)
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Old 12-04-2017, 05:40 PM   #2012
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Originally Posted by jadekite22 View Post
I don't have any issue with Lucky's eyes in person. I think the sunglasses were removable more for adjustment and breakage prevention. Even as apparent as the softened expression is on the production piece (which is a hangup I personally couldn't get over with Whisper), all the attitude is lost even on the prototype portrait without the sunglasses, so I would always display Lucky wearing them.

The only differences I can make out with the eyes themselves (not the eyebrows, which carry the expression) are the heavy shading above them in the proto and the slight widening at the bottom on the production piece, which actually makes sense because peering over one's sunglasses would show more sclera underneath than the dead-on straight eyes painted on the proto.

I say this, of course, knowing that this probably all accidental on the factory's part, but it does work for my money (of which I spent very little due to buying it discounted.)
I paid a Black Friday price, Lucky still cost a fair amount. The full amount of $599 the eyes should look better.

The whole idea of the shades was to have eye's peering over them. I guess this is something the factory didn't get a grip on. Maybe some Lucky's turned out better than others. I've been in touch with Gentle Giant for comment. They tend to take a week or two to reply
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:34 PM   #2013
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I paid a Black Friday price, Lucky still cost a fair amount. The full amount of $599 the eyes should look better.

The whole idea of the shades was to have eye's peering over them. I guess this is something the factory didn't get a grip on. Maybe some Lucky's turned out better than others. I've been in touch with Gentle Giant for comment. They tend to take a week or two to reply
No, that's what my long-winded post was saying: the production piece's eyes work fine for peering over the glasses, while the prototype's are just looking straight forward. The latter makes her stare look dead peering over the glasses on but obviously helps so you could potentially display Lucky without or without them. It's a matter of preference depending on which option the collector had in mind when buying, not a cut and dry production drop-off like the expression itself IMO.

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Old 12-05-2017, 12:27 AM   #2014
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Originally Posted by jadekite22 View Post
No, that's what my long-winded post was saying: the production piece's eyes work fine for peering over the glasses, while the prototype's are just looking straight forward. The latter makes her stare look dead peering over the glasses on but obviously helps so you could potentially display Lucky without or without them. It's a matter of preference depending on which option the collector had in mind when buying, not a cut and dry production drop-off like the expression itself IMO.

it's not so much the eyes on the production piece, as the eyebrows. They are less furrowed, making for less of a scowl. It sucks. lol
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Old 12-05-2017, 02:36 AM   #2015
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What makes no sense.. while it makes sense factories cannot always produce like for like, there are no excuses for things like eyebrows and eyes other than lack of skill / understanding (not being shown the prototype, maybe?)

Gentle Giant in particular have on 3 occasions (maybe more) shown a prototype only to make changes when it comes to the production piece. The 3 statues i am thinking of include Whisper Grey, Lucky, Maggie Green. In house Gentle Giant use skilled artists to paint the prototypes. If the factories can paint the whole statue close to the prototype, why drop the ball with eyes and eyebrows? it's these small area that give the character its id.
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Old 12-05-2017, 04:34 AM   #2016
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Playing it safe



(from Facebook)
An amazing project - we had the privilege of working with Disney to create 2 life-size characters from Starwars, The Last Jedi, Executionertrooper and Praetorianguard .These will show up in select theaters (and a few troopers will be at select Nissanusa dealerships) - Gentle Giant, Ltd.
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Old 12-05-2017, 09:49 AM   #2017
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What makes no sense.. while it makes sense factories cannot always produce like for like, there are no excuses for things like eyebrows and eyes other than lack of skill / understanding.

Gentle Giant in particular have on 3 occasions (maybe more) shown a prototype only to make changes when it comes to the production piece. The 3 statues i am thinking of include Whisper Grey, Lucky, Maggie Green. In house Gentle Giant use skilled artists to paint the prototypes. If the factories can paint the whole statue close to the prototype, why drop the ball with eyes and eyebrows? it's these small area that give the character its id.
Honestly, while the difference on this piece is at least apparent enough for me to understand where you're perceiving the flaw, like I said, it doesn't change the overall attitude of the piece for me the way it did for Whisper. Katya and Derby's portraits never had matching scowls, similar to how Sweet Pea was unique among the other Sucker Punch girls, who had more doll-like expressions and similar to Lucky here, the attitude was successfully conveyed even just through the poses.

You consistently lose me here and in several other threads when you say "there's no excuses" for such things. Sure, GG produces the pieces you receive in-house, but that doesn't mean it's handled by the master prototype painters (no way Kat Sapene personally painted production pieces for even the smallest of edition sizes) nor does it mean that they spend any more time meticulously working on each production piece than a factory worker in China. GG's artists produce many statues, busts and even figures for DC Collectibles and I believe McFarlane.

Should they want their original line to be the highest example of their capabilities? Sure. But anyone could guess from the ridiculous delays and low sales that something was going on during production, whether due to lack of money, over ambition, etc. Maybe the textures you cited as being retained from the prototype are more the production team's forte than faces and the drop-off prior to this line has always been there but the actor likenesses have made up for non-expressive portraits. I can tell you from owning a couple of Harbottles's Sideshow pieces that the factory who handled those either prioritized or were simpler more talented at replicating the portraits than retaining the texture.

Considering you are the only person I see on here keeping a running head count of how many pieces you've passed on from companies like Prime 1, SS, etc for failing to live up to your standards, specifically on female portraits, I say this as sincerely as possible, you may want to venture into customs. This year there was an independently-produced Scarlett Johansson Black Widow bust I think captured the attitude, likeness and skin texture better than I've seen any company, including GG and Hot Toys, seen do all three simultaneously. And because they tend to be hand-painted and molded by the original artists themselves or handled by factories capable of reproducing that quality with their printers, you know exactly what you're getting.
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Old 12-05-2017, 10:50 AM   #2018
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Damn that’s dreadful. For $500+ it’s gotta be a spitting image of the prototype. Sideshow (somehow) managed to get it perfect with their Red Sonja with a sword, but this is a big time fail for GG. The face of the Lucky prototype is museum worthy.
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Old 12-05-2017, 11:38 AM   #2019
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Damn that’s dreadful. For $500+ it’s gotta be a spitting image of the prototype. Sideshow (somehow) managed to get it perfect with their Red Sonja with a sword, but this is a big time fail for GG. The face of the Lucky prototype is museum worthy.
While I agree, that the production piece falls short of the prototype, you're statement about Sideshow is at best, inaccurate. I won't get into a debate about it, I would simply suggest you read the associated thread to the Sideshow piece.
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Old 12-05-2017, 11:54 AM   #2020
ukshaun
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Originally Posted by jadekite22 View Post
Honestly, while the difference on this piece is at least apparent enough for me to understand where you're perceiving the flaw, like I said, it doesn't change the overall attitude of the piece for me the way it did for Whisper. Katya and Derby's portraits never had matching scowls, similar to how Sweet Pea was unique among the other Sucker Punch girls, who had more doll-like expressions and similar to Lucky here, the attitude was successfully conveyed even just through the poses.

You consistently lose me here and in several other threads when you say "there's no excuses" for such things. Sure, GG produces the pieces you receive in-house, but that doesn't mean it's handled by the master prototype painters (no way Kat Sapene personally painted production pieces for even the smallest of edition sizes) nor does it mean that they spend any more time meticulously working on each production piece than a factory worker in China. GG's artists produce many statues, busts and even figures for DC Collectibles and I believe McFarlane.

Should they want their original line to be the highest example of their capabilities? Sure. But anyone could guess from the ridiculous delays and low sales that something was going on during production, whether due to lack of money, over ambition, etc. Maybe the textures you cited as being retained from the prototype are more the production team's forte than faces and the drop-off prior to this line has always been there but the actor likenesses have made up for non-expressive portraits. I can tell you from owning a couple of Harbottles's Sideshow pieces that the factory who handled those either prioritized or were simpler more talented at replicating the portraits than retaining the texture.

Considering you are the only person I see on here keeping a running head count of how many pieces you've passed on from companies like Prime 1, SS, etc for failing to live up to your standards, specifically on female portraits, I say this as sincerely as possible, you may want to venture into customs. This year there was an independently-produced Scarlett Johansson Black Widow bust I think captured the attitude, likeness and skin texture better than I've seen any company, including GG and Hot Toys, seen do all three simultaneously. And because they tend to be hand-painted and molded by the original artists themselves or handled by factories capable of reproducing that quality with their printers, you know exactly what you're getting.
independently-produced Scarlett Johansson Black Widow bust
Any links? pictures? info?
I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Tkb2C97WQ

I think you maybe misunderstand some of my comments. I fully understand, and don't expect a factory to replicate a paint app of a prototype 1000%. That would be asking too much

Captain Marvel by Sideshow is a great example of how to do things right. I own the statue, and it looks perfect.

The Major by Weta, again, the production piece looks 100% like the prototye.

Sucker Punch Blondie by Gentle Giant, looks very very close to the prototype.

Heath Ledge The Joker from Sideshow, what's in the box looks just like what they show on the website.

Michelle Pfeiffer catwoman showed that Sideshow don't always get it right. It was good, but mine had lousy eyes. Sideshow soon fixed the issue by sending out a new head, and she looks great

Hot Toys with their 1/6th scale, gain, perfect results. What they show is what you get, pretty much.

DC Collectibles and their Harely Quinn had super lousy eyes. They were so poor, i re did them myself. I had some fun doing so. I didn't mind messing around with a low price 1/6th statue. When it comes to a high price 1/4 scale, i should have to be re painting eyes, and i won't.

My main gripe with Lucky is, the eyes are not straight. One points inwards. The eyebrows are different shape. I place the blame on the factory. Somehow, the factory has painted the rest of the statue just fine (work that one out).
I don't own Whisper, i have read comments posted by others, the Red variant was produced to a much higher standard compared to the grey Whisper. This points to one thing, the factory AQ
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