SW actors that Hasbro can't capture the likenesses of

[JediTricks]

The title pretty much says what this thread's about, talkin' about the actors from Star Wars that Hasbro can't sculpt right pretty much ever.

Mark Hamill - why is it that the only Luke figures that look like Luke are from ROTJ? This was true of Hasbro's 12" line too. But I would say the only Lukes from the first 2 that look like him are the POTJ X-wing figure, WM Early Bird Kit Luke, and vaguely OTC Dagobah Luke (they all have non-yellow hair paint too, that may have more to do with it, though the first 2 go too far with the brown).
Harrison Ford - they've come pretty close at times recently, but when they get it wrong they get it SOOOOO wrong.
Carrie Fisher - I can count the number of accurate Leia figures on 1 hand, starting with POTJ Bespin Leia and probably ending there too. Lately the failings have been about her coloring rather than her sculpts, but there's also the weird proportional problems on the VOTC figure where the likeness is there in the details but doesn't translate for crap.
Alec Guinness - I know this one is controversial since a lot of folks feel the headsculpt on the POTJ Ben figure is spot-on, but I think it's pretty far off. I suspect the problem is that Hasbro sculpts the head in proportion to the beard but that changes shapes from square to pointy throughout ANH. Their 12" line had the likeness down better though.
Ewan McGregor - I'd say it's the facial hair here too, I know TPM Obi-Wan's are no good as well but Ep 1 figures were the last gasp of POTF2-style sculpting which was lackluster by today's standards. The first Saga Obi-Wan had the eyes and mouth right, but the hair and paint and lack of scale killed it. ROTS Pilot Obi-Wan brought home the bacon in terms of essence even if it isn't dead-on, but there are so many lesser entries for this actor. Strangely, 12" Ep 1 Obi-Wan is chubby but otherwise accurate while Ep 2 Obi-Wan misses the mark.

I'm going to say that the absolute worst of the bunch, the one Hasbro can't get right to save their lives is: Hayden Christensen. Pawlus found 1 figure that's halfway decent, but it's an unusable Battle Arena figure: http://www.galactichunter.com/absolu...6271&zoneid=20
It's "funny" how Hasbro touted the hell out of using Realscan for Ep 2, the movie where Hayden was brought on board, yet none of the Ep 2 Anakin figures look a damn thing like the actor, the best we could hope for was that they didn't look as much like Michael Rapaport as the second 12" Ani figure.


There's a bunch others that could probably go on this list, Padme, Jango, even poor Mace who started decent and continued downhill even as it got more accurate, but I'll leave those to the next posts to hash out.

[Jargo]

I pointed out recently how much the saga2 general veers figure looks like Quentin Tarantino.

But I totally agree about the core characters. even 3PO and R2 are never totally right. The bodies of figures with proportion problems can sometimes be excused due to their being certin types of articulation used but the heads are the key part of having a recognisable character as a figure. carrie fisher has suffered from that monkey face figure and being turned into a figure that looks like snow white. the POTF2 Boushh figure looks like a guy in drag.

mark hamill has never once been captured accurately. I disagree about buck toothed POTJ x-wing Luke looking like him. the face is too thin and weedy looking. There's been head sculpts with traces of hamill in them like the Commtech Luke Tatooine or the Luke from the POTF2 desert skiff but it is only traces and combined they'd be a fantastic likeness but each successive sculpt seems to get further nd further away from hamill and closer to the marvel comics adaptation stylised depiction. My favourite luke for likeness closeness is the one from the board game. Luke in stormtrooper disguise with wet hair. had that been on a newer stormtrooper body it would be the definitive Luke in stormtrooper disguise for me.

Closest harrison ford likeness in my opinion would be the VOTC Cantina han or the POTJ bespin Han. but again. missing that certain something. possibly Harrisons trademark smirk.

The only expressions ever sculpted onto figures faces is either dead eyed neutral. or screaming. Or in Lukes case slack jawed and buck toothed.

[Slicker]

I think they've done quite well with Harry Ford. He's not perfect but he's nearly there.

I totally agree with the others. Leia and Anakin are, by FAR, the worst. I thought they used real scan for the AOTC figures? Why wouldn't that have given them a great sculpt?

[figrin bran]

They can't seem to sculpt Natalie Portman either. inadventently, Zizzle's POTC Singapore Swann is a much better Portman likeness than anything Hasbro has done.

[JediTricks]

I disagree about buck toothed POTJ x-wing Luke looking like him. the face is too thin and weedy looking.

I think it works, especially wearing the helmet or from the side. The unpainted teeth one works better of course.

There's been head sculpts with traces of hamill in them like the Commtech Luke Tatooine

Wow, not seeing it there at all.

the Luke from the POTF2 desert skiff

I'm assuming you don't mean the deluxe Luke with the sport skiff, since that's the regular he-man head. The Skiff vehicle one, that head is the one from the Final Jedi Duel Luke (the preposed throne room fig from the cinema scene), it's still the centerpiece figure in my main guys section because they've yet to get throne room Luke right since.

The only expressions ever sculpted onto figures faces is either dead eyed neutral. or screaming. Or in Lukes case slack jawed and buck toothed.

What about this sneering freak? http://www.rebelscum.com/POTJhansolodse.asp
(figure looks better in photos than it does in person)

I think they've done quite well with Harry Ford. He's not perfect but he's nearly there.

Care to say which work for you?

I thought they used real scan for the AOTC figures? Why wouldn't that have given them a great sculpt?

They don't take the realscan data and plug it into a machine that turns it into a hardcopy of the toy mold, they simply take the data and give it to the sculptors who use it as a reference guide on the figure - between the variance in talents of the sculptors and the limitations of transferring prototypes to production molds, you end up with realscan characters becoming junk figures. I have a question in the queue to Hasbro about this right now.

They can't seem to sculpt Natalie Portman either. inadventently, Zizzle's POTC Singapore Swann is a much better Portman likeness than anything Hasbro has done.

Makes sense since Nat's own mother couldn't tell Keira Knightly from her daughter on the set of Ep 1, though I don't actually see much of Keira in that POTC fig.

[Slicker]

I
Care to say which work for you?

Although I don't have one here to reference, I'm thinking along the lines of the VOTC Han. The head seems to be decently proportioned, the hair is good, and the likeness is definitely recognizable as Harrison. I know "recognizable" doesn't constitute perfection but it's a very good representation of him right down to the scar if I'm not mistaken.

[figrin bran]

Makes sense since Nat's own mother couldn't tell Keira Knightly from her daughter on the set of Ep 1, though I don't actually see much of Keira in that POTC fig.

exactly, i don't see much of Keira in that particular figure either so Zizzle missed the boat as well.

[Droid]

Dr. Evazan, Uncle Owen, Veers, and Riekeen.

[Dark Marble]

Mace Windu is the first that jumps to my mind. Mace is one of my favorite characters from the new trilogy and pulling a correct head and body together at the same time seems impossible.

[Devo]

Before I start I'll say that I worry for the capability of Hasbro to produce any good, uncompromised head sculpts in the future as long as they insist on crappy ball-jointed skulls!!!!!!!!! Particularly when sculpting delicate female features as those of Leia and Padme. It will be such a shame if we get good front-on likenesses and then you turn the figure for a profile view and are confronted by an abomination like VTSC pilot Luke or AOTC evolutions anakin.

Anyway for me its Mark Hamill that they simply cannot do. I don't know if I blame them because I don't think he has any 'unmistakably Hamill' features like say Harrison ford does with his smirk or Arnold schwarzennegger does with his entire face. I hate the way they always try to sculpt Luke with his mouth partially open as in POTJ/early bird/VOTC/VTSC and now VTAC by the looks of it - it just never looks normal and the figures wind up looking bucktoothed and gawky.

For the characters who've been most discussed in this thread:

Best Luke likeness so far is Saga Jabbas Palace.
Best Leia is a tie between Bespin escape and 25th anniversary swing to freedom.
Best Han is, some of you may laugh but I think you shouldn't dismiss it, POTF2 beefcake Han. (key features are there - the nose, the smirk - and it doesn't suffer from a stupid ball-joint meaning the hair is an appropriate length and he has a normal human jaw)
Best Ben kenobi is still the POTJ even though it isn't quite right
Best Haydakin is ROTS Evolutions (I've always thought this one is rather good)

As for characters I think Hasbro have pulled off well:

Lando POTJ bespin escape!!! Why isn't this the default head sculpt for ALL Lando figures????

Qui-gon Jinn has had some great non-neutral face sculpts (Episode I Jedi Master and Tatooine cinema scene) Qui-gon jinn Naboo wasn't too bad either.

Episode 1 Mace Windu (both) and Saga AOTC arena Mace Windu with screaming expression (Why does the new TAC figure have a crap likeness when these were achieved as far back as 1998????)

ROTS Obi-wan

And realistically I think POTJ bespin escape Leia is as good as she will ever get in this scale