X-Plus/Star Ace New For 2022

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

One can say that the DX version is AHEAD of the normal one.

heh heh. if that head was more detailed i might consider it.   I don't know as i need a Pegasus..i do love mythical creatures but those wings look a lot like real feathers or faux ones   would have preferred sculpted ones. these would be really susceptible to dust and moths.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

[Over9K]

Gwangi has dropped in Japan, and in-hand images are beginning to appear. Found these on FB, courtesy of @Chris Wanlass.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Gwangi has dropped in Japan, and in-hand images are beginning to appear. Found these on FB, courtesy of @Chris Wanlass.

Looks better than the prototype pics with the mouth more open..unless the jaw can move?   I just checked my order on Starace's website, it says processing 3/1/22 . 

[dragon53]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

Why did you order from Star Ace instead of Bigbadtoystore, Awesome Collector, etc.?.....is it cheaper?
 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

Why did you order from Star Ace instead of Bigbadtoystore, Awesome Collector, etc.?.....is it cheaper?

I've been testing the waters a bit.  I tried AC for the Allosaurus and Triceratops and the Allo vs Tumak set was as mentioned lost at sea so I ordered it from Sideshow. Diamond Dist. didn't tell retailers about it til almost too late to scramble and find one elsewhere.  The Trike I bought with points from SS.  Then I went ahead and ordered the Ceratosaurus from them after that.  I was pretty excited for Gwangi and had been told Star Ace gets the items first.  So I ordered him from them for almost the same price at BBTS...who takes FOREVER to get items in...but does have good prices with shipping.   Your basically balancing cost vs wait time.  The difference isn't a lot, maybe 10/20.00 usually.   If your in a hurry, Star Ace supposedly gets them first and then Sideshow is the first retailer here to get them.  After that secondary retailers through Diamond ( which has abysmal customer service) get theirs.  I could crunch the numbers but Star Ace/Sideshow is about the same.  With taxes making up the shipping difference with Star Ace.  AC isnt bad and sometimes has a discount, which is why I ordered the Cyclops, Ymir, Kraken and Rhedosaurus through them.  BBTS will save you the most, but they will be the last place to get anything to you. 

[dragon53]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:


Thanks for the info. I was surprised to see how expensive the Kraken is--particularly the Deluxe version---apparently it's huge size increased the price.

I was thinking about buying the Kraken, but one thing that stood out is its yellow muzzle---in the photos of the movie version and photos of it in Harryhausen exhibits, the muzzle is dark green with a little brown---so is the Star Ace muzzle really as yellow as it appears in the PR photos or it it an optical illusion?
Also, the Star Ace Kraken appears to be a much brighter green than the movie version's dark green.

Also, I see the female figure has dark hair, but Judi Bowker was blonde in the movie---maybe Star Ace's female figure is a generic female sacrifice, but why they did that I don't understand.

[Duna]

heh heh. if that head was more detailed i might consider it.   I don't know as i need a Pegasus..i do love mythical creatures but those wings look a lot like real feathers or faux ones   would have preferred sculpted ones. these would be really susceptible to dust and moths.

They are real feathers, I'm almost sure they are white common hen feathers (the larger ones) and the more "filamentous" others are silky hen's feathers. I'm totally sure on those.
I can't really say about the mane, it could be trimmed silky hen's feathers or fake white fur-hair. But the larger problem of that figure is the head, that doesn't look like a horse head because they put the ears too far appart and too low.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:


Thanks for the info. I was surprised to see how expensive the Kraken is--particularly the Deluxe version---apparently it's huge size increased the price.

I was thinking about buying the Kraken, but one thing that stood out is its yellow muzzle---in the photos of the movie version and photos of it in Harryhausen exhibits, the muzzle is dark green with a little brown---so is the Star Ace muzzle really as yellow as it appears in the PR photos or it it an optical illusion?
Also, the Star Ace Kraken appears to be a much brighter green than the movie version's dark green.

Also, I see the female figure has dark hair, but Judi Bowker was blonde in the movie---maybe Star Ace's female figure is a generic female sacrifice, but why they did that I don't understand.

It is huge. It's the length of the Rhedosaurus but more material due to just how thick it is.  It's also heavy, the bottom of the main body is weighted to keep it upright.   One issue I had was one of the arms came off in the package and needed simple regluing.

Doesn't look yellow to me, but it's probably the lighting. Bright stage lighting is used to get those box and promo photos, in person with normal warm indoor lighting it's pretty dark.  It was approved by the foundation so there is that.

Yeah...her hair is brown and it's definitely an odd choice when Andromeda was blonde. She's also out of scale just like the Sindbad figures. Way too big, should have been like the Loana and Tumak figures that came with the Ceratosaurus.

heh heh. if that head was more detailed i might consider it.   I don't know as i need a Pegasus..i do love mythical creatures but those wings look a lot like real feathers or faux ones   would have preferred sculpted ones. these would be really susceptible to dust and moths.

They are real feathers, I'm almost sure they are white common hen feathers (the larger ones) and the more "filamentous" others are silky hen's feathers. I'm totally sure on those.
I can't really say about the mane, it could be trimmed silky hen's feathers or fake white fur-hair. But the larger problem of that figure is the head, that doesn't look like a horse head because they put the ears too far appart and too low.

I appreciate the info. I love how Ray talked about making Pegasus and how he made the wings so large to really make it seem like it could fly, but there was no reason to use real feathers. They didn't fur the main horse either like the model so why feathers?  Ray's puppet really doesn't look much like a horse either up close maybe he had issues with that, I know it's hard for me to draw them correctly.  I assume that why for closeups they used a real horse stand in.



This shows exactly the issues I would expect with real feathers on wings :

[dragon53]

MOON-OF-THE-BLADE:

So the real color of the Star Ace Kraken's muzzle is brown?

I'm glad you mentioned the Andromeda figure scale is too big. I have the movie on bluray but haven't watched it in a long time and did not know the Andromeda figure scale is too big compared to the Kraken---I'm not interested in the Deluxe version anymore.

Below is a photo of the prototype and the figure has apparently blonde hair---I wonder if the production version has dark hair because of possible royalty rights etc. to Judi Bowker because the prototype Andromeda has blurred face and blonde hair, but the production Andromeda has a distinct face and dark hair.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

MOON-OF-THE-BLADE:

So the real color of the Star Ace Kraken's muzzle is brown?

I'm glad you mentioned the Andromeda figure scale is too big. I have the movie on bluray but haven't watched it in a long time and did not know the Andromeda figure scale is too big compared to the Kraken---I'm not interested in the Deluxe version anymore.

Below is a photo of the prototype and the figure has apparently blonde hair---I wonder if the production version has dark hair because of possible royalty rights etc. to Judi Bowker because the prototype Andromeda has blurred face and blonde hair, but the production Andromeda has a distinct face and dark hair.

Sort of a burnt orange? So yeah kinda brown.

The water base on the Deluxe version is pretty cool.  If you place Andromeda more forward instead of behind you can get a better perspective with her, but yeah still out of scale.

Maybe it was a copyright issue?   

You would think hair color wouldn't matter though.  It's small enough you really can't tell much about if it's the exact actress.



This model for anyone interested, shows a proper scale.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I canceled my order with StarAce, they claimed pandemic issues had stalled the order and it might have, but my order had been sitting with no updates for over a month.  Sideshow has both the regular and Deluxe in stock so I ordered from them today.  Price was roughly the same as StarAce and the shipping will be quicker.  I'm thinking I'll just order from Sideshow from now on.

[dragon53]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

Have you received a shipping confirmation for your Gwangi from Sideshow?
I preordered my Gwangi from Awesome Collector a long time ago and haven't received any updates from them. Amazon gives an April 27 release date.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

BLADE-OF-THE-MOON:

Have you received a shipping confirmation for your Gwangi from Sideshow?
I preordered my Gwangi from Awesome Collector a long time ago and haven't received any updates from them. Amazon gives an April 27 release date.

It says Shipped/label created today.

[Halichoeres]

Cooper's Dunkleosteus is available for preorder: https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/201051

I reached out to him and asked him about the base, and he was kind enough to reply. It turns out he didn't sculpt it, someone at X-Plus did, and he doesn't know any more than I do about the acanthodians or the cephalopod.

[dragon53]

BLADE-OF -THE-MOON:

I got an email from Awesome Collector saying they might get the Gwangi in stock in several weeks.

[dragon53]

Star Ace Minaton from SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER.

LINK: https://news.toyark.com/2022/04/29/sinbad-and-the-eye-of-the-tiger-minaton-statue-by-x-plus-466679#more-466679

[dragon53]

Harryhausen London exhibit.


LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cW08UUF1AI

[Darko2300]

Did anyone here get Cooper's Mammoth and what do you think of it? I'm kind of surprised I can't find any reviews for the actual production piece out there.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Did anyone here get Cooper's Mammoth and what do you think of it? I'm kind of surprised I can't find any reviews for the actual production piece out there.

I did. It's pretty nice, paint and all look good for a production piece. Maybe it could used a bit more of the snow effect on the actual mammoth but it's no big deal.