|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By
Julian H. Betancourt |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BLACK &
WHITE
PRINCESS LEIA MAQUETTE
Based
on the drawing style of re known Russian artist Genndy
Tartakovsky (responsible for Cartoon Network's Star Wars:
Clone Wars, the award winning animated series which
bridges the time gap between Episode 2 and Episode 3),
Gentle Giant, Ltd has added to the magic world of
collectibles a very unique line of Maquettes that
elegantly highlights the heavily influenced anime vision of
the artist and the TV series. The Line has been baptized as
Stars Wars Animated Maquettes and includes a good number of
classic OT characters rendered in this unique concept that
branches out from common designs into something different
and offers a fresh look to SW memorabilia.
Following
the first Original Trilogy Boba Fett Maquette in 2006, the
makers' second OT release offered not just one but two
pivotal role-players from this era, Princess Leia and R2-D2.
The sultry look of the 8.5" sculpting, its accessible $80.00
price and the reasonable limited edition size of 8, 500
units worldwide soon made the duo a fan favorite. The
packaging was also a new design featuring the Star Wars 30th
Anniversary logo.
BLACK &
WHITE
MAQUETTES: EDITION SIZE
While
the regular Original Trilogy Maquettes are graciously
decorated in vibrant colors that help enhance and beautify
their overall look, Gentle Giant opted as well to offer
Black and White versions of the same sculpts, basically a
monochromatic combination of mostly different tones of gray
and black. Unlike the common Maquettes, these unique
versions were offered in very small edition sizes and as
exclusives.
The
edition size for every black and white maquette was made of
just 500 units of which 250 were first offered during the
last quarter of 2006 in Japan at the Blister store and
through their website at
Blister.jp. Worth noting is that in Japanese
culture, the black and white Maquette design has a stronger
artistic appeal than colored versions among collectors and
thus their value is a lot more appreciated in the land of
the rising sun.
BLACK &
WHITE
MAQUETTES: THE RAFFLE
Soon
after the first half of the maquettes were sold in Japan,
the remaining 250 units were made available worldwide
exclusively to Premiere Gentle Giant Guild Members via
a series of online raffles (one for each B & W Maquette
offered) in which members entered by logging into GG's
website, clicking on a given link then saving their
information. The problem was that GG's website did not
function at its best and some collectors were left out of
the raffle although to their knowledge, they had properly
submitted their entry.
Fingers
crossed, participants prayed for the chance to win the right
to purchase the Maquettes. The lucky few
received the following winning E-mail notification:
" Congratulations, your entry into the raffle for the chance to purchase Animated Princess Leia Black & White Maquette was randomly chosen. Our system has automatically created your order with the billing/shipping information you provided upon entering the raffle. Your order will be shipped to you within the next two to three business days, at which time you will receive another email containing the tracking information for your order"
The
majority of members received the following Losers E-mail
notification:
At
the time of this writing just three of these unique paint
variant Maquettes have been raffled off: Boba Fett, Darth
Vader and Princes Leia with Artoo. However, it is known more
"Black and White" raffles are to come dealing specifically
with characters from the Original Trilogy, which seems to be
the trend for these Maquette exclusives.
Princess
Leia Maquette sold in Japan around September of 2006
however, it wasn't until March of 2007 that Gentle Giant
offered it through their website to the rest of the
world. The raffle for Leia started on 3/9/07 and ran for
five (5) days, ending on March 13, 2007 however results
weren't given until three days after it
The
following visual Guide and review deals specifically with
this Maquette.
STAR WARS ANIMATED
BLACK &
WHITE PRINCESS LEIA MAQUETTE
Princess
Leia Maquette is a clear example of a smart way for a
company to cash in on the new trend of sexually oriented
anime or anime like statuettes. That "in your face" explicit
design can be easily seen all over Leia's sculpting.
From the overtly voluptuous bodice area of her tight white
outfit to the revealing slits on her skirt that expose the
curvaceous lines of her long legs , Leia gets thrown at us
shaped like a Spanish guitar, ready to be played. Once the
Maquette gets turned around, the sensuous pose of Leia's
hip, subtly sticking up to the side, undoubtedly urges to
the mind of the imaginative observer that the Princess can
easily compete against Jennifer Lopez for the best seat
in the house and hold a pistol in her hand ready to fight
the Imperial presence while at it. Her large, almond- shaped
eyes accented by playfully mischievous eyebrows and slightly
open mouth are the final touches giving Leia a facial
expression that although attractively inviting it is
yet royalist and decisive. Overall Leia has been delicately
rendered, definitely bringing up to the public eye her most
feminine attributes.
Just
a tiny bit below Leia's hip level the short but brave and
faithful Artoo Deetoo stands close, positioned to the side
of the Princess as if protecting her from an impending
attack by Stormtroopers. The contrast of both, the radiant
Alderaan beauty and the aloof, overly protective mechanism
of wires and chips that Artoo represents, is the perfect
combination making the set a hit.
Both
figures have no removable parts and are permanently mounted
on a multi-sided black mate base surrounded by a border
dressed my buttons and technological gadgetry. The bottom of
the base is stamped showing the limited edition number and
categorizing the maquette as ANIMATED Princess Leia Black &
White. Included in the box is the Certificate of
Authenticity shaped in the size and style of a collectible
card.
STAR WARS ANIMATED
BLACK &
WHITE PRINCESS LEIA MAQUETTE:
FINAL THOUGHT
The
Princess Leia Maquette was designed to complement the pose
and style of the fan favorite and very limited Snow-bunny
Padme Amidala Maquette released earlier as part of the Clone
Wars Line. Indeed she easily bridges the existing gap
between Clone Wars Animated characters and a new take on OT
characters envisioned in the animated style.
From
an aesthetic point of view, the Black & White Maquettes
don't hold much as far as visual appeal. The lack of color
does retract from the look of the sculpts diminishing
important details. However an up close, first look at them
awake within the owner of one of this pieces a combination
of nostalgic moments and rarity values and any previous feel
for a needed color palette fades away just a bit.
ANIMATED
MAQUETTES AND MINI BUSTS: RANTING ABOUT THE GG EXCLUSIVES
Despite
its horrible customer service and favoritism with many
exclusives from their product line (those of you
getting hooked up with exclusives by GG know who you are),
Gentle Giant Studios is recognized as the leader in
cutting-edge technology of three-dimensional scanning. Being
on location scanning actors, models, costumes, and props to
create a digital library for the Star Wars movies led
Gentle Giant to seek a Star Wars license for a line of
mini-busts, and eventually that led to more items such as
the Maquettes we've talked about.
The
work of their artists and sculptors definitely could be
called nothing but superb. Almost every sculpt and every
design is an authentic as it could be and for that they
should be congratulated. On the negative side though, it
is a shame that a company gathering such fantastic
artistic talent is also one of the worst, if not the
worst as far as customer service and paying attention to
collectors requests is concerned. With plenty of time
ahead of them, GG has completely ignored any suggestions
but those supporting their product to improve their
relationship with their customers and to offer a better
chance at their exclusives.
Their ideas
of creating and distributing exclusives is plain
ridiculous, their edition sizes have become a joke and
the raffles are very unexciting, making one sit around
waiting to hear from them "Rock Stars" on a remote
chance to be permitted to buy an exclusive. Lots
of loyal supporters are turning away from the GG and
spending their money with other companies a lot more
supportive of their fan base.
Hopefully
Gentle Giant will realize in a not too distant future
that no matter how neat their product might be, it means
nothing without the support and spending of their
customers. Hopefully by the time they realize this and
decide to actually pay attention to us it won't be too
late, not for us, but for them as a company.
|
