JND Studios: Christopher Reeve Superman

[Spideristic]

Damn, the side profile shots, especially the last one instantly shows where the first sculpt was better in regards to the face structure. Thanks for sharing those.

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

I can see this being another contender for the "Discount bin" at the Retailers....at this point, I'm really wondering how many more pieces can JND put out before the bell tolls. I'm a huge JND fan, but even I think their talent is wasted chasing this impossible dream of creating these likenesses of actors.

In my opinion, it's not just JND who are (now) consistently failing to adequately capture actor likenesses, I think we're seeing this across the board - and a big factor for the intense scrutiny (whether I like it or not) is the price.....for many of us, who can now only afford one, or two pieces a year - near enough is no longer good enough.

I hope JND can change course - with Marvel and D.C. dead - scrambling around looking for replacement I.P. is the wrong way to go....I think a company like JND could really make an impact if they applied their skills to original figure art (...think Court of the Dead, of Honeytrap) - then this stupid back and forth about likeness would just die a death, and we could all go back to simply enjoying cool figures......

But near perfection isn’t impossible to achieve (just extremely difficult). At least at prototype level. It certainly can be done. Look at Queen’s Bale Bust, InArt’s Aragorn, and JND’s Reeve Clark Kent and Sean Connery. All pretty much celebrated across the board, with almost no criticisms levelled at them and in this hobby that’s nigh impossible.

Hell, Blitzway does good work too. Though not a popular piece, I thought their Rock Black Adam was very good, especially for a production piece. And now they have shown off their prototype Neo from Matrix, which imo where likeness is concerned is near perfect.


Though I own nearly a dozen silicone pieces, I’ll admit many, if not all are what I deem to be close enough, but not quite perfection (especially as they’re production pieces).

[pdenham]

Here's another to mull over.

FWIW, I thought the original HS worked best at 3/4 angles.
Ironically, this is also how I feel about most of, not only JND's HSs, but also ones from other companies.

[Gollum]

JND please be careful these sort of decisions can cause more problems than there worth

Movie or TV actor/actress likeness is one of the hardest things to pull off and to get every single angle close is extremely tough

These JND artists are extremely talented and deserve better recognition for their hard work

I don’t have many movie and TV pieces mainly because of this reason but I am a big JND fan and impressed with their work

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by pdenham

Here's another to mull over.

FWIW, I thought the original HS worked best at 3/4 angles.
Ironically, this is also how I feel about most of, not only JND's HSs, but also ones from other companies.

That’s nearly always been the case with any movie piece which is the least bit lacking in likeness. I’m looking at my collection, which is primarily movie based pieces (just shy of a 100 movie pieces in 1/4 scale and up, with more in smaller scales), and that statement pretty much holds true for every one where an actors likeness is shown.

[IcedDog]

Originally Posted by Phoenixblazes

Hell, Blitzway does good work too. Though not a popular piece, I thought their Rock Black Adam was very good, especially for a production piece. And now they have shown off their prototype Neo from Matrix, which imo where likeness is concerned is near perfect.

And their Pacino Scarface

[Hobbyist]

If I ignore the likeness, this statue of Reeves Superman is nearly perfect in details, body shape and proportion. I absolutely love everything from the neck down.

Unfortunately for JND, the likeness is what people are paying for and most concerned about.

For the amount of money they ask for (US$2549) it is inexcusable and unforgivable not to have a perfect likeness of the character portrayed.

In the video, the presenter said that the company would go bankrupt if they would spend the time required to perfect the statue until they were satisfied with it. This statue is their best effort within the time constraint.

If I understand it correctly, JND is releasing a statue which they themselves are not fully satisfied with but, for the time being, they think it is good enough for the collectors spending US$2549 a piece for it.

As for the likeness of Reeve, it is still not there even though it is a new sculpt. It is a failed second attempt. In golf terms, they sliced the previous shot and hooked this shot. Both shots missed the fairway.

I am quite glad that they have listened to the feedback and tried to make improvement accordingly. I suppose they just need more time which they are unable to give themselves, unfortunately.

[Hobbyist]

Originally Posted by Gollum

JND please be careful these sort of decisions can cause more problems than there worth

Movie or TV actor/actress likeness is one of the hardest things to pull off and to get every single angle close is extremely tough

These JND artists are extremely talented and deserve better recognition for their hard work

I don?t have many movie and TV pieces mainly because of this reason but I am a big JND fan and impressed with their work

It is indeed. That's why some collectors are willing to pay a huge amount for a great likeness. US$2549 is simply far too much for a statue with unsatisfactory likeness.

If JND would use resin for their statues and cut the price tag by 50%. Then, perhaps some collectors would be more accommodating for an imperfect likeness.

[IcedDog]

Originally Posted by Hobbyist

This statue is their best effort within the time constraint.

If I understand it correctly, JND is releasing a statue which they themselves are not fully satisfied with but, for the time being, they think it is good enough for the collectors spending US$2549 a piece for it.

To be fair, most artists are never quite fully satisfied with their works, be it a painter, sculptor, film maker, etc...but at some point they have to stop tinkering and call it finished.

[Phoenixblazes]

I’m not sure if I’m remembering right, but I think I saw a custom bust of a Reeve Superman which, at least at the time, looked very impressive. And what makes it worse is; I think it was made by an Australian group, but I was not connected to any of those groups then or now.