Darth Malgus (#04) - Hasbro - The Black Series [Phase II] (2014)

A New Hope - A Toy Story

Posted by Thomas on May 15, 2020 at 3:16 PM

On May 4th several Star Wars toy photographers released a rather impressive project: an action figure recreation of A New Hope. It’s a joint effort of nine people, sadly, the project is not quite finished, maybe 90% is done, but even so, there are more than 250 images, using the full range of action figures, TBS, TVC, SHF, Bandai model kits and even Kenner, plus some custom figures and dioramas. The entire portfolio makes for one very ambitious and excellent photo novel. Projects like these show what can be achieved with a clever combination of both 1/12 and 1/18 scale figures, custom dioramas, and off the shelf vehicles. Maybe the photography bug may bite you as well when you see the excellent photos that recreate iconic scenes from the movie. Click through for a couple of highlights!

Here a Black Series Leia with a custom head is used. R2-D2 is a painted and weathered Bandai model kit.

There are also outdoor scenes of course, the Dewback in the background is a 1/12 scale custom (the TBS Dewback was released somewhat later and is also a little bit smaller than the version used here).

This photo is a combination of a Black Series Obi-Wan figure with a custom head and robe, a painted, weathered and modified (the wires in the arm socket) Bandai C-3PO model kit (the only truly shiny C-3PO figure available and one of the best 1/12 scale versions of the figure) and a SH Figuarts Luke Skywalker figure.

Lots of 1:18 scale figures were used for the colorful aliens and Cantina patrons.

A custom diorama with countless extra bits and pieces was made to recreate the trash compactor scene with Black Series figures.

Once more a custom diorama, this time with 1/18 scale X-Wing pilots.

Digital trickery is also used here and there, of course. While the ships are all actual toys, a virtual background was used and of course the ships were inserted using photo software. But it shows that the toy ships can look really impressive.

This project illustrates that action figure collecting is not just a passive hobby, where you collect and display figures, you can use your figures to create stunning photos. How many of you take photos of your figures, trying to recreate either iconic movie scenes or all new scenarios?

The people involved with the project are all on Instagram if you want to see more of their work:

Check out the (almost) complete action figure version of A New Hope on Imgur!

A New Hope - A Toy Story

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