There are two Terminator Endoskeleton figures coming out in 2026 in 1/6th scale from high end companies. One is based on the endoskeleton from the first movie, the other one from the second. Both have a fair share of inaccuracies, and hey,
some things are just gonna be a tad different because of the scale, or simply because minutia detail is minutia detail. No biggie, unless you're really into scren accuracy. I don't have to have a perfect copy, but I'd like the figure to look like the movie counterpart on the first glance, with differences visible after closer inspection, but not a figure that just tells you its wrong from the first glance. But the InArt endoskeleton that is said to be based on the endoskeleton from the first movie is one of the most inaccurate and unfaithful adaptations in modern collecting world. Every single thing on its head, every single detail is wrong. I believe the endoskull is like the design of Darth Vader's mask - it's design is such that if you change or get one thing off, like shape, or proportion or distance, it throws off the entire thing. The skull of the InArt endo is nothing like the first movie, and actually doesn't match any of the cinematic endos. The closest it gets is Salvation. Let's see what both figures got wrong.
INART
Let's start with the head. The shape is wrong. The original had a much more oval shape, which was then changed into a chunkier shape in T2 - a shape which was then replicated in all the subsequent designs. (Screenshot on the left from Making of The Terminator 1984 TV special)
Below, photo from Stan Winston website on the left to show that the TV image above had not been distorted and the head is indeed of an oval rather than squarish shape
You'll see it in some of the comparison pictures, and you can also see it from the side. The screen endoskeleton has a more round back of the head. Let's start with the side then. other than the shape, the designs in the temporals are wrong (RED)
The head piston has a wrong design (BLUE), although to be fair, it depends on a shot. Perhaps we shouldn't count this one
The circular indentation between the temporals and the eye is oversized on the figure (green)
The indents on the back of its head differentiate in proportions/sizes on InArt differently than in the movie version
I'd still consider these nitpicks, simply listing all the inaccuracies. Now let's move on to the front of the head, wrong in every single detail. Let's go from top to bottom
- The CPU port cover is too thick and oversized (RED)
- The square indentation on its left side of the forehead is oversized. Sure it's a smaller figure, but other scaled down figures and even smaller ones had it right (GREEN)
- Shape of the indent on the forehead is of a wrong shape. Should be a V shape, not a square
Seems like the figure has no "brow bones". The area is flat on the figure while the movie endo actually has bulges where the brows should be
In addition to eyebrows there are also sculptural details on the forehead which aren't on the figure. Screenshot from 1984's Making of The Terminator on the left. Those surface details are also present on Sideshow’s 1:1 bust
Now, all those things mentioned, could be dismissed. Those who like the InArt figure are triggered when told the figure isn't accurate. And everything that's been listed so far could be called minutia details. But not the following:
The shape of the eye sockets is wrong. That really changes the look. You can see it in the comparisons with the screenshots above, but for clearer look, below the comparison between a screenshot from 1984 Making of The Terminator documentary. The shape of the movie version's eye sockets are more like butterfly wings, rather than a sunglasses shape of the figure that makes him look sleepy. The eyeballs are also placed too high in the sockets in the InArt figure
The nose is completely wrong. The original's nose hole has square edges and extra designs Inart figure does not have. Inart figure has a different, simpler and round instead of edged design. So already major things like eyes and nose are completely different
Now let's move on. Another minutia detail: different indent designs under the nose. Movie screenshot left, InArt figure right
Three things that make the face: eyes, nose and mouth. All completely different than the movie one. Not only are the teeth shapes and sizes wrong, but they go into the skull instead of being fully outside of it
Mouth pistons aren't accurate either, although I would just chalk it up to the size of the figure. Those things would be very thin if done correctly. nevertheless, like every single detail on the head, they don't match the movie version either
The cheeks for some reason are smaller. The distance between the bottom of the eye sockets and the bottom of the cheeks is much smaller on the figure. That may be due to the wrong shape of eye sockets or the overall wrong proportions.
The shape of the cheeks is off too
And the last thing, the chin the shape is wrong, it should be more elongated, and the shape of the indent is wrong. Like on the forehead, it should be "V" instead of a square.
Not only the head is nothing like the head from the original The Terminator, but it also doesn't match any of the movie endoskeletons. The figure seems well made and does look cool, but it's laughable to say it's accurate or even resembling an actual movie endoskeleton, much less being specific to the original design. To list everything that does not match the movie version would take couple posts. The head alone, which doesn't have a single thing matching the original endo design. Just one last glance to show how they aren't alike at all.
And here's some humorous "generalization"
The body itself has completely different proportions. Comparison below with the original endoskeleton: photo is from 1985 Cinefex magazine
Again, it would take ages to list everything that is wrong, so let's just look at the more noticeable things. So the proportions are way off, as is the shape of the head. A square part of the abdomen is way too big. It seems like size and proportions are wrong all over this piece.
The spikes on the sides of the spine are too large.
The feet on the InArt have straight line at the toes resembling diver’s fins. That’s not how it was on the actual prop
Even the guy who worked for Stan Winston commented about how off the figure is
EDIT
Since writing this post, InArt had perfected their sculpt. It fixed almost all of its issues: head shape, eye socket shape, eyeball placement, cpu port proportions, teeth are fully exposed now, the cheeks are thicker, the indent on the forehead is now the V shape instead of a square, and the bulges above the eyebrows are present. Now it looks very good and the inaccuracies left are trivial. Only the nose socket is one of those things more noticeable to some
HOT TOYS 1/6TH SCALE BATTLE DAMAGE ENDO
Hot Toys fared much better as far as accuracy. Other than the usual (for endoskeletons of this size) simplifications or modifications forced by a small scale, it's, as you can tell form the comparison chart above, pretty close. Let's see the list of alterations then:
- The CPU port is enlarged on HT
- Same issue as with InArt, certainly caused by the small scale: the mouth pistons are thicker
- There are no indentations for the upper teeth in the skull
- The chin is slightly elongated
- The nose is always an issue for such small scale because its got so much detail. The nose hole in original terminators (1-3) has a very angular design around it, so much so that with any bit of shadow, it looks like theres no roundness in it at all, even though the actual opening is rounded, but noticeable are angular designs on it. But what's ON the nose is too small to fully replicate in a small scale. InArts solution was to just scratch the whole thing and just leave an actual hole that is round. That takes away that specific Terminator nose with hard angles. I like Hot Toys solution, which is to make the actual hole match the shape of the entire design, thus preserving that angular look so important to Terminator endoskull look
Now the body. It's missing one indentation on its torso
The legs have a different attachment in the pelvis area
The one truly big mistake: there are too many vertebrae visible. The number matches the first movie's endo, but not the T2 ones
Other than that, it's clearly a T2 endoskeleton, with its wide jaw and meaner look. I've read some comments that this endo has the same common problem most of the endo figures have: that the eye sockets are too angled, that they're altered to be more "angry" looking, but that's not true. The look of the eye sockets always depend on an angle, and HT got the shape exactly right, which you can see in the comparison below and in the first comparison above
Comments
Post a Comment