This is a 1/6 collector action figure produced by Hot Toys in 2012. It was a cross over work by the famous Japanese sculptors Takeya Takayuki (竹谷隆之) and Oniki Yuji (鬼木祐二). By today’s standard it is still one of the best action figures ever made. Although the articulations of the limbs are pretty limited, the details are truly amazing. I was so lucky to have pre-ordered one from Hot Toys at that time. But it was hidden in the storage for all those years until recently I took it out for some video shooting.

The condition of a figure is the best when it is new. After years the material starts to deteriorate. Synthetic leather cracks. Rubber material dissolves or becomes sticky. Colors fade, etc. The degrade rate depends on the weather and storage condition but it will happen. The best way to preserve a figure is to “digitize” it. In the past, I take lots of photos of my figures. Recently I do more videography and I think that can add more dynamic to the presentation of the figures. I called it “Digital Gallery”. See below.

For shooting the Samurai Predator there are a few key tools: 1) Lights, 2) Turn-table, 3) A decent 4k camera with tripod. For lighting I have bigger LED panel lights as the key lights on 2 sides on the front. 2 smaller colorized LED panel lights at the back and 1 in the front for creating the mood and special lighting effects. The turn-table rotates the figure in steady angular speed. Lastly, for camera I used Sony a6400 mounted on tripod. The primary lens used is 35mm f/1.8 OSS which gives a natural perspective. The youtube video shows the results and the shooting setup.

Digital Gallery

Photoshop CG

I also created a few synthetic pictures using Photoshop. For example, the alien image was created by shooting different parts of the body individually and merge together. Other body parts are images of the Revoltech Sci-Fi Alien Action Figure 016 Alien Warrior.