IG-88

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE JEDI (HASBRO)

“The most infamous and feared of all assassin droids, IG-88 has made a career as a ruthless bounty hunter. The tall, slender, gray droid was produced at Holowan Laboratories. IG-88 is equipped with an array of head sensors that allow him to see in all directions at once, and a variety of lethal weapons including grenade launchers, missiles and a flamethrower.”

Most of the IG-droid love on this site has been directed to the newcomer IG-11, and while I do certainly love that guy and all of his Taika Waititi-voiced goodness, I still feel the need to show some proper appreciation for the original IG, IG-88.  With an extra 40 years of existence on IG-11, 88’s got quite a number of figures in his arsenal.  I’ve covered his vintage figure and his Shadows of the Empire figure (which doubled as his representation for Power of the Force), so now I’m moving forward in the IG-88 chronology, with a look at his figure from Power of the Jedi, the post-Episode I full-franchise covering line that ran from 2000 to 2002.  Not a long run, but long enough to get an IG-88, and that’s what really counts.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-88 was added to Hasbro’s Power of the Jedi line during the second half of its debut year, as part of the push for more Original Trilogy offerings, to further distance from the Episode I merchandise that was still hanging around at this point.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The Shadows IG-88 just used a slightly tweaked version of the vintage mold, adding a “waist” joint to match with the rest of PotF style figures.  Jedi IG-88 doesn’t completely abandon the vintage molds just yet, but he does get a new head and torso.  The head is more accurate to the actual prop than the previous mold had been, and the new torso firstly makes the bandolier a separate piece (allowing for more depth to the design), and secondly moves the mid-torso joint up to a more design appropriate spot.  It takes a mold that was already pretty strong, and just makes it stronger, resulting in probably the best take on IG-88 until they started making the articulation improvements.  There was a running change on the mold; initial offerings had the right hand molded into a closed grip, while the larger portion of the run opened the hand up.  It doesn’t really affect the ability to hold his gun, or anything, and honestly just looks about the same either way.  Previous IG-88 figures had been relatively light on the paint front, but for this release, Hasbro actually put a bit of effort into making him look a little more worn-in.  It’s pretty well done, and does a great job of breathing some new life into the re-used parts, while also doing a nice job of showing off the detailing of the newly sculpted bits.  88 downgrades a bit on the accessory front, getting just one long rifle, rather than the two guns he usually sports.  It’s at least a new gun, so he’s got that going for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite its close proximity to both Power of the Force and Saga, both of which I collected quite a bit growing up, I only had two Power of the Jedi figures growing up, and I’ve only since picked up a few others.  IG-88 is notably one of them, given that he’s IG-88 and all, and I do kinda like IG-88.  This figure’s a pretty solid one, taking the vintage mold, which is already really nice, and just making it even better.  I really like him.